1. The abiding in Kadesh. This was a return to the district occupied at the time when God pronounced the doom of wandering for forty years on the people (Numbers 13:26). We know also that the return took place as this long period was drawing to a close. There had been, so to speak, a profitless and melancholy wandering in a circle. We have but little information concerning this period, and what we have seems to have been given for the purpose of showing now rigorously God carried out the sentence. Chapter 33, tells us of the various halting-places, as if to impress us with the fact that Israel had not been allowed to go out of the wilderness. We are told of the rebellion of Korah and the giving of certain laws, but there is nothing to indicate progress. Probably, as has been suggested, there was more or less of dispersion during the forty years. God was waiting for an obstacle to be taken out of the way. In the Scriptures we do not find anything recorded unless as it bears on the advancement of the kingdom of God. Much of what the world calls history is after all mere trifling, and it is our wisdom and profit to notice not only what God has revealed, but also what he has concealed. This generation of the Israelites was thus a type of the many profitless lives that are lived in every generation. After a period of wandering and toil they come back to where they started from. There is nothing to show for all the years of weary work. Sadder still, there are many who come to be looked on as obstacles; their life stands in the way of human improvement and advance, and little or nothing can be done till they go. The return to Kadesh was like some great sign that a long and rigorous winter is drawing to its close.

2. The death of Miriam. There is a certain fitness in following up the regulations of chapter 19 with a record of death and burial. Death had dogged these Israelites all through their wanderings. There was perhaps no halting-place but what might have had this sentence joined with it: "Such a one died there and was buried there." Why then is the death of Miriam singled out for special mention? In the first place, she was a person of distinction by her office as prophetess, particularly as she was not only a prophetess, but sister to the two chief men in Israel. Then, being so, it is very noticeable that none of the three, so eminent in their life, were allowed to enter the promised land. There is mystery in their calling, mystery in the services they are called to render, and mystery in the seeming thwarting of all their hopes. One feels the hand of God is in all this. Man proposes, and reckons with something like certainty, but God disposes in a very different fashion. Miriam had sinned a great sin (chapter 12), but was it not a long while ago? She has lived on through all these wanderings, having seen many younger than herself falling on every hand. May she not then hope to live a little longer, and see the promised land before she dies? Perhaps such thoughts were in the aged woman's mind, perhaps many a time she had wept bitterly over her pride and envy in the past; but God's determinations cannot be set aside, and even when the earthly Canaan is again coming in sight, that sight is not for her. There was no way for Miriam, any more than the rest of us, to escape that suffering and loss in this world which so often come from wrong-doing. As to her possible part in the better country, there is necessary silence here. It is Christ who brought life and immortality to light. The great thing to be noticed is that Miriam died in Kadesh, was buried there, and consequently failed of entrance into the earthly Canaan. - Y.

I. THE COMPLAINT OF THE PEOPLE.

1. It was occasioned by a pressing and reasonable want. "There was no water for the congregation." The people were often discontented without cause, but here was a real strait. Experience shows that many so-called necessities, instead of being necessities, are even injurious. Life might be made more simple and frugal with no loss, but rather increase, of the highest joys of life. But if we are to live here at all there are some things necessary. The bread and the water must be sure.

2. There was no apparent supply for the want. We may presume that for the most part Israel had found water, even in the wilderness, without much difficulty. Unobserved and unappreciated, God may have opened up many fountains before the Israelites approached. Hence when they came to Kadesh and found the rocks dry, they hastily judged there was no water. We are very dependent on customary outward signs.

3. Past experience of similar circumstances should have led to calm faith and expectation. God had made sweet for them the bitter waters of Marah, and directly after brought them to Elim with its ample supply (Exodus 15:23-27). And when they came to Rephidim, and found no water, Moses by command of God smote the rock in Horeb (Exodus 17). But then the rising generation had not been sufficiently instructed in these things, and impressed with the goodness of God. How should unbelieving and forgetting fathers make believing and mindful children? If we would only base our expectations on what God has done in the past, we should look in vain for occasion of fear and doubt. After Jesus had fed one multitude, the disciples had yet to ask with respect to another, "Whence should we have so much bread in the wilderness, as to fill so great a multitude?" (Matthew 15:33). Consider also Matthew 16:5-10. We continually, and in the most perverse way, confine our views of what is possible within the limitations of our own natural powers. To God the wilderness is as the fruitful field, and the fruitful field as the wilderness. He can make the earth whatever pleases him (Psalm 107:33-39).

