Читать книгу The Story of Jesus The Christ - Helen Braun Hojt - Страница 4

Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were not heathen; they knew

and loved the true God, and taught their children to do the

same. But the Jews were not always good. They did wicked

things over and over again, but after they had done wrong they

were sorry for it, and asked God to forgive them. Then they

started over again, and tried to do better.

When Jacob was an old man, he and his children and grand¬

children went to live in Egypt, and lived there happily a good

many years. But the time came when the Children of Israel

were not happy; for the kings who were then on the throne were

not kind to them. They made slaves of them, and the Jews had

to work so hard and so long that they almost forgot their God.

But at last a child was born who had a different life from the

rest of his people. He was named Moses, and was brought up

by the king’s daughter, in the king’s palace. He was very wise

and learned. He thought a great deal about his people. He

could see how badly they were treated, and how unhappy they

were, and his greatest wish was to set them free and take them

back to Palestine. The time came when God allowed him to do

this.

It was hard to get so many people started, and harder yet to

make them do as God would have them. They found fault with

everything if things did not please them: with Moses, and even

with God. There were many years of very hard work for Moses

and their other leaders before they were at last settled in their

own country, in homes of their own.

For a great many years God was really their king. He gave

them laws through Moses, and all their leaders were chosen by

God. They all talked with God, and learned from him what to

do for the people. But the time came when they wanted to be

like the other nations around them and have a king whom they

could see, and who could go before their army when it went to war.