d00s rn,t sny, "Obey, 1md I will save you for your obedience," but "Talrn ealvntlon as n fr,·c gift, aud then obey me as a matter of grntilnde." "If ye love i11e, keep my c"mmandrnents." He secures the love by sovereign rnercy, and receives obedience as his return upon his investment. Obedience is God's dividend upon his investment or !ewe. Those who would make "good works" the 1·oot of salvation instead of the fruit of sah-at.ion, are re'l'crsing the whole procedure of God. IJ. GRATITGDE MAY BE REINFORCED DY A STUDY OF THE CONSEQUENCES OF INGRATITGDE IK OTHERS. For what God strikes at is ingratitude. The Egyptians were ungmteful. They should have recognized God's mercy in their fertile land, in their ci'l'ilization and advancement, in the mission of Moses, and in the character of the earlier plagues. God bad visited Egypt with bis love-love which was undeserved, love which remained unrequited. When he revealed" his greatness, his mighty band and his stretched out arm," it was against Egypt's ingratitude and consequent dis: obedience. The denouement at the Red Sea was judgment upon ingratitude and persevering impiety. X ow, the study of all this, here recommended by Moses, was well fitted to foster f'Tatitude in the hearts of the Israelites. Here was unrequited love receivina its ,·indication in the series of disasters which culminated in the Red Sea. "We mu;t be thankful," they might well say, "that our ingratitude in past years has not been similarly treated, and for the coming time we must cultivat~ gratitude and the obedience it secures." Ill. GRATITUDE MAY ALSO BE RE;INFORCED BY A STUDY OF THE CONSEQUENCES OF sELF-COKFIDENCE. For this seems to be the idea of Moses in bringing forward the case of Dathan and Abiram. As descendants of Reuben, the firstborn of Jacob, they imagined that they had the right to the primacy in Israel. Hence they disputed the rights of Moses and of the priestly line of Aaron. They insisted on their right of primogeniture as valid in the government of God. But God recognizes no such personal claims, and he visited the presumption with swift destruction. The study of this "chastisement" would deliver Israel from all confidence in themselves. They would recognize that personal claims are not accepted by a sovereign God; that in consequence they must in humility approach him, thankful for spared lives and continued mercy, and anxious to testify by obedience to their genuine thankfulness. IV. OBEDIENCE WILL BE FOUJ,,'D TO DE THE BECBET OF STRENGTH AND SUCCESS IN THE Th""VABION. For while obedience rests on gratitude, it elicits gratitude from God. If God expects us to be grateful for his love, he shows us the example in being grateful for ours. "I love them that love me," he says (Prov. viii. 17); and again, "He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that lo,·eth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to:him" (John xiv. 21; see also ver. 23). Now, this is what we do not hesitate to call Divine gratitude. llence Israel found that obedience rendered thankfully to God received a grateful reward from him in strength to invade and conquer the land of Canaan, and, secondly, in strength to prolong their days in it. A similar experience is realized by God's servants still. Obedience is rewarded graciously and gratefully. Strength is found equal to our day, as we make our pilgrimage to God. How important, then, to obey from a proper motive, and at the same time to receive with proper delight the gracious return which a grateful God bestows !-R. M. E.
Vers. 10-17.-Tlie land of promise. Moses now proceeds to indicate the charac- teristics of Canaan, and to contrast it wit.r ]gypt, which they had left. Egypt is not dependent upon the rains of heaven as Canaan is. 'l'he overflowing Nile has only to be gl'.1ded along the water-courses in the proper season, and the fertility of the Nile valley is aecured. The work of irrigation, the watering with the foot (ver. 10), is the one thing needful in Egypt. But Canaan depends upon the continual care of God, ~is eyes being on it from the beginning to the end of the year, dispensing "the first ram ai:11.l the latter rain," in order to the harvest. In Egypt, the blessing is given " whole- sale "-the Nile brings down from the interior the water the valley needs. In Canaan, on. n. 1-32.) THE BOOK OF DEUTERONOMY. 211