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Computing Essentials 2014 Tim and Linda O’Leary

Chapter 7
Secondary Storage
Lecture Guide
• Competencies
o Distinguish between primary and secondary storage.
o Discuss the important characteristics of secondary storage including media,
capacity, storage devices, and access speed.
o Describe hard disk platters, tracks, sectors, cylinders, and head crashes.
o Compare internal and external hard drives.
o Discuss performance enhancements including disk caching, RAIDs, file
compression, and file decompression.
o Define optical storage including compact discs, digital versatile discs, and Blu-ray
Discs.
o Define solid-state storage including solid-state drives, flash memory cards, and
USB drives.
o Define cloud storage and cloud storage services.
o Discuss mass storage, mass storage devices, enterprise storage systems, and
storage area networks.

Chapter Outline
• Storage
o The ability to save, to back up and even to transport files consisting of data or
programs from one location or computer to another.
o Random-access memory (RAM) holds or stores data and programs that the CPU
is currently processing. RAM is sometimes referred to as primary storage.
Unfortunately, most RAM provides only temporary or volatile storage – its
contents are lost as soon as there is no electrical current going into the system.
o Secondary storage provides permanent or nonvolatile storage. Using secondary
storage devices, data and programs can be retained after the computer has been
shut off.
o Important characteristics of secondary storage
▪ Media are the actual physical material that holds the data and programs.
▪ Capacity measures how much a particular storage medium can hold.
▪ Storage devices are hardware that reads data and programs from storage
media. Most also write to storage media.
▪ Access speed or access time measures the amount of time required by the
storage device to retrieve data and programs.

• Hard Disks
o Save files by altering the magnetic charges of the disk’s surface to represent 1s
and 0s.
o Retrieve data and programs by reading the charges from the magnetic disk.
o Density refers to how tightly these charges can be packed next to one another on
the disk.

1
Computing Essentials 2014 Tim and Linda O’Leary

o Rigid metallic platters that are stacked one on top of another.

o Store and organize files using tracks, sectors, and cylinders.
▪ Tracks are rings of concentric circles without visible grooves.
▪ Each track is divided into invisible wedge-shaped sections called sectors.
▪ A cylinder runs through each track of a stack of platters. Cylinders are
necessary to differentiate files stored on the same track and sector of
different platters.
o A head crash occurs when a read/write head makes contact with the hard disk’s
surface or with particles on its surface.
o Two basic types of hard disks:
▪ Internal hard disk (fixed disk)
• Located inside the system unit.
• Almost all of today’s powerful applications are designed to be
stored on and run from an internal hard disk. To ensure adequate
performance of your internal hard disk, you should perform routine
maintenance and periodically make backup copies of all important
files.

▪ External hard drives

• Typically connect to a USB or FireWire port on the system unit,
are easily removed, and effectively provide an unlimited amount of
storage.
• Use the same basic technology as internal hard disks and are used
primarily to complement an internal hard disk.

o Performance Enhancements
o Three ways to improve the performance of hard disks are:
▪ Disk caching
• Improves hard-disk performance by anticipating data needs.
• Improves processing by acting as a temporary high-speed holding
area between a secondary storage device and the CPU.
• Requires a combination of hardware and software.
• Frequently used data is read from the hard disk into memory
(cache). When needed, the data is then accessed directly from
memory.
• The transfer rate from memory is much faster
• Increases system performance by 30 percent
▪ Redundant arrays of inexpensive disks (RAID)
• Improves performance by expanding external storage, improving
access speed, and providing reliable storage.
• Several inexpensive hard-disk drives are connected to one another.
These connections can be by a network or within specialized RAID
devices.
• The computer system interacts with the RAID system as though it
were a single large-capacity hard-disk drive.

2
Computing Essentials 2014 Tim and Linda O’Leary

• The result is expanded storage capability, fast access speed, and

high reliability.
▪ File compression and file decompression
• Increase storage capacity by reducing the amount of space required
to store data and programs.
• File compression is not limited to hard disks systems.
• File compression helps speed up transmission of files from one
computer system to another.
• File compression programs scans files for ways to reduce the
amount of required storage.
• In file compression repeated patterns are replaced with a token,
leaving enough tokens so that the original can be rebuilt or
decompressed.
• File compression programs often shrink files to a quarter of their
original size.
• Can be done with specialized utilities such as WinZip or by using a
utility program in Windows itself.

• Optical Discs
o Can hold over 100 gigabytes of data.
o A laser beam alters the surface of a plastic or metallic disc to represent data.
Optical discs use reflective light to represent data.
o The 1s and 0s are represented by flat areas called lands and bumpy areas called
pits on the disc surface.
o Disc is read by an optical disc drive using a laser that projects a tiny beam of light
on these areas. The amount of reflected light determines whether the area
represents a 1 or a 0.
o Optical discs typically use a single track that spirals toward the center of the disk.
This single track is divided into equally sized sectors.

• Compact Disc
o Store 700 MB (megabytes) of data on one side of a CD.
o Three basic types of CDs:
▪ Read only—CD-ROM - cannot be written on or erased by the user.
▪ Write once—CD-R - can be written to once.
▪ Rewriteable—CD-RW – can be written to many times.

• Digital Versatile Disc

o DVD stands for digital versatile disc or digital video disc
o Can store 4.7 GB (gigabytes) on one side of a DVD disc
o Capacity is 17 times that of a CD.
o Three basic types of DVDs:
▪ Read only—DVD-ROM - cannot be written on or erased by the user.
▪ Write once— DVD+R, DVD-R - can be written to once.
▪ Rewriteable— DVD+RW, DVD-RW, DVD-RAM – can be written to
many times.

3
Computing Essentials 2014 Tim and Linda O’Leary

• Blu-ray Disc
o Have a greater capacity than DVDs.
o Next generation of optical disc is called hi def (high definition)
o The hi def standard is Blu-ray Disc (BD).
o Blu-ray Discs have a capacity of 50 GB on one side
o Capacity is 10 times that of a standard DVD.
o Three basic types of Blu-ray:
▪ Read only—BD - cannot be written on or erased by the user.
▪ Write once—BD - can be written to once.
▪ Rewriteable—BD – can be written to many times.

• Solid State Storage

o Solid state devices have no moving parts
o Data and information are stored and retrieved electronically

o Solid-State Drives (SSDs)

▪ Designed to be connected inside a micro computer system.
▪ Contain solid-state memory instead of magnetic disks to store data.
▪ Faster and more durable than hard disks.
▪ Require less power
▪ More expensive and generally have a lower capacity than hard disks
▪ Widely used for tablet PCs

o Flash Memory Cards

▪ Credit card–sized solid-state storage widely used in portable devices such
as smartphones, digital media players and GPS navigation systems. Other
cards provide removable storage.

o USB drives
▪ Connect directly to a computer’s USB port to transfer files.
▪ Can have capacities ranging from 1 GB to 256 GB
▪ Convenient size and large capacities make USB devices very popular for
transporting data and information between computers, specialty devices,
and the Internet.

