 Preface of The Children's Tabernacle or Handwork and Heartwork. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Bethesda Lilly. The Children's Tabernacle or Handwork and Heartwork by Charlotte Maria Tucker. While I was engaged in the writing of the following brief work, again and again the question arose in my mind. Can I make subjects so deep and difficult, really interesting and intelligible to the young? The importance of reading Old Testament types in the light thrown on them by the Gospel cannot indeed be overrated, especially in these perilous times. But can a child be taught thus to read? The attempt thus to teach is made in the following pages. And I would earnestly request parents and teachers not merely to place this little volume in the hands of children as a prettily illustrated storybook, but to read it with them, prepared to answer questions and to solve difficulties. Sunday books should supplement not take the place of oral instruction. A writer may give earnest thought and labor to the endeavor to make religious subjects interesting to the young. But what influence has the silent page, compared with that of a father expressing his own settled convictions, or that of a mother who has the power to speak at once to the head and to the heart? A-L-O-E End of Preface Recording by Bethesda Lilley Chapter 1 of The Children's Tabernacle, or Handwork and Heartwork, by Charlotte Maria Tucker. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Recording by Bethesda Lilley Chapter 1 Wanting Work You have no right to spoil my desk, you tiresome mischievous boy. I've not spoiled it, Agnes. I've only ornamented it by carving that little pattern all round. I don't call that carving nor ornamenting neither, cried Agnes, in an angry voice. You've nicked it all round with your knife. You've spoiled my nice little desk. And I'll—what threat Agnes might have added—remains unknown, for her sentence was broken by a violent fit of coughing, whoop after whoop, a fit partly brought on by her passion. What is all this, my children? asked Mrs. Temple, drawn into the room called the study by the noise of the quarrel between her son and her eldest daughter. Lucius, a boy of more than twelve years of age, and therefore a great deal too old to have made so foolish a use of his knife, stood with a vexed expression on his face, looking at his poor sister, who, in the violence of her distressing cough, had to grasp the table to keep herself from falling. Amy, her kind younger sister, had run to support her, while Dora and little Elsie, who had both the same complaint, though in a milder form then their sister, coughed with her in chorus. Mrs. Temple's care was first directed to helping her poor sick daughter. Agnes, as well as her three sisters, had caught the whooping cough from their brother Lucius, who had brought it from school. It was several minutes before the room was quiet enough for conversation, but when Agnes, flushed and trembling with her eyes red and tearful from coughing, had sunk on an armed chair relieved for a time, Mrs. Temple was able to turn her attention to what had been the cause of dispute. A rosewood desk lay on the table, and round the upper edge of this desk Lucius had carved a little pattern with the large sharp knife which he held in his hand. I am sure, Mama, that I did not mean to do mischief, said Lucius, nor to vex Agnes neither. I thought that a carved desk would be prettier than a plain one, and so— You might have tried the carving on your own desk, said Agnes faintly. The tears were rolling down her cheeks, and she did not dare raise her voice lest she should bring on the whooping again. So I might, blockhead that I am. I never thought of that, exclaimed Lucius. But if you like, we will exchange desks now, and then all will be right. Mine is a bigger desk than yours, and has not many ink stains upon it. The proposal set Dora, Amy, and Elsie laughing, and a smile rose even to the lips of Agnes. She saw that Lucius was anxious to make up for his folly, but the big school desk would have been a poor exchange for her own, which was neat and had red velvet lining. While hers, being scarcely larger than a work-box, would have been of little service to Lucius at school. Oh, no! I'll keep my own desk. The carving does not look so very bad after all, murmured Agnes, who had an affectionate heart, though by no means a perfect temper. I took no end of pains with it, said Lucius, and my knife is so sharp that— I would rather that you did not try its edge on my table, cried his mother, barely in time to save her mahogany from being ornamented, as well as the desk. Stupid that I am. I was not thinking of what I was about, exclaimed Lucius, shutting up the knife with a sharp click. But the truth is, I'm so horribly sick of having nothing to do that I must set about something. I don't like reading. I've enough and too much of that at school. You won't let me go out, lest the damp should bring back my coughing and whooping. I've had enough and too much of that, also. I've only the girls to play with, and none of my own friends must come near the house because of this tiresome infection, and I shall be taking to cutting my own fingers off some day for want of something better to do. It's a case of idleness being the mother of mischief, cried the bright-eyed Dora, who was busy embroidering with many-colored silks and apron for little Elsie's doll. Idleness is indeed very often the mother of mischief, observed Mrs. Temple. I am afraid that my young people often prove the truth of the proverb. Perhaps it was partly idleness that made the children of Israel do so very, very wrong when they were wandering about in the desert, observed Amy, glancing up from a book on the subject which she had been reading. Ah! they were shut up in a wilderness month after month, year after year, cried Lucius, after they had come forth from Egypt with their flocks and herds and all kinds of spoil. They had little to do, I suppose, and may have grown just as tired of the sameness of their lives as I have of the dullness of mine. I have often thought, observed Mrs. Temple, who had seated herself at the table and taken up her knitting. I have often thought how tenderly the Lord dealt with his people in providing for them pleasant, interesting occupation when he bade them make the tabernacle, and condescended to give them minute directions how it should be made. There were the various employments of carving, ornamenting, working in metal. To engage the attention of the men, while the women had spinning, weaving, sewing, and embroidering, with the delightful assurance that the offering of their gold and silver, their time and their toil, was made to the Lord and accepted by him. I never before thought of the making of the tabernacle being a pleasure to the Israelites, observed Agnes. I always wondered at so many chapters in the Bible being filled with descriptions of curtains, silver loops, and gold ornaments, which are of no interest at all to us now. My child, it is our ignorance which makes us think any part of the Bible of no interest, observed Mrs. Temple. If you remember the readiness with which, as we know, the Israelites brought their precious things for the tabernacle, and if you can realize the eager pleasure with which, after the long idleness which had ended in grievous sin, men and women set to work, you will feel that the order to make a beautiful place for worship must have been the opening of a spring of new delight to the children of Israel. They had the Lord's own pattern to work from, so there was no room for disputes about form or style, and it was a pattern admirably suited to give pleasant employment to numbers of people and to women as well as to men. Fancy how listless languor must have been suddenly changed to animation, the murmurs of discontented idlers to the hum of cheerful workers, and how vanity and foolish gossip amongst the girls must have been checked while they traced out their rich patterns and plied their needles, and instead of decking their own persons, gave their gold and jewels freely to God. I wish that we'd a tabernacle to make here, exclaimed Lucius, whose restless fingers again opened his dangerous plaything. Mrs. Temple raised her hand to her brow, a thought had just occurred to her mind. We might possibly manage to make a model of the tabernacle, she said after a moment's reflection. Yes, I do all the carving part, all the hard part, cried Lucius, eagerly. Do, do let us make a model, exclaimed his sisters. It would be a long work, a difficult work. I am not sure whether we could succeed in accomplishing it, said Mrs. Temple, and after all our labor, if we did manage to make a fair model, to what use could we put it? We had better consider all these matters before we begin what must be a tedious and might prove an unprofitable work. Ah, a model would be of great use, mama, cried Dora. At Christmas time, when this tiresome infection is over and we go to our aunt at Chester, we could show it to all her friends. And to her school children, her ragged school children, interrupted Lucius with animation. We've let them see our magic lantern for three Christmases running, and if the children are not tired of the slides of lions, bears, and peacocks, I'm sure that I am, besides I smashed half the slides by accident last winter. A model of the tabernacle would be something quite new to please the ragged scholars, and Aunt Theodora would draw so many good lessons from it. And could we not do with the model what we did with the magic lantern, suggested Dora, make of it a little exhibition, letting aunt's friends come and see it for six penny tickets, and so collect a little money to help on the ragged school? That would be so nice, cried Amy. That would be famous, exclaimed little blue-eyed Elsie, clapping her hands. Let's set to work this minute, said Lucius, and he wrapped the table with his knife. Dora threw the doll's apron into her work-box, eager to have some employment more worthy of the clever fingers of a young lady of more than eleven years of age. Mrs. Temple smiled at the impetuosity of her children. I must repeat, let us consider first, she observed. Possibly not one amongst you has any idea of the amount of labor and patience required to complete a model of the tabernacle, which was made by the children of Israel. Of course our tabernacle would be much smaller than the real one was, remarked Dora. Supposing that we made it on the scale of one inch to two cubits, I wonder what its length would be, said Mrs. Temple. Just bring me the Bible, Lucius. I will turn over to the description of the tabernacle, which we will find in the book of Exodus. I do not know what a cubit is, said Elsie, while her brother ran for the Bible. Don't you remember what Mama told us when we were reading about the size of the Ark, said Agnes? A cubit is the length of a man's arm from the elbow to the end of his middle finger, just about half of one of our yards. Eighteen inches, or as some think, twenty. Observed Mrs. Temple, as she opened the Bible, which Lucius had just placed on the table before her. Let's count a cubit as exactly half a yard, Mama, said Lucius, and then one inch's length in the model would go for a yard's length in the real tabernacle. If we reckon thus, how long would our model need to be? The outer court of the tabernacle was one hundred cubits long by fifty broad, replied Mrs. Temple, that, in such a model as we propose making, would be a length of four feet and two inches by a breadth of two feet and one inch. Just large enough to stand comfortably on this table, cried Lucius, there will be room enough on this table, and I'll clear it of the book's work box and flower jar in a twinkling. Stop a minute, my boy, laughed his mother as Lucius