 Story 31 of Hurlbut's Story of the Bible, Part 1. This is a LibriVox recording. Our LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Hurlbut's Story of the Bible by Jesse Lyman Hurlbut, Part 1. The Cluster of Grapes from the Land of Canaan. Numbers 13, Verse 1 to Chapter 14, Verse 45. The Israelites stayed in their camp before Mount Sinai almost a year while they were building the Tabernacle and learning God's laws given through Moses. At last the cloud over the Tabernacle rose up and the people knew that this was a sign for them to move. They took down the Tabernacle and their own tents and journeyed northward toward the Land of Canaan for many days led by the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night. At last they came to a place just on the border between the desert and Canaan called Kadesh or Kadesh Barnea. Here they stopped to rest for there were many springs of water and some grass for their cattle. While they were waiting at Kadesh Barnea and were expecting soon to march into the land which was to be their home, God told Moses to send onward some men who should walk through the land and look at it and then come back and tell what they had found, what kind of a land it was and what fruits and crops grew in it and what people were living in it. The Israelites could more easily win the land if these men after walking through it could act as their guides and point out the best places in it and the best plans of making war upon it. There was need of wise and bold men for such a work as this, for it was full of danger. So Moses chose out some men of high rank among the people, one ruler from each tribe, twelve men in all. One of these was Joshua who was the helper of Moses in caring for the people and another was Caleb who belonged to the tribe of Judah. These twelve men went out and walked over the mountains of Canaan and looked at the cities and saw the fields. In one place just before they came back to the camp they cut down a cluster of ripe grapes which was so large that two men carried it between them hanging from a staff. They named the place where they found this bunch of grapes Eshkol, a word which means a cluster. These twelve men were called spies because they went to spy out the land. After forty days they came back to the camp and this is what they said. We walked all over the land and found it a rich land. There is grass for all our flocks and fields where we can raise grain and trees bearing fruits and streams running down the sides of the hills. But we found that the people who live there are very strong and are men of war. They have cities with walls that reach almost up to the sky and some of the men are giants so tall that we felt that we were like grasshoppers beside them. One of the spies who was Caleb said, All that is true yet we need not be afraid to go up and take the land. It is a good land, well worth fighting for. God is on our side and he will help us to overcome those people. But all the other spies except Joshua said, No, there is no use in trying to make war upon such strong people. We can never take those walled cities and we dare not fight those tall giants. And the people who had journeyed all the way through the wilderness to find this very land were so frightened by the words of the ten spies that now on the very border of Canaan they dared not enter it. They forgot that God had led them out of Egypt, that he had kept them in the dangers of the desert, that he had given them water out of the rock and bread from the sky and his law from the mountain. All that night after the spies brought back their report the people were so filled with fear that they could not sleep. They cried out against Moses and blamed him for bringing them out of the land of Egypt. They forgot all their troubles in Egypt, their toil and their slavery and they resolved to go back to that land. They said, Let us choose a ruler in place of Moses who has brought us into all these evils and let us turn back to the land of Egypt. But Caleb and Joshua, two of the spies, said, Why should we fear? The land of Canaan is a good land. It is rich with milk and honey. If God is our friend and is with us, we can easily conquer the people who live there. Above all things, let us not rebel against the Lord or disobey him and make him our enemy. But the people were so angry with Caleb and Joshua that they were ready to stone them and kill them. Then suddenly the people saw a strange sight, the glory of the Lord which stayed in the Holy of Holies, the inner room of the Tabernacle. Now flashed out and shone from the door of the Tabernacle in the faces of the people, and the Lord out of his glory spoke to Moses and said, How long will this people disobey me and despise me? They shall not go into the good land that I have promised them. Not one of them shall enter in except Caleb and Joshua, who have been faithful to me. All of the people who are twenty years old and over it shall die in the desert. But their little children shall grow up in the wilderness, and when they become men they shall enter in and own the land that I promised to their fathers. You people are not worthy of the land that I have been keeping for you. Now turn back into the desert and stay there until you die. After you are dead, Joshua shall lead your children into the land of Canaan. And because Caleb showed another spirit and was true to me and followed my will fully, Caleb shall live to go into the land and shall have his choice of a home there. Tomorrow turn back into the desert by the way of the Red Sea. And God told Moses that for every day that the spice had been in Canaan, looking at the land, the people should spend a year in the wilderness, so that they should live in the desert forty years, instead of going at once into the promised land. When Moses told all God's words