AN EASTERN HOUSE

From a photograph taken by Mrs. Louise Seymour Houghton, and used by her kind permission.

This house is made of mud--that is, sun-dried clay, with a roof of thatch, and shows how houses were made and looked in Bible times. The children of the village have come to have their eyes treated by the doctor. Many of the children in the hot countries of the East have trouble with their eyes, and blindness. The little village of mud houses where this was taken is on the site of the ancient Ashdod, one of the five powerful cities of the Philistines.

But the famine kept on. They had nothing to eat and at last Jacob was forced to let them go. They promised to take the best of care of Benjamin and started on their journey.

When they reached Egypt Joseph was more kind. He asked them how they were and said, "Is your father well, the old man of whom ye spoke? Is he yet alive?"

And they answered, "Thy servant, our father, is yet alive. He is in good health."

Then he saw Benjamin and said, "Is this your younger brother of whom ye spoke unto me?"

And he said, "God be gracious unto thee, my son."

He gave them a feast, and told them to go home, but as soon as they were gone he sent an officer after them. The officer caught up with them and opened the bags of grain, and there was Joseph's own golden cup in the mouth of Benjamin's sack!

They were wild with fear. They said that their poor old father would die if anything happened to Benjamin. But the stern officer took them back to Joseph.

Then Joseph told them who he was, and forgave them for the evil they had once done him.

He said to them, "Go home and say to Jacob, 'Thus saith thy son Joseph, God hath made me lord of all Egypt; come down unto me, tarry not; and thou shalt dwell in the land of Goshen, and thou shalt be near unto me, thou and thy children's children, and thy flocks and thy herds, and all that thou hast.' And ye shall tell my father of all my glory in Egypt and of all that ye have seen, and ye shall haste and bring down my father hither."

The brothers went home and the old man Jacob and all his family came to Egypt to live. So Jacob saw Joseph again before he died.

And Joseph ruled wisely and well over Egypt all the days of his life.

THE GREAT STATUES OF MEMNON

From a photograph in the possession of the Springfield Public Library, and used by kind permission.

These great statues, carved out of the solid rock, were erected to the honor of two of the Pharaohs of Egypt. You may realize something of the immense size of these monuments by noticing how small the camel standing at the base seems in comparison.

THE BOY WHO WAS RAISED FROM THE DEAD

Once upon a time there was a widow who lived, with her only son, in a city in the land of the Bible. She was very poor, and one year she found herself still poorer. Everybody was poor that year, for there was a famine in the land. How thin and hungry some of the children became! How glad they were to get even poor food! How carefully the poor widow watched her barrel of flour and her jar, or cruse, of oil, with which the flour was mixed for baking! How hard she worked to get more! At last she had only a little flour and a little oil left. She was almost starving. There was just enough left to make one more cake for herself and her boy, and after that was gone she did not know what they would do. Perhaps they must die. She went out to gather some sticks for a fire. While she was gathering them, a man came by. He was a prophet, named Elijah, but she did not know him. He called to {194} her, and said, "Fetch me, I pray thee, a little water in a vessel, that I may drink."

And as she was going to fetch it, he called to her, and said, "Bring me, I pray thee, a morsel of bread in thine hand."

And she said, "As the Lord thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but an handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse: and, behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die."

And Elijah said to her, "Fear not; go and do as thou hast said: but make me thereof a little cake first, and bring it to me, and after make for thee and for thy son.

"For thus saith the Lord God of Israel, 'The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day that the Lord sendeth rain upon the earth.'"

And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah: and she, and he, and her house, did eat many days.

And the barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail, according to the word of the Lord, which he spoke by Elijah.

ON THE ROAD NEAR TIBERIAS, WITH THE LAKE OF GALILEE IN THE DISTANCE

From a photograph taken by Mrs. Fontaine Meriwether, and used by her kind permission.

This interesting picture, with laden camel and group of native people, shows very well the nature of the country about the lake of Galilee, the hill rising above the lake and the village nestling on its shore. In the distance can be seen the waters of the lake and the shadowy hills upon the farther shore. It is thus that the country must have looked in the old days when it was the center of so much active life.

And it came to pass after these things, that the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, fell sick; and his sickness was so sore, that there was no breath left in him.