appeared to be on the point of sweeping everything off, including the green cloth cover. We have not even decided on whether this model should be made at all, and if we do begin one, months may pass before we shall need that table on which to set it. Oh, do, do let us make a model, again the young temples cried out. I'm ready to undertake every bit of the woodwork. Added Lucius, impatient to use his sharp knife on better work than that of spoiling a desk. First hear what you will have to undertake, said his more cautious and practical mother. The mere outer court has sixty pillars. Sixty pillars! re-echoed the five. Besides, four more pillars for the tabernacle itself, continued the lady, and forty-eight boards of wood to be covered all over with gold. How large would each board have to be? asked Lucius more gravely. Each five inches long and three-quarters of an inch broad, answered his mother. And quite thin, I suppose, said the young carpenter, looking thoughtfully at the blade of his knife, which was to accomplish such a long, difficult piece of work. We could get gold leaf for the gilding, Mama, suggested the intelligent Dora, and pasteboard instead of wood. Pasteboard would look quite neat, and need not to be cut up into boards. Oh, it's not the gilding, nor the cutting up the planks, neither, whether they were made of pasteboard or wood. That puzzles me, cried her brother, but think of sixty-four pillars. How on earth could I cut out so many slender little rods with my knife? Thick wire might be used for the pillars, just as well as pasteboard for the planks, said Agnes. When covered with gold leaf, they would look just the same as if the sentence was interrupted by another fit of coughing. It was clear that poor Agnes was at present little fitted to join in the conversation. End of Chapter 1. Recording by Bethesda Lilly. Chapter 2 of The Children's Tabernacle, or Handwork and Heartwork, by Charlotte Maria Tucker. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Recording by Bethesda Lilly. Chapter 2. The Tabernacle. There is a picture of the Tabernacle in your Bible, Mama. That will help us in arranging what is to be done, and you will decide on which of us should do each portion of the work, said Dora. Mrs. Temple turned over the leaves till she came to the picture. Here you see a long open court she observed, enclosed by pillars supporting curtains of fine linen, faceted to them by loops of silver. I shall supply the linen for these curtains, and I think that my gentle Amy, who sews so nicely, may make them. This work will require only neatness and patience, and my little dove has both. Ah, Mama! But the silver loops! How could I make them? suggested Amy, who had very little self-confidence. I have a reel of silver thread upstairs in my box, said her mother. You will make the tiny loops for the curtains of that. And I will manage the sixty-four pillars, cried Lucius. It was no bad notion to make them of wire, but they must be fixed into something hard to keep them upright in their places. I was thinking of that, said his mother. We shall need a wooden frame, rather more than four feet by two, to support the model, and into this frame, holes must be drilled to receive the sixty-four wires. I must borrow the carpenter's tools, observed Lucius. I can't do all that with my knife. I see that I have a long, difficult job before me. Do you give it up? cried little Elsie, looking up archly into the face of her brother. Not I, said the schoolboy proudly. The harder the work, the more glorious is success. What are those objects in the court of the tabernacle? asked Amy, who had been thoughtfully examining the picture. That large square object, with grating on the top, from which smoke is rising, is the altar of burnt offering, said the lady. Through the grating, the ashes of animals that had been slain as sacrifices fell into a cavity below. The projections which you see at the four corners are called the horns of the altar, of which you read in various parts of the Bible. Was not it an altar of burnt offering that Elijah made on Mount Carmel? asked Dora, when he cut the dead bullock in pieces, and prayed to the Lord till fire was sent down from heaven? Yes, answered her mother. But that altar was not like the one in the picture. Elijah built his up quickly. It was merely formed of twelve stones. The altar made by the Israelites in the desert was framed of wood and covered with brass. It was nearly eight feet square, and was reached not by steps, but by a sloping bank of earth. And what is that very large vase farther on in the picture? asked Amie. That is meant for the brazen laver, to hold water for the priests to wash in. This laver was made of brass which the women of Israel offered. Do any of my girls remember what articles had been made before of that brass? The party was silent for a few seconds, and then Amie said, with a blush on her cheek, the mirrors of the women, Mama. The little girl was inclined to be vain of her looks, and her mother, who had noticed how much of Amie's time was foolishly spent before a glass, had drawn her attention some days before that of which I write. To a fact which has been thought worthy of mention in the Bible. The women of Israel had the self-denial to give up the brazen mirrors, which were to them what glass mirrors are to us, to form a laver for the use of the priests when engaged in the service of God. Mrs. Temple smiled pleasantly to see that the example of the women in the desert had not been forgotten by her child. Is not that kind of large tent which is standing in the court, the tabernacle itself, inquired Dora? It is the tabernacle, was the reply. Why is all that smoke coming out of it? asked little Elsie. That smoke in the picture represents the pillar of cloud which guided the Israelites in their wanderings, said Mrs. Temple. For it is written in the book of Exodus 4038, The cloud of the Lord was upon the tabernacle by day, and fire was upon it by night in the sight of all the house of Israel throughout all their journeys. What a very holy place that tabernacle must have been, said Amy, in a low tone of voice. There was not only the pillar of cloud as a visible sign of God's presence resting upon it, observed Mrs. Temple, but when Moses had finished making the tabernacle, a miraculous light called by the Jews Shekinah, and in the Bible the glory of the Lord, filled the most holy place. I wish that it were so with holy places now, exclaimed Agnes. If a cloud always rested on the roofs of our churches, and a glorious light shone inside, people would not be so careless about religion as they are now. I fear that no outward sign of God's presence would long prevent carelessness and sin, replied Mrs. Temple. What, Mama, not even a shining glory in church? cried Amy. Remember, my child, all the wonders and terrors of Mount Sinai, the thunderings and lightnings, the smoke that rose like the smoke of a furnace, the trembling of the earth, and the sound of the trumpet exceeding loud. The Israelites quaked with fear. They felt how awful is the presence of God. They implored that the Lord might only address them through Moses, but let not God speak with us lest we die, cried the terrified people. And yet, inside of that very Mount Sinai, in sight of the thick cloud resting above it, those Israelites openly broke God's commandments and fell into grievous sin. Oh, my beloved children, the only thing to save us from sinning greatly against God is for our hearts to be the tabernacle in which he vouchsafes to dwell, and to have his Holy Spirit shining as the bright light within. Can any one of you repeat that most beautiful verse from Isaiah 5715, which shows us that the Lord deigns to dwell with the lowly in heart? Of all Mrs. Temple's family, Agnes had the best memory, though she had neither the quick intelligence of her twin sister Dora, nor so much of the love of her heavenly master, which made Amy, though younger than herself, more advanced in religious knowledge. Dora had often admired the verse mentioned by her mother, and to the humble-minded little Amy, it had brought a feeling of thankful joy. But it was Agnes who remembered it best by heart, so as to be able to repeat it without making a single mistake. Thus saith the High and Lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, and dwell in the High and Holy Place with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones. End of Chapter 2. Recording by Bethesda Lilly. Chapter 3 of The Children's Tabernacle or Handwork and Heartwork by Charlotte Maria Tucker This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Recording by Bethesda Lilly. Chapter 3. The Curtains The girls will have plenty to do in making the curtains for the tabernacle itself, observed Lucius, who, while his mother and sisters had been conversing, had been engaged in looking over the description in the Book of Exodus, why, there are four distinct sets of curtains. First the undermost, ten curtains of fine twined linen, with blue and purple and scarlet, and cherubims of cunning, that must mean skillful, work upon them. How splendid that must be, exclaimed Elsie. Then a covering of goat's hair curtains above these fine embroidered ones, continued Lucius. Then a third of ram's skins dyed red, and then to complete the whole, a covering of Badger's skin curtains, the outermost of all. The four young work women were somewhat startled at the difficulties which their brothers' words had raised in their minds. Dora gave a voice to the thoughts of her sisters, when she said, with a look of disappointment, it will be hard to get ram's skins dyed red, but I do not know where goat's hair can be bought in England. And as for the Badger's skins, I am afraid that it will be quite impossible, even for Mama to find such a thing, unless it be in the British Museum. So we must give up making the tabernacle, said Amy with a sigh. Nay, nay, cried their smiling mother, we must not be so readily discouraged. Learned men tell us that the Hebrew translated into Badger's skins in our Bible is one of uncertain meaning, which something denotes a blue color, and which, if intended for a skin at all, is not likely to have been that of a Badger. Blue merino for the outer covering, red turkey cloth instead of ram's skins, and mohair curtains instead of goat's hair will do, I think, for our model, as well as the pasteboard, wire, and gold and silver thread which must represent metal and wood. Yes, said Lucius quickly, they will do a great deal better than the real materials, for if we could manage to get ram's skins and Badger's skins to cut up, such curtains would be a great deal too thick and heavy for a little model like ours. Why, our tabernacle, we'll be only fifteen inches long by five inches in breadth. All the grave little faces brightened up with smiles at this way of getting over what had seemed a very great difficulty. Elsie looked especially pleased, pressing close to her mother and laying her little hand on Mrs. Temple's arm in a coaxing way, she cried. Oh, Mama, don't you think that I could make one set of the curtains? You know I can hem and run a seam, and won't make very large stitches. Might I not try, dear Mama? I should like to help to make the tabernacle. It would have been difficult to the mother to have resisted that pleading young face, even had Elsie made a less reasonable request. I cannot see why these little fingers should not manage the red turkey cloth, which shall stand for the ram's skins," replied Mrs. Temple, stroking the hand of her child. The outermost covering of all will, of course, need finer stitching, and one of the twins will take that and the mohair besides. To make both these sets of curtains will take far less time and require less skill than must be given to the embroidery