Question. Why was the place where the people complained named Taberah?

Answer. The word means "burning." We read that "the fire of the Lord burned among them." Q.-Who were the "mixt multitude?"

4.-Those who followed the Israelites out of Egypt. "They fell a lusting," means that they longed for the meat and other nice food they had in Egypt, and they led away the Israelites to complain that they had not flesh and vegetables to eat.

Q-What were the feelings of Moses when the people complained to him?

4. He feared that the Lord was punishing him by making him the leader of a people whose sufferings he could not relieve. He felt that the work was beyond his strength, and he asked God to let him die rather than see the people starving around, and asking him for food which he could not give.

Q-In what manner did the Lord answer Moses? 4.-He told him to choose seventy elders of Israel, men,

that is, of authority, to assist him in governing the people. The help of the Spirit of God was promised to these elders, and the people were told that if they would sanctify themselves they should have food on the following day.

Q-Was any punishment for discontent announced at the same time as this promise of food? A. They were told that a month's food should be given them at once, but that it should become "loathsome " (offensive and injurious) to them, because they complained that they had been brought out of Egypt. The

Lord had before promised that they should not want food, and had miraculously fed them on manna, which now, in their greediness, they despised; and He kept His promise, but punished them for their want of faith, and for complaining of the food He had given them.

Q.-What are we to understand by the quails being "as it were two cubits high upon the face of the earth?”

A. The large flock of quails had come across the sea and flown a great distance. Being wearied with the flight, they flew only about breast high from the ground and so were easily caught.

Q. What was the measure of a homer? 4.-About five and a half bushels. The people were

gathering the quails for two days and a night. No man had less than would fill ten homers, or fifty-five bushels. Q.-In what manner did this abundance of food punish the people?

A.-The words are that the wrath of the Lord was kindled before "it (the food) was chewed." A better translation is, "before it was consumed." Perhaps the people ate too greedily, or the birds became unwholesome before the people could eat them all, and caused fatal illness.

Q.-Has the name Kibroth-hattaavah any particular meaning?

A. The words mean, "the grave of greediness." We must notice that almost every spot where a remarkable event took place received a name describing what occurred, so that it might be afterwards remembered.

AND Miriam and Aaron spake against

Moses because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married: for he had married an Ethiopian woman. And they said, Hath the LORD indeed. spoken only by Moses? hath he not spoken also by us?

And the LORD heard it. (Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth.) And the LORD spake suddenly unto Moses, and unto Aaron, and unto Miriam, Come out ye three unto the tabernacle of the congregation. And they three came out.

And the LORD came down in the pillar of the cloud, and stood in the door

of the tabernacle, and called Aaron and Miriam and they both came forth.

I

And he said, Hear now my words: If there be a prophet among you, the LORD will make myself known unto him in a vision, and will speak unto him in a dream.

My servant Moses is not so, who is faithful in all mine house. With him will I speak mouth to mouth, even apparently, and not in dark speeches; and the similitude of the LORD shall he behold: wherefore then were ye not afraid to speak against against my servant Moses?

And the anger of the LORD was kindled against them; and he departed.

And the cloud departed from off the tabernacle; and, behold, Miriam became leprous, white as snow and Aaron looked upon Miriam, and, behold, she was leprous.

And Aaron said unto Moses, Alas, my lord, I beseech thee, lay not the sin upon us, wherein we have done foolishly, and wherein we have sinned.

And Moses cried unto the LORD, saying, Heal her now, O God, I beseech thee. And the LORD said unto Moses, If

her father had but spit in her face. should she not be ashamed seven days? let her be shut out from the camp seven days, and after that let her be received in again.

And Miriam was shut out from the camp seven days and the people journeyed not till Miriam was brought in again.

And afterward the people removed from Hazeroth, and pitched in the wilderness of Paran.

Question.-Who was the Ethiopian woman whom Moses married?

Answer. As no other wife of Moses than Zipporah is mentioned, it seems that she was the Ethiopian woman of whom Miriam and Aaron complained. We now speak of Africa only as Ethiopia, but the names Cush, or Ethiopia, were, in the time of Moses, given to parts of Arabia.

Q.-Was it for speaking against Moses and his

wife that the Lord was angry with Aaron and Miriam ?

A.-The punishment was chiefly for saying that they were, as much as Moses, chosen by the Lord to hear His

words, and know His will. That was wicked presumption, and, therefore, the Lord was angry. Q-How are the words, "If her father had but spit in her face, should she not be ashamed seven days?" to be understood?

