x. 4. LVIII. As there is no great difficulty in this historical account, we haften to the confideration of the mystery fet forth 1 Cor. ❝and did all drink the fame fpiritual drink." Spiritual, not surely in its own nature, but in its fignification, as we have intimated concerning the meat. "For they drank of the fpiritual rock that followed them," that is, the water of the rock, which followed them in a plentiful ftream in the wilderness. "And that rock was Chrift," that is, as "Tertullian, de Patientia," fays well," fignified Chrift:" with whom Auguftin agrees, Quæft. 57. " in Leviticum, the rock was Chrift, not "in in fubftance, but fignification." Let us take a furvey of the fimilitude. LIX. It is certain, Chrift is often called a rock in fcripture; on account of his eternal duration, Ifa. xxvi. 4. and impregnable ftrength, Pf. xxxi. 2. and, which is the confequence of that, a moft fafe habitation, Pf. lxxi. 3. Yet I imagine these respects do not come under our present confideration. Chrift is here reprefented by a rock only, as that gave water to quench the thirst of the Ifraelites. LX. The true fimilitude is this. Ift, This rock hath its name from a parched dry wafte (for this is the meaning of Horeb in Hebrew,) and feemed to promise nothing lefs than what it produced, namely, ftreams, for giving water to fuch a number of people with their cattle. Is not Chrift alfo " as a root out of a dry ground,” Ifa. liii. 2. And is it not something above a prodigy, that he, who complained of thirst on the crofs, fhould call out to others, "if any man thirst let him come unto me and drink. He that believeth on me, as the fcripture hath faid, out of his belly fhall flow rivers of living waters." John vi. 37, 38. 2dly, The rock did not produce water till it was fmitten. Thus alfo " it became God to make the captain of our falvation perfect through fufferings," Heb. ii. 10. When his fide was pierced with the fpear, immediately there iffued out blood and water, John xix. 34. And by this means he became " a fountain opened to the house of David, and to the inhabitants of Jerufalem for fin, and uncleanness, Zech. xiii. 1. 2dly, Nor was it lawful to fmite the rock with any other inftrument than the rod of the Lawgiver: to intimate, that Chrift was to undergo the fame fufferings and the fame curfe threatened by the law to the finner man, Gal. iii. 13. 4thly, The fmiting of the rock was performed in the fight of the elders of the murmuring people. At the loud clamour of an enraged multitude, and at the defire of the elders, many of them also standing by Chrift when he was nailed to the crofs, Mat. xxvii.41. 5thly, The majesty of the fupreme Being displayed itself the top of the rock. When Chrift fuffered, did he not even on at at that time, fo vail himself as if he was void of divine glory? But they who were moft unwilling to own it, were obliged to confefs it, Mat. xxvii. 54. 6thly, Such a quantity of water flowed from the rock, that was fufficient not only to quench the thirst of the Ifraelites, but alfo to follow them in ftreams, whitherfoever they travelled in the wilderness, Pfal. Ixxviii. 15, 20. Pfal. cv. 41. Thus alfo the abundance of grace, that is in Chrift, makes "our cup to overflow, and goodness and mercy to follow us all the days of our life," Pfal. xxiii. 5, 6. LXI. What we have recorded, Numb. xx. 8. Is different from this hiftory, and is likewife myftical. There Mofes is commanded, indeed not to fmite the rock with his rod, but only to speak unto the rock, before the eyes of the Ifraelites, in order to its producing water. By which it seems was fignified, that Chrift ought to fuffer but once, and that his one offering was fufficient for perfecting believers, Heb. ix. 27, 28. Heb. x. 14. The efficacy of which was to be dispensed to the elect by the preaching of the gofpel. But Mofes, contrary to the will of the precept, though according to the will of the divine decree, in fmiting the rock twice, was a type of thofe, who wickedly indeed, but by the determinate counsel of God, perfecute over again, and evil entreat Christ, after once fuffering on the crofs, in his myftical body, Acts ix. 4. Col. i. 26. As out of the rock, which was fmitten twice, there iffued out much water, and the congregation drank, Num. xx. 11. fo in like manner, even the afflictions of believers have turned out to the advantage of the church, Phil. i. 12. the blood of the martyrs, like a fructifying rain, has watered the paridife of God; and the fparks, flying every way from their funeral piles have far and near kindled a new light of faith, and new flames of love fo that the church never experienced a greater abundance of divine confolations, than when she was forced to endure the heaviest ftrokes of perfecution. Yet as Mofes himself, who was fo faithful, fo dear to God, was for this very thing excluded the land of Canaan, Num. xx. 11. fò none of these perfecutors fhall go unpunifhed for this their rafh prefumption, Pfal. cv. 14. 