a prophet, both in the Koran and among the Arabs, under the name Shoeib (which has arisen probably from an alteration of the name Hobab).

The description given of Reguel, that he was a priest of Midian, suggests the enquiry, what was the religious condition of that people? In seeking for an answer to this question, we must necessarily make a distinction between the different groups into which the Midianites were divided. We know nothing at all with regard to the religion of those who dwelt on the eastern side of the Elanitic gulf, and who, according to Gen. xxxvii. 28, 36, were a trading community mixed up with the Ishmaelites. On the other hand, we know that those who dwelt on the north, and were allies of the Moabites (Num. xxii. 25), had given themselves up to the abominable worship of Baal-peor, probably in consequence of their connexion with the Moabites. With reference to the third group, of which Reguel, and subsequently Hobab, were chiefs, we can safely assume, so much at least, that they were not worshippers of Baal-peor. Such a thing is absolutely inconceivable, when we consider the close association which was constantly maintained between them and the Israelites (Vol. iii. §32. 2). Their nomadic isolation from the rest of the tribe renders it probable (and the earlier the separation took place the greater the probability would be), that in general they had preserved the theism, which they inherited from Abraham (see Ex. xviii. 9 sqq.). Still, we must not form too exalted a notion of the purity and genuineness of their theism, since Moses evidently refrained from communicating much to Jethro respecting the divine revelations which he had received. And the obstinate refusal of Zipporah to allow her sons to be circumcised (Ex. iv. 25) indicates a feeling of contempt for the religion of the Israelites.

(8). The house of the Midianitish priest was, doubtless, a severe but salutary school of humiliation and affliction, of want and self-denial, to the spoiled foster-son of the king's daughter. We can understand this, if we merely picture to ourselves the contrast between the luxury of the court and the toil connected with a shepherd's life in the desert. But we have good ground for supposing that his present situation was trying and humiliating in other respects also. His marriage does not seem to have been a happy one, and his position in the house of his

father-in-law was apparently somewhat subordinate and servile. The account, given in Ex. iv. 24 sqq. (§ 21. 3), shows us clearly enough the character of his wife. Zipporah is there represented as a querulous, self-willed, and passionate woman, who sets her own will in opposition to that of her husband, who will not trouble herself about his religious convictions, and, even when his life is evidently in danger, does not conceal the reluctance with which she agrees to submit, in order to save him. We might be astonished to find that a man of so much force of character as Moses possessed, could ever suffer this female government. But the circumstances in which he was placed sufficiently explain them. He had arrived there poor and helpless, as a man who was flying from pursuit. A fortunate combination of circumstances led to his receiving the Emir's daughter as his wife. It is true he could not pay the usual dowry. But the remarkable antecedents of his life, his superior mental endowments, his manly beauty, and other things, may have been regarded at first by his chosen bride and her relations as an adequate compensation for its omission. But if the character of Zipporah were such as we may conclude it to have been from Ex. iv. 24 sqq., we can very well imagine that she soon began to despise all these, and made her husband feel that he was only eating the bread of charity in her father's house. Nor does he seem to have been admitted to any very intimate terms with his father-in-law; at least we might be led to this conclusion by the reserve with which he communicated to Jethro his intended departure, and the little confidence which he displayed (Ex. iv. 18). Thus he was, and continued to be, a foreigner among the Midianites; kept in the background and misunderstood, even by those who were related to him by the closest ties. And if this was his condition, the sorrows arising from his exile, and his homeless and forlorn condition, must have been doubly, yea trebly severe. Under circumstances such as these, his attachment to his people, and his longing to rejoin them, instead of cooling, would grow stronger and stronger. There is something very expressive in this respect in the names which he gave to the sons who were born to him during his exile (Ex. ii. 22; xviii. 3, 4). They enable us to look deeply into the state of his mind at that time, for (as so frequently happened) he incorporated in them the strongest feelings and desires of his heart. The eldest

he named Gershom, which means a stranger there, "for," he said, "I have become a stranger in a strange land;" and when the second was born, he said, "the God of my father has been my help, and has delivered me from the hand of Pharaoh," and he called him Eliezer (God is help). We may also call to mind the miserable style in which he set out to return to Egypt (Ex. iv. 20): his wife and child he placed upon an ass, and he himself went on foot by their side.

