The tabernacle in Sinai...

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UNITED STATES OE AMERICA.

THE TABERNACLE IN" SINAI.

AN ACCOUNT OF THE

Chapter I

Introductory Reflections — In Egypt — Preparations for a Journey — Encampment by the Sea.

Will God indeed tabernacle among men ? For Him whom the heaven of heavens can not contain, can the earth furnish a dwelling place ? " He is my God," said Moses, " I will prepare Him a habitation."

Moses completed his work, and was laid to rest in the lone grave on Nebo. The Tabernacle served its purpose, and gave place to the costly and magnificent temple of Mount Zion ; but the work of the wilderness was not forgotten. After near fifteen hundred years had passed it was written by the pen of inspiration, " There was a Tabernacle made ; the first wherein was the candlestick, and the table, and the show-bread ; which is called the sanctuary. And after the second vail the Tabernacle, which is called the holiest of all ; which had the golden censer, and the ark of the covenant, overlaid round about with gold, wherein was the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron's rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant, and over it the cherubims of glory shadowing the mercy-seat." — Heb. ix.

THE WONDERFUL TENT.

Wonderful structure ! marvelous for the wisdom that inspired it ; the skill of the architect ; the luxuriance of its materials ; the elegance and beauty of its workmanship ! More astonishing than all, that the mighty God should dwell within its curtains, and fill all its innermost recesses with the inexpressible glory of His presence^

Where was this wonderful structure ? Upon whom did God bestow the honor of its erection ? What were the impressive lessons it was designed to teach? Let us go and see for ourselves ; — mingle with the chosen people of God ; witness their miraculous redemption from bondage ; follow them into that great and terrible wilderness ; gather with them at the mount of God, where awe-stricken and adoring they behold His glory. Let us enter the court,, and even press with the High Priest behind the costly curtains, and stand among the golden symbols, radiant with the glory of the mysterious Shekinah !

Here we are in Egypt ! What strange things have transpired around us ! Here was the earthly home of civilization ; the cradle of science and the arts ; the garden and the garner of the world ! Here we are in the home of the Pharaohs ; the land of mighty temples and gigantic pyramids ! Wonderful land ! Wonderful in its physical features ; in the mysterious river that gives it fertility ; in the antiquity of its history ; the surviving monuments of its ancient grandeur ! To the Christian more wonderful for its association with the chosen people of God; of Abraham's visit; of Joseph's slavery, humiliation, and final exaltation ; of Moses' birth and princely adoption and education ; of the astounding miracles by which he vindicated the power and majesty of the God of his fathers, and led his people from bondage to the promised land. What lessons come to us from all the

INTRODUCTORY REFLECTIONS, ETC. 3

records of the past ; from the desolations and ruins of the present !

The history of redemption is full of interest. The hand of God is seen in every stage of its development. Sin had no sooner separated man from his Maker than the grand scheme for restoration to a lost paradise commenced. God did not withdraw Himself from the world. East of Eden were the cherubim, and the tokens of God's abiding presence, and there sacrificial worship commenced. Abel's altar and bleeding lamb was the beginning of that long series of sacrifices that marked the patriarchal age, and by which men sought acceptance with God.

The first great historic period reached from the creation to the flood — from the beautiful garden, the flaming sword and the cherubim of Eden to the dark and dismal waste of waters that entombed a world. Noah walked the renovated earth, spanned the radiant bow of promise, and from his consecrated altar the smoke of his sacrificial offering ascended, a sweet-smelling savor unto God.

But again the Creator was forgotten, truth was perverted and man walked in the blindness of sin and the pollutions of idolatry. Jehovah, by a strange and mysterious call, separated Abraham from his kindred, his father's house and his native land. He gave him special revelations, made him a depositary of His truth, the agent of its preservation, and the means of its dissemination. He pledged to him His special protection and blessing — promised that a nation should come out of his loins, from whom should arise the Messiah in whom all the nations of the earth should be blessed. He led him a weary pilgrimage into an unknown land, and among a strange people. Canaan and Egypt knew his wanderings ; but, wherever he went, the altar of his God marked his encampment ; the smoke of his burnt-offering ascended to Heaven, and the angels of the unseen Jehovah were his companions and guide.

The years roll on. By a strange series of events his posterity are settled in this land of Mizraim, and the twelve families became a great multitude. We know the story of their bondage ; the severity of their oppression ; and how, from the bitterness of their vassalage they cried unto God. Jehovah never forgets, never leaves Himself without a witness. So sure as His throne is established in the heavens, so sure His promise will be performed.