to the people, they felt worse than before. Their minds as suddenly as they had made up their minds. No, they all said, we will not go back to the wilderness, we will go straight into the land and see if we are able to take it, as Joshua and Caleb have said. You must not go into the land, said Moses, for you are not fit to go, and God will not go with you. You must turn back into the desert as the Lord has commanded. But the people would not obey. They rushed up the mountain and tried to march at once into the land. But they were without leaders and without order, a mob of men untrained and in confusion. And the people in that part of the land, the Canaanites and Amorites, came down upon them and killed many of them and drove them away. Then, discouraged and beaten, they obeyed the Lord and Moses and went once more into the desert. And in the desert of Peran, on the south of the land of Canaan, the children of Israel stayed nearly forty years, and all because they would not trust in the Lord. It was not strange that the Israelites should act like children, eager to go back one day and then eager to go forward the next day. Through four hundred years they had been weakened by living in the hot land of Egypt, and their hard-lighted slaves had made them unfit to care for themselves. They were still in heart slavish and weak. Moses saw that they needed the free life of the wilderness and that their children growing up as free men and trained for war would be better fitted to win the land of promise than they had shown themselves to be. So they went back into the wilderness to wait and to be trained for the work of winning their land in war. End of The Cluster of Grapes from the Land of Canaan This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Hurlbut's Story of the Bible by Jesse Lyman Hurlbutt Part 1 How the long journey of the Israelites came to an end. Numbers 20 verse 1 to 22 verse 1 So the Israelites, after coming to the border of the promised land, went back into the wilderness to wait there until all the men who had sinned against the Lord in not trusting his word should die. Moses knew that the men who had been slaves in Egypt were in their spirit slaves still, and could not fight as brave men to win their land. There was need of men who had been trained up to a free life in the wilderness, men who would teach their children after them to be free and bold. They stayed for nearly all the forty years of waiting in the wilderness of Peran south of Canaan. Very few things happened during those years. The young men, as they grew up, were trained to be soldiers, and one by one the old men died until very few of them were left. When the forty years were almost ended, the people came again to Kaddash, Barnea, and found no water there. Perhaps the wells from which they had drawn water before were now dried up. The people complained against Moses, as they always complained when trouble came to them, and blamed him for bringing them into such a desert land where there was neither fruit to eat nor water to drink, only great rocks all around. Then the Lord said to Moses, take the rod and bring the people together, and stand before the rock, speak to the rock before them, and then the water will come out of the rock, and the people and flocks shall have drink. Then Moses and Aaron brought all the people together before a great rock that stood beside the camp, and Moses stood in front of the rock with his rod in his hand, but he did not do exactly what God had told him to do, to speak to the rock. He spoke to the people instead in an angry manner. Here now ye rebels said Moses, shall we bring you water out of this rock? And Moses lifted up the rod and struck the rock. Then he struck it again, at the second blow the water came pouring out of the rock, just as it had come many years before from the rock at Refidim, near Mount Sinai, C. 25, and again there was plenty of water for the people and their flocks. But God was not pleased with Moses, because Moses had shown anger and had not obeyed God's command just as God had given it, and God said to Moses and to Aaron, because you did not show honour to me by doing as I commanded you, neither of you shall enter into the land that I have promised to the children of Israel. One act of disobedience cost Moses and Aaron the privilege of leading the people into their own land of promise. About this time Miriam, the sister of Moses and Aaron, died at Kaddash Barnea. You remember that when she was a little girl she helped to save the baby Moses, her brother, from the river. C. 20. She also led the women in singing the song of Moses after the crossing of the Red Sea, as told in C. 24. And soon after her death, Moses and Aaron and Eliezer, Aaron's son, walked together up a mountain called Mount Horror, and on the top of the mountain Moses took off the priest's robes from Aaron and placed them on his son Eliezer, and there on top of Mount Horror Aaron died. And Moses and Eliezer buried him. Then they came down to the camp and Eliezer took his father's place as the priest. While they were at Kaddash Barnea on the south of Canaan they tried again to enter the land, and they found that the Canaanites and Amorites who lived there were too strong for them. So again they turned back to the wilderness and sought another road to Canaan. On the south of the Dead Sea and southeast of Canaan were living the Edomites who had sprung from Esau, Jacob's brother, and the Israelites had sprung from Jacob. C. 12. Thus you see the Edomites were closely related to the Israelites. Moses sent to the king of Edom to say to him, We, the men of Israel, are your brothers. We have come out of the land of Egypt where the people of Egypt dealt harshly with us. And now we are going to our own land which our God has promised to us, the land of Canaan. We pray