4. The complainers of the people were not confined to the urgent need. They do not approach Moses with a simple, humble plea for water. They had not considered why they had been brought to Kadesh, and that in the plans of God they were bound to come again into that district, whether water was there or not. First of all they utter an impious, hasty wish, though if it had been taken seriously they would have complained bitterly. Men are apt to say they wish they were dead when really their circumstances are more endurable than those of many who have learned, like the apostle, in whatsoever state they are, therewith to be content. A discontented heart makes a reckless tongue. The expression was used thoughtlessly enough, just as many take God's name in vain, hardly conscious of what they are saying. Next they advance to an unjust reproach. Forty years of Divine chastisements, sharp and severe, had taught them nothing. They could see nothing more than that Moses and Aaron were leading the people about at their own will. How easy it is through our ignorance of the unseen God to attribute to the men whom we do see a power immensely beyond their resources. The people came back to Kadesh as they left it, blind, ungrateful, inconsiderate as ever. Moses and Aaron, sorrowing for their dead sister, have once again to listen to accusations which long ago had been answered by God himself. The reproach is mingled with vain regrets, still surviving all these years of chastisement. There could not now be many survivors of the generation that had come out of Egypt, yet, doubtless, all the while Egypt had been so often mentioned as to have deeply infected the minds of the younger generation. Garrulous old people, who might so easily have inspired their children by telling them of God's dealings with Pharaoh in Egypt and at the Red Sea, and of all his goodness in the wilderness, were rather poisoning and prejudicing their hearts with recollections of carnal comforts and delicacies which seemed hopelessly lost. Instead of pointing out that the wilderness with all its hardships was a place of Divine manifestations, they could only see that it was no place of seeds, or figs, or vines, or pomegranates. The mention of water, coming in at the last, seems almost an after-thought, as much as to say, "Even if we had water, there would none the less be ground for great complaints."

II. GOD'S ANSWER TO THE COMPLAINT.

1. The people speak against Moses and Aaron, who thereupon make their usual resort to God. Beforetime when his glory appeared in response to their appeal it was the herald of destruction (Numbers 14:10; Numbers 16:19, 42); but now there is no threatening of destruction. Even in the midst of their murmuring and ingratitude God recognizes their real need. Thus as we consider the work of God in Christ Jesus we find a similar recognition. Men came to Jesus with all sorts of selfish complaints; but while they found in him a pitying listener, there was no disposition to deal with them according to their complaints. God did not give to Israel at Kadesh, figs, vines, and pomegranates, but he gave water speedily and abundantly. It is made a charge against the Divine providence and government, and sometimes a ground for denying the reality of such things, that men are so unequally supplied with temporal possessions. But all this falls to the ground if only we notice how prompt, how effectual, God is in meeting real necessities. It is he who is to judge of these. There is no absolute necessity even for the bread that perisheth, but there is need, whether here or elsewhere, to be free from sin, to have that spiritual food, that bread and water of eternal life, which Jesus himself has spoken of so largely and attractively in the Gospel of John. Thus while the Jews went on wickedly complaining against Christ, showing more and more their ignorance and selfishness, he, on the other hand, went on in the midst of all, revealing, expounding, setting forth in the clear light of his matchless teaching the supreme want of men and his own adequate supply for it. We must cease clamouring for the figs, vines, and pomegranates, and be more athirst for that water of which if one drink he shall never thirst again. God will not supply everything we think to be wants. But let a man come to himself and discern his real needs, and God, like the father to the prodigal son. will run to meet him with an ample supply.

2. God makes the supply from an unlikely source. Moses was to speak to the rock before their eyes, the one nearest them at the time. There was no searching about among the hills if haply some natural reservoir might be found which a touch could open in all its fullness to the panting crowd. There was water in the rock before them, requiring nothing more than the word of God through his servant Moses. We must consider what happened as if Moses had completely carried out his instructions. Thus in many things connected with our salvation we are directed to unlikely places and unlikely methods. Who expects the King of the Jews to be born in Bethlehem? Why not in Jerusalem? Can any good thing come out of Nazareth? Shall one look for the food of a multitude among five loaves and two small fishes? Shall one look for an apostle of the Gentiles in Paul, the fierce and persecuting Jew? God makes a messenger out of the child Samuel, and a champion out of the stripling David. God delights in finding everything he needs where we can find little or nothing. We may be nearest help when to our natural judgment we may seem farthest from it.

3. There is thus a warning against all hasty judgments. We who are so utterly weak, so constantly in need of help, should be very slow to say, "Neither is there any water to drink." Let us bear in mind how ignorant we are of the Scriptures and the power of God. God will not leave his own true children unsupplied with any needful thing. He will choose the right time, and way, and form. It is the besetting sin of far too many minds to form conclusions not only when there is lack of sufficient information, but when there is no need of present conclusion at all. "Wait on the Lord, be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart." Do not say in haste and ignorance that there is no strength to be got anywhere. - Y.