At last, after long waiting and suffering, the time came for their deliverance. Moses made his advent in the court of Pharaoh. His was a marvelous escape from the decree that doomed to death the infants of his oppressed race. Saved by water ; adopted by the daughter of the king ; reared at court and educated among princes ; God was secretly and mysteriously preparing the way for the fulfillment of His apparently forgotten promise to Abraham, and the ultimate blessing of the world.

By this man of God's appointment deliverance was to come to Israel. That enslaved nation was to be led out of Egypt, and that event was to mark an epoch in the world's sacred history ; a great revival of religion was to bless mankind, a new, and more complete revelation from Jehovah to be made.

The few scattered truths that had fallen at uncertain intervals along the patriarchal ages, were to be gathered up, and a complete system of law, of faith and worship, established. God would make His character more fully known ; unfold the great doctrine of expiation from sin, and prepare the way for the introduction into the world of the great atoning sacrifice — the Lamb on Calvary !

INTRODUCTORY REFLECTIONS, ETC. 5

Now we are to follow in the track of this redeemed people ; go with them into the wilderness of their wanderings ; stand under the light of the mysterious pillar of cloud and fire ; listen to the thunder of God's voice on Sinai ; contemplate the erection of that costly Tabernacle, and seek a solution of its sublime symbols, and heavenly ministrations.

But a journey into the desert, and a visit to the mount of God, is still a formidable undertaking. Now, as in the days of Israel's exodus, it is, as Moses called it, a " Great and terrible wilderness." The camel must be the transport, the wild Arab the guide and attendant. Tents, beds, provisions, water — all needed supplies — must be taken with us ; for we shall find no fertile fields ; no refreshing springs ; no cheerful habitations. We may go trusting in Israel's God, but we can presume on no miracle to bring water from the rock, or manna from the heavens.

To-morrow we take our departure ; we have the afternoon and evening, how shall the time be spent ? Let us visit among the still remaining monuments of antiquity ; meditate among the ruins of the home of the Pharaohs ; wander along the renowned waters of the Nile, and recall the history of Moses, that wonderful man of God, whom we shall so often meet as we traverse the wilderness, and study the Tabernacle of God. The palaces in which he was nurtured have crumbled to dust ; temples and gods have been forgotten, but the name of Moses and his illustrious deeds live in the hearts of millions, and are known over the world. More than three thousand years have passed since he found a lone grave on Nebo. No monumental stone marks the spot, but he has a more enduring monument than piles of marble or pillars of brass,

THE WONDERFUL TENT.

Poet, historian, prophet, general, statesman — a constellation within himself — his glory remains undimmed— Jew, Mohammedan, and Christian, alike unite to do him honor.

Moses still lives ! He led his people to the borders of the promised land, and his long and laborious mission on earth was ended, and God raised up a Joshua to lead the nation into the covenant possession. The great law-giver was not permitted to enter the literal Canaan, but his glorified spirit was taken to a better land — the eternal home of all the blest. Fifteen hundred years after he closed his earthly mission, in company with Elijah, who had gone up to heaven from those same mountains, in a chariot of fire, he was sent on an embassy from the courts of glory to meet the incarnate Son of God on the mount of transfiguration, to talk with him of the decease that Holy One should accomplish at Jerusalem — the great work of redemption by atoning blood ! How close the sympathy between earth and heaven ! Moses wrote of Christ, and Christ was in all the ministrations of the sanctuary. How we shall delight to talk of those things as we come into the courts of the Tabernacle, and stand by the Great Altar of Atonement !

THE ENCAMPMENT AT THE RED SEA.

Chapter II

The Encampment at the Red Sea — First Evening in the Desert — A Stranger Introduced — The Story of Israel's Deliverance.

In our journey to Suez, we plunged at once into the cheerless desert that stretches away from the gates of El Kahira to the confines of Arabia. For a caravan journey it occupies about three days. The monotony of the desert is occasionally broken by gentle undulations of the surface, or low ranges of hills, but every-where the same oppressive sterility meets the eye. No shadowy groves ; no green fields ; scarce a shrub or tree, to relieve the gloomy aspect. No human habitations, unless you chance to meet the low black tent of some Bedouin Arab — still a wandering child of the desert. Every thing is in striking contrast with the fertile valley of the Nile you have left behind.

And now here we are upon the head-waters of that historic sea, renowned for the mighty deliverance wrought for the hosts of Israel ! This head of the Red Sea is the gate of entrance to the Sinaitic peninsula, and the grand rallying place for Mohammedan pilgrims upon the great caravan route to Mecca. Here we shall rest for a day to complete the arrangements for a journey into the great desert, and to the mount of God. We shall not need to avail ourselves of the conveniences of the Caravansera ; Abdallah, our dragoman, has his shelter in readiness, our dinner even now awaiting, and we are to commence at once our tent-life in the desert.

