V3.V THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS LIBRARY Prom the' collection of Jul ius Doerner , Ghicag-o Purchased, 1913 . •. . 2.2 0 FT'V Return this book on or before the Latest Date stamped below. University of Illinois Library DEC M 2 9 JUL ; MAI 2 9 MAR u 1 JAN 2 S '959 995 0 1995 L161 — H41 A ' r ',,y • t. . • ' ' y . • • . i r • 4\ . f V . ' , ' i ' \ V r * "1^ Sancta Jfttarta Immaculata ora pro populo, THE PICTORIAL BIBLE AND CHURCH-HISTORY STORIES ABRIDGED. eompcnbtons Durratibe of £>acreb % iatorg brought bofott io f be present ©imes of flje Cjrowfj, unb romplete xyi one Dolume. BY THE REV. HENRY FORMBY. Ml PRESENT CONDITION OF THE EASTERN OR GOLDEN GATE OF THE TEMPLE. ‘Narravcrunt mihi iniqui fabulationes sed non ut lex tua.’ Ps. cxviii. NEW YORK: THE CATHOLIC PUBLICATION COMPANY, 9, Waeeen Street. Sancta JWarta I-mmaculata ora pro populo, THE PICTORIAL BIBLE AND CHUECH-HISTORY STORIES ABRIDGED. tompenbious $tarratibe of &aeub ^istorg brought bofott io ibc prrscnt ®imea of % Cjjurdj, anb rompUte in one Dolumc. BY THE REV. HENRY FORMBY. u\ PRESENT CONDITION OF THE EASTERN OR GOLDEN GATE OF THE TEMPLE. ‘Narravcrunt mihi iniqui fabulationes sed non ut lex tua.’ Ps. cxviii. NEW YORK: THE CATHOLIC PUBLICATION COMPANY, 9, Warren Street. Imprimatur. In Festo Ascens. 1871 . *J« Henricus Edwardus, Archiej). Westmonasteriensis. LONDON : J. OGDEN AND CO., PEINTEBS, 1 72, ST. JOHN STEEET, E,C. 7LZO T 77 jp PEEFACE. St. Augustine requires, in order to a full measure of justice being done to the responsible task which is undertaken by Christian instructors, that Sacred History* should be carefully taught, not as the broken portion of a story with a beginning and without an end, but as a continuous unbroken narrative brought down to the present times of the Church (‘narratio perducta usque ad praesentia tempora Ec- clesiae’). (De Cat . Budibus.) Besides the intrinsic fitness of this rule of St. Augustine, as alike applicable to all times of the Church, it may be cogently pleaded that there are unusually strong l’easons proper to the present times of the Church, which more than ever demand that all Catholic teaching of Sacred History should henceforward be strictly and religiously conformed to this rule. The day of temptation for Catholics to fall away to any of the ever-varying forms of religious error appears to be gone, and the Catholic religion now finds itself confronted face to face with an universally prevalent temptation to cast off the yoke of all belief whatsoever in God and His Revelation, and to regard the Decalogue of Moses as a code of law that may henceforward be treated as having become too obsolete and of too little significance any longer to claim a place in the public* instruction of youth. The Fathers of the Synod of Oscott (1851) also de- clare in express words that the temptation for even the poor to be drawn into unbelief is now the prevailing danger which menaces serious evil to the Catholic religion. Yet, in the nature of things, this temptation cannot be in itself any really new danger unknown to other times. On the contrary, the providence of God watch- ing over His people has from the beginning contemplated it, and provided for them a strong threefold defence against it, in the study and teaching of Sacred History. Sacred History (when taught in conformity with St. Augustine’s rule) impresses on the mind a threefold lesson of belief, that can never be either effaced from it, or forgotten. In Sacred History (1.) the youthful mind learns to know God as One who makes promises to men, and always faithfully keeps them. Sacred His- tory, for example, tells both how God promised to Adam and Eve the seed who should crush the serpent’s head, and how He has kept His promise. It relates bow He promised to Noe to maintain the seasons in their course, and never again to destroy the earth with the Waters of a deluge ; how He promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to give their children the land of Canaan for an inheritance and to bless all the kindred of the earth in their seed ; how, through Moses and the Prophets, He made many promises of rich blessings and of severe chastisements to the Hebrew-people ; and how all these promises have been kept, so that not one word of them has failed. Lastly, Sacred History relates how. God in Jesus Christ has promised to be with the Christian people all days to the end of the world : and the same history duly relates how, through all the eighteen centuries of the Christian history, He has faithfully kepUhis His final promise to His Church. * R may be desirable to state that the term ‘ Sacred History’ is not here used in .any other sense than m the general meaning of the word ‘ sacred’ which we are in the habit of freely according to everything— vestments, ceremonies, edifices, &c.— pertaining to the Catholic Church. The whole continuous narrative of God’s dealings, on St. Augustine’s rule, can thus be rightly called ‘ Sacred History without prejudice to the higher prerogatives of the Canonical Scriptures over the suc- ceeding documents of Church History. In the same way we habitually speak of the Sacrifice of the Mass as Sacrum, or one whole sacred action, without the least prejudice to the greater sacredness ct the actual Sacrifice over the concomitant sacred ceremonies comprised in it. iv v 2.) Again, Sacred History diligently inculcates belief in God as the Divine Legislator, not only of the Decalogue of Mount Sinai and of the Sermon on the Mount, but also of the precepts of the Church. (3.) Lastly, Sacred History diligently stamps on the mind of the learner the knowledge of God as of One who, from the beginning down to the present hour, ever rules and acts in the world of men by the ministry of those of whom He is pleased to make choice to become His special friends. God reveals Himself in Sacred History, not alone as the friend of the patriarch Abraham, and as One who per- mitted Moses to speak with Him as a man speaketh with his friend, face to face — not alone as committing a marvellous trust to His chosen Peter, but as continuing the same trust up to the present hour in Peter’s successors; as choosing St. Pa- trick, St. Benedict, St. Gregory and St. Augustine, St. Francis, St. Dominic and St. Clare, to be His friends ; and as taking St. Ignatius Loyola, St. Theresa, St. Philip Neri, St. Charles Borromeo, St. Vincent of Paul, St. Alphonsus Liguori, St. Paul of the Cross, and others far too many to mention, into His counsels, and giving them posts of trust in His Work upon earth. Here, however, as we must not omit to observe, it will be easy to perceive that the full virtue and-efficacy of this threefold defence of the mind against the tempta- tion to unbelief must always be the exclusive prerogative of teaching Sacred History in religious conformity with the great St. Augustine’s rule of one unbroken continu- ous narrative brought down to the 'present times of the Church . The beautiful triple defence suffers the most serious injury and damage where St. Augustine’s rule is not observed. Where the narrative, in forgetfulness of the great Doctor’s rule, is made to stop short in the middle of the first century of the Christian history, how can the mind of the learner be otherwise than left a simple prey to blank wonder not very easily free from suspicion, as to what the cause can be why a gulf of eighteen unknown centuries separates his knowledge of God and His dealings from the present time. And again, the more the history is perceived to be explicit in showing how God has kept all His promises to the Hebrew people, the more impossible it becomes to think of a satisfactory reason why it has not a word to say touching the manner in which He has kept His promise to the Chris- tian people ‘ of being with them all days to the end of the world.’ A beautiful confirmation of the above-mentioned rule of St. Augustine occurs in the language of perhaps the most beloved of all the familiar formulas of Catholic devotion that are current in every mouth. Throughout the entire world, young and old learn to honour the Blessed Virgin as the Queen of the Patriarchs and the Prophets of the Covenant of God with the Hebrew nation ; but they do not stop here — they go on to honour her as the Queen of the Apostles, of the Martyrs, of the Confessors, of the Virgins, and of all the Saints of the Covenant of God with the Christian people. Thus even popular devotion cannot be satisfied with less than the coming down to the present times of the Church ; and St. Augustine’s rule for teaching Sacred History appears as equally the accepted rule, for Catholic prayer and supplication. More than this need not be said ; and one brief remark may be permitted in conclusion, viz. that a small Manual, embracing so wide a period of time, must manifestly be satisfied to aim at such historical completeness as its disposable space permits ; but if this space is necessarily limited, there need not, on the other hand, be any limit to the growth of that thirst for farther knowledge which— may it please God to grant ! — will often owe its first rise to the limited contents of the present Manual. TABLE OF CONTENTS. , 1 h i L * ' FIRST ERA OF THE WORLD. ( Dates uncertain.) THE CREATION TO THE DELUGE (B.C. 4190-2524). SECT. 1. Creation of the universe 2. The fall of the rebel angels 3. Creation of Adam and Eve 4. The first sin and its punishment 5. The worship of God by sacrifice 6. The murder of Abel by his brother 7. The world before the Flood 8. The building of the Ark : warning of the approaching Flood t SECOND ERA. NOE TO ABRAHAM (B.C. 2524-2107). 9. The Flood. Noe alone is saved in the Ark 10. The Tower of Babel and the spread of the sin of idolatry. Dis- persion of the sons of Noe over the earth THIRD ERA (FIRST OF JEWISH HISTORY). ABRAHAM TO MOSES (B.C. 2107-1490). 11. Abraham called to live apart from the idolatry of his kindred 12. The covenant of circumcision. Sodom and Gomorrha . 13. The faith of Abraham tried. Isaac a figure of Christ . 14. The marriage of Isaac and Rebecca 15. Esau and Jacob. Esau sells his birthright 16. Jacob is sent into Mesopotamia : his marriage with Rachel . 17. Jacob returns to Palestine. The reconciliation with Esau . 18. Joseph and his dreams : he is sold into Egypt . 19. Joseph in the house of Putiphar, and in the prison 20. Joseph interprets Pharao’s dream, and is made governor of Egypt 21. Joseph’s brethren come to buy food 22. J oseph makes himself known 23. Jacob comes to dwell in Egypt 24. The history of Job and his friends , . . , t PAGE 11 12 12 13 16 17 18 19 21 23 25 28 30 31 32 35 37 40 42 43 45 47 49 51 vx FOURTH ERA (SECOND OF JEWISH HISTORY). BIOSES TO SOLOBION AND THE TEMPLE (B.C. 1409-1010). sect. First Subdivision . — The Deliverance out of Egypt. 25. The plan of God to save the world 26. The birth of Moses, and his adoption in the court of Pharao 27. The burning bush, and the mission of Moses .... 28. The ten plagues on the land of Egypt 29. The paschal lamb, aijd the departure from Egypt . 30. The Red Sea, and the entry on the wilderness Second Subdivision. — The Forty Years ’ Wandering. 31. The mahna from heaven 32. The law of Mount Sinai and the covenant .... 33. The service of the tabernacle, and the priesthood of Aaron . 34. The idolatry of the golden calf 35. The Church Calendar 36. The sending the spies. The sentence to forty years’ wandering 37. Murmurings. The brazen serpent 38. The soothsayer Balaam . * 39. The last words of Moses 42, 55, Third Subdivision. — Entrance into the Promised Land. 40. Josue and the siege of Jericho 41. Last words of Josue Fourth Subdivision. — The Judges of Israel. Israel falls away to idolatry after the death of Josue 43. Gedeon 44. Sampson : his riddle 45. Sampson : his death . 46. The history of Ruth ....... 47. The history of Samuel Fifth Subdivision. — Israel becomes a Kingdom. 48. Clamour for a king. Saul is anointed .... 49. Saul is rejected, and David is anointed .... 50. David and Goliath ........ 51. Saul a persecutor of David : his death .... 52. David becomes king : he brings the Ark to Mount Sion 53. The Messias promised to David 54. The sin of David and the revolt of Absalom . Solomon anointed in the room of David .... PAGE 54 55 56 58 60 61 64 66 67 70 71 74 75 77 78 80 81 83 84 85 86 88 89 92 93 94 96 98 100 101 103 FIFTH ERA (THIRD OF JEWISH HISTORY). THE MISSION OF THE PROPHETS OF ISRAEL (B.C. 1010 TO J.C.). First Subdivision. — Reign of King Solomon. 56. Introduction. The ministry of the prophets . . , . 105 57. Solomon’s prayer for wisdom .... . . . 107 58. Solomon builds the Temple .... . 108 59. Solomon’s glory and fall . 112 60. The schism of the ten tribes , O 0 . 114 •sj 3 vii SECT Second Subdivision. — The Kingdom of Israel. PAGB 61. The sin of Jeroboam, in making a state religion . . . .114 62. Achab and Elias 116 ,63. Elias and the prophets of Baal 117 64. Naboth is stoned, and Elias is taken up from the earth . . .120 65. Eliseus and Naaman 121 66. Jonas: his mission to preach to Nineve 122 67. Kingdom of Israel and its destruction 124 68. Osee and Amos the prophets 125 Third Subdivision. — The Kingdom of Juda. 69. Kingdom of Juda 126 70. The prophet Isaias 127 71. History of Tobias 132 72. Judith 133 73. J eremias the prophet 136 Fourth Subdivision. — The Seventy Years' Captivity of Juda. 74. The prophet Daniel in Babylon 139 75. The golden image of Nabuchodonosor 140 76. Daniel and Darius the Mede. The coming of Messias foretold . 143 Fifth Subdivision. — The Rebuilding the Temple. 77. The rebuilding of the Temple 145 78. Esdras and Neemias 147 79. History of queen Esther 150 Sixth Subdivision. — The Apostasy to Greek Civilisation. 80. The apostasy from the law of Moses 153 81. Mattathias and his zeal. Beginning of the wars of the Maccabees . 154 82. The fight with the Gentiles 156 83. The death of Judas in battle after the Roman alliance . . .158 Seventh Subdivision. — The final Subjection of Israel. 84. Herod, and the fulness of time for the coming of Messias . . 159 SIXTH ERA (FIRST OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY). JESUS CHRIST. 1. The Holy Infancy. 1. The archangel appears to Zacharias 161 2. The visit to St. Elizabeth 162 3. The birth of St. John Baptist 163 4. The birth of Jesus in Bethlehem 165 5. The circumcision and presentation . . . . . . .168 6. The wise men, and the flight into Egypt . . . . .168 7. The finding in the Temple .171 2. The Ministry of St. John the Baptist. 8. St. John preaching in the wilderness ...... 172 9. The temptation of Jesus 174 10. Fresh testimony of John. The miracle of Cana .... 176 Ylll sect. 3. The First Year of the Public Ministry of Jesus, P1GB 11. Casting out the money-changers. Visit of Nicodemus . . .177 12 . The woman of Samaria 13. The sermon on the mount 182 4. The Second Year of the Public Ministry, 14. Various events. The twelve disciples chosen 184 15. St. John beheaded in prison 185 16. The parable of the sower * * .186 17. The healing of the paralytic 187 18. The mission of the apostles into Judea 189 19. St. Peter saved from sinking . . 190 5. The Third Year of the Public Ministry, 20. The Transfiguration. St. Peter’s primacy 192 21. Jesus foretells His being put to death 193 22 . Various events. Confesses His Godhead 194 23. Lazarus is raised from the dead 195 24. Zaccheus I 97 6 . Events of the Last Week, 25. Solemn entry into the Temple 198 26. Events of the second and third days 200 27. Discourses and parables in the Temple 200 28. Events of the fourth day (Wednesday) 202 29. Events of the fifth day 203 7. Events of the Night of Thursday and of the Friday. 30. Scenes in the garden of Gethsemane 206 31. Scenes in the house of Annas 207 32. Jesus is condemned. Despair of Judas . . . . . . 209 33. Jesus is brought before Pilate 210 34. The people choose Barabbas 211 35. Jesus is scourged and crowned with thorns 211 36. Pilate gives sentence for His crucifixion 212 37. Scenes round the Cross . . .214 38. Jesus is laid in the tomb 217 8 . The Resurrection and the Forty Days on Earth . 39. Resurrection. Various events 217 40. The false story of the Jews. The two disciples going to Emmaus . 220 41. The unbelief of St. Thomas 221 42. The commission given to St. Peter 221 43. The Ascension, and mission of the apostles into the whole world . 223 SEVENTH ERA (SECOND OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY). THE CONFLICT WITH THE ROMAN EMPIRE. 44. The day of Pentecost and the first miracle of Sfc. Peter . . . 225 45. Events in Jerusalem. Martyrdom of St. Stephen .... 229 46. The conversion of St. Paul , , 231 ix SECT# PACK 47. The vision of St. Peter 233 48. St. Paul and St. Barnabas go out as missionaries .... 234 49. Missionary preaching to the nations 238 50. St. Peter fixes his See in Rome 239 51. The holy death and assumption of the B.M.Y 241 52. Martyrdom of SS. Peter and Paul 244 53. The judgment upon Jerusalem 248 54. The Coliseum and its martyrs 250 55. The Roman catacombs 253 56. Calumnies against the Christians 255 57. The martyrdom of St. Catharine 257 58. The conversion of Constantine 259 EIGHTH ERA (THIRD OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY). THE FORMATION OF EUROPEAN CHRISTENDOM. 59. Brief introduction 261 60. St. Antony of Egypt and monastic brotherhoods . . . 262 61. St. Patrick the missionary apostle of Ireland 266 62. St. Benedict and the monks of the west 270 63. St. Benedict at Monte Cassino : his holy death . . . .273 64. St. Augustine the missionary apostle of England . . . .275 65. St. Boniface the missionary apostle of Germany . . . .278 66. Mahomet the false prophet. St. Gregory VII. The crusades and St. Bernard 279 67. St. Thomas Becket, the martyr of the canon law .... 282 NINTH ERA (FOURTH OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY). PERIOD OF THE EXTENSION OF MISSIONARY ENTERPRISE. 68. Brief introduction to the missionary period 283 69. St. Francis of Assisi, founder of the Friars Minor .... 285 70. Rise and growth of the Friars Minor 287 71. Death of St. Francis 289 72. St. Dominic and the Friars Preachers 291 73. St. Dominic receives the rosary from the Blessed Virgin . . 292 74. Protestantism the sign of the approach of the end of the world. Dr. Martin Luther 295 75. St. Ignatius Loyola and the Company of Jesus .... 297 76. St. Francis Xavier a missionary apostle 300 77. St. Francis Xavier preaches in Japan 302 78. The Council of Trent. St. Charles Borromeo and St. Philip Neri . 304 79. Missionary enterprise in South America. The Jesuits in Paraguay . 306 80. St. Vincent of Paul 309 81. The French Revolution 312 82. St. Alphonsus Liguori and St. Paul of the Cross . . . .313 83. A missionary martyrdom in Annam in the nineteenth century . 315 84. Pope Pius IX. and the war of unbelief against the truths of the Catholic faith ? , . , . . , . . .317 TABULAR VIEW OF THE NINE ERAS OF SACRED HISTORY. FIRST Era. — The Creation , and the World before the Deluge. (Dates uncertain : B.C. 4190-2524.) Adam and Eve in Pa- radise, and the breach of the Divine law. Ex- pulsion from Paradise. The expulsion of Cain from the society of the faithful. The establishment of Divine worship by Seth. The general corrup- tion of manners, and the prophetic mission of Henoch. The Deluge threat- ened. Noe begins to build the Ark, and en- ters into it. SECOND Era.— Deluge , and the Dispersion of the Sons of Noe. (First Hour of the Vineyard.) The Deluge. Noe saved in the Ark. His covenant with God. Settlements by his sons Sem, Cham, and Japhet. The confusion of tongues at Babel. The dispersion of the families over the earth. The rise and growth of the worship of idols. Third Era (first of Jewish History). — The Call of Abraham. (Third Hour of the Vineyard.) Abraham leases his home and kindred to come to Canaan. Isaac's marriage with Rebecca. Jacob escapes to Me- sopotamia, and returns to Canaan. Jacob and his sons | go down to dwell in | Egypt, under the pro- 1 tection of Joseph. Jacob’S sons greatly multiply in the land of Egypt. Fourth Era (second of Jewish History).— The Written Law and the Worship of the Hebrew Tabernacle. (Sixth Hour of the Vineyard.) The deliverance of Israel out of Egypt by Moses. The rule of Moses and Aaron in the Wil- derness. The conquest of Ca- naan under Josue. The Judges of Israel to the end of the life of Samuel the prophet. The Kingdom of Is- rael under Saul and David. Fifth Era (third of Jewish History).— The Hebrew Temple and the Prophets, (b.c. 1010.) (Ninth Hour of the Vineyard.) King Solomon and the building of the Temple. Kingdom of Is- rael to its fall. Kingdom of Juda to its fall. Captivity of Juda in Babylon for se- venty years. Rebuilding the second Temple un- der Esdras. Apostasy to the customs of the Greeks. The Mac- cabees. The sceptre departs from Juda under Herod the Idumean. Fulness of time for the birth - of Jesus Christ. Sixth Era (first of Christian History).— Birth, Childhood , Public Ministry , Passion , Death, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ. (11th and last hour of the Vineyard, till the end of the World.) Birth of Jesus Christ in Bethlehem, flight in- to Egypt, and return to Nazareth. The visit to Jerusa- lem, and the eighteen years in the holy house at Nazareth. The baptism of Jesus, and the three years of the public ministry. The events of the Passion of Jesus. The forty days after the Resurrection of Je- sus. Seventh Era (second of Christian History).— The Preaching of the Apostles , and the Conflict of the Church with the Roman Empire. (I.-III. centuries.) The acts of St. Peter and the other Apostles in the city of Jerusalem. The miracle of Pente- cost. The first martyr, St. Stephen. The acts of the Apos- tles as missionaries to the Gentile people. St. Peter erects his chair in the city of Rome. The judgment on the city of Jerusa- lem. The martyrs of the Coliseum. The ca- tacombs. Calumnies against the Christians, and martyr- doms in different parts of the empire. The conversion of the emperor Constan- tine, and the granting of civil rights to the Christians. Eighth Era (third of Christian History).— The Formation of European Christendom out of the barbarous Tribes which overran Europe. (Ill.-XH. centuries.) First formation of monastic brotherhoods under St. Antony of Egypt. St. Patrick, the Mis- sionary Apostle of Ire- land. St. Benedict, the great Patriarch of the monas- tic houses of the West. St. Augustine, the Missionary Apostle of England, sent by Pope St. Gregory the Great and St. Boniface of Ger- many. St. Bernard and the Crusades. St. Thomas Becket of Canterbury, the martyr of the ca- non law. Ninth Era (fourth of Christian History).— Period of great Missionary Enterprise. The Conflict of Faith in Europe with the spread of Apostasy and Unbelief, (xil.-xix. centuries.) St. Francis and St. Dominic, the founders of the two great mis- sionary orders of the Friars Minor and Friars Preachers. Protestantism , or the sign of the approach of the last days. St. Ig- natius Loyola and the Company of Jesus. The Council of Trent, and SS. Charles Borromeo and Philip Neri. St. Francis Xavier and the missions to Hindustan and Japan. Missionary enterprise in South America. St. Vincent of Paul, the founder of the La- zarist Fathers and the Sisters of Charity. SS. Alphonsus Liguori and Paul of the Cross, The break-up of the European political sys- tern. Great spread of errors. Pius IX. and the CEcumenical Coun- cil of the Vatican. THE PICTORIAL BIBLE AND CHURCH-HISTORY STORIES, ABRIDGED AND COMPLETE IN ONE VOLUME , BEING AN EASY AND FAMILIAR NARRATIVE OF SACRED HISTORY BROUGHT DOWN TO THE PRESENT TIMES OF THE CHURCH. The First Era of the World. FROM THE CREATION TO THE DELUGE. (b.C. 4191 TO B.C. 2524.) § 1. The Creation of the Urdverse. In the beginning Almighty God created the heavens and the earth ; but the earth as yet was without form or living creatures, and was all co- vered over with the deep waters. And all around was darkness. Then God spoke, and said : 4 Let there be light ;* and there was light. The darkness was now all gone, and the earth became bright and cheerful. God now spoke the second time, and said : 4 Let there be the firma- ment ;’ and it was so. The beautiful bright blue sky came into being, and a part of the waters were changed into clouds, which went up to their place in the sky above. Then God spoke again, and said : 4 Let the waters that cover the earth be gathered together in one place, and let the dry land appear ;’ and it was so. The land and the sea were divided; mountains and hills rose up with their valleys; fountains, brooks, and rivers freshened up the dry land, and poured themselves into the sea. God now commanded, and said : 4 Let the earth bring forth grass and herbs, and trees bearing fruit ;’ and it was so again. The earth became green as if in spring-time, with its grass and herbs, and with its thou- sands of gay flowers and trees in their blossom. After this God said : 4 Let there be lights in the heavens, that they may divide the days and the years, and give light to the earth ;’ and it was so. The golden sun rose up in the heavens to give its light to the day, and the soft silvery moon shone to give light by night ; the stars also without number began to glimmer forth their twinkling light. Last of all God spoke, and said : 4 Let the water bring forth fish, and the air winged fowl, and the earth living creatures of all kinds;’ and immediately all these came into being. Fishes great and small sported 12 in the waters; all kinds of birds filled the air; woods and fields were all alive with cattle and wild beasts ; the grass, flowers, and bushes were covered with gay butterflies, winged insects, and creeping things of all sorts. And God saw all that He had made, and behold it was very good. So Almighty God made the earth and the heavens in six days, and on the seventh day He rested from His work, and set apart this day for man, to be given to the worship of his Maker, and for a day of holy rest and joyful thanksgiving for the blessing of his creation (Gen. ii. 3). Jesus Christ rested in the tomb from the work of redemption on the Sab- bath or seventh day, and rose again from the dead on the first day of the week. For this reason the Christians no longer keep holy the original Sabbath, but the Lord’s-day, or first day of the week, in memory of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. As the first Adam was formed by God from the virgin earth, so Jesus Christ took His human body from the pure and blessed Virgin Mary. § 2. The Fall of the rebel Angels from their places in Heaven. St. John the Evangelist, in the Book of the Bevelations, tells us ‘ that there was a great war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought with the dragon and his angels, who did not prevail, nor was their place any longer found in heaven. And the great dragon was cast forth upon the earth; the old Serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole earth, and his angels were sent forth with him’ (Bev. xii. 6). St. Peter also says : ‘ God did not spare the angels who sinned, but de- livered them over, bound in the chains of darkness, to be tormented and to be reserved for judgment’ (2 Peter iii. 4). In order that the places in heaven left empty through this rebellion might be filled up, it pleased God to create man a little lower than the angels, placing him at first for a trial on the earth, but with the intention of afterwards advancing men to the very places from which the angels had fallen. Eor this reason the devil and the fallen angels have the greatest hatred against men, and are at all times lying in wait to deceive them into sinning against God and into breaking His commandments, hoping, through envy and malice, to hinder them by this means from coming into the places which they have themselves lost. § 3. The Creation of Adam and Eve ; their abode in Paradise. The earth and the heavens were now made, and beautifully decked out ; but on the whole wide earth there was not as yet a single human being to take his delight in it, and to praise the good and wise Creator who had made it. Then God said : ‘Let TJs make man in Our image and likeness; he shall have dominion over the fishes of the sea, the birds of the air, the beasts of the field, and over the whole earth.’ Almighty God then made man out of the soft moist earth, and breathed into him the breath of life. Thus man became a living soul, and God called him Adam. 13 And God planted a lovely garden, and caused the most beautiful trees to grow in it, which bore the sweetest blossoms and fruit ; flowers of every kind of colour and scent abounded in it ; and from the midst flowed a sparkling spring, which, dividing itself into four streams, wa- tered the whole of the garden. Into this lovely abode God brought Adam to live, and gave it to him to dress and cultivate. In the garden there was a tree, which was called the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. And God said to Adam : 4 Of all the trees in the garden thou mayest eat freely ; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil thou mayest not eat, for in the day that thou eatest of it thou shalt die/ This was said to Adam that he might learn what it was to obey God, and not to think everything in the world was his own, instead of being the gift of his loving and good Creator. After this God brought all the animals of the garden into the pre- sence of Adam in succession, and to each one he gave its own particular name. And thus Adam saw all that God had given him, and very joy- fully he thanked his Maker for all His wisdom and bounty. But notwithstanding all that God had so bountifully provided for him in Paradise, Adam still found himself alone in the midst of his riches. Neither lion, nor elephant, nor any of the noble creatures which had come before him to receive their names, were fitted to be his com- panions. And as he had no one who could stand by, to help him in his work or to share in his joy, he was in danger of feeling lonesome and of becoming wearied of his life, even in Paradise. He had to live all alone by himself on the earth, and this was a great burden. And God said : 4 It is not good for man to be alone ; let Us make him a helpmate, like to himself/ 4 Then the Lord God cast a deep sleep upon Adam ; and while he was fast asleep He took one of his ribs, and filled up the flesh over it. And the Lord God built up the rib which He had taken from Adam into a woman, and brought her to Adam/ And when Adam awoke out of his sleep, and saw for the first time his beautiful com- panion, no words can describe his joy. As Eve was taken from the side of the sleeping Adam, so the Church, the bride of Jesus Christ, was taken from the side of the second Adam, sleeping the sleep of death on the Cross, at the moment when the soldier pierced His side, and there flowed water and blood from the wound. § 4. The first Sin and its Punishment. One day it happened that Eve went near to the forbidden tree, and on the tree she saw a serpent. The serpent began to speak, and said : 4 Why has God commanded you that you should not eat of every tree of the garden V Eve allowed herself to be drawn into conversation with the serpent, and answered with great simplicity : 4 We are allowed to eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden ; only of the fruit of this tree in the middle of the garden, God has commanded that we should not eat, and that we should not touch it, lest perhaps we die/ 4 No/ said the serpent, 4 you will not die. Your God knows very well, that when you 14 eat of the fruit of it your eyes will then be opened, and you will be a gods, knowing good and evil. 7 Eve began to hesitate : first she looke at the serpent, then at the tree ; and the fruit seemed to her to be ‘ pai ticularly beautiful to the eye, most fair to look upon, and very good t eat.’ The command of God not to eat of it went out of her mind as sh gazed on the tree ; and the more she looked at the tree, the more beai tiful the fruit appeared to her. At last she put out her hand, gathere it, and began to eat of it. She then went away and brought some 1 Adam, who in like manner ate of it ; and thus, through the envy an malice of the devil, Eve having been first deceived was led into sin, an Adam took part in her sin. Adam and Eve soon found out, to their sorrow, what it was the they had done. They were overwhelmed with shame, and tried to mak coverings for themselves of the leaves of the trees. Their holy state o divine grace was forfeited. Their innocence and peace of mind wer gone, and the beautiful garden seemed to them no longer the place tha it was before ; the thought of the wicked thing they had done seeme* to follow them wherever they went ; and what would they not hav given to have been able to undo their fatal deed ! ‘ In the cool air c f the evening, they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in Paradise and Adam and Eve, conscious of their sin, instead of running joyfully a before at the gracious call to come into the presence of God, now tried t« hide themselves in the trees of the garden. God, however, called Adam and said to him : ‘ Where art thou V Adam at last came trembling, anc said : ‘ I heard Thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I wai naked, and I hid myself.’ God answered : ‘ Who told thee that thoi wast naked ? Hast thou eaten of the tree of which I commanded yoi not to eat V Adam, trying to throw the blame off himself, answered ‘ Eve, whom Thou gavest me for a companion, gave me of the fruit o: the tree, and I did eat.’ God called Eve, and said to her : ‘ Why didsi thou dp this V Eve, in like manner trying to throw the blame off hersel: upon the serpent, said : ‘ The serpent deceived me, and I did eat.’ Goc now called the serpent before Him, and said to him : ‘ Because thor, hast done this thing, thou shalt be cursed amongst all the beasts and cattle of the earth ; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and earth shalt thou eat all the days of thy life. Of the daughters of Eve, one shall crush thy head, and thou shalt lie in wait for her heel.’ To Eve God said : ‘ Thou shalt have many sorrows with thy children ; and thou shalt be under thy husband’s power, and he shall be lord over thee.’ And to Adam God said : ‘ Cursed is the earth for thy sake ; with sorrow and toil shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life ; thorns and thistles shall be its produce ; and in the sweat of thy brow thou shalt eat bread, until thou returnest to the earth out of which thou wast taken ; for dust thou ,art, and unto dust shalt thou return.’ The Lord God now made for Adam and Eve garments of skins to clothe them ; but the beautiful garden was no longer to be their abode. rotti this tinio forth they were to labour hard to till the earth, out of hich they were taken. So God sent them out of Paradise, and placed lerubim, with a flaming sword turning every way, to guard the entrance F the garden ad to keep the *ee of life. Adam and ive knew, when i was too late, r hat a fearful tiange they had lade, from the eautiful flowers nd fruit-trees f their former leasant abode, to the rude and ard labour of illing, sowing, nd planting the ough soil, that Lad now to be leared of briers nd thorns. God, lowever, had >een very mer- iful to them, nd had pro- nised them that he time would iome when a Ke- leemer should be born, who should be sent to destroy all the works of he serpent, by whose envy and deceit they had come to be banished out >f Paradise, and who should again completely restore the kingdom of Jod upon the earth. They set themselves then cheerfully to their labour, and began to >lant and to cultivate the ground, and to make use of their power over he brute creatures to surround themselves with flocks of sheep and oats and other animals. In this condition their first two children were orn. Cain the eldest, who cultivated the ground ; and Abel, who be- ime a shepherd and looked after the flocks of sheep and goats, the rst-fruits of which he offered in sacrifice to God. As Satan gained his victory in the garden of Paradise over Adam and Eve by deceiving them to eat of the fruit of a tree, Jesus Christ, by His acceptance in the Garden of Gethsemane of the chalice which God the Father gave to Him, has overcome all the wiles of Satan, and has purchased our Redemption by the fruit of the tree of the Cross. ADAM AND EVE EXPELLED OUT OF PARADISE 16 § 5. Worship of God by Sacrlfide. Almighty God continued His mercy to Adam and Eve after their banishment from Paradise. As a comfort in the midst of their labour, He taught them to keep holy the seventh day, and to enjoy it as a day of rest from the toils and hard work of the other days of the week ; and more than this, He taught them also the manner how they were to spend - We shall often have occasion, in the course of our history, to read of rifices being offered to God, and of animals being slain upon the altar, will be very interesting to know that these sacrifices were what God 'mself first taught Adam to offer, in order to sanctify the holy seventh sabbath day, on which God rested from the work that He had made. You have often read of poor people, when they come into the court . king or of some other great person, to beg a favour from him, how they try to find something or other of as much value as they can, to offer him as a present, in order to dispose the great man to listen favour- ably to them, and to do for them what they want to have done. Great people are usually pleased to see the poor doing their best to show them honour ; and when they ask anything that is reasonable, their request is generally granted. Though God had taken Paradise away from Adam and Eve on account of their sin, still He had given them the rest of the earth to cultivate, and by their labour they wero still able to grow rich with the produce of their husbandry and of their flocks and herds. God therefore was pleased that Adam should show by some token, that all that he got by his labour was the gift of God. He there- fore taught him to cease from labour, and to keep holy each seventh or sab- bath day, and also to offer in sacrifice to God some part of the produce of the earth or of the increase of his flocks. Eor this pur- pose God showed him the manner of the sacrifice, — how he was to build an altar, and how the gift that he offered upon it was to be burnt with fire. The reason of this was, to show that after it had been given to God it was no longer to be * - 4 abel’s offering of sacrifice, according to the COMMAND OF GOD. 17 turned to any use for Adam himself, but to be consumed whole and en- tire, in token of the supreme dominion of God over all His creatures. St. Paul (Heb. x. 4) says it is impossible that with the blood of oxen and of goats sms should be taken away. But it pleased God to accept such sacrifices wh™ en ° - fi he C 0 T g n f the - 0ne true Victim JesU8 Christ, in the renewal of whose sacrifice on the Cross, in the unbloody sacrifice of the Mass, all other sacrifices are done away. ’ cr § 6. Cain’s jealousy, and the first Murder. Abel the just is Jailed. As the family sacrifices were offered to God on the holy sabbath day, God showed more favour to the offerings of Abel than to those of Cain • and Cam in place of laying the blame upon himself and upon his own proud and bad spirit, became more and more jealous of the marks of favour which were shown to the offerings of Abel over his own. At length his jealousy grew so strong that he made up his mind that he would murder lus brother, and from this time he began to watch for ins opportunity. Whilst he was in this angry and jealous state of mind, God spoke to him, and said : 1 4 Why art thou angry? and why is thy counte- nance fallen ? If thou doest well (like thy brother Abel), shalt thou not also receive a reward ? and if thou doest ill, though sin stands at the door, still thou canst over- come the desire to commit it, and canst have domi- nion over it.’ Cain, however, was not made any better by this warning; and when the occa- sion offered, he said to his brother Abel, 4 Let us go forth abroad to- EVE mour ning oyer abel. gether ; and when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother and slew him. c 18 Though, no human eye had seen this murder, Almighty God knew what had been done ; and He called Cain and said : 4 Where is thy bro- ther Abel V Caiii answered : 4 1 know not. Am I my brother’s keeper V And God said to him : 4 What hast thou done h The voice of thy bro- ther’s blood crieth to Me from the earth. How, therefore, cursed shalt thou be upon the earth, which hath opened her mouth and received the blood of thy brother at thy hand. When thou shalt till it, it shall not yield thee its fruit ; a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be upon the earth.’ And Cain said to the Lord : 4 My iniquity is greater than that I may deserve pardon. Behold Thou dost cast me out this day from t^ie face of the earth, and I shall be hidden from Thy face, and I shall be a vagabond and a fugitive on the earth ; every one therefore that findeth me shall kill me.’ And the Lord said to him : 4 Ho, it shall not be so ; but whosoever shall kill Cain shall be punished sevenfold.’ And God set a mark upon Cain, that whosoever found him should not kill him. So Cain went out from the face of the Lord, and dwelt as a fugitive on the earth, at the east side of Eden. Eve mourning over the death of Abel the just ia a figure of the Blessed Virgin mourning over Jesus Christ taken down dead from the Cross. Abel * slain by his brother Cain is a figure of Jesus Christ murdered by His own people the Jews. Cain a fugitive after the niurder, with the blood of his brother crying out against him, is a figure of the Jews, fugitives in all nations, with the guilt of the blood of Jesus on them and on their children. § 7. The World before the Flood . Cain was now banished from the 4 face of the Lord,’ and was forced to live separate from the members of Adam’s family who feared God. He settled himself on the east of Eden, and became the father of a nu- merous family, who were brought up by him without any fear or know- ledge of God. Cain had now become what is called an open infidel or unbeliever, and had ceased either to teach or practise any religious duty. From the creation of Adam to the Flood, historians generally reckon a period of 1700 years ; and though but little is said in the Bible about the state of the world then, Jesus Christ has told us that it was not par- ticularly different from what it is now. There were numbers of famous men, who at the time made themselves a great name in the world ; while the ordinary run of people were busy in planting their vineyards, build- ing their houses, buying and selling, marrying and being given in mar- riage (Luke xvii. 27), much the Isame as they do at the present day. There was, however, a great distinction between the children of the family of Cain and those of Seth, the next son of Adam born after the murder of Abel. All the family of Cain were infidels, who never troubled themselves in any way at all about prayer or sacrifice or the worship of God ; while Seth was a just man, who taught all his household to fear God, and to offer the sacrifices which God had commanded. Enos, the son of Seth, was particularly remarkable for having exerted himself to establish the worship of God ; and so strong was the feeling on the part 19 Of the different families of Seth and Cain, that they remained for some centuries separated from each other ; the religious families looking upon the impious race as quite unfit company for themselves, and the unbe- lievers having just the same scorn and contempt for those who feared Uod as the same kind of persons have still at the present day. In this state of tilings Almighty God showed His mercy for the un- believing race, by sending them a prophet in the person of Enoch the sixth from Adam, who went about warning the unbelieving families that God wouid come surrounded with all His holy angels, and that He would wTtv a J^ment against all the blasphemers of Hi 3 name for all the hard things they had spoken against Him’ (Jude 15). § 8. Increase of Sin. Noe and the Ark. The Deluge, (b.c. 2524.) God seeing that wickedness was increasing on the earth, said : ‘ The JEffi 1 ? W1 n a W T ed by M J r S P irit ’ for they are flesh. Their days shall be a hundred and twenty years.’ In other words, God would give ? tnal j 0 . 1 , a hu ndred and twenty years longer. And when the wickedness of the world went on still increasing, and God saw ‘that all TT,n^r? w° f u th i eir h< r rt Was bent upon evil at all times,’ it repented JlV ba V b0 had made man on the earth. And being touched in- wardly with sorrow of heart, He said : ‘ I will destroy man whom I lave created from the face of the earth, from man even to beasts, from t0 tllG &WlS ° fthe ah ' ; f ° rit re h entetbM ethat Hoe alone was a just man, who, together with his three sons, Sem, NOE CAUSES THE ANIMALS TO ENTER THE ARK. 20 PV>orr» cmd Tanheth found favour "before God, and God said to him. ‘ The end of all flesh’ is come before Me j the earth isMiedwiOi equity through them, and I will destroy them with the earth Make thee an ark of timber planks ; thou shalt make little rooms m the ark, and thou shalt pitch it within and without. Behold I will bring the waters of a great flood upon the earth, to destroy all flesh wherein is the breath of life under heaven/ THE DELUGE. Noe believed God, and immediately commenced the work of build- in^ the ark, which is supposed to have kept Bim employed for* a hun- dred years, during which time he had to endure all the scoffs and jeers of hi/unbelieving neighbours, who we may be sure passed many remarks upon the folly of the work on which he was busy ; built as it was, to ad armearance far away from any water on which it could he made of use. Noe, however, as became a just man, showed his faith by for so many years ; and at length, when all was finished, and the wn ing of God continued to be totally disregarded, God appeared to Noe and said : ‘ Go in, thou and all thy house, into the ark ; foi thee have I seen just before Me in this generation. For yet a while, after sev days, I will rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights , and I w destroy every substance that I have made from the face of the eart . 21 No e did as he was told ; and "by the end of the seventh day all were safe within the ark, as God had commanded him. The rain fell, "and the waters prevailed over the earth beyond measure, and all flesh was de- stroyed that moved upon the earth, both of fowl, cattle, beasts, all creep- ing things, and all men ; and every thing in which was the breath of life on the earth died. Noe alone remained, and they that were with him in the ark. And the water prevailed upon the earth a hundred and fifty days. This was a terrible end to the blindness and the crimes of the people who suffered this sudden judgment. But they had had several warnings to which they might have listened, only they would not ; and at length it became too late. The Deluge is a figure of the last general Day of Judgment, when Jesus Christ will sit to judge the world. And the saving of Noe and his sons in the ark is a figure of the Sacrament of Baptism (1 St. Peter iii. 21). The Second Era of the World. FROM THE DELUGE TO THE CALL OF ABRAHAM (THE FIRST HOUR OF THE VINEYARD). (DATES UNCERTAIN. B.C. 2524 TO B.C. 2107.) § 9. Noe saved f rom the Flood. God's Covenant ivitli him. Noe fore- tells the Birth of the Messias in the Family of Sem. 1 And God remembered Noe and all the living creatures and all the cattle which were with him in the ark, and brought a wind on the earth, and the waters were abated. The fountains also of the deep and the floodgates of heaven were shut up, and the rain was restrained ; and the ark rested in the seventh month, in the seventh day of the month, upon the mountains of Armenia. And after that forty days were passed, Noe opening the window of the ark which he had made, sent forth a raven, which went forth and did not return till the waters were dried up upon the earth. He sent forth also a dove after him, to see if the waters had now ceased upon the face of the earth. But she not finding where her foot might rest, returned to him into the ark, for the waters were upon the whole earth ; and he put forth his hand and caught her and brought her into the ark. And having waited yet seven other days, he again sent forth the dove out of the ark. And she came to him in the evening, carrying a bough of an olive-tree with green leaves in her mouth. Noe therefore understood that the waters had gone from the earth.’ Noe, at God’s command, now went out of the ark and built an altar to the Lord, on which he offered a sacrifice of all the clean animals that had been taken into the ark. And God promised never more to destroy every living thing upon the earth as He had done, saying : 1 Hencefor- ward seed-time and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, night and day, shall no more cease.’ 22 . God also blessed Noe and bis sons, and said to them : 4 Increase and multiply and fill the earth ; let the fear and dread of you he upon all the beasts, and upon everything that moveth upon the earth.’ He gave them also the law : 4 Whoever shall shed man’s blood, his blood also shall be shed ; for man was made in the image of God.’ God also said : 6 1 will establish My covenant with you, and all flesh shall be no more destroyed with the waters of a flood, neither shall there be from henceforth a flood to waste the earth.’ And God said : 4 This is the sign of the covenant which I give between Me and you, and to every living soul that is with you, for perpetual generations. I will set My bow in the clouds, and it shall be the sign of a covenant between Me and between the earth. And when I shall cover the sky with clouds, My bow shall appear in the clouds : and I will remember My covenant with you, and with every living soul that beareth flesh : and there shall no more be the waters of a flood to destroy all flesh. And the bow shall be in the clouds, and I shall see it, and shall remember the everlasting covenant that was made between God and every living soul of all flesh which is upon the earth.’ Noe now began to be a husbandman, and planted a vineyard ; and towards the close of his life he uttered a very remarkable prophecy re- specting his three sons. God had promised the future Messias to Eve after her disobedience ; but it was not as yet known to any one from which of the three sons of Noe the future Eedeemer was to be born. Noe, filled with the Spirit of God, declared this, saying : 4 Blessed be the Lord God of Sem.’ He blessed Japheth also, and said : 4 May God enlarge Japheth, and may He dwell in the tents of Sem ;’ eastern figura- 23 tive language signifying that the children of Japheth were to be blessed in listening to the heavenly doctrine which was to come into the world through the family of Sem. As Cham had been guilty of a great act of impiety to his father, he was cursed in the person of his son Chanaan. ‘ Cursed be Chanaan, a servant of servants shall he be to his brethren a prophecy fulfilled to this day in the general slavery of the African race, descended from Cham. §10. The Building of the Tower of Babel, and the Confusion of Lan- guages in the World . The Rise and Groiutli of the sin of Idolatry . ? Up to this time, all the families of whom Noe was the forefather spoke but one language : and this one language was the only one known upon earth. As time went on, the people began to move forward from Mount Ararat, and a number of families settled in a plain in the land of Sennaar, and dwelt in it. ‘ And each one said to his neighbour, Come, let us make bricks, and bake them with fire. And they said, Come, let us make a city and a tower, the top of which may reach to heaven, and let us make our name famous before we be scattered abroad into all lands. And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the chil- dren of Adam were building. And He said : Eehold, it is one people, and they have all one tongue : and they have begun to do this, neither will they leave off from their designs till they accomplish them in deed ; come, therefore, let Us go down, and there confound their tongue, that they may not understand one another’s speech. So the Lord scattered them from that place into all lands, and they ceased to build the city. And the name thereof was called Babel, because there the language of the whole earth was confounded ; and from thence the Lord scattered them abroad upon the face of all countries.’ BIBS NIMBOUD, BELIEVED TO HAVE BEEN THE SITE OF THE TOWEB OF BABEL. 