Sabbath, or day of rest. On the Sabbath-day no manna fell, because they were to rest upon the Sabbath-day. And the manna that was gathered on the sixth day, was good and sweet upon the seventh day. But if, on any other day, they gathered more than enough, and kept it, it bred worms and stank.

All the time that the children of Israel were in the wilderness, God gave them manna to eat.

Exodus xv. & xvi.

To murmur, is to complain or find fault, and speak against those whom we ought to honour.

Chapter LE.

GOD'S PEOPLE SUSTAINED WITH WATER FROM THE ROCK.

THE children of Israel journeyed on towards. mount Sinai till they came to a place called Rephidim. And there was no water there for the people to drink. Then the children of Israel murmured against Moses, and said, "Give us water

that we may drink. And Moses said unto them, Why chide ye with me? Wherefore do ye tempt the Lord?"

To murmur against Moses, was to tempt the Lord, and to provoke Him to be angry with them; for Moses was God's servant. It was God who led the children of Israel by His servant Moses. So when they murmured, because Moses led them where there was no water, it was murmuring against God.

The children of Israel ought not to have murmured, when they had no water. They should have prayed to God, and have waited patiently till it pleased God to give them water. At Marah God had made the bitter water sweet, that they might drink it. And every morning He rained down food from heaven for them. Now they should have had faith in God, who had promised to be with them; they should have trusted that He would not let them die of thirst.

But they forgot the Lord, who had done so great things for them. They said to Moses, "Wherefore is this that thou hast brought us up

out of the land of Egypt, to kill us and our cattle with thirst?"

Then Moses prayed to the Lord; and the Lord said to Moses, "Take thy rod in thy hand, and go; and I will stand before thee upon the rock in Horeb; and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink."

Then Moses took his rod, and struck the rock, as God had said, in the sight of the elders of Israel, and a stream of water flowed from the rock. And the people had water abundantly for themselves and for their cattle.

Exodus xvii.

To provoke, is to make a person angry with us. Men provoke God, when they call forth His anger by sinning against Him.

Chapter LEE.

GOD'S PEOPLE AT MOUNT SINAI TAUGHT BY GOD

THE TEN COMMANDMENTS.

IN the third month after the children of Israel had gone forth out of the land of Egypt, they

came to the wilderness of Sinai. And they encamped before mount Sinai.

Mount Sinai is a very high mount near to mount Horeb they are both parts of the same great mountain. There God had before spoken to Moses out of the midst of the burning bush, when He said that He would send him to bring forth the children of Israel from the land of Egypt.

And when the children of Israel were encamped at the foot of the mountain, Moses went up to mount Sinai to speak with God. And the Lord called to him from the top of the mountain. God said, that Moses should remind the children of Israel of all that the Lord had done for them in Egypt and in the wilderness, to bring them to Himself, and then should tell them, that if they would indeed obey the Lord their God, that they should be to Him an holy nation, and should be God's own people above all people in the earth.

Then Moses came down from the mount, and called together the elders of the people; and he

told them the words which the Lord had spoken. And all the people answered together, and said, "All that the Lord hath spoken we will do."

After this, the Lord told Moses that He would speak to him out of a thick cloud, and that all the children of Israel should hear when He spoke with him, that they might always believe Moses. And the Lord commanded Moses to sanctify the people for three days, for on the third day He would come down in the sight of all the people upon mount Sinai. The people were to sanctify themselves, to put away from them all that was unholy or unclean, that they might be fit to stand before the Lord their God. And God commanded Moses to tell the people, that they should not go up into the mountain, nor touch it; and that whosoever touched the mount should surely be put to death.

Then Moses went down from the mount, and told the people the words of God. And they washed their clothes, and sanctified themselves, as Moses commanded.

"And on the third day, in the morning, there