THE CALL OF MOSES.

Vid. Die Berufung Moseh's (by Hengstenberg?) in the Evangelische Kirchenzeitung 1837. No. 50-51.

§ 20 (Ex. ii. 23-iv. 17).-The oppression of the Israelites in Egypt still continued. The king died, but the principles of his government were carried out by his successor. The change of rulers appears to have excited hopes in the minds of the Israelites, which were doomed to disappointment. Their oppression was not only perpetuated, but rendered increasingly severe, and their disappointment added to their sufferings. But the first signs of a powerful agitation were just appearing among the people, an agitation which was to ripen them for freedom. It was not a resolution to help themselves, or a plot to overthrow the existing government, which grew out of these disappointed hopes, but a movement of a much more powerful character, namely a disposition to sigh and mourn and call upon Him who is an avenger of the oppressed, and a friend of the miserable. And this movement attained its object; God heard their complaint and remembered his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The hour of their redemption was drawing nigh. Moses, too, who was destined to be the saviour of Israel, had passed through the chief school of his life, the school of

humiliation and affliction, and was now ready to obey his call. This call was now for the first time distinctly made known to him as the voice of God. He was feeding the flock of Jethro in the fertile meadows of Mount Horeb (1), when there appeared to him one day a miraculous vision. He saw a bush in the distance burning with brilliant flames, and yet not consumed (2). As he was hastening to the spot to look at this wonderful phenomenon more closely, he heard a voice calling to him and saying, "put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground." This was a voice which had been silent for 400 years, the voice of the angel of God, in whom God. had so often appeared to the fathers of his people (Vol. i. § 50. 2). Moses was not left for a moment in doubt as to the Being who was addressing him, for the voice continued: "I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob." On hearing this, Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look on God (3). The word of God, which was then addressed to Moses by the angel of the Lord, contained the key to a right understanding of the vision: Jehovah had seen the affliction of his people in Egypt, had heard their sighing and their cries, and had come down to deliver them out of the hands of the Egyptians, and bring them into the land of promise. "Come, now, therefore," he said, "I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people out of Egypt." Moses was directed to go to Egypt, and having assembled the elders of Israel, to introduce himself to them as a messenger of God sent to effect their deliverance. He was then to go with them to Pharaoh, and first of all demand of him, in the name of Jehovah, the God of the Hebrews, that he would let the people go a three days' journey into the wilderness and sacrifice to their God. It could be foreseen that such a request would be strongly opposed by the king; in fact, this was expressly foretold him by God: but with this prediction there was coupled the assurance, that the almighty

hand of Jehovah would open the way before him by means of signs and wonders (4).

How did Moses act when he heard the words of God announce this divine commission, and beheld the representation of its object in the miraculous sign? He had become a different man in his exile. Formerly he had burned with eager desire to appear as the deliverer of his people, and had offered to effect it of his own accord; but now he sought in every way to excuse himself from the divine command, by which he was called and equipped for the task. The training he received at Pharaoh's court had borne its fruit, and this fruit was essential to the fulfilment of his vocation; but it also gave birth to pride, false confidence, and a trust in his own power, which were unsuitable for the work. The discipline of his desert-school had broken down this pride and taught him humility, and had made him conscious of his utter weakness. His false confidence in his own power and wisdom had vanished, but he still wanted that true and proper confidence in the power and wisdom of God, by which the weak can be made strong. Not that he had any doubt as to the power of God; but he doubted his own fitness to serve as the organ of this power, although God himself had called him and in these doubts there was just as much false humility, as there was false pride in the confidence he felt before. Still, excessive humility is always nearer to the proper state of mind than pride, that knows no bounds. And this was the case with Moses. With inexhaustible patience God follows the windings of his false humility, meeting his difficulties with promises and assurances of strength, and his refusals with mildness, but with firmness also (5). "Who am I," said Moses," that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt ?" To this Jehovah replies: "I will be with thee," and places the issue of his mission in the most striking manner before his mind, by telling him that on that very