the fathers to the children, and to the grandchildren unto the third and fourth generation. And Moses, making haste, bowed down prostrate unto the earth, and adoring, said: If I have found grace in Thy sight, O Lord, I beseech Thee that Thou wilt go with us (for it is a stiff-necked people) and take away our iniquities and sin, and possess us. The Lord answered: I will make a covenant in the sight of all: I will do signs such as were never seen upon the earth, nor in any nations that this people, in the midst of whom thou art, may see the terrible work of the Lord which I will do. Observe all things which this day I command thee: I Myself will drive out before thy face the Amorrhite, and the Chanaanite, and the Hethite, and the Pherezite, and the Hevite, and the Jebusite. Beware thou never join in friendship with the inhabitants of that land, which may be thy ruin but destroy their altars, break their statues, and cut down their groves: adore not any strange god. The Lord his name is Jealous; He is a jealous God.

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And at the end of another forty days and forty nights, Moses came down again to the people. And as a token of the glory of that Divine Presence in which He had been dwelling, His face shone with so dazzling a light, that the Israelites could not bear to look upon it. He therefore put a veil upon his head, and covered his face, before he gave to them the various commands which the Lord had sent to them by him.

CHAP. IX. The Tabernacle.

MOSES Commenced his injunctions to the people by enjoining that peculiar observance of the Sabbath-day to which God bound the Israelites, as a special mark of the covenant He had made with them. They were forbidden to do any work that was not absolutely necessary on that day, even to the lighting a fire for the purposes of cookery; and death was to be the punishment for disobedience to this command.

He then gave directions for the erection of a mov

able building, to serve for a species of temple, until the Israelites should be settled in the promised land. It was called a Tabernacle, or place in which God Himself would dwell, for within its enclosure God frequently manifested His presence in an especial way, and gave commands for the guidance of His people. And this tabernacle was always taken to pieces whenever the Israelites moved from one spot to another, during their wanderings in the desert, and set up again wherever they rested.

It was in shape and size much like the chancels of many of the old English parish-churches, being about forty-five feet long, fifteen wide, and fifteen high. The back and ends were formed of planks, made of a valuable wood, fastened together with silver and gold fastenings. The roof was covered with a double row of dried skins, and the inside hung with rich tapestry. The building was divided into two parts-the inner one, which was about fifteen feet square, being parted off from the rest by four columns, overlaid with silver and gold, from which hung a veil of the costliest workmanship and most gorgeous colours. The space thus enclosed was called the Holy of Holies, and the outer space was called the Sanctuary.

Into the holy of holies none but the High Priest ever entered; and in it was placed a precious chest, or ark, called the Ark of the Covenant, because it especially represented the throne of God, on which He sat as the merciful Guardian of His people. It was about three feet in length, and half that size in width and height, and plated within and without with gold. Its cover or lid was of solid gold, and was termed the Propitiation, or Mercy-Seat. Upon it stood two figures, called Cherubim, with extended wings, spreading and meeting over the mercy-seat, and emblematic of the veneration with which Almighty God is served and surrounded by the angelic host of heaven. What was the exact form of these figures is not known. They are sometimes supposed to have been of the human form, as angels are generally represented; and sometimes to

have been more purely symbolical representations, like those mysterious figures which appeared to the prophets in later days, and to have shadowed forth the noblest qualities in man and in the beasts of the field. Within the ark were deposited the two tables of stone, on which the ten commandments were written.

In the sanctuary, or outer portion of the tabernacle, was a table overlaid with gold, on which twelve loaves of bread were placed, as an offering to God: whence the table was called the Table of Shew-bread. These loaves were renewed every week, and placed in two heaps of six each, on the top of which incense was kept burning. The bread that was taken away from time to time was eaten by the priests within the sanctuary; and none but they were allowed to eat it. The bread itself was an offering emblematical of the gratitude with which men are to acknowledge that all earthly as well as heavenly gifts come from God.

Besides the table, the sanctuary contained a golden candlestick, with seven branches and seven lamps, which were lighted every day by the high-priest, and left burning through the night; and also a wooden altar, plated with gold, on which incense, the emblem of prayer, was burnt every morning and evening.

Round the tabernacle was a large space or court, about 150 feet long, and seventy wide, and enclosed with pillars and hangings. Within this court stood the altar of holocaust, or whole-burnt sacrifice, in the open air, on which the animals were offered to God, and consumed by fire. There was also a brazen laver, or large vessel for washing, for the use of the priests at the time of sacrifice.

For the purpose of offering these sacrifices, and ministering before God continually, Aaron and his family, to all generations, until the coming of Jesus Christ, were set apart, and consecrated with a solemn anointing with oil, Aaron himself being the high-priest so long as he lived. The entire tribe of Levi was also distinguished from the rest of the people, and appointed to serve in sacred things of an inferior character.

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