plague, not now upon Egypt, but upon us?" No, no; it is for an eleventh benefit. An eleventh! rather an hundredth a thousandth benefit! It is to bless these ungrateful men once more, not only with goodness, but with glory and power; it is to cause a river to flow out from a rock for them; it is to give us one more example of gentleness and forbearance. Ah, certainly, when God says "Forgive," when, to the question "Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times ?" he replies, "I say not unto thee, Until seven times, but, Until seventy times seven." And when the command is given, "If thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink;" when God requires us to do these things, he commands only that of which he has given us the example thousands and thousands of times. What a marvellous spectacle now presents itself! Behold this Moses, whom the people had insulted and had been ready to stone, now going forth before them, followed by the elders, and holding the rod in his hand; then, all at once, behold the glory of the Lord appearing on Mount Horeb, above a rock. Moses approached; he raised his hand, he smote the rock with his rod, and immediately the rock was cleft, and streams of water poured forth abundantly into the burning plain of the wilderness. This is one of the great and impressive miracles which the Lord wrought during this age of miracles; it is often mentioned in the Scriptures, and we see from the language used in speaking of it that it was not a small fountain, but a river that gushed forth from Mount Horeb. Besides, we can easily understand that no small quantity of water was needed to satisfy the thirst of this great people, and likewise of all their cattle, Thus, it is written in the 78th Psalm, "He clave the rocks in the wilderness, and gave them drink as out of the great depths. He brought streams also out of the rock, and caused waters to run down like rivers." And also in the 114th Psalm, "Tremble, thou earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob; which turned the rock into a standing water, the flint into a fountain of waters." How grand is this miracle! Picture the people of Israel, this thirsty multitude, under a burning sun, in the midst of a desert, rushing towards the refreshing waters, drinking long draughts, and thus, by an unexpected blessing, finding life and health! But the miracle of the water flowing from the rock is a hundred times more grand and sublime when we know that it is intended to represent to us the work of our Lord Jesus Christ; when we read in the Bible that this water is called spiritual drink, because it is designed to represent to us the water of grace, the living water, which satisfies the thirst of the soul, and gives it eternal life; when we know that Jesus is the true Rock, whence this living water flows forth to us; when we read these most striking words, "They drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them" (that is to say, whose waters followed them), "and that Rock was Christ;"1 that is, represented Christ, as in like manner he said, “This bread is my body; this cup is my blood." Yes, our Lord Jesus Christ is the Rock; he was smitten by Moses, by the rod of God's law, when he bore the curse of the law for us, and was pierced on the cross in our stead. It is from this Rock, it is from the death of 1 I Cor. x. 4. Christ, that there flows for us like life-giving water, the blood which cleanses us, and the Holy Spirit who comforts, revives, and refreshes us; who quickens and heals us; who satisfies our thirst and strengthens us. This water is of sovereign efficacy. He who drinks of earthly waters will thirst again, and will die; but whosoever drinketh of this Divine water shall never thirst again; he shall never die.1 And "the water that I shall give him," says our Lord Jesus Christ, "shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life." We are told that, on the great day of the feast, our Lord stood and cried, saying, "If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink," and also that rivers of living water should flow out of him. The evangelist adds, "This spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive.2 Moses called the name of the place Massah and Meribah, meaning temptation and chiding, or insult, of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the Lord, saying, "Is the Lord among us, or not?" Ah, how many moments are there in our lives, how many memories in our hearts, and connected with our homes, which we might call Massah and Meribah, because we have there tempted God!1 And we see from this verse that to tempt God is the same thing as to say, "Is the Lord among us, or not?" Thus, the sin of tempting God is committed by a child who, having done wrong, having been disobedient and untruthful, says to himself, Does God take notice of me, or does he not?" They equally tempt God, the scoffers, whose coming is foretold by the apostle Peter, who shall say, "Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell 2 John vii. 37-39. 3 Read Ps. xcv. 8-11. 1 John iv. 13, 14. asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation." Let us, then, take heed to ourselves, and not tempt the Lord our God as the Israelites tempted him at Massah. But let this be the cry of our souls: "Rock of Ages, cleft for me, Let me hide myself in thee; Let the water and the blood, From thy wounded side which flow'd, Cleanse me from its guilt and power. "Not the labour of my hands "Nothing in my hand I bring, "While I draw this fleeting breath, 1 2 Pet. iii. 4. XXXVII. The Battle and the Victory. (EXODUS xvii. 8-16.) ON these verses two pictures are presented to our notice. One of these scenes is in the plain of Rephidim, the other on the hill overlooking it. In the plain the principal figure is Joshua; on the hill is that of Moses. In the plain a fierce battle is taking place which lasted until the evening; on the hill a long and fervent prayer is being offered. In the plain Joshua, the valiant son of Nun, is seen commanding for the first time in the battles of Israel, marching with devotedness and faith against the terrible tribe of Amalek. He seemed more than once on the point of being vanquished, but he never wearied nor lost courage, and at last he put his enemies to flight and to the sword. What was the cause of this astonishing victory gained by the poor Israelites who had just left the house of bondage ill-armed, without discipline, and unaccustomed to war? Consider the other scene. Look at the summit of the hill, and you will soon know the cause of their success. What do we there see? An aged man of eighty who is praying. It is the man of God, the man of prayer, so full of love for his people, so full of zeal for his God; it is Moses who intercedes, |