The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1885-01-14
The Bible as a Book OF Travels.


of travels. Journeyings occupy con-
siderable space in the divine records.
SECT thee out of thy country, and from |
thy kindred, and from thy fathers
house, into land that will show thee"
was one of the first revealed commands
after the catastrophe of the deluge, and
the attempt to build the Tower of
Babel. 1t was addressed to Abram,
who became the father of the faithful
and, obedient to the mandate, he de-
parted at once. The following little
picture of foreign travel stands at the
head of numerous volumes, including
some most popular in the present day:
" So Abram departed, as the Lord had
spoken unto him; and Lot went with
him; and Abram was seventy and five
years old when he departed out of
Haran; and Abram took Sarai his wife,
and Lot his brothers. son, and all their
substance that they had gathered, and
the souls that they had gotten in Haran,
and they went forth to go into the land
of Canaan, and into the land of Canaan
they came. And Abram passed through
the land unto the place of Sichem, unto
the plain of Moreh." We can picture
the patriarch, far advanced in life,
dressed in primitive Oriental costume,
seated on the back of patient camel,
with his nephew and wife and other
relations accompanying him in long
retinue; the focks and herds not far off
with shepherds and drivers, all with
their lord and master pursuing di-
vinely-directed journey to a distant
land they had never seen before.
There was enterprise in this original
expedition, and curiosity and wonder
must have stirred the bosom of this
early explorer as he tracked his way
over unknown lands, as his eye rested
on plain, valley, and mountain, and as
he drew nigh to the wooded hills of
northern Canaan, and paced the shores
of the lake of Galilee, and saw fertile
country spread out before him under
the shadows of Ebal and Gerizim.
Soon afterwards we are told the story
of another traveler-how Eliezar, the
eldest servant of his house, arose
and went to Mesopotamia, the region
whence Abram had come, into the city
of Major, to find wife for his masters
son; and beautiful indeed are the Incl
dents recorded of the ends and results
of that singular Journey. A little fur
tllCl VII, anu VIZ liHb thC ldtLCl VI lottttC
on his travels again down into Egypt.
In the very next chapter Isaac's son is
seen starting for Padanaram, to be-
hold vision of angels by the way; and
then back, after his eventful marriage,
he reaches " the city of Arbah, which
is Hebron, where Abram and Isaac So
journed." Travels multiply as we pur-
sue the history of Jacobs son. Joseph,
and then his brethren, time after time,
are described to us on their way to the
rich corn-bearing country on the banks
of the Nile, and the steps they take are
fraught with romantic surprises from
beginning to end, constituting alto
gether narrative of matchless inter.
est. Moses is traveller of unequalled
renown from Goshen to the Red Sea
and down to Sinai, and by zigzae
course through the desert up to Pisgah
where in the mountain-top he catches
glimpses of the land of promise; and
troops of travellers in our own day have
delighted to retrace his steps and follow
in his footprints. Elijah, Elisha, 10
nah, jeremiah, Ezekiel and Other
prophets were also travellers. The
apostles, most of them, habitually
moved from place to place, especially
st. Paul, whose journeys are distin
I guished landmarks in the New Tesla
: ment. Nor did our Lord confne him
: self to any home spot in Galilee or Ju
9 dea. He went about in all direction.
!. doing good. AS we English men ant
and women pursue our tourist expedi
: tons, for which so many facilities arr
|, provided, and which are so universe
that almost everybody in spring, sum
. mer and autumn is on the move, it il
surely consideration of hallowing in
= terest that we have so many Bibl,
precedents for our practice when fol
lowed in wisdom.-Dr. John Stoughton
} IN the Quiuer for January.