Story 8: The Divine Call Of Abraham ll

   The Lord appeared to Ab'ram in Ha'ran and directed him once again to take his family and all his possessions and resume the journey to the distant land of promise. God then blessed Ab'ram, assuring him that his family would become a great people; the entire land would be given to his descendants, from whom there was to spring a great nation. Though the blessing was given to Ab'ram, all the families of the earth were to be blessed through his future generations.
   Ab'ram did not grasp the full meaning of these promises, nor did he know the course which was to bring him at last to the promised land, but he promptly obeyed the voice of God. Accompanied by his nephew Lot and all the servants gathered in Ha'ran, Ab'ram started at once on the long journey. Over the plains, and hills, and mountains they journeyed with all their possessions, not knowing where the journey would lead, but safely guided by Divine Providence.
   Ab'ram's journey began at his native city of Ur, going up the river Eu-phra'tes more than five hundred miles to the mountainous region of Mes-o-po-ta'mia, and then turning southwest from Ha'ran, with lofty ranges of mountains on the west, and the great desert to the east. The travelers crossed many rivers and hills, passing through narrow valleys for another five hundred miles until they entered the narrow strip of country between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River. This country was then known as Ca'naan, now called Pal'es-tine, and is appropriately named the Holy Land because of its historic identity with true religion and the birth of the Sav'ior.
   Upon reaching the land of Ca'naan, Ab'ram passed well into the center of the territory, setting up his tent under an oak tree on a plain not far from the city of She'chem. Here the Lord appeared to him and renewed the promise to give this land to him and his descendants. Ab'ram built an altar, offered sacrifices unto the Lord, and worshiped Him. He then moved to a mountain east of Bethel, to the south of She'chem, and once again built an altar and worshiped God. He loved the Lord, believed His promises, and faithfully served Him wherever he stopped, even when surrounded by heathens.

Story 8: The Divine Call Of Abraham l

   On the plains of the great Ti'gris and Eu'phra'tes rivers, to the south of Mt. Ar'a-rat where No'ah and his sons came out of the Ark, and not far from the site of the unfinished tower of Ba'bel, there stood the city called Ur of the Chal-dees'. There lived in this city the family of Te'rah, who was a direct descendant of Shem. Among the sons of this family was a man named Ab'ram, afterward called A'bra-ham.
   Abram was chosen by God to found the nation later known as Is'ra-el, a people who, in the main trend of history, should worship the one God of Heaven and earth, to whom the revealed Word of God should be committed, and through whom a Savior should be provided for the entire race. Beginning with the story of his call by God and his long journey to the land of Ca'naan, the remainder of the Old Testament Scriptures is confined almost entirely to the history of that race. The references to other nations which sprang from the descendants of the three sons of No'ah are purely incidental, relating to matters in which these nations played some part in the history of Is'ra-el. It was not the purpose of the Bible to trace the development of the kingdoms of this world, but rather to unfold the spiritual dealings of God with man, and to make known the plan of human redemption.
   The people who lived in Ur were not as a rule worshipers of the true God. They made gods of the sun and moon, and bowed in prayer before idols made of wood and stone. Although his father was an idolater, Ab'ram worshiped God. He sought in every way to know and do His will, led an upright life in the midst of idolatry and wickedness, and sought to guide his neighbors in the way of truth. The Lord talked with Ab'ram from time to time, and one day directed him to move from Ur to a land which He would afterwards show him.
   Ab'ram told his father and the entire family of the message which he had received from God, and they were so greatly impressed by his earnestness and deep religious convictions that they went with him on the journey to Ca'naan. After traveling several hundred miles in a northwesterly direction they came to Ha'ran, where they established a home. This city located in what was known as A'ram, or Mes-o-po-ta'mia, and was about five hundred miles northeast of the land which the Lord later gave to Ab'ram.
   After living in Ha'ran for a time Ab'ram's father Te'rah, died, and was buried in this city. Ab'ram's brother Ha'ran, who was the father of Lot, had died before they left the City of Ur. Ab'ram and Na'hor, who was another brother, prospered in the land of Mes-o-pot-ta'mia; their herds of sheep and cattle were greatly increased, and they had gathered many servants. Na'hor and his wife were blessed with several children, but Ab'ram and Sa'rai remained childless.
  
