Just Because: The Story of Salvation for Children (6 page)

Anyway they built these big statues of a man sitting

on the ground with his legs crossed and his hands

held out in front as though he was asking for some-

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thing. There were men called priests to look after

these statues, and they said the statues were their god

Molech. The people thought Molech was God and

that he was alive. Pretty silly, huh?

The priests of Molech told the people they must

bring food and stuff to give to Molech; in return

he would make it rain, and he would make the

sun shine to grow their cabbages and other foods.

They believed these lies and brought lots of food to

Molech. The priests would light a big fire under the

hands of Molech and then throw the food into the

hands. The hands would become very hot, and the

food was burned up. Those dummies thought Molech

had eaten it. Well, as I said, they were not too smart.

Problem was that it didn’t rain. The priests told

the people Molech was angry because they were

not bringing enough food for him. But there had

been no rain for a long time so the people didn’t

have very much food and were get ing very hungry.

But stil the priests told them they must bring more

food. Satan was enjoying al of this very much. The

people were worshipping his statue Molech and

were starving because of giving their food. They

were very unhappy.

But even after they gave nearly all their food it

did not rain. Satan cannot make it rain, and neither

can a silly statue of a fat guy sitting down. But the

priests of Molech told the people they must bring the

things which were the most important to them, or else

he would make them starve to death. So the priests of

Molech who worked for Satan lit a big fire under the

hands of Molech. When those big hands were red-hot

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from the flames, the people gave Molech the things

that were the most important to them. Yes, they gave

their children.

They put their little babies into those red-hot

hands, and they were burned to death. Satan was very

pleased, and the Lord was very sad they had done

such an evil thing. If only the people would believe

in the Lord instead of doing evil all the time, then the

world would be such a better place. But the people

obeyed their false god, even killing their own chil-

dren. So how could the Lord bless them with rain,

because they would think it was Molech and then kill

more children?

The Lord decided to test Abraham to see if he

loved Him as much as the other people obeyed their

false god Molech. He told Abraham to take Isaac to a

place in the hills and make a sacrifice, which means to

kill something to give to God. So Abraham left home

with his son Isaac, and they set off for the hills.

“Why are we going on a trip, Father?” asked

Isaac. “Are we going to hunt wild animals?”

“No, son, we are going to make a sacrifice to the

Lord our God,” replied Abraham.

“And what animal will we sacrifice, Father?”

Abraham thought about Isaac’s question for a

while, and then he said, “The Lord will provide the

sacrifice, son.” Abraham did not want Isaac to know

the Lord had told him Isaac would be the sacrifice.

Isaac carried the wood on his back, and when

they arrived up in the hills Abraham told Isaac to lie

down upon a large flat stone. He piled wood on the

stone to light a fire, put Isaac on top and tied him up

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Just Because

with a rope. Isaac must have been very scared, and

Abraham didn’t want to sacrifice him, but he knew he

must obey the Lord. Abraham pulled a knife from his

belt. Just as he lifted it up to kill Isaac, the angel of

the Lord called out to him, “Abraham! Abraham!”

“Here I am,” replied Abraham, looking around

for the person who spoke.

Then the angel of the Lord spoke to Abraham.

“Do not hurt Isaac. Now I know you love the Lord

and will obey Him because you have been willing to

sacrifice your son, your only son whom you love.”

Then Abraham looked and saw a sheep caught

in the thorns, and the angel told him to sacrifice the

sheep to the Lord. So Abraham called that place in

the hills “the Lord provides” because the Lord had

provided for him just as he had told his son Isaac.

Now Abraham believed the Lord would bring Isaac

back to life again. He had promised that Isaac would

have children, and he couldn’t have children if he

was dead, could he? So Abraham and Isaac brought

the sheep out of the thorns and made a sacrifice to the

Lord, and then the angel of the Lord spoke again to

Abraham. The angel told Abraham again that because

he had obeyed the Lord from his sons would come a

nation of people.

From that nation of people would come God’s

only Son. God’s Son would be a miracle baby like

Isaac, and He would carry a cross of wood on His back

and go to the place of sacrifice, just as Isaac carried

the wood to the place of sacrifice. God would not

save His Son as He saved Isaac, but He would allow

His only Son to die, and three days later He would

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come alive again. God was showing us through Isaac

and Abraham what He was going to do many years

later, so we would know Jesus was truly God’s Son.

Abraham was very happy, and Isaac was very

happy he was alive. But Satan wasn’t happy because

the people were thinking Molech was a very bad

god who couldn’t make it rain. The Lord blessed

Abraham, and there was rain. Everyone’s vegeta-

bles grew, and the people were blessed because of

Abraham. I suppose the priests of Molech tried to

make people believe Molech had made it rain. And

some of them believed this Just Because some people

are really silly and will believe almost anything

except the truth.

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Chapter 10

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Now Isaac grew up to be a fine young man who

loved the Lord. When he was about forty

years old his mother Sarah died, and he was very

sad. Abraham and Isaac buried Sarah, and Abraham

thought it would be a good idea if Isaac had a wife to

make him happy.

