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BEFORE CHRIST 1491.

The Encampment and Murmuring at Marah.
EXODUS XV. 22-26.

22 So Moses brought Is- when he had cast into the rael from the Red Sea, and waters, the waters were they went out into the wil- made sweet: there he 'made Gen. 16. 7. derness of a Shur; and they for them a statute and an went three days in the ordinance, and there he wilderness, and found no proved them,

& 25. 18.

water.

26 And said, h If thou 23 And when they wilt diligently hearken to Numb.33.8. came to Marah, they could the voice of the LORD thy not drink of the waters of God, and wilt do that which Marah, for they were bit- is right in his sight, and ter therefore the name of wilt give ear to his comit was called Marah. mandments, and keep all

| That is, Bitterness. Ruth 1. 20.

17.3.

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60.

24 And the people "mur- his statutes, I will put none ch. 16. 2. & mured against Moses, say- of these 'diseases upon thee, Deut. 28. 27, ing, What shall we drink? which I have brought upon 25 And he cried unto the Egyptians: for I am Ps. 50. 15. the LORD; and the LORD the LORD that healeth Ps. 41. 3, 4. & •See 2 Kings showed him a tree, which thee.

ch. 14. 10. & 17.4.

2. 21. & 4. 41.

The fifth journey.—From Marah to Elim.

NUMBERS XXXIII. 9.

9 And they removed from and threescore and ten palm Exod.15.27. Marah, and came unto trees; and they pitched Elim and in Elim were there.

twelve fountains of water,

EXODUS XV. 27.

Numb.33.9. 27 m And they came score and ten palm trees: to Elim, where were twelve and they encamped there wells of water, and three- by the waters.

* ch. 23. 25.

103. 3. & 147. 3.

The sixth journey.—From Elim to the encampment by the Red Sea.

NUMBERS XXXIII. 10.

10 And they removed by the Red Sea.

from Elim, and encamped

The seventh journey.-To the Wilderness of Sin.

The people murmur for bread.

NUMBERS XXXIII. 11.

11 And they removed camped in the wilderness ▪ Exod. 16. 1. from the Red Sea, and en-of Sin.

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LORD hath brought you out
from the land of Egypt:
7 And in the morning,
then ye shall see the glory See ver. 10.

and

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Isai. 35. 2. & 40. 5. John 11.4, 40.

P Ezek. 30.15. to the wilderness of P Sin, of the LORD; for that he which is between Elim and heareth your murmurings against the LORD what are we, that ye mur- Numb. 16. mur against us?

1 Cor. 10. 10.

Sinai, on the fifteenth day
of the second month after
their departing out of the
land of Egypt.

wilderness:

:

11.

8 And Moses said, This 2 And the whole congre- shall be, when the LORD gation of the children of shall give you in the evening ch. 15. 24. Israel murmured against flesh to eat, and in the Ps. 106. 25. Moses and Aaron in the morning bread to the full; for that the LORD heareth 3 And the children of your murmurings which ye Israel said unto them, murmur against him and Lam. 4. 9. Would to God we had what are we? your murdied by the hand of the murings are not against us, LORD in the land of Egypt, but against the LORD. 9 And Moses spake Luke 10. 16. pots, and when we did eat unto Aaron, Say unto all Rom. 13. 2. bread to the full; for ye the congregation of the have brought us forth into children of Israel, Come Numb. 16. this wilderness, to kill this near before the LORD: for whole assembly with hun- he hath heard your murger. murings.

Numb. 11. when we sat by the flesh

4, 5.

& 105. 40.

a

4 Then said the LORD 10 And it came to pass, unto Moses, Behold, I will as Aaron spake unto the Ps.78.24, 25. rain bread from heaven whole congregation of the John 6.31, 32. for you; and the people children of Israel, that they Hethepor shall go out and gather a looked toward the wildertion of a day certain rate every day, that ness, and, behold, the glory Prov. 30. 8. I may prove them, whe- of the LORD appeared in Matt. 6ther they will walk in my the cloud. Deut. 8.2, 16. law, or no.

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in his day.

ch. 15.

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5 And it shall come to pass, that on the sixth day they shall prepare that which they bring in and See ver. 22. it shall be twice as much as they gather daily.

Lev. 25. 21.