• Cloud Storage
o Cloud computing and cloud storage
▪ Cloud computing where the Internet acts as a “cloud” of servers that
supply applications as a service rather than a product.
▪ These servers provide cloud storage, also known as online storage
▪ No installation on local computer, only need Internet ready device to
display results
• Google docs
o Benefits of cloud computing are numerous

• Making IT Work For You

o Cloud Storage
4
Computing Essentials 2014 Tim and Linda O’Leary

▪ Create a custom address

▪ Share files
▪ Update files

• Mass Storage Devices

o Mass storage refers to the tremendous amount of secondary storage required by
large organizations.
o Mass storage devices are specialized high-capacity secondary storage devices
designed to meet organizational demands for data.

o Enterprise Storage Systems are used to promote efficient and safe use of data
across organizational networks within their organizations. Some mass storage
devices that support this strategy include:
▪ File servers—dedicated computers with very large storage capacities that
provide users access to fast storage and retrieval of data.
▪ Network attached storage (NAS) – similar to a file server except simpler
and less expensive; widely used for home and small business storage
needs.
▪ RAID systems—larger versions of the specialized devices discussed
earlier in this chapter that enhance organizational security by constantly
making backup copies of files moving across the organization’s networks.
▪ Tape library—device that provides automatic access to data archived on
a large collection or library of tapes.
▪ Organizational cloud storage - high-speed Internet connection to a
dedicated remote organizational Internet drive site.

o Storage Area Network (SAN)

▪ Architecture to link remote computer storage devices, such as enterprise
storage systems, to computers such that the devices are as available as
locally attached drives.
▪ In a SAN system, the user’s computer provides the file system for storing
data, but the SAN provides the disk space for data.
▪ Key to a SAN is:
• High-speed network, connecting individual computers to mass
storage devices.
• Special file systems prevent simultaneous users from interfering
with each other.
• Provide the ability to house data in remote locations and still allow
efficient and secure access.

• Careers In IT
o Disaster recovery specialists
▪ Responsible for recovering systems and data after a disaster strikes an
organization.
▪ Create plans to prevent and prepare for such disasters. A crucial part of
that plan is to use storage devices and media in order to ensure that all
company data is backed up and, in some cases, stored off site.
5
Computing Essentials 2014 Tim and Linda O’Leary

▪ Bachelor's or advanced specialized associate's degree in information

systems or computer science.
▪ Experience in networking, security, and database administration is
desirable.
▪ Annual salary: $70,000 to $103,000.
▪ With so many types of threats facing organizations, demand for these
types of specialists is expected to grow.

• A Look to the Future

o Next-Generation Storage
o At some point, hard drives will no longer be able to increase in capacity, and
companies may run out of the physical space to keep adding more. Therefore,
researchers are looking into new technology to increase the capacity of existing
storage solutions, as well as reduce the size of current storage media.
o The first product that will receive a huge improvement is the hard drive.
o Advancements in chemistry have led to the speculation that circuits and storage
media could soon be working with carbon-containing molecules. Researchers
have discovered that a group of compounds known as metallofullerenes can be
oriented in various ways, allowing them to represent 0 and 1 bits just as other
storage media currently do. The biggest advantage of working with organic
molecules involves size. These molecules are so small, that storage devices
created with them could be extremely tiny, allowing for the creation of much
smaller computers and gadgets.

6
Computing Essentials 2014 Tim and Linda O’Leary

Teaching Tips
• Storage
o Discuss the important characteristics of secondary storage and compare the
different types of storage using these characteristics:
▪ Media or medium, which is the actual physical material that holds the data
and programs.
▪ Capacity measures how much a particular storage medium can hold.
▪ Storage devices are hardware that read data and programs from storage
media.
▪ Access speed or access time measures the amount of time required by the
storage device to retrieve data and programs.
• Hard Disks
▪ Most students have used these and know their capabilities.
▪ If you don’t have a hard drive to dissect, you can go to the Website
www.computing2014.com to find examples of how they work, or use
Figure 7-1 as an illustration of an internal hard disk.
▪ You can use Figure 7-4, also, as a good illustration of the size of a
read/write head and to help illustrate the problem of a head crash.
• Internal hard disk (fixed disk)
o It is good to discuss access time (speed) with the students.
These things are stated when they purchase some
computers and students don’t always know what it means
and why it is important.
o Performance Enhancements
▪ Briefly cover these aspects.
• Disk caching
• Redundant arrays of inexpensive disks (RAID)
• File compression and decompression
o Files compressed before storing and then decompressed
before being used again; improves performance through
efficient storage
▪ As a lab exercise, ask students to do a search on the Internet to find free
software that they can use to do file compression/decompression. As well
as find these programs, ask students to also “zip” a file and then “upzip” it.
• Optical Discs
o Most students are familiar with these types of storage devices, so you can
concentrate on the new/emerging technologies.
o Compact disc - Stores from 700 MB
▪ Read only—CD-ROM - it cannot be written on or erased by the user.
▪ Write once—CD-R - it can be written to once.
▪ Rewriteable—CD-RW – can be written to many times.
o Digital Versatile Disc – greater capacity than CDs – 4.7 GB on one side
o High-Definition – Blu-ray Disc – the next standard optical disc
▪ Greatest capacity – 50 GB on one side
• Solid-State Storage
o Ask students to describe each of the following:

7
Computing Essentials 2014 Tim and Linda O’Leary

▪ Solid-State Drives – similar to internal hard drives

▪ Flash Memory Cards – credit card-sized and widely used in portable
devices such as smartphones, digital media players, and GPS navigation
systems. Other cards provide removable storage.
▪ USB drives – flash drives; connect to USB port; used for transferring files
▪ As an exercise, ask students if they have any mobile devices with them,
and if so ask them to explain what type of solid-state storage they may be
using on them.
• Cloud Storage
o Online storage services
o Cloud computing where the Internet acts as a “cloud” of servers that supply
applications to clients as a service.
o Web based
▪ No installation
• Making IT Work for You
o Many students have used Google docs. Ask the students their experience with
using this type of cloud computing.
• Mass Storage Devices
o Enterprise storage system – use of data across networks to promote efficient and
safe use of data across the networks within their organizations.
o Devices
▪ File servers
▪ Network attached storage (NAS)
▪ RAID systems
▪ Tape libraries
▪ Organizational cloud storage
o As an exercise, divide the students into groups. Have each group discuss how
their school could make use of each of the following storage devices.

8
Computing Essentials 2014 Tim and Linda O’Leary

Key Terms

Key Term Definition

Measures the amount of time required by the storage device
access speed
to retrieve data and programs.
The next generation of optical format (high definition) that
Blu-Ray Disc (BD)
has a capacity of 25 to 100 gigabytes.
capacity How much a particular storage medium can hold.
CD (compact disc) One of the most widely used optical formats.
CD-R (CD-recordable) A CD that can be written to only once.
CD-ROM (compact disc–read
A CD that cannot be written on or erased by the user.
only memory)
CD-RW (compact disc A CD that can be written to many times. (See also erasable
rewritable) optical disc)
Service where the Internet acts as a “cloud” of servers that
cloud computing
supply application services
Internet servers that supply applications as a service for
cloud storage
online storage.
A part of a hard disk that runs through each track of a stack
cylinder
of platters.
How tightly the bits (electromagnetic charges) can be
density
packed next to one another on a diskette.
A hard disk performance enhancement that improves
disk caching processing by acting as a temporary high-speed holding area
between a secondary storage device and the CPU.
A newer optical format that has replaced CDs as the
DVD (digital versatile disc or
standard; similar to CDs except that more data can be
digital video disc)
packed into the same amount of space.
DVD player DVD ROM drive.
DVD -R (DVD recordable) A type of DVD write-once format.
DVD +R (DVD recordable) A type of DVD write-once format.
DVD-RAM (DVD random-
A type of DVD rewriteable format.
access memory)
DVD-ROM (DVD–read only
A DVD format that the user cannot write to.
memory)
DVD -RW (DVD rewritable) A type of DVD rewriteable format.
DVD +RW (DVD rewritable) A type of DVD rewriteable format.
A type of system that large organizations use to promote
enterprise storage system efficient and safe use of data across the networks within
their organizations.
A CD that can be written to many times. (See also CD-RW
erasable optical disc
compact disc rewritable)
external hard drive Removable hard drives used the same as internal disks.
A hard disk performance enhancement that increases
file compression storage capacity by reducing the amount of space required
to store data and programs.
9
Computing Essentials 2014 Tim and Linda O’Leary

file decompression Rebuilding a file that has been compressed.

