Stories of the S HEPHERDS occupied the high pasture-lands of Palestine before men began to build cities and towns or even to raise crops as farmers. We have most interesting stories of a group of these shepherds in the early days. These men have been called "patriarchs," fathers. They gathered a family about them. They had several wives, for this was the custom in those far-off days, and many children. There were also slaves and herdsmen, making altogether a large company, living under the black tents, moving from place to place to find pasturage for the flocks of sheep and herds of cattle and camels. In "Ben Hur" there is an excellent picture of such a patriarchal encampment, the camp of Sheik Ilderim at the Orchard of Palms. Nowhere in all the world perhaps has there been so little change as in the countries of the East. The Bedouin encampments of the desert are probably almost the exact counterparts of the encampments of Abraham and Isaac in the pasture-lands of Palestine so long ago. In these stories we begin to see how truthful and severe is the Bible in its treatment of its heroes. The faults of these men, some of them very grave and serious faults, are revealed without any attempt to excuse them. These men sinned; they fell very far short of perfection. Yet their names,-Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, rise like splendid mountain-peaks out of the mists of time. Greater than kings are these simple shepherds. This is because they lived close to God. If they sinned they repented and came back to God. They were more than conquerors in their mental strife. It is the vivid dramatic story of real men and women, not saints, but very human beings, struggling with the problems of life, which has always enthralled the world. It is the divine element, the close and familiar contact with God, which lifts these stories of Hebrew shepherds out of the commonplace and makes them worthy of universal interest and study. ABRAHAM AND ISAAC Painted by Edwin John Prittie, expressly "AND the angel of the Lord called unto him out of heaven, and said, 'Abraham, Abraham': and he said, 'Here am I.' "And he said, 'Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me. Genesis 22:11, 12. Stories of the Patriarchs Abraham the Pioneer Abraham was more than a simple shepherd; he was a prince. He was the first shepherd of the people, possessing a princely nature, winning victories of character, holding fast his faith in times of perplexity and sorrow. HOW ABRAM LEFT HIS FATHER'S HOUSE AT THE N CALL OF GOD OW the LORD had said unto Abram, "Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee: and I will make of thee a great na tion, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: and I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed." So Abram departed, as the LORD had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran. And Abram took Sarah, his wife, and Lot, his brother's son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in Haran; and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan; and into the land of Canaan they came. And Abram passed through the land unto the place of Sichem, unto the plain of Moreh. And the Canaanite was then in the land. And the LORD appeared unto Abram, and said, "Unto thy seed will I give this land"; and there builded he an altar unto the LORD, who appeared unto him. And he removed from thence unto |