22 And it came to pass, that on the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for one man: and all the rulers of the congregation came and told Moses. 23 And he said unto them, This is that which the LORD hath said, To-morrow is the rest of the holy Sabbath unto the LORD: bake that which ye will bake to-day, and seethe that ye will seethe; and that which remaineth over, lay up. for you to be kept until the morning. 24 And they laid it up till the morning, as Moses bade; and it did not stink, neither was there any worm therein. Sabbath to be sanctified. A. M. 2513. B. C. 1491. 25 And Moses said, Eat that to-day; for to-day is a Sabbath A. Exod. Isr. 1. unto the LORD: to-day ye shall not find it in the field. 26 Ijar or Zif. Six days ye shall gather it; but on the seventh day, which is the Sabbath, in it there shall be none. 27 And it came to pass, that there went out some of the people on the seventh day for to gather, and they found none. 28 And the LORD said unto Moses, How refuse ye to keep my commandments and my laws? long 29 See, for that the LORD hath given you the Sabbath, therefore he giveth you on the sixth day the bread of two days; abide ye every man in his place; let no man go out of his place on the seventh day. Gen. ii. 3; chapter xx. 8; xxxi. 15; xxxv. 3; Lev. xxiii. 3. Chapter xx. 9, 10.2 Kings xvii. 14; Psalm lxxviii. d Ver, 20. Verse 22. On the sixth day they gathered twice as much] This they did that they might have a provision for the Sabbath, for on that day no manna fell, ver. 26, 27. What a convincing miracle was this! No manna fell on the Sabbath! Had it been a natural production it would have fallen on the Sabbath as at other times; and had there not been a supernatural influence to keep it sweet and pure, it would have been corrupted on the Sabbath as well as on other days. By this series of miracles God showed his own power, presence, and goodness, 1. In sending the manna on each of the six days; 2. In sending none on the seventh, or Sabbath; 3. In preserving it from putrefaction when laid up for the use of that day, though it infallibly corrupted if kept over night on any other day. Verse 23. To-morrow is the rest of the holy Sabbath] There is nothing either in the text or context that seems to intimate that the Sabbath was now first given to the Israelites, as some have supposed: on the contrary, it is here spoken of as being perfectly well known, from its having been generally observed. The commandment, it is true, may be considered as being now renewed; because they might have supposed that in their unsettled state in the wilderness they might have been exempted from the observance of it. Thus we find, 1. That when God finished his creation, he instituted the Sabbath; 2. When he brought the people out of Egypt, he insisted on the strict observance of it; 3. When he gave the LAW, he made it a tenth part of the whole, such importance has this institution in the eyes of the Supreme Being! On the supposed change of the Sabbath from what we call Sunday to Saturday, effected on this occasion, see the note on Deut. v. 15. Verse 29. Abide ye every man in his place] Neither go out to seek manna nor for any other purpose; rest at home and devote your time to religious exercises. Several of the Jews understood by place in the text, 10, 22; cvi. 13. the camp, and have generally supposed that no man should go out of the place, i. e., the city, town, or village in which he resides, any farther than one thousand cubits, about an English mile, which also is called a Sabbath day's journey, Aets i. 12; and so many cubits they consider the space round the eity that constitutes its suburbs, which they draw from Num. xxxv. 3, 4. Some of the Jews have carried the rigorous observance of the letter of this law to such a length, that in whatever posture they find themselves on the Sabbath morning when they awake, they continue in the same during the day; or should they be up and happen to fall, they refuse even to rise till the Sabbath be ended! Mr. Stapleton tells a story of one Rabbi Solomon, who fell into a slough on the Jewish Sabbath, Saturday, and refused to be pulled out, giving his reason in the following Leonine couplet : Sabbatha sancta colo, De stercore surgere nolo. For holy Sabbath day I prize." The Christians, finding him thus disposed, determined he should honour their Sabbath in the same place, and actually kept the poor man in the slough all Sunday, giving their reasons in nearly the same way :— Sabbatha nostra quidem, Solomon, celebrabis ibidem. "In the same slough, thou stubborn Jew, Our Sabbath day thou shalt spend too." This might have served to convince him of his folly, but certainly was not the likeliest way to convert him to Christianity. FABYAN, in his Chronicles, tells the following story of a case of this kind. "In this yere also (1259) fell that happe of the lewe of Tewkysbury, which fell into a gonge upon the Satyrday, and wolde not for reverence of his sabbot day be pluckyd out; whereof heryng the Erle of Gloucetyr, that the Iewe Moses is commanded to A. M. 2513. An. Exod. Isr. 1. 