you let us pass through your land on our way. We will do no harm to your land nor your people. We will walk on the road to Canaan, not turning to the right hand nor the left. And we will not rob your vineyards nor even drink from your wells unless we pay for the water that we use. But the king of Edom was afraid to have such a great host of people with all their flocks and cattle go through his land. He drew out his army and came against the Israelites. Moses was not willing to make war on a people who were so close in their race to the Israelites. So instead of leading the Israelites through Edom they surrounded it, making a long journey to the south and then to the east and then to the north again. It was a long hard journey through a deep valley which was very hot, and for most of the journey they were going away from Canaan and not towards it. But it was the only way since Moses would not let them fight the men of Edom. While they were on this long journey the people again found fault with Moses. Then God was angry with the people and he let the fierce snakes that grew in the desert crawl among them and bite them. These snakes were called fiery serpents, perhaps because of their bright color or perhaps because of their eyes and tongues which seemed to flash out to the people. But they were not afraid to fight the men of Edom. They were afraid to fight the men of Edom because they were afraid to fight the men of Edom. Then the people saw that they had acted wickedly in speaking against Moses. For when they spoke against Moses they were speaking against God who was leading them. They said, We have sinned against the Lord and we are sorry. Now pray to the Lord for us that he may take away the serpents from us. So Moses prayed for the people as he had prayed so many times. He said, Make a serpent of brass like the fiery serpents and set it on a pole where the people can see it. Then everyone who is bitten may look on the serpent on the pole and he shall live. And Moses did as God commanded him. He made a serpent of brass which looked like the fiery snakes and he lifted it up on a pole where all could see it. And Moses did as God commanded him. He made a serpent of brass which looked like the fiery snakes and lifted it up on a pole where all could see it. And then whoever had been bitten by a snake looked up at the brazen snake and the bite did him no harm. This brazen snake was a teaching about Christ though it was given so long before Christ came. You remember the text which says as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness even so must the Son of Man be lifted up that whosoever believeth in him may have eternal life. North east of the Dead Sea above a brook called the brook Arnon lived a people who were called the Emirates. Moses sent to their king whose name was Sihon the same message as he had sent to the king of Edom asking for leave to go through his land but he would not allow the Israelites to pass through. He led his army against Israel and crossed the brook Arnon and fought against Israel at a place called Jehaz. The Israelites here won their first great victory. In the battle they killed many of the Emirates and with them their king Sihon and they took for their own all their land as far north as the brook Jabok. Do you remember how Jacob one night prayed by the brook Jabok? See Story 14 And after this they marched on toward the land of Canaan coming from the east they encamped on the east bank of the river Jordan at the foot of the mountains of Moab. Their long journey of 40 years was now ended the desert was left behind them before them ruled the Jordan river and beyond the Jordan they could see the hills of the land which God had promised to them for their own. End of Story 32 Story number 33 of Hurlbut's story of the Bible is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org Hurlbut's Story of the Bible by Jesse Lyman Hurlbut Part 1 What a wise man learned from an ass. Numbers chapter 22 verse 2 to 25 verse 18 and chapter 31 verses 1 through 9. When the Israelites had traveled around the land of Edom and encamped beside the river Jordan a little north of the Dead Sea they did not sit down to rest for Moses knew that a great work was before them to take the land of Canaan. He had already won a great victory over the Amorites at Jehaz and slain their king and won their land. Again Moses sent out an army into the north a region called Baishon. There they fought with King Ag who was one of the giants and killed him and took his country. This made the Israelites masters of all the land on the east of the river Jordan and north of the brook Arnon. South of the brook Arnon and east of the Dead Sea were living the Moabites. This people had sprung from Lot the nephew of Abraham of whom we read in earlier stories In the 500 years since Lot's time his family or descendants had become a people who were called Moabites just as Jacob's descendants were the Israelites. The Moabites were filled with alarm and fear as they saw this mighty host of Israel marching around their land conquering the country and encamping on their border. The Moabites were ruled by a king whose name was Balak and he tried to form some plan for driving away the people of Israel from that region. There was at that time a man living far in the east near the great river Euphrates whose name was Balaam. This man was known far and wide as a prophet, that is a man who talked with God and heard God's voice and spoke from God as did Moses. People believed that whatever Balaam said was sure to come to pass but they did not know that Balaam could only speak what God gave him to speak. Balak, the king of the Moabites sent men to Balaam at his home by the river with great presence. He said to Balaam there is a people here who have come out of Egypt and they cover the whole land