Part 5

1. How many plagues of Egypt were there? 2. Say them over. 3. What were they all for? 4. Who would not let them go? 5. What was the last plague? 6. Who were to die? 7. Why did the Egyptians deserve to lose their children? 8. Who would slay them? 9. Whom would the angel spare? 10. How were the Israelites to mark their houses? 11. With what blood? 12. What were they to do with the lamb?

Tenth Sunday.

_THE PASSOVER._

FIRST READING.

"There was not a house in which there was not one dead."--_Exodus 12:30._

THIS is our own gladdest Sunday in all the year, and we read of the Israelites being glad too--glad upon the very Sunday that answered to this, thousands of years ago. On this Sunday, of all those thousands of years, there has been joy and gladness and thanking God. And why? It was because all the troubles in Egypt were over, and God brought the Israelites out safe.

There was one thing they had to do first, though; Moses bade them do it, as God commanded him. Every family was to take a lamb, and it was to be killed and roasted whole in the evening, and some of its blood was to be marked upon the door-post of the house, and then all the family were to stand round the table, all ready dressed for a journey, and eat it as fast as they could, late at night.

And while all the families, fathers and mothers and children, stood up eating the lamb in this strange way, there came a great shout and cry. God had sent His angel to punish the cruel Egyptians; and every house where there was no mark of blood on the door-post had some one dead in it, and that dead person was the eldest or first-born son.

There was a great cry, for there was death everywhere, from the son of Pharaoh who sat on his throne down to the child of the poorest slave; and even the first-born cattle died too, because the Egyptians used to worship them; but wherever there was the blood on the door-post the angel passed over, and the eldest son was safe. Then cruel King Pharaoh was sorry and afraid at last, and said that the people who brought such trouble on him should go where they liked.

QUESTIONS.

1. Why are we glad to-day? 2. Why were the Israelites glad to-day? 3. Where were the Israelites living? 4. What hard work had they to do? 5. Who said they should come out? 6. Who would not let them go? 7. What did God tell the Israelites to eat? 8. How were they to be dressed while they ate it? 9. What were they to do with the blood? 10. Who was going to pass over the land that night? 11. What did the angel do where he did not see any blood on the door-post? 12. Who were frightened then? 13. What did the Egyptians wish then?

SECOND READING.

"It is the sacrifice of the Lord's passover."--_Exodus 12:27._

WHEN the King of Egypt said the Israelites might go they were all up and dressed, quite ready and only waiting, and off they set. No more making of bricks, no more slaving for the Egyptians, no more drowning of babies! They were free! and God was going to lead them to the beautiful country that long ago He had said He would give them.

And so, to put them in mind how they were saved from the Egyptians, God bade them on the same day in each year to kill a lamb and roast it, and put the blood on the door-post, and eat the lamb all standing round the table, dressed as if they were going for a journey, that they might never forget how God had made them free. This was called the Passover, because the angel passed over the houses where the blood was marked over the door. And God came in a pillar of cloud to show them the way they should go.

Our blessed Lord was crucified when He had come to the Feast of the Passover many years after. You know He was like a lamb, He was so pure and gentle; and His Blood saves us, as that lamb's blood did the Israelites, and sets us free from the power of the devil. So we still keep the feast of being set free, on this happy Easter Sunday, when we recollect that Christ was slain for our sins, but that He rose again from the dead, and liveth for evermore.

QUESTIONS.

1. What did Pharaoh say that the Israelites might do? 2. What made him let them go at last? 3. Who were set free? 4. What were the Israelites to do every year? 5. What was this eating the lamb called? 6. Why was it called the Passover? 7. Why were the Israelites glad? 8. Who set us free? 9. What did our Lord do as on this day? 10. In what is He like a lamb? 11. So what did we say in the Easter Anthem to-day? 12. How did God lead them?

THIRD READING.