30 So the people rested on the 33 And Moses said unto Aaron, seventh day. 31 And the house of Israel called the name thereof Manna: and it was like coriander seed, white; and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey. 32 And Moses said, This is the thing which the LORD commandeth, Fill an omer of it to be kept for your generations; that they may see the bread wherewith I have fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you forth from the land of Egypt. Num. xi. 7, 8. h Heb. ix. 4. A. M. 2513. Ijar or Zif. Take a pot, and put an omer An. Exod. Isr. I. full of manna therein, and lay it up before the LORD, to be kept for your generations. i 34 As the LORD commanded Moses, so Aaron laid it up before the testimony, to be kept. 35 And the children of Israel did eat manna forty years, until they came to a land inhabited; they did eat manna, until they came unto the borders of the land of Canaan. 1 36 Now an omer is the tenth part of an ephah. Chap. xxv. 16, 21; xl. 20; Num. xxxiii. 38; Deut. viii. 2, 3; Neh. ix. 20, 21; John vi. Num. xvii. 10; Deut. x. 5; 1 Kings viii. 9. 31, 49.- Josh. v. 12; Neh. ix. 15. tion which he has provided for man, there can be no doubt, for in this way it is applied by Christ himself; and from it we may gather this general conclusion, that salvation is of the Lord. The Israelites must have perished in the wilderness, had not God fed them with bread from heaven; and every human soul must have perished, had not Jesus Christ come down from heaven, and given himself for the life of the world. dyd so great reverence to his sabbot daye, thought he wolde doo as moche unto his holy day, which was Sonday, and so kepte hym there tyll Monday, at whiche season he was foundyn dede." Then the earl of Gloucester murdered the poor man. Verse 31. Called the name thereof Manna] note on ver. 15. Verse 32. To be kept for your generations] note on ver. 9. See See They 2. God would have the Israelites continually deVerse 34. Laid it up before the testimony] The pendent on himself for all their supplies; but he would My eduth or testimony belonged properly to the taber- make them, in a certain way, workers with him. He nacle, but that was not yet built. Some are of opinion provided the manna; they gathered and ate it. The that the tabernacle, built under the direction of Moses, first was God's work; the latter, their own. was only a renewal of one that had existed in the could not produce the manna, and God would not patriarchal times. See the note on ver. 9. The gather it for them. Thus the providence of God word signifies reference to something beyond itself; appears in such a way as to secure the co-operation thus the tabernacle, the manna, the tables of stone, of man. Though man should plant and water, yet it Aaron's rod, &c., all bore reference and testimony to is God who giveth the increase.. But if man neither that spiritual good which was yet to come, viz., JESUS plant nor water, God will give no increase. We canCHRIST and his salvation. not do God's work, and he will not do ours. therefore, both in things spiritual and temporal, be workers together with HIM. Verse 35. The children of Israel did eat manna forty years] From this verse it has been supposed that the book of Exodus was not written till after the miracle of the manna had ceased. But these words might have been added by Ezra, who under the direction of the Divine Spirit collected and digested the different inspired books, adding such supplementary, explanatory, and connecting sentences, as were deemed proper to complete and arrange the whole of the sacred canon. For previously to his time, according to the universal testimony of the Jews, all the books of the Old Testament were found in an unconnected and dispersed state. Verse 36. Now an omer is the tenth part of an ephah.] About six pints, English. See the note on ver. 16. The true place of this verse seems to be immediately after ver. 18, for here it has no connection. 1. On the miracle of the manna, which is the chief subject in this chapter, a good deal has already been said in the preceding notes. The sacred historian has given us the most círcumstantial proofs that it was a supernatural and miraculous supply; that nothing of the kind had ever been seen before, and probably nothing like it had ever afterwards appeared. That it was a type of our blessed Redeemer, and of the salvaVOL. I. ( 26 ) Let us, 3. This daily supply of the manna probably gave rise to that petition, Give us to-day our daily bread. It is worthy of remark, 1. That what was left over night contrary to the command of God bred worms and stank; 2. That a double portion was gathered on the day preceding the Sabbath; 3. That this alone continued wholesome on the following day; and, 4. That none fell on the Sabbath! Hence we find that the Sabbath was considered a Divine institution previously to the giving of the Mosaic law; and that God continued to honour that day by permitting no manna to fall during its course. Whatever is earned on the Sabbath is a curse in a man's property. They who WILL be rich, fall into temptation and into a snare, &c.; for, using illicit means to acquire lawful things, they bring God's curse upon themselves, and are drowned in destruction and perdition. Reader, dost thou work on the Sabbath to increase thy property? See thou do it not! Property acquired in this way will be a curse both to thee and to thy posterity. 