on linen in blue, scarlet, and purple, which will adorn the inner walls and ceilings of our little model. Do, do let me have the embroidery. It is just the work which I delight in," cried Dora, and she might have had it, excel in, for she was remarkably clever in making things requiring fancy and skill. Agnes, her twin, flushed very red, not merely from the straining of the cloth which had frequently distressed her, but from jealous emotion. Agnes had not a lowly heart, and in her heart angry feelings were rising at her sister's asking that the finest and most ornamental portion of the work should be given to her. Of course Mama will not let you have the beautiful embroidery to do Dora and leave the plain mohair and marino to me. Her eldest daughter exclaimed Agnes, laying a proud stress on the word eldest, though there was but an hour's difference between the ages of the twins. Why, Agnes, what nonsense that is! cried Lucius Pluntly. You know as well as I do that your clumsy fingers can't so much as hem a silk handkerchief neatly, and how would they manage embroidery in purple, scarlet, and blue? Your bad work would spoil the whole thing. Don't you, metal! You don't know anything about work! exclaimed Agnes in a loud, angry tone, which brought on another severe fit of coughing and whooping. Mrs. Temple was grieved at the ill temper shown by her eldest daughter and all the more so as Agnes was in so suffering a state as to make it difficult for a mother to reprove her, as she would have done, had the girl been in health. The lady had to wait for some time before the cough was quiet enough for her gentle voice to be heard, though Amy had quickly brought a glass of water to help in stopping that cough. When Agnes could breathe freely again, the mother thus addressed her family's circle. I should be vexed indeed, my children, if what I proposed as a pleasant and profitable occupation for you all should become a cause of strife and occasion for foolish pride and contention. The tabernacle was in itself a holy thing, made so by the special appointment and presence of the Lord. I would wish the making of its model to be a kind of holy employment, one never to be marred by jealousy and pride. The profits of your labour, if there be any, you mean to devote to helping the poor. Therefore I hope we may consider the work as an offering to the Lord, a very small offering, it is true, but still one which he may deign to accept, if it be made in a lowly, loving spirit. But if selfish, worldly feelings creep in, then good works themselves become evil. The Israelites were expressly forbidden to offer any creature in which there was a blemish or fault, and our offerings are certainly blemished and spoiled if we mix them with jealousy and pride. Agnes bit her lip and knitted her brow. She was not without both good sense and a good feeling, but she had not yet obtained the mastery over her jealous temper. I do not see why Dora should be favoured above me," she murmured. Dora is not favoured above you," replied the mother gravely. The simple state of the case is this. Different talents are given to different persons. You have a good memory, Dora a skillful hand. Were the work in question to be the repeating of a chapter by heart, Dora would never expect to be the one chosen to repeat it. Why should pride make you refuse to own that there are some things in which a younger sister may excel you? Agnes hesitated and glanced at her mother. The girl's brow was a little clouded still, and yet there were signs that her pride was giving way. I leave the decision to your own good sense and feeling, my love," said Mrs. Temple. Judge yourself whether, if your desire be to make a really beautiful model worthy of the good object to which we devote it, it would be better to place the embroidery part in Dora's hands or your own. Let Dora do it," said Agnes, with a little effort, her eyes filling with tears, for it was hard to her, as it is to most of us, to wrestle down struggling pride. Mrs. Temple smiled kindly upon her daughter. One of the most precious lessons which we can learn," said the mother, is an obedience to the command of our Lord to be willing to be last of all and servant of all. The sacrifice of our pride and self-will is more pleasing to our maker than the most costly gift can be. It is worthy of notice that it was not the outer covering of the Tabernacle, that part which would be seen from every quarter of Israel's camp that was most beautyous and precious. The richest curtains were those seen far less often, those that had the lowest place in the building. So our maker cares far more for what is within than for what is without, and there is no ornament so fair in his eyes as that of a meek and quiet spirit. End of Chapter 3. Recording by Bethesda Lilly Chapter 4 of The Children's Tabernacle, or Handwork and Heartwork, by Charlotte Maria Tucker. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain, recording by Bethesda Lilly. Chapter 4. Precious Things I do not think that the Tabernacle was a grand building after all, observed Lucius, though there is so much written about it in the Bible. Why? It was only about forty-five feet by fifteen, not so large as the chapel at the end of the town, and not for one moment to be compared to the grand cathedral, which we all went to see last summer. There is one thing which you perhaps overlook," said his mother. When the Tabernacle was raised, the Israelites were a nation of wanderers, and had no fixed habitation. Their Tabernacle was a large, magnificent tent, made to be carried about from place to place by the LibriVox. Every portion of it was so contrived as to be readily taken to pieces, and then put together again. This could not have been done with a building of very great size. Nobody could carry about the great cathedral, or even the little chapel, cried Elsie, but they were never meant to be moved. They are fixed quite firm in the ground. The size of the Tabernacle was indeed not great, continued Mrs. Temple, but besides its being filled with a glory which is never beheld now in any building raised by man, the treasures lavished on it must have given to it a very splendid appearance. It has been calculated that the gold and silver used in making the Tabernacle must alone have amounted in value to the enormous sum of one hundred eighty-five thousand pounds. Exclamation of surprise were uttered, and Dora remarked, Why, that would be enough to pay for the building of forty large churches as handsome as the new one which we all admire so much. And the new church holds ten times as many people as the Tabernacle could, observed Agnes. I cannot think how a large nation, like the Israelites, could find space to meet in such a small place, only about twice the size of this room. The Tabernacle was never intended to be to the Israelites what a church is to us, remarked Mrs. Temple. In the warm climate of Arabia, the people worshipped in the open air, under the blue canopy of the sky. No building to shelter them was required such as is needful in England. The men of Israel brought their sacrifices to the court of the temple where, as you already know, the altar of burnt offering and the labor were placed. But Mama, what was inside the Tabernacle itself? What was so very carefully kept under those four sets of curtains? Asked Dora. The Tabernacle was divided into two rooms by a most magnificent curtain of rich embroidery called the Vale, replied Mrs. Temple. The outer room, which was double the size of the inner, was named the Holy, or Sanctuary. In this outer room were kept the splendid golden candlestick with its seven branches, each supporting a lamp which burned all through the night, and the table of showbread on which twelve cakes of unleavened bread were constantly kept, the supply being changed on every Sabbath. Ah, I remember! It was that showbread which was given to David when he was hungry, said Lucius, though it was meant to be eaten only by priests. What other things were in the outer part of the Tabernacle? Asked Agnes. There was the altar of incense, my love, upon which sweet perfume was daily burned, so that the room was filled with fragrance. You have told us, Mama, what was in the first part of the beautiful Tabernacle, but what was in the very innermost part, the little room beyond the Vale? Asked Amy. That little room, about fifteen feet square, was called the Holy of Holies, and contained the most precious object of all, the special symbol of the presence of the Most High. That object was the Ark, with its cover of pure gold, which was called the Mercy Seat, and on which were figures of cherubim, wrought all in gold with wings outstretched. Over this Mercy Seat, and between the golden cherubim, rested the wondrous glory which showed that God was with his people. David, doubtless, referred to this when he wrote in the eighteenth Psalm, Thou that dwellest between the cherubims, shine forth. And were not precious things laid up in the Ark? inquired Agnes. Were not the tables of stone on which the commandments were written, put into it? And the pot of manna kept to remind the people how their fathers were fed in the desert? said Dora. And the wonderful rod of Aaron that budded and blossomed and bore fruit, was not that also in the Ark? asked Lucius. All these most precious and holy things were laid up in the Ark, or as some think, in front of the Ark. Beneath the golden cherubim replied Mrs. Tempel. Oh, I should have liked above all things to have seen them, exclaimed little Elsie. I should have liked to have lifted up the splendid curtain veil, and to have gone into the holy of holies if the light had not been too dazzling bright, and have looked upon all those precious things. Most of all I'd have liked to see that wonderful rod of Aaron if it was the very, very same rod that had once been turned into a serpent. Ah, my child, none of us would have dared to have lifted that veil, or to have placed a foot within the holy of holies, exclaimed Mrs. Tempel. No mortal was ever suffered to enter that place, most sacred of all, except the High Priest, and that but one day of the year, the day of atonement. Aaron himself, the first High Priest, with trembling awe must have lifted the veil, and approached the mercy seat, over which the cherubims spread their wings of gold. Mrs. Tempel spoke in so solemn a tone that the children felt that the subject was very sacred, and none of them spoke for several moments. Then Lucy has observed, there is now no place on earth into which no one dare enter, like the holy of holies in the tabernacle of old. No, my son, because the veil has been rent in twain, and the Lord Christ, our great High Priest, has opened a free way for all believers, even into the holy of holies where God dwells in glory for ever, said Mrs. Tempel, with even greater reverence in her manner, and clasping her hands as she spoke, Mama, I cannot understand you, cried Amy. These are the deep things of God, my love, and it is very difficult to explain their meaning to children. The tabernacle and the things within were types, or as we may call them, pictures of heavenly mysteries, revealed to us by the gospel. But we will not enter now upon these difficult subjects. I think that you know a little about the appearance of the tabernacle, of which you are so anxious to make a model, and also of what was contained within it, to understand the meaning of that holy place, and of its contents, will require much earnest thought and attention. We may perhaps converse a little about it tomorrow, which is Sunday. You will have abundance of time, as the fear of giving infection to others, applies to me to keep you from going to church. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Recording by Bethesda Lilly. Chapter 5 Preparation I wish that tomorrow were any day but Sunday, exclaimed Lucius. Just when one is setting about a long work, eager to measure and to make, to cut and to clip, it is vexatious to have to stop in the middle of business, to shove away knife, ruler, pencil, pasteboard, and all, into a drawer for the next twenty-four hours. Perhaps it would be better not to begin the work at all, until Monday, mildly suggested his mother. Oh no! We've all the Saturday afternoon. Let's set to making our model at once, exclaimed Lucius. Please, please don't make us put off, cried Dora and Elsie. Mrs. Temple was a very indulgent mother, and was inclined to be all the more so, as each of her children was either suffering from whooping cough, or just recovering from its effects. The mother felt sorry at the necessity for shutting out her family from many of their usual occupations and pleasures, and even from the privilege of going to church. The lady did not, therefore, in the least press the subject of delay, but offered as soon as early dinner should be over, to go and search in her drawers and boxes for such materials as she might think suitable for the model of the tabernacle, which her children were so eager to make. The dinner bell sounded while Mrs. Temple was speaking, and the family went together to the room in which they took all their meals, and gathered round the table, which was spread with a plentiful, though plain, repast. While the young temples are engaged with their dinner, let me introduce them a little more individually to my reader. There at the bottom of the table is Lucius, a sunburnt, pleasant looking schoolboy, with a mass of brown half-curly locks brushed back from his forehead. He has quick eyes and restless hands, which are seldom perfectly still, even if they have no better occupation than that of tying and untying a morsel of string. They are now busily playing a large knife and fork, for Lucius is a skillful carver, and the joint of mutton is placed before him, from which to help all the party. The pale girl, seated on the right of Lucius, with eyes weak and reddened by the effect of her cough, is Agnes, the elder of the twins. Her brow is furrowed, perhaps in the same cause, perhaps because she is more irritable in temper than her brother and sisters. But Agnes is a conscientious girl, one who thinks much of me, and we may hope that prayer and pains, which it has been well said, can do anything. We'll give her the mastery over faults against which she has been trying to struggle. Opposite to Agnes sits Dora, who, though her twin, is not much like her, being a good deal taller, prettier, and more animated than she. Dora is a much greater favorite with Lucius and the younger girls than her elder twin, from being gay, obliging and clever. Agnes is perfectly aware that such is the case, and has to pray and strive against the sin of jealousy, which is too ready to creep into her heart and poison all her enjoyments. On either side of Mrs. Temple are her two younger daughters, Amy and Elsie. The former, with soft brown eyes and long flaxen hair tied back with blue ribbons, is strikingly like her mother, who has, at least so think her children, the sweetest face in the world. Amy has never been known to quarrel or utter an angry word, and is always ready to give help to anyone who needs it. It is no wonder that so gentle a girl is beloved, but Amy knows herself to be by no means faultless, and is much on her guard against the silly vanity which a mother's watchful eye has found out to be lurking in the mind of her dear little girl. Elsie is a merry blue-eyed child, full of life and intelligence, forward, rather too forward for her age. She has, for six years, held the place of baby in the home of her widowed mother, and her family are rather disposed to indulge her as if she were a baby still. She enters with animation into the amusements of the elder children, and is by no means disposed to be seen or heard, as Lucius often laughingly tells her that such little people should be. The conversation during dinner was almost entirely on the subject of the model, and flowed on pleasantly enough except when interrupted by coughing. But all the children were glad when mealtime was over, and their mother, with Amy and Elsie skipping behind her, went off to hunt over her little stores for such materials as might be found useful. Lucius employed the time of their absence in exploring the lumber room for tops of old boxes or other bits of wood that might, when fastened together, do for the ground frame of the model, into which the gilded pillars might be fixed. Dora, with pencil and paper, busied herself in trying to make an embroidery pattern, introducing the figures of cherubim. Agnes, who was too weak for much exertion, and who took less keen interest in the work than did her sisters, lay on the sofa reading a book, until the return of Amy and Elsie, each of whom carried some little treasure in her hands. Look, Agnes! Look at these shining reels of gold and silver thread! exclaimed the youngest child, with eager delight. Gold thread! Ah! That's just what I want! cried Dora, throwing down her pencil. And here is Mama's book of gold leaf. There is a little gold sheet between every one of these pages, continued Elsie. But, oh, it is so thin, so very thin, one dare not breathe near, or the gold will all fly away. I thought that gold was a very heavy metal, observed Agnes, looking up from her book, but it has beaten out into such extreme fineness that a bit of gold no larger than a pea would gild all these, said Lucius, who had just entered the room with his arms full of pieces of wood. See, Agnes, what we have brought for you! cried Amy. Here is a beautiful piece of blue merino for the outer curtains, the Badger's skin cover, you know, and blue silk with which to sew it. And here is another piece of mohair for the goat's skin cover. So you are supplied directly with everything that you need. Is not that nice? Agnes did not look so much delighted as her sister expected that she would. Perhaps because she was scarcely well enough to take much pleasure in sewing. Perhaps because she had still a lingering feeling of mortification at not having been trusted with the embroidery part of the work. I hope that you have brought me the fine linen for the beautiful inner curtains and the veil of the Holy of Holies, cried Dora. You know, Mama cannot find any linen fine enough, unless she were to tear up her handkerchiefs, and that would be a pity, said Amy. But Mama has promised to buy some linen both for your curtains and for mine that are, you know, to hang all round the open court of the Tabernacle. It is very tiresome to have to stop at the beginning for want of fine linen, exclaimed Dora. I hope that Mama will go out and buy us plenty at once. Dora, you know that Mama owned this morning that she felt very tired, said Amy, a little reproachfully, and the shops are a good way off. It is not as if we lived in the town. Besides, it is raining, observed Elsie, who was looking out of the window. It is merely a little drizzle. That would not hurt a fly, exclaimed Dora. Mama never minds a few tiny drops when she puts on her waterproof cloak. Mama never minds anything that has only to do with her own comfort, observed Amy. So there is more need that we should mind for her, said Agnes. I am sure that I wish I could go out to the shops myself without troubling anyone, exclaimed the impatient Dora. If it were not for this stupid, tiresome infection, I'd get Lucius to go with me this minute. And would we not return, laden with fine linen, pasteboard, and all sorts of things? But Mama's fear of setting other people coughing and whooping makes her keep us shut up here in prison. Mama is quite right, exclaimed Lucius. I say so, though I hate more than you do, being boxed up here in the house. Mama is quite right, we echoed poor Agnes. As soon as she recovered voice after another violent fit of coughing, which almost choked her, I should not like to give anyone else such a dreadful complaint as this. Mrs. Temple now entered the room, with several things in her hand. I have found a nice bit of turkey cloth, she said, so my little Elsie will be able to set to work on her curtains at once. The child clapped her hands with pleasure, and then scampered off with her little ton bridge wear work box. I hope that you have found the linen, too, Mama, cried Dora. I am in a hurry for it, a very great hurry, she added, regardless of an indignant look from Agnes, and a pleading one from Amy. I am sorry that I have no suitable linen, replied the lady. But I intend to go out and buy some. Not to-day, not now. It is raining, you are tired, cried several voices. That of Dora was, however, not heard among them. I have here some pasteboard, though not sufficient for our model, and a bottle of strong gum, which will be most useful, said the lady, placing on the table what she had brought. But guilt paper will be needed as well as gold leaf, and of it I have none. I must procure that, and some more pasteboard for my dear boy. And plenty of wire cut into five inch lengths for the pellars, added Lucius, and linen for Amy and me, joined in Dora. But please buy nothing till Monday, said Agnes. The work can wait quite well for a couple of days. Yes, yes, do wait till Monday, cried the other children, Dora again being the only exception. Dora's selfishness was marring her offering, as Agnes' pride had blemished hers. How difficult it is, even in the most innocent pleasure, even in the most holy occupation, to keep away every stain of sin. Ever since the sad time when evil entered the beautiful garden of Eden, and Adam and Eve, ate of the fruit which God had forbidden them to taste, pride, selfishness, and unholiness have been natural to the human heart. Even when we most earnestly try to do what we think good works, how much we need to be on our guard, lest sin creep in, to spoil all. Dora though silent, showed so plainly by her looks, her extreme impatience to be supplied at once, with the materials for which she could have so easily waited, that her gentle mother made up her mind to gratify the wish of her daughter. Mrs. Temple put on her waterproof cloak, and, tired as she was, went forth on a shopping expedition. It vexed the children to see that the clouds grew darker and the shower fell more heavily, not long after their mother had quitted the house. If Mama catches cold, or has pain in her face, it is all Dora's fault," exclaimed Lucius. It was so selfish, so silly not to wait, observed Agnes. Just see how the rain is pouring. I love Mama as much as any of you do," cried Dora, her heart swelling with vexation, so that she could hardly refrain from tears. You love yourself better, that's all," remarked Lucius, and her words were more true than polite. Mrs. Temple returned home very much tired and rather wet, not withstanding her umbrella and waterproof cloak. And Dora was, after all, disappointed of her wish to have the linen, and begin her embroidery work directly. Mrs. Temple had found it difficult to carry home parcels while she had an umbrella to hold up on a blanket. And Dora, who might get damp if taken through driving rain, the wire, pasteboard, gold paper, and linen, were to be sent home in the evening, and the longed-for parcel did not appear until it was time for the twins to follow their younger sisters to bed. End of Chapter 5, recording by Bethesda Lilly. Chapter 6 of The Children's Tabernacle, or Handwork and Heartwork by Charlotte This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Recording by Bethesda Lilly. Chapter 6 Types This is the day when Christ arose so early from the dead, and shall I still my eyelids close and waste my hours in bed? This is the day when Jesus broke the chains of death and