that Lord's faithful followers. "He that toucheth you toucheth the apple of his eye,"* is the striking expression of the Almighty by the mouth of his prophet Zechariah. How great, then, is the security, how strong the consolation of every servant of God, when suffering from the slanders of earth: "his record is on high." Let him commit his soul in well-being, as unto a gracious Creator, and intrust it to him to judge and defend his cause.

But though on the

present occasion, "the Lord departed," he did not do so without leaving visible marks of his displeasure, for we read,

10. 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.

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

12. Let her not be as one dead, of whom the flesh is half consumed when he cometh out of his mother's womb.

13. And Moses cried unto the Lord, saying, Heal her now, O God, I beseech thee.

14. 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.

* Zech. ii. 8.

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

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

Such was the punishment of one, at least, of the guilty parties, public disgrace before the whole congregation of Israel. While to Aaron, whose love to Moses we cannot question, notwithstanding the gross ingratitude of the act in which we find him here engaged, perhaps it was a still sorer punishment, to be pardoned a second time at the intercession of his injured brother, and to feel how utterly unworthy his own conduct had been, both of their near and dear relationship, and of the relative situations in which God had placed them.

EXPOSITION XII.

NUMBERS xiii. 1-25.

1. And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

2. Send thou men, that they may search the land of Canaan, which I give unto the children of Israel: of every tribe of their fathers shall ye send a man, every one a ruler among them.

3. And Moses by the commandment of the Lord sent them from the wilderness of Paran: all those men were heads of the children of Israel.

The Israelites had now advanced close to the borders of the promised land; a little more faith, a little more exertion, and all would have been theirs; but they hesitated at the very brink, and their hesitation was their ruin. We find, from the first chapter of Deuteronomy, that the idea of sending spies into the land, before they ventured in themselves, originated, not as we might imagine, from the words before us, in the command of the Almighty, but in the will of the people. They said, when Moses desired them to "go up and possess it," "We will send men before us and they shall search out the land ;" and Moses adds, like a faithful and candid historian, not desirous of concealing his own mistakes, " And the saying pleased me well." It is evident, from the chapter before us, that the Almighty, probably having been applied to, permitted it, and as we have seen, the spies were sent.

[Here may be read from verse 4, to verse 16, inclusive.]

17. And Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan, and said unto them, Get you up this way southward, and go up into the mountain :

18. And see the land, what it is; and the people that

D

dwelleth therein, whether they be strong or weak, few

or many;

19. 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 ;

20. 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.

21. So they went up, and searched the land from the wilderness of Zin unto Rehob, as men come to Hamath.

22. 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.)

23. 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.

24. The place was called the brook Eshcol, because of the cluster of grapes which the children of Israel cut down from thence.

25. And they returned from searching of the land after forty days.

Such was the immediate result of the expedition; forty days were spent in attempting to discover, what had been already clearly revealed, that the promised land was indeed "a land flowing with milk and honey." And had this been all, though we might have thought it a sad loss of time at such a moment, it would have signified

little, compared with the disastrous events which it occasioned. For the spies, as we shall afterward see, although fully persuaded of the goodness of the land, were at the same time, as fully persuaded of the impossibility of attaining it, and brought such a report of the difficulties of the way, as to overthrow the faith and courage of the whole congregation.

The incident will not be without its use, if it teach us to trust God, rather than man. Had the Israelites taken God at his word, and knowing that what he had promised he would also surely perform, marched boldly forward at the word of Moses, and in the strength of the Almighty, all would have been theirs; and instead of forty years of punishment in the wilderness, they would doubtless have enjoyed forty years of rest and happiness in the promised land.

Has the Almighty revealed to any of our hearts a knowledge of, and a desire after, that better Canaan which he has offered, through the merits of his dear Son, to all who will "receive the Atonement," and strong in the strength, and righteous in the righteousness of the Saviour, walk holily, consistently, and faithfully, to take possession? Then let none of us be tempted to "take counsel of flesh and blood," let none of us listen to those who would dwell upon the trials