that the figure states; for Jesus Christ is both human and di vine, or, in other words, body and spirit. When we speak of the body, or his incarnation, we mean a body of earth; but when we speak of the Spirit, or his divinity, we mean God; for inasmuch as a well, being composed of earth and water, does not forbid the idea of its being called a well; so Jesus Christ being composed of human and divine nature, does not forbid the idea of his being God; for as he is God, he is the living spring. As he is human, or body of earth, he is the way of communication from heaven to earth, and from earth to hea

ven.

Again, we find there are twelve wells of water, which furnishes every patriarch or tribe, with a whole well to themselves, and not only so, but it is to be noticed, as an illustration of the doctrine of the Trinity, through both dispensations; which I shall take particular notice of, when I come to speak of Jerusalem; but as it respects the twelve wells here mentioned, we are pointed doubtless, to the twelve apostles of the Lamb, who have each of them a whole well; or, in other words, a whole Saviour, or Christ, in them the hope of glory; and to these twelve apostles were committed the charge of Christ's flock, as shepherds under the great Shepherd of Israel, to feed the flock of Christ, which he has purchased with his own blood. And if I should not be counted rude in speech I would represent them to view with a golden pitcher, dug from the gospel mine, drawing the living water through the body of earth, or the human nature of the Lord Jesus Christ, and watering the flock. Reader, this is an excellent place to pitch your tent, where you may set under the pure doctrine of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

Again; at this encampment we are told that there were three score and ten palm trees. Now the palm tree, when considered in the singular tense, is a most beautiful figure of Christ. The historical account of this tree is, that it is a tree that grows very large and tall, and its spreading branches make an extensive shadow, and the natives, in consequence of its shadow, assemble under it to worship the host of heaven; where the limbs branch out from the tree there springs out a plant similar to our cabbage; this serves for food of vegetation; the leaves of the tree are large; and the natives manufacture them into silk and make their clothing; it bears a kind of fruit similar to a date, which is a substitute for bread; kewise a nut similar to a cocoanut, which is full of sweet milk. They tap it af certain seasons of the year, and draw from it large quantities of wine, and the top of the tree forms into a tube, like a blossom, and in the heat of summer the sun draws up the sap into it, and congeals it to honey. If the historical account of this tree be true, and the natives could have spiritual eyes to see what is over their heads, they would worship in spirit and in truth; for here is milk for

1

babes, bread for those that are of riper age, silk for their cloathing, wine, a cordial for the sick, food of vegetation, and the honey is upon the top of the tree. What a beautiful representation of Christ is here, for in him are all things necessary for this life, and that which is to come; and as the honey is upon the top of the tree, so the sweetness of Christ will be most peculiar in the heavenly world.*

But we are not dependent on history to discover the antetype of the palm tree; for it is used in scripture as a token of victory, for when Christ rode on the asses' colt to Jerusalem, they cut down branches of the palm tree and strewed them in the way, that this victorious king might ride upon them, while they cried Hosanna to the son of David; blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. Again; the Psalmist saith, the righteous shall flourish like the palm tree, that is like unto Christ. Again; Solomon saith, speaking of the church, this thy stature is like the palm tree. To whom should he liken the church but unto her Head, which is Christ. The revelator saith, v 1 beheld and lo a great multitude, which no man could number,. of all nations, kindreds, and people and tongues, stood before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes and psalms in their hands; which appears to be a token of victory by the blood of the Lamb. From what is laid before us we may see that Christ is the antetype of the palm tree.

Again; we are informed that there were three score and ten palm trees.

In the first place I shall point the reader to the figurative day, in order that the subject may appear more plain. When the people lusted for flesh, the Lord was angry with them, and the burden fell heavy upon Moses; and the Lord commanded Moses to gather unto him seventy men of the elders of Israel to the tabernacle of the congregation, that they may stand there before thee, and I will take of the spirit which is upon thee and put it upon them, and they shall bear the burden of the people with thee: this is a pointer to the subject we have under consideration, for when a figure is used in its proper place, it will always give the exact answer, and shew us how the figurative day compares with the gospel; for after Christ had chosen his twelve apostles, (which were represented by the twelve patriarchs) we are told he sent out other seventy also, (which number is equal to three score and ten) and as the spirit of Moses was put upon the seventy ciders, so he gave them power over unclean spirits,

*There are different species of the palm tree. It is possible that one kind does not produce all these things mentioned, yet it is the palm tree.

things

and when they returned they said, the very devils are subject to us through thy name. The answer was, rejoice, not that the devils are subject to you, but rather rejoice that your names are written in heaven. And as figures are known by their shape, what place they fill; it appears evident that the three score and ten palm trees point us to the seventy disciples; for if their names are written in Heaven, who will dispute that they were graffed contrary to nature into the spiritual palm tree, which is Christ, and received their life and nourishment from thence, and bore their christiain name in consequence of their connection with him, and the evidence of this appears by the fruit, and as it is consoling to the believer to set under the pure doctrine of the twelve apostles of the Lamb, it is no less gratifying to see the devils subject to its power, though they are unreconciled to its nature.

SECTION FOURTH.

