The Tupelo journal., 1907-07-05
God Feeds Israel in
the Wilderness
Sunday School Lesson for July7. 1907
Specially Prepared for This Pape.
Specially Prepared for This Pape.

| III SP~Niahy % w me ePS
lesson TEXT.-Exodus 161-15. Mem
DRY verse. 4.
GOLDEN TEXT am the living
bread which came down from heaven
John 6:51.
Time.-According to the common chro-
nology the crossing of the Red Sea was
about the first of April, B.. G. 149l. Pro-
fessor Beecher regards this early date as
probably the correct one, near the be-
ginning of the fifteenth century, b. c."
Many scholars regard the date as about
1900 b. c., and some as late as 1900 b. c.
There is great uncertainty as to the ex-
act time. This lesson belongs about a
month after the last regular lesson.
PLACE.-The northern part of the VIII
derness of Sin, a long plain bordering the
Gulf of Suez on the east.
Comment and suggestive Thought.
Six hundred thousand men, besides
children and a mixed multitude, had
escaped from Egypt and its slavery,
crossed the Red sea, and were now be-
ginning their journey to Palestine. 1t
took them 40 years, although it could
as easily have been accomplished in
30 weeks.
Three routes were possible C) The
Philistia road, the northern road,
around the Mediterranean. This they
avoided, because it would lead them
through the warlike tribe Of Palestine
(2) The "Way of Shur," directly east
They rejected this, because it trav-
ersed the worst of the desert. (3l
Therefore they were guided to take
the lower road running southeasterly
along the eastern shore of the Red
sea.
V. 8. would to God we had died
-. in the land of Egypt" like the first
born of the Egyptians. The contrast
as to fertility between the wilderness
and Egypt was very great. But they
forgot their sufferings from slavery
there, and the wonderful d~eliverances
from God. They did not appreciate
their freedom, their spiritual training
and privileges, and all that would lead
to a higher life.
Note C) that they might have been
sure that God would provide them
with food. Would he have done such
wonders on the field of Zoan and at
the Red sea, if he meant them to die
in the wilderness? They only needed
to look up to God aud on what he had
done to strengthen their faith. They
were like Christian in Doubling Cas-
tie, who forgot that he had in his
bosom the key of deliverance.
"a friend of mine was once wander
ing in a thick fog. He could not see
a step behind or before, and his soul
was filled with gloomy thoughts. OF
a sudden he looked upward, and 10!
the sky was visible, full of stars. He
was walking through a thick fog that
reached only a few feet above his
head. So in all our troubles; We have
only to look up, and we can see Gods
kindness through them."-Amos r.
Wells.
Note (2) God was only waiting till
they had learned their lesson of faith.
They put material comfort before spir-
itual life. Gods way was to have
them seek first the character which
would prepare them for their Promised
Land.
V. II. "At even We shall eat flesh.
the flesh of ". 49, quails which came
uP IlOIh IL 6hldDloL sun VI lhC 1hCu
sea, across which they fly in the
spring in great numbers, and are
often so fatigued after their passage.
and fly so low, as to become an easy
prey wherever they alight."-Bush. 81
have myself found the ground in Al
geria, in the month of April, covered
with quails for an extent of many
acres at daybreak, where on the pre-
ceding afternoon there had not been
one.'-Tristram. THE quails, as ap-
pears by the subsequent narrative,
were supplied, not regularly, but only
on rare occasions; in fact $50 far as
appears), only here in the wilderness
of Sin, and at Kibroth- Hattaavah, in
the wilderness of Paran (Num. 11:31-
34).
The gift of the quails came through
natural means, like most of their food
and ours. All our daily food is the gift
of God, however much we may work
for it ourselves. 1t forever points us
to God and claims our thanks.
This kind of miracle, We believe, our
Father is constantly working for his
children. God has made nature like
a vast machine, and zone away and
left it. He lives in all his works.
the sun, rain, wind. the very birds of
the air, and continually uses nature
to bless those who honor him.
V. Is. "They said one to another.
What is it?" R. V. Mamma is said
to owe its name to this question, Man
hu?' What is it?'"-Prof. McAlister,
in Hastings Bible Dictionary.
What was the mamma? 1t was ".
81 like coriander seed, white; and
the taste of it was like waters made
with honey" 'The taste of it Mum.
1879 was as the taste of fresh OIL" 1t
was ground in mills, beaten in NOR
tars, seethed in pots, and used to make
cakes. 1t fell with the dew. In Pisa.
1924, 25 it is called "the corn Of
heaven" "the bread of the mighty"
and it sustained the Israelites through
much toll, but it did not pamper their
senses.
Symbol of the True Bread of Heaven.
1t is impossible now to read this
narrative without connecting it with
the Saviour's discourse to the Jews
John 6:27-5S), and we should make
the same use of it in teaching our
scholars that Jesus did in teaching the
Jews. We all are in the wilderness.
We all need bread from heaven. Dur