1888 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



707 



0a^ JI0JIE5. 



And the people cliodo with Moses, and spake, 

 saying-, Would God that we had died when our 

 brethren died before the Lord!— Num. 20: 3. 



irp S one reads this history of the children 

 5^]^ of Israel, and their journey ings 



jpr through the wilderness, he begins to 

 -^^ feel sympathy with the narrator or 

 writer. It is almost impossible to 

 write on any subject, even the details of 

 history, without making it evident to the 

 careful and thoughtful reader how the 

 writer feels in regard to the story he is tell- 

 ing. In this present book of Numbers, al- 

 though it is for the most part a cool and im- 

 impassioned statement of facts, yet for all 

 that, one's heart unconsciously warms to- 

 ward the writer ; and one reason why I have 

 selected this verse in the 20th chapter of 

 Numbers is a good deal because of the 

 quaintness it displays in recounting how 

 the children of Israel became once more 

 stubborn and rebellious. The word 

 ^ chode " is not in use now ; but for all that, 

 every reader at once understands what it 

 means ; and it is wonderfully suggestive, 

 especially after having followed the history 

 up to that time. Poor old Moses ! It is not 

 the first time by any means that the people 

 " chode " with "him when things didn't go 

 just right. Away back, God chose Jacob 

 from among the people as being peculiarly 

 fitted for the father of a great kingdom. 

 Sometimes we are tempted to think that 

 good men were remarkably scarce in those 

 days, if it is really true that there were none 

 better to be found than Jacob. However, 

 Jacob came of a good family. No one can 

 fail to accord reverence and respect to the 

 patriarch Abraham — yes, and to his son 

 Isaac ; but notwithstanding Jacob's bad 

 streaks, God seems to have cherished all 

 along a peculiar regard for him, especially 

 when, toward the close of his life, the bad 

 streaks seem to have been gradually fading 

 away. Well, from what we know of Jacob 

 it is not a little surprising that there was 

 stubbornness, jealousy, and wickedness 

 among his boys. One would hardly suspect 

 them however of such a crime as putting 

 their brother to death ; and we feel a little 

 relieved when we note tliat, among the 

 brethren, there were at least a few who 

 seemed to have a better spirit. These 

 mothers of Israel were also liuman, like the 

 mothers of the present day, and no doubt 

 this had something to do with the bad blood 

 in the hearts of those eleven sons of Jacob ; 

 therefore when we consider the ancestry of 

 these children of the wilderness it is not 

 surprising that they were, from one point of 

 view, a rather hard lot to get along with. 

 When under the. .bondage of the Egyptians 

 they groaned under their burdens. We are 

 not told that they turned to God in their 

 distress, and appealed to him for help, re- 

 minding him] of his promises to their an- 

 cestors, but no doubt they did, many of 

 them. At any rate he heard their groan- 

 ings, and in a wonderfully miraculous way 

 sent deliverance. It transpires, however, 

 that, like the people of the present day, 

 many of them were given to grumbling, no 



matter what happened ; and as Moses was 

 their leader it got to be the fashion to pitch 

 into him, and complain to him if any thing 

 went amiss. Even before their deliverance, 

 as they marched up to the borders of the 

 Red Sea they commenced their complaints. 

 They seem, also, to have a wonderful talent 

 and ingenuity for saying bitter and spiteful 

 things. For" instance, as they came up to 

 the borders of the sea, and, to human eyes, 

 were ''in a corner," they commenced with a 

 grumbling lingo as follows : " Because 

 there were no graves in Egypt hast thou 

 taken us away to die in the wilderness V 

 Wherefore hast thou dealt thus with us to 

 carry us forth out of Egypt ? " And mind 

 you, dear reader, this was immediately after 

 they had been delivered by a miracle — yes, 

 by an astounding series of miracles — from 

 the bondage and slavery they had been 

 groaning under. They continued : " It had 

 been better for us to serve the Egyptians 

 than that we should die in the wilderness." 



Now, my disposition just at this present 

 moment would have been to reply, •'Very 

 well, my friends. If you prefer the bond- 

 age of the Egyptians, go back and serve 

 them, and die there." But not so with 

 Moses. And now it begins to transpire why 

 Moses was called the "meek man." He 

 pays no attention whatever to their slurs 

 and insults, but replies like a hero, " Fear 

 ye not. Stand still, and see the salvation of 

 the Lord which he will show you this day." 

 And then followed that wonderful and 

 crowning miracle of their deliverance from 

 the enemies who foolishly thought they had 

 cornered them at last. My friends, all the 

 powers of darkness can never succeed in 

 cornering a man or apeople whom God loves. 



Shortly afterward, when they came to the 

 bitter waters of Marah they murmured 

 again, saying, " What shall we drink V " In 

 fact, food and drink seems to have been a 

 standing trouble every little while. They 

 had forgotten their deliverance — had for- 

 gotten how the waters of the sea miracu- 

 lously stood up like a wall ; they had forgot- 

 ten the wonderful and unlimited resources 

 and promises of the Lord God of Israel. 



The next thing was a lack of bread. I do 

 not know how hungry the people got ; but I 

 do know they became ugly and wicked 

 enough to say, " Would God we had died by 

 the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt. 

 For ye have brought us forth into 

 the wilderness to kill this whole assembly 

 with hunger.'' My friend, when you get to 

 the point that you do not scruple to say out 

 loud that you wish you were dead, or" that 

 you wish you had never been born, you are 

 pretty thoroughly in the hands of t^he evil 

 one. At such a time you are ready to speak 

 untruth and blasphemy without mucli scru- 

 ple. Just think of the insult in telling Moses 

 that he had brought them into the wilder- 

 ness to kill them with hunger ! Yes, and 

 they uttered such speeches as these when 

 they were on the road to the promised land, 

 " tlowing with milk and honey." When- 

 ever I think of that land I always feel 

 a greater affection for my Jersey cow ; 

 and [ also feel glad that the chosen business 

 of my life has been toward the production 