A dedicated computer with very large storage capacity that
file server
provides users access to fast storage and retrieval of data.
Credit card–sized solid-state storage devices widely used in
flash drive
notebook computers.
Credit card-sized device used to store and transfer images
flash memory card
and digital media.
Enclosed disk drive containing one or more metallic disks.
hard disk Hard disks use magnetic charges to record data and have
large storage capacities and fast retrieval times.
When a hard disk’s read/write head makes contact with the
head crash hard disk’s surface or with particles on its surface resulting
in a catastrophic loss of data.
hi def (high definition) The next generation of optical disc.
A magnetic secondary storage device that is located inside
internal hard disk
the system unit.
land Flat areas that optical discs use to represent 1s and 0s.
The tremendous amount of secondary storage required by
mass storage
large organizations.
Specialized high-capacity secondary storage devices
mass storage devices designed to meet storage requirements of large
organizations.
media An actual physical material that holds data and programs.
network attached storage (NAS) Similar to a file server except simpler and less expensive.
Internet servers that supply applications as a service for
online storage
storage (See also Cloud Storage)
A storage device that uses a laser beam to alter the surface
optical disc
of a plastic or metallic disc to represent data.
A device with a laser that projects a tiny beam of light on a
optical disc drive
disc to reflect the light to determine a pit or land.
High-speed Internet connection to a dedicated remote
organizational cloud storage
organizational cloud storage server.
pit Bumpy areas that optical discs use to represent 1s and 0s.
A component of a hard disk made of a rigid metallic
platter
material and stacked one on top of another.
RAM or memory, where data is stored before being
primary storage
processed.
A system that enhances organizational security by
RAID system constantly making backup copies of files moving across the
organization’s networks.
redundant array of inexpensive Improve performance by expanding external storage,
disks (RAID) improving access speed, and providing reliable storage.
secondary storage Provides permanent or nonvolatile storage.
Hardware where data and programs can be retained after the
secondary storage device
computer has been shut off. (see also storage device)
sector Section shaped like a pie wedge that divides the tracks on a
10
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Computing Essentials 2014 Tim and Linda O’Leary

disk.
A computer professional who analyzes users’ needs and
software engineer
creates application software.
Designed to be connected inside a microcomputer system
solid-state drive (SSD) but contains solid state memory instead of magnetic disks to
store data.
Storage devices with no moving parts. Data and information
solid-state storage
are retrieved electronically.
SAN is a mass storage development to link remote
storage area network (SAN) computer storage devices to computers such that the devices
are as available as locally attached drives.
Hardware where data and programs can be retained after the
storage device computer has been shut off. (see also secondary storage
device)
A device that provides automatic access to data archived on
tape library
a large collection or library of tapes.
Rings of concentric circles without visible grooves, part of
track
how files are stored and organized on a flexible disk.
The size of a key chain; these hard drives connect to a
USB drive
computer’s USB port enabling a transfer of files.

Answers to End-of-Chapter Materials

Chapter 7

11
Computing Essentials 2014 Tim and Linda O’Leary

Num Multiple Matching Multiple Choice Answers Matching Answers

Choice Answers (www.computing2014.com (www.computing2014.com
Answers (Book) Only) Only)
(Book)
1 A E A J
2 C I B I
3 A J A A
4 A F D C
5 A B C D
6 C A A F
7 A C B B
8 A G B E
9 C D A G
10 D H A H

Open Ended Questions:

1. Compare primary storage and secondary storage and discuss the most important
characteristics of secondary storage.
Storage is the ability to save, to back up and even to transport files consisting of data or
programs from one location or computer to another.

• Primary storage - Random-access memory (RAM) holds or stores data and programs
that the CPU is currently processing. RAM is sometimes referred to as primary storage.
Unfortunately, most RAM provides only temporary or volatile storage – its contents are
lost as soon as there is no electrical current going into the system.

• Secondary storage provides permanent or nonvolatile storage. Using secondary storage

devices, data and programs can be retained after the computer has been shut off.

• Important characteristics of secondary storage

o Media - are the actual physical material that holds the data and programs.
o Capacity - measures how much a particular storage medium can hold.
o Storage devices - are hardware that reads data and programs from storage media.
Most also write to storage media.
o Access speed or access time - measures the amount of time required by the
storage device to retrieve data and programs.

2. Discuss hard disks including density, platters, tracks, sectors, cylinders, head crashes,
internal, external, and performance enhancements.
• Hard disks save files by altering the magnetic charges of the disk’s surface to represent 1s
and 0s. Hard disks retrieve data and programs by reading the charges from the magnetic
disk.
o Density - refers to how tightly these charges can be packed next to one another on
the disk.

12
Computing Essentials 2014 Tim and Linda O’Leary

o Platters - Rigid metallic platters that are stacked one on top of another.

o Store and organize files using tracks, sectors, and cylinders.

▪ Tracks are rings of concentric circles without visible grooves.
▪ Sectors - Each track is divided into invisible wedge-shaped sections called
sectors.
▪ Cylinders - A cylinder runs through each track of a stack of platters.
Cylinders are necessary to differentiate files stored on the same track and
sector of different platters.

o Head crash - A head crash occurs when a read/write head makes contact with the
hard disk’s surface or with particles on its surface.

o Two basic types of hard disks:

▪ Internal hard disk (fixed disk)
• Located inside the system unit.
• Almost all of today’s powerful applications are designed to be
stored on and run from an internal hard disk. To ensure adequate
performance of your internal hard disk, you should perform routine
maintenance and periodically make backup copies of all important
files.
▪ External hard drives
• Typically connect to a USB or FireWire port on the system unit,
are easily removed, and effectively provide an unlimited amount of
storage.
• Use the same basic technology as internal hard disks and are used
primarily to complement an internal hard disk.

o Performance Enhancements - Three ways to improve the performance of hard

disks are:
1. Disk caching
• Improves hard-disk performance by anticipating data needs.
• Improves processing by acting as a temporary high-speed holding
area between a secondary storage device and the CPU.
• Requires a combination of hardware and software.
• Frequently used data is read from the hard disk into memory
(cache). When needed, the data is then accessed directly from
memory.
• The transfer rate from memory is much faster
• Increases system performance by 30 percent

2. Redundant arrays of inexpensive disks (RAID)

• Improves performance by expanding external storage, improving
access speed, and providing reliable storage.

13
Computing Essentials 2014 Tim and Linda O’Leary

• Several inexpensive hard-disk drives are connected to one another.

These connections can be by a network or within specialized RAID
devices.
• The computer system interacts with the RAID system as though it
were a single large-capacity hard-disk drive.
• The result is expanded storage capability, fast access speed, and
high reliability.

3. File compression and file decompression

• Increase storage capacity by reducing the amount of space required
to store data and programs.
• File compression is not limited to hard disks systems.
• File compression helps speed up transmission of files from one
computer system to another.
• File compression programs scans files for ways to reduce the
amount of required storage.
• In file compression repeated patterns are replaced with a token,
leaving enough tokens so that the original can be rebuilt or
decompressed.
• File compression programs often shrink files to a quarter of their
original size.
• Can be done with specialized utilities such as WinZip or by using a
utility program in Windows itself.