So Abraham called one of his most trusted servants

and told him how to find Isaac’s new wife. Abraham

didn’t want Isaac to marry a girl from around their

town because the girls there didn’t love the Lord, so

he sent his servant back to his homeland. He told his

servant the angel of the Lord would go to their home-

town ahead of him and choose a wife for Isaac.

Now you might be wondering how Isaac was

gonna fall in love with this girl if he wasn’t going to

choose her himself. Good question. Well, Abraham

believed the Lord would choose Isaac’s wife for him.

Abraham reckoned the Lord knew what kind of lady

would be best for Isaac and what lady Isaac would fall

in love with, so he decided to let the Lord choose.

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Abraham’s servant was kinda worried about this.

He didn’t know the Lord very well, and Abraham had

told him to go and find the girl. “What if I bring home

the wrong one?” he thought. “What if I find a girl

and she won’t come back here with me? And what

if Isaac doesn’t like her?” He was a worried man.

Abraham told him not to worry, so off he went.

In those days people traveled by camel train.

Camel trains are much slower than normal trains,

and they don’t smell too good either. The servant had

ten camels in his train, each one tied behind the other

in a long line. He had tied many nice gifts and things

to the camels to give to the girl’s parents.

When he arrived at Abraham’s hometown he

stopped at the well. The well was a long hole in the

ground with water inside. Ladies would come to the

well, drop a bucket on a rope down into the well and

pull up buckets of water to take to their homes. It was

hard work to get water.

Now the servant wondered which one of these

ladies might be the right one. He thought about this

for a while and came up with a good plan. He prayed!

Praying is always a very good plan. He said to the

Lord, “God of my master Abraham”—remember

he didn’t know the Lord too well—“please give me

success today and bless my master Abraham.”

Then he reminded the Lord he was sitting near

the well and told the Lord his plan. “I will ask the

girls for a drink of water, and You get the right girl

to say to me, ‘Have a drink, and I will water your

camels also.’”

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A camel gets very, very thirsty and can drink about

ten buckets of water. So the servant was making a

very hard test. The right girl for Isaac would say she

was willing to pull up about a hundred buckets of

water from the well. She would have to be a very

nice person to offer to do such a big job for a stranger.

Well, as faith would have it, the servant had not even

finished praying when a beautiful girl walked up to

the well to get water.

He went over to her. When she had pulled up a

bucket of water he asked her for a drink.

“Yes, please have a drink, and then I will water

your camels for you, sir.”

Wel , the old servant almost fel over with delight

and surprise. He was so excited he told the girl his

whole story. Her name was Rebekah, and she believed

this man had come from the Lord. She took him and his

smel y old camels back to meet her family and told her

parents and brother the story. Everyone was excited,

especial y the servant because he had been successful

and Rebekah because she wanted to be married.

They set off to go back to Abraham and Isaac with

the camels. When they were almost there they saw

a man coming toward them. It was Isaac. Rebekah

jumped off her camel and covered up her face. In

those days a girl covered her face when she had been

chosen, so poor old Isaac still didn’t know what she

looked like until the day they were married. He must

have been praying about this. But I think Isaac was a

man who trusted the Lord and knew the Lord would

choose a girl who was perfect for him and only him.

God is like that, you know.

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On the day of the wedding Isaac stood in front

of Rebekah and lifted the cloth that was covering

her face. It was love at first sight. She was the most

beautiful girl he had ever seen. She was very cute,

and Isaac could see the Lord was a perfect chooser.

They had a big kiss and a cuddle and went for a little

honeymoon. Abraham was happy because now Isaac

wasn’t thinking so much about his mother, Sarah,

dying. Rebekah and Isaac were happy because they

were crazy about each other, and Abraham’s servant

was happy because he had found the girl the Lord

had chosen.

It goes to show that when people trust the Lord

they are happy. Rebekah and Isaac started their

married life together knowing God had chosen only

them to be married to each other Just Because the

Lord always knows best. Cool story, eh?

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Chapter 11

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Isaac and Rebekah had two sons. Actually they were

born at the same time because they were twins,

although they didn’t look like twins. The first one

born was a funny looking little guy because he was

covered in red hair. He was a hairy dude and maybe

looked like one of those cave man pictures when he

grew up. They called him Esau. The second one was

born straight after Esau because he was holding onto

his brother’s heel. They called him Jacob.

When they grew up they were different. Esau

liked to go away from home hunting wild animals,

and he would bring meat home for his father, Isaac,

to eat. Isaac liked the meat, and he decided he liked

Esau better than Jacob. Jacob didn’t like hunting; he

liked to stay at home and read a book and be with his

mother, so he became his mother’s favourite.

Now the boys had some big arguments. One day

Jacob tricked Esau into giving him the land his father

had promised him, and after that Esau married not

just one but two girls his mother didn’t like and left

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home. The Lord was not happy with Esau because

Esau never bothered to trust the Lord in his life and

he married not just one but two girls who didn’t care

to love the Lord. After Jacob had tricked his big

brother, Jacob was scared so he ran away to stay with

his uncle Laban.

One night on his journey he had a strange dream.

In his dream he saw this big long ladder going from

the ground right up through the clouds to heaven. He

also saw God’s angels going up and down the ladder.