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Original.

THE MOTHERS OF THE BIBLE.

ZIPPORAH.

In the mountainous and wild region which lies around Horeb and Sinai, were found, in the days of that Pharaoh, whose court was the home of Israel’s law-giver, many descendants of Abraham, children of one of the sons which Keturah bore him in his old age.  We know little of them, but here and there on the sacred page they are mentioned, and we gain brief glimpses of their character and of the estimation in which they were held by Jehovah.  Like all the other nations, they were mostly idolaters, against whom He threatened vengeance for their inventions and abominations.  But among them were found some families who evidently retained a knowledge of Abraham’s God, and who, although they did not offer him a pure worship, “seem, nevertheless, to have been imbued with sentiments of piety, and intended to serve Him so far as they were acquainted with his character and requirements.”  For these, from time to time, a consecrated priest stood before the altar, offering sacrifices which were doubtless accepted in Heaven, since sincerity prompted, and the spirit of true obedience animated, the worshipers.

In the family of this priest, who was also a prince among his people, a stranger was at one time found, who had suddenly appeared in Midian, and for a slight kindness shown to certain members of the household, had been invited to sojourn with them and make one of the domestic circle.  He was an object of daily increasing interest to all around him.  Whence had he come?  Why was he thus apparently friendless and alone?  Wherefore was his countenance sad and thoughtful; and his heart evidently so far away from present scenes?  Seven sisters dwell beneath the paternal roof, and we can readily imagine the eagerness with which they discussed these questions and watched the many interviews between him and their father, which seemed of a most important character.  The result was not long kept from them.  Moses was henceforth to perform what had been their daily task, and as his reward, was to sustain the relation of son, husband, and brother in the little circle.  Zipporah, whether willingly or reluctantly we are not told, became the wife of the silent man, nor has he, in the record which he has left, given us any account of those forty years of quiet domestic life, watching his flocks amid the mountain solitudes, and in intercourse with the “priest of Midian,” and taught of that God who chose him before all other men.  As a familiar friend, he was daily learning lessons of mighty wisdom, and gaining that surpassing excellence of character which has made his name immortal.  Was the wife whom he had chosen the worthy daughter of her father, and a fit companion for such a husband?  Did they take sweet counsel together, and could she share his noble thoughts?  Did she listen with tearful eyes to his account of the woes of his people,