4. To show their children and children's children what God had done for their fathers, a pot of manna was laid up before the testimony. We should remember our providential and gracious deliverances in such 385 The people murmur EXODUS. for lack of water a way as to give God the praise of his own grace. will even that faith be to us, if we hold the truth in An ungrateful heart is always associated with an un-unrighteousness! Our fathers had religion enough to believing mind and an unholy life. Like Israel, we enable them to burn gloriously for the truth of God! should consider with what bread God has fed our fa- Readér, hast thou so much of the life of God in thy thers, and see that we have the same; the same Christ soul, that thou couldst burn to ashes at the stake rather -the bread of life, the same doctrines, the same ordi- than lose it? In a word, couldst thou be a martyr? nances, and the same religious experience. How little Or hast thou so little grace to lose, that thy life would are we benefitted by being Protestants, if we be not be more than an equivalent for thy loss? Where is partakers of the Protestant faith! And how useless the manna on which thy fathers fed CHAPTER XVII. The Israelites journey from the wilderness of Sin to Rephidim, 1, where they murmur for lack of water, 2, 3. Moses asks counsel of God, 4, who commands him to take his rod and smite the rock, 5, and promises that water should proceed from it for the people to drink, 6. The place is called Massah and Meribah, 7. The Amalekites attack Israel in Rephidim, 8. Joshua is commanded to fight with them, 9. Moses, Aaron, and Hur, go to the top of a hill, and while Moses holds up his hands, the Israelites prevail; when he lets them down, Amalek prevails, 10, 11. Moses, being weary, sits down, and Aaron and Hur hold up his hands, 12. The Amalekites are totally routed, 13, and the event commanded to be recorded, 14. altar, and calls it JEHOVAH-NISSI, 15. Amalek is threatened with continual wars, 16. Verse 2. Why chide ye with me?] God is your leader, complain to him; Wherefore do ye tempt the Lord? As he is your leader, all your murmurings against me he considers as directed against himself; why therefore do ye tempt him? Has he not given you sufficient proofs that he can destroy his enemies and support his friends? And is he not among you to do you good? ver. 7. Why therefore do ye doubt his power and goodness, and thus provoke him to treat you as his enemies? Verse 3. And the people murmured] The reader must not forget what has so often been noted relating to the degraded state of the minds of the Israelites. 386 Moses builds an A. M. 2513. Ijar or Zif. and said, Wherefore is this that e 5 And the LORD said unto Moses, & Go on before the people, and take with thee of the elders of Israel; and thy rod, wherewith thou smotest the river, take in thine hand, and go. 6 Behold, I will stand before thee there, upon the rock in Horeb; and thou shalt smite f] Samuel xxx. 6; John viii. 59; x. 31.- Ezekiel ii. 6. Chap. vii. 20; Num. xx. 8. Num. xx. 10, 11; Psa. lxxviii. 15, 20; cv. 41; cxiv. 8; Wisd. xi. 4; 1 Cor. x. 4: A strong argument however may be drawn from this in favour of their supernatural escape from Egypt. Had it been a scheme concerted by the heads of the people, provision would necessarily have been made for such exigencies as these. But as God chose to keep them constantly dependent upon himself for every necessary of life, and as they had Moses alone as their mediator to look to, they murmured against him when brought into straits and difficulties, regretted their having left Egypt, and expressed the strongest desire to return. This shows that they had left Egypt reluctantly; and as Moses and Aaron never appear to have any resources but those which came most evidently in a supernatural way, therefore the whole exodus or depart ure from Egypt proves itself to have been no human contrivance, but a measure concerted by God himself. Verse 6. I will stand before thee there, upon the rock in Horeb] THE rock, hatstsur. It seems as if God had directed the attention of Moses to a particular rock, with which he was well acquainted; for every part of the mount and its vicinity must have been well ( 26* ) Moses smiles the rock, A. M. 2513. B. C. 1491. the rock, and there shall come they tempted the LORD, saying, An. Exod. Isr. 1. water out of it, that the people Is the LORD among us, or not? A. M. 2513. 9 And Moses said unto Joshua, Choose us out men, and go out, fight with Amalek: to morrow I will stand on the top of the hill, That is, Gen. xxxvi. 