them, who made images, which they kept in their houses and carried about with them, and worshipped. Even Rachel, the wife of Jacob, took away with her the images which her father, Laban, had in his house. The Egyptians worshipped figures of animals, and the Israelites might have imitated them during their long residence in the country. It was therefore necessary that a very clear commandment should be given. Q.-In what way are the sins of parents visited on their children to the third and fourth generations? A. The misconduct of parents brings evil to their children, by bad example and training, illness and infirmities, poverty, and in many other ways. But God's love is great. Sin He punishes to the third and fourth generations, but not for ever; and He shows mercy unto thousands if they love Him and keep His command

ments.

Q.-Is the Sabbath the same as our Sunday or Lord's Day?

A.-The Hebrew Sabbath is the last day of the week. The Lord Jesus Christ commanded His disciples to observe the first day in remembrance of Him. He taught that works of necessity or mercy may be done on the Lord's Day, and it is the practice of Christians to abstain from ordinary business, and to make the worship of God, and instruction in religion, the chief occupation of the day.

Q.-Do the Ten Commandments teach us our duty to God and to man?

A. They do. The first four teach us to believe in only one God, the Lord Almighty, not to worship idols, not to use the name of the Lord profanely, and to keep the Sabbath He appointed. The fifth commandment bids us honour and love our parents; the sixth, seventh and

eighth not to injure others by bad actions on our part, and the ninth and tenth not to injure them in word or thought. Our Saviour taught us that "love was the fulfilling of the law," and that, really to obey the law, we must love God with all our heart and love our neighbours as ourselves.

Q-What are we to understand by "I send an angel before thee?"

A.-It is generally understood to mean the Lord Himself, who would direct and lead them by His almighty power. Q-Were the Amorites, the Hittites and the other people who dwelt in Canaan, "cut off" by the power of the Lord?

A. The promise was not that they should be entirely destroyed, but that they should no more be nations, and that their idolatry should be punished. As these people are spoken of later in the sacred history, it could not have been the will of God that they should all be destroyed when the Israelites entered the land. As in the following words the chosen people were commanded not to bow down to other gods, the words "I will cut them off" seem to mean that they would be separated from the Israelites, who would have no union with them-" they shall not dwell in thy land." Q.-Did the Lord send hornets before the Israelites to drive out the people of Canaan ?

A.-It is a figurative expression; hornets are troublesome and destructive insects, and in this passage signify the evils which would come upon the idolatrous nations. Q.-What was "the sea of the Philistines?" A. It is now known as the Mediterranean, on the sea coast of which the Philistines dwelt.

THEN went up Moses, and Aaron,

Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel: and they saw the God of Israel: and there was under his feet as it were a paved work of a sapphire stone, and as it were the body of heaven in his clearness.

And upon the nobles of the children of Israel he laid not his hand also they saw God, and did eat and drink.

And the LORD said unto Moses, Come up to me in the mount, and be there: and I will give thee tables of stone, and a law, and commandments which I have written; that thou mayest teach them.

And Moses rose up, and his minister Joshua: and Moses went up into the mount of God. And he said unto the

elders, Tarry ye here for us, until we come again unto you: and, behold, Aaron and Hur are with you if any man have any matters to do, let him come unto them. And Moses went up into the mount, and a cloud covered the mount.

And the glory of the LORD abode upon mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days: and the seventh day he called unto Moses out of the midst of the cloud.

And the sight of the glory of the LORD was like devouring fire on the top of the mount in the eyes of the children of Israel. And Moses went into the midst of the cloud, and gat him up into the mount: and Moses was in the mount forty days and forty nights.

And thou shalt put the mercy seat above upon the ark; and in the ark thou shalt put the testimony that I shall give thee.

And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubims which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all things which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel.

Thou shalt also make a table of shittim wood: two cubits shall be the length thereof, and a cubit the breadth thereof, and a cubit and a half the height thereof. And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, and make thereto a crown of gold round about. And thou shalt make unto it a border of an hand breadth round about, and thou shalt make a golden crown to the border thereof round about. And thou shalt make for it four rings of gold, and put the rings in the four corners that are on the four feet thereof. Over against the border shall the rings be for places of the staves to bear the table.

And thou shalt make the staves of shittim wood, and overlay them with gold, that the table may be borne with them.