3. Discuss optical discs including pits, lands, CDs, DVDs, Blue-ray, and hi def.
• Optical Discs
• Can hold over 100 gigabytes of data.
• A laser beam alters the surface of a plastic or metallic disc to represent data. Optical
discs use reflective light to represent data.
• Pits and lands: The 1s and 0s are represented by flat areas called lands and bumpy
areas called pits on the disc surface.
• Disc is read by an optical disc drive using a laser that projects a tiny beam of light on
these areas. The amount of reflected light determines whether the area represents a 1
or a 0.
• Optical discs typically use a single track that spirals toward the center of the disk.
This single track is divided into equally sized sectors.

Compact Disc (CD) –

• Store 700 MB (megabytes) on one side of a CD.
• Three basic types of CDs:
o Read only—CD-ROM - cannot be written on or erased by the user.
o Write once—CD-R - can be written to once.
o Rewriteable—CD-RW – can be written to many times.

Digital Versatile Disc (DVD)

14
Computing Essentials 2014 Tim and Linda O’Leary

• DVD stands for digital versatile disc or digital video disc

• Can store 4.7 GB (gigabytes) on one side of a DVD disc
• Capacity is 17 times that of a CD.
• Three basic types of DVDs:
o Read only—DVD-ROM - cannot be written on or erased by the user.
o Write once— DVD+R, DVD-R - can be written to once.
o Rewriteable— DVD+RW, DVD-RW, DVD-RAM – can be written to many
times.

Blu-ray Disc (BD)

• Have a greater capacity than DVDs.
• Next generation of optical disc is called hi def (high definition)
• The hi def standard is Blu-ray Disc (BD).
• Blu-ray discs have a capacity of 50 GB on one side.
• Capacity is 10 times that of a standard DVD.
• Three basic types of Blu-ray:
o Read only—BD - cannot be written on or erased by the user.
o Write once—BD - can be written to once.
o Rewriteable—BD – can be written to many times.

4. Discuss solid-state storage, including solid-state drives, flash memory, and USB drives.
Solid-state drives are designed to be connected inside a microcomputer system the same
way an internal hard disk would be but contain solid-state memory instead of magnetic disks
to store data, as with hard disks.

• Solid State Storage

o Solid state devices have no moving parts
o Data and information are stored and retrieved electronically

• Solid-State Drives (SSDs)

o Designed to be connected inside a micro computer system.
o Contain solid-state memory instead of magnetic disks to store data.
o Faster and more durable than hard disks.
o Require less power
o More expensive and generally have a lower capacity than hard disks
o Widely used for tablets, such as the iPad.

• Flash Memory Cards

o Credit card–sized solid-state storage devices widely used in portable
devices.
o Some of the cards are used within devices such as smartphones, digital
media players, and GPS navigation systems. Other cards provide
removable storage.

• USB drives
15
Other documents randomly have
different content
woman, who must perform all she has solemnly engaged to do. The
last case is that of the married woman in her husband's house,
concerning whom it is decreed: "Every vow and every binding oath
to afflict the soul, her husband may establish it, or her husband may
make it void.... If he shall make them null and void after he hath
heard them, then he shall bear her iniquity."
These regulations establish the headship of the father and the
husband in regard to matters which belong to religion. And the
significance of them lies in this, that no intrusion of the priest is
permitted. If the "Priests' Code" had been intended to set up a
hierocracy, these vows would have given the opportunity of
introducing priestly influence into family life. The provisions appear
to be designed for the very purpose of disallowing this. It was seen
that in the ardour of religious zeal women were disposed to make
large promises, dedicating their means, their children, or perhaps
their own lives to special service in connection with the sanctuary.
But the father or husband was the family head and the judge. No
countenance whatever is given to any official interference.
It would have been well if the wisdom of this law had ruled the
Church, preventing ecclesiastical dominance in family affairs. The
promises, the threats of a domineering Church have in many cases
introduced discord between daughters and parents, wives and
husbands. The amenability of women to religious motives has been
taken advantage of, always indeed with a plausible reason,—the
desire to save them from the world,—but far too often, really, for
political-ecclesiastical ends, or even from the base motive of
revenge. Ecclesiastics have found the opportunity of enriching the
Church or themselves, or, under cover of confession, have become
aware of secrets that placed families at their mercy. No practice
followed under the shield of religion and in its name deserves
stronger reprobation. The Church should, by every means in its
power, purify and uphold family life. To undermine the unity of
families by laying obligations on women, or obtaining promises apart
from the knowledge of those to whom they are bound in the closest
relationship, is an abuse of privilege. And the whole custom of
auricular confession comes under the charge. It may occasionally or
frequently be used with good intention, and lonely women without
trusted advisers among their kindred may see no other resource in
times of peculiar difficulty and trial. But the submission that forms
part of it is debasing, and the secrecy gives priesthood a power that
should belong to no body of men in dealing with the souls of their
fellow-creatures, and fellow-sinners. At the very best, confession to
a priest is a weak expedient.
 XXIV