hell, and shall I still wear Satan's yoke and love my sins so well? This well-known hymn was on Amy's mind when she awoke the morning day, and it rose from her heart like the sweet incense burnt every morning in the tabernacle of Israel. But Dora's thoughts, on waking, and for some time afterwards, might be summed up in the words, oh, I wish that this were not Sunday, how tiresome it is when my beautiful pattern is already not to be able to try it. Mrs. Temple did not appear to be much the worse for her shopping in the rain. Dora was looking in her limbs and the pain in her face, which she felt, as she bore both quietly and went about her duties as usual. Dora did not trouble herself even to ask if her mother were well. It was not that Dora did not love her kind parent, but at that time the mind of the little girl was completely taken up by her embroidery in scarlet purple and blue. As the children came to Dora's house, Dora thought that she would be able to help her and let him read but a little for fear of bringing back his cough. All through the time of prayers, though Dora knelt like the rest of the children and was as quiet and looked almost as attentive as any, her needle work was running in her mind. If she thought of the happy cheer of him it was fatal. I will not say that the other children thought about the tabernacle only as a holy thing described in the Bible, from which religious lessons could be learnt. Little plans for sewing, measuring or making the model would sometimes intrude, even at prayer time. But Lucius had resolutely locked up his knife and he and three of his sisters at least, tried to give full attention to what their mother was speaking when she read and read. Mrs. Temple purposely chose the ninth chapter of the Epistle to the Hebrews, a very difficult chapter to the young, but one likely specially to interest her family at a time when the subject of the tabernacle in the wilderness was uppermost in the minds of all. It will be noticed that Dora did not join at all in the conversation which followed the reading. Mama, that chapter comes nearly at the end of the Bible and is about Lucius, and yet it tells us about the tabernacle and its Ark and the High Priest going into the Holy of Holies. Now what could the tabernacle in the desert have to do with our Lord and his dying? That tabernacle which was made nearly 1500 years before the birth of Christ and which was no longer of any use after Solomon's temple was built. The tabernacle, the Ark, the High Priest, the sacrifices were all types or figures of greater things to come, replied Mrs. Temple. There was a secret meaning in them all, referring to our Lord, his works and his death and the glorious heaven which he was to open to all believers. I don't know what a type is, said Elsie. It is not clear to me either, observed Amy. Unless we quite understand what a type means, we shall lose much of the lesson conveyed by the Lord and the long account of the tabernacle, what was in it and what was done there. Which we find in the books of Moses, replied Mrs. Temple. It always seemed to me as if the tabernacle were quite a thing of the past, said Agnes, and that it belonged only to the Israelites of old. I never could make out why Christian people in England, thousands of years after the tabernacle had quite disappeared, should care to or the altar. But you say that all these things were types, observed Amy. Now, what is a type, dear Mama? A kind of shadow or picture of something usually greater than itself, replied Mrs. Temple. I don't understand, said Elsie, raising her blue eyes gravely to the face of her mother. You know, my love, that before you came to live in this house, when none of the family but myself had seen it, you still had the knowledge of what it was like. Yes, Mama, for you brought us a little picture of the house, both of the back and the front, said Agnes. We knew that it was a pretty white house, and had a little tower on one side, and that trees were growing in front. And creepers all up it, cried Elsie. Now, I might have described the place to you in writing, but you would not have known its appearance as well. No, from a mere description I should not have been able to find out the house directly. As I did when I walked alone from the station, cried Lucius, there are several white houses near this, but the remembrance of the pictures made me know in a moment which was the right one. Now, my children, just what a picture is to the object which it represents, so is a type to its antitype. That word means the real Mrs. Temple. I am afraid that I am very stupid in not making out what you mean at once, dear mamma," said Amy. But if you would explain just one type in the Bible, I think that I might understand better. Let us take, then, the innermost part of the tabernacle, the Holy of Holies, replied Mrs. Temple. It was a very beautiful place, full of the glory of God, into which no objects were allowed to be, there was the mercy seat like a throne, and there were the bright cherubim, spreading their golden wings. Now, my children, if we compare small things to great things, cannot you of yourselves find out of what this Holy of Holies was a picture or type? A type of heaven, exclaimed several voices at once, but Amy looked distressed and murmured softly, I hope not a type of heaven. And why not, asked Lucius quickly? Because no one was ever allowed to go into the Holy of Holies. Save one man, and he only once in the year, replied Amy sadly. And that not without blood, said Lucius, pointing to the seventh verse of the chapter which his mother had just been reading. Go on reading, Lucius. Said his parent, and Lucius, as desired, went on. Not without blood, which he himself, and for the errors of the people, the Holy Ghost, thus signifying, that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest. Or, in simpler words, said Mrs. Temple, that the way into heaven was not yet made plain, when Christ, our great high priest, had gone into heaven, not by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood, he entered into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. Then, mother, the high priest must have been a type of the Lord Jesus Christ, exclaimed Lucius. No, interrupted Agnes. The sacrifice was the type, the sacrifice whose blood had been shed. Both high priest and sacrifice were types of our blessed Savior, replied Mrs. Temple. The Lord was the victim offered, and he was also the high priest who made the offering, for he laid down his life of himself, since no man had power to take it from the Almighty Son of the Most High. Was there any particular meaning in the veil of the temple, being rent in twain, from the top to the bottom, as soon as our Lord died on the cross, inquired Agnes, who had been listening with serious attention? We cannot doubt it, answered our larger, more substantial building, which took the place of the tabernacle of the wandering children of Israel. It too had its veil of rich work to shut out from mortal view the holy of holies. Footnote A. The temple standing at the time of our Lord's death was not Solomon's, which had been burnt more than six hundred years before. And a footnote A. But as soon as the one great sacrifice had been offered on the cross, when the dying Lord could cry out, it is finished. Then followed the rending asunder of the hiding veil, as a sign and type that all the Lord's people, through his precious blood, might freely enter heaven, the real holy of holies, and appear without dread of meeting his wrath in the presence of God the Father. End of Chapter 6 Recording by Bethesda Lily Chapter 7 Of The Children's Tabernacle or Handwork and Heartwork by Charlotte Maria Tucker This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Recording by Bethesda Lily Chapter 7 Drawn Aside The subject of the preceding conversation had been so exceedingly solemn that even little Elsie had a grave look of awe on her round rosy face, and but little of the great mysteries of which her mother had been speaking. Elsie could only gather that a type was like a picture of something much greater and more wondrous than itself, and said in her simple childish way, is not a type like your very tiny photo, Mama, so little that we could not make out that there was any picture at all till we held it up to the light, and then we went. Elsie has given us a type of a type, cried Lucius, clapping his little sister on the shoulder. What do you mean by that? asked Dagnus. Lucius was puzzled to explain his own meaning, which was perhaps not very clear to himself, so his mother came to his help. Elsie's very minute photograph is not a bad illustration of what the Bible types are, replied Mrs. Temple. Until the eye of faith seized them in the clear light of God's word. And then what seemed little more than a speck may be found to be a likeness of something grander far than a royal palace. It would be interesting to find out some other Bible types, observed Dagnus. I was just going to propose that while I was attending afternoon service you should all occupy the time of my absence which finding a type, which we can talk over in the evening, said Mrs. Temple. I should like that, cried Lucius. I am glad of anything to make the afternoon less dull. For I know that as it is damp today we shall all have to keep within bounds," he added, Dagnus having just begun a fit of coughing. I should like to find a Bible type if I can. But I am afraid that I am too stupid, said Amy. Cried Elsie, laying her plump dimpled hand on that of her sister. Ah! you think that Union is strength, pussy! cried Lucius. And that you two youngest of the party will together be a match for any one of the rest. Little Elsie's brain had now been quite long enough on the stretch and after jumping upon her mother's knee to give her a good tight kiss the child ran off to play with her Noah's Ark. The family then dispersed to various parts of the house soon to reassemble at the cheerful sound of the dinner bell. After Mrs. Temple had started for church, Lucius, Agnes, and Amy took up their Bibles to search in them for types while Little Elsie amused herself with a book of Scripture pictures. Dora went to the room called the study in which the children usually learned their lessons in the morning and amused themselves in the evening, and in which there were boxes and desks and most of their books. Dora found no one in the study and sauntered up to the side table covered with green cloth on which stood her neat little work-box. Of course I am not going to do one stitch of embroidery today because this is Sunday," said Dora to herself, but there can be no harm in just looking at my pretty pattern and seeing whether it is likely to open the box and took out the pattern which lay on the neatly folded piece of linen which her mother had given to her just before the twins had gone upstairs to bed. Dora admired her own pattern which was really drawn out with some skill, but she saw that it was not quite perfect. Her pencil lay close at hand. Dora could not, or did not, resist the temptation to put in a few touches to this and that part of the drawing. I wonder how I should arrange the colors, thought Dora. I wish that I had more scarlet in my reel and I think that my blue skein is too dark. Agnes has some sky blue sewing silk I know. Perhaps that would be better or both shades might have a pretty effect, mixed with the scarlet in purple. Dora took out her reels and skeins and placed them beside her pattern and tried to imagine the effect of the different combinations of color. Would it be well for the cherubim to be worked in purple or blue or entirely in thread of gold, like their wings? Dora was inclined to think the last plan best, only gold thread is so stiff and difficult to manage. I shall never go to