DEUTERONOMY 8:7-9; 11:10-12.

I was musing a little on the beautiful description given to Israel of the land (before they entered it) by Moses in Deut. 8:7-9; 11:10-12. He exhibits it to them in its positive and comparative excellencies-as it was in itself, and in contrast with Egypt. In itself, it was to be full of all manner of good things-wheat, wine, and oil (8:8); of which good things another scripture says, " Wine that maketh glad the heart of man, and oil to make his face to shine, and bread which strengtheneth man's heart." (Ps. 104:15.)

And not only was the soil, or land, itself to be thus the storehouse of these most needed and best things, but their hills and stones were to be warehouses of brass and iron, wanted in the common traffic and use of life in their place as well as the other (8:9).

But in contrast with Egypt, the character of the promised land is very blessedly described. Egypt was watered by the foot,-1:e., the common industry of her people drawing off the water of the Nile upon their fields and gardens (11:10). Their river was every thing to them-and all they wanted was to be busy round its banks, and they could supply themselves out of it.

But Canaan was to be tilled by the Lord. He would water it from heaven Himself-His heart would care for it, and His eyes would rest on it from one end of the year to the other (11:11, 12). As another scripture says, "Thy land shall be married." (Isa. 62:) A strong figure. The Lord was Himself the husband, or the husbandman, (kindred words, no doubt,) of the land of His people.

But, beside, Canaan was to be a land "of brooks of water, of fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills " (8:7). Egypt had a mighty river that was every thing to it, but the source of that river was unknown. Canaan, on the contrary, had no mighty river. A "brook," as it were, was its largest stream-even Jordan, compared with the Nile, was but as a streamlet of a river. But it had "fountains" springing up in all its hills and valleys. Its currents and channels may have been small, but it was full of the source and springs of those currents. This was just the opposite of Egypt. There, the current was mighty, but the source unknown; here, the channels were small and unimportant, but the sources were all known and enjoyed, together with their waters and streams.

And, as we know, beloved, that these two lands were mysteries,-the land of Egypt representing the world, or the place of nature, out of which the redeemed are called, and Canaan, the scene of communion with God, into which the redeemed are brought,-so we may learn that these features of the two lands have meaning also. For the world can go on supplying itself from the great current of daily providential mercies and leave the source or parent of it altogether a secret, while the believer, or the Church, has to do with the great source or parent in all things and in every place; a fountain is to be known in every hill and every valley; and if the little tiny brooks be tasted, it is well known where they rise, and from what recess in glen or mountain they broke forth. Has not this a voice in it? The Nile itself commanded the notice of the world, while its birthplace was a mystery. No river in Canaan was worth the geographer's notice-at least, in the scale of rivers, but every hill and valley there had its fresh and sweet springs. And we may ask ourselves, In which land are we more at home? Do we like to walk in a place that is full of the presence of God-like Canaan? or would we choose a place like Egypt, where we may get all providential supplies, while keeping the great source of them at an unknown distance.

The character of heaven too is signified by this Canaan. It will be a rest, surely so; it will be deliverance from a dreary wasted wilderness, but it is to be a rest full of the presence of God, and of the incessant and abiding witnesses of that presence. The fountain is to be every where. (Rev. 7:17.) May we the more welcome it, because of this! and the more we can dwell in the presence of the fountain now, may we be the better pleased. If we go up a hill or down to a valley, may the fountain meet our gladdened eye! J. G. B.