And she said to Elijah, "What have I to do with thee, O thou man of God? art thou come unto me to call my sin to remembrance, and to slay my son?"

And he said to her, "Give me thy son."

And he took him out of her bosom, and carried him up into a loft, where he abode, and laid him upon his own bed.

And he cried to the Lord; and said, "O Lord my God, hast thou also brought evil upon the widow with whom I sojourn, by slaying her son?"

And he stretched himself upon the child three times, and cried to the Lord, and said, "O Lord my God, I pray thee, let this child's soul come into him again."

And the Lord heard the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came into him again, and he revived.

And Elijah took the child, and brought him down out of the chamber into the house, and delivered him to his mother: and Elijah said, "See, thy son liveth!"

And the woman said to Elijah, "Now by this I know that thou art a man of God, and that the word of the Lord in thy mouth is truth."

GOING TO THE DOCTOR

From a photograph taken by Mrs. Louise Seymour Houghton, and used by her kind permission.

These poor women of the East have brought their poor little sick children on the patient old donkey to the doctor. As the custom is in the East, the faces of the women are covered by veils. This is the way the Eastern mothers used to bring their sick little children to Jesus in the old days.

THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN

The people of the Bible land had lost their kingdom before the time of Christ. They had no king of their own, but governors came from Rome, a city hundreds of miles away, and ruled them. But the people hoped that this would not last. They wanted a kingdom of their own. They believed God would give it to them some day. They prayed that it might come. When Jesus began to teach and hear people, they thought perhaps he would be a king to bring this kingdom that God would give them. But Jesus had something better than a great kingdom on earth. He tried to make them understand what it was. He called it the kingdom of heaven. By that he meant the rule of God in the world.

God's rule is not in a great palace, with soldiers and a throne and great splendor. It is in the heart, and grows up very quietly, like the plants in the field. Jesus once told a story to show this. It was the story of

THE MUSTARD SEED

"The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field.

"Which indeed is the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof."

So the kingdom of heaven grows very quietly. But it is very precious, even if it is hidden away so closely. One might better let anything else go than that.

Again, he told them, the kingdom of heaven is like to a net, that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind.

Again, the kingdom is like to a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls.

How proud a man is to be a citizen of a great country! In this country we are proud to be Americans. Do you suppose you could be a citizen of the kingdom of God? Yes. Jesus said once that children and people who were like children belong to this kingdom.

"Suffer the little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven."

LOADING CAMELS AT JERUSALEM

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

In the East much of the commerce is still carried on by means of caravans of camels; sometimes there are several thousand camels in one of these great caravans conveying all kinds of merchandise from one point to another. The camel will carry a very heavy load, but it utters piteous cries of complaint when it thinks the load is too heavy.

THE LITTLE CAPTIVE MAID

In the old times war was very cruel. Houses were burned and men and women killed, and very often the little children were taken far away and sold for slaves. Sometimes they never came back to their homes or friends again.

There had been war between the people in Israel and the people who lived in a country called Syria, which lay to the north of Israel. In this war a little girl had been taken away, and sold as a slave. She was bought by a great general named Naaman, who took her home, and she waited on Naaman's wife. Naaman and his wife must have been kind to the little slave girl, for when he was sick she wished that he could be made well.

Now Naaman, captain of the host of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master, and honorable, because by him the Lord had given deliverance to Syria: he was also a mighty man of valor, but he was a leper. And the little maid said to her mistress, "Would God my lord were with the prophet that is in Samaria! for he would heal him of his leprosy." And one went in, and told his lord, saying, "Thus and thus said the maid that is of the land of Israel." And the king of Syria said, "I will send a letter unto the king of Israel."

And he departed, and took with him a large present of money and fine clothes.

And he brought the letter to the king of Israel, saying, "Now when this letter is come unto thee, behold, I have therewith sent Naaman my servant to thee, that thou mayest heal him of his leprosy."

And it came to pass, when the king of Israel had read the letter, that he rent his clothes, and said, "Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man doth send unto me to heal a man of his leprosy? wherefore consider, I pray you, and see how he seeketh a quarrel against me."

