,illustration3 ,cover art ,,the ,,bible ,,in ,,its ,,making ,the most ,wonderful ,book in the ,world ,,by ,,mildred ,,duff ,,and ,,noel ,,hope ,,companion ,,volume ,,to ',where ,moses went to ,school1' ',when ,moses learnt to ,rule1' ',esther the ,queen1' ',daniel the ,prophet1' and ',hezekiah the ,king4' ,,illustrated ,,by ,,noel ,,hope ,with ,sketches of the ,original ,monuments and ,stone ,pictures ,,marshall ,,brothers1 ,,ltd41 ,,publishers1 ,,london1 ,,edinburgh ,,new ,,york #aiab ,uniform with this ,volume ,,price ,,one ,,shilling ,where ,moses went to ,school ,where ,moses learnt to ,rule ,esther the ,queen ,daniel the ,prophet ,hezekiah the ,king ,all fully ,illustrated ,,marshall ,,brothers1 ,,ltd41 ,,publishers1 ,,london1 ,,edinburgh ,,new ,,york ,,foreword ,one great universal law runs through the realm of nature4 ,our ,saviour gave it in a sentence3 ',first the blade1 then the ear1 after that the full corn in the ear4' ,it is with the desire to show that the same law rules in another of ,god's creations--,the ,bible--that this little volume has been prepared4 ,the ,bible has as literally 'grown' as has an oak tree2 and probably there is no more likeness between the ,bible as we know it to-day and its earliest beginning1 than we find between the mighty tree1 and the acorn from which it sprang4 ,the subject is so vast that we have not attempted anything beyond the briefest outline4 ,our purpose has been merely to give some idea of the origin of the ,bible books1 up to the measure of our present light upon the subject1 and also to show the purpose for which they were written4 ,but if our readers1 by seeing something of the wonder and glory of the ,holy ,scriptures1 are able to catch a glimpse of the ,creator's mind behind the whole1 our work will not have been in vain4 ,,mildred ,,duff4 ,,contents ,,chap4 ,i4 ,a ,,living ,,book ,,ii4 ,,the ,,secret ,,of ,,its ,,greatness ,,iii4 ,,moses ,,and ,,his ,,writings ,,iv4 ,,the ,,history ,,books ,v4 ,,the ,,scattering ,,of ,,the ,,people ,,vi4 ,,the ,,attack ,,on ,,the ,,scriptures ,,vii4 ,,two ,,famous ,,versions ,,of ,,the ,,scriptures ,,viii4 ,,the ,,bible ,,in ,,the ,,days ,,of ,,jesus ,,christ ,,ix4 ,,the ,,destruction ,,of ,,jerusalem ,x4 ,,the ,,beginning ,,of ,,the ,,new ,,testament ,,xi4 ,,how ,,the ,,gospels ,,came ,,to ,,be ,,written ,,xii4 ,,some ,,other ,,writers ,,of ,,the ,,new ,,testament ,,xiii4 ,,the ,,first ,,bible ,,pictures ,,the ,,bible ,,in ,,its ,,making ,,chapter ,i ,a ,,living ,,book ,illustration3 7drop cap ,t7 ,symbol of ,asshur1 the principal ,assyrian idol4 ,there is only one ,book that never grows old4 ,for thousands of years men have been writing books4 ,most books are forgotten soon after they are written2 a few of the best and wisest are remembered for a time4 ,but all at last grow old2 new discoveries are made2 new ideas arise2 the old books are out of date2 their usefulness is at an end4 ,students are the only people who still care to read them4 ,the nations to which the authors of these first books belonged have passed away1 the languages in which they were written are 'dead'--that is1 they have ceased to be used in daily life in any part of the world4 ,broken bits and torn fragments of some of the early books may be seen in the glass cases of museums4 ,learned men pore over the fragments1 and try to piece them together1 to find out their meaning once again2 but no one else cares much whether they mean anything or not4 ,for the books are dead4 ,they cannot touch the heart of any human being2 they have nothing to do with the busy world of living men and women any more4 ,now1 our ,bible was first written in these ancient languages3 is it1 therefore1 to be classed among the 'dead' books of the world8 ,no1 indeed4 ,the fact alone that the ,word of ,god can be read to-day in #dab living languages proves clearly that it is no dead book2 and when we remember that last year #e1jjj1jjj new copies of the ,bible were sent into the busy working world for men and women by one ,society alone1 we see how truly 'alive' it must be4 ,nations may pass1 languages die1 the whole world may change1 yet the ,bible will live on4 ,why is this8 ,because in the ,bible alone1 of all the books seen on this earth1 there is found a message for every man1 woman1 or child who has ever lived or will live while the world lasts3 ,it is the ,message of ,god's ,salvation through ,his ,son ,jesus ,christ4 ,the message is for all2 for the cleverest white man1 the most ignorant savage2 for the black man of ,africa1 the yellow man of ,china1 the tawny little man who lives among the icefields of the ,arctic ,circle4 ,it does not matter who the person is1 nor where he lives2 a living force exists in the ,bible that will help every human being who acts upon its words to become one of ,god's true sons and soldiers4 ,no human wisdom can explain this4 ,the ,bible tells us about ,christ4 ,before ,christ came all teaching led up to ,him4 ,he is the only safe ,guide for our daily life4 ,through ,his death alone we have hope for the future4 ,from the first page to the last the ,bible speaks of ,christ4 ,this is the secret of its wondrous power4 ',these are the words which ,i spake unto you1 while ,i was yet with you1 that all things must be fulfilled1 which were written in the law of ,moses1 and in the prophets1 and in the ,psalms1 concerning ,me4' 7,luke xxiv4 #dd47 ,although we speak of the ,bible as one ,book1 because it tells one world-wide story1 yet this one ,book is made up of many books--of a whole library of books in fact4 ,illustration3 ,,broken ,,bits ,,of ,,clay ,,books ,,in ,,the ,,cuneiform ,,language1 ,,belonging ,,to ,,the ,,time ,,when ,,moses ,,wrote ,,the ,,first ,,words ,,of ,,genesis ,go into a library1 look at the well-stocked shelves4 ,here is a volume of history1 here a book of beautiful poetry1 here a life of a great and noble warrior4 ,this book was written only last year1 this one appeared many years before you were born4 ,just so is it with the books of the ,bible4 ,for more than a thousand years ,god was calling the best and wisest men of the ,jewish nation to write for ,his ,book4 ,some of the authors were rich and learned2 many were humble and poor4 ,kings wrote for it2 a shepherd-boy2 a captive lad who had been carried away as a slave into a strange land2 a great leader2 a humble fruit-gatherer2 a hated tax-collector2 a tent-maker2 many poor fishermen4 ,god found work for them all4 ,there are sixty-six books in the ,bible1 written by at least forty different authors4 ,books on history2 collections of sacred songs2 lives of good men and women2 stirring appeals to the sinful4 ,god chose the men best fitted to write each part4 ,he called them to ,his work2 ,he spoke to their hearts2 ,he put ,his ,spirit into their minds4 ,in these days those who read ,god's ,word often forget what old1 old writings the first books in the ,bible are1 and how everything has changed since they were written4 ,seeing the words so clearly printed on fine white paper1 readers do not stop to think that they have come down to us from the days when the greatest nations in the world wrote their best books on lumps of clay1 or on rough1 brittle paper made from brown reeds4 ,so these ,bible readers grow impatient1 and because they cannot understand everything all at once1 some are even foolish enough to give up reading the ,old ,testament altogether4 ,but the things that are hard to understand are only hard because we are still so ignorant4 ,whenever any new discovery about the ancient times has been made it has always shown us how exactly true the ,bible is4 ,some years ago1 just at the time when the doubts and carpings were at their worst1 when those people who did not trust ,god even declared that many of the cities and kings mentioned in the ,old ,testament had never existed at all1 a wonderful thing happened4 ,god allowed the old cities themselves to be brought to light once more4 ,deep under the earth they were found1 with their beautiful palaces1 libraries full of books1 and long picture-galleries1 lined from end to end with stone and marble slabs1 on which were cut portraits of the very kings whose existence the people were beginning to doubt6 ,this is how it happened4 ',the ,bible does not describe things as they really were1' said some people4 ',in ,old ,testament times1 for instance1 the nations were very rough and ignorant2 as for ,moses--who is supposed to have written the first books of the ,bible--it is most doubtful whether he ever learned to read and write at all4' ',but ,moses was brought up in ,egypt1 and the ,egyptians were very learned2 the ,bible says so1' answered others4 ',the man who wrote those words in the ,bible may have made a mistake4 ,it is true that the ruins of old ,egyptian temples and palaces are covered with strange figures and signs2 but who can say now whether they mean anything or not8' ,those who trusted in ,god's ,word could not answer these questions2 but just at this time ,god allowed the first great discovery to be made2 for the moment had at last come when all thoughtful men and women needed to be able to settle these questions for themselves4 ,in the year #agii a ,french officer who was in ,egypt with ,napoleon's army discovered the ,rosetta ,stone4 ,you may see this stone in the ,british ,museum4 ,it is a great block of black marble4 ,on the smooth side1 cut deeply in the stone1 are a number of lines of ancient writing4 ,many stones covered with ancient writing had been found before1 but this one is different from all the rest4 ,the lines at the top of the stone are in the strange old ,egyptian picture-writing1 which learned men have agreed to call ',hieroglyphic'2 that is1 'writing in pictures4' ,this was a very special kind of writing in ancient ,egypt1 and generally kept for important occasions4 ,the lines in the middle give the same words1 but in the ordinary handwriting used for correspondence in ancient ,egypt2 and last of all is found a translation of the ,egyptian words written in ancient ,greek4 ,this old kind of ,greek is not spoken in daily life by any people to-day1 but many learned men can read and write it with ease2 so that1 you see1 by the help of the ,greek translation1 the ,rosetta ,stone became a key for discovering the meaning of both kinds of ancient ,egyptian letters4 ,thus1 by the help of the ,rosetta ,stone1 and after years of patient labour1 the long-dead language could be read once more4 ,egypt--the land into which ,joseph was sold1 where the ,israelites became a nation1 and ,moses was born and educated6 ,how great a joy to read the words carved on temple walls1 or in palace halls2 and to find with each word read how exactly the ,egypt of ancient days is described in the ,bible6 ,the dress the people wore1 the food they ate1 the way they spoke to their kings1 the description of their funerals1 the very name of their famous river1 and the words they used to describe the plants1 insects1 and cattle of ,egypt--all these are found in the ,bible and are proofs of the care with which ,moses wrote of the land of his birth4 ,but other nations besides the ,egyptians are mentioned in the ,bible2 and about them also grave doubts arose4 ,almost all the ,old ,testament prophets cried out against the wickedness of ,assyria and ,babylon1 and foretold the awful punishment which ,god would bring upon them for their pride and cruelty1 unless they repented4 ,they did not repent2 destruction came upon them2 their very names were forgotten1 and their cities as utterly lost to the world as though they had never existed4 ',nineveh1 ,babylon8 ,there were such cities once1 perhaps2 but as for the kings of whom the ,bible speaks--,sennacherib1 who came up against ,jerusalem1 and was driven back through the prayers of ,god's servants1 ,isaiah and ,king ,hezekiah 7#b ,kings xviii4 #ai72 ,nebuchadnezzar1 who carried ,daniel away into ,babylon2 ,ahasuerus1 who reigned from ,india even unto ,ethiopia 7,esther7--well1 if they ever lived at all1 they were certainly not the kind of kings spoken of in the ,old ,testament4 ,but it all happened so long ago that we cannot expect to understand much about it now4' ,illustration3 ,,egyptian ,,scribes ,,at ,,work4 7,a7 ,,cases ,,for ,,holding ,,writing ,,materials4 ,,notice ,,spare ,,pen ,,placed ,,behind ,,the ,,clerk',s ,,ear ,so the questioners settled the matter in their own minds2 but ,god had the answer to their questions all ready for them4 ,he put into the hearts of some brave men the idea of going out to the desolate plains1 'empty and void1 and waste' 7,nahum ii4 #aj71 the plains that had once been the rich empires of ,assyria and ,babylon1 and there to search patiently for some trace of the splendid cities of old4 ,very wonderful is the story of how these searchers found them4 ,nineveh had been lying buried under huge mounds of rubbish for more than two thousand years4 ,now1 just at the time when her testimony was needed1 the ruined halls of her majestic palaces were once more brought to the light of day4 ,what had been the names of these grim kings of old1 whose stern-faced figures were sculptured on the walls8 ,could any among them be the fierce ,assyrian kings mentioned in the ,bible8 ,if only the strange wedge-shaped letters that covered every vacant space on the stone slabs could be read1 what a message from the past they would reveal4 ,once again clever men set to work and persevered until the strange letters were deciphered1 and the palace-walls gave up their secrets4 ,here was ,king ,sennacherib2 here ,tiglath-pileser 7#b ,kings xv4 #bi72 here ,esarhaddon 7#b ,kings xix4 #cg74 ,oh1 how wonderful to look at the old-time portraits which had been drawn from the men themselves6 ',well1 although the ,egyptians and ,assyrians prove to have been great nations in the time of ,moses1 they had no communication with each other except in war time2 they spoke different languages1 wrote in altogether different styles1 and had very different ideas about everything4 ,nations kept to themselves in those days4 ,what the ,bible says of their intercourse must be wrong4' ,this all the clever people were quite sure about1 but once again ,god showed them their mistake4 ,twenty-five years ago an ,egyptian peasant woman was walking among the ruins of an ancient ,egyptian city--a city built before the time of ,moses4 ,bright yellow sand had drifted over the broken columns and painted pavements of what had once been the palace of a great king4 ,but the peasant woman did not care for that4 ,was there anything hidden in the sand that she could sell8 ,this was all her thought4 ,suddenly her foot struck against something hard in the sand4 ,she looked down4 ,could it be a stone8 ,no1 it was not a stone1 but a queer oblong lump1 or tablet of clay1 hardened into a brick1 and covered with strange marks that looked like writing4 ,she wondered at it1 for with all her findings in the ruins she had never come upon anything like this before4 ,she showed the tablet to her friends1 and they dug down deep in the sand1 and found whole sackfuls of baked clay tablets4 ,but when the dealer in curiosities saw the lumps of baked clay he shook his head1 and would give very little money for them4 ,after a while some of the bricks were taken to ,paris and ,london4 ',these tablets could not have been found in ,egypt1' decided the learned professors2 'they are either imitations1 or they were found somewhere else4 ,these are clay letters1 and must have been written in ,assyria or ,babylonia4 ,no ,egyptian could have understood a word of them4' ,yet the tablets had been found in ,egypt1 and had been read by the king of ,egypt's scribes1 for the peasant woman1 had all unknowingly discovered what remained of the ,foreign ,office belonging to the old ,egyptian nation1 and thus we see that the ,egyptians of ,moses' time could read and write foreign languages as easily as we can to-day read and write ,french or ,german6 ,,chapter ,,ii ,,the ,,secret ,,of ,,its ,,greatness ,illustration3 7drop cap ,g7 ,the ,great ,pyramid ,god always chooses the right kind of people to do ,his work4 ,not only so1 ,he always gives to those whom ,he chooses just the sort of life which will best prepare them for the work ,he will one day call them to do4 ,that is why ,god put it into the heart of ,pharaoh's daughter to bring up ,moses as her own son in the ,egyptian palace4 ,the most important part of ,moses' training was that his heart should be right with ,god1 and therefore he was allowed to remain with his ,hebrew parents during his early years4 ,there he learned to love and serve the one true ,god4 ,without that knowledge no education can make a man or woman fit to be a blessing to the world4 ,but after this ,god gave him another training4 ,the man who should be called to write the first words of ,god's ,book would need a very special education4 ,most likely some of the ,children of ,israel could read and write1 for we know there were plenty of books and good schools in ,moses' time1 but they certainly did not make such good scholars as the ,egyptians4 ',and the child grew and she 7his mother7 brought him unto ,pharaoh's daughter1 and he became her son4' 7,exodus ii4 #aj47 ,in those few words the ,bible shows us the ,egyptian side of ,moses' education4 ,and a very thorough education it must have been1 for the ,egyptians were the most highly cultured people in the world in those days1 and we know that ',moses was learned in all the wisdom of the ,egyptians4' 7,acts vii4 #bb47 ,the ,egypt of ,moses' time was very different from the ,egypt of to-day4 ,among all the great nations it held the first place2 for the people of ,egypt were more clever1 and rich2 their gardens more beautiful1 their cornfields and orchards more fruitful than those of the dwellers in any other land4 ,again1 of all the peoples in the world the ,egyptians were looked upon at that time as the most religious4 ,from one end to another the land was full of temples1 many of them so huge in size1 and so magnificent with carvings and paintings1 that even their poor ruins--the great columns shattered or fallen1 the enormous walls tottering and broken--are still the wonder of the world4 ,every great city had its schools and colleges4 ,clever men devoted their whole lives to teaching in these colleges and to writing learned books1 just as they do in the cities of ,europe and ,america to-day4 ,these men were called 'scribes1' that is1 'writers4' ,moses1 a boy brought up in the royal palace1 would have the best and most learned scribes for his teachers4 ,a fragment of an old ,egyptian book describing the duties of a lad in the scribes' school has been found4 ,it tells how the schoolmaster wakes the boys very early in the morning4 ',the books are already in the hands of thy companions1' he cries2 'put on thy garments1 call for thy sandals4' ,if the lad does not make haste he is severely punished2 if he is not attentive in school the master speaks to him very seriously indeed4 ',let thy mouth read the book in thy hand1 and take advice from those who know more than thou dost6' ,he has to write many copies1 and as he gets he learns to compose business letters to his master2 before he is fourteen he is most likely a clerk in a government office1 and must continue his studies at the same time4 ,the letters and copies of a schoolboy who lived three thousand years ago have been discovered4 ,how many bad marks did his teacher give him1 do you think1 when he had to correct that carelessly written capital8 ,illustration3 ,schoolboy's copy from ancient ,egypt4 ,notice the teacher's corrections ,so great a respect had the ,egyptians for writing that they used to say1 ',the great god ,thoth invented letters2 no human being could have given anything so wonderful and useful to the world4' ,arithmetic1 geometry1 astronomy1 drawing1 an ,egyptian lad was supposed to study all these1 and as we have seen1 those lads who were trained for work in the ,foreign ,office had to learn other languages as well2 they had also to read and write 'cuneiform'--the name given to the strange wedge-shaped letters of ,assyria and ,babylonia4 ,all the letters from the people of ,canaan to the ,egyptian king and his ,foreign ,office were written in cuneiform4 ,chinese is supposed to be the most difficult language to learn in our day2 but the ancient cuneiform was certainly quite as complicated as ,chinese4 ,the cuneiform had no real alphabet1 only 'signs4' ,there were five hundred simple signs1 and nearly as many compound signs1 so that the student had to begin with a thousand different signs to memorize4 ,yes1 boys had their troubles even in those days4 ,now1 as ,moses grew older and learned more1 he must often have felt very thoughtful and sad4 ,so many books1 so many ideas1 so many stories of cruel gods and evil spirits--where was the truth to be found8 ,no one seemed to remember the ,one ,true ,god1 the ,god of his fathers1 ,abraham1 ,isaac1 and ,jacob4 ,very likely a ,babylonian book written in cuneiform1 and pretending to describe the ,creation of the world1 and the story of the ,ark and the great ,flood found its way into ,egypt4 ,many copies of this book existed in ,moses' day2 part of a later copy was found a short time ago in the ruins of the library of a great ,assyrian king1 and is now to be seen in the ,british ,museum4 ,a strange book it is4 ,the words were not written1 remember1 but pricked down on a large flat tablet of clay4 ,if ,moses read such a book as this1 it must have troubled and puzzled him very much4 ,for it is a heathen book1 in which the beautiful clear story of the ,creation of the world is all darkened and spoilt4 ,the ,babylonian who wrote the book1 and the ,assyrians who copied it1 were all descended from ,noah1 and therefore some dim remembrance of ,god's dealings with the world still lingered in their hearts2 but as the time passed they had grown farther from the truth4 ,that is why the oldest copies of these books are always the best2 the heathen had not had time to separate themselves so completely from ,god4 ',in the old1 old days1' they said1 'there were not so many gods as there are now'2 and some of the most learned heathen even believed that in the beginning there was but one ,god4 ',afterwards many others sprang up1' they declared4 ',in the beginning ,god created the ,heaven and the earth4' 7,genesis i4 #a47 ,oh1 how far the nations had wandered already from the greatest1 deepest truth which the world can know6 ,how sad to think that horrible nightmare stories of evil spirits and cruel gods should have come between men's souls and the loving ,father and ,creator of all6 ,yes2 it was time1 indeed1 that the first words of the ,bible should be written1 and that a stream of pure truth should begin to flow through the world4 ,but ,moses had much to do for ,god before he could write one word of his part of the ,bible4 ,we know how his life of learning and splendour came to a sudden end2 he fled from ,egypt1 and became a shepherd in the land of ,midian2 and there in ,midian ,god called him to the great work of leading the ,children of ,israel out of ,egypt towards the ,promised ,land4 ,terrible troubles had come upon ,god's people in the land of ,goshen4#a ,for the most selfish and cruel ,pharaoh who ever reigned over ,egypt had determined to treat the people who had come to live in ,egypt1 at the invitation of a former ,pharaoh1 just as though they were captives taken in battle4 ,many of the old ruins in ,egypt are covered with writings describing his cruelties4 ,he killed all who rebelled against him1 and condemned whole nations to wear out their lives by working for him in the gold mines1 or granite quarries1 or by making endless stores of bricks2 he cared for no man's life if only he could be called the richest king in the world4 ',and they built for ,pharaoh treasure cities1 ,pithom and ,raamses1' 7,exodus i4 #aa7 that is1 store-cities4 ,in ,egypt many store-cities were needed because corn was more plentiful there than in any other country4 ',pithom--where was ,pithom8' ,so people were asking a few years ago1 and because there was no answer to that question they began to doubt4 ,had there ever been such a city8 ,but in the year #ahhd the earth gave up another of its secrets--the ruins of ,pithom were found1 buried deep in the dust2 and the remains of great store-houses built of rough bricks1 mixed with chopped straw 7,exodus v47 and stamped with the name of the cruel ,pharaoh 7,ramesis the ,second7 were laid bare once more4#b ,what a pity some readers had not waited a little longer before doubting the truth of the ,bible6 ',and the ,lord said unto ,moses1 ,write thou these words4' 7,exodus xxxiv4 #bg47 ,so it was at last that ,god called ,moses to begin the great work of writing the ,bible1 just as ,he had called him to lead the people out of ,egypt2 just as by ,his ,spirit ,he calls men and women to do ,his work to-day4 ,how did ,moses write the first words of the ,bible8 ,what kind of letters and what language did he use8 ,these are great questions4 ,we know at least that he could have his choice between two or three different kinds of letters and materials4 ,perhaps he wrote the first words of the ,bible on rolls of papyrus paper with a soft reed pen1 in the manner of the ,egyptian scribes4 ,hundreds of these rolls have been found in ,egypt3 poems1 histories1 novels1 hymns to the ,egyptian gods2 and some of these writings are at least as old as the time of ,moses4 ,the ,egyptian climate is so fine and dry1 and the ,egyptians stored the rolls so carefully in the tombs of their kings1 that the fragile papyrus--that is1 reed-paper--has not rotted away1 as would have been the case in any other country4 ,certainly in after years the ,jews used the same shaped books as the ,egyptians4 ,indeed1 the ,jews' ,bible--that is1 the ,old ,testament--was still called 'a roll of a book' in the days of ,jeremiah4 7,jeremiah xxxvi4 #b47 ,or perhaps ,moses wrote on tablets of clay like those used by the great empires of ,babylon and ,assyria1 and by the people of ,canaan4 ,clay was cheap enough2 all one had to do was to mould moist clay into a smooth tablet1 and then to prick words on it with a metal pen4 ,the prophet ,jeremiah mentions this kind of book also4 7,jeremiah xvii4 #a47 ,most likely1 however1 ,moses wrote on parchment made from the skins of sheep and goats4 ,the ,children of ,israel kept large flocks1 and could supply him with as many skins as he wanted4 ,and in what language did he write8 ,perhaps even the very first words were written in ,hebrew2 we know that in later times the prophets and historians of the ,jews wrote in ,hebrew4 ,but we must remember that languages alter as years pass on4 ,the ,hebrew of ,moses' time could only have been an ancient kind of ,hebrew1 very different from the ,hebrew of to-day4 ,does this surprise you8 ,why1 you and ,i could hardly read one word of the ,english written in ,england even a thousand years ago6 ,about the middle of the last century a ,german missionary found a large carved stone in that part of ,palestine which used to be called ,moab4 ,this wonderful stone1 which is black and shaped something like a tombstone1 is covered with writing4 ,it is called ',the ,moabite ,stone1' and was set up by ,mesha1 king of ,moab4 7#b ,kings iii4 #d47 ,the writing on it is neither ,egyptian nor cuneiform1 but a very ancient kind of ,hebrew4 ,illustration3 ,first words of ,kin ,mesha's writing on the ,moabite ,stone4 ,moses most likely used letters like these ,of course1 this does not take us back actually to the days of ,moses1 but still it is so old that ,moses may well have used the same kind of writing4 ,we have seen that most nations in those old times had their books1 and we know that each nation had always one book that it valued more than the rest4 ,this was the book that told the people about their religion1 and the gods in whom they believed4 ,in most of these books some grains of truth were found4 ,all the nations of the world are but one great family1 you know1 and even the most ignorant people were not without some knowledge4 ,the heathen nations of ,moses' time therefore remembered dimly some of ,god's dealings with the world2 they were so blinded by their heathen worship1 that no atom of fresh light could reach them1 and little by little they drifted further into the darkness4 ,but1 though tiny fragments of truth are to be found in their books1 not one word is to be traced in any book of the most precious truth of all until ,god revealed it to ,his servant ,moses4 ,this makes our ,bible so wonderful and different from all other books3 it is a revelation--that is1 something which comes to us from ,god and which we could never have known without ,his help4 ,from first to last the ,bible is written to teach us about ,christ4 ,throughout the whole of the ,old ,testament ,christ is referred to as the coming ,saviour1 or ,messiah1 which you know1 is the ,hebrew word for ,christ4 ,christ is to bruise the serpent's head4 7,genesis iii4 #ae47 ,in ,him all the nations of the earth are to be blessed4 7,genesis xxii4 #ah47 ,he is the ,star that shall come out of ,jacob4 7,numbers xxiv4 #ag47 ,when the ,lamb of the ,passover was killed1 and the people taught they could only escape from death through the sprinkled blood1 this was a type or picture of ,salvation through the ,blood of ,jesus4 ,when at last the ,saviour came1 the ,jews rejected ,him and would not accept ,him as the ,messiah4 ,then ,he said to them3 ',had ye believed ,moses1 ye would have believed ,me3 for he wrote of ,me4' 7,john v4 #df47 #a ,the ,egyptians spelt ',goshen' ',kosem4' ,an old writing says1 ',the country is not cultivated1 but left as a pasture for cattle because of the stranger4' #b ,some of these bricks are in the ,british ,museum4 ,,chapter ,,iii ,,moses ,,and ,,his ,,writings ,illustration3 7drop cap ,w7 ,clay letter tablet of ,moses' time4 ,we now begin to understand a little of the very beginning of ,god's ,book--of the times in which it was written1 the materials used by its first author1 and the different kinds of writing from which he had to choose2 but we must go a step farther4 ,how much did ,moses know about the history of his forefathers1 ,abraham and ,jacob1 and of all the old nations and kings mentioned in ,genesis1 before ,god called him to the great work of writing his part of the ,bible8 ,we believe that he knew a great deal about them all4 ,most thoughtful young people like to read right through their ,bibles1 and perhaps you have been perplexed to find that many parts of the ,old ,testament are both puzzling and dry4 ,of what use1 then1 can these chapters be8 you have perhaps asked yourself4 ,is it not all ,god's ,book8 ,but you must not let this trouble you4 ,every passage1 every verse has its special place and object4 ,not a line of ,god's ,book could be taken away without serious loss to the whole4 ',what1 all those long lists of the queer names of people we never hear of again8' asks some one4 ',why1 ,i dread those chapters4 ,i once had to read ,genesis x4 aloud1 and ,i shall never forget it6' ,those who feel like this will be surprised to know that many of the most learned men of our own days are giving much time and thought to the careful and patient study of this very list of names2 and the more carefully they study it1 the fuller and wider does the subject become4 ',babel1 and ,erech1 and ,accad1 and ,calneh1 in the land of ,shinar4' 7,genesis x4 #aj47 ,the ruins of all these great cities and kingdoms have now been found4 ,they were old before ,moses was born2 indeed1 they were so old that their names were only to be found in ancient books2 even the very language spoken by some of these nations had been forgotten by all save the learned scribes of ,babylonia and ,assyria4 ,and yet we find these names accurately given in ,genesis2 had they been missing from its pages1 the ,bible would give us no true idea of the beginnings of history4 ,remember this when next you are tempted to feel impatient at the awkward syllables4 ,again1 in ,genesis xiv4 we read the names of the kings who governed nine nations in the time of ,abraham1 and of how they fought together 'four kings with five' 7verse #i7 three hundred years before ,moses was born4 ,until a very few years ago the ,bible was the only ,book that told us about these ancient kings and kingdoms4 ,and people said1 ',the man who wrote that chapter did not really know anything2 he just collected a pack of old stories that had been repeated over and over again with so many exaggerations and alterations that at last there was scarcely a word of truth left in them4' ,since this foolish conclusion was arrived at many new discoveries have been made1 the broken fragments of old tablets have been pieced together and read1 and the names of all the nine kings brought to light once more4 ,certain it is that ,moses1 with the help of the writings which we now know must have existed in his time1 would have but little difficulty in writing those parts of ,genesis which tell us the history of some of the most ancient nations of the world4 ,for when ,god gives a man some work to do1 ,he always helps him to do it4 ,to those who really trust ,him1 and have patience to work on1 the help they need always comes1 the difficult path is made smooth4 ,this has been the experience of ,god's servants in all times4 ,illustration3 ,,portrait ,,and ,,writing ,,of ,,amraphel1 ,,king ,,of ,,shinar1 ,,in ,,abraham',s ,,time ,many letters and books belonging to the reign of ',amraphel#a king of ,shinar' 7,genesis xiv4 #a7 have lately been found4 ,he was one of the wisest heathen kings who ever lived1 and the writings of his times are very interesting1 because they bring us quite back to the days of ,abraham4 ,amraphel kept written records describing the splendid temples he built1 and a great embankment which he made to keep the river ,tigris from flooding his people's cornfields2 but the wisest thing he did was to collect and write out a long list of all the laws by which he governed the land of ,shinar4 ,thus he worked in very much the same kind of way for ,shinar that our own ,king ,alfred did1 thousands of years later1 for ,england4 ,this list of laws was found in #aija4 ,they are engraved on a great block of black marble1 and are so numerous that they would fill pages of our ,bible4 ,they are wise and just as far as they go4 ,there is a great deal about buying and selling in them1 and the lawful way of conducting different kinds of business2 but they are wholly different from those wonderful ,commandments which ,god gave to the ,children of ,israel three hundred years later4 ,for ,shinar's laws were the heathen laws of a heathen king2 in them there is no word of ,god2 no word even of the heathen gods in which ,amraphel believed4 ',thou shalt love the ,lord thy ,god 444 and thy neighbour as thyself4' 7,luke x4 #bg47 ,in these words ,jesus ,christ gives to us the true meaning of the ,commandments which ,moses wrote down in our ,bible4 ,again1 until quite lately many people were certain that there could never have been a king like ,melchizedek1 the king of ,salem1 who came and blessed ,abraham1 and of whom we read in ,genesis xiv4 and also in ,hebrews vii4 ,but among the letters found in the ,foreign ,office of the king of ,egypt1 is one from the king of ,salem4 ,not from ,melchizedek1 but from another king of ,salem1 who describes himself in these words3 ',i was set in my place neither by father nor mother1 but by the ,mighty ,king'--meaning 'by ,god4' ,read what is said about ,melchizedek in ,hebrews vii4 ,these words show us that all the kings of ,salem believed that they owed everything to ,god4 ,this is why ,abraham honoured ,melchizedek so highly4 ',salem--that is1 peace4 ',jeru-salem' means city of peace4 ,so1 as we see from these ancient letters1 ,jerusalem was called the city of peace even in the days of ,abraham4 ,all these old records and many more ,moses must surely have seen2 the cities of ,canaan were as full of books as were those of ,egypt and ,babylonia1 for the name ',kirjath-sepher' 7,joshua xv4 #ae7 means ',city of ,books4' ,thus1 as year by year new discoveries are made1 we realize more clearly the kind of preparation which ,moses had for his great work1 and the sources from which he gathered much of his information4 ,yet no single word of the ,bible is copied from the heathen writings4 ,no2 just as a man who decides to give his whole life to ,god to-day uses1 in the ,lord's service1 the knowledge he gained before he was converted2 so1 after ,god called ,moses to his great work1 all the learning and wide knowledge he had gathered during his life were dedicated to the service of ,god1 and used by ,his ,holy ,spirit4 ,we do not know--we are nowhere told--whether ,moses wrote every word of the ',books of the ,law4' ,the ,jews believed that every letter1 every tiniest dot was his4 ,it may well have been so1 as we have seen4 ,but1 again1 he may very likely have had helpers and editors2 that is1 people who arranged and copied his original writings4 ,but the ,children of ,israel always called the first five books of the ,bible ',the ,torah'2 that is1 ',the ,law'2 and they looked upon these as their most precious possession1 something quite above and apart from every other writing--,jehovah's direct words and commandments to ,his people4 ,at last the life-work of ,moses was done1 and ,joshua took his place1 called by ,god to lead the people forward4 ,but the new leader found himself at once in a very different position4 ,when ,moses brought the ,children of ,israel out of ,egypt they were without a ,bible4 ,but in ,joshua's days the light had begun to shine1 the river of the knowledge of ,god to flow1 and ,god was able1 therefore1 to say to ,his servant ,joshua3 ',this book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth2 but thou shall meditate therein day and night1 that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein3 for then thou shall make thy way prosperous1 and then thou shall have good success4' 7,joshua i4 #h47 ,we are not told who was called by ,god to write the ,book of ,joshua2 we think that ,joshua wrote at least a part of it himself1 but we all know that it describes how the ,israelites came at last into the ,promised ,land1 and drove out the wicked idol-worshippers4 ,buried deep in the earth the remains of many old ,canaanite cities have been found4 ,those of ,lachish1 the great ,amorite city1 are specially interesting4 ,we know how the ,children of ,israel dreaded the ,amorite cities4 ',great and walled up to ,heaven' 7,deuteronomy i4 #bh71 as the people said4 ,yet1 in spite of their great strength1 ,joshua took them one by one1 overthrew them1 and afterwards built the ,jewish towns upon their ruins4 ,this was the custom of conquerors with all these ancient cities1 as the excavators find to-day4 ,now1 in the remains of ,lachish we can see its whole history4 ,three distinct cities have been found1 one below the other4 ,deepest down of all1 full sixty feet underground1 are the enormous walls of the ,amorite city2 great masses of rough brick forming huge walls at least twenty-eight feet wide4 ,no wonder the ,children of ,israel1 felt doubtful of victory6 ,above the ,amorite walls are the scattered fragments of rough mud-huts and cattle shelters4 ,the ,israelites had no time to build anything better until ,canaan was conquered4 ,above these again stand the ruined walls of a later ,jewish city1 ,lachish1 as it was in the days of ,solomon and the ,jewish kings4 ,a fair city it must have been1 built of white stone1 the capitals of some of the columns carved to resemble a ram's horn1 perhaps to remind the people of the horns of the altar in the ,tabernacle4 ,but the walls of the ,jewish ,lachish have none of the massive strength of the ancient ,amorite city4 ,had we space we might pause over many of the other ancient ,canaanitish cities1 for the subject is of absorbing interest1 but perhaps we may return to it in a later volume4 ,joshua1 like all ,god's true servants past and present1 made full use of the precious ,book1 and1 ',there was not a word of all that ,moses commanded1 which ,joshua read not before all the congregation of ,israel1 with the women1 and the little ones1 and the strangers4' 7,joshua viii4 #ce47 ,before he died he spoke to the people very sorrowfully about their sins4 ,many of them1 in spite of ,god's commandments and ,his favour and love1 had begun to serve the false gods of ,canaan4 ,the people repented at the old leader's earnest words1 and they cried1 ',the ,lord our ,god will we serve1 and ,his voice will we obey4' 7,joshua xxiv4 #bd47 ,joshua made them promise to be steadfast4 ',and ,joshua wrote these words in the ,book of the ,law of ,god4' 7,verse #bf47 ,from this we see that ,joshua wrote a part1 at least1 of the ,book that is called by his name4 ,people have often thought it strange that the ,children of ,israel should again and again break ,god's clear command1 ',thou shall have no other gods before ,me4' 7,exodus xx4 #c47 ,how could they have been so foolish as to care for false gods when the living ,god had done so much for them8 ,it is the old story4 ,a man who has once given way to drunkenness is not safe unless he puts strong drink out of his life for ever4 ,if he even touches it he is liable to fall back again into its power4 ,so it was with the ,children of ,israel4 ,the worship of false gods had been the terrible sin of their wilderness wanderings1 and now to serve the gods of ,canaan became their strongest temptation4 ,the temples were so strange1 so beautiful1 the gods themselves so mysterious1 and then all was so easy1 so pleasant6 ,no stern self-denial was needed2 there were no difficult laws to keep2 no holiness was asked for4 ,drinking1 feasting1 and all kinds of self-indulgence were part of the worship of ,baal1 and those who served ,ashtaroth1 the goddess of beauty1 might spend their whole lives in wicked and degrading pleasures4 ,illustration3 ,,ancient ,,figure ,,of ,,ashtaroth1 ,,the ,,wicked ,,idol-,,goddess ,,of ,,canaan ,the backsliders of ,israel found it only too easy to give up the struggle for right1 and to sink down into the horrible wickedness of the heathen tribes around them4 ,many people to-day are asking how a ,god of love and mercy could bid the ,israelites utterly to destroy the cities of ,canaan1 and to kill their inhabitants1 but the more we discover of these ancient tribes1 the more hopelessly depraved do we find them to have been4 ,for centuries ,god had been waiting in patience2 the warning ,he had given to them through ,sodom's swift destruction had been unheeded2 now at last the cup of their iniquity was full 7,genesis xv4 #af7 and the ,israelites were to be ,his means of ridding the world of this plague spot4 ,in the ,book of ,judges we see how each time ,his people disobeyed ,his command and copied the sins they were called to sweep away1 ,god punished them by letting their merciless neighbours rule over them1 till they loathed the bondage and turned once more to the living ,god4 ,had ,israel absorbed the vices of these nations instead of destroying them1 try to think what the world would have lost6 ,the one channel through which ,god was giving ,his ,book to man would have become so choked and polluted with vice that in its turn it also would have become a source of infection and not of health4 #a ,this king's name is also spelt ,hammurabi4 ,,chapter ,,iv ,,the ,,history ,,books ,illustration3 7drop cap ,t7 ,assyrian idol-god ,thus little by little the ,book of ,god grew1 and the people ,he had chosen to be its guardians took their place among the nations4 ,a small place it was from one point of view6 ,a narrow strip of land1 but unique in its position as one of the highways of the world1 on which a few tribes were banded together4 ,all around great empires watched them with eager eyes2 the powerful kings of ,assyria1 ,egypt1 and ,babylonia1 the learned ,greeks1 and1 in later times1 the warlike ,romans4 ,how small and unimportant the ,israelites appeared to the world then6 ,yet we know that in reality they were greater than any people the world had ever seen4 ,god's words have been fulfilled2 through the ,children of ,israel all the nations of the world are blessed4 ,the old empires have crumbled into dust2 the great conquerors of ancient days are forgotten2 few people to-day remember the names of the wise men of ,greece and ,rome1 but our lives and thoughts are daily influenced by the thoughts1 words1 and deeds of the ,jews of old4 ,abraham1 ,jacob1 ,moses1 ,samuel1 ,david1 ,elijah--their very names are nearer and dearer to us than those of the heroes of our own land4 ,when ,queen ,victoria was asked the secret of ,england's greatness1 she held up a ,bible4 ,their ,sacred ,book was all that the ,jews possessed4 ,their whole greatness was wrapped up in it4 ,as the heathen truly said1 they were ',the ,people of the ,book4' ,and now let us glance at the history books of the ,bible4 ,the first and second ,books of ,samuel have been put together from several other records4 ,most likely ,samuel himself did part of the work4 ,in ,shiloh1 where he was educated1 the old documents were kept1 and ,samuel1 the gifted lad1 who so early gave his heart to ,god1 was in every way fitted to write the story of the ,lord's chosen people during his own life-time4 ,the ,bible mentions several other histories that were written in these days besides those which we know4 ',now the acts of ,david the king1 first and last1 behold1 they are written in the book of ,samuel the seer1 and in the book of ,nathan the prophet1 and in the book of ,gad the seer4' 7,these last have disappeared47 7#a ,chronicles xxix4 #bi47 ,stores of books were being gathered4 ,when1 for instance1 ,saul was chosen king1 ,samuel 'wrote in a book and laid it up before the ,lord4' 7#a ,samuel x4 #be47 ,these books were most likely written on a rough kind of parchment1 made from the skins of goats1 sewn together1 and rolled up into thick rolls4 ,the ,books of ,samuel are very precious to us1 for in them we read nearly all we know of the history of ,david the shepherd-king4 ,some of ,david's own writings are found in these books1 but for most of them we have to turn to the ,book of the ,psalms1 which was the manual of the ,temple choir1 and became the national collection of sacred poems4 ,these ,psalms were composed by different authors1 and at different times1 chiefly for use in the ,temple1 but the collection was founded by ,david1 and he contributed many of its most beautiful hymns4 ,david's boyhood was spent among the rugged hills and valleys of ,bethlehem4 ,as we read his ,psalms we feel that the writer has passed long hours alone with ,god1 and the beautiful things which ,god has made4 ,let us watch him for a moment4 ,it is evening1 and the young lad is alone on the hills1 keeping his father's sheep4 ,the sun is sinking1 and all the earth is bathed in golden light4 ,even the sullen surface of the ,dead ,sea reflects the glory1 and the hills of ,moab glow as though on fire4 ',god is the ,creator of all this beauty1' thinks ,david4 ',yes1 bright as is that golden sky1 ,his glory is above the heavens4' 7,psalm viii4 #a47 ,now the sun has quite gone2 night's dark curtain draws across the world1 the rosy glow fades from the hills4 ,one by one the great white stars shine out1 and presently the moon rises4 ,the young lad raises his face1 and gazes upward4 ',when ,i consider ,thy heavens1 the work of ,thy fingers1 the moon and the stars1 which ,thou hast ordained' 7,psalm viii4 #c7 he murmurs2 'how great is this mighty ,god1 how far beyond all the thoughts and ways of men6 ,what is man1 that ,thou art mindful of him8' 7,verse #d47 ,but ,god loves us even though we are lower than the angels4 ,he has crowned us with glory and honour4 ,he has given all ,his beautiful world1 and all the wonderful things ,he has made1 into our hands4 ',o ,lord 7verse #d7 our ,lord1 how excellent is ,thy name in all the earth4' 7,verse #i47 ,in ,psalm xxix4 ,david gives a word picture of a thunderstorm4 ,he describes the furious blast1 the crashing thunder1 the vivid lightning4 ,many times as a young lad he had watched the black storm-clouds gather over the hills and valleys of ,bethlehem4 ,he had no fear of the tempest4 ,god's voice was in the wind2 ,god's voice divided the lightning-flashes2 ,god's voice shook the wilderness4 ,yes1 ,god would make ,his people strong1 even as the storm was strong4 ,and when the storm had passed1 and the sun shone out once more over the quiet hills1 how clearly the words rose in ,david's mind1 ',the ,lord will bless ,his people with peace6' 7,verse #aa47 ,solomon1 ,david's son1 was the wisest king of ancient times4 ,he wrote many books1 but only small fragments of them are found in the ,bible2 a few ,psalms1 ,solomon's ,song1 and a collection ,proverbs4 ,illustration3 ,,sennacherib1 ,,king ,,of ,,assyria4 ,,from ,,the ,,assyrian ,,picture ,,of ,,the ,,taking ,,of ,,lachish4 7#b ,kings xviii47 ,for much of ,solomon's wisdom was of the earthly sort4 ,he stood first among all the learned men of his day4 ,he would now be called a 'scientific' man4 ,but all science which is limited to mere human wisdom grows quickly out of date4 ,the cleverest men of to-day will be thought very ignorant in a few years4 ,whereas ,david's writings live4 ,his love for ,god1 and his faith in ,god1 made him able to write those words of trust and hope and praise which are as sweet and fresh to-day as when they were written1 and which go right home to our hearts4 ,how many cold hearts have not ,david's psalms warmed into life1 how many wounded spirits have they not comforted6 ,there is not a grief or anxiety in our lives to-day that could not be met and softened by the words of the ,jewish writer of long ago4 ,yes1 the work done for ,god and inspired by ,his ,spirit never grows old4 ,and now1 as we open the books of the kings1 the great empires of the days of old1 of ,assyria1 ,babylonia1 ,egypt1 ,persia1 seem to start into vivid life once more4 ,how strong they were--how terrible6 ,what defence had the little kingdom of ,judah against such overwhelming power1 such mighty armies1 such merciless rulers8 ,she had the best defence of all--,god's holy promises chronicled in ,his ,book4 ,while her people loved and served their ,god they would be safe4 ,but1 alas6 they soon forgot to read and obey ,his ,book1 and neither loved nor served ,him any more4 ,then came sorrow and trouble exactly as ,moses had foretold4 ,cities were sacked1 and many hundreds of people led away into slavery2 yet1 until the days of ,hezekiah1 no one tried to understand the reason for all this4 ,king ,hezekiah understood and trembled2 he prayed earnestly that ,god would pardon the nation's sin1 and when the ,book of the ,law was lying forgotten in the ,temple he had it brought out and read before him4 7#b ,chronicles xxxiv4 #ad-ah47 ,under his direction the ,proverbs of ,solomon were collected and copied 7,proverbs xxv4 i71 and the ,psalms of ,david sung in the ,temple once again4 ,the wonderful story of the ,king of ,assyria's campaign against ,jerusalem1 followed shortly after by the defence of the ,holy ,city by ,god ,himself in answer to ,hezekiah's prayer1 can be read at length in the story of ',hezekiah the ,king4'#a ,although ,sennacherib of ,assyria was one of the mightiest rulers the world has ever seen1 he was utterly discomfited when he set his power against the will of ,god4 ,the ,books of ,kings and ,chronicles give us1 as it were1 the history of a nation from ,god's point of view4 ,the writers' names are not even known4 ,but in these ,books we are shown clearly that ,god rules over the nations1 and is working ,his purpose out through ,his chosen instruments1 year by year4 ,it is in vain for a man to strive against ,god1 or for a nation to hope for prosperity while it forsakes the law of the ,lord4 ,no other history has ever attempted to show us the deep truths and perfect order which lie behind apparent confusion in the story of a nation4 ,with the ,history ,books of the ,bible1 the ,books of the ,prophets are closely interwoven4 ,throughout ,kings and ,chronicles we catch many glimpses of the prophets and of their noble efforts to keep alive ,god's words in the hearts of the people2 but in the writings of the prophets themselves we may read the actual messages which ,god's messengers proclaimed in order to stir up their hearers in times of national distress or heart-backsliding4 ,god's indignation against hypocrites and oppressors is declared in words that cannot be passed over2 but ever as the clouds of trouble gather more thickly over ,his people is the hope of a coming ,saviour more clearly put before them4 ,for a real understanding of the ,prophets' ,books it is necessary to know something of the circumstances under which each man lived and wrote4 ,amos and ,hosea1 for instance1 warned their people of the approach of ,sargon of ,assyria unless they repented and turned again to the law of the ,lord4 ,as they did not repent the prophets' warning came true1 and ,sargon invaded and destroyed the ,kingdom of ,israel4 ,but ,nahum brings comfort1 for he tells the suffering ,kingdoms of ,judah and ,israel that the ,kings of ,assyria shall so disappear that in the years to come the very place where they dwelt shall be forgotten1 while ,judah shall keep the ,lord's feasts for ever4 7,nahum i4 #ae47 ,the ,bible tells of many of ,god's acts which seem very wonderful to us4 ,we call these acts 'miracles1' because we cannot explain them1 nor how they happened4 ,now the writings of ,isaiah1 ,jeremiah1 ,ezekiel1 and the rest of the prophets are also miracles1 for although these men wrote at widely different times1 and hundreds of years before the birth of ,christ1 yet their books all speak of ,him4 ,the light of ,god's ,spirit shone into their hearts so that they foresaw and foretold the coming of the ,saviour ,king4 ,terrible troubles would overwhelm the ,jews2 but1 even though the wall of ,jerusalem should be broken down1 the city laid waste1 and the inhabitants led away captive1 ,god's words were sure4 ,he would visit ,his people at last4 ,he would redeem them from their sins4 ,the troubles came1 the prophets' eyes streamed with tears1 and their hearts were torn with grief as they saw their land wasted by the heathen4 ,yet they did not despair4 ,the dark night of sorrow would wear away at last1 ,god's people should be brought back1 ,jerusalem rebuilt2 her ,king would come1 the ,sun of ,righteousness arise1 ',and ,his name shall be called ,wonderful1 ,counsellor1 ,the ,mighty ,god1 ,the ,everlasting ,father1 ,the ,prince of ,peace4' 7,isaiah ix4 #f47 #a ,a companion volume to this book4 ,,chapter ,v ,,the ,,scattering ,,of ,,the ,,people ,illustration3 7drop cap ,a7 ,the ,fish-god of ,assyria and ,babylonia ,at last the full punishment for their many sins fell upon ,god's chosen people4 ,the words of warning written in the fifth book of ,moses had told them plainly that if they turned aside and worshipped the wicked idol-gods of ,canaan1 the ,lord would take their country from them and drive them out into strange lands4 ,yet again and again they had yielded to temptation4 ,and now the day of reckoning had come4 ,nebuchadnezzar1 the great king of ,babylon1 sent his armies into the ,holy ,land4 ,no nation at this time could resist ,nebuchadnezzar2 even the fierce ,assyrians had to bow before him1 for he was one of the most powerful kings the world has ever seen4 ,yet even ,nebuchadnezzar was but an instrument in the hands of ,god1 as ,daniel recognized when he said3 ',thou1 ,o king1 art a king of kings3 for the ,god of ,heaven hath given thee a kingdom1 power1 and strength1 and glory4' 7,daniel ii4 #cg47 ,this thought had been ,daniel's comfort and stay1 though he had been carried into the great heathen land far from ,jerusalem1 his beloved and holy city4 ,but to those ,jews who had no trust in ,god to uphold them1 the sorrow was almost greater than they could bear4 ,for ,nebuchadnezzar broke down the wall of ,jerusalem1 and led many thousands of her people away to be his slaves in ,babylon4 ',we have taken their treasure of gold and silver2 we have laid their city wall in ruins2 their ,temple is bare and deserted2 their gardens of lilies and spices are choked with weeds2 their fields are unsown2 their vineyards untended2 the best men and women of the land are serving us in ,babylon4 ,now1 at last1 there is an end of this proud ,jewish nation1 for all that they most valued is in our hands4' ,so said the heathen ,babylonians1 mocking the poor captives4 ,how little they dreamt that the ,jews' most precious possession was with them still6 ,more valued than jewels or gold1 sweeter than the milk and honey of their own land1 was the ,book of the ,law--the ,book which told them all they knew of ,god4 ,indeed1 not until the people were forced to live in a heathen city did they really learn to understand how great a treasure their nation possessed in the written words of ,god4 ,but in ,babylon1 with its huge heathen temples blazing with jewels and gold1 its scores of cunning idol-priests1 who deceived the people by pretending to tell fortunes and make charms1 and its countless images1 here1 at last1 ,god's chosen people began to see the greatness of the gift with which the ,lord had blessed them1 when ,he gave them the words which have now become the first books of our ,bible4 ,nebuchadnezzar might break down the wall of their city1 he could not break down the spiritual wall which ,god ,himself had built round ,his people4 ,scattered through many lands1 forced to serve heathen masters as they were1 the ,book of ,god's ,law was a living gift which bound the ,jewish people together4 ,as we have seen1 the ,psalms were written by different writers1 and one of the later ,psalms1 the #acgth1 gives us a vivid picture of those sad days3 ',by the rivers of ,babylon1 there we sat down1 yea1 we wept1 when we remembered ,zion4' 7,verse #a47 ,babylon was famous for its great rivers2 and the poor captives watched the flowing water1 and the great wind-swept beds of reeds and giant rushes4 ',we hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof4' 7,verse #b47 ,illustration3 ',,led ,,away ,,captive4'--,,assyrian ,,picture ,,of ,,the ,,inhabitants ,,from ,a ,,conquered ,,city ,,being ,,led ,,away ,,into ,,slavery ,but their ,babylonian masters had heard of the sweet psalms of the ,lord's people4 ',sing to us1' they said2 'sing us a merry song4 ,sing us one of the songs of ,zion4' 7,verse #c47 ',sing to these cruel heathen who have wasted our country1 and carried us away into slavery6 ,sing one of the holy songs of ,israel1 the songs which ,king ,david wrote1 that they may laugh and mock at us6 ,how shall we sing the ,lord's song in a strange land8' 7,verse #d47 ,no1 they could not sing2 their hearts were breaking with grief4 ,never1 never could they forget the ,holy ,city4 ,ruined1 desolate as it lay1 ,jerusalem was still to them the place most loved in all the world4 ,and yet1 even in far-off heathen ,babylon the ,lord called men to add to ,his ,book4 ,the ,book of ,daniel has troubled many people greatly4 ,it was not history at all1 some critics said1 but a mere collection of myths and legends4 ,but year by year1 as fresh discoveries are made1 we see ever more clearly that it would have been better to trust the old ,bible words after all4 ',there never was a ruler over ,babylon named ,belshazzar' so these people said2 'the last ,babylonian king was ,nabonides4' ,a few years ago1 however1 ,belshazzar's name was found on an old cuneiform tablet4 ,nabonides had been crowned king1 but he seldom took any part in the affairs of the empire4 ,all that he left to his eldest son1 ,belshazzar1 who seems to have acted as king in his father's stead4 ,almost daily further discoveries are being made1 all proving the accuracy of ,daniel's writings4 ,what is probably the floor of the very dining-hall in which the hand-writing appeared has recently been uncovered4 ,cyrus1#a of whom ,ezra speaks in the first chapter of his book1 was a very different king from ,nebuchadnezzar4 ,nebuchadnezzar loved to pull down and destroy nations2 but the great wish of ,cyrus was to build up and restore4 ,the cuneiform writings of the old ,babylonian and ,assyrian kings consist mostly of long lists of the nations they led away into slavery and the towns