Part 2

The young men puzzled for several days, and at last they persuaded Samson's young wife to get the secret from him. And at length she begged so hard that he told her the answer.

Then she went to her people, the Philistines, and told them.

When the seven days were up, the young men gave the answer: "What is sweeter than honey, and what is stronger than a lion?"

But Samson was very angry when he found that they had persuaded his wife; and he went down to Ashkelon and killed thirty Philistines, and brought the spoil and divided it among the young men who had answered his riddle. And then in fierce anger, he returned to his father's house.

But his wife was given to one of the companions who used to be his friend, and Samson never saw her again.

Samson judged Israel for twenty years, and by his great personal strength and courage, he gained many victories over the Philistines.

But he made a great mistake, which resulted in his death.

The Philistines at once took advantage of this, and promised a heathen Philistine woman great riches if she would find out, and tell them, the secret of his wonderful strength. In an evil moment, he told her that it was because he was a Nazarite, and that no razor had ever come upon his head!

So, when he was asleep, Delilah managed to cut off his hair; and then she sent for the lords of the Philistines, who hurried to the spot. They easily bound Samson because his strength was gone from him; and they put out his eyes, and sent him to grind in the prison-house.

It would take me too long to tell you how his hair began to grow again, and his strength began to return. Or how he was taken out to make sport for the Philistines, and how he begged the boy who led him to let him feel the pillars of the house where three thousand Philistines were watching him from the roof.

Samson asked God to give him strength for this, once more; and then he bowed himself with all his might, clasping the pillars in his arms, and the house fell, and he, and all the three thousand Philistines, were buried beneath the ruins.

What a difference there was between Manoah's godly wife, and Samson's heathen!

[Illustration]

V. THE CHARIOT OF FIRE

BUT now the time had come when the Lord was going to take Elijah up to Heaven in a whirlwind.

So Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal, and as they journeyed, he said to him: "Stay here, I pray thee; for the Lord hath sent me to Bethel."

But Elisha would not allow him to go alone, so they went to Bethel together.

When they reached Bethel, the sons of the prophets who lived there came out to meet Elisha, and they said to him: "Do you know that the Lord is going to take your master away from you to-day?"

And Elisha said: "I know it; but hold your peace."

And so it went on till they reached Jericho, and here again the sons of the prophets came to Elisha with their question: "Do you know that the Lord will take your master from your head to-day?"

And again Elisha sorrowfully answered: "Yes, I know it; hold ye your peace."

Then Elijah said to him: "Stay here, I pray thee; for the Lord hath sent me to Jordan."

But Elisha gave the same answer to him as he had given before, that he would not on any account leave him. So they went on together.

The sons of the prophets evidently knew that something very wonderful was going to happen, and as they saw the two men going towards Jordan, fifty of them gathered together and stood to view from afar.

So they came to the river Jordan, and Elijah wrapped his mantle together and smote the waters, and they were divided hither and thither, and they two passed over on dry ground.

Then Elijah said to Elisha: "Ask what I shall do for thee, before I am taken away from thee."

And Elisha said: "I pray thee, let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me!"

Elijah answered him that was a great thing he had asked, but if Elisha saw him when he was taken away, then he would know that his request was granted.

And as they were talking, there appeared a chariot of fire and horses of fire, and they were parted from each other; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into Heaven.

And Elisha saw it, and he cried: "My father, my father, the chariot of Israel and the horsemen thereof."

And he took Elijah's mantle that fell from him, and smote the waters of Jordan again, and they were divided before him, and he passed over.

Then the sons of the prophets begged to be allowed to go to search for Elijah, or to find his body, but Elisha was unwilling, and begged them not to go, for he knew it would be useless.

But fifty of them went out and searched for three whole days, but did not find him.

[Illustration: Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.]

How could they, when he was gone up to heaven in a chariot of fire?

And now in the New Testament, nine hundred years after that chariot of fire, which took Elijah to Heaven, we read of him again on the top of a mountain talking to Jesus while He was on earth!

It was not long before our Lord's death on Calvary that He took His three disciples, Peter, James, and John, up to a high mountain and was transfigured before them.

You will perhaps ask: "What does transfigured mean?" It means—changed, altered—made exceedingly bright and beautiful.

The Lord Jesus had been on earth for thirty-three years. He had gone about when He was young like an ordinary boy, and afterwards like an ordinary man; except that He did no sin, and was perfectly holy and loving; and was full of mercy and kindness to every one He met.

But now the time had come for Him to suffer on the Cross, to bear the punishment of our sins. And our Heavenly Father wished to give those three disciples a glimpse of the glory which Jesus had left when He came to earth, and to which He was going back, when He had done all the work which His Father had given Him to do.

So when they reached the top of the mountain with Jesus, suddenly they found that His face was changed into a face of glory, and His clothes became white and glistening. And soon they saw that Jesus was talking with two men—Moses and Elijah—who had come down from the glory of Heaven to talk with Him about His death which would soon happen at Jerusalem.

Can we not imagine the joy of Moses and Elijah, and the adoring worship of their hearts, as they talked with their beloved Lord? No wonder that Peter said in one of his Letters afterwards in speaking of this scene:

"We . . . were eyewitnesses of His majesty. For He received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice from the excellent glory: 'This is My beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased.' And this Voice which came from Heaven we heard, when we were with Him in the holy mount."

Then a bright cloud overshadowed them, and when it had passed away, Moses and Elijah were no longer there, but Jesus only!

And Jesus came and touched them, and told them not to be afraid.

And then as they went down from the mountain, He explained to them that He would very shortly have to die; but that they were not to tell of the Vision they had seen, till after He was risen from the dead.

Jesus said Himself to two of His friends after His resurrection: "Ought not Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?" And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He explained to them all through the Bible the things which were written there about Himself.

[Illustration]

VI. IN THE CAVE

AFTER David had conquered the giant, and had brought his head to the king, Saul for a while was very proud of his young soldier, and made much of him in every way. And David behaved himself wisely; and Saul set him over his men of war, and he became very popular among the people.

Meanwhile Jonathan, Saul's son, thought there was no one in the world like David! He loved him as his own soul.

He took off his own beautiful clothes, which belonged to him as the king's son, and put them on David, even presenting him with his sword, his bow and his girdle.

But a jealous feeling began to rankle in the breast of the king.

He heard the women singing who came out to meet him from the cities, after David's slaughter of the giant, and these were the words they sang: "Saul has slain his thousands, but David his ten thousands."

This made the king very angry, and from that day forth, he determined to kill David.

So King Saul hunted David up and down the land. Jonathan was devoted to him, and helped him to escape many times. He endeavoured to be a peacemaker, and assured his father that David had no evil designs against him. But it was all of no use. Jealousy, which the Bible says is "cruel as the grave," had entered into Saul's heart, and it poisoned all his thoughts.

Then David again had a great victory over the Philistines, and Saul was so jealous that he threw his javelin at him. David, however, escaped, and the javelin went into the wall, where he had been sitting playing his harp to Saul.

He fled down to his house, but Saul sent men to watch for him and to kill him in the morning. So Michal, his wife, persuaded him to fly that night, for she was sure he would be slain.

Michal was Saul's daughter, and she loved David. So she let him down through a window, and he escaped.

Then Michal took an image, and laid it in the bed, and put a goat's-hair pillow for a bolster and covered it with a cloth.

And when Saul's messengers came to take David, Michal said: "He is sick."

Then Saul sent back the messengers and ordered them to bring David in his bed!

But when the messengers came in, there was only an image in the bed, and David was far away!

So it went on, till David was hunted from place to place, all over the land, and driven, with the men of war who followed him, to live in the mountains, and among rocks and caves, to get away from Saul's vengeance.

One day, as Saul was pursuing hotly after David, who he heard was in the wilderness of Engedi, he was very weary with travel, and finding a large dark cave, he entered it, and lay down to get some sleep.

Little did Saul guess, that the man he had come to seek was close to him, and that in the darkness of the cave, and hidden by the jutting sides, David and his men were quietly watching him.

When Saul had fallen into a deep sleep, David's men whispered to him that the day had come when the Lord had delivered his enemy into his hand!

So David went forward, and as he approached Saul, he saw that his robe, with which he had covered his feet, lay partly on the ground. So he softly cut off the skirt of Saul's robe, and went back to his hiding-place.

But David's heart smote him, because he had cut off Saul's robe; and he hastily forbade his men to touch the king, for was he not the Lord's anointed?

Presently Saul awoke from his sleep and went out of the cave, and David followed him and called out to him, "My lord the king!"

And when Saul looked behind him, David stooped and bowed low before him.

And David said to Saul: "Why do you regard men's words, telling you that I seek your hurt? Look, how this very day the Lord has delivered you into my hand in the cave, and some bade me kill you; but my eye has spared you, and I said, 'I will not put forth my hand to hurt the Lord's anointed!' Moreover, see, my father, here is the skirt of your robe in my hand! Surely you know now that I have not tried to hurt you, and yet you have hunted my soul to take it! The Lord is judge between us; He will plead my cause, and will deliver me out of your hand!"

When David had said these gentle and brave words, Saul said: "Is this thy voice, my son David?" and Saul lifted up his voice and wept.

Then he said to David: "You have been more honourable than I have, for you have rewarded me with good, and I have rewarded you with evil. Therefore may the Lord reward you good for what you have done to me this day."

And then he went on to tell David that he knew he would be king one day, and he earnestly begged him to be merciful to his father's house and not let his name perish out of the land.

So David promised him, before the Lord.

Then Saul went to his home, and David returned to his stronghold.

Saul later on again attempted to capture David, taking with him three thousand men.

David heard where Saul was camped, and taking Abishai with him, entered Saul's camp by night.

They found Saul asleep with his captain in a trench, with his men lying all around.

Abishai wished to kill Saul, but David refused, saying, "Destroy him not: for who can stretch out his hand against the Lord's anointed and be guiltless?"

So they took Saul's spear and water-bottle that was against his head and got away without anyone seeing them.

So David again spared the life of the man who for years had tried to kill him.

[Illustration]

[Illustration]

VII. MOSES IN THE LAND OF MIDIAN

EXODUS 2.13-25

MOSES grew up from that little babe who had been hidden in the flags or reeds of the Nile, and he had been educated in all the learning of the Egyptians, as if he had been the real son of Pharaoh's daughter.

God was watching over Moses all the time, and preparing him for the great and wonderful work he was to do.

Do we all sometimes feel it very hard to learn difficult tasks? Do we, as we grow older, sometimes wonder what work God is getting us ready to do for Him?

I remember when I was young, how I was asked to stay for a fortnight at a lady's house whom I had never seen, or heard of, before. She called on my father, and said she should like to know his two eldest daughters, and would he allow us to come and stay with her?

So we went; we were about nineteen and twenty at that time, and we felt very homesick and strange at first. But do you know? That was one of the best things that ever happened to both of us!

That dear, kind old lady, had a heart full of love to Jesus our Saviour; and she used her money, and her house, and her influence, to help young people to love Him too. And when we got to know her, we had such a happy time, and set to work ourselves to try to bring others to love Jesus. Well, that was God's love in training us for what He wanted us to do afterwards. So, with Moses; he went in and out of Pharaoh's Court, and learned many things which were most useful to him, all his life, in God's Service.

The Children of Israel, or the Hebrews as they were called at this time, were slaves in Egypt, and one day Moses saw an Egyptian using one of the Hebrews very badly. So Moses interfered, and killed the Egyptian who was ill-treating one of God's people.

This made Pharaoh very angry, and he tried to kill Moses.

So Moses fled, and by and bye, he reached the land of Midian, where he sat down by a Well, and rested himself.

[Illustration: MOSES IN THE LAND OF MIDIAN.]

This Well belonged to the Priest, or Prince of Midian; and he had seven daughters, who every day came to the Well, and filled the troughs for their father's flocks to drink.

But some shepherds came and drove the girls away, wishing, I suppose, to use the trough to water their own flocks, without waiting for the maidens to finish their task.

But Moses stood up and helped them, so that they watered their father's flock very quickly.

When they came home, their father asked them how it was that they returned so soon?

And they said: "An Egyptian delivered us out of the hand of the shepherds, and also drew water for us!"

In the East, people are very hospitable, and ready to entertain strangers; and directly Reuel (or Jethro) heard what his daughters said, he exclaimed: "Where is he? How is it that you have left the man? Call him, that he may eat bread."

[Illustration: By and by, Moses and Zipporah had a little son.]

So Moses was very happy to stay with Jethro, and soon he married one of Jethro's daughters, named Zipporah. And by and bye Moses and Zipporah had a little son, whom Moses named Gershom.

But while all this was going on in Midian, the plight of the Hebrews who were in Egypt grew worse and worse.

The King, who had wanted to kill Moses, had died, and the Children of Israel sighed under the cruel bondage that the Egyptians put upon them.

And their cry came up to God.

And God looked down out of heaven upon the poor, hardly-used slaves, and He came down from heaven and spoke to Moses about them.

And the words He said are full of the tenderest comfort to all who are in trouble. For God sees it, whatever it is. Also He listens to our cry, when things are too hard for us. But best of all, He knows just what is in our hearts, which nobody else can see or hear, and to this sorrow He says, "I, even I, am He that comforteth you."

So God said to Moses, "For I know their sorrows; and I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up into a good land ... flowing with milk and honey."

And God chose Moses, whom He had so wonderfully trained, to be His Servant, who should deliver the Children of Israel from their hard slavery.

Moses knew all about Egypt. He could speak the language of the Egyptians: he understood all about the Court of Pharaoh, and the customs of the Egyptians. So God sent him straight down to Egypt to deliver His people, and He gave him this great and beautiful promise to cheer his heart:

"Certainly I will be with thee."

Then God explained to Moses that Pharaoh would not let them go, but that He would shew great wonders in Egypt by His Mighty Hand, and after that, Pharaoh would be so frightened, that he would let them go.

All this came to pass; for God sent plague after plague on the Egyptians, until at last, in a marvellous way, God delivered the whole of the Israelites, with all their possessions and flocks and herds, right out of the hand of Pharaoh. And God brought them through the Red Sea on dry land, while the great army of the Egyptians who followed hard after them, with their Chariots and horses, were drowned in the deep waters, so that there was not one left!

And afterwards, God led His people through the wilderness, and did bring them into the Land of Canaan as He had promised.

[Illustration]

VIII. A GOOD REPORT OF THE LAND

THE Children of Israel—the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob—had come down to Egypt in consequence of the seven years of famine. Joseph was there, and was great in the eyes of Pharaoh, and the king made old Jacob and his sons, with their families and their flocks, welcome to live in the land of Goshen.

For a time, they were very happy and prosperous, and God blessed them and they increased in numbers and riches.

But by and by, the Egyptians began to look round upon these Children of Israel, and jealousy of their success filled their hearts.

The Pharaoh who had made them so welcome for Joseph's sake, was dead. And another king arose who had forgotten all about Joseph, and he began to lay burdens on the Children of Israel, and to force them to build his palaces and cities.

[Illustration: He began . . . to force them to build his palaces and cities.]

At length, the cruelty and the burdens became intolerable, and the Lord God in Heaven saw their affliction, heard their groaning, and sent down to deliver them.

Moses was His chosen servant, and under him, after many wonderful deliverances, the people were brought right out and set free, and were taken back to the borders of the land which God had promised to give to Abraham and his children after him.

But the Children of Israel were disobedient, and forgetful of all the wonders that God had shown them, in delivering them from Egypt. He had made a way for them to walk dry-shod through the Red Sea; He brought water out of a rock for their thirst; and He sent down manna every day for their food.

But because of their murmuring, complaining spirit, God told Moses that He could not let them go into the land of Canaan just yet.

So He led them about in the wilderness; spreading His cloud over them in the day to shield them from the sun's scorching rays; and by night He put a pillar of fire to give them light and comfort.

At length, in the second year after they came out of Egypt, they reached the wilderness of Paran. And now God told Moses to take one chief man out of each of the twelve tribes of Israel, and he was to send them into the land of Canaan to bring back a report of what they found there.

There were twelve men chosen, but of these only two, Caleb and Joshua, were faithful to God all through.

The twelve men set out, and at the end of forty days they returned with their report of all they had seen.

They brought with them pomegranates and figs; and the grapes were so plentiful, that from one place called Eshcol they brought a bunch which required two men to carry it on a pole between them.

For God had promised when they left Egypt, that He would bring them to a land flowing with milk and honey, and that He would drive out all their enemies before them.

If only they had remembered this!

So the messengers began to tell their tale. They said that indeed it was a rich land, flowing with milk and honey. "And see," said they, "here is some of the fruit of it."