I am afraid of them for they have made war and beaten all the nations around come and curse them for me I believe that those whom you bless are blessed and prosper and those whom you curse are cursed and fail. The men from Moab brought this message and promised to Balaam a great reward if he would go with them and Balaam answered them stay here tonight and I will ask my God what to do. That night God came to Balaam and said to him who are these men at your house and what do they want from you God knew who they were and what they wanted for God knows all things but he wished Balaam to tell him and Balaam said they have come from Balak, the king of Moab and they asked me to go with them and to curse for them a people that have come out of Egypt and God said to Balaam you must not go with these men you shall not curse this people for this people are to be blessed so the next morning Balaam said to the men of Moab go back to your land for the Lord will not let me go with you when these men brought back to their king Balak the message of Balaam the king still thought that Balaam would come if he should offer him more money so he sent other messengers of high rank the princes of Moab with larger gifts and they came to Balaam and said our king Balak says that you must come he will give you great honors and all the money that you ask now and curse this people for king Balak and Balaam said if Balak should give me his house full of silver and gold I cannot speak anything except what God gives me to speak stay here tonight and I will ask my God what I may say to you now Balaam knew very well what God wished him to say but Balaam, though he was a prophet of the Lord, wished to be rich he wanted to go with the men and get Balak's money he wanted to prepare to go against God's command and that night God said to Balaam if these men ask you to go with them you may go but when you go to Balak's country you shall speak only the words that I give you to speak at this Balaam was very glad and the next day he went with the princes of Moab to go to their land which was far to the southwest God was not pleased with Balaam's going very well that God had forbidden him to curse Israel but he hoped in some way to get King Balak's money and God sent his angel to meet Balaam in the way in order to teach Balaam a lesson the angel appeared first to the ass on which Balaam was riding the ass could see the angel with his fiery sword standing in front of the way but Balaam could not see him the ass turned to one side out of the road into an open field and Balaam struck the ass and drove it back into the road for he could not see the angel whom the ass saw then the angel appeared again in a place where the road was narrow with a stone wall on each side and when the ass saw the angel it turned to one side and crushed Balaam's foot against the wall and Balaam struck the ass again again the angel of the Lord appeared to the ass in a place where there was no place to turn aside the ass was frightened and fell down while Balaam struck it again and again with his staff then the Lord allowed the ass to speak and the ass said to Balaam what have I done that you have struck me these three times and Balaam was so angry that he never thought how strange it was for an animal to talk and he said I struck you because you will not walk as you should I had a sword in my hand then I would kill you and the ass spoke again to Balaam am I not your ass the one that has always cared you did I ever disobey you before why do you treat me so cruelly and then God opened Balaam's eyes and let him see the angel standing with a drawn sword in front of him then Balaam leaped off from the ass to the ground and fell down upon his face and the angel said to Balaam Balaam you know that you are going in the wrong way but for the ass which saw me I would have killed you the road that you are taking will lead you to death and Balaam said I have sinned against the Lord now let the Lord forgive me and I will go home again but the angel knew that in his heart Balaam wanted to go on to meet King Balak and the angel said you may go with these men of Moab but be sure to say only what God gives you to speak so Balaam went on and came to the land of Moab and King Balak said to him so you have come at last why did you wait until I sent the second time do you not know that I will pay you all that you want if you will only do what I wish and Balaam said I have come to you as you asked but I have no power to speak anything except what God gives me King Balak thought that all Balaam said about speaking God's word was spoken only to get more money he did not understand that a true prophet could never say anything except what was the will of God he took Balaam up to the top of a mountain from which they could look down upon the camp of the Israelites as it lay with tense spread on the plane there was a tabernacle in the middle overshadowed by the white cloud then Balaam said build for me seven altars and bring me for an offering seven young oxen and seven rams they did so and while the offering was on the altar God gave a word to Balaam and then Balaam spoke out God's word the king of Moab has brought me from the east saying come curse Jacob for me come speak against Israel how shall I curse those whom God has not cursed how shall I speak against those who are God's own people from the mountaintop I see this people dwelling alone and not like other nations who can count the men of Israel like the dust of the earth let me die the death of the righteous and let my last end be like his and King Balak was surprised at Balaam's words he said what have you done I brought you to curse my enemies and instead you have blessed them and Balaam answered did I not tell you beforehand that I could only say the words that God should put into my mouth but King