THE WILDERNESS THE CHOSEN SCHOOL OF THE ISRAELITES: DIFFICULTY IN GEOLOGY AND THE WILDERNESS OF SINAL ய HEN Moses, under the immediate direction of God, assembled and led forth the hosts of Israel out of Egypt, to take possession of Canaan, their long-promised inheritance, he did not conduct them along the direct and usual route, a dis tance of some two hundred miles only, and which they might have accomplished with ease in less than a month. This did not comport with the plan and purpose of Divine Wisdom; they were not then fitted to undertake the expulsion of the various warlike tribes occupying the land, nor adequately instructed so as to settle down in it as the true worshippers and peculiar people of the one only Living God. It was neces sary, therefore, that they should be schooled-that they should be detained by the way, to undergo a preparatory course of instruction, discipline, and organization. Accordingly, as affording a most appropriate theatre for all this, they were led by a different and circuitous course through the heart of the wilderness of Sinai; this made their direct line of march a distance of more than 1000 miles, and which, owing to their unbelief and rebellion, was attended with such protracted delays, that they did not accomplish it until the end of forty years. Connected with the stay and wanderings of Israel in this wilderness is a matter of apparent, and long thought, real difficulty, and which has often been urged as an unanswerable argument against the credibility of their history-it relates to the subsistence of themselves, and of their flocks and herds while in this barren and inhospitable region. "That wilderness," it has been asserted, "is, and always must have been wholly incapable of affording an adequate supply of either food or water to a horde of more than two millions of people, together with their numerous herds and flocks. The Mosaic narrative places them in a desert, whose physical destitution and desolation demonstrate it to have been an impossibility for them to have subsisted there. That narrative, therefore, cannot be true and cannot be credited." This difficulty, we may observe at the outset, is of no weight so far as supplies for the human population were concerned; their wants were met largely by miraculous provision-water was brought for them from the flinty rock; innumerable flocks of quail were made to alight once and again around their camp; and they were furnished with manna from heaven throughout their journey, even until the day they ate of the new corn in Canaan. The difficulty concerns the flocks and herds only. They went out of Egypt, we are told, "with very much cattle." Now, whatever the number of these might have been when they started, for aught that appears to the contrary in the history, they might have diminished rapidly as they advanced on their journey; indeed, no mention is made of the people possessing any considerable numbers in the latter portion of their pilgrimage, until an enormous booty was captured from the Midianites, as related in Numbers, chap. xxxi. v. 32, 33. To the foregoing consideration we may add the fact, that there have been ample evidences brought to light, within the past few years, to prove that this wilderness was anciently very much more productive than it is at present, and that it was quite capable of furnishing pasturage to great herds and flocks. The explorations of H. B. Tristram, of F. W. Holland, of "The Ordnance Survey Expedition" in 1868-1869, and of Professor E. H. Palmer in 1869-1870, have placed this fact beyond a doubt; and not only that, but have also traced such a connection between the features, the scenery, the distances and the localities of this desert, and those named and described in the sacred history, as affords a convincing confirmation of its correctness and credibility. To see the full bearing of these recent scientific investigations upon the difficulty under consideration, and so meet it the more satisfactorily, it will be necessary to describe the physical character of this region somewhat in detail. The Red Sea, running up from the Indian Ocean between the continents of Africa and Asia, at its northern extremity divides into two branches, which diverge at an angle of about 50°; that to the west is the gulf of Suez, and that to the east the gulf of Akabah. These, with the escarpment of the Tih, like a curving mountain chain connecting their extremities, embrace a triangular peninsula. The sides of this triangle measure 190 and 130 miles respectively, and the length of its base is about 150 miles. Within these bounds is embraced an area of some 11,600 square miles-this is the "Wilderness of Sinai." Along the base, or immediately south of the Tih frontier, a belt of sandstone country crosses the peninsula nearly from one shore to the other. "The hills of this district are for the most part low and isolated, with broad plateaux for their summits; but the fantastic shapes and gorgeous coloring of the rocks more than compensate for the deficiency in height; and some of the sandstone peaks, such as Umm Rijlain, are among the most striking features in the peninsula. Broad, undulating plains, and narrow valleys with sheer precipitous sides, are among the most conspicuous features of this belt of country. This formation is rich in mineral wealth, containing many veins of iron, copper, and turquoise. "The east and west sides of the peninsula are bordered by strips of comparatively level desert; that on the eastern side wholly disappears here and there, when the mountains come down in sharp escarpments to the sea; on the western side it grows gradually larger as it runs southward, and obtains its maximum breadth at Tor. |