than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt, for he had respect unto the recompense of the reward."

Now can you fancy a young man living in a king's court, with every sort of luxury and splendour about him, not choosing to stay there, but wishing to take the part of his ill-used countrymen ? Do you believe that you would have done as he did?

Some of you may be tried much as he was. You may go out to service and get high wages and plenty of everything; but when your fellowservants are doing very wrong things, and are tempting you to be as bad as themselves, do you think that you would sooner suffer affliction, or at least hardship, lower wages, worse food, harder work with good people, than enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season? If ever you are tried in this way, remember Moses.

One day he saw an Egyptian ill-using one of his own nation, and in his anger he slew him. But even his countrymen turned against him; and asked, "Who made thee a prince and a judge over us?" So he left the land of Egypt and went off to the land of Midian. Midian extends over the peninsula of Sinai, where Moses afterwards led the children of Israel, and during his long stay there, he would have become well acquainted with all the mountainpasses, amongst which he was to be their guide.

On his arrival there, the daughters of the priest of Midian coming to draw water for their father's flocks of cattle, some shepherds drove them away. Moses

interfered, as he always did all his life through, as I hope you always will, when you see the strong illtreating the weak; and Jethro, the father of the maidens, made Moses the keeper of his sheep, and, finally, gave him his daughter Zipporah in marriage. For forty long years he kept his sheep on the mountains, a great change to one who had always lived in a king's court.

He called his eldest child Gershom, which means banishment. It shows how much he grieved at being away from what had been to him a home and a country. But he named his next child Eliezer, signifying "My God is an help." And so indeed he was to Moses. God had a great work for him to do, and as he kept his sheep round the mountain of Horeb, afterwards to be called the Mount of God, he was preparing for it.

THE BURNING BUSH.

"AND the angel of the Lord appeared unto Moses in a flame of fire, out of the midst of a bush, and he looked, and behold the bush burned with fire, and was not consumed. And God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I." When Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon God, having been told that the place whereon he stood was "holy ground," he received the wonderful order to go to Pharaoh, and to tell him to put an end to his intolerable cruelty towards the children of Israel.

No wonder that Moses was frightened at the work given him to do. Heone man-to give orders to a great king like Pharaoh, who had thousands of soldiers ready to do his bidding. No wonder that he answered, "Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt?" God answered, "Certainly I will be with thee," and then He strengthened his faith by showing him wonderful miracles, worked upon the rod he held in his hand, which was probably the staff by which he guided his wandering sheep. At the command of God, that rod was turned into a serpent, and then into a rod again. He little knew what wonders he should work with it when he returned into the land of Egypt.

One more help God bestowed upon Moses, who had tried to excuse himself from speaking to Pharaoh by saying he was "slow of speech, and of a slow tongue." God said, "Is not Aaron, the Levite, thy brother? I know that he can speak well, and he shall be thy spokesman unto the people."

On arriving in Egypt, he called the Israelites together, and told them that "God had looked upon their afflictions, and would deliver them." Then Moses and Aaron delivered the message to Pharaoh that they had to repeat so often, and told him that he was to let the children of Israel go. Pharaoh became very angry, as bad men generally are when told that they are doing wrong. He scolded Moses for interfering, and he ordered the taskmasters to "no more give the people straw with

which to make brick;" but said, "Let them go and gather straw for themselves." He said their complaints showed that they had not enough to do, and added, "The tale" (that is, the number) "of the bricks ye shall not diminish" (or lessen), "for they be idle. Let there more work be laid upon the men, and let them not regard vain words."

Next, Moses had to bear with the ingratitude and complaints of those whom he was trying to help. They told him that Pharaoh had been much more cruel since he, Moses, had meddled in the matter. But God told him to give them this message: "I am the Lord. I appeared unto Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob by the name of God Almighty, and I have established my covenant" (that is, agreement) "with them, to give them the land of Canaan, and I have also heard the groaning of the children of Israel whom the Egyptians keep in bondage. Wherefore, say unto the children of Israel, I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rid you out of their bondage, and I will take you to me for a people, and I will be to you a God, and I will bring you into the land concerning which I did swear to give it to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, and I will give it to you for an heritage. I am the Lord." But the Israelites were too miserable to be able to believe that such a good time was coming.

And now began that wonderful succession of miracles, the punishments inflicted on Pharaoh and his people, which were meant to convince the king that a power stronger than his own was taking

the side of the wretched slaves to whom he had behaved with such cruelty.

PHARAOH.

FIRST the waters were turned into blood, so that the fish died, and the Egyptians could not drink of the water; yet Pharaoh's heart was hardened. Next Aaron was told to stretch his rod over the streams, and the rivers, and the ponds; and frogs came up and covered the land of Egypt. Then Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron, and said, “Entreat the Lord for me, that He away the may take frogs from me and from my people, and I will let the people go." Moses did so, "and the frogs died out of the houses, out of the villages, and out of the fields. But when Pharaoh saw there was respite, he hardened his heart."

The river turning into blood must have reminded the king of the blood of the innocent children he had murdered. Frogs are mentioned in the 78th Psalm as a plague "that destroyed the people," and in the 105th Psalm it is said, "Their land brought forth frogs in abundance, in the chambers of their kings." The third plague was lice, or, as some believe, the mosquitoes that swarm on the banks of rivers, a sort of gnat, the bite of which is so irritating that it causes severe pain. The fourth plague was swarms of flies, which covered everything in Egypt, till it was said the land was corrupted by means of the flies. Again Pharaoh gave