Balak thought that he would try again to obtain from Balaam a curse against Israel he brought him to another place where they could look down on the Israelites and again offered sacrifices and again God gave a message to Balaam and Balaam said rise up King Balak and hear God is not a man that he should lie or that he should change his mind what God has said that he will do he has commanded me to bless this people yea and blessed shall they be the Lord God is their king and he shall lead them and give them victory then King Balak said to Balaam if you cannot curse this people do not bless them but leave them alone and Balaam said again did I not tell you that what God gives me to speak that I must speak but King Balak was not yet satisfied he brought Balaam to still another place and offered sacrifices as before and again the spirit of God came on Balaam looking down on the camp of Israel he said how goodly are your tents oh Israel and your tabernacles oh Jacob God has brought him out of Egypt and God shall give him the land of promise he shall destroy his enemies Israel shall be like a lion when he rises up blessed be everyone who blesses him and cursed be everyone that curses him and Balak the king of Moab was very angry with Balaam the prophet I called you to curse my enemies and you have blessed them over and over again go back to your own home I meant to give you great honor and riches but your God has kept you back from your reward and Balam said to Balak did I not say to your messengers if Balak should give me his house full of silver and gold I cannot go beyond God's command to say good or evil but God speaks that I must speak now let me tell you what this people shall do to your people in the years to come a star shall come out of Jacob and the scepter shall be stretched forth from Israel that shall rule over Moab all these lands Edom and Mount Sare and Moab and Ammon shall sometime be under the rule of Israel and all this came to pass though it was 400 years afterward when David the king of Israel made all those countries subject to his rule but Balam soon showed that although for a time God spoke through his lips in his heart he was no true servant of God although he could not speak a curse against the Israelites he still longed for the money that King Balak was ready to give him if he would only help Balak to weaken the power of Israel and he tried another plan Balam told King Balak that the best plan for him and his people would be to make the Israelites their friends to marry among them and not to make war upon them and this the Moabites did until many of the Israelites married the daughters of Moab and then they began to worship the idols of Moab this was worse for the Israelites than making war upon them for if the people of Israel should be friendly with the idol worshipping people around them the Moabites east of the Dead Sea the Ammonites near the wilderness and the Edomites on the south they would soon forget the Lord and begin to worship idols there was danger that all the people would be led into sin and God sent a plague of death upon the people and many died then Moses took the men who were leading Israel into sin and put them to death and after this the Israelites made war upon the Moabites and their neighbors the Midianites who were joined with them they beat them in a great battle and killed many of them and among the men of Moab they found Balaam the prophet and they killed him also because he had given advice to the Moabites which brought harm to Israel it would have been better for Balaam to have stayed at home and not to have come when King Balaam called him or it would have been well for him to have gone back to his home he might then have lived in honor but he knew God's will and tried to go against it and died in disgrace among the enemies of God's people End of Story No. 33 Recording by Eric Ray St. Louis, Missouri Story 34 of Hurlbut's Story of the Bible This is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org Hurlbut's Story of the Bible by Jesse Lyman Hurlbut, Part 1 How Moses looked upon the Promised Land Numbers 26, 1-4 63-65 32, 1-42 Deuteronomy 31, verse 1-34, verse 12 While the Israelites were in their camp on the plain beside the river Jordan at the foot of the mountains of Moab God told Moses to count the number of men who were old enough and strong enough to go forth to war and Moses caused the men to be counted who were above twenty years of age and found them to be a little more than six hundred thousand in number besides these were the women and children and among them all were only three men who were above sixty years of age men who had been more than twenty years old forty years before when the Israelites came out of Egypt the men who had been afraid to enter the land of Canaan when they were at Qadash Barnea for the first time Sea Story 30 had all died some of them had been slain by the enemies in war some had died in the wilderness during the forty years some had perished by the plague some had been bitten by the fiery serpents of all those who came out of Egypt as men the only ones living were Moses and Joshua and Caleb Moses was now a hundred and twenty years old he had lived forty years as a prince of Egypt forty years as a shepherd in Midian and forty years as the leader of Israel in the wilderness but although he was so very old God had kept his strength his eyes were as bright his mind was as clear and his arm and heart were as strong as they had been when he was a young man the people of Israel now had full possession of all the land on the east of the river Jordan from the book Arnaan up to the great Mount Hermon much of this land was well fitted for pasture for grass was green and rich and there were many streams of water there were two of the twelve tribes and half of another tribe whose people