the children of Israel should take a lamb from the flock, and

HYSSOP.

keep it four days. Afterward he was to kill it in the evening. And he was to take a bunch of a plant called hyssop, and to dip it in the blood of the lamb. Then he was to go to the door of his house, and strike the hyssop upon each side of the door, and over it, so that there would be three marks of blood outside of every house where the children of Israel lived. When the man had done this, he was to go into the house again, and no one was to come out of it until morning.

And the lamb which had been killed was to be roasted with fire, and all the persons in the house were to eat of it that night. This is the way they were to eat of it-with their clothes girded around them, their shoes on their feet and their staves in their hands, ready to go out of Egypt. They were to make haste while they ate of it; because the Lord would go through the land that night, and would cause the eldest sons of all the Egyptians to die, so that Pharaoh and his people should let the children of Israel go. But He promised that, when He should see the marks of the blood on the houses where the children of Israel lived, He would pass over those houses, and not harm any one in them. Therefore the supper of the lamb, which the children of Israel ate that night, was called the Lord's Passover. And the Lord commanded them, at this supper, and for seven days afterward, to eat only one kind of bread. It was called unleavened bread, because there was no leaven, or yeast, in it.

And Moses called the elders of the children of Israel to him, and told them what the Lord had said, and the elders told the people. Then every man took his lamb, and kept it four days. Afterwards he killed it in the evening, and dipped the bunch of hyssop in its blood, and struck the wood outside of his door, so that there were three marks of blood on every house where the

children of Israel lived. And those who were in the house ate of the lamb that night; they ate of it with their clothes girded around them, with their shoes on their feet, and with their staves in their hands, all ready to go out of Egypt.

And that same night, in the middle of the night, the Lord passed through the land. And wherever He saw the marks of the blood on a house, He passed over that house and did no harm to any one in it. But on the houses of the Egyptians there were no marks of blood, and the Lord sent His destroying angel into every Egyptian's house, and caused the eldest son there to die. Pharaoh's son and the sons of his servants died. And the king rose up in the night, and all his people, and there was a great cry of distress through all the land, for there was not a house where there was not one dead.

And Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron, and told them to go out of Egypt, and to take all the children of Israel with them. He said, Take your flocks and your herds, and be gone. And the Egyptians begged them to go, and to go quickly, for they were afraid that the Lord would cause them all to die. And the children of Israel went, carrying their clothes bound up with their kneading-troughs on their shoulders. And the Egyptians gave them jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment also, so they went out with great riches. And many other persons who were not Israelites went with them.

It was right that the Egyptians should give these jewels of gold and silver to the Israelites, for the Israelites had worked hard for them, and had not been paid for it.

We have read in the book of Genesis, how God told Abraham that his descendants should live in a strange land for many years, and that the people there would treat them cruelly. Yet God said He would punish the people who treated them so, and afterward would bring the children of Israel out of that land with great riches. It had been more than four hundred years since God spoke those words to Abraham, but now He made them come true.

The lamb which the children of Israel killed at the supper of the Passover, was like the lamb which Abel offered up on the

altar. We have read how Abel's lamb meant, or represented, the Saviour. So this Passover lamb represented Him. The Passover lamb died for the people, and the Saviour was coming, after many years, to die for them. When the Lord came into Egypt in the night, He did not punish those who had the marks of the lamb's blood on their houses. And when He shall come to the earth on the judgment day, He will not punish those who have the marks of the Saviour's blood on their hearts, that is, whose hearts have been cleansed from sin by His blood.

CHAPTERS XIII:-XV.

(B.C. 1491.)

God goes before the children of Israel in a pillar of cloud. They pass through the Red Sea. The Egyptians, following after them, are drowned.

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FTER Pharaoh had let the children of Israel go, the Lord led them toward Canaan. Yet not by the shortest way, which passed through the land of the Philistines, lest the Philistines should make war against them, and they should be discouraged and go back into Egypt. The Lord showed them another way, toward the Red Sea. And Moses took the dead body of Joseph with him, because, as we have read, Joseph, before he died, made the children of Israel promise that they would carry him up when they should go back to Canaan.

And the people journeyed to a place called Etham on the edge of the wilderness. There they set up their tents and made a camp. As they journeyed, the Lord went before them in a cloud to show them the way. The cloud was shaped like a pillar, reaching up toward heaven. They could see it all the time. the day it was the colour of a cloud, but at night it was the colour of fire. It gave them light at night, so that they could journey

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both in the day and in the night when the Lord commanded. And the Lord did not take away the pillar of cloud in the day, or the pillar of fire in the night, from before the people.

But after the children of Israel had left Egypt, Pharaoh and his servants were sorry they had let them go, and they said, Why have we let Israel go from serving us? Then Pharaoh made ready his chariot, and took with him all the chariots in

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which his soldiers rode out to battle, and went after them. he came up to them while they were encamping by the sea. When Pharaoh came near, the children of Israel looked back and saw the Egyptians marching after them. Then they were greatly afraid, and cried out to the Lord. They blamed Moses, also, for bringing them away from Egypt. It would have been better for them, they said, to stay and work for the Egyptians, than to be slain there in the wilderness. But Moses told the people not to fear. He said to them, Wait, and see how the Lord will save you; for the Egyptians, whom ye have seen today, you shall see no more for ever. The Lord will fight for you, and you need do nothing but be still.