- ver.12,

V

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11 And the LORD 1 Kings 8.10, spake unto Moses, saying,

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12 I have heard the ver. 8. murmurings of the children of Israel: speak unto them, saying, At even ye shall ver. 6. eat flesh, and in the morn-ver. 7. 6 And Moses and Aaron ing ye shall be filled with said unto all the children bread; and ye shall know

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13, & ch. 6. 7, of Israel, w At even, then that I am the LORD your

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PRAYER. LET US PRAY, that we ever seek for Christ and His Gospel, in the types and shadows of the Law of Moses; that we be careful to interpret the Old Testament by the light of the New Testament; that with Israel at Marah, we seek for the removal of the bitternesses of life from the tree of life; that with the spiritual Israel at Elim, we seek for refreshment in the wilderness from the consolations and study of the word of God; that we ever be mindful of past mercies, and depend on God's providence for the daily supply of our bodily and spiritual bread.

WE thank Thee, we praise Thee, we bless Thee, we laud and magnify Thy glorious name; we give thanks to Thee for Thy great glory, O Lord our God!O Lord Jesus Christ, Head of the Church militant on earth, and triumphant in heaven! Spirit of the living God, we thank Thee!-O holy, blessed, and glorious Trinity, we thank Thee for Thy great glory, revealed and manifested in Thy Scriptures of truth; and sanctified and blessed to the improvement and happiness of our own souls, as the sons and daughters of the Lord God Almighty, travelling from the Egypt of wickedness and ignorance, through the wilderness of a troublesome and sorrowful world, to the heavenly Canaan, the rest that remaineth for the people of God.-Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but to Thy name be the praise, for that Holy Scripture which guides and leads Thy Christian Church through all the trials and troubles of the wilderness of life to its rest in heaven with Thee; as the pillar of cloud and fire, where was the gracious indwelling of the leader of Israel, guided Thy people from the sins of Egypt to the land of their fathers.-From Thee, Holy Spirit! from Thine inspiration and power alone, and not from any human device, nor learning, nor knowledge, nor eloquence, nor power, we believe and confess, that the Scriptures of truth were given to guide us. Grant, oh! grant us, by the continued influence of the same Holy Spirit upon our souls, that we soberly, wisely, and prudently, yet zealously, perseveringly, and humbly seek for Christ and His glory, amidst the types and shadows of the ancient law. What in us is dark, illumine! what we know not rightly without Thy guidance, teach Thou us, O ever-present Spirit of God, that we may be preserved from all wild speculations, all vain imaginations, all human fancies, when we endeavour to interpret the mysteries of Thy word. May we be guided by the light of the New Testament, when we would explore the paths and ways by which Thy Church was directed; and believing that whatever things were written of old time, were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the world are come, may we be taught from above by Thee, to derive that instruction from Thine own sacred page. So teach our hearts to follow Thee, so enlighten our minds to discern Thy teaching, that we go on through the journey of life, depending on Thy mercy leading us from all evil, upholding us in all temptation, and delivering us from all the power of the enemy, till the final triumph of the soul, which Thy providence alone can sustain through life and death, to Thy glory.-As Thy people at Marah, when the song of their triumph over the conquered Egypt was ended, endured the miseries of their painful thirst; and murmured in vain when the bitterness of the waters in the desert afforded no relief to their sorrows, till Thy providence commanded the tree to be cast into the waters; so may we lay the lesson to heart, that whatever be our rejoicing over the spiritual enemies of the soul from which Thy mercy hath delivered us; and whatever be our triumph over the sins and sorrows of the bondage and slavery of the Egypt within us-the way through the wilderness of trouble and weariness, of pain and calamity, of temptation and