  

Story 7: The Unfinished "Tower Of Ba'bel"

   When God restored the human race through the three sons of No'ah He clearly revealed the intention of distributing the race all over the world, a process that would form many different nationalities. Before the flood all the people had lived in a small section of the world where the Ti'gris and Eu-phra'tes rivers flowed. No one had crossed the mountains on the east or the great desert on the west.
   After the Flood the families which sprang from Shem, Ham, and Ja'pheth began to move into other lands, some crossing the mountains to the east and to the north, some going further south in the great plains along the two rivers, and others going down into what is now called Africa. In this way the populations of the world began to settle in other parts of Asia, in various parts of eastern Europe, and in northern Africa.
   Presently the families which had drifted into the plains of the two great rivers desired to rule all the rest of the world. Having learned to make brick from the soil of the land, the people began to build houses and cities of this material. In their ambition to rule all the people around them they sought to build a great city, and planned the erection of a tower that would reach far up into the Heavens.
   By building this great tower the people hoped to make a name for themselves, to raise up a monument to their own glory. It was the expression of human ambition in evil form. Their own greatness and fame were the principal objectives in this gigantic enterprise, and it was promoted without regard to the will and honor of God. It was the outward expression of their thirst for universal dominion, a desire which has been the curse of many subsequent nations. It sought the unity of the race upon the false basis of centralized autocracy, whereas the plan of God was to promote this unity by means of variety in human governments, with human rights being shared by all.
   In their unrestrained ambition they designed a tower whose top should reach to Heaven; in their pride they presumed to take the place of God, casting off His rule. The desire to pierce the Heavens above was a symbol of their determination to acknowledge no power above themselves.
   Nim'rod, the mighty hunter and ruler of men, conceived the ambitious plan and gathered about him a few like-minded men. They began to build the tower with bricks, erecting story upon story, and ascending higher and higher into the Heavens. Great throngs of laborers were employed in a work that prospered until God intervened in a strange manner. God brought upon the people a confusion of tongues, so that the various groups of workmen spoke in different tongues. When the instructions of the overseers could not be understood by the laborers, who in turn could not work together intelligently, disorder and chaos reigned. The leaders were obliged to give up in despair, and the great tower was never completed. The city in which the tower was undertaken was known as Ba'bel, which means "confusion"; later it was called Bab'y-lon, one of the world's greatest cities.
   As a result of the confusion of speech many of the people moved to other parts of the world, families and groups speaking the same tongue going together and forming great nations. Some traveled north and built the city of Nin'e-veh, which later became the capitol of the As-syr'ians. Another company went to the west and settled by the river Nile, where the great empire of Egypt was developed. Others moved northwest to the shores of the Mediterranean Sea, where the cities of Tyre and Si'don were founded. Here there was gradually established the great maritime nation of Phoe-ni'ci-a from which settlers crossed the seas to Europe.
   What became of this tower nobody knows, although tradition relates that it was demolished by lightning, with terrible tempests. One Jewish writer says that fire came down from Heaven and split the tower through to its foundations.
   In the course of the world's history many "towers of Ba'bel" have been erected in mythical and philosophical systems of religion, and all these , like the first tower of Ba'bel, produce confusion, and shall be brought to nought. Jesus Christ and His system of truth provide the only God-appointed way of access to God.
               "O, sons of earth! attempt ye still to rise,
               By mountains piled on mountains, to the skies!
               Heaven still with laughter the vain toil surveys,
               And buries madmen in the heaps they raise."

