260
Patriarchs and Prophets
From Rephidim the people continued their journey, following the
movement of the cloudy pillar. Their route had led across barren
plains, over steep ascents, and through rocky defiles. Often as they
had traversed the sandy wastes, they had seen before them rugged
mountains, like huge bulwarks, piled up directly across their course,
and seeming to forbid all further progress. But as they approached,
openings here and there appeared in the mountain wall, and beyond,
another plain opened to view. Through one of the deep, gravelly passes
they were now led. It was a grand and impressive scene. Between the
rocky cliffs rising hundreds of feet on either side, flowed in a living
tide, far as the eye could reach, the hosts of Israel with their flocks and
herds. And now before them in solemn majesty Mount Sinai lifted
its massive front. The cloudy pillar rested upon its summit, and the
people spread their tents upon the plain beneath. Here was to be their
home for nearly a year. At night the pillar of fire assured them of the
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divine protection, and while they were locked in slumber, the bread of
heaven fell gently upon the encampment.
The dawn gilded the dark ridges of the mountains, and the sun’s
golden rays pierced the deep gorges, seeming to these weary travelers
like beams of mercy from the throne of God. On every hand vast,
rugged heights seemed in their solitary grandeur to speak of eternal
endurance and majesty. Here the mind was impressed with solemnity
and awe. Man was made to feel his ignorance and weakness in the
presence of Him who “weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in
a balance.”
Isaiah 40:12
. Here Israel was to receive the most wonderful
revelation ever made by God to men. Here the Lord had gathered
His people that He might impress upon them the sacredness of His
requirements by declaring with His own voice His holy law. Great
and radical changes were to be wrought in them; for the degrading
influences of servitude and a long-continued association with idolatry
had left their mark upon habits and character. God was working to lift
them to a higher moral level by giving them a knowledge of Himself.
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