And thou shalt make the dishes thereof, and spoons thereof, and covers thereof, and bowls thereof, to cover withal: of pure gold shalt thou make them. And thou shalt set upon the table shewbread before me alway.

And thou shalt make a candlestick of

pure gold of beaten work shall the candlestick be made: his shaft and his branches, his bowls, his knops, and his flowers, shall be of the same.

And six branches shall come out of the sides of it; three branches of the candlestick out of the one side, and three branches of the candlestick out of the other side.

[Moses also received many other directions as to the construction of the tabernacle, a pattern of which had been shown him on the mount.]

And thou shalt rear up the tabernacle according to the fashion thereof which was shewed thee in the mount.

And thou shalt make a vail of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen of cunning work: with cherubims shall it be made. And thou shalt hang it upon four pillars of shittim wood overlaid with gold: their hooks shall be of gold, upon the four sockets of silver. And thou shalt hang up the vail under the taches, that thou mayest bring in thither within the vail the ark of the testimony and the vail shall divide unto you between the holy place and the most holy. And thou shalt put the mercy seat upon the ark of the testimony in the most holy place.

In the tabernacle of the congregation without the vail, which is before the testimony, Aaron and his sons shall order it from evening to morning before the LORD it shall be a statute for ever unto their generations on the behalf of the children of Israel.

Question.-What is a tabernacle ? Answer.-The word means a tent. As the Israelites were then wandering, and without any fixed place of abode, the place where God was to be worshipped was to be so constructed that it could be carried with them. Afterwards in the time of David, when Jerusalem, on Mount Sion, was the city of the Lord, a splendid temple was built.

Q.-Of what wood was the tabernacle to be made? A.-A species of acacia, which grew in the wilderness, the only tree there the wood of which could be used for the purpose. It had a close grain, was of an orange colour and was well fitted for strong and handsome work. Q. What was the ark, and for what purpose was it used?

4.-Ark means a chest or box, as well as a ship, such as the ark built by Noah. The ark here described was to be made of the same kind of wood as the tabernacle, and was nearly four feet long, a little more than two feet wide, and the depth was equal to the width. It was intended to contain the stone tablets on which the Commandments were written. It was to be carried by means of staves passed through rings, out of which they should not be taken, so that the ark itself should not be touched when carried.

Q-Was the mercy seat a part of the ark?

A.-It was a plate of pure gold, forming the lid or covering of the ark. On it the priests sprinkled the blood of the sacrifice of atonement. The cherubims of gold, one at each end of the mercy seat, it is supposed represented human figures with wings, which stretched over the ark. It was from between these cherubims that the Lord promised he would speak to Moses. We do not now actually hear the voice of God in our places of worship, but His Spirit is with us if we seek Him, and He listens to our prayers and gives comfort to our souls. One of our hymns has this verse:

"Within Thy temple's hallow'd bound,

Thy power and love, great God, are shown;
For there Thy mercy seat is found,

And grace and truth adorn Thy throne."

It has been pointed out that the cherubims on the mercy seat showed the Lord's redeeming mercy, as the cherubirns at the gate of Eden showed His condemnation of sin.

Q. What was the use of the table of shewbread? A.-Every Sabbath twelve newly-baked loaves were put on it, and remained until the following Sabbath when they were taken away and eaten by the priests, and replaced by others. The twelve loaves are supposed to have had reference to the twelve tribes of Israel. The exact meaning of the Hebrew word translated "shewbread" is "bread of the face, or presence," meaning bread set before the Lord. It was to be "before me always," showing that God is always ready to receive the offerings of His people, and bread being the symbol of all kinds of food, the Israelites were, perhaps, to understand that they always required spiritual food. Our Lord Jesus Christ said, "Man lives not by bread alone."

Q-Have we any means of knowing, except from the descriptions in the Bible, what the ark, table of shewbread, and candlesticks were like ?

A.--Those made in the wilderness were carried away about eight hundred years afterwards, at the time of the Babylonish captivity. When the temple at Jerusalem was rebuilt, a new table and candlesticks were made, no doubt exactly similar to the first, and remained until the siege of Jerusalem by the Romans under Titus, forty years after the Crucifixion of our Lord. Á triumphal arch was erected at Rome, in honour of Titus, and on it were represented the table of shewbread, and the candlesticks which he took out of the temple. The arch, with this sculpture on it, exists

now.

