The Tupelo journal. (Tupelo, Miss.) 1876-1924, 1906-09-21

/ the look of deep aversion and dis
gust with which Moses had turned
away from the scene, and as they
reached the borders of the camp and
began to gather the mama, lying
] round and white all about upon the
grass and bushes, he ventured the re-
mark:
Shall we destroy them even as we
did those who turned from God at
| Mount Sinai, and would not obey
| when the golden calf was destroyed"
Moses shook his head sadly, and
for sons minutes did not speak. Then,
turning and sweeping his hand to-
wards the place in the camp where
the people rested amidst the heaps
of birds, he said, slowly:
God has abandoned them to their
| 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 50
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 ridicule and scorn of
the others fell with unstinted meas
ure.
"Ho, no." they said, "Why should
the slumbers of the morning be
broken by this distasteful task of
gathering the mama. We have tired
of that sickening food, and now We
have flesh to eat, and that in abund-
ance, we will not gather mamma
neither will we eat of it 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 fell
| lowship which comes from reliance
upon God and doing his will, and
| those who gave themselves up 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 i'll, 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 mamma
So it is ever with the soul that has
given itself utterly to the gratifica-
ton of the f1eshly 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 means 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
like scourge swept through the
camp, and the stricken ones, no long
err able to eat of the flesh which now
they loathed, begged succor of those
who daily gathered the mamma, but as
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 to
get better, having refrained from par
taking of the flesh, they again chose
the quail, saying that they could not
eat the mama 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
he must let the sin of the people run
it's course. Soon death was stalking
through the camp of Israel, and with
| grim hand was claiming the people by
the scores and the hundreds. Whole
| families were wiped out and the por-
ton of Israel that had refrained from
eating the flesh to the full, and had
gathered the daily portion of mamma
were, forced to bear the dead to their
graves and bury them.
But among those dying hosts of Is
rael there were some who turned to
the Lord in their extremity, and who,
although sick, and wan and weak,
dragged their weary bodies from
among the dead and-the dying, and
sought the place where the Lords
mamma lay. To such there came the
healing mercy of the Lord, for sin
repented of always brings forgiveness,
but sin persisted in brings forth
| death, for the wages of sin is death.
And this story of Israels lust after
| the things of the flesh is told for our
edification and to show us of today,
who find the world and the things of
the world, alluring, that We should
| not lust after evil things" for God
may indeed give us the desire of our
hearts, but with it will come lean
| ness of soul as will shut God and his
| blessing out Let us remember Israel
and Israeps sin.
"Save the Hogs"
The following was taken from the