The Rescue of Hagar

FROM THE CELEBRATED SCHIRMER SERIES OF

HISTORICAL LANDSCAPES DEALING WITH

ABRAHAM'S LIFE.
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"And the angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven, and said unto her, What aileth thee, Hagar?" -Gen., 21, 17.

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SECOND time, even as when before she fled from her mistress, was Hagar saved by divine intervention, in the midst of her de spair. God had promised that her son Ishmael should be the father of a wild and powerful race. He sent His angel. "And God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water, and she went, and filled the bottle with water, and gave the lad drink.

So now

"And God was with the lad; and he grew, and dwelt in the wilderness, and became an archer.

"And he dwelt in the wilderness of Paran; and his mother took him a wife out of the land of Egypt."

Such is the brief closing of the tale in Holy Writ. Such is the last picture of the devoted mother, Hagar. Later, however, the Book returns to Ishmael "the archer," to tell us that he lived "a hundred and thirty and seven years," and ruled over the deserts, and became chief ancestor of the race of the Arabs. These have dwelt in Ishmael's deserts ever since, and have repeatedly proven themselves to be among the greatest, if the wildest, peoples of the earth.

EXODUS X- -THE PLAGUE OF LOCUSTS

Chapter 10

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1 God threateneth to send locusts. 7 Pharaoh, moved by his servants, inclineth to let the Israelites go. 12 The plague of the locusts. 16 Pharaoh sueth to Moses. 21 The plague of darkness. 24 Pharaoh sueth unto Moses, 27 but is yet hardened.

ND the LORD said unto Moses, Go in unto Pharaoh: for I have hardened his heart, and the heart of his servants, that I might shew these my signs before him:

2 And that thou mayest tell in the ears of thy son, and of thy son's son, what things I have wrought in Egypt, and my signs which I have done among them; that ye may know how that I am the LORD.

3 And Moses and Aaron came in unto Pharaoh, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD God of the Hebrews, How long wilt thou refuse to humble thyself before me? let my people go that they may

serve me.

4 Else, if thou refuse to let my people go, behold, to-morrow will I bring the locusts into thy coast:

5 And they shall cover the face of the earth, that one cannot be able to see the earth: and they shall eat the residue of that which is escaped, which remaineth unto you from the hail, and shall eat every tree which groweth for you out of the field:

6 And they shall fill thy houses, and the houses of all thy servants, and the houses of all the Egyptians; which neither thy fathers, nor thy fathers' fathers have seen, since the day that they were upon the earth unto this day. And he turned himself, and went out from Pharaoh.

7 And Pharaoh's servants said unto him, How long shall this man be a snare unto us? let the men go, that they may serve the LORD their God: knowest thou not yet that Egypt is destroyed?

8 And Moses and Aaron were brought again unto Pharaoh: and he said unto them, Go, serve the LORD your God: but who are they that shall go?

9 And Moses said, We will go with our young and with our old, with our sons and with our daughters, with our flocks and with our herds will we go; for we must hold a feast unto the LORD.

10 And he said unto them, Let the LORD be so with you, as I will let you go, and your little ones: look to it; for evil is before you.1 11 Not so: go now ye that are men, and serve the LORD; for that did desire. And they were driven out from Pharaoh's presence.

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12 And the LORD said unto Moses, Stretch out thine hand over the land of Egypt for the locusts, that they may come up upon the land of Egypt, and eat every herb of the land, even all that the hail hath left.

13 And Moses stretched forth his rod over the land of Egypt, and the LORD brought an east wind upon the land all that day, and all

Pharaoh's meaning is that he will not let them go and take their children; he hopes the LORD will be as hard to them as he is, and then threatens them.