Half Hours in Bible Lands, Volume 2 / Patriarchs, Kings, and Kingdoms

by P. C. Headley

Hagar in the Wilderness.
It was a morning which flooded the dewy plains with glory, and filled
the groves with music, when Abraham came in from his wonted communion
with God, and called for Isaac, and told him to prepare for a three
days' journey in the wilderness. How tenderly was Sarah regarded in this
scene of trial! Evidently no information of the awful command to
sacrifice the son of her old age was made to her. She might have read
something fearful in the lines of anxious thought and the workings of
deep emotion in the face of Abraham. But he evaded all inquiries on the
subject, "clave the wood," and accompanied by two of his young men,
turned from his dwelling with a blessing from that wondering mother, and
was soon lost from her straining vision among the distant hills. Upon
the third day he saw the top of Mount Moriah kindling in the rising sun,
and taking Isaac alone, ascended to the summit, whereon was to be reared
an altar, which awakened more intense solicitude in heaven, than any
offering before or since, except on Calvary, where God's "only be-gotten
and well-beloved Son" was slain. There is no higher moral sublimity than
the unwavering trust and cheerful obedience of this patriarch, when the
very oath of the Almighty seemed perjured, and the bow of promise
blotted from the firmament of faith!
But he believed Jehovah, and would have clung to his assurance, though
the earth had reeled in her orbit, and every star drifted from its
moorings. He prayed for strength, with his hand on the forehead of his
submissive son.
"He rose up, and laid
The wood upon the altar. All was done,
He stood a moment--and a deep, quick flush
Passed o'er his countenance; and then he nerved
His spirit with a bitter strength, and spoke--
'Isaac! my only son'--the boy looked up,
And Abraham turned his face away, and wept.
'Where is the lamb, my father?' O, the tones,
The sweet, the thrilling music of a child!
How it doth agonize at such an hour!
It was the last, deep struggle--Abraham held
His loved, his beautiful, his only son,
And lifted up his arm, and called on God
And lo! God's angel staid him--and he fell
Upon his face and wept."
The years fled, the good old Abraham died, and Isaac succeeded him to
the patriarchal honors. He had two sons, Esau and Jacob. The elder
brother was irreligious, and married a heathen wife. God had rejected
him, and promised to Jacob the birthright; in other words, he was to be
the chief patriarch, through whose descendants the Messiah should come.
He was his mother's favorite boy, while Isaac clung to Esau.
When the fond father became weak and blind from age, feeling that death
was near, one day he called Esau, and told him as he might die suddenly,
to get him venison, and prepare for the solemn occasion of receiving his
parting blessing, which should secure the privileges and pre-eminence of
the first-born. The hunter went into the fields, and Rebekah recollected
that Jacob had purchased the birthright of his brother for a mess of
pottage one day when he came in from the chase faint with hunger and
exhaustion. She determined by a stroke of management to secure the
patriarchal benediction. She sent him to the flocks after two kids,
which were prepared with the savory delicacy his father loved, dressed
him up in Esau's apparel, covering his hands and neck to imitate the
hairiness of the rightful heir, and sent him to the beside of the dying
Isaac. When the patriarch inquired who he was, he replied, "I am Esau,
thy first-born." This was beyond belief, because even the skillful
hunter could scarcely, without a miracle, so soon bring in the game, and
dress it for his table. Jacob was called to his side, and he felt of his
hands; the disguise completed the delusion, although his voice had the
milder tone of the young shepherd to that father's ear. He repeated the
interrogation concerning his name, then embracing him, pronounced in a
strain of true poetry, the perpetual blessing of Jehovah's favor upon
his undertakings, and his posterity. The stratagem had succeeded, and
Jacob hastened to inform his mother of the victory, just as Esau
entered. When Isaac discovered the mistake, he trembled with excitement,
while his son cried in anguish, "Bless even me also, O my father!" That
cry pierced the breaking heart of the aged man, but it was a fruitless
lament, He was inflexible, and Esau wept aloud over his blasted hopes;
plotting at the same time, in his awakened enmity, the murder of Jacob.
This scene of deception, disappointment, and providential working, the
introductory [picture] brings vividly before us.
The patriarchs were generally shepherds, and when we read in the Bible
of shepherds, we have but a poor impression of their business, if we
think only of the keeping of the small flocks kept in the fenced fields
and yards of modern farmers. They made their wealth chiefly by feeding
immense flocks and herds. They had extensive open plains; and were
obliged to watch the animals to prevent their being lost, stolen by
robbers, or devoured by ferocious beasts. When it was at all safe, the
shepherds and their flocks slept in the fields, beneath the open sky, or
under the sheltering trees.

The Welcome to a Wayward Son.
If the country was infested by dangerous men or animals, the owners of
the flocks built the fold or sheep-cote. This enclosure was sometimes
merely a rude pen. The walls were of wood or stone, with a thatched
roof--if they had any at all. The shepherd follows a wayward sheep, and
brings him back to a place of safety.
Thus the Good Shepherd of souls, whose disciples, like the flocks of the
East, "know his voice," with his rod of affliction restrains the
wandering and keeps securely the trusting ones.