24 Tradition says that the prophet H oe gave his children seven com- mandments, which were the foundation of the notions of right and wrong that are common to all people. From him all the nations carried away with them into their different settlements the belief in the birth of a Messias from the family of Sem, the knowledge of God and of His future day of judgment, as also of the duty of prayer, and of observing the Sabbath with sacrifices. Such was the simple plain religion which Hoe, whom St. Paul calls a preacher of justice, taught to his sons; and this would have continued if the nations had preserved what they had learned from Hoe. However, unhappily they did not preserve it. Though they were too frightened at the memory of the terrible judgment of the deluge tQ become infidels like the people before the deluge, they began to wish for objects of worship which they might be able to see, and thus in the end they were led to make images, which after a time came to be worshipped as gods. First, however, they began to worship the sun, moon, and stars, fancying from their beauty and regular movement that they must be gods ; next, they took the image which had been set up in honour of some great king or statesman, and began to call it a god. Then they worshipped stones, which had been consecrated to God in particular places, as altars for sacrifice ; and lastly, from the custom of embalming the dead, they came to offer sacrifices to deceased mem- bers of their own families, and to look upon them as gods. In all these perversions of truth, the devils took beyond doubt a considerable part ; for the power of the devils was permitted by Almighty God to be very great before Jesus Christ came into the world to destroy their works. St. Paul says of the children of Hoe, that they fell away to idolatry. ‘ They corrupted their knowledge of God, changing the glory of the in- corruptible God into the images of men, of birds, four-footed beasts, and serpents’ (Rom. i. 23). Thus the families of the earth came again to fall into a fresh kind of sin, the worship of idols, as the Book of Wisdom says : i The worship of wicked idols is the cause of all evils, and their beginning and end’ (Wisd. xiv. 27). God now decreed to make choice of an entirely new measure for saving the world from the shame and sin about to be brought in by the worship of idols. He determined from this time to choose a particular nation out of all the nations of the world, and we shall see in what way He gave to this chosen nation holy lawgivers, priests, kings, and prophets, and lastly Jesus Christ, the Divine Re- deemer of all the world, who was born in it from the pure and blessed Virgin Mary. Of this chosen Jewish or Israelite nation, Abraham, a great and holy man, is now to be called to become the patriarch and founder. The nations of the world suffered a great punishment upon their pride in the confusion of their speech, and in their separation one from another. Jesus Christ has in part removed this punishment ; for He has again made all the nations of the earth one religious family in His Church, under the supreme government of the Successor of St, Peter, and as partakers of one and the same Sacrifice of the Altar, 25 The Third Era of the World, and the First Era of Jewish History. (dates uncertain. FROM B.C. 2107 TO B.C. 1490.) N.B. From this point history is divided into Sacred and Profane. Sacred history follows the course of the chosen Israelite nation ; Profane history relates what is known respecting all the other people descended from Noe who fell into idolatry. (First Beginning of the Israelite History.) §11. The Call of Abraham to be the founder of the chosen nation of the Israelites or Jews. He is commanded to go into the land of Ca- naan , there to live separate from all the idolatry and vice into which the nations were rapidly falling. {About 2107 before Christ.) And the Lord said to Abram (his name was called Abraham at a later period), ‘ Go forth out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, and come into the land which I shall show thee. And I will make of thee a great nation ; and I will bless thee, and magnify thy name, and thou shalt' be blessed. I will bless them that bless thee, and curse them that curse thee ; and in thee shall all the kindred of the earth be blessed.’ So Abram went out as the Lord had commanded him, and Lot went with him : Abram was seventy-five years old when he went forth from Haran. And he took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother’s son, and all the substance which they had gathered : and they went out to go into the land of Canaan. And when they were come into it, Abram passed through the country into the place of Sichem, as far as the noble vale ; now the Canaanite was at that time in the land. Brief Outline of the Profane History. The Four Great Empires— Assyrian, Persian, Greek, and Roman. The Glory of the City of Borne . In the Valley of the Nile the descendants of Cham formed the rich and power- ful kingdom of Egypt, into which the chosen Hebrew people went down to dwell in the time of Jacob, being invited to come by Joseph their brother, who had be- come Governor. This kingdom did not continue, and Egypt at the time of Jesus Christ was a province of the Roman Empire. The Assyrian Empire. — The Assyrians were the first to form a vast empire in Asia, subduing by their armies numerous tribes and people. The capital city of this empire was at first Nineveh, and afterwards the seat of empire was changed to the great city of Babylon. This Assyrian Empire invaded the kingdom of Israel, and carried - off the ten tribes of Israel, dispersing them over all its cities. Also it next invaded the kingdom of Juda, took Jerusalem, and burnt the Temple of Solomon, carrying the chief of the people into a captivity in Babylon which lasted seventy years. The Persian Empire. — After this the imperial power passed over to the Medes and Persians. Esther, the Jewish maiden, became one of the Queens of the Empire, and by her intercession, saved her people from a threatened destruc- tion. Under Cyrus, the first Persian Emperor, the captive Jews, led by Nehemias, returned to Jerusalem from Babylon, and rebuilt the Temple. The Grecian Empire. — The imperial power next passed into the hands of the Greeks, who, under Alexander the Great, conquered the Persians. This em- 26 And the Lord appeared to Abram, and said to him : ‘ To thy seed will I give this land.’ And he built there an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him. And passing on from thence to a mountain that was on the east side of Bethel, he there pitched his tent, having Bethel on the west, and Hai on the east ; he built there also an altar to the Lord, and called upon His name. Idolatry prevailed to a great extent in the land of Canaan when Abram came into it, and on this account he was not permitted by God either to have any fixed abode in it, or to have any communication with the people of the country, or to own any part of the soil. He was required to live as became a prophet of God, in the midst of people who were falling away to the practice of wicked superstitions and vices and to the wbrship of dumb idols. His generosity in obeying every command of God has earned for him the title of 4 Faithful Abraham 7 and ‘ Father of the Faithful’ from all generations, to whom his example is a pat- tern of perfect obedience and trust in God, and of a life of thorough self- denial and sacrifice. Abram and Lot had now become so rich in flocks and herds, that the land was no longer able to bear them, that they might dwell together. Whereupon, as they were dwelling near to Hebron after their return from Egypt, there arose a strife between the herdsmen of Abram and of Lot. At that time the Canaanite and the Pherezite dwelt in that country. Abram therefore said to Lot : ‘ Let there be no quarrel, I beseech thee, between me and thee, and between my herdsmen and thy herdsmen : for we are brethren. Behold, the whole land is before thee : depart from me, I pray thee : if thou wilt go to the left hand, I will pire, at Alexander’s death, fell into four kingdoms, with one of which the Israel- ites fought many severe battles, under the leadership of the Macchabees, suffering great persecutions and great sacrileges to their Sanctuary from it. The Roman Empire. — Lastly, the imperial power passed into the hands of the Romans, under whom the Hebrew nation became subject to the rule of a stranger as king, viz. Herod the Idumean, made King of Judea by the Romans. It was Pontius Pilate, the Governor appointed over Judea by the Roman Empire, who, at the demand of the Jews, gave judgment that Jesus Christ should be cruci- fied, and the sentence of Pontius Pilate for His crucifixion was carried into execu- tion by the soldiers of this empire. This Roman Empire was the most wonderful of all the four. It never belonged to any nation or people, but it held its seat in the single city of Rome. By its armed legions the city of Rome gradually con- quered all the known w T orld, and gave to the different conquered people the benefit of the laws and government of the Roman Empire. Rome admitted, with- out distinction, persons out of every nation, who were worthy, to the honours of its citizenship ; and thus from the first beginning the city of Rome had the glory of being the mother and mistress of nations, improving them by its laws, and ennobling them with the honours of its citizenship ; but Rome was never itself the city of any one tribe or nation. It was thus from the first beginning that Rome was marked out as the fitting seat of the supreme Government, which it has pleased Jesus Christ to intrust to the Successors of St. Peter, over all the Christian people and nations of the whole earth, past, present and to come, who enter into the fold of the Catholic Church. 27 take the right : if thou choose the right hand, I will pass to the left.’ And Lot, lifting up his eyes, saw all the country about the Jordan, which was watered throughout before the Lord destroyed Sodom and SYRIAN SHEPHERDS’ ENCAMPMENT. Gomorrha as the paradise of the Lord, and like Egypt as one comes to Segor. And Lot chose to himself the country about the Jordan, and he departed from the east : and they were separated one brother from thp other. Abram dwelt in the land of Canaan; and Lot abode in the towns that were about the Jordan, and dwelt in Sodom. Now the men of Sodom were very wicked, and sinners before the face of the Lord beyond measure. After Lot had departed from Abram, God appeared to him, and re- newed all His promises once more. And it was told to Abram, that there had been war, and that Lot had been carried away prisoner ; upon which he gathered together all his servants and the shepherds that were his neighbours, and pursued after the invaders. They came up with them at Dan, and rushed in upon them and defeated them. Thus Lot was rescued, and the invaders were pursued to Hoba, on the way to Da- mascus. On their return, the king of Sodom came out to meet Abram ; and Melcliisedech the king of Salem bringing forth bread and wine, for he was the Priest of the most high God, blessed him, and said : 1 Blessed be Abram by the most high God, who created heaven and earth. And blessed be the most high God, by whose protection thine enemies are in thy hands.’ And Abram gave to Melcliisedech tithes of all that they had taken. And the king of Sodom said to Abram : ‘Give me the persons, and 28 the rest take to thyself.’ And he answered him : 4 1 lift up my hand to the Lord God the Most High, the possessor of heaven and earth, — that from the very woof-thread unto the shoe-latchet, I will not take of any- thing that is thine, lest thon say, I have enriched Abram ; except such things as the young men have eaten, and the shares of the men that came with me, Aner, Escol, and Mambre, these shall take their shares.’ Abram remembered that the men of Sodom were extremely wicked, and therefore, unlike Lot, would have nothing to do with them. The Sacrifice of Melchisedech is a figure of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, in which Jesus Christ offers Himself under the species of Bread and Wine. Also Jesus Christ is a High Priest for ever, not after the order of Priesthood established by Moses, but after the order of Melchisedech (Ps. cix. 5). § 12. The Birth of Ismael (b.c. 2096) and the Covenant of Circumcision. Sara receives the Promise of a Son . Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrlia . God now continued to bless Abram ; and Sara, growing impatient that the promises which God had made, that a son should be born, were still unfulfilled, gave her Egyptian handmaid Agar to be Abram’s second wife. When Agar found herself likely to become, as she thought, the mother of the promised heir, she despised her mistress ; and when she was punished for this by Sara, she ran away into the wilderness. An angel, however, appeared to her, and told her to return to her mistress, and to submit. Soon after her return, Ismael her son was born. God also appeared again to Abram, and made with him the Covenant of Cir- cumcision, which became the mark by which God was pleased to keep His chosen people, from among whom the Messias was to be born, sepa- rate from the other nations. From this time Abram received the name of 4 Abraham,’ or 4 Father of many nations.’ Abraham was sitting at the door of his tent in the heat of the day in the vale of Mambre ; and as he lifted up his eyes, there appeared to him three men standing near him ; and as soon as he saw them he ran to meet them from the door of his tent, and bowed down to the ground. And he said : 4 Lord, if I have found favour in thy sight, pass not away from thy servant : I will fetch a little water, and wash ye your feet, and rest ye under the tree. And I will set a morsel of bread ; and strengthen ye your heart, afterwards you shall pass on ; for therefore are you come aside to your servant.’ And they said : 4 Do as thou hast spoken.’ Abraham made haste into the tent to Sara, and said to her : 4 Make haste, temper together three measures of flour, and make cakes upon the hearth.’ And he himself ran to the herd, and took from thence a calf very tender and very good, and gave it to a young man, who made haste and boiled it. He took also butter and milk and the calf which he had boiled, and set before them ; but he stood by them under the tree. And when they had eaten, they said to him : 4 Where is Sara thy wife V He answered : 4 She is in the tent.’ And he said to him : 4 1 29 will return and come to thee at this time, and Sara thy wife shall have a son/ Which when Sara heard, she laughed behind the door of the tent. And the Lord said to Abraham : ‘Why did Sara laugh? Is there any- thing hard to God? According to appointment I will return to thee at this time, and Sara shall have a son/ Sara denied, saying : ‘ I did not laugh for she was afraid. But the Lord said : ‘ Nay, but thou didst laugh/ And when the men rose up from thence, they turned their eyes to- wards Sodom ; and Abraham walked with them, bringing them on the way. And the Lord said : ‘ Can I hide from Abraham what I am about to do ; seeing he shall become a great and mighty nation, and in him all the nations of the earth shall be blessed ?’ God then made known to Abraham that He was about to destroy the city of Sodom. Toward evening the two angels came to Sodom, and Lot was sitting in the gate of the city. When he saw them, he rose up to meet them, and bowed himself to the ground before them, and said : ‘ I beseech you, my lords, turn in to the house of your servant and lodge there, wash your feet, and in the morning you shall go your way/ When they had entered in, they said to Lot : ‘ Hast thou here any of thine, son-in-law, or sons, or daughters ? all that are thine bring them out of this city. Lor we will destroy this place, because their cry has grown loud before the Lord, who hath sent us to destroy them/ Lot upon this went out to speak to his sons-in-law that were to have married, his daughters, and said : ‘Arise, get you out of this place; for the Lord will destroy this city.’ But he seemed to them to speak as it were in jest. And when it was morning the angels pressed him, saying : ‘ Arise, take thy wife and the two daughters which thou hast, lest thou also perish in the wickedness of the city.’ And as he lingered, they took his hand and the hand of his wife and of his two daughters, because the Lord spared him. And they brought him forth and set him without the city, and there they spoke to him, saying : ‘ Save thy life ; look not back, neither stay thou in all the country about, but save thyself to the mountain, lest thou also be consumed.’ The sun was risen upon the earth when Lot entered into Segor. And the Lord rained upon Sodom and Gomorrha brimstone and fire out of heaven ; and He destroyed these cities, and all the country round about, all the inhabitants of the cities, and all the things that spring up from the earth. And Lot’s wife, looking behind her, was turned into a statue of salt. And Abraham rose up early in the morning ; and from the place where he had stood before with the Lord he looked towards Sodom and Gomorrha and the whole land of that country, and he saw the ashes rise up from the earth as the smoke of a furnace. The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrha is a figure of the final judgments of God upon the impenitent evil-doers at the last day. Woe unto those who despise the warnings of the Gospel ! Our Lord says of those who despised His words : ‘ It shall be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment than for you.* 30 § 13. The Faith of Abraham is tried . Isaac is offered in Sacrifice. When Isaac, the promised son and heir, had been born, it pleased God to put the faith of his father Abraham to a great trial. He called him, and said : 4 Abraham, Abraham !’ And he answered : 4 Here I am.’ He said to him : 4 Take thy only-begotten son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and go into the land of vision (Moria), and there thou shalt offer him for an holocaust upon one of the mountains which I will show thee.’ So Abraham, rising up in the night, saddled his ass, and took with him two young men and Isaac his son ; and when he had cut wood for the holocaust, he went his way to the place which God had commanded him. And on the third day, lifting up his eyes, he saw the place afar off, and said to his young men : 4 Stay you here with the ass, and I and the boy will go up yonder with speed ; and after we have wor- shipped we will return to you/ And he took the wood for the holo- caust and laid it upon Isaac his son, and he himself car- ried in his hands fire and a sword. And as they went on together, Isaac said to his father : 4 My father!’ And he answered: 4 What wilt thou, my son'?’ 4 Behold,’ said Isaac, 4 fire and wood ; but where is the vic- tim for the holo- caust'?’ And Abra- ham saidT 4 God will provide Him- ISAAC CAEEIES THE WOOD OF THE SACEIFICE. a "Victim for an holocaust, my son.’ So they went on together. And they came to the place which God had shown him, where he built an altar, and laid the wood in order upon it ; and when he had bound Isaac his son, he laid him upon the altar upon the pile of wood. And he put forth his hand, and took the sword to sacrifice his son. And behold an angel of the Lord called to him, saying : 31 c Abraham, Abraham P And ho answered : 4 Here I am.’ And he said to him : 4 Lay not thy hand upon the boy, neither do thou any thing to him ; now I know that thou fearest God, and hast not spared thy only- begotten son for My sake/ Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw behind his back a ram among the briers, sticking fast by the horns, which he took and offered for a holocaust instead of his son. And he called the name of that place 6 The Lord seeth.’ And the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven, saying : 4 By Mine own self have I sworn, saith the Lord, be- cause thou hast done this thing, and hast not spared thine only-begotten son for My sake, I will bless thee, and I will multiply thy seed as the stars of heaven, and as the sand that is by the seashore ; thy seed shall possess the gates of their enemies ; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because thou hast obeyed My voice.’ Isaac willingly carrying the wood of the sacrifice up Mount Moria, is a figure of Jesus Christ carrying His cross, as the willing Divine Victim about to be offered in sacrifice upon it. He was offered, as the Prophet Isaias says, because He willed it. § 14. The Marriage of Isaac and Rebecca . Now Abraham was old and advanced in age, and the Lord had blessed him in all things. And he said to the elder servant of his house, who was ruler over all that he had : 4 Swear to me, by the God of heaven and earth, that thou take not a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites among whom I dwell; but that thou go to my own country and kindred, and take a wife from thence for my son Isaac.’ The servant set out on his journey, and went to the abode of Bathuel the son of Nachor, Abraham’s brother, where he was received into the house, and delivered the message of his master. It was agreed that Rebecca, Bathuel’s daughter, should go to be Isaac’s wife. And a ban- quet was made, and they at§ and drank together, and he lodged there for the night. And in the morning the servant arose and said : 4 Let me depart, that I may go to my master.’ And Rebecca’s brother and mother answered : 4 Let the maid stay at least ten days with us, and afterwards she shall depart.’ 4 Stay me not,’ said he, ‘for the Lord hath prospered my way : send me away, that I may go to my master.’ And they said : 4 Let us call the maid, and ask her will.’ And they called her ; aiAl when she was come, they asked : 4 Wilt thou go with this man T She said : 4 1 will go.’ So they sent her away, and her nurse, and Abraham’s servant and his company, wishing prosperity to their sister, and saying : 4 Thou art our sister ; mayest thou increase to thousands and thousands, and may thy seed possess the gates of their enemies.’ So Rebecca and her maids set out upon the camels, and followed Abraham’s servant, who with all speed returned to his master. At the same time, Isaac was walking along the way of the v r eH called of the * Living and Seeing,’ for he dwelt in the south country ; and he was 32 gone forth to meditate in the fields, the day being far spent ; and when he had lifted up his eyes, he saw the camels coming afar off. Bebecca, also, when she saw Isaac, lighted off the camel, and said to the servant : ‘ Who is that man who cometh towards us along the field V And he said to her: ‘That man is my mas- ter.’ She quickly took her veil and covered herself. The servant told Isaac all that he had done ; and Isaac brought her into the tent of Sara his mother, and she became his wife ; and he loved her so much that he was com- forted for the grief of his mother’s death (b.c. 2052). And the days of Abraham’s life were a hundred and seventy -five years. And, de- caying, he died in a good old age; and having lived a long time, and being full of days, he was gathered to his people. Isaac and Ismael, his sons, buried him with Sara his wife in the double cave which is over against Mambre, and which he bought of the children of Heth.* And after his death, God blessed Isaac his son, who dwelt by the well of the ‘Living and the Seeing.’ The marriage of Isaac with Rebecca is a figure of the espousals of Christ with the Church. St. Paul says, ‘ Husbands, love your wives, as Cjwdst loved the Church, and gave Himself for her.’ (Eph. v. 25.) §15. The birth of Esau and Jacob. Esau profanely sells liis first birth - right , and loses his blessing , which is given to Jacob. Isaac was threescore years old when his twin sons, Esau and Jacob, were born. Esau grew up, and became a skilful hunter ; but Jacob was a plain man, and dwelt in tents. Isaac also loved Esau, because he ate of his venison ; but Bebecca loved Jacob. THE MARRIAGE OE ISAAC AND REBECCA. 33 Jacob one day was boiling pottage, when Esau came in out of the field fainting from his hunting, and said to his brother, 4 Give me of this red pottage, for I am exceeding faint ;’ for which reason he was after- wards called Edom (red). And Jacob said to him, 4 Sell me thy birth- right/ And he said, 4 Lo, I die; what will the birthright avail me Y Jacob said, 4 Swear, therefore, to me.’ Esau swore to him, and sold his first birth- right. And taking the bread and the pottage of lentils, he ate and drank, and went his way, making little account of having sold his birthright. St. Paul calls particular attention to the example of Esau, as above related : 4 Lest there be any profane person, as Esau, who for one mess sold his first birthright ; for know ye that afterwards, when he desired to inherit the benediction, he was rejected, and found no place of repent- ance, though he sought it with tears/ (Heb. xii. 16.) Esau was now to lose for ever the blessing of which he had made so little account. Isaac was old, and his eyes were dim that he could not see ; and he called Esau his elder son, and said to him, 4 My son/ And he answered, 4 Here I am/ And his father said to him, 4 Thou seest that I am old, and know not the day of my death ; take thy arms, thy quiver and bow, and go abroad ; and when thou hast taken something by hunting, make me savoury meat thereof, as thou knowest I like, and bring it to me, that I may eat, and that my soul may bless thee before I die/ When Kebecca had heard this, and Esau was now gone into the field to fulfil his father’s commandments, she said to her son Jacob, 4 1 heard thy father talking with Esau thy brother, and saying to him, Bring me of thy hunting, and make me savoury meats, that 1 may eat, and bless thee in the sight of the Lord before I die. Now, therefore, my son, follow my counsel, and go thy way to the flock, bring me two kids of the best, that I may make of them meat for thy father such as he gladly eateth, that when thou hast brought them in to him, and he hath eaten, he may bless thee before he die.’ And Jacob answered her, 4 Thou knowest that Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I am smooth ; if my father shall feel me and perceive, I fear lest he will think I would have mocked him, and I shall bring upon me a curse instead of a blessing.’ His mother said to him, 4 Upon me be this curse, my son ; only hear thou my voice, and go fetch me the things which I have said/ He went, and brought them, and gave them to his mother ; and she dressed the meats, such as she knew his father liked. And she put on him the best garments of Esau which she had at home with her, the little skins of the kids she put abmit his hands, and covered the bare of his neck ; and she gave him the savoury meat and the bread which she had baked. Jacob went in with it, and said, 4 My father/ And he answered, 4 1 hear ; who art thou, my sonf Jacob said, 4 1 am Esau thy firstborn. I have done as thou didst command me ; arise, sit and eat of my venison, that thy soul may bless me/ And Isaac said to his son, 4 How couldst thou find it so quickly, my son 1 ?’ He answered, 4 It was the will of God that what 1 sought came quickly in my way/ And Isaac said, 4 Come hither, that D 34 I may feel thee, my son, and prove whether thou be my son Esau or not.’ He came near to his father; and when he had felt him, Isaac said, 4 The voice indeed is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau ;’ and he knew him not, because his hairy hands made him like to the elder. Then, blessing him, he said, ‘Art thou my son Esau V He answered, ‘I am.’ Then he said, ‘Bring me the meats of thy hunting, my son, that my soul may bless thee.’ And when they were brought and he had eaten, he of- fered him wine also, which when he had drunk, he said, ‘ Come near me, and give me a kiss, my son/ He came near and kissed him; and immediately as he smelled the fragrant smell of his garments, blessing him, he said, ‘ Behold, the smell of my son is as the smell of a plentiful field which the Lord hath blessed. God give thee of the dew of heaven and of the fatness of the earth, abundance of corn and wine ; and let people serve thee, and tribes worship thee ; be thou lord over thy brethren, and let thy mother’s children bow down before thee ; cursed be he that curseth thee, and let him that blesseth thee be filled with blessings.’ Isaac had scarce ended these words, when, Jacob being now gone out, Esau came and brought in to his father the meats which he had taken in hunting, saying, ‘ Arise, my father, and eat of thy son’s venison, that thy soul may bless me.’ And Isaac said to him, ‘ Why, who art thou V He answered, ‘ I am thy firstborn son Esau.’ Isaac was struck with fear, and astonished exceedingly ; and wondering beyond what can be believed, said, ‘Who is he, then, that even now brought me venison that he had taken, and I ate of all before thou earnest? and I have ISAAC BLESSES JACOB. blessed him, and he shall be blessed/ Esau, having heard his father’s words, uttered an exceeding piercing cry, and trembling, said, c Bless me also, my father.’ And he said, ‘ Thy brother came deceitfully, and hath obtained thy blessing.’ Esau said, ‘ Eightly his name is called Jacob’ (i. e. supplanter) ; ‘ for he hath supplanted me this second time : my first birthright he took away before, and now the second time he hath stolen away my blessing.’ And again he said to his father, ‘ Hast thou not re- served to me also a blessing V Isaac answered, ‘ I have appointed him thy lord, and have made all his brethren his servants. I have established him with corn and wine ; what shall I do more for thee, my son V And Esau said to him, 6 Hast thou only one blessing, father ? I beseech thee, bless me also.’ And when he wept with a loud voice, Isaac, being moved, said to him, ‘ In the fat of the earth and in the dew of heaven from above shall thy blessing be. Thou shalt live by the sword, and shalt serve thy brother, and the time shall come when thou shalt shake off his yoke from thy neck.’ Esau, therefore, always hated Jacob for the bless- ing wherewith his father had blessed him ; and he said in his heart, ‘ The days will come for the mourning for my father, then I will kill my bro- ther Jacob.’ The Hebrew people, by their profane coptempt of their first birthright in Jesus Christ, have, like Esau, lost their blessing ; and they have since been full of hatred against the Gentile Christian people, to whom their birthright and blessing in Jesus Christ have passed over. § 16. Jacob is sent away from liis brother Esau to Mesopotamia . His vision of angels, and marriage ivith Rachel . Eebecca, perceiving the hatred which Esau now bore to Jacob, spoke to Isaac to send Jacob away for a time to Laban his uncle, that he might take a wife of his own kindred. Isaac therefore called Jacob and told him to take a journey to Mesopotamia, and to choose a wife of the daugh- ters of Laban his uncle, saying to him, ‘ God Almighty give thee the blessings of Abraham, and to thy seed after thee, that thou mayest pos- sess the land of thy sojourning which He promised to thy grandfather.’ Jacob now departed from Bersabee, and went on his way to Haranj and when he was come to a certain place, and would rest in it after sun- set, he took of the stones that lay there, and putting them under his head, slept in the same place. And he saw in his sleep a ladder stand- ing upon the earth, and the top thereof touching heaven ; the angels also of God ascending and descending by it; and the Lord, leaning upon the ladder, saying to him, ‘ I am the Lord God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac. The land wherein thou sleepest I will give to thy seed ; and thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth. Thou shalt spread abroad to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south ; and in thee and thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed. And I will be thy keeper whithersoever thou goest, and will bring thee back into this land ; neither will I leave thee till I shall have accomplished all that I have said'.’ 36 And when Jacob awoke ont of his sleep, he said, 1 Indeed the Lord is in this place, and I knew it not.* And trembling, again he said, 4 How terrible is this place ! This is none other than the house of God and the gate of heaven/ And Jacob, arising in the morning, took the stone which he had laid under his head, and pour- ing oil upon the top of it, he called the name of the place Be- thel. And he made a vow, say- ing, 4 If God will be with me, and will keep me in the way by which I walk, and will give me bread to eat and raiment to put on, and if I return prosper- ously to my fa- ther's house, the Lord shall be my God ; and this stone which I have set up for a memorial shall be called the house of God ; and of all things that the Lord shall give me I will offer tithes.’ Then Jacob went on his journey, and came into the east country ; and he saw a well in a field, and three flocks of sheep lying by it ; for the flocks were watered out of it ; and the mouth thereof was closed with a great stone. And the custom was, when all the sheep were ga- thered together, to roll away the stone ; and after the sheep were watered, to put it on the mouth of the well again. And he said to the shepherds, , 4 Brethren, whence are you V They answered, 4 Of Haran.’ And he asked them, saying, 4 Know you Laban, the son of H achorT They said, 4 We know him.’ He said, 4 Is he in health V 4 He is in health,’ said they ; 4 and behold, Bachel his daughter is coming with his flock.’ And Jacob said, 4 There is yet much of the day remaining, neither is it time to bring the flocks into the fold. Give the sheep to drink, and lead them back to feed.’ They answered, 4 We cannot till all the flocks be gathered toge- 87 ther ; for then we remove the stone from the well’s mouth that we may water the flocks.’ As they were speaking, Rachel came with her father’s flock, of which she had the care. And when Jacob saw her, and knew her to be his cousin, and that the sheep were those of Laban his uncle, he removed the stone wherewith the well was closed. And having watered the flock, he kissed her, and lifting up his voice, wept, and told her that he was the son of Rebecca, her father’s sister. Rachel ran in haste to tell her father, who, when he heard that Jacob his sister’s son was come, ran forth to meet him ; and embracing him, and heartily kissing him, he brought him into his house. And when he heard the cause of his journey, he said, 4 Thou art my bone and my flesh.’ Jacob was now established in the house of Laban, and kept his flocks ; and after a month was ex- pired, Laban said to him, 4 Because thou art my brother, shalt thou serve me without wages'? Tell me what wages thou wilt have.’ Jacob, who already loved his cousin Rachel, replied, 4 1 will serve thee seven years for Rachel thy youngest daughter.’ Laban consented. So Jacob served seven years for Rachel ; and they seemed but a few days, for the great- ness of his love. The stone which Jacob here set up is a figure of the sanctuaries of the Ca- tholic Church, in which Jesus Christ is present in the sacred tabernacle, and in which our prayers go up to heaven and the grace of God descends upon us. § 17. Jacob returns to Palestine . He is pursued by Laban. His meeting and reconciliation with Esau. God renews His promises to Jacob. Years had passed on, and God had prospered Jacob. He had become enriched in substance, so that Laban’s sons began to grow jealous of him. Jacob, perceiving this, called Rachel and Lia his wives to him ; and tell- ing them that the minds of their father Laban and of his sons were turned against them, he said also, 4 The Lord hath appeared to me, saying, Return into the land of thy father and to thy kindred, and I will be with thee.’ It was therefore agreed that they should at once depart. So when La- ban was gone to shear his sheep, they departed in haste. On the third day it was told to Laban that Jacob was fled; whereupon he pursued hotly after him for seven days, and overtook him in the Mount of Galaad. But God appeared in a dream to Laban, saying, 4 Speak not anything harshly against Jacob.’ Laban then came to Jacob, and complaining that he had run away privately without cause, said that God had never- theless warned him to do no harm, but that Jacob had done very wrong to steal and carry off his gods. Jacob, not knowing that Rachel had stolen and carried off her father’s idols, said, 4 Search ; and if thou find any of the things with me, carry them away.’ How Rachel had hid care- fully the idols ; and when Laban’s search turned out in vain, J acob, being angry, said to Laban, 4 Bor wliat fault of mine, and for what offence on my part, hast thou so hotly pursued after me, and searched all my house- hold stuff? What hast thou found of all the substance of thy house? Lay it here before my brethren and thy brethren, and let them judge be- 38 tween me and thee. Have I therefore been with thee twenty years, and kept thy flocks ? Of that which was torn by beasts I made good all the damage ; and whatsoever was lost by theft, thou didst exact it of me. By day I was consumed with heat, and by night with frost, and sleep departed from my eyes ; and in this manner I served thee for twenty years, and thou hast changed my wages ten times. Unless the God of my father Abraham and the fear of Isaac had stood by me, perhaps now thou I hadst sent me away naked ; but God beheld my affliction, and rebuked I thee yesterday/ Laban was satisfied, kissed his sons and daughters and 1 blessed them, and returned to his place ; and Jacob called the name of the place Galaad. Jacob now greatly feared the meeting between himself and his bro- ther Esau ; and he said, ‘ 0 God of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac ; 0 Lord, who saidst unto me, Beturn unto thy land, and to the place of thy birth, and I will do well for thee ; — I am not worthy of the least of all Thy mercies, and of Thy truth, which Thou hast ful- filled to Thy servant. With my staff I passed over this Jordan, and now I return with two companies. Deliver me from the hand of my brother Esau, for I am greatly afraid of him ; lest, perhaps, he come and kill the mother with the children. Thou didst say that Thou wouldst do well by me, and multiply my seed like the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude/ Jacob arose the following morning, and divided all his cattle into droves ; and commanded the servants who drove them, in case they fell in with Esau, to say that they were being sent forward as a present from Jacob to my lord Esau, and that Jacob was coming after them. Eor he said, ‘ I will appease him with presents that go before, and after that I will see him ; perhaps he will be gracious unto me/ So the presents went on before, but he himself remained in the tents. And Jacob, lifting up his eyes, saw Esau coming, and with him four hundred men. And he divided his children into different companies, putting Kachel and Joseph last, and went forward, and bowed down with his face to the ground seven times, until his brother came near. Then Esau ran to meet his brother, and embraced him, and clasping him fast about the neck, and kissing him, wept. And lifting up his eyes, he saw the women and their children, and said, ‘What mean these? Do they belong to thee?’ He answered, ‘They are the children which God hath given to me thy servant/ Esau was awe-struck at the sight of the mul- titude which accompanied Jacob, and said, ‘ Let us go on together, and I will accompany thee on thy journey/ And Jacob said, ‘My lord, thou knowest that I have with me tender children, and sheep and kine with young, which if I should cause to be overdriven, in one day all the flocks will die. May it please my lord to go on before his servant, and I will follow softly after him, as I shall see my children able, till I come to my lord in Seir/ So Esau returned that day the way that he came to Seir. J acob and all his people now dwelt in the land of Isaac his father. 89 And perceiving the idols that had been brought away from Laban’s house, Jacob destroyed them all, and buried them under a tree which is behind the city of Sichem. He then moved forward to Bethel, where he built an altar to the Lord. And God appeared to Jacob and blessed him again, saying, ‘Thou shalt not be called any more Jacob, but ISRAEL shall be thy name. I am God Almighty; increase and be multiplied. Nations and people shall be born from thee, and kings shall be thy children. And the land which I gave to Abraham I will give to thee, and to thy seed after thee.’ Jacob departed from Bethel and journeyed towards Ephrata. Here Benjamin his youngest son was born. Rachel his mother died in child- birth, and Jacob buried her by the wayside. Esau having received the blessing, ‘ Thou shalt live by the sword.’ is a figure of the civil ruler or state, of which St. Paul says, ‘ He beareth not the sword in vain.’ The civil state is often awed by the multitude and order of the people of the Church, and then desires to render its good offices and to be the companion of Jacob’s way. God intends that the state should he united with the Church, of which union the friendship of Esau with Jacob is the figure. THIS RECONCILIATION BETWEEN THE BROTHERS ESAU AND JACOB. 40 § 18. Joseph incurs the hatred of his brethren in his father's house , and is sold into Egypt. Isaac died in a good old age, and was buried by his sons Jacob and Esau. Jacob remained in the land of Canaan, in which his father Isaac had dwelt; and he had twelve sons, among whom was Joseph, then six- teen years old. J oseph was one day witness of some bad conduct on the part of his brethren, and on his return home he told all that he had seen to his father. Eor this reason, and because they saw that his father loved him more than all his other sons, his brethren began to hate him, and could never speak a peaceable word to him. About this time Joseph had a remarkable dream, which he told to his brothers, and which caused them to hate him still more. ‘ Hear my dream,’ said he to them, ‘ which I have dreamed. I thought we were binding sheaves in the field ; and my sheaf arose, as it were, and stood ; JOSEPH TELLS HIS DREAMS TO HIS BRETHREN. and your sheaves standing about bowed down before my sheaf.’ His brethren answered, ‘ Shalt thou be our king, or shall we be subject to thy dominion'?’ And they hated him still more on account of his dream. Soon after this J oseph dreamed another dream, which he told in the 41 same way to his brethren. ‘I saw in a dream, as it were, the sun and the moon and eleven stars worshipping me.’ When his father heard the dream, he rebuked Joseph, and said, ‘ What meaneth this dream that thou hast dreamed ? Shall I and thy mother and thy brethren come to bow down to thee?’ The hatred and envy of his brethren had now reached its height ; his father, however, considered over within himself all that had come to pass. Joseph’s brethren had now gone to feed their flocks to some distance from the place where Jacob had fixed his tents, when Jacob called Joseph, and said to him, ‘Thy brethren are feeding the flocks inSichem; go and see if all things be well with thy brethren and the cattle, and bring me word again what is doing/ As J oseph drew near, his brethren said one to another, ‘ Behold, here comes this dreamer of dreams ; come, let us kill him, and throw him into some old well; and we will say, Some beast of prey must have devoured him; and then we shall see what goodwill come of all his dreams/ His brother Buben, hearing this, did his best to save his life, and said, ‘ Shed no blood ; but throw him into this pit, and keep your hands harmless/ This he said with the intention of saving him from death, and of afterwards restoring him safe to his father. As soon as Joseph came up to his brethren, they seized him, tore off his back his coat of many colours which his father had made for him, and threw him down into an old well, in which there was no water. They then sat down to eat ; but Buben left their company to plan how to save his brother. As Joseph’s brethren were seated at their meal, they saw a company oflsmaelites on their way, coming from Galaad with their camels, carrying spices, balm, and myrrh into Egypt. And Juda said to his bre- thren, ‘What good will it do us to kill our brother, and conceal his blood? It is better that he should be sold to the Ismaelites, and that our hands be not defiled ; for he is our brother and our flesh/ To this they all agreed ; and as the Madianite merchants passed by, they drew J oseph up from the bottom of the well or dry cistern, and sold him to the Is- maelites for twenty pieces of silver. Joseph was now taken off by these merchants down to Egypt, to be sold as a slave. After this, Joseph’s brethren took a goat from the flocks and killed it, and dipping Joseph’s coat in it, they sent it by a messenger to Jacob, bidding him say, that it was what they had found, and that they wished him to see whether it was his son Joseph’s coat or not. Jacob knew the coat again in a moment, and cried out, ‘ It is my son’s coat ; an evil beast has eaten him up; a beast has devoured Joseph.’ And tearing his garments, he put on sackcloth, and passed many days in deep mourning, refusing all comfort from his children, who gathered round him to con- sole him, and saying, ‘I will go down into the grave to my son mourning/ Joseph, hated by his brethren on account of his love of virtue and inno- cence, and sold by them for a slave into the land of Egypt, is a striking figure of Jesus Christ hated by His own people on account of His love of justice and sanctity, and delivered up by them bound into the hands of the Roman go- vernor, Pontius Pilate 42 § 19. Joseph in the house of Putiphar and in the prison of the captain of the soldiers. The dreams of the chief butter and the chief baker. J oseph was brought in safety into Egypt by the Ismaelites who had bought him of his brethren, and was sold by them to Putiphar, an Egyp- tian of rank in the court of Pharao king of Egypt, and a chief captain in his army. God, however, was with Joseph as a servant inPutiphar’s house, and made all that he did to prosper. His master soon saw that God was with him, and he intrusted the care of his household entirely to Joseph; so that he knew nothing more of his property than what he saw each day set out on the table before him. Joseph was a youth of remarkable beauty of appearance, and Puti- phar’s wife began to form an unlawful affection for him, and to seek an opportunity to persuade him to commit a great sin. Joseph was often tempted by her to commit this sin, but refused to consent, saying, 4 Be- hold, my master hath delivered all things to me, and knoweth not what he hath in his own house, and has kept nothing back from me except thee, because thou art his wife; how, then, can I do this wicked thing, and sin against God T But as she continued to importune him day by day, and Joseph still persisted in his refusal, it happened on a certain day that J oseph was engaged in his duties as steward of the house, and she, finding him alone, seized hold of his cloak, and repeated her wicked proposal. J oseph, leaving his cloak in her hand, fled out of the room, and left her by herself. As she saw the cloak thus left in her hands, and her wicked proposal treated with contempt, full of rage and disappoint- ment, she raised a cry that brought all the servants of the house around her, and showing them the cloak that remained in her hands, she said, 4 See what sort of a Hebrew man my husband has brought into the house ; he came in to offer me violence ; and when I cried out as loud as I could he was afraid, and left the garment that I had seized hold of in my hand, and has escaped/ When Putiphar returned the same even- ing, she showed him Joseph’s cloak; and repeating her false and shame- ful story, her husband believed her, and became very angry. He imme- diately cast J oseph into the prison of the captain of the soldiers, where he remained shut up with the rest of the king’s prisoners. J oseph was now in prison with the other Egyptian criminals ; but God, who never forsakes the innocent, was with him in the prison equally as before in Putiphar’ s house, and caused him to find such favour with the chief keeper of the prison, that he committed all the prisoners to his. care ; and nothing was done in the prison without the knowledge of Jo- seph. In a word, the master of the prison left everything to Joseph, and did not trouble himself farther either about it or the prisoners, so complete was the confidence which he had in Joseph. About this time it happened that two persons of the household of King Pharao, the chief butler and the chief baker, offended their master, and were put into the same prison where Joseph was kept a prisoner. 43 The keeper of the prison gave them into the care of Joseph, who waited upon them. They had been some time in the prison under his care, when one morning, as he came to visit them, he found them looking more sad and melancholy than usual. He asked them what was the cause of their appearing to be so sorrowful. They both replied, that each had dreamed a dream, and they had no one to interpret it. Joseph answered, ‘To in- terpret dreams belongs to God ; let me hear what it is that you have dreamed. ’ The chief butler began to tell his dream : ‘ I saw before me a vine, on which were three branches, that little by little sent out buds ; and after blossoms had come, it brought forth ripe grapes. And the cup of Pharao was in my hand ; and I^took the grapes, and pressed them into the cup which I held, and I gave the cup to Pharao.’ Joseph answered, ‘This is the interpretation of the dream. The three branches are three days ; after which Pharao will remember thy services, and will restore thee to thy former place ; and thou shalt present him the cup according to thy office as before. Only remember me when it shall be well with thee, and do me this kindness, to put Pharao in mind to take me out of this prison; for I was stolen away out of the land of the Hebrews, and here, without any fault of mine, am cast into this dungeon.’ The chief baker, seeing that Joseph had wisely interpreted the dream, said, ‘ My dream was this : I dreamed that I had three baskets of meal upon my head, and that in one basket which w r as uppermost I carried all manner of baked meats, and that the birds ate out of it.’ Joseph answered, ‘ This is the interpretation of the dream. The three baskets are three days ; after which Pharao shall take thy head from thee, and hang thee on a tree, and the birds shall eat thy flesh.’ Three days after this fell the birthday of Pharao, and he made a great feast for his servants, and at the banquet he remembered the chief butler and the chief baker. He restored the one to his place to present the cup to him, but the other he hanged upon a gibbet, according to Joseph’s interpretation of the dreams. The chief butler, however, when he was restored, did not remember Joseph, who had interpreted his dream. Joseph in the prison, with the two offenders of Pharao’s court by his side, one of whom is restored to favour and the other perishes, is a figure of Jesus on the Cross between two thieves, one of whom receives the grace he implores, and the other perishes, § 20. Pharao's dream , and Joseph's delivery from prison . Joseph remained shut up in the prison for two years after this, until if happened that Pharao had a dream. Pharao dreamed that he stood by the river, out of -which came up seven kine, very beautiful and fat, and they fed in the ground near the river that had been overflowed. Other seven kine also came out of the river, ill-favoured and lean-fleshed, and they fed on the green places on the bank of the river itself ; and the seven lean kine came and ate up the seven well-favoured and fat kine. And Pharao awoke. He fell asleep again, and dreamed that he 44 saw seven ears of corn come up upon one stalk, full and fair ; then seven other ears sprang up, thin and withered, and devoured the seven fine and full ears. And Pharao awoke from his sleep. And in the morn- ing, being struck with fear, he sent for all the wise men and interpreters of dreams in his kingdom to interpret to him the meaning of the dream ; but none of them were able to interpret it. At length the chief butler, remembering Joseph in the prison, said, in the pre- sence of all who were assembled, 4 1 con- fess my sin ; when my lord the king was angry with his servants, and commanded me and the chief baker to be cast into the prison of the captain of the soldiers, in the same night we both dreamed a dream. In the prison at the time there was a young man, a Hebrew, a servant of the captain of the soldiers, to whom we told our dreams, which he interpreted to us ; for I was restored to my office, and the chief baker was hanged upon a gibbet.’ Forthwith Pharao commanded Joseph to be taken out of the prison ; and he was shaved and dressed, and brought into their presence. Pharao then spoke to him, and said, 4 1 have dreamed dreams, and there is no one in my kingdom that can interpret them for me. I have heard that thou canst interpret dreams wisely.’ Joseph replied, 4 1 cannot in- terpret dreams ; but God shall give Pharao the answer he desires.’ The king then told Joseph his two dreams — of the seven fat and lean kine, and the seven full and withered ears of corn. Joseph then spoke, and said, 4 The king’s dreams are one ; God hath shown to Pharao what He is about to do. The seven fat kine and the seven full ears are seven years of plenty ; and the seven lean and thin kine that came up after them, and the seven thin ears that were blasted with the east wind, are seven years of famine, which are to come. They shall be fulfilled in this order : there shall be seven years exceedingly fruitful in the land of Egypt, which shall be followed by seven years of scarcity, such that they shall consume all that was over and above of the seven years of plenty. And that the king saw two dreams of the like meaning, this signifies that the word of God shall be speedily fulfilled. How, therefore, let the king look out for some wise and discreet man, and make him ruler over the land of Egypt, that he may appoint overseers, and gather up into storehouses the abundance of the years of plenty, that the people of the land be not consumed with famine during the seven years of scarcity.’ This counsel pleased Pharao and all his servants. And he rose and said to his servants, 4 Can we, find such another man filled with the spirit of God f And when none replied, turning to Joseph, he said, 45 * Seeing God hath showed thee all thou hast said, can I find one wiser and like to thee ? Thou shalt he over my house, and thy word all the people shall obey; only in the throne will I be before thee.’ And he took his own ring from his hand, put upon him a robe of fine linen, and a chain of gold round his neck, and caused him to mount up into the second royal chariot, and ordered the crier to go before him, pro- claiming to all the people that they should bow the knee, and know that Joseph was made governor over the whole land of Egypt. More- over he changed his name, and called him in the Egyptian languago ‘ Saviour of, the World.’ Joseph, in his delivery from prison and exaltation to great dignity, is a figure of Jesus in His insurrection from the dead, and His reception of a Name which is above every name. §21. Joseph's brethren come dozen into the land of Egypt to buy food . The seven years of plenty were now come, as Joseph had foretold; and so great was the abundance of wheat, that it was like the sand on the sea-shore. Joseph lost no time in taking his measures to have the storehouses prepared, and the grain that was over and above safely laid JOSEPH GATHERS THE CORN OF EGYPT INTO GRANARIES. 46 up in them in every city, with proper overseers appointed to see that the corn was kept in safety. And a great abundance of grain by these means was laid up in every city. The seven years of plenty passed away, and the seven years of scarcity foretold by J oseph came in their place ; and the famine began to prevail in the whole world ; but there was bread in the land of Egypt. And when the people were famished for want of food, they came to Pharao, and he said to them, ‘Go to Joseph, and do all that he shall say to you.’ In the land of Canaan also the scarcity began to be felt. And Jacob said to his sons, ‘ Why are you so thoughtless ? I have heard that there is corn in Egypt. Go down thither, and buy for us what we require, that we be not consumed with want/ So ten of Joseph’s brethren went down to buy corn in Egypt. But Jacob kept Benjamin, the youngest son, at home ; for he said, ‘ Lest perhaps he take any harm on the jour- ney.’ When they came into Egypt they soon found that corn could be obtained from none but Joseph. So when they had come into his pre- sence, they all bowed themselves before him ; and Joseph knew his brethren again, and the dreams that he had dreamed when a boy came back into his mind. Hot to betray to them that he knew who they were, he spoke roughly to them, and asked whence they came. They answered, ‘ From the land of Canaan, to buy food, that we may live.’ Joseph answered, ‘ Ye are spies ; you are come to see the weak parts of the land.’ They said, ‘ It is not so, my lord ; but thy servants are come to buy food. We are all sons of one man; we are peaceable men. Heither are thy servants bent upon any evil.’ Joseph replied, ‘ It is not so ; but ye are come to spy out the unfenced parts of the land.’ They replied, ‘ Thy servants are twelve brethren, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan ; the youngest is with our father, the other is not living.’ Joseph answered, ‘This is the very thing I said. Ye are spies : by this I will presently prove you ; for, by the life of the king, you shall not depart hence until your youngest brother is come. Send one of yourselves to fetch him ; and the rest of you shall stay in prison until what you have said be proved, whether it is true or false ; or else, by the life of Pharao, you , are spies.’ And Joseph put them all in prison for three days. On their way they talked to one another, and said,' 1 We deserve to suffer these things, because we have sinned against our brother, seeing the anguish of his soul when he besought us, and we would not hear ; therefore is this affliction come upon us.’ Euben re- minded them, ‘ Did not I say to you, Do the boy no harm ? and ye would not hear me. Behold, his blood is required from us.’ When the three days were over, J oseph took them out of prison and sent them home, keeping Simeon still bound. On their way home, one of them opened his sack to give his beast provender, and was surprised to find his money in the mouth of the sack. When the rest saw it, they were equally astonished and troubled, and they said one to another, ‘ What is this that God hath done to us V And when they came to their 47 father Jacob, they told him that the governor of Egypt had taken them for spies, had put them into prison for three days, and at last had kept their brother Simeon a prisoner, as surety for their promise that they would bring their youngest brother Benjamin with them when they next came to buy food in Egypt. Their father Jacob said, 4 You have made me to be without children; Joseph is not living, Simeon is kept in bonds, Benjamin you will take away ; all these evils are fallen upon me. My son shall not go down with you ; his brother is dead, and he is left alone ; if any mischief befall him in the land to which you go, you will bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to the grave.’ Joseph,, dispensing the corn of the land of Egypt, is a figure of Jesus Christ feeding the nations of the world with the bread of the Holy Eucharist. § 22. Joseph's brethren go down into Egypt the second time. The silver cup is found in the sack of Benjamin. Joseph makes himself known. In the mean time the famine began to be still heavier in the land of Canaan ; and when they had eaten up all the corn they had brought out of Egypt, Jacob said to his sons, 4 Go again, and buy us a little food.’ Juda answered, 4 The man declared to us with an oath, saying, You shall not see my face, unless you bring your youngest brother with you. If, therefore, thou send him with us, we will set out together and buy ne- cessaries for thee. But if not, we will not go ; for the man declared, saying, You shall not see my face without your youngest brother. Send the boy with me, and if I bring him not safe back,"l will be guilty of sin against thee for ever. If there had not been this delay, we shoidd have been there and back again by this time.’ J oseph’s brethren then set out and came safely down into Egypt, with Benjamin in their company. When Joseph heard that Benjamin was with them, he commanded his steward, saying, 4 Bring the men into the house, and kill and prepare a feast, for they shall eat with me at noon.’ The steward did as Joseph commanded, and bid them come into the house. Joseph’s brethren began to be afraid because they were brought into the house ; but the steward answered, 4 Peace be with you; fear not.’ And he brought out Simeon to them. They then made ready their pre- sents against Joseph’s coming at noon, for they had heard that they were to dine with J oseph. When J oseph came into the house, they presented themselves before him ; and holding their gifts in their hands, bowed down with their faces to the ground. Joseph, courteously saluting them, again asked them, saying, 4 Is the old man, your father, in health, of whom you told me ? is he still living'?’ And they answered, 4 Thy servant, our father, is in health ; he is yet living.’ And bowing themselves, they made obeisance before him. Joseph now observed Benjamin, his brother by the same mother, and said, 4 Is this your younger brother, of whom you told me V And he said, 4 God be gracious to thee, my son.’ And he made haste to leave the room, for his heart was moved towards his brother, and the tears gushed out ; and going into his chamber, he wept there. Belrain- 48 ing himself, however, he washed his face, and returned, and said, 4 Set bread on the table/ This was done, setting for Joseph apart by himself and for his brethren. Joseph’s brethren were surprised at finding that they were served each according to his age, the firstborn according to his birthright, and so on to the youngest, until it came to Benjamin’s turn, who received a portion that exceeded those set before his brethren by five times. They wondered much at all they saw ; but yet they feasted and made merry with Joseph. When the feast was over, Joseph com- manded his steward, saying, 4 Fill their sacks with corn, as much as they can hold, and put every man’s money in the mouth of his sack, and in the mouth of the sack of the youngest put my silver cup and the price which he gave for the wheat.’ This was done ; and when the morning came they were sent away with their asses. And after they had gone a little way out of the city, Joseph sent for the steward of his house, and said, 4 Arise, and pursue after the men, and when thou hast overtaken them, say to them, Why have you returned evil for good h The cup which you have stolen is that in which my lord drinketh, and in which he is wont to divine : you have done a very evil thing.’ The steward did as he was commanded. And when he had overtaken them, he spoke to them what Joseph had told him to say. They replied, * Why doth our lord speak thus of his servants ] The money that we found in the top of our sacks we brought back to thee from the land of Canaan ; how, then, should it be that we should steal out of thy lord’s house gold or silver] With whomsoever of thy servants shall be found that which thou seekest, let him die ; and we will be the bondmen of my lord.’ And he said to them, 4 Let it be according as you say : with whom- soever it shall be found, let him be my servant, and you shall be blame- less.’ Then they speedily took down their sacks to the ground, and every man opened his sack. The steward searched them through all in order, beginning with the first ; and when he came last to Benjamin’s sack, the cup was found in it. Then they rent their garments, and reloading their asses, returned into the town, and went before Joseph, with Juda at their head, and fell down at his feet. Joseph said to them, 4 Why have ye done this evil ? Know ye not that such a man as I could divine this thing that ye have done ]’ Juda said to him, 4 What shall we answer to my lord ] God has found out the iniquity of thy servants ; behold, we are all bondsmen to my lord, both we and he with whom the cup was found.’ Joseph replied, 4 God forbid that I should do so ; he that stole the cup, he shall be my bondsman, and go you away free to your father.’ Then Juda, coming nearer to Joseph, said boldly, 4 1 beseech thee, my lord, let thy servant speak a word in thine ears, and be not angry with thy servant, for after Pharao thou art the next. Let me be thy bonds- man, seeing that I took him into my trust, promising my father, saying, If I bring him not again, I will be guilty of sin against my father for ever. Therefore I, thy servant, will stay instead of the boy in the service of my lord, and let the boy go up with his brethren ; for I cannot return 49 to my father without the hoy, lest I witness the evil calamity that shall come upon my father/ Joseph could no longer refrain himself before those who stood by, and he commanded that all should go out, and no stranger be present at his making himself known to them. And he lifted up his voice, and wept so loud, that the Egyptians, and all who were in the house of Pharao, heard. And he said to his brethren, 4 1 am Joseph ; is my father yet living V His brethren could not answer him for fear. And he said mildly to them, 4 Come nearer to me/ And when they were come nearer to him, he said, 4 1 am Joseph your brother, whom you sold into Egypt. Be not afraid ; let it not seem to you a hard thing that you sold me into these countries ; for God sent me before you into Egypt for your pre- servation. It is two years since the famine began to be upon the land, and live years more remain, in which there can be neither ploughing nor reaping ; and God sent me before, that you might be preserved and might have food to live. Hot by your counsel was I sent hither, but by the will of God, who hath made me, as it were, a father to Pharao, and lord of his house, and governor over the whole land of Egypt. Make haste and go ye up to my father, and say to him, Thus saith thy son Joseph, God hath made me lord of the whole land of Egypt ; come down to me ; linger not. And thou shalt dwell in the land of Gessen, and thou shalt be near me, thou and thy sons, and thy sons’ sons, thy sheep and thy herds, and all things that thou hast. And there I will feed thee ; for there are yet five years of famine remaining ; lest both thou perish, and thy house, and all that thou hast. Behold your eyes, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin, see that it is my mouth that speak eth to you. You shall tell my father of all my glory, and all things that you have seen in Egypt : make haste and bring him to me/ And falling upon his brother Benjamin’s neck, he kissed him, and wept ; and Benjamin, in like manner, wept upon his neck. And Joseph, in like manner, kissed all his brethren, and wept upon every one of them ; after which they were emboldened to speak with him. Joseph making himself known to his brethren, and their embracing him, is a figure of the whole Hebrew people throughout the world, in the times that are to come, falling down and adoring Jesus Christ whom their forefathers crucified, and becoming the servants and preachers of His gospel throughout the world. §23. Jacob comes to dioell in the land of Egypt. Ilis last progrfiecies and death . The mourning for him , and his burial in the land pro- mised to his seed (b.c. 1875). The death of Joseph (b.c. 1821). Whbn Joseph’s brethren had returned home, they came before their father and cried to him, saying, 4 Joseph thy son is living, and he is mler in all the land of Egypt/ When Jacob heard this he awoke as it were out of a deep sleep, and did not believe them. They, on the other hand, repeated all that had come to pass; and when Jacob saw all the wagons aiid all that Joseph had sent, his spirit revived and he E 50 said, 4 It is enough for me if Joseph my son he yet living; I will go and see him before I die.’ As Jacob was journeying down to Egypt, he offered sacrifice to the God of his father Isaac by the well called Bersabee, and heard Him in a vision of the night calling to him and saying, ‘ Jacob, Jacob.’ And he answered Him, ‘ Lo, here I am.’ And God said to him, 4 1 am the most mighty God of thy father ; fear not ; go down into Egypt ; for I will make a great nation of thee there. And I will go down with thee thither, and will bring thee back again from thence. Joseph also shall put his hands upon thine eyes.’ Jacob continued his journey, and sent on Juda before him to tell Joseph that he would meet him in the land of Gessen ; and when he was come thither Joseph made ready his chariot and went to meet his father in the same place ; and seeing him, he fell upon his neck, and embracing him, wept. And his father said to Joseph, ‘ Now shall I die with joy; for I have seen thy face and leave thee alive/ After this meeting with his son Joseph, Jacob was presented by Jo- seph to Pharao ; and Jacob blessed Pharao. The king asked him, ‘ How many are the days of the years of thy life V J acob answered, 4 The days of the years of my pilgrimage are a hundred and thirty years, few and evil ; and they are not come up to the days of the pilgrimage of my fathers/ Jacob again blessed the king, and went away, and lived in the land of Gessen, and multiplied exceedingly, receiving an allowance of food from Joseph during all the years of the famine. Jacob, perceiving that his end was drawing nigh, called for all his sons to come into his presence ; and he blessed each in his turn, fore- telling what was to happen to their descendants. To Juda he gave the special and peculiar promise of being the forefather of the Messias : ‘ The sceptre shall not he taken away from Juda , nor a ruler from before him , till He come that is to be sent ; and He shall be the expectation of the nations / Again he said to all his sons, 6 I am going to be gathered to my people : bury me with my fathers in the double cave which is in the field of Ephron the Hethite, over against Mambre in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought, together with the field, of Ephron the Hethite, for a possession to bury in. There they buried him, and Sara his wife ; there was Isaac buried, with Rebecca his wife ; there doth Lia also lie buried/ And when he had ended giving his last instructions to his sons, he gathered his feet into the bed, and expired. Joseph obtained permission of Pharao to bury his father as he had commanded in the land of Palestine, and a great mourning was made for him in the land of Egypt for seventy days. When they had returned from the burying, Joseph’s brethren, being afraid now that their father was dead, sent to him saying, ‘ We pray thee to forgive the servants of the God of thy father their wickedness.’ And when Joseph heard this, he wept. His brethren came before him, and fell on their faces to the 51 ground, saying, ‘We arc thy servants/ But Joseph comforted them, and spoke mildly to them, saying, ‘ Bear not ; can we resist the will of God ? You thought evil against me ; hut God has turned it into good, that He might exalt me, as at present you see, and might save many people. Bear not ; I will feed you and your children/ The time was now come for Joseph to die ; he had lived to the ago of one hundred and ten years, and had seen the children of Ephraim to the third generation. At his death he called his brethren, and said, ‘ God will visit you after my death, and will make you go up out of this land to the land which He swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob/ And he made his. brethren swear to him, saying, ‘When God shall visit you, carry my bones with you out of this place/ After this, he died, and was embalmed, and laid in a stone coffin in Egypt. The words of Joseph to his brethren recall to mind the words of St. Peter’s sermon in the Temple : ‘ Let all the house of Israel know most certainly that God has made both Lord and Christ this same Jesus whom you have cruci- fied. Do penance, and be baptised every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of your sins.’ § 24. The history of Job the Idumean. Between the death of Joseph and the birth of Moses, there lived in Hus, in the land of Edom, a man named Job, who was simple and up- right, fearing God and avoiding evil. He was exceeding rich in sheep, and camels, and oxen, and was looked upon as a prince among all the people of the East. He had sons and daughters, who feasted with each other, each in their turn ; and Job their father, when the days of their feasting were over, would rise up early in the morning and offer sacri- fices for every one of them ; for he said, ‘ Lest perhaps my sons have sinned, and have cursed God in their hearts/ But this prosperity was not to last ; evil days were to come, and the holy Job was to be tried. On a certain day, when the sons of God came to stand before the Lord, Satan was among them, and the Lord said to him, ‘ Hast thou considered My servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a simple and upright man, fearing God and avoiding evil V Satan answering said, ‘Doth Job serve God in vain? Hast Thou not blessed the works of his hands, and increased his possessions upon the earth? # But put forth Thine hand and touch all that he hath, and see if he will not curse Thee to Thy face/ And the Lord said to Satan, ‘Behold, all that he hath is in thy hand, only touch not thou his life/ And Satan went forth from the presence of the Lord. Upon a certain day, when his sons and daughters were feasting in the house of their eldest brother, there came a messenger to Job, and said, ‘ The oxen were ploughing, and the asses feeding beside them, and the Sabeeans rushed in and took all away, slaying the servants with the sword ; and I alone have escaped to tell thee/ As he was speaking, another came and said, ‘ The fire of God is fallen upon the sheep, and hath consumed them ; and I alone have escaped to tell thee/ A third 52 messenger came and said, that the Chaldeans had come and had fallen upon the camels and the servants, and that he alone had escaped to bring word. As he was still speaking, a fourth came and said, ‘ Thy sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in the house of their elder brother, and a violent wind came on a sudden from the side of the desert, and shook the four corners of the house, and it fell upon thy children ; and they are dead.’ Then Job rose up and rent his garments, and having shaven his head, fell down upon the ground and worshipped, and said, i Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither : the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away ; as it hath pleased the Lord, so is it done : blessed be the name of the Lord P Job’s trials were not over : Satan was permitted to strike Job with a very grievous ulcer, from the sole of the feet even to the top of his head ; so that he took a potsherd and scraped him- self, sitting on a dunghill. And his wife said to him, ‘ Dost thou continue in thy simplicity? Curse God, and die !’ And Job said to her, ‘ Thou hast spoken like one of the foolish women ; if we have received good things at the hands of God, why should we not receive evil?’ Job had three friends, Eliphaz the Temanite, Ealdad the Shuh- ite, and Sophar the .Naamathite, who, hearing of the evil that had befallen him, made an appointment to come together to visit him and comfort him. And when they had lifted up their eyes afar off, they knew him not, and crying out they wept, and rending their garments they sprinkled dust upon their heads towards heaven. And 53 they sat with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and no man spoke to him a word ; for they saw that his grief was very great. Job at length gave utterance to his grief : 4 Let the day perish wherein I was born ; let it be turned into darkness ; let not God regard it from above, and let not the light shine upon it. Why did I not die in the womb ? Why was I nursed upon the knees ? And why was I suckled at the breast? For now I should have been asleep and still. Why is light given to him that is in misery, and life to them that are in bitterness of soul ?’ Job’s friends, instead of consoling him and helping him to bear his calamity, each in succession attempt to prove to him, that afflic- tions and sufferings are always the punishment of sins. They insist, in a harsh unfeeling manner, that he should confess himself to have been guilty, and to have brought all his sufferings upon himself by his own fault. Job as stoutly asserts his innocence, and calls God to be the witness of his uprightness. 6 When I went out to the gate of the city,’ exclaims Job, 4 the young men saw me and hid themselves, the old men rose up and stood. The ear that heard me blessed me, and the eye that saw me gave witness to me ; the blessing of him that was ready to perish came upon me, and I comforted the heart of the widow. I was clad with justice, and I clothed myself with my judgment as with a rose and a diadem. I was an eye to the blind and a foot to the lame ; I was the father of the poor, and the cause which I knew not I searched out most diligently ; I broke the jaws of the wicked, and out of their teeth I took away the prey ; and I was a comforter of them that mourned. But now the younger men scorn me, whose fathers I would not have set with the dogs of my flock ; I am turned into their song, and am become their byeword ; for God hath opened His quiver and hath afflicted me, and hath put a bridle in my mouth. I am brought to nothing ; as a w T ind Thou hast taken away my desire, and my prosperity hath passsed away like a cloud. And now my soul fadeth within myself, and the days of affliction possess me. I am become the brother of dragons and the com- panion of ostriches.’ Thus Job justified himself against the accusations of his three friends, who ceased to answer him, because he seemed just to himself. On then’ ceasing to speak, a fourth friend, Elihu by name, who had been patiently listening, begins to address Job in much the same strain. 4 For Job hath said, 44 I am just, and God hath overthrown my judgment.” What man is there like Job, who drinketh up scorning like water?’ At length God Himself becomes umpire in the dispute, and condescends to reason with Job, to show him that he came out of nothing, and that he ought to be satisfied to commit himself to the hands of his Maker. And the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said, 4 Who is this that w T rappeth up sentences in unskilful words ? Answer Me : Where wast thou when I laid the foundation of the world ; when the morning stars praised Me together, and all the sons of God made a joyful melody ?’ And the Lord said to Job, 4 Surely he that reproveth God ought to answer 54 Him 1 ?’ The holy Job was convinced, and exclaimed, ‘ I have spoken unwisely, and of things that above measure exceeded my knowledge. With the hearing of the ear I have heard Thee, but now mine eye seeth Thee ; therefore I reprehend myself, and do penance in dust and ashes.’ In reward of the humility of his servant, the Lord blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning. And he had fourteen thousand sheep and six thousand camels ; a thousand yoke of oxen and a thou- sand asses ; and he had seven sons and three daughters. And Job lived after these things a hundred and forty years, and he saw his children and his children’s children unto the fourth generation, and he died an old man, full of days. Job is a figure of Jesus Christ not only in respect of the power which was given to Satan to afflict and bruise Him from head to foot, but also in respect of the reproaches of His own people. In the midst of these Jesus endured His burden of sorrow all His life long, and especially during His agony on the Cross. From the history of Job we learn the extent of the power to do harm that is permitted to the Devil, and the reason of the powers of blessing granted to the Church by way of protection. The Fourth Era of the World (Second of Jewish History THE WONDERFUL DEALINGS OF GOD WITH HIS CHOSEN HEBREW NATION, FROM THEIR MIRACULOUS DELIVERANCE OUT OF THE BONDAGE OF EGYPT DOWN TO THE BUILDING OF THE FIRST TEMPLE. (the sixth hour oe the parable of the labourers in the vineyard.) From b.c. 1570 to b.c. 1010, containing : I. The Deliverance of the Children of Israel out of Egypt (80 years). II. The Wandering in the Wilderness, the Giving of the Law, the Institution of the Service of the Tabernacle, and the Priesthood of Aaron (40 years). III. The Conquest and Division of the Land of Canaan under Josue (40 years). IV. The Judges of Israel, or the falling away of Israel into Idolatry (340 years). Y. The Election of Saul to be King, to the Temple of Solomon (60 years). First Subdivision.— The Deliverance out of Egypt (80 years). § 25. Outline of the plan of God to save the world. The second era of the history of the chosen Hebrew people differs from the first era, which we have now gone through, in this respect, that hitherto we have seen God taking a single chosen family under His care, and even one member of it in particular, who, though sold as a slave into Egypt, came to be its governor. But as families increase, they come to form a nation or people, and then they require magistrates and laws for their government, public instructors to teach them their duty, and priests to keep up the public worship and service of God. Almighty God had promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob severally, that He would make of them a great nation. The ensuing part of the history, then, will show us how God kept His word, and how He gave His own laws, priests and sacrifices, rulers and teachers, to the family of Jacob whom He had thus multiplied. And when Jesus Christ appears, we shall sea how He gave His Gospel of mercy, with its holy sacrifice and apostolic ministry, no longer to be confined to the Hebrew people only, but as a free gift to all nations of the entire world. Thus the work of God will be seen to move forward step by step. First comes the call of the single person named Abraham — then of his family, by circumci- sion — then of the whole people of Israel, as we shall presently see, by the Covenant of Mount Sinai — and lastly, the call of all the people and tribes of the whole world, by baptism, into the one fold of the one true Shepherd, Jesus Christ, the seed promised to Abraham, in whom God foretold that all the nations of the earth should be blest. This advance step by step of the work of God is described by our Lord in the parable of the labourers called at different hours into the vineyard (Matt, xviii.). Those of the first hour are the immediate descendants of Noe, to whom Noe taught the knowledge of God — the labourers of the third hour, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob — the labourers of the sixth hour, Moses and Aaron — the la- bourers of the ninth hour, the Prophets of Israel — while at the eleventh and last hour comes the ministry of the Catholic Church, which is to last to the end of the world. The evening when the labourers were called to receive their hire is the last general judgment, at which all, without exception, will have to appear, to receive either the reward of their labour or the just punishment of their evil deeds. §26. The birth of Moses, the lawgiver and deliverer of Israel, b.c. 1570. Joseph being now dead, the children of Israel grew and multiplied, and became so numerous that they filled the land. In the mean time there arose a new king over Egypt, who knew not Joseph. And he said to his people, ‘ Behold, the children of Israel are become both more numerous and strong than we ; come, let us be wise and oppress them, lest they multiply, and if any war rise up against us, they take sides with our enemies, gain a victory over us, and leave the country/ He therefore ^set over them task-masters to afflict them and to lay burdens upon them, and they built for Pharao the cities of Pithom and Harnesses. But the more they oppressed them, the more they multiplied and in- creased. The Egyptians also hated the children of Israel and mocked them, and made their life bitter with the hard works with which they oppressed them. And Pharao commanded his people, saying, ‘ All the male children that are born, cast them into the river, and save the female children alive/ Some time after this, a man of the tribe of Levi took a wife of his own kindred, and when their first son was born, the mother contrived to hide him for three months ; when, however, she could conceal him no longer, she took a cradle of bulrushes, smeared it with pitch, and putting the little babe into it, she laid him in the sedges by the river’s brink. The little child’s sister remained standing a short distance from the spot, to see what would happen. About this time Pliarao’s daughtei 56 was in the habit of coming down from the palace to bathe, and she and her maids amused themselves by walking on the banks of the river. The cradle caught the eye of the princess, and she went up to it and opened it, and when she found the little babe in- side, she pitied it, and said, 4 This is one of the babes of the Hebrews/ The little child’s sister, who had been looking on, now came up, and asked her, ‘Shall I go and call a Hebrew woman to nurse the child V She said, 4 Go/ The little girl went home at once and brought her own mother, who took the babe and nursed him for Pharao’s daughter. After he was grown, the princess adopted him for her own son, and called him Moses. The infant Moses is a figure of Jesus Christ, who also, while an infant in arms, was saved by His Mother from being murdered by the cruel king Herod. Of Jesus in His youth, also, it is said that He advanced in wisdom, as Moses was brought up in all the wisdom of the Egyptians. § 27. God chooses Moses to deliver His people out of their bondage. St. Paul says, 4 By faith, Moses, when he grew up, denied himself to be the son of Pharao’s daughter, choosing rather to be afflicted with the people of God than to have the pleasures of sin for a time. By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the anger of the king’ (Heb. xi. 24). Moses grew up in the court of king Pharao, having been taught in all the learning of the Egyptians ; but one day, seeing an instance of the bitter oppression of his people, he killed the oppressor with his own hand, and on the deed becoming known, he fled for his life to the wilderness of 57 Arabia. Here he met with Jetliro, a priest of Madian, who received him kindly, having been pleased with him for taking the part of his daughters, and for having helped them to water their flocks at the well, against other shepherds who would have driven them away. Moses married one of Jethro’s daughters, and was keeping the flocks of Jethro when what we have now to relate came to pass. On a certain occasion Moses drove his flocks into the inner parts of the desert, and came to IJoreb, the mountain of God. And the Lord ap- peared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush, and h saw that the bush was on fire and was not burnt. Moses said, ‘ I will go and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt.’ And when the Lord saw that he went forward, He called to him out of the midst of the bush, and said, ‘ Moses, Moses !’ And he answered, ‘ Here I am.* And He said, 1 Come not nigh hither ; put off thy shoes from thy feet; for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.’ And He said, ‘ I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ Moses hid his face ; for he durst not look at God. And the Lord said to him, ‘ I have seen the affliction of My people in Egypt, and I have heard their cry because of the rigour of them that are over the works; and knowing their sorrow, I am come down to deliver them out of the hands of the Egyptians, and to bring them out of that land into a good and spacious land, into a land that flowfth with milk and honey, to the places of the Cha- naanite, the Hethite, the Amorrhite, the Pberezite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite. Eor the cry of the children of Israel is come unto Me ; and I MOSES HIDES HIS FACE, FEARING TO SEE GOD. 58 have seen their affliction, wherewith they are oppressed by the Egyptians. But come, and I will send thee to Pharao, that thou mayst bring forth My people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.’ Moses said, 4 Who am I, that I should go to Pharao V God answered, 4 1 will be with thee.’ Moses said to God, 4 Lo, I shall go to the chil- dren of Israel, and say to them, 44 The God of your fathers hath sent me to you.” If they should say to me, 44 What is Iiis name ?’ what shall I say to them V God said to Moses, 4 1 am who am.’ He said, 4 Thus shalt thou say to the children of Israel : 44 He who is hath sent me to you.” ’ And God said again to Moses, 4 Thus shalt thou say to the children of Israel, 44 The Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of J acob, hath sent me to you.” This is My name for ever, and this is My memorial unto all generations.’ Moses answered and said, . 4 They will not believe me nor hear my voice ; but they will say, 44 The Lord hath not appeared to thee.” ’ Then He said to him, 4 What is that thou holdest in thy hand V He answered, 4 A rod.’ And the Lord said, 4 Cast it down upon the ground.’ Moses cast it down, and it was turned into a serpent, so that Moses fled from it. And the Lord said, 4 Put out thy hand, and take it by the tail.’ He put forth his hand and took hold of it, and it was turned into, a rod again. 4 That they may believe,’ saith He, ‘that the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath appeared to thee.’ Moses pleaded that he was slow of speech, and unfit to go upon such a mission. And God said to him, 4 Who made man’s mouth, or who made the dumb and the deaf, the seeing and the blind T Did not I ? Go therefore, and I will be in thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt speak.’ Moses however en- treated, and God appointed his brother Aaron to be his spokesman. Moses went immediately to Egypt, and was met on the way by his brother Aaron. They called together all the ancients of Israel, and Aaron spoke to them all the words which the Lord had said to Moses, and he wrought the signs before the people. And the people believed, and when they heard that the Lord had visited the children of Israel, and that He had looked upon their affliction, falling down, they adored. The bush -which was on fire without being consumed, in which God was present, and from which He spoke to Moses, is a figure of the Immaculate Vir- gin Mother of God, whose purity shines bright as the fire which Moses saw, and in whom God was present, as in the bush. Thus, in the Vespers of the Feast of the Circumcision, the Church says : ‘ The bush which Moses saw unconsumed we confess to be thy glorious virginity.’ § 28. God sends ten plagues upon the land of Egypt. Moses and Aaron now appeared before Pharao, and said to him, 4 Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, 44 Let My pe^le go, that they may sacrifice to Me in the desert.” ’ Pharao answered, ‘Who is the Lord, that I should hear His voice, and let Israel go h I know not the Lord, neither will I let Israel go. Why do you, Moses and Aaron, draw the 59 people off from tlieir works 'l Get you gone to your burdens.’ And Pharao from this time commanded his task-masters to give the people no more straw for their brick-making, and still to exact the same number of bricks as before, saying, ‘They are idle, and therefore they say, “Let us go and sacrifice.” ’ When the officers of the children of Israel saw, that, instead of being delivered, they were only worse off than before, they came to Moses and Aaron and bitterly reproached them, saying, 4 The Lord see and judge; for you have made us to be hated by Pharao and his servants, and you have given him a sword to kill us.’ Moses and Aaron in their distress had recourse to God to learn how they were to act ; and God commanded them to appear again before Pharao, saying, 4 1 will harden his heart, and he will not hear you ; and I will bring out My people, the children of Israel, with very great judgments; so that the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, who have stretched out My hand upon Egypt, to bring forth the children of Israel from the midst of them.’ Moses was eighty years old when he appeared with Aaron the second time before Pharao ; and Aaron, as God had commanded, took his rod, which was changed into a serpent before Pharao and his servants. Pharao, however, called his wise men and magicians, who cast down their rods, and when Pharao saw that they were turned into serpents by virtue of their Egyptian enchantments, his heart was hardened. Moses now struck the water of the river, and it was turned into blood, so that the fish died in it, and no man could drink of it ; still Pharao’s heart was hardened. After this, Moses stretched his rod over the streams, the rivers, and the pools of Egypt ; and there came up an innumerable multitude of frogs, which covered the land, and came into the palace of the king, and filled all the rooms, the beds, the ovens, and the cisterns. Pharao now promised to let the people go, if the plague were but removed ; but no sooner did he see that rest was given to the land than he refused. Moses now brought a plague of lice upon the Egyptians, of which the magicians were obliged to confess to Pharao, saying, 4 This is the finger of God.’ Pharao, however, still refused. Moses then brought a plague of flies upon the land ; a very grievous swarm, that filled all the houses of Pharao and his servants. Pharao upon this gave way, saying, 4 1 will let you go to sacrifice to the Lord your God in the wilderness, but go no further; pray for me.’ Moses went out, and prayed for Pharao that the flies might be removed ; but no sooner were they gone than Pharao again refused, for his heart was hardened. Moses now brought upon the land in succession a plague of murrain upon the cattle, followed by a plague of boils and swelling blains upon man and beast, so that many of them died. After this he brought upon the land a liail-storm, that destroyed all the crops that were above ground, and also the servants and the cattle of such of Pharao’s people as paid no heed to the warning that Moses gave of its coming. After this came a swarm of locusts, that ate up every blade of grass and green herb on the land ; and then there 60 came a horrible darkness for three days over the land, so thick that it might be felt, during which no man could see his brother, or could move from the place where he was ; but with the children of Israel there was light. Pharao on the occasion of each plague promised to let the people go, but broke his word the moment the plague was removed. On the occasion of the ninth plague he called Moses, and offered to let the people go if they would leave their sheep and cattle behind. Moses refused to go on these conditions, and Pharao said to Moses, ‘ Get thee from me, and beware thou see not my face any more ; for in what day soever thou shalt come into my sight, thou shalt die.’ Moses answered, 1 So shall it be as thou hast spoken : I will not see thy face any more.’ § 29. The Paschal Lamb , and the departure from Egypt . Moses called the ancients of the children of Israel, and said to them, ‘ Go, take a lamb by your families and sacrifice the Pasch : you shall not eat thereof anything raw, nor boiled with water, but you shall eat the flesh thereof roast with fire, with unleavened bread and wild lettuce ; in one house it shall be eaten, neither shall you carry forth of the flesh thereof out of the house, neither shall you break a bone thereof ; and if there remain any- thing of it until morning, you shall burn it with fire. Thus shall you eat it : you shall gird your loins, you shall have shoes on your feet, and hold staves in your hands, and you shall eat it in haste, for it is the Phase or Passage of the Lord. And you shall dip a bunch of hyssop in the blood that is at the door, and sprinkle the beam of the door therewith, and THE PASCHAL SUPPEK. G1 both the door-posts; and let none of you go out of the door of his house until the morning. For the Lord will pass through, striking the Egyptians; and when He shall see the blood on the beam, and on both the posts, He will pass over the door of the house, and not suffer the destroyer to come into your houses to hurt you. 4 You shall keep this thing as a law for you and your children for ever, and when you have entered into the land which the Lord your God will give you as He hath promised, you shall observe these ceremonies. And when your children shall say to you, 44 What is the meaning of this service V ’ you shall say, 44 It is the victim of the Passage of the Lord, when He passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, striking the Egyptians, and saving our houses.” ’ The people bowed their heads and adored, and did as Moses com- manded. And it came to pass at midnight, the Lord slew every first-born in the land of Egypt, from the first-born of Pharao who sat on his throne, to the first-born of the captive woman that was in the prison. And Pharao arose in the night, and all his servants and all Egypt, and there was a great cry in Egypt ; for there was not a house wherein there lay not one dead. And Pharao, calling Moses and Aaron in the night, said, 4 Arise, and go forth from among my people, you and the children of Israel : go sacrifice to the Lord, as you say ; your sheep and herds take along with you as you demanded, and bless me before you go. 1 And the Egyptians pressed the people to go forth out of the land speedily, saying, 4 We shall all die.’ The people therefore took dough before it was leavened, and tying it in their cloaks they put it on their shoulders ; they did also as the Lord had commanded, and asked of the Egyptians vessels of silver and gold, and raiment, and thus they stripped the Egyp- tians. The abode which the children of Israel made in Egypt was four hundred and thirty years, on the expiration of which the whole army of the Lord went out on the same day out of Egypt. The Paschal Lamb is among the most complete of all the Old Testament types of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, who is called the ‘Lamb of God, that taketh away the sins of the world.’ The blood of the Paschal Lamb preserved the people from the judgment that was about to fall upon the Egyptians, and was the sign or mark of the wonderful difference that God placed between Is- rael and the Egyptians. § 30. The miraculous passage of the Red Sea. Besides the children of Israel there went up also a mixed multitude with them, and their first halting-place was Succoth. Instead of going along the beaten track to Palestine by which Jacob had come down into Egypt, the Lord led them not by the way of the Philistines, think- ing lest perhaps they would repent if they should see wars rise up against them, and would return to Egypt. From Succoth they proceeded to Etham, Moses taking with him the bones of Joseph, as Joseph had made the children of Israel promise him on his death-bed. The Lord also went before them to show the way, in a pillar of cloud by day, and 62 by night in a pillar of fire. From Etham they were commanded to turn still more into the wilderness, and to encamp on the sea-side, over against Baalzephon, that Pharao might say, ‘ They are straitened in the land; the desert hath shut them in;’ and so he tempted to follow after them. And thus it turned out : Pharao repented that he had let them go, and said, ‘ What meant we, that we let Israel go from serving us V So he made ready his chariots and horsemen, and followed after them, and came in sight of them in Pihahiroth before Baalzephon. When the children of Israel saw the chariots and horsemen of Pharao, they feared exceedingly, and said to Moses, ‘ Were there no graves in Egypt, that thou hast brought us out to die in the wilderness? Was not this the word we said to thee in Egypt, “ Depart from us, that we may serve the Egyptians” ? for it would have been better to have served them than to die here.’ Moses said to the people, ‘Pear not; stand still and see the great wonders the Lord will do for you this day ; for the Egyptians whom you see now you shall see no more for ever.’ It was night by the time that the Egyptian army came up to the encampment of Israel, and the pillar of the cloud that was before Israel now moved its place and stood between the two armies, so that they Could not come near each other. To the children of Israel it gave light in the night, while it was all darkness to the Egyptians, and prevented their seeing the people in pursuit of whom they were come. Moses now sent word to all the people to be ready to march, and stretching forth his hand over the sea, the Lord brought a strong and burning wind that blew all the night, so that the sea was divided, and a passage left open on the dry ground, the PHARAO AND HIS HOST DROWNED IN THE RED SEA. 63 waters forming a wall on the right hand and on the left. Through this passage, thus opened, the people passed during the night ; and early in the morning, as soon as it was light, the Egyptian army, seeing that they were gone, followed after them into the sea. When they were fairly en- tered into the path through the sea, the Lord looked from the pillar of the cloud and troubled their host, and the Egyptians in their terror began to cry out, 6 Let us flee from Israel; for the Lord fighteth for them against us.’ Moses now, at the command of God, stretched forth his rod over the sea, and the waters returned to their place, and covered the whole army of the Egyptians, so. that not so much as one of them remained ; and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the sea-shore. Then sang Moses and all Israel this canticle to the Lord : CANTICLE OF MOSES. 1. Let us sing to the Lord ; for He is gloriously magnified, the horse and the rider He hath thrown into the sea. 2. The Lord is my strength and my praise, and He is become salvation to me ; He is my God, and I will glorify Him ; the God of my father, and I will exalt Him. 3. The Lord is as a man of war, Al- mighty is His name. 4. Pharao’s chariots and His army He hath cast into the sea ; his chosen captains are drowned in the Red Sea. 5. The depths have covered them, they are sunk to the bottom like a stone. 6. Thy right hand, O Lord, is magni- fied in strength ; Thy right hand, 0 Lord, hath slain the enemy. 7. And in the multitude of Thy glory Thou hast put down Thy adversaries ; Thou hast sent Thy wrath, which hath devoured them like stubble. 8. And with the blast of Thy anger the waters were gathered together : the flowing water stood, the depths were ga- thered together in the midst of the sea. 9. The enemy said : I will pursue and overtake, I will divide the spoils, my soul shall have its fill ; I will draw my sword, my hand shall slay them. 10. Thy wind blew and the sea cover- ed them : they sunk as lead in the mighty waters. 11. Who is like to Thee, among the strong, O Lord? who is like to Thee, glorious in holiness, terrible and praise- worthy, doing wonders ? 12. Thou stretehedst forth Thy hand, and the earth swallowed them. 13. In Thy mercy Thou hast been a leader to the people which Thou hast redeemed ; and in Thy strength Thou hast carried them to Thy holy habita- tion. 14. Nations rose up, and were angry : sorrows took hold on the inhabitants of Philisthiim. 15. Then were the princes of Edom troubled, trembling seized on the stout men of Moab : all the inhabitants of Ca- naan became stiff. 16. Let fear and dread fall upon them, in the greatness of Thy arm ; let them become immovable as a stone, until Thy people, 0 Lord, pass by ; un- til this Thy people pass by, which Thou hast possessed. 17. Thou shalt bring them in, and plant them in the mountain of Thy in- heritance, in Thy most firm habitation which Thou hast made, O Lord : Thy sanctuary, O Lord, which Thy hands have established. 18. The Lord shall reign for ever and ever. The passage of the Red Sea is a figure of the Sacrament of Baptism. By passing through the sea the Hebrew people were taken out of the power of their cruel oppressor, Pharao the king of Egypt ; and by being washed with the water of the Sacrament of Baptism the Christian people are taken out of the power of Satan, and delivered from their bondage to him. 64 Second Subdivision.— The Wandering in the Wilderness (40 years). §31. Sufferings and discontent . The manna falls from heaven . ‘ The zuater from the rock, and the prayer of Moses on the mount . Hardly had the last notes of the song of triumph over the defeated Egyptians died away when discontent began to break out. The. people, finding the bread which they had brought from Egypt failing, cried out, 4 Would to God we had died by the hand of the Lord in Egypt ! Why have you brought us into this desert, that you might destroy the whole multitude with famine? Moses and Aaron answered, 4 What are we? Your murmuring is not against us, but against the Lord? The Lord spoke to Mosesi saying, 4 1 have heard the murmuring of the children of Israel ; say to them, 44 In the evening you shall eat flesh, and in the morning you shall have your fill of bread, and you shall know that I am the Lord your God.” ’ And so it came to pass : the same evening quails came up and covered the camp, and in the morning a dew lay round about the camp. And when the chil- dren of Israel saw it looking like hoar-frost on the ground, they said one to an- other: 4 Manhii? or, 4 What is this? Moses said to them, 4 This is the bread which the Lord hath given you to eat. He that gather- eth more, let him give to him that gathereth less.’ He taught the people also to ga- ther on the sixth day each man a double portion ; 4 for the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord, therefore it shall not be found/ After the sun grew hot, it melted and disappeared. Its taste also was like GATHERING THE MANNA. cs flotlr with honey. Such was the bread with which the people were fed, till they came to the borders of the land promised to them ; and the House of Israel called the name of it Manna. The multitude went forward and encamped in Raphidim, where there was no water for the people to drink. Hereupon there arose another fierce murmuring against Moses, the people saying to him, ‘ Why didst thou make us go forth out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our beasts with thirst?’ Moses cried to the Lord, saying, ‘What shall I do to this people? Yet a little more, and they will stone me.’ The Lord said to Moses, ‘ Go before the people, and take with thee the ancients of Israel ; and take in thy hand the rod with which thou didst strike the river, and go. Behold, I will stand before thee on the rock Horeb, and thou shalt strike the rock, and water shall come out of it, that the people may drink.’ Mo- ses did so before the ancients of Is- rael, and he called the name of the place ‘ Tempta- tion ;’ for the peo- ple said, ‘ Is the Lord amongst us or not ?’ The people of Amalec now came to fight against Israel; and Moses said to Josue, ‘ Choose out men, and go and fight against Amalec ; and I will stand on the top of the hill, having the rod of God in my hand.’ Moses went up into the mount with Aaron and Hur, and the battle began. As long as Moses lifted up his hands to pray, Israel overcame ; but if he let them down even a little, Amalec overcame. Moses’ hands however became heavy, and at length Aaron and Hur, taking a stone, placed it under him, so that he sat upon it, and they stayed up his hands on both sides ; and thus it came to pass that his hands were not weary until sunset. And F MOSES BRINGS WATER FROM THE ROCK. Josue prevailed against Amalec, and put them to flight by the edge of the sword. The manna is a type of the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist — ‘ I am the living bread,’ said our Lord, ‘which came down from heaven.’ The water flowing from the rock is a figure of Christ on the Cross, from whose side, when pierced by the soldier’s spear, there flowed blood and water. The prayer of Moses on the mount, while Josue was fighting in the plain below, is typical of the holy souls, given to contemplation, aiding the active work of the Church by their prayers. § 32. The covenant of God with Israel , that they should keep His law } is ratified by the sprinkling the people with blood. The 'children of Israel now quitted their encampment in Raphidim, and came to the wilderness of Sinai ; and they pitched their tents over against the mountain from whence the holy law was to be proclaimed. Moses was here called to go up the mountain, into the presence of God. And God said to him, fi Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them : “Ye have seen what I have done to the Egyptians, and how I have carried you upon the wings of eagles, and have taken you to Myself ; if there- fore you will hear My voice and keep My covenant, you shall be My pe- culiar possession above all people ; for all the earth is Mine. And yqu shall be to Me a priestly kingdom and a holy nation.” I. * * * * * 7 Moses returned, and calling together all the elders of the people, he declared to them all the words which the Lord had commanded him. The people all answered with one voice, ‘ All that the Lord hath spoken, we will do. 7 God now commanded Moses to sanctify the people ; for that on the third day the Lord would come down upon the mount in sight of all the people. Certain limits were to be set round the mountain, and no man or beast was to come near, under pain of death. The morning of the third day dawned, and the holy mountain began to be covered with a thick cloud ; thunders were heard, and the light- ning began to flash. The sound of a trumpet now grew by degrees louder and louder, and the people feared exceedingly ; for smoke rose from the mountain as from a furnace, and all the mount was terrible. Then the Lord spoke all these words before the people : THE LAW OF THE TEN COMMANDMENTS. I. I am the Lord thy God, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt and out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt not have strange gods before Me. Thou shalt not make to thyself a graven thing, nor the likeness of anything that is in hea- ven above, or in the earth beneath, nor of those things that are in the waters under the earth. Thou shalt not adore them, nor serve them : I am the Lord thy God, mighty, jealous, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the child- ren, unto the third and fourth genera- tion of them that hate me, and showing mercy unto thousands to them that love Me, and keep My commandments. II. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain ; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that shall take the name of the Lord his God in vain. III. Remember that thou keep holy the Sabbath-day. Six days shalt thou labour, and shalt do all thy works. But on the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God : thou shalt do no work on it, thou nor thy son, nor thy daugh- G7 ter, nor thy man servant, nor thy maid servant, nor thy beast, nor the stranger that is within thy gates ; for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea and all things that are in them, and rested on the seventh day ; therefore the Lord blessed the seventh day, and sanc- tified it. IY. Honour thy father and thy mo- ther, that thou mayest be long lived up- on the land which the Lord thy God will give thee. Y. Thou shalt not kill. VI. Thou shalt not commit adultery. VII. Thou shalt not steal. VIII. Thou shalt not bear false wit- ness against thy neighbour. IX. Thou shalt not covet thy neigh- bour’s wife. X. Thou shalt not desire his house, nor his servant, nor his handmaid, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is his. The people had now heard the law that God required them to keep, and though terrified with all that they had seen and heard, they promised Moses, and said, ‘ All things that the Lord hath spoken, we will do ; and we will be obedient.’ A sign or seal, however, to the solemn covenant that was thus entered into between God and His people was wanting, and this was to be, by the sprinkling of the people with blood. Moses built an altar at the foot of the mount, and offered victims upon it ; and he took half of the blood and put it in bowls, and half he poured upon the altar. And when he had read the words of the covenant to the people, and they had agreed to observe it, he took the blood and sprinkled it upon the people, and said, ‘ This is the blood of the covenant which the Lord hath made with you concerning all these words.’ Thus was the first covenant completed on Mount Sinai, and solemnly sealed with blood, to remain good until the new and better covenant, sealed in the blood of Jesus Christ on Calvary, should take its place. It is to be carefully observed, that all the covenants which God has made with men are ratified by the shedding of blood. Thus when God entered into a covenant with Noe, not to destroy the earth any more with a deluge, this was after the shedding of the blood of the victims Noe had offered. The cove- nant of God with Israel, that they should keep His commandments, is ratified by the people being sprinkled with blood. And in like manner, under the new law, the covenant of God with the Christian people, that they should keep His commandments, is ratified by their being sprinkled with the blood of Jesus Christ. § 33. God commands Moses to set in order the service of the Tabernacle . God commanded Moses, saying, * Speak to the children of Israel, that they bring their offerings to Me ; from every man that offereth of his own accord you shall take them.’ The people obeyed the call with such joy, and the offerings of gold, silver, and brass, precious stones, dyed hair and wool, were so abundant, that at length word was brought to Moses, 4 The people offereth more than is necessary ;’ and Moses commanded pro- clamation to be made by the crier’s voice, that no further offering should be made. God was with the work, and gave His spirit to two workmen, Beseleel and Ooliab, to devise beautiful work for all its parts. The drawings which are here given may perhaps serve to convey as t correct an idea of 68 the beauty and form of this great work of Moses to establish the worship of God, as it will be practicable to obtain at this distance of time. The Tabernacle consisted of two separate parts. The outer court with its Altar of Holocausts and the laver. The Holy Tabernacle itself, which was also divided into two compart- ments. The first of these contained the Loaves of Proposition, the Altar of Incense, and the Seven- branched Candle- stick. The second or inner chamber was the Holy of Holies, and it con- tained the Ark of the Covenant co- vered with pure gold, in which were preserved, the tables of the law, the pot of manna, and Aaron’s rod that had budded, while over it were the Golden Cherubim overshadowing the mercy-seat. God had said to Moses, 6 See thou make all things according to the pattern showed thee in the mount f and St. Paul, speaking of the Taber- nacle, says, that the law had the shadow of the good things to come, but not the good things themselves. The whole worship of the Tabernacle was intended to prepare the way for the good things which Jesus Christ was Himself to bring. Por instance, the lamb which was offered each morning and evening in the outer court, on the altar of holocausts, was a figure of the sacrifice of the Lamb of God on the Cross. The constant washings of the officiating Priests during the sacrifices, for which purpose the brazen laver was used, were a shadow of the constant recourse that the disciples of Christ have to the Divine Sacrament of Penance, in order to cleanse themselves from the stain of the sins into which they may fall. In the first chamber of the Tabernacle itself, into which none but the Priests consecrated to its service might enter, there stood : (1) the G9 ALTAE OF INCENSE, on which incense was burnt daily ; this was a figure of the continual prayers that are offered to God in the Christian Church ; and it is to be remarked with regard to this offering, that Moses imposed the tax of a small annual sum upon each person, from the pay- ment of which none were allowed to be free, as if to show that in the Christian Church every one would be bound by the duty of prayer : (2) the SEVEN-BEAN CHED CANDLESTICK, on which seven golden lamps were kept continually burning day and night before the entrance to the Holy of Holies ; these were a figure of the Seven Sacraments of the Catholic Church, which are the seven golden lamps of Christian life, at all times giving their light in the Church : (3) the LOAVES OF PEOPOSITION, twelve in number, which were kept in sight of the Holy of Holies, and which were renewed from week to week ; these were a figure of the priesthood and ministry of the Catholic Church, built upon the twelve Apostles, the members of which are continually renewed by the Sacrament of Orders, as each generation dies away. The Holy of Holies itself, which was lighted neither by sunlight nor candle, but by a Divine brightness proceeding from the Mercy-Seat, is the figure of the Heavenly Jerusa- lem, which is said in the Apocalypse not to need the sun or the moon to shine in it, for the Lamb is the light thereof. The entrance of the High -Priest into the Holy of Ho- lies, after having offered sacrifice for the people, is the figure of our High- Priest Jesus, as St. Paul says, enter- ing within the veil and making a new and living way for us through His own blood upon the Cross (Heb. x. 20). In the same manner, the whole of the work of Moses, as made by him according to the pattern showed him in the mount, would be found THE HIGH-PRIEST ENTERS THE HOLY OF HOLIES. 70 to contain in other respects numerous figures of the Church, in which God was Himself to dwell, under the veil of the Blessed Sacrament, all days, even unto the end of the world. GENERAL VIEW OF THE TABERNACLE IN THE WILDERNESS. § 34. Moses returns from the mount of God to find his people ivorshipping a golden calf Whilst this work of glory and beauty was being planned, and in pro- gress of execution, we have now to see a terrible instance of a people’s faithlessness to God, who had delivered them from the bitter and cruel oppression of the Egyptians, and with whom they had so short a time ago entered into a covenant ratified with blood, that they would have none other gods but Himself alone. Later in their history we shall see, how at the beginning of the week they could cry, ‘ Hosanna to the Son of David ! Blessed is He who cometh in the name of the Lord !’ and be- fore the week was over, ‘ Hot this Man, but Barabbas ! Crucify Him, crucify Him !’ Moses was gone up into the holy mount to speak with God, and to receive the Law that had been spoken to the people, written by the finger of God on two tables of stone. The people, seeing that Moses delayed to come down from the mount, began to gather round Aaron, and said, ‘ Arise, make us gods that may go before us ; for as for this Moses, the man who brought us out of the land of Egypt, we know not what has befallen him.’ Aaron gave way to their will, and commanded the people to bring in their golden earrings, which he took and fashioned into the form of a molten calf ; and when it was finished, and the people saw it, they cried, 4 These are thy gods, 0 Israel, that brought thee out of the land of Egypt.’ Aaron, seeing how delighted they were with their 71 new image, -built an altar before it and made preparation for a solemn sacrifice, sending the crier round with the proclamation, ‘ lo-morrow is the solemnity of the Lord !’ God made known to Moses in the mount, that the people were iali- inc» into idolatry, and said to him, ‘ See this stiffnecked people Let Me alone, that My wrath may bo kindled against them, and that i may destroy them : and I will make of thee a great nation.’ Moses however, though full of sorrow and sick at heart for their sin, yet prayed for them, and said • ‘ Why, 0 Lord, is Thy indignation kindled against Thy people, whom Thou hast brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? Let not the Egyptians say, I beseech lhee, He craftily brought them out that He might kill them in the mountains, and destroy them from the earth.” Let Thine anger cease, and be appeased for the wickedness of Thy people. Eemember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel 1 by servants, to whom Thou didst swear by Thyself, saying, “ I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven, and this whole land that I have spoken of I will give to your seed, and you shall possess it for ever. God hearkened to the prayer of Moses, and thus the faithless people was saved by his intercession. . , , „ Moses now came down from the mount, carrying the two tables ot testimony in his hand, graven with the hand of God. On the way, Josue drew his attention to the sound of voices in the camp, mistaking them for the sound of battle, but Moses, who knew the truth, replied, it is not the cry of men encouraging to fight ; it is the voice of singers that I hear.’ And when he came nigh to the camp lie saw the calt and the dances ; and being very angry he threw the tables out of his hand and broke them at the foot of the mount, and laying hold of the calf which they had made, he burnt it and beat it to powder, and then strewed it into the water, and gave it to the children of Israel to drink. Moses now called Aaron to give an account of what had been done. Aaron excused himself, and threw the blame upon the people Upon which Moses, going to the gate of the camp, cried, ‘If any man be upon the Lord’s skk let him join with me.’ All the sons of Levi came and gathered themselves to him. Moses said to them, ‘Thus saith the Lon God of Israel, “ Put every man his sword upon his thigh, go and return from gate to gate through the midst of the camp, and let every man kill his brother, friend, and neighbour.” ’ And the sons of Levi did accord- ing to the words of Moses, and there were slain that day about three-and- twenty thousand men. § 35 . Moses goes tip again to the holy mount. The appointment of the Church Calendar , and the dedication of the Tabernacle. Moses went up again into the holy mount to confer with God. And when God appeared to him, he fell prostrate to the ground, an sau , ‘ If I have found grace in Thy sight, 0 Lord, I beseech Thee that I hou wilt go with us 3 for it is a stiffnecked people. Take away our iniquities 72 and sin,, and possess us.’. The Lord answered, ‘I will make a covenant in the sight of all. I will do signs such as were never seen upon the earth, nor in any nation, that this people in the midst of whom thou art may see the terrible work which, the Lord will do. Observe all the things which I this day command thee. I Myself will drive out before thy face the Amorrhite, the Hivite, the Canaanite, the Hethite, the Phe- rezite, and the Jebusite. Beware thou never join in friendship with the inhabitants of that land, which may be thy ruin, but destroy their altars, break their MOSES RECEIVES THE LAW FROM THE HANDS OE GOD. Statues, CUt down . , their groves. Adore not any strange god. The Lord He is a jealous God. Thou shalt not make to thyself any molten gods. ‘Three times in the year all thy males shall appear in the sight of the Almighty Lord, the God of Israel.’ ‘ * ° The first of these three great solemnities was the Supper of the Pas- chal Lamb, which was to be kept in memory of the night of their de- livery out of the servitude of Egypt, when the destroying angel passed over the houses which were sprinkled with the blood of the Paschal Lamb (see § 29).. This was the figure of the Christian Eeast of Easter, and of our delivery from the power of Satan by the Eesurrection of Jesus Christ. The second was the Least of Weeks, fifty days afterwards, an- swering to our Feast of Pentecost. The solemnities of this feast were the offering ot the first-fruits, in token of having been delivered from the bondage of Egypt, and of having been brought into possession of the land promised to their fathers. The third was the Least of Tabernacles, in the autumn, when the vintage was over. All the people left their houses 73 for seven days, and dwelt in tents, in memory of their wandering in tho wilderness without fixed abode, and of their being fed with manna from heaven. Though it was a season of joy, still it had much the same ob- ject in view as the Christian Lent, to remind the people that life was short, and that heaven, not earth, was their home. And when Moses came down from the Mount Sinai, he held the two tables of the testimony, and he knew not that his face shone with rays of lierht (in the form of horns) from his communing with the Lord. And Aaron and the children of Israel, seeing the face of Moses, were afraid to come near. Moses upon this covered his face with a veil, and after- wards spoke all the words that had been commanded him to the people. Moses was now commanded to consecrate Aaron to be High-Priest, and to appoint his sons to be priests, and when all was done as God had commanded a solemn day was proclaimed for dedicating the Holy Moses and Tabernacle and its Altar of Sacrifice. When all the preparations and sacrifices were over, Aaron went into the Tabernacle of Tes- timony, and afterwards came forth and blessed the people, saying, ‘ The Lord bless thee and keep thee ; the Lord show His face to thee and have mercy upon thee ; the Lord turn His counte- nance to thee and give thee peace.’ And the glory of the Lord appeared to all the multitude. And behold, a fire coming forth from the Lord devoured the holocaust and the fat that was upon the altar, which when the multitude saw they praised the Lord, falling upon their faces. The cloud also covered the Tabernacle of the Testimony and the glory of the Lord filled it, so that Moses could not go into the Tabernacle of the Covenant, the cloud covering all things, and the majesty of the Lord shining around. A signal judgment shortly afterwards came to pass. Nadab and Abihu, sons of Aaron, offering incense before the Tabernacle and using strange fire which the Lord had not commanded, perished in a fire that came forth from the Lord. Thus was the first Tabernacle set up, and its tem- porary Priesthood consecrated. And wherever the children of Israel re- moved, the Lord was present over the Tabernacle in a pillar of cloud by day, and a pillar of fire by night. This threefold blessing of the High-Priest contains an indication of the mystery of the Most Holy Trinity, THE HIGH-PRIEST BLESSING THE PEOPLE. 74 § 36. The people are condemned to wander forty years in the desert. Each time the people moved forward, the Holy Tabernacle was taken down, and set up again in the place to which they came. Each time also that the Ark was lifted up, the Levites sang, 4 Arise, 0 Lord, and let Thine enemies be scattered, and let them that hate Thee flee from be- fore Thy face ;’ and when the Ark was set down, they sang, 4 Return, 0 Lord, to the multitude of the host of Israel.’ Yet notwithstanding the continual presence of God in the pillar of the cloud, in spite of the daily miracle of the manna, and of the many great judgments of God which they had seen, wherever they came there was murmuring and repining among the people. They found fault with the manna : 4 We remember,’ they said, 4 the fish which we ate in Egypt, the cucumbers come into our mind, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic. Our soul is dry, our eyes behold nothing but this manna.’ Thus, amid murmurings and repeated punishments, they at length reach Pharan, the southern border of the promised land of Canaan. Moses here chose Josue and Caleb, and ten other men, one from each tribe, to go up and view the land, and to bring back a report of it. They went up as far as Hebron, and cutting off a branch with its cluster of grapes, which two men carried upon a pole, together with specimens of the pomegranates and figs, they came back to the camp, after an absence of forty days. Moses and Aaron now assembled the congregation, to hear the report of their messengers. The men then came forward to speak to the multitude, and showed them the fruits of the land, saying, 4 The land into which thou sentest us floweth indeed with milk and honey, as may be seen by these fruits ; but it hath very strong inhabitants, and the cities are great and walled.’ And they spoke ill of the land which they had viewed, saying, 4 The land devoureth its inhabitants : we saw certain mon- sters of the giant kind, the sons of Enac, in comparison of whom we seemed like grasshoppers.’ Upon this the whole people began to mur- mur, and say, 4 Would God that we had died in Egypt, and would God that we might die in this wilderness ! Is it not better to return to Egypt?’ And they said one to another, 4 Let us appoint a captain, and let us return to Egypt.’ When Moses and Aaron heard this, they fell down flat upon the ground before the children of Israel. Josue and Caleb rent their gar- ments and came forward before the people, saying, 4 The land which we have gone round is very good ; if the Lord be favourable, He will bring us into it and give it to us. Be not rebellious against the Lord; fear ye not the people of this land, for we are able to eat them up as bread. All aid is gone from them : fear ye not, the Lord is with us.’ As the people would not list,en, but cried out, and were ready to have stoned them, the glory of the Lord appeared over the Tabernacle of the Covenant to all the children of Israel. And the Lord said to Moses, 4 How long will this people not believe Me for all the signs I 75 have wrought before them 1 I will strike them with pestilence, hut thee I will make a ruler over a nation mightier than this is. Moses said to the Lord, ‘ Lest the Egyptians, from the midst of whom Thou hast brought forth this people, and the inhabitants of this land, who have heard that Thou, 0 God, art among them and art seen face to face (for Thou goest before them in a pillar of a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night), may hear that Thou hast killed so great a multitude as it were one man, and may say, “He could not bring the people into the land for which He had sworn, therefore did He kill them in the wilderness”— let the strength of the Lord be magnified, as Thou hast sworn : forgive, I beseech Thee, and he merciful to this people.’ The Lord said, 4 1 have forgiven them according to thy word. Nevertheless, say thou to this people, “ According as you have spoken in My hearing, so will I do to you. In the wilderness shall your carcasses lie. From twenty years old and up- wards, of those who have murmured against Me, none shall enter into the land over which I lifted up My hand to make you dwell therein, except Caleb and Josue. But your children, of whom you said that they should be a prey to their enemies, will I bring in, that they may see the land which you have despised.” ’ , , The messengers who had spoken ill of the land were struck, and died before the Lord. And when Moses spoke all these words to the people of Israel, they mourned exceedingly. Hereupon some of the people, de- spising the warning of Moses, who had said to them, ‘ Go not up , le Lord is not with you,’ went up armed, but were driven back with great slaughter as far as Horma. This contempt of the Hebrew people for the blessings promised to them by the Lord their God was repeated, as we shall see, m a still more terrible man- ner later on, when they cried before Pontius Pilate, Not this Man, but Barab- bas ' Crucify Him: crucify Him !’ As the contempt was so far greater, so has also been the judgment. The whole Hebrew people now wander about every- where, scattered over the nations of the earth, everywhere bearing their reproach, and shut out from the kingdom of God. S 37. Various murmurings of the people during the forty years' wandering in the wilderness. The rebellion of 250 Levites under Core, Dathan, and AUron. The plague of serpents, and the setting up the brazen serpent. The history of the forty years during which the people were condemned to wander in the wilderness is full of records of many murmurings and repinings, and of many quarrellings with Moses and Aaron, and with all that the Lord their God had done for them. St. Paul takes occasion to oive a caution to the Christian people to beware how they allow them- selves to do anything of the same kind. ‘ Let us not tempt Christ as some of them, tempted Him, and perished by serpents. Neither let us murmur, as some of them murmured, and perished by the destroy ei ^ AvhaAliese two facts here referred to by St. Paul were we proceed 76 to learn. Two hundred and fifty of the Levites, with one of their number, Core, at their head, raised a cabal against Moses and Aaron, saying, ‘ Why lift ye up yourselves above the people of the Lord V Moses replied to Core, ‘ Hear, ye sons of Levi. Is it a small thing that the Lord hath separated you from all people, and hath joined you to Himself, that you should challenge to yourselves the priesthood also V Moses also sent to Dathan and Abiron, who were likewise concerned with the rebellion as leaders, to appear before him; but they answered, 6 Wouldst thou put out our eyes also ? We will not come.’ Moses then challenged them to appear before the door of the Taber- nacle, each man with his censer and incense ; and on the day appointed, when the Rebels were in their places, Moses said to the people, ‘ Separate yourselves from the tents of Core, Dathan, and Abiron. If these men die the common death of all men, then the Lord hath not spoken by me ; but if the Lord do a new thing, and the earth open her mouth and swallow them up alive, then you shall know that they have blasphemed the Lord.’ Immediately the earth broke asunder under their feet and devoured them, with their tents and all their substance, while a fire from the Lord destroyed the two hundred that of- fered incense. Yet) this terrible judg- ment failed to open the eyes of the people, who still murmured against Moses, and said, * You have killed the people of the Lord/ This fresh sin was punished by a plague, in which 14,700 men died. The cessation of the plague was ob- tained by the prayer of Aaron, who ran and of- fered incense, and thus stood be- tween the dead and the living. The plague of 77 serpents referred to by St. Paul occurred as the forty years of wan- dering were drawing to a close. The rod of Aaron had miraculously blossomed at the door of the Tabernacle, in proof that Aaron’s priest- hood was by God’s appointment. Moses and Aaron had sinned against God on the occasion of a great murmuring of the people against their having been led out into such a barren and desolate land, and had been sentenced not to enter the promised land, and the forty years were draw- ing to a close. Moses had applied to the children of Edom for leave to pass through their land, but it had been refused ; and this refusal made it necessary to return back southward and to pass to the east of Mount Seir, where Edom dwelt. This increase of marching drew from them new complaints and murmurs ; again they quarrelled with the manna, and asked Moses why he had brought them up out of Egypt, and complained that they had neither bread nor water. To punish them, God sent fiery serpents among them, which bit and killed many of them. The people came at length, and said that they had sinned, and prayed Moses to take away the serpents from them. Moses prayed for the people ; and the Lord said to him, ‘ Make a brazen serpent and set it up for a sign ; who- soever being struck shall look upon it shall live.’ Moses did so, and when they who were bitten looked upon it, they were healed. This serpent was a figure of our Lord, as He Himself explains : ‘ As Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth on Him should not perish, but have life everlasting’ (John iii. 14). § 38. The Prophecy of the Soothsayer Balaam . The Moabites, struck with terror at the victories and advance of the Israelites under Moses, cried out, ‘Wo unto thee, Moab, thou art un- done.’ Balac, one of their princes, advised that they should send for one Balaam, a soothsayer of the children of Ammon, who dealt with a familiar spirit, to curse the enemy that threatened them. They therefore sent messengers ; and as Balaam went on his journey in answer to the invita- tion of Balac, an angel stood in his way with a drawn sword, and his ass turned aside. Balaam smote her ; and the Lord opened the mouth of the ass and she spoke ; a dumb beast, as St. Peter says, speaking with the voice of a man, rebuking the madness of the prophet (2 Peter ii. 16). Balaam, who now saw the angel, was struck with fear, and offered to return ; but the angel said to him, ‘ Go now with these men, and see that thou speak no other thing than I shall command thee.’ Balaam went on his way, and Balac received him. Great prepara- tions were made for a solemn sacrifice as Balaam directed, and the assem- bled princes on the appointed day were anxiously expecting the curse. But the word of the Lord came to Balaam, and he returned to the princes, as they were standing by the sacrifices, and said, ‘ Balac, the king of Moab, hath brought me from Aram, from the mountains of the east. “ Come,” said he, “ and curse Jacob ; make haste and detest Israel” How shall I curse whom God hath not cursed 1 and how shall I detest 78 whom the Lord detesteth not V Balac in surprise said to Balaam , i What is this thou dost % I sent for thee to curse mine enemies, and thou con- trariwise blessest them.’ Balac tried a second time, but again Balaam was forced by a power he could not resist to bless Israel, saying, ‘ I was brought to curse ; the blessing I am not able to hinder ? Balac tried the third time, and again the- third time Ba- . laam broke forth into a prophetic blessing : ‘ How beautiful are thy tabernacles, 0 Jacob, and thy tents, 0 Israel ! — as woody val- leys, as watered gardens near the rivers, as taber- nacles which the Lord hath plant- ed, as cedars by the water-side. A Star shall arise out of Jacob, and a sceptre shall spring up from Israel. 7 When Balaam had done speaking, he rose up and returned MOSES SPEAKS HIS LAST WARNING TO THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL. to his place. § 39. The last words of Moses. His sight of the promised land, and death, Moses, faithful to his mission to the last, assembled the people before his death, and gave them his last warning. He was now nearly 120 years old, yet his eye was not dim, neither were his teeth loosened. His words spoke of blessings, if the people observed the covenant of the Lord their God ; and of judgments and calamities, if they broke their covenant. LAST WORDS OF MOSES. Now if thou wilt hear the voice of the Lord thy God, to do and keep all His commandments, which I command thee this day, the Lord thy God will make thee higher than all the nations that are on the earth. And all these blessings shall come up-- on thee and overtake thee ; yet so if thou hear His precepts. Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and- blessed in the field. Blessed shall be the fruit of thy womb. 79 and the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy cattle, the droves of thy herds, and the folds of thy sheep. Blessed shall be thy barns, and blessed thy stores. Blessed shalt thou be coming in and going out. And the Lord "will raise thee up to be a holy people to Himself, as He swore to thee ; if thou keep the command- ments of the Lord thy God, and walk in His ways. And all the people of the earth shall see that the name of the Lord is called upon thee, and they shall fear thee. But if thou wilt not hear the voice of the Lord thy God, to keep and to do. all His commandments and ceremonies, which I command thee this day, all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee. Cursed shalt thou be in the city, cursed in the field. Cursed shall be thy barn, and cursed thy stores. Cursed shall be the fruit of thy womb, and the fruit of thy ground, the herds of thy oxen, and the flocks of thy sheep. Cursed shalt thou be coming in, and cursed going out. Be the heaven, that is over thee, of brass ; and the ground thou treadest on of iron. And mayest thou grope at mid-day as the blind is wont to grope in the dark, and not make straight thy ways. And mayest thou at all times suffer wrong, and be oppressed with violence, and mayest thou have no one to deliver thee. And thou shalt be lost, as a proverb and a byword to all people, among whom the Lord shall bring thee in. And as the Lord rejoiced upon you be- fore, doing good to you and multiplying you, so He shall rejoice destroying and bringing you to naught, so that you shall be taken away from the land which thou shalt go in to possess. The Lord shall scatter thee among all nations, from the farthest parts of the earth to the ends thereof. Neither shalt thou be quiet even in those nations, nor shall there be any rest for the sole of thy foot ; for the Lord shall give thee a fear- ful heart, and languishing eyes, and a soul consumed with pensiveness. And all these curses shall come upon thee, and shall pursue and overtake thee, till thou perish ; because thou heard est not the voice of the Lord thy God, and didst not keep His commandments and I ceremonies which He commanded thee. Moses wrote down all the words of his law in a hook, and gave it to the Levites, with charge to put it in the side of the ark of the covenant, that it might be there for a testimony, saying, 4 While I am yet living and going in with you, you have always been rebellious against the Lord ; how much more when I shall be dead !’ Moses also wrote a song, and spoke it in the hearing of the whole assembly of Israel. Among the last words of Moses to his people occurs the remarkable prophecy, ‘ lhe Lord thy God shall raise up unto thee of thy nation and thy brethren a 1 RO- phet like unto me. Him shalt thou hear’ (Heut. xviii. 15). . After this, Moses went up at the command of God from the plains of Moab to the top of Phasga, upon Mount Hebo, over against Jericho ; and the Lord showed him all the land, saying, ‘ This is the land which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, that I would give it to their seed. Thou hast seen it with thine eyes, but thou shalt not go over to possess it ; for you trespassed against Me in the midst of the children of Israel. And Moses the servant of the Lord died there, in the land of Moab, by the commandment of the Lord. And He buried him in the valley of the land of Moab over against Phogor, and no man knoweth of his sepulchre to this present day. The Hebrew legislator Moses is in many respects a figure of Jesus Christ, whose coming he predicts as the PBOPHET whom the Lord their God wi 80 raise up LIKE TO HIMSELF. Moses broke the power of Pharao king of Egypt, and delivered his people out of their hard bondage in the land of Egypt ; and Jesus Christ has broken the power of Satan, and has de- livered the whole Christian people out of their bondage and subjection to him. Moses was the guide and leader of his people through the wilderness to the good land which God had promised them ; and Jesus Christ is the guide of every Christian in his passage over this life to the Heaven promised to him. Moses resem- bles Jesus Christ in having received a direct mission from God, and when his people murmured against him, he de- clared that they were not murmur- ing against him, hut against God. Lastly, Moses by his death removed the remaining hin- MOSES FROM MOUNT PHASGA SEES THE LAND PItOMISED TO ISEAEL. (JraUCe to his peo- ple’s entering the promised land ; and Jesus Christ by His death on the Cross has ‘opened the kingdom of Heaven to all believers.’ Third Subdivision.— The Conquest of the Promised Land under Josue (40 years). § 40. Josue succeeds Moses . The entrance into the promised land. After the mourning for the death of Moses was accomplished, the Lord spoke to Josue the minister of Moses, and said to him, ‘ Moses my servant is dead ; arise, and pass over this Jordan, thou and thy people with thee, into the land which I will give to the children of Israel. As I have been with Moses, so will I be with thee. Let not the book of the law depart from thy mouth, but thou shalt meditate on it day and night, that thou mayest observe and do all things that are written in it ; then shalt thou direct thy way and understand it.’ Josue assembled the people, and spoke all these words to them, and they replied, ‘As we obeyed Moses in all things, so will we obey thee also/ Josue now sent two men as spies into the country across the Jordan, 81 to bring back word about the defences of the city of Jericho, which was the first walled city that opposed their onward march. The men, having been aided by a woman named ‘ Rahab, ’ came back to Josue, saying, ‘ The Lord hath delivered all this land into our hands ; for all the inhabitants thereof are overthrown with fear.’ Josue now made a proclamation to the people : ‘ Be ye sanctified ; for to-morrow the Lord will do wonders among you.’ And he said to the priests, ‘ Take up the ark of the covenant, and go before the people.* And they obeyed his commands, and took it up and walked before them. And it came to pass, as God had promised, that as soon as they came into the Jordan and their feet were dipped in part of the water, which was then at the full, being harvest-time, the waters that came down from above stood in one place, and those that were beneath ran down into the Dead Sea till they wholly failed. The people thus marched over against Jericho, and the priests that carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood girded upon the dry ground in the midst of the Jordan, and all the people passed over the channel that was dried up. Josue commanded twelve great stones to be set up as a memorial of their miraculous passage, for each tribe a stone ; and the place where this was done was called Gal- gal, which afterwards became a place of note. And on the day on which the children of Israel first ate of the corn of the land the manna ceased. Jericho was close shut up for fear of the children of Israel, and no man durst go out or come in. And the Lord said to Josue, ‘ Eehold, I have given into thy hands Jericho, and the king thereof and all the fight- ing men.* The priests were commanded to carry the ark round the city for six days in succession, the armed men going before it, and the rest of the common people following. Not a shout was to be made, or a voice or a sound to be heard, except that of the seven trumpets which were blown by seven priests going before the ark. On the seventh day they rose up early and went round the city seven times, and the seventh time Josue said to all Israel, ‘ Shout, for the Lord hath delivered the city to you ; let this city be anathema to the Lord, and all things that are in it. Only let Rahab live, with all that are with her in the house ; for she hid the messengers whom we sent.’ The people raised a shout and the trumpets sounded, and the walls of the city forthwith fell down, so that every man went up at the place that was over against him, and they took the city. Rahab alone was saved. The city they burned and every- thing that was in it, except the gold and silver, and vessels of brass and iron, which were consecrated to the treasury. St. Paul mentions Rahab as an example of faith in the power of God to fulfil His promises : ‘By faith Rahab perished not with the unbelievers, re- ceiving the spies with peace’ (Heb. xi. 31). § 41. Josue* s last icords and death . God had fulfilled His word to Josue, and had been with him as He had been with Moses. Israel was now in possession of the land promised G 82 to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Thirty-one kings had been slain, and their people put to the sword, and the land portioned out to the twelve tribes. ‘ The tribe of Levi had no possession, for the Lord God of Israel was his possession, as He spoke to them/ Josue had appointed cities of refuge for whosoever might kill his neighbour unawares to flee to ; he had read the blessings from Mount Garizim, and the curses from Mount Ebal, and had carried the law of Moses into effect. ‘ And not so much as one word which God had promised to perform to them was made void, but all came to pass/ Before his death he gathered all the tribes of Israel together in Sichem, and he spoke thus to the people : LAST WOEDS OF JOSUE. Thus saith the Lord the God of Israel : Your fathers dwelt of old on the other side of the river, Thare the father of Abraham, andNachor ; and they served strange gods. And I took your father Abraham from the borders of Mesopotamia, and brought him into the land of Chanaan ; and I multiplied his seed. And gave him Isaac ; and to him again I. gave Jacob and Esau. And I gave to Esau Mount Seir for his possession ; but Jacob and his children went down into Egypt. And I sent Moses and Aaron, and I struck Egypt with many signs and won- ders. And I brought you and your fathers out of Egypt, and you came to the sea ; and the Egyptians pursued your fathers with chariots and horsemen, as far as the Bed Sea. And the children of Israel cried to the Lord ; and He put darkness between you and the Egyptians, and brought the sea upon them, and covered them. Your eyes saw all that I did in Egypt, and you dwelt in the wilderness a long time. And I brought you into the land of the Amorrhite, w r ho dwelt beyond the Jor- dan. And when they fought against you, I delivered them into your hands, and you possessed their land, and slew them. And Balac, son of Sephor, king of Moab, The people answered and said : God forbid that we should leave the Lord and serve strange gods. The Lord our God, He brought us and our fathers out of Egypt, out of the house of bondage, and did very great signs in our sight, and preserved us in all the arose and fought against Israel. And he sent and called for Baalam son of Beor, to curse you. And I would not hear him ; but on the contrary I blessed you by him, and I de- livered you out of his hand. And you passed over the Jordan, and you came to Jericho. And the men of that city fought against you, the Amor- rhite, and the Pherezite, and the Chana- anite, and the Hethite, and the Gergesite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite ; and I delivered them into your hands. And I sent before you hornets ; and I drove them' out from their places, the two kings of the Amorrhites, not with thy sword nor with thy bow. And I gave you a land in which you had not laboured, and cities to dwell in which you built not, vineyards and olive- yards which you planted not. Now therefore fear the Lord, and serve Him with a perfect and most sincere heart ; and put away the gods which your fathers served in Mesopotamia and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. But if it seem evil to you to serve the Lord, you have your choice : choose this day that which pleaseth you, whom you would rather serve, whether the gods which your fathers served in Mesopo- tamia, or the gods of the Amorrhites, in whose land you dwell ; but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. way by which we journeyed, and among all the people through whom we passed. And He hath cast out all the nations, the Amorrhite, the inhabitant of the land into which we are come. Therefore we will serve the Lord, for He is our God. 83 Josue said to the people, 4 You will not bo able to serve the Lord ; for He is a holy God, mighty and jealous, and will not forgive your wickedness and your sins. If you leave the Lord and serve strange gods, He will turn and afflict you, and will destroy you after all the good He hath done to you.’ And the people said to Josue, 4 No ; it shall not be as thou sayest, but we will serve the Lord.’ And Josue said to the people, 4 You are witnesses that you yourselves have chosen the Lord to serve Him and they answered, 4 We are witnesses.’ Josue took a great stone and set it under the oak that was in the Sanctuary of the Lord ; and he said to all the people, 4 Behold, this stone shall be a testimony unto you, that it hath heard all the words of the Lord which He hath spoken unto you ; lest perhaps hereafter you will deny it, and lie to the Lord/ After this, Josue, who is called Jesus in the Acts of the Apostles, died, being 110 years old, and they buried him in his owji possession, in Mount Ephraim. The bones also of Joseph, which had been brought up out of Egypt, they buried in Sichem, in the field which Jacob bought for a hundred lambs from the sons of Hemor. The good land flowing with milk and honey promised to the Hebrew peo- ple, which Josue brought his people in to possess, is a figure of the Heaven into the possession of which Jesus Christ will bring all the Christian people who faithfully follow Him. Fourth Subdivision.— The Judges of Israel (B.C. 1410 to B.C. 1075). § 42. Israel falls aivay to idolatry after the death of Josue. The children of Israel served the Lord all the days of Josue, and of the princes of the people who had seen all the great works of the Lord which He had done in Israel; but when these living witnesses died away, and there arose others who had not seen the works that He had done for Israel, the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, as Moses had said, 4 1 know that after my death you will do iniquity, and will soon turn aside from the way which I have commanded you, and evils will come upon you’ (Deut. xxxi. 29). They left the Lord the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of Egypt, and they followed after strange gods, Baal and Astaroth. An angel of the Lord had spoken to the people at Galgal, saying : THE ANGEL’ I made you go out of Egypt, and have brought you into the land for which I swore to your fathers ; and I promised that I would not make void My cove- nant with you for ever. On condition that you should not make a league with the inhabitants of this land, but should throw down their altars ; and you would not hear My voice : why have you done this ? Wherefore I would not destroy them from before your face : that you may ’s WARNING. have enemies, and their gods may be your ruin. For this nation Hath made void My covenant, which I had made with their fathers, and hath despised to hearken to My voice. I also will not destroy the nations which Josue left, when he died. That through them I may try Israel, whether they will keep the way of the Lord, and walk in it, as their fathers kept it, or no. 84 The children of Israel therefore dwelt in the midst of the nations whom they ought to have utterly destroyed, and the people of the land, as Moses had foretold, became a snare to them, and drew them off to serve their idols, Baalim and Astaroth. This brought heavy judgments upon them, yet the Lord their God remembered His mercy, and from time to time gave them deliverers, who rose up and judged the people, and restored the faith and worship of the God of Israel. These were the Judges of Israel, the most famous of whom were Gedeon and Sampson. § 43. Gedeon , one of the Judges of Israel. It was on one of these occasions, after Israel had sinned against the Lord by following after strange gods, and when they had been humbled exceedingly in the sight of their old enemy the Madianites, that they cried to the Lord for help against the Madianites. God sent His angel to appear to Gedeon as he was thrashing wheat by his father’s wine-press, and the angel said, 4 The Lord is with thee, 0 most valiant of men.’ Gedeon answered, 4 If the Lord be with us, why have these evils fallen upon us ? Where are His miracles which our fathers have told us of, saying, 44 The Lord brought us up out of Egypt?” But now the Lord hath forsaken us, and delivered us into the hands of Ma- dian.’ The same night the angel appeared to him, and commanded him to destroy the grove and altar of Baal. Gedeon, fearing to do this by day, did it all early in the morning. When the men of the town saw the altar destroyed and the grove cut down, they said one to another, 4 Who hath done this V And when they were told that it was Gedeon, the son of Joas, they came to Joas and said, 4 Bring out thy son that he may die, for he hath destroyed the altar of Baal, and hath cut down his grove.’ Joas answered, 4 Are you the avengers of Baal, that you fight for him? If he be a god, let him revenge himself on him that hath cast down his altar.’ From this day the spirit of the Lord came upon Gedeon, and he sounded a trumpet, and sent messengers to the tribes of Aser, Zabulon, and JSTepthali, to follow him. Gedeon asked a sign, and said to God, 4 If Thou wilt save Israel by my hand, as Thou hast said, I will put this fleece of wool on the floor; and if there be dew upon the fleece only, and it be dry on all the ground beside, I shall know that by my hand, as Thou hast said, Thou wilt deliver Israel.’ It was so. And rising before day, he wrung the fleece and filled a vessel with the dew. On the following night Gedeon prayed that the fleece only might be dry and all the ground wet with dew ; and it was so. Gedeon, on the strength of these signs, proceeded to the fight. But God came to him and instructed him to reduce his followers to the number of three hundred. In the evening before the battle, Gedeon and his servant stole in disguise into the camp of Madian, and there he heard a Madianite relate to his comrade, saying, 4 1 dreamt a dream, and it seen*e4 to i&e as if a 85 hearth-cake of barley-bread rolled and came downintothe camp of Madian, and when it was come to a tent, it struck it and beat it down flat to the ground.’ He to whom he spoke answered, ‘ This is nothing else but the sword of Gedeon, the son of Joas, a man of Israel.’ When Gedeon heard this he adored, and returned to the camp of Is- rael, and said, ‘ Arise, for the Lord hath deli- vered the camp of Madian into our hands.