A.-"In her presence" better expresses the meaning, than

"in her face." To spit was in the East a mark of contempt, showing that the person in whose presence it was done was unworthy. The words may be understood to mean, "If her earthly father had so shown his displeasure she would have been ashamed of her con duct, much more should she be ashamed when her heavenly Father was angry."

into the mountain: and see the land' what it is; and the people that dwelleth therein, whether they be strong or weak, few or many; and what the land is that they dwell in, whether it be good or bad; and what cities they be that they dwell in, whether in tents, or in strong holds; and what the land is, whether it be fat or lean, whether there be wood therein or not. And be ye of good courage, and bring of the fruit of the land. Now the time was the time of the firstripe grapes.

So they went up and searched the land from the wilderness of Zin unto Rehob, as men come to Hamath. And they ascended by the south, and came unto Hebron; where Ahiman, Sheshai,

and Talmai, the children of Anak, were. (Now Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.)

And they came unto the brook of Eshcol, and cut down from thence a branch with one cluster of grapes, and they bare it between two upon a staff; and they brought of the pomegranates, and of the figs. The place was called the brook Eshcol, because of the cluster of grapes which the children of Israel cut down from thence.

And they returned from searching of the land after forty days. And they went and came to Moses, and to Aaron, and to all the congregation of the children of Israel, unto the wilderness of Paran, to Kadesh; and brought back word unto them, and unto all the congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land.

And they told him, and said, We came unto the land whither thou sentest us, and surely it floweth with milk and honey; and this is the fruit of it. Nevertheless the people be strong that dwell in the land, and the cities are walled, and very great: and moreover we saw the children of Anak there. The Amalekites dwell in the land of the south and the Hittites, and the Jebusites, and the Amorites, dwell in the mountains: and the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and by the coast of Jordan.

And Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it.

But the men that went up with him said, We be not able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than

we.

And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched unto the children of Israel, saying, The land, through which we have gone to search it, is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in it are men of a great stature.

And there we saw the giants, the

sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.

And all the congregation lifted up their voice, and cried; and the people wept that night. And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron: and the whole congregation said unto them, Would God that we had died in the land of Egypt! or would God we had died in this wilderness!

And wherefore hath the LORD brought us unto this land, to fall by the sword, that our wives and our children should be a prey? were it not better for us to return into Egypt? And they said one to another, Let us make a captain, and let us return into Egypt.

Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the children of Israel.

And Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, which were of them that searched the land, rent their clothes: and they spake unto all the company of the children of Israel, saying, The land, which we passed through to search it, is an exceeding good land. If the LORD delight in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it us; a land which floweth with milk and honey. Only rebel not ye against the LORD, neither fear ye the people of the land; for they are bread for us: their defence is departed from them, and the LORD is with us: fear them not.

But all the congregation bade stone them with stones.

And the glory of the LORD appeared in the tabernacle of the congregation before all the children of Israel.

And the LORD said unto Moses, How long will this people provoke me? and how long will it be ere they believe me, for all the signs which I have shewed among them? I will smite them with the pestilence, and disinherit them, and

will make of thee a greater nation and mightier than they.

And Moses said unto the LORD, Then the Egyptians shall hear it, (for thou broughtest up this people in thy might from among them;) and they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land: for they have heard that thou LORD art among this people, that thou LORD art seen face to face, and that thy cloud standeth over them, and that thou goest before them, by day time in a pillar of a cloud, and in a pillar of fire by night.

Now if thou shalt kill all this people as one man, then the nations which have heard the fame of thee will speak, saying, Because the LORD was not able to bring this people into the land which he sware unto them, therefore he hath slain them in the wilderness.

And now, I beseech thee, let the power of my Lord be great, according as thou hast spoken, saying, The LORD is long suffering, and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression, and by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation. Pardon, I beseech thee, the iniquity of this people according unto the greatness of thy mercy, and as thou hast forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now.

And the LORD said, I have pardoned according to thy word: but as truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the LORD. Because all those men which have seen my glory, and my miracles, which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have tempted me now these ten times, and have not hearkened to my voice; surely they shall not see the land which I sware unto their fathers, neither shall any of them that provoked me see it:

But my servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him, and hath followed me fully, him will I bring into the land whereinto he went; and his seed shall possess it. (Now the Amale

kites and the Canaanites dwelt in the valley.) To morrow turn you, and get you into the wilderness by the way of the Red sea.

And the LORD spake unto Moses and unto Aaron saying, How long shall I bear with this evil congregation, which murmur against me? I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel, which they murmur against me. Say unto them, As truly as I live, saith the LORD, as ye have spoken in mine ears, so will I do to you your carcases shall fall in this wilderness; and all that were numbered of you, according to your whole number, from twenty years old and upward, which have murmured against me.

