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At length they reached a passable place in the ridge of El Araba, where the mountains were lower: here they were commanded to turn. The Lord said, "Ye have compassed this mountain long enough, turn you northward." The Lord put a fear of them into the hearts of the Edomites, but the Israelites were forbidden to take any advantage of it. They were to pass peaceably through this remote border of Edom, buying what they might need, plundering nothing, because the Lord had given Mount Seir unto the children of Esau for a possession.

FRINGES AND THE VAIL.

"THOU shalt make thee fringes upon the four quarters of thy vesture, wherewith thou coverest thyself," " is the Divine command to the children of Israel, and this command they seek in various ways to obey. The shape of their garments is so different from that of those worn by their ancestors, that they cannot keep the law as directed; yet, from a desire to obey God, they substitute the present mode of wearing the fringes in its stead. Connected with these are many superstitions and falsehoods, which are the inventions of the rabbies, who have turned the ordinance from its original intention, and taught that the wearing of fringes made according to the directions of the wise men, is meritorious, and equivalent to keeping the whole of the commandments of God.

It will be interesting to our readers, we hope, to have an account of the way in which this precept is observed by the Jews. We will, however, first notice the Scripture references to this * Deut. xxii. 12.

institution of God. In Numbers, xv. 37-41 we read "And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and bid them that they make them fringes in the borders of their garments throughout their generations, and that they put upon the fringe of the borders a ribband of blue: And it shall be unto you for a fringe, that ye may look upon it, and remember all the commandments of the Lord, and do them; and that ye seek not after your own heart and your own eyes, after which ye use to go a whoring: That ye may remember, and do all my commandments, and be holy unto your God. I am the Lord your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God: I am the Lord your God."

Here we have the command and the reason for it. Israel was ever prone to forget the Lord and his commandments; and in order that they might not do this, even the garment which they wore was to be their monitor, and the fringes on its four quarters were to bid them remember the holy precepts of their God. The sanction which is given is of the highest character. He who commanded is the Lord their God, he redeemed them from Egypt-he would have them holy, for he is holy.

If the children of Israel were thus to be reminded of the relationship in which the Lord stood to them, and of their duty and privilege in obeying his laws, what diligence should distinguish the Christian in his pathway through time, seeing he is redeemed with the precious blood of Jesus from the bondage of sin, of Satan, of death, and of hell, that he may cry, my God, my father, the guide of my youth, the God and ther of our Lord Jesus Christ. Like Israel

we too often forget the commandments of the Lord. To the whole Christian Church the Lord Jesus said, when he instituted the last supper, "Do this in remembrance of me." Yet only a few of his professed followers ever approach the Lord's table in obedience to this command. They who do so are the exceptions, the singular ones, and the generality of men in Christian countries shun the table of the Lord as a dreadful evil, only to be approached when heart and flesh are failing them, and fear drives them to it, as to some painful remedy which may, perhaps, have, even at the last, a saving power.

In our Christian course our best remembrancer is an enlightened conscience; through it, the Spirit of the Lord speaks to his people, and makes it a never-failing admonisher when evil is nigh.

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The law of God, treasured in the memory and written on "the fleshly tables of the heart is our guide and rule, marking out the course in which we are to "run with patience the race which is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith."

Those outward remembrancers, the fringes and the ribband of blue, were useful, or they would never have been ordained of God: and many an Israelite has been restrained from sin by looking at them, for their language was "remember all the commandments of me your Lord. "Be holy unto your God, I am the Lord your God which brought you out of Egypt to be your God: I am the Lord your God!

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The Jews continued to wear the fringes on their vestments, so that they could be seen by themselves and others until after they were

scattered into Gentile lands, and they still wear them, though not so as that they can be seen. In our Lord's days one distinguishing mark of the Pharisees was, that they "made large the borders of their garments."* The word translated borders is a Chaldee word, and means literally fringes, and doubtless these proud men would have the "ribband of blue" broad, and the fringes of their garment long indeed; not that they might remember the commandments of the Lord, but that they might be seen of men.

Our Lord wore fringes on his garment according to the command. He was "made under the law," and he fulfilled that law for he lived and

worshipped as a Jew. We read of a poor "woman who had spent all her living upon physicians, who could not be healed of any, coming behind him and touching the border of his garment, and immediately she was made whole." Here the word translated border is literally the fringe,† shewing that even in these seemingly (as some would say) unimportant things, Jesus was obedient unto the laws of God.

From the passage, "Thou shalt make the fringes upon the four quarters of thy vesture, wherewith thou coverest thyself." The rabbies at first concluded that the fringes should be put in the upper garment. But at a late period the Jews were ordered to make a special garment for the purpose of putting fringes on it. This is called Talith, which signifies a vestment. It resembles a napkin, or a shawl in shape, and is made of white sheep or lamb's wool. The rabbies are very particular as to the whiteness of *Matt. xxiii. 5. † Luke viii. 43, 44.

the Talith. They order it to be of the same whiteness as the garment of the "Ancient of days," which was "white as snow."+

The fringes and the Talith or Vail have become the subjects of the most absurd and even wicked fables. Some of these we hope to notice in our next number.

(To be continued.)

THE JEWS IN SPAIN.

IN the month of March, 1492, the decree was signed that in four months every Jew, native or sojourner, should quit the realms of Aragon, Castile, and Granada, never more to return, under penalty of death and confiscation of goods; and the justice of the Inquisition was denounced against all who should harbour or conceal a Jew after that time. As the time drew near, the sufferings of the Jews became indescribable. "The resource of baptism remained, subject however to the vigilance of the Inquisition, and many yielded to the powerful temptation; but the end of July saw multitudes of noble-minded Israelites forsake their homes, their fathers' graves, and all their old associations of infancy and ancestry to wander they knew not whither a dignified triumph of passive courage!" An eminent Jew, Abarbanel, in his preface to the book of Kings thus narrates this terrible event. "When the Royal proclamation was announced, I was at court, and wearied myself to frenzy in imploring compassion. Thrice on my knees I * Margoliouth's Modern Judaism investigated,

+ Dan. vii. 9.

Sephardim, or the History of the Jews in Spain and Portugal. By James Finn, Esq.

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