THE JEWISH ADVOCATE.

NOVEMBER, 1846.

BIBLE HISTORY OF THE JEWS.

CHAPTER XVIII.

NOTHING is known with certainty of the stations next mentioned. (Num. xxi. 10, &c.) Edom once passed, they seemed to have travelled northward very rapidly, through the country inhabited by the Moabites and the Ammonites; whom being the descendants of Lot they were forbidden to attack. But the Lord gave Sihon, King of the Amorites, and Og the giant King of Bashan, with all their fortified towns and cities, into their hands, for they were to make no covenant with any of the wicked Canaanitish nations. They conquered all the land of Gilead, and thus having possessed themselves of the eastern shores of the river Jordan, they rested in the plains of Moab not far from the river, and nearly opposite Jericho.

Then did Moab begin to be sore afraid of Israel because of their great numbers. And Balak their King sent to his neighbours, the Midianites, for help; for he feared that the tarriance of so large a host amongst them would exhaust the country, saying, "Now shall this company lick up all that are round about us, as the ox licketh up the grass of the field."

They

were, indeed, a formidable army, owning no earthly power, but moving at the command of God, who dwelt in the midst of them, and made them invincible in battle.

Now there dwelt at Pethor, by the river Euphrates, a prophet of great repute, whose name was Balaam. Balak was anxious to secure his aid against these Israelites, and he sent some of his counsellors with great presents and offers of preferment to Baalam if he would curse them. "Come, curse me this people, for they are too mighty for me," "for I wot that he whom thou blessest is blessed, and he whom thou cursest is cursed." But God revealed himself to Balaam in the night, and said, "Thou shalt not go with them, thou shalt not curse the people; for they are blessed." So Balaam sent the messengers back to Balak.

"Then Balak sent yet again princes more, and more honourable than they" to whom Balaam replied, "If Balak would give me his house-full of silver and gold, I cannot go beyond the word of the Lord my God, to do less or more." Yet he was sorely tempted by the offered rewards, and he prayed the messengers to tarry that night also that he might again consult the Lord. And God came unto Balaam at night, and said unto him, "If the men come to call thee, rise up, and go with them; but yet the word which I shall say unto thee, that shalt thou do."

So Balaam set out with the princes of Moab, being thrice crossed on his journey by the angel of the Lord, who stood with a drawn sword in his way, to warn him lest he should speak aught but what he received from God.

When he came to the country of Moab, Balak came forth to meet him, and took him up to a high hill consecrated to their god Baal, and whence the "utmost part" of the host of Israel could be seen in the valley below. Balaam bade seven altars to be built, and sacrifices prepared; and while Balak and all his princes stood by them, he went to a solitary place to await the word of the Lord. And the word came; and he returned to Balak exclaiming, "How shall I curse whom God hath not cursed? Or how shall I defy whom the Lord hath not defied?" He beheld in vision the future strength and glory of Israel, and said, "Who can count the dust of Jacob, and the number of the fourth part of Israel? Let me

die the death of the righteous, and let my end be like his."

last

And Balak said, "What hast thou done unto me? I took thee to curse mine enemies, and, behold, thou hast blessed them altogether." He carried

the prophet to another place, to the top of Pisgah, whence only a part of the Israelitish hosts were to be seen. He thought that the host of Israel might be cursed part by part, though the blessing that rested on the whole was too strong to be gainsayed at once. But again Balaam spoke, "God is not a man that he should lie; neither the son of man that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good? Behold, I have received commandment to bless, and he hath blessed; and I cannot reverse it." Then Balak said to him, "Neither curse them at all, nor bless them at all." But Balaam answered still, "All that the Lord speaketh, that I must do."

They then ascended Peor; where, as before,

they built altars and prepared sacrifices. But here Balaam went not apart "to seek for enchantments" as at first, but "set his face toward the wilderness," where he saw Israel abiding in their tents according to their tribes, spread forth in the valley as gardens by the river side, as cedar trees beside the waters. In spite of the wrath of Balak, who smote his hands together with anger, he broke forth in admiration, and foretold the prosperity of Israel, and the discomfiture of their enemies. He saw a future which Balak could not see, for "his eyes were opened," and exclaimed, "I shall see him, but not now; I shall behold him, but not nigh: there shall come a star out of Jacob, and a sceptre shall rise out of Israel, and shall smite the corners of Moab, and destroy all the children of Sheth."

Thus ended this remarkable passage of history. But before his departure, Balaam, by his evil counsels, did more harm to Israel than all his curses could have done (Numbers xxxi. 16). The people who, trusting in God, could not be resisted, might be weakened, and even conquered, if that trust were shaken, and they could be seduced into idolatry; those who could not be conquered in war, might be subdued by the seductions of an evil and dissolute peace. Balaam suggested that the Israelites should be invited to join in the religious festivals of the Midianites. They did so; and by this means they were led into sin, idolatry, and uncleanness, which called down upon them the fiercest anger of God.

Moses called upon the judges of Israel to slay every man his neighbour that had joined himself unto Baal-peor, and Phineas, the grandson of

Aaron, was so "zealous for his God," that God gave to him and to his seed for ever "the covenant of an everlasting priesthood." Twenty-four thousand of the people were slain before the plague was stayed.

Moses was commanded to "avenge the children of Israel of the Midianites," who had seduced them into this sin. So he sent a thousand men out of each tribe, "with Phineas, to the war, with the holy instruments, and the trumpet to blow, in his hand." The Midianites were utterly overthrown; their towns destroyed; their kings slain; all their males, and most of their women, massacred or taken captives. Then, also, perished Balaam, the son of Beor. The Israelites possessed themselves of a vast booty, in cattle, jewels, gold, and silver. The cattle were divided between those who fought, and those who stayed behind, reserving a portion of each division for the priests and Levites; and 16,750 shekels of gold and jewels were brought into the Tabernacle, and offered to the Lord as an atonement for the souls of the people (Num. xxxi. 50), and "for a memorial for the children of Israel before the Lord."

FRINGES AND THE VAIL.

(Continued from page 225.)

As the Jews are taught by some of their rabbies that the Lord wears phylacteries, so also are they taught that He wears the vail. Thus one rabbi in commenting on Daniel vii. 9, says, " And he is attired in a white Talith (vail) like snow, in order to make our sins as white as snow." In