forth: and in reference to both of them it may be said, " He
was the end of the law for righteousness to every one that
believethV]
To CONCLUDE
[Let us receive from this history the instruction it was intended to convey. Let us learn from it the excellency of the Gospel, which reveals the Saviour to us; and let us see the importance of adorning it by a suitable conduct and con- versation; ever remembering, that to them, and them only, who, by a patient continuance in well-doing, seek for glory and honour and immortality, will eternal life be assigned0.]
b Rom. x. 4. c Rom. ii. 6, 7.
Numb. xx. 27, 28. And Moses did as the Lord commanded : and they went up into Mount Hot in the sight of all the con- gregation. And Moses stripped Aaron of his garments, and put them upon Eleazar his son : and Aaron died there in the top of the mount: and Moses and Eleazar came down from the mount.
THE lapse of time is so gradual and silent, that, for the most part, it escapes our observation : but there are seasons and occurrences'1 which almost irresistibly force upon us the conviction that our days are coming to a close. The history before us is particularly cal- culated to impress our minds with this thought. It was not till an advanced period of life that Moses and Aaron were called to their sacred office : and when, contrary to their expectation, they were turned back into the wilderness, and doomed to sojourn there during the space of forty years, it would appear as though that time would scarcely ever expire. But years rolled on ; the destined period arrived ; and death, which had nearly completed its work in the destruction of all the men who had come out of Egypt, received a new commission against those most distinguished servants of the Lord. At the com- mencement of the fortieth year, Miriam died : before it was half expired, Aaron too was cut off: and,
a If this were used as a subject for the New Year, or for a Funeral, the mention of that particular occasion would be proper.