of deep suffering, is still, still before us; that all the waters of comfort which this world affords us, are full of the bitterness and affliction of disappointment and vexation to the soul which desires to quench its thirst at any earthly fountain; that the comforts of earth can only be rendered satisfactory when they are sweetened by the tree of life; and that none of the calamities and diseases of sinful Egypt shall be put upon the souls of those who make the bitter waters of Marah sweet by the continued remembrance of Christ, the tree of life; who, after He had known the glory of heaven itself with Thee, O Father Almighty, came down from heaven to travel the same way through the wilderness which our souls must pass, and to become the man of sorrow and acquainted with grief. As Thy people at Elim were refreshed with new strength and power from above, after the bitterness which mingles with the comforts of the world had been banished by the tree cast into the waters of Marah, when they encamped by the twelve fountains of water, and by the palm trees which surrounded and adorned them; so refresh us, travelling through this wilderness, when we have known the only remedy for the troubles and sorrows which abound in the way, with Thy blessing from above on the teaching of the Apostles, and with the doctrines of the seventy disciples.-As Thy people were directed by Thy providence, after they had tasted of the pleasantness of the springs, and rested under the shade of the palm trees of Elim, to the borders of the Red Sea, to be reminded of the dangers they had escaped, and the bondage from which they had been delivered; so may Thy blessed power bring all things to our remembrance, that we never, never forget all the way which the Lord God hath led us, from the hour when His mercy received us into His covenant of promise, as the members of Thy Son, Thy children by adoption, and inheritors, by Thy grace, of Thy kingdom of heaven. Ever may we be mindful of the vows we have made, of the privileges we enjoy, and of the objects we pursue.-Give us grace, from the remembrance of the past, to surrender our hearts to Thy service, to rejoice in the praises and prayers of our blessed communion with God; and stedfastly to persevere, through all the trials of the way, till the object we pursue be attained, in the end of our faith, the salvation of our soul.-So may it be with us, that we ever remain faithful to Thy covenant, and never, never in our hearts and souls turn back again into the Egypt from which Thy right hand and Thine arm hath saved us. O Lord, we beseech Thee, mercifully to forgive the sins of Thy people. We confess with shame and grief before Thee, that as Thy people Israel, in spite of all Thy mercies vouchsafed unto them, still murmured before Thee, and remembered the flesh-pots of Egypt with delight, and desired the slavery and the bondage which gave worldly peace with spiritual death to the soul; so will it be with us, if Thou, in Thy mercy, grant not to us, Thy servants, the same promise which Thy mercy did grant to Thy rebellious people in the olden time; that Thou wouldest rain down bread upon their tents from heaven, that they might eat other food than the flesh-pots of Egypt could supply, and see and know, by their daily experience of Thy goodness, that Thou, and Thou alone, wast the Lord, their deliverer.-God of our bodies, God of our souls, we come to Thee in the name of the Head of the Church, the very bread of heaven! We pray to Thee, as He has taught us to pray, that day by day we receive from thy bountiful hand alone, the earthly bread which may nourish the body, and the spiritual bread which shall nourish the soul. Evermore give us, O Lord, this bread, till both body and soul, in blissful perfection, and union with each other, glorified, and sanctified, may hunger no more, nor thirst any more; but having eaten of the bread of life, may live for ever with Thee, in that eternal and glorious kingdom, where shall be the manifestation of Thee,

the Father, the presence of the Son of God, and the endless consolations of the Holy Spirit of God, to comfort us, and to be with us for ever. Holy, Blessed, and Glorious Trinity, be with us in the wilderness of life, in the hour of death, and in the world beyond death. Accept our imperfect petitions, which we offer not in our own unworthy name, but in the name and for the sake of Him, who knowing alike our infirmities and our ignorance, hath taught and commanded us, when we pray, to say:

Our Father, &c.

The grace of our Lord, &c.

SECTION C. EXODUS XVI. 13, TO THE END.

TITLE.-As Natural Theology proves the interferences of God in the visible world, so does Revealed Theology prove the interferences of the same God in the moral world. The promise of Moses, that God would create and pour down upon the Israelites, for the supply of their hunger, a new food from heaven, is completed. The name and description of the manna. The time and mode of collecting it. The observance of the Sabbath. The memorial of the phenomenon, and its

duration through the wanderings in the wilderness.

INTRODUCTION.-A science either unknown to, or disregarded by the ancients, has attracted much attention within the last century: it is that of Geology. This science has demonstrated to us the truth of that one fact upon which alone the whole system of Revelation is founded; namely, that the Deity has often interfered to create and to destroy whole races of reptiles, animals, and plants. The "vestiges of creation" are these interferences of Deity. The only solid foundation of the truth of any system, either in the natural or moral world, is expressed in the words of the Scriptural philosophy, "All that Jehovah pleased, he did" (Psalm cxv. 3; and Psalm cxxxv. 6, 7, in the original). And the only, only exclusive object of all science, philosophy, and theology, is this-that we endeavour, with humility and patience, to learn what God has been pleased to do, what laws He has been pleased to enact, what truths He has been pleased to reveal, and what objects He has been pleased, either fully or partially, to discover. If we could imagine that all the harvests, the cattle, and the fruits of the earth, were destroyed by universal floods, or droughts, or blights, or insects, while the object of man's creation, of God's Revelation, and of the holy Church's institution, remained unaccomplished; must we therefore imagine that the human race would perish, that the covenant with the Messiah should fail, and His promise to the Church and to the world should come utterly to an end for evermore? It is (Psalm lxxvii. 8, Prayer-book translation) impossible. He who interfered to create mankind, would again interfere to preserve mankind; and the human race would see, that when the former laws which give the weeks of the harvest in their proper appointed seasons were suspended, new laws, new actions, new and ununiform actions of the Deity, would be manifested to supply fresh food for

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