The Story of the Bible
- Автор: Hurlbut Jesse Lyman
- Год: 1904
- Язык: английский
- Год: Heritage History
- Жанр: Культурология
Электронная книга - «The Story of the Bible». Краткое содержание книги:
One day, an old priest named Zacharias was leading the service of worship in the Temple. He was standing in front of the golden altar of incense, in the Holy Place, and was holding in his hand a censer or cup full of burning coals and incense; while all the people were worshipping in the court of the Temple, outside the court of the priests, where the great altar of burnt-offering stood (see Stories Twenty-seven and Twenty-eight in part First).
Suddenly Zacharias saw an angel from the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. He felt a great fear when he saw this strange being, with shining face; but the angel said to him:
"Do not be afraid, Zacharias; for I have come from the Lord to bring you good news. Your wife Elizabeth shall have a son, and you shall name him John. You shall be made glad, for your son John shall bring joy and gladness to many. He shall be great in the sight of the Lord; and he shall never taste wine nor strong drink as long as he lives; but he shall be filled with God's Holy Spirit. He shall lead many of the people of Israel to the Lord, for he shall go before the Lord in the power of Elijah the prophet, as was promised by Malachi, the last of the old prophets (see the last Story). He shall turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and those who are disobeying the Lord to do his will."
As Zacharias heard these words, he was filled with wonder, and could hardly believe them true. He was now an old man, and his wife Elizabeth was also old; so that they could not expect to have a child. He said to the angeclass="underline" "How shall I know that your words are true, for I am an old man and my wife is old?"
"I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God." Said the angel, " and I was sent from the Lord to speak to you, and to bring you this good news. But because you did not believe my words you shall become dumb, and shall not be able to speak until this which I have said comes to pass."
All this time, the people outside in the court, were wondering why the priest stayed so long in the Temple. When at last he came out, they found that he could not speak a word; but made signs to them to tell them that he had seen a vision in the Temple.
After the days of his service were over, Zacharias went to his own home, which was near Hebron, a city of the priests, among the mountains in the south of Judea. When his wife Elizabeth found that God was soon to give her a child, she was very happy and praised the Lord. About six months after Zacharias saw the vision in the Temple, the same angel Gabriel was sent from the Lord to a city in the part of the land called Galilee, which was in the north. The city to which the angel was sent was Nazareth. There the angel found a young girl named Mary, who was a cousin to Elizabeth. Mary was soon to be married to a good man who had sprung from the line of King David, though he was not himself a king, or a rich man. He was a carpenter or wood-worker, living in Nazareth, and his name was Joseph. The angel came into the room where Mary was, and said to her:
"Hail, woman favored by the Lord; the Lord is with you!"
Mary was surprised at the angel's words, and wondered what they could mean. Then the angel spoke again and said:
"Do not be afraid, Mary. The Lord has given you his favor and chosen you to be the mother of a son whose name shall be Jesus, which means "salvation," because he shall save his people from their sins. He shall be great; and shall be called the Son of God; and the Lord shall give to him the throne of his father David. He shall be a king; and shall reign over the people of God forever, and of hid kingdom there shall be no end."
But Mary could not see how all this was to come to pass. And the angel said to her:
"The Holy Spirit shall come upon you, and the power of the Most High God shall be over you; and the holy child which you shall have shall be called the Son of God."
Then the angel told Mary that her cousin Elizabeth was soon to have a child through the power of the Lord. And when Mary heard all this she said, "I am the servant of the Lord, to do his will. Let it be to me as you have said."
THE ANGEL SPEAKING TO MARY
When the angel had given his message and had gone away, Mary rose up in haste, and made a journey to the home of Zacharias and Elizabeth, eighty miles away in the south country. When Elizabeth saw Mary, she was filled with the spirit of the Lord, and said, "Blessed is the woman who believed that the promise of the Lord to her shall be made true!"
ELIZABETH GREETS MARY
Then Mary was filled with the Spirit of the Lord, and broke out into a song of praise. She stayed with Elizabeth for nearly three months, and then went again to her own home at Nazareth.
As the angel had said, to the aged woman Elizabeth was given a son. They were going to name him Zacharias, after his father. But his mother said, "No, his name shall be John."
"Why," they said, "none of your family have ever been named John."
They asked his father Zacharias, by signs, what name he wished to be given to the child. He asked for something to write upon; and when they brought it, he wrote, "His name is John."
Then all at once the power to hear and to speak came back to Zacharias. He spoke, praising and blessing God; and he sang a song of thanks to God, in which he said:
"You, O child, shall be called a prophet of the Most High; to go before the Lord, and to make ready his ways."
When John was growing up, they sent him out into the desert on the south of the land and there he stayed until the time come for him to preach to the people, for this child became the prophet John the Baptist.
THE WELL OF THE VIRGIN MARY, AT NAZARETH
The Manger of Bethlehem
Matthew i: 18 to 25; Luke ii: 1 to 39.
Soon after the time when John the Baptist was born, Joseph, the carpenter of Nazareth, the husband of Mary, had a dream. In his dream her saw an angel from the Lord standing beside him. The angel said to him:
"Joseph, I have come to tell you, that Mary, the young woman whom you are to marry will have a son, sent by the Lord God. You shall call his name Jesus, which means 'salvation', because he shall save his people from their sins."
Joseph knew from this that this coming child was to be the King of Isreal, of whom the prophets of the Old Testament had spoken so many times.
Soon after Joseph and Mary were married in Nazareth, a command went forth from the emperor, Augustus Caesar, through all the lands of the Roman empire, for all the people to go to the cities and towns from which their families had come and there to have their manes written down upon a list, for the emperor wished a list to be made of the the people under his rule. As both Joseph and Mary had come from the family of David the king, they went together from Nazareth to Bethlehem, there to have their names written upon the list. For you remember that Bethlehem in Judea, six miles south of Jerusalem, was the place where David was born, and where his father's family had lived for many years see Story Four in Part Third).
It was a long journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem; down the mountains to the river Jordan, then following the Jordan almost to its end, and then climbing the mountains of Judah to the town of Bethlehem. When Joseph and Mary came to Bethlehem they found the city full of people who, like themselves, had come to have their manes enrolled or written upon the list. The inn or hotel was full, and there was no room for them; for no one but themselves knew that this young woman was soon to be the mother of the Lord of all the earth. The best that they could do was to go to a stable, where the cattle were kept. There the little baby was born, and was laid in a manger, where the cattle were fed.