There was needed something more than a mere revival of the “old time religion” of Moses.  There had to be purer and nobler ideas of Jehovah, a better knowledge of the real nature of Jehovah and of what Jehovah demanded of men, and of the kind of worship which would please him.  Till then there was little hope of happiness for men and women and little children.

STUDY TOPICS

1.  Read 2 Kings 6. 24-30 for a vivid picture of the sufferings of the common people of Israel, as a result of constant wars.

2.  Read 1 Kings 20. 1-34 for some light on Ahab as an able king.  What qualities are displayed by him, in the narrative of this chapter?

3.  Look up Rechabites in the Bible dictionary for a more complete narrative about them.

4.  Is war more of a curse to the common people to-day than in ancient times, or less?  Why?  What classes still suffer most from war, the rich and powerful or the common people?

CHAPTER XV

A NEW KIND OF RELIGION

Among all ancient peoples, including the Hebrews, a large part of religion was the burning of animal sacrifices on altars.  Whenever a sheep or lamb or kid was slaughtered for food the blood was poured out on the sacred rock, or altar, in which the god was supposed to dwell.  Afterward the fat was burned on the same rock.  It was believed that the god in the rock drank the blood and smelled the fragrant odor of the burning fat.

=Whole burnt offerings.=—­On special occasions, such as a wedding, the birth of a child, the beginning of a war, or the celebration of a victory, the entire animal was burned on the altar.  The first-born calves, or lambs, or kids of any animal mother were also regarded by the Hebrews as sacred and were burned as whole burnt-offerings to Jehovah.

SACRIFICES IN CANAAN

After the Hebrews settled in Canaan they adopted other kinds of sacrifices.  Grains and fruits were offered as well as animals.  Wine and oil were poured on the altars.  Baked cakes were burned.  One sheaf from every harvest field of wheat or barley was supposed to be waved back and forth before an altar of Jehovah.  This was a sort of religious drama by which Jehovah was thought to receive a share of the grain.

=Religious feasts.=—­In Canaan also the Hebrews observed certain religious festivals, which corresponded to the early, middle, and late harvest seasons; they were called respectively, the “Feast of Unleavened Bread,” the “Feast of Weeks” (or Pentecost), and the “Feast of Tabernacles.”  All of these were joyous occasions somewhat like our Thanksgiving Day, and at all of them each family offered to Jehovah some part of the products of their fields.

PRIESTS AND THEIR DUTIES