And it was so, when Elisha the man of God {207} had heard that the king of Israel had rent his clothes, that he sent to the king, saying, "Wherefore hast thou rent thy clothes? let him come now to me, and he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel."

So Naaman came with his horses and with his chariot, and stood at the door of the house of Elisha.

And Elisha sent a messenger unto him, saying, "Go and wash in Jordan seven times, and thy flesh shall come again to thee, and thou shalt be clean."

Then Naaman was angry, and turned to go away in a rage.

And his servants came near, and spoke unto him, and said, "My father, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldest thou not have done it? how much rather then, when he saith to thee, 'Wash, and be clean'?"

Then went he down, and dipped himself seven times in Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God: and his flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.

HOW THE PEOPLE TRAVELED IN THE LANDS OF THE BIBLE

Did they have railroads? Oh, no. Railroads were first built less than a hundred years ago, and the Bible times were many hundreds of years ago.

Then they must have traveled in wagons? Not often.

There were few roads, and wagons were not very common.

Then they went on horseback? Sometimes, but not often. In the earliest Bible times horses were only used in war, and only the kings of great countries kept a few, for their most honored soldiers to ride on.

How did they travel, then? Very often they rode on the backs of donkeys and asses. These are smaller than horses, but can go almost as fast. Do you remember how Jesus rode into Jerusalem on an ass, with the children shouting and waving palm branches before him? For short journeys, or in the land of Palestine itself, the ass was the animal most used.

But on many sides of the land of Palestine the roads that go out pass over country that is more and more bare, until finally the green grass is seen no more and only here and there is a small tree, and there are no flocks of white sheep, for there is nothing on which they can feed, and it is a long way, sometimes a whole day's journey, from one spring of water to another. Nothing but yellow sand and bare rocks!

SHEPHERD BOY ON THE HILLS NEAR BETHLEHEM

Copyright by Underwood & Underwood and used by special permission.

This attractive picture of the shepherd lad shows that the work of the shepherd still goes on in Judea as it did in the days of the shepherd boy, David. A writer gives this picture of the shepherd life at the present day: "Sometimes we enjoyed our noonday rest beside one of those Judean wells, to which two or three shepherds come down with their flocks. The flocks mixed with each other, and we wondered how each shepherd would get his own again. But after the watering and the playing were over, the shepherds one by one went up different sides of the valley, and each called out his peculiar call; and the sheep of each drew out of the crowd, to their own shepherd, and the flocks passed away as orderly as they came. 'The Shepherd of the Sheep, . . . when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. And a stranger will they not follow,' 'I am the Good Shepherd, and know my sheep and am known of mine.' These words our Lord spake in Judea."

How the hot sun beats down in the summer! How dry all the ground looks! That is a desert. The little donkeys find it hard to travel on the long, stony desert roads. They must carry water to drink, or they would die of thirst. But if they carry water, they cannot carry much else.

Did you ever see a camel? They have long legs and broad feet, that can walk over the sand without sinking in. What long necks and queer humped backs they have! They are not beautiful animals. I am sorry to say that they are not very good tempered either, but are often very cross and stubborn. Sometimes they reach out that long neck and try to bite. Sometimes they refuse to go if they think they are loaded too heavily. But often they are very patient. They carry heavy loads and travel long distances. They can go a long time without drinking, where a horse or an ass would die of thirst. They are made for a desert country. Men call them "the ship of the desert." They were often used for long journeys in Bible times, as they are still in the same countries. Here is a story which tells how a servant of Abraham made a long journey on camels, and how the camels were given drink at the close of the journey.

"And the servant took ten camels of the camels of his master, and departed; for all the goods of his master were in his hand: and he arose, and went to Mesopotamia, to the city of {212} Nahor. And he made his camels to kneel down without the city by a well of water at the time of the evening, even the time that women go out to draw water," and Rebekah, a niece of Abraham, "came out with her pitcher upon her shoulder. And the maiden was very fair to look upon: and she went down to the well, and filled her pitcher, and came up. And the servant ran to meet her, and said, 'Let me, I pray thee, drink a little water of thy pitcher.'

"And she said, 'Drink, my lord': and she hasted, and let down her pitcher upon her hand, and gave him to drink.

"And when she had done giving him drink, she said, 'I will draw water for thy camels also, until they have done drinking.'