they burnt with fire2 but the inscriptions made by ,cyrus1 the ,persian king1 speak of the people he sent back to their homes4 ',all their people ,i collected1 and restored their habitations4'#b ,and among these people1 as the ,bible tells us1 were the ,jews of ,jerusalem4 ,many and great were the difficulties before them2 but led1 during the reign of ,artaxerxes1 by ,ezra and ,nehemiah1 they faced their troubles bravely1 until at last the wall of ,jerusalem was rebuilt1 and the city restored to something of its old beauty4 ,what a time of joy and triumph6 ,hardly could the ,jews believe that they were in their own dear city once again4 ,psalm cxxvi4 describes this wonderful day4 ',when the ,lord turned again the captivity of ,zion1 we were like them that dream4 ,then was our mouth filled with laughter1 and our tongue with singing3 then said they among the heathen1 ,the ,lord hath done great things for them4' 7,verses #a1 #b47 ',we have sinned against the ,lord1 we have been untrue to our promises2 but never again will we neglect ,his ,book1 nor forget ,his ,law4' ',and all the people gathered themselves together as one man4442 and they spake unto ,ezra the scribe to bring the ,book of the ,law of ,moses1 which the ,lord had commanded to ,israel4' 7,nehemiah viii4 #a47 ,a solemn day that was1 as we read in the ,book of ,nehemiah1 a day of real returning to the ,lord4 ,picture them standing there1 those men and women and little children of ,jerusalem2 their faces would be worn with toil and hardship4 ,on a raised platform of wood stood ,ezra ready with the rolls of the ,books of the ,law1 and beside him were the interpreters4 ,for the people had been so long in a strange land that scarcely any of them could speak ,hebrew2 that is1 the old ,hebrew language in which ,king ,david wrote4 ,if the ,law of ,god was to be impressed afresh on the nation's heart that day1 the scribes1 the writers and the teachers must translate it into the language of their heathen conquerors4 ',so they read in the ,book of the ,law of ,god distinctly1 and gave the sense1 and caused them to understand the reading4' 7,nehemiah viii4 #h47 ,since those days of ,ezra1 the ,bible has been translated into nearly every known language4 ,it is most interesting1 therefore1 to read in the ,bible itself about what was most likely the very first translation of all--and this not a written translation1 remember4 ,now when the people heard the words of ,god's ,book they were very sad2 for now at last they understood how deeply they had sinned against ,him4 ,they had been proud of their ,bible1 and had rightly felt it to be a great treasure2 but now they saw that the words of the ,bible must be shown forth in the lives of those who believe4 ,to honour ,god's ,book is not enough2 we must obey it4 ,the ,jewish people did not again learn to speak the old language of their nation4 ,yet all the copies of the ,books of the ,law1 and the ,books of the ,prophets1 the ,psalms1 and those writings which tell of the history of the ,lord's people--that is1 the whole of the ,old ,testament--were still written in the ancient tongue4 ,so it came to pass1 after a while1 that the ,bible could only be read by the learned people2 for the words in which the ,law of ,god was given had become a 'dead language'--that is1 a language that had ceased to be used in daily life at all4 ,before the death of ,ezra and ,nehemiah1 or else very soon after1 the scribes of ,jerusalem--that is1 the writers and teachers--began to devote themselves almost entirely to the studying and copying of the ,bible4 ,a young lad of those days who became a pupil in the ,school of the ,scribes at ,jerusalem would have to begin by learning the ,old ,testament almost by heart4 ,to read an old ,hebrew writing correctly was almost impossible1 unless you had heard it read two or three times1 and knew pretty well what was coming4 ,for the ancient ,hebrew alphabet consisted entirely of consonants2 there were actually no vowels6 ,the little dots you see in the specimen of ,hebrew given on this page are called 'vowel-points1' and are a guide to the sound of the word2 but in the old1 old days of which we are speaking1 these dots had not been invented4 ,the reader had nothing but consonants before him1 and was obliged to guess the rest4 ,just think of it6 ,suppose we followed this rule in ,english1 and you came to the word1 ',,tp1' you would be puzzled indeed to know whether tap1 tip1 or top was meant6 ,but the ,jewish scribes had wonderful memories4 ,a teacher would read a long passage from the ,psalms to his pupil1 and very soon the lad would be able to repeat the whole correctly1 the consonant words just refreshing his memory4 ,illustration3 ,,the ,,first ,,line ,,of ,,the ,,bible ,,in ,,hebrew ,this would not always be as difficult as you might suppose4 ,for instance1 you can read this easily enough3 ',,th ,,lrd ,s ,m ,,shphrd ,,shll ,,nt ,,wnt4' ,indeed1 to this day the ,hebrew of the sacred ,books in the ,jewish ,synagogues is all written without vowel-points4 ,at this time it was that the ,jews became really the ',people of the ,book1' and that a special society was formed to guard and copy the ,bible4 ,how wonderfully this work was done6 ,never have the words of any other book been so lovingly cared for4 ,we have called the ,bible the oldest ,book in the world2 we have seen that it tells about nations and people who were almost forgotten before the days of ,abraham4 ,it seems strange1 therefore1 that the most ancient copy of the ,old ,testament ,scriptures1 written in ,hebrew and in the possession of the ,jews to-day1 carries us back only to the time of our ,saxon kings4#c ,this is because the ,jews' custom is reverently to destroy every copy of the ,books of the ,old ,testament--that is1 of their ,bible--as soon as it becomes worn with use1 or blurred with the kisses of its readers4 ',this is a living ,book1' they say2 'it should look new4 ,god's ,word can never grow old4' ,so1 year by year1 they make new copies directly the old are worn out1 and this they have done for long ages4 ,and so careful have they been in making the copies1 that although all was written by hand1 there has practically been no alteration in the words for more than two thousand years4 ,god had indeed well chosen the guardians of ,his ,book4 ,let us try to picture to ourselves a young scribe of those old1 old days1 with his dark hair and big1 serious eyes1 and dressed in his white robe4 ,he has been very patient and industrious for many months past1 working early and late2 now1 at last1 he is to be allowed to copy one of the sacred books4 ',my son1' his old teacher has said1 'take heed how thou doest thy work2 drop not nor add one letter1 lest thou becomest the destruction of the world4' ',oh1 may the ,lord keep my attention fixed1 may ,he hold my hand that it shake not6' ,so1 with a prayer on his lips1 the young scribe begins his work4 ,and it is through such patient1 careful work as his that the older part of our ,bible has come down to us from the half-forgotten ages of the past4 #a ,cyrus became ,king of ,persia #edf ,b4,c41 conquered ,babylon #ech1 died #ebh ,b4,c4 #b ,cuneiform writing made by order of ,cyrus4 #c ,the ,codex ,babylonicus1 the earliest known ,jewish manuscript1 dates from the year ,a4,d4 #iaf4 ,,chapter ,,vi ,,the ,,attack ,,on ,,the ,,scriptures ,illustration3 7drop cap ,b7 ,a ,greek ,warrior ,but troubled times came again to ,jerusalem4 ,the great empires of ,babylon and ,assyria had passed away for ever1 exactly as the prophets of ,israel had foretold2 but new powers had arisen in the world1 and the great nations fought together so constantly that all the smaller countries1 and with them the ,kingdom of ,judah1 changed hands very often4 ,at last ,alexander the ,great managed to make himself master of all the countries of the then-known world4 ,alexander was an even greater conqueror than ,nebuchadnezzar had been4 ,he did not treat the ,jews unkindly2 he neither interfered with their religion nor took treasure from their temple4 ,yet while ,alexander did ,god's people no outward injury1 his influence and example led them astray4 ,for ,alexander was a ,greek1 and the ,greeks1 although at this time the cleverest people in the whole world1 were a heathen nation1 and as such did many foolish and wicked things4 ,alexander himself offered sacrifice to ,venus1 ,jupiter1 and ,bacchus 7the pretended god of wine and strong drink#a71 and to many other gods of man's invention4 ,never again would ,god's chosen people willingly worship false gods2 their troubles had cured them once for all of that sin4 ,but although they knew the ,greek religion to be untrue1 they began greatly to admire the ,greeks themselves1 and to take their opinion about many things4 ',who can build like these ,greeks8' they will have said4 ',who can carve such beautiful statues1 or paint such beautiful pictures8 ,every one knows that their poetry is the finest in the world1 and that their books are the wisest and pleasantest to read2 and then1 how well they train their young people6 ,the lads of ,greece are the strongest wrestlers and the swiftest runners in the world6' ,all this was quite true2 but the ,jews forgot that mere cleverness does not make a man or woman good1 and that the fear of ,god is the beginning of all true wisdom4 ,many people forget this even to-day4 ,so the ,jews began to give their children ,greek names1 and to send them to ,greek schools1 and1 what was worse1 they put ,greek books into their hands instead of the ,bible4 ,slowly but surely this unholy 'leaven' entered the people's life1 and influenced their thoughts4 ,but1 in spite of all1 many ,jewish men and women remained faithful to ,god2 they kept ,his laws1 and read in ,his ,book daily1 looking always for the coming ,saviour1 the ,messiah1 who would rule and redeem ,his people4 ,as the years passed the fashion for ,greek ideas and ways grew stronger in ,jerusalem1 until at last even the ,high ,priest himself#b began to encourage the people to neglect the services and sacrifices of the ,temple1 that they might go to heathen sports and games4 ,the ,greeks were very fond of foot-races and wrestling-matches1 and they held large athletic meetings two or three times a year2 but no one who believed in ,god should have gone near those meetings1 for the ,grecian games were always held in honour of some heathen god or goddess4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #a4--;,,coin ,,of ,,alexander ,,the ,,great1 ,,with ,,portrait ,,of ,,himself ,,and ,,figure ,,of ,,jupiter1 ,,the ,,false ,,god ,,he ,,worshipped4 ,,fig4 #b4--;,,coin ,,of ,,antiochus1 ,,the ,,wicked ,,king4 ,,portrait ,,of ,,himself1 ,,and ,,figure ,,of ,,venus1 ,,one ,,of ,,the ,,false ,,gods ,,he ,,tried ,,to ,,force ,,the ,,jews ,,to ,,believe ,,in ,when ,alexander died he left his vast empire to be divided among his generals1 just as ,napoleon did centuries later with his conquests4 ,the descendant of one of these generals was named ,antiochus1 and he began to reign over ,syria1 which included the country of ,judah1 a hundred and seventy years before the birth of ,christ4 ,he was known as ,antiochus ,,iv1 and was a selfish and cruel ruler4 ,although indifferent to his own heathen religion1 he set himself to destroy all other forms of faith4 ',i am king2 all my subjects shall think as ,i do1' he said4 ,he was told that the ,jews believed in only one ,god1 but he cried with a scornful laugh1 ',yes1 but ,i will soon alter that6' ,before this there had been trouble between ,antiochus and the people of ,jerusalem1 and he thought to himself1 ',i must break down their old ideas and force them to disobey the laws of ,moses1 as they call them2 above all1 ,i must utterly destroy their ,book4 ,the ,book of their ,law once gone1 they will be easy enough to manage4' ,so he sent one of his generals to ,jerusalem1 and bade him take an army of soldiers and 'speak peaceable words unto them2 but all this was deceit4'#c ,the orders of ,antiochus were obeyed2 the ,jews suspected nothing1 and the soldiers kept quiet until the ,sabbath day4 ,but while the ,jews were at prayer1 and unable to defend themselves1 the treacherous ,greeks 'fell suddenly upon the city1 and smote it very sore1 and destroyed much people of ,israel4' ,then these wicked men built a strong castle on the hill of ,zion1 so overlooking the entrance to the ,temple that no one could come in or go out without the knowledge and consent of the governor of the castle4 ,but this was only the beginning of sorrows4 ,soon the dreadful orders of the heathen king were cried through the streets of ,jerusalem3 ',it is the will of ,antiochus the king that all the people throughout his whole empire shall worship the same gods as himself1 and shall declare that his religion alone is true4 ,death to all those who disobey4' ,the ,jews looked at one another in utter dismay1 for they knew well that ,antiochus had power to keep his word4 ',no more burnt offerings may be made to the ,god of the ,jews in the ,temple4 ,i forbid the keeping of the ,sabbath4 ,the ,jews' law declares the flesh of swine to be unclean4 ,i command that on the altar of the ,jewish ,god1 in ,his ,temple at ,jerusalem1 a sow be offered in honour of my god ,jupiter4 ,the ,priests themselves shall be forced to eat of it4 ',as for the ,books of their ,law1 destroy them utterly2 let not a word remain in the whole land4 ,publish this order against the ,book2 and if1 after my will has been declared1 any man is found to have a copy in his possession1 let him be put to death4' ,horrible as it seems1 all these wicked commands were carried out4 ,a sow was slaughtered on the altar1 and an image of ,jupiter set up in ,god's ,holy ,temple4 ,more cruel than all1 the ,book of the ,law was torn and trodden underfoot4 ,throughout ,jerusalem and all the cities of ,palestine bands of soldiers went everywhere searching for copies of the ,scriptures4 ,torn to fragments1 burnt with fire1 often1 alas6 drenched with the life-blood of those who loved them1 now1 indeed1 the ,books of the ,bible were in terrible danger1 for the most powerful king of the fierce heathen world was fighting directly against them6 ',o ,god1 the heathen are come into ,thine inheritance2 ,thy holy ,temple have they defiled2 they have laid ,jerusalem on heaps4444 ,the blood of ,thy servants have they shed like water round about ,jerusalem2 and there was none to bury them4' 7,psalm lxxix47 ,so the cry went up from those faithful hearts who still dared to serve the true ,god4 ,the altar--the ,temple itself--was now defiled1 made 'unclean'2 the ,book of the ,law had been torn to fragments2 but ,his people could still cry to the ,lord1 and ,he heard4 ,they did not obey the wicked heathen king2 and the stories of their courage thrill our hearts as we read them1 for they show us what those saints of old suffered rather than deny their ,god4 ',they were stoned1 they were sawn asunder1 were tempted1 were slain with the sword3 they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins2 being destitute1 afflicted1 tormented2 7of whom the world was not worthy74' 7,hebrews xi4 #cg1 #ch47 ,it was of these times especially that the writer of ,hebrews was thinking when he penned those words4 ,seven young men1 the sons of one woman1 were with their mother brought before the king's officer--or1 as some say1 before the king himself--for refusing to break the laws of ,god4 ,they were cruelly beaten1 but one of them cried3 ',what wouldst thou ask of us8 ,we are ready to die1 rather than to transgress the laws of our fathers6' ,the torturers thereupon seized the brave fellow1 and so cruelly tormented him that he died1 his mother and brothers being forced to look on4 ,but though their faces grew pale as death1 and they quivered with anguish to see their loved one suffer1 they gazed steadfastly at each other4 ',the ,lord looketh upon us1 the ,lord ,god hath comfort in us1' they said4 ,then the second son was taken1 and before he died he cried with a loud voice1 looking his heathen judge full in the face3 ',thou1 like a fury1 takest us out of this present life1 but the ,king of the world shall raise us up1 who have died for ,his laws1 unto life everlasting6' ,but when it came to the turn of the youngest son even the heathen judge was anxious to spare him1 and he promised the lad honour and great riches if he would but turn from his faith4 ,but the youth stepped out before them all1 his boyish face as brave as a man's and his boyish voice as steady4 ',whom wait ye for8' he asked4 ',i will obey the ,commandments of the ,law that was given unto our fathers by ,moses2 but thou shalt not escape the hands of ,god4 ',we suffer for our sins1 but our pain is short4 ,see1 ,i offer up my body and life for the ,laws of my fathers1 beseeching ,god to be merciful to my nation1 and that thou at last mayest confess that ,he alone is ,god6' ,last of all1 after her sons1 the mother died as well4#d ,illustration3 ,,the ,,jews ,,of ,,antiochus' ,,times ,,covered ,,their ,,houses ,,and ,,tombs ,,with ,,heathen ,,greek ,,ornaments ,,that ,,they ,,might ,,be ',,in ,,the ,,fashion4' ,,here ,,is ,,the ,,cornice ,,of ,,one ,,of ,,them1 ,,decorated ,,in ,,exactly ,,the ,,same ,,way ,,as ,,the ,,greek ,,idol-,,temples ,but the saints of ,god did not die in vain2 their victories over pain and death fired the hearts that had grown so cold1 and awakened the careless into active life4 ,those who had forsaken the religion of their fathers returned by hundreds to ,god1 confessing their sins1 and pleading for pardon4 ,so the very fierceness of the trial proved a blessing1 and the days of torture were followed by a revival of faith in ,god1 and devotion to ,his service4 ,now there was an old priest named ,mattathias who1 with his four sons1 had never listened to the cunning temptations of the heathen ,greeks4 ,all his life he had served ,god with his whole heart1 and had brought up his sons to follow in his steps4 ,when ,mattathias and his sons heard what was being done at ,jerusalem1 they clothed themselves in sackcloth and wept1 praying1 and fasting continually1 beseeching ,god to forgive ,his people1 and to put away their sins4 ,in a little while the king's officers came to the heathen altar at ,modin1 the town where the old priest lived4 ',sacrifice to ,jupiter1 our master's god6' they said4 ',sacrifice1 as all ,jews shall be forced to do1 or die6' ,but the old man looked the ,greek straight in the face4 ',though all the nations in the world obey the king1 yet will ,i and my sons walk in the covenant of our fathers4 ,god forbid that we should forsake ,his ,law4' ,as he spoke a backsliding ,jew stepped up to the altar to sacrifice4 ,the old priest's eyes flashed fire1 and in an instant he had struck him down1 and the ,greek officer with him4 ,quivering with indignation ,mattathias then turned to the startled people3 ',whosoever loves ,god1 let him follow me6' ,and he turned and fled swiftly through the streets of the city4 ,many followed him at once4 ,others joined him later in the strong camp he formed in the mountains1 until at last he was at the head of an army4 ,wonderful it is to read how1 little by little1 this army of ,god's people drove the heathen from the cities of ,judah2 how they overturned the heathen altars1 and cast down the images of the false gods2 and how1 at last1 they came to ,jerusalem1 cleansed the ,temple1 and purified the golden altar from the stains of heathen sacrifices4 ,then1 tenderly and reverently1 they gathered together all that was left of the copies of their ,scriptures1 weeping as they saw the poor fragments1 blackened with fire1 stained with blood1 and scrawled all over with the horrible figures of heathen gods4 ,as to-day we read in the clean white pages of our ,bible1 let us remember this scene and of the time when those torn and blood-stained fragments were all that remained to the world4 ,but1 thank ,god1 when all the pieces had been collected together1 there was plenty of material from which to make fresh copies2 and no sooner had peace been restored to the city than the scribes set to work1 with eager1 loving care4 ,the ,book had become doubly precious now6 ,its written words were indeed sacred1 for the blood of martyrs had fallen upon them1 and men and women1 and little children1 too1 had chosen to die by hundreds rather than to deny them4 #a ,with all his cleverness1 ,alexander1 while still quite young1 drank himself to death4 #b ,in the days of ,joshua1 who bought the office of ,high ,priest under the reign of ,antiochus1 so many priests took part in the games that the regularity of the ,temple services suffered4 #c ,from ',maccabees1' an old ,jewish history1 which is sometimes bound up with our ,bible4 #d ,this is taken from ',maccabees4' ,,chapter ,,vii ,,two ,,famous ,,versions ,,of ,,the ,,scriptures ,illustration3 7drop cap ,b7 ,samaritan ,book of the ,law ,by the blue waters of the ,mediterranean ,sea1 on the coast of ,egypt1 lies ,alexandria1 a busy and prosperous city of to-day4 ,you remember the great conqueror1 ,alexander1 and how nation after nation had been forced to submit to him1 until all the then-known world owned him for its emperor8 ,he built this city1 and called it after his own name4 ,about a hundred years before the days of ,antiochus 7of whom we read in our last chapter7 a company of ,jews were living in ,alexandria1 then a rich and beautiful city1 with its stately palaces and temples of white marble1 its beautiful gardens1 and groves of graceful palm-trees4 ,after the death of ,alexander1 the ,greek kings of ,egypt delighted to live in the new city1 and in the old ,greek books we can yet read of the splendid processions and festivals held in its streets year by year4 ,at this time ,alexandria drew all the merchants of the world to her markets2 and her harbour was constantly filled with ships laden with silver1 amber1 and copper2 while caravans were arriving daily1 bringing jewels and rich silks from ,china1 ,india1 and the cities of the far ,east4 ,the ,jews of ,alexandria were not treated as foreigners1 but as good subjects and citizens1 by the ,greek rulers of ,egypt1 and therefore as the years passed they grew rich and honoured in their beautiful home4 ,their children1 however1 seldom if ever heard ,hebrew spoken2 for all the ,jews of ,alexandria1 for convenience' sake1 spoke ,greek like their neighbours4 ,but1 although these ,jews lived in a heathen city where they read nothing but ,greek books1 and heard ,greek spoken all day long1 they did not forget their ,god4 ,they longed as earnestly as ever to hear about ,him1 and to read in ,his ,book2 but what was to be done8 ,only a few of the elder ,jews could read ,hebrew1 and their children could not understand one word of the language4 ,must the little ones1 therefore1 grow up in ignorance of the ,word of ,god8 ,this was impossible4 ,here in the heathen city of ,alexandria the ,scriptures would be the only safeguard of ,jewish boys and girls4 ',if the language of our children is ,greek1 then the ,bible must be translated into ,greek1 so that they all can understand it4' ,so said these ,jewish parents4 ,this was a wonderful proof of the ,bible's living power4 ,the ,jews had changed their language and their country4 ,thousands of the cleverest books ever written were within their reach--for ,alexandria had at this time the largest library in the world--yet all this made no difference2 without the written ,word of ,god1 they could not exist4 ,some writers say that ,ptolemy ,philadelphus1 the king of ,egypt of that time1 having heard the ,jews speak of their ,book1 and wishing to have a copy of it to place in his great library1 sent all the way to ,jerusalem for seventy learned scribes who should translate the ,book into ,greek4 ,now1 however1 it is believed that the ,jews of ,alexandria did the work entirely themselves1 although their ,greek ,bible is still called the ',septuagint'--that is1 ',the ,scriptures of the ,seventy'--in memory of the old tradition4 ,illustration3 ,,fragment ,,of ,,the ',,septuagint'--,,the ,,old ,,testament ,,in ,,ancient ,,greek1 ,,the ,,first ,,written ,,translation ,,of ,,the ,,bible ,,ever ,,made ,gradually1 as the years passed1 the ,greek language spread to other nations1 until at last it became1 as we have seen1 the leading language of the world4 ,even to-day1 as you know1 this old ,greek tongue is taught in many of our schools and colleges1 and those who can read it tell us that there is no language so beautiful2 none with words so sweet to the ear1 nor in which such deep thoughts can be expressed4 ,thus we see how ,god used the learning of the heathen ,greeks to make ,his ,book known to the world6 ,for hundreds of years the ,bible had been a ,book for the people of ,israel alone2 but now1 as the time drew near when the ,son of ,god ,himself should come to the world--that the world by ,him might be saved--the ,scriptures1 which had since the days of ,moses spoken of ,his coming1 were sent out to the nations by ,god ,himself in order to prepare the way4 ,the ,jews of old divided all dwellers on the earth into two classes3 the ,jews--that is1 themselves2 the ,gentiles--that is1 all the other nations4 ,but now the wall of separation was to be broken down1 and the words of the ,prophet ,isaiah were to be fulfilled1 ',the ,gentiles shall come to ,thy light4' 7,isaiah ,ix4 #c47 ,now that ,god's ,holy ,word had been translated into ,greek1 the one language which every man of those days wished to learn1 the message could ring through all the ,gentile cities3 ',a ,king1 a ,saviour1 is coming2 be ready to meet ,him6' ,so the ,scriptures went forth1 north1 south1 east1 and west1 and we think they reached to that far eastern city in which those three wise men lived who afterwards travelled to ,bethlehem1 seeking the ,messiah1 and saying1 ',where is ,he that is born ,king of the ,jews8' 7,matthew ii4 #b47 ,the ,bible had indeed taken a strong leap forward now6 ,for long centuries it had been like a tiny stream flowing through a dry land1 and reaching only a few people4 ,now it had become as a river of truth1 ever growing deeper and wider1 guided by ,god in all its wanderings across the earth4 ,the ,bible was now no longer locked up in a language which was already half-forgotten4 ,with this ,greek translation its world-wide work had begun6 ,but while the ,greek translation of the ,hebrew ,scriptures was becoming an open door through which the people of many lands could draw nearer to ,god1 a second witness to the truth of ,god's ,book was hidden away in ,samaria4 ,for the ,samaritans had their own copies of the ,books of the ,law1 and kept them closely shut up among their own people for hundreds of years4 ,it is impossible now to give the actual date when the ,samaritans began to use a different copy of the ,scriptures from the ,jews4 ,the ,israelitish city of ,samaria was captured by ,sargon1 king of ,assyria1 in #gbb ,b4,c42 but although he carried away the most important inhabitants captive1 a great number of the poorer people remained on the land1 and when ,sargon filled the country with new and heathen settlers1 so many marriages took place between the two races that the ,children of ,israel lost their old name and were known to the ,jews of ,judah as ',samaritans4' ,yet the ,samaritans still clung to the ,jews' religion1 and the separation did not probably become complete until ,nehemiah expelled all those ,jews from ,jerusalem who had married heathen wives4 7,nehemiah xiii4 #bc-cj47 ,now ,josephus1 the ,jewish historian1 tells us that among these exiles was a man named ,manasseh1 a grandson of the high priest1 and that1 indignant at being cast out1 he fled to ,samaria4 ,here he determined to set up a separate worship of ,jehovah1 and1 having obtained permission from the king of ,persia to erect a ,temple1 he built a ,holy ,place on ,mount ,gerizim1 which became the centre of a new form of religion4 ,it is thought that ,manasseh had carried away a copy of the ,books of the ,law from ,jerusalem1 and by means of certain alterations in the words he made it appear that ,god had chosen ,mount ,gerizim in ,samaria for the site of ,his ,house1 instead of ,mount ,moriah in ,jerusalem4 ,now at this time all the ,jews still wrote in the ancient style1 forming their letters as we see them on the ,moabite ,stone2 but not long afterwards they adopted the square letters of ,hebrew writing such as are still in use to-day4 ,the ,samaritans1 however1 in their hatred of everything ,jewish1 refused to follow their example4 ,the ,jews had cut them off1 and they would take nothing from the ,jews2 they would keep to the old style of letters2 they would not allow a single word of the ,books of the ,prophets or the ,psalms or ,history ,books to have a place among their sacred writings4 ,the ,jews accepted these ,books as inspired2 therefore the ,samaritans rejected them4 ,thus ,jewish pride and ,samaritan littleness raised a terrible barrier between the two nations1 which grew more hopeless every year4 ,illustration3 ,,the ,,samaritan ,,book ,,of ,,the ,,law ,,at ,,nablous ,yet these hidden ,samaritan documents1 falsified as they had been1 have had a work to do for ,god's ,word within comparatively recent times4 ,for in the year #afaf ,a4,d41 just as some people were beginning to attack the ,bible1 and to declare that they could find no evidence that the ,old ,testament was so ancient after all1 the world was suddenly startled to hear of a great discovery--an ancient copy of the ,law had been found in ,syria4 ,other copies soon afterwards came to light3 the world had rediscovered the ,samaritan ,bible6 ,at ,nablous1 in ,samaria1 known in ,old ,testament times as ,shechem1 a traveller was allowed to look at the oldest ,samaritan copy of the altered books of the ,law4 ,its queer letter signs are traced on parchment rolls1 which are said to have been formed from the skins of rams offered in sacrifice4 ,they are kept in a silver cylinder1 covered with crimson satin1 heavily embroidered with gold4 ,but out of this discovery a new difficulty arose4 ,some of the critics decided that this was the original copy written by ,moses1 and therefore more correct than the ,jewish ,scriptures4 ,they would have done better to wait1 and to have trusted the ,bible a little more4 ,true1 the discovery was of great importance1 for these documents proved beyond all doubt that the ,book of the ,law dated back to a time when the ancient form of letters were still in use1 and so they bore a strong witness to the great age of the first five ,books of our ,bible4 ,but learned scholars were soon able to prove that the oldest ,samaritan copy was probably not older than the tenth or eleventh century of our era1 and that the form of the letters was so ancient merely because the ,samaritans refused to imitate the improved ,jewish writing4 ,a hundred years ago1 for instance1 books with long 's's' were printed in ,england2 but the old form of letter was tiresome to read1 and is now entirely out of date4 ,now the ,samaritans had not only refused to accept the new and improved form of letters--they had rejected as well all the fresh light and inspiration which ,god was continually giving to ,his people through the ,holy prophets4 ,according to the ,samaritans1 ,moses was the only true prophet4 ,thus they cut themselves adrift from further light1 and little by little the nations had dwindled away4 ,yet because so many of the ,samaritans in the time of ,christ were faithful to the measure of light they had1 and kept alive in their hearts the hope of a coming ,messiah1 ,god made for them a wonderful way of escape4 ,every ,bible reader knows and loves that beautiful scene by the well of ,sychar1 in ,samaria1 where the ,saviour began by asking a woman for water to drink1 and ended by explaining to her some of the deepest truths of ,god's ,kingdom4 ,we understand now why the woman was so surprised that a ,jew should condescend to speak to her1 and why the ,jews would have 'no dealings with the ,samaritans4' ,as we have seen1 a great barrier divided her from all ordinary ,jewish teachers--she had been taught to believe in an altered ,bible4 ,not merely a different translation1 remember1 for the ,bible should be the same in every language1 but a ,book of the ,law in which some of the words had been changed and the original meaning destroyed4 ,so the woman said to our ,lord1 ',our fathers worshipped in this mountain2 and ye say1 that in ,jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship4' 7,john iv4 #bj47 ,the ,saviour had not said so1 but she felt sure that ,he1 as a ,jew1 would certainly contradict the old traditions of his countrymen4 ,but the ,lord ,jesus ,christ had come to show the world that it was no longer a question of this mountain or that4 ,such matters had been but a shadow of the good things to come4 ',god is a ,spirit3 and they that worship ,him must worship ,him in spirit and in truth4' 7,john iv4 #bd47 ,with these words ,jesus1 the ,messiah1 for whom both ,jews and ,samaritans were waiting1 threw down the barrier of ages1 and united the two nations in a spiritual worship4 ,,chapter ,,viii ,,the ,,bible ,,in ,,the ,,days ,,of ,,jesus ,,christ ,illustration3 7drop cap ,s7 ,reading from a ,roll--old ,roman ,painting ,slowly but surely1 as time went on1 ,god was adding to ,his ,book1 until about four hundred years before the birth of ,jesus ,christ the ,old ,testament ,scriptures1 in their present shape1 were completed4 ,many questions have been asked as to how the canon of the ,old ,testament was formed--that is1 how and when did the ,jews first begin to understand that the ,books of the ,old ,testament were inspired by ,god4 ,about the first five ,books--the ,books of the ,law--there had never been any question4 ,from the very earliest times those ,books1 so wonderfully given to the people1 had been the strength and stay of the ,children of ,israel4 ,but many books had been written in the days of the old ,jewish kings1 and also after the return of the people from ,babylon3 some of these were very beautiful and helpful4 ,how were the sacred ,scriptures first divided from the other ,jewish writings8 ,we do not know4 ,some have thought that ,ezra the scribe1 with the assistance of a council of elders1 fixed the canon of ,hebrew ,scripture2 others have supposed ,nehemiah to have undertaken the work2 but most likely it was a gradual process1 directed by ,god ,himself1 who inspired ,his servants to carry out ,his will4 ,the ,christian ,bible is composed of two parts1 the ,old and the ,new ,testament2 but the ,jews divided their ,scriptures--our ,old ,testament--into three parts1 and they certainly looked upon some books as far more sacred than others4 ,the ',torah'--that is1 the ,law--included1 as we have seen1 the first five books of the ,bible4 ,from the very earliest days the ,torah was reverenced as containing the commandments and promises of ,god4 ,the second division consisted of the ',prophets1' these being subdivided into the ',former ,prophets' 7four volumes7--,joshua1 ,judges1 ,samuel1 ,kings--and the ',latter ,prophets' 7three volumes7--,isaiah1 ,jeremiah1 ,ezekiel--and the ,twelve ,minor ,prophets 7which were included in one book74 ,next in order of sanctity came the third division1 the ',writings1' and these again were subdivided into three groups3 the poetical ,books of the ,psalms1 ,proverbs1 and ,job2 the ',rolls' or ',readings' 7seven volumes7--,solomon's ,song1 ,ruth1 ,lamentations1 ,ecclesiastes1 ,esther1 ,daniel1 and one volume containing ,ezra and ,nehemiah2 and1 lastly1 in a separate book1 ,chronicles4 ,thus the whole ,scriptures were contained in twenty-four books4 ,indeed1 not until the ,greek translation was made were the books grouped in the order in which we have them now1 and at the same time their number was increased to thirty-nine by taking the writings of each of the prophets separately1 and treating ,ezra and ,nehemiah as different books4 ,and now ,god1 who has spoken in times past by many different ways and voices1 spoke at last to the nations by ,his ,son1 'by whom also ,he made the worlds4' 7,hebrews i4 #b47 ,let us think for a little while of what was being done with the ,scriptures in the days when the ,lord ,jesus learnt to read their words at ,his mother's knee2 words which from first to last told of ,himself4 ,we have seen that no people could possibly honour the actual letters of the ,scripture more highly than did the ,jews4 ,the care they took to keep the words exactly as they had been handed down to them was infinite2 and ,god1 who knows all things1 knew that a time would come when the pure ,hebrew words of the old ,bible would be eagerly sought for1 and treasured by all who truly honour ,his ,book4 ,therefore1 although the eyes of the learned ,jewish scribes were so blinded1 that they did not recognize their ,king and ,saviour when ,he came1 yet ,god blessed all that was true in their work1 and it is from the ,hebrew copies which they made of the ,books of the ,old ,testament1 and not from the ',septuagint1' or ,greek translation1 that the ,old ,testament of our ,bible has come to us to-day4 ,yet1 sad to say1 while so careful to preserve the words of the ,scriptures1 the ,scribes and ,pharisees forgot its spirit1 the very purpose for which the ,bible had been given them4 ,a man might know by memory every letter of the ,bible1 but unless the ,spirit of ,god were in his heart1 helping him to act out in his life the words he repeats with his lips1 all his knowledge of the ,bible would only lie as a dead-weight upon his soul4 ',the letter killeth1 but the spirit giveth life4' 7#b ,corinthians iii4 #f47 ,so wrote the ,apostle ,paul1 who had1 as we know1 been educated by the ,scribes and ,pharisees1 and when he wrote those words he was recalling his own experience4 ,thus1 as year by year the learned ,jews thought more of the letters of their ,bible1 they saw less of its spirit2 worse still1 they began to add to the teaching of the ,books of the ,law4 ,not that they ventured to put other words between those of the ,bible1 or to alter it as the ,samaritans had done2 but they invented long explanations of almost every verse1 and declared that these explanations must be followed as absolutely as the words of the ,bible itself4 ,for instance1 a learned ,jewish teacher wrote an explanation of ,moses' command about obeying the ,levites4 7,deuteronomy xvii4 #aa47 ,moses had said that the people were to do what the ,levites told them respecting the ,law of ,god1 neither turning 'to the right hand1 nor to the left4' ,the ,jewish teachers declared what ,moses really meant was that if a teacher of the ,law told you that your left hand was your right you must believe him6 ,illustration3 ,,plan ,,of ,a ,,synagogue #a4 ,,model ,,of ,,the ,,ark ,,which ,,was ,,carried ,,before ,,the ,,children ,,of ,,israel4 #b4 ,,stand ,,for ,,the ,,reader4 #c4 ,,women',s ,,gallery4 #d4 ,,entrance ,in this way1 while professing to explain ,god's ,word1 the scribes and teachers were confusing the simple people who wanted to obey this ,holy ,law4 ,the ,saviour saw this1 and ,he fearlessly rebuked the teachers of the ,law1 grieved beyond words that those to whom ,god had entrusted ,his ,book should make 'the ,word of ,god of none effect through your tradition4' 7,mark vii4 #ac47 ,his own way of using the ,scriptures was very different4 ,from ,his mother ,he had first learned to repeat texts from the ,old ,testament1 and with her ,he had gone to the ,synagogue1 ,sabbath by ,sabbath1 to hear the ,books of the ,law and the ,prophets read4 ,as ,he grew older ,he would have been sent to school and taught to read and recite the ,scriptures1 and long before ,he began ,himself to teach the people ,he had so absorbed the spirit of the ,old ,testament that ,his very thoughts seem to have been given in ,scripture words4 ,perhaps you have wondered why the names of some of the prophets and heroes of the ,old ,testament are spelt so differently when mentioned in the ,new--',elias' instead of ',elijah1' ',noe' instead of ',noah1' and so on4 ,this is because the writers of the ,new ,testament quoted from the ,greek translation of the ,bible instead of from the ,hebrew4 ,names change a little1 you know1 when translated into other