"CHRIST IS ALL." THE NUMBERED PEOPLE. "Take ye the sum of all the congregation of the children of Israel, after their families, by the house of their fathers, with the number of their names, every man by their polls, from twenty years old and upward, all that are able to go forth to war in Israel." NUMB. i. 2, 3. THESE verses bring us to the camp of Israel still circling Sinai's base. Christian thought-waiting for dews of heavenly grace-delights to linger here. Let us observe the people closely. They are snatched by God's hand from tyrannizing foes. A miracle of care supplies their daily wants. A moving pillar guides their way. The law has been repeated to them amid terrific prodigies. Moreover they are fenced around by strict peculiarities of social custom and of typal worship. Their contact with the world is broken. They move amidst the nations of the earth, as a stream flowing through the ocean's bed, unmingling with contiguous waves. God near, with sheltering arms, is their defence. Goodness and mercy guard their present steps. The land of promised rest is the horizon of their hopes. Reader, these annals are an historic mirror. They image out a heavenly Father's special dealings with each child of |