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the Almighty, falling into a trance, but having his eyes open: I shall see him, but not now: I shall behold him, but not nigh: there shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel, and shall smite the corners of Moab, and destroy all the children of Sheth. And Edom shall be a possession, Seir also shall be a possession for his Out of Jaenemies; and Israel shall do valiantly. cob shall come he that shall have dominion, and shall destroy him that remaineth of the city."—

"Who shall live when God doeth this ?" It is meant, either that none then living would see these events; or that the times would be so distressing, that scarcely any would be able to escape.

Ships shall come from the coast of Chittim," &c. "Some think by Chittim the Romans, others the Macedonians under Alexander the Great, are meant. It is certain that the Romans conquered the Assyrians, including all the people of Syria, Mesopotamia, &c. but Calmet strongly contends that by Chittim, Macedonia is meant; and that the prophecy refers to the conquests of Alexander. Chittim was one of the sons of Javan, the son of Japhet, the son of Noah; and his posterity, according to Josephus, settled in Cilicia, Macedonia, Cyprus, and Italy also; and therefore the prophecy may imply both the troubles that befel the Assyrians and Jews by the Greeks and Seleucida, in the troublous days of Antiochus. By Eber is probably intended, not the Hebrews, but the people on the other side of the Euphrates, the word in the original signifying to pass over, to go beyond. All this people were discomfited, and their empire destroyed by Alexander the Great."-Clarke.

"Amalek was the first of the nations; but his lat ter end shall be that he perish for ever."-" Strong is thy dwelling-place, and thou puttest thy nest in a rock nevertheless the Kenite shall be wasted, until Ashur shall carry thee away captive."

९९

Alas, who shall live when God doeth this! And ships shall come from the coast of Chittim, aud shall afflict Ashur, and shall afflict Eber, and he also shall perish for ever.”

Balak had already abandoned, as we have seen, all further attempts to carry his purpose into effect, of having Balaam curse the Israelites. He perceiv ed that it was hopeless. It would seem, however, that the intercourse between these two men was not broken off; and that notwithstanding the violent anger of the king, and his command to Balaam to flee from his presence, the latter had an acceptable expedient to propose, by which to enable Balak to inflict upon those whom he called his enemies, a severe injury.

At this time, or very soon afterwards, he advised the king of Moab to place a temptation in their way, which would, as he hoped, allure them to great wickedness, and draw down upon them the judgments of the Almighty. Some of the licentious women of Moab and Midian were to endeavor to do this, and to entice the Israelites to their idolatrous feasts. We shall see that in this, alas! they were too successful; and that one of the results,

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also, was the death of Balaam. So that this corrupt and unprincipled man was, at length, overtaken and destroyed by his own machinations.

We are told that, after uttering his last remarkable prophecy, "Balaam rose up, and went and returned to his place: and Balak also went his way." It is most probable, that we are to understand by this, his intention merely to go to Mesopotamia, his native country; for it is certain that, in a very short time after, he was among the Midianites, and then came to his untimely end.

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Some have endeavored to cast the mantle of charity over parts of Balaam's conduct, and to rescue him from the charge of being a very bad man. But the whole tenor of the history is quite at variance with such a view of his character. Besides, the express declarations of Scripture place the matter beyond all doubt. Does not the apostle Peter say, speaking of some of the vilest and most abominably sinful persons, that they are gone astray, following the way of Balaam, who loved the wages of unrighteousness." Does not Jude pronounce a wo on those equally corrupt and licentious sinners whom he describes, because "they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core." Must not he whom divine inspiration thus classes with the most vile and sinful, himself have veru wicked man!

His ruling passions, the love of wealth and of worldly distinction, proved his ruin. He had light enough to guide him in the path of duty. A divine. command forbade him to visit Balak. Madly persisting to do it, one obstacle after another was thrown in his way, and he told by a messenger from heaven, that he was grievously sinning against God. But he kept on. He would, if possible, pro nounce the awful curse. Thrice he made the attempt, and was as often defeated, and constrained to utter blessings. A base and wily statagem was adopted, that he might prove his fidelity, to the last, to the interests of the king. And what was his reward, what the real wages of his unrighteous deeds? No royal favors of which we have any account. Or, if they were bestowed, they were unsatisfying and of short duration. The curse of God rested upon Balaam, the same curse which he would inflict upon others,—and a speedy death closed his guilty, mortal career!

My young friend, ponder well this instructive history. See the rapid progress of sin, when the plain path of duty is forsaken, and the voice of conscience disregarded. What is your most powerful, sinful passion? Every unrenewed heart is under the dominion of some one; and even christian, alas! has long to contend with sin fore through grace he gains the victory.

the

be

Beware lest this ruling passion prove the rui

of your sou!. If it is still your master, your danger is tremendous. Struggle against it. Pray against t. Beseech God to create within you a clean heart, nd to rener within you a right spirit.

CHAPTER LIX.

The sin of the Israelites with the Moabites. Zimri. The people numbered. Moses warned of his approaching death.

The Is aelites were still encamped in the plains of Moab, near the river Jordan, and over against Jericho. Balaam, as we have seen, had devised a plot for leading them into the commission of great wickedness. The temptation succeeded; and in addition to other gross offences, many of the Israelites were enticed by the women of Moab and Midian, to unite with them in the sacrifices made to their gods; to partake of the accompanying feasts; and to bow down before Baal-peor, their principal and vile deity. It was a scene altogether of shameful depravity, and called down upon the offenders the terrible indignation of the Almighty.