WAR AND SETTLEMENT

1. The War with Midian
Numbers xxxi

The command to vex and smite the Midianites (xxv. 16) has already
been considered. Israel had not the spiritual power which would
have justified any attempt to convert that people. Degrading idolatry
was to be held in abhorrence, and those who clung to it suppressed.
Now the time comes for an exterminating war. While hordes of
Bedawin occupy the hills and the neighbouring desert, there can be
no security either for morals, property, or life. Balaam is among
them plotting against Israel; and his restless energy, we may
suppose, precipitates the conflict. Moses conveys the command of
God that the attack on Midian shall be immediately made, and
himself directs the campaign.
The details of the enterprise are given somewhat fully. A thousand
fighting men are called from each tribe. The religious purpose of the
war is signified by the presence in the host of Phinehas, whose zeal
has given him a name among the warriors. He is allowed to carry
with him the "vessels of the sanctuary"; and the silver trumpets are
to be sounded on the march and in the attack. The Midianitish clan
apparently gives way at once before the Hebrews, and either makes
no stand or is totally defeated in a single battle. All the men are put
to the sword, including Balaam and five chiefs, whose names are
preserved. The women and children are taken; the whole of the
cattle and goods become the prey of the victors; the cities and
encampments are burned with fire. On the return of the army with
the large band of captives, Moses is greatly displeased. He demands
of the officers why the women have been spared,—the very women
who caused the children of Israel to trespass against the Lord. Then
he orders all above a certain age, and the male children, to be put to
death. The young girls alone are to be kept alive.
The purification of those who have been engaged in the war is next
commanded. For seven days the army must remain outside the
camp. Those who have touched any dead body and all the captives
are to be ceremonially cleansed on the third and seventh days. Every
article of raiment, everything made of skins and goats' hair, and all
woollen articles, are to be purified by means of the water of
expiation. Whatever is made of metal is to be passed through the
fire.
Details of the quantity and division of the prey, and the voluntary
oblations made as an "atonement for their souls" by the officers and
soldiers out of their booty, occupy the rest of the chapter. The
numbers of oxen, sheep, and asses are great—six hundred and
seventy-five thousand sheep, seventy-two thousand beeves, sixty-
one thousand asses. No mention is made of horses or camels. The
girls saved alive are thirty-two thousand. The army takes one half,
and those who remained in the camp receive the other. But of the
soldiers' portion, one in five hundred both of the persons and of the
animals is given to the priests, and of the people's portion one in
fifty to the Levites. The jewels of gold, ankle-chains, bracelets,
signet-rings, earrings and armlets offered by the men of war as their
"atonement," not one of them having fallen in the battle, amount in
weight to sixteen thousand seven hundred and fifty shekels, the
value of which may be estimated at some thirty thousand of our
pounds. The gold is brought into the tent of meeting for a memorial
before the Lord.
Now here we have to deal with an accumulation of statements,
every one of which raises some question or other. The war of
national and moral antipathy is itself easily understood. But the
slaughter of so many in battle and so many others in cold blood, the
statement that not a single Israelite fell, the number and kinds of
the animals captured, the order given by Moses to put all the women
to death, the quantity of gold taken, of which the offering appears
only to have been a part—all of these points have been criticised in a
more or less incredulous spirit. In apology it has been said, with
regard to the slaughter of the women, that when brought as
captives by the soldiers they could not be received into the camp,
and there was only this way of dealing with them, unless indeed
they had been sent back to their ruined encampments, where they
would have slowly died. Again, it has been explained that the
Midianites were so debased and enfeebled as to have no power to
withstand the onset of the Hebrews. The droves of oxen, sheep, and
asses are held to be not greater than a wealthy nomadic clan,
numbering perhaps two hundred thousand, would be likely to own;
and the quantity of gold is likewise accounted for by the well-known
fact that among Orientals the wealth represented by precious metals
is fashioned into ornaments for the women.
In detail the difficulties may thus be partly overcome; yet the whole
account remains so singular, both in its spirit and incidents, that
Wellhausen has roundly declared it to be fictitious, and others have
had no resource but to fall back, even for the slaughter of the
women, on the Divine command. It is true there were other peoples,
the Moabites, for instance, as idolatrous, and almost as degraded.
But a terror of Jehovah's name had to be created for the moral good
of the whole region, and the Midianites, it is said, who had so
grossly assailed the purity of Israel, were fitly selected for Divine
chastisement. The opinion that the whole account is an invention of
the "Priests' Code" may be at once dismissed. The ideas of national
purity that prevailed after the exile and are insisted upon in the
books of Ezra and Nehemiah would not have countenanced the
dedication of any spared from the slaughter, even young girls, as a
tribute to Jehovah. The attack and the issue of it were, no doubt,
recorded in the ancient documents of which the compilers of the
Book of Numbers made use. And the fact must be held to stand,
that there was a grim slaughter relentlessly carried out at the
command of Moses in accordance with the moral and theocratic
ideas that ruled his mind.
But it remains doubtful whether the numbers can be trusted, even
although they appear to be in the substance of the narrative. The
disproportion is enormous between the twelve thousand Israelites
sent against Midian and the number of men who, if we accept the
figures given, must have fallen without striking one effective blow
for their lives. Of these there would have been some forty thousand
at least. Assuming that somehow the numbers are exaggerated, we
find the story a good deal cleared. It was entirely in harmony with
the spirit of the age that a war à outrance should have been
commanded in the circumstances. If, then, an adequate force of
Hebrews marched against the Midianites and took them at
unawares, perhaps by night, or when they were engaged in some
idolatrous orgy, their defeat and slaughter would be comparatively
easy. The Hebrews with Phinehas among them were, we may
believe, filled with patriotic and religious ardour, assured that they
were commissioned to execute Divine justice and must not shrink
from any work that lay in their way, however dreadful. Does the
thing they did still seem incredible? Perhaps the recollection of what
took place after the Indian Mutiny, when Great Britain was in the
same temper, may throw light upon the question. The soldiers then,
bent on punishing the cruelty and lust of the rebels, partly in
patriotism, partly in revenge, set mercy altogether aside. If we had
the whole history of the war with Midian, instead of the mere
outlines preserved in Numbers, we might find that, apart from
figures, the statements are by no means over-coloured. Moses had
the entire responsibility of ordering the women to be put to death.
When he saw the train of female captives, some of them possibly
using their arts of blandishment not without success, he might well
be afraid that the very end for which the war had been undertaken
was to be frustrated. He was a man who did not scruple to shed
blood when the law of God and the purity of morals and religion
seemed to be endangered. He knew Jehovah to be gracious—
gracious to those who loved Him and kept His commandments. But
was He not also a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers
upon the children unto the third and fourth generations of them that
hated Him? It was this God Moses sought to serve when in the heat
of his indignation, and not without reason, he gave the terrible
order.
The appropriation of some of the captive girls to the priests and
Levites as "Jehovah's tribute," the offering by the soldiers of part of
their booty as an "atonement" for their souls, the presence of
Phinehas with the "vessels of the sanctuary," and the sacred
trumpets in the ranks—these manifestly belong to the time to which
the history refers. And it may be said in closing that circumstances
might be well known to Moses on account of which the attack had to
be made promptly and the dispersion of the Midianites had to be
complete. We cannot tell what Balaam may have been plotting; but
we may be pretty sure there was nothing too base for him to
scheme and the Midianites to carry into effect. They knew
themselves to be under suspicion, perhaps in danger. With what
craft and vehemence the Bedawin can act we are well aware. Life
even yet is of no account among them. Another day, perhaps, and
the ark might have been carried off or Moses put to death in his
tent. But the nature of the wrong done to Israel is a sufficient
explanation of the war. And we can also see that the Hebrews
themselves had a lesson in moral severity when their soldiers went
forth to the massacre and returned red with blood. They learned
that the sin of Midian was abominable in the sight of God and should
be abominable in theirs. They were taught, whether they received
the teaching or not, that they were to be enemies for ever of those
who practised idolatry so vile. A deep gulf was made between them
and all who sympathised with the worship and customs of the tribe
they destroyed.
And the whole circumstances, remote as they are from our own
time, may bring home even to Christians the duty of moral decision
and relentless war against the vices and lusts with which too many
are inclined to make terms. We wrestle not against flesh and blood,
but against the "wiles of error," the "lusts of deceit," against
"fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, enmities, strife, jealousies,
wraths, factions, divisions, heresies, envyings, drunkenness,
revellings and such like,"—the works of the flesh. These Midianites
are with us, would draw our hearts away from religion and destroy
our souls. Not only are we to assail the grosser forms of sin and
exterminate them, but we are with equal severity to strike down the
fair-seeming vices that come with blandishment and insidious
appeal. This is our holy war. The old form of it required the
suppression or extermination of those identified with vice, men and
women, all in whom the impurity was rooted. Young girls alone
could be spared, whose character might still be shaped by a higher
morality. Even yet, to a certain extent, that way of dealing with evil
has to be followed. We imprison felons and put murderers to death;
but the new power that has come with Christianity enables us to
deal with many transgressors as capable of reformation and a new
life. And this power is far as yet from being fully developed.
It is the fault of our age to be on one side too lenient, on another
wanting in patience, charity, and hope. Excuses are found for sin on
the ground that it is useless to fight against nature, that we must
not be hypocritical nor puritanical. Temptations that come with
mincing gait, cajolery and smiles, are allowed to disport themselves
untouched. Why, it is asked, should life be made sombre? A stern
religion that would banish gaiety is declared to be no friend of the
race. Under cover of art—pictorial, dramatic, literary—the customs of
Midian are not only admitted but allowed to have authority. And
religion even is invoked. Are not all things pure to the pure? Should
not life be as free and joyous as the Maker clearly intends in giving
us the capacity for those gratifications to which art of every kind
ministers? Is not full freedom indispensable to the highest religion?
Ought not genius, in every department, to have complete liberty in
guiding and developing the race?
Without hypocrisy, without banishing the sunshine of life or denying
the freedom which is necessary to progress and vigour, we are to be
jealous for morality, severe against all that threatens it. And here our
age is impatient of direction. The tendency is to a civilisation without
morality, that is, a new barbarism. The strenuous mind of the old
theocratic leaders is required anew, with a difference. Life and
thought have so far advanced under Christianity that liberty is good
in things which once had to be sternly reprobated; but only the
same guidance will carry us higher. To those who lead in arts and
literature the appeal has to be made in the name of God and men to
regard the fitness of things. The old ideas of Puritanism are not to
be the standard? True. Neither are the tastes of Greece nor the
manners of Pompeii. Every artist must, it appears, be his own
censor. Let each, then, use his right under a sense of responsibility
to the God who would have all to be pure and free. There are
pictures exhibited, and poems sent out from the press, and novels
published, which, for all the skill and charm that are in them, ought
to have been cast into the fire. In private life, too, the Midianitish
talk, the jest, the anecdote, the innuendo, all but indecent, the hint,
the laugh that breaks down the barriers of integrity and sobriety,
show the license of a barbarism which is bent on conquest. Every
Christian is called to wage against these immoralities an
exterminating war.
On the other hand, charity and patience are needed. It is difficult to
forbear with those who seem to find their pleasure in what is evil,
more difficult to continue the efforts necessary to win them to
religion, purity, and honour. We feel it a hard task to track our own
unholy desires to their retreats and slay them there. Proteus-like
they elude us; when we think they have been destroyed, a passing
word or thought revives them. And if in the task of our own
purification we need long patience, it is not wonderful that even
more should be required in the attempt to set others free from their
besetting sins. Much of our philanthropy, again, is useless because
we try to cover too large a field. Few are engaged in comparison
with the enormous region over which effort has to extend, and we
treat the hurt slightly, with too much haste. Then we grow
despondent. Impatience, hopelessness, should never be known
among those who undertake the Divine work of saving men and
women from their sins. But to cure this, new ideas on the whole
subject of Christian endeavour and new methods of work are
required. The evil forces, a host arrayed against true life, must be
followed into the desert places where they lurk, and there, with the
sword of the Spirit, which is the bright strong word of God, attacked
and slain. When Christians are brave and loving enough, when they
have patience enough, the gospel of purity will begin to have its
power.

