SlG 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Oct. 



back parts; but ray face shall not be seen.— Ex. 

 :$3:22, 23. 



My trouble came in this way : Moses had 

 plead with God to see him face to face, or, 

 at least, I had that impression from read- 

 ing the chapter. Inasmuch, however, as 

 God had said that no human beingr should 

 see him face to face and live, he objected; 

 but in answer to Moses' importunity he 

 tinally declares as in the passage above. He 

 consented to let him see his ''back parts," 

 but not his face. When I began I tried to 

 reconcile difficult passages, as t got to them, 

 with sense and reason, but I found a good 

 many hard things to get over. I concluded, 

 however, to submit patiently, and to accept 

 every thing I came to, as far as I could, 

 without letting those remarks I had heard 

 uttered by skei)tics get before my mental 

 vision, and drive me back. But when I 

 came to this passage, it seemed so very 

 much like some of the passages in the Ara- 

 bian Nights, or like some fable or idle tale, 

 I could only say, " God help me to under- 

 stand this strange and inexplicable figure 

 introduced in the book wliich I am trying 

 to believe is the word of God." As I have 

 told you, the prayer did not seem to be an- 

 swered. Every time L looked at it, the 

 passage seemed to be a puzzle, and as hard 

 to reconcile with truth and reason as it had 

 been in the first place. In one sense, how- 

 ever, the passage did me good. It helped 

 me to be humble ; yes, it made me to be 

 meek. When somebody turned upon me, 

 and asked me to defend my new^ stand, to 

 be honest and truthful I was obliged to ad- 

 mit that I was not master of the mysteries 

 of God's holy word. I could not stand up 

 and boast of my ability to prove my posi- 

 tion, and to demonstrate it as I would some- 

 thing in mathematics and mechanics, or 

 even in bees. When a man tried to bluff 

 me by telling me that there was no queen 

 in the liive, and that'I knew it, I soon had 

 him under my thumb by way of argument. 

 God evidently did not see fit to give nie per- 

 mission to speak of the Bible in this way. 

 It was a wholesome check on my naturally 

 overbearing and sometimes intolerant spir- 

 it, and it taught me humility. 



I have sometimes wondered if these pas- 

 sages were not purposely placed in the Bible 

 to keep us humble. Well, the passage now 

 teaches me still another thing. God is 

 pleased to have us plead with him. Yes, he 

 is pleased to have us importunate. Christ 

 shows this in several parables. It is our 

 business to pray and wait. After the crisis 

 is gone by— in fact, after we, with our nar- 

 low and "feeble views, have forgotten how 

 we struggled in prayer over the same mat- 

 ter, then the answer to prayer is unfolded. 

 God removes his hand, as it were, and per- 

 mits us to catch a glimpse of his glory and 

 his wisdom, after that glory and wisdom has 

 gone by and done its work. The most 

 wonderful answers to prayer that have ever 

 been within my experience, have come in 

 this way. When I had forgotten the mat- 

 ter — perhaps given it up, or decided with 

 meekness and humility that, if God did not 

 see best to give me what I had been asking 

 for, I would try to be happy without it, then 



came the revelation. The prayer was being 

 answered when I did not know it, and in a 

 way ever so much better for all persons con- 

 cerned than the way in which I had planned 

 it. Many and many a time are w^e moved to 

 praise him for having so mercifully placed 

 us in the cleft of the rock, that we might 

 better bear the trials that we are called upon 

 to pass through. A hymn has been com- 

 posed in regard to this very expression : 



Rock of Ag-es, clot't for me. 

 Let me hide myself in thee. 



A careful examination of the passage in 

 question shows that Moses did not ask to 

 see God himself face to face. Moses was 

 one of those characters that constantly de- 

 mand proof. Again and again he besought 

 God for more positive evidence. lie knew 

 the people thoroughly, therefore he asked 

 God repeatedly to give him fuller particu- 

 lars of his plans and purposes ; and it was 

 in a line with this request that he said, 

 ''•I beseech thee, show me thy glory." In 

 answer to this, the Lord says, " I will make 

 all my goodness pass before thee.'' But it 

 seems that Moses was not able to behold 

 even the glory of the Lord, therefore he was 

 placed in the cleft of the rock. The vision 

 he was permitted to see, however, was 

 probably sufficient, for he seems to have had 

 ever after a greater faith and a better un- 

 derstanding of God's purposes and designs. 

 I have often heard my mother mention that, 

 in her younger days, she was for a time un- 

 decided' in regard to spiritual matters. I 

 am pained to be obliged to say that her 

 father was one of the prominent skeptics of 

 that vicinity, and was known for miles 

 around as an upright man in all his deal 

 with his fellow-men, but one who seemed to 

 delight in assailing Christianity and the 

 Bible whenever opportunity presented. In 

 spite of this, my mother became a Christian 

 at an early age, and she was probably 

 twelve or fourteen when she made it a very 

 earnest subject of prayer that God would 

 give her plain evidence of the truth of his 

 holy word — so plain that she never need be 

 undecided nor troubled about it again. 



Now, is it not possible that Moses' alti- 

 tude at the time in question was very much 

 like hers? She was so much troubled about 

 it that she prayed again and again for clear, 

 unmistakable evidence. The prayer was 

 granted. In answer, God gave her such a 

 bright, vivid, and happy experience that it 

 has lasted through her life, and shines from 

 her face even now in her old age. Every 

 one who meets her is impressed with her 

 bright faith; and that bright faith has 

 shone from my mother's face ever since I 

 can remember. The glimpse of God's glory 

 that he gave her in answer to her earnest 

 petition has lasted through a long life, and 

 has been the means of bringing her way- 

 ward children one by one, with scarcely an 

 exception, to the faith whereon her liopes 

 are rooted and grounded ; and yet, dear 

 friends, this very passage that stumbled me 

 —that has stumbled me for years— now 

 shines out one of the brightest and grandest 

 passages in the Old Testament. God gave 

 Moses the glimpse that he piajed for. My 

 mother's prayer was answered exactly in 



