The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1871-05-18
The Church in the Wilderness.
BY AUNT MARTHA.

BY AUNT MARTHA.
81 am the Lord thy God which have brought thee
out OF the land OF Egypt out Of the house of bond
age"
Has it never occurred to you, dear young
friends, that this grand story of the exodus
from Egypt-of the forty years wandering
in the wilderness, the final crossing of the
Jordan and entrance into Canaan-is most
beautiful illustration of the Christian life ?
Think, will you, of what Egypt may repre-
sent. The world, its pleasures and follies
and honorS; the flesh, its passions and ap-
petites, its selfish unsubdued tempers, idle
ness, discontent-in short, fallen human
nature, with all its sins and infrmities.
Satan, the god of this world, who holds
our viii in captivity, is personi6ed, We may
suppose, by Pharaoh, MANY sorrows shall
be to the wicked" 1.-The way of the trans
gre8sOr is hard, and SO may be represented
by the grooming of the, Hebrews under this
bondage The oonaciepce, too, awakened to
its guilt and misery, is also suggested.
By turning to the Bible, you will find that
of the forty chapters giving particular &C,
count of this exodus and journeying in the
desert, ten of these forty are filed with the
narrative Of the contest between God and
Pharaoh. 1 like the suggestions of this ac-
eideRtal, if We may so call it, numbering Of
these chapters. God begins to plead with
the little babe through the fundamentally
of its Christian mother, and continues to
plead from year to year. until in many cases
his patience is exhausted. Happy the child
who at ten responds to the call, and begins
to follow Christ. Moses and Samuel, David
and Timothy, were of this number, doubtless.
When the favored season Of youth passes
away unimproved, the good pastor, like
Moses, may plead, even with tears, for weeks
and months and years, declaring Gods judg-
ments, and reiterating the command, "Thou
shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only
shalt thou save, alas, with how little success
Procrastination hardens the heart till it
becomes like the "nether milestone; and oh,
if God lets them alone, they are forever lost;
or if, Pharaoh-like, they yield under the
pressure of affection or terror, and then re-
pent of yielding when the terror passes away,
they will surely meet with Pharaoh's doom.
On the other hand, Gods chosen people
yield to his claims. Obeying his servant
Moses, they grid themselves for the journey.
Staff in hand, they partake of the Passover,
with bitter herbs and unleavened bread"
The door.post sprinkled with blood distin-
guishes the one class from the other. The
angel of death passing over these blood
sprinkled houses and shifting the households
not so sprinkled, suggested the name Pass
over Ever afterward this feast was OBJ
served, at Gods command, by the whole
Hebrew nation, at the return of the month
yearly, until the death of Christ, the real
paschal Lamb, of which the first was figure.
Since that glorious and complete sacrifice
upon the cross, all who receive him as the
worlds Messiah, Of every name and nation,
commemorate that event by observing the
new Passover, instituted by the Lord himself
the night of his betrayal. This, too, is per-
petual.
Not once year only, but as often as the
good elders think proper, we may surround
the table in memory of Jesus. The bitter
herbs of the old feast represent true repen-
lance. The unleavened bread signifies sin
cere obedience. The Holy Spirit applies the
sprinkled blood to our hearts, and this is
represented in our baptism. All of you,
dear children, are invited to the feast.
"Then sweet be your voices, responsive at ten,
Hosanna in the highest Hosanna! AmenW
Presbyterian and Inder.