Occasionally a rich land owner would make an expensive fold--a kind of
town or fortress for his flocks. Keeping the sheep in the air, it was
believed improved the texture of the wool, making it softer and firmer
than when exposed to the sweating and vapors which would necessarily
result from crowding them often and long into enclosures.
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, were among the richest shepherds of
antiquity, and stand alone in moral grandeur of character, so far as we
have any records of the Hebrew husbandmen.
The great enemy of the sheep the world over, is the wolf--a cunning,
savage, and daring creature. A lamb of the flock seems to be a dainty
feast for him. He relishes even a child; the human delicacy is quite as
delicious as the other. A mother, with three children, was once riding
in a sledge in a desolate region, when a pack of wolves came running
after her. She drove rapidly on, but they came nearer and nearer, until
their hot breath fell on her face. In her terror, she threw one of the
children to the hungry wolves, hoping thus to pacify or check them until
she could get out of their reach. Soon, however, they came galloping on,
surrounding her sledge, and she flung another upon the snow. A brief
delay, and they were once more around her, and the last child was given
to the beasts; and then she reached her home in safety.
When she told the story to her neighbors, an exasperated peasant hewed
her down with an axe, because she fed the wolves on her own offspring,
selfishly saving by the sacrifice, her own life.
How like the destroyers of human virtue, and the great destroyer
himself! Wolves in sheep's clothing, stealing upon unguarded victims,
and glorying in the destruction of all that is "lovely and of good
report." for the transitory present and endless future!
We now turn to the annals of a patriarchal life which is entirely new,
and intensely interesting--the only record of the kind in the Bible.
The inspired history introduces him in the following words: "There was a
man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job." This region was in Eastern
Arabia, and probably near the home of Abram when he was summoned by God
to leave his idolatrous friends and neighbors in "Ur of the Chaldees."
It is thought he lived not far from the time of the great founder of the
Hebrew patriarchy. Job was probably a descendant of Nahor, Abram's
brother. He was a devout, rich, and benevolent Gentile patriarch. The
princely fortune of this "greatest of all the men of the East," is
indicated by an inventory of his flocks and herds. He had "seven
thousand sheep, and three thousand camels, and five hundred yoke of
oxen, and five hundred she asses." His household was also "very great."
This mighty man was a humble servant of God; and Satan could not bear to
see his influence and prosperity; and he determined to make him the
shining mark of his enmity to God and man.
The mysterious account of his entrance upon the cruel work of attempted
ruin, is in the following words: "Now there was a day when the sons of
God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan came also
among them." The saints of that early age were called "Sons of God," but
the meaning seems to be that either Satan was permitted to appear in a
gathering of angels who, returning from their ministries of love, were
reporting to their king, and awaiting new instructions, or, it is
designed only to represent the real character and power of the tempter,
in contrast with the loyalty of God's servant.
The whole narrative bears the marks of a real history; and Jehovah is
not limited by our ideas of what he can consistently do. "My ways are
not your ways, nor my thoughts your thoughts, saith the Lord."
The devil charged Job with selfish motives in serving God. He could
afford to be religious with such rare and splendid prosperity. To show
to the universe Satan's lying malice, his loyal subject's holy
character, and to comfort his people in all the ages following, while
the discipline purified and beautified the sufferer, he told the
adversary to try the patriarch with a change of circumstances--the
severest trials; only his body must not be touched.
The gratified fiend hastened away to his attack upon the unsuspecting
friend of God, over whom he anticipated a great victory. The patriarch's
family was large, and evidently a united and happy one. They had their
anniversary festivals, which were hallowed by religious services; the
faithful and affectionate father offering sacrifices on such occasions.
The Lord was recognized amid the most joyful scenes of social life; and
not, as in many prosperous households of Christian name in all the ages
since, excluded from the circle of pleasure like an unwelcome, unworthy
guest.

The Cruel Husbandman.
The birthday seems to have been the favorite anniversary; and at the
very moment Satan left Jehovah, the children were assembled at the house
of the oldest brother. Job was not there. He may have gone away for
awhile, or not yet have joined the rejoicing company.
For a messenger rushed into his presence with the startling intelligence
that the lawless Sabeans living in the region, had fallen upon the
servants keeping the oxen and asses, and slaying them, had taken the
animals away. No sooner had the devil obtained permission to engage, in
the wicked enterprise, than he found ready agents among men. And before
the evil report was finished, another terrified, excited servant, came
in, saying that the lightning of heaven had consumed the seven thousand
sheep.
This intelligence was falling from the lips of the only shepherd who
escaped the devouring fire, when a third messenger entered, pale with
alarm, and announced the raid of three companies of Chaldeans upon the
keepers of the three thousand camels, killing all but the bearer of the
news, and driving off the beasts of burden. The trembling man was
interrupted by the sudden appearance of the fourth servant, wild with
terror, crowning the crushing tidings already received, by telling Job
that a gale from the wilderness had swept down upon the eldest son's
dwelling, where the whole family were, excepting the patriarch, and
thrown walls and roof into a common wreck, burying his ten children
under the fragments.
