The Bible Story Part 147

And they brought the tabernacle to Moses, the Tent, and all its furniture, its clasps, its boards, its bars, and {232} its pillars, and its sockets; and the covering of rams' skins dyed red, and the covering of sealskins, and the veil of the screen; the ark of the testimony, and the staves thereof, and the mercy seat; the table, all the vessels thereof, and the shewbread; the pure candlestick, the lamps thereof, even the lamps to be set in order, and all the vessels thereof, and the oil for the light; and the golden altar, and the anointing oil, and the sweet incense, and the screen for the door of the Tent; the brazen altar, and its grating of bra.s.s, its staves, and all its vessels, the laver and its base; the hangings of the court, its pillars, and its sockets, and the screen for the gate of the court, the cords thereof, and the pins thereof, and all the instruments of the service of the tabernacle, for the tent of meeting; the finely wrought garments for ministering in the holy place, and the holy garments for Aaron the priest, and the garments of his sons, to minister in the priest's office. According to all that the Lord commanded Moses, so the children of Israel did all the work. And Moses saw all the work, and, behold, they had done it; as the Lord had commanded, even so had they done it: and Moses blessed them.

_The Tabernacle Is Set Up_.

And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying, "On the first day of the first month shalt thou set up the tabernacle of the tent of meeting. And thou shalt put therein the ark of the testimony, and thou shalt screen the ark with the veil. And thou shalt bring in the table, and set in order the things that are upon it; and thou shalt bring in the candlestick, and light the lamps thereof.

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[Ill.u.s.tration]

FOUR THOUSAND YEARS UNCHANGED PATRIARCHAL LIFE IN PALESTINE TO-DAY

Copyright by Underwood & Underwood and used by special permission.

The unchanged habits of the East render it in this respect a kind of living Pompeii. The outward appearances, which in the case of the Greeks and Romans we know only through art and writing, through marble, fresco, and parchment, in the case of Jewish history we know through the forms of actual men, living and moving before us, wearing almost the same garb, speaking in almost the same language, and certainly with the same general turns of speech and tone and manners. Such as we see them now, starting on a pilgrimage, or a journey, were Abraham and his brother's son, when they "went forth"

to go into the land of Canaan. All their substance that they had "gathered" is heaped high on the backs of their kneeling camels. The slaves that they "had bought in Haran" run along by their sides.

Round about them are their flocks of sheep and goats, and the a.s.ses moving underneath the towering forms of the camels. The chief is there, amidst the stir of movement, or resting at noon within his black tent, marked out from the rest by his cloak of brilliant scarlet, by the fillet of rope which binds the loose handkerchief round his head, by the spear which he holds in his hand to guide the march, and to fix the encampment. The chief's wife, the princess of the tribe, is there in her own tent, to make the cakes and prepare the usual meal of milk and b.u.t.ter; the slave or the child is ready to bring in the red lentil soup for the weary hunter, or to kill the calf for the unexpected guest [End ill.u.s.tration]

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And thou shalt set the golden altar for incense before the ark of the testimony, and put the screen of the door to the tabernacle. And thou shalt set the altar of burnt offering before the door of the tabernacle of the tent of meeting. And thou shalt set the laver between the tent of meeting and the altar, and shalt put water therein. And thou shalt set up the court round about, and hang up the screen of the gate of the court. And thou shalt take the anointing oil, and anoint the tabernacle, and all that is therein, and shalt hallow it, and all the furniture thereof: and it shall be holy. And thou shalt anoint the altar of burnt offering, and all its vessels, and sanctify the altar: and the altar shall be most holy. And thou shalt anoint the laver and its base, and sanctify it. And thou shalt bring Aaron and his sons unto the door of the tent of meeting, and thou shalt wash them with water. And thou shalt put upon Aaron the holy garments; and thou shalt anoint him, and sanctify him, that he may minister unto me in the priest's office. And thou shalt bring his sons, and put coats upon them: and thou shalt anoint them, as thou didst anoint their father, that they may minister unto me in the priest's office: and their anointing shall be to them for an everlasting priesthood throughout their generations." Thus did Moses: according to all that the Lord commanded him, so did he.

And it came to pa.s.s in the first month in the second year, on the first day of the month, that the tabernacle was reared up. And Moses set up the tabernacle, and laid its {236} sockets, and set up the boards thereof, and put in the bars thereof, and set up its pillars.

