by rebelling against Him. Yet God was so merciful to them, that He had not destroyed them. He had punished them for their sin, but when they turned and repented He had forgiven them. And He had borne them in the wilderness, " as a man doth bear his son, in all the way that they went, until they came to this place."

With a mighty hand, and many wonders, the Lord had brought forth His people from the hard bondage of Egypt. He had saved them from their enemies at the Red Sea. He had been with them in the wilderness to lead them the way, in a pillar of cloud by day, and a pillar of fire by night. He had fed them there with food from heaven, and brought water for them out of the stony rock. And at Sinai He had given them a holy law to guide them, and had said that He would dwell among them, and be their God. And there He made His covenant with them, and said that He would surely give to them that good land which He had promised to their father Abraham, if only they would serve Him, and obey His voice.

And now the Lord had brought His people to the borders of that pleasant land, the land of Canaan; and He bade them enter in, and take it, and dwell there.

But the children of Israel would not believe God's words. They sinned as Esau had sinned before. They thought lightly of God's promised blessings. They said that they would give up the promised land. They said they would not strive to gain it, nor go forth to fight against their enemies, whom God had told them to subdue. Though God had said He would be with them, and make their enemies to flee before them, they would not trust His promise, nor obey His word. And when God's faithful servants, Joshua and Caleb, tried to keep them from this sin, they said that they would stone them.

Then the glory of the Lord appeared in the tabernacle before all the children of Israel. And the Lord spoke with Moses.

God said, that He would smite the children of Israel with a pestilence, and destroy them all, and take their inheritance from them, and make of

the children of Moses a greater nation to be His people.

Then Moses prayed to the Lord to forgive them their sin. He besought the Lord that He would still be merciful to His people as He had ever been, and that He would not destroy them. And the Lord hearkened to the prayer of Moses. God said that He would not destroy the whole people, but that none of those men who had now again rebelled against Him should see the land which He had promised to their fathers. All those who had now so many times sinned against the Lord, though they had seen His glory at mount Sinai, and His miracles which He had done in Egypt and in the wilderness, were to die in the wilderness.

Of that great multitude of men whom God had brought forth from Egypt to lead them to the promised land, two only did not by sin forfeit their inheritance. All were to die without seeing that promised land, except Joshua and Caleb, who had another spirit in them; they had faith in God, and were obedient to His word.

Then the Lord commanded that on the morrow the children of Israel should turn away from the promised land, and go back into the wilderness. And He said that they should wander there forty years, until all who were then twenty years old and upwards should have died, save only Joshua and Caleb. Their children, who were now too young to know good from evil, were then, at the end of the forty years, to enter in and possess the land of Canaan.

Then the ten men who had gone with Joshua and Caleb to search the land, and had spoken falsely concerning it, and made the people to murmur, died by the plague before the Lord.

Numbers xiv. & Deut. i.

An inheritance, is any thing which men receive from their fathers, or which they may expect to have at a future time. It was the inheritance of the children of Israel to be God's people, and to have His covenant, because they had received this great blessing for Abraham their father's sake. The land of Canaan was their inheritance, because God had promised to give that land to the seed of Abraham, and had said that He would surely bring them there, if only they would serve Him, and obey His

voice. Heaven is the inheritance of Christians, because Christ has promised to prepare a place in heaven for them, and to lead them there.

To rebel against God, is to refuse to obey God, or to do what He has told us not to do.

A pestilence, is a very grievous sickness which causes men to die.

To beseech, is to beg very earnestly. He besought, means that he prayed earnestly.

Chapter LXV.

THE PRESUMPTUOUS CONFIDENCE AND TOO LATE REPENTANCE OF GOD'S SINFUL PEOPLE.

WHEN the children of Israel had rebelled against God, and had said that they would kill His faithful servants Joshua and Caleb, they had seen the glory of the Lord appear in the tabernacle. Then they knew that the Lord spoke with Moses there.

And when Moses came forth from the tabernacle, he told the words which the Lord had spoken to all the people of Israel. Then all the