"The children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea."--_Exodus 14:16._

ALL the Egyptians were weeping over their dead first-born sons, and the Israelites were set free, and going gladly out and away from their hard masters.

But Pharaoh's hard heart turned again, and he got all his chariots and horsemen together, and went after the children of Israel to drive them back to Egypt. And when he came in sight of them, there they were all upon the shore of the sea called the Red Sea. They could not go on, for the sea was straight before them; they could not go back, for the Egyptians were behind. They were sore afraid. But God spoke to Moses and told him not to fear. They had only to stand still and see how God would save them.

And God Himself showed that He was with them, for the pillar of cloud went behind them, instead of before, and made it dark to the Egyptians, but gave light by night to the Israelites: so the Egyptians could not get near them all night.

Then God bade Moses stretch out his rod over the sea. And then there was a great wonder. The waves of the sea parted, and stood up on each side in a heap, and in between there was a wide open space, where the children of Israel might walk safely dry-shod, through the very midst of the sea. Through it they went, men, women, and children, through the depths of the sea, with the waves standing still on each side of them.

Pharaoh saw that they were all gone over. He chose to follow after them. But when his host was in the midst, the sea returned in its strength again and came down on the Egyptians, and every one of them was drowned--"they sank like lead in the mighty waters"--and the Israelites were freed from their enemies, quite away from all their trouble and all their slavery; and they sang hymns of joy to God, who had been so good to them and now had set them free.

And we read about them being set free because this is the great Easter Day when we give thanks to our Blessed Lord for having set us free.

QUESTIONS.

1. What last plague had come on Egypt? 2. Who had set off to leave Egypt? 3. But what did Pharaoh do? 4. What was before the Israelites? 5. What was behind? 6. Where did the pillar of cloud go? 7. How were the Egyptians cut off from them? 8. What wonder did God work? 9. Where did the Israelites go over? 10. Who came after them? 11. What became of the Egyptians? 12. Who were free? 13. Who had made them free?

Eleventh Sunday.

_THE GAINSAYING OF KORAH._

FIRST READING.

"The Lord will show who are His and who is holy."--_Numbers 16:5._

WHEN the Israelites came out of Egypt they had a long journey to go, through a dreary, lonely wilderness. Moses and his brother Aaron led them; and God took care of them, and fed them, and kept them safe.

But there were some wicked men, named Dathan and Abiram, who were tired of the wilderness, and were angry at having Moses for their leader and master, though God had made him lead them, and had done so much for them. They said they were as good as Moses, and that he should not be their prince. They did not care for God having spoken by him.

Their end was so very dreadful that I can hardly tell it to you. God would not let them rise up against His servant Moses; and when they would not listen nor repent He made the earth open under their feet, and they went down alive, and were swallowed up in the pit before the eyes of all the other Israelites; and so they died the most terrible death anyone ever died. It was because they set themselves up against Moses, whom God had placed over them, that He was so angry with them.

Remember God has set people over us: there are our fathers and mothers, and our clergymen and teachers; and it is our duty to obey them, as He tells us in the Fifth Commandment. If we are proud and saucy it is very wrong of us. It is not likely that we should be so dreadfully punished in this life as Dathan and Abiram were; but their horrible death should make us remember that God is very angry with those that will not try to obey those that have the rule over them, and set themselves up to be bold and proud, and to say they do not care.

QUESTIONS.

1. What is the Fifth Commandment? 2. What is the explanation of it in the Duty to our Neighbor? 3. Who was set over the Israelites by God? 4. Where had he brought them from? 5. Where was he leading them to? 6. How should they have behaved to him? 7. What bad men were there among them? 8. Whom did they not care for? 9. What did they say? 10. Why was it very wicked of Dathan and Abiram not to obey Moses? 11. What terrible end did they come to? 12. Why was God angry with Dathan and Abiram? 13. What makes Him angry? 14. Whom did you say He had set over you? 15. Then how must you behave to your parents and clergymen and teachers?

SECOND READING.

