become the people of God; they were ever
stiff-necked and continually rebelled against him. God, having chosen
them and led them out of Egypt, urgently commanded them to serve him
and obey his Word. But when they failed to fulfil the commandments,
they had to feel the terrific force of his punishment.

ISRAEL'S CARNAL SECURITY A WARNING TO US.

6. Their example Paul here, with great earnestness, holds up to the
world as a warning against carnally and confidently presuming upon
the grace and goodness of God because we have already received of
them. In unmistakable colors the apostle portrays the teaching of
this striking and important, this weighty and specific, example.
Rightly viewed, there certainly is no greater, more wonderful, story
from the creation of the world down to the present time, nothing more
marvelous to be found in any book--except that supremely wonderful
work, the death and resurrection of the Son of God--than this history
of a people led by God's power out of Egypt, through the wilderness
and into the promised land. It is filled with the remarkably
wonderful works of God, with striking examples of his anger and of
his great kindness.

7. Referring to these examples, Paul goes on to imply: "As Christians
and baptized, you should be familiar with them. If you are not, I
would not fail to bring them before you for reflection on what befell
other people of God, according to the Scripture record. They were our
fathers, a noble, intelligent and great company and congregation of
men, numbering over six hundred thousands, not counting wives and
children."

They, Paul tells us, were termed, and rightly, the holy people of
God. God designed their welfare; and through Moses, their bishop and
pope, they had the Word of God, the promise and the Sacrament. Under
Moses they were all baptized, when he led them through the sea, and
by the cloud, under the shadow of which, sheltered from the heat,
they daily pursued their journey. At night a beautiful pillar of
fire, an intense lightning-like brilliance, protected them. In
addition, their bread came daily from heaven and they drank water
from the rock. These providences were their Sacrament, and their sign
that God was with them to protect. They believed on the promised
Christ, the Son of God, their guide in the wilderness. Thus they were
a noble, highly-favored and holy people.

8. But with the great mass of the people, how long did faith last? No
longer tha