The next encampment is the wilderness of Sin, between Elim and Sinai. There the people sinned against God and murmured against Moses and Aaron, because they wanted bread, and God rained manna from Heaven. It would be improper to suppose that the Lord supplied them with bread, because of their murmurings; but that he had already purposed to supply their need and teach them their dependence, day by day, and to be a witness that he had reserved one seventh part of time unto himself.

Now it appears that this bread came from the militant hea ven, for when the dew went up, it was found upon the ground, and they gathered it day by day, and in this way it was always fresh and fit for use; but if they laid it by in store, it bred worms and stank, except in case of the holy sabbath; but when we notice the antetype, Jesus saith, I am the bread of life. Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead. This is the bread that cometh down from Heaven, that a man may eat thereof and not die. And again, if any man eat this bread, he shall live forever; for the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. Now this manna, although it is said to come from Heaven, yet it was of a perishing nature, and contained no saving power in itself, without its being given of God; so the flesh of the Son of God would contain no saving power that could preserve the life of the world, if divested of the union with divinity. Again; the manna sent from heaven would have been of no use to the people, except they it. And Christ saith, except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. And there was also a necessity of a daily supply, for their granaries would not preserve it; so we must have the living bread fresh from heaven

every day, for our treacherous hearts is not a suitable element to preserve its sweetness. In the next place as it respects the witness of the holy sabbath, God was pleased to testify to them by preserving the bread of the sixth day, which was doubled, that it would not spoil, as an evidence that he had reserved one seventh part of time to himself.

Now as God is undhangeable, and consequently requires no less of his people, than he did then, and as the first born must be redeemed with a lamb and the firstling of the flock, and the first fruits of the harvest were to be made an offering to God; so under the gospel the first day of the week, on which Christ arose from the dead (we are taught from this figure) is the christian sabbath.

Again; as manna was not on the face of the ground on the seventh day, so Jesus, when he made himself an offering for sin, slept in the heart of the earth during the Jewish sabbath, and was not found of his weeping church until the morning of the first day of the week; and the store of bread from heaven, which they gathered when he was on the cress, remained good until they received a fresh supply from a risen Saviour on the first day of the week.

One remark more, and I shall pass on. When the mind of God's children is not informed into the glorious doctrine of the gospel, they are not capable of feeding on what they have not; but they can feed on Christ as the bread of life; but as man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God, we are in this text pointed to the doctrine of the gospel, and as doctrine is like a plant that grows out of the ground and needeth cultivation, that it may come to maturity, so when the true principle of grace is implanted in the heart, there is of necessity much cultivation of mind, and attention to the word, in order that it may grow to a matnre state, or the knowledge of the doctrine contained in the word.

SECTION FIFTH.

The next encampment I shall notice, is Rephidem. Here the people murmured against Moses, because they had no water, and the Lord said unto Moses, go and take all the elders of Israel, and thy rod. Behold I will stand before thee upon the rock in Horeb, and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink. Now, in order to illustrate this subject, perhaps it may not be amiss to give the historical account of this rock; which, saith the historian, seems to have been a cliff, fallen from the side of mount Sinai, and lies like a large loose stone in the midst of the valley, it is of a red garnet colour, and the hardness of a flint, and is

nigh about six yards square, and there are twelve openings in it whence the water gushed out, for the thirty-nine years' supply of the Hebrews, and the stone is worn where the water had run down.

Now the valley of Rephidem, was a valley that led directly through between Mount Sinai and Mount Horeb, where Moses saw the burning bush. In the first place, I shall make a few remarks on the historical account, as it appears to run paralel with the explanation of the subject: first then, this rock (says the historian) seems to have been a cliff fallen from the side of Mount Sinai into the midst of the valley. May we not suppose, that the spiritual mind could gather the matter contained in the account given by the historian without any further comment. However, I shall venture to say, that here is a very lively representation given of Christ the Rock; and as it is said to have fallen from the side of Mount Sinai, which is a type of the divine law, (which I shall notice when I come to speak of the Mount) so Christ the spiritual rock, was made under the law, and laid aside his eminent glory which he had with the Father before the world began, and descended in the form of a servant, humbled himself, and became obedient unto death; entered into the valley where there was no living water to allay the parching thirst of his people, that he might open a fountain to them through the living streams of the Gospel, and the colour of this rock teaches us that this fountain was opened by his blood; and the twelve openings in the rock from which the water gushed out, points us to the twelve apostles of the Lamb; and the water gushing in twelve streams, and uniting in one, the doctrine of the gos pel, form twelve chosen parts, and yet but one chain of truth. Now I shall leave the historical part and attend to the word.

It will be remembered that the people had lately come from the wilderness of Sin. When they came to this encampment, where they had provoked God; and we are always to expect, in such cases, that God's judgments will follow his people; for, he saith, Zion shall be redeemed with judgment. And, in consequeuce of their murmurings, no doubt, God withheld from them the element of water, not only to teach them their dependence on him, but to let them know he had power to open a pool in the wilderness. Yet notwithstanding this judgment fell upon them because of transgression, instead of their being humbled under it, they still complained. Is not this always the case with the unsanctified part, until the judgments of God are sanctified to us?

Now, when God was about to work this miracle in the sight of Israel, he commanded Moses to take all the elders of Israel, and his rod, and says He, I will stand before you upon the rock in Horeb, and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it that the people may drink.