had great flocks of sheep and goats and herds of cattle these were the tribes which had sprung from Rubin and Gad the sons of Jacob and half the tribe of Manasseh the son of Joseph for there were two tribes that had sprung from Joseph his descendants the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh the men of Rubin, Gad and half the men of Manasseh came to Moses and said the land on this side of the river is good for the feeding of sheep and cattle and we are shepherds and herdsmen cannot we have our possessions on this side of the river and give all the land beyond the river to our brothers of the other tribes Moses was not pleased at this for he thought that the men of these tribes wish to have their home at once in order to avoid going to war with the rest of the tribes and this may have been in their minds so Moses said to them shall your brothers of the other tribes go to war and shall you sit here in your own land and not help them that would be wicked and would displease the Lord your God then the men of the other two tribes and the half-tribe came again to Moses and said to him we will build sheepfolds here for our sheep and we will choose some cities to place our wives and our children in but we ourselves will go armed with our brothers of the other tribes and will help them to take the land on the other side of the Jordan we will not come back to this side of the river until the war is over and our brothers have taken their shares of the land each tribe its own part and we will take no part on the other side of the river because our place has been given to us here and when the land is all one and divided then we will come back here to our wives and our children then Moses was satisfied with the promise that they had given and he divided the land on the east of the Jordan to these tribes he gave the land on the south to the men of Gad the land in the middle and to the half-tribe of Manasseh the land on the north the country called Bashan and after their wives and children and flocks had been placed safely the men of war came to the camp ready to go with the other tribes across the river when God should call them and now the work of Moses was almost done God said to him you are the children of Israel together and speak to them your last words for you are not to lead the people across the Jordan you are to die in this land as I said to you at Qaidash see story 31 then Moses called the leaders of the 12 tribes before his tent and said to them many things which you can read in the book of the Bible called Deuteronomy there all the long speeches of Moses is given God had done for their fathers and for them he gave them again all the words of God's law he told them that they must not only keep God's law themselves but must teach it to their children so that it might never be forgotten and Moses sang a song of farewell and wrote down all his last words then he gave a charge to Joshua whom God had chosen to take his place as the ruler and leader of the people though no man to take Moses's place as a prophet of God and the giver of God's law he laid his hands on Joshua's head and God gave to Joshua some of his spirit that had been on Moses then Moses all alone went out of the camp while all the people looked at him and wept slowly he walked up the mountainside until they saw him no more he climbed to the top of Mount Nebel and stood alone upon the height and looked at the land of promise which lay spread out before him far in the north he could see the white crown of Mount Hermon where there is always snow at his feet but far below the river Jordan was winding its way down to the Dead Sea across the river at the foot of the mountains was standing the city of Jericho surrounded with a high wall on the summits of the mountains beyond he could see Habron where Abraham and Isaac and Jacob were buried he could see Jerusalem and Bethel and the two mountains were Shechem lay hidden in the center of the land and here and there through the valleys he could see afar in the west the gleaming waters of the Great Sea then Moses all alone laid down on the mountain's top and died Aaron and her who had held up the hands of Moses in battle had both died and there was no man on Mount Nebo to bury Moses so God himself buried him and no man knows where God laid the body of Moses who had served God so faithfully and after Moses there was never a man who lived so near to God and talked with God so freely as one would talk face to face with his friend until long afterward Jesus Christ the Son of God and greater than Moses came among men and a story 34 Story number 35 of Hurlbut's story of the Bible this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org Hurlbut's story of the Bible by Jesse Lyman Hurlbut part 1 the story of Job Job chapter 1 verse 1 to chapter 2 verse 13 chapter 42 verse 1 to 17 at some time in those early days we do not know just at what time whether in the days of Moses or later there was living a good man named Job his home was in the land of Uz which may have been on the edge of the desert east of the land of Israel Job was a very rich man he had many sheep and camels and oxen and asses counted by the thousand in all the east there was no other man so rich as Job and Job was a good man he served the Lord God and prayed to God every day with an offering upon God's altar as men worshiped in those days he tried to live as God wished him to live and was always kind and gentle every day when his sons were out in the field or having a feast together in the house of any of them Job went out to his altar and offered a burnt offering for each one of his sons and his daughters and prayed to God for them for he said it may be that my sons have sinned or have turned away from God in their hearts I will pray to God to forgive them at one time when the angels