rest till I have made up my mind about this," muttered Dora to herself, and how can I decide what will be best till I try? And why should I not try? Dora, with her colored silks before her, was, like Eve, looking at the forbidden fruit and listening to the voice of the tempter who would persuade her that evil was good. There are some things which even Mama says are quite lawful to be done on Sundays, such as charitable works. Mama herself dressed the cook's scalded arm upon a Sunday and put in a stitch or two to keep the bandages firm. That was surely sewing on a Sunday, but then that was a work of charity. Well, but mine is a work of charity, too. Thus Dora went on, while the dangerous current of inclination was gradually drifting her on towards breaking in act the fourth commandment which she had all day long been breaking in thought. Our tabernacle is to be the model of a holy, a very holy thing. Just the kind of thing which it is right to think about on Sunday. Then it is to be made for a very charitable purpose. I am sure that bandaging the cook's arm is no better work than helping a ragged school. I don't think that it is really as good for aunt's poor little pupils are taught to love God and read the Bible. No, it surely cannot be wrong to assist such an excellent work on any day in the seven. Dora unrolled a length of blue silk, took out a needle and threaded it. She had almost succeeded in silencing conscience at least for a time. She had almost persuaded herself that in amusing herself she was helping a holy cause and that God would not be displeased at her breaking his commandment because she was going to work for the poor. There is perhaps no more dangerous error than to think that the end justifies the means that it is lawful to a Christian to do evil that good may come. Oh, dear young reader, if you ever find yourself trying to quiet conscience by the thought that to do a great good you may do a little harm, start back as if you caught sight of the tale of a snake in your path. Yes, for the serpent who deceived Eve is trying to deceive you also. If Dora had been honest and candid with herself, she would have seen, as her fingers busily plied the needle, that she was working for her own pleasure, that her embroidering a piece of linen was an utterly different thing from her mother's bandaging a badly scalded arm and relieving a sufferer's pain. To cases of necessity such as that, the Saviour's words truly applied. It is lawful to do good on the Sabbath day. But there was nothing to justify Dora in following her own inclination and working on the day of worship and rest. If there was really no harm in what she was doing, why was it that Dora started so when she heard her mother's voice at the door of the study and why did she so hurriedly thrust linen, pattern, and silks back into the work-box as her gentle parent entered the room. Dora's back was turned towards the door so that from her being between it and the table was the cause of the little bustling movement which she noticed on coming into the study. What are you doing, my love? Asked the lady. Nothing, answered Dora quickly as she succeeded in shutting down the lid of her work-box. The word was uttered in haste without reflection but the instant after it had passed her lips a pang shot through the young girl's heart for she was aware that she had found right falsehood. Conscience could be silenced no longer. The second sin into which Dora had been drawn by her fear showed her in a strong light the nature of the first into which she had been drawn by her love of amusement. If she had not been doing what was wrong she would not have been afraid lest her occupation should be found out by her tender, indulgent mother. Mrs. Temple never doubted the word of one of her children but she could not help thinking that the manner of Dora was strange and she would probably have inquired further into its cause had she not just then been followed into the study by Lucius. The boy had his Bible in his hand and a thoughtful, perplexed look on his face which at once fixed the attention of Mrs. Temple. Dora was glad that her mother's attention had been drawn by anything because she could not have hidden her confusion. She seated herself on a stool by the window with her face turned away from her parent and there remained a silent listener to the following conversation between Mrs. Temple and her son. Whether that conversation was likely to make Dora's conscience easier or not I leave the reader to judge. End of Chapter 7 Recording by Bethesda Lilly Chapter 8 of The Book of Children's Tabernacle or Handwork and Heartwork by Charlotte Maria Tucker This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Recording by Bethesda Lilly Chapter 8 Sacrifices I have been looking out for a type, Mama, as you wished us to do, said Lucius, seating himself on the sofa on which his parent had taken her place and resting his Bible upon her knee. I am not sure whether I may not have heard already from you that Abraham sacrificing his dear son is a kind of shadow of God's sacrificing his only son. At any rate, I thought of this as the type which I should choose to speak of in the evening. You could hardly have chosen a more remarkable type, my boy. I believe that Abraham was commanded to sacrifice his son not only to try the fond father's faith and obedience but also that Isaac ascending Mount Moriah with the wood for the burnt offering on his shoulder might be to the end of time a type of the blessed Saviour bearing the cross on which he was to suffer on Calvary. Ah, mother, it is all that suffering and sacrificing that is such a difficulty to me, exclaimed Lucius. Why is so much suffering needed at all? The boy looked earnestly into his mother's face as he spoke. It is a sad mystery, Lucius. We do not fully understand it. But one thing is certain. Not only from what we read in the Bible, but from what we see in the world around us. And that thing is that sin and suffering are bound together. We cannot separate them. Suffering is the shadow of sin and must follow it. The wages of sin is death. Romans 623. But you have taught us that God is love, said Lucius thoughtfully. Surely God is love, replied Mrs. Temple. God loves man. But God hates sin, which is the greatest enemy of man. It is God's merciful will that man should be saved both from sin here and from its most terrible punishment hereafter. The Holy of Holies is a difficulty to me, observed Lucius. Why should one save the High Priest be suffered to go in or draw near the mercy seat of God? Ask yourself what lesson this would have taught you had you been one of the children of Israel, said Mrs. Temple. When you beheld the tabernacle with the wondrous cloud resting upon it and gazed through the opening in front on the veil which hid from your eyes the more dazzling glory within, that glory which was a sign of the immediate presence of God into which on pain of death you dared not enter. What would have been the thought uppermost in your mind? The thought that God was terribly holy and that no human being was fit to come near him, replied Lucius gravely. But one man was allowed to draw near, observed Mrs. Temple. Only the High Priest and that with the blood of a sacrifice, said her son. And so God were taught that there is a way to approach a holy God but only one way. They were taught that sacrifice was needful, that without shedding of blood there is no remission forgiveness of sin. Hebrews 922 But mother, surely God does not require the blood of bulls and goats, cried Lucius. Mrs. Temple, in reply, turned over the leaves of the Bible till she found the 40th Psalm and then read aloud. Burnt offering and sacrifice hast thou not required. Then said I, lo, I come. In the volume of the book it is written of me. I delight to do thy will, oh my God. It is the Lord Jesus Christ who says this, by the mouth of David. The blood of lambs and other creatures was worthless. Save as signs and pledges of the precious blood of Christ which cleanseth from all sin. 1 John 1.7 The blood of him who is indeed the Lamb of God that takeeth away the sin of the world. John 1.29 It seems so sad that the Lord, who had done no sin, should have to bear all that agony on the cross. murmured Lucius Christ bore it in our stead said Mrs. Temple. I suffered the punishment for sin that sinners repenting and believing might be saved, forgiven and made happy forever. I still cannot clearly make out the use of sacrifices. I mean, of animals, said Lucius. They taught that one being may suffer instead of another, said Mrs. Temple, speaking slowly that her son might weigh well every word. When an Israelite brought sacrifice, it was just as if he had said, Oh, holy God, I know that I am a sinner and that I deserve to suffer for my sin. But in mercy, accept the life of this Lamb instead of mine. It was to teach this same lesson that Aaron the High Priest was commanded to lay his hands on the head of a living goat and confess over him the sins of all the children The scapegoat, as it was called, was then sent away into the desert, bearing away with him all the sins which had been solemnly confessed over him by the High Priest of God. With a thankful heart and lightened conscience, must every faithful Israelite have seen the scapegoat let away from the camp. My sins are taken from me far as the east is from the west. He might say, I have to bear that terrible burden myself. But why have we no scapegoats and no sacrifices now? Asked Lucius. Wildora silently thought, What a comfort it would be to see all one's sins carried far away from us forever. We need no more such sacrifices now, replied Mrs. Temple, because the one great sacrifice which Christ made of himself on the cross is so infinitely precious that it is enough to save a world that was lost from sin. We need no scapegoat now, for when Christ went forth to die he carried away with him the burden of the guilt of all his people. But then, mother, is everyone's sin taken away? Is everyone sure to enter heaven? The real holy of holies? Asked Lucius. The question was a very important one. And poor Dora's heart beat fast as she listened to hear what answer her parent would give to the boy. No, my son, replied Mrs. Temple, for not everyone has true faith in the Lord and his sacrifice, that faith which makes us repent of sin, be sorry for sin, confess it, and try to forsake it. We know that, too only accepted, all the Israelites above a certain age the good land of Canaan, but all died in the desert. And why was this? It was because they had sinned against God. They might have sacrifices, but they had not true faith. They might give up lambs, but they gave not up sin. They might have God's presence in the tabernacle to guide them, but they did not let their conduct be guided by the light of his holy word. It seems to me, observed Lucius, as if the Israelites wandering about in the desert were types of us, of all who are now called Christian people, of all who are now called Christian people. Mrs. Temple smiled with pleasure to see that her son was beginning really to understand a little of Old Testament teaching by types. Yes, dear boy, she replied, The Israelites is just like a picture or type of what is now happening to ourselves in our journey through life towards heaven, our promised Canaan. They were first in bondage to cruel Pharaoh. We are born into the world and in bondage to sin. The Israelites, at the beginning of their journey, passed through the Red Sea. St. Paul showed us that this was a type of Christian baptism, too. I could go on to show you how the history of Israel is full of many other interesting types of our own. But you have heard enough for the present. There are just a few most important lessons which I would wish to impress on your mind. They