I. How THE SIN WAS COMMITTED.

1. It was a sin of inattention. If there was anything which Moses and Aaron should have learned after forty years of service, it was that God's commandments required constant attention and exact obedience. They had a long experience of One who gave details as well as general instructions. Moreover, it was not the first time Moses had been charged to bring water from the rock. At Rephidim God said to him, "Thou shalt smite the rock" (Exodus 17:6). At Kadesh he says, "Speak to the rock." The very difference should have been enough to bring the command distinctly before him. Notice then what serious results simple inattention may bring; we know that thousands of lives have been lost by it. Furthermore, how many have failed in the attainment of salvation and spiritual blessedness through nothing more than lack of attention! They have not run greedily in the way of sin, but simply gone through a decent, reputable life, neglecting the way of salvation. In the things of God attention is required as a regular habit, not only that we may escape loss, but secure real advantage. The more attention there is, the more advantage there will be.

2. It was the inattention, of men whose very experience had made them habitually careful. Whatever Moses and Aaron may have been by nature, they bad been trained to faithfulness in little things. It has not perhaps been sufficiently noticed how diligent and exact Moses must have been in his apprehension of all that God revealed to him. When we think how easy misunderstandings are, how easy it is to get wrong impressions and be confused among details, then we feel how very carefully Moses must have listened. Aaron also in his priestly service was a man of derail.

3. Hence there must have been some extraordinary disturbing cause to throw them out of their usual carefulness. What this was we can hardly make out with certainty. In the murmuring and repining of the people there was nothing new either as to spirit or language. Moses had listened to the same sort of attack before, and through it all kept his meekness and feeling of personal unworthiness. But as the last straw breaks tile camel's back, so even the patience of Moses became at last exhausted. The weight of years and cares united were telling on him. He was now Moses the aged, and though we are assured that when he died his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated, yet we must not so take these words as to free him from every infirmity of age. It was a very hard thing for a man after forty years of service, through all which he had kept the consciousness of a heart true to God and to Israel, to have the people still meet him with the old ingratitude and the old slanders. Thus it was that he went into the presence of God with a mind preoccupied, thinking a great deal more about the rebellious spirit of the people than about the glory of his Master. There is no safety but in keeping God first in our thoughts. We must be like the house founded on the rock, never disconnected from it. The nature of the foundation may seem to matter little in calm weather, but the foundation and our connection with it are everything when the tempest comes. Let a believer wear the whole armour of God, and he is invincible, but let him lay it aside for a single moment, and the waiting, watching enemy may inflict a painful, serious, humiliating wound, even if it be not a mortal one.

II. IN WHAT THE SIN CONSISTED.

1. In a want of faith. "Because ye believed me not." God says nothing about inattention or irritation, but goes at once to the root of the matter. Moses had failed in faith; not altogether, of course, for the very fact that he took the rod and approached the rock shows some faith and some spirit of obedience; but still faith must have been lacking, and to a very serious extent. It has been suggested that, seeing the spirit of the people, Moses was after all in doubt whether another long term of wanderings might not be in store for them. The one clear thing is that God ascribes the sin with its serious consequences to unbelief. Outwardly nothing appears but inattention and irritation; inwardly there is an unbelieving heart. Perhaps even Moses himself may have been startled to hear such a charge, and utterly unconscious that his faith was seriously imperiled. Had he been charged with inattention irritation, want of strict obedience, these were only too plain; but want of faith! Nothing but the clear word of God could make that credible. The lesson to us is that an impaired faith may be the cause of many of our spiritual troubles. We, worse than Moses, may be habitually inattentive and irritable, and afflicted with the sad consciousness that the habits are becoming more and more fixed. To treat them by direct effort is only to mitigate the symptoms of a deep disease, but to get into a truly believing state of mind, to have faith, and to have it more abundantly, will soon weaken and ultimately destroy these harassing spiritual infirmities.

2. In a consequent failure to sanctify God in the eyes of the people. The unbelief of Moses was not only a loss to him personally, but those who were out of the way already it led still further out of the way. All eyes were looking to Moses; his fall was not that of some obscure man. Furthermore, he made God's action appear stern and wrathful just at the very time when it was intended to be specially gracious. For forty years the people had been under God's displeasure. Now the gloomy cloud was breaking, the time for entrance into Canaan drawing near, and at the very place where God had once appeared in wrath he evidently intends now to appear in grace and mercy. But the conduct of Moses and Aaron spoils all this beautiful revelation. It was a strange reversal of what had hitherto happened. We no longer see God threatening wrath, and Moses offering ingenious pleas for mercy, but God is now gracious, overlooking a time of ignorance, and Moses, whom one would have expected to see radiant with benignity and satisfaction, goes to the very extreme of denunciation. The grace of the benefit was utterly spoiled. It seemed as if God threw down a supply for the people's need, as a churlish hand might fling a loaf at a beggar. We must labour to live as Christ would have us live, so that men may glorify God in us, and find no occasion to blaspheme; following in the footsteps of him who was able to say, "I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do" (John 17:4).

