(ver. 32.) as a memorial of the goodness and faithfulness of God, and of his people's obligations to gratitude and obedience.

The manna descended as long as Israel had need of it, (ver. 35.) that is, until they came to a land where food was to be procured in the usual way; thus exemplifying, through all their journeyings, the faithfulness of God, who was daily mindful of his promise, and never once failed or forsook them, until he had done for them all that he promised to do.

The remarks on this interesting story have already extended to a considerable length, yet it would be an unpardonable omission to dismiss the subject without alluding to the spiritual instruction which our Lord himself has told us it was designed to convey:-John vi. 27-58. "I am the bread of life: your fathers did eat manna, and are dead; he that eateth this bread, shall live for ever. Whoso eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life." Hence we learn, that the manna was a type or representation of Christ. What the manna was to the Israelites, that Christ is to the souls of believers. Christ is the Bread of life, provided by God, and given to sinners, who must otherwise have perished; who were altogether unworthy of such a gift, and disposed to slight and undervalue it. This heavenly bread must be sought for, and fed upon day by day; that is, received into the heart by faith. We must feed upon Christ all the days of our journey through this world, receiving from his fulness fresh

pardon and peace, grace and strength, every day, until we arrive at heaven. Instead of abstaining from gathering it on the sabbath-day, we should gather a double portion; and press on in the strength of it till we reach that blessed world, where we shall keep an everlasting sabbath, and where this bread of life shall endure for ever, as provision for our souls, to the glory of God.

3. Water given at the Rock Rephidim.-The Defeat and Doom of Amalek.-Jethro's Visit to Moses. Exod. xvii. xviii.

B. C. 1491.

It is a remarkable fact, and serves to illustrate the exceeding riches of God's unmerited mercy towards his sinful people Israel, that the several most extraordinary interpositions on their behalf, were preceded by some remarkable discovery of their ungrateful and rebellious disposition. Shortly after their being settled in the regular supply of their daily food, a new difficulty arose, and found them just as ready as ever to murmur and despond. At Rephidim, (see Map,) where they pitched their tents, they were in want of water, nor could the miraculous cloud under whose guidance they moved, nor the miraculous provision on which they fed, convince this stupid and rebellious people, whither they ought to resort in this new distress. Still they forgat God, and spoke and acted as if they thought that Moses

and Aaron had of themselves brought them out of Egypt, and were both bound to supply all their wants, and responsible for all their inconveniences. "Give us water," say they turbulently, "that we may drink." Thus they tempted the Lord, by, as it were, putting his omniscience and omnipotence to the trial, and that in the face of overwhelming proof. From impetuous and unreasonable demands, they proceeded to bitter reproaches, and became so outrageous that they were ready to stone Moses.

But

he, in the meekness and confidence of faith, laid the case before the Lord, assured of his seasonable and effectual interposition. "And the Lord said unto Moses, Go on before the people, and take with thee the elders of Israel; and thy rod, wherewith thou smotest the river, take in thy hand, and go."Might we not have expected, that the command would have proceeded, for Moses to lift up his rod and call for some dreadful plague, like those inflicted on Egypt, to destroy the ringleaders of the tumult, and to dismay the rest?-But God's thoughts are not as our thoughts, neither are his ways like our ways; instead of such a denunciation of merited wrath, Moses received a proclamation of wondrous mercy: "Behold," said Jehovah "I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb; (probably some visible manifestation of the Divine presence was afforded to Moses and the elders who accompanied him;) and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink; and

Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel:" and from the hard and flinty rock, burst forth a stream of water, an abundant supply for all the people of Israel, with their flocks and herds; not only a temporary, but a permanent supply; for we have reason to conclude that this' water followed them as a river in the wilderness, from place to place, for a long time; and some suppose that it continued afterward to water those parts of the desert. This transaction is beautifully illustrative and typical of the bestowal of spiritual blessings by Jesus Christ. In this application we cannot be mistaken, since the apostle has expressly called this water, "spiritual drink," i. e. typical of spiritual blessings; and the rock from whence it flowed, a type of Christ, 1 Cor. x. 4. He is the Rock of ages. He was smitten by the rod of Divine justice, and poured forth a stream of mercy and grace to refresh the dying sons of men. Immense as the congregation of Israel was, there was water enough for them all, and a constant and abundant supply: and so ample are the supplies of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus, that all the millions of believers in every age have been sustained and satisfied by them; yet so inexhaustible a fulness remains, that should millions of millions more thirst for these living waters, they might drink of them and be satisfied, without impairing the fulness. Nor are these living waters less free than abundant: no restrictive clause excluded one of the thirsty millions of Israel from the use of the refreshing stream; nor