Evening journal., 1916-02-19
Deuteronomy I; 19-"And We came
10 kadesh. Barnea.

tthu w NtAAAa~
TO kadesh-Barnea.
The journey OF the children Of Is
rael. out of Egypt and into the Prom
ised Land of Canaan. has been used
as a type throughout all the centuries
OF the Journey of the human soul, out
OF the bondage OF sin into the prom
ised land OF salvation / wish to pre-
sent to you tonight the three phases
and conditions Of the human life. Ev-
cry human soai is living in the one
or the other of these three conditions.
There is first the Egypt life; the sec
Ond, the Wilderness life, and third,
the Canaan life. Throughout all
Scripture Egypt is typical of sin. In
Egypt the children of Israel were out
Of communion with Jehovah. They
had no chance to build altars or erect
temples for the worship OF the liv-
ing God. for il they did they would
be torn down by their heather mas
ters. And for the Israelites there was
no true communion with God without
a temple and ar altar.
So il is with a life that is in the
Egypt of sin. II is sin that puts up
a barrier between the soul and the
heavenly Father; that cuts the wire
OF communion and chOkes the chan
mel OF blessing. There can be no real
prayer as long as there is conscious
ness OF sin. Well did the Psalmist
say. "If I regard iniquity in my heart,
the Lord will not hear me-"
Moreover under the tyranny and
oppression OF Egypt, the condition OF
the Israelites grew worse and worse,
until at last they were compelled to
make bricks without straw. That is,
each day they had to complete their
full measure Of production without
being given material and equipment
with which to do so. Is not that a
true picture OF the life away from
God? Every human being has his
burdens to bear. his problems to
solve. his temptations to overcome,
his character to form. anyway. wheth-
or he Is a Christian or whether he is
not. That is. he is compelled to make
his measure Of bricks, but when he is
living in the Egypt Of sin he is en-
deavoring to do this work and face
these problems and meet these re-
sponsibilities apart from God. Il
would be as il a tree would pull its
roots up out Of the earth and then
expect TO bear leaves and blossoms
and fruits.
Also the people Of Israel in Egypt
we're under the most CALLING bondage
Every morning they would go forth
under the lash Of their heather task
masters to a day of ceaseless toll. to
return in the evening with their backs
bruised and bleeding, to night of al
most sleepless rest. with no hope fol
the succeeding day but a continuance
Of this same unTemitting routine
Here we have a clear example OF ths
slavery OF sin. Aeschylus, in his rrea
Greek drama OF "Prometheus Bound
depicts the prisoner bound Will
rhains upon the rocks OF Caucasus
Each day the vultures tore out his
vitals and during the night the in
wards we're renewed only to have
them torn out again the succeeding
day This is but a faint picture o.
the bondage Of sin. II is sin that binds
he soul hand and foot. and then jeer
and sneeTs at his helplessness.
How hopeless also is the condition
OF the sinner away from God. like
man on train dashing down grade a
a constantly increasing speed. with NJ
one in the engineers cab. and some
where ahead a bridge is gone. and i
is only a matter of time when the en-
eire train load will be hurled to de
struction. There was no hope Of
promise for the Hebrew people a,
long as they remained in Egypt. The
we're surrounded upon every Ian,
with ungodly associates. and NOR
and more unconsciously they took up
on themselves the character OF thei
surroundings.
The story is told of three sailors o
a battleship anchored in one OF on
eastern harbors. who got into ROY
boat and rowed across the bay to tn
shore and tied their boat up TO tn
wharf They spent the evening an
part OF the night in carousal. and il
somewhat intoxicated conditio
made their way down to the wharf t
get in their boat to go back to tn
ship. They took up the oars and al
the rest OF the night they pulled an
tugged and rowed, but when mornin
dawned they found they had made n
progress: they we're still at the whar