The Bible Story Part 151

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MOSES ON MOUNT NEBO Thomas Nast

This picture by the famous cartoonist Nast, represents Moses from the summit of Nebo gazing into the land which he was never to enter [End ill.u.s.tration]

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"For this commandment which I command thee this day, it is not too hard for thee, neither is it far off. It is not in heaven, that thou shouldest say, 'Who shall go up for us to heaven, and bring it unto us, and make us to hear it, that we may do it?' Neither is it beyond the sea, that thou shouldest say, 'Who shall go over the sea for us, and bring it unto us, and make us to hear it, that we may do it?' But the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it.

"See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil; in that I command thee this day to love the Lord thy G.o.d, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments, that thou mayest live and multiply, and that the Lord thy G.o.d may bless thee in the land whither thou goest in to possess it. But if thine heart turn away, and thou wilt not hear, but shalt be drawn away, and wors.h.i.+p other G.o.ds, and serve them; I announce to you this day, that ye shall surely perish; ye shall not prolong your days upon the land, whither thou pa.s.sest over Jordan to go in to possess it. I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that I have set before thee life and death, the blessing and the curse: therefore choose life, that thou mayest live, thou and thy families: to love the Lord thy G.o.d, to obey his voice, and to cleave unto him: for he is thy life, and the length of thy days: that thou mayest {272} dwell in the land which the Lord swore unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them."

And Moses made an end of speaking all these words to all Israel: and he said to them, "Set your heart to all the words which I testify to you this day; which ye shall command your children, to observe to do all the words of this law. For it is no vain thing for you; because it is your life, and through this thing ye shall prolong your days upon the land, whither ye go over Jordan to possess it."

And the Lord spoke to Moses that selfsame day, saying, "Get thee up into this mountain of Abarim, unto Mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab, that is over against Jericho; and behold the land of Canaan, which I give unto the children of Israel for a possession: and die in the mount whither thou goest up; as Aaron thy brother died in Mount Hor: because ye trespa.s.sed against me in the midst of the children of Israel at the waters of Meribah of Kadesh, in the wilderness of Zin; because ye sanctified me not in the midst of the children of Israel.

For thou shalt see the land before thee; but thou shalt not go thither into the land which I give the children of Israel."

And Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, that is over against Jericho. And the Lord showed him all the land of Gilead, as far as Dan; and all Naphtali, and the land of Ephraim and Mana.s.seh, and all the land of Judah, to the western sea; and the South, and the Plain of the valley of Jericho the city of palm trees, as far as Zoar. And the Lord said to {273} him, "This is the land which I swore unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, saying, 'I will give it unto thy family': I have caused thee to see it with thine eyes, but thou shalt not go over thither."

So Moses the servant of the Lord died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the Lord. And He buried him in the valley in the land of Moab over against Beth-pear: but no man knoweth of his sepulcher unto this day.

And Moses was an hundred and twenty years old when he died: his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated. And the children of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days: so the days of weeping in the mourning for Moses were ended.

And there hath not arisen a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face; in all the signs and the wonders, which the Lord sent him to do in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh, and to all his servants, and to all his land; and in all the mighty hand, and in all the great terror, which Moses wrought in the sight of all Israel.

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THE BURIAL OF MOSES

By Nebo's lonely mountain, On this side Jordan's wave, In a vale in the land of Moab, There lies a lonely grave.

And no man knows that sepulcher, And no man saw it e'er, For the angels of G.o.d upturned the sod, And laid the dead man there.

That was the grandest funeral That ever pa.s.sed on earth; But no man heard the trampling, Or saw the train go forth: Noiselessly as the daylight Comes back when night is done, And the crimson streak on ocean's cheek Grows into the great sun;

Noiselessly as the spring-time Her crown of verdure weaves, And all the trees on all the hills Open their thousand leaves; So without sound of music Or voice of them that wept, Silently down from the mountain's crown The great procession swept.

Perchance that bald old eagle On gray Beth-Peor's height, Out of his lonely eyrie Looked on the wondrous sight: {275} Perchance the lion, stalking, Stills shuns that hallowed spot, For beast and bird have seen and heard That which man knoweth not.

But when the warrior dieth, His comrades in the war, With arms reversed and m.u.f.fled drum, Follow his funeral car; They show the banners taken, They tell his battles won, And after him lead his masterless steed, While peals the minute-gun.

Amid the n.o.blest of the land We lay the sage to rest, And give the bard an honored place.

With costly marble drest, In the great minster transept Where lights like glories fall, And the organ rings and the sweet choir sings Along the emblazoned wall.

This was the truest warrior That ever buckled sword, This the most gifted poet That ever breathed a word; And never earth's philosopher Traced with his golden pen, On the deathless page, truths half so sage As he wrote down for men.

And had he not 'nigh honor,-- The hillside for a pall, To lie in state while angels wait, With stars for tapers tall, {276} And the dark rock-pines like tossing plumes Over his bier to wave, And G.o.d's own hand, in that lonely land, To lay him in the grave?

In that strange grave without a name, Whence his uncoffined clay Shall break again, O wondrous thought!

Before the judgment day, And stand with glory wrapt around On the hills he never trod, And speak of the strife that won our life With the Incarnate Son of G.o.d.