Story 6: The Ship That Saved Mankind lll

   When No'ah came out of the Ark his first step was to render thanks unto God. He erected  an altar of heaped up stones and made blood offerings upon it. These offerings were accepted by God, who then made a solemn covenant with No'ah. In this covenant God declared that He would not again destroy man and beast by a deluge, and as a sign of this promise He placed in the Heavens what we call the rainbow. This token stands as a reminder to humanity that the seasons will come and go in regular order, that there shall always be planting time and harvest season, and that as time shall last God shall never bring upon the world so great a destruction,
   The covenant which God made with No'ah included other important matters. Provision was made for the continuity and perpetuity of human life upon earth through the institution of marriage, for the sustenance of mankind through the fruitfulness of the earth, for the protection of human life from man's inhumanity to man, and for the perpetuation of religious knowledge to all the unborn posterity.
   No'ah lived for three hundred and fifty years after the deluge, his sons reared large families, and the populating of the world was begun anew.
   There was, however, a tragic sin in the life of this noble patriarch after the effects of the flood had passed away, and before his final blessing upon his children and their descendants.
   He resumed his former vocation of farming, and turned to the cultivation of a vineyard. One sorry day he began to make wine, and was presently tempted into over-indulgence. Though not at first intending to prostrate himself beneath the power of strong drink, he was gradually led on by the gratification which it offered, finally losing all control of himself and becoming intoxicated.
   This sin of drunkenness by No'ah was the occasion of a great wrong by his son Ham which brought him and his descendants under a severe curse from God.

Story 6: The Ship That Saved Mankind ll

Self-denial and whole-hearted obedience, enormous expense and long hours of hard labor were involved in this Divine assignment, but No'ah faithfully met every requirement, and the crude carpenter's name graces the roster of the heroes of faith in Sacred history.
   Presently the Ark was completed, and the prophesies of the noble patriarch began to be fulfilled. Two animals of every kind, male and female, and a larger number of the domestic animals which were used for food, together with large supplies of grain and other food were placed in the Ark by No'ah. He and his wife, his sons and their wives, entered the Ark and closed the doors. The rains came with ever increasing violence, day by day the waters poured out of the overcast clouds until it seemed as though great oceans had been lifted into the sky, pouring their contents down upon the earth. Forty days and forty nights passed without cessation of the downpour; in every valley and on every plain the torrents swept into ruin everything before them until all the land was submerged. The waters rose higher and higher, covering the hills and the mountains. While millions of human beings joined every living creature of the earth in a watery grave, the great boat in which No'ah and his family abode in perfect security glided over the waters.
   For one hundred and fifty days the waters covered the entire face of the earth. Then the rains ceased, the winds began to blow, and the waters gradually receded toward the rivers, and lakes, and oceans. God's judgments had been accomplished: the human race had been destroyed, with the exception of No'ah and his family, and animal life had been exterminated.
   For many months after the waters began to go down, No'ah and his family remained in the Ark. One day No'ah opened the window which he had made in the Ark and sent out a raven. This bird, being capable of long flights without stopping, flew round and round until the waters had gone down from some high point, and never returned. No'ah then sent out a dove, but it failed to find a place to rest, and soon flew back to the Ark. After another week the dove was sent out again, and this time it returned with a leaf from an olive tree, indicating that the waters had sufficiently abated to permit vegetation to grow upon the land. After waiting another seven days No'ah sent forth the dove for the third time, and this time it did not return.
   It was evident that much of the land near the Ark was dry, and on investigation No'ah discovered that the land all around was dry. God then directed that he and his family leave the Ark, liberating all the animals which they had preserved. It is said that the mountain on which the Ark rested was Mt. Ar'a-rat, in the heart of the elevated plateau between the Black and Caspian Sea where the Ti'gris and Eu-phra'tes rivers. The mean elevation of this district is 5000 feet above sea level, and Mt. Ar'a-rat reaches a height of 17,750 feet. South of this mountainous region lies the land of ancient Bab-y-lo'ni-a and Mes-o-po-ta'mia, where the descendants of No'ah later settled.
  