III. THE WAY IN WHICH THE SIN WAS PUNISHED. Those who fail to sanctify God before the people, and make his glory to appear, must in turn bear humiliation before the people. This was not a private intimation to Moses and Aaron, so that only they knew the reason why they were to die before entrance on the promised land. The publication of the doom was needed. Moses himself at the beginning of Deuteronomy (Numbers 1:37) seems to make some allusion to this doom upon him: "The Lord was angry with me for your sakes, saying, Thou also shalt not go in thither;" though certainly there is some difficulty arising from the blending of these words with the general doom on the Israelites forty years before. Anyway it is plain that the people knew Moses was to die with the doomed generation. His death happening as it did was a kind of blotting out of all that seemed harsh in the giving of the water. It was an. impressive reminder to all future generations of what God had meant to be done. We must not exaggerate this penalty beyond its proper extent and purpose. To the people it would seem very great, and to Moses also at that time it would seem great. But, at the worst, it was only a temporal deprivation. Moses lost the earthly Canaan, but the better land he did not lose. Who was it that appeared in glory to Jesus on the mount? This very Moses, with whom God for a time dealt so sternly. The greatest of temporal losses, the one that now brings most pain, and seems as if it never could be made up, will look a very little thing from among the attainments of eternity. What shall it hurt a man if he lose the whole world and gain a place in the inheritance of the saints in light? Learn, lastly, that none can humiliate us or bring us into loss but ourselves. It may not be our own fault if we are ridiculed; it is always our own fault if we are ridiculous. Moses had suffered many things from the people in the way of scorn and threatening, but through all these things he moves with unimpaired hopes and possessions. It is his own unbelief that brings this bitter disappointment. One traitor within the gates is more dangerous than all the army outside. - Y.

I. WHAT THEN WAS MOSES' SIN? Two circumstances are obvious on the face of the story.

1. Moses, being directed to speak to the rock that it might give forth its water, smote it instead with the rod of God which was in his hazed; and this he did not once only, but twice.

2. He spoke to the people, not with meekness and calm authority, but in heat and bitterness. "Ye rebels, must we fetch you water out of this rock?" Thus he "spake unadvisedly with his lips" (Psalm 106:33). It is not difficult to understand how Moses should have so far forgotten himself on this occasion. Let the facts be weighed. The servant of the Lord is now 120 years old. The generation which sinned thirty-seven years ago, and was condemned to die in the wilderness, is nearly all gone. Moses is mortified to find that the new generation is infected with a touch of the same impatient unbelief which wrought in their fathers so much mischief. No sooner are they at a loss for water than they rise against Moses with rebellious murmurings. For once he loses command of himself. On all former occasions of the kind his meekness was unshaken; he either held his peace, or prayed for the rebels, or at most called on the Lord to be his Witness and Judge. Now he breaks out into bitter chidings. At the root of this there was a secret failure of faith. "Ye believed me not," - did not thoroughly rely on my faithfulness and power, - "to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel" (verse 12). His former meekness had been the fruit of faith. He had been thoroughly persuaded that the Lord who was with him could accomplish all he had promised, and therefore he faced every difficulty with calm and patient resolution. Now a touch of unbelief bred in him hastiness and bitterness of spirit.

II. LESSONS.

1. The failings of good men may be culpable in God's sight and displeasing to him out of all proportion to the degree of blameworthiness they present to our eye. So far is it from being true (as many seem to think) that believers' sins are no sins at all, and need give no concern, that, on the contrary, the Lord dislikes the stain of sin most when it is seen in his dear children. The case of Moses is not singular. Sins which the Lord overlooks in other men he will occasionally put some mark of special displeasure upon, when they are committed by one who is eminent for holiness and honourable service. It is, no doubt, a just instinct which leads all right-thinking people to be blind to the failings of good men who have been signally useful in their day. But if the good men become indulgent to their own faults they are likely to be rudely awakened to a sense of their error. The better a man is, his sins may be the more dishonouring to God. A spot hardly visible on the coat of a labouring man, may be glaringly offensive on the shining raiment of a throned king.

