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sense, to praise Him for his goodness, and glorify Him for his holiness. And this triumphing over the host of the Egyptians, which God not only allowed but taught them to express, may prepare our souls for joining heartily hereafter in strains of thankful adoration, for the victory which Jesus Christ will celebrate over all the enemies of God.

But songs of triumph last not long on earth. And we must turn with sorrow from the devout praises of the thankful Israelites, to their discontented murmurs against Moses, for want of water to drink in the wilderness. How like is this inconsistency of their conduct, to that which we experience in ourselves! How often have we joined with ecstacy in psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs, or listened if for lack of voice we could not join, when the lips of an assembled congregation have made the sound of God's praise to be heard; and then, whilst the words were yet in our mouths, how frequently has Satan brought it to pass, that some temptation to sin has in a moment broken the heavenly spell, and brought us down from communion with saints and angels, to the consciousness that we are sinful men ! The wants of the body, or the lusts of the flesh, these too often interfere with the devotion of the spirit, these lead us to be discontented, with that which God orders for our good. And when we ought so much the more to pray earnestly to Him, in an humble sense of our dependance on his power, for the subduing of our passions, and for the supply of our necessities, we are apt to murmur at his providence, or at the dispensations of his grace; and under cover of finding fault with those who act by his appointment, we find fault in reality with God Himself.

It is well that there are many who devoutly pray, in behalf of those who pray not for themselves. We little think how often we are indebted, under God, to the earnest supplications of such as these, for that heavenly comfort, which sweetens to our taste the bitter waters of adversity. "The people murmured against Moses, saying, What shall we drink?" This is the language of our discontent. "And he cried unto the Lord." Even he against whom they murmured. This is the cry of One greater than Moses, this is the prayer of one more mighty to intercede, than all our brethren that pray for us on earth. He it is, who prayed for them that crucified Him. He it is, who pleads for us, whilst we murmur against Himself. There is "a tree," it is his cross, whereby all we want has been secured for us. There is "a statute, and an ordinance," it is his Gospel, whereby He proves us, and tries what is in our hearts, and reveals to us what is his will in our behalf. And if only we will diligently hearken to his voice, and "do that which is right in his sight," and will "give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes," behold, He will put none of those plagues upon us, with which He has threatened to consume the adversaries; behold, we may know Him by this his gracious name, the Lord that healeth us, our Saviour, Christ.

The Israelites murmuring are fed with quails and manna. 1 And they took their journey from Elim, and all the congregation of the children of Israel came unto the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after their departing out of the land of Egypt.

that the LORD heareth your murmurings which ye murmur against him: and what are we? your murmurings are not against us, but against the LORD.

2 And the whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness :

3 And the children of Israel said unto them, Would to God we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh pots, and when we did eat bread to the full; for ye have brought us forth into this wilderness, to kill this whole assembly with hunger.

4 Then said the LORD unto Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law, or no.

5 And it shall come to pass, that on the sixth day they shall prepare that which they bring in; and it shall be twice as much as they gather daily.

6 And Moses and Aaron said unto all the children of Israel, At even, then ye shall know that the LORD hath brought you out from the land of Egypt:

7 And in the morning, then ye shall see the glory of the LORD; for that he heareth your murmurings against the LORD: and what arewe, that ye murmur against us? 8 And Moses said, This shall be, when the LORD shall give you in the evening flesh to eat, and in the morning bread to the full; for

9 And Moses spake unto Aaron, Say unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, Come near before the LORD: for he hath heard your murmurings.

10 And it came to pass, as Aaron spake unto the whole congregation of the children of Israel, that they looked toward the wilderness, and, behold, the glory of the LORD appeared in the cloud. 11 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

12 I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel: speak unto them, saying, Ateven ye shall eat flesh, and in the morning ye shall be filled with bread; and ye shall know that I am the LORD your God. 13 And it came to pass, that at even the quails came up, and covered the camp: and in the morning the dew lay round about the host.

14 And when the dew that lay was gone up, behold, upon the face of the wilderness there lay a small round thing, as small as the hoarfrost on the ground.

15 And when the children of Israel saw it, they said one to another, It is manna: for they wist not what it was. And Moses said unto them, This is the bread which the LORD hath given you to eat.

16 This is the thing which the LORD hath commanded, Gather of it every man according to his eating, an omer for every man, according to the number of your persons: take ye every man for them which are in his tents.

LECTURE 135.

God overcomes our rebellions by his grace.

"And they took their journey from Elim," this they did probably with unwilling feet, seeing that they had there met with "twelve wells of water, and threescore and ten palm trees." Ch. 15. 27. And perhaps these refreshing trees, and springs, were mentioned on purpose to shew us, that God sometimes sees fit to bid us leave what we most highly value; and that we have need in such a case to be doubly watchful, against a discontented and murmuring disposition. Such must have been the frame of mind prevailing amongst the children of Israel, to a very remarkable degree, when they complained as is here described; and wished that they had died amongst the plenty in Egypt, where they had in truth fared far from well; and talked of perishing with hunger in the wilderness, whilst they had abundance of flocks and herds. And such also is the temper of all, who long for the pleasures which God forbids; they have no taste for those which He allows them to enjoy.

