reconciling the world unto himself, and well pleased in his beloved Son. Apparently, in allusion to this mystic ladder, Jesus Christ declared to Nathaniel, “ Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man." John, i. 51.

"And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him, in

a FLAME OF FIRE, OUT OF THE MIDST OF A BUSH:

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and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed." Exod. iii. 2. Here the angel of the Lord, not a created angel, but the uncreated angel of the covenant, assumed to himself the high title of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the self-existent Jehovah-" I am that I am." This was a vision of the future incarnation of Jesus Christ. This bush in the wilderness represented the human nature of him whom Isaiah compares to a tender plant, and a root out of a dry ground, having no form nor comeliness. The flame of fire adumbrated his deity, fire being in Scripture a frequent emblem of the presence of God, who is "a consuming fire." union of the flame of fire with the bush, denoted the union of the Godhead and the manhood of him of whom Moses, in his dying benediction, spoke as having "dwelt in the bush." As the fire was in the bush, and the bush in the fire, so the man Christ Jesus is in God, and God is in the man, while the natures of both, though mysteriously united, still are not confounded, but retain their distinct properties. This angel who dwelt in the bush, in a flame of fire, required the most profound respect and religious homage from Moses, and Moses beheld this great sight with reverence and awe, as the disciples afterwards beheld the glory of him who in human nature dwelt among them.

"The Lord went before them by day in a PILLAR OF CLOUD, to lead them in the way; and by night in ɑ PILLAR OF FIRE, to give them light to go by day and night." Exod. xiii. 21. This miraculous cloud never changed its form of a pillar, and always maintained its station over the tabernacle during forty years, and led the people of Israel during all that time through the wilderness. It was a visible symbol of the presence of God, and was an illustrious type of Jesus Christ, first in the care of his providence, and then in the special light of his gospel. The Lord thus appearing to Israel, and conducting them in the veil of the cloud, gave a pre-intimation of his appearing in a veil of flesh. Here, then, was an emblem of that glorious person, in whom the brightness of divinity is conjoined with the darkness of humanity; for as there were not two pillars, the one of cloud and the other of fire, but one pillar both of cloud and of fire, so there are not two persons of Emmanuel, the one God and the other man, but one person, who is both God and man. That glorious angel, whom the apostle John beheld rising out of the east, who was Jesus Christ himself, was clothed with a cloud, and his feet were as pillars of fire. This pillar of fire and cloud was the guide of the Israelites through the wilderness, leading them in the way. It was their guard, separating and protecting them from their enemies; it enlightened them in darkness, and out of it the Lord spake with them. In all this it was an emblem of him who afterwards appeared in the world, and of whom it was declared that he would "create upon every dwellingplace of Mount Zion, and upon all her assemblies, a cloud of smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night; for upon all the glory shall be a de

fence." Isa. iv. 5. And as this pillar was a light to conduct the Israelites, so it was darkness to the Egyptians, and through the pillar of fire and of the cloud, the Lord looked unto their host, and troubled them. In the same way, Jesus Christ is a stumbling-block and foolishness to the enemies of God, but to those who are called, the wisdom and the power of God; and the gospel is a savour of death to those to whom it is hid, to whom at last the Lord will be. revealed in flaming fire, taking vengeance upon them. In this cloud, as in the sea, all the children of Israel were baptized unto Moses, (1 Cor. x. 2,) and all the children of God are baptized into Jesus Christ. Rom. vi. 3. And as that cloud conducted Israel after the flesh, into the earthly Canaan, their promised rest, so Jesus Christ conducts Israel after the Spirit, into the heavenly Canaan, the rest which remaineth to the people of God. Without that pillar of fire and cloud, Israel could not have discovered their path through the wilderness; and without Jesus Christ, who is the way" to the Father, believers could not find their path through this world of which he is the "light." "He took not away the pillar of the cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night, from before the people." Exod. xiii. 22. And Jesus Christ says, Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world." "He rained down MANNA upon them to eat, and gave them of the corn of heaven. Man did eat angel's food; he sent them food to the full." Psalms, lxxviii. 24, 25. "And Moses said unto them, This is the bread which the Lord hath given you to eat." Exod. xvi. 14. This manna was a type of Jesus Christ, which he applied to himself when he said, " Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from

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heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven; For the bread of God is He which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world. I am the living bread which came down from heaven." John, xxxii. 51. In like manner the Apostle Paul, referring to the spiritual meaning, of the manna, says, They did all eat the same spiritual meat." 1 Cor. x. 3. God fed the people with manna, that he might make them "know that man doth not live by bread only." This manna was not provided by the Israelites with their own labour and skill, but showered from heaven, and prepared for their use even at the time when they were murmuring against God. In like manner, believers can do nothing to obtain or to merit Jesus Christ, who is the gift of God to those who were " without strength," "and sinners and enemies to God." Rom. v. 6, 10. As the manna, before it was fit for food, must be ground in mills, or beat in a mortar," it was necessary that, to satisfy the justice of God, Jesus Christ should be bruised for the iniquities of his people, that he might be made perfect through sufferings, in order to afford spiritual nourishment to their souls. As the manna was loathed by "the mixed multitude" among the people who lusted after the good things of Egypt; in like manner the things of this world are preferred to Jesus Christ and his salvation, by multitudes of those who take the name of Christians. As the manna could be of no use to the Israelites unless they gathered and eat it, so no benefit can be derived from Jesus Christ, except by eating his flesh and drinking his blood. “Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of Man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you." John, vi. 53. As the manna was indispensably necessary for the children of Israel, as long as they remained in the wilderness, in

which, if after a season it had failed, they must have perished, so it is necessary for believers to live by faith on the Son of God, during all the days of their pilgrimage here on earth. The pot of manna laid up by the side of the ark, represented the permanency of that spiritual food which Jesus Christ provides for his people, and which, in allusion to what was contained in this pot, he calls the "hidden manna;" and, in the same manner Aaron's rod, which budded, prefigured the perpetual efficacy of Christ's everlasting priesthood. As the manna ceased not till the people of Israel eat of the corn of Canaan, so the people of God will feed on Him who is the true bread from heaven, while they pass through this world, and until they arrive at their eternal rest.

"Take the rod, and gather thou the assembly together, thou and Aaron thy brother, and speak ye unto the ROCK before their eyes, and it shall give forth his water, and thou shalt bring forth to them water out of the rock." Numb. xxi. 8. To this rock, out of which God caused streams to flow, to supply the people of Israel with water in the wilderness, the Apostle Paul expressly ascribes a typical signification

"that rock was Christ." 1 Cor. x. 4. It was emblematical of Him who is the "rock of offence," yet the "sure foundation which God hath laid in Zion," and the "chief corner stone." That rock, although outwardly it appeared to be hard and dry, yet contained a rich abundance of water for all the people. In the same way, Jesus Christ, although he appeared without form and comeliness, and as a root out of a dry ground, was full of grace and truth, and out of his fulness all believers receive. The waters which issued from that rock represented the living water, of which Jesus Christ