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Stories of the Bible, Volume 1: The People of the Chosen Land

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<h2 class="pb">ABRAHAM'S VISIONS.</h2> [41] Angels of life and death are His; Without his leave they pass no threshold o'er; Who, then, would wish or dare, believing this, Against his messengers to shut the door. —Longfellow. One night Abram went out beneath the sky and looked up at the stars. Then God's voice spoke and said, "Thy descendants shall be in number like the stars." Now, Abram had no children, and had his faith been less firm he might have doubted the words he heard. But he had never forgotten the promise that in the Land of Canaan a child should be born to him, and that from him should descend a nation. And that same night God spoke again to Abram in a vision. He showed him an altar with a burning lamp. And he said to Abram,[42] "For four hundred years your descendants shall journey in a strange land and suffer affliction; but, at the end of that time, they shall again come into Canaan and possess the land." Then the Lord changed the name of Abram to Abraham, which means Father of a People. And his wife's name he changed to Sarah, which means a Princess. And again God said unto Abraham and Sarah, "A child shall be born to you; and he shall be great among the nations of the earth." A third time God came to Abraham; and he told him that the destruction of Sodom was near at hand, because of its wickedness. Then Abraham thought of Lot, and prayed to God to save the city for Lot's sake. And God answered, "If ten righteous people only be found in the city, I will not destroy it for Lot's sake." [43]But ten righteous people were not to be found in the city, and so the angels of destruction were sent down upon it. Lot sat in the gateway of the city and looked out upon the country. And when he saw the angels of destruction, he rose and led them to his house and gave them food. Then the angels said, "Whatsoever thou hast in this city bring out; for we are come to destroy this place." Then Lot went and told his people; but none of them would listen to him. In the morning the angels came and woke Lot and his wife and said to them, "Arise, and hasten from the city. Escape for thy life, and look not behind thee." So Lot and his wife and their two daughters fled from the city; and the shower of fire came down to purify it. But when they were[44] far out on the plain, Lot's wife, still loving her old home, turned back to look upon it. Too late the angels' words came back to her, "Look not behind thee." <div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/fig_015.jpg" width-obs="345" height-obs="500" alt="THE FLIGHT OF LOT." title="" /> THE FLIGHT OF LOT. </div> Her feet were rooted to the spot; her voice refused to come; sight left her; sound was shut out; and in one instant she was changed to a pillar of salt. Then Lot and his two daughters hurried on. They reached a great cave, and ran and hid themselves in it. The city was now a blackened ruin. Lot's wealth was destroyed. He had no silver, no gold, no cattle, no home—only the cave, and grateful was he that he had even that. <hr class="scr" /> <div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/fig_016.jpg" width-obs="301" height-obs="500" alt="DEPARTURE OF HAGAR AND ISHMAEL." title="" /> DEPARTURE OF HAGAR AND ISHMAEL. </div> <div style="break-after:column;"></div>

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