hold, and his vast possessions, left Egypt, and returned to the south of Canaan.

Perhaps impelled by gratitude, and stimulated by growing faith, he went once more to Bethel, to the place where he had before built an altar to God, and there he worshipped again. At this consecrated spot, the tents were again unfurled, and the numerous herds and flocks of Abram and Lot grazed around, spreading over miles of country.

But the patriarchs had not long encamped, when a strife arose between their herdsmen. The district did not yield sufficient pasture for the cattle of both, for it was occupied by Canaanite tribes also. Abram's peaceful spirit was saddened by these dissensions, and forgetful of his own higher claims, he said to his nephew Lot: Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee, and between my herdsmen and thy herdsmen, for we are kinsIs not the whole land before thee? Separate thyself, I pray thee, from me; if thou wilt take the left hand, then I shall go to the right; or if thou depart to the right hand, then I will go to the left.'

men.

Abram and Lot were standing on the height near Bethel, and from this point they gazed over a wide extent. of country. To the east, they saw before them the range of hills above Jericho, the wide valley of the Jordan, and the distant plains of Moab; to the west and south, their eyes were met by the bleak hills of Judah, and the future site of the city of Jerusalem, while to the north was the luxuriant land of Samaria.

They looked down into the fruitful and blooming valley of the Jordan teeming with vegetation and rippling with delicious streams: it was indeed like the garden of Eden, or like the rich land of Egypt they had just left; but the people of these lovely districts were wicked and sinners

before the Lord exceedingly.' Lot made his choice unhesitatingly; and separating himself from his generous and unselfish kinsman, he journeyed eastward, and finally pitched his tents near Sodom.

Abram, left alone in his encampment near Bethel, received from God another of those promises so full of hope and gladness. He was bidden to lift his eyes to the north and south, the east and west; for all that land should belong to him and to his descendants for ever— from the valley of the Jordan in the east to the shores of the Mediterranean in the west, from the Arabian tracts in the south northwards to the heights crowned by the cedars of Lebanon. And great and numerous should his progeny be, for thus sounded the Divine pledge: I shall make thy seed as the dust of the earth, so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then thy seed shall also be numbered. Arise, pass through the land, in its length and in its breadth; for to thee I shall give it.'

Thus commanded by the Lord, Abram journeyed southwards, and dwelt in the oak-groves of Mamre, in the fertile plain of Hebron. This town is surrounded by elevations which include the highest peaks in the mountain ranges of Judah; and its vicinity is even now rich in vineyards and orchards, wells and blooming pastures, numerous herds and flocks. Here among the beautiful groves, Abram consecrated another altar to the Lord who so mercifully guided him.

8. THE INVASION OF THE EASTERN KINGS.

[GENES. XIV.]

The peaceful life of the patriarchs was to be interrupted by the din of warfare and the dangers of battle. In the plain of the Jordan there were five cities, probably

belonging to the earliest settlements of the Canaanites— Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboim, and Bela or Zoar. These cities had been conquered by Chedorlaomer, the powerful king of Elam, in the east of the Tigris. For twelve years they paid tribute to him, but in the thirteenth they rebelled. Incensed at the growing independence of the subdued cities, the great king of Elam resolved upon speedy chastisement; and summoning the aid of three neighbouring kings, he marched forth from his territory, intent upon conquest and destruction. Crossing the Tigris and Euphrates, and sweeping along on the great military road south-westward, the allied monarchs subjected in their impetuous march cities and nations; they seemed invincible. They gained their first victories in the land of the Ammonites; then passing the river Arnon, they continued their conquests in the province of Moab, in the land of the Idumeans, and even in the impregnable mountain fortresses of Sin, the strongholds of the ancient Horites. Further still they pressed onward to the very border of the wilderness which divides Arabia from Egypt, devastating and slaughtering as far as the Oasis of Paran. The victors then turned in their course, and descended upon the valley of the Jordan, the proper object of their expedition. The five cities trembled with terror at the approach of the relentless conquerors. Yet anxious to resist the invaders to the last, the five kings marched out at the head of their armies, and met the enemy in the valley of Siddim, near the dangerous bitumen pits, which they hoped would entrap the unwary and restless strangers. A desperate battle was fought. The four eastern kings, stimulated by success and supported by superior strength, overpowered their unfortunate opponents, and partially ensnared them in the very bitumen pits which were to have become their own graves. The kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled in trembling haste

towards the mountainous tracts of Jericho, leaving their rich possessions in the hands of the conquerors. And great as the spoil, was the number of the wailing captives of war who followed the triumphant march of the returning kings.

Amongst these captives was Lot, Abram's nephew, who had remained in Sodom, his chosen place of residence. Abram was in his oak-groves of Mamre, far away from these turbulent scenes of ambition and bloodshed, when a messenger, who had escaped from the battlefield, arrived with the tidings that his kinsman was a prisoner, a slave of the great king of Elam. The patriarch instantly resolved upon his rescue. He did not stay to consider the overwhelming numbers and the superior skill, against which he would have to contend; but summoning Mamre and his two brothers, and the men of his household consisting of 318 tried and faithful servants, he led them on to the pursuit. It was a daring act, but it proved Abram's firm belief in God's help and justice.

The kings were marching northward, and had already arrived at Dan, the extreme northern boundary of the land. At nightfall, the patriarch descried the foreign hosts; he divided his men into three bands, and rushed upon the enemy. We are told no details of this memorable encounter; but as in after-ages, the heathens were defeated by the worshippers of the true God. They fled, pursued by Abram as far as Hobah, to the north of Damascus. The booty must have been large indeed; for it consisted of all the plunder which the four kings had extorted from the numerous cities they had subdued.

Laden with this wealth, and accompanied by Lot and his released fellow-captives, the conquering patriarch returned towards his home. In the valley of Shaveh he was met by one of the princes of Sodom, who came forth with Melchizedek, king of Salem and priest of the Most

High God. This is the first mention we have of Jerusalem; for doubtless Salem was the germ of the future holy city, and Melchizedek, its ruler, impressed by the example of Abram's pure life, had probably renounced idolatry. In accordance with his priestly office, he brought bread and wine, the symbols of worldly success and religious purity, and gave them to Abram, adding to this typical offering a blessing so true and so simple that it might have come from the lips of the patriarch himself: 'Blessed be Abram of the Most High God, Creator of heaven and earth, and blessed be the Most High God who has delivered thy enemies into thy hand.' To Melchizedek were presented the tithes of all the booty-a foreshadowing of the law which assigned the tenth part of all produce to the Levites. The prince of Sodom then gratefully offered to Abram the whole of the spoil he had brought back: but the patriarch, unwilling to be enriched by the wealth of idolators, refused everything from a thread to a shoe-latchet;' but he permitted his faithful allies Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre to take their due portions.

6

The great eastern kings and their armies, like the five tributary cities and their princes, now disappear from the scene, and we are again led back to the oak-groves of Mamre, whither Abram at once returned, and to the revelations of God to His faithful servant.

9. GOD'S COVENANT WITH ABRAHAM AND THE BIRTH OF ISHMAEL.

[GENES. XV.-XVII.]

It was night when the word of the Lord came in a vision to Abram; it came as it had come before, to strengthen his faith and his hope by glorious promises: 'Fear not, Abram, I am thy shield; thy reward will be