again, and all things revive; reminding us of the new life which our Saviour came to give, and so leading our thoughts onwards from Christmas to Easter. You know we have no flowers for this time of rejoicing-the evergreens are all we have left; and they are strong and can bear the cold, and may teach us that we must endure wintry times as well as bright pleasant ones; and this is a thought which we ought especially to recollect at the season when our Saviour came into the world to lead a life of sorrow." Mrs. Williams said, "I have read of a deaf and dumb boy who liked to see the holly at Christmas, and to have a great deal of it brought into the house; he said that the sharp-pointed leaves were to remind us of our Saviour's crown of thorns, and that the red berries were like drops of blood. We may, at least, learn from the poor dumb boy, that if such remembrances were more constantly in our minds, many things would seem to speak to us of them, and help us both to think of and feel them more than we now do. And we should then feel more and more how true it is, that 'Seen daily, yet unmarked before, Earth's common paths are strewn all o'er With flowers of pensive hope, the wreath of man forgiven.' [To be continued.] SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. [Continued from vol. iii. p. 268.] WHEN the children of Israel were at length suffered to depart out of Egypt after the tenth plague, they journeyed from Ramases and came to Succoth, and from thence to Etham, which lies on the edge of the wilderness close upon the Red Sea, and on the borders of Egypt and Northern Arabia, called Arabia Petrea (or the stony'). Here Moses received God's commands that the children of Israel should not pass at once into the wilderness, which would have been the more direct way towards the land of Canaan. "And it came to pass, when Pharaoh had let the people go, that God led them not through the way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near; for God said, Lest peradventure the people repent when they see war, and they return to Egypt: but God led the people about, through the way of the wilderness of the Red Sea." They therefore were led southward to Pi-hahiroth. "And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them in the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; to go by day and night." 66 At Pi-hahiroth they were overtaken by the Egyptians; for no sooner had they been allowed to depart than Pharaoh repented of his permission, and pursued after them, and overtook them encamping by the sea beside Pi-hahiroth. When the Israelites saw themselves thus shut up and surrounded, the sea before them and the Egyptians behind, they were sore afraid." But God now quickly began to shew them His mighty power, and that He is able to save in every extremity. He directed Moses to lead them towards the Red Sea-as it would seem, still nearer destruction, unless some wonderful salvation should help them. And here occurred that wonderful miracle, the passage of the Red Sea. For Moses by the Divine command lifted up his rod and smote the waters, whereupon the Lord caused the sea to go back by a strong wind all that night, and made the sea dry land; and the waters were divided, and the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea upon dry ground, and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand and on their left; and the Egyptians pursued after them. But Moses, upon God's command, stretched forth his hand again over the sea, and the sea returned to its strength, and the waters covered the again, and all things revive; reminding us of the new life which our Saviour came to give, and so leading our thoughts onwards from Christmas to Easter. You know we have no flowers for this time of rejoicing-the evergreens are all we have left; and they are strong and can bear the cold, and may teach us that we must endure wintry times as well as bright pleasant ones; and this is a thought which we ought especially to recollect at the season when our Saviour came into the world to lead a life of sorrow." Mrs. Williams said, "I have read of a deaf and dumb boy who liked to see the holly at Christmas, and to have a great deal of it brought into the house; he said that the sharp-pointed leaves were to remind us of our Saviour's crown of thorns, and that the red berries were like drops of blood. We may, at least, learn from the poor dumb boy, that if such remembrances were more constantly in our minds, many things would seem to speak to us of them, and help us both to think of and feel them more than we now do. And we should then feel more and more how true it is, that— 'Seen daily, yet unmarked before, Earth's common paths are strewn all o'er With flowers of pensive hope, the wreath of man forgiven.'" [To be continued.] SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. [Continued from vol. iii. p. 268.] WHEN the children of Israel were at length suffered to depart out of Egypt after the tenth plague, they journeyed from Ramases and came to Succoth, and from thence to Etham, which lies on the edge of the wilderness close upon the Red Sea, and on the borders of Egypt and Northern Arabia, called Araa Petrea (or the stony'). Here Moses received God's commands that the children of Israel should not pass at once into the wilderness, which would have been the more direct way towards the land of Canaan. "And it came to pass, when Pharaoh had let the people go, that God led them not through the way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near; for God said, Lest peradventure the people repent when they see war, and they return to Egypt: but God led the people about, through the way of the wilderness of the Red Sea." They therefore were led southward to Pi-hahiroth. "And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them in the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; to go by day and night." At Pi-hahiroth they were overtaken by the Egyptians; for no sooner had they been allowed to depart than Pharaoh repented of his permission, and pursued after them, and overtook them encamping by the sea beside Pi-hahiroth. When the 66 Israelites saw themselves thus shut up and surrounded, the sea before them and the Egyptians behind, they were sore afraid." But God now quickly began to shew them His mighty power, and that He is able to save in every extremity. He directed Moses to lead them towards the Red Sea-as it would seem, still nearer destruction, unless some wonderful salvation should help them. And here occurred that wonderful miracle, the passage of the Red Sea. For Moses by the Divine command lifted up his rod and smote the waters, whereupon the Lord caused the sea to go back by a strong wind all that night, and made the sea dry land; and the waters were divided, and the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea upon dry ground, and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand and on their left; and the Egyptians pursued after them. But Moses, upon God's command, stretched forth his hand again over the sea, and the sea returned to its strength, and the waters covered the chariots and horsemen, and all the host of Pharaoh that came into the sea: there remained not so much as one of them. Thus the Lord saved Israel out of the hands of the Egyptians. On account of this miraculous passage of the Israelites, the Red Sea has been famous in all ages. It will be desirable therefore to give some account of it. Its name Red is not derived, as some have supposed, from any tinge in the colour of its waters, which is the same as that of other seas; but as some suppose from Esau, who was called Edom, that is, 'red,' whose possessions reached down towards the Red Sea. Other travellers too have observed, that the mountains in that part have a red hue. The Hebrew name for this sea signified' weedy;' and many have observed that the weeds gave the bottom a green colour, which is confirmed by that description of this miracle given in the book of Wisdom: "Where water stood afore dry land appeared, and out of the Red Sea a way without impediment; and out of the violent stream a green field." The Red Sea, or Arabian Gulf, as it is sometimes called, separates Africa from Asia, as your map will shew you. A recent traveller who crossed the sea nearly at the spot, thus speaks: "Our friend accompanied us to the shore of the Red Sea, and saw us embark for Asia. We crossed in about half an hour. I read the sublime description of the passage of the Israelites, the song of Moses, and the 77th Psalm, with the scene before my eyes, for it was a little to the south of Suez that they crossed the gulf. It was a strange and thrilling pleasure to look down on those waters, now so placid, and remember their division. To look up at that azure and spotless sky, and figure to oneself the cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night that guided the chosen race to the land of promise." The Arabs have another name for this sea, which signifies "the sea of drowning," in memory of God's signal judgment upon Pharaoh and his army. |