of God stood before the Lord Satan the evil one came also and stood among them as though he were one of God's angels the Lord God saw Satan and said to him Satan from what place have you come Satan from going up and down in the earth and looking at the people upon it then the Lord said to Satan have you looked upon my servant Job and have you seen that there is not another man like him in the earth a good and perfect man one who fears God and does nothing evil then Satan said to the Lord does Job fear God for nothing hast thou not made a wall around him and around his house and around everything that he has thou hast given a blessing upon his work and has made him rich but if thou wilt stretch forth thy hand and take away from him all that he has and will curse thee to thy face then the Lord said to the evil one Satan all that Job has is in your power you can do to his sons and his flocks and his cattle whatever you wish only lay not your hand upon the man himself then Satan went forth from the Lord and soon trouble began to come upon Job one day when all his sons and daughters were eating and drinking together in their oldest brother's house a man came running to Job and said the oxen were plowing and the asses were feeding beside them when the wild men from the desert came upon them all away and the men who were working with the oxen and caring for the asses have all been killed and I am the only one who has fled away alive while this man was speaking another man came rushing in and he said the lightning from the clouds has fallen on all the sheep and on the men who were tending them one who has come away alive before this man had ended another came in and he said the enemies from Chaldea have come in three bands and have taken away all thy camels they have killed the men who were there with them and I am the only one left alive then at the same time one more man came in and said to Job your sons and your daughters were eating and drinking together in their oldest brothers house when a sudden and terrible wind from the desert struck the house and it fell upon them all your sons and your daughters are dead and I alone have lived to tell you of it thus in one day all that Job had his flocks, his cattle and his sons and daughters all were taken away and Job from being rich was suddenly made poor then Job fell down upon his face before the Lord and he said with nothing I came into the world and with nothing I shall leave it the Lord gave and the Lord has taken away blessed be the name of the Lord so even when all was taken from him Job did not turn away from God nor did he find fault with God's doings and again the angels of God were before the Lord and Satan who had done all this harm to Job was among them the Lord said to Satan have you looked at my servant there is no other man in the world as good as he a perfect man one that fears God and does no wrong act do you see how he holds fast to his goodness even after I have let you do him so great harm then Satan answered the Lord all that a man has he will give for his life but if thou will put thy hand upon and touch his bone and his flesh he will turn from thee and he will curse thee to thy face and the Lord said to Satan I will give Job into your hand due to him whatever you please only spare his life then Satan went out and struck Job and caused dreadful boils upon him over all his body from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head and Job sat down in the ashes in great pain but he would not speak one word against God his wife said to him what is the use of trying to serve God you may as well curse God and die but Job said to her he is one of the foolish women what shall we take good things from the Lord and shall we not take the evil things also so Job would not speak against God then three friends of Job came to see him and to try to comfort him in his sorrow and pain their names were Eliphaz and Bildad they sat down with Job and wept and spoke to him but their words were not words of comfort they believed that all these great troubles had come upon Job to punish him for some great sin and they tried to persuade Job to tell what evil things he had done to make God so angry with him for in those times most people believed that trouble and sickness and the loss of friends and the loss of what they had owned came to men because God was angry with them on account of their sins these men thought that Job must have been very wicked because they saw such evils coming upon him in long speeches to Job urging him to confess his wickedness Job said that he had done no wrong that he had tried to do right and he did not know why these troubles had come but he would not say that God had dealt unjustly in letting him suffer Job did not understand God's ways but he believed that God was good and he left himself in God's hands and at last God himself spoke to Job and to his friends telling them that it is not for man to judge God and that God will do right by every man and the Lord said to the three friends of Job you have not spoken of me as Job has now bring an offering to me and Job shall pray for you and for his sake I will forgive you so Job prayed for his friends and God forgave them and because in all his troubles Job had been faithful to God the Lord blessed Job once more and took away his boils from him and made him well the Lord gave to Job more than he had ever owned in the past twice as many sheep and oxen and camels and asses and God gave again to Job seven sons and three daughters and in all the land there were no women found so lovely as the daughters of Job after his trouble Job lived a long time in riches and honor and goodness under God's care end of story number 35 recording by Robert Scott mojo move 411.com mojomove 411.com end of Hurlbut's story of the Bible by Jesse Lyman Hurlbut part 1