The First Evening in Camp.

" How strange/' says one, " that we have spread our tent upon the very spot where the hosts of Israel once gathered; that we listen to the murmur of the waters that ingulfed the hosts of their enemies ! Can this indeed be the ground that was once overshadowed by that mysterious pillar of cloud that shed its light upon Israel, and Avas darkness to Egypt, and that led the way through all the desert wanderings ? "

" What a battle," said another, " these waters witnessed when man's impulsive passions and God's determined purposes were brought into collision. Not a contest of human weapons, the roar of cannon, the rattle of musketry, or the clash of bayonet and saber ; not the armed knight with spear and shield and helmet ; not Goliath with his ponderous armor, not David with his simple sling and stones. It was one of those mighty struggles where faith in God was to work the victory. Who does not believe in unseen agencies ? The angels of God encamp round about them that fear Him. The unseen yet incomprehensible presence of Jehovah guides us in peace, and becomes our shield in the hour of clanger."

" When," said I, " we move in obedience to the commands of Jehovah we may expect the way will be opened for us. How wonderful our God ! How terrible in judgment ! How powerful in deliverance ! He who in the morning of creation shut the waters within their boundaries could scoop out for his people a highway of escape."

" The redeemed people," said Elnathan, " found themselves in safety on the Canaan side ; but I was thinking

A STRANGER INTRODUCED. 9

of the boasting warriors of Egypt. They too entered the gate-way of waters. Alas for their boasting ! An unseen hand closed the portals behind them. It was in the morning watch. What a morning was that ! The sun arose upon the green valley of the Nile ; his light kindled upon these Arabian hills, and glanced upon these now tranquil waters. Beneath this sea, thus gleaming in the morning sunlight, were buried the thousands that in the strength and glory of human pride marched out from yonder populous cities of the plain ! "

The Introduction of a Stranger.

Engaged thus in recalling the wonders of the past, our dragoman approached the door of the tent with a stranger, whom he announced as a voyager from Syria, anxious to join the caravan into the desert. He had just come in with a company of Moslem pilgrims on their way to Mecca.

Having made this general announcement, he motioned me aside to tell me the stranger had made application to be taken to Mount Sinai. For himself he would be quite willing to add another to the nomad. " But," continued he, " some do not like to admit strangers to their company in such pilgrimages ! "

" Who is he, Abdallah ? "

" I can not tell ; only that he is Rabbi Ben Achmed, from Damascus, bearing letters of commendation from Effencli Raschad, ruler of that city."

" He is an Israelite, then ? " said I, inquiringly.

" Don't know. I never ask the religion of my employers. So they do right, and pay the contract it is all alike to me whether they say Allah, Elohim, or Jesu."

" It may not be pleasant to have one of a different faith in our company — one that would not feel at ease in our conversation and worship."

" That is for you to say. I am told your Master teaches you to love all men, and disciple all. Thank me for bringing you a pupil — a heretic may be/' said Abdallah, somewhat sarcastically.

" I will inquire of my companions," said I.

During this colloquy, which none of the company but myself had heard, the stranger bore without visible embarrassment the close scrutiny to which he was subjected, and was still standing calm and self-possessed where Abdallah first announced him.

A man considerably above medium height, apparently of about three score years, he stood dignified and erect as a son of the desert. His hair, once deep black, had taken a thick sprinkling of gray. His eyes were large, dark, and undimmed, while the whole expression of his countenance was full of kindness and intelligence. He wore a long, flowing beard, that, like his hair, told of advancing age, and added much to his venerable appearance. His dress was oriental, and like his physiognomy, combined a mixture that would have made his faith or nationality still more a puzzle. He wore the close-fitting pants of the Frank ; a rich Arabian tunic was thrown loosely over his shoulders, through the openings of which could be seen portions of a black satin vest, richly embroidered with gold and scarlet. His feet were protected by sandals, and his head covered with a close-fitting Turkish fez unadorned by either tassel or turban. No one from features or costume, could determine just where to class him, or to guess, were he to open his lips, whether it would be to acknowledge the Prophet, or bless Jehovah, God of Israel.

A STRANGER INTRODUCED. 11

The prepossessing appearance of the stranger, and the short consultation that followed, settled the question — Rabbi Ben Achmed was to be one of the party into the wilderness.