languages4 ,for instance1 our name of ,mary becomes ',marie' in ,french1 and ',maria' in ,italian1 and yet it is all the while the same name4 ,some people think that this1 the ,septuagint1 or first ,greek translation1 was the special translation of the ,bible which the ,saviour used4 ,many of the quotations which ,he gave from the ,old ,testament appear to have been from this translation1 although some seem taken directly from the ,hebrew1 and others again from an ,aramaic version which has disappeared4 ,christ ,himself no doubt taught the people in the ,aramaic tongue1 which was a mixed language1 and came into use after the ,jews' return from ,babylon4 ,aramaic is called ',chaldee' in the ,book of ,daniel4 ,but while our ,saviour constantly quoted from the ,old ,testament1 ,he never used its words without definite purpose4 ,the ,sword of the ,spirit in ,his hands was either turned against the ,evil ,one1 or brought directly to bear with overwhelming force on some mistaken teaching which had blinded the people to the true meaning of the ,word of ,god4 ,the direct and yet simple way in which ,he reached the point1 and once and for all swept away the difficulty1 amazed and confounded the learned ,jews4 ,an instance of this is found in ,his wonderful answer to the ,sadducees1 who disbelieved in the ,resurrection4 ',as touching the ,resurrection of the dead1' ,he said1 'have ye not read that which was spoken unto you by ,god1 saying1 ,i am the ,god of ,abraham1 and the ,god of ,isaac1 and the ,god of ,jacob8' 7,matthew xxii4 #ca1 #cb47 ,his hearers1 of course1 had heard these words quoted from childhood1 but not till the ,saviour explained their full significance--',god is not the ,god of the dead1 but of the living'--did they realize that in the first recorded words spoken by ,god to ,moses lay a proof of the ,resurrection and of life after death4 ,let us take a look at the first time in which ,christ publicly read and explained the ,scriptures4 ,it is the ,sabbath1 and the synagogue of ,nazareth is full of people1 serious and attentive1 for they have met together to hear the ,word of ,god4 ,now ,one stands up to read4 ,the sacred ,roll is in ,his hand2 the ,roll of the ,book of the prophet ,isaiah4 ,listen3-- ',the ,spirit of the ,lord is upon ,me1 because ,he hath anointed ,me to preach the ,gospel to the poor2 ,he hath sent ,me to heal the broken-hearted1 to preach deliverance to the captives1 and recovering of sight to the blind1 to set at liberty them that are bruised1 ',to preach the acceptable year of the ,lord4' 7,luke iv4 #ah1 #ai47 ,he closes the ,book and sits down4 ,from the dim ages of the past those words had been read2 in the long1 long ages to come they will yet be read1 until the ,world shall cease to exist1 and time itself be known no more4 ,but never before and never again could there be so heart-searching or sacred a reading as this1 when the ,son of ,god read from ,his ,father's ,book in the simple village meeting in ,galilee4 ,and yet ,his listeners did not understand the reading4 ,even after ,his explanation of the words they fell upon deaf ears and raised only anger and surprise4 ,it was then that the first attempt was made to destroy ,him4 7,verse #bi47 ,to ,his own ,apostles1 enlightened as they were1 the message of the ,old ,testament was sealed until after the ,saviour's ,resurrection1 when ,he 'opened their understanding1 that they might understand the ,scriptures4' 7,luke xxiv4 #de47 ,then only did the wonderful truth dawn upon them that in coming to earth1 in suffering1 rising from the dead1 and ascending to ,heaven1 their ,master had not destroyed the ,scriptures1 but had fulfilled them4 7,matthew v4 #ag47 ,,chapter ,,ix ,,the ,,destruction ,,of ,,jerusalem ,illustration3 7drop cap ,g7 ,ruins of a ,synagogue ,god had given to ,his people a ,book foretelling the coming of the ,christ--or ,messiah1 as the word is written in ,hebrew--so that they might be prepared and ready for ,his appearance4 ,yet when ,he came they did not receive ,him4 ,they were looking for an earthly king1 and the beautiful words spoken by the ancient prophets had no meaning to them4 ,when ,jesus ,christ was born in ,bethlehem1 the ,jews were under the iron rule of the ,roman ,empire1 of which they formed a part1 for although the ,jewish family of the ,herods reigned over ,judea1 they only held their throne under the ,roman ,emperor4 ,this the ,jews could not endure4 ,they longed to be a free and independent nation once again4 ',when our ,messiah comes ,he will be a great warrior1' they said4 ',he will utterly destroy all our enemies4 ,he will make ,jerusalem the greatest and richest city in the whole earth2 all other nations will bow down before us1 acknowledging that the ,jews alone are the chosen people of ,god4' ,thus they were expecting a ,messiah who would begin his work by killing all the ,roman soldiers in ,palestine4 ,had ,jesus of ,nazareth been willing to become their earthly king and to lead the nation against the ,romans1 the ,jews would probably have followed ,him to a man4 7,john vi4 #ae47 ,but ,he saw that1 even from a human standpoint1 the nation could not be helped in this way1 and that the ,jews would only rebel against the ,romans to their destruction4 ,instead of widening the breach between them and their conquerors1 the ,saviour sought to heal it4 ,he called out the faith and gratitude of the ,roman centurion1 and ,his answer to the ,jewish leaders1 ',render to ,caesar the things that are ,caesar's 7,mark xii4 #ag7 showed them the right attitude in which to regard the ,roman rule4 ,when1 therefore1 ,he was brought at last before ,pilate1 the ,roman ,government had no quarrel with ,him4 ',thine own nation 444 hath delivered ,thee unto me1' said ,pilate who would have released his prisoner1 had not the ,jews prevented it4 ',if thou let this ,man go1 thou art not ,caesar's friend1' they cried1 thus compelling ,pilate1 at the risk of being reported as a traitor to his ,emperor1 to crucify ,jesus of ,nazareth1 and to free ,barabbas4 ,but in choosing the rebel1 ,barabbas 7,mark xv4 #g7 as their hero1 the nation started on their downward road1 as the story of the forty years which followed the ,saviour's crucifixion clearly shows4 ,for the ,jews were determined at all costs to throw off the ,roman yoke1 and the history of those years is one long list of terrible risings and massacres1 while cities were ruined1 villages wrapped in flames1 and men1 women and children perished with hunger4 ,yet the keener the suffering1 the more desperate the ,jews became4 ,their whole souls were possessed with a wild and mad passion for revenge4 ,the ,saviour had warned ,his hearers most earnestly against following false ,christs4 ',then if any man shall say unto you1 ,lo1 here is ,christ1 or there2 believe it not4' 7,matthew xxiv4 #bc47 ,yet no sooner did a daring rebel or murderer gather a band of robbers around him1 and begin to kill and plunder1 than multitudes of ,jews cried1 ',the ,christ1 or ,messiah has come2 now we shall have vengeance on our enemies6' ,they were fighting against ,god now1 and against the ,book which ,he had given them4 ,all peace-loving people who could possibly do so left the country4 ,illustration3 ,,the ,,precious ,,golden ,,candlestick1 ,,from ,,the ,,temple ,,at ,,jerusalem1 ,,carried ,,by ,,the ,,roman ,,conquerors ,,through ,,the ,,streets ,,of ,,rome--,,from ,,the ,,broken ,,roman ,,carving ,,still ,,to ,,be ,,seen ,,in ,,rome ,,to-,,day ,at last1 in #ff ,a4,d41 all the ,jews in ,jerusalem rose in a body against their ,roman governors4 ,they surrounded the great tower of ,antonia where the ,roman soldiers were quartered1 and cried out to the garrison within that their lives should be spared if they would lay down their weapons4 ,the ,roman soldiers hesitated1 but the ,jews promised most faithfully to keep their word4 ,the ,romans believed them1 and opened their gates2 but no sooner were they in the power of the ,jewish mob than they were fallen upon and murdered to the last man6 ,as they died the ,roman soldiers1 whom not even death could terrify1 lifted up their hands to ,heaven1 as though calling upon ,god to witness that the ,jews had broken their solemn oath4 ,the ,roman ,emperor could not overlook such rebellion and treachery1 and he sent a great army against ,jerusalem4 ,the ,jews shut the gates of their city1 and so began the awful siege of ,jerusalem4 ',and when ye shall see ,jerusalem compassed with armies1 then know that the desolation thereof is nigh4' 7,luke xxi4 #bj47 ,forty years before1 ,jesus ,christ ,himself had spoken these words1 and now there began for ,jerusalem days filled with horror and woe1 'such as was not from the beginning of the creation which ,god created unto this time4' 7,mark xiii4 #ai47 ,the story of these days has been written for us by a wise ,jew named ,josephus4 ,he was a prisoner in the ,roman camp during the siege of ,jerusalem1 and he watched with dismay the great battering-rams and war engines crashing through the walls of the ,holy ,city4 ,his ears rang with the cries of rage and despair which broke from the ,jews within1 as one by one their defences fell1 and the end drew near6 ,then food failed in the city2 men fought like demons in the streets for a tiny loaf of barley-bread2 so frantic were the people with hunger that mothers even snatched the bread from their own children's mouths6 ',look over the walls1 ,o people of ,jerusalem2 the ,roman soldiers are crucifying all the prisoners they have taken1 and the line of crosses is as long as our city is wide6' ,hard1 merciless as was the ,roman general1 even he grew sick with horror at last1 and he sent his ,jewish prisoner1 ,josephus1 to the ,jews1 promising them their lives if they would give up the city4 ,but a furious madness had possessed the people1 and they refused to yield4 ,josephus pleaded in vain4 ,he was not a ,christian1 but he could see plainly enough that ,god was no longer with ,his people4 ',ah1 my countrymen1' he cried1 'we did nothing without ,god in the past1 but now you are fighting against ,him4 ,had ,god judged you worthy of freedom1 ,he would have punished the ,romans as ,he did the ,assyrians long ago4 ,god is fled out of your holy place1 and stands on the side of those against whom you fight6'#a ,it is strange and wonderful to read these words in the old history4 ,even a ,jew who had no faith in ,jesus ,christ could see plainly that the ancient power and glory of his nation had gone4 ,at last the end came4 ,the first wall fell1 then the second and the third1 until the ,roman soldiers1 now as mad as the ,jews themselves1 burst into the ,holy ,city1 hewing down the defenceless people at every step4 ,and so they came to the ,temple--that beautiful ,temple of white marble and gold1 which still glittered like a hill of snow in the morning sunshine1 or sparkled as though wrapped in flame when the sunbeams struck full on its golden roof4 ,then redder flames than ever the sunshine made leapt above the golden roof2 pillars fell1 beams crumbled to ashes1 while round the altar of sacrifice the people of ,jerusalem lay heaped together1 slain in such numbers in the ,holy ,place that their blood flowed down the broad marble steps in a heavy crimson stream4 ,and the golden candlestick and the ,book of the ,law were carried away in triumph into heathen ,rome4 ,alas for the ,holy ,city1 over which the ,saviour of the world had stood and wept forty years before1 knowing the suffering that lay before her6 ',these ,jews are dangerous4 ,we must not allow them to rebuild their city1 or to become a separate people again4 ,as a nation they must cease to exist4' ,so the ,roman conquerors of ,jerusalem agreed2 and from that day onward the ,jewish people have had no country of their own4 ,they have1 indeed1 been 'led away captive into all nations' 7,luke xxi4 #bd7 exactly as the ,lord foretold4 ,there is scarcely a country in the world where ,jews may not be found1 but ,jerusalem lies still in the hands of strangers1 and is the property of the ,turkish nation4 ,the ,jews were now no longer a nation4 ,they had become merely a body of people led by their ,rabbis1 or teachers of the ,law2 but they were still 'the people of the ,book1' for even after frequent rebellions had so angered the ,romans that they passed a law forbidding a ,jew to enter the partially re-built city of ,jerusalem under pain of death1 they allowed the ,jewish teachers to continue the synagogue services in other parts of ,palestine1 and to teach in their colleges4 ,the most famous ,jewish college of these days was at ,tiberius1 on the shores of the ',sea of ,galilee1' over whose clear depths the ,lord ,jesus ,christ had sailed so often1 and beside whose shores ,he had done so many wonderful deeds of love and mercy4 ,a great and beautiful college it was1 with broad terraced gardens1 where the students paced to and fro1 their whole hearts and souls absorbed in their work4 ,the ,temple copy of the ,book of the ,law was now in the palace of the heathen ,emperor in ,rome1 but many less precious copies were left to them4 ,so all day long they studied and copied the old ,hebrew ,bible4 ,as we have seen1 the ,jewish scribes had not been content with taking the ,word of ,god just as it stood2 they had begun1 even in our ,lord's day1 to invent explanations of many parts of the old ,books which quite altered their true meaning4 ,after the fall of ,jerusalem the learned ,jews1 shut away in their colleges and striving to forget their sorrows1 began to write down the ,scripture explanations1 and to add to them so greatly that it became more difficult to recall the comments on the ,bible than it was to remember the ,bible itself4 ,illustration3 ,,medal ,,made ,,by ,,titus1 ,,the ,,conqueror ,,of ,,jerusalem4 ,,the ,,words1 ,,ivdaea ,,capta1 ,,mean ',,captive ,,judea4' ,,the ,,woman ,,weeping ,,under ,a ,,palm-,,tree ,,stands ,,for ,,the ,,city ,,of ,,jerusalem ,these explanations1 all collected together1 are called ',the ,talmud4' ,now the learned ,jews grew so fond of their ,talmud1 that they declared a man to be a blockhead if he knew only the ,scriptures and not the ,talmud explanation4 ',the law of ,moses is like salt1 but the ,talmud is balmy spice1' they would say4 ,yet although they heeded so little the true meaning of ,god's ,book1 they guarded its words more and more carefully2 and the rules for copying any portion of the holy ,books were strict indeed4 ',my son1' an old teacher would say to his pupil1 'before you copy a single word you must wash your body all over1 and clothe yourself in full ,jewish dress1 preparing your mind with solemn thoughts4 ,the parchment you write upon must be made from the skins of clean animals only--that is clean according to the ,law of ,moses4 ',the ink you write with must be of a pure black1 made only from a mixture of soot1 charcoal1 and honey4 ,though you know the whole ,book of the ,law by heart1 you must not write a single word from memory1 but raise your eyes to your copy1 and pronounce the word aloud before trusting it to your pen4 ,before writing any of the names of ,god you must wash your pen3 before writing ,his most sacred ,name you must wash your whole body4 ,if1 after your copy has itself been examined1 three corrections have to be made1 that copy must be destroyed4' ,not satisfied with all these directions1 the master taught his scholar to count the letters of every ,book4 ,one of the letters in ,leviticus xi4 is the middle letter of all the five ,books of ,moses1 a word in chapter x4 is the middle of all the words1 and a verse in chapter viii4 is the very centre of all the verses4 ,the letter ',a'--that is the ,hebrew letter which stands for ',a'--occurs #db1cgg times2 the letter ',b' #ce1bah1 and so on4 ,not only this1 but every scribe was required to know from memory exactly how many letters of each kind there should be in his sheet before he began to write4 ,every sheet of parchment must contain an equal number of lines1 and the breadth of each column had to be thirty letters wide4 ,there are eleven verses in the ,book of the ,law beginning and ending with ',n1' there are forty verses in which ',lo' is read three times--and so on1 and so on4 ,how tedious and meaningless such information appears6 ,of what value were all these details8 ,to spend all his days in learning such things as these could have no influence on a man's character1 nor make him a power for good in the world4 ,not for this purpose had ,god revealed ,his will to man4 ,some years ago in the coffin of an ,egyptian mummy1 a little jar of wheat was found4 ,for thousands of years it had lain there1 shut up in the dark1 while out in the fields the corn which had been sown had grown up and been reaped every year1 and men and women had been fed4 ,but this jar of corn was useless1 because it had been prevented from doing the work in the world for which it was created4 ,just so was it with the ,hebrew copies of ,god's ,word4 ,locked up in a dead language1 kept close1 away from the world1 they were like the jar of wheat which could not grow4 ,but meanwhile ,god's ,book was growing in the wide fields beyond4 ,while the ,jews were keeping safe the letters of the ,old ,testament1 the ,new ,testament was beginning to do its mighty work in the great heathen cities of the world4 #a ,josephus3 ',wars1' ,books v4 and vi4 ,,chapter ,x ,,the ,,beginning ,,of ,,the ,,new ,,testament ,illustration3 7drop cap ,t7 ,coin of ,thessalonica ,turn to the list of books given in the beginning of your ,new ,testament4 ,you will see that first come the four ,gospels1 or glimpses of the ,saviour's life given by four different writers4 ,then follows the ,acts of the ,apostles1 and1 lastly1 after the twenty-one epistles1 the volume ends with the ,revelation4 ,now this is not the order in which the books were written--they are only arranged like this for our convenience4 ,the first words of the ,new ,testament were written1 not as we should have supposed by one of the twelve apostles1 or by some one who had loved and followed the ,lord ,jesus ,christ when ,he was upon earth4 ,they are written by a ,pharisee who had been one of ,christ's bitterest enemies4 ,though ,saul had1 as far as we know1 never seen the ,saviour on earth1 what he had heard of ,his work and teaching made him feel that in stamping out all the followers of the so-called ,messiah1 he would be doing ,god service4 ,but we remember how the ,saviour ,himself appeared to ,saul on his way to ,damascus1 and how his heart was changed1 and his eyes were opened4 ,we can scarcely imagine the transformation which came over his mind4 ,together with all the other learned ,jews he had considered ,jesus of ,nazareth to be an impostor1 and to blaspheme the words of ,god's ,holy ,book when ,he applied them to ,himself4 ,now ,saul the ,pharisee understood that he and his countrymen1 not ,jesus of ,nazareth1 were at fault4 ,as he read the old prophesies he understood their true meaning1 'and straightway he preached ,christ in the synagogues1 that ,he is the ,son of ,god4' 7,acts ix4 #i47 ,then the full tide of ,jewish anger turned upon him4 ,that he should join the followers of the despised ,nazarene and forsake the sacred traditions of the ,law made all the ,jews scattered through the then-known world into his bitterest enemies4 ,paul1 as he was afterwards called1 loved his countrymen with a passionate love4 ,he would gladly have died for them1#a and that he should be unable to show them what was so clear to himself1 was certainly the greatest sorrow and disappointment of his life4 ,but though he was unable to help his countrymen1 as a nation1 ,god made him the most successful missionary-traveller the world has ever known1 and to him was given the privilege of writing a large part of the ,new ,testament4 ,before we think about his writings1 however1 let us look at the condition of the great heathen cities of the world at the time when he lived4 ,in the year ,a4,d4 #ed1 that is1 twenty years after our ,saviour's death upon the cross1 the ,emperor ,nero1 who is still remembered as one of the worst men who ever lived1 began to reign in ,rome4 ,for many