THE KING’S BUSINESS
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orgies of idolaters; what a scene for Je hovah! "this is trian made in Bis own image: this is Israel, God’s chosen people, whom He has called out to he the representative people to the nations of the earth. Con template this scene of sin arid shame, this carnival of corrupt worship, with that other scene above the cloud. While Israel Is seeking other gods and while Aaron is abandoning his place of trust Jehovah is planning to dwell in the midst of Israel and to make them glorious with His pres ence ; planning for the atonement Of sin and for the splendid ritual which was to foreshadow the coming of His Son. Already Aaron had been chosen as the high priest to come into His presence and to be the daysman. Above is a God of grace making all provision for a needy people, while below is a camp of rebels forgetting and abandoning, God, attribut ing their deliverance to Moses and bowine to a calf of gold. When Jesus was upon the Mount of Transfiguration Satan was busy below test ing the disciples with the demon possessed boy. Thus it is always With Satan. While our Jesus is now on high, he is displaying his own power and seeking to turn the hearts of men away fróm, the true Grid to the slavery of a false worship. Things are going hard with the pilgrims. The romartce of the new order has passed away. They have but begun a forty years’ journey and aré tired of the provisions already. They hanfeér after Egypt. We ajre confronted by the demoralising in fluence of the mixed multitude, the dis content of the people and the despondency of the man Moses. The lesson of the mixed multitude has never been taken seriously by the church. Most of the errors and evils which have crept into the church to mar its harmony and handicap its progress have come by the avériue of the mixed multitude. The L esson I.— O ctober 5 M oses ’ £ ry for H elp Golden Text,—Jas. 5:16
desire for numbers and worldly influence has led us to take into the church un regenerate people, young arid old, who, having no Divine life, have been restless and rebellious. These people love the land and language of Egypt. They are always talking about the cucumbers and melon's, and always forgetting the beatings arid the bondage. These are they who introduce thé worldly pleasures and amusements, the worldly maxims and methods, Who lift up another standard than the banner of the cross, and who havé another rallying cen ter than the table of the Lord. Thesè lové not the truth nor trust the Lord. Thev swell our statistics, hut they stifle our spirituality. They long for the world, but they love not the Word. They are long on dress parade but short on daily prayers. Being unsaved themselves, the saving of souls is unsavory to them. There is no point of contact excepting the cross of Christ, and they turn their back upon the blood. No wonder that Moses fell a prev to despondency and cried mightily to God. And the wonder is that the Church in its extremity does not call unceasingly to Je hovah for deliverance from the presence and power of these flesh-loving foes of Christ and His cause. God designed His people for a life of separation and they have paid an awful price for takirig into their ranks the camp followers of Egypt. L esson II.— O ctober 12 J ealousy and E nvy P unished Golden Text,—I Cor. 1 :4-5 In this lésson we have the malice of Miriam and Aaron, the meekness of-Moses and thé mandate of God. The old nature is the same in these chosen personages as it is in the people. Do the péople mur mur against God because they have no flesh to eat? Miriam and Aaron murmur because Moses has a Gentile wife. There is always something to find fault with and there is always somebody to find it. We do not know what there mav have beeri of envy, jealousy, pride or ambition in this man and woman, but we do know that
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