are, first, that we are all sinners. Secondly, that we can only be forgiven and enter heaven through the sacrifice of our Lord Thirdly, that his sacrifice takes away all sin from those who have true faith in their hearts. That faith whose reality is shown by it's making us repent of and try by God's help to give up our sins. End of Chapter 8 Recording by Bethesda Lily Chapter 9 of The Children's Tabernacle or Handwork and Heartwork by Charlotte Maria Tucker This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Recording by Bethesda Lily Chapter 9 Concealment Dora felt very unhappy. She had broken the holy rest of the Lord's day. She had repeated prayers without praying. Heard God's word read without attending. Had made a vain show of religion. And, at last, had worked and worked hard at her needle as she might have done on any other day of the week. Dora had disobeyed what she knew to be the wishes of her mother, and then, to hide such disobedience, had uttered a lie to deceive her. The girl could not conceal from herself that she had done what was wrong, exceedingly wrong, that she had displeased a holy God, whose eyes are in every place beholding the evil and the good. Oh, what can I, what thought I to do now, thought Dora, as slowly and sadly she went up to her own little room? Conscience gave an instant reply. Retrace your steps as quickly as you can, own your fault to your mother, and ask forgiveness from God. But Dora was very unwilling to do this. She was inclined to take a kind of halfway course. I need not say anything to Mama about what I have done, I will not touch my pretty work any more on Sunday, and tomorrow, as soon as I get up I will unpick every stitch of what I have been sewing today. That will be a good punishment for me? Yes, that will be the right kind of punishment for breaking the fourth commandment. Dora half-satisfied her conscience by making this resolution to undo what ought not to have been done. But the little girl made a grievous mistake by composing that any self-inflicted punishment can take away sin. We must go straight to the Lord for forgiveness and ask it only for the sake of the Lamb of God who suffered to take away guilt. And when we have sinned against our fellow creatures as well as against our Heavenly Father we must honestly and openly confess to them what we have done, and ask their forgiveness. Dora shrank from doing this. She was extremely unwilling to own to her mother that she had been sewing on Sunday. Perhaps Mama would take away from me the making of the embroidered curtains altogether, thought Dora, and give it to Agnes instead, and then all the family would know the reason and I should be lowered in the opinion even of little Elsie. O how dreadfully ashamed I should feel! And what disappointment it would be to see the work in the hands of another after I have taken such pains to draw out that beautiful pattern. Worst of all, Aunt Dora would hear of my fault when we go to be with her at Christmas. She would be sure to ask why I had not embroidered the veil and the curtains, for she thinks that I embroidered so well. Oh, I could not bear that the aunt whom I love so much who loves me so much should know what I have done. No, no, there is no use in speaking about the matter at all. I will punish myself by the tiresome unpicking and then all will be right. Would all be right? Were Dora to punish herself ever so severely would all be right? No, dear reader, no. Self-punishment cannot wash away sin. Could my zeal respite know? Could my tears forever flow? All for sin could not atone. Thou must save and Thou alone. Dora was only deceiving herself now, as she had an hour before deceived her indulgent mother. In the evening, after tea time, the family assembled again in the study. Their usual employment on Sunday evenings had been to sing hymns with their mother, each in succession choosing a favorite hymn. But the whooping cough had for weeks passed put a stop to all singing, and it had cost Mrs. Temple some thought to find a way of making the evening sabbath hour as pleasant to her family as it had usually been. The searching in the Bible for types had been a new kind of occupation, and had made afternoon seem less long to the young prisoners at home than it might otherwise have appeared during the absence of their mother at church. The family's circle looked a very happy one by the light of the fire round which they gathered. For autumn was beginning, the weather though not very cold was damp, and the illness from which the children were recovering made warmth and dryness so desirable that the fire was always at sunset. I like this when we sit so cozy together before the blazing fire exclaimed little blue-eyed Elsie, cuddling close to her mother. I hope that Eliza won't bring in the candles. No one wants candles to talk by. Agnes, you won't cough so badly if you put your feet here on the fender. Please, Lucius, give the fire a good stir and make the red flames leap up and dance. Are we not a happy party, she added, squeezing tightly her mother's hand in both of her own? Smiling faces gave the reply. There was but one face that warn no smile. Dora sat on the other side of her mother but the girl had drawn her chair a little back from the half-circle before the fire and held a hand-screen before her face, not really to protect it from the scorching blaze but that it might not be seen by the fire-light. Dora was glad, though not for the same reason as Elsie, that Eliza did not bring in the candles. End of Chapter 9 Recording by Bethesda Lilly And did you succeed in finding a type, my darling? asked Mrs. Temple, smiling at the gravity of the child whom she thought scarcely likely to be able to discover the meaning of the most simple scripture figure. I don't know, I'm not sure, said a little Elsie but I found two pictures. One in the Old Testament and one in the New Testament and they are rather like each other so you know, dear mama, it seemed as if one might be a sort of a type. One picture is about Elsie Pet asked Lucius, stroking the hair of his youngest sister of whom the schoolboy was very fond. One picture was of Elijah raising the poor widow's son and the other was of the Lord's raising a widow's son. These were two things like each other, said Elsie, but she added, shaking her curly head thoughtfully I can't tell if there was any type. I dare say that little Elsie is right and that Elijah was a type of the Lord, cried Lucius, for did they not both fast 40 days in the wilderness? I thought that Elijah was rather a type of John the Baptist, observed Agnes. Yes, he was so, said Mrs. Temple, our Lord's own words show that John, the voice crying in the wilderness came in the spirit and power of the prophet Elijah, and worked no miracle. Yet in the two instances which your brother and Elsie have noticed the raising of the dead and the 40 days fast in the desert Elijah's history shadows forth that of one far greater than himself. Has my dove Amy thought of any scripture type? said the mother, turning towards her daughter. Amy hesitated a little. She was always distrustful of herself and in this was a great contrast to Elsie. Mrs. Temple smiled encouragingly upon her little girl. I see that there is something in your head, said the mother. Tell us, my love, what you have thought of. If you have made a mistake I will try to set you right. We are at least likely to gain some increase of scriptural knowledge by talking over such subjects as these. I thought at first that I should never find out anything, said Amy. Though you explained to us so much about types this morning, I felt quite puzzled when I tried to make out one for myself. At last a verse from the third chapter of John came into my mind and I wondered whether our Lord himself taught Nicodemus in it something about a type. Perhaps Nicodemus understood the Lord's meaning. But I could not understand it. That is to say, not clearly. So I thought I had better ask you about it, Mama. What is the verse? asked several voices at once. Amy folded her hands reverentially as she repeated the sacred words once spoken by our blessed Redeemer. Mrs. Temple would never allow her children to gavel overcarelessly any verse of Scripture. As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness so must the Son of Man be lifted up that whosoever believeth him should not perish but have eternal life John 3.14 and 15. Most certainly our Lord spoke then of a most remarkable type, said Mrs. Temple. To what coming event in his own life did our Savior refer in the expression be lifted up? To his being lifted up on the cross, said Amy in a low tone of voice and why was the Son of God lifted up on the dreadful cross? asked her mother that all who believeth him shall have eternal life replied Amy Temple. It was indeed as a type of this great salvation from eternal death that the brazen serpent was lifted up by Moses, said the lady. Do you remember what had happened to the Israelites to make the raising of the brass serpent needful to save them from destruction brought on by sin? As Amy did not immediately reply to the question, Elsie eagerly put in her word. You told us all about it last Sunday, mama. I remember the story quite well. The people had been wicked, very wicked. And so fiery serpents came amongst them and bit them and many. I don't know how many. Israelites died because no doctor knew how to cure them. Were those deadly bites a type of sin whose wages are death? asked Lucius. They were so, my son, said his mother. Man had no way of saving those who had received the deadly wound. So God himself showed Moses away. The Lord bad him, lift up on high a serpent of brass, and promised that whoso looked upon it should live. I cannot imagine how mere looking could do the least good to a person dying of the poison of a snake bite. Observed Agnes, the Almighty willed that it should be so, said Mrs. Temple. He willed that the look of faith should bring healing to a sick body and the look of faith at a crucified savior still brings healing to a sin-wounded soul. When I read how my Lord says through the prophet Isaiah look unto me and be he saved all the ends of the earth. Isaiah 45-22 I think of the brazen serpent and know that I have but to believe in Christ and be saved. What do you mean by the look of faith? inquired Agnes. Faith is simply believing, to look to Christ is to believe that he is able and willing to save us and that none can save us but he, Dora who had chosen as we know to sit a little drawn back from the circle and with a screen in her hand now drop the screen on her lap and leant forward so that the red flickering gleam of the fire-light shone on her face as she anxiously asked, then are we quite quite safe sure never to be punished for anything evil that we have done? If only we have faith that the Lord will save us? Yes, if the faith be real living faith replied Mrs. Temple are there then two kinds of faith? inquired Lucius. Yes, answered his mother. We read in the Bible of two kinds of faith or belief one dead and one living. I cannot understand that at all said Amy. I will try to explain said the lady and I ask you my children to give me your full attention for this is a matter of the greatest importance. You all believe do you not that there is an emperor of Germany? Yes, yes replied the children and Elsie added with a little nod I believe there is such a man though I never have seen him. Now does your belief in the existence of the emperor that is your faith in it does it make the smallest difference in your actions or words or feelings inquired Mrs. Temple? No, why should it? cried Lucius. The emperor does not care for us. He knows nothing about us said Elsie. Then your faith in the emperor is a dead faith. It has no effect on your hearts observed Mrs. Temple