But see on the other hand how wonderfully God is pleased to deal with his discontented people; even as some tender parent, who in compassion to the infirmity of a child, soothes by gentleness the cry, which well deserves to be chastised by the rod. He reveals to Moses his gracious intentions; and by Moses He declares them to the people. He displays to them his glory in the cloud. He sends them in the evening quails in such abundance as to cover the camp; and in the morning manna in such plenty as to yield an omer to every one. The birds were in all probability such as used to pass in great flights across the wilderness. And they were now sent by Him, without whose knowledge not a sparrow falls to the ground, and by Him made to lie "round about the camp;" Num. 11. 31; a miracle in their number, in the period of their coming, and in the place of their staying. The manna was something never seen before by the Israelites, the very name they gave it meaning, What is this? And in its nature, as afterwards described, it appears unlike to any thing known on earth; which is also signified by what the Psalmist says of it, that it was angels' food." Ps. 78. 25. Thus did He who sends rain on the just and on the unjust, condescend to spread a table in the wilderness for the murmurers. And thus did He send down bread from heaven, in the person of the ever blessed Son, God manifest in the flesh, for the redemption of a whole discontented world. And thus does He still offer to overcome in us evil with good, our murmurs with his grace, our hankering after the pleasures of sin with the gifts of joy and peace in believing, with the promise of an eternal weight of glory.

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O Thou, who hast provided for our spiritual wants, give us a taste to enjoy thy spiritual gifts!

Directions concerning the manna. be none.

17 And the children of Israel did so, and gathered, some more, some less.

18 And when they did mete it with an omer, he that gathered much had nothing over, and he that gathered little had no lack; they gathered every man according to his eating.

19 And Moses said, Let no man leave of it till the morning. 20 Notwithstanding they hearkened not unto Moses; but some of them left of it until the morning, and it bred worms, and stank and Moses was wroth with them.

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21 And they gathered it every morning, every man according to his eating: and when the sun waxed hot, it melted.

22 And it came to pass, that on the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for one man and all the rulers of the congregation came and told Moses.

23 And he said unto them, This is that which the LORD hath said, To morrow is the rest of the holy sabbath unto the LORD: bake that which ye will bake to day, and seethe that ye will seethe; and that which remaineth over lay up for you to be kept until the morning.

24 And they laid it up till the morning, as Moses bade: and it did not stink, neither was there any worm therein.

25 And Moses said, Eat that to day; for to day is a sabbath unto the LORD: to day ye shall not find it in the field.

26 Six days ye shall gather it; but on the seventh day, which is the sabbath, in it there shall

27 And it came to pass, that there went out some of the people on the seventh day for to gather, and they found none.

28 And the LORD said unto Moses, How long refuse ye to keep my commandments and my laws?

29 See, for that the LORD hath given you the sabbath, therefore he giveth you on the sixth day the bread of two days; abide ye every man in his place, let no man go out of his place on the seventh day.

30 So the people rested on the seventh day.

31 And the house of Israel called the name thereof Manna: and it was like coriander seed, white; and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey. 32 And Moses said, This is the thing which the LORD commandeth, Fill an omer of it to be kept for your generations; that they may see the bread wherewith I have fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you forth from the land of Egypt.

33 And Moses said unto Aaron, Take a pot, and put an omer full of manna therein, and lay it up before the LORD, to be kept for your generations.

34 As the LORD commanded Moses, so Aaron laid it up before the Testimony, to be kept.

35 And the children of Israel did eat manna forty years, until they came to a land inhabited; they did eat manna, until they came unto the borders of the land of Canaan.

36 Now an omer is the tenth part of an ephah.

LECTURE 136.

The gain of resting on the sabbath day.

Moses had directed the children of Israel, to gather manna for their eating, at the rate of an omer for every member of each family, for those who went out to gather, and for those who stayed behind in the tents. "Now an omer is the tenth part of an ephah," an ephah being somewhat less than our bushel. This being the quantity allowed to each person, that which every one gathered was measured, and what one wanted of his omer was supplied out of the abundance of those who gathered more. A profitable hint to us, as St. Paul has signified, that those Christians, who have more than enough for themselves, should supply the wants of the poor. See 2 Cor. 8. 14, 15. "And Moses said, Let no man leave of it till the morning :"assigning no reason for the commandment. But they which disobeyed, soon found that there was a good reason; "it bred worms, and stank." Every law of God, whether we know why or not, is holy, and just, and good. And so we shall experience, in our happiness, if we obey; but if we disobey, in our punishment. On the sixth day there seems to have been a double quantity of manna spread upon the ground, so that the people gathered twice as much as usual. And this was thus explained by Moses to "the rulers of the congregation," who probably superintended the measurement of what was brought in, "Tomorrow is the rest of the holy sabbath unto the Lord." On the sabbath they would find none on the ground. And that which was to be kept over for the food of the sabbath, would not be spoiled by keeping. What wondrous food is this, that teaches whilst it feeds! Nay, do not we experience something like it? and might we not find a lesson on hallowing the sabbath day, in the fact, that our labour of six days in the week provides us food and raiment for the seven? Oh folly of the worldly wise, to lose the rest which God allows! How long, ye sinners against your own souls, how long refuse ye to keep his commandments? But behold, this food not only can be kept one day over for the sabbath, it can be laid up before the Lord for many generations; that they may see the bread wherewith God fed their fathers in the wilderness. When all the manna that fell for forty years as well as they who fed on it, had decayed, there was an omer in a golden pot "before the Testimony," fresh, and pure, as on the day it fell. When all flesh had corrupted itself before God, there was one out of all mankind, whose family was preserved, and has continued to flourish till this hour. When both body and soul of the wicked shall be given up to the worm that never dieth, there shall be a remnant for ever sacred, as "an omer full of manna," a small measure, but that well filled, pressed down, and running over; to manifest throughout all the ages of eternity, what a blessed thing it is to feed on bread, that "giveth life unto the world." John 6. 33.

O. T. VOL. I. PART I.

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