Gleanings for Teachers.

THE ROAD FROM JERUSALEM TO GAZA.

Ir runs across a dreary parched plain, which, on the right and left, extends to the horizon, and in front is shut in by the blue mountains of Judah. On emerging from the olive groves of Gaza, the desert was before us-bare, white, and monotonous, without a solitary tree, or "the shadow of a great rock," or a single patch of verdure. As we rode on, we had overhead the bright sky and blazing sun; and beneath the flinty soil, reflecting burning rays that scorched the weeds, stunted and camel-shorn, and made them crackle like charred sticks under our horses' feet.-Syria's Holy Places.

"WHICH IS DESERT."

GAZA was one of the five principal cities of the Philistines-the name appears once in the New Testament, in the angel's direction to Philip (Acts viii. 26). Respecting the meaning of the words, "which is desert (literally, "this is desert"), there has been considerable discussion. The probability is that they refer rather to the road than to the city; and are employed to inform Philip, who was then in Samaria, on what particular route he would find the Ethiopian. The route referred to is the southern road leading from Eleutheropolis to Gaza, through the desert or region without villages, as is the case at the present day.

"STREET CALLED STRAIGHT," DAMASCUS. "THE line of the street called Straight," is now traversed by a narrow, and not very straight lane. "I was able, however," says Professor Porter, "by careful examination, inside and outside the modern houses along the line, to ascertain the dimensions and character of the Ancient Via Recta. It ran through the city from east to west, and was about a mile long. At each end was a triple Roman gateway, still in a great measure entire. The street was divided into three grand avenues by Corinthian colonnades, and its total breadth was about one hundred feet.-Note in KITTO's Daily Bible Illustrations.

"We visited the great cathedral," says Tristram, "in the street which is called Straight," and several of the mosques. The great mosque, once the Christian cathedral, and in yet earlier ages a

Our engraving is from a photograph, by special permission of J. Frith, Esq., Reigate, and forms the frontispiece to "The Apostle of the Gentiles," by the late B. P. Pask. This volume should be in the hands of every Sunday School teacher.

heathen temple, is a noble structure, though of course without the interest or the splendour of the mosque of Omar. We looked in at one magnificent portal, over which still remains engraven in Greek, "Thy kingdom, O Christ, is an everlasting kingdom, and Thy dominion endureth throughout all generations.' There stand the words unread by the Moslem. We will take them as a silent prophecy, that the day is coming when this dark land shall be Christ's once more, and He shall reign for ever and ever. Even so, come, Lord Jesus."

PETER KNOCKED AT THE DOOR OF THE GATE.

EVERY house in the towns, and even larger villages in Palestine, has a knocker-generally a rude, massive iron ring. The mode of knocking is very different from ours. On going to a door, one gives two or three loud knocks, and then pauses for a moment to listen. If there is no response he repeats them, and again listens. He thus goes on, until some one from within calls "Who?" The door is never opened, under any circumstances, without such a question being put. The person without, if his voice is known to those within, answers, "I-open." If there be any doubt within, a further question is put, "Who art thou?" The name or title is then given in reply. If the name be unknown, another question is not unfrequently asked, "What do you want?" and a report must be made to the master or mistress of the house ere the door is opened.

During the absence of the servant or attendant making such report, the person without continues knocking, just as Peter did.

On more than one occasion, when I returned after a lengthened journey to my own house at Damascus, I have known my servant, on recognising my voice at the door, to run away before opening, and communicate the glad news to the members of my family. So did the damsel Rhoda. "When she knew Peter's voice, she opened not the gate for gladness, but ran in, and told how Peter stood before the gate."

The houses in the East are not like ours. The outer door, or gate, opens into a long, narrow passage, which leads into a courtyard, Round this courtyard the apartments are ranged, each being separate, and having no direct communication with the others.-PROFESSOR PORTER.-Note in KITTO's Daily Bible Illustrations.

THE GREAT DAY OF ATONEMENT.

