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Israel, with their names written thereon, save that the name of Aaron was substituted for that of Levi, were solemnly laid up before the divine presence in the sanctuary. On the morrow these rods were brought forth, and the rod of Aaron was covered with blossoms, buds, and ripe almonds. The Creator's power alone could do this, and by his command it was placed in the ark, that, by a continual miracle, its blossoms, buds and fruit might testify to successive generations the perpetual efficacy of God's priesthood,5 and a perpetual warning not to intrude upon its holy functions. For the better regulation of the whole, the rights and duties of the priests and Levites, and their distinction from the congregation, were now prescribed, under penalty of death.56 The law of the red heifer burnt without the camp, and the ashes of purification, to be used in cases of legal pollution, were all typical of Him who, " that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate.

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The rebellion of Korah seems to have been the last of that generation. They appear to have become convinced that opposition to God's will would only hasten their destruction;58 and they submitted, as slaves submit to the power of their master. For more than thirty-seven years, every event, excepting the number of their marches, is covered in impenetrable oblivion. The whole of that immense multitude who had come up harnessed out of Egypt, as the army of the living God, dropped silently, one by one, into the grave, there to await, in the wilderness, the trump of the resurrection; and we have now to consider the history of that new generation whom God exempted from the doom of their fathers, and permitted to enter into the land of Canaan.

55 Numb. xvii.

"Numb. xviii.

"Numb. xix. Comp. with Heb. xiii.

11-13; Exod. xxix. 10-14; Levit. iv. 13-21.

58 Numb. xvii. 12, 13.

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CHAPTER II.

HISTORY OF THE NEW GENERATION TO THE DEATH OF JOSHUA.

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1. Kadesh. - Death of Miriam.. Moses and Aaron excluded from entering the land of promise. II. Peaceable message to the king of Edom. - Israelites turn into Arabia Petræa. — Death of Aaron. — Country of Moab. — The brazen serpent. III. The country of the sons of Lot had been partially conquered by the Amorites, the sons of Canaan. - Victories over Sihon and Og.- Balak and Balaam. — Glimpses of the patriarchal religion corrupted. - Midianites. - Death of Balaam. IV. Preparations to enter the promised land. — The tribes of Reuben and Gad allowed to settle on the east of Jordan. - Reiteration of the law. Consecration of Joshua or Jesus. - Death of Moses. V. Joshua sends spies to Jericho. — Rahab. Passage of the Jordan on Friday. The first Sabbath in the land of Circumcision preparatory to the first Passover in that rest.—It fell on March 25th, the date of our Lord's passion. — Manna ceases. — Visible manifestation of the Angel-Jehovah. VI. The Canaanites. Phoenicians. Their enterprise and extensive migrations. - All suffered extermination.. The history of God's awful government of nations revealed in the history of Israel. The blessings and curses on Gerizim and Ebal. VII. Division of the land among the tribes. Rest from war. - The sabbatical year.- The jubilee. — The change of ceremonial in the Passover. VIII. Two general assemblies of the nation. first, probably in the second sabbatical year at Shiloh. The second, at Shechem. - Death of Joshua.

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wanderings, which began on Thursday, the fourth B. V. . 1465, day of April, they arrived at Kadesh, in the desert of Zin. Here Miriam died; probably, as she was about ten years. older than Moses, at the great age of one hundred and twenty-nine years. With the exception of one instance of infirmity, which has been particularly mentioned, she seems to have preserved a blameless character, and to have been eminently beloved for her goodness, and revered for her sanctity.

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But the new generation were no better than their fathers, "turning aside like a deceitful bow." The water which had followed them from Horeb having failed, they murmured just as their fathers had murmured in Rephidim. But it is observable that, while God commanded Moses to take the rod, he did not, as in the former case, order him to smite with it, but required only that he and Aaron should speak to the rock in their presence. This difference, through anger or perturbation of spirit, Moses did not perceive; and, hastily addressing1 the assembled people, he exclaimed, "Hear now, ye rebels: must we fetch you water out of this rock?" He attributed to himself and Aaron what belonged only to God. When, therefore, contrary to God's command, he lifted up his rod and smote the rock, no water flowed; but when he smote it the second time, God honoured his minister, and the water gushed forth abundantly.5 Nevertheless, it was necessary to make an example of this act of disobedience; and Moses and Aaron were excluded from the honour of conducting the children of Israel into the land of promise."

II.