Doubtless ye shall not come into the land, concerning which I sware to make you dwell therein, save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun. But your little ones, which ye said. should be a prey, them will I bring in, and they shall know the land which ye have despised. But as for you, your carcases, they shall fall in this wilderness.

And your children shall wander in the wilderness forty years, and bear your [rebellions] until your carcases be wasted in the wilderness.

After the number of the days in which ye searched the land, even forty days, each day for a year, shall ye bear your iniquities, even forty years, and ye shall know my breach of promise. Í the LORD have said, I will surely do it unto all this evil congregation, that are gathered together against me: in this wilderness they shall be consumed, and there they shall die.

And the men, which Moses sent to search the land, who returned, and made all the congregation to murmur against him, by bringing up a slander upon the land, even those men that did bring up the evil report upon land, died by the plague before the

LORD.

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But Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, which were of the men that went to search the land, lived still.

And Moses told these sayings unto all the children of Israel and the

people mourned greatly. And they rose up early in the morning, and gat them up into the top of the mountain, saying, Lo, we be here, and will go up unto the place which the LORD hath promised: for we have sinned.

And Moses said, Wherefore now do ye transgress the commandment of the LORD? but it shall not prosper. Go not up, for the LORD is not among you; that ye be not smitten before your enemies. For the Amalekites and the Canaanites are there before you, and ye shall fall by the sword: because ye are turned away from the LORD, therefore the LORD will not be with you.

But they presumed to go up unto the hill top nevertheless the ark of

the covenant of the LORD, and Moses, departed not out of the camp.

Then the Amalekites came down, and the Canaanites which dwelt in that hill, and smote them, and discomfited them, even unto Hormah.

And while the children of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man that gathered sticks upon the sabbath day.

And they that found him gathering sticks brought him unto Moses and Aaron, and unto all the congregation. And they put him in ward, because it was not declared what should be done to him.

And the LORD said unto Moses, The man shall be surely put to death: all the congregation shall stone him with. stones without the camp.

And all the congregation brought him without the camp, and stoned him with stones, and he died; as the LORD commanded Moses.

Question.-Who was Oshea, the son of Nun, whom Moses called Jehoshua ?

Answer-Joshua, who was afterwards chosen to succeed Moses as leader of the Israelites. The name Oshea is the same as Hosea, and means "salvation." Moses placed before it the syllable which stood for the sacred name Jehovah, or Jah, and that made the name mean "salvation from God." We see that Joshua was chosen to be one of the spies that he might see the land he was afterwards to conquer.

Q-Moses told the spies to "get up this way southward." In what direction were they to go? A. It would be better to read, "by way of the south country." They were not to go southward from the place where the Israelites then were, for that would have been away from Canaan, but into the south part of Canaan; and "up into the mountain means at the hilly part of that land.

Q-Has the name "Eshcol," given to the brook, any particular meaning?

A.-In Hebrew the word means "a cluster of grapes." Q.-Some of the spies, on their return, said, "The land eateth up the inhabitants thereof." What did that mean?

A.-It was occupied by fierce tribes who were continually at war, and the people were destroyed. Q-In what manner did the Lord answer the prayers of Moses and Aaron, and save Joshua and Caleb from the fury of the people?

A.-The glory of the Lord appeared in the tabernacle. This showed the rebellious people that the Lord was angry with them, and they dared 'not then carry out their intention of killing Joshua and Caleb.

Q.-Did the Lord, in answer to the prayer of Moses, pardon the people?

A. He pardoned the people by not withdrawing His promise that the Israelites should be led into the Promised Land, but He punished those who had rebelled, by not allowing one of those who were twenty years of age when they left Egypt to enter Canaan except Caleb and Joshua. The Israelites were wandering for forty years, and those who entered Canaan, except the two mentioned, were all children at the time of the passage of the Red Sea, or born afterwards. It was the rebellious spirit shown which prevented the Israelites at once marching into Canaan, as Caleb and Joshua wished, and their wanderings afterwards were a punishment. Joshua seems to have foreseen this, for he said, "If the Lord delight in us [if we have pleased him] he will bring us into this land." As the spies whose reports made the people afraid, and wish to go back into Egypt, were forty days in Canaan, a year of wandering should be given for each day. The spies were punished at once, dying of plague.

Q.-Did any of the people continue to disobey the Lord?

A. Some of them attempted to go into Canaan, although the Lord had told them they should not enter the land; and they were utterly destroyed by the Amalekites and Canaanites.