"And she hasted, and emptied her pitcher into the trough, and ran again unto the well to draw water, and drew for all his camels."

Then she went home and told of him, and her brother ran and came out to the servant and said, "'Come in, thou blessed of the Lord; wherefore standest thou without? for I have prepared the house, and room for the camels.'

"And the man came into the house: and he ungirded his camels, and gave straw and {213} provender for the camels, and water to wash his feet and the men's feet that were with him. And there was set food before him to eat."

A few days later Rebekah, with her servant, mounted the camels, too, and went back with Abraham's servant, the long desert journey, to be the wife of Abraham's son Isaac.

HOUSES IN THE LANDS OF THE BIBLE

The people in Bible lands did not have houses like those we live in to-day. You would not like to live in their houses. They were low, and small, and dark. Some were built of stone, but many were built of a sun-dried brick. They had flat roofs, where the people often went and where they slept in warm weather. A stair led up to the roof from the outside. Those that were made of the sun-dried brick were not very durable. Thieves could easily "break through and steal." The house which the man "built upon the sand" crumbled into mud and was swept away when "the winds blew and the floods came" and "great was the fall of it."

Of course the king lived in a beautiful palace and rich people had fine houses, but the houses of the poor people were only huts.

CHILDREN OF NAZARETH

From a photograph taken by Mrs. Fontaine Meriwether. and used by her kind permission.

CHILDREN IN THE LANDS OF THE BIBLE

The children of Bible lands were very well cared for. They were sent to school. They were taught the Bible very carefully and every Sabbath they went to church. The children were very busy. They learned early to watch over the sheep, to work in the fields, to card and spin the wool and weave the cloth. Every child was taught some special trade or business. Still they had time to play and enjoyed their games as much as you do.

Jesus was taught to be a carpenter like Joseph. Nazareth, where he lived when he was a boy, is a small town in Galilee. There are beautiful fields and hills about. When he climbed the hills he could see, far away, the sea. He must have loved to pick the lovely lilies which grew in the fields. All the little boys and girls must have liked to play with Jesus, for he must have been always gentle and kind.

JERUSALEM

The city that the Bible tells most about is Jerusalem. It is on a high ridge of hills in the middle of the land. On one side of it is a deep valley, and across the valley a hill called the Mount of Olives. On that hill there was a village, Bethany, where some of Jesus' friends lived. Deep valleys were on two other sides of the city.

Why did they build cities on the hilltops, and not in the valleys? Because, in the old days when wars often took place, a city on a hilltop could not be so easily taken. It was a safe place to live. To make it still safer, a wall was built around it, very thick and high. On the top there was a path, with a low wall outside, so that in war armed men could go up and shoot from the wall. In the walls there were great gates, that were shut at night and when there was a war.

In the city of Jerusalem was the palace of the Jewish kings, and the temple. King Solomon built the first temple. It stood for over three hundred and fifty years, then it was destroyed in a war. The city was burned and the walls thrown down, and many of the people were killed. After more than fifty years, another temple was built on the same spot. It was later added to and made more beautiful. It was built of white stone. A man who saw it wrote that it looked, when the sun shone on it, like a mountain of snow.

THE SISTINE MADONNA
By Raphael (1483-1520)

Raphael is generally considered the greatest of all painters, and the Sistine Madonna is the most famous Madonna in the world.

"The Sistine Madonna is above all words of praise; all extravagance of expression is silenced before her simplicity. Not one false note, not one exaggerated emphasis, jars upon the harmony of body, soul, and spirit. Confident, but entirely unassuming; serious, but without sadness; joyous, but not to mirthfulness; eager, but without haste; she moves steadily forward with steps timed to the rhythmic music of the spheres."--Estelle M. Hurll

This stood a long time, almost six hundred years, then in another war it also was thrown down, and never has been built again. It was this temple that was standing when Christ lived. He often taught in the open spaces about it. When he was a boy of twelve he first visited it, and the last days of his life he spent teaching in it. Jesus loved the temple and Jerusalem very much. He was very sorry that it must be destroyed. He said once, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee; how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not!"