O, lonely grave in Moab's land!

O, dark Beth-Peor's hill!

Speak to these curious hearts of ours, And teach them to be still.

G.o.d hath his mysteries of grace, Ways that we cannot tell; He hides them deep, like the hidden sleep Of him he loved so well.

--_Cecil Frances Alexander_.

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JOSHUA

_The Story of the Hero Whose Genius as a Warrior Won the Land of Canaan for Israel_.

(The Israelites found the land of Canaan occupied by a fierce and warlike people with whom they fought many battles and waged long campaigns. The story of this warfare is filled with deeds of cruelty and violence, yet it is no more terrible than war has always been. We cannot understand why G.o.d has permitted so much suffering, but we know that in some cases at least the world has advanced in freedom through the loss and sacrifice of war. Even in war men have grown less cruel, and we may hope for the time when all war shall cease and men shall live together as brethren.)

JOSHUA IS MADE CAPTAIN OF THE HOST.

_Spies Are Sent to Jericho_.

Now it came to pa.s.s after the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, that the Lord spoke to Joshua the son of Nun, saying, "Moses my servant is dead; now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, thou, and all this people, to the land which I give to them, even to the children of Israel. Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, to you have I given it, as I spoke to Moses. From the wilderness, and this Lebanon, even unto the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hitt.i.tes, and to the great sea to the going down of the sun, shall {278} be your border. There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life: as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee. Be strong and of a good courage: for thou shalt cause this people to inherit the land which I swore unto their fathers to give them. Only be strong and very courageous, to observe to do according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded thee: turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest have good success whithersoever thou goest. This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth, but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success. Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not affrighted, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy G.o.d is with thee whithersoever thou goest."

Then Joshua commanded the officers of the people, saying, "Pa.s.s through the midst of the camp, and command the people, saying, 'Prepare you victuals; for within three days ye are to pa.s.s over this Jordan, to go in to possess the land, which the Lord your G.o.d giveth you to possess it.'"

And Joshua the son of Nun sent out of s.h.i.+ttim two men as spies secretly, saying, "Go view the land, and Jericho." And they went, and came into the house of a woman whose name was Rahab, and lay there.

And it was told the king of Jericho, saying, "Behold, there came men in hither to-night of the children of Israel to search out the land."

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MOUNDS MARKING THE SITE OF OLD JERICHO

From the road from Jerusalem to Jericho

From a photograph taken by Prof. D. G. Lyon and used by his kind permission.

Jericho, "the city of palm trees," was the only important place in the Jordan valley. In Bible times it was a beautiful and prosperous city, but now it is only a waste. Its palm trees are gone and the site is desolate. It was often conquered by the armies which pa.s.sed through Palestine. After its walls fell down before Joshua's hosts, "no great man was born in Jericho; no heroic deed was ever done in her. She never stood a siege and her inhabitants were always running away." --_Smith_ [End ill.u.s.tration]

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And the king of Jericho sent to Rahab, saying, "Bring forth the men that are come to thee, which are entered into thine house: for they are come to search out all the land."

And the woman took the two men, and hid them; and she said, "Yea, the men came unto me, but I knew not whence they were: and it came to pa.s.s about the time of the shutting of the gate, when it was dark, that the men went out: whither the men went I know not: pursue after them quickly; for ye shall overtake them."

But she had brought them up to the roof, and hid them with the stalks of flax, which she had laid in order upon the roof. And the men pursued after them along the way to Jordan to the fords: and as soon as those who pursued after them were gone out, they shut the gate. And before they were laid down, she came up to them upon the roof; and she said to the men, "I know that the Lord hath given you the land, and that the fear of you is fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land melt away before you. For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea before you, when ye came out of Egypt; and what ye did unto the two kings of the Amorites, that were beyond Jordan, unto Sihon and to Og, whom ye utterly destroyed. And as soon as we had heard it, our hearts melted, neither did there remain any more spirit in any man, because of you: for the Lord your G.o.d, he is G.o.d in heaven above, and on earth beneath. Now {282} therefore, I pray you, swear unto me by the Lord, since I have dealt kindly with you, that ye also will deal kindly with my father's house, and give me a true token: and that ye will save alive my father, and my mother, and my brethren, and my sisters, and all that they have, and will deliver our lives from death."

And the men said to her, "Our life for yours, if ye speak not of this our business; and it shall be, when the Lord giveth us the land, that we will deal kindly and truly with thee."

Then she let them down by a cord through the window: for her house was upon the town wall, and she dwelt upon the wall. And she said to them, "Get you to the mountain, lest the pursuers find you; and hide yourselves there three days, until the pursuers have returned: and afterward may ye go your way."

And the men said unto her, "We will be guiltless of this thine oath which thou hast made us to swear, unless, when we come into the land, thou shalt bind this line of scarlet thread in the window which thou didst let us down by: and thou shalt gather into the house thy father, and thy mother, and thy brethren, and all thy father's household. And it shall be, that whosoever shall go out of the doors of thy house into the street, his blood shall be upon his head, and we will be guiltless: and whosoever shall be with thee in the house, his blood shall be on our head, if any hand be upon him. But if thou speak of this our business, then we will be guiltless or thine oath which thou hast made us to swear."