unutterable folly of drawing back from certain and inestimable blessings when they lay within their reach. Therefore they accompanied their speech with an action that indicated the distress and laceration of their hearts. Truth may do such things naturally in the very vehemence and consistency of its onset. We do not read that the spies who brought up a slander on the land rent their clothes while they were telling their story, Hypocrisy must always be careful in its histrionics not to overdo the thing. II. THE MA'ITEB ov TBEIB SPEECH. They gi,ve the testimuny of e:,:p,:rience. They had passed through the land to search it. .Although they were only two against ten who told a different story, yet, strong in the consciousness of sincerity and com- petency, they declared what they had seen with their eyes, looked upon, and handled. Though their testimony would not have been enough for some puryoses, yet i~ was quite enough to throw as a check in the way of revolted Israel. They emphatu;ally- asJJert t/i,e goodness of the land. It was a land to be desired, corresponding to all the promises made and the hopes cherished, worth all the struggling an~ _self-denial that mi~ht be needed in order to attain it. They show a devout recognitum. of Jehovah. This alone might make their word, though only two, outweigh the exaggerations of the other ten. The recognition shows itself in two ways. 1. They avow the neces- sity of his favour. "If the Lord delight in us; " that means, surely, " If we believe in the Lord." That which delights the Lord is to see men walking by faith, and not by sight, stepping forward into the darkness upon his clear command. Caleb and Joshua felt sure, from what they had seen of the fatness and beauty of Canaan, that God wished to delight in his people, if only they would allow it. 2. They avow the necessity of submission to God. Unbelief is not only separation, it is rebellion, This was the real danger of Israel-rebellion against God's appointments and restrictions. By their present conduct they were strengthening the nations of Canaan with more than all their walled cities, giants, and strong men could give them. They ahow that the Oanaanites are ,·eally very weak. There is nothing more fallacious tlian outside show and casual inspection. The spies had brought some fruit, and doubtless tasted much more; but bow could they report adequately on defences which they could not examine in any accurate way? They did not know how all these people were under- mined and enervated by their wickedness. The very wealth of the land became a curse and corrupting influence to the idolaters who dwelt in it. Wicked nations in the midst of all their boasting and revelry an, preparing their own destruction. III. THE RESULTS 01' TREIB SPEECH. 1. The exasperation of the people reaches its highest pitch. "All the congregation bade stone them with stones." This was the punishment which God bad appointed for serious transgressions (Levit. J[J[. 2, 27; xxiv. 14; Numb. xv. 35; Deut. xiii. 10, &c.). And now the people adopt it, numbering Caleb and Joshua with transgressors against their sovereign will. If we speak the truth, all of it, and at the time when it should be spoken, we must be ready for the consequences. The two faithful witnesses would certainly have been stoned~ as Zachariah long after (2 Chron. xxiv. 21), but-2. God himself interfered. "The glory of the Lord appeared," &c. In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, the !e~els were reduced to impotence. One can imagine the uplifted stone dropped, as if It _had turn~d _to a bluzing coal. Israel may still be sullen and rebellious in heart, but. Its ha~ IS. ID the power of God. He can rescue his servants from the power of their enemies, 1f that be most expedient. Caleb and Joshua still had much work to do. Or, as happened to Stephen, he can turn the unchecked fury of men into the agent of a quick and glorious dismission from the toils and perils of earthly service. In God's house the more manifest the faithfulness of the servant, the more manifest also the faithfulness of the Master.-Y.
. Vers. 11, 12.-The Lord weah silence. It was time now for the people to be silent. They had talked and acted enough of folly. The Lord asks certain ques- tions, and follows them with certain propositions. We can hardly call them deter- minations, but rather suggestions of action, such as may be further modified if modifying considerations can be introduced. ' Ver, 11.-God implus that it is ieseless to wait any longer. It is not a question af whether he is long-su:tfering, but whetller the long-suffering will answer any good 172 THE BOOK OF NUMBERS. [ OHS. xm., XIV.•