glorious and conquering career in tile land of "springs." The "twelve springs" have not promise All thoae diBea.ses. See Dent. ,; i been identified; but the Arabs a.re a.pt to con- 15: xx,;ii. 2i. Kalisch correctly obsen·es ceal the sources of their water supplies that, though the E~l'tians had the character (Niebuhr, Arabie, p. 3i7). A large stream in antiquity of being among the healthiest 1lows down the Wa.dv Ghurundel in the and most robust of nations ( Herod. ii. 77), yet winter-time (ibid,.), which later become.• a. a certain small nwnber of diseases have alwavs small brook (Burckhardt, Syria, p. 778), and raged among them v.;th extreme severitv dries up altogether in the a.ntwnn. The pns- H~ understands the present passage of the ture is good Rt most seasons, sometimes rich plagues, which, however, are certainly no- and luxuriant; there a.re abundant tame.risks, where else called "dise.ases." There is no a ronsiderable number of acacias, and some reason whr the word should not be taken palms. Three aoore and ten palm trees. The as literally, all take it in the passages of palm-trees of this part of Arabia are "not Deuteronomv abo'"e cited. like those of Egypt or of pictures, but either Ver. 2i .......:They oame to Elim. Eliru was dwa.rf-that is, trunkless-or else with savage undoubtedly some spot in the comparatively hairy trunks, and branches all dishevelled " fertile tract which lies south of the " wilder- (Stanley, Sfoai and Palestine, p. 68). There ness of Shur," intervening between it and the are a considerable number in the Wady Ghu- " wilderness of Sm "-now El Murk.ha. This rundel, and others in the W a.dy Tayibeh ( ib. tract contains the three fertile wadvs of p. 69). They enoamped there. It ha.a been Ghurundel, Useit, and Tavibeh, each of which observed that the vast numbers of the host is regarded by some writers as the true El.itn. would more than fill the We.dy Ghurundel, It has many springs of water, abundant and that while the main body encamped there, tamarisks, and a certain number of palm-trees. others, with their cattle, probe.1>ly occupied the On the whole, Gbnnmdel seems t.o be accepted adjacent we.dys-Useit, Ethal, and even by the majority of well-informed writers as Tayibeh or Shuweikah-which all offer good baring the best cla.im t.o be considered the pasturage Elim of this passage Twelve wells. Bather
HOMILETICS. Vers. 23-27.-The trials and vicissitudes of life. Israel in the wilderness is a type of our pilgrimage through life. L MoNoTO:i...-Y. The long weary sameness of days ea.eh exactly resembling the last (ver. 22}--the desert all around us-and no water! No refreshing draughts from that living spring, which becomes in them that drink it "a well of water springing up into everlasting life" (John iv. 14). Israel was afflicted by want of earthly water for three days. Many poor pilgrims through the wilderness of life are debarred the spiritual draughts of which Jesus spoke to the Samaritan woman for twenty, thirty, forty years! Debarred, it may be, by no fault of their own, born in heathenism, bred up in heathenism, uneducated in what it most concerns a man to know. How sad their condition ! How thankful those should be who may draw of the water of life freely (a) from the written word; (b) from the Living and Eternal Word who has said-" If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink!" IL DISAPPOINTMENT. Hopes long cherished seem about, at last, to be satisfied. The long sought for treasure-of whatever kind it may be-is announced as found. Now we are about to enjoy ourselves, to take our fill of the delight long denied us. .A.ias I the dainty morsel as we taste it proves to be-
" .AB Dead Sea frnii, which, fair to view Yet tw-ns to ashes on the lips."
The delicious draught, a.s we ex~ted i~ to be, is "Marah," "bitte~ess." Most of li~e is to most men made up of such disappomtments. Men crave happmess, and expect 1t !lere, and seek it through some earthly, some tempor'.'-1 means-:-wealth, or power, or fame, or a peaceful domestic life, or social success, or literary emmence-and no sooner do they obtain their desire, and hold it in their grasp, than they find its savour gone- its taste so bitter that they do not care to drink. '!'hen, how often do they turn to vent the anguish of their heart on some quite innocent pe:son, who, they _s~y, has led them wrong! Their disappointment should take them with humbled spmts to God. CII, XV, 22-27,] THE BOOK OF EXODUS. 21
It actually takes them with furious words to the presence of some man, whom it is a relief to them to load with abuse and obloquy. They imitate the Israelites, not Moses -they murmur, instead of crying to the Almighty. III. UNEXPECTED RELIEF. God can tum bitter to sweet. Often, out of the bitter agony of disappointment God makes gladness to arise. Sometimes, as in the miracle of :Marah, he reverses the disappointment itself, turning defeat into victory, giving us the gratification of the desire which had been baulked of fruition. But more often he relieves by compensating. He gives something unexpected instead of the expected joy which he has withheld. He makes a temporal evil work for our spiritual good. He takes away the sting from worldly loss, by pouring into our hearts the spirit of contentment. He causes ill-success to wean us from the world and fix our thoughts on him. IV. A TI.ME OF REFRESHMENT. Marah led to Elim. If there are times of severe trial in life, there are also "times of refreshing from the Lord" (Acts iii. 19)-tirnes of enjoyment-even times of mirth (Eccles. iii. 4; Ps. cxxvi. 2). But lately toiling wearily through an arid wilderness, only to reach waters of bitterness, on a sudden the Israelites found themselves a.mid groves of palms, stretched themselves at length on the soft herbage under the shadow of tall trees, and listened to the breeze sighing through the acacias, or to the murmur of the babbling rill whicn flowed from the "twelve springs" adown the dale. 'Encamped there by the waters" (ver. 2i) they were allowed to rest for a while, secure from foes, screened from the beat, their eyes charmed by the verdure, their ears soothed by gentle sounds, their every sense lapped in soft enjoyment by the charms of a scene which, after the wilderness, must have appeareu "altogether lovely." And so it is in our lives. God does give us, even here in this world, sea.sons of repose, of satisfaction, of calm content. It were ingratitude in us not to accept with thankfulness such occasions when they arise. He knows what is best for us; and if he appoints us an Elim, we were churlish to withdraw ourselves from it. The Church has its festivals. Christ attended more than one banquet. "Times of refreshing" are to be received joyously, gratefully, as "coming from the Lord," anu designed by him to support, strengthen, comfort us. They are, as it were, glimpses into the future life.