is mentioned by Burckhardt, the water of which is so bitter that neither men nor camels can drink it; and a grove of palm trees by the side of some wells of water, is thought to indicate the ancient station of Elim. Indeed the whole of the route to Sinai was traced by this enterprising traveller, and, making allowance for the lapse of so many centuries, there appears every reason to suppose that the places he visited were the same as those mentioned in the journey of the Israelites.

After resting a month in the delightful station of Elim, the Israelites quitted its wells and palm trees, and "came into the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai."* It is supposed that the Israelites brought provisions with them out of Egypt, which lasted them until now, when, their stores failing, they for the first time experienced the want of food.

"And the whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness: And the children of Israel said unto them, Would to God we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when

* Two wildernesses of Sin occur in the journeys of the Israelites; the one here mentioned near the Red Sea, written Sin,-the other written Zin, which lay to the south of Canaan, near the borders of the Dead Sea. The stations of the Israelites are not all put down ; they may be seen on referring to the thirty-third chapter of Numbers. The places in which the Israelites encamped before reaching Sinai can still be traced with apparent accuracy; but with regard to those named between the sojourn at Mount Sinai and Kadish Barnea, commentators are not agreed as to their situation.

we sat by the flesh pots, and when we did eat bread to the full; for ye have brought us forth into this wilderness, to kill this whole assembly with hunger."

As Moses and Aaron never acted but in obedience to the divine will, to murmur against them was to murmur against God. Yet He forgave the sinful repining of His people, and took compassion on their sufferings: so merciful is He to his creatures, even when they murmur under the wise dispensations of his providence.

"Then said the LORD unto Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law, or no. And it shall come to pass, that on the sixth day they shall prepare that which they bring in; and it shall be twice as much as they gather daily." This was

manna," which fell every morning round the camp of the Israelites, in all seasons, and in whatever place they were, during the whole forty years of their sojourn in the wilderness.

Before the manna fell, Moses, by God's command, promised the exhausted Israelites a supply of food; and accordingly, "at even quails came up and covered the camp:* and in the morning the dew lay round about the host.

This was the first gift of quails: another occurs after the Israelites leave Mount Sinai. The quail is a bird of passage, about the size of a pigeon: but the flock of quails here recorded was miraculous; that is, it fell round the camp of the Israelites

"And when the dew that lay was gone up, behold, upon the face of the wilderness there lay a small round thing, as small as the hoar frost on the ground. And when the children of Israel saw it, they said one to another, It is manna ; for they wist not what it was.* And Moses said unto them, This is the bread which the LORD hath given you to eat."

"This is the thing which the LORD hath commanded; Gather of it every man according to his eating, an omer for every man, according to the number of your persons; take ye every man for them which are in his tents."

"And the children of Israel did so, and gathered, some more and some less. And when they did mete it with an omer, he that gathered much had nothing over, and he that gathered little had no lack; they gathered every man according to his eating.

"And Moses said, Let no man leave of it till the morning. Notwithstanding they hearkened not unto Moses; but some of them left of it until the morning."

Those who left it until the morning were probably of a covetous disposition, and they were punished; the next morning the manna was full of worms, and not fit to be eaten; and thus it always became when kept, except on the Sabbath.

at the exact time Moses had declared by God's command that `it would fall; and so vast was the quantity of birds, as to supply a whole people with food.

* The word manna signifies, "What is it?"

On that day no manna fell; every man was commanded to rest, and keep the Sabbath holy; and on the Sabbath alone, the manna collected the preceding day remained perfectly good.

"And Moses said, This is the thing which the LORD commandeth, Fill an omer of it to be kept for your generations;* that they may see the bread wherewith I have fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you out of the land of Egypt."

"As the LORD commanded Moses, so Aaron laid it up before the Testimony, to be kept.

"And the children of Israel did eat manna forty years, until they came to a land inhabited; they did eat manna until they came to the borders of the land of Canaan."

After this merciful deliverance from the horrors of famine, a deliverance which the Israelites owed immediately to the power of God so wonderfully displayed, we should expect that they would never again have distrusted His Almighty care and goodness. But the Israelites did not yet "know in whom they believed," and their faith failed under the test of suffering. The following chapter will present another instance of their sinful distrust.

An "omer" is a Hebrew measure, containing about six English pints.

CHAPTER IX.

WATER FROM THE ROCK AT HOREB.

THE AMALEKITES DEFEATED AT REPHIDIM.
JETHRO'S VISIT AND COUNSEL.

THE Israelites quitted the wilderness of Sin, and, after resting at two different stations, reached Rephidim, a place in the neighbourhood of Mount Sinai.

Here the Israelites again experienced a dreadful want of water; and again, instead of humbly addressing their prayers to God, they broke forth into murmur and reproaches against Moses. They accused him, as before, of bringing them into the desert to kill them, and their children and their cattle, with thirst; and their rebellion rose to such a height that Moses feared for his life. He endeavoured to reason with them; "Why chide ye with me," he said to the people, "Wherefore do ye tempt the Lord?" But it was in vain.

"And Moses cried unto the Lord, saying, What shall I do unto this people? They be almost ready to stone me.

"And the Lord said unto Moses, Go on before the people, and take with thee of the elders of Israel; and thy rod, wherewith thou smotest the river, take in thine hand, and go. Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in