And he spread the tent over the tabernacle, and put the covering of the tent above upon it; as the Lord commanded Moses. And he put the testimony into the ark, and set the staves on the ark, and put the mercy seat above upon the ark: and he brought the ark into the tabernacle, and set up the veil of the screen, and screened the ark of the testimony; as the Lord commanded Moses. And he put the table in the tent of meeting, upon the side of the tabernacle northward, without the veil. And he set the bread in order upon it before the Lord; as the Lord commanded Moses. And he put the candlestick in the tent of meeting, over against the table, on the side of the tabernacle southward. And he lighted the lamps before the Lord; as the Lord commanded Moses. And he put the golden altar in the tent of meeting before the veil: and he burnt therein incense of sweet spices; as the Lord commanded Moses. And he put the screen of the door to the tabernacle. And he set the altar of burnt offering at the door of the tabernacle of the tent of meeting, and offered upon it the burnt offering and the meal offering; as the Lord commanded Moses. And he set the laver between the tent of meeting and the altar, and put water therein, to wash withal. And Moses and Aaron and his sons washed their hands and their feet thereat; when they went into the tent of meeting, and when they came near unto the altar, they washed: as the Lord commanded Moses. And he reared up the court round about the tabernacle {237} and the altar, and set up the screen of the gate of the court.

So Moses finished the work.

_The Cloud of the Glory of G.o.d in the Tent_.

Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. And Moses was not able to enter into the tent of meeting, because the cloud abode thereon, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. And when the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the children of Israel went onward, throughout all their journeys: but if the cloud was not taken up, then they journeyed not till the day that it was taken up. For the cloud of the Lord was upon the tabernacle by day, and there was fire therein by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel, throughout all their journeys.

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LEAD ME ON

Traveling to the better land, O'er the desert's scorching sand, Father! let me grasp thy hand; Lead me on, lead me on!

When at Marah, parched with heat, I the sparkling fountain greet, Make the bitter water sweet; Lead me on!

When the wilderness is drear, Show me Elim's palm-grove near, And her wells, as crystal clear: Lead me on!

Through the water, through the fire, Never let me fall or tire, Every step brings Canaan nigher: Lead me on!

Bid me stand on Nebo's height, Gaze upon the land of light, Then, transported with the sight, Lead me on!

When I stand on Jordan's brink, Never let me fear or shrink; Hold me, Father, lest I sink: Lead me on!

When the victory is won, And eternal life begun, Up to glory lead me on!

Lead me on, lead me on!

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[Ill.u.s.tration]

MOUNT h.o.r.eB

From a photograph in the possession of the Forbes Library and used by permission.

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THE MARCH TO THE PROMISED LAND

THE PILLAR OF FIRE AND THE CLOUD OF SMOKE.

And on the day that the tabernacle was set up the cloud covered the tabernacle, even the tent of the testimony: and at even it was upon the tabernacle as it were the appearance of fire, until morning. So it was always: the cloud covered it, and the appearance of fire by night.

And whenever the cloud was taken up from over the Tent, then after that the children of Israel journeyed: and in the place where the cloud abode, there the children of Israel encamped. At the commandment of the Lord the children of Israel journeyed, and at the commandment of the Lord they encamped: as long as the cloud abode upon the tabernacle they remained encamped. And when the cloud tarried upon the tabernacle many days, then the children of Israel kept the charge of the Lord, and journeyed not. And sometimes the cloud was a few days upon the tabernacle; then according to the commandment of the Lord they remained encamped, and according to the commandment of the Lord they journeyed. And sometimes the cloud was from evening until morning; and when the cloud was taken up in the morning, they journeyed: or if it continued by day and by night, when the cloud was taken up, they journeyed.

Whether it were two days, or a month, or a year, that the cloud tarried upon the tabernacle, abiding thereon, the {242} children of Israel remained encamped, and journeyed not: but when it was taken up, they journeyed. At the commandment of the Lord they encamped, and at the commandment of the Lord they journeyed: they kept the charge of the Lord, at the commandment of the Lord by the hand of Moses.

_The Long Journey from Sinai Begins_.

And it came to pa.s.s in the second year, in the second month, on the twentieth day of the month, that the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle of the testimony. And the children of Israel set forward according to their journeys out of the wilderness of Sinai; and the cloud abode in the wilderness of Paran. And they first took their journey according to the commandment of the Lord by the hand of Moses.

And they set forward from the mount of the Lord three days' journey; and the ark of the covenant of the Lord went before them three days'

journey, to seek out a resting place for them. And the cloud of the Lord was over them by day, when they set forward from the camp.

And it came to pa.s.s, when the ark set forward, that Moses said,--

"Rise up, O Lord, and let thine enemies be scattered; And let them that hate thee flee before thee."

And when it rested he said,--

"Return, O Lord, Unto the ten thousands of the thousands of Israel."

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THE SENDING OUT OF THE SPIES.

_They Report "a Land Flowing with Milk and Honey_."

And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, "Send thou men, that they may spy out the land of Canaan, which I give unto the children of Israel: of every tribe of their fathers shall ye send a man, everyone a prince among them."

And Moses sent them from the wilderness of Paran according to the commandment of the Lord: all of them men who were heads of the children of Israel.