A Jewish poet wrote a little poem about Jerusalem, to show how he loved it. Here it is:--

Another poet who was living in a foreign land, wrote another poem:--

When one Bible writer hoped for some great good in the future, and wanted to make a very glorious picture, as splendid as he could, he told of a city coming down from heaven, and called it the New Jerusalem, because that city was dearer to him than any other place he knew, and he said:--

"AND I JOHN SAW THE HOLY CITY,
NEW JERUSALEM,
COMING DOWN FROM GOD OUT OF HEAVEN."

THE JORDAN

Up among the mountains in the North of the land of the Bible a little stream flows down from a rocky valley. After wandering through beautiful hills with many trees and vines, it comes into a wide valley and passes through a little lake. Then it goes tumbling and roaring down a narrow gorge with high rocks on each side.

After that it widens out into the beautiful lake of Gennesaret, or Sea of Galilee. In the time of Jesus there were many towns about this lake and many boats sailing over it.

After leaving this lake, the river flows through a valley, winding from one side of it to the other. The valley grows deeper and deeper, until at last to get into it one must go down, down long, steep hills by winding roads, down narrow valleys where the rocks are piled high above one. At last the river flows through a wide, sandy plain into the Dead Sea.

The Jordan is the largest river of the Bible {225} land. The Hebrews used to tell their little children that in the ancient time, when they first came into the land, the Jordan stopped flowing so that their fathers, with all their little children, and cattle and sheep, crossed it on dry ground. Later King David crossed it, once when he found that all his country had gone over to his enemies. A few weeks later he came back, and many people went down to the river to welcome him. The great general who had leprosy was sent to wash in the river, and he was healed.

Jesus was baptized in the river. He often crossed it, and he lived and taught on the banks of the Sea of Galilee, through which it flows.

THE DEAD SEA

The strangest lake in the world is the lake that is called the Dead Sea. It is east of Canaan. The Jordan runs into it, but no river runs out of it. It lies deep down between mountains. On one side the hills rise so steep that one cannot climb them. On the other, there is only here and there a place where a man on horseback can scramble down the rocks into the valley.

Why is it called the Dead Sea? Because the water is so salt that no fish live in it. It looks very clear and beautiful as it lies in the sunshine, but no one can drink it, it is so salt. Sometimes people bathe in it. It is so heavy that no one can sink. No towns were ever on its shore. Not a single person lives near it. Few people have ever sailed on its waters. The valley in which it lies is so deep that it is much lower than the ocean. All these things make it the strangest lake in the world.

ON THE SHORES OF THE DEAD SEA

From a photograph in the possession of Rev. Louis F. Giroux of the American International College, Springfield, Mass., and used by his kind permission.

"The water is very nauseous to the taste and oily to the touch, leaving on the skin when it dries a thick crust of salt. But it is very brilliant. Seen from far away no lake on earth looks more blue and beautiful. Swim out upon it, and at a depth of twenty feet you can count the pebbles through the transparent water. It is difficult to sink the limbs deep enough to swim; if you throw a stick on the surface it seems to rest as on a mirror, so little of it actually penetrates the water. No fish or any living thing can exist in its waters."

--Smith

BETH-LEHEM

The "little town of Beth-lehem," as it lies among the hills of Judaea, is one of the most famous places in all the world. But it is not famous because of its wealth or its size, it is famous because of the people who lived there. Beth-lehem means in the Hebrew language, "House of Bread," and it was in the fields of Boaz about Beth-lehem that the beautiful Ruth of Moab gleaned.

Then it was David's home. In the pastures beyond the town he used to feed his father's flocks. Sometimes it has been called "the city of David."

But what makes it more famous than all else is the fact that in "Beth-lehem's manger" the little child Jesus was born, and over the old town hung in the night the star of Beth-lehem. It was here that the shepherds {230} who were keeping their flocks outside the town came to see the newborn child, and it was here that the Wise Men came to worship him and bring him gifts. It is true that Jesus did not stay here long. The wicked King Herod wished to kill him, and Mary and Joseph took him to Egypt. When they came back they lived in the town of Nazareth. But all the world loves the little town of Beth-lehem because it was Jesus' birthplace.

HYMNS FOR THE DAY

By permission of Houghton, Mifflin & Co.

JESUS BLESSING THE LITTLE CHILDREN

By Bernard Plockhorst (1825- )