X11.]

GLORY TO GOD.

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the mount at the transfiguration of our Saviour. (see Matt. xvii. 3.)

Thus even did his latter end prefigure that of our Saviour, inasmuch as his body underwent no corruption : a fact, distinctly foretold by David of Jesus Christ.

"Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt "thou suffer thine Holy one to see corruption." (Ps. xvi. 10.)

Before we proceed in our history, I am desirous of pointing out to you the practical application which may be drawn from the circumstance we have just noticed.

In these days, it is not probable we should any of us be called upon like Moses to work a miracle, but we are so far similarly circumstanced that, as I have elsewhere remarked, we know we can do nothing without the assistance of God's holy spirit, and if by his grace we have been enabled to perform any good, or resist any evil, to Him be all the praise. If instead of giving the glory where alone it is due, we take credit to ourselves for these things, be assured we are committing the same sin Moses did, and shall have to answer for it at the day of judgment.

"Whether ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do "all to the glory of God." (1 Cor. x, 31.)

And now the time was drawing near, when after forty years wandering in the wilderness, a new generation having succeeded to those whose misconduct had forfeited the promised inheritance, the Israelites were at length to take possession of the land of Canaan.

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"And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Ye have compassed this mountain" (mount Seir) "long enough; "turn you northward. And command thou the people saying, Ye are to pass through the coast of your brethren "the children of Esau, which dwell in Seir, and they shall "be afraid of you; take ye good heed unto yourselves "therefore; meddle not with them; for I will not give "you of their land, no, not so much as a foot breadth,

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ISRAEL VOWS A VOW.

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"because I have given Mount Seir unto Esau for a pos"session."(Deut. ii. 3.—5.)

The Edomites were all descended from Esau the twin brother of Jacob, and for that reason were to be exempted from the general destruction; as it is written in Deut. xxiii. 7. "thou shalt not abhor an Edomite: for he is thy "brother."

Notwithstanding however the pacific disposition they shewed towards them, the Edomites nevertheless refused to let them pass through their country: "wherefore Israel "turned away and came unto Mount Hor;" the spot where it was ordained by God that Aaron should end his days. Accordingly he died there, "and Moses stripped “Aaron of his garments, and put them upon Eleazar his son;" in pursuance of the command delivered to Moses in Exod. xxix. 29. " and the holy garments of Aaron shall "be his sons' after him."

NUMBERS XXI.

A fresh trial now awaited the Israelites. They were not only brought to face those enemies whom they had so greatly dreaded, but it pleased God to suffer they should be defeated, in order no doubt, to make them feel the more strongly their dependance on him for succour in all their future battles with the Canannites. Thus does our Heavenly Father try our faith by affliction, only that we may in the end be brought nearer to him as David says, "I found trouble and sorrow: then called I upon the "name of the Lord." (Ps. cxvi. 3. 4.)

No sooner did the Israelites find themselves in the power of their enemies than they felt how incompetent they were to defend themselves without assistance from above.

"And Israel vowed a vow unto the Lord, and said, "If thou wilt indeed deliver this people into my hand, "then I will utterly destroy their cities."

Thus does the sinner, when smitten by the hand of God,

look back with contrition on all his evil ways, and pray that his life may be spared in order that he may have opportunity for retrieving the past, and returning to the path from which he has so grievously strayed.

"And the Lord hearkened to the voice of Israel, and "delivered up the Canaanites; and they utterly destroyed "them and their cities."

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"He will fulfil the desire of them that fear him ; "also will hear their cry, and will save them." (Ps. cxlv. 19.)

By the hand of the Almighty were the Israelites delivered from the hands of their enemies, yet alas! like the sinful wretch who is no sooner restored to health, than forgetful of all the mercies he has received he returns with fresh vigour to his evil course," they forgot his works, "and the wonders that he had shewed them." (Ps. lxxviii. 18.) The remembrance of this signal deliverance was soon effaced from their minds; they turned unto their evil ways, and again "provoked the Holy One of Israel." (Isai. i. 4.)