2. Settlement
Numbers xxxii

The request of the men of Reuben and Gad that they should be
allowed to settle on the eastern side of Jordan in the land of Jazer
and the land of Gilead was at first refused by Moses with warm
displeasure. They appeared to wish exemption from further military
duty, if indeed they had not almost formed the intention of parting
altogether with the rest of the tribes. Moses asked of them, "Shall
your brethren go to the war and shall ye sit here? And wherefore
discourage ye the heart of the children of Israel from going over into
the land which the Lord hath given them?" He recalled the spies and
the evil report they brought, by which a former generation had been
disheartened and made to murmur against the Lord. The forty years
of wandering had intervened since that error—a long period of
suffering and punishment. And now with this request the men of
Reuben and Gad were playing the same dangerous part. "Behold, ye
are risen up in your fathers' stead, an increase of sinful men, to
augment yet the fierce anger of the Lord toward Israel."
It is somewhat surprising to find the proposal met in this way. But
Moses had doubtless good cause for his condemnation of the two
tribes. For some time, we can believe, the notion had been
entertained, and already the cattle were driven northwards and
scattered over the pastures of Gilead. The people felt that the
confraternity which had survived the test of the wilderness journey
was now about to break up. And as the two clans that proposed to
settle in Eastern Palestine were strong and could send a large
number of warriors into the field, there was reason to fear that the
want of them would make the conquest of the great tribes beyond
Jordan too heavy a task.
The circumstances were of a kind resembling those of a Church
when the enjoyment of privilege and of the gains of the past is
chosen by many of its members, and the rest, discouraged by this
moral unbrotherliness, have to maintain the aggressive work which
ought to be shared by all. The force of unity lost, the Christian
energy of large numbers lying unemployed, the rest overburdened,
Churches often come far short of the success they might attain.
When Reubenites and Gadites devote themselves to building houses,
cultivating fields, and rearing cattle, neglecting altogether the
command of God to conquer the territory still in the hands of His
enemies, the spirit of religion cannot but decay. The selfishness of
worldly Christians reacts on those who are not worldly, so that they
feel its subtle influence, even although they scorn to yield. And when
there is some great task to be done which requires the personal
service and contributions of all, withdrawal of the less zealous may
in this way make victory impossible. True, we have on the other side
the case of Gideon and his rejection of the great bulk of his army,
that he might take the field with a few who were brave and ready.
Numbers of half-hearted people do not help an enterprise. Still, the
duties of the Church of Christ are so great that all are required for
them. It is no apology to say that men are apathetic, and therefore
useless. They ought to be eager for the Divine war.
It was not at all wonderful that the men of Reuben and Gad
proposed to settle on the east of Jordan. The soil of that region,
extending from the Jabbok Valley northwards, and including the
whole district watered by the Yarmuk and its tributaries, was
exceedingly fertile, with fine forests of oak, and stretches of meadow
and arable land. What could be seen of Judæa from the heights of
Moab appeared poor and barren in comparison with that green and
fertile country. There was abundance of room there, not only for the
two tribes, but for more; and besides the half of Manasseh which
finally joined Reuben and Gad, other clans may have begun to think
that they might rest content without venturing across Jordan. But
Moses had good reasons for resisting as far as possible this desire.
There was no natural boundary on the east of Gilead and Bashan.
Moab, in a similar situation, was exposed to the attacks and perhaps
corrupted by the influence of the Midianites. If Israel had taken up
its abode in this region which joined on to the desert, it too would
have become half a desert people. The Jordan came, as no doubt
Moses foresaw, to be the real boundary of the nation which
maintained the faith of Jehovah and carried on His purposes.
In danger of losing all because they had been too selfish, the men of
Reuben and Gad made a new proposal. They would go with the rest
to the conquest of Canaan; yea, they would form the van of the
army. If Moses would only allow them to provide sheep-folds for
their flocks and cities for their families, they would take the field and
never think of returning till the other tribes had all found settlement.
The offer was one which Moses saw fit to accept; but with a caution
to the Reubenites. If they fulfilled the promise, he said, they should
be guiltless before the Lord; but if they did not, their sin would be
written against them. Foreseeing the result of a division between the
east and west which any such faithless conduct would certainly
cause, he added the warning, "Be sure your sin will find you out."
The time would come when, if they refused to do their part in
helping the rest, they should find themselves, in some day of
extreme peril, without the sympathy of their brethren, the prey of
enemies who came from the east and north.
Earthly comfort and the means of material prosperity can never be
enjoyed without spiritual disadvantage, or at least the risk of
spiritual loss. The whole region of ease and wealth lies towards the
desert in which the adversaries of the soul have their lurking-places,
from which they come stealthily or even boldly in open day to make
their assaults. A man who has large means is exposed to the envy of
others; his life may be embittered by their designs upon him; his
nature may be seriously injured by the flattery of those who have no
power but only the base cunning to which narrow self-love may
descend. These, however, are not the assailants that are most to be
dreaded. Rather should the man who is rich fear the danger to his
religion and his soul which draws near in other ways. The wealthy
who have no religion court his friendship and propose to him
schemes for increasing his wealth. Alliances are urged upon him
which stir and partly gratify his ambition. He is pointed to honours
that can only be had through abandoning the great ideas of life by
which he should be ruled. He is served obsequiously, and is tempted
to think that the world goes very well because he enjoys all he
desires, or is in the way to obtain the fulfilment of his highest earthly
hopes. The curse of egotism hangs over him, and to escape it he
needs a double portion of the spirit of humility. Yet how is that to
come to him?
It is well for a man when, before enjoying the good things of this life
in abundance, he has taken the field with those who have to fight a
hard battle, and has done his share of common work. But even that
is not enough to guard him against pride and self-sufficiency for the
whole term of his existence. Better is it when by his own choice the
hardness is retained in his experience, when he never discharges
himself from the duty of fighting side by side with others, that he
may help them to their inheritance. That and that alone will save his
life. He is called as a soldier of God to maintain the holy war for
human rights, for the social well-being and spiritual good of
mankind. Every rich man should be a friend of the people, a
reformer, taking the part of the multitude against his own tendency
and the tendency of his class to exclusiveness and self-indulgence.
The warning given by Moses to Reuben and Gad in accepting their
proposals should linger with those who are rich and in high station.
If they fail to do their duty to the general mass of their fellow-men,
if they leave the rest to fight, at disadvantage, for their human
inheritance, they sin against God's law, which calls for brotherhood,
and that sin will surely find them out. In the end no sin is more sure
to come home in judgment. And it is not by some miserable gifts to
religious objects or some patronage of philanthropic schemes the
prosperous can discharge the great debt laid upon them. In
whatever way the inequalities of life, the disabilities of privilege and
wealth, hinder the realisation of brotherhood, there lie opportunity
and need for men's personal effort. Would this imply sacrifice of
what are called rights, of perhaps no small amount of substance?
That is precisely the saving of a rich man's life. To that Christ
pointed the rich young ruler who came to Him seeking salvation—
from that the inquirer turned away.
And how does the sin of those who neglect such high duties find
them out? Perhaps in the loss of the possessions they have selfishly
guarded, and their reduction to the level of those whom they kept at
arm's-length and treated as inferiors or as enemies. Perhaps in the
harshness of temper and bitterness of spirit the proud, friendless
rich man may find growing upon him in old age, the horrible feeling
that he has not one brother where he should have had thousands,
no one to care—except selfishly—whether he lives or dies. To come
to that, so far as a man is concerned with his fellow-men, is to be
indeed lost. But these retributions may be artfully escaped. What
then? Is not One to be reckoned with who is the Guardian of the
human family and gives men power and wealth only as His
stewards, to be used in His service? The future life does not
obliterate society, but it destroys the class separations, the factitious
distinctions, that exist now. It brings a man face to face with the fact
that he is but a man, like others, responsible to God. Is not the
result indicated by our Lord when He says to exclusive Pharisaical
men, "They shall come from the east and west, and from the north
and south, and shall sit down in the kingdom—ye yourselves cast
forth without"? Brotherhood here, not in name, but in deed and
truth, means brotherhood above. Denial of it here means unfitness
for the society of heaven.
We learn from ver. 19 that the Reubenites and Gadites confidently
affirmed, even when they made their request to Moses, that their
inheritance had fallen to them on the east side of Jordan. It may be
asked how they knew, since the division was not yet made. And the
answer appears to be that they had made up their minds on the
subject. Without waiting for the lot, they seem to have said, This is
nobody's land now that the Amorites and Midianites are
dispossessed. We will have it. And there was no sufficient reason for
refusing them their choice when they accepted the conditions. At the
same time, these tribes did not act fairly and honourably. And the
result was that, although they gained the fat land and the good
pastures, they lost the close fellowship with the other tribes which
was of greater value. Reuben, the premier tribe, could no longer
keep its position. It was by-and-by succeeded by Judah. Neither
Reuben nor Gad made any great figure in the subsequent history.
The half-tribe of Manasseh, which was settled, not on its own
request, but by authority, in the northern part of Gilead towards the
Argob, had greater distinction. Gad has some notice. We read of
eleven valiant men of this tribe who swam the Jordan at its highest
to join David in his trouble. "But no person, no incident is recorded
to place Reuben before us in any distincter form than as a member
of the community (if community it can be called) of the Reubenites,
the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh. The very towns of his
inheritance—Heshbon, Aroer, Kiriathaim, Dibon, Baal-meon, Sibmah,
Jazer—are familiar to us as Moabite, not as Israelite, towns." The
Reubenites, in fact, under the influence of their wild neighbours,
gradually lost touch with their brethren and fell away from the
religion of Jehovah.
It is a parable of the degeneration of life.—Earthly choice rules and
heavenly faith is hazarded for the sake of a temporal advantage.
Men have their will because they insist upon it. They do not consult
the prophet, but make terms with him, that they may gain their end.
But as they place themselves, so they have to live, not on the soil of
the promised land, no integral part of Israel.
 XXV

THE WAY AND THE LOT

Numbers xxxiii., xxxiv

1. The itinerary of xxxiii. 1-49 is one of the passages definitely

ascribed to Moses. It opens with the departure from Rameses in
Egypt on the morrow after the passover, when the children of Israel
"went out with an high hand in the sight of all the Egyptians." The
exodus is made singularly impressive in this narrative by the addition
that it took place "while the Egyptians were burying all their
firstborn, which the Lord had smitten among them." The Divine
salvation of Israel begins when the dark shadow of loss and
judgment rests on their oppressors. The gods of Egypt are
discredited by the triumph of Jehovah's people. They can neither
save their own worshippers nor prevent the servants of another from
obtaining liberty.
From Rameses, the place of departure, to Abel-shittim, in the plains
of Moab, forty-two stations in all are given at which the Israelites
pitched. Of these about twenty-four are named either in Exodus, in
other parts of the Book of Numbers, or in Deuteronomy. Some
eighteen, therefore, are mentioned in this passage and nowhere
else. Of the whole number, comparatively few have as yet been
identified. The Egyptian localities, at least Rameses and Succoth, are
known. With the exit from Egypt, at the crossing of the Red Sea
difficulty begins. Our passage says that the Israelites went three
days' journey into the wilderness of Etham; Exodus calls it the
wilderness of Shur. Then Marah and Elim bring the travellers,
according to chap. xxxiii., to the Red Sea, the Yâm Suph. Ordinarily,
this is supposed to be the Gulf of Suez, alongside which the route
would have lain from the day it was crossed. There are, however,
the best reasons for believing that this "Red Sea" is the eastern gulf,
The Elanitic, as it must be in xiv. 25, where, after the evil report of
the spies, the Divine command is given: "To-morrow turn ye, and
get you into the wilderness by the way to the Red Sea." From this
identification of the Yâm Suph many things follow. And one is the
rejection of the ordinary opinion regarding the position of Sinai. The
mountain of the law-giving is always described as situated in Midian.
Now, Midian is beyond Elath, on the eastern side of the Yâm Suph,
not in the peninsula between the Gulfs of Suez and Akabah. Elim
and Elath, or Eloth, appear to be names for the same place, at the
head of the Gulf of Akabah. We have therefore to look for Sinai
either among the southern hills of Seir or those lying more
southward still, towards the desert. In Deborah's song (Judg. v. 4, 5)
occur the following verses:—
 "Lord, when Thou wentest out of Seir,
When Thou marchedst out of the field of Edom,
The earth trembled, the heavens also dropped,
Yea, the clouds dropped water;
The mountains flowed down at the presence of the
Lord,
Even yon Sinai at the presence of the Lord, the God
of Israel."

In the same direction the "Prayer of Habbakuk" points (iii. 3, 7):

"God came from Teman,

And the Holy One from Mount Paran.
His glory covered the heavens,
And the earth was full of His light....
I saw the tents of Cushan in affliction,
The curtains of the land of Midian did tremble."

