MOSES STRIKING THE ROCK.

NUMEROUS and severe were the trials of the Israelites in crossing the wilderness. Their hunger you have heard was miraculously appeased; but when they arrived at Rephidim, they were suffering the terrible pangs of longcontinued thirst. Ever ready to complain, they regretted that they had left their slavery in Egypt, and were so enraged against Moses that they even threatened to stone him to death.

Moses was grieved at the ingratitude of the people, and he prayed to the Lord for protection and assistance. God, who is ever ready to listen to the prayers of such as trust in him, told him to go to the rock of Horeb and strike it with his wand, and that water should pour from the stone and relieve the thirst of the Hebrews. This rock stood in the sandy desert, parched, and dry, and bare; no verdure sprang around it, not a blade of grass or a green leaf were to be seen; all was barrenness and desolation. Moses approached the rock, and the people followed him with reddened eyes and haggard looks; while some, abandoning hope, lay upon the ground, their parched tongues hanging from between their black cracked lips, and gave themselves up to despair.

Then Moses struck the rock with his wand, and it shattered like glass; a rushing tumultuous sound was heard, and the clear waters poured forth, bright and sparkling, and formed a little river along the sandy valley. In an instant all was joy; those who had crawled languidly along, bounded to the welcome stream and quenched their ravening thirst; and once again the people acknowledged the mercy ana the power of their God.

GOD'S CHARGE TO MOSES.

THREE months after the Israelites left Egypt, they arrived at the desert of Sinai, and encamped near a lofty mountain, and Moses ascended the mountain to seek the counsel and assistance of the Almighty. Then the voice of God came to him out of the mountain and exclaimed: "Thus shalt thou say to the children of Israel: if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people." Then Moses assembled the people and told them the gracious promise of their Creator, and the people answered: "All that the Lord hath spoken we will do."

And God said, "Let the people sanctify themselves, for in three days I will come down in the sight of all the people upon Mount Sinai." And the Almighty charged Moses that no man should at that time ascend the mountain, or even touch it, for that if any did so they would surely perish. This command was given to restrain the over-eager curiosity of the people, for thoughtless men are too likely to approach sacred places with heedless levity.

On the third day the mountain trembled, and great clouds of smoke rose from it into the air, and there was thunder and lightning; and a miraculous sound, as though a giant had blown a mighty blast upon a trumpet; and the Lord, shrouded in fire, descended upon the summit of the mountain, and the people were seized with feelings of terror and adoration. Then the voice of God came from amidst the fire and called to Moses, who ascended the mountain, and there his Creator communed with him, and gave him the laws by which he was to govern the chosen people of Heaven.