The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1906-09-21

WIN NHf'h MOSES udI Iurnel
away from the scene. and as the.
reached the borders OF the camp an
l began to gather the mamma. yin,
round and white all about upon III
1, grass and bushes, he venturcd the re
4 mark:
Shall We destroy them even as W,
did those who turned from God a
; Mount Sinai, and would not ODE,
when the golden calf was DESTROYED
! Moses shook his head sadly. an,
for some minutes did not speak. Then
: turning an6 sweeping his hand to
wards the place In the camp wher,
the people rested amidst the heaps
Of birds, he said, slowly:
God has abandoned them to thei,
lust, and should we act as Judges in
his behalf? Nay. rather must we
abide the time when their lust shall
have come to the full. Verify, the
people will bring upon themselves
some dreadful thing by their inor.
dinate indulgence"
That day and for many days there
after the people were fairly drunken
with the flesh Of the quail. No longer
did the people go forth as on former
days for the mama which God so
faithfully provided each morning. all
save those who had not utterly aban.
doned themselves to the lust OF the
flesh and had not forgotten that God
would have them eat Of his mama
from heaven.
Upon such the ridiculo and scorn OF
the others fell with unstintcd meas.
urc.
"Ho, no." they said, "yNhy should
the slumbers Of the morning be
broken by this distasteful task of
gathering the mama. We have tired
OF that sickentng food, ana now We
have flesh to eat, and that in abund-
ance, we will not gather manna,
neither viii we eat of 1t any more
And so IT was that there soon came
to be a marked division among the
people. Those who following the
lead Of Moses went daily to the out.
skirts OF the camp, and not only found
the mama, but that invigorating fel.
lowship which comes from reliance
upon God and doing his will. and
those who gave themselves ND to the
appetites and lusts and fed to the full
upon the flesh which they had gath.
cred.
Thus matters stood in the camp of
Israel when one day it was rumored
that sickness had broken out among
the people. Moses went out to inves.
tigate and he found that there were
indeed those who were Ill. but when
he admonished them to give up their
evil ways and turn to the Lord, they
spurned him, saying:
What would you have us do? Re.
turn to the diet of mama? Rather
would we die with the quail between
our teeth than starve to death because
we have nothing but mama"
SO 1t is ever with the soul that has
given Itself utterly to the gratiica-
ton Of the 1eshly desires. 1t does
not seem that anything else can ever
satisfy but that which feeds the gross
er desires, and so there Is the cling.
ing to that which mean certain dis.
ease and death, and the turning from
that which would give life and health
and satisfaction.
AS the days went by the sickness
ike a scourge swept through the
and the stricken ones, no long
er able to eat Of the flesh which now
they loathed, begged succor of those
who daily gathered the mama, but AZ
each household had only for its own
needs, they were powerless to help.
Again Moses pleaded with them
that they rise and gather the mama
for themselves, but the people would
not, for as soon as they began IN
get better, having refrained from par.
taking of the flesh, they again chose
The quail, saying that they could not
the mann and live.
Discouraged and saddened. Moses
withdrew, realizing that It was use.
less for him to further appeal to the
people to turn to the Lord, but that
must let the sin Of the people run
Is course. Soon death was stalking .
through the camp Of Israel, and with
Trim hand was claiming the people by ,
ne scores and the hundreds. Whole "
were wiped out and the Dor. :.
ion OF Israel that had refrained from
.ating the flesh to the full, and had /,
gathered the daily portion Of mamma =
we're forced to bear the dead to their :,
raves and bury them. -
But among those dying hosts Of Is 1,
there were some who turned to !.
he Lord in their extremity, and who. -
Though sick, and wan and weak. y
ragged their weary bodies from a,
mong the dead and the dying, and ~
ought the place where the Lords n,
lanna lay. To such there came the ~
ealing mercy Of the Lord, for sin b,
Of always brings forgiveness. h,
ut sin persisted In brings forth N
cath, for the wages Of sin is death, a.
And this story of ~Israel's lust after In
Ie things OF the flesh Is told for our No
LITIGATION and to show us of today Il
find the world and the things Of IN
@ world, alluring, that we Should lie
Vt lust after evil things" for God A.
ay indeed give us the desire of our N,
but with it will come lean.
'ss Of soul as will shut God and his -
out. Let US remember Israel
d lsrael's sin.