2. The sins we are least inclined to may nevertheless be the sins which will bring us to the bitterest grief. Every man has his weak side. There are sins to which our natural disposition or the circumstances of our up-bringing lay us peculiarly open; and it is without doubt a good rule to be specially on our guard in relation to these sins. Yet the rule must not be applied too rigidly. When Dumbarton Rock was taken, it was not by assailing the fortifications thrown up to protect its one weak side, but by scaling it at a point where the precipitous height seemed to render defense or guard unnecessary. Job was the most patient of men, yet he sinned through impatience. Peter was courageous, yet he fell through cowardice. Moses was the meekest of men, yet he fell through bitterness of Spirit. We have need to guard well not our weak points only, but the points also at which we deem ourselves to be strong. - B.

I. THE NATURE OF MOSES' SIN. It is described in verse 12, but is not easy to analyze.

1. Its root appears to have been a temporary failure of faith, indicated by the words "must we," or, "shall we bring you water," &c. In spite of the promise (verse 8), he expressed uncertainty as to whether such rebels will be gratified. Unbelief is infectious, and needs a robust faith to resist it. Like a powerful electric current, only a strong non-conductor can arrest its course. Apply to Christians fearing they must fail in their labours because of unbelief in others (cf. Matthew 17:17, 20). This distrust led to further faults, such as -

2. Haste of temper. Words, acts, and manner indicated this. May it not have been that because of his distrust, at the first blow, the water did not flow forth? Or was it that both blows were given in great haste? "He that believeth shall not make haste."

3. Disregard of instructions in striking when merely told to speak (cf. Deuteronomy 4:2; Deuteronomy 12:32; Proverbs 30:5, 6).

4. The appearance, at least, of assuming too much honour to himself and Aaron, and thus failing to "sanctify" God before the people (Psalm 106:33). Distrustful or disobedient thoughts, when shut up, like rebels, within the citadel of the heart, do mischief enough and give a world of trouble; but if they sally forth in the form of words they may cause public injury and lead to consequences some of which may be irreparable. Combining the resolution of Psalm 39:1 with the prayer of Psalm 141:3, we may be safe. Yet in considering Moses' sin we may see -

II. THE PALLIATIONS OF IT.

1. Great provocations from the rebels, who, after all the lessons of the past, inherited and perpetuated their fathers' sins (cf. Exodus 16:3; Exodus 17:3; Numbers 11:5).

2. His first public offence. He was "very meek" (Numbers 12:3), and he needed to be. Now for the first time his meekness failed him.

3. His sin was very brief - a temporary failure of faith, causing a passing gust of anger, yet soon over; he was not "greatly moved" (Psalm 62:2).

4. It led to no public evil consequences appreciable by the congregation. But though we may see in our own sins or the sins of others many circumstances that seem to palliate the offence, we must not expect to escape chastisement if we reflect on -

III. MOSES' PUNISHMENT. Moses had one cherished desire of his life, that, having led the people through the wilderness, he might conduct them into the promised land. Illustrate this from the scene graphically suggested to our imagination in Deuteronomy 3:23-27. True, the punishment was only for this life, and, like many other of God's fatherly chastisements, was overruled for his child's good in sparing him from future conflicts (cf. 1 Corinthians 2:32). But still it was a punishment, reminding us of the great sin of disobedience even under palliating circumstances. And the penalty may be more serious. Illustrate from the ease of the disobedient prophet deceived at Bethel (1 Kings 13); or from some case we may have known of a life blighted through one sin of haste or disobedience in word or act. The favour of God brings with it great privileges, but imposes on us grave responsibilities (cf. Amos 3:2; Luke 12:47; 1 Peter 4:17). What need for the confession and the prayer, Psalm 19:12-14! - P.

I. THE CLAIM.

1. It is the claim of a kinsman, even a brother. The message is not from Moses, but "thy brother Israel," who was also a twin-brother. The long intervening space of years seems to fade away, and with it the hosts of the Israelites and Edomites. Jacob and Esau stand before us, as on the morning of reconciliation, after the wrestling at Peniel (Genesis 33). The descendants had passed through very different experiences, and were now in very different positions; but Moses felt that this common ancestry constituted a claim which he might reasonably plead. So wherever the believer travels, though he cannot put in the claim of grace upon the unbeliever, he may put in the claim of nature. "God hath made of one blood all nations of men," said the Jew Paul to the Gentiles of Athens. The changes of grace transform the ties of nature, but do not destroy them. Believers must always do their best to keep hold of unbelievers by virtue of their common humanity. Israel must remind Edom of brotherhood, not only that Israel may profit by the tie, but may also have the chance of profiting Edom (1 Corinthians 7:12-16).

