ized Moses to act the part of intercessor, as the type of the great Prophet like unto him, that is Christ; and He commanded Joshua to do the part of the warrior, and do battle on behalf of Israel. Some people whom I meet, and others from whom I receive letters, think that war is positively unlawful, and that no Christian nation may in any case engage in it; and I am even told by some, that it is impossible to suppose a soldier to be a Christian. I can conceive nothing more monstrous than such an opinion; for here is an express command from God, when a miracle might have dispensed with the necessity, to Joshua to be a commander-in-chief, and to Moses to be a wrestling pleader on behalf of the victory of the children of Israel. And it is a singular fact that the most distinguished Christians in the New Testament were many of them soldiers. There may, therefore, be in a hero's composition a sensitive and susceptible Christian heart. We know it has been so, and we cannot see why it should not be so. And I am quite sure that the courts of law and chancery have been the scenes of more broken and bleeding hearts than all the battle fields of Europe. If, therefore, it be sinful to be a soldier, it must be yet no less so to be a lawyer; but it is not sinful to be either, because necessary to the existence of society; each has his duty, and each as a Christian may fulfil it.

From the part that Moses acted in this transaction you can see that the battle depended partly upon the valor of Joshua, but very much upon the interceding or lifting up of the hands of Moses. Now Moses, we are told, was expressly a type of Christ; and this is intended to teach us that in defensive warfare, for I am not speaking of aggressive war, battles are gained by nations as much through the interceding prayers of the people at home, as by the skill and bravery of the soldiers in the field. We have here the battle going against Israel when Moses ceased to supplicate, and we have Joshua victorious when Moses continued to do

So.

But Moses was an intercessor whose arms might become weary, and whose strength might be exhausted; but we have a great High Priest, who has passed into the heavens, who is more touched with the feeling of our infirmities than ever Moses was, and who is ever willing, and, what Moses was not, ever able to make intercession for us.

But when victorious, did Joshua say, "I give all the glory to my own good sword, to my stratagems, or to the heroism of my troops?" No; but when the battle was finished, and when victory was perched upon his banners, he gave the glory, not to himself, his shield, his sword, or his soldiers, but he built upon the field an altar, and he inscribed upon it the truly Protestant inscription, "Jehovah-nissi❞— not Joshua, not valor, not skill, not chance, but the Lord is our banner, and while ours is the benefit, his be all the glory of the victory.

THIS CHAPTER AN EPISODE.

EARLY COURTESY AND HOSPITALITY.

JETHRO'S GOOD ADVICE. THE CABINET OF MOSES.

IN the previous chapter, read last Sunday morning, we had laid before us an account of the unhappy murmurings of the children of Israel, because there seemed to them no prospect of water. We read also of God's miraculous supply from the rock struck by the rod of Moses, which gushed forth refreshing streams to satisfy the wants of a people that murmured when they were in want, were unthankful when they had plenty, and assuredly deserved none of the great and unrivalled mercies which had been poured upon them and followed them day by day.

The chapter I have now read has been supposed by the most competent interpreters of the Book to be a sort of interlude, or episode; because there are in it indications which show that the occurrence recorded in the chapter must have taken place after Israel had reached Sinai, and heard the Law, and not before they had arrived at that Mount, and received the statutes and ordinances of God. The first reason assigned for this is the allusion in this chapter to burnt-offerings and sacrifices, which were not yet instituted according to the Law of Moses. There is also reference clearly to a state of things which indicates national organization, and not the nomadic state in which the Israelites were in the desert. And on looking at the chapter which succeeds this, we see plainly that the 19th is the proper con

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tinuation of the 17th chapter, and that therefore this 18th chapter is introduced in an earlier place, though it alludes to a later event, from the single fact that Jethro came from among the Amalekites, against whom Joshua waged successful warfare as written in the preceding chapter; and as the historian was speaking of the destruction of the Amalekites, it seemed to him proper and natural to state that Jethro his father-in-law was one of those beautiful exceptions which, like flowers in the wilderness, or like oases in the desert, are found in the worst and most degraded population of the globe. This alone accounts for this episode appearing in this place, containing allusions to events, rites, and ceremonies of subsequent occurrence.

What will strike most readers here is, the beautiful courtesy exhibited by Jethro and Moses when they met together. There is something beautiful in the forms of courtesy, and when they are the channels of real and Christian feeling, they become not only beautiful, but even sacred. There is given also in this chapter some description of primitive hospitality and Christian love, friendship, and good-will, when Moses took his father-in-law into the tent, his only palace, and set bread before him, and they both thanked God for the mercies of the past, recognized his hand, and expected, as they justly might, his blessing for the future.

We have in Jethro an instance of what is really so rare, though pronounced so plentiful, intense common sense. The remarks of Jethro are so strikingly sensible that they commend themselves to every man's mind, and indicate not only inspiration, but that which is nearer to it than genius, a rightly balanced, prudent, enlightened, discreet, and reflect-ing mind. But no doubt Jethro was guided by God to give Moses so prudent and sensible advice; for the language that Jethro employed indicates that he was the subject of deep and experimental acquaintance with the Gospel itself. The first topic of conversation was not earthly subjects at all,

but, "Moses told his father-in-law all that the Lord had done unto Pharaoh and to the Egyptians for Israel's sake, and all the travail that had come upon them by the way, and how the Lord delivered them." And then Jethro, hearing the narrative of Moses, broke forth into appropriate song, and said: "Blessed be the Lord, who hath delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the hand of Pharaoh. And now I know by experimental proof, what I believed before, that Jehovah is greater than all the idols of the world, and that in those very things where they dealt proudly," that is, where they counted upon success from the greatness of their strength, "there God has had and will have the preeminence."

We then read of the advice which Jethro gave to Moses, his son-in-law, which Moses accepted as fitted to lighten the load that was upon his shoulders, and probably to do more substantial justice to the different causes which were submitted to him. Jethro said, "This will wear you away; your physical strength cannot bear it-getting up early in the morning, and remaining till late at night, having the cares of a general, all the delicate offices of a Judge, and all the sacred functions of a priest. It is quite impossible that one man's shoulders can bear the load; and if it be not sinful to distribute it, it is right to see whether it cannot be done." And therefore, "the old man eloquent" with large experience, and wisdom from on high to direct him, said, "Hearken now unto my voice, I will give thee counsel, and God shall be with thee: Be thou for the people to Godward, as thou hast always been, that thou mayest bring the causes unto God, as thou hast always done. You are under a special guidance; therefore, dutiful to yourself, obedient to God, beneficial to the people, take, as becomes you, the head, be the chief one; and you shall teach them ordinances and laws, and show them the way wherein they must walk, and the work that they must do. Moreover, thou shalt provide