years the ,roman ,emperors had been masters of all the then-known nations1 and for awhile they had ruled justly2 but ever as the ,roman ,empire increased in power and riches1 the ,roman rulers grew more haughty and selfish1 until at last they cared for nothing but their own pleasures1 and spent their days in drinking and feasting1 wasting enormous sums in senseless extravagance1 while thousands of their subjects starved4 ,a dreadful city ,rome must have been in those days1 though to look at she was beautiful indeed4 ,a city of marble palaces1 of fair white statues and green gardens2 of huge public baths and theatres4 ,on one side stood an enormous building1 with a round space in the centre1 and tiers of seats rising one above another like a circus4 ,this was an amphitheatre1 where shows and performances were given4 ,there were no sham combats in a ,roman circus2 no mere pretence of being wounded4 ,men fought with men in stern reality2 worse still1 men were made to fight with wild beasts4 ,lions and tigers1 and fierce bulls tore and gored men to death1 while the audience leaned back in their comfortable seats1 watching the horrible scenes intently4 ,every rich man in ,rome at the time of which we write owned hundreds of slaves1 who were the absolute property of their owners4 ,a slave-girl who arranged her mistress's hair badly was burnt with a hot iron4 ,if a slave-boy broke a costly vase his master might whip him to death1 or have him thrown into a tank full of ravenous fish4 ,there was no limit to the master's power4 ,although millions of people had scarcely a rag to cover them1 or a crust to eat1 the rich people flung their gold away on useless trifles4 ,indeed1 a kind of competition existed among them as to who could waste his money the most foolishly4 ',nightingales sing more sweetly than any other bird1' thought one of these4 ',i have it4 ,i'll order a dish of nightingales' tongues for my feast next week2 that will be something rare and expensive indeed6' ,all his friends were charmed with the new idea1 and nightingales' tongues became quite the fashion4 ,but all the time1 in this mighty city1 so black with sin1 so red with cruelty1 the pure white light of the ,gospel of ,christ had begun to shine4 ',gospel' means good news4 ,the story of ,jesus was blessed news indeed1 for the suffering1 hopeless people4 ,as yet all unnoticed by the rulers of the heathen world1 the little band of ,christians was ever increasing4 ,illustration3 ,,thessalonica3 ,,now ,,called ,,salonica4 ,,it ,,was ,,to ,,the ,,christians ,,of ,,this ,,town ,,that ,,paul ,,wrote ,,his ,,first ,,epistle ,from ,jerusalem the good news had spread to ,rome and to numbers of other heathen cities4 ,the ,apostle ,paul had preached and gained little groups of converts in ,thessalonica and ,philippi and other strongholds of evil1 and in the year when ,nero became ,emperor of ,rome1 the first words of the ,new ,testament were written4 ,it happened in this way3 ,st4 ,paul was in ,greece1 carrying on the war for ,christ in the very centre of the idol-worshippers4 ,most of the ,roman ideas of the false gods had come from ,greece4 ,in ,athens and ,corinth the most beautiful buildings were heathen temples1 and not a house in the whole land was without its images4 ,paul had preached at ,athens and ,corinth1 but in the very midst of his difficult work he heard that the little band of faithful followers he had left behind in the city of ,thessalonica were in great trouble4 ,they had no books to help them except the ,old ,testament1 written in ,greek4 ,although they had tried hard to remember his words1 many things still perplexed them4 ,besides1 the ,jews living in the city were their bitterest enemies1 and had so stirred up the people against them1 that they were in constant danger of losing their lives4 ,would not their great leader tell them what they ought to believe1 and how they ought to live8 ,paul loved these ,thessalonians1 and longed to go to them4 ,but he could not leave his work in ,corinth4 ,what then was he to do8 ,he could write a long letter to them1 bidding them to ',stand fast in the ,lord4' 7#a ,thessalonians iii4 #h47 ,to remember that ,god had called them 'unto ,holiness4' 7#a ,thessalonians iv4 #g47 ,paul did not need to remind them to love one another1 for that ,god ,himself had taught them4 7,verse #i47 ,he told them1 too1 not to sorrow hopelessly for those who had died for ,christ1 for when ,christ returns1 as ,he surely will1 those who have loved ,him shall rise first to meet ,him1 and so be with ,him for evermore4 ',wherefore1 comfort one another with these words4' 7,verse #ah47 ,we can imagine how eagerly the ,thessalonian converts listened to the letter4 ,we see1 too1 that the first ,christian document ever written contained the full ,gospel message1 and that the heathen had already 'turned to ,god from idols to serve the living and true ,god2 and to wait for ,his ,son from ,heaven1 whom ,he raised from the dead1 even ,jesus1 which delivered us from the wrath to come4' 7#a ,thessalonians i4 #i1 #aj47 ,a few months later the ,thessalonians were once more in great perplexity4 ',what are we to believe8' they had asked4 ',paul tells us plainly that ,christ will return to the earth4 ,how can we settle down to our ordinary work with such a wonderful hope before us8' ,from the answer which the ,apostle sent to their questions--which we call to-day the ,second ,epistle to the ,thessalonians--we can see clearly how troubled they must have been4 ,in order to understand their position we must remember that the words and acts of the ,lord ,jesus ,christ had not as yet been written down1 and all that the ,thessalonians knew about ,him was from ,paul's preaching and teaching4 ,they could not turn to their ,bibles as you can when you long to know just what the ,saviour would have you do4 ,so ,paul wrote to them again1 explaining that they must wait in patience1 quietly doing their daily work1 and earning their own bread1 as he and his companions had done whilst living in ,thessalonica4 7#b ,thessalonians iii4 #ab47 ,most of ,st4 ,paul's ,epistles--that is1 his letters--were written in this way because of some special need or danger4 ,the converts in ,corinth1 ,galatia1 or ,ephesus1 were in difficulty1 or in danger of losing their faith in ,christ1 and ,paul1 ever watchful1 but unable to go to them at the moment1 wrote the message of comfort and warning which ,god had put into ,his heart4 ,at last there came a time when ,paul could visit his converts no more4 ,the ,roman rulers were as yet not angry with the followers of ,christ4 ,they simply despised them1 and thought the ,jews very foolish to trouble about a pack of low1 ignorant people4 ',they are mostly slaves or such like whose opinions are worth nothing4 ,why do they not let them alone as we do8' said the proud ,romans4 ,but at last so bitter had the ,jews become against ,paul1 and so violent were their attacks on him1 that the ,roman ,government was obliged to interfere4 ,paul was arrested in ,jerusalem and imprisoned in ,caesarea4 ,here he remained for many months1 until1 at last1 finding he would get no justice from the ,roman governor1 he demanded to be taken to ,rome itself to the ,judgment ,seat of the ,emperor4 ,two or three years before this he had written a most wonderful letter to the ,roman ,christians4 ',to all that be in ,rome1 beloved of ,god1 called to be saints1' his letter was addressed4 ,he told them how he prayed for them1 and how he longed to see them ',making request1 if by any means now at length ,i might have a prosperous journey by the will of ,god to come unto you4' 7,romans i4 #aj47 ,his prayer was answered1 but he came as a prisoner in the year of our ,lord #fa4 ,yet ,paul was not put in prison when he arrived in ,rome4 ,he was allowed to see his friends1 and even to hire a lodging of his own1 though day and night he had to be chained to a ,roman soldier4 ,the soldiers were changed when their watch expired1 but never for one instant could the ,apostle go free4 ,many of these ,roman soldiers were hard and proud1 believing in nothing at all1 not even in their own idol gods2 but after a while1 won by ,paul's words and life1 the soldiers learned to believe also1 and became his converts4 ,for the first year of his imprisonment ,paul wrote little1 but he spoke and thought much2 as the second year drew on he sent letters to many of those he so longed to see again which are as precious to us as they were to those old-time ,christians4 ,among these are the ,epistles to the ,galatians1 the ,ephesians1 the ,philippians1 the ,colossians1 and a touching little appeal to ,philemon concerning a runaway slave who had become one of ,paul's converts at ,rome4 ,we are almost certain that the ,apostle was released for a time so that he was enabled to revisit many of his converts1 as he so earnestly desired to do4 ,illustration3 ,,the ,,old ,,roman ,,road1 ,,down ,,which ,,st4 ,,paul ,,travelled ,,into ,,rome1 ,,as ,,it ,,appears ,,to-,,day ,then he was once more taken prisoner and brought again to ,rome1 where ,nero's wickedness had become repulsive even to the ,romans themselves1 cruel and hardened though they were4 ,to ,timothy1 who was to him as a son1 ,paul the prisoner wrote a farewell letter1 just when he was to be brought before ,nero the second time4 ',i have fought a good fight1 ,i have finished my course1 ,i have kept the faith4' 7#b ,timothy iv4 #g47 ,so he wrote1 and before he closed his letter he begged ,timothy to make a special effort to come to him1 and to bring with him 'the books1 but especially the parchments4' 7,verse #ac47 ,these 'books' would most likely be the first copies of two or three of the books of the ,new ,testament1 just the very beginnings4 ,perhaps the life of ,jesus ,christ1 written by ,mark1 and a letter or two of ,peter's2 fragile1 reed-paper rolls1 which would tear and crack unless they were handled with the greatest care4 ,these would be written just like the ordinary books of the time1 for as yet no one dreamt that they would one day be bound up with the 'parchments1' and so form the ,christians' ,bible4 ,for by the 'parchments' ,paul almost certainly meant the ,old ,testament written in ,greek4 ,he needed these very 'specially4' ,he had time to think and study now2 and the old1 old ,books of the ,law and the ,prophets spoke from the first page to the last of his beloved ,master1 ,jesus ,christ4 ,did he live to receive the parchments8 ,we do not know4 ,how did he die8 ,the ,bible does not tell us4 ,but about the date ,st4 ,paul wrote the last of his words that have come down to us1 a fierce time of trial swept like a storm over the little ,christian colony in ,rome4 ,in his mad wickedness1 the ,emperor ,nero set fire to his own city so that he might watch the blaze4 ,half ,rome was burnt1 and then he grew alarmed1 for the people were furiously angry at losing their homes4 ,so he looked round for some one on whom to throw the blame4 ,in an evil hour he thought of the ,christians4 ',the ,christians plotted to destroy my city--death to them6 ,drag them from their houses1 burn them1 throw them to wild beasts6' ,the order went forth1 the excited people were only too ready to obey1 and so the ,lord's faithful followers were put to death by hundreds4 ,nero prided himself on inventing the most horrible tortures for them4 ,on one dreadful night he even caused a number of living men and women to be wrapped in cloths soaked in pitch1 tied to the top of long poles1 and then set on fire4 ,this horrible deed was carried out in ,nero's own beautiful gardens1 which were thus all lighted up with the glare of the flames4 ,but nothing could shake the faith and courage of these saints and warriors4 ',as it is written1 ,for ,thy sake we are killed all the day long4' 7,romans viii4 #cf47 ,but they feared none of these things2 they were faithful unto death1 and the ,lord has given them a crown of life4 7,revelation ii4 #aj47 #a ,romans ix4 #c4 ,,chapter ,,xi ,,how ,,the ,,gospels ,,came ,,to ,,be ,,written ,illustration3 7drop cap ,b7 ,early ,christian ,lamp ,but how did the story of the ,saviour's life on earth come to be written8 ,we have seen that many years passed before any one thought of writing it down at all4 ,the men and women who had really seen ,him1 who had listened to ,his voice1 looked into ,his face1 and who knew that ,he had conquered death and sin for evermore1 could not sit down to write1 for their hearts were all on fire to speak4 ,but as the years passed1 the number of those who had seen ,christ grew less1 and the need of a written ,gospel became ever greater4 ,precious words would be forgotten1 precious facts passed over1 unless they were collected together and put down in black and white4 ,some of those1 therefore1 who had seen and heard ,christ began to write down all they remembered of ,his life4 ,they had no thought1 as yet1 of a ,new ,testament being added to their ,bible2 the ,old ,testament ,scriptures were still the ',bible'#a to them4 ,these early ,christians1 as we remember1 did not read the ,bible in the original ,hebrew1 but in its ,greek translation4 ,they loved it and searched its pages eagerly1 as they realized that all its words spoke of ,christ6 ,but about the time that ,st4 ,paul was imprisoned at ,rome we think that the ,gospel according to ,st4 ,mark was written4 ,most of you know that ,mark was a young ,jew who began his work for ,god by travelling with ,paul and ,barnabas 7,acts xii4 #be71 but who left them when the work grew dangerous4 7,acts xiii4 #ac47 ,paul was so grieved at his failure1 that for a while he refused to trust him again2 but ,barnabas1 who believed in his repentance1 gave him another trial4 7,acts xv4 #cg-ci47 ,that ,mark proved himself even to ,paul we find from the ,apostle's last ,epistle to ,timothy1 when he writes3 ',take ,mark1 and bring him with thee3 for he is profitable to me for the ministry4' 7#b ,timothy iv4 #aa47 ,before that time1 however1 ,mark had lived and worked for many years with the ,apostle ,peter1 who in his letter written from ,babylon speaks of him as ',marcus my son4' 7#a ,peter v4 #ac47 ,now a ,christian writer1 named ,papias1 who lived about sixty years after this time1 tells us that ,mark wrote his ,gospel story from what ,peter had told him about ,christ2 so we think this ,gospel writing is really the ,apostle ,peter's account of our ,lord's life on earth4 ,very likely1 as ,mark journeyed with the ,apostle from place to place1 and heard him tell and retell the wonderful story of ,his ,master's life on earth1 the thought came into the young man's mind1 ',why not write down what ,peter says1 so that his words shall not be forgotten8' ,and so fresh and vivid are the words of ,mark's ,gospel1 so full of little natural touches1 that most people agree that old ,papias must have been right4 ,the very things ,st4 ,peter would have noticed are mentioned by ,mark4 ,matthew1 the writer of the ,gospel which comes the first in our ,new ,testament1 was a ,levite2 that is1 he belonged to the tribe of ,levi1 and this tribe was specially chosen in the time of ,moses to learn the ,law and serve ,god in ,his ,temple4 ,matthew1 therefore1 was very learned in the books of the ,law1 and in the writings of the old prophets4 ,as you all know1 the ,lord ,jesus chose ,matthew to be one of ,his special companions2 and as ,matthew followed his ,master day by day1 he saw more and more clearly how all the old prophecies which he knew so well pointed to the coming of ,christ4 ,illustration3 ,a ,,fragment ,,of ,,papyrus-,,paper ,,with ,,ancient ,,writing ,so1 when the ,holy ,spirit called ,matthew to write what he knew of the ,lord's life on earth1 those ancient prophecies1 and the wonderful way in which they had come true1 were still in his thoughts4 ,this is why we find in the ,gospel according to ,matthew more quotations from the ,old ,testament than in the writings of any of the other evangelists4 ',see1 ,my ,book has always spoken of the coming of ,my ,son4' ,this is the wonderful message which ,god gave to the world through ,matthew's knowledge of the ,old ,testament ,scriptures4 ,years passed1 and those who had seen ,christ in ,his earthly life had nearly all died1 while ,gentile ,christians everywhere were asking eagerly for the written story of ,his life4 ,twenty years after ,matthew's ,gospel was written1 ,god called a ,greek scholar1 named ,luke1 to write what was to be a most important part of our ,bible4 ,the ,jews of old hated and despised the ,gentiles2 we have seen how bitterly they persecuted ,paul because he declared that ,god had sent him to preach to the heathen nations2 think1 therefore1 how impossible it would have seemed to a ,jew of this time1 that a ,gentile could1 at ,god's bidding1 write two ,books which should become even more precious and sacred than the ,books of the ,law1 which the ,jews rightly prized as the greatest treasure of their nation6 ,those who work in heathen lands to-day tell us that the ,gospel of ,st4 ,luke is always the favourite book of the converts1 and that if they can only afford to buy one ,gospel they always ask for that of ,luke4 ,this is because the whole work is written from the ,gentile point of view--it is the world's history of ,christ4 ,st4 ,luke wrote his ,gospel as an historian1 and in dedicating his work to ,theophilus#b in a kind of preface1 he followed the ,greek custom4 ',many1' he says1 'have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us' 7,luke i4 #a71 but their records have disappeared1 while that of ,luke remains4 ,he was a physician1 as we know 7,colossians iv4 #ad71 and besides being highly educated and gifted1 he took infinite pains with his work4 ,he collected all the information he could both from books and eye-witnesses--either from the ,saviour's ,mother herself1 or from some of her relations--and to him we owe many of the most beautiful and touching facts of our ,lord's life on earth4 ,written last of all1 we have the good news--that is1 ,gospel1 told by ,st4 ,john4 ,when the ,saviour ascended into ,heaven1 ,john was still a young man1 but he lived to be older than all the other ,apostles4 ,by the time that ,st4 ,john wrote his ,gospel1 ,jerusalem had been destroyed and her inhabitants slain or scattered4 ,he was able1 therefore1 to mention details1 and give the actual names of people and places1 which1 if told earlier1 might have endangered the lives of those of whom he wrote4 ,many instances of this will be found by those who read carefully4 ,he alone mentions the name of the ,apostle who struck off the ear of the ,high ,priest's servant1 and the story of the raising of ,lazarus is given only by ,st4 ,john as though it would have been dangerous to record it earlier4 ,so filled with love was the ,apostle ,john that before he died his spirit became altogether one with ,christ's spirit1 and the sayings of ,jesus1 which he had only half understood whilst his ,master had walked this earth1 grew quite clear to him1 so that he remembered them distinctly4 ,therefore1 that others might understand also1 ,god's ,spirit called ,john1 when he was an old man1 to write out those precious words of ,jesus ,christ's which were always echoing in his heart1 and which the other writers had not known1 or had forgotten4 ,it is in ,john's ,gospel that we learn most about the love of ,christ4 ,matthew1 ,mark1 ,luke1 and ,john--let us thank ,god for them all4 #a ,the name ',bible' is derived from the ,greek word ',byblus1' i4e4 ',papyrus1' the paper reed on which the ,new ,testament was written4 #b ,the name ',theophilus' means ',god's friend4' ,most people believe that he was a notable convert of those days1 though unknown to history4 ,,chapter ,,xii ,,some ,,other ,,writers ,,of ,,the ,,new ,,testament ,illustration3 7drop cap ,l7 ,ancient engraving of man reading scroll ,let us now look at the rest of the books which make up the ,new ,testament4 ,in the days when ,paul preached at ,athens1 the old capital of ,greece1 much of the ancient splendour and power of the ,greek people had passed away1 for the ,romans had conquered their country1 and they were no longer a free nation4 ,yet1 although