teaches us to look deeper into that miracle, and to find in it the great mysteries of redemption. He tells us that " that rock was Christ ;" and, that the water which they drank of was " spiritual drink ;" or, in other words, that the miracle denoted, that Christ, being struck with the rod of the law, becomes unto us a never-failing source of all spiritual blessings a.
We only observe further, that there was no occasion what- ever, in which we might more certainly expect to find some- thing typical and mysterious, than in that before us. God was about to reveal himself to Moses in a manner that he never did, either before or since, to any mortal man : and the direc- tions which he gave previous to this discovery of himself, and which were necessary for the safety of his favoured servant, were so minute and significant, that we cannot doubt, but that the whole transaction was replete with mysterious import, and most valuable information.]
We come now to notice the situation in which Moses was placed —
[God commanded Moses to go up to Mount Sinai, and stand upon a rock ; and promised that he would there pass by him in a visible manner : but, because it was not possible for him to behold the splendour of the divine glory, God told him, that he would put him into a clift of the rock, and discover to him such a view of his glory as his frail nature could sustain. Accordingly, having put him into the clift of the rock, and covered him with his hand, to prevent him from getting any sight of his face (which he could not have seen consistently with the preservation of his life), he passed by, and then, with- drawing his hand, he permitted him to see his " back parts," that is, to have such an indistinct view of him as we have of a person who has passed by us b.
Now Sinai and Horeb, it appears, were two tops of the same mountain. We are told in the context0, that God called Moses to come up unto Mount Sinai: yet the preceding chapter in- forms us that the Israelites were at that time encamped by the Mount of Horeb&. The whole nineteenth chapter of Exodus informs us that the intercourse which Moses had with God at the time of the giving of the law, was on Mount Sinai : whereas Moses elsewhere informs us, that he stood before the Lord in Horebe; and that the Lord made a covenant with them in Horeb{; and that the people provoked the Lord to wrath in I£orebg. Hence it is manifest, that the terms Horeb and Sinai
a 1 Cor. x. 4. " Exod. xxxiii. 20—23. c ver. 2.
d Exod. xxxiii. 6. e Deut. iv. 10, 15. f Deut. v. 2.
s Deut. ix. 8. with x. 1 — 5. which was the very period alluded to in the text.