2. It is the claim of a kinsman in need. We are not told exactly how the request came to be made. God commanded the people to pass through the coasts of Edom (Deuteronomy 2:4), and the presumption is that Moses discovered on approach that the way through Edom would be the most direct and convenient to the land of Canaan. One gets the impression that the people were now allowed to make their way to Canaan with what speed they could, as if to make contrast with the penal delay which God had so long and sternly imposed. If Edom had been willing, Israel might have got to Jordan all the sooner. And so the Church of Christ, in its onward rush, has had to plead with the world, its brother, for toleration and free passage, freedom to speak and act according to conviction. Our chief resort, and always our last one, is to God himself, but there are some ways in which the world can help. Paul counted it part of his advantage, as an apostle, that he could plead for justice, protection: and free course as a Roman before Roman tribunals.

3. It is the claim of a kinsman who had been through very peculiar experiences. The great need of Israel was that it wanted to get home again. The plea is the plea of an exile, who has been in a strange land for a long time, and amid cruel oppressors. Further, the experiences had been peculiar not only in respect of the cruelty of men, but also of the goodness of God. He had sent an angel to deliver and guide. More indication Moses could not give, because it would not have been understood. So peculiar had these experiences been that Edom had heard something of them. The presumption is that all through the past Edom had known something of Israel's history, and Israel something of Edom's. The histories of the Church and the world intermingle. The world cannot but know such experiences of the Church as are perceptible to the eye of sense. "This thing was not done in a corner," said Paul to the incredulous Festus. The course of the Church has been one of sufferings, marvels and mysteries, interpositions and favours of God, which are not to be concealed in any appeals which are to be made to the world. "He hath not dealt so with any nation" (Psalm 147:20). "Blessed is the nation whoso God is the Lord; and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance" (Psalm 33:12).

4. It asks comparatively little, and promises much in return. The request throws great light on Moses' own character, and shows clearly how far he was from reckless ambition. It was an honest request, founded in truth, and Moses made it as one quite reasonable and safe for Edom to grant. The people of God have but little to ask the world for themselves, if it will but let them go through quietly and peaceably. They want none of this world's goods and pleasures, and are ready to assure it that these will remain untouched. There is nothing in the shape of a holy city, a new Jerusalem, among this world's possessions. It is a grand assurance to give, that no one in the world will be the worse for the true Christians who pass through it. Moses might even have said, "Let us through, and a blessing will rest upon you." Wherever the Christian goes, he not simply refrains from evil, but does positive good. "Ye are the salt of the earth; ye are the light of the world."

II. THE REJECTION OF THE CLAIM.

1. It was rejected without giving reasons. There is no answer but that of the "much people" and the drawn sword. This in general has been the method by which the world has met the Church when pleading for toleration, liberty of conscience, liberty to serve God according to his will. The world in its pride will not stoop to understand or calmly consider what the Church may feel it needful to ask. It gets its brute force ready at once, whether in coarser or more refined forms, for those who have different purposes and sympathies (Acts 4:3, 17, 18; Acts 5:18, 40; Acts 7:57, 58; Acts 9:1, 2; Acts 14:5, 19, &c.).

2. Though no reasons were given, yet Edom had them, strong and potent, in its heart. It is not always easy or decent to avow reasons for action; beside which, Edom felt that promptitude in action was required. Moses had sent a message which called up all the past, nut only what he wished called up, but many things he would rather not have brought to mind. The name of Esau's brother was Jacob as well as Israel, and both names were connected with disturbing recollections to the Edomites. "Thou knowest," said Moses. But his way of presenting the facts, and that alone, could not be confidingly accepted by Edom. A great deal of ugly and disquieting news must have filtered through with respect to this great host of fighting men. The great difficulty Moses had in keeping them in order was probably not unknown to surrounding peoples. Thus the Edomites would feel in their hearts that the pledges of Moses were but as broken reeds to rely on. How could he be responsible for the orderliness and honesty of such a host, a host with such a suspicious history? The world has ever had its instinctive fears of the Church. It bears of certain promises and prophecies, and interprets these against its own present security. Herod, trembling for his throne, slays the infants of Bethlehem to make sure of it. The world, loving its own and thinking there is nothing like it, ignorantly supposes that its possessions must stand esteemed by the Church in the same way. Edom, in its suspicious spirit, looked on Israel much as the Jews in Thessalonica on Paul and Silas: "These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also." The Church says, "I am thy friend, O world, thy brother; I will not harm thee;" but the world thinks it well to he on the safe side, and give no chance of harm, if it can prevent it.