the ,greeks had been forced to yield to ,rome1 their conquerors knew that the ,grecian scholars and artists were far better educated and more highly gifted than themselves1 and ,greek statues and writings had therefore become the fashion throughout the ,roman ,empire4 ,indeed1 many of the ,greek sculptors and authors are remembered and admired to this day4 ,homer1 the greatest ,greek poet1 who lived about a thousand years ,b4,c41 is still world famous4 ,homer's best-known poem#a is about a terrible war which took place between the ,greeks and the ,trojans4 ,its words are noble1 and its descriptions very clever1 but although all must admire the beauty of the lines1 the poem produces a dismal and depressing effect4 ,the picture it gives of the old heathen religion is terrible1 for ,homer described the 'gods' and 'goddesses' in whom he believed as being far more cruel and unjust than the worst men and women of his time4 ,according to his ideas1 ,jupiter1 ,diana1 ,apollo1 ,mars1 and the rest came down to earth and took part in the battle4 ,in vain did the great hero1 ,hector1 fight his bravest2 in vain did he sacrifice himself1 and strive to make up for the wrong-doing of his brother2 he failed utterly1 for ,homer tells us that he was hated by some of the 'gods' for no fault of his own1 and so they doomed him to destruction1 and guided the hand of the man who slew him4 ,how little those clever ,greeks had been able to discover of the mercy and justice of ,god6 ,but although the men of this great nation knew nothing of our wise and loving ,heavenly ,father1 ,he knew and loved them every one1 and as we have seen1 ,he called a ,greek ,christian author to help ,him in the wonderful work of writing the ,bible4 ,in addition to the story of our ,saviour's life this ,greek author1 ,st4 ,luke1 also wrote a book about a war--a war that was to become world-wide--the war against sin and the ,devil1 and the name of this second book is the ',acts of the ,apostles4' ,in all this wonderful ,bible of ours there is no ,book more wonderful than the ',book of the ,acts4' ,have you ever stopped to think what a terrible gap there would be in the history of ,god's dealings with the world had the ',acts' never been written8 ,the ,apostle ,paul's life would be almost a blank4 ,stephen's victorious death would be all unknown to us4 ,above all1 the story of our ,saviour's ascension into ,heaven1 and the marvellous fulfilment of ,his promises in the gift of the ,holy ,spirit at ,pentecost1 would have been left untold4 ,the ,book of the ,acts stands alone4 ,there are four ,gospels--written from four different points of view1 but of the four writers1 ,luke1 the ,greek1 was the only one who wrote a sequel and showed the results which our ,saviour's ,life1 and ,death1 and ,resurrection produced at once in the world4 ,the marvellous accuracy of ,st4 ,luke and his keen observation become every year more striking as fresh discoveries in the lands of which he wrote show how true he is in the tiniest detail2 while his modesty is equally remarkable1 for only by carefully noticing when he says 'we' and when 'they' can we discover when he shared ,st4 ,paul's dangers and trials4 ,illustration3 ,,very ,,ancient ,,fragment ,,of ,a ,,papyrus ,,roll1 ,,with ,,portions ,,of ,,three ,,psalms ,,written ,,in ,,greek ',only ,luke is with me' 7#b ,timothy iv4 #aa7 wrote the ,apostle from his ,roman prison4 ,the beloved physician was faithful to his great leader to the last4 ,how did ,luke write1 and what did his two books look like when he had finished them8 ,he wrote on papyrus--that is1 on reed paper1 using an ink like black paint1 and a reed pen4 ,as far as we know no portions of the ,bible-books of this date are left in the world1 but in the beginning of the year #aiaa a large number of very ancient fragments of ,bible-books were discovered in ,upper ,egypt1 and with these was part of a translation of ,luke's ,book of the ,acts--just shreds and tatters of fragile papyrus paper1 the remains of what is up till now the oldest copy of the ,new ,testament in the world4 ,amongst the ancient manuscripts kept in the ,british ,museum are old old copies of ,homer's ,war poems1 and here also are stored the precious fragments of the chronicles of that other great ,greek writer--,st4 ,luke4 ,homer's book belongs to the forgotten past1 for the heathen religion of ,greece is to-day as though it had never been4 ,but the writings of ,st4 ,luke are as full of blessing and power as ever1 and the war he wrote about grows more wonderful every day4 ,for ,christ1 the ,son of ,god1 came down from ,heaven not to fight against men as the false gods of the old ,greeks were supposed to have done1 but to fight and conquer for men1 to lift up the fallen1 and to win for the victors a crown of deathless glory4 ,the ,apostle ,peter1 in contrast to ,st4 ,luke1 was only a fisherman when the ,lord bade him leave his boat and his nets to preach and teach the ,gospel4 ,his ideas were very limited when ,jesus ,christ first came into his life1 and he knew little or nothing of the various branches of knowledge which had become a second nature to the ,greek scholar2 but the fisherman was to receive his education in a very different fashion from ,luke1 for his teacher was the ,lord ,jesus ,christ ,himself4 ,how impossible it would have seemed to ,peter1 in the days when he washed his nets by the ,lake of ,galilee1 that his writings should ever form a part of the ,scriptures--,god's ,book1 which he had learned from his childhood to love and reverence6 ,yet with ,god all things are possible4 ,not only did the ,apostle ,peter write a part of the ,bible1 but that short book known as the ',first ,epistle of ,peter1' is one of the most frequently mentioned by all the earliest ,christian writers--those authors and teachers who had seen the ,apostles1 and had heard from their lips the story of the ,saviour's life on earth4 ,thus it is that ,peter's contribution to our ,bible has become one of the strongest witnesses to the truth of the words written down in the ,gospels4 ,there is no possibility of a mistake2 the man who wrote this ,epistle could have been none other than the ,apostle ,peter who had been with the ,lord from the beginning of ,his public work4 ,and it is very beautiful to trace throughout ,peter's writings the echoes of the great facts which he had seen1 and which to the end of his days formed the background of all his thoughts4 ,christ had given him his name ',peter' or ',cephas1' that is1 a rock or stone1 and so he wrote of his ,master as the great ,corner-stone of ,god's spiritual house1 in which each one of ,christ's people are living stones1 7#a ,peter ii4 #e-g47 ,the ,saviour had once told ,peter that he must forgive his brother although he was wronged by him on seventy-times seven occasions1 and in ,peter's ,epistle we read1 ',above all things have fervent charity among yourselves3 for charity shall cover the multitude of sins4' 7#a ,peter iv4 #h47 ',charity' should have been translated 'love4' ,then the ,lord had warned ,peter that ,satan had desired to have him1 and he--remembering that solemn fact in his own life--tried to put his readers on their guard against the great enemy1 'because your adversary the ,devil1 as a roaring lion1 walketh about1 seeking whom he may devour4' 7#a ,peter v4 #h47 ,most touching of all are the words he wrote3 ',for what glory is it1 if1 when ye be buffeted for your faults1 ye shall take it patiently8 ,but if1 when ye do well1 and suffer for it1 ye take it patiently1 this is acceptable with ,god 444 because ,christ also suffered for us1 leaving us an example4' 7#a ,peter ii4 #bj1 #ba47 ,the man who had seen the ,lord ,jesus ,christ suffer patiently could never forget4 ',feed the flock of ,god which is among you4444 ,and when the ,chief ,shepherd shall appear1 ye shall receive a crown of glory4' 7#a ,peter v4 #b1 #d47 ,his ,master's last command by the ,lake of ,galilee to feed ,his flock was so deeply impressed on ,peter's mind that it coloured all his thoughts to the last day of his life4 7,john xxi47 ,this ,epistle of ,st4 ,peter was written1 we believe1 to comfort ,god's people under the heavy trial of ,paul's second imprisonment4 ,cruelty and persecution were doing their worst1 but ,god was above all4 ',beloved1 think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you 444 but rejoice1 inasmuch as ye are partakers of ,christ's sufferings4' 7#a ,peter iv4 #ab1 #ac47 ,two short1 but very beautiful1 epistles are believed to have been written by two of the ,lord's brethren1 ,st4 ,james and ,st4 ,jude4 ,eusebius1 the first ,christian historian--born #bfj ,a4,d41 died #cdj--tells us that ,james was a ,nazarite4 ,this means that he had taken the old ,jewish vow of special purity2 he ate no meat1 drank no wine1 and wore nothing but white linen garments4 ,this vow is often mentioned in the ,old ,testament4 ,james had not believed that ,jesus ,christ was the ,saviour of the world until after ,his ,resurrection1 when the ,lord appeared to him4 ',after that1 ,he was seen of ,james4' 7#a ,corinthians xv4 #g47 ,this set his doubts at rest for ever1 and ,st4 ,james too was called to write a part of ,god's ,book4 ,of ,st4 ,jude1 author of the ,epistle of that name1 scarcely anything is known1 but from ,matthew xiii4 #ee and ,mark vi4 #c we learn that he was one of the ,lord's brethren1 and1 like his brother1 ,james1 did not believe that ,jesus ,christ was the ,messiah until after the ,resurrection4 ,this ,jude must not be confused with the ,apostle ,jude4 ,these writers of the ,new ,testament as they took their reed pens in their hands1 and spread out their rolls of whitey-brown papyrus-paper1 were not like ,moses4 ,true1 they knew that the ,holy ,spirit was bidding them write1 but that their written words should ever be used by ,god to form a part of the ,bible would have seemed impossible to them all4 ,illustration3 ,,part ,,of ,,an ,,ancient ,,coptic ,,tombstone--,,in ,,british ,,museum ,the last and by far the latest writer of ,god's ,book was ,st4 ,john1 the beloved disciple4 ,long after most of the other ,apostles were dead1 he still lived on1 speaking and writing of his ,master1 and to the ,apostle ,john the ,lord ,jesus ,christ entrusted the record of many of ,his most beautiful and comforting words1 and of the deepest and most spiritual teaching in the whole ,bible4 ,three of the shortest and yet most beautiful ,books of the ,bible are the three epistles which bear ,john's name4 ,they are supposed to have been written from ,ephesus1 in ,john's latter days1 and every sentence in them seems to breathe forth the peace1 love1 and wisdom of a very old man who has lived close to ,christ for many years4 ,it may well be then that these calm and loving letters were the last of all the ,bible words to be written4 ,now the ',revelation1' though placed at the end of our ,bible1 was not the last ,book to be written4 ,it was probably composed whilst ,nero1 the wicked ,emperor1 was torturing and burning the followers of ,christ4 ,st4 ,john's heart must have been ready to break with distress1 but the ,holy ,spirit comforted him1 and lifted his thoughts right up to ,heaven1 showing him in a vision the end of all these things4 ,among the fragments of the oldest ,bibles in the world recently discovered1 the ,book of ,revelation takes a prominent place4 ,some of these were probably written about the year #aej ,a4,d4 ,let us remember when we look on the faded pages lying in the ,british ,museum that when their discoloured lines were fresh and clean1 men were still living who had seen the early martyrs die4 #a ,the ,iliad4 ,,chapter ,,xiii ,,the ,,first ,,bible ,,pictures ,illustration3 7drop cap ,t7 ,roman ,scourge ,those boys and girls who love their ,bibles are fond of ,bible pictures4 ,even tiny children delight to see a picture of ,jesus ,christ holding the little ones in ,his arms2 and how sad children feel when they are shown a painting or engraving of the ,saviour led away to die6 ,we have learnt much now of the ,bible1 and of how the ,old and ,new ,testaments were written1 but who first thought of making pictures from the ,bible8 ,we shall see4 ,a few miles from the city of ,rome1 deep1 deep underground1 are those wonderful networks of galleries and chambers called ',the ,catacombs4' ',catacomb' means 'scooped out4' ,miles and miles of passages are there1 some low and narrow1 others wide and lofty2 they cross and re-cross each other1 like the streets of a town1 and all are scooped out of the solid earth4 ,on either side of every gallery are almost endless rows of spaces hollowed out in the walls1 one above another like the berths on board ship4 ,for the most part they are open and empty1 but a few are still closed4 ,above some of them words are faintly traced on stone slabs2 a man or woman's name perhaps1 oftener still the ,latin words1 ',in ,pace'--that is1 ',in ,peace4' ,for all this great underground city is in reality one huge cemetery3 the quiet resting-place where the first ,christians of heathen ,rome buried their dead1 where the martyred bodies so cruelly tortured by ,nero were laid at last4 ,in pace1 in peace4 ,how wonderful to read the names of those who loved ,christ and suffered for ,his sake so long1 long ago6 ,their very names speak to us of the courage and joy which1 in spite of torture1 ,christ had brought into their lives4 ,illustration3 ,,two ,,empty ,,tombs ,,in ,,the ,,catacombs1 ,,the ,,lower ,,one ,,showing ,,part ,,of ,,the ,,covering ,,slab ,,with ,a ,,rough ,,carving ,,of ,,the ,,martyrs' ,,palm ,,of ,,victory ',rest1' ',constancy1' ',god's will4' ,many names have meanings like these4 ,sometimes a simple picture of a victor's crown or martyr's palm-branch is placed beside them2 sometimes a few words are added4 ,latin is a dead language now1 but in those days it was the everyday language of ,rome1 so most of these inscriptions are in ,latin4 ,some of them are sorrowful1 for the mourners grieve to think that the loved one will open his eyes on earth no more2 but in all the hope of eternal life is sure and certain4 ,our beloved mother1 our little child1 our dear brother is with ,christ2 the parting is only for a time4 ,yonder1 in our beautiful ,heavenly ,home1 we shall meet once more4 ,how different from the words carved over heathen tombs6 ,we know what these were like1 for not very far away is a heathen catacomb4 ',valeria dormit in pace4' ,valeria sleeps in peace4 ,so the ,christian woman was laid to rest4 ',i lift up my hands against ,god1 who snatched me away4' ,we can still read these despairing1 rebellious words on a heathen tomb4 ',spare your tears1 dear husband and daughter1 and believe that it is forbidden to weep for one who lives in ,god4' ,how beautiful to know that we shall one day meet the woman in ,heaven of whom these words are written6 ,now1 about the time of ,nero's cruel persecution1 the ,christians of ,rome began to use the ,catacombs for meetings and services4 ,their heathen tormentors had a horror of death1 and therefore among the quiet dead the ,christians were safe for a while4 ,so they met deep underground in the dim galleries1 their little oil-lamps twinkling like stars1 and there they listened to the ,word of ,god1 and prayed and sang together4 ,many touching stories are told of these days2 and of the meetings held underground in these ,catacombs1 where the living were surrounded by the bodies of the martyred dead4 ,now1 these first ,christians loved the ,bible with all their hearts1 and just as you like to see hanging in your room the picture of the ,good ,shepherd with the little lamb1 so they began to long for pictures from their ,bible4 ,every heathen ,roman had his house decorated with pictures and carvings from his pagan religion1 but it was in the dim underground galleries that the first ,bible pictures appeared4 ,some of the subjects were taken from the ,old ,testament1 some from the ,new4 ,only ,bible pictures interested the first ,christians4 ,noah and the ,ark was a very favourite subject4 ',noah was safe in the ark1' they said1 'although thousands perished4 ,so will ,god keep safe all those who trust in ,him4' ,there are many pictures of ,jonah and the whale1 and one of the three children in the burning fiery furnace1 for this had special messages for the martyrs as we can well understand4 ,illustration3 ,,one ,,of ,,the ,,first ,,pictures ,,ever ,,made ,,of ',,christ1 ,,the ,,good ,,shepherd4' ,,found ,,in ,,the ,,catacombs1 ,,the ,,first ,,christian ,,cemetery ,another very touching picture is of the raising of ,lazarus4 ,the artist who carved this had once been a heathen2 perhaps in former days he had made and sold idols1 but now all his life and talents were consecrated to ,god4 ,and here carved in stone1 is the ,good ,shepherd1 ,christ bearing the lost lamb on ,his shoulder1 just as ,he does in the picture you love so well at home2 ,christ1 the ,good ,shepherd of your life1 just as surely as ,he was the ,saviour and ,friend of these men and women who fell asleep so long ago6 ,here is a picture of ,jesus feeding the five thousand with the loaves and fishes2 in this carving ,he is changing the water into wine2 here1 carved on a small panel1 let into a tomb1 is a ,roman soldier crowning our ,lord in mockery2 and here is ,pilate washing his hands in the vain hope that he could wash away his responsibility4 ,now1 there is one very wonderful thing about all these pictures3 although so many martyrs lie buried here1 nearly all the pictures and inscriptions are cheerful6 ,the heathen ,roman writers tell a great deal about the dreadful sufferings of the ,christians1 but there is very little said about it on the tombs of the martyrs themselves4 ,in peace2 they are at peace3 the torture1 the shame is over for ever2 the life of love and joy and victory is all before them4 ,how thoroughly these first ,christians knew their ,bible6 ,how they loved to picture its scenes4 ,had all the writings of the ,new ,testament been lost1 we should have known the most important events of our ,lord's life on earth from these faded paintings and worn carvings alone4 ,love1 joy1 peace2 the love of ,christ from which nothing can separate us2 the joy which even the fires of martyrdom cannot quench2 the peace which the world does not give1 and cannot take away4 ,this is the message which these first ,bible pictures bring to us all4 ,for to the early martyrs the ,bible was what ,god intends it should be to us--a living power1 a ,divine ,voice1 a constant source of strength and inspiration on the heavenward journey4 ,,stories ,,for ,,intelligent ,,children ,a ,,really ,,delightful ,,series1 ,charmingly ,bound and ,illustrated ,price #as4 each4 ,cloth ,boards ,by ,,mildred ,,duff and ,,noel ,,hope ,over #cj1jjj already in circulation ,,bible ,,stories6 ,who does not love ,bible ,stories8 ,even the words themselves bring back memories of past years1 when1 as children1 we listened to stirring tales of those men and women of old whose names are so familiar1 and of whom we were then first taught4 ,crude in style perhaps many of the stories were1 but none the less interesting4 ,perhaps there were things we could not quite understand1 and knowledge had not sufficiently advanced to explain1 but we accepted them all4 ,now great progress has been made in research2 modern discoveries in ,egypt supply the details which were lacking1 and the old stories can be told again in a new style1 in the light of fuller knowledge1 with added interest1 and with a force which previously had been impossible4 ,how wonderful the result8 ,our ,bibles become dearer to us than ever before2 we need have no fear of being asked the reason of our belief2 what we merely accepted before is now proved for us4 ,let us take1 for example1 the story of ,moses4 ,in this1 modern discovery has done splendid service1 supplying just those details most needed1 as though his sayings and doings had been preserved for our reading4 ',where ,moses went to ,school' is a fascinating title4 ,to be obtained from ,marshall ,brothers1 ,ltd41 ,paternoster ,row1 ,e4,c41 or #i ,north ,bank ,street1 ,edinburgh4 ,the ,campfield ,press1 ,st4 ,albans