From Kadesh messengers were sent to the king of Edom, or Idumæa, requesting a peaceable passage through his dominions; but he refused their request, and therefore the Israelites, as God had given the land to Esau, turned to the right and passed through Arabia Petræa. On their arrival at Mount Hor, Moses was ordered to invest Eleazar with the high-priesthood; and Aaron died on the top of the Mount, in the one hundred and twenty-third year of his age, the first day of the fifth month, or Tuesday, the thirtieth of July. Moses and the new high priest, having buried him, descended

1Ps. lxxviii. 57.

21 Cor. x. 4.

3 Comp. Numb. xx. 2-6, with Exod. xvii. 1-7.

4 See Ps. cvi. 33

5 Numb. xx. 7-11.

6 Numb. xx. 12.

from the mount, and a solemn mourning was there observed thirty days."

About the beginning of September, the children of Israel moved from Mount Hor, and, making a circuit through the desert, entered by the country of Moab, east of the Asphaltic lake and the Jordan. Faint and discouraged by the toils of the way, they impiously vented their complaints against the Most High, and were therefore punished with fiery serpents, the venomous bite of which caused a great mortality. St. Paul expressly says that, on this occasion, they tempted Christ, and were therefore destroyed by serpents. At the intercession of Moses, God ordered him to erect upon a pole the figure of such a serpent made of bronze; and all who had faith to look upon it were healed. By this example our Lord illustrated the saving influence of his death upon the cross. This sign of God's mercy through Christ was preserved for nearly seven hundred and forty years in the Church; but, in the reformation under king Hezekiah, the children of Israel having burned incense before it, and thus perverted it to be an occasion of idolatry, it was finally destroyed."

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III.

The country which, by divine direction, had been assigned to Moab and Ammon, the sons of Lot, had been invaded and partially conquered by the Amorites, the descendants of the fourth son of Canaan. At the time of which we are speaking, they occupied the cities of Bashan and Heshbon, and all the territory to the east of the river Jordan, between the Arnon and the Jabok. We have already seen" that while the Israelites were in the wilderness, an inroad had been made among the Canaanites, by Rhameses IV., the king of Egypt, who was the great hornet of the Scriptures, and that his fury

'Numb. xx. 22-29. Comp. with xxxiii. 38.

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• Numb. xxi. 6-9. 14, 15.

St. John iii.

92 Kings xviii. 4. Circ. B. c. 725.
10 Bochart Geog. Sac. lib iv. cap. 36.
11 Page 66.

had fallen chiefly upon the Amorites.12 The victories over Sihon and Og being thus rendered easier, the camp of Israel was soon pitched in the plains of Moab, which lie on the east of the mountainous chain of Abarim and the summit of Nebo.13 At the approach of this great army, Balak, the king of the Moabites, the recent victories of Rhameses being fresh in his remembrance, was the more terrified when he learned that they had come from Egypt. Instead of depending on his own arms, he sent into Syria for a prophet of the Most High, who was greatly renowned for his wisdom and his sanctity, and his supposed influence with the Almighty. The whole history of Balaam is of great importance, because it throws light on the spiritual condition of the descendants of Noah. Previous to the Abrahamic covenant, all had equally enjoyed, except only by voluntary blindness, the light of God's countenance. Even after that event his mercies continued; and only in proportion as they gave themselves up to idolatry and uncleanness, were the influences of his Spirit gradually withdrawn.14 Hence we find the institutions of the Church, as they existed in the time of Noah, prevailing more or less in all nations; and there always in greater purity where they had swerved least from God's commandments. And hence it is that occasional glimpses strike our eyes of priests and prophets who still enjoyed the manifestations of the divine presence, and the revelations of his will. 15 Balaam was one of these prophets; but he was a selfish and covetous man, who could not resist the allurements of worldly gain, even when they led to the violation of his duty. God overruled his wickedness then, as he does always, for the promotion of his own glory. Instead of cursing, the prophet blessed the Church; and his sublime prophecies, with regard to David, and to Christ, the son of David, all of which are not even yet

12 Josh. xxiv. 12.

15 Gen. xiv. 18. Exod. ii. 16; iii. 1.

13 D'Anville Anc. Geog. vol. i. p. See Bp. Horsley's Dissertation on the Prophecies of the Messiah, dispersed among the Heathen.

416, Eng. ed. 1791. 14 Gen. vi. 3.

Rom. i. 21-26.

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