HOMILIES BY VARIOUS AUTHORS. Vere. 29-32.-Hobah invited; or, the Church's call to them that are witlwut. This incident carries one back in thought to the day, one and forty years ago, when Moses, a fugitive from Egypt, arrived at the well in Midian, and there met with the daughter of Jethro. At the expiry of forty years the call of the Lord constrained Moses to forsake Midian, that he might be the leader of Israel ; but it did not finally sever him from all connection with the house of his Midianite father-in-law. When Israel, on the march from Egypt, arrived at the border of the wilderness of Sinai, Jethro came out to meet him, and to welcome him. This done, he returned to his own hoUBe and sheep-walks. But his son Hobab stayed behind, and witnessed the giving of the law. When the march was about to be resumed, Hobab proposed to bid farewell to his sister and Jlloses. But Moses would not hear of it. Reminding Hobab of the inheritance awaiting Israel in the land of the Canaanites, he, in his own name, and in the name of the whole people, invited him to join himself to their company, and share in all the goodness which the Lord was about to do to them in fulfilment of his promise. This invitation, addressed by Moses and the congregation to one who did not belong to the seed of Jacob, is of no small interes~ historically. And its practical interest is still greater; for it exhibits a bright example of o desire which ought always to find place in the hearts of the faithful-the desire to allure into their fellowship " them that are without," whether these are the heathen abroad, or the careless and viciollS at home. Viewing the text in this light, it presents three topics which claim consideration. I. THE CHURCH'S PROFE88ION OF B'AITH AND HOPE. 11 We areJ'oumeying unto the place of which the Lord said, I will give it you .... The Lor hath spoken good concerning Israel." On the lips of Moses and the congregation this wae really o profession and utterance of faith. From the day that God called Abraham, he nnd his seed were taught to expect Canaan as their inheritance; and it was faith's bnsi• neae to embrace the promise and look for its accomplishment. In the faith of this OH. IC, 29-32.] TIIE BOOK OF NUMBERS.
promise Abraham and Isaac and Jacob lived and died. In the faith of it Joseph, when he died, gave commandment concerning his bones. In the faith of it Moses forsook Pharaoh's house. In the faith of it he refused to cast in his lot with Jethro's Midianitee, and called the son born to him in Midian Gershom, " a stranger there." In the faith of the same promise Israel was now resuming the march towards Canaan. It is no idle fancy which sees in all this a parable of the Christian faith and the Chris- tian profession, We also look for an inheritance and rest. "We believe that we shall be saved." We have been begotten to a living hope by the resurrection of Christ. As truly as the tribes in the wilderness, we (unless wo have believed in vain) have turned our backs upon Egypt, and have set our faces towards the better country. We are journeying. We are strangers and pilgrims. I admit t~at among professing Christians there are many who have no real hope of the kmd described ; many, also, whose hope is anything but. bright and strong: . N everth~less, the world is certainly mistaken when it persuades itself that the ChnstJan hope 1s an empty boast. There are tens of thousands whose lives are sustained and controlled by it continually. II. THE CHUBCH's INVITATION TO THEM THAT ARE WITHOUT. "Come thou with us." The words remind us of a truth too often forgotten, namely, that even under the Old Testament the Church wns by no means the exclusive body which some take it to have been. It had o.n open door and a welcome for all who desired to enter. In point of fact, a considerable proportion of those who constituted the Hebrew com- monwealth at any given time were of Gentile descent. Moses did not act without warrant when he invited Hobab to come in-he and all his. At the same time it is to be remembered that the gospel Church is not to be contented with simply maintain- ing the attitude of the Old Testament Church towards them that are without. We are not only to keep an open door and make applicants welcome, we are to go forth and compel them to come in. Christ's Church is a missionary Church. A religious society which neglects this function-which refuses to obey the command to go and preach the gospel to every creature-lacks one of the notes of the Christian Church. We are to charge ourselves with the duty of sending the gospel to the far-off heathen. As for the careless and ungodly who are our neighbours, we are not only to send to them the word, but ought personally to invite them to come with us. III. THE ARGUMENTS WITH WHICH 'l'HE INVITATION IS FORTIFIED. I refer especially to those urged by Moses o.nd the congregation here. 1. It will be well for Hobab and his house if he will come (ver. 32). No doubt the man who follows Christ must be prepared to take up the cross-must be ready to suffer reproach, to encoun- ter tribulation, to take in hand self-denying work. TheBe things are not pleasant to flesh and blood. Yet after all, Wisdom's ways are the ways of pleasantness. Com- pMed with the devil's yoke, the yoke of Christ is easy. Godliness has the promise of both worlds. Those who have given Christ's service a fair trial would not for the world change masters. 2. Hobab is to come, for the Lord hath need of him (vers. 30, 31). It seems that Moses' brother-in-law feared he might be an intruder and a burden. No such thing. A son of the desert would be of manifold service to the co.ngregotion in the desert. There is great wisdom in this argument. It is a great mistake to suppose that people seriously inquiring after salvation will attach them- se~ves most readily to the Church which will give them nothing to do. The nobler sort will be attracted rather by the prospect of being serviceable. To sum up-the argu- me~t which will carry the greatest weight with unbelievers and despisers of God is th11t which ut~ers itself in the Church's profession of its own faith and hope. A Church whose faith is weak and whose hope is dim will be found to have little power to rouso the _careless and draw them _into its fellowship. Men are most likely to be gained to Christ and the way of ealvat1011 by the Church whose members manifest by their words and lives the presence in their hearts of a bright and living hope of eternal life.-B.
Vers. 29-32.-.Moses and Hobab. I. 'l'HE WONDERFUL CHANGES GoD MAKES IN HUMAN LIFE. What men do themselves, the history of self-made men is often very astonishing, yet nothing to the history of God-made men. For forty years Moses had bee~ a shepherd in this wilderness; as we may conjecture, an oft companion with Hobab In these very scenes. Suddenly he goes away to Egypt to visit his brethren, 96 THE BOOK OF NUMBERS. [cH. X. 29-82.