3. The refusal of Edom emphasizes the peculiar destiny of Israel. Moses said that Israel wanted nothing of all Edom's treasures. Its treasures were elsewhere, and it pressed onward to possess them. Nevertheless, the treasures of Edom would not have been without temptation, and Edom, unconsciously, spares Israel a trial of its steadfastness. The true people of God have reason to be thankful even for the intolerance of the world. The delays and toils of circuitous roads, where mountains and hills are not yet brought low, nor the crooked made straight, and the rough ways smooth, may have more advantages than in the midst of present discomforts we dream of. The temporal prosperity of its members has not been the boon to the Church that many think. The great boon is to have God continually impressing on our minds that this is not our home. "I gave our brethren a solemn caution not to love the world, neither the things of the world. This will be their grand danger. As they are industrious and frugal, they must needs increase in goods. This appears already in London, Bristol, and most other trading towns. Those who are in business have increased in substance seven-fold, some of them twenty, yea, a hundred-fold. What need then have these of the strongest warnings, lest they be entangled therein and perish!" ('Wesley's Journal,' 3:139). - Y.

I. HIS DEATH, NEVERTHELESS, IS A PENAL ONE. All the holiness of the office cannot obliterate, it cannot even condone, the sin of the man. Great as his privileges had been, and great as the power shown when he stood successfully between the living and the dead, the difference between him and his brethren was only in office, not in nature. The people were to be impressed with the fact that the priest was not only a great chosen mediator, but a sinful brother. He died, not in the seclusion and privacy of a tent, but upon the mountain, in sight of all the congregation. His part in the sin of Meribah, subordinate as that part seemed, could not be passed over. The sin of omission is as serious as the sin of commission. God had spoken the command in the ears of both the brothers, and what Moses failed to recollect or attend to, Aaron should have supplied from his own knowledge. Thus holy, faithful, and honourable as his life might rightly be called, his sin at the hour of death is brought right into the foreground. We justly magnify the lives of God's servants, and point with satisfaction to the serenity and expectancy that mark their closing days, and often their closing hour itself, but never let us forget what sin has had to do in bringing them where they are. It is because of Christ that his people die peacefully, but it is because of sin that they have to die at all. He surely dies the calmest who, forgetting his own good works, casts himself, more conscious than ever of his sin, on the mercy of God and the redeeming work of Christ.

II. THOUGH PENAL, IT WAS TRANQUIL; we may even say it was hopeful. A great deal - more than we can fathom - may be hidden in that expression, "gathered unto his people." If Aaron did not receive the promise, it was because he could not be made perfect without us (Hebrews 11:39, 40). The man who presumptuously neglected the passover was to be cut off from among his people (Numbers 9:13; Numbers 15:30); Korah and his companions perished from among, the congregation; but Aaron was gathered to his people. Doubtless he went up in repentance, faith, obedience, and deep humility to face the great mystery. Though he had sinned at Meribah, disobedience to God and self-seeking were not the chosen and beloved principles in his life. It is a dreadful thing to die in sin, but to the repentant sinner, showing his repentance in sufficient and appropriate fruits, and steadfastly believing in Christ, how can death be dreadful? Many who have lived in long bondage to the fear of death have been wonderfully relieved and calmed as the dreaded hour drew nigh.

"Many shapes
Of Death, and many are the ways that lead
To his grim cave, all dismal; yet to sense
More terrible at th' entrance than within."

III. THE CONTINUITY OF HOLY SERVICE IS PROVIDED FOR. Among the kingdoms of this world the cry is, "The king is dead - long live the king." The departing king keeps his authority and pomp to the last breath. But here while Aaron is still alive, before death can stain those rich and holy garments with its hated touch, they are taken from the father and assumed by the son. Consider this transfer of office thus made, in the light of chapter 19. It was not on Aaron's part a spontaneous abdication, - that he could not make, - but a further significant hint how abominable death is to God. It is not the priest who dies, but the sinful man. There in the sight of all the people it was signified that though they had lost the man, never for a moment had they lost the priest. There was nothing Aaron had done which Eleazar could not do as welt. Aaron personally does not seem to have been a very remarkable man; if anything, wanting in individuality, and easily led. Do not let us look with apprehension when those who seem to be pillars are giving way. The word of Jesus should reassure our doubts, and make us utterly ashamed of them. "Lo, I am with you alway, even to the end of the world." - Y.

