Novel Insights Guide To

Hinds' Feet On High Places

by Hannah Hurnard


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TABLE OF CONTENTS


Author Biography ..................................... 1
Chapter 01 - 03 ..................................... 3
Chapter 04 - 05 ..................................... 9
Chapter 06 - 07 ................................... 14
Chapter 08 - 09 ................................... 20
Chapter 10 - 13 ................................... 26
Chapter 14 - 16 ................................... 32
Chapter 17 - 20 ................................... 38
Test Questions ................................... 42
Vocabulary Tests .................................. 50
Vocabulary Crossword Puzzle .................................. 61


Chapters 01 - 03

Chapters 1-3 introduce the reader to the main character, Much-Afraid; the main conflict, her desire to serve the Chief Shepherd and live in the High Places, where "perfect love casteth out fear" as opposed to the desire of her Fearing relatives who have determined to keep her in the Valley of Humiliation and force her to marry her cousin, Craven Fear. The story is an allegory, in which everything in the story stands for something else. As Much-Afraid waits in her cottage for the Chief Shepherd to signal for her to come to him, she is overwhelmed by a contingent of her Fearing relatives, who hold her hostage, preventing her from answering the Shepherd's call and following him. Much-Afraid is finally rescued by her neighbor, Mrs. Valiant, and she finally manages to fall into an exhausted sleep. When she awakens the next morning, she finds that the Shepherd is not with the under-shepherds and the flocks, and her hope begins to fail. Remembering a verse from one of the Shepherd's songs, she finds him at the trysting place. He asks her why she did not come the night before, when he wanted to tell her to meet him here in the morning. She pledges her allegiance to him and promises to follow him anywhere.


Suggested Activities - Chapters 01 - 03

  1. Much-Afraid has a deformed mouth and crippled feet. Assign students reports on famous people with handicaps. Were these people more fearful or more courageous because of the obstacles they faced?
  2. Have students construct a model of the Valley of Humiliation, allowing them to enlarge the model to include all of Much-Afraid's journey to the High Places.
  3. As an alternative to the model, students could draw a road map, beginning with the Valley of Humiliation, including Much-Afraid's cottage, the home of Lord Fearing, the sheepfolds, and the trysting place.
  4. The name for Hannah Hurnard's main character is derived from her own struggle with crippling fears. Have students develop a character that might have been the main character if the author's struggle had been in a different area.

Review Questions - Chapters 01 - 03

  1. What is an allegory?
  2. What was Much-Afraid's family name?
  3. Who did her family want her to marry?
  4. What did the Chief Shepherd tell Much-Afraid about letting her Fearing relatives into her cottage? Compare this to Rom. 6:12; I Cor. 6:19; II Cor. 6:14-18. Why should her relatives not enter her cottage?
  5. What did the Chief Shepherd say he would do for her?
  6. What had to be planted in her heart? According to John 14:15, John 14:23, John 16:27, and I Peter 1:8, what is the most important way in which we express our love for Christ?
  7. How far did the Shepherd tell Much-Afraid he would take her? Who did he tell her would be her guides? Who does Jesus give to the Christian to act as a Companion and Guide?
  8. Who was the head of the Fearing family?
  9. What happened when the Shepherd came for Much-Afraid?
  10. What did she not realize about the power she would have had, if she had only called on the Shepherd, instead of giving in to her fears? How does this compare to Psalm 18:3?
  11. Read II Tim. 1:7. If God doesn't give us a spirit of fear, who does? If Much-Afraid had realized this, how could that have changed what happened at her cottage? What should that tell us about fears we have about obeying the call to follow Christ?
  12. Who rescued Much-Afraid from her relatives? Why was she able to single-handedly run them away, when there were so many of them?
  13. What was Much-Afraid's first thought upon awakening the next morning?
  14. What gave her the courage to seek the Shepherd, in spite of her fear?
  15. What did the watchman tell her?
  16. What was her immediate response?
  17. What suddenly came to her mind?
  18. Where did she decide to go?
  19. What did the Shepherd tell her?
  20. What was Much-Afraid's response to him? What did Much-Afraid understand about what the Shepherd expected from her?

Review Question Answers - Chapters 01 - 02

  1. An allegory is a story in which everything in the story is symbolic - everything stands for something else.
  2. Fearing.
  3. Craven Fear.
  4. She should not even let them into her cottage, because the cottage belonged to Him. Likewise, those who belong to Christ no longer belong to themselves. They are not to invite sin to reign in their bodies, just as Much-Afraid was not to invite her fearing relatives into her cottage. Once they were inside, they took over. The same thing takes place in the lives of Christians when they allow sin to enter. It might seem like a "small, insignificant" sin, but opening the door to even a "small" sin will allow sin to reign.
  5. He would take her to the High Places, give her a new name (because no fears of any kind could enter the Realm of Love), and give her hinds' feet, so that she could go leaping and jumping on the mountains. He also told her that there were healing properties in the air of the mountains, and her mouth would no longer be deformed.
  6. The seed of love. We express our love for Christ by obeying His commandments.
  7. He would take her to the foothills, but he would give her two special companions whom he had chosen for her himself as the ones best suited to help her in her journey. Jesus gives Christians the Holy Spirit.
  8. Lord Fearing.
  9. Her Fearing relatives had come to her cottage, and they held her hostage, keeping her from calling out to the Shepherd to let him know that she heard him and was ready to accompany him.
  10. If she had only called out to the Shepherd, he would have answered and her Fearing relatives would have run from him. Psalm 18:3 says that "I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies." For those who are Christians, this is tremendous power! Like Much-Afraid, Christians do not need to be defeated by fears, because they can call upon the Lord, and He will defeat their enemies.
  11. Ultimately, Satan gives us a spirit of fear, although we often manage to do a pretty good job of that ourselves. (see #10) Too often we lack the courage to follow Christ, when this should be least of our problems. The courage to follow Him does not come from within ourselves, but from the power that is available to us from His strength. When we understand that, we become strong. If Much-Afraid had understood that, she could not have been held captive.
  12. Mrs. Valiant. She was able to defeat the Fearings because she did understand their weakness and the source of true strength.
  13. She believed that she had been left behind because she was unable to answer the Shepherd's call the night before.
  14. She remembered the words to one of the Shepherd's songs. This is an illustration of the importance of memorizing Scripture. By being able to bring to mind the words of the Shepherd, she was able to correct the error of her thinking.
  15. The Shepherd was not there. He had gone on a journey to the mountains, and did not say when he would be back.
  16. She despaired, feeling her heart would break. She felt that He had abandoned her, and she did not know what to do.
  17. Knowing her as well as he did, and loving her with such compassion, surely he would not leave her without knowing for sure that she did not intend to accompany him. Again, the works to the last part of the song she had remembered came to her mind, and that gave her the hope she needed.
  18. the trysting place.
  19. He had wanted to tell her the night before to meet him here in the morning - but she did not show up. He had intended all along for her to meet him here at this particular time.
  20. She knelt at his feet and told him that she would go anywhere with him. She did not explain what had happened in her cabin, or try to make excuses. She understood that what he required from her was obedience, and that was what she was willing to give.