The tradition which places Sinai in the south of the peninsula

between the two gulfs "is of later origin than the lifetime of St. Paul,
and can claim no higher authority than the interested fancies of
ignorant cœnobites. It throws into confusion both the geography
and the history of the Pentateuch, and contradicts the definite
statements of the Old Testament." So the most recent inquiry.
If Mount Sinai was somewhere to the south of Edom, the journey
thence to Kadesh by way of Kibroth-hattaavah and Hazeroth,
localities mentioned both in Numb. xi. and xxxiii., may have had
other stations; and these may be named in ver. 19 of our passage
and onward. But identification of the places is exceedingly doubtful
till we come to Ezion-geber, in the Arabah, and Mount Hor. Deut. x.
places the scene of Aaron's death at Mosera, which seems to be the
same as Moseroth, and is there given along with other stations
named in the itinerary—-Bene-jaakan, Gudgodah (= Hor-
haggidgad), Jotbathah. And this seems to prove that these localities
were in or near the Arabah, Moseroth being in the region of Mount
Hor. But where Kadesh is to be found between Rithmah and
Moseroth, and under what name, it is impossible to say. Keil argues
for Rithmah itself. Palmer reckons twenty stations to the first arrival
at Kadesh. His map, however, shows a Mount Sheraif, which may be
the same as Shepher, not far from Gadis, which he identifies with
Kadesh. For the rest we are left in great ignorance, relieved only by
this, that at the most there are but eighteen stations given, more
probably thirteen, for the whole thirty-seven years between the first
arrival at Kadesh and the death of Aaron at Mount Hor; and five or
six of these were on the Arabah. During the whole of that long
period there were only a few removals of the tabernacle, and those
apparently within a limited area near Kadesh.
A list of names with only three historical notes appears a singular
memorial of the forty years. Time was, no doubt, when the places
named were all well known, and any Israelite desiring to satisfy
himself as to the route by which his forefathers went could make it
out by help of this passage. To us the interest of the subject is partly
the same as that which might have been found by a Hebrew, say, of
the time of Hezekiah, for whom the verification of the wilderness
journey might be a help to faith. But the impossibility of identifying
the localities shows that there are matters in the history of Israel
which are of no particular importance now. There is more danger in
seeking to gratify mere curiosity, than profit in any possible
discoveries. Why should not the mountain of the law-giving be hid in
the shadows as well as the grave in which Moses was laid? Why
should not the places at which Israel encamped be to us mere
names, since, if we could identify them, it might only be to add fresh
difficulties instead of clearing away those that exist? The Israelites
who entered Canaan had not seen all the way by which Jehovah led
His people. When they crossed the Jordan, present duty was to
engage them, not the mere names that belonged to the past. They
were to forget the things behind, and stretch forward to the things
which were before. And duty is the same still. Our backward glance,
especially on the actual path from one spot of earth to another by
which men have gone in trial and anticipation, must not hinder the
efforts called for by the circumstances of our own time. The way of
the desert, especially, may well lie half obliterated in the distance,
since we know the spiritual fruit of the dealings of God with Israel,
and can bear it with us as we follow our own road.
The ideas of change and urgency are in our passage. The wilderness
journey was taken by a people on whom Divine influences had laid
hold, who of themselves would have remained content in Egypt, but
were not suffered, because God had some greater thing in store for
them. The urgency throughout was His. And so is that which we
ourselves feel hurrying us from change to change, from place to
place. We may not be in the wilderness, but in a spot of shelter and
comfort; and it may be no house of bondage, but a vantage-ground
for generous effort. Even when we are thus happily settled, as we
imagine, the call comes, and we must strike our tents. At other
times our own anxiety anticipates the command. But we know that
always, whether we pass into sterner conditions of life or escape to
more pleasant circumstances, the times and changes that happen to
us are of God's appointing, that His providence urges us toward a
goal. And this means that our reaching the goal must be by His way,
although properly we endeavour to find it for ourselves.
The number of the stations at which Israel encamped in the course
of forty years can scarcely be taken as representing the number of
changes from dwelling to dwelling any pilgrim through this world
shall have to make. But if we think of halting-places and movements
of thought, we shall have a fruitful parallel. From the twentieth to
the sixtieth year—may we not say?—is the time of journeying that
takes the mind from its first freedom to comparative rest. Not far on
the Divine law-giving impresses itself on the conscience; and hence
a direct road may appear to lead into the peace of obedience. But
the stations successively reached, Kibroth-hattaavah, Hazeroth,
Rithmah, and the rest, represent each a peculiar difficulty
encountered, a barrier to our steady progress towards the settled
mind. St. Paul indicates one he found when he says: "I had not
known coveting, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet."
Another halt is imposed when it is found that the law appears to
forbid what is according to nature; still another when obedience
requires separation from those who have been valued friends and
pleasant companions. These hindrances left behind as the soul, still
confiding and hopeful, is urged on towards the goal, a great trial like
that of Kadesh follows. We are not far from the frontier of promise;
and anticipations are formed of many delights for heart and life. Is
not obedience to bring felicity, an easy salvation from doubt and
fear? But it becomes plain that there are enemies to faith and peace
beyond the border as well as in the region already crossed.
Complete conformity to the Divine will has not been achieved. Will it
ever be achieved? We begin to doubt the result of law-keeping.
There is perhaps a backward look to Sinai, implying a question
whether God spoke there, or beyond Sinai, to the old traditional way
of life. And so another term of difficult inquiry begins.
In this way many find themselves held for a long period of middle
life. Their minds move from one point to another without seeming to
make any progress. But neither does rest come. It is seen that
partial obedience, a measure of nearness to the perfection once
dreamed of, will not suffice. Then arises the question whether
obedience can ever save. There is return almost to Sinai itself, at
least to a place from which its peak is seen and the mind is
confirmed as to the inexorability of law. So the urgency of the Divine
will is felt, and the way is fixed. If the soul would make its own way
into peace, it is driven back. For, perhaps, it would have the difficulty
solved by taking the way of a Church, accepting a creed—as Israel
would have passed through the territory of Edom. This also is
forbidden. Trusted helpers fall by the way, as Aaron died at Hor, and
there is sorrowful delay. But movement is enforced; and, finally, it is
by a road that reveals Sinai and the law in quite another aspect,
showing vital faith, not mere obedience, to be the means of
salvation, our progress is made. Round the borders of Edom, not by
trust in creed or Church, but by confidence in God Himself, the soul
must advance. Then strength comes. Point after point is reached and
passed. Self-righteousness, pride, and Pharisaism—Amorites of the
mountain land—are overcome. At length through the faith of Christ
peace is found, the peace that is possible on this side the river.
It is our high privilege to be urged and led on thus by Him who
knows the way we should take, who tries us that we may come forth
purified as gold. Without Divine pressure we should content
ourselves in the desert and never see the real good of life. So many
lose themselves because they will not admit that to be of the truth is
necessary to salvation. There is a way of thinking, or rather refusing
to think, of spiritual verities which keeps the soul unaware of the
purpose God would carry into effect, or indifferent to it. The mind
refuses its duty; and in the midway of life the spiritual goal fades
from view. To guard against this taking place in the case of any one
is the office of the Gospel ministry. If evangelical preaching does not
keep thought awake and attentive to Divine inspirations, if it does
not speak to those who are in every stage of perplexity, at every
possible camping-ground, it fails of its high purpose.
2. Commandment is given that when the Israelites pass over Jordan
they shall use effectual means for establishing themselves as the
people of Jehovah in Canaan. They are, for one thing, to drive out
before them all the inhabitants of the land. Nothing is here said of
putting them all to the sword; only they are not to be left even in
partial occupation. The plan of Israel's settlement in its new territory
requires that it shall be subject to no alien influence, and shall have
the field entirely to itself for the development of customs, civilisation,
and religion. And in this there is nothing either impossible or, as the
ideas of the time went, strange and cruel. We do not need to take
refuge in the command of God and defend it by saying that He had
absolute right over the lives of the Canaanites. The tides of war and
population were continually flowing and receding. When the
Israelites reached Canaan, they had the same right as others to
occupy it, provided they could make their right good at the point of
the sword. Yet for their own special consciousness the command
given by Moses in Jehovah's name was most important. It was only
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