"And seek ye the priesthood also?"--_Numbers 16:10._

WHEN God gave the Commandments upon Mount Sinai, He chose that Aaron, Moses' brother, and his sons should be His priests. A priest had to offer up the sacrifices to God, and to burn incense to Him. Incense is made of dried plants and gums that have a sweet smell when they are burnt.

The priests had brazen urns with holes at the top, and chains to hold them by, and when the smoke of the incense went up it was just as our prayers rise up to God in heaven. There were other people called Levites, who had to take care of the holy things that were used in God's service, but only the priests might offer sacrifices or incense.

Now one of these Levites, named Korah, wanted to do more. He was angry, and said everybody was holy, and that Aaron took too much on himself. Now it was not Aaron who made himself priest, but God had made him so. Therefore it was wrong in Korah; but there were two hundred and fifty men whom he persuaded to come and get censers, and offer incense to the Lord as if they had been priests. But because they did it in pride and self-will God was angry with them, and His fire burst out and scorched them all to death! It was only the men themselves that died, not their wives or children; and Korah's family after him were better than he was, and used to sing God's praises in the Psalms.

But they always recollected that no one who was not a priest might offer sacrifice or burn incense before God.

QUESTIONS.

1. What had a priest to do? 2. What was a sacrifice? 3. What was incense? 4. What was it burnt in? 5. Who only might offer sacrifice and incense? 6. Who was the right priest? 7. How came Aaron to be priest? 8. Who wanted to offer incense? 9. What did Korah say? 10. How many came with him? 11. What did they try to do? 12. What happened to the two hundred and fifty? 13. Why were they punished? 14. What became of Korah's children? 15. Who are our priests? 16. How were they made priests? 17. What may they alone do?

THIRD READING.

"The rod of Aaron for the house of Levi was budded, and brought forth buds, and bloomed blossoms, and yielded almonds."--_Numbers 17:8._

THE high-priest, whom God chose, had to offer sacrifices to Him. That was, the priest slew a lamb, or a goat, or a bullock, by the altar, and gave it to God. It was to show that the Son of God would come and die to take away sin. Now He has come and died, we have left off killing creatures in sacrifice, and only make remembrance over again of His sacrifice in the sacrament of the Lord's Supper.

The high-priest used to wear a beautiful dress. He had a mitre on his head, with a gold plate on it, and the words, "Holiness unto the Lord;" and he had a blue, red, and white robe, embroidered with gold, and round the hem little gold bells and pomegranates. He had a curious scarf called an ephod, and a beautiful breast-plate made of twelve precious stones, each with the name of one of the twelve tribes of Israel engraven on it.

God said He would show who should be His priest. So He bade Moses desire the chief man in each tribe to bring a dry rod or staff, and lay them up all night in the Holy Place. The one whose rod began to grow as if it was still on the tree should be the high-priest. When the twelve men went to look in the morning, eleven rods were dry sticks still, but one had put out green leaves and pink buds, and white blushing flowers, like almond blossoms. It was Aaron's rod; and this was the way God let the children of Israel know that Aaron and his sons, and grandsons after him, were always to be priests.

QUESTIONS.

1. What was a priest? 2. What had he to do? 3. What was a sacrifice? 4. How was it offered? 5. What creatures were killed? 6. Where were they put? 7. What was this to make the children of Israel think of? 8. Why don't we kill sacrifices now? 9. Who has been sacrificed? 10. What did the high-priest wear on his head? 11. What color was his dress? 12. How was it edged? 13. What was on his breast? 14. What did God say He would show? 15. What were twelve men to bring? 16. Where were the rods put? 17. What was to show who should be priest? 18. What were the eleven rods like in the morning? 19. But how did one look? 20. Whose was it? 21. What, then, was Aaron to be?

Twelfth Sunday.

_ISRAEL IN THE WILDERNESS._

FIRST READING.