A ND take thou unto thee Aaron thy brother, and his sons with him, from among the children of Israel, that he may minister unto me in the priest's office, even Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar, Aaron's sons. And thou shalt make holy garments for Aaron thy brother for glory and for beauty. And thou shalt speak unto all that are wise hearted, whom I have filled with the spirit of wisdom, that they may make Aaron's garments to consecrate him, that he may minister unto me in the priest's office.

And these are the garments which they shall make; a breastplate, and an ephod, and a robe, and a broidered coat, a mitre, and a girdle: and they shall make holy garments for Aaron thy brother, and his sons, that he may minister unto me in the priest's office.

And they shall take gold, and blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen.

And they shall make the ephod of gold, of blue, and of purple, of scarlet, and fine twined linen, with cunning work. It shall have the two shoulderpieces thereof joined at the two edges thereof; and so it shall be joined together.

And the curious girdle of the ephod, which is upon it, shall be of the same, according to the work thereof; even of gold, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen.

And thou shalt take two onyx stones, and grave on them the names of the children of Israel: six of their names on one stone, and the other six names of the rest on the other stone, according to their birth. With the work of an engraver in stone, like the engravings of a signet, shalt thou engrave the two stones with the names of the children of Israel: thou shalt make them to be set in ouches of gold.

And thou shalt put the two stones upon the shoulders of the ephod for

stones of memorial unto the children of Israel and Aaron shall bear their names before the LORD upon his two shoulders for a memorial.

And thou shalt make ouches [sockets] of gold; and two chains of pure gold at the ends; of wreathen work shalt thou make them, and fasten the wreathen chains to the ouches.

And thou shalt make the breastplate of judgment with cunning work; after the work of the ephod thou shalt make it; of gold, of blue, and of purple, and of scarlet, and of fine twined linen, shalt thou make it. Foursquare it shall be being doubled; a span shall be the length thereof, and a span shall be the breadth thereof.

And thou shalt set in it settings of stones, even four rows of stones: the first row shall be a sardius, a topaz, and a carbuncle this shall be the first row. And the second row shall be an emerald, a sapphire, and a diamond. And the third row a ligure, an agate, and an amethyst. And the fourth row a beryl, and an onyx, and a jasper: they shall be set in gold in their inclosings.

And the stones shall be with the names of the children of Israel, twelve, according to their names, like the engravings of a signet; every one with his name shall they be according to the twelve tribes.

And thou shalt make upon the breastplate chains at the ends of wreathen work of pure gold. And thou shalt make upon the breastplate two rings of gold, and shalt put the two rings on the two ends of the breastplate.

And thou shalt put the two wreathen chains of gold in the two rings which are on the ends of the breastplate. And the other two ends of the two wreathen chains thou shalt fasten in the two ouches, and put them on the shoulderpieces of the ephod before

it.

And thou shalt make two rings of

gold, and thou shalt put them upon the two ends of the breastplate in the border thereof, which is in the side of the ephod inward.

And two other rings of gold thou shalt make, and shalt put them on the two sides of the ephod underneath, toward the forepart thereof, over against the other coupling thereof, above the curious girdle of the ephod. And they shall bind the breastplate by the rings thereof unto the rings of the ephod with a lace of blue, that it may be above the curious girdle of the ephod, and that the breastplate be not loosed from the ephod.

And Aaron shall bear the names of the children of Israel in the breastplate of judgment upon his heart, when he goeth in unto the holy place, for a memorial before the LORD continually.

And thou shalt put in the breastplate of judgment the Urim and the Thummim; and they shall be upon Aaron's heart, when he goeth in before the LORD: and Aaron shall bear the judgment of the children of Israel upon his heart before the LORD continually.

And thou shalt make the robe of the ephod all of blue. And there shall be an hole in the top of it, in the midst thereof it shall have a binding of woven work round about the hole of it, as it were the hole of an habergeon, that it be not rent.

And beneath upon the hem of it thou shalt make pomegranates, of blue, and of purple, and of scarlet, round about the hem thereof; and bells of gold between them round about: a golden bell and a pomegranate, upon the hem of the robe round about.

And it shall be upon Aaron to minister and his sound shall be heard when he goeth in unto the holy place before the LORD, and when he cometh out that he die not.

And thou shalt make a plate of pure gold, and grave upon it, like the engravings of a signet, HOLINESS TO