Centre Democrat. [volume] (Bellefonte, Pa.) 1848-1989, 1881-08-18
THE MAMMA.
TX. IG: is.

supply the daily temporal and spiritual
wants of his people.
The wonderful deliverance they had
experienced in their own safe passage
through the sea, and the destruction of
their pursuers, filed the lsraeites with
gratitude and JOY. They gave expires
sion to their exulting emotions in songs
of thanksgiving and triumph. Then
they set out on their wilderness jour
ney. To avoid the warlike Philistines,
God led them by a circuitous way. First
they went three days march in the
Wilderness of Shur; this took them
southwark along the shore of the Gulf
of Suez, some miles inland. Coming TO
Marah they found water indeed, but it
was bitter. Here, for the first time,
they gave way to a murmuring spirit.
But God directed Moses TO ia tree which
sweetened the waters. From Marah
they went to Elm, where they found
palm trees and wells, and where they
tarried for some days. Their next halt.
ing place was in the Wilderness OF Sin,
between Elm and Sinai. Here our les.
son finds them; and here began one of
most wonderful of all Gods gracious
and miraculous interpretations for his
people.
We are not to think of the entire
wilderness AS either sandy desert or
dense wild. The northern part OF the
peninsula between the Red Sea and the
Persian Gulf is high table land South
of this is belt of yellow sand To-
ward the apex OF the peninsula the
scenery is an irregular mass of noun.
tains, with intervening valleys and
gorges. Here and there are cultivated
patches with palm trees, and gardens
and fields and rich pasture ground. The
lsraelites ordinarily had no difficulty
in supporting their herds and flocks. or
finding food and water for themselves.
But the Wilderness OF Sin was a "dreary,
desolate tract, an "inhospuable desert"
along the shore of the Red Sea. Into
this they had now come.
1t was now a month since they came
out of Egypt, and the provisions they
had brought with them were by this
time exhausted. Considering all the
great things God had done for them. it
may seem surprising that their faith for.
sook them, and that, instead of crying
unto God, they murmured against
Moses. And yet, in their case, should
we have done otherwise With our
larger knowledge of God and expert.
ence of his goodness, how often do we
complain
Small privations and light SORROWS
shake our faith. And yet their muir.
murings were not blameless. They had
good and abundant reasons for trusting
the power and faithfulness of God.
Their longing for their good things
left behind in Egypt was not unlike the
feeling sometimes INDUCED by young
Christians in hours OF unbellef The
sinful delights and seeming freedom of
the days before conversion are Temem.
bered with regret. Crossing the Red
Sea did not cure Israel OF all unbeIief
and carnal desire. Nor does conver.
sion make its subject perfect. Before
Israel were years of wilderness training.
The perfecting of faith and love and
obedience is with the true Christian
oftentimes long process. The design
of Gods peculiar dealing with his peo.
pie was to "prove them, whether they
would walk in his law or no''-that il,
whether they would follow him implic.
lilly, depending upon and taking such
provision as he should send. So God
puts US to the proof. And it is a great
and precious lessons he would thus fiji
in our hearts.
The wonder which God now wrought
has been questioned by some in all
ages. Attempts have been made to ex.
plain the narrative on natural grounds.
There was a natural mamma, a resinous
gum which exudes from the Tamarisk
tree, and which Arabs still gather. But
il was not this with which God fed his
people. Nor was it much like it. The
natural mamma il seen in hut few dis.
tricts OF the desert, and at only certain
months OF the year. IL exudes from
shrubs, and does not fall with the dew.
1t could not take the place of bread.
The mama which God provided for his
people "was like coriander seed, white.
and the taste Of it was like waters made
with honey" The people ground IL in
mills or beat it IN a mortar and baked
il in pans, and made cakes Of it," Other
things marked il as a miraculous gift
from heaven. IL fell in quantities suit.
ed to the needs of the lsraeltes, and on
each of six mornings, but not at all on
the seventh. or Sabbath. The average
amount on five mornings was supply
toF bub uhlf Hnie Ou NHe slAhu tneFe
was a supply for two days. The gath.
erings for the FIVE days could be kept
but one day only. while that of the
sixth could be kept for the two days.
Truly, imam did eat angels food"
The miracle was not for day only, but
long continued. Every day for forty
years the people were reminded that
"man shall not live by bread alone, but
by every word which cometh out OF the
mouth OF God"
PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS.
!. Often, in Christian experience, the
inhospitable Wilderness of Sin lies just
beyond the delightful Elm. Hunger
and tears come after refreshment and
exultation. Let US not think that some
strange thing has happened to Us when
such is our experience. We need the
trial as well as the delight.
2. A murmuring spirit. is a sign of
stuhoifaf Whar faith faffa f1aal fnarcfaa