"Ye shall not tempt the Lord your God."--_Deut. 6:16._

I TOLD you what sort of place a desert is, and how full it is of stones, and rocks, and sand, and with no water in it. Do you remember how thirsty Ishmael was in the desert, and how God heard the voice of the lad, and sent an angel to lead his mother to a well of water?

When the Israelites had come out of the land of Egypt, they were in a terrible wilderness. Mount Sinai stood up in the midst, and all round were great rocks of red and black marble, all dry and parched with the hot sun shining on them.

The Israelites grew very hot and sadly thirsty, but they did not pray as Ishmael had done. They grew angry, and said, "Is the Lord among us or no?" Do you not think they deserved that God should show whether He was among them by punishing them for grumbling? That was the way they tempted God. But He was so good and merciful that He pitied them; and He bade Moses to take his rod, and go to the bare, dry rock, and strike it. And when Moses struck the rock, God made a beautiful, fresh, clear spring of water come pouring out of it, so that all the people, and all their cows, and sheep, and goats, and camels, could drink and be refreshed.

Was not that a great wonder? and was not God very kind to them, though they were not good? But you see God was near to help them all the time, and it was very sad that they grumbled instead of praying. Do not be like them. If a thing is hard to bear, don't murmur and grumble about it, but pray, and then you will get help. Either the vexing thing will go away, or you will leave off minding it.

QUESTIONS.

1. Where had the Israelites come from? 2. Who was leading them? 3. What kind of place did they get into? 4. What is a desert like? 5. What was the mountain in the midst of the desert? 6. What cannot be found in the desert? 7. Who was the lad that was thirsty there before? 8. What did Ishmael do when he was thirsty? 9. But what did the Israelites do? 10. What did they say? 11. What would have served them right? 12. But did God punish them? 13. What did he tell Moses to take? 14. What did Moses strike? 15. What came out of the rock? 16. What made the water come out of the rock? 17. Was it not very good of God to give them water? 18. What ought they to have done? 19. What should you do when a thing is hard? 20. Is it not very naughty to grumble?

SECOND READING.

"As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up."--_John 3:14._

ONE great fault of the Israelites was that they had no patience. The moment they saw anything troublesome or difficult, they began to cry out, and say they could not get on, and it was very hard on them. Now it is very wrong ever to say God is very hard upon us, for we may be sure He is doing what is best for us. There was one stony, hot, steep part of the journey still to come, and when the Israelites saw it they forgot how often God had helped them, and cried out, and lamented, and complained of Him and of Moses.

So again they were punished, for the little shining snakes that live there came in numbers, darting at them and biting them, so that the bite burnt like fire, and they died. Then they cried out to God and were sorry, and He told Moses of a wonderful way to cure them. Moses was to melt up some brass and make a great serpent, like the little ones that bit them, and set it up on a pole. Then if anyone who was bitten would come at once and look up at the brazen serpent, his bite would get well, and he would not die of it.

This was a miracle--a wonder. And it was to teach the Israelites something, and us too. For you know our Blessed Lord hung on the cross, as the serpent hung on the pole; and when our souls are in danger of dying of sin, we must think of Him, and look to Him in faith, and He will save us from being punished for our sin, and keep our souls from dying.

QUESTIONS.

1. What sort of place had the Israelites to go over? 2. How did they like it? 3. What did they do? 4. Why ought they not to have cried out? 5. Who had been taking care of them? 6. So how did God punish them? 7. What happened when the serpents bit them? 8. What were they sorry for? 9. So what was Moses to make? 10. Where did he put the brazen serpent? 11. What were they to do if they were bit? 12. What cured them? 13. Who hung upon the cross? 14. What does He cure our souls of?

THIRD READING.

"He humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not."--_Deut. 8:3._

THIS morning you heard how God gave the children of Israel water to drink in the wilderness. Now you shall hear what He gave them to eat. The ground was all hard stones. There was grass which the cows and sheep could eat, and there were a few trees with long sharp thorns, but no fruit on them, and no corn to make bread; and soon the people were very hungry, and began to cry out that they did not know what would become of them.

