Page:PracticalCommentaryOnHolyScripture.djvu/217

 the desert,  and  faint  away  and  die  in  the  desert;  but  your  children shall possess  the  land.”

After pronouncing  this  sentence  on  the  rebellious  Israelites, the Lord  struck  dead  the  ten  spies  who  had  excited  them  to sedition. But Josue  and  Caleb  were  spared  and  blessed. In spite of the  divine  sentence  “that  they  should  not  see  the  land”,  the rebellious Israelites  determined  to  enter  at  once. Moses warned them, saying:  “Go  not  up,  for  the  Lord  is  not  with  you;  it  shall not succeed  prosperously  with  you”;  and  he  remained  with  the ark in  the  camp,  while  they  in  their  blindness set  out  and  were routed by  the  Amalekites  and  Chanaanites. After this  the  Israelites returned once  more  into  the  interior  of  the  desert  towards  the Red Sea.

The Justice,  Mercy, and  Wisdom  of  God.  Almighty  God  had  borne for a long  time  with  the  murmuring,  refractory  Israelites;  but  at  last His divine  patience  was  exhausted,  and  His  justice  demanded  that  they should be  punished. The people  of  Israel  were  condemned  to  wander about the  desert  for  forty  years,  and  of  the  600,000  fighting  men  who left Egypt,  only  two  entered  the  Promised  Land. But even  while He punished,  God  showed  mercy;  for  at  the  request  of  Moses  He  so far  forgave  the  people  that  He  did  not  destroy  them. He excluded  all those who  were  grown  up  from  the  Promised  Land,  which,  however, He explicitly  promised  anew  to  the  younger  generation. By the  wisdom of Divine  Providence  the  forty  years  of  wandering  served  this  end,  that the Israelites  put  aside  all  the  heathen  ideas  and  customs  which  they had imbibed  in  Egypt,  and  grew  accustomed  to  the  observance  of  the law of  God  and  obedience  to  those  whom  He  had  placed  over  them, and were  trained  to  be  a valiant,  warlike  people.

The sins  of  the  Israelites.  In  the  story  you  have  just  heard  the Israelites sinned  against  the  First  Commandment  by  their  want  of  faith, hope, and  charity. They sinned  against  the  Second  Commandment  by