Jordan three cities, which were to be termed "cities of refuge," because any one might flee to them, who had killed his neighbour unaware, and had not hated him before, i. e. had committed what we now term manslaughter. If, upon coming to one of these cities, it could be shown by him that there was no malice in the deed which had resulted in death, he was sheltered, and remained there till the death of the high-priest. I should also add that, to make

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the twelve tribes, to whom twelve portions of land were given, Joseph's two sons were honoured, in that each one was reckoned as the head of a tribe; and instead of the tribe of Joseph, we read of the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh. One of the last acts also of Moses was to assign some land on the east side of Jordan to the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the half of Manasseh. Only he bade the men of war be ready to go over and help their brethren, who had yet so much to overcome, before they could gain possession of the land and hold it in peace.

D. Did Moses ever give any hint to the children of Israel that his dispensation was not to last for ever?

F. Not in exact words; because, if they had understood that it was only a temporary dispensation, perhaps much of their reverence for it would have been lost. But he said enough for their descendants in our Lord's time to see that he knew that his dispensation was to be superseded by a superior one, that was designed ultimately to embrace the whole world within the visible church. He said, "The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken." These words of Moses were quoted by St. Peter and St. Stephen, in the Acts of the Apostles; and the former apostle quotes the additional words, which differ a little from Deut. xviii. 19: "And it shall come to pass that every soul which will not hear that Prophet shall be destroyed from among the people;" so that we clearly see that by this prophet our Lord was intended. And it was in reference to this prophecy that the priests and Levites asked of John the Baptist, "Art thou that prophet?" D. Do we not read something about the day of Pentecost in the New Testament?

F. Yes; in the second chapter of the Acts, where it is recorded that the Holy Spirit, which

our Lord had promised under the name of the Comforter, came on that festival, ten days after our Saviour's ascension, and endowed the apostles with peculiar powers for preaching and spreading abroad the Gospel. It seems in one moment to have produced in them a thorough knowledge of the work their master had committed to them, and to have dispelled all errors, difficulties, and fears from their minds, according to our Lord's own words, in his last recorded conversation with them: "When he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth."

And the season of Pentecost was very appropriate to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit; for, as that day had been marked by the formal promulgation of the Mosaic law, so this new festival was to be kept in memory of the first great declaration of the new Christian law. We therefore keep the festival of Whitsuntide in memory of this divine outpouring.

D. What made the people choose a calf to worship?

F. Because it was most like the gods which they had been accustomed to see in Egypt, where the ox was worshipped.

D. What became of the brazen serpent?

F. The people afterwards began to worship it; so it was broken up in the time of Hezekiah, a good king, of whom you will hear more hereafter.

D. Is the manna mentioned in the New Testament?

F. Yes; our Lord intimated that it was a type of himself. He says, "Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead. This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread he shall live for ever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world."

St. Paul also makes use of the daily gathering as a lesson of faith in God's sending a continual supply of our wants; for he says, “As it is written, He that had gathered much had nothing over; and he that had gathered little had no lack."

CHAPTER VIII.

THE FALL OF JERICHO, AND THE PUNISHMENT OF ACHAN.

As soon as Moses was dead, Joshua began the great undertaking which was to be his special work, namely, to lead God's people into the promised land. He received every encouragement from God; for there appeared unto him an angel, or heavenly messenger, with a drawn sword in his hand, who announced himself as the captain of the Lord's host; and at the same time minute directions were given him as to how he was to proceed.

Before attempting to take Jericho, he sent two spies, who came into the house of a woman named Rahab, who most likely kept a kind of inn on the wall of the city. This woman evidently had learned what great things God had wrought for this people who were coming into

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