Story 6: The Ship That Saved Mankind l

   In the midst of the universal wickedness of mankind and the gross immortality which caused God to order the destruction of the race and of all animal life upon the earth, there was found one good man. Of him alone could it truly be said that he walked with God, enjoyed constant communication with God, and always did what was right in the midst of a perverse and wicked generation. The name of the man was No'ah, who was of the Sethite line, and an immediate descendant of E'noch.
   No'ah retained the integrity of his soul when all the world around him was impure. Sinful companions and degenerate times were to him no excuse for faltering goodness; the darkness of the age merely enhanced the lustre of his rectitude. His goodness was genuine, unique, and stalwart. He was Heaven's representative upon earth, the world's hero, and the preserver of the human race.
   The piety of No'ah was characterized by justice and moral perfection; by Holy Communion with God, and by unfaltering faith and fervor. It did not waver before the rude winds of sin which swept the whole world into destruction, nor was it weakened by the persecution and sufferings of perilous times. It was kept bright and constant in its flame by the inward Grace of God.
   No'ah was the mouthpiece of God to the world of his age; because of his genuine goodness God entrusted to him the purposes of Heaven in the respect to the future. By the anointing of the Spirit of God his pure soul was made the vocalizing agency for God's message to humanity, and he was, indeed, a preacher of righteousness.
   In his communications with God it was revealed to No'ah that the time had come when all the people on earth were to be destroyed because of their wickedness. A great flood was to sweep over the whole earth, drowning every living creature. No'ah and his family, however, were to be spared because he alone had walked upright before the Lord.
   God then told No'ah how he was to save his life and that of his family, and the means by which the lives of two animals of every kind and specie, a male and a female, should be preserved for the future habitation of the world. No'ah was then directed to build a very large ship as large as many of the sea-going steamers of today, very long and very wide, containing three separate stories, and covered with a water-proof roof. The dimensions of the craft, the materials to be used, and the methods of construction were all prescribed by God. God was the architect, but No'ah was the builder; the plan of safety was of Divine origin, but human cooperation was required. The very elements which were to be used for the destruction of the wicked were to bear up in perfect safety this wondrous craft for the security of the righteous.
   The building of the Ark required a long time and involved a great deal of arduous labor. No'ah and his three sons, Shem, Ham, and Ja'pheth, were one hundred and twenty years in carrying to completion this gigantic undertaking, in which self-abandonment to God's will was required.

Story 5: E'noch Goes To Heaven Without Dying (My Favorite)

   In the midst of the almost universal wickedness that existed before the deluge when men were evil without any admixture of goodness whatsoever, there lived a man who was distinguished for his pious and continuous walk with God over a period of three hundred years. He pleased God, and God communed with Him from day to day. At the end of his earthly journey he had the further distinction of passing immediately into Heavens above, without undergoing death. His body was translated, and both body and soul were carried into the presence of God.
   The name of this man was E'noch, not the E'noch who was a son of Cain, but a man of the family of Seth. He was of the eighth generation from Ad'am and was the great-grandfather of No'ah. In spite of the inherent depravity of sin, notwithstanding the wickedness of his companions and the violent evils of the age, E'noch walked with God. His character was above reproach, his conduct was blameless, and his soul was pure. He was a bright and shining star in the midst of the darkest night in world history, and a sun of righteousness during the storm of violent wickedness.
   After walking with God here on earth, E'noch was called one day to continue his walk with God in Heaven. As a supernatural manifestation of the immortality of man to a generation which had completely forgotten God, and which had no faith in the future life, the glorious and instantaneous transition of this good man was a compelling message. He left behind him the testimony that he pleased God, and that by faith he was translated.
   E'noch had a son whose name was Me-thu'se-lah, and who is famed for attaining the greatest age of all time. He lived to be nine hundred and sixty-nine years of age, and though the usual lifetime of men of that period ranged from six to nine hundred years, we do not have the record of any other man who reached so great an age. It is a sad commentary on the man who lived longest of all that nothing else worthy of note is said about him, except that he was the father of La'mech. In the course of years La'mech became the father of No'ah, the hero of faith in preserving the human family from complete destruction in the flood, and through whom the Messianic line from Seth was saved.
  

Story 4: Seth And His Descendants ll

   One of the things which greatly accelerated the increase of wickedness during this period was the abuse of the marriage ordinance. As noted in a previous chapter, the descendants of Cain were grossly materialistic, immoral, and wicked. On the other hand, Seth and his descendants represented the lineage of righteousness. Though few in this line were sufficiently notable to be included in the Biblical record, they preserved the knowledge of God in the world. By Divine grace they were enabled to live pure and upright lives notwithstanding the natural depravity of the human heart and the engrossing wickedness of their companions. There was in their hearts an abiding consciousness of God's presence, a sense of intimate fellowship with the Infinite, the appropriation of spiritual provisions more real than the closest human relationship. They were the living witnesses of God in the world's darkest period.
   Certain members of the Sethite line ignored the moral and religious barriers between the families, and took wives from among the Cainites. This fact is stated in the passage: "The sons of God saw the daughters of man that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose." To interpret this passage as referring to the marriage of angels with mortal women violates the truth revealed through Divine inspiration. The meaning is simply that the moral requirements in the marriage relationship were discarded. The separation Divinely ordered between the Sethites and the Cainites was set aside, thereby permitting the sons of the Sethites to marry the daughters of the Cainites. This situation led to an indescribable state of spiritual decline and wickedness, involving both lines of the human family in the curse of the approaching deluge. Of all the descendants of Seth then living on the earth only No'ah and his family were saved.

