THE varied experiences of the children of Israel during their deliverance from bondage and their forty years' sojourn in the wilderness are in a way typical of the experiences all seem called upon to pass through in their journey from the material sense of existence to the spiritual reality of being as it is revealed in Christian Science.
As the follower of Christ, Truth, today compares his experiences, the trials and temptations, the joys and victories, with those of the children of Israel, he is oftentimes surprised to note the similarity between them. The outward manifestations—the conditions and environments—are very different, it is true, but the struggle within is much the same. There is nothing remarkable in this, for mortal mind, the embodiment of all evil, is just what it was when the descendants of Jacob were in bondage to the Egyptians; and God is unchangeable,—"the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever." Now as then, the struggle is between the demands of divine Mind and mortal mind, Truth and error, good and evil. There are the same temptations to be met, the same battles to be fought, the same trials to be endured, the same victories to be won—and the same rewards for obedience to the law of God.
It is the purpose of this article to consider some of the experiences of the children of Israel, with the hope of gathering therefrom that which will be of practical benefit in solving the problems of today. If it is seen wherein they suffered because of wilful wrong-doing or neglect of duty, the repetition of those undesirable experiences may be avoided. The law of God is the same today as it was then, and any violation of that law is punished. Evil has no more power today than it had four thousand years ago, and there is no more occasion to fear the latter-day manifestations of evil than there was to 'tremble before the evils that asserted themselves in the early days of human experience.