But God was not going to forget them. When they rose up in the morning, the fresh dew lay on the grass, and all about in the dew were little white things that tasted like wafers made with honey. This was called manna, and God had sent it from heaven for them to eat.

Every morning on week days there it was, and they had all to come out and pick it up. But they must get up early to gather it, for when the sun was hot it would melt away. And they could not keep it--it grew bad and was not fit to use the next day; but there was always just enough for everybody to have all they wanted. There was only one day in each week that more came down, and that was the day before the Sabbath-day, which they had instead of Sunday. Then each one could get twice as much as could be eaten in one day, and it did not spoil so fast. For on the Sabbath-day God would have them rest, and so no manna was to be found anywhere, so that they might learn to keep the Fourth Commandment--Remember the Sabbath-day to keep it holy.

All the time they stayed in the wilderness, the sweet white manna lay on the grass in the morning for them to pick it up--twice as much on the sixth day of the week, and on the Sabbath-day none at all. Was not that very good of God?

QUESTIONS.

1. Where were the Israelites? 2. What had they to drink in the wilderness? 3. What else did they want? 4. Why could they not get bread? 5. What did God give them instead? 6. What was the manna like? 7. Where did it lie? 8. When was the manna on the grass? 9. Who were to eat it? 10. Who sent it? 11. What became of it in hot sunshine? 12. Would it keep? 13. What was the day when it could be kept? 14. How much came down the day before the Sabbath? 15. What might not be done on the Sabbath? 16. What is the Fourth Commandment? 17. So why did they get twice as much manna the day before? 18. When did no manna come? 19. What day have we instead of the Sabbath?

Thirteenth Sunday.

_BALAAM AND BALAK._

FIRST READING.

"Thou shalt not curse the people: for they are blessed."--_Numbers 22:12._

THERE was a prophet called Balaam. A prophet means a man to whom God made His will known, and who was thus much wiser than other men. This prophet one day saw some rich great men come to his house. They brought him a message, that a king named Balak wanted him to come with them, and would give him great rewards for coming. Balaam said he must wait for one night, and God would make known to him what he was to do. And at night God told him he was not to go; for what Balak wanted of him was to curse the children of Israel, and God would not have them cursed. So Balaam said he must not go, and the messengers went away.

But Balak sent more princes, still grander men, with larger presents, to fetch Balaam. He answered, "If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I cannot go beyond the word of the Lord my God, to do less or more." But he had not left off wishing. He begged the messengers to stay, and see if God would give him leave to go. And this time God did say he might go, but that he should not say anything about the Israelites but what God put in his mouth. Balaam knew that God was not pleased with him; but he wanted Balak's rewards, and he set off in the morning, riding on his ass.

Presently the ass was frightened, and turned out of the road into the field. Balaam was angry at this, and beat the ass. But again the ass turned aside in a narrow walled path, and squeezed Balaam's foot against the wall. He beat her again. Presently, in a very narrow road, the poor ass fell quite down for fear; and Balaam was very angry, and beat her harder.

Then God worked a wonder. He made the dumb ass to speak, and ask why he was so cruel to her. He answered that he only wished for a sword to kill her. The ass asked if she had ever been like this before. He said, No. And then, full before him, he saw God's holy angel with a sword in his hand. And he fell down on his face.

The poor ass had seen the angel all the time; but Balaam could not see him till God made him able. And now he was afraid, and would have gone back; but the angel said he must go on now, though he would only be able to speak the words which God put in his mouth.

Think if, sometimes when you have been told you must not do something, you fret and teaze to do it--is not that like Balaam? And perhaps you teaze till some one gives you leave to do as you wish. Then you get quite cross with eagerness, and are unkind to all that hinders you; and, after all, you do not find that any good comes of getting your own way.

QUESTIONS.