We now enter upon the study of the fourth grand division of the Pentateuch, or five books of Moses; and we shall find the leading characteristic of this book quite as strongly marked as that of any of the three books which have already engaged our attention. In the book of Genesis, after the record of creation, the deluge, and the Babel dispersion, we have God’s election of the seed of Abraham; in the book of Exodus, we have redemption; Leviticus gives us priestly worship and communion; in Numbers, we have the walk and warfare of the wilderness. Such are the prominent subjects of these most precious sections of inspiration, while, as might be expected, many other points of deepest interest are collaterally introduced. The Lord, in His great mercy, has led us through the study of Genesis, Exodus, and Leviticus; and we can reckon on Him with confidence to conduct us through the book of Numbers. May His Spirit lead the thoughts and guide the pen, so that not a sentence may be committed to writing that is not in strict accordance with His holy mind. May every page and every paragraph bear the stamp of His approval, and be at once conducive to His glory and the permanent profit of the reader. * * * * * “And the Lord spake unto Moses _in the wilderness_ of Sinai, in the tabernacle of the congregation, on the first day of the second month, in the second year after they were come out of the land of Egypt, saying, ‘Take ye the sum of all the congregation of the children of Israel, after their families, by the house of their fathers, with the number of their names, every male by their polls; from twenty years old and upward, all that are _able to go forth to war_ in Israel; thou and Aaron shall number them by their armies.’” (Chap. i. 1-3.) Here we find ourselves at once “in the wilderness,” where those only are to be taken account of who are “able to go forth to war.” This is strongly marked. In the book of Genesis, the seed of Israel were in the loins of their father Abraham; in the book of Exodus, they were in the brick-kilns of Egypt; in Leviticus, they were gathered around the tabernacle of the congregation; in Numbers, they are seen in the wilderness. Then, again, in full keeping with the above, and in confirmation thereof, in Genesis, we hearken to the call of God in election; in Exodus, we gaze upon the blood of the lamb in redemption; in Leviticus, we are almost entirely occupied with the worship and service of the sanctuary; but no sooner have we opened the book of Numbers than we read of men of war, of armies, of standards, of camps, and trumpets sounding alarm.