Page:Hebrew tales; selected and translated from the writings of the ancient Hebrew sages (1917).djvu/103

 worship them!" It was in vain Abraham thus reasoned with his idolatrous parent. Superstition is ever both deaf and blind. His unnatural father delivered him over to the cruel tribunal of the equally idolatrous Nimrod. But a more merciful Father—the gracious and blessed Father of us all—protected him against the threatened danger; and Abraham became the father of the faithful.

Genesis Rabba, § XXXVIII; Tanna debe Eliyahu, II, 25.

Abraham's Deliverance from the Fiery Furnace

being brought before Nimrod, was urged, by the tyrant, to worship the fire. "Great king," said the father of the faithful, "would it not be better to worship water? It is mightier than fire, having the power to extinguish it." "Worship the water, then," said Nimrod. "Methinks," rejoined Abraham, "it would be more reasonable to worship the clouds, since they carry the waters, and throw them down upon the earth." "Well, then," said the impatient king, "worship the clouds, which, by thine own confession, possess great power." "Nay," continued Abraham, "if power is to be the object of adoration, the preference ought to be given to the wind, which by its greater force scatters the clouds, and drives them before it."