The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1895-07-20

reply. nc GOtH WltHuIeW, IeJeCtluS tnc
baptismal symbol, saying: 81 will remain
with my own people"
Hobab was too much of man to wish,
in the way presented, to rise above his
own people He felt the claims of his
kindred; for no personal gain would he
forsake them.
2. The Appeal to Hobab's I'm
selfishness Succeeds,-vs. 81, 81.
Moses continued entreaty after receiv-
ing such rebuff, shows how earnestly he
desired the company of his brotherin-law.
Leave rs moi, /pray Mee He may have
previously assumed the air of one granting
gratuity, when he offered to Hobab a
share in Israel's heritage. Now he be-
comes suppliant.
7H0N knozOeSf he continues, Aozv NE
are to encamb in tie 7vilde,wess. The
desert which they were to enter upon,
from the Sinai-oasis, was rough, mountain
Gus, bare of vegetation, visited by terrible
sand-storms, intensely hot and arid it was
moreover populated by hostile Bedouin
tribes that would resolutely dispute the
passage of the Israelites through their do
main. This immediate prospect presented
strong contrast to the alluring prospect
Moses had previously held out to his
brother-in-law.
Thou shalt be to rs, said Moses, urging
still farther his appeal, INSTEAD Of eyes.
Hobab knew all this region by personal
experience. He knew every green spot,
every rivulet, every we'll which the Bed
ouins had covered from the sight of strang-
ers. He was capable, as scout and
guide, of being eyes for the blind Israeltes.
AndH shall be, continues the pleading
Moses, ifkzou go aOtM MS, yea, it sAaI6e
that 7vliat good soe5'ey the Lord shall sAoaV
unto MS, the same mil aOe do unto Mee.
He offers to share with his brother-in-
law the responsibility of the great under
taking. He does not conceal its uncer-
tainties. These Hobab understands per-
haps even better than Moses. Moses asks
him to be his friend in his time of need:
he asks him to share the fortunes of the
people he can benefit. The subsequent
history of the Jews shows that this appeal
to Hobab was effective. AS the Kenites
he and his descendants have their place in
the succeeding Jewish annals.
Hobab is one of the worlds unrecog.
nized heroes. He was allured by the Wis
ion, not of what he could get, but of what
he could do.
3. The Abiding Presence of
GOd,-vs. 1896.
And they set out from the mount ofHs
Lord three days. journey. To reach Ka-
desh Barnea would require about eleven
days; the statement here made is that the
first stage of the journey from the starting
place was three days march.
The ark Of the eovenrnt aOent 6etors
Them. The sacred gold-co ,ered acacia
chest, in which the tables with the Ten
Words were deposited, was the symbol of
the presence of Jehovah. In the sense in
which in modern times general is said to
cad his army, although he may be at times
actually in the midst or in the rear of the
troops, it is said that the host of old was
led by the ark, the symbol of Gods abid-
ing presence.
Tie cloud ct the Lord a0as over them
BY day, 7Vhen they set f0y70ayd from Mt
camp. Hc SllOkS dlu llSl dDOfC lilV
camp at Sinai had been friendly protec
ton from the sun !; it had been luminous in
the night darkness. The cloud became to
the Israelites, not without reason, an i'm
pressive emblem of the Divine Providence.
We are not to picture the Israelitish host
as well-organized army marching in bat
tie array along public roads and presenting
an invincible serried 'front.' 1t was instead
promiscuous crowd, scattering far and
wide, each family numbered with its own
household goods and its domestic sheep
and cattle. 1t was the custom in the an
Gent East to employ firesignals on the
great marches. We read of one Egyptian
general as being himself "a fame in the
darkness at the head of his soldiers" The
great cloud, therefore, was thus means
of union as we'll as a protection to the
travelling Israelites.
1T came to pass that aVhsn the ark set
foraOara, that Masses said, Rise nb, o
L0ra, and let thine enemies be scattered
This was the morning prayer of Moses, at
the starting of the ark. Return, O Lord,
unto the ten thousands at tie thousands
of israel This was his evening prayer
for his people. 1t is conjectured that here
is the beginning of the Hebrew psalmody.
The first prayer of Moses was apparently
the germ of the sixty-eighth psalm.