They "spake against God, and against Moses, Where"fore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the "wilderness? for there is no bread, neither is there any water; and our soul loatheth this light bread."

Instead of marching boldly forward to take possession of the land" flowing with milk and honey," they again broke forth into lamentations because the daily supply of food with which the Lord had been so graciously pleased to provide them, was not exactly what they would themselves have chosen. Such ingratitude was no longer to be overlooked, and a fearful judgment now awaited them"The Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, and much people of Israel died." This had the desired effect.- "When he slew them "then they sought him and they returned and enquired "early after God." (Ps.lxxviii. 34.)

:

They acknowledged the justice of the Almighty, and

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BRAZEN SERPENT

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made an humble confession of their sins, praying that the judgment might be removed.

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And now I would earnestly call your attention to the manner in which this was effected. By the word of the Lord were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth;" (Ps. xxxiii. 6.) and had the Lord spoken but a single word, the sufferings of the Israelites might have been as easily removed, but it pleased the Almighty to provide a remedy which from its peculiar nature, was to be a standing type of that spiritual cure sent by the grace of God for, the healing of the "nations." (Rev. xxii. 2.)

"And the Lord said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole, and it shall come to 66 pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon "it shall live."

Thus does the Almighty ever temper his judgments with mercy. "He hath not dealt with us after our sins; "nor rewarded us according to our iniquities." (Ps. ciii. 10.) Although in his infinite wisdom he saw fit by this dreadful scourge to rouse the Israelites from their sinful state, yet did he at the same time provide a means by which they might escape the danger, and be awakened to a sense of his mercy and loving kindness.

Now let us compare our state with that of the Israelites. Are we not all sufferers from the bite of "that old serpent "called the devil"? (Rev. xii. 9.) And what is the cure "which God in his sovereign mercy has prepared for us?

"Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the "earth, for I am God, and there is none else," were the prophetic words uttered by Isaiah, in allusion to that Saviour who was to come into the world, and who, when he was come, told his disciples himself that as Moses "lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the son of man he lifted up: that whosoever believeth in him "should not perish, but have eternal life." (John iii. 14.)

Neither does the comparison end here; the brazen serpent was fashioned after the real one, but without sting

XII.]

A TYPE OF CHRIST.

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or venom: even so, did "God send his own son, made in "the likeness of men," (Rom. viii. 3.) yet "who did no sin, "neither was guile found in his mouth." (2 Pet. ii. 22.)

What could be more improbable in the eyes of the Israelites, than that the mere sight of the image would remove their sufferings? and was not the crucifixion of of our Saviour "unto the Jews a stumbling block, and unto the Greeks foolishness."(2 Cor. i. 23.) " Ye will not come to me that ye might have life," (John v. 40.) were the emphatic words of our Saviour to his unbelieving hearers, and how many there are even in these days, who refusing to "look unto Jesus, " (Heb. xii. 2.) like Demas, "having loved this present world," (Tim. iv. 10.) continue their evil course, knowing that "the end of those things "is death." (Rom. vi. 21. 23.)

"For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is "eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."

May we then never read this chapter as a mere narrative in which we have no concern. It applies spiritually to every one of us, and of all the circumstances relating to the Israelites, it is perhaps the one, from which we may derive the most instruction. Christ is still lifted up in the sight of all men, by those ministers of the Gospel who duly preach the word of God. Let us then not fail to give heed to their doctrines, "looking unto Jesus, the "author and finisher of our faith" (Heb. xii. 2.) and be assured that even as he stretched out his hand to save his faithless disciple, (Matt. xiv. 21.) so will it also be extended to all those who with hearty repentance and true faith turn unto him.'

A period of thirty eight years had now elapsed since the Israelites had turned back into the wilderness, and "all "the generation of the men of war were wasted from among "the host, as the Lord sware unto them," (the men of war meaning probably such as were grown up.) "For in"deed the hand of the Lord was against them, to destroy them from among the host, until they were con "sumed. So it came to pass when all the men of war were

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