I. THE TERMS IN WHICH THE DEATH OF AARON IS FORETOLD (verse 23). Moses is the first to hear of the coming event; and there is something of wrath, or at least of displeasure, against both him and Aaron in the way in which it is announced: "Ye shall not enter the land, because ye rebelled against my word at Meribah." But the displeasure is only, as it were, a passing frown. There is in the words much more of loving kindness and tender mercy. Not only is the saintly high priest forewarned of his approaching departure, but this is done in terms at once most kindly in tone and strongly suggestive of hope regarding the future life. "Aaron shall be gathered unto his people." Christian readers have always, as by a kind of instinct, taken this to mean that Aaron, upon his departure from this world, was to pass into the company of those who were his relatives in the truest and tenderest kindred - the patriarchs who had died in faith before him, the congregation of the righteous beyond the grave. The interpretation is distasteful to certain critics, who have persuaded themselves that in the Mosaic age the views and hopes of the best of men were bounded by the grave. It is easy to cite texts which seem to countenance that low estimate of the views which God had opened up to the early saints of the patriarchal and Mosaic times. But after all it is no better than a paradox, as hard to reconcile with historical fact as with the instinctive perceptions of devout readers of God's word. It is a familiar fact that the Egyptians, among whom Moses and Aaron were brought up, not only believed that men survive the dissolution of the body, but occupied their minds exceedingly about the other world. In the absence of clear and explicit statements to the contrary, we must suppose that Moses and Aaron knew at least as much as the Egyptians, and looked for a continued conscious existence after death. But we are not left to surmise. What can this "gathered unto his people" mean? It cannot mean "buried in the sepulcher where the ashes of his kindred lie," for in that sense neither Aaron nor Moses was ever gathered to his people. Each was buried in a Solitary grave. Nor can it mean merely" gathered to the mighty congregation of the dead" (although that also would imply continued existence after death), for the phrase is used in Scripture regarding none but the righteous (Genesis 25:8, 17; Genesis 35:29; Genesis 49:33, &c.). What then do we gather from this intimation?

1. There is, beyond the grave, a congregation of the righteous, where those who die in faith shall enjoy the congenial society of their own people - men and women like-minded with themselves. Surely a most comfortable thought I A great change has no doubt taken place in the view presented to faith of the future life ever since our blessed Lord rose and ascended. The ancient conception of the heavenly life has been thrown into the shade by the conception of it as being "for ever with the Lord." Yet the ancient conception has lost nothing either of its truth or of its power to comfort. A new source of comfort has now been added, but the old one has not been superseded. We who believe in Christ look forward not only to "the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ," but to" our gathering together unto him" (2 Thessalonians 2:1).

2. Into the congregation of the righteous God is careful to gather his people when they die. They are not driven away into darkness - dismissed like Judas to their own place. They are gathered; they are taken home: with care, that none be lost; with loving kindness also, that they may not fear.

II. THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF AARON'S DEPARTURE.

1. He was divested of his office and robes before he died, and they were transferred to Eleazar in his sight. The priest was to die, but the priesthood was to live. The priesthood was entailed in Aaron's house, but the entail had not yet been confirmed by long transmission. To prevent any attempt to alter the succession, the transference took place while Aaron was yet alive. Probably there was an eye also to Aaron's comfort. It would be a satisfaction to him to see his son invested with office before he died.

2. Aaron's death and burial took place on Mount Her. This was, in the first instance, designed for publicity. Eleazar was to be high priest to the congregation. It was due to them that his investiture should take place in their sight (cf. Numbers 27:22). Ordination to a public office ought to take place in public. This particular mountain was chosen because from it Aaron's eye might descry the southern outskirts of the land of promise. Moses and Aaron were forbidden to enter it; but to each there was vouchsafed a distant prospect of it before he died.

REFLECTION. In this life good and evil are inextricably conjoined. Within the same town, in the same street, in the same congregation, in the same family, there are to be found believers and unbelievers, just and unjust, children of God and children of the wicked one. But hereafter there will come a great severance - lamentable separations, joyous reunions. The haters of God will be taken from among the just, and be dismissed to their own place. The lovers of God will be gathered to their own people, and sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom. This being so, it behooves me to ask myself the question, Who are my people? What is rite people whose likeness I bear, whose company is to me congenial, whoso tastes I share? - B.

I. JUDGMENT. Aaron's death was -

1. A chastisement (verse 24; Romans 5:12; Romans 8:10).

2. A deprivation (verse 26). His garments were taken off because his priesthood was taken away. So with the most sacred and honourable office of the Christian (Hebrews 7:23; 2 Peter 1:13-15).

3. A severance. The aged Moses loses the last companion of his early days.

4. A grief to many (verse 29).

II. MERCY; indicated in Aaron's death by such facts as these. It was,

1. A calm departure, not a sudden judgment. He was not "cut off from," but "gathered unto his people."

2. A release from the toils of life in the wilderness and the contradiction of sinners.

3. A gentle dismission from the responsibilities of office.

4. A transference of his duties and honours to a beloved son. He saw the robes and the office of the priesthood intrusted to Eleazar.

5. A promotion to the higher service of a sinless world; from the mount of communion to the heavenly Mount Zion. - P.