Story 4: Seth And His Descendants l

   After their son A'bel had been slain by his brother Cain, and Ad'am and Eve had been deprived of Cain as a result of the curse of God upon him, a third son was born to them. He was called Seth, which means "compensation" or "substitute." At the time of his birth his mother exclaimed: God hath given me another."
   Little is known of Seth except there sprang from his lineage E'noch and No'ah, the two most notable characters of the next few centuries, and that he was head of the Messianic line which Je'sus came into the world. Ad'am reached the great age of 937 years, and many sons and daughters were born to him and Eve. These children increased in the same manner, as did their descendants, and since people of that era often lived eight or nine centuries the population was greatly increased.
   For a period of more than a thousand years the history of the human race was overshadowed with a pale of silence and oblivion. The multiplied thousands who lived during that period had ideas, emotions, and habits common to all humanity, sustained relations to one another and to the universe much the same as those who live today, and owed supreme allegiance and obedience to God. New discoveries were made, great deeds were wrought, communications received from God, and the race moved forward in material progress. The Divine record, however, mentions only the fact that the people increased in wickedness until God so greatly repented their creation that He brought upon the world a deluge which destroyed every living creature except those who were preserved in the Ark which Noah prepared under His direction. As God looked down upon the world He saw that every imagination of man was continually evil, there were no doubt some good men whom the knowledge of God kept alive on the earth throughout that dark period. Only one man, however, was sufficiently distinguished for righteousness and true spiritual religion to gain recognition in the sacred annals. His name was E'noch, the subject of our next chapter.
  

Story 3: The Birth Of Cain And A'bel ll

   Soon afterwards the Lord apprehended Cain and inquired of him: "Where is A'bel thy brother?" Cain sought to evade the question by asking , "Am I my brother's keeper?" Then the Lord declared that A'bel's blood was like crying to Him out of the ground. For this evil deed Cain was cursed as a vagabond to wander over the earth, a continual exile without a home.
   God placed a mark upon Cain, and sent him away with the announcement that anyone who harmed him should be punished. Cain and his wife went into a distant land, and there his children were born. He built a city which he named after his first son, whom he called E'noch. Included in the curse of God against him was that the land should no longer yield its fruit to his efforts, and he was therefore obliged to turn to industrial occupations for a livelihood. Bitterest of all his sufferings must have been the constant image of his murdered brother in his conscience, and the hours of remorse and anguish as the blood of his own mother's son clung to his hands.
   Not one item of moral goodness is recorded of Cain's descendants. They became leaders in arts and crafts, advanced in worldly wisdom and material prosperity, and spread abroad in the land. Seven successive generations are mentioned in the Bible, but there is no indication that any of them ever worshipped God or performed any religious or moral deed worthy of record. La'mech, the fifth in the line of Cain's descendants, was the first polygamist, also a murderer. In the remorse of conscience he said:
               "Adah and Zillah, hear my voice!
                  Ye wives of Le'mech, hearken unto my speech:
               For I have slain a man to my wounding,
                  And a young man to my hurt.
               If Cain hath been avenged sevenfold,
                  Truly Le'mech, seventy-and-sevenfold."
   In the sixth generation they introduced refinements into the system of society. Ja'bel stabilized the occupations of the shepherd and the herdsman. Tu'bal Cain promoted the use of scientific tools, and Ja'bal excelled in music and poetry. The Cainite line excelled in worldly ambition, in wealth and luxury, and in material knowledge. Their moral and spiritual decline, however, led to their complete extinction in the deluge which soon came upon the world.