Seated with his new associates, the former conversation was renewed. It turned at once upon the astonishing events that for more than three thousand years had made the place of their encampment memorable in the religious history of the world. The mission of Moses; the miracles at the court of Pharaoh ; the dividing of the waters ; the pillar of cloud and fire ; the wide-spread and far-reaching influence of these even upon the religious character of the world, all passed in review, till the company seemed carried back to the very days of Israel's deliverance, and to be standing in the very midst of the sublime manifestations of Jehovah.

" Thou art a Rabbi," said one to the stranger, for no one had yet suspected his real character and purpose, " and familiar with the traditions and history of thy people. Let us sit at thy feet and hear from thee of the wonders of Israel's redemption."

" I am a stranger,'' replied Ben Achmed, " and came not to teach but to be taught. The law has been my study, and I worship the God of my fathers. The prophets I have searched diligently, but many things are to me mysteries. Clouds hang over me, the obscurities of which I can not penetrate. I look up to Jehovah, blessed be His Holy name, and my prayer is, Guide me, Thou Living One, into the fullness of Thy truth.''

" May God make us mutually useful, and blessings to each other,' 5 I replied.

" Amen ! Jehovah be praised," responded Ben Achmed. and at once continued: -'Expecting to visit this place I compiled from our Targums the story of Israel's deliverance. It contains, to be sure, many glosses and enlargements of the original Hebrew, but the peculiarity of the style and comments may be new to most of you, and it may not be uninteresting to read it upon the very spot once sanctified and made glorious by the presence and power of Jehovah."

achmed's story.

" It was in the dividing of the night of the fifteenth day that the Word of the Lord slew all the first-born in the land of Mizraim, from the first-born son of Pharaoh, who would have sat upon the throne of his kingdom, unto the first-born of the captive in the house of the chained ; and all the first-born of cattle.

"And the sons of Israel moved from Pilusin towards Succoth, protected there by seven clouds of glory on their four sides ; one above them, that neither rain nor hail might fall upon them, nor that they should be burned by the heat of the sun ; one beneath them, that they might not be hurt by thorns, serpents or scorpions ; and one went before them to make the valleys even, and the mountains low, and to prepare a place of habitation. And there were about 600,000 men journeying on foot ; none riding on horses except children [or families] five to every man.

"And the days of the sons of Israel in Mizraim were thirty weeks of years, which is the sum of two hundred and ten years. But the number of four hundred and thirty years had passed away since the Lord spake to Abraham, in the hour that He spake to him in the fifteenth of Nisan, between the divided parts ; until the day that they went out of Mizraim.

" Four nights are there written in the book of memorial before the Lord of the world. Night the first : when the Lord revealed himself upon the world as it was created, when the world was without form and void, and darkness was spread achmed's story. 13

upon the face of the deep, and the Word of the Lord illuminated and made it light ; and He called it the first night.

' ' Night the second : when the Word of the Lord was revealed unto Abraham between the divided parts ; when Abraham was the son of a hundred years, and Sarah was a daughter of ninety years, and that which the scripture saith was confirmed. Was not our father Izhak a son of thirty-seven years at the time he was offered upon the altar ? The heavens were brought down, and bowed low, and Izhak saw their realities [perfections] and his eyes were blinded at the sight ; and He called it the second night.

" The third night : when the Word of the Lord was revealed upon the Misraee, at the dividing of the night, and His right hand slew the first-born of the Misraee, and His right hand spared the first-born of Israel ; to fulfill what the scripture had said : Israel is my first-born son ; and he called it the third night.

' ' Night the fourth : when the end of the world will be accomplished, that it might be dissolved, the bands of wickedness destroyed, and the iron yoke broken. Mosheh came forth from the midst of the desert, but the king Meshiah comes from the midst of Roma. The cloud preceded that, and the cloud will go before this one, and the Word of the Lord will lead between both, and they shall proceed together. This is the night of Pascha before the Lord to be observed and celebrated by the sons of Israel in all their generations.

"And the people took their dough while not leavened, remaining in their kneading pans, carrying it upon their heads, and what remained to them of the Paschal cakes, and bitter things, they carried bound with their raiment upon their shoulders. And they divided the dough which they brought out of Mizraim, and it was baked for them into unleavened cakes, because it had not fermented, for the Mizraee had thrust them out, neither could they delay ; and it was sufficient

14 HAM-MISHKAX, THE WONDERFUL TENT.

for them to eat until the fifteenth of the month Ijar ; because they had not prepared provisions for the way.

"And they journeyed from Succoth, the place where they had been covered with the cloud of glory, and sojourned in Etham, which is on the side of the desert. And the Word of the Lord conducted the people by the way of the desert of the sea of Suph. Armed in good works went up the sons of Israel from the land of Mizraim.

