of seed, or of figs, or of vines, or of pomegranates; neither is there any water to drink. And Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and they fell upon their faces: and the glory of the LORD appeared unto them. And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Take the rod, and gather thou the assembly together, thou and Aaron thy brother, and speak ye unto the rock before their eyes; and it shall give forth his water, and thou shalt bring forth to them water out of the rock: so thou shalt give the congregation and their beasts drink. And Moses took the rod from before the LORD, as he commanded him. And Moses and Aaron gathered the congregation together before the rock, and he said unto them, Hear now, ye rebels; must we fetch you water out of this rock? And Moses lifted up his hand, and with his rod he smote the rock twice: and the water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their beasts also. And the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron, Because ye believed me not, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them. This is the water of Meribah; because the children of Israel strove with the LORD, and he was sanctified in them.Numbers XX. 1-13.

DEATH OF AARON: THE BRAZEN SERPENT.

THE forty years were almost passed, and it was time for the people to take up their journey to the promised land.

They were to come into the country from the east, by the gate-way of the Jordan.

On the east side of the great valley which leads south

"Meribah" means "strife."

from the Dead Sea to the Red Sea was a rough, mountainous country with upland pastures and deep, narrow valleys. About midway, where the mountains rise the highest, they are called Mount Seir. Here are the cliffs with caves which in Abraham's day were the homes of the cave-dwellers, the Horites. And here, long after the time of our story, in the Roman days, the buildings of Petra the "rock city" were cut out. Near by, in Mount Seir, we may believe, was the high top called Mount Hor. The natural wildness of the scenery, the carved buildings, and the bright and rich colors of the rock make Petra strange and beautiful.

The people of this mountain country were the Edomites, the descendants of Esau, Jacob's brother. But they were not friendly to the children of Israel, and would not let them pass through their country. So the people must go a

long way to the south to go around the land of Edom.

We must read about something that happened in Mount Hor, and something else that happened as they were journeying around the land of Edom.

And Moses sent messengers from Kadesh unto the king of Edom, Thus saith thy brother Israel, Thou knowest all the travail that hath befallen us: how our fathers went down into Egypt, and we have dwelt in Egypt a long

time; and the Egyptians vexed us, and our fathers: and when we cried unto the LORD, he heard our voice, and sent an angel, and hath brought us

forth out of Egypt: and, behold, we are in Kadesh, a city in the uttermost of thy border. Let us pass, I pray thee, through thy country: we will not pass through the fields, or

through the vineyards, neither will we drink of the water of the wells: we will go by the king's high way, we will not turn to the right hand nor to the left, until we have passed thy borders. And Edom said unto him, Thou shalt not pass by me, lest I come out against thee with the sword. And the children of Israel said unto him, We will go by the high way and if I and my cattle drink of thy water, then I will pay for it: I will only, without doing any thing else, go through on my feet. And he said, Thou shalt not go through. And Edom came out against him with much

people, and with a strong hand. Thus Edom refused to give Israel passage through his border: wherefore Israel turned away from him.

And the children of Israel, even the whole congregation, journeyed from Kadesh, and came unto mount Hor. And the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron in mount Hor, by the coast of the land of Edom, saying, Aaron shall be gathered unto his people: for he shall not enter into the land which I have given unto the children of Israel, because ye rebelled against my word at the water of Meribah. Take Aaron and Eleazar his son, and bring them up unto mount Hor: and strip Aaron of his garments, and put them upon Eleazar his son: and Aaron shall be gathered unto his people, and shall die there. And Moses did as the LORD commanded: and they

went up into mount Hor in the sight of all the congregation. And Moses stripped Aaron of his garments, and put them upon Eleazar his son; and Aaron died there in the top of the mount: and Moses and Eleazar came down from the mount. And when all the congregation saw that Aaron was dead, they mourned for Aaron thirty days, even all the house of Israel. .

And they journeyed from mount Hor by the way of the Red sea, to compass the land of Edom: and the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way. And the people spake against God, and against Moses, Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, neither is there any water; and our soul loatheth this light bread. And the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died. Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD, and against thee; pray unto the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people. And the LORD said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live. And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole; and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.-Numbers XX. 14-29;

XXI. 4-9.

Petra.

BALAAM'S BLESSING.

THE children of Israel were journeying down towards the head of the Red Sea to compass the land of Edom when they were bitten by the fiery serpents. Their journey is described in Numbers xxi. and Deuteronomy ii. and iii. They made a circuit around Edom and turned northward through the pasture country east of the Dead Sea. They passed by the Moabites and the Ammonites, who, like the Edomites, were related to them, being descendants of Lot, the nephew of Abraham. But they conquered two kingdoms of the Amorites in this eastern country: the land of king Sihon, south of the brook Jabbok, and Bashan, north of the Jabbok, which was ruled by the giant king Og. The Jabbok is a brook which runs into the Jordan about half-way between the Dead Sea and the Sea of Galilee.

Then the people encamped in the plains of Jordan among the acacia trees, not far from the Dead Sea. The bluffs of the upland pastures rose above them, and from some high points people could look down upon their camp in the plain below.

Now we hear of Balaam. He was a prophet. Pethor, his home, seems to have been a town on the Euphrates River. Here in the far East there still remained some wise men who had knowledge of the Lord and of heavenly things, handed down from the ancient time. Long years after this