2 Theff. i. 6. LXII. There now remains the facrament of the brazen ferpent, whofe hiftory recorded, Numb. xxi. 6.-Bochart has diftinctly explained, Hierozoic. p. 2. lib. 3. c. 13. The fum of which is this. The Ifraelites, for murmuring against God and against Mofes, and speaking with contempt of the heavenly manna, incurred the heavy difpleafure of the deity. And therefore ferpents were fent among them, to bite the people, and immediately cut off many by an infectious calamity. The Scripture feripture call these ferpents Seraphim; which name they have in common with the most exalted angels, and is derived from burning; but are fo called because they send a flame out of their mouth, and burn by their venomous breath. The Greeks call fome ferpents, from their heat #gnsñgås and xxvσωνας. But whether feraph here denotes a water-ferpent, or an amphibious ferpent, which is Bochart's opinion, or any other fpecies of ferpents, is neither fo very certain, nor much our concern to know. It is more profitable to confider how the divine mercy, importuned by the complaints of the people, and the confeflion of their fin, and the prayers of Mofes, afforded a prefent remedy for fo great an evil. At the direction of God a brazen ferpent, was framed by Mofes, and put upon a pole; that whoever looked upon it when it was thus erected, might find a moft infallible cure for the mortal bites of the ferpents: which alfo the event plainly proved. Three things are here diftinctly to be obferved. (1.) The mifery of the people. (2.) God's favour and goodnefs. (3.) The duty required of man, in order to his partaking of that goodness. LXIII. In the mifery of the people, we are to confider both the fin and the punishment of it. It was a fin, to throw contempt upon the manna, and to murmur against God and against Mofes. The depraved corruption of nature scarce any where more plainly fhews itself, than in the people of Ifrael; who though loaded with fo many benefits by God, so often chaftifed with paternal rods, yet inceffantly returned to their natural difpofition. Nor do they rife up against Mofes alone, by whofe means they had escaped fo many dangers, but against God himself who was prefent among them, by such extraordinary figns of his majefty; and with a frantic wantonnefs. lothe the manna, even the heavenly manna, which they had lately received with so much eagernefs. Does not this plainly argue the unconquerable depravity of our nature, and the incredible abuse of the divine beneficence in man, when left to himself? And as we are all of the fame frame, we may behold a fpecimen of our own perverseness in the Ifraelites. LXIV. The punishment, confequent on the fin, was the bites of fiery serpents; by which it is not improperly imagin ed, are fhadowed for the fuggeftions of the devil, when he tempts to difpair, and which Paul calls the fiery darts of Satan, Eph. vi. 16. and which spread their poifon through every part. For the devils are truly feraphim: who, as in their first creation, they fhone fair with the flames of divine love, fo after their fin, became horrid and fcorching ferpents. As them felves are fcorched with the fire of divine vengeance, fo they VOL. II. Rr burn burn with rage against God and his people. And indeed, they are justly given up to the vexations of Satan, who contemptuoufly reject the word of the gospel, and the grace of God in Chrift, which is fweeter than any manna; or blafpheme against God himself, as Hymeneus and Alexander, 1 Tim. i. 20. LXV. But as thofe Ifraelites who found the bites of the ferpents mortal, not being careful to obtain a cure, are an emblem of the impenitent, who, despise the grace of God, and fo die in their fins: fo they who had recourfe to Mofes, confeffing their fins, and imploring the grace of God, plainly fignify those, whom a sense of fin, and dread of divine judgment, excite to wifer refolutions; fuch as thofe, who were pricked in their heart, and faid to Peter and the other apostles, "Men and brethren what shall we do?" Acts. ii. 37. and the jailor, Acts