for a land flowing with milk and honey. It is curious to see how men, to serve a temporary purpose, will mis-state the plainest matters of fact. These rebels, who accuse Moses of leading them out to die in the wilderness, entirely suppress the cause of it; they affect to forget that if they had followed his directions, they would have been at that very moment in actual possession of the land they so much coveted; that it was simply because they had refused, when Moses commanded them to enter Canaan, that they were still wanderers in the desert. So that, in fact, the very charge which they made against their leader, could be brought, with propriety, only against themselves. We cannot be surprised, therefore, to read,

15. And Moses was very wroth, and said unto the Lord, Respect not thou their offering: I have not taken one ass from them, neither have I hurt one of them.

16. And Moses said unto Korah, Be thou and all thy company before the Lord, thou, and they, and Aaron, to-morrow :

17. And take every man his censer, and put incense in them, and bring ye before the Lord every man his censer, two hundred and fifty censers; thou also, and Aaron, each of you his censer.

18. And they took every man his censer, and put fire in them, and laid incense thereon, and stood in the door of the tabernacle of the congregation with Moses and Aaron.

19. And Korah gathered all the congregation against them unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation : and the glory of the Lord appeared unto all the congregation.

20. And the Lord spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying,

21. Separate yourselves from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment.

22. And they fell upon their faces, and said, O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and wilt thou be wroth with all the congregation?

The Lord was now arising to avenge his own cause. Moses had called upon the Almighty to arbitrate between them. He had declared the perfect uprightness with which he had conducted himself in all his transactions with this rebellious people, and had besought the Lord to respect not their offering; but when he saw how mightily the anger of the Lord was aroused, his own wrath was instantly dispelled, and like Abraham of old, he began to plead with God," Wilt thou destroy the righteous with the wicked? that be far from thee, O Lord:" " shall one man sin, and wilt thou be wrath with all the congregation?" How eminently was Moses thus a type of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, who "made intercession for the transgressors!" Although the authority of Moses was most vio

lently attacked, and he slighted and scorned, and this not merely by Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, for it is distinctly said, that they had "gathered all the congregation against him," yet does he forget every personal consideration in the feelings of tender compassion with which he views the misled and erring people, and thinks only of warding off from them the coming visitation of God's vengeance. How beautiful an instance of sympathy! but how inferior to that which it typified! Moses' power, though threatened, was yet untouched; his person, though insulted, was unmolested, when he thus besought the favour of the Almighty upon his enemies. Far different was the state of Him, who, suffering, bleeding, dying, prayed, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do."

Blessed Jesus, let us seek no model lower than thyself. Patriarchs, prophets, martyrs, saints, with all their resplendent gifts and graces, are as nothing, and less than nothing, when compared with the lustre of thy divine and infinite perfections. Teach us, we beseech thee, to view thee not only as a sacrifice for sin, but also an ensample of godly life, that we may daily endeavour ourselves to follow thy most blessed steps, until they lead us, through thy merits, from time into eternity.

EXPOSITION XXI.

NUMBERS XVi. 23-34.

23. And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

24. Speak unto the congregation saying, Get you up from about the tabernacle of Korah, Dathan and Abiram,

25. And Moses rose up and went unto Dathan and Abiram; and the elders of Israel followed him.

26. And he spake unto the congregation, saying, Depart, I pray you, from the tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing of their's, lest ye be consumed in all their sins.

27. So they gat up from the tabernacle of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, on every side: and Dathan and Abiram came out, and stood in the door of their tents, and their wives, and their sons, and their little children.

The prayer of Moses, to which we referred in the last Exposition, that God should spare the congregation, while he punished the rebels, is answered in the portion of Scripture we have just read. The Lord desired Moses to call upon the comparatively innocent, to separate themselves from the guilty. Moses, accordingly, goes to the tent of the conspirators, Dathan and Abiram, attended by the seventy elders of Israel, and

there urges the people to return to their allegiance. Happily, his advice was not unattended to. The congregation, warned in time, fled from the wrath to come, and none but Dathan and Abiram, and their families, were left in their tents. How solemn a moment! These wicked men, persevering in their audacity and rebellion, remain yet unsoftened, and instead of falling upon their knees before their offended Lawgiver, or upon their faces before God, appear determined to brave his vengeance, and to ask, who is the Lord that we should fear Him? But before we hasten to the conclusion of their sentence, let us for a moment consider, in what did the congregation, who had been temporarily with them in their rebellion, find their safety? Only in flight. In an entire separation from these hardened and guilty men. Had the urgent and affectionate cry of Moses, " Depart, I pray you, from the tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing of theirs," been disregarded, no one can presume to doubt that, however different might have been their degrees of guilt, they would have been involved in one common destruction. Surely here is matter of deep and earnest reflection to many among ourselves; are we voluntarily the friends, the associates, the intimates of those, who are living in any open sins, or in a