* Gedeon attack- ed the Madianite camp the same night. The Ma- dianites were seized with a pa- nic and fled, and their overthrow was complete. The fleece of Gedeon is referred to as a type of the Blessed Virgin in the Vespers of the Circumcision, 4 When Thou wast born in an unspeakable man- ner from a Virgin, the Scriptures were fulfilled. Thou earnest down as the dew into the fleece ; we praise Thee, 0 our God.’ § 44. Sampson . His riddle to the wedding guests . The first act of Sampson when he grew up was to form acquaintance with a young Philistine maiden, and, contrary to the law of Moses and the remonstrance of his parents, he sought her for his wife. As he was going down to Tammatha with his father and mother to obtain his wife, a young lion out of the vineyards met him, raging and roaring. The Spirit of the Lord came upon Sampson, and he tore him as he would have torn a kid, though he had nothing in his hand. Some days afterwards he went aside to see the carcass of the lion, and behold, there was a swarm of bees in the mouth of the lion and a honeycomb. Sampson stopped and took some of it in his hands, and went on eating till he met his father and mother, to whom he gave of 86 the honey, but without telling them that he had taken it from the mouth of the lion. His father and mother, as was the custom, made a feast for the marriage of their son, and invited the citizens of the place to the number of about thirty, who were all Philistines. During the feast Sampson said, ‘ I propose to you a riddle, which if you can declare to me within the seven days of the feast, I will give you thirty tunics and as many coats ; but if you shall not be able to declare it, you shall give me thirty tunics and the same number of coats/ They answered him, ( Put forth the riddle, that we may hear it.’ Sampson said to them, 4 Out of the eater came forth meat, and out of the strong came forth sweetness/ When the seventh day came and they could not discover the riddle, they said to the wife of Sampson, ‘ Soothe thy husband, and persuade him to tell thee what the riddle meaneth. But if thou wilt not do it, we will burn thee and thy father’s house. Have you called us to the wedding on purpose to strip us V So she wept before Sampson and complained, saying, ‘ Thou hatest me, and dost not love me : therefore thou wilt not expound to me the riddle which thou hast proposed to the sons of my people/ But he answered, 6 I would not tell it to my father and mother, and how can I tell it to thee V At length, as she was troublesome to him, he expounded it. And she immediately told her countrymen. And they on the seventh day before the sun went down said to him, ‘ What is sweeter than honey ? and what is stronger than a lion V And he said to them, ‘ If you had not ploughed with my heifer, you had not found out my riddle/ Sampson’s riddle has a reference to Jesus Christ, under the figure of the Lion of the tribe of Juda, who before His Incarnation was known as the Lion of his own tribe, for the severity of His judgments, but who, now that He has become the food of His people in the Holy Eucharist, is known for His spirit of sweetness and meekness in the new covenant of the Gospel. § 45. Sampson slays more in his death than in his lifetime . Sampson now judged Israel for twenty years, and on one occasion he went down to Gaza, a town of the Philistines. It was noised abroad that Sampson was in the city, and the people surrounded him, intending to kill him in the morning. But in the night Sampson rose, and taking the doors of the gate with the posts thereof, he carried them to the top of the hill that looketh towards Hebron. After this, Sampson loved a woman of the Philistines named Delila. The lords of the Philistines, seeing this, came to Delila, and said to her, ‘ Deceive him, and learn from him wherein lieth his great strength, and whereby we may overcome him and bind him ; the which if thou wilt do, we will each give thee one thousand one hundred pieces of silver/ Delila now said to Sampson, ‘ Tell me, I pray thee, wherein lieth thy great strength, and wherewith thou canst be bopnd that thou canst not break forth V Sampson answered, ‘ If I be bound with seven new cords that have never been in use, I shall be weak like to other men/ Delila bound 87 him with these cords and said, ‘ The Philistines he upon thee, Sampson !’ But he brake the cords as though they had been threads. At last, wea- ried with her prayers, he be- trayed his secret to her, and said, ‘The razor hath never come upon my head, for I am a Nazarite ; that is to say, con- secrated to God from my mother’s womb : if my head be shaven, my strength shall depart from me, and I shall be- come like other men.’ This was done as he slept. The Philistines now seized upon him, carried him in chains to Gaza, put out his eyes, and made him grind flour in the prison. Soon af- ter this, the princes of the Philistines assembled to offer great sacrifices to their god Dagon ; and they praised him, saying, ‘ Our god hath de- livered our enemy Sampson into our hands.’ The people also praised Dagon in the same way. In the midst of their rejoicings there was a call for Sampson to be brought out before them. He was accordingly brought out of prison, and played before them, and they made him stand between two pillars. And he said to the lad that guided his steps, ‘ Suffer me to touch the pillars which support the whole house, and let me lean upon them, and rest a little.’ blow the house was full of men and women, and all the princes of the Philistines were there. Moreover, about three thousand persons of both sexes, from the roof and the higher part of the house, were beholding Sampson’s play. But he called upon the Lord, saying, ‘ 0 Lord God, remember me ; and restore to me now my former strength, 0 my God, that I may revenge myself on my enemies, and for the loss of my two eyes I may take one revenge.’ And laying hold on both the SAMPSON BURSTS THE CORDS BY WHICH HE HAD BEEN BOUND. 88 pillars on which the house rested, and holding the one with his right hand, and the other with his left, he said, 4 Let me die with the Philis- tines.’ And when he had strongly shook the pillars, the house fell upon all the princes, and the rest of the multitude that was there; and he killed many more at his death than he had killed before in his life. Sampson bursting the bands with which the Philistines had bound him is a figure of Jesus Christ bursting the bonds of death and rising from the dead. His slaying more by his death than in his lifetime is a figure of Jesus convert- ing more souls by His death upon the Cross than by His miracles and dis- courses during His life. § 46. The history of Ruth. In the days of one of the judges of Israel, a certain man of Bethlehem Juda went to sojourn in the land of Moab with his wife and two sons. The name of the man was Elimelech, and that of his wife hfoemi. Elimelech died, and his two sons, so that JSToemi was left alone with her two daughters-in-law, Euth and Orpha. Word now reached her that God had given rest to Israel, and this news induced her to make up her mind to return back to Bethlehem. She therefore called her two daughters-in-law, and spoke to them that they should return to their own families, and seek for other husbands. Euth, however, would not leave her, saying, 4 Be not against me to desire that I should depart and leave thee : whithersoever thou wilt go, I will go ; where thou shalt dwell, I will dwell also. Thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God.’ Noemi and Euth came safely to Bethlehem, about the beginning of the barley-harvest, and Euth said to her mother-in-law, 4 If thou wilt, I will go into the field and glean the ears of corn that escape the hands of the reapers, wheresoever I shall find grace with a householder, that will be favourable to me.’ Noemi said, 4 Go, my daughter.’ She went therefore into the field to glean ; and it happened that the owner of that field was Booz, who was of the kindred of Elimelech. Booz himself came into the field from the city, and said to the reapers, 4 The Lord be with you and they answered, 4 The Lord bless thee.’ Booz said to the young man who was set over the reapers, 4 Whose maid is this V And he ans- wered, 4 This is the Moabitess who came with Hoemi from the land of Moab. She hath desired leave to glean the ears of corn that remain, following the steps of the reapers ; and she hath been in the field from morning till now, and hath not gone home for one moment.’ Booz now came and spoke to Euth, and said to her, 4 Hear me, daughter ; do not go to glean in any other field, and do not depart from this place, but keep with my maids, and follow where they reap ; for I have charged my young men not to molest thee.’ Euth, in surprise, said, 4 Whence cometh this to me, that I should find grace before thine eyes, who am a woman of another country?’ Booz answered, ‘All hath been told me ; the Lord render unto thee for thy work, and mayest thou receive a full reward of the Lord God of Israel to whom thou art come, and under whose wings thou art fled.’ Booz thus showed particular kindness to 89 Ruth, and said to his reapers, c Let fall some of your handfuls on pur- pose, that she may gather them without shame ; and let no man rebuke her when she gathereth them. 7 Ruth thus was enabled to take home to her mother-in-law gleanings which, when beaten out, made three bushels. Ruth now went out daily to glean in the fields of Booz with his maidens, and when the harvest was over, Booz said to her, ‘ Blessed art thou of the Lord, my daughter ; for thy good demeanour surpasses thy love to thy mother-in-law. All the people within the gates of my city know that thou art a virtuous woman. Ido not deny myself to be near of kin, but there is another nearer than I; if he will take thee to wife by the right of kindred, all is well ; but if he will not, I will, as the Lord liveth, undoubtedly take thee. 7 The elder of kin yielded his right, and as all the elders of the city bore witness that he took to wife Ruth the Moabitess, they said, 6 The Lord make this woman that cometh to thy house like Rachel and Lia who built up the house of Israel, that she may be an example of virtue in Ephrata, and may have a famous name in Bethlehem. 7 Thus Hoemi was comforted in her old age ; and when a son was born to Booz, who was Obed, the grandfather of David, JNbemi took the child in her bosom and carried it, and became a nurse to it. § 47. The history of Samuel. The prayer of his mother Anna. The impiety of the two priests Ophni and Phineas. The ArJc of Israel falls into the hands of the Philistines . At the time when the High-Priest Heli was judge in Israel, there lived in Mount Ephraim one Elkana by name, who had two wives, Anna and Phenenna. Anna was without children, and on one occasion of her going up with her husband to the Tabernacle in Silo, full of grief, she prayed before the Lord, shedding many tears and making a vow, saying, ‘ 0 Lord of hosts, if Thou wilt look on the affliction of Thy servant, and wilt be mindful of me and not forget thine handmaid, and wilt give Thy servant a man-child, I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and no razor shall come upon his head.’ God heard Anna’s pious prayer and gave her a son, and in due time Anna appeared before Heli, saying, ‘ For this child did I pray, and the Lord hath granted me my petition which I asked of Him ; therefore also have I lent him to the Lord ; all the days of his life shall he be lent to the Lord. 7 And they adored the Lord there and returned home, Anna leaving the child Samuel in the care of Heli. The two sons of Heli, Ophni and Phineas, the priests, were bad men, and their father had neglected to correct them in time, being too easy and quiet a man to be willing to punish them as they deserved. He had satisfied himself with saying, ‘ Do not so, my sons ; for it is no good report that I hear ; you make the people of the Lord to transgress. 7 As the sin of the young men was great before the Lord, God made the child Samuel the bearer of a message to Heli. 90 Samuel slept in the temple of the Lord, and the Lord called Samuel. And he answered, 4 Here am I.’ And he ran to Heli and said, 4 Here am I; for thou didst call me.’ He said, ‘I did not call; go hack and sleep.’ And he went and slept. And the Lord called Samuel a- gain. And Samuel arose and went to Heli, and said, ‘Here am I; for thou calledst me.’ He answered, 4 1 did not call thee, my son; return and sleep.’ How Samuel did not yet know the Lord, neither had the word of the Lord been re- vealed to him. And the Lord called Samuel again the third time. And he arose up and went to Heli ; and said, 4 Here am I ; for thou didst call me.’ Then Heli understood that the Lord called the child, and he said to Samuel, 4 Go and sleep ; and if He shall call thee any more, thou shalt say, “Speak, Lord ; for Thy servant heareth.’” So Samuel went and slept in his place. And the Lord came and stood; and He called, as He had called the other times, 4 Samuel, Samuel.’ And Samuel said, 4 Speak, Lord ; for Thy servant heareth.’ And the Lord said to Samuel, 4 1 will begin and make an end. I have foretold unto Heli, that I will judge his house for ever for their iniquity, because he knew that his sons did wickedly, and did not chastise them. And Samuel slept till morning, and opened the doors of the house of the Lord. And Samuel feared to tell the vision to Heli; but when Heli said, 4 May God do so to thee, and more also, if thou hide from me one word of all that was said to thee !’ Samuel told him all the words, and did not hide them from him. And he answered, 4 It is the Lord ; let him do what is good in His sight.’ The Philistines now gathered their armies, and went to war with 91 Israel. And when the armies joined battle, Israel turned their backs, and about four thousand were slain. The people returned to the camp, and the elders said, 4 Why hath the Lord defeated us to-day before the Philistines ? Let us fetch the Ark of the Lord from Silo, that it may save us from the hand of our enemies.’ When the Ark was come, all Israel shouted with a great shout, and the earth rang again. The Philis- tines, when they learned what Israel was shouting for, said, 4 Wo unto us ; who shall deliver us from the hand of these high gods % These are the gods that struck Egypt with all the plagues in the desert. Take courage and behave like men, ye Philistines ; lest ye come to be servants to the Hebrews as they have served you.’ The battle began, and Israel was overthrown. The Ark of God was taken, and the two sons of Heli, Ophni and Phineas, were slain. And there ran a man of Benjamin out of the army, and came to Silo the same day with his clothes rent. Heli was seated upon a stool over against the way watching, for his heart was fearful for the Ark of God ; and when he came to Heli, he said, 4 1 am he that came from the battle, and have fled out of the field this day.’ And he said to him, 4 What is there done, my sonf And he that brought the news answered and said, ‘Israel has fled before the Philistines, and there has been a great slaughter of the people: moreover thy two sons, Ophni and Phineas, are dead; and the Ark of God is taken/ And when he had named the Ark of God, he fell from his stool backwards by the door, and broke his neck, and died. For he was an old man, and far advanced in years. The Philistines took the Ark of God, and carried it from the field of battle into Azotus, and brought it into the temple of Dagon, and set it by Dagon. And when the Azotians arose early the next day, behold Dagon lay upon his face on the ground before the Ark of the Lord ; and they took Dagon, and set him again in his place. And the next day again, when they rose in the morning, they found Dagon lying upon his face on the earth before the Ark of the Lord ; and the head of Dagon and both the palms of his hands were cut off; only the stump of Dagon remained in its place. The Philistines in alarm ordered the Ark of the Lord to be carried about from city to city ; but everywhere that it came plagues were sent on the inhabitants of the city. In doubt therefore what to do with the Ark of the Lord, they placed it on a cart, and yoking two kine to it, the kine took the straight way to Bethsames, a village of Israel ; and thus the Ark of the Lord was restored to Silo. The inhabitants of Bethsames were smitten with a plague for the sin of profanely looking into the Ark. Samuel is a type and figure of St. John the Baptist. Both were miracu- lously given to their parents, and previously to their birth dedicated to the service of God ; both also were preachers of penance to the people. Samuel, the last of the judges, anoints David the king after God’s own heart ; and John, the last of the prophets, baptises Jesus, of whom the voice from Heaven bore witness , 4 This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased,’ 92 § 48. The clamour of Israel for the election of a king. The election of Saul , his coronation, and subsequent rejection for his disobedience. Peace and plenty had now been restored to Israel under Samuel, and the elders of Israel came to Samuel, and said, ‘Behold, thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways : make us a king to judge us, as all the nations have.’ The word was displeasing to Samuel, and he prayed and consulted the Lord. The Lord said to Samuel, ‘ They have not rejected thee, hut Me, that I should not reign over them. Hearken unto their voice, and make them a king; hut yet testify to them, and foretell them the right of the king that shall reign over them.’ Then Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people that had desired a king of him, and he said : ; SAMUEL’S WARNING. This will be the right of the king, that shall reign over you : he will take your sons, and put them in his chariots, and will make them his horsemen, and his running footmen to run before his cha- riots. And he will appoint of them to be his tribunes, and centurions, and to plough his fields, and to reap his corn, and to make him arms and chariots. Your daughters also he will take to make him ointments, and to be his cooks and bakers. And he will take your fields, and your vineyards, and your best oliveyards, and give them to his servants. Moreover he will take the tenth of your corn and of the revenues of your vineyards, to give his servants. Your servants also and handmaids, and your goodliest young men, and your asses, he will take away, and put them to his work. Your flocks also he will tithe, and you shall be his servants. And you shall cry out in that day from the face of the king, whom you have chosen to yourselves ; and the Lord will not hear you in that day, because you desired unto yourselves a king. But tlie people would not hear the voice of Samuel, and they said, * Hay, hut there shall he a king over us. And we also will he like all nations ; and our king shall judge us, and go out before us, and fight our battles for us.’ It happened that a man of the tribe of Benjamin, Saul, the son of Cis, was at this time in search of his father’s asses, which had strayed ; and hearing of the fame of Samuel, he came to him. Samuel, warned that this was the man God had chosen to be made king, caused him to remain that day to eat with him. On the morning, as Saul was about to depart, Samuel took a little vial of oil, and poured it upon his head and kissed him, and said, ‘ Behold, the Lord hath anointed thee to be prince over His inheritance, and thou shalt deliver His people out of the hands of their enemies that are round about them.’ And Samuel gave him three signs that the Lord had chosen him, all of which came to pass. Soon after this, the Spirit of the Lord came upon Saul, and he gathered together an army of 300,000 of Israel, and 30,000 of the men of Juda, with which he fell upon the children of Ammon and routed them. Saul was now publicly crowned king by Samuel ; and on the occasion of the coronation Samuel reminded the people that they should 98 know that they had done wickedly in asking for a king, but that be- cause the Lord had sworn to make them His people, He would still he with them. ‘ Yet/ said Samuel, 4 if you will still do wickedly, both you and your king shall perish together.’ God now proceeded to put Saul’s obedience to the proof. It was forbidden to any Israelite not of the tribe of Levi, and of the kindred of Aaron, to perform the priest’s office, to offer sacrifice. Saul had gathered an army to fight the Philistines, and he was expecting Samuel to come to the camp to offer sacrifice. Samuel failed to come, and the people were afraid, and were falling away. Saul therefore said, 4 Bring me the holocaust and the peace-offering.’ And he offered the holocaust ; as he made an end of offering, Samuel came. Samuel said to him, ‘What hast thou done? Saul said, ‘The people slipt away from me ; and forced by necessity, I offered the holocaust.’ Samuel said to Saul, ‘Thou hast done foolishly. If thou hadst not done thus, the Lord would now have es- tablished thy kingdom over Israel forever ; but now thy kingdom shall not continue. The Lord hath sought Him a man after His own heart, because thou hast not observed that which the Lord commanded.’ • Saul rejected from the kingdom is a figure of the entire Hebrew people, who, though chosen of God and exalted to a great honour and knowledge of God above all other people, sinned by making the things of God subservient to their own ends. For this reason their election to the vineyard of God was taken away from them and given to the Gentile people, who have believed in Jesus Christ. In the same way also, as Saul, when he perceived himself to be rejected, hated and persecuted David, the rejected Hebrew people have hated the Son of David, and have persecuted His Church. § 49. David is anointed Iting over Israel. And the Lord said to Samuel, ‘How long wilt thou mourn for Saul, whom I have rejected from reigning over Israel ? Fill thy horn with oil, and come, that I may send thee to Isai the Bethlehemite ; for I have provided me a king among his sons.’ And Samuel said, ‘ How shall I go ? for Saul will hear of it, and he will kill me.’ And the Lord said, 6 Thou shalt take with thee a calf of the herd, and thou shalt say, “ I am come to sacrifice to the Lord.” And thou shalt call Isai to the sacri- fice, and I will show thee what thou art to do, and thou shalt anoint him whom I shall show to thee.’ Then Samuel did as the Lord had said to him. And he came to Bethlehem, and the ancients of the city wondered, and meeting him, they said, ‘Is thy coming hither peaceable? And he said, ‘ It is peaceable : I am come to offer sacrifice to the Lord ; be ye sanctified, and come with me to the sacrifice.’ And he sanctified Isai and his sons, and called them to the sacrifice. And when they were come in, he saw Eliab, and said, ‘Is the Lord’s anointed before Him V And the Lord said to Samuel, ‘ Look not on his countenance, nor on the height of his stature : because I have rejected him ; nor do I judge ac- cording to the look of man : for man seeth those things that appear ; but the Lord beholdeth the heart.’ And Isai called Abinadab, and brought 94 him before Samuel. And lie said, ‘Neither hath, the Lord chosen this. 5 And Isai brought Samma, and he said of him, ‘ Neither hath the Lord chosen this.’ Isai therefore brought his seven sons before Samuel; and Samuel said to Isai, ‘The Lord hath not chosen any one of these.’ And Samuel said to Isai, ‘ Are here all thy sons V He answered, 4 There remaineth yet a young one, who keepeth the sheep.’ And Sa- muel said to Isai, ‘ Send and fetch him ; for we will not sit down till he come hither.’ He sent therefore and brought him. Now he was rud- dy and beautiful to behold, and of a comely face. And the Lord said, ‘ Arise and anoint him, for this is he.’ Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brethren; and the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward : and Samuel rose up, and went to Eamatha. David’s anointing is a type of the Sacrament of Confirmation, which is given by the holy chrism, in this respect, that David was not anointed in order to come at once into possession of his kingdom, but as having first to pass through a variety of dangers and difficulties. In the same manner, Christians are anointed in the Sacrament of Confirmation to be made strong against the temptations and trials which are sure to come to them as they pass through life. § 50. The single combat of David with Goliath. After this, David was sent for to the court of Saul to play upon the harp before the king, when Saul was troubled with an evil spirit from the Lord. But when a war rose up between Israel and the Philistines, and when his three brothers went with the army, David returned home. As the armies stood opposite to each other, with a valley between them, DAVID IS ANOINTED KING IN THE liOOM OF SAUL. 95 a Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, came out, and cried to the bands of Israel, and said to them, 4 Why are you come out prepared to fight h Am not I a Philistine, and you the servants of Saul h Choose you out a man of you, and let him come down and fight hand to hand. If he be able to fight with me, and kill me, we will be servants to you ; but if I prevail against him, and kill him, you shall serve us/ And the Philis- tine said, 4 I have defied the bands of Israel this day. Give me a man, and let him fight with me hand to hand.’ And Saul and all the Israelites, hearing these words of the Philistine, were dismayed and greatly afraid. As the Philistine continued to defy Israel for forty days, David came into the camp to inquire after his brethren’s welfare ; and hearing the Philistine’s challenge, he asked to be led to Saul. When he was brought before Saul, he said to him, 4 Let not any man’s heart be dismayed in him : I, thy servant, will go and fight against the Philistine/ Saul said to David, 4 Thou art not able to withstand this Philistine, nor to fight against him ; for thou art but a boy, but he is a warrior from his youth.’ And David said to Saul : DAVID’S ANSWER TO SAUL. Thy servant kept his father’s sheep, and there came a lion and a bear, and took a ram out of the midst of the flock. And I pursued after them, and struck them, and delivered it out of their mouth ; and they rose up against me, and I caught them by the throat, and I strangled and killed them. I thy servant have killed both a lion and a bear ; and this uncircumcised Phi- listine shall be also as one of them. I will go now and take away the reproach of the people ; for who is this uncircum- cised Philistine, who hath dared to curse the army of the living God ? The Lord who delivered me out of tho paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, He will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine. And Saul said to David, 4 Go, and the Lord be with thee/ And David took his staff, which he had always in his hand, and chose him five smooth stones out of the brook, and put them, into the shepherd’s scrip which he had with him ; and he took a sling in his hand, and went forth against the Philistine. And the Philistine came on, and drew nigh against David, and his armour-bearer with him. And when the Philis- tine looked and beheld David, he despised him. Por he was a young man, ruddy, and of a comely countenance. And the Philistine said to David, 4 Am I a dog, that thou comest to me with a staff'?’ And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. And he said to David, 4 Come to me, and I will give thy flesh to the birds of the air, and to the beasts of the earth/ And David said to the Philistine, 4 Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield ; but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied. This day the Lord will deliver thee into my hand ; and I will slay thee, and take away thy head from thee ; and I will give the carcasses of the army of the Philistines this day to the birds of the air, and to the beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. And all this assembly shall know, that the 96 Lord saveth not with sword and spear ; for it is His battle, and He will deliver you into our hands/ And when the Philistine arose and was coming, and drew nigh to meet David, David made haste, and ran to the fight to meet the Philistine. And he put his hand into his scrip and took a stone, and fetching it about, he struck the Philistine in his forehead ; and the stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face upon the earth. So David pre- vailed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone. And as David had no sword, he ran and stood over the Philistine, and took his sword and drew it out of the sheath, and slew him, and cut off his head. And the Philistines, seeing their champion was dead, fled away. David marching with his shepherd’s staff to fight with Goliath is a figure of Jesus carrying His Cross on His way to His last combat with Satan, whom He conquered by His death on the Cros3. § 51. Saul's hatred of David, and Jonathan's love for him . David's trials and respect for the Lord's anointed. Saul consults the ivitch at Endor . His fall and suicide. As David returned home victorious, women from all the cities of Israel came out to meet king Saul with cymbals, singing, ‘ Saul hath slain his thousand and David his ten thousand.’ This saying displeased Saul exceedingly, and he said, 4 They have given to David ten thousand and to me one thousand ; what remains for him now but the kingdom T and from this day forward Saul hated David. And when Saul perceived that David in all things acted prudently, and that the Lord was with him, he began to be afraid of him, and to be his enemy as long as he lived. But to make up for the unjust hatred of Saul, God gave to Jona- than, Saul’s son, the warmest love for David; so that Jonathan became David’s truest friend to the end of his life. Saul was afflicted with an evil spirit from the Lord, and on these occasions David was accustomed to be called to soothe the mind of Saul by playing on his harp. The evil spirit one day came on Saul w T ith such power, that he cast his spear at David, intending to kill him. David slipt aside, and the spear, passing by him, fastened itself into the wall. This was the signal for David to take to flight to save his life. From this time David was forced to have recourse to many expedients to save his life. Jonathan his friend in vain sought to reconcile the mind of his father to him. David fled to the court of Achis king of Gath ; but here he was obliged to feign madness to escape being put to death, and as soon as he could he fled from Gath. To protect himself, he now gathered together a band of followers of such as were in distress, and op- pressed with debt. And he became in this manner the leader of about four hundred men. Hunted by Saul from place to place, and daily run- ning the risk of being betrayed or taken prisoner, David never lost his faith, that God would in His own time bring him to the throne. His faith was put to the following trial. 97 David took refuge with his followers in the rocks of Engaddi. And when Saul was returned from following the Philistines, they told him, saying, 4 Behold, David is in the desert of Engaddi.’ Saul therefore took three thousand chosen men out of all Israel, and went out to seek after David and his men, even upon the most craggy rocks, which are acces- sible only to wild goats. And he came to the sheep-cotes, which were in his way. And there was a cave, into which Saul withdrew from the rest of his followers, while David and his men lay hid in the inner part of the cave. And the servants of David said to him, 4 Behold the day of which the Lord said to thee, “ I will deliver thy enemy unto thee, that thou mayest do to him as it shall seem good in thy eyes.” ’ Then David arose, and secretly cut off the hem of Saul’s robe. After which David’s heart struck him, because he had cut off the hem of Saul’s robe. And he said to his men, 4 The Lord be merciful unto me, that I may do no such thing to my master, the Lord’s anointed, as to lay my hand upon him, because he is the Lord’s anointed.’ And David stopped his men with his words, and suffered them not to rise against Saul ; but Saul, rising up out of the cave, went on his way. Saul’s time was now approaching. The Philistines, whom he had defeated in the early part of his reign when God was with him, were gathering their armies against Israel, and Saul began to be dismayed ; for he knew that the Lord had forsaken him, and would not answer him either by dreams, or by priest, or by prophet. In this forsaken state, he sought refuge in witchcraft, and said to his servants, 4 Seek me a woman that hath a divining spirit, and I will go and inquire by her.’ His servants said to him, 4 There is a woman that hath a divining spirit at Endor.’ .Saul disguised himself and went to the woman by night, accompanied by two servants ; and when he came to her, she said, 4 Thou knowest all that Saul hath done, and how he hath rooted out the magicians and soothsayers from the land : why then dost thou lay a snare for my life, to cause me to be put to death ?’ And Saul swore unto her by the Lord, saying, 4 As the Lord liveth, there shall no evil happen to thee for this thing.’ And the woman said to him, whom shall I bring up to thee ?’ And he said, 4 Bring me up Samuel.’ And when the woman saw Samuel, she cried out with a loud voice, and said to Saul, 4 Why hast thou de- ceived me? for thou art Saul.’ And the king said to her, 4 Eear not; what hast thou seen ?’ And the woman said to Saul, 4 I saw gods ascend- ing out of the earth.’ And he said to her, 4 What form is he of?’ And she said, 4 An old man cometh up, and he is covered with a mantle.’ And Saul understood that it was Samuel, and he bowed himself with his face to the ground, and adored. And Samuel said to Saul, 4 Why hast thou disturbed my rest, that I should be brought up ?’ And Saul said, 4 1 am in great distress ; for the Philistines fight against me, and God has departed from me, and would not hear me, neither by the hand of prophets nor by dreams ; therefore I have called thee, that thou mayest H 98 show me what I shall do/ And Samuel said, ‘ The Lord will deliver Israel with thee into the hands of the Philistines, and to-morrow thou and thy sons shall he with me ; and the Lord will also deliver the army of Israel into the hands of the Philistines/ And forthwith Saul fell to the ground, for he was frightened with the words of Samuel; and there was no strength in him, for he had eaten no bread all that day. It was with difficulty that Saul was prevailed upon by the woman to take food. At length, after he had eaten, he returned home the same night. As Samuel had foretold, so the battle fell out on the morrow. Israel fled from before the Philistines, and the whole weight of the battle was turned upon Saul. Then Saul said to his armour-bearer, 6 Draw thy sword, and kill me ; lest these uncircumcised come and slay me, and mock at me/ And his armour-bearer would not ; for he was struck with exceeding great fear. Then Saul took his sword, and fell upon it. And when his armour-bearer saw this, to wit, that Saul was dead, he also fell upon his sword and died with him. And on the morrow, when the Philistines came to strip the slain, they found Saul and his three sons lying in Mount Gelboe. And they cut off Saul’s head, and stripped him of his armour, and sent into the land of the Philistines round about, to publish it in the temples of their idols and among their people. David heard of the disaster, and wrote a lament for Saul and Jonathan his son. § 52. David is crowned king of Israel, and brings the Ark of the Covenant in solemn procession to Mount Sion. For some time after the death of Saul there continued to be war be- tween the house of David and the house of Saul ; but the Lord prospered David, and he became king of Juda in Hebron. After two years, Ishboseth, the son of Saul, whom Abner, the captain of Saul’s army, had made king over Israel in Saul’s stead, was murdered in his house; and then all the tribes of Israel came to David in Hebron, saying, ‘ Behold, we are thy bone and thy flesh. Moreover, yesterday also and the day before, when Saul was king over us, thou wast he that did lead out and bring in Israel ; and the Lord said to thee, “ Thou shalt feed My people Israel, and thou shalt be prince over Israel.” ’ The an- cients also of Israel came to the king to Hebron, and king David made a league with them in Hebron before the Lord : and they anointed David to be king over Israel. David was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years. In Hebron he reigned over Juda seven years and six months ; and in Jerusalem he reigned three-and-thirty years over all Israel and Juda. Ho sooner had David perceived that the Lord had firmly established his power over Israel, by destroying his enemies before him in various battles and encounters, than his whole mind was given to restore the glory of the worship of the God of Israel. Unlike Saul, David did not look upon the religion of the God of Israel as an instrument that a king 99 might merely make use of for his own convenience, hut his whole soul was wrapt in the glory and splendour of the worship and of the Sanctuary of his God. ‘ Lord,’ said he, 4 1 have loved the beauty of Thy house, and the place where Thine honour dwelleth.’ As soon, therefore, as he was in possession of Mount Sion, and had fixed his own habitation there, he desired to remove the Tabernacle and Sanctuary of the Lord God of Israel to a place where it would be secure against the sacrilege of an enemy, and where its splendours could be restored without danger. For this purpose, he consulted with the cap- tains of his army and the princes of the assembly of Israel, and they decided to bring the Ark of the Covenant to Mount Sion. There was a great assembly of the people, and David and all Israel played before God with all their might, with hymns and with harps, psalteries, timbrels, cymbals, and trumpets, as they carried the Ark upon a new cart from the house of Abinadab, where it had lain ever since it was restored by the Philistines. But the Levites were not with the Ark ; and Oza the driver of the cart put forth his hand to hold it up, for the oxen were restive, and made the cart lean on one side. The Lord was an- gry, and He struck Oza, so that he died before the Lord ; and David was afraid, and said, ‘How can I bring in the Ark ofGodtome'T He carried it, there- fore, to the house of Obed Edom the Gethite. And the Ark remain- ed there three months, and the Lord blessed Obed Edom and all that he had. David heard that the Lord had blessed THE ARK 0E THE C0VENANT IN THE house of obed edom. Obed Edom, and he remembered that none ought to carry the Ark of God but the Levites, whom the Lord had chosen to carry it, and to minister to Himself for ever. He therefore prepared a place for the Ark 100 in Mount Sion. And thus David and all the ancients of Israel, and the captains over thousands, went again to bring the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord out of the house of Obed Edom with joy. THE SONG OF DAVID AS THE ARK WAS CARRIED IN PROCESSION. Praise ye the Lord, and call upon His name : make known His doings among the nations. Sing to Him ; yea, sing praises to Him : and relate all His wondrous works. Praise ye His holy name : let the heart of them rejoice that seek the Lord. Seek ye the Lord and His power : seek ye His face evermore. Remember His wonderful works which He hath done : His signs, and the judg- ments of His mouth. O ye seed of Israel, His servants : ye children of Jacob, His chosen. He is the Lord our God : His judg- ments are in all the earth. Remember for ever His covenant : the word which He commanded to a thou- sand generations. The covenant which He made with Abraham : and His oath to Isaac. And He appointed the same to Jacob for a precept : and to Israel for an ever- lasting covenant. Saying, ‘ To thee will I give the land of Canaan : the lot of your inheritance.’ When tjiey were but a small number: very few, and sojourners in it. And they passed from nation to na- tion : and from one kingdom to another people. He suffered no man to do them wrong : and reproved kings for their sake. Touch not My anointed : and do no evil to My prophets. Sing ye to the Lord, all the earth : show forth from day to day His salva- tion. Declare His glory among the gentiles : His wonders among all people. For the Lord is great and exceedingly to be praised : and He is to be feared above all gods. Thus was the Ark of the Covenant and the holy service of the Taber- nacle set up in honour on the Mount Sion. The Ark of the Mosaic Covenant is a figure of the Blessed Virgin, who in the Litany of Loretto is known under this very title of ‘ Ark of the Covenant.’ Mary, as Virgin and Mother of God, receives the honour and praise of all generations, who call her ‘ blessed,’ as the Ark of the Mosaic Covenant was re- ceived with the greetings and acclamations of the people of David. § 53. David receives the promise of the Messias: his thanksgiving . David, finding that his kingdom prospered still more, and that the Lord had given him rest on every side from his enemies, said to Nathan the prophet, ‘ Dost thou see that I dwell in a house of cedar, aild the Ark of the Lord is lodged within a tent of skins V Nathan replied, ‘ Go and do all that is in thine heart, for the Lord is with thee.’ The word of the Lord came to Nathan that night , i Go, speak to My servant David, “ Thou shalt not build Me a house to dwell in. And when thou shalt have ended thy days, I will raise up thy seed after thee, which shall be of thy sons, and I will establish His kingdom : He shall build Me a house, and I will establish His Throne for ever.' 1 ' David understood that God was here confirming the oath He had sworn to Abraham, and promising to him that Messias was to be born in his family. He went at once and fell down before the Lord, and said ; 101 DAVID S THANKSGIVING FOR THE PROMISED MESSIAS. Who am I, 0 Lord God, and what is my house, that Thou hast brought me thus far ? But yet this hath seemed little in Thy sight, 0 Lord God, unless Thou didst also speak of the house of Thy servant for a long time, to come ; for this is the law of Adam, O Lord God. And what can David say more unto Thee ? for Thou knowest Thy servant, O Lord God. For Thy word’s sake, and according to Thy own heart, Thou hast done all these great things, so that Thou wouldst make it known to Thy servant. Therefore Thou art magnified, 0 Lord God, because there is none like to Thee, neither is there any God besides Thee in all the things that we have heard with our ears. And what nation is there upon earth as Thy people Israel, whom God went to redeem for a people to Himself, and to make Him a name, and to do for them great and terrible things upon the earth, before the face of Thy people, whom Thou redeemedst to Thyself out of Egypt, from the nations and their gods ? For Thou hast confirmed to Thyself Thy people Israel to be an everlasting people ; and Thou, 0 Lord God, art be- come their God. And now, O Lord God, raise up for ever the word that Thou hast spoken, concerning Thy servant and concerning his house, and do as Thou hast spoken. That Thy name may be magnified for ever, and that it may be said, ‘ The Lord of hosts is God over Israel.’ And the house of Thy servant David shall be es- tablished before the Lord. Because Thou, O Lord of hosts, God of Israel, hast revealed to the ear of Thy servant, saying, ‘I will build thee a house ;’ therefore hath Thy servant found in his heart to pray this prayer to Thee. And now, O Lord God, Thou art God, and Thy words shall be true ; for Thou hast spoken to Thy servant these good things. And now begin, and bless the house of Thy servant, that it may endure for ever before Thee, because Thou, O Lord God,, hast spoken it ; and with Thy blessing let the house of Thy servant be blessed for ever. § 54. The danger of self-deceit : David falls into the sin of adultery and murder , which is punished by the rebellion of Absalom. . Shortly after these glorious promises were made to him, David fell into the grievous sins of adultery and murder. He took Bethsabee, the wife of Urias the Hethite, and afterwards he plotted the murder of Urias her husband. Urias at the time was with the army at the siege of Rabbath- Ammon. David sent for him home, and then sent him back to the army carrying a letter to J oab, in which was written, ‘ Set ye Urias in the front of the battle where the fight is strongest, and leave ye him, that he may be wounded and die.’ Joab did as he was commanded’ and Urias was slain. David received the news that Urias was dead; and after the days of mourning for her husband were over, David sent and took Bethsabee to his own house, and she became his wife and bore him a son. Nearly a year must have passed since the commission of these two great sins before Nathan the prophet came to speak to him. Such is the power of self-deceit, that it does not appear that David had all this l eas t remorse or contrition, or so much as the suspicion that he had done wrong. At length the Lord sent Nathan to him; and when he was come to him, he said : *? en in one cit 7> the I T he rich man had exceeding many one rich, and the other poor. | sheep and oxen, 102 But the poor man had nothing at all hut one little ewe-lamb, which he had bought and nourished up, and which had grown up in his house together with his children, eating of his bread, and drink- ing of his cup, and sleeping in his bosom : and it was unto him as a daughter. And when a certain stranger was come to the rich man, he spared to take of his own sheep and oxen to make a feast for that stranger who was come to him, but took the poor man’s ewe-lamb, and dressed it for the man that was come to him. David’s anger being exceedingly kindled against that man, he said to Nathan, ‘ As the Lord liveth, the man that hath done this is a child of death. He shall restore the ewe fourfold, because he did this thing, and had no pity.’ And Nathan said to David, ‘ Thou art the man. Thus saith the Lord the God of Israel, “ I anointed thee king over Israel, and I delivered thee from the hand of Saul. Why therefore hast thou despised the word of the Lord, to do evil in My sight 1 Thou hast killed Urias the Hethite with the sword, and hast taken his wife to be thy wife, and hast slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon. Therefore the sword shall never depart from thy house, because thou hast despised Me.” ’ David humbled himself most deeply for his sin ; and the 50th Psalm, which lie composed on this occasion, has been in use in the Church ever since, as the language of the deepest repentance and humiliation. God forgave him the guilt of his sin; but the child which Bethsabee bore him died, as Nathan had foretold, and the sword, as we shall see in the course of this history, never departed from his house. Absalom, David’s son, was the instrument chosen by God for the punishment of David’s sin. He made himself chariots and horsemen, and fifty men to run before him. He stood also in the gate where the people came upon business to the king ; and when any man came to salute him, he put forth his hand and took him and kissed him, and said, i 0, that they would make me judge over the land, that all that have business might come to me, and I would do them justice.’ In this way he enticed the hearts of the people of Israel. When all was ready, he withdrew to Hebron, upon pretence of offering sacrifice, and then sent messengers to all Israel, saying, 6 Absalom reigneth in Hebron.’ When word was brought to David, he saw at once the whole extent of his danger, and said, 4 Arise, let us flee, for we shall not escape else from the face of Absalom.’ David and all his men left the city and fled. As David went up the ascent of Mount Olivet, barefoot and weeping, a man of the kindred of the house of Saul, named Semei, the son of Gera, came out and cursed as he went on, and threw stones at David, and at all the servants of king David, saying, ‘ Come out, come out, thou man of blood and thou man of Belial. The Lord hath repaid thee for all the blood of the house of Saul, because thou hast usurped the kingdom in his stead, and the Lord hath given the kingdom into the hand of Absalom thy son ; and behold thy evils press upon thee, because thou art a man of blood.’ Abisai said to David, ‘ Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? I will go and cut off his head.’ But David said, ‘Let him alone, for the Lord hath bid him curse David.’ 103 David received a message from his trusty friend Chnsac, who had remained in the city to send word to David of all that passed, to march with all haste to the other side of the Jordan ; which they all accom- plished in safety before the morning light. Achitophel, Absalom’s adviser, counselled to send twelve thousand men the same night to pursue David and his men ; saying, that they would surprise them while they were wearied and dispirited. But Chusac, David’s friend, pronounced this counsel to be not good, and advised to gather all Israel together, and thus to surround David wherever he might be found, as the dew falleth upon the ground. Achitophel, seeing that his counsel was not followed, went home, and putting his house in order, hanged himself. Armies were now collected on both sides, and the battle took place in the forest of Ephraim, the people of Israel being defeated by the army of David with a great slaughter. And it happened that Absalom flying from the field of battle met the servants of David, riding on a mule ; and as the mule went under a thick and large oak, his head stuck in the oak ; and while he hung between the heaven and the earth, the mule on which he rode passed on. And one saw this and told Joab, saying, 4 1 saw Absalom hanging upon an oak.’ And Joab said to the man that told him, 4 If thou sawest him, why didst thou not stab him to the ground, and I would have given thee ten sides of silver and a belt T And he said to Joab, 4 If thou wouldst have paid down in my hands a thousand pieces of silver, I would not lay my hands upon the king’s son ; for in our hearing the king charged thee, and Abisai, and Ethai, saying, 44 Save me the boy Absalom.’” And Joab said, 4 1 will set upon him in thy sight.’ So he took three lances in his hand, and thrust them into the heart of Absalom. And whilst he yet panted for life, sticking on the oak, ten young men, armour-bearers of Joab, ran up and slew him. Joab now sounded the trumpet, and kept back the people from pursuing after Israel in their flight, being willing to spare the multitude. David suffering from the rebellion of his son Absalom is a figure of the Church suffering from the rebellion of her own children, who have abandoned her faith, and have fallen away to heresies and false doctrines. § 55. Solomon is anointed king in the room of David. David was now come to a great age, and Joab made a party with Adonias, Absalom’s brother, at its head, intending to place him upon the throne after the death of David. Like Absalom, Adonias began to make to himself chariots and horsemen, and fifty men to run before him. He was in the midst of preparing to seize the throne, when Nathan heard of it. No time was to be lost ; and Nathan came at once to Bethsabee, the mother of Solomon, and said to her, 4 Come, take my counsel, and save thy life and the life of thy son Solomon. Go, and get thee in to king David, and say to him, 44 Didst not thou, my lord 0 king, swear to ine thy handmaid, saying, 4 Solomon thy son shall reign after me, and he shall sit on my throne’? Why then doth Adonias reign ?” And while 104 thou art yet speaking there with the king, I will come in after thee, and will fill up thy words/ Bethsabee went, and in due time Nathan fol- lowed her ; and after they had done speaking to the king, David said, ‘ Call me Sadoc the priest, and Nathan the prophet, and Banaias the son of Joiada.’ And when they were come in before the king, he said to them, * Take with you the servants of your Lord, and set my son Solomon upon my mule, and bring him to Gihon. And let Sadoc the priest and Nathan the prophet anoint him there king over Israel, and you shall sound the trumpet, and shall say, “ God save king Solomon.” ’ This was done as David commanded. Solomon was placed upon the king’s mule, and Sadoc the priest took a horn of oil out of the Taber- nacle and anointed Solomon ; and they sounded the trumpet, and all the people cried, ‘ God save king Solomon.’ And all the multitude went SOLOMON IS PROCLAIMED KING. up after him : and the people played with pipes, and rejoiced with a great joy, and the earth rang with the noise of their cry. Thus Solomon succeeded to the throne of his father David ; and Adonias and his party were struck with fear, and dispersed to their homes. Before his death, David called his son Solomon, and exhorted him 105 to be firm and to show himself a man ; charging him to walk diligently in the ways of the Lord his God, as he said, 6 That thou mayest under- stand all thou dost, and whithersoever thou shalt turn thyself.’ David also, before his death, called all the princes and chief men of his kingdom together and spoke to them, that it had been in his mind to build a Temple to the Lord their God, but that God had said to him, Thou shalt not build Me a house, for thou hast been a man of war • but thy son shall build Me a house / and then he told them of all that he had gathered together. ‘ But as the work is great-, ’ said David, 4 let every man of you offer what he will unto the Lord.’ Great offerings were made, and David and all Israel rejoiced with great joy. And David after this died in a good old age, full of days and riches and glory, and Solomon his son reigned in his stead. King David is one of the remarkable figures of Jesus Christ. He spent his youth in obscurity ; he wandered, suffering great hardships, over his country, before he came to the kingdom ; he conquered the enemy of his people in single combat ; and, as God’s anointed, he waited patiently for God to accom- plish in His own way his elevation to the kingly power. The Fifth Era of the World (Third of the Jewish History). THE MISSION OF THE PROPHETS OF ISRAEL AND JUDA. (the labourers sent into the vineyard at the ninth hour.) From b.c. 1010 to Jesus Christy containing : I. The Keign of Solomon and the Building of the Temple. II. The Kingdom of Israel to its Extinction in the Captivity of Ninive, III. The Kingdom of Juda to the Seventy years’ Captivity in Babylon. IV. The Seventy years’ Captivity in Babylon and contemporary Events. V. The Restoration under the Persian Empire. The Second Temple. VI. The general Apostasy from the Law of Moses under the Greek Empire. The Greek Persecution, and the Recovery of the Law by the Maccabees. VII. The final Subjection to the Roman State, under Herod, the nominee of the Roman Senate. The fulness of time for the coming of Messias. First Subdivision.— -The Building of the Temple. § 56. Introduction to the fifth era ( third of the Jewish history). The era upon which we are about to enter brings our history down to the great event which the present Jews deny and blaspheme, which profane history does not understand, and therefore passes over in silence, but for which, nevertheless, everything has been preparing the way. This event is the coming of Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, in human flesh, to be the glory of His own people, the Prophet of the Gentiles, the Bedeemer of every fallen child of Adam, and the beginning of a new Christian era for the whole world. This era contains the mission of the prophets of Israel and J uda preparatory to the advent of our Lord Him- 106 self, who speaks of them in His parable as 6 the labourers called into the vineyard at the ninth hour.’ Hoe and his successors were the la- bourers of the first hour ; and when the various families descended from him had formed themselves into nations over the world, and had cor- rupted their knowledge of God, the third hour of the vineyard came, and Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were called into it. When the family of Jacob, with whom God made His covenant, fell into slavery in Egypt, and came to be in danger of forgetting their calling to be God’s chosen people through the grievous oppression of their masters, God called the labourers of the sixth hour into His vineyard, Moses and the Levitical priesthood. Moses, by a succession of miracles, took His people out of the land of Egypt, drowning the Egyptian king and all his army in the Red Sea. Being their leader for the forty years during which they were sentenced to wander in the wilderness of Arabia, he gave them during this period laws and ordinances from the mouth of God, and established the priest- hood of Aaron and the sacrifices of the holy Tabernacle. And when he had brought them to the borders of the land promised to Abraham, he died, leaving them to go and take possession of the land, and to live there in peace under the government of the priests of the Levitical race, and saying to them, ‘ Take heed thou never desert the Levite * We have seen, in the history of the preceding era, how the people grew tired of living under the government of their priests, and clamoured to have a king like the surrounding people, as they said, ‘ to fight their battles,’ but, as Samuel said, to be less dependent upon the unseen pro- tection of the Lord their God. A king and a standing army of fighting men was a kind of protection that could be seen and understood ; while the Lord their God was a kind of protection which could not be seen. They therefore insisted upon having the protection that could be seen, and upon becoming a kingdom. With kings come armies, embassies, and alliances with other people and kingdoms ; then follows commerce, with its interchange of buying and selling ; then comes the ambition of subduing other people, forcing them into relations of commerce, and exacting tribute from them. All this, as we shall presently see, will prove true of the kingdom of Israel ; but in the mean time what is to become of the Divine law of Moses ? Is it to be forgotten ? Is it to be put aside in the king’s palace, because the king and his court are ambitious to be like other kings ? Is it to be neglected in the private family, because the head of the family desires to be like the wealthy merchant and trader of other countries ? The priests of the race of Levi, the Lord’s own tribe, whose portion was the service of the Temple and the altar, and who lived of the sacri- fices, they at least will adhere to the law of Moses and uphold it? Who- ever else may fall away, the Lord’s own anointed will be true to Him ? The sad and melancholy truth, as we shall learn from the history, is, that neither kings, priests, nor people were true to their faith and their God. False pretenders rose up as prophets ; the priests clapped their 107 hands and encouraged them ; and the people, sunk in vice, ignorance, and wickedness, loved to have it so. . . , . What then, was to preserve the law of Moses m honour 1 that law which was to be the schoolmaster till Christ should come. It was ne- cessary to call a fresh set of labourers into the vineyard, to stay the current that was setting in to general apostasy. These were the true prophets of Israel and Juda, whom God sent as the labourers of the ninth hour of His vineyard. Like their Divine Master when He came, these true prophets of God have been a butt for the worst of calumnies and the most spiteful accusations. By profane writers they are termed political firebrands, turbulent demagogues, and ambitious intriguers. By their contemporaries they were both hated, feared, and accused of wilful lalse- hood in delivering their messages from God, and most commonly put to death ‘ Which of the prophets,’ said our Lord to the Jews of His time, ‘have’ your fathers not stoned V Their great crime in the eyes of the world ever will be, that they have believed in a resurrection from the dead and that they have endured every trial, refusing, as St. Paul says, to escape, that they might obtain a better resurrection. ‘Take, my brethren,’ says St. James, ‘for an example of suffering evil, of labour and patience, the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. I he mis- sion of these true prophets of God is, then, the subject of the ensuing era of our history, until at last the King of the prophets Himselt will be seen to come to take their place. §57. Solomon’s prayer for wisdom. His remarkable judgment. Solomon is thought to have been not more than fourteen years _of awe when he was called to the throne by the death of his father David. His first acts show that all his father’s energy and discernment had come down to the son. Joab, who had shed the blood of war in peace by the murder of Abner, was ordered to be put to death ; the faction of Adonias was suppressed; and the young Solomon walked in all the precepts of David his father, fearing and loving the Lord his God. As he went to Gabaon to sacrifice to the Lord, the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night, saying, ‘ Ask what thou wilt that I should give thee. And Solomon said this prayer for wisdom : — And Thy servant is in the midst of the people which Thou hast chosen : an immense people, which cannot he num- bered or counted for multitude. Give therefore to Thy servant an Thou hast shown great mercy to Thy servant, David my father, even as he walked before Thee in truth, and just- ice, and an upright heart with Thee ; and Thou hast kept Thy great mercy for him, and hast given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is this day. And now, O Lord God, Thou hast made Thy servant king, instead of David my father : and I am but a child, and know not how to go out and come in understanding heart to judge Thy peo- pie, and to discern between good and evil; for who shall be able to judge this Thy people which is so nu- merous ? And the word was pleasing to the Lord, that Solomon had asked such a tbing. And the Lord said to Solomon : 108 Because thou hast asked this thing, and hast not asked for thyself long life, or riches, or the life of thine enemies, but hast asked for thyself wisdom to discern judgment, Behold, I have done for thee accord- ing to thy words, and have given thee a wise and understanding heart; insomuch that there hath been no one like thee before thee, nor shall arise after thee. Yea ; and the things also which thou didst not ask, I have given thee, to wit — riches and glory, so that no one hath been like thee among the kings in all days heretofore. And if thou wilt walk in My ways, and keep My precepts and My command- ments, as thy father did, I will lengthen thy days. When Solomon returned from Gabaon, he sat upon his throne to give judgment, and two women came before him. One of them said, 4 1 be- seech thee, my lord, I and this woman dwelt in one house ; and I became the mother of a child, with her in the chamber. And the third day after that, a child was born to her, and we were together, and no other person with us in the house, only we two. And this woman’s child died in the night ; for in her sleep she overlaid him. And rising in the dead time of the night, she took my child from my side, while I thy hand- maid was asleep, and laid it in her bosom ; and laid her dead child in my bosom. And when I rose in the morning to give my child suck, behold it was dead ; but considering him more diligently when it was clear day, I found that it was not mine which I bore.’ And the other woman answered, ‘ It is not so as thou sayest ; but thy child is dead, and mine is alive.’ On the contrary she said, ‘Thou liestj for my child liveth, and thy child is dead.’ And in this manner they strove before the king. Then said the king, ‘The one saith, “ My child is alive, and thy child is dead and the other answereth, “ Hay, but thy child is dead, and mine liveth.” ’ The king therefore said, ‘Bring me a sword.’ And when they had brought a sword beforeThe king, ‘Divide,’ said he, ‘ the living child in two, and give half to the one, and half to the other.’ But the woman whose child was alive said to the king (for her heart was moved for her child), ‘ I beseech thee, my lord, give her the child alive, and do not kill it.’ But the other said, ‘ Let it be neither mine nor thine, but divide it.’ The king answered and said, ‘ Give the living child to this woman, and let it not be killed, for she is the mother thereof.’ And all Israel heard the judgment which the king had judged, and they feared the king, seeing that the wisdom of God was in him. § 58. Solomon proceeds to build the Temple of the Lord . Together with the gift of wisdom yhich God gave to Solomon, God also blessed his kingdom. ‘ Juda and Israel dwelt without any fear, every one under his vine and under his fig-tree, all the days of Solomon.’ One of the first duties of Solomon’s peaceful reign was to proceed to build the Temple which David had had in his heart to build, but was not suffered, because he was a man of war. In the fourth year of his reign, Solomon set himself to the task before him, and wrote a letter to Hiram, king of Tyre, who had always been his father’s friend, requesting him to furnish workmen who were skilled in carving cedar wood, and 109 to supply the cedar timber from the mountains of Lebanon, offering terms to -which Hiram assented in a very friendly manner. Vast numbers were employed upon the building of the Temple. Thirty thousand men worked, ten thousand by turns every month, in hewing timber in the THE SITE OF SOLOMON’S TEMPLE, AS NOW SEEN FROM THE MOUNT OF OLIVES. Mount Lebanon, seventy thousand in carrying burdens, and eighty thou- sand in stone quarries in the mountains, over all of whom were set a proportionate number of overseers. In seven years the works of the Temple were completed;* and all Israel, with the princes of the tribes, and the heads of the families of Israel, were ga- thered together to king Solomon in Jerusalem, that they might carry the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord out of the city of David. And all Is- rael assembled themselves to 1 • Cl 1 THE ALTAR OF SACRIFICE, WITH ITS THREE FIRES. king Solomon on the festival day in the month of Ethanim, the same is the seventh month. And all the ancients of Israel came, and the priests took up * The following catalogue will give i 1. The clearing the site and preparing it to receive the entire range of build- ings, constructing the walls round the mountain, and fitting them with gates, and roads leading through them to the various parts of the mountain. i idea of the extent of Solomon’s work : 2. The tower on the north, afterwards called the Turris Antonia. 3. The cloisters or covered walks round the different courts for shelter for the people. 4. The Tahernas, or row of buildings 110 the Ark, and carried the Ark of the Lord, and the Tabernacle of the Covenant, and all the vessels of the Sanctuary that were in the Taber- nacle; and the priests and the Levites carried them. And king Solomon, and all the multi- tude of Israel that were assembled unto him, went before the Ark, and they sacri- ficed sheep and oxen that could not be counted or numbered. And the priests brought in the Ark of the Cove- nant of the Lord into its place, into the oracle of the Temple, into the holy of holies, under the wings of the cherubim. For the cherubim spread forth their wings over the place of the Ark, and covered the Ark, and the staves thereof a- bove. And there was nothing else in the Ark but the two tables which Moses put there at Horeb when the Lord gave the law to the children THE INNER CHAMBER IN THE HOLY OF HOLIES IN THE TEMPLE. where victims were kept upon sale for those who desired to make offerings. 5. The various dwellings for the Priests, Levites, porters, watchmen, &c. who were on duty in various offices con- nected with the service of the Temple. 6. The treasuries and storehouses, where the offerings in money were kept ; also the lambs for the daily sacrifices, wood for the altar, incense, sacred vest- ments, vessels, oil, flour, &c. 7. The courts of justice, for deciding the various cases directed in the law to be brought before the priests. 8. Court of the women, or outer court. 9. Court of Israel, where the men alone, ordinarily speaking, were allowed to assemble. 10. The portico, where the Levites who sang at the sacrifices stood. 11. The general court of sacrifice, where stood the altar, the laver and the molten sea, or brazen reservoir, and the rings where the victims were slaugh- tered. 12. The House of the Lord, consisting of (1) the Antechamber, containing the Altar of Incense, the loaves of propo- sition, and the golden candlestick ; (2) the Holy of Holies, containing the Ark of the Covenant, placed under the two cherubim carved in olive wood, ' Ill of Israel, at their coming out of Egypt. Now when the priests were come out of the Sanctuary, and when the Levites and the singing men, clothed with fine linen, sang, ‘ Give glory to the Lord, for He is good, for His mercy endureth for ever, , the house of God was filled with a cloud. Nor could the priests stand and minister by reason of the cloud. Eor the glory of the Lord had filled the house of God. Then Solomon said, ‘ The Lord promised that He would dwell in a cloud. But I have built a house to His name, that He might dwell there for ever.’ And the king turned his face, and blessed all the multi- tude of Israel (for all the multitude stood attentive). Then the king went and stood before the altar of the Lord, in pre- sence of all the multitude of Israel, and stretched forth his hands ; and kneeling down in the presence of all the multitude of Israel, and lifting lip his hands towards heaven, he said : SOLOMON’S PRAYER OF DEDICATION. O Lord God of Israel, there is no God like Thee in heaven nor in earth ; who keepest covenant and mercy with Thy servants, that walk before Thee with all their hearts ; Who hast performed to Thy servant David, my father, all that Thou hast promised him ; and hast accomplished in fact what Thou hast spoken with Thy mouth, as also the present time proveth. Now, then, O Lord God of Israel, ful- fil to Thy servant David, my father, whatsoever Thou hast promised him, saying, ‘ There shall not fail thee a man in My sight, to sit upon the throne of Israel ; yet so that thy children take heed to their ways, and walk in My law, as thou hast walked before Me.* And now, Lord God of Israel, let Thy word be established, which Thou hast spoken to Thy servant David. If Thy people Israel be overcome by their enemies (for they will sin against Thee), and being converted shall do pen- ance, and call upon Thy Name, and pray to Thee in this place, Then hear Thou from heaven and for- give the sin of Thy people Israel, and bring them back into the land which Thou gavest to them and their fathers. Then if any of Thy people Israel, knowing his own scourge and infirmity, shall pray, and shall spread forth his hands in this house, Hear Thou from heaven, from Thy high dwelling-place, and forgive, and render to every, one according to his ways, Which Thou knowest him to have in his heart (for Thou only knowest the hearts of the children of men) ; That they may fear Thee and walk in Thy ways all the days that they live up- on the face of the land which Thou hast given to our fathers. If the stranger also, who is not of Thy people Israel, come from a far country, for the sake of Thy great Name, and Thy strong hand, and Thy stretched-out arm, and adore in this place, Hear Thou from heaven, Thy firm dwelling-place, and do all that which that stranger shall call upon Thee for ; that all the people of the earth may know Thy Name, and may fear Thee, as Thy people Israel, and may know that Thy Name is invoked upon this house. For Thou art my God : let Thy eyes, I beseech Thee, be open, and let Thy ears be attentive to the prayer that is made in this place. Now therefore arise, 0 Lord God, into Thy resting-pl^ce, Thou and the ark of Thy strength : let Thy priests, O Lord God, put on salvation, and Thy saints rejoice in good things. O Lord God, turn not away the face of Thy anointed ; remember the mercies of David Thy servant. Solomon, after the dedication of the Temple, proceeded to regulate the whole constitution of the Priesthood, the subordination of its members to the High-priest, their times of attendance, rights, privileges, and property, &c. ac- 112 cording to the law of Moses. Thus the setting up the ecclesiastical constitu- tion upon a firm basis, according to the law of Moses, became a higher glory of Solomon’s peaceful reign than even the building of the material Temple. And in this respect the reign of Solomon is a figure of the reign of Jesus Christ. § 59. The glory of Solomon's reign. The disobedience which led to his fall , and the division of the kingdom . His repentance and end The queen of Saba, having heard of the fame of Solomon in the wis- dom of the Lord, came to try him with hard questions. And entering into Jerusalem with a great train and riches, and camels that carried spices, and an immense quantity of gold and precious stones, she came to king Solomon, and spoke to him all that she had in her heart. And Solomon informed her of all the things she proposed to him ; there was not any word the king was ignorant of, and which he could not answer her. And when the queen of Saha saw all the wisdom of Solomon, and! the house which he had built, the order of his ministers, and the holo- causts which he offered in the house of the Lord, she had no longer any spirit in her; and she said to the king, ‘ The report is true which I heard in my own country concerning thy words and concerning thy wisdom ; and I did not believe them that told me, till I came myself and saw with my own eyes, and have found that the half hath not been told me : thy wisdom and thy works exceed the fame which I heard. Blessed are thy men, and blessed are thy servants, who stand before thee always, and hear thy wisdom. Blessed be the Lord thy God, whom thou hast pleased, and who hath set thee upon the throne of Israel, because the Lord hath loved Israel for ever, and hath appointed thee king, to do judgment and justice.’ But what could splendour and prosperity, the fruit of his wisdom, avail the king who did not continue obedient to the law of Moses 1 This law required (Deut. xvii. 16) that the future king should not multiply horses to himself, nor lead back the people into Egypt, being lifted up with the number of his horsemen; that he should not have many wives, who might allure his mind, nor immense sums of silver and gold ; but that, after he was raised to the throne of his kingdom, he should copy out to himself the law of Moses in a volume, taking the copy from the priests of the Levitical race. Solomon’s love for splendour led him to set at naught all these different safeguards, one after the other. 1 He had forty thou- sand horses in his stables, and twelve thousand chariots and horsemen ; and the horses were brought to him out of Egypt.’ The weight of the gold that was brought to Solomon was six hundred and sixty-six talents. Solomon, moreover, had seven hundred wives as queens ; and when he was old, his heart was turned away by women to follow after strange gods. Thus led on step by step in disobedience, he whose wisdom it was a blessing for others to hear became a fool in his own person, and lost the way of wisdom for himself. He grew to be what would now be called a ‘ man of liberal views/ attached to no particular religion ; and 113 he fell so low, that he built a temple to Chamos, the abominable idol of Moab, on the Mount of Olives, over against the Temple of the Lord, and went with his wives to burn incense indifferently to Chamos, Moloch, or Astarthe, as it happened. The Lord God of his father David was angry with him because his mind was turned away ; and the Lord said to him, ‘ Because thou hast done this, and hast not kept My covenant and My precepts, which I have commanded thee, I will divide and rend thy kingdom, and will give it to thy servant. Nevertheless, in thy days I will not do it, for David thy father’s sake ; but I will rend it out of the hand of thy son. Neither will I take away the whole kingdom ; but I will give one tribe to thy son, for the sake of David My servant and Jerusalem, which I have chosen.’ The instrument chosen to bring about this judgment of God was Jeroboam the son of Nabat. He was an active talented young man, whom Solomon had singled out to set him over his tributes in the district of Mello. Ahias, the Silonite, a prophet of the Lord, met Jeroboam as he was going out of Jerusalem. Taking his own new outer garment or cloak, he divided it into twelve pieces, and as they were alone in the field together, he said to Jeroboam, ‘Take to thee ten pieces; for thus saith the Lord God of Israel, “ Behold, I will rend the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon, and will give thee ten tribes. But one tribe shall re- main to him, for the sake of My servant David and Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel.” ’ Solomon, hearing of what had come to pass, sought to kill Jeroboam; but he arose, and fled into Egypt, to Sesac the king of Egypt, and was in Egypt till the death of Solomon. It is not a matter of positive certainty that Solomon died repentant; but the Book of Ecclesiastes is commonly thought to contain the expres- sion of his repentance. The following passage seems to come from a mind contemplating an approaching death with a deep sense of sorrow for the past : SOLOMON SEES DEATH APPROACHING. Bemember thy Creator in the days of thy youth, before the time of afflic- tion come, and the years draw nigh of which thou shalt say, ‘ They please me not Before the sun, and the light, and the moon, and the stars be darkened, and the clouds return after the rain ; Before the silver cord be broken, and the golden fillet shrink back, and the pitcher be crushed at the fountain, and the wheel be broken upon the cistern, And the dust return into its earth, from whence it was, and the spirit re- turn to God, who gave it. Vanity of vanities, said Ecclesiastes ; all things are vanity. Let us all hear the end of the matter. Fear God, and keep His commandments. For this is the whole of man. If all the vast amount of acquired knowledge which Solomon possessed did not preserve him from breaking the law of Moses, as it affected himself, it is not very easy to see why small smatterings of knowledge will make people much better observers of the public laws of their own state. Only those who begin in early youth to learn their duty to the laws of God will be good ob- servers, for conscience’ sake, of the laws of man. I 114 § 60. The schism of Israel into tivo Icing doms : the kingdom of Juda, , which retained the Temple and its sacrifices ; and the kingdom of Israel, which set up the worship of the golden calves in Dan and Bethel . Boboam, Solomon’s son, now reigned in his stead; and Jeroboam, hearing of Solomon’s death, came back from Egypt, and assembled the chief men of Israel. They sent a deputation to Boboam, in Sichem, say- ing, ‘ Thy father laid a grievous yoke upon us ; now, therefore, do thou take off a little of the grievous service of thy father, and of his most heavy yoke which he put upon us, and we will serve thee.’ And he said to then*, ‘ Come to me again after three days.’ And when the people were gone, he took counsel with the ancients, who had stood before his father Solomon while he yet lived, saying, ‘ What counsel give you to me, that I may answer the people V ' And they said to him, ‘ If thou please this people, and soothe them with kind words, they will be thy servants for ever.’ But he forsook the counsel of the ancients, and began to consult with the young men that had been brought up with him, and were in his train. So when Jeroboam and all the people came to Bo- boam the third day, the king answered roughly, and leaving the counsel of the ancients, he spoke according to the advice of the young men: ‘My father laid upon you a heavy yoke, which I will make heavier ; my father beat you with scourges, but I will beat you with scorpions.’ And all the people, upon the king’s speaking thus roughly, said unto him, ‘ We have no part in David, nor inheritance in the son of Isai. Beturn to thy dwellings, 0 Israel, and do thou, 0 David, feed thy own house.* And Israel went away to their dwellings. And king Boboam sent Adu- ram, who was over the tributes, to them ; and the children of Israel stoned him so that he died. King Boboam therefore made haste to get up into his chariot, and fled into Jerusalem. And Israel revolted from the house of David unto this day. Second Subdivision.— The Kingdom of Israel to its Extinction, § 61. Jeroboam , the son of Nahat, makes Israel to sin . Jeroboam, after this, was chosen king by the tribes of Israel, and he established himself in Sichem; upon which Boboam assembled an army to march against Israel, intending to subdue the leaders of the revolt, and to recover his authority; but Semeias, a prophet of God, came and forbade the war, and Boboam returned to Jerusalem. It was now Jero- boam’s turn to be tried. Ahias the prophet had predicted to him that God would make him the king of Israel, and this had come to pass. Another prophet of God had appeared to protect him on the throne, by sending Boboam and his army home ; what more therefore could he want, being not only brought to the throne, but also protected upon it by the power of God J eroboam, however, was a shrewd worldly-wise man, for which qualities Solomon had singled him out and had advanced 115 r++? m . 0f ^ j n<1 ~ ew< * worldl y- wise men, generally speaking, care little about God or His protection. The worldly-wise Jeroboam began to consider, ‘How shall the kingdom return to the house of David if this people go up to offer their sacrifices in the house of the Lord at Jerusalem; and the heart of this people will turn to their lordBoboam the king ol Juda, and they will kid me and return to him.’ Jeroboam therefore came to the conclusion, that the new kingdom of Israel must' have an established church of its own, and that at all risks the people must be stopped from going to Jerusalem to offer their sacrifices. The law of Moses, it is true, strictly forbade the people offering their sacri- fices m any place except m the place which God Himself had chosen which was Jerusalem; ‘but,’ thought Jeroboam, ‘what is to become of me and my throne, if they do go 1’ ^ Lay -Ti H- L planS ’ “? re ’ t0 this effect > made two golden calves, “i ^ d T 0 ; he P eo P le ’ , Go / e U P no more to Jerusalem ; behold thy gods, 0 Israel, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt.’ And he set the one in Bethel and the other in Dan. And this tiling became an occasion of sm; for the people went to adore the calf as far as Dan. And he made temples in the high places, and priests of the lowest of the P r P i e uT h0 7 ere n< i t ° f J he sons of LevL To Prevent the people being f 6 v. °° a he also appointed feasts, corresponding to those Observed in the Temple at Jerusalem ; and to encourage them by royal example, he attended in person at the altar in Bethel, and wor- shipped the golden calf which he had set up, with all his court and the olncers of his household. As is nearly always the case with all evil policy, that it may be the greater snare to the sinner, J eroboam’s plan appeared at first to be crowned with success. The people, with a few exceptions, forsook the Temple in Jerusalem, and came to offer their sacrifices at the altars which the kino- had set up. As Jeroboam, however, was standing burning incense before the altar m Bethel, there came a prophet of the Lord into the presence ol the king, who cried out against the altar, and said, ‘ 0 altar, altar, thus saith the Lord : “ Behold, a child shall be born to the house of David Josias by name; and he shall slay upon thee the priests of the hi oh places who now burn incense upon thee, and he shall burn men’s bones upon thee. And he gave a sign the same day, saying, ‘This shall be the sign that the Lord hath spoken : “Behold, the altar shall be rent, and the ashes that are upon it shall be poured out.’” And when the kino- had heard the word of the man of God, which he had cried out against the altar in Bethel, he stretched forth his hand from the altar, saying Lay hold on him.’ And the hand which he stretched forth against him withered, and he was not able to draw it back again to him. The altar was also rent, and the ashes were poured out from the altar, accord- ing to the sign which the man of God had given before. wa ® terrified, and entreated the prophet to pray for him, that his hand might be restored ; but when this had been done, the king 116 notwithstanding did not turn from the evil of his ways. J eroboam would not take warning from the prophets whom God sent to him, but gath- ered an army to fight with Abia king of Juda, and was defeated. In the reign of his son Hadab, God executed the judgment on the house of Jeroboam which he foretold by the prophet Ahias, and utterly de- stroyed him because of the sin wherewith he had made Israel to sin, and for the offence wherewith he provoked the Lord God of Israel. The sin of Jeroboam, in respect of the setting up a state religion, , against the altar and sacrifices commanded by God, has had many imitators in Chris- tian times. For example, Henry VIII., king of England, when he separated his kingdom from the See of St. Peter, set up a state religion, as Jeroboam did. Jeroboam aimed at nothing more than separating his people from th 0 altar of God in Jerusalem, and its high-priest ; and Henry VIII. sought only to separate his people from their allegiance to the See of St. Peter. p u V n the case of both, their sin did not stop there. Jeroboam’s sin ended in the whole of Israel being dispersed in captivity; and Henry VIII.’s sm has covered his country with a hopeless confusion of sects ; and this confusion at length has led to the Inspiration of the Sacred Scriptures being openly denied. S 62. The reign of Achab y and the prophet Elias. The miraculous pot of flour and cruse of oil . The widow's son raised to life. The instrument chosen for executing the vengeance of God upon Jeroboam was Baasa, who, conspiring against Nadab the son of Jeroboam, slew him with the whole house of J eroboam, and seized upon the throne. Baasa, however, could not bring himself to abolish the state religion which Jeroboam had made, and when he died and his son succeeded him, Zambri, an officer of his household, formed a second conspiracy, and seized the throne. Amri, a third conspirator, murdered Zambri, and Achab, with whose reign we resume our history, was the son of Amri. Achab married Jezabel, the daughter of Ethbaal, the king of the Sido- nians, a wicked woman, who, as we shall see, brought the idolatry of Baal into Israel, in addition to the golden calves that Jeroboam had set up, and which Achab, in like manner as Baasa, still continued to keep up as the state religion. In the reign of Achab, God raised up Elias the Thesbite to be His prophet and to withstand the spread of the idolatry. The first punishment of God upon Israel came in the form of a drought, which the prophet Elias, like another Moses in Egypt, brought upon° the land. During the famine which this drought occasioned, Elias was fed by ravens at the brook Carith ; but the brook drying up for want of rain, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, ‘ Arise, and go to Sarephta of the Sidonians, and dwell there ) for I have commanded a widow-woman there to feed thee.’ He arose, and went to Sarephta. And when he was come to the gate of the city, he saw the widow-woman gathering sticks, and he called her, and said to her, i Give me a little water in a vessel, that I may drink.’ And when she was going to fetch it, he called after her, saying, ‘ Bring me also, I beseech thee, a morsel of bread in thy hand.’ And she answered, ‘ As the Lord thy God liveth, I have no bread, but only a handful of meal in a pot, and a little oil in 117 a cruse ; behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die.’ And Elias said to her, ‘Fear not, go and do as thou hast said ; but first make for me of the same meal a little hearth- cake, and bring it to me ; and after that make for thyself and thy son. For thus saith the Lord the God of Israel, “The pot of meal shall not waste, nor the cruse of oil be diminished, until the day wherein the Lord will give rain upon the face of the earth.” ’ She went and did ac- cording to the word of Elias ; and he ate, and she, and her house. And from that day the pot of meal wasted not, and the cruse of oil was not diminished, according to the word of the Lord, which He spoke in the hand of Elias. The son of the widow after this fell sick, and died ; and on his mother lamenting, and saying, ‘ What have I to do with thee, thou man of God h Art thou come to me that my iniquities should be remembered, and that thou shouldst kill my son?’ Elias betook himself to fervent prayer, and at his prayer the soul of the child returned to him, so that Elias brought him again to his mother. The widow’s pot of meal and the cruse of oil that did not fail are figures of the Divine gifts to the Church of the Holy Eucharist and of the consecrated oils, which continue undiminished for the use of the faithful during the widow- hood of the Church in her sojourn in this world. § 63. Elias challenges the prophets of Baal, He escapes to Horeh , the Mount of God . After the drought and famine had continued for two years, the third year Elias met Achab the king, and bid him gather all the people and 118 the prophets of Baal to Mount Carmel, thare to meet him. Achab com- plied, and when all were assembled there, Elias came, and said, 4 *How long do you halt between two sides ? If the Lord be God, follow Him ; but if Baal, then follow him. 7 And the people did not answer him a word. And Elias said again to the people, 4 1 only remain a prophet of the Lord ; but the prophets of Baal are four hundred and fifty men. Let two bullocks be given us, and let them choose one bullock for them- selves, and cut it in pieces and lay it upon wood, but put no fire under ; and I will dress the other bullock, and lay it on wood, and put no fire under it. Call ye on the names of your gods, and I will call on the name of my Lord ; and the god that shall answer by fire, let him be God. 7 And all the, people answering said, 4 A very good proposal. 7 Then Elias said to the prophets of Baal, 4 Choose you one bullock and dress it first, because you are many.; and call on the names of your gods, but put no fire under. 7 And they took the bullock which he gave them, and dressed it : and they called on the name of Baal from morning even till noon, saying, 4 0 Baal, hear us ! 7 But there was no voice, nor any that answered. The time was now come for offering sacrifice, and still there was no voice heard, nor did any one answer, nor regard them as they prayed. Elias then said to all the people, 4 Come ye unto me. 7 And the people coming near unto him, he repaired the altar of the Lord that was broken down. And he took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of J acob, to whom the word of the Lord came, saying, 4 Israel shall be thy name. 7 And he built with the stones an altar to the name of the Lord ; and he made a trench for water, of the breadth of two furrows round about the altar. And he laid the wood in order, and cut the bullock in pieces, and laid it upon the wood. And he said, 4 Eill four buckets with water, and pour it upon the burnt-offering and upon the wood. 7 And again he said, 4 Do the same the second time. 7 And when they had done it the second time, he said, 4 Do the same also the third time. 7 And they did so the third time. And the water ran round about the altar, and the trench was filled with water. And when it was now time to offer the holocaust, Elias the prophet came near, and said, 4 0 Lord God of Abraham, and Isaac, and Israel, show this day that Thou art the God of Israel, and I Thy servant, and that according to Thy command- ment I have done all these -things. Hear me, 0 Lord, hear me; that this people may learn that Thou art the Lord God, and that Thou hast turned their heart again. 7 Then the fire of the Lord fell, and consumed the holocaust, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. And when all the people saw this, they fell on their faces, and they said, 4 The Lord He is God, the Lord He is God. 7 Elias hereupon took the prophets of Baal, and killed them all at the brook Cison. And Achab told Jezabel all that Elias had done, and how he had slain all the prophets with the sword. And Jezabel sent a messenger to Elias, saying, 4 Such and such things may the gods do to me, and add 119 still more, if by this hour to-morrow I make not thy life as the life of one of them.’ Then Elias was afraid, and rising up, he went whither- soever he had a mind ; and he came to Bersabee of Juda, and left his servant there. And he went forward one day’s journey into the desert. And when hewas there, he sat under a juniper tree, and requested for his soul that he might die, and said , 4 It is enough for me, Lord; take away my soul ; for I am no better than my fathers.’ And he cast himself down, and slept in the shadow of the juniper tree; and behold, an angel of the Lord touched him, and said to him, ‘ A- rise, and eat.’ He looked, and be- hold there was at his head a hearth- cake and a vessel of water; and he ate and drank, and he fell asleep again. And the angel of the Lord came again the second time, and touched him, and said to him, 6 Arise, eat ; for thou hast yet a great way to go.’ And he arose, and ate and drank, and walked in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights, unto the mount of God, Horeb. At the holy mount God appeared to Elias, and told him of the judg- ments that were to be executed upon the house of Achab, commanding him to go to Damascus to anoint Hazael king of Syria, and to make Eliseus, the son of Saphat, prophet in his room. The hearth-cake of Elias is a figure of the Holy Eucharist. ‘ Through the grace of the Holy Eucharist,’ says the Catechism of the Council of Trent, ‘ the faithful enjoy during life the greatest peace and tranquillity of conscience ; and lastly, strengthened by its power, no otherwise than Elias, who, in the strength of the hearth-cake brought to him by the angel, walked to Horeb, the mount of God, they ascend to eternal glory and beatitude.’ ELIAS IN THE WILDERNESS IS EED BY AN ANGEL. 120 § 64. Naboth is falsely accused and stoned . Elias rebukes Achab , anoints Eliseus prophet in his steady and is taken up to heaven . Achab desired to enlarge the garden of his palace in Jezrahel, and applied to Naboth, a citizen of Jezrahel, to purchase his vineyard, which adjoined the palace. Naboth, who, it would seem, abhorred the king for his bringing the worship of Baal into Israel, answered, ‘ The Lord be merciful to me, and let me not give thee the inheritance of my fathers.’ Achab went home so mortified at this refusal, that he would neither eat nor drink. When Jezabel the queen had heard of it, she said to Achab, ‘ Thou art of great authority indeed, and governest well the kingdom of Israel. Arise, and eat bread, and be of good cheer ; I will give thee the vineyard of Naboth the Jezrahelite.’ So she wrote letters in Achab’s name, and sealed them with his ring. And this was the tenor of the letters : ‘ Proclaim a fast, and make Naboth sit among the chief of the people. And suborn two men, sons of Belial, against him, and let them bear false witness that he hath blasphemed God and the king ; and then carry him out and stone him, and so let him die.’ And when the men of his city, the ancients and nobles that dwelt with him in the city, had done as Jezabel had commanded them, they sent to Jezabel, saying, i Naboth is stoned, and is dead.’ And it came to pass, when Jezabel heard that Naboth was stoned and dead, that she said to Achab, ‘ Arise, and take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezrahelite, who would not agree with thee, and give it thee for money; for Naboth is not alive, but dead.’ And the word of the Lord came to Elias the Thesbite, saying, £ Arise, and go down to meet Achab king of Israel, who is in Samaria : behold, he is going down to the vineyard of Naboth, to take possession of it. And thou shalt speak to him, saying, “ Thus saith the Lord : Thou hast slain ; moreover also thou hast taken possession. Thus saith the Lord : In this place, wherein the dogs have licked the blood of Naboth, they shall lick thy blood also ; and the dogs shall eat Jezabel in the field of Jezrahel. For I will make thy house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nabat, and like the house of Baasa the son of Ahias, for what thou hast done to provoke Me to anger and for making Israel to sin.” ’ Achab on hearing these words went home and humbled himself, and the word of the Lord came to Elias, saying, ‘ Hast thou not seen Achab humbled before Me ? Because he hath humbled himself for My sake, I will not bring all the evil in his days, but in his son’s days I will bring the evil upon his house.’* Elias had been commanded to anoint Eliseus, the son of Saphat, to * The word of the Lord, by the mouth of Elias, came to pass some three years afterwards. Achab was wounded with an arrow in battle, and his blood flowed all over his chariot, which after his death was washed in the pool of Samaria ; so that the dogs licked up his blood where Elias had said. Jezabel also, his queen, some time after this was cast out of a window, and her dead body lay in the Street, where the dogs devoured her, according to the word of God by Elias, 121 be prophet after him in his room, and the sons of the prophets who were at Bethel said to Eliseus, as he was in attendance upon Elias, 4 Dost thou know that this day the Lord will take thy master from thee V When they were gone over the Jordan, the waters of which Elias divided by striking them with his mantle, Elias said to Eliseus, ‘ Ask what thou wilt have me to do for thee, before I be taken away from thee. 7 And Eliseus said, ‘ I beseech thee that in me may be a double portion of thy spirit. ’And he answered, 4 Thou hast asked a hard thing ; neverthe- less if thou see me when I am taken from thee, thou shalt have what thou hast asked; but if thou see me not, thou shalt hot have it.’ And as they went on, walking and talking together, behold a fiery chariot and fiery horses parted them both asun- der ; and Elias went up by a whirlwind into heaven. And Eliseus saw him, and cried, ‘ My father, my father ! the chariot of Israel, and the driver thereof !’ And he saw him no more. ELIAS IS TAKEN UP INTO HEAVEN. § 65. Eliseus prophet in the room of Elias, and Naaman the Syrian. Eliseus now took up the mantle that had fallen from Elias, and striking the Jordan with it, said, 4 Where is now the Lord God of Elias V and the waters were divided. And the sons of the prophets, who stood on the opposite bank, seeing it, said, 4 The spirit of Elias hath rested on Eliseus and they came and saluted him. . Eliseus soon after this went up from Jericho to Bethel ; and as he was going up by the way, little boys came out of the city and mocked him, saying, 4 Go up, thou bald-head ! go up, thou bald-head !’ And looking back, he saw them, and cursed them in the name of the Lord ; and there came forth two hears out of the forest, and tore of them two-and-forty hoys. Thus Eliseus was established as prophet in the room of Elias, and his name quickly became celebrated throughout Israel for the miracles which he worked. Naaman, general of the army of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master, and honourable — for by him the Lord gave deliverance to Syria— and he was a valiant man and rich, but a leper, blow there had gone out robbers from Syria, and had led away captive out of the land of Israel a little maid, and she waited upon Naaman’s wife. And she said to her mistress, ‘ I wish my master had been with the prophet that is in Samaria : he would certainly have healed him of the leprosy which he hath.’ So bTaaman came with his horses and chariots, and stood at the door of the house of Eliseus. And Eliseus sent a messenger to him, saying ‘ Go and wash seven times in the Jordan, and thy flesh shall re- cover health, and thou shalt be clean.’ Naaman was angry, and went awav saying, ‘ I thought he would have come out to me, and standing, would have invoked the name of the Lord his God, and have touched with his hand the place of the leprosy, and have healed me. Are not Abana and Pharphar drivers of Damascus, better than all the waters ot Israel, that I may wash in them, and be made clean?’ So as he turned and was going away with indignation, his servants came to him, and said to him, ‘ Father, if the prophet had hid thee do some great thing, surely thou shouldst have done it : how much rather what he now hath said to thee, “ Wash, and thou shalt he clean.” ’ Then he went down, and washed in the Jordan seven times, according to the word of the man of 'God ; and his flesh was restored, like the flesh of a little child, and he was made clean. The pride of Naaman, refusing to wash in the Jordan at the bidding of the prophet, is a figure of the unbelieving pride which refuses to receive the Divine benefits offered through the Sacraments of the Holy Church. § 66. Mission of Jonas the prophet to Ninive. God had designed Ninive and the Assyrian empire to he the instru- ment of His wrath upon the kingdom of Israel. The word of the Lord -therefore came to Jonas the prophet, saying, ‘ Arise, and go to JNimve the great city, and preach in it ; for the wickedness thereof is come up before Me.’ And Jonas rose up to flee to Tharsis from the face of the Lord, and he went down to Joppe, and found a ship going to Tharsis ; and he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them to Tharsis from the face of the Lord. But the Lord sent a great wind upon the sea ; and a great tempest was raised in the sea, so that the ship was in danger of sinking. All the mariners were afraid, and they said every one to his fellow, ‘ Come, and let us cast lots, that we may know why this evil is come upon us.’ And they cast lots, and the lot fell upon Jonas. And they said to him, ‘Tell us for what cause this evil is come upon us.’ And he said to them, ‘lama Hebrew, and I fear the Lord the God of heaven, who made both the sea and the dry land.’ And the men were greatly afraid, and they said to him, I * * * * 6 What shall we do to thee, that the sea may be calm to us? for the sea flowed and swell- ed. And he said to them, ' ‘ Take me up, and cast me into the sea, and the sea shall be calm to you; for I know that for my sake this great tempest is upon you/ See- ing that the storm continued, the men took council together, and at last reluctantly cast J onas into the sea. Now the Lord had prepar- ed a great fish to swallow J onas, and Jonas was in the belly of the fish three days THE SIGN OF THE PROPHET JONAS. and three nights. And Jonas prayed to the Lord out of the belly of the fish, and said : PRAYER OF JONAS IN TIIE BELLY OF THE FISH. I cried out of my affliction to the Lord, and He heard me. I cried out of the belly of hell, and Thou hast heard my voice. And Thou hast cast me forth into the deep in the heart of the sea, and a flood hath compassed me ; all Thy billows and Thy waves have passed over me. And I said, I am cast away out of the sight of Thy eyes ; but yet I shall see Thy holy temple again. The waters compassed me even to the soul, the deep hath closed me round about, the sea hath covered my head. I went down to the lowest parts of the mountains : the bars of the earth have shut me up for ever ; and Thou wilt bring up my life from corruption, 0 Lord my God. When my soul was in distress within me, I remembered the Lord, that my prayer may come to Thee, unto Thy holy temple. They that in vain* observe vanities forsake their own mercy. But I with the voice of praise will sa- crifice to Thee ; I will pay whatsoever I have vowed for my salvation to the Lord. God spoke, and the fish vomited out Jonas upon the dry land. Jonas 124 now no longer disobeyed the voice of God, but went to Ninive and preached in it ; and the people of hTinive believed in God, and they proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest to the least. ‘ The men of Ninive,’ said our Lord, ‘shall rise in judgment with this gene- ration, and shall condemn it, because they did penance at the preaching of Jonas ; and behold, a greater than Jonas is here.’ Our Lord also speaks of Jonas as a figure of Himself: ‘ For, as Jonas was in the whale’s belly three days and three nights, so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth’ (Matt. xii. 40). § 67. Outline of the history of the kingdom of Israel up to its destruction by the Assyrian empire . The reckoning day upon the house of Achab was brought about through the ministry of the prophet Eliseus, who, at the command of God, sent one of the sons of the prophets to anoint Jehu, the son of Namsi, to be king over Israel in the room of Joram, Achab’s son. Jehu upon being anointed was proclaimed king by the captains of the army ; and surrounding himself with his armed men, he accomplished all the vengeance which God had threatened on the house of Achab. He also destroyed the temple of Baal in Samaria, and put the priests of Baal to death. But he failed when it came to doing away with the state reli- gion of the golden calves in Bethel and Dan, and the restoring his kingdom to unity of worship, and to keeping the festivals at the Temple in Jerusalem. However, for his being faithful in some things, it was pro- mised to him that his children should sit on the throne of Israel to the fourth generation. Jehu was succeeded by Joachaz his son, Joram his grandson, Jeroboam II. his great-grandson, and Zacharias the fourth in direct descent from him. Sellum, a captain in the army, conspired against Zacharias, and slew him in the town of Samaria. The following month Manahem, another captain, murdered Sellum, and established himself upon the throne. In the reign of Manahem, the king of the Assyrian empire, whose capital city was Ninive, invaded Israel with a large army, and Manahem was obliged to buy him off by a thousand talents of silver. The Assyrian army retired, carrying away several Israelite women captives. Phaceia, his son, succeeded Manahem, and in two years’ time he was murdered by Phacee, son of Romelia, a captain in his army, who established himself upon the throne. Theglath, king of the Assyrians, invaded the kingdoms of Israel and Juda, and Phacee was so reduced by the Assyrian victories, that Osee, the son of Ela, con- spired against him and seized the throne. To establish himself upon the throne, Osee made himself and his kingdom tributary to Salman el Assur, who succeeded his father Theglath on the throne of Assyria; but six years afterwards Osee entered into negotiations with the king of Egypt, to be backed in his rebellion against Assyria. Salman, hearing of it, invaded his kingdom before he was prepared, took Samaria, and carried off all the principal inhabitants captives, and planted them in Hala and Habor, cities of the Medes (b.c. 721). 125 Thus the judgment of Cfod and His reckoning day with the kingdom of Israel for their transgression of the law of Moses, in separating them- selves from the centre of unity in Jerusalem, came to pass, as God had repeatedly warned them by His prophets. Just before the judgment fell upon Israel, God had sent them two prophets, Amos and Osee, of whose mission we must proceed to give a brief account. § 68. The mission of the prophets Amos and Osee in the kingdom of Israel . Amos was called to be a prophet in the midst of the corruption of manners caused by the schism \ and he began by prophesying against the government altars in Bethel, saying, 4 Thus saith the Lord, 44 I will begin to visit the transgressions of Israel. I will visit these upon him and upon the altars of Bethel. The horns of the altars shall be cut off, and shall fall to the ground.” ’ Amasias, the priest of Bethel, hereupon sent to Jeroboam II., king of Israel, saying, ‘Amos.hath rebelled against thee in the midst of the land of Israel ; the land is not able to bear all his words/ And Amasias said to Amos, 4 Thou seer, go flee away into the land of Juda. Eat bread there and prophesy there ; but prophesy not again any more in Bethel, because it is the king’s sanctuary, and the house of the kingdom.’ Amos notwithstanding continued to speak against the altar of Bethel and the vices of the people ; but was at length com- pelled to take refuge in Juda. However, another prophet rose up in his stead, Osee, the son of Beeri. Osee complains in the name of the Lord, the God of Israel, of the unfaithfulness of the kingdom of Israel, of their building temples to other gods, and forsaking the Lord who brought them out of Egypt. The priests who had taken the place of the Levites, by buying their offices from the government, had abandoned the people to their vices ; and both priests and people appear, from the prophet’s account, not only to have made little account of the knowledge of their religion, but to have even rejected it and turned their backs upon it with contempt. His warning, addressed to the priests of Israel, holds good for all times, as showing that God will always visit on the priesthood the neglect of their duty in instructing their people in the knowledge of their religion. OSEE'S WARNING TO THE PRIESTS OF ISRAEL. Hear ye this, 0 priests, and hearken, 0 ye house of Israel, and give ear, O house of the king ; for there is a judg- ment against you, because you have been a snare to them whom you should have watched over, and a net spread upon Thabor. My people have been silent, because they had no knowledge. Because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will reject thee, that thou shalt not do the office of priesthood to Me ; and thou hast for- gotten the law of thy God, I also will forget thy children. The prophet next addresses himself to the people, and reproaches them with their sins. He warns them not to trust either in their own invention, the calf of Bethel, nor in the help of either Egypt or Assyria, 126 and then predicts their long servitude and captivity in Assyria. Osee is also known for many predictions of the times of the Messias, and for one of the future conversion of the Hebrew people. Eut all was in vain. 4 The Lord was very angry with Israel,’ says the sacred writer, 4 and removed him from His sight, and there remained only the tribe of Juda.’ To fill up the room of the families of Israel who were carried away from Samaria, Salman, the Assyrian king, brought people from Babylon, Cutha, Avah, Emoth, and Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria. And when the Lord sent lions among them which killed them, Salman, attributing this to the new comers not know- ing thp manner of the God of the land, sent one of the priests who had been carried away from Samaria to teach them. The result of this teach- ing was that the people learned to mix up the worship of the God of Israel with that of their own idols, and they became in consequence an object of so far greater abhorrence to the Jews of Jerusalem than any other of the Gentile people, that it was forbidden to a Jew to speak to a Sa- maritan. In our Lord’s time His enemies said to Him in the same breath, 4 Thou art a Samaritan, and hast a devil.’ Third Subdivision.— The Kingdom of Juda to the Captivity in Babylon. § 69. History of the kingdom of Juda up to the time of Isaias the prophet . God, as we have seen, did not wholly abandon the people of Israel because of the sin of J eroboam, in separating them from the worship of His chosen altar in Jerusalem, by substituting a state religion in the calves of Bethel and Dan. He continued to send them prophets, to whom they refused to hearken, up to the hour when the Assyrian army executed the final judgment upon Israel, by carrying them into cap- tivity. We must now r see what came to pass in the kingdom of Juda. Koboam, the son of Solomon, had been succeeded by his son Abia, who appears to have inherited his great-grandfather David’s piety and wisdom. In his reign the service of the Temple flourished and the king- dom prospered. He was succeeded on the throne by his son Asa. Asa, in the early part of his reign, showed great faith in the Lord God of his ancestor David, and gained a signal victory, with a small force, against a large invading army of Ethiopians ; but in the latter part of his reign he lost his faith, and despoiled the Temple of its riches to send a bribe of gold to the king of Damascus, to induce him to make war on the king of Israel, who was threatening an attack. God was displeased at this, and sent to rebuke the king by the mouth of a prophet named Hanani. Because thou hast had confidence in the king of Syria, and not in the Lord thy God, therefore hath the army of the king of Syria escaped out of thy hand. Were not the Ethiopians and the Lib- yans much more numerous in chariots, and horsemen, and an exceeding great multitude ; yet because thou trustedst in the Lord, He delivered them into thy hand ? 127 For the eyes of the Lord behold all the earth, and give strength to those who with a perfect heart trust in Him. Wherefore thou hast done foolishly, and for this cause from this time wars shall arise against thee. Asa, soon after this, fell sick and died. The kings who succeeded him were Joram his son and Ochozias his grandson. On the death of Ochozias, who was slain by J ehu as being a grandson of Achab by the mother’s side, Athaliah the queen-mother seized the throne. Her reign however was not long ; she was put to death, and Joas, an infant son of Ochozias, was placed on the throne at the age of seven years. To- wards the close of his long reign the idolatries of the neighbouring people began to creep into Jerusalem, and more than one prophet came and cried out against them; but in vain. At length the Spirit of God came upon Zacharias, the son of Joiada the priest, and he cried out in the Temple against the idolatries, but was stoned to death by the king s commandment in the court of the house of the Lord. Amasias, who succeeded Joas, introduced the idols of Edom into J erusalem, and was murdered by his own servant. His son Ozias who succeeded him was so puffed up by the prosperity of his reign, that he determined to take upon himself to burn incense in the house of the Lord. As he drew near with the censer in his hand, Azarias the high-priest with eighty of the priests withstood him, and said, ‘ It doth not belong to thee, Ozias, to burn incense before the Lord, but to the priests that are consecrated to this ministry, the sons of Aaron.’ Ozias, being angry, threatened the priests ; but presently there rose a leprosy in his forehead, and Ozias being terrified made haste to escape. He remained a leper for the rest of his life, Joatham his son acting as regent and succeeding him on the throne after his death. Joatham was succeeded by his son Achaz, in whose reign the prophet Isaias exercised his ministry, of which we pro- ceed to give a brief account. § 70. The prophet Isaias in the reigns of Achaz, Ezechias , and Manasses. The prophet Isaias had complained in the previous reign of Joatham, that the land was full of idols ; but the sin of the kingdom now became worse, for Achaz publicly gave idolatry the sanction of the royal ex- ample. He offered his son in sacrifice to Moloch, the god of the children of Ammon, whose altar and image had been set up in the valley of Len-Hinnom. God was so displeased with Juda for these sins, that He humbled them before their brethren of Israel, who under Hiacee, the son of Komelia, slew 120,000 men of the army of Juda in one day. Achaz, fearing for his kingdom, sent messengers toTheglath the king of Assyria, saying, 6 1 am thy servant and thy son ; come and save me out of the hands of the kings of Syria and Israel.’ Isaias hereupon de- nounced in the strongest terms this alliance, and told both the king and people, that their own vices and sins were their only real enemies, and that the Assyrian empire was not their dependence, but merely the rod of the anger and the staff of the wrath of the God of Israel, whom they 128 had provoked. 1 Ee not afraid of Israel and Syria/ said the prophet. * Thus saith the Lord, “ Syria hath taken counsel against thee, and the CHILDREN BURNT IN THE FIRE TO MOLOCH, IN THE REIGN OF ACHAZ. son of Romelia. It shall not stand ; this shall not be.” 1 And when Achaz refused either to listen or to ask a sign of God, Isaias uttered on this occasion his memorable prophecy of the coming of Messias : ISAIAS PROPHESIES OF CHRIST. Hear ye therefore, 0 house of David : Is it a small thing for you to he griev- ous to men, that you are grievous to my God also ? Therefore the Lord Himself shall give you a sign. Behold, a virgin shall CONCEIVE, AND BEAR A SON, AND HIS NAME SHALL BE CALLED EMMANUEL. He shall eat butter and honey, that He may know to refuse the evil, and to choose the good. During the whole of the reign of Achaz, Isaias continued to denounce the alliance with Assyria ; but neither king nor people would listen, for God was angry with Juda and Jerusalem, and had commanded Isaias to go and say of this people, 6 Hearing hear and understand not; seethe vision and know it not. Elind the heart of the people, make their ears heavy, shut their eyes, lest they see with their eyes, hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and be converted, and I heal them/ 129 Achaz suffered for tis contempt of the warning of Isaias, and, in a fit of blind despair, he shut up the house of the Lord, and began to sacrifice to all the gods of Syria and Damascus, thinking, as he said, to appease them ; whereas, says the sacred writer, ‘ they were his ruin.’ In this state of apostasy he died, and was succeeded by his son Ezechias. Ezechias was a very different man from his father. He was a per- sonal friend of the prophet Isaias, and had learned from bitter experience the truth of the prophet’s warnings against the alliance with Assyria ; and he firmly believed that the hope and strength of Juda was in the God of their fathers, who had delivered them out of the hand of Pharao, and not in the Assyrian empire, which the prophet bad taught him was a mere rod of the anger of their God for their sins. His first act, there- fore, was to bring about a reform, and for this purpose he called the priests of Israel together and proposed to them .a complete reformation of the service of the Temple, and of the religious habits of the people, if perhaps it might please God, as he said, to turn away the wrath of His indignation from us. The high-priest and all the priests of the Temple responded to this call, and Ezechias sent letters to the princes of Israel, inviting them to join with the people of Juda in keeping the Pasch ; but the people of Israel had lost their faith to such a degree that they did little else but laugh. In J uda, however, the feast was kept with great solemnity, and Ezechias sought the Lord with all his heart, and prospered in his work. Seeing that the Lord was with him, he put his trust in the God of his fathers, and cast off the Assyrian yoke. The faith of Ezechias was now to be tried. Salman the conqueror of Samaria died, and his son Sennacherib reigned in his stead. Senna- cherib prepared to conquer Egypt, and in order to this end, the king- dom of Juda, which stood in the way, must first fall into his hands. Sennacherib therefore entered Juda with a large army, and for a moment Ezechias’s faith failed him. He stripped the gold plates from the gates of the Temple in order to offer Sennacherib a bribe, saying, 6 1 have offended; depart from me/ Sennacherib, perceiving that Ezechias showed symptoms of fear, increased his demands and sent three captains to re- quire that the city should be given up. Eabsaces, the chief of the three captains, held a parley with the messengers of king Ezechias on the walls of the city, saying : Hearken not to Ezechias, who de- ceiveth you, saying, The Lord will de- liver us. Have any of the gods of the nations delivered their land from the hand of the king of Assyria ? Where is the god of Emath, and of Arphad? where is the god of Sepliar- vaim, of Ana, and of Ava ? have they delivered Samaria out of my hand ? Who are they among all the gods of the nations that have delivered their country out of my hand, that the Lord may deliver Jerusalem out of my hand? When these words were brought to Ezechias, he rent his garments and covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of his Lord : and he sent Eliacim to Isaias the prophet, saying, ‘ This eat day of tribulation, and of rebuke, and of blasphemy/ In the mean time K 180 Rabsaces returned to Sennacherib, who, hearing that Theraca king of Ethiopia was marching against him with a large army, wrote a letter to Ezechias with his own hand, to the same effect as Rabsaces had already spoken by word of mouth. Ezechias received the letter from the mes- sengers, and when he had read it, he went up to the house of the Lord, and spread it before the Lord, and he prayed in His sight, saying : 0 Lord God of Israel, who sitteth up- on the cherubim, Thou alone art the God of all the kings of the earth: Thou mad- est heaven and earth : Incline Thy ear, and hear : open, 0 Lord, Thy eyes, and see : and hear all the words of Sennacherib, who hath sent unto us to upbraid the living God. Isaias, the son of Amos, now sent to Ezechias, saying, c I have heard the prayer thou hast made to Me concerning Sennacherib king of the Assyrians. This is the word that the Lord hath spoken of him : The virgin the daughter of Sion hath despised thee, and laughed thee to scorn; the daughter of Jerusalem hath wagged her head behind thy back. Whom hast thou reproached, and whom hast thou blasphemed? against whom hast thou exalted thy voice, and lifted up thy eyes on high ? Against the Holy One of Israel. By the hand of thy servants thou hast reproached the Lord, and hast said, With the multitude of my chariots I have gone up to the height of the mountains, to the top of Libanus, and have cut down its tall cedars, and its choice fir-trees. And I have entered in- to the furthest parts thereof, and the forest of its Carmel. I have cut down, and I have drunk strange waters, and have dried up with the soles of my feet all the shut-up wa- ters. Thou hast been mad against me, and thy pride hath come up to my ears : there- fore I will put a ring in thy nose and a bit between thy lips, and I will turn thee back by the way by which thou earnest. Wherefore thus saith the Lord con- cerning the king of the Assyrians, He shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow into it, nor come before it with shield, nor cast a trench about it. By the way that he came, by the same he shall return ; and into this city he shall not come, saith the Lord. And I will protect this city, and will save it for my own sake, and for David my servant’s sake. That same night an angel of the Lord came and slew in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred and eighty-five thousand. And when the king arose early in the morning, he saw all the bodies of the dead. And Sennacherib king of the Assyrians departing went away, and he re- turned and abode in Ninive. Ezechias had a long and prosperous reign, and was succeeded by his son Manasses. This prince reigned five and fifty years, during which he undid all the reforms of Ezechias, and built altars to Baalim and all the host of heaven in the very court of the house of the Lord. This apostasy of the king and people Isaias boldly resisted, telling them that God would send them for punishment into captivity beyond the river to Babylon, where they would remain for seventy years, and that only a small remnant should return, as the gleaning of grapes when the vintage is over. Thus saith the Lord God of Israel ; Behold, I will bring evils on Jerusa- lem and Juda, that whosoever shall hear of them, both his ears shall tingle. I will stretch over Jerusalem the line of Samaria, and the weight of the house of Achab (4 Kings xxi, 12 ) ; 131 I will make a circle round about thee, and will cast up a rampart against thee, and raise up bulwarks to besiege thee. Thou shalt be brought down, thou shalt speak out of the earth (Isaias xxix. 3). The city of thy sanctuary is become a desert ; Sion is laid waste, Jerusalem is desolate. The house of our holiness and of our glory, where our fathers praised Thee, is burnt with fire, and all our lovely things are turned into ruins. Manasses, according to Jewish tradition (Heb. xi. 37), was so pro- voked with this opposition of the prophet Isaias, that he caused him to be condemned to be sawn in two ; a sentence which was carried into execution. And among the innocent blood shed in this wicked reign, Isaias the prophet died in this cruel way. Isaiah, like all the other prophets, had a twofold mission in the midst of his people. (1.) To rebuke the king and people for their sins and crimes, and to warn them what would come of their faithless and un- believing policy, in throwing themselves into the arms of the govern- ments, first of Assyria, and then of Egypt, in the place of trusting themselves to the protection of the Lord God of their fathers. (2.) To foretell the coming of Messias, and to describe the marks of His person and of His kingdom. The prophet here Was brought into collision with all the worst prejudices of his people, or, as he himself says, 4 with the iron sinew of their neck and their forehead of brass.’ The Jews ex- pected Messias when He came to be the same as their Temple, exclusively for themselves ; whereas Isaias said of Him, that God had given Him 4 for a leader and a master to the Gentiles,’ and that in His times their Temple, where no stranger of the Gentiles might enter beyond the first court, should become common to all nations : 4 In the last days the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be prepared on the tops of the mountains, and all nations shall flow unto it. And many people shall go up, and shall say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob, and He will teach us His ways, and we will walk in His paths’ (Isaias ii. 2). They expected Him to come as a king, greater than either David or Solomon, and Isaias spoke of Him thus : THE PROPHECY OF THE DEATH AND PASSION OF MESSIAS. Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord re- vealed ? And He shall grow up as a tender plant before Him, and as a root out of a thirsty ground ; there is no beauty in Him, nor comeliness ; and we have seen Him, and there was no sightliness, that we should be desirous of Him. Despised and the most abject of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with infirmity, and His look was as it were hidden and despised; whereupon we es- teemed Him not. Surely He hath borne our infirmities and carried our sorrows ; and we have thought Him as it were a leper, and as one struck by God and af- flicted. But He was wounded for our iniqui- ties, He was bruised for our sins ; the chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and by His bruises we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray ; every one hath turned aside into his own way ; and the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all. He was offered because it was His own will, and He opened not His mouth ; He shall be led as a sheep to the slaugh- ter, and shall be dumb as a lamb before his shearer; and He shall not open His mouth. 132 Can it be a matter of wonder, if a people so hardened in unbelief, sin, and apostasy should have conspired to saw asunder the messenger of God, who thus openly crossed their prejudices? 4 Take, my brethren,’ writes St. James, 4 for an example of suffering evil, of labour, and of pati- ence, the prophets, who spoke in the name of the Lord.’ § 71. The history of Tobias, or the captivity of Israel in Assyria. The Assyrian empire, whose chief city Mnive had repented at the preaching of Jonas, while the Israelite king and his people had turned a deaf ear to the prophets Amos and Osee, had prevailed against Israel ; and among the Hebrew captives whom Salman el Assur removed to Mn- ive was Tobias of the city and tribe of hTepthali. While he was a young man and in the land of Israel, he had always refused to join with those .who went up to the golden calves at Bethel, and had gone regularly to .offer his tithes and first-fruits in the Temple in Jerusalem. He mar- ried a wife of his own tribe, one Anna, and they had one son, whom he called. by his own name Tobias. Tobias prospered in his captivity, and was permitted to go from city to city by Salman el Assur, who was fa- vourable to him. In one of these journeys he found one of his country- men, Gabelus, in Bages, a city of the Medes, in great want ; and he ad- vanced him ten talents of silver, taking only a note of hand in receipt for it. However, when Sennacherib, Salman’s son, came to the throne, and after the signal destruction of the Assyrian army before J erusalem, the captive Israelites were so hated by the Assyrian soldiers, that many of them were continually stabbed in fhe open street. On these occasions Tobias would go out and bring the dead bodies to his own house to bury them at night-time. On one of these occasions he lost his eyesight by falling asleep close to the walls of his own house under a swallow’s nest, the droppings from which falling on his eyes blinded him. Soon after this Tobias fell into great poverty, and his friends and kinsmen began to mock him, saying, 4 Where is thy hope, for which thou gavest alms, and buriedst the dead V Tobias quietly replied, 4 Speak not so ; for we are the children of the saints, and look for that life which God will give to those who never change their faith from Him.’ His wife also turned against him, and said, 4 It is evident thy hope is turned to nothing, and thy alms now appear.’ And with these and other like words she upbraided him Tobias in his poverty remembered the sum of money which he had lent to Gabelus, and consulting with hi^ wife, it was resolved between them that their son Tobias the younger should undertake a journey to Bages into the country of the Medes to recover it, if a trustworthy com- panion could be found. The young Tobias went out to find a companion, and returned accompanied by the Archangel St. Baphael, who appeared to be a young man, one Azarias by name, whose family was known to his father. The journey had a perfectly prosperous issue. Tobias the son was hospitably entertained on the way in the house of Baguel, 133 his father’s kinsman, whose daughter Sara he happily married. While they were keeping the wedding festivities, Tobias’s companion went to Eages and re- covered the mo- ney from Gabelus. On their return home the son rubbed the eyes of his father with the gall of a fish, and restored his sight. And in the midst of their joy, when Tobias the son asked his fa- ther w r hat reward should be given to his companion, the seeming Aza- rias stood for- ward, and said, ‘I am the angel Eaphael, one of the seven who stand before the Lord.’ Seized with fear they all fell upon their azarias is discovered to be an angel of god. faces on the ground, and the angel said to them : Peace be to you ; fear not. For when I was with you, I was there by the will of God ; bless ye Him, and sing praises to Him. I seemed indeed to eat and to drink with you ; but I use an invisible meat and drink, which cannot be seen by men. It is time therefore that I return to Him that sent me ; but bless ye God, and publish all His wonderful works. Tobias and the whole family fell down with fright and remained prostrate for three hours; afterwards the spirit of prophecy fell upon the aged Tobias, and he rose up and foretold the glory of J erusalem. The above history is one of the events St. Paul refers to when he says (Heb. xiii. 2), ‘ Forget not hospitality, for some have received angels unawares.’ § 72. The history of Judith, and the miraculous deliverance ofjuda. In the reign of Manasses king of Juda, the Assyrian monarch Saos- duchinus (called Nabuchodonosor) sent his general Holofernes with a large army, to subdue the people and cities of Syria. The approach of this army struck such terror and dismay into the hearts of the Syrians, 134 that they went out on all sides to meet him with garlands, lights, and dances, timbrels and flutes, if possible, to appease his fierceness. Eliachim, the high-priest of Jerusalem, seeing the danger that threat- ened Juda, in common with the other people, went round the cities of Juda, exhorting the Jews to humble themselves in sackcloth and ashes, and pray to the Lord their God for deliverance, while the men of war prepared to defend their country. Holofernes, hearing that the children of Israel were thus preparing to resist him, full of amazement and in- dignation, called together the princes of Moab and Ammon, who had made their submission, and asked them, ‘ What is this people that besetteth t f he mountains, that they alone have despised us, and not come out to meet us V Achior, a prince of the children of Ammon, said that they relied on the Lord God of their fathers, who would defend them. Holofernes had a mind to have killed Achior for this answer, but was satisfied to send him to Bethulia, telling him that on their taking the city he would put him to death. . v The Assyrian army now came up before Bethulia, and the distress of the city soon became so great, that the people came to Ozias, their chief, and extorted from him the promise, that if deliverance did not come in five days, he would open the gates of the city to the Assyrians. Judith, a widow of the city, heard of this, and sent to Ozias and his counsellors, saying, ‘Who are you that you tempt the Lord? This is not a word that may draw down mercy, but rather indignation. You have set a time for the mercy of the Lord, and you have appointed Him a day according to your pleasure ; let us rather humbly wait for His consolation.’ These and other words spoke Judith to Ozias and the ancients, and they answered, ‘ All the words thou hast spoken are tri!e, and there is nothing to be reprehended in thy words : now therefore pray for us, for thou art a holy woman, and one fearing God.’ Judith then said briefly, that she and her maid would go to the Assyrian camp ; but that they were not to search to know her purpose, and that nothing should be done but to pray to God for her. Ozias answered, 6 Go in peace, and the Lord be with thee to take revenge of our enemies.’ J udith returned home, and going into her oratory, she put on hair- cloth and covered her head with ashes, and she prayed before God, reminding Him how He had humbled the Egyptians who trusted in their chariots and horses ; and she besought Him to humble the Assyrian army, ‘ that all nations may acknowledge that Thou art God, and none other besides Thee.’ Having finished her prayer, she attired herself and went by night, with her maid carrying a basket of provisions, down the hill to the As- syrian camp. Early in the morning they met the watch of the Assyrians, who stopped them, and asked them who they were. J udith answered that she was a daughter of the Hebrews, and that she had fled from the city, knowing that it must fall ; and that, wishing to save her own life, she was come into their camp, and moreover that she had secret intellb 135 gence to give to Holofernes, how the city might he taken. Holofernes fell into the snare, on Judith being brought before him, and he said, ‘ There is not such another woman upon earth in look and beauty and in sense of words.’ Judith had asked liberty to go out with her maid at an early hour before day to prayer, and on the fourth day Holofernes made a great feast, at which he sent to invite Judith to be present. At this banquet Holofernes made so merry, that he drank more wine than he had ever drunk before in his life, and at length he lay drunk and motionless on the bed. Judith was now alone with him in the chamber, all the guests having retired. She told her maid to stand before the chamber and watch, and then, praying with tears, her lips moving in silence, she said, PRAYER OF JUDITH. Strengthen me, 0 Lord God of Israel, and in this hour look on the work of my hands, that as Thou hast promised, Thou mayest raise up Jerusalem Thy city, that I may bring to pass that which I have purposed, having a belief that it might be done by Thee. Having said this, she reached down his sword from the pillar where it hung, and taking him by the hair, she struck twice and cut off his head. In the morning Judith stood be- fore the walls of Bethulia, and cried, ‘ Open the gates, for God is with us P The el- ders of the city, seeing the head of their enemy Holofernes, gave glory to God for their deliverance. And Achior also, seeing the head, was seized with a great fear, and his soul swooned away. Judith now commanded the head to be hung on the walls, and when the Assy- rian army found their general lying dead in his tent jupjxh shows the heap of holofernes to her people. 136 without his head, they were seized with such fright, that, the children of Israel rushing upon them, immense numbers were slain, and the Lord wrought a great deliverance of His people by the hand of a woman. Judith is a remarkable figure of the Blessed Mother of God. She offered herself to accomplish the deliverance of her people ; and as it was said of the Blessed Virgin, ‘Thou shalt crush the serpent’s head,’ so Judith cut off the head of the enemy of her people. § 73. Jeremias the prophet. His trials in public life , and his prophecies of the Messias. The judgments which God had foretold by the prophets Amos and Osee upon the kingdom of Israel, for the sins of its king and people in separating themselves from the altar and Temple in J erusalem, had all now come to pass ; and a similar judgment was hanging over the king- dom of Juda for the idolatries which the kings and people had brought into the holy city. But God never finally brings His wrath upon any person or people without first giving them the fullest warning, and enabling them even up to the last moment to avert the blow, by return- ing to a better mind and forsaking their sin. Before therefore bringing His heavy judgment upon J erusalem, God sent them a prophet to give them His last warning ; this prophet was Jeremias. Both king and people were hardened ; but God said to His prophet, ‘ Speak all that I command thee ; be not afraid at their presence ; I will make thee not to fear their countenance ; for, behold, I have made thee this day a fortified city, a pillar of iron and a wall of brass, over all the land, to the kings of Juda, to the princes thereof, to the priests, and to the people of the land. They shall fight against thee, but they shall not prevail ; for I am with thee, saith the Lord, to deliver thee/ The long reign of Manasses had filled Jerusalem with innocent blood. Amon his son succeeded to the throne, and in his short reign the worst idolatries of Manasses were multiplied, and the sin of Juda greatly in- creased. When Jeremias was called to the office of prophet, the good king Josias, the son of Amon, sat on the throne. During his reign a copy of the law was found in the Temple ; and the pious king was so terrified by reading the threats which Moses utters against disobedience to the law on the part of the people, that he summoned a council of the elders of the people, and the covenant of the whole nation with God was solemnly renewed. Josias was cut off, by falling in battle against Pharao king of Egypt ; and the trials of Jeremias began under Joakim, a son of J osias, whom Pharao after his victory placed on the throne. Abandoning all Josias’ holy reforms, Joakim began to build for himself a palace of cedar, and to live in great luxury. Jeremias was sent to re- proach the king in public before the people, which he did, saying, ‘ La- ment not for Joakim, son of Josias. He shall be buried with the burial of an ass, rotten and cast forth without the gates of Jerusalem.’ Then turning to the people, Jeremias said, ‘Thus saith the Lord of Hosts, the 187 God of Israel, Make your ways and your doings good, and I will dwell with you in this place. Trust not in lying words, saying, The Temple of the Lord, the Temple of the Lord. Go ye to My place in Silo, where My Name dwelt from the beginning, and see what I did to it for the wickedness of My people Israel. I will do to this house and to the place which I have given to you and your fathers as I did to Silo ; and I will cast you away from before My face, as I have cast away all your brethren, the whole seed of Ephraim.’ As J eremias finished speaking these words, the people laid hold of him, saying, ‘ Let him be put to death !’ Jere- mias protested that 4 in truth the Lord had sent him to speak all these words.’ At length some of the aged men took his part, and Jeremias was suffered to depart in peace. Jeremias, notwithstanding, patiently continued his mission as pro- phet; going at stated times into the house of the Lord, when the people were assembled in it, to rebuke them for their sins, and to warn them that God was about to give the whole land into the hands of the king of Babylon, who would burn the house of the Lord with fire, and carry the bulk of the people into captivity. On these occasions Jeremias was often handled very roughly, and at length the king had him imprisoned. Jeremias at first was very much cast down, lamenting and saying, ‘ The word of the Lord is made a reproach to me, and a derision all the day long ;’ but at length, taking courage, he wrote all his prophecies on a roll, and gave them to Baruch the Scribe to read them in the Temple on the occasion of a public fast. The elders of the people were greatly af- fected, and said, ‘We must tell the king all these words;’ but when the roll was being read to the king, he seized hold of it, cut it with a knife, and burnt it in the fire that was burning on the hearth. Neither were the king or his servants afraid, nor did they rend their garments. The following year Nabuchodonosor, the king of Assyria, came with his army, and Joakim, heading a sally of the garrison, lost his life; and his dead body lay, as Jeremias had predicted, rotten and cast forth without the gates of Jerusalem. The Assyrian army after this was absent for about three months on an expedition to Egypt, when Nabuchodonosor returned to place Sedekias, a brother of Joakim, on the throne, and to carry great numbers of the people into captivity, as Jeremias had foretold. No sooner was the Assyrian army gone back to Babylon than Sede- kias and the princes who remained began to meditate a revolt from the Assyrians. For this end they consulted Jeremias, to know if God would be with them ; but Jeremias answered, that God had given their city and Temple into the hands of the Assyrians. For this answer Jeremias was accused of being a traitor in the pay of the Assyrians; and Sedekias and his princes, giving no heed to the warning of the prophet, made their alliance with Egypt, and threw off the Assyrian yoke. This brought the Assyrian army back again to lay siege to Jerusalem. The appearance of an Egyptian army in the field caused the siege to be raised for a time ; but here again Jeremias warned the people that the Assyrians would soon 138 return. For uttering this warning lie was put in prison, and was with difficulty saved from being put to death. God is long-suffering and patient; hut at length the day of vengeance comes. The Lord God of their fathers had sent to Juda messengers, rising early, and daily admonishing them, because He spared His people and His dwelling-place; but they mocked His messengers, despised His words, maltreated His prophets, until the wrath of the Lord arose against His people, and there was no remedy. After a siege of two years a fearful famine began to prevail ; a breach was made in the walls, and the As- syrians made themselves masters of the city, and burnt the Temple to the ground. The remnant of the people was carried off into captivity in Babylon. It was on the occasion of this great calamity that Jeremias wrote the book of the 6 Lamentations/ To what shall I compare thee ? or to what shall I liken thee, O daughter of Jerusalem ? to what shall I equal thee, that I may comfort thee, O virgin daughter of Sion ? For great as the sea is thy destruction : who shall heal thee? The Lord hath accomplished His wrath ; He hath poured out His fierce anger; and He hath kindled a fire in Though Jeremias was mixed up litical affairs of Juda, he was not tb come. He foretells His birth from i new thing upon the earth : a woman Then he describes a new covenant S: Sion, and it hath devoured the founda- tions thereof. The kings of the earth and all the in- habitants of the world would not have believed, that the adversary and the enemy should enter in by the gates of Jerusalem ; For the sins of her prophets and the iniquities of her priests, that have shed the blood of the just in the midst of her. even more than Isaias with the po- e less a prophet of Him who was to i Virgin. ‘The Lord hath created a shall compass a man’ (Jer. xxxi. 27). [essias would make with His people: THE NEW COVENANT OF THE MESSIAS. Behold, the days shall come, saith the Lord, and I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Juda. And this shall be the covenant that I will make after those days, saith the Lord : I will give My law in their bowels, and I will write it on their heart ; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. Afterwards he announces the birth of Messias from the family of David : and then His mission as prophet of the Gentiles : THE INCARNATION OF GOD IN THE HOUSE OF DAVID. In those days, and at that time, I will make the bud of justice to spring forth unto David, and he shall do judgment and justice in the earth. In those days shall Juda be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell securely ; and this is the name that they shall call Him, THE LORD OUR JUST ONE. THE MESSIAS A PROPHET OF THE GENTILES. O Lord, my might and my strength, and my refuge in the day of tribula- tion; to Thee the Gentiles shall come from the ends of the earth, and shall say, Surely our fathers have possessed lies, a vanity which hath not profited them. Shall a man make gods unto himself, and they are no gods ? Therefore, behold I will this once cause them to know, and I will show them My hand and My power ; and they shall know that My name is the Lord, 139 Fourth Subdivision.— The Seventy Years* Captivity in Babylon. § 74. Daniel the prophet, and the dream of Nabuchodonosor. The history of the prophet Daniel falls in the 7 0 years’ captivity in Babylon, which the Lord God of Israel inflicted on the people of Juda for their sins and idolatries. Daniel was taken at an early age into the household of Nabucho- donosor. Here, because he and his companions, when mere boys, had been faithful to the law of Moses, and had refused to be defiled with the meats from the king’s table, which were frequently such as had been sacrificed to the idols of Babylon, God gave to them such knowledge and understanding, that on all matters of importance the king consulted them, and found them ten times better than all the other wise men and diviners of his kingdom. In the second year of his reign, Nabuchodonosor had a dream, and his spirit was terrified, and his dream went out of his mind. The king called together all his diviners and wise men, and required from them the interpretation of his dream. They replied, 4 0 king, live for ever ; tell to thy servants thy dream, and we will declare the interpretation thereof.’ The king answered, 4 The thing is gone out of my mind ; but unless you tell me the dream and the meaning thereof, you shall be put to death, and your houses shall be confiscated.’ The wise men replied, that none could be found to answer the king, except the gods, 4 whose conversation is not with men.’ Nabuchodonosor, in his fury at not having his dream told to him, commanded all the wise men to be put to death. Daniel, hearing of this cruel command from Arioch, the general of the army, who was charged to put it in execution, went in and requested of the king to give him time to solve the question, and declare it to the king. Daniel returned to his house and told the matter to his com- panions, Ananias, Misael, and Azarias, bidding them to ask the mercy of the God of heaven concerning the secret, that they might not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. The same night the king’s dream was revealed to Daniel in a vision, and he returned thanks to God. When Daniel was brought before the king, he said to him, 4 Thinkest thou that thou canst tell me the dream that I saw, and the interpretation thereof 1 ?’ Daniel answered, 4 This secret is revealed to me, not by any wisdom that I have more than all men, but there is a God in heaven that revealeth mysteries, who hath shown thee, 0 king, what is to come to pass in the latter times. Thy dream and the visions of thy head upon thy bed, are these :’ THE DREAM OF NABUCHODONOSOR, Signifying the four kingdoms , 1. of Babylon, 2. of the Medes and Persians , 3. of the Greeks , and 4. of the Romans , to be followed by that of the Catholic Church . Thou, O king, sawest, and behold there was as it were a great statue : this statue, which was great and high, tall of stature, stood before thee ; and the look thereof was terrible. The head of this statue was of fine 140 gold ; but the breast arid the arms of silver, and the belly and the thighs of brass, And the legs of iron, and the feet part of iron, and part of clay. Thus thou sawest, till a stone was cut out of a mountain without hands ; and it struck the statue upon the feet there- of that were of iron and of clay, and broke them in pieces. Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of a summer’s thrashing-floor, and they were carried away by the wind ; and there was no place found for them ; but the stone that struck the statue became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth. This is the dream : we will also tell the interpretation thereof before thee, O king. Thou art a king of kings ; and the God of heaven hath given thee a king- dom, and strength and power and glory, And all places wherein the children of men and the beasts of the field do dwell; He hath also given the birds of the air into thy hand, and hath put all things under thy power ; thou therefore art the head of gold. And after thee shall rise up another kingdom, inferior to thee, of silver; and another third kingdom of brass, which shall rule over all the world. And the fourth kiDgdom shall be as iron. As iron breaketh into pieces and subdueth all things, so shall that break and destroy all these. ***** But in the days of those kingdoms the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed ; and His kingdom shall not be delivered up to another people, and it shall break in pieces and shall consume all these king- doms ; and itself shall stand for ever. According as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and broke in pieces the clay, and the iron, and the brass, and the silver, and the gold, the great God hath shown the king what shall come to pass hereafter ; and the dream is true, and the interpretation thereof is faithful. King Nabuchodonosor on bearing these words fell on his face before Daniel, and said to him, ‘ Verily your God is the God of gods and Lord of kings, and a revealer of hidden things, seeing thou couldst discover this secret/ After this Daniel was made chief magistrate over all the wise men in Babylon. § 75. Nabuchodonosor the king sets up his golden image . The Babylonians, finding that Daniel was thus daily gaining ground, began to fear for the safety of their idols, and to spread the report that the king was becoming a Jew. So, in order to get rid of Daniel and his companions, they persuaded Nabuchodonosor to set up an image of gold, sixty cubits high and six broad, in the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon, and to issue a royal decree by a herald : ‘ To you it is com- manded, 0 nations, tribes, and languages, that in the hour that you shall hear the sound of the trumpet, of the flute, of the harp, of the sackbut, and of the psaltery, and the symphony of all kinds of music, ye fall down and adore the golden statue which king Nabuchodonosor hath set up. But if any man shall not fall down and adore, he shall the same hour be cast into a furnace of burning fire/ On the day that the people assembled in the plains of Dura, it hap- pened as Daniel’s enemies had calculated. 1 Sidrach, Misach, and Ab- denago,’ Daniel’s companions, refused to fall down and adore. This was 141 quickly reported to Nabuchodonosor, who, in bis fury at meeting with any persons who dared to dispute his sovereign decree, ordered them to be brought before him. When they came before the king, they were asked if it was true that they had refused to fall down and adore. They replied, 6 We have no occasion to answer thee concerning this matter. Tor behold, our God, whom we worship, is able to save us from the furnace of burning fire, and to deliver us out of thy hands, 0 king. But if He will not, be it known to thee, 0 king, that we will not worship thy gods, nor adore the golden statue which thou hast set up.’ Habucho- donosor was filled with fury, and commanded that the furnace should be heated seven times more than it had been accustomed to be heated ; and he commanded the strongest men in his army to bind Sidrach, Misach, and Abdenago, and to cast them into the furnace of burning fire. They were then cast into the furnace of burning fire, with their coats, their caps, their shoes, and their garments on ; for the king’s commandment was exceeding urgent, and the flame of the fire was so hot that it slew those men that cast them in. The king’s servants, however, ceased not to heat the furnace with brimstone and tow, pitch and dry sticks, so that the flame mounted above the furnace forty-nine cubits high. But the angel of the Lord went down with Sidrach and his companions into the furnace, and drove the flame away, and made the midst of the furnace like the blowing of a wind bringing dew, and the fire touched them not at all, nor troubled them nor did them any harm. Then the three with one mouth praised, glorified, and blessed God in the furnace, saying, ‘ Blessed art Thou, 0 Lord the God of our fathers, and worthy to be praised and glorified and exalted above all for ever ; and blessed is the holy name of Thy glory, and worthy to be praised and exalted above all in all ages.’ ThenNabuchodonosor the king was astonished, and rose up in haste, and said to his nobles, ‘ Did we nofcast three men bound into the midst of the fire]’ They answered the king, and said, ‘True, 0 king.’ He answered and said, ‘ Behold, I see four men loose, and walking in the midst of the fire, and there is no hurt in them ; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.’ Habuchodonosor, overcome by the miracle of their deliverance, cried aloud and said, ‘ Blessed be the God of Sidrach, Misach, and Abdenago, who hath sent his angel and deli- vered his servants who believed in Him, and who changed the king’s word, and delivered up their bodies that they might not serve nor adore any god except their own God. By me therefore this decree is made, that every people, tribe, and tongue, which shall speak blasphemy against the God of Sidrach, Misach, and Abdenago, shall be destroyed, and their houses laid waste ; for there is no other God that can save in this manner.’ This same Nabucho donosor was afterwards afflicted with madness, as a judgment on his pride. He was driven away from among men, and did eat grass like an ox, and his body was wet with the dew of 142 heaven, till his hairs grew like the feathers of eagles, and his nails like birds' claws. NABUCHODONOSOR EATS GEASS AMONG THE WILD ANIMALS. At the end of seven years his senses were restored to him, as Daniel had foretold ; and in the records of his kingdom it was written : NABUCHODONOSOR GIVES GLORY TO THE GOD OF HEAVEN. Now at the end of the days, I, Nabu- chodonosor, lifted up my eyes to hea- ven, and my sense was restored to me ; and I blessed the Most High, and I praised and glorified Him that liveth for ever ; for His power is an everlast- ing power, and His kingdom is to all generations. And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing before Him; for He doth according to His will, as well with the powers of heaven as among the inhabitants of the earth; and there is none that can resist His hand, and say to Him, Why hast Thou done it ? At the same time my sense returned to me, and I came to the honour and glory of my kingdom ; and my shape returned to me ; and my nobles and my magistrates sought for me, and I was restored to my kingdom, and greater majesty was added to me. Therefore I, Nabuchodonosor, do now praise and magnify and glorify the King of heaven ; because all His works are true, and His ways judgments, and them that walk in pride He is able to abase. 143 § 76. The kingdom of the Chaldeans falls, and the empire of the Medes and Persians comes in its place . Daniel in the den of lions. Baltassar, the grandson of Habuchodonosor, made a great feast to all his nobles, and during the banquet he bethought himself to command the vessels of silver and gold which Kabuchodonosor had carried away from the Temple in Jerusalem to be placed on the table. As they were drinking out of them, and praising their gods of wood and stone, behold, there appeared fingers as it were of the hand of a man writing over against the candlestick, on the surface of the wall of the king’s palace. Then the king’s countenance was changed, and he called for his sooth- sayers to read the writing ; but they all declared they could neither read the writing nor declare the interpretation to the king. Daniel was now called, and having reminded the king of the warning he had had in what had befallen Nabuchodonosor, to which warning he, the king, had given no heed, he interpreted the writing thus — Mane , God hath numbered thy kingdom, and hath finished it; Tliecel, thou art weighed in the balance, and art found wanting ; Phares , thy kingdom is divided, and is given to the Medes and Persians. The same night, says the Book of Daniel, Baltassar the Chaldean was slain, and Darius the Mede suc- ceeded to the kingdom, being three score and two years old. The Chaldean kingdom which thus perished was only a change of dynasty in the great Assyrian empire, that had fixed its seat in Babylon instead of Ninive, and the power that followed is the one known in history as the empire of the Medes and Persians. Cyrus, after his victory over Baltassar, left Cyaxares, his father-in-law, with the title of king, to regulate the internal affairs of the kingdom. This Cyaxares, called in the Scripture 4 Darius the Mede,’ took Daniel, who had been a con- fidential minister of state during the preceding dynasty, and advanced him to the highest office in the kingdom. Here his wisdom and capa- cities for business excited the envy and jealousy of the other princes, who began to scheme his destruction. They said, ( We shall not find any occasion against this Daniel except perhaps concerning the law of his God.’ With this view they came to Darius, and persuaded him to sign a decree, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which may not be changed, ‘ that whosoever, for the space of three months, shall ask any petition of any god or man, save of thee, 0 king, shall be cast into the den of lions.’ Then, carefully watching Daniel, they obtained evidence of his being found praying and making supplication to his God three times a day, as he was wont ; on which they went and accused him before the king as disregarding the law. The king hearing this was greatly grieved, and he even laboured till sunset to save Daniel ; but the princes, perceiving the king’s inclination, said to him, 4 Know thou, 0 king, that the law of the Medes and Persians is, that no decree which the’ king hath made may be altered.’ Then the king commanded, and they brought Daniel, 144 and cast him into the den of the lions. And the king said to Daniel, 4 Thy God, whom thou always servest, He will deliver thee.’ And a stone was brought, and laid upon the mouth of the den, which the king sealed with his own ring, and with the ring of his nobles, that nothing should be done against Daniel. And the king went away to his house, and laid himself down without taking supper, and meat was not set before him, and even sleep departed from him. Then the king, rising very early in the morning, went in haste to the lions’ den, and coming near to the den, cried with a la- mentable voice to Daniel, and said to him, ‘ Daniel, servant of the liv- ing God, hath thy God, whom thou servest always, been able to deli- ver thee from the lions V Daniel, answering the king, said, ‘ 0 king, live for ever ; my God hath sent His angel, and hath shut up the mouths of the lions, and they have not hurt me ; forasmuch as before Him justice was found in me ; yea, and before thee, 0 king, have I done no offence.’ The king was exceeding glad when Daniel came forth from the den without any hurt upon him ; and by the king’s commandment, those who had accused Daniel were cast into the lions’ den, they and their wives and their children, and they did not reach the bottom of the den before the lions caught them, and broke all their bones in pieces. Daniel among the prophets has received the singular gift of being chosen to fix the time of the coming of Messias. In the first year of Darius the Mede, Daniel himself relates, 1 1 set my face to the Lord my God, to pray and to make supplication, with fasting and sackcloth and ashes ; and while I was yet speaking, behold, the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, flying swiftly, touched m® DANIEL PROTECTED BY AN ANGEL IN THE DEN OE LIONS. 145 at the time of the evening sacrifice. And he instructed me, and spoke to me, and said, “ 0 Daniel, from the beginning of thy prayers the word came forth ; and I am come to show it to thee, because thou art a man of desires; therefore do thou mark the word, and understand the vision.” ’* DANIEL’S VISION OF MESSIAS THE PRINCE. Seventy weeks are shortened upon Thy people and upon Thy holy city, that transgression may be finished, and sin may have an end, and iniquity may he abolished ; and everlasting justice may be brought, and vision and prophecy may be fulfilled, and the Saint of Saints may be anointed. t Know thou therefore, and take notice: that from the going forth of the word, to build up Jerusalem again, unto Christ the Prince, there shall be seven weeks, and sixty - two weeks ; and the street shall be built again, and the walls in straitness of times. And after sixty-two weeks Christ shall be slain ; and the people that shall deny Him shall not be His. And a people with their leader that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be waste, and after the end of the war the appointed desolation. And he shall confirm the covenant with many in one week ; and in the half of the week the victim and the sa- crifice shall fail ; and there shall be in the temple the abomination of desola- tion ; and the desolation shall continue even to the consummation, and to the end. Daniel in the den of lions is a figure of Jesus Christ in the hands of the Jews ; and his deliverance from the den is a figure of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Fifth Subdivision.— -The Restoration under the Persian Empire. § 77. Zorobabel and the decree of Cyrus for the rebuilding the Temple. Babylon was taken by the army of Cyrus in tbeyear b.c. 539. Cyax- ares the Median, the Darius of the Book of Daniel, remained in Baby- lon as regent of the empire, while Cyrus went to prosecute his wars in Syria. In the second year of his regency Darius died, and Cyrus the following year (536 b.c.) returned to Babylon as the sole head of the new Persian empire, and there issued the decree which authorised all the Jews who were zealous in behalf of the law of their fathers to return to Jerusalem, and rebuild the Temple and altar to the God of heaven. * Brief Explanation of the Prophecy. — The period of seventy weeks, 490 years, comprises three lesser periods: seven weeks for the work of restoration of the Jewish State in straitness of times; sixty- two weeks as the continuance of this restoration ; and one week in which Christ, having confirmed the covenant, should be slain. Dating from the decree given to Esdras — whom the Jews regarded as a second Moses — to restore the law ( i.e . to build up Jerusalem again), in the month Nisan (March) 4256 of the Julian period, 490 years bring us to the year 4746 of the Julian period, which was the exact year of the death of Christ, in the same month Nisan, on the Cross. The work of restoration occupied forty-nine years under Es- dras and Nehemias in very troubled times ; the restoration of Esdras continued for 434 years (sixty-two weeks), until John the Baptist. 1 The law and the prophets,* said Christ, ‘ continued until John.’ During the last week Jesus Christ confirmed the covenant — by the ministry of His forerunner John, and in His own person ; and towards the middle of it He was slain, and the Saint of Saints was anointed at His burial. 146 Reckoning from the first submission of king Joakim, in the third year of his reign, to Nabuchodonosor, then heir-apparent to the kingdom of Babylon (606 b.c.), when Daniel and his companions and a number of the people were carried to Babylon, the seventy years foretold by Jeremias were now passed, and the captives in Jerusalem were expecting their liberation. Isaias had foretold that Cyrus should be their deliverer : ‘ Thus saith the Lord to My anointed Cyrus, “ For the sake of My servant Jacob, and Israel My elect, I have even called thee by thy name, though thou hast not known Me” ’ (Isaias xlv. 1). The decree of Cyrus (b.c. 536) for their liberation ran as follows : Thus saith Cyrus, king of the Per- sians, The Lord, the God of heaven, hath given to me all the kingdoms of the earth, and He hath charged me to build Him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judea. Who is there among you of all His people ? His God be with him. Let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judea, and build the house of the Lord, the God of Israel ; He is the God that is in Jerusalem. And let all the rest in all places wheresoever they dwell help him every man from his place, with silver and gold, and goods and cattle, besides that which they offer freely to the Temple of God, which is in Jerusalem. Zorobabel, called by his Babylonian name Sassabassar, was appointed head of those who returned ; but, according as the prophets had pre- dicted, ‘ that a remnant only should return and again take root/ the ma- jority of the people had come to possess houses and land in Babylon ; and thus it turned out that those who were zealous for their God and the honour of Jerusalem were the smaller number, compared with those who preferred the ease and prosperity of a life in Babylon. The joy, however, of those who assembled to return with Zorobabel knew no limits; and it became the subject of a psalm, in the same manner as the sorrows of their captivity : THE RETURN FROM BABYLON TO SION (Psalm CXXV.). When the Lord brought back the captivity of Sion, we became like men that are comforted. Then was our mouth filled with glad- ness, and our tongue with joy. Then shall they say among the Gentiles, The Lord hath done great things for them. The Lord hath done great things for us ; we are become joyful. Turn again our captivity, 0 Lord, as a stream in the south. They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. They went forth on their way and wept, scattering their seed. But returning, they shall come with joyfulness, carrying their sheaves with them. On the first building of the Temple, Solomon had received letters of congratulation and goodwill from all the neighbouring princes and king- doms ; and on the setting up of the altar and the dedication of the house of the Lord, the whole kingdom rang with shouts of joy, and all the Treighbouring people rejoiced with Israel. But when thej?emnant of the chud^Qn of the captivity came back, few in number and broken in spirit, l second temple out of the ruins, which the sins of their nation and its rulers had brought upon the holy place, they soon found that he first building of the Temple had been a work of joy and peace, 147 the work of undoing sin and wickedness, and of building it again out of ruins, would be one of strife and danger. Aggeus and Zacharias, who were prophets at this time in Jerusalem, rebuked the people for being afraid of the difficulties that rose up in their way. The former exclaimed, 4 Is this a time for you to dwell in ceiled houses, and this house to lie waste? Zorobabel therefore took courage and commenced the works anew ; upon which, the opposition of the Samaritans was immediately renewed, and the matter was brought before king Darius, who was now on the throne, Smerdis the usurper having been defeated. Darius soon ended the dispute by confirming the decree of his grandfather Cyrus, and by ordering that if any man offered any more opposition, a beam of wood should be taken out of his house, and he should be hanged upon it. Armed with this decree, Zorobabel pushed forward the works of the Temple ; and at length they were com- pleted in the month Adar, of the sixth year of king Darius (Hystaspes). The feast of unleavened bread was kept by all the people with the great- est joy, on the occasion of the solemn dedication of the second Temple. In the beginning of the restoration however, and at the time when no- thing but the foundations had been marked out, and when the altar alone had been dedicated for the sacrifice, tears and lamentations from the aged men who had seen the glory of the first Temple mingled with the joy of the younger, 4 so that when the sacrifice was first offered after many years’ interruption, the voice of the shout of joy could not be distinguished from the noise of the weeping of the people.’ Nevertheless, the prophet Aggeus restored their courage by prophesying to them, that 4 great shall be the glory of this house, more than of the first, saith the Lord of Hosts ; in this place I will give peace ; the desired of all nations shall come , and I will fill this house with glory, saith the Lord of Hosts.’ Thus the work prospered, and was happily completed under Zorobabel ; and at length the joy and solemnity of its final dedication consoled the people for their struggles in the work of rebuilding. The first and second Temples convey a very Christian lesson. As long as the first temple of baptismal innocence is preserved from sin, all is joy and happiness; but if it comes to be profaned and ruined, it can indeed be rebuilt by the mercy of God, but only with sorrow and penance. § 78. Esdras, the second Moses , is sent to restore the laio of Moses in Jerusalem (458 b.c.). Nehemias follows Esdras. The following monarchs succeeded Cyrus on the throne of Persia : Cambyses, Smerdis the Magian, Darius Hystaspes, Xerxes, Artaxerxes, surnamed Longimanus, in whose reign Esdras, 4 the ready scribe in the law of Moses,’ received the royal commission to go up to Jerusalem, with power from the king 4 to set all that appertained to the rites of the God of heaven in order, lest His wrath should be enkindled against the realm of the king and of his sons; also to appoint judges in the land, for those who knew the law, and freely to teach the ignorant.’ So ran the decree. 148 Thus empowered, Esdras set out at the head of another company of Jews who volunteered to go hack with him. At the river Ahava as Esdras himself relates, < I proclaimed a fast, that we might ask of the Lord our God a prosperous journey ; for I was ashamed to ask the km n for aid and for horsemen to defend us from the enemy in the way ^e- SL" ; Tad said to the king, “ The hand of our God is upon all them Shat seek Him in goodness, and His power, strength, and wrath upon all them S that forsake Him.” ’ Esdras and his company arrived safe, and were received with open arms by the Jews that were already there. _ Esdras soon found that, though the Temple had been built, a serious work of reform still had to be accomplished, in order to restore the observ- ance of the law. Of those who had returned under Zorobabel, great num- bers had made unlawful mixed marriages with the people of the knd , even priests had done this. When he was fully acquainted with the fact he went up to the house of God and fell down before the altar, and sat down mourning until the time of the evening sacrifice , then he rent his mantle, and fell on his knees, and said . PRAYER AND CONFESSION OF ESDRAS IN THE TEMPLE. My God, I am confounded and a- eliamed to lift up my face to Thee ; for our iniquities are multiplied over our heads, and our sins are grown up even unto heaven. , , ,, And now, 0 our God, what shall we pay after this? for we have forsaken Thy commandments, Which Thou hast commanded by the hand of Thy servants, the prophets, say- ing, The land which you go to possess is an unclean land. Now, therefore, give not your daugh- ters to their sons, and take not their daughters for your sons, and seek not their peace nor their prosperity for ever; that you may be strengthened and may eat the good things of the land, and may have your children your heirs for ever. - And after all that is come upon us for our most wicked deeds, and our great sin. seeing that Thou our God hast saved us from our iniquity, and hast given us a deliverance as at this day, That we should not turn away, nor break Thy commandments, nor join in marriage with the people of these abomi- nations. Art Thou angry with us unto utter destruction, not to leave us a rem- nant to be saved ? O Lord God of Israel, Thou art just ; for we remain yet to be saved as at this day. Behold, we are before Thee in our sin; for there can be no standing befoie Thee in this matter. The prayer of Esdras prevailed over the wickedness of the people , and iud of man.’ Judas Maccabeus learned the truth of these words at the price or his life ; for his Roman alliance was of no help to him in the hour of his need. Seventh Subdivision. — Subjection of Israel to the Roman Empire. § 84. The sceptre departs from Juda , according to the prophecy of the patriarch Jacob; and the time fixed for the coming of Messias, the Expectation of all the Nations , begins to draw near . Herod, surnamed the Great, who overthrew the constitution estab- lished by Esdras, and who brought the Jews finally under the dominion of the Romans, being made king of Judea by a decree of the Senate (b.c. 40), was born (b.c. 72) of a noble family in Idumea. He was in- troduced to political life at a very early age; and as he had the discernment to see that Roman favour was the only way to power, he paid court most attentively to each Roman general as they succeeded each other in com- mand of the army of Asia. To gain a party also with the J ews, he allied himself ig. marriage with Mariamne, a granddaughter of Hvrcanus. Thus, proceeding step by step in his ambitious designs, he became extremely hateful to the doctors of the Sanhedrim and the principal Jews, who perceived clearly what his plans were. Those who preserved their national pride saw in him a foreign adventurer of the hated race of the Idumeans ; and those who were still really zealous for the law of Moses saw in him a man without any religion, who was quite ready to profess a zeal for the law of Moses, and to spend money on rebuilding the Tem- ple, if there was any end to be gained by it for himself, but who would Key to the Topography of the Bird’s-eye View. A Mount Sion. B Acra. [Moriah). C Site of the Temple (Mt. D Ophel. E Bezetha. F F Valley of Jehosophat. G Valley of Hinnom. H Hill of ‘ Evil Council.’ J Siloam. K Gethsemane. L L Mount of Olives. M The Field of Blood. N Ccenaculum. O Gate of Damascus. P Grotto of Jeremiah. Q Church of Ascension. B Gardens of Olives. S Absalom’s Tomb. T Brook Cedron. U Dung Gate. V Pools of Siloam. X Mosk of Omar. Y „ El Aksa. Z Wailing-place for Jews. a Via Dolorosa. b Crowning with Thorns. c Scala Sancta. d House of Pilate. e ‘ Ecce Homo.* / Pretorium. g Pool of Bethesda. h Gate of St. Stephen. i Simon of Cyrene. k St. Veronica. 1 Gate of Criminals. m Holy Sepulchre. n Pool of Ezechias. o Gennath, or Gardens. p Tower of David. q House of Annas. r House of Caiphas. s House of B.V.M. t St. Peter’s weeping. u Golden Gate of Temple. w Disciples asleep. x Ascent of Mount Olivet. y Judas kisses Christ. 2 Tomb of B.V.M. THE NEW EPOCH OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY BEGINS IN JESUS CHRIST, THE MESSIAS OF THE HEBREW PEOPLE, AND THE EXPECT. THE NATIONS AND people OF THE EARTH. m OF ALL First Era of the Christian History : the Life of Jesns Christ. 1. The Birth and Childhood of Jesus Christ. § 1. The Archangel appears to Zacharias in the Temple . There was in the tlays of Herod, the King of Judea, a certain priest named Zachary, of the course of Abia ; and his wife was of the daugh- ters of Aaron, and her name Elizabeth. And they were both just be- fore God, walking in all the commandments of the Lord without blame. ZACHARIAS ASKS THE ANGEL FOR A SIGN OF WHAT HE HAS PROMISED. And they had no son, for that Elizabeth was barren, and they -were both well advanced in years. And it came to pass, in the order of his course before God, it was his lot to offer incense, going into the temple of the Lord. And all the multitude of the people was praying without, at the hour of incense. And there appeared to him an angel of the V M THE NEW EPOCH OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY BEGINS IN JESUS CHRIST, THE MESSIAS OF THE HEBREW PEOPLE, AND THE EXPECT^ON OF ALL THE NATIONS AND PEOPLE OF THE EARTH. First Era of the Christian History : the Life of Jesus Christ. 1. The Birth and Childhood of Jesus Christ. § 1. The Archangel appears to Zacharias in the Temple. There was in the tlays of Herod, the King of Judea, a certain priest named Zachary, of the course of Abia ; and his wife was of the daugh- ters of Aaron, and her name Elizabeth. And they were both just be- fore God, walking in all the commandments of the Lord without blame. ZACHARIAS ASKS THE ANGEL FOR A SIGN OF WHAT HE HAS PROMISED. And they had no son, for that Elizabeth was barren, and they were both well advanced in years. And it came to pass, in the order of his course before God, it was his lot to offer incense, going into the temple of the Lord. And all the multitude of the people was praying without, at the hour of incense. And there appeared to him an angel of. the V M 162 Lord, standing on the right side of the altar of incense. And Zachary seeing him was troubled, and fear fell upon him. But the angel said unto him : 4 Fear not, Zachary, for thy prayer is heard ; and thy wife Elizabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John. And thou shalt have joy and gladness, and many shall rejoice in his nativity. Eor he shall be great before the Lord; and shall drink no wine nor strong drink : and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother’s womb. And he shall convert many of the chil- dren of Israel to the Lord their God. And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias ; that he may turn the hearts of the fathers unto the children, and the incredulous to the wisdom of the just, to prepare unto the Lord a perfect people.’ And Zachary said to the Angel : 4 Whereby shall I know this ? for I am old, and my wife is advanced in years.’ And the Angel said to him : 4 1 am Gabriel, who stand before God; and am sent to speak to thee, and to bring thee these good tidings. And behold, thou shalt be dumb, and shalt not be able to speak until the day wherein these things shall come to pass, because thou hast not believed my words, which shall be fulfilled in their time.’ And the people waited, wondering that he tarried so long in the temple. And when he came out, he could not speak to them : and they understood that he had seen a vision in the temple. And he made signs to them, and remained dumb. And it came to pass after the days of his office were accomplished, he departed to his own house. And after those days, Elizabeth his wife conceived, and hid herself five months, saying : 4 Thus hath the Lord dealt with me.’ § 2. The Archangel is sent to the Blessed Virgin Mary in Nazareth. She goes to visit her Cousin St. Elizabeth . In the sixth month of the same year, the Angel Gabriel was sent from God into a city of Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin’s name was Mary. And the Angel being come in said unto her : 4 Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee ; blessed art thou among women.’ Mary hearing these words was troubled at his saying, and thought within herself what manner of salutation this should be. And the Angel said to her : 4 Eear not, Mary, for thou hast found grace with God. Behold thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and shalt bring forth a son, and thou shalt call His name Jesus. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Most High ; and the Lord God shall give unto Him the throne of David His father ; and He shall reign in the house of Jacob for ever, and of His kingdom there shall be no end.’ And Mary said to the Angel : 4 How shall this be done, because I know not man? And the Angel answering, said to her : 4 The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee ; and therefore also the Holy which shall be born of thee, shall be called the Son of God. And behold thy cousin Elizabeth, she also hath conceived a son in her old 163 age ; and this is the sixth month with her that is called barren : because no word shall be impossible with God.’ And Mary said : ‘ Behold the handmaid of the Lord ; be it done to me according to thy word.’ THE ARCHANGEL GABRIEL APPEARS TO THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY. And Mary rising up in those days, went into the hill-country with haste into a city of Juda. And she entered into the house of Zachary, and saluted Elizabeth. And it came to pass, that when Elizabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the infant leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost ; and she cried out with a loud voice, and said : ‘ Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me ? Eor behold as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed art thou that hast believed, because those things shall be accomplished which were spoken to thee by the Lord.’ And Mary said : THE CANTICLE, MAGNIFICAT. My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Sa- viour. Because He hath regarded the hu- mility of His handmaid ; for behold from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed. Because He that is mighty hath done great things to mej and holy is Hia name. 164 And His mercy is from generation unto generations, to them that fear Him. He hath showed might in His arm : He hath scattered the proud in the con- ceit of their heart. He hath put down the mighty from their seat, and hath exalted the humble. He hath filled the hungry with good things ; and the rich He hath sent empty away. He hath received Israel His servant, being mindful of His mercy. As He spoke to our fathers, to Abra- ham and to his seed for ever. And Mary abode with her about three months ; and she returned to her own house. VIEW OF THE PRESENT CONDITION OF NAZARETH. § 3. The Birth of St. John the Baptist . Now Elizabeth’s full time of being delivered was come, and she brought forth a son. And her neighbours and kinsfolks heard that the Lord had showed His great mercy towards her, and they congratulated with her. And it came to pass, that on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they called him by his father’s name Zachary. And his mother answering, said : 4 Not so ; but he shall be called John.’ And they said to her : 4 There is none of thy kindred that is called by this name.’ And they made signs to his father, how he would have him called. And demanding a writing-table, he wrote, saying : 4 John is his name.’ And they all wondered^ And immediately his mouth was opened, and his tongue loosed, and he spoke, blessing God. And fear came upon all their neighbours ; and all these things were noised abroad over all the hill-country of Judea. And all they that heard them laid them up in their hearts, saying : 4 What an one, think ye, shall thi^ child be V 165 For the hand of the Lord was with him. And Zachary his father was filled with the Holy Ghost ; and he prophesied, saying : THE CANTICLE, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel ; because He bath visited and wrought the redemption of His people : And hath raised up an horn of salva- tion to us, in the house of David His servant, As He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets, who are from the beginning. Salvation from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us. To perform mercy to our fathers, and to remember His holy testament. The oath which He swore to Abra- ham our father, that He would grant to us, That being delivered from the hand , BENEDICTUS. of our enemies, we may serve Him with- out fear, In holiness and justice before Him, all our days. And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest : for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to pre- pare His ways. To give knowledge of salvation to His people, unto the remission of their sins. Through the bowels of the mercy of our God, in which the Orient from on high hath visited us. To enlighten them that sit in dark- ness and in the shadow of death ; to di- rect our feet into the way of peace. And the child grew, and was strengthened in spirit; and was in the deserts until the day of his manifestation to Israel. VIEW OF THE PRESENT CONDITION OF BETHLEHEM. § 4. The Birth of Jesus Christ at Bethlehem . How the birth of Christ was in this wise : when His Mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found to 166 “be with child, of the Holy Ghost. Whereupon Joseph her husband being a just man, and not willing publicly to expose her, was minded to put her away privately. Eut while he thought on these things,, behold, the Angel of the Lord appeared to him in his sleep, saying : ‘ Joseph, son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost ; and she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call His name Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins’ (Matt. i. 18 - 21 ). And it came to pass, that in those days there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that the whole world should be enrolled. This enroll- ing was first made by Cyrinus, the governor of Syria. And all went to be enrolled, every one into his own city. And Joseph went up also from Galilee out of the city of Nazareth into Judea, to the city of David which is called Eethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David, to be enrolled with Mary, his espoused wife, who was with child. And when they were there, her days were accomplished that she should be delivered ; and she brought forth her first-born Son and wrapped Him in swaddling clothes, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for Him in the inn. And there were in the same country shepherds watching, and keeping 167 the night-watches over their flock. And behold an angel of the Lord stood by them, and the brightness of God shone round about them ; and they feared with a great fear. And the Angel said to them, 4 Lear not ; for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, that shall be to all the people : for this day is born to you a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord, in the city of David. And this shall be a sign unto you. You shall find the Infant wrapped in swaddling clothes, and laid in a man- ger/ And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the hea- venly army, praising God, and saying : 4 Glory to God in the highest ; THE HOLY CHILD JESUS IS ADORED BY THE SHEPHERDS OF BETHLEHEM. and on earth peace to men of good-will.’ And it came to pass, after the angels departed from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another : ‘ Let us go over to Bethlehem, and let us see this word that is come to pass, which the Lord hath showed to us.’ And they came with haste ; and they found Mary and Joseph, and the Infant lying in the manger.* And seeing, they understood of the word that had been * Thus was fulfilled the prophecy of Isaias (vii. 14) : 4 Behold, a Virgin shall conceive, and bear a Son, and thou shalt call His name Emmanuel’ (that is, God with us). As Moses was found laid in a cradle of bulrushes, so Jesus Christ is found laid on straw in a manger. 168 spoken to them concerning this Child. And all that heard wondered at those things that were told them hy the shepherds. But Mary kept all these words, pondering them in her heart. And the shepherds re- turned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them (Luke ii. 8-20). § 5. The Infant Jesus is circumcised and presented in the Temple. And on the eighth day they circumcised Him, and called His name JESUS, which was so called by the Angel before He was conceived in the womb. And after the days of purification were accomplished they carried Him to Jerusalem, to present Him to the Lord, as it is written in the law of the Lord : ‘ Every male opening the womb shall be called holy to the Lord ,’ and to offer a sacrifice, according as it is written in the law of the Lord, a pair of turtle doves and two young pigeons. And behold there was a man in Jerusalem named Simeon, and this man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel ; and the Holy Ghost was in him. And he had received an answer from the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death before he had seen the Christ of the Lord. And he came by the Spirit into the temple. And when His parents brought in the Child Jesus to do for Him according to the custom of the law, he also took Him in his arms, and blessed God, and said : ‘Now Thou dost dismiss Thy servant, 0 Lord, according to Thy word in peace : because my eyes have seen Thy salvation, which Thou hast prepared before the face of all people : a light to the revelation of the Gentiles, and the glory of Thy people Israel.’ And His father and mother were wondering at those things which were spoken con- cerning Him. And Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary His mother : ‘ Behold, this Child is set for the fall and for the resurrection of many in Israel, and for a sign which shall be contradicted ; and thy own soul a sword shall pierce, that, out of many hearts, thoughts may be revealed.’ And there was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Aser. She was far advanced in years, and had lived with her husband seven years from her virginity. And she was a widow until four score and four years, who departed not from the temple, by fastings and prayers serving night and day. Now she at the same hour coming in, confessed to the Lord, and spoke of Him to all that looked for the redemption of Israel. And having performed all things according to the law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee to their city Nazareth. § 6. The Holy Family return to Bethlehem. Arrival of the Wise Men in Jerusalem. The Wise Men adore the Infant Jesus . The Flight into Egypt. King Herod murders the Innocents of Bethlehem. The Holy Family remain in the land of Egypt till the death of Herod. When Jesus therefore was born in Bethlehem of Juda, in the days of king Herod, behold there came wise men from the East to Jerusalem, saying : ‘ Where is He that is born King of the Jews ? for we have seen 169 His star in the East, and are come to adore Him.’ And king Herod hearing this, was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. And assembling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where Christ should be born. But they said to him : ‘ In Beth- THE WISE MEN ON THE IE JOUBNEY MEDITATE UPON THE MEANING OF THE STAB. lehem of Juda. For so it is written by the prophet : “ And thou Beth- lehem, the land of Juda, art not the least among the 'princes of Juda : for out of thee shall come forth the captain that shall ride My people Is- rael If 1 Then Herod, privately calling the -wise men, learned diligently of them the time of the star which appeared to them ; and sending them into Bethlehem, said : ‘ Go, and diligently inquire after the Child, and when you have found Him, bring me word again, that I also may come and adore Him.’ Who having heard the king, went their way; and behold the star which they had seen in the East went before them, until it came and stood over where the Child was. And seeing the star they rejoiced with exceeding great joy (Matt. ii. 1-12). Entering into the house they found the Child with Mary His mother, and falling down they adored Him ; and opening their treasures, they offered Him gifts : gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And having received an answer in sleep that they should not return to Herod, they went back 170 another way into their country. And after the wise men were departed, behold an angel of the Lord appeared in sleep to Joseph, saying: ‘ Arise, and take the Child and His mother, and fly into Egypt : and be there until I shall tell thee. Eor it will come to pass that Herod will seek the Child to destroy Him.’ Joseph arose and took the Child and His mother by night, and retired into Egypt : and He was there until the death of Herod : that it might be fulfilled which the Lord spoke by the prophet, saying : ‘ Out of Egypt have I called My Son . 1 Then Herod, perceiv- KING HEROD MURDERS THE INFANTS OF BETHLEHEM. ing that he was deluded by the wise men, was exceedingly angry ; and sending, killed all the men children that were in Bethlehem, and in. all the borders thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently inquired of the wise men. Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremias the prophet, saying : 6 A voice in Bamawas heard, lamentation and great mourning; Bachel bewailing her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not. ,7r And when Herod was dead, behold an angel of the Lord appeared in sleep to Joseph in Egypt, saying : 4 Arise, and take the Child and His mother, and go into the land of Israel : for they are dead that sought the * Matthew ii. 18, 19. 171 life of the Child.’ Who arose, and took the Child and His mother, and came into the land of Israel. But hearing that Archelaus reigned in Judea in the room of Herod his father, he was afraid to go thither: and ST. JOSEPH ESCAPES WITH THE HOLY CHILD AND HIS MOTHER. "being warned in sleep retired into the quarters of Galilee, he dwelt in a city called Nazareth : that it might he fulfilled which was said by the prophets : that He shall he called a NaZarite.* § 7. The first going up of Jesus, at the age of twelve years , to the Temple in Jerusalem . And His parents went every year to Jerusalem, at the solemn day of the pasch. And when He was twelve years old, they going up to J eru- salem, according to the custom of the feast, and having fulfilled the days, when they returned, the Child Jesus remained in Jerusalem, and His parents knew it not. And thinking that He was in the company, they came a day’s journey, and sought Him among their kinsfolks and ac- quaintance, and not finding Him, they returned to Jerusalem, seeking Him. And it came to pass, that after three days, they found Him in the Temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, hearing them and asking * Matthew ii. 20-23. 172 them questions. And all that heard Him were astonished at His wisdom and His answers. And seeing Him they wondered. And His mother said to Him : 4 Son, why hast Thou done so to us? Behold Thy father and I have sought Thee sorrowing.’ And He said unto them : 6 How is it that you sought Me? did you not know that I must he about My Bather’s business?’ And they understood not the words that He spoke unto them. And He went down with them to Hazareth, and was subject to them. And His mother kept all these things in her heart. And Jesus advanced in wisdom and age, and in grace with God and men. 2. The public Ministry of St. John the Baptist to prepare the way for the Ministry of Jesus Christ. § 8. St. John the Baptist appears as a prophet in the Wilderness . Jesus comes to St. John at the river Jordan to receive Baptism from him. How in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Csesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and Philip his brother tetrarch of Iturea and the country of Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilina, under the high-priests Annas and Caiphas, the word of the Lord was made unto John, the son of Za- chary, in the desert. And he came into all the country about the Jordan, preaching the baptism of penance for the remission of sins ; as it was written in the book of the sayings of Isaias the prophet : ‘ Behold I send My Angel before Thy face, who shall prepare Thy way before Thee. A voice of one crying in the wilderness : Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight His paths. Every valley shall be filled : and every mountain and hill shall be brought low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways plain: and all flesh shall see the salva- tion of God.’ And the same John had his garment of camels’ hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins : and his meat was locusts and wild honey. Then went out to him Jerusalem and all Judea, and all the country about Jordan; and were baptised by him in the Jordan, con- fessing their sins. And seeing many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them : ‘Ye brood of vipers, who hath showed you to flee from the wrath to come ? Bring forth therefore fruit worthy of penance; and think not to say within yourselves, “We have Abraham for our father for I tell you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children to Abraham. Por now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that doth not yield good fruit shall be cut down, and cast into the fire.’ And the people asked him saying: ‘ What then shall we do ?’ And he answering, said to them : 6 He that hath two coats, let him give to him that hath none ; and he that hath meat, let him do in like manner.’ And the publicans also came to be baptised, and said to him : ‘ Master, what shall we do ?’ But he said to them : 4 Do nothing more than that which is appointed you.’ And 173 the soldiers also asked him saying : ‘ And what shall we do And he said to them : ‘Do violence to no man ; neither calumniate any man ; and he content with your pay.’ And as the people were of opinion, and all were thinking in their hearts of John, that perhaps he might he the JESUS IS BAPTISED BY JOHN IN THE JOEDAN. Christ ; John answered, saying unto all : ‘ I indeed baptise you with water ; hut there shall come one mightier than I, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to loose : He shall baptise you with the Holy Ghost and with fire : whose fan is in His hand, and He will purge His floor, and will gather the wheat into His barn ; hut the chaff He will hum with unquenchable fire.’ And many other things exhorting did he preach to the people. Now it came to pass, when all the people were baptised, that Jesus cometh from Galilee to the Jordan, unto John, to be baptised by him. But John stayed Him, saying : 4 I ought to be baptised by Thee, and comest Thou to meV And Jesus answering, said to him : 4 Suffer it to be so now. Bor so it becometh us to fulfil all justice. , Then he suf- fered Him. And Jesus being baptised, forthwith came out of the water ; and lo, the heavens were opened to Him, and the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape as a dove upon Him ; and a voice came from heaven : 4 Thou art My beloved Son : in Thee I am well pleased.' 174 § 9. Jesus retires into the desert . Further testimony of John. The Devil endeavours to tempt Jesus. And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost, returned from the Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, to be tempted by the devil. How this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent from Jeru- salem priests and Levites to him, to ask him : 6 Who art thou 1 ?’ And he JESUS, THE SECOND ADAM, WITH THE WILD BEASTS OE THE WILDERNESS. confessed, and did not deny : and he confessed: c I am not the Christ.’ And they asked him : ‘ What then ? Art thou Elias ?’* And he said : ‘ I am not.’ ‘ Art thou the prophet ?’ And he answered : ‘ Ho.’ They said therefore to him : ‘ Who art thou, that we may give an answer to them that sent us? What sayest thou of thyself?’ He said : ‘I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, “ Make straight the way of the Lord,” as said the prophet Isaias.’ And they that were sent were of the Pharisees ; and they asked him, and said to him : 4 Why then dost thou baptise, if thou be not Christ, nor Elias, nor the prophet ?’ J ohn an- * Elias and Henoch (who was the great prophet before the Flood), having been taken up from the earth without dying a natural death, it has been a constant tradition ever since that they will return to the earth and be put to death- in the exercise of their office as prophets. 175 swered them, saying : ‘ I indeed baptise you with water, but there hath stood one among you whom you know not, the same is He who shall come after me, who is preferred before me, the latchet of whose shoe I am not worthy to unloose.’ These things were done in Be- thania, beyond the Jordan, where John was baptising. And He was in the desert forty days and forty nights, and was tempted by Satan ; and He was with beasts. And He ate no- thing in those days ; and when they were ended, He was hungry. And the devil said to Him : ‘ If Thou be the Son of God, say to this stone that it be made bread.’ And Jesus an- swered him : 4 It is written, that “ man liveth not by bread alone, but by every word of God.” ’ And he brought Him to Jerusalem, and set Him on a pinnacle of the temple, and he said to Him : 4 If Thou be the Son of God, cast Thyself from hence. For it is written, that “ He hath given His Angels charge over Thee, that they keep Thee.” And that “in their hands they shall bear Thee up, lest perhaps Thou dash Thy foot against a stone.”’ And Jesus answering, said to him: 'It is said, “Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.” ’ And the devil led Him into a high moun- tain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time ; and h© said to Him : ‘ To Thee will I give all this power, and the glory of them ; for to me they are delivered, and to whom I will I give them. If Thou therefore wilt adore before me, all shall be Thine.’ And Jesus answering said to him : 6 It is written, “ Thou shalt adore the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve.” ’ 176 And all the temptation being ended, the devil departed from Him for a time. And behold angels came and ministered to Him. §10. Jesus returns to the Jordan. Fresh testimony of John. Simon Peter is brought to Jesus. The miracle of the marriage-feast of Cana . The next day John saw Jesus coming to him, and he saith : 4 Be- hold the Lamb of God; behold Him who taketh away the sin of the world. This is He of whom I said : 44 After me there cometh a man, who is preferred before me, because He was before me.” And I knew Him not, but that He may be made manifest in Israel, therefore am I come baptising with water.’ The next day again John stood, and two of his disciples. And be- holding Jesus walking, he saith : ‘Behold the Lamb of God.* And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. And Jesus turning, and seeing them following Him, saith to them : 4 What seek you V Who said to Him : 4 Babbi (which is to say, being interpreted, Master), where dwellest Thou]’ He saith to them: 4 Come and see/ They came, and saw where He abode, and they stayed with Him that day : now it was about the tenth hour. And Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, was one of the two who had heard of John, and followed him. He findeth first his brother Simon, and saith to him : 4 We have found the Messias’ (which is, being interpreted, the Christ). And he brought him to Jesus. And Jesus looking upon him, said : 4 Thou art Simon the son of Jona: thou shalt be called Cephas,’ which is interpreted Peter. And there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee : and the mother of Jesus was there. And Jesus also was invited, and His disciples, to the marriage. And the wine failing, the mother of Jesus saith to Him : 4 They have no wine.’ And Jesus saith to her : 4 Woman, what is this to Me and to thee ? My hour is not yet come.’ His mother saith to the waiters : 4 Whatsoever He shall say to you, do ye.’ H ow there were set there six waterpots of stone, according to the manner of the purify- ing of the Jews, containing two or three measures apiece. Jesus saith to them : 4 Pill the waterpots with water.’ And they filled them up to the brim. And Jesus saith to them : 4 Draw out now, and carry to the chief steward of the feast.’ And they carried it : and when the chief steward had tasted the water made wine, and knew not whence it was, but the waiters knew who had drawn the water, the chief steward called the bridegroom, and saith to him : 4 Every man at first settetli forth good wine, and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse. But thou hast kept the good wine until now.’ This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee ; and manifested His glory, and His disciples believed in Him. After this He went down to Caphar- naum, He and His mother, and His brethren, and His disciples ; and they remained there not many days. 177 3. The first Tear of the public Ministry of Jesus. He goes up to Jeru* salem, and visits the Villages and Synagogues of Galilee. §11. Jesus goes up to the Pasch at Jerusalem , casts the money-changers out of the Temple , and receives the visit oj Nicodemus by night . And the pasch of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jeru- salem. And He found in the Temple them that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting. And when He had made as it were a scourge of little cords, He drove them all out of the Temple, the sheep also and the oxen, and the money of the changers He THE TRADERS AND MONEY-CHANGERS ARE DRIVEN OUT OF THE TEMPLE. poured out, and the tables He overthrew. And to them that sold doves He said : ‘ Take these things hence, and make not the house of My Father a house of traffic.’ And His disciples remembered that it was written : ‘ The zeal of Thy house hath eaten Me up.’ The Jews there- fore answered and said to Him : 6 What sign dost Thou show unto us, seeing Thou dost these things'?’ Jesus answered, and said to them: ‘ Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.’ The Jews then said : ‘ Six and forty years was this Temple in building, and wik Thou raise it up in three days'?’ But He spoke of the temple of His N 178 body. When therefore He was risen again from the dead, His disciples remembered that He had said this, and they believed the scripture, and the word that Jesus had said. How when He was at Jerusalem, at the pasch, upon the festival day, many believed in His name, seeing the signs which He did. But Jesus did not trust Himself unto them, for that He knew all men (John ii. 13-24). And there was a man of the Pharisees named Hicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night, and said to Him : 4 Babbi, we know that Thou art come a teacher from God ; for no man can do these signs which Thou dost, unless God be with him. , J esus answered and said to him, 4 Amen, amen, I say to thee, unless a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.* Hicodemus saith to Him : 4 How can a man be born when he is old ? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born again?’ Jesus answered : 4 Amen, amen, I say to thee, unless a man be born again of water and the Holy Ghost, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is. bom NICODEMUS COMES BY NIGHT TO DISCOURSE WITH JESUS. of the flesh, is flesh ; and that which is born of the Spirit, is Spirit. Wonder not, that I said to thee, you must be born again. The Spirit breatheth where he will ; and thou hearest his voice, but thou knowest not, whence he cometh, and whither he goeth : so is every one that is 179 If* °^ tIie ^icodemus answered, and said to Him : ‘ How can these things be done 1 J esus answered, and said to him : ‘ Art thou a master m Israel, and knowest not these things ? Amen, amen I S av to thee, that we speak what we know, and we testify what we have seen and you receive not our testimony. If I have spoken to you earthly things, and you believe not; how will you believe, if I shall speak to lW ,i eayen !i y ^ r gS l And n ° man hath ascended into heaven, but He that descended from heaven, the Son of man who is in heaven. And as loses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up : that whosoever believeth in Him may not perish, but may have life everlasting For God so loved the world, as to give His onlw begotten Son; that whosoever believeth in Him may not perish, but may have lifeeverlasting.For God sent not His Son into the- world to judge the world, but that the world may be saved by Him. He that beheveth m Him is not judged; but he that doth not believe is already judged, because he believeth not in the name of the only-begotten Son of God. nd this is the judgment: because the light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than the light, for their works were evil : for every one that doeth evil hateth the light, and cometh not to the light, fbe lGh^tw n °, t te rep f Ved ' But he that doth truth cometh to in Go? (John iiL lTfy “* 7 b ® manifest ’ because they are done § 12 n„ 'n mS lea l es Jordan, where His disciples were baptising; and on His way to Galilee discourses with a woman of Samaria. He re- fZ7J°7 Na rfj et o ; an fJ-l en . removes His abode to Capharnaum, on the banks of the Sea of Tiberias . neaGl C 2tfw 0re i! 0 a cit 7 of Samaria, which is called Sichar, near the land which Jacob gave to his son Joseph. How Jacob’s well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with His journey, sat thus on the well It was about the sixth hour. There cometh awoman of Samaria to draw water. Jesus saith to her : ‘ Give Me to drink.’ For wom^ffi T 6 ^ 011 ® ^ ci 7? to bu T meats - Then that Samaritan IC!!, ? 1 H ; lm : How dost T hou, being a Jew, ask of me to drink, the Samair T an ?° T the Jews do n °t communicate with the Sw r I' J f U 'l an T s T wered ’ and said to her : * If thou didst know the b ift of God, and who He is that saith to thee, “ Give Me to drink ” thou perhaps wouldst have asked of Him, and He would have Sn wherein^o T Si woman . sait h to Him : * Sir, Thou hast nothing living w^ter d ? 1 ?l the WeU 13 deep : from whence then hast Thou the w ,n te j , Arfc , ^ ou Skater than our father Jacob, who gave us T ® y U ’ and drank . thereof himself, and his children and his cattle f shan thGT 16 ’ f£ d *° hei: