The Wonder Book of Bible Stories by Compiled by Logan Marshall

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So the next morning Abraham sent Hagar and her boy away, expecting them
to go back to the land of Egypt, from which Hagar had come. He gave them
some food for the journey, and a bottle of water to drink by the way.
The bottles in that country are not like ours, made of glass. They are
made from the skin of a goat. One of these skin-bottles Abraham filled
with water and gave to Hagar.

And Hagar went away from Abraham's tent, leading her little boy. But in
some way she lost the road, and wandered over the desert, not knowing
where she was, until all the water in the bottle was used up; and her
poor boy in the hot sun and the burning sand had nothing to drink. She
thought that he would die of his terrible thirst; and she laid him down
under a little bush; and then she went away, for she said to herself:

[Illustration: _In some way she lost the road_]

"I cannot bear to look at my poor boy suffering and dying for want of
water."

And just at that moment, while Hagar was crying, and her boy was
moaning with thirst, she heard a voice saying to her:

"Hagar, what is your trouble? Do not be afraid. God has heard your cry
and the cry of your child. God will take care of you both, and will make
of your boy a great nation of people."

It was the voice of an angel from heaven; and then Hagar looked, and
there, close at hand, was a spring of water in the desert. How glad
Hagar was as she filled the bottle with water and took it to her
suffering boy under the bush!

[Illustration: _Learned to shoot with the bow and arrow_]

After this Hagar did not go down to Egypt. She found a place where she
lived and brought up her son in the wilderness, far from other people.
And Ishmael grew up in the desert and learned to shoot with the bow and
arrow. He became a wild man, and his children after him grew up to be
wild men also. They were the Arabians of the desert, who even to this
day have never been ruled by any other people, but wander through the
desert, and live as they please. So Ishmael came to be the father of
many people, and his descendants, the wild Arabians of the desert, are
living unto this day in that land.

THE STORY OF ABRAHAM AND ISAAC

You remember that in those times of which we are telling, when men
worshipped God, they built an altar of earth or of stone, and laid an
offering upon it as a gift to God. The offering was generally a sheep,
or a goat, or a young ox--some animal that was used for food. Such an
offering was called "a sacrifice."

But the people who worshipped idols often did what seems to us strange
and very terrible. They thought that it would please their gods if they
would offer as a sacrifice the most precious living things that were
their own; and they would take their own little children and kill them
upon their altars as offerings to the gods of wood and stone, that were
no real gods, but only images.

God wished to show Abraham and all his descendants, those who should
come after him, that he was not pleased with such offerings as those of
living people, killed on the altars. And God took a way to teach
Abraham, so that he and his children after him would never forget it.
Then at the same time he wished to see how faithful and obedient Abraham
would be to his commands; how fully Abraham would trust in God, or, as
we would say, how great was Abraham's faith in God.

So God gave to Abraham a command which he did not mean to have obeyed,
though this he did not tell to Abraham. He said:

"Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love so greatly, and
go to the land of Moriah, and there on a mountain that I will show you,
offer him for a burnt-offering to me."

Though this command filled Abraham's heart with pain, yet he would not
be as surprised to receive it as a father would in our day; for such
offerings were very common among all those people in the land where
Abraham lived. Abraham never for one moment doubted or disobeyed God's
word. He knew that Isaac was the child whom God had promised, and that
God had promised, too, that Isaac should have children, and that those
coming from Isaac should be a great nation. He did not see how God could
keep his promise with regard to Isaac, if Isaac should be killed as an
offering; unless indeed God should raise him up from the dead afterward.

But Abraham undertook at once to obey. God's command. He took two young
men with him and an ass laden with wood for the fire; and he went toward
the mountain in the north, Isaac, his son, walking by his side. For two
days they walked, sleeping under the trees at night in the open country.
And on the third day Abraham saw the mountain far away. And as they drew
near to the mountain Abraham said to the young men:

[Illustration: _For two days they walked_]

"Stay here with the ass, while I go up yonder mountain with Isaac to
worship; and when we have worshipped, we will come back to you." For
Abraham believed that in some way God would bring back Isaac to life. He
took the wood from the ass and placed it on Isaac, and they two walked
up the mountain together. As they were walking, Isaac said:

"Father, here is the wood, but where is the lamb for the offering?"

And Abraham said, "My son, God will provide himself a Lamb for a burnt
offering."

And they came to the place on the top of the mountain. There Abraham
built an altar of stones and earth heaped up; and on it he placed the
wood. Then he tied the hands and the feet of Isaac, and laid him on the
altar, on the wood. And Abraham lifted up his hand, holding a knife to
kill his son. Another moment longer and Isaac would be slain by his own
father's hand.

[Illustration: _"God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt
offering"_]

But just at that moment the angel of the Lord out of heaven called to
Abraham, and said:

"Abraham! Abraham!"

And Abraham answered, "Here I am, Lord." Then the angel of the Lord
said:

"Do not lay your hand upon your son. Do no harm to him. Now I know that
you love God more than you love your only son, and that you are obedient
to God, since you are ready to give up your son, your only son, to God."

What a relief and a joy these words from heaven brought to the heart of
Abraham! How glad he was to know that it was not God's will for him to
kill his son! Then Abraham looked around, and there in the thicket was a
ram caught by his horns. And Abraham took the ram and offered him up for
a burnt-offering in place of his son. So Abraham's words came true when
he said that God would provide for himself a lamb.

The place where this altar was built Abraham named Jehovah-jireh, words
in the language that Abraham spoke meaning, "The Lord will provide."

This offering, which seems so strange, did much good. It showed to
Abraham, and to Isaac also, that Isaac belonged to God, for to God he
had been offered; and in Isaac all those who should come from him, his
descendants, had been given to God. Then it showed to Abraham and to
all the people after him, that God did not wish children or men killed
as offerings for worship; and while all the people around offered such
sacrifices, the Israelites, who came from Abraham and from Isaac, never
offered them, but offered oxen and sheep and goats instead.

These gifts, which cost so much toil, they felt must be pleasing to God,
because they expressed their thankfulness to him. But they were glad to
be taught that God does not desire men's lives to be taken, but loves
our living gifts of love and kindness.

THE STORY OF JACOB

After Abraham died, his son Isaac lived in the land of Canaan. Like his
father, Isaac had his home in a tent; around him were the tents of his
people, and many flocks of sheep and herds of cattle feeding wherever
they could find grass to eat and water to drink.

Isaac and his wife Rebekah had two children. The older was named Esau
and the younger Jacob.

Esau was a man of the woods and very fond of hunting; and he was rough
and covered with hair.

Jacob was quiet and thoughtful, staying at home, dwelling in a tent, and
caring for the flocks of his father.

Isaac loved Esau more than Jacob, because Esau brought to his father
that which he had killed in his hunting; but Rebekah liked Jacob,
because she saw that he was wise and careful in his work.

Among the people in those lands, when a man dies, his older son receives
twice as much as the younger of what the father has owned. This was
called his "birthright," for it was his right as the oldest born. So
Esau, as the older, had a "birthright" to more of Isaac's possessions
than Jacob. And besides this, there was the privilege of the promise of
God that the family of Isaac should receive great blessings.

THE SALE OF A BIRTHRIGHT

Now Esau, when he grew up, did not care for his birthright or the
blessing which God had promised. But Jacob, who was a wise man, wished
greatly to have the birthright which would come to Esau when his father
died. Once, when Esau came home, hungry and tired from hunting in the
fields, he saw that Jacob had a bowl of something that he had just
cooked for dinner. And Esau said:

"Give me some of that red stuff in the dish. Will you not give me some?
I am hungry."

[Illustration: _"Sell me your birthright"_]

And Jacob answered, "I will give it to you, if you will first of all
sell to me your birthright."

And Esau said, "What is the use of the birthright to me now, when I am
almost starving to death? You can have my birthright if you will give me
something to eat."

Then Esau made Jacob a solemn promise to give to Jacob his birthright,
all for a bowl of food. It was not right for Jacob to deal so selfishly
with his brother; but it was very wrong in Esau to care so little for
his birthright and God's blessing.

Some time after this, when Esau was forty years old, he married two
wives. Though this would be very wicked in our times, it was not
supposed to be wrong then; for even good men then had more than one
wife. But Esau's two wives were women from the people of Canaan, who
worshipped idols, and not the true God. And they taught their children
also to pray to idols; so that those who came from Esau, the people who
were his descendants, lost all knowledge of God, and became very wicked.
But this was long after that time.

Isaac and Rebekah were very sorry to have their son Esau marry women who
prayed to idols and not to God; but still Isaac loved his active son
Esau more than his quiet son Jacob. But Rebekah loved Jacob more than
Esau.

Isaac became at last very old and feeble, and so blind that he could
see scarcely anything. One day he said to Esau:

"My son, I am very old, and do not know how soon I must die. But before
I die, I wish to give to you, as my older son, God's blessing upon you,
and your children, and your descendants. Go out into the fields, and
with your bow and arrows shoot some animal that is good for food, and
make for me a dish of cooked meat such as you know I love; and after I
have eaten it I will give you the blessing."

Now Esau ought to have told his father that the blessing did not belong
to him, for he had sold it to his brother Jacob. But he did not tell his
father. He went out into the fields hunting, to find the kind of meat
which his father liked the most.

Now Rebekah was listening, and heard all that Isaac had said to Esau.
She knew that it would be better for Jacob to have the blessing than for
Esau; and she loved Jacob more than Esau. So she called to Jacob and
told him what Isaac had said to Esau, and she said:

"Now, my son, do what I tell you, and you will get the blessing instead
of your brother. Go to the flocks and bring to me two little kids from
the goats, and I will cook them just like the meat which Esau cooks for
your father. And you will bring it to your father, and he will think
that you are Esau, and will give you the blessing; and it really belongs
to you."

[Illustration: _"Now, my son, do what I tell you"_]

But Jacob said, "You know that Esau and I are not alike. His neck and
arms are covered with hairs, while mine are smooth. My father will feel
of me, and he will find that I am not Esau; and then, instead of giving
me a blessing, I am afraid that he will curse me."

But Rebekah answered her son, "Never mind; you do as I have told you,
and I will take care of you. If any harm comes it will come to me; so do
not be afraid, but go and bring the meat."

Then Jacob went and brought a pair of little kids from the flocks, and
from them his mother made a dish of food, so that it would be to the
taste just as Isaac liked it. Then Rebekah found some of Esau's clothes,
and dressed Jacob in them; and she placed on his neck and hands some of
the skins of the kids, so that his neck and his hands would feel rough
and hairy to the touch.

Then Jacob came into his father's tent, bringing the dinner, and
speaking as much like Esau as he could, he said:

"Here I am, my father."

And Isaac said, "Who are you, my son?"

And Jacob answered, "I am Esau, your oldest son; I have done as you bade
me; now sit up and eat the dinner that I have made, and then give me
your blessing as you promised me."

And Isaac said, "How is it that you found it so quickly?"

Jacob answered, "Because the Lord your God showed me where to go and
gave me good success."

Isaac did not feel certain that it was his son Esau, and he said, "Come
near and let me feel you, so that I may know that you are really my son
Esau."

And Jacob went up close to Isaac's bed, and Isaac felt of his face, and
his neck, and his hands, and he said:

[Illustration: _"May nations bow down to you."_]

"The voice sounds like Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau. Are
you really my son Esau?"

And Jacob told a lie to his father, and said, "I am."

Then the old man ate the food that Jacob had brought to him; and he
kissed Jacob, believing him to be Esau; and he gave him the blessing,
saying to him:

"May God give you the dew of heaven, and the richness of the earth, and
plenty of grain and wine. May nations bow down to you and peoples become
your servants. May you be the master over your brother, and may your
family and descendants that shall come from you rule over his family and
his descendants. Blessed be those that bless you, and cursed be those
that curse you."

Just as soon as Jacob had received the blessing he rose up and hastened
away. He had scarcely gone out, when Esau came in from hunting, with the
dish of food that he had cooked. And he said:

"Let my father sit up and eat the food that I have brought, and give me
the blessing."

And Isaac said, "Why, who are you?"

Esau answered, "I am your son; your oldest son, Esau."

And Isaac trembled, and said, "Who then is the one that came in and
brought to me food? and I have eaten his food and have blessed him; yes,
and he shall be blessed."

When Esau heard this, he knew that he had been cheated; and he cried
aloud, with a bitter cry, "O, my father, my brother has taken away my
blessing, just as he took away my birthright! But cannot you give me
another blessing, too? Have you given everything to my brother?"

And Isaac told him all that he had said to Jacob, making him the ruler
over his brother.

But Esau begged for another blessing; and Isaac said:

"My son, your dwelling shall be of the riches of the earth and of the
dew of heaven. You shall live by your sword and your descendants shall
serve his descendants. But in time to come they shall break loose and
shall shake off the yoke of your brother's rule and shall be free."

All this came to pass many years afterward. The people who came from
Esau lived in a land called Edom, on the south of the land of Israel,
where Jacob's descendants lived. And after a time the Israelites became
rulers over the Edomites; and later still, the Edomites made themselves
free from the Israelites. But all this took place hundreds of years
afterward.

It was better that Jacob's descendants, those who came after him, should
have the blessing, than that Esau's people should have it; for Jacob's
people worshipped God, and Esau's people walked in the way of the idols
and became wicked.

THE STORY OF THE LADDER THAT REACHED TO HEAVEN

After Esau found that he had lost his birthright and his blessing, he
was very angry against his brother Jacob; and he said to himself, and
told others:

"My father Isaac is very old and cannot live long. As soon as he is
dead, then I shall kill Jacob for having robbed me of my right."

When Rebekah heard this, she said to Jacob, "Before it is too late, do
you go away from home and get out of Esau's sight. Perhaps when Esau
sees you no longer, he will forget his anger, and then you can come home
again. Go and visit my brother Laban, your uncle, in Haran, and stay
with him for a little while."

We must remember that Rebekah came from the family of Nahor, Abraham's
younger brother, who lived in Haran, a long distance to the northeast of
Canaan, and that Laban was Rebekah's brother.

So Jacob went out of Beersheba, on the border of the desert, and walked
alone, carrying his staff in his hand. One evening, just about sunset,
he came to a place among the mountains, more than sixty miles distant
from his home. And as he had no bed to lie down upon, he took a stone
and rested his head upon it for a pillow, and lay down to sleep.

[Illustration: _Angels were upon the stairs_]

And on that night Jacob had a wonderful dream. In his dream he saw
stairs leading from the earth where he lay up to heaven; and angels were
going up and coming down upon the stairs. And above the stairs, he saw
the Lord God standing. And God said to Jacob:

"I am the Lord, the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac your father;
and I will be your God, too. The land where you are lying all alone,
shall belong to you and to your children after you; and your children
shall spread abroad over the lands, east and west, and north and south,
like the dust of the earth; and in your family all the world shall
receive a blessing. And I am with you in your journey, and I will keep
you where you are going, and will bring you back to this land. I will
never leave you, and I will surely keep my promise to you."

And in the morning Jacob awakened from his sleep, and he said:

"Surely, the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it! I thought
that I was all alone, but God has been with me. This place is the house
of God; it is the gate of heaven!"

And Jacob took the stone on which his head had rested, and he set it up
as a pillar, and poured oil on it as an offering to God. And Jacob named
that place Bethel, which in the language that Jacob spoke means "The
House of God."

And Jacob made a promise to God at that time, and said:

"If God really will go with me and will keep me in the way that I go,
and will give me bread to eat and will bring me to my father's house in
peace, then the Lord shall be my God: and this stone shall be the house
of God, and of all that God gives me I will give back to God one-tenth
as an offering."

Then Jacob went onward in his long journey. He walked across the river
Jordan in a shallow place, feeling his way with his staff; he climbed
mountains and journeyed beside the great desert on the east, and at last
came to the city of Haran. Beside the city was the well, where Abraham's
servant had met Jacob's mother, Rebekah; and there, after Jacob had
waited for a time, he saw a young woman coming with her sheep to give
them water.

Then Jacob took off the flat stone that was over the mouth of the well,
and drew water and gave it to the sheep. And when he found that this
young woman was his own cousin Rachel, the daughter of Laban, he was so
glad that he wept for joy. And at that moment he began to love Rachel,
and longed to have her for his wife.

[Illustration: _Jacob went onward in his long journey_]

Rachel's father, Laban, who was Jacob's uncle, gave a welcome to Jacob,
and took him into his home.

And Jacob asked Laban if he would give his daughter, Rachel, to him as
his wife; and Jacob said, "If you give me Rachel, I will work for you
seven years."

And Laban said, "It is better that you should have her, than that a
stranger should marry her."

So Jacob lived seven years in Laban's house, caring for his sheep and
oxen and camels; but his love for Rachel made the time seem short.

At last the day came for the marriage; and they brought in the bride,
who, after the manner of that land, was covered with a thick veil, so
that her face could not be seen. And she was married to Jacob, and when
Jacob lifted up her veil he found that he had married, not Rachel, but
her older sister, Leah, who was not beautiful, and whom Jacob did not
love at all.

Jacob was very angry that he had been deceived,--though that was just
the way in which Jacob himself had deceived his father and cheated his
brother Esau. But his uncle Laban said:

"In our land we never allow the younger daughter to be married before
the older daughter. Keep Leah for your wife, and work for me seven years
longer, and you shall have Rachel also."

For in those times, as we have seen, men often had two wives, or even
more than two. So Jacob stayed seven years more, fourteen years in all,
before he received Rachel as his wife.

While Jacob was living at Haran, eleven sons were born to him. But only
one of these was the child of Rachel, whom Jacob loved. This son was
Joseph, who was dearer to Jacob than any other of his children, partly
because he was the youngest, and because he was the child of his beloved
Rachel.

THE STORY OF JOSEPH AND HIS COAT OF MANY COLORS

After Jacob came back to the land of Canaan with his eleven sons,
another son was born to him, the second child of his wife Rachel, whom
Jacob loved so well. But soon after the baby came, his mother Rachel
died, and Jacob was filled with sorrow. Even to this day you can see the
place where Rachel was buried, on the road between Jerusalem and
Bethlehem. Jacob named the child whom Rachel left, Benjamin; and now
Jacob had twelve sons. Most of them were grown-up men; but Joseph was a
boy seventeen years old, and his brother Benjamin was almost a baby.

[Illustration: _Back to the Land of Canaan_]

Of all his children, Jacob loved Joseph the best, because he was
Rachel's child; because he was so much younger than most of his
brothers; and because he was good, and faithful, and thoughtful. Jacob
gave to Joseph a robe or coat of bright colors, made somewhat like a
long cloak with wide sleeves. This was a special mark of Jacob's favor
to Joseph, and it made his older brothers envious of him.

Then, too, Joseph did what was right, while his older brothers often did
very wrong acts, of which Joseph sometimes told their father; and this
made them very angry at Joseph. But they hated him still more because of
two strange dreams he had, and of which he told them. He said one day:
"Listen to this dream that I have dreamed. I dreamed that we were out in
the field binding sheaves, when suddenly my sheaf stood up, and all your
sheaves came around it and bowed down to my sheaf!"

And they said scornfully, "Do you suppose that the dream means that you
will some time rule over us, and that we shall bow down to you?"

Then, a few days after, Joseph said, "I have dreamed again. This time, I
saw in my dream the sun, and the moon, and eleven stars, all come and
bow to me!"

And his father said to him, "I do not like you to dream such dreams.
Shall I, and your mother, and your brothers, come and bow down before
you as if you were a king?"

His brothers hated Joseph, and would not speak kindly to him; but his
father thought much of what Joseph had said.

At one time, Joseph's ten brothers were taking care of the flock in the
fields near Shechem, which was nearly fifty miles from Hebron, where
Jacob's tents were spread. And Jacob wished to send a message to his
sons, and he called Joseph, and said to him:

"Your brothers are near Shechem with the flock. I wish that you would go
to them, and take a message, and find if they are well, and if the
flocks are doing well; and bring me word from them."

That was quite an errand, for a boy to go alone over the country, and
find his way, for fifty miles, and then walk home again. But Joseph was
a boy who could take care of himself, and could be trusted; so he went
forth on his journey, walking northward over the mountains, past
Bethlehem, and Jerusalem, and Bethel--though we are not sure those
cities were then built, except Jerusalem, which was already a strong
city.

When Joseph reached Shechem, he could not find his brothers, for they
had taken their flocks to another place. A man met Joseph wandering in
the field, and asked him, "Whom are you seeking?"

Joseph said, "I am looking for my brothers; the sons of Jacob. Can you
tell me where I will find them?"

And the man said, "They are at Dothan; for I heard them say that they
were going there."

Then Joseph walked over the hills to Dothan, which was fifteen miles
further. And his brothers saw him afar off coming toward them. They knew
him by his bright garment; and one said to another: "Look, that dreamer
is coming! Come, let us kill him, and throw his body into a pit, and
tell his father that some wild beast has eaten him; and then we will see
what becomes of his dreams."

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