THE many typical transactions connected with the various sacrifices and oblations culminated on the day of atonement. When the high priest had first offered a bullock as a sin-offering for himself, and

sprinkled its blood in the inner sanctuary upon and before the mercyseat seven times, he brought two goats as a sin-offering for the people. The two goats constituted, as we shall see, one offering, the office of each being determined by lot. The one was slain, and its blood carried by the high priest into the inner sanctuary and sprinkled there upon the mercy-seat and before the mercy-seat seven times, as an expiation for the sins of the people; and when he came out of the sanctuary he put some of the blood of both the bullock and the goat upon the horns of the altar round about, and sprinkled of the blood upon the altar with his finger seven times, to "cleanse it and hallow it from the uncleanness of the children of Israel." Then the live goat was presented before the Lord with the following direction : Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of a fit man" (or, a man ready at hand) "into the wilderness; and the goat shall bear upon him" (take upon himself and bear away) "all their iniquities unto a land not inhabited; and he shall let go the goat into the wilderness." Thus the goat, by taking upon himself the sins of the people, took them away. The inadequacy of the type made it necessary that two goats should be employed in this one service—the first to represent expiation, the second, the taking away of sin. So Christ, the Lamb of God, takes away the sin of the world by expiating it with His own blood. The bullock and the goat for the sin-offering, of which the blood was carried into the sanctuary, were burned without the camp, according to law; and, being typically laden with the curse of sin, they defiled the man who carried them out and burnt them. For the same reason the scapegoat (Heb., azazel), laden as it was with the sins of the people, defiled him who conducted it from the camp into the wilderness. Hence the direction for both was that they should wash their clothes and bathe their flesh in water before entering the camp.-“ Biblical Geography and Antiquities," by the REV. E. P. BARROWS, D.D.

THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES.

THIS great Hebrew national festival commenced on the fifteenth day of the seventh month (Tishri, reckoned from the new moon of October), and lasted seven days, with a solemn assembly and sacrifices on the eighth day. This was at the close of the agricultural labours of the year, when not only the harvest of wheat and barley, but also the produce of the fruit-trees, vineyards, and olive-yards had been gathered in-in the language of Scripture: "When thou hast gathered in thy labours out of the field." As a joyful recognition of God's bounty to

the husbandman it was called the feast of ingathering. As an historical commemoration of the sojourning of the Israelites in booths on their journey from Egypt to Canaan it was called the feast of tabernacles, and in both these aspects it was a peculiarly joyous festival.

The points to be noticed in the feast of tabernacles are the dwelling in booths, the numerous sacrifices with their meat-offerings and drinkofferings, and the solemn convocations.

The directions in respect to booths are given Lev. xxiii. 40-43 :— "The Rabbinists of later times interpreted the fortieth verse to mean that they should take literally the fruit of goodly trees (they understood citrons), and should make of the branches of the trees specified a sort of thyrsus called lûlab, to be borne about in their hands with the fruit. But the Karaite Jews held correctly that the boughs here specified were to be used in the construction of booths; for such was the interpretation of the words by Nehemiah and his associates, who could not have been mistaken as to the usage of their forefathers. 'The fruit of goodly trees' may mean literally fruit for the embellishment of the booths; or the word 'fruit' may be used in the general sense of growth—that is, òranches—as in our version; the fruit of goodly trees being a general statement put in apposition with what follows."

The sacrifices and oblations, which were on a very magnificent scale, are all specified in order in the twenty-ninth chapter of the book of Numbers.

The first and eighth days were observed as holy convocations, in which no servile work was to be performed by Jews, or any in their households.

"There were some rites observed by the later Jews which are not prescribed in the Pentateuch. Among these was the drawing of water every morning by the priests during the continuance of the feast (whether on the eighth day is doubtful), and pouring it out on the altar, together with wine, while the Hallel was sung. It is commonly supposed that our Saviour alluded to this rite when He stood and cried in the last day, that great day of the feast,' which was certainly the eighth day, 'If any man thirst, let him come unto Me and drink.'"-Ibid.

LIBERALITY.

"LET us," says Dr. Chambers, "pour forth of our liberality for the support of our Master's cause and honour in the world; suffering no pretexts, not even the plausibilities of a seeming and commonplace philanthropy, to divert our means from the greatest of objects, and in the prosecution of which it will be found that the most devoted piety and the truest philanthropy are as one."