We cannot easily imagine the stunning effect of these reports, following
each other like successive claps of thunder from a cloudless sky. Satan
was watching the effect, ready to exult over the first expression of
repining and rebellion. But how sublime the resignation of the loyal
heart of the childless, homeless, and penniless sufferer! After the
eastern custom in time of affliction, he cut off his hair, rent his
robe, fell upon the ground, and worshipped. The lips, tremulous with
sorrow, uttered the often-quoted and beautiful words: "The Lord gave,
and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord." No
disloyal act, or foolish complaint against Jehovah, gratified the
expectant enemy of God and man. But Satan was not satisfied with the
trial of faith. He was allowed to appear before God, and in answer to
the questioning respecting the patriarch's lofty yet meek submission,
basely and meanly declared that if he had been permitted to torture the
body, he should have succeeded in proving Job to be a hypocrite. The
Lord had purposed to silence the devil, and thoroughly try and sanctify
his own child. So he told the tempter to do what he pleased, only he
must spare life.
Suddenly poor Job was covered with burning ulcers, which defiled his
form until he scraped it with a piece of broken pitcher. While sitting
in the dust, a wretched mass of corruption, he found a new tempter in
the person of his wife: She asked him if he could still "retain his
integrity," and urged him to "curse God and die." Beautifully again his
breaking heart uttered its loyalty. Charging her with folly, he
inquired: "What! shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we
not receive evil?"
The scene of sorrow is now changed. Job had three friends living in the
country not far off, who were clearly intelligent, noble men. They heard
of his calamities, and started on a visit of condolence. When they came
in sight of him, he was so changed that at first they did not know him.
[They wept aloud, rent their robes, and scattered dust on their heads, to
express their overwhelming grief.] There he sat, in miserable poverty and
disease, and all around him the ruins of his just before magnificent
fortune, and the bodies or graves of his sons and daughters. They
approached him, and could say nothing, but sat down with him seven days
and nights without speaking a word--an awful, expressive silence. At
length Job could refrain no longer, but in his despondency, began to
bewail his birth, and wish he had at least died in earliest infancy.
Then was opened a long, eloquent, and wonderful discussion by the
mourning company upon the providence and grace of God.
Jehovah at length spake from the rolling cloud, borne on the "wings of
the wind," and indicated his dealings with a fallen race, pointing the
debaters for illustrations of power, wisdom, and glory, to his works of
creation, from the "crooked serpent" to "Orion and the Pleiades,"
floating in the nightly sky--the wonders of ocean, earth, and air.
Among the animals to which reference is made, there are three
conspicuous ones, about which naturalists disagree--they cannot
certainly tell us what they were. These are the unicorn, supposed by
many to be the rhinoceros of the present day; the behemoth, thought to
be the hippopotamus or river-horse; and the leviathan, which answers
very well to the whale.
The description of the war horse is the finest ever written, and given
in a few words; and yet he had not been seen amid the wildest storm of
battle, bearing his rider to the flaming mouths of ordnance, and through
the leaden hail of numberless infantry arms. "Hast thou given the horse
strength? hast thou clothed his neck with thunder? Canst thou make him
afraid as a grasshopper? the glory of his nostrils is terrible. He
paweth in the valley, and rejoiceth in his strength, he goeth on to meet
the armed men. He mocketh at fear, and is not affrighted; neither
turneth he back from the sword. The quiver rattleth against him, the
glittering spear and the shield. He swalloweth the ground with
fierceness and rage: neither believeth he that it is the sound of the
trumpet. He saith among the trumpets, Ha, ha; and he smelleth the battle
afar off, the thunder of the captains, and the shouting."
He alludes to a very beautiful wonder of his forming skill--"the
treasures of the snow." Few persons imagine the marvels of the fleecy
storm that whiten the earth in winter. What a variety of perfect
crystals! and how delicate their form and finish! The ice is made of
crystals, and often gives out aeolion music at the touch of winter. Even
the frost makes fine drawings on the window panes of leaves and flowers.
But the people of Palestine and the regions around it, know little of
our northern winters. The cold season is brief, and the occasional snow
storms light, and of short duration.
After God had finished his sublime appeal, Job bowed his head low before
him, and declared that all he had known of him before, compared with
what he had learned since he was afflicted, was no more than hearing
about him; "for," he added, "now mine eye seeeth thee; wherefore I abhor
myself, and repent in dust and ashes."
Then the Lord rebuked Job's friends, because they had judged him
harshly, and "had multiplied words without knowledge," directing them to
offer a sacrifice for him.
The patriarch prospered again under Jehovah's smile, and became greater
in wealth, and family, and influence, than he was when Satan assailed
him. The deceiver and persecutor does not appear again in the annals of
the devout Arabian; disappointed and enraged, he turned his malice
against others more easily conquered and led captive by his wiles.
How awakening the thought that he still goes about "as a roaring lion,
seeking whom he may devour." But with loving trust in God, he can only
repeat his fruitless effort to destroy, preparing the way for richest
blessings.