ST. PETER. By Rev. Prof. J. Rawson Lumby, D.D.
EPISTLES OF ST. JOHN. By Rt. Rev. W. Alexander, Lord Bishop of Derry.
_New York_: HODDER & STOUGHTON, _Publishers_
BY THE Rev. Robert A. Watson, M.A., D.D. AUTHOR OF "GOSPELS OF YESTERDAY," "JUDGES AND RUTH," "THE BOOK OF JOB," "IN THE APOSTOLIC AGE," ETC.
HODDER & STOUGHTON NEW YORK GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY
THE CENSUS AND THE CAMP 18 1. The Mustering: ch. i. 1-46 2. The Tribe of Levi: ch. i. 47-54 3. The Camp: ch. ii
PRIESTS AND LEVITES 29 1. The Priesthood: ch. iii. 1-10 2. The First-born: ch. iii. 11-13, 40-51 3. Levitical Service: chs. iii. 14-39, iv
DEFILEMENT AND PURGATION 46 1. Exclusion from the Camp: ch. v. 1-4 2. Atonement for Trespass: ch. v. 5-10 3. The Water of Jealousy: ch. v. 11-31
NAZIRITISM: THE BLESSING OF AARON 59 Ch. vi.
SANCTUARY AND PASSOVER 73 1. The Offerings of the Princes: ch. vii 2. The Candelabrum: ch. viii. 1-4 3. The Passover: ch. ix. 1-14
THE CLOUD AND THE MARCH 89 1. The Guiding Cloud: ch. ix. 15-23 2. The Silver Trumpets: ch. x. 1-10 3. The Order of March: ch. x. 11-28
THE STRAIN OF THE DESERT JOURNEY 119 Ch. xi
THE JEALOUSY OF MIRIAM AND AARON 136 Ch. xii
THE SPIES AND THEIR REPORT 151 Chs. xiii., xiv. 1-10
OFFERINGS: SABBATH-KEEPING: DRESS 179 Ch. xv
KORAH, DATHAN, AND ABIRAM 195 Chs. xvi, xvii
TITHES AND CLEANSINGS 212 Chs. xviii., xix 1. Duties and Support of the Ministry 2. Water of Purification 3. Defilement by the Dead
THE LAST MARCH AND THE FIRST CAMPAIGN 243 Ch. xxi
BALAAM'S PARABLES 290 Chs. xxii. 39-xxiv. 9
THE MATTER OF BAAL-PEOR 309 Chs. xxiv. 10-xxv. 18
OFFERINGS AND VOWS 343 1. The Sacred Year: chs. xxviii., xxix 2. The Law of Vows: ch. xxx
WAR AND SETTLEMENT 365 1. The War with Midian: ch. xxxi 2. Settlement: ch. xxxii
THE WAY AND THE LOT 382 Chs. xxxiii., xxxiv
THE CITIES OF REFUGE 396 Chs. xxxv., xxxvi
To summon from the past and reproduce with any detail the story of Israel's life in the desert is now impossible. The outlines alone remain, severe, careless of almost everything that does not bear on religion. Neither from Exodus nor from Numbers can we gather those touches that would enable us to reconstruct the incidents of a single day as it passed in the camp or on the march. The tribes move from one "wilderness" to another. The hardship of the time of wandering appears unrelieved, for throughout the history the doings of God, not the achievements or sufferings of the people, are the great theme. The patriotism of the Book of Numbers is of a kind that reminds us continually of the prophecies. Resentment against the distrustful and rebellious, like that which Amos, Hosea, and Jeremiah express, is felt in almost every portion of the narrative. At the same time the difference between Numbers and the books of the prophets is wide and striking. Here the style is simple, often stern, with little emotion, scarcely any rhetoric. The legislative purpose reacts on the historical, and makes the spirit of the book severe. Seldom does the writer allow himself respite from the grave task of presenting Israel's duties and delinquencies, and exalting the majesty of God. We are made continually to feel the burden with which the affairs of the people are charged; and yet the book is no poem: to excite sympathy or lead up to a great climax does not come within the design.