"And the glory of the Shekinah of the Lord went before them by day in the column of cloud, to lead them in the way, and at night the column of cloud moved behind them to darken on their pursuers behind them. The column of cloud departed not from them by day, nor the column of fire by night in leading on before the people.

"And the heart of Pharaoh and his servants was turned to evil against this people, and they said : what is this that we have done ? for we have released Israel from serving us. And Pharaoh said : the people of the house of Israel are bewildered in the land ; the idol Zephon hath shut them in close upon the desert.

"And he took six hundred choice chariots, and all the chariots of the Mizraee, his servants, who were afraid of the Word of the Lord lest they should be killed with pestilence, if not with hail ; and a third mule for following swiftly he added to each chariot. And the Lord hardened the design of the heart of Pharaoh, king of Mizraim, and he pursued after Israel. And the Mizraee followed after them, and came upon them as they were encamped by the sea, gathering of pearls and of goodly stones, which the river Pison had carried from the garden of Eden into the Gihon, and the Gihon had carried into the sea of Suph, and the sea of Suph had cast upon its bank.

"And the children of Israel lifted up their eyes, and behold the Misraee were pursuing them ; and they were sorely afraid, and the children of Israel prayed before the Lord. But the wicked generation said to Mosheh : because there were no achmed's story. 15

burial places for us in Mizraim, hast thou led us forth to die in the wilderness ? What hast thou doue iu bringing us out of Mizraim ?

"Four companies made the children of Israel, standing by the weedy sea; one said, let us fall upon the sea ; another said, let us return to Mizraim ; another said, let us array battle against them ; and another said, let us shout against them and confuse them. To that company who said, let us fall upon the sea, Mosheh said, fear not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which shall be wrought for you this day. To the company who said, wo will return unto Mizraim, Mosheh said, fear not, for as you have seen the Misraee, this day you will see them no more in bondage forever. To the company who said, we will array battle against them, Mosheh said, fear not, the Lord in the glory of His Shekinah will work the victory for your hosts. To the company who said, let us shout against them to confound them, Mosheh said, fear not, stand and be silent, and give the glory and the praise and the exaltation unto Elohah.

"And the Angel of the Lord who led the way before the hosts of Israel went and came behind them ; and the cloud was half light and half darkness ; light, it enlightened upon Israel ; darkness, it darkened upon Mizraim. And these came not to set battle in order all the night.

"And the Word of the Lord said unto Mosheh, how long standeth thou praying before me ? heard before me are thy prayers ; but the prayers of my people have preceded thine. Speak to the sons of Israel that they go forward, and stretch forth thy hand. And Mosheh stretched out his hand over the sea, with the great and glorious rod which was created at the beginning, and on which were engraved and set forth the Great and Glorious Name, and the ten signs which had smitten the Mizraee, and the three fathers of the world, and the six mothers, and the twelve tribes of Jacob.

"And straightway the Lord brought a vehement east wind upon the sea all night, and made the sea dry ; and divided the waters into twelve divisions according to the twelve tribes of Jacob. And the children of Israel went through the sea upon the ground, and the waters were congealed like a wall.

"And the Mizraee followed and went in after them, all the horses of Pharaoh and his chariots and his horsemen, into the midst of the sea. And it was at the morning watch, at the time that the powers on high came to offer praise, the Lord looked forth with anger upon the hosts of the Mizraee, from the column of fire, to hurl upon them fire and hail, and to confound the hosts of the Mizraee ; and He unloosed the wheels of their carriages, so they went dragging them after them ; the mules going their way before the wheels, were turned so that the wheels went before the mules, and they were cast into the sea.

" The Mizraee answered and said one to another, let us flee from before the people of the sons of Israel ; for this is the Word of the Lord who worketh victory for them in their battles, so that they set the back against Mizraim.

"And Mosheh stretched forth his hand over the sea, and the sea returned and covered the chariots, and the horsemen, and all the hosts of Pharaoh who had come in after them into the sea ; and not one among them was left. But the sons of Israel w T alked on the ground in the midst of the sea, and the waters were to them as walls on their right hand and on their left. That day the Lord redeemed and saved Israel from the hand of the Mizraee ; and Israel saw the Mizraee dead, and not dead, cast upon the shore of the sea. And Israel saw the power of the Mighty Hand by which the Lord had wrought the miracles in Mizraim. And the people feared before the Lord, and believed in the name of the Word of the Lord, and in the prophesies of Mosheh, His servant."