. The training of the Chosen people. n this episode in the life of Israel indicateshow the very hardships and necessities of life maybe incitements to faith. With their Egyptian mas-ters behind them the Israelites did not demur atcrossing the Red Sea and incurring the perils certainto follow. But when they were in circumstances ofcomparative comfort they caught at the majority re-port of the spies as a pretext for not crossing Jor-dan and entering at once upon their heritage in Ca-naan. It is a singular circumstance that the PilgrimFathers, in the midst of starvation, pestilence anddeath, neve
. The training of the Chosen people. n this episode in the life of Israel indicateshow the very hardships and necessities of life maybe incitements to faith. With their Egyptian mas-ters behind them the Israelites did not demur atcrossing the Red Sea and incurring the perils certainto follow. But when they were in circumstances ofcomparative comfort they caught at the majority re-port of the spies as a pretext for not crossing Jor-dan and entering at once upon their heritage in Ca-naan. It is a singular circumstance that the PilgrimFathers, in the midst of starvation, pestilence anddeath, never lost their faith in the immortality ofthe soul, the reality of the spiritual life, and the lov-ing providence of God. While, not infrequently, wefind those who, in the midst of plenty and happiness,become skeptical as to these essential features of theChristian revelation (Deut. 8:10, 11). Our difficul-ties and necessities often contribute more than wethink for to our spiritual life. And this is not wholly 38 Old Testament History. or chiefly because they discipline us in patience, butbecause they encourage us to the ventures of faith. And more thanthis, what a picturethe story presentsof the losses of un-faith! The Israel-ites, for want offaith, refused to goup and possess theland, and wereturned back into thewilderness fornearly forty years. From a photograph by Prof. G. L. Robinson. When their chil- Kadesh-barnea. dren came back to The place where the Israelites were turned back ^^ veTV Dlace into the wilderness. , * • r * where their fathershad halted, a new spirit moved them, and theymarched forward into the promised land. Thefathers wasted the best of their lives, spending themin the wilderness, instead of in Canaan, because theylacked faith. Their want of insight into their ownhistory and of confidence in God was enormouslyexpensive. We speak often of the losses that men sustainthrough lack of knowledge, judgment or losses that come through lack of spiri
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