and this is the kind of faith which many persons alas have in the Lord. They believe in a careless sort of way that Christ once lived in the world and died on the cross but they believe only with the heart and this is dead faith a kind of faith which never can save us. But what is living faith then asked Amy when our belief makes us really love him who first loved us when the thought of Christ's dying for sin makes us hate sin that cost him so dear. Then our faith must be living faith and thus looking to the Lord we are saved. Dora sighed and drew her head back again into the shadow hers was not a faith that had kept her from sin hers was not a faith that made her now obey the whisper of conscience confess her guilt to her mother and make what amends she could for what she had done depend on it that when an Israelite had been cured of his wound by looking at the brazen serpent he did not go and stroke and play with the fiery reptile that had bitten him observed Lucius amongst the party and best entered into the meaning of types no he would run away from the horrid creatures or try to kill them he would put his foot upon the fiery serpents and crush them crush them cried Elsie stamping her little foot on the hearth rug to add force to her words so everyone who has living faith dreads and hates sin and tries to destroy it observed Mrs. Temple we will not carelessly trifle with we believe from our hearts that our blessed redeemer suffered because of our sins what a very holy thing was that brazen serpent which Moses set up on a pole exclaimed Amy did he not afterwards put it into the Ark that the Israelites might carry it about with them wherever they went and treasure it as they did the tables of stone on which the commandments were written we do not read of Moses putting the brazen serpent Mrs. Temple but the Israelites must have carried it with them in their wanderings through the desert and have taken it into the promised land for we read of the brazen serpent being greatly honored by the people more than seven hundred years after it was lifted up first Kings 18 for it was quite right that the Israelites should honor it very very much cried Elsie because the brazen serpent had saved so you mistake my child said her mother the brass image had no power in itself to save a single creature from death it was of no use at all but as a means appointed by God the brazen serpent was a type of salvation and when the Jews took to burning incense to the mere type that is when they paid to it the honor which is due to God alone they fell into sin the younger children looked surprised and murmured then can even a holy thing lead men to do what is wrong men do wrong exceedingly wrong when they put anything however holy it may seem in their eyes in the place of God observed Mrs. Temple when good king Hezekiah saw that the people were honoring the brazen serpent too much what do you think that he did perhaps he locked it up so that no one could get at it cried little Elsie longer measure than locking up the image said her mother the good king broke the brazen serpent into pieces and called it Nehustan or a piece of brass to show both by word and deed that the most holy and interesting relic may lead to the sin of idolatry if it draw away our thoughts and our hearts from the Lord who alone can give us salvation end of chapter 10 recording by Bethesda Lilly chapter 11 of the children's tabernacle or hand work and heart work by Charlotte Maria Tucker this lip-revox recording is in the public domain recording by Bethesda Lilly chapter 11 leprosy as we seem to be giving in our types youngest by youngest it is Doris turn now to tell us which she has chosen said Lucia odd Dor will have found out the most interesting type of all Doris so clever that she tried Elsie who had great faith in the intelligence of the brighter of the twins all eyes were turned towards Dora as she sat in the shadow but Dora's own eyes were bent on the hard rock she had been so much taken up on that Sunday first with her embroidery then with the conversation between her mother and Lucia and the painful struggle in her own mind with an operating conscience that Dora had not thought of looking out for a type in Scripture what have you chosen Dora ask Lucia I have not chosen any type yet I have not had time stammered out Dora confused and mortified to find herself behind even little Elsie who looked astonished at the words of her sister not time why you have had as much time as any of us said Agnes what were you doing all the afternoon while my mom was at church nothing particular said Dora with a little confusion again a pang shot through the heart of the conscious girl where she knew that she was again staining her lips with untruth you don't mean to say that you were sitting from two o'clock till five with your hands before you and thinking about nothing at all said Lucia perhaps Dora was reading that interesting book about the poor French Protestants suggested Amy Dora did not speak she was too well pleased alas that her family should believe that she had been thus engaged though she knew that she had not so much as over the volume in question it would have been better my love were you to have entered into the occupation which interests your brother and sisters said Mrs. Temple in a tone of gentle reproof even reading a nice Sunday book like the one Amy mentioned may become a selfish amusement if it keeps from a little to the general pleasure I never knew Dora take such a reading that before mother Lucia she generally likes to use her fingers more than her head the remark was a very common place one yet it added to Dora's confusion Mrs. Temple noticing her daughter's look of annoyance though she attributed it to a different cause then the true one turned the conversation by asking Agnes whether she had thought of a scriptural type yes mama replied Agnes I believe that leprosy is a type of sin and the cure of lepers a type of the cure of sin just as the looking up at the brazen serpent was a cure for the deadly bites you are perfectly right my dear girl said her mother what is leprosy asked little Elsie a dreadful kind of illness replied Agnes and as she seems disinclined to say more perhaps from fear of bringing on her cough by speaking her mother continued the description of this terrible type of sin this frightful malady is still well known in the east said Mrs. Temple your uncle who came lately from India has told me that he has seen many poor lepers there the leprosy makes them loathsome to the eye it creeps over their bodies it wastes their flesh when it fastens on their hands it will the very fingers drop off oh how dreadful exclaimed all the children dreadful indeed but not so dreadful as the sin which it represents said their mother sadly for the soul's sickness is more dangerous its effects infinitely more lasting I don't quite see how leprosy is a type of sin observed Amy I think that we are led to believe it to be such by the very clever commands regarding it which we find in the law of Moses said Mrs. Temple did poor people with leprosy never get well again asked Elsie with pity expressed on her round little face yes they did sometimes recover said her mother but not by such means as are used in cases of other sickness not a doctor but a priest was to judge whether the lever were really cured or as it was called clean and he had to bring a special offering to be sacrificed to the Lord I suppose the offering was that of a sheep which we see in the picture said Elsie for the illustrated Bible had again been brought and placed upon Mrs. Temple's knee and the firelight was sufficiently bright to show a picture representing a cured lever coming to the high priest to find which illustration Mrs. Temple had turned over the pages that picture shows but a part of the offering replied Mrs. Temple when the candles come in I will read to you from the pictorial history of Palestine written by the famous Dr. Kitto a description of the very particular ceremony which took place before the sheep and two rams were slain as a sin offering here come the candles just when we want them cried Elsie as Eliza made her appearance I'll get Dr. Kitto's big book explained Lucius jumping up from his seat by the fire the candles were placed on the table near enough to Mrs. Temple to enable her to read without putting her warm seat but merely turning her chair around to the table she then read aloud the following extract from the work of the learned doctor when a person was reported to be free of his leprosy the priest went out of the camp and subjected him to a very strict examination if no signs of the disorder appeared upon him the priest sent a person to bring two living birds doves or young pigeons cedar wood scarlet wool and his up with which he performed the ceremonies of purification to admit the party to the privileges of the Hebrew church and communion what does that mean mother asked Lucius that the man was no longer to be cut off as were levers in Israel from worshiping the Lord within the camp or mixing with the rest of the people replied Mrs. Temple oh mama might not a poor lever do that exclaimed Amy to be shut out from praying with one's friends and relations would be almost the worst trial of all remember my child that the dreadful disease was infectious there was need of the greatest care blessed it should spread in their camp lepers had to wear a particular dress and to live apart from all who were yet in hell if anyone drew near to a lever unawares the afflicted one had to cry out unclean unclean I don't think that I would ever again complain of being shut up from friends and playmates because of this whooping call cry Lucius it is disagreeable enough to be kept as we are even from going to church but fancy what it would be to cry out unclean unclean if anyone chance to come near us please mama go on with the account of what the priest had to do with the two birds which he sent for when he found out that the lever was quite well again said Amy Mrs. Temple continued her reading he slew one of the birds and received its blood in an earthen into this he dipped the cedar wood, the scarlet wool and the hissup and therewith sprinkled seven times the one's leprous person the other bird was then permitted to escape as a symbol that the man was now free of his leprosy oh how joyful the bird must have been when allowed to fly free up high into the air exclaimed Elsie not more glad than the poor clenched lever of whom that bird was a type observed Mrs. Temple think of his joy at being free to return to his family his wife and his children and his thankful delight when worshiping once more with his former companions in the court of the tabernacle of his god it seems to me that there is a verse in one of the Psalms which shows that David had the cleansing of the lever in his mind and he prayed to the Lord to forgive him his sin remarked Lucius I was just thinking of the same when Mamar read about the hissup said Amy it made me feel sure that Agnes was right when she chose leprosy as a type of sin what is the verse to which you allude asked the mother Lucius was the one to reply but the lips of Amy silently moved as she repeated the same verse to herself encourage me with hissup and I shall be clean wash me and I shall be whiter than snow oh mama I remember the story of the poor leper who came to the Lord Jesus said Elsie and how he cried Lord if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean how much more deeply interesting is the saviour's reply I will be thou clean if we look upon leprosy as a type of sin the Lord was able and willing to heal not the poor man's body alone but also his soul and make him free from all stain of sin as well as from all taint of disease end of chapter 11 recording by Bethesda Lilly