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to Moses, Bring Aaron's rod again before the Testimony to be kept for a token against the rebels; that thou mayest silence their murmurings before Me, lest they die.'

57. WATER FROM THE ROCK.
[NUMB. XX.]

It will be remembered that during the events just related the Israelites were encamped at Kadesh, a city lying in a mountain defile which leads in a direct line into Canaan. This is one of the dreariest and most sterile approaches to the Holy Land, at the extreme south of Judea, from which it is shut off by towering crags and rocky heights.

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Now in this wild and desolate country the Israelites suffered grievously from want of water. As usual, they appealed to Moses and Aaron, upbraiding them severely: Why have you brought us into this wilderness, that we and our cattle should die there? This is an evil place, no place of seed or of figs, or of vines or of pomegranates, nor is there water to drink.' Moses prayed to God, and received comfort; yet his faith wavered: like Aaron, he doubted the word or the power of the Lord. Still he was prepared to do His bidding. He called the whole congregation together, and leading them to one of the numerous rocks round Kadesh, he exclaimed sternly: 'Hear now, you rebels; must we obtain water for you out of this rock?' Then he lifted his staff, and smote the stone; and, behold, before the eyes of the amazed and delighted multitude, the water gushed forth in abundance, streaming down in a copious supply sufficient for man and beast. Moses and Aaron stood lost in shame and confusion, and the Lord said to them: 'Because you did not believe Me to sanctify Me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this

congregation into the land which I have given them.' The place of this miraculous deed was called Meribah, or Strife, because there the children of Israel strove with the Lord, and He was sanctified in them.'

At Kadesh Miriam died, the eldest of Jochebed's three children, the first Hebrew prophetess; and there, at the entrance to the Land of Promise, she was buried.

58. WANDERINGS CONTINUED.

[NUMB. XX. sqq.]

In order to advance from Kadesh straight into Canaan, the Hebrews had to pass through the territory of the Edomites. Moses sent messengers to their king, asking for permission to travel through his land. Although the request was in an imploring tone and courteous manner, and although Moses pledged himself that his hosts should strictly keep on the high or royal road, neither turning to the right nor to the left, touching neither fields nor vineyards, and fully paying for what they ate and drank, the king of Edom declined the proposal most fiercely; and in order to resist any attempt on the part of the Hebrews to enter by force, he at once set out against them with a numerous army. Moses deemed it prudent to avoid a conflict with so powerful an enemy, and led his people back south-eastward, till he encamped at Hor, a peak in the range of mount Seir, south of the famous Petra. That rugged station of the wandering Israelites became to them of peculiar interest by a melancholy event, the death of Aaron. The summons came to the servant of God, when he was 123 years old, and it was obeyed without a murmur. In the sight of all that congregation which had so often attacked him with complaints and murmurs and threats, and which, by constant revolts, had again and again tried his meek spirit, Aaron, accompanied

by his brother Moses and his son Eleazar, ascended the mountain. Arriving on the top, Moses stripped the first High-priest of his splendid garments, and invested with them Eleazar, his successor in the holy office. What a view met his dying eyes! How strange must have been his emotions when he gazed around him! He looked

over the valley of Arabah, countersected by the hundred watercourses, and beyond over the white mountains of the wilderness they had so long traversed, and at the northern edge of it there must have been visible the heights through which the Israelites had vainly attempted to force their way to the Promised Land. This was the western view. Close around him on the east were the rugged mountains of Edom, and far along the horizon the wide downs of Mount Seir, through which the passage had been denied by the wild tribe of Esau who hunted over their long slopes.' (Stanley.)

The news of Aaron's death spread grief and wailing in the Hebrew camp. "When all the congregation saw that Aaron was dead, they mourned for Aaron thirty days, even all the house of Israel.' With these few and simple words the Bible takes leave of the man who next to Moses had played the most important part in the events that preceded and followed the exodus from Egypt. He had been the mouth-piece of Moses, the eloquent speaker. He had been chosen as the spiritual intercessor between God and the people; he was appointed the chief of the nation of priests, and had been endowed with the spirit of God. Yet, though truthful and dignified, his character lacked the manly firmness so essential in troubled times and among a fickle people. Though endeavouring to follow in the footsteps of his brother, he yielded in critical moments to the threats or entreaties of the infatuated multitude. He fades in grandeur beside the imposing

figure of Moses.

When the days of mourning were over, the Israelites left their encampment and resumed their wanderings. Their object was now naturally to avoid the territory of the Edomites, who had shown so hostile a disposition, and to penetrate into the Promised Land from the eastern side of the Jordan. What long and circuitous marches lay before them! But they had no choice, and therefore they first journeyed south-eastward, back in the direction of the Red Sea. No longer in view of the hills of Judah, but oppressed by the dismal and dreary sight of the wilderness, they had no hope or bright anticipation to cheer them on. Their courage and patience failed them. They murmured bitterly against Moses: Wherefore hast thou brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, neither is there any water.' As a punishment, the Lord sent fiery serpents, from whose sting many of the people died. Then they repented, and implored Moses to entreat for pardon: he interceded, and his prayers were accepted by God. He was commanded to make a serpent of brass, and to place it upon a pole; any man bitten by the fiery serpent should look up to the

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brazen figure, as a symbol of his reliance on the Divine power and assistance; then he would be healed. the continuance of the calamity was averted.

Once more the Hebrew hosts went forth; they travelled southward till they reached Eziongeber on the shores of the Red Sea; then turning northward, but steadily keeping on the eastern side of Mount Seir, they passed along the border of the Arabian desert, halting at stations few of which have left a trace to prove their identity-Zalmonah and Punon, Oboth and Ije-abarim, Dibon-Gad and Almon-Diblathaim. They passed the plains of Moab, crossed the river Arnon, proceeded through the territory of the Ammonites, resting at Beer (Well), where the famous song was sung: 'Spring up, O well, sing to it:

The princes digged the well, the nobles of the people digged it, by the direction of the lawgiver, with their staves.' They halted at Mattanah, Nahaliel, and Ramoth, at the mountain range of Abarim, at the ridge of the Pisgah, and encamped at one of its loftiest peaks, the Nebo, whence a fine and commanding prospect opened westward over the Jordan, reaching to the beautiful plains of Jericho and beyond them. The camp spread 'along the Jordan from Beth-jesimoth to Abel-shittim in the plains of Moab.'

59. CONQUESTS IN THE EAST OF THE JORDAN.

[NUMB. XXI.]

When the Israelites had crossed the river Arnon, they found themselves in the very midst of the populous and powerful east-Jordanic tribes, whose land they knew they would have to wrest from them inch by inch. These nations, prepared for attack and defence, and trusting in their idols Baal and Ashtarte, Chemosh and Moloch, mocked the God, and despised the invading hosts, of the Hebrews. The first hostile people they had to encounter were the Amorites, whose valiant king Sihon resided in Heshbon. Sihon had before distinguished himself by remarkable feats of bravery and daring; he had conquered all the land north of the Arnon, had driven back the Moabites southward beyond this river, and had firmly established his empire. When, therefore, the Hebrews sent messengers to him, praying to be allowed to pass through his dominions, under the same conditions they had proposed to the Edomites, he haughtily and contemptuously refused the request, as the king of Edom had done before, and like him he marched out against them with a large army. At Jahaz, on the borders of the desert, a sanguinary battle was fought, in which

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