Oh, how sad is want of faith! They forgot the power of God and the promises of God! They let Satan whisper in their hearts that, after all, God would fail them, and though the land was beautiful and full of food and plenty—"Nevertheless" there were too many enemies to face. God was very grieved at the unbelief of the people, and He said that none of those who had distrusted Him should enter into the land of Canaan, but their children should in due time enter in and possess it. This is a solemn lesson for us all. There are right times to say "Nevertheless." Peter said to Jesus: "Nevertheless at Thy word I will let down the net," and they got a great draught of fishes! Paul said: Nevertheless the Lord stood by me, "and strengthened me," and he fought a good fight to the end! God did not forget the faithfulness of Caleb and Joshua; for Joshua was chosen, years afterwards, to lead the people into the land and to fight the Lord's battles; and Caleb, "because he had wholly followed the Lord," entered with his children into the Promised Land, and had a happy possession in it. It was true of them both: "None of them that trust in Him shall be desolate." [Illustration] IX. MOSES HIDDEN IN THE CLEFT OF THE ROCK EXODUS 33.17-23 FOR forty years, Moses, the little boy who had been taken out of the water by Pharaoh's daughter, was brought up in Pharaoh's Palace in Egypt, where he learned the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in word and deed. He evidently knew that he belonged to the Israelites or Hebrews, as they were called; but it was not till he had reached forty years of age that he began to look upon the sad plight of his own people. The Egyptians had gradually made the Hebrews into slaves, and were using them with great cruelty; but at length Moses understood that God was going to deliver the people by his hand. However, the first effort he made, was that he killed an Egyptian who was hurting a Hebrew man; and this came to the ears of Pharaoh, and he was so angry that Moses fled away, and never stopped till he reached the land of Midian. Here he remained for another forty years. He married a wife and had two sons, and he tended the flocks of his father-in-law, and lived a very peaceful life. But one day God came down and spoke to him. He told Moses that in Egypt, the condition of God's people was getting worse and worse, and that He had chosen Moses to be their deliverer. God said that He would go with him, and help him through; and promised that they should all serve God on this very Mountain in Horeb, where God was now speaking to him.