xvi. 29, 30. But for their fake, God commanded Mofes to put a brazen ferpent on a pole, and promised, that as many as were bitten, fhould, by looking to it, be cured. Indeed, I make no manner of doubt, but this ferpent was a representation of Chrift; for he himself afferts, John. iii. 14. "as Mofes lifted up the ferpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up." This type represents the antitype several ways. LXVI. Firt, as to the form. That the ferpent was a type of the devil, not of Chrift, is afferted by a learned author without any probable reafon. Though the ferpent, which destroyed the Ifraelites by their venomous bites, were a figure of the devil, yet all circumstances loudly declare the brazen serpent, which was made at God's command, and ordained to cure the bites of the other ferpents, was a facrament of Christ. Nor is it more improper to represent Christ by the figure of a serpent, than, what the learned author fo often inculcates, by that of a wanton goat. The fimilitude confifts in the following things. ift, That Chrift, though himself free from all fin, came "in the likeness of finful flefh," Rom. viii. 3. 2dly, That by a voluntary covenant-engagment, he fubftituted himself in the room of thofe, who by nature, like all others, are a "generation of vipers," Mat. iii. 7. 3dly, That by virtue of that engagement, by bearing their fins, he was made fin and the curse, 2 Cor. v. 21. Gal. iii. 13. And so had truly the figure of a serpent, without its poison. LXVII. Secondly, as to the matter of it, whereby in different respects, were reprefented both the vileness of the human nature, the excellence of the divine, and the efficacy of the gofpel, as the learned have obferved. 1ft, The ferpent was not of gold, but of brafs, which is a nearer metal, to hold forth Chrift to us, us, as one "in whom there is no form, nor comeliness, no beauty, that we should defire him," Ifa. liii. 2. 2dly, To fignify the divine power of Chrift by the firmness and durablenefs of brafs. Whence Job vi. 12. " is my strength the ftrength of ftones? Or is my flesh of brass?" And in the Poet, a monument is faid to be more lafting than brass. 3dly, As among metals brass is the most founding. Whence Paul, 1 Cor. xiii. I. "I am become as a found brass. Thus Chrift crucified feems to be rightly fet forth by brafs, as also the preaching of the cross, "whose found went into all the earth," Rom. x. 18. LXVIII. Thirdly, as to the lifting up. This lifting up of the ferpent on a pole, prefigured the lifting up of Christ, not his glorious exaltation in heaven, but his ignominious lifting up on the crofs, John iii. 14. As John himfelf explains that phrafe, John xii. 32, 33. For, according to the Syriac and the language of the Targum, to lift up, fignifies to hang up on a tree. Both actions are denoted by the fame term p. And as Bochart has learnedly observed, that manner of speaking seems to have taken its rife from the decree of king Darius; at least it may be confirmed by that Ezra vi. 11. "whofoever fhall alter this word, let timber be pulled down from his house, and being set up, let him be hanged (put to death) thereon: fet up, that is hanged up. But holocaufts, or whole burnt-offerings, called in Hebrew bw, that is, elevations, because they were carried upwards, fignified, that Chrift, when offering himself for fin, fhould be lifted upon the crofs. Nor is it for nothing, that God would have the ferpent lifted up by Mofes. Because it was in confequence of the curfe, thundered out by the law, given by Mofes, that Chrift was nailed to the crofs. LXIX. Fourthly, With refpect to the benefit: as from the ferpent the Ifraelites obtained the cure of their mortal bites; fo in the wings of Chrift there is healing," Mal. iv. 2. "he healeth all our diseases," Pfal. ciii. 3. Wherefore as the Jews, depending on fuch a present help, little dreaded the bites and stings of the other ferpents; fo the believer, who relies upon Christ, and makes nothing of the affaults of devils, cries out with full affurance, "O death, where is thy fting ?" 1 Cor. xv. 55. LXX. In order to partake in fo great a benefit, God required nothing of the Ifraelites, but to look to the brazen ferpent; juft fo a bare look to Chrift, lifted up on the cross, perfectly cures the wounds given by the devil; namely, a look of faith by which Mofes faw him, who is invisible, Heb. xi. 27. Thus Chrift himself explains it, John iii. 14, 15.. "As Mofes lifted up the ferpent in the wildernefs, even fo muft the |