12; Num. xxiv. 20; Deut. xxv. 17; 1 Sam. xv. 2- known to Moses during the time he kept Jethro's flocks in those quarters. Dr. Priestley has left the following sensible observations upon this miracle: their being made partakers of the grace and mercy of God through Christ Jesus; and yet many who drank fell and perished in the wilderness in the very act of disobedience! Reader, be not high minded, but fear! On the smiting of the rock by the rod of Moses, Mr. Ainsworth has the following pious note: "This rock signified Christ, and is therefore called a spiritual Rock, 1 Cor. x. 4. He being smitten with Moses's and by the preaching of the Gospel crucified among his people, Gal. iii. 1, from him floweth the spiritual drink wherewith all believing hearts are refreshed." John vii. 37, and Isa. liii. 1-3. The luminous cloud, the symbol of the Divine presence, would appear on the rock, and Horeb was probably a part of the same mountain with Sinai. This supply of water, on Moses only striking the rock, where no water had been before nor has been since, was a most wonderful display of the Divine power. The water must have been in great abundance to sup-rod, and bearing the curse of the law for our sins, ply two millions of persons, which excluded all possibility of artifice or imposture in the case. The miracle must also have been of some continuance, no doubt so long as they continued in that neighbourhood, which was more than a year. There are sufficient traces of this extraordinary miracle remaining at this day. This rock has been visited, drawn, and described by Dr. Shaw, Dr. Pocock, and others; and holes and channels appear in the stone, which could only have been formed by the bursting out and running of the water. No art of man could have done it, if any motive could be sup-cation, they seem to have attacked them merely through posed for the undertaking in such a place as this." This miracle has not escaped the notice of the ancient Πληξεν όρος σκηπτρῳ, το δε οἱ διχα πουλυ διεστη. Verse 8. Then came Amalek, and fought with Israel] The Amalekites seem to have attacked the Israelites in the same way and through the same motives that the wandering Arabs attack the caravans which annually pass through the same desert. It does not appear that the Israelites gave them any kind of provo the hopes of plunder. The Amalekites were the posterity of Amalek, one of the dukes of Eliphaz, the son of Esau, and consequently Israel's brother, Gen. xxxvi. 15, 16. Fought with Israel] In the most treacherous and dastardly manner; for they came at the rear of the camp, smote the hindmost of the people, even all that were feeble behind, when they were faint and weary; see Deut. xxv. 18. The baggage, no doubt, was the The yawning cliff; from its disparted height object of their avarice; but finding the women, chilAdown the mount the gushing torrent ran. PRIOR. dren, aged and infirm persons, behind with the bagThe rock mentioned above has been seen and de-gage, they smote them and took away their spoils. scribed by Norden, p. 144, 8vo.; Dr. Shaw, p. 314, 4to., where there is an accurate drawing of it; Dr. Pocock, yol. i., p. 143, &c., where the reader may find some fine plates of Mount Horeb and Sinai, and four different views of the wonderful rock of Meribah. It is a vast block of red granite, fifteen feet long, ten broad, and twelve high. See Dr. Shaw's account at the end of Exodus. My nephew, who visited this rock in 1823, confirms the account of the preceding travellers, and has brought a piece of this wonderful stone. The granite is fine, and the quartz, mica, and feldspar equally mixed in it. This rock or block of granite is the only type of Christ now existing. Verse 7. He called the name of the place Massah, and Meribah] Massah signifies temptation or trial; and Meribah, contention or litigation. From 1 Cor. x. 4, we learn that this rock was a type of Christ, and their drinking of it is represented as Verse 9. Moses said unto Joshua] This is the first place in which Joshua the son of Nun is mentioned: the illustrious part which he took in Jewish, affairs, till the settlement of his countrymen in the promised land, is well known. He was captain-general of the Hebrews under Moses; and on this great man's death he became his successor in the government. Joshua was at first called Hoshea, Num. xiii. 16, and afterwards called Joshua by Moses. Both in the Septuagint and Greek Testament he is called Jesus: the name signifies Saviour; and he is allowed to have been a very expressive type of our blessed Lord. He fought with and conquered the enemies of his people, brought them into the promised land, and divided it to them by lot. The parallel between him and the Saviour of the world is too evident to require pointing out. Top of the hill] Probably some part of Horeb or Sinai, to which they were then near. The Amalekites A. M. 2513. B. C. 1491. An. Exod. Isr. 1. hand. Ijar or Zif. A. M. 2513. An. Exod. Isr. 1. Ijar or Zif. with the rod of God in mine up his hands, the one on the one 10 So Joshua did as Moses had said to him, and fought with Amalek: and Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. 11 And it came to pass, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed; and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed. 12 But Moses' hands were heavy; and they took a stone, and put it under him, and he sat thereon; and Aaron and Hur stayed P Chap, iv. 20. r 14 And the LORD said unto Moses, Write this for a memorial in a book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua; for I will utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven. 15 And Moses built an altar, and called - James v. 16.—Psa. xxxv. 3; James i. 6; Num. xxiv. 20; Deut. xxv. 19; 1 Sam. xv. 3, 7; xxx. 1, 17; Heb. xii. 12. Chap. xxxiv. 27. 2 Sam. viii. 12; Ezra ix. 14. Verse 10. Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up] It is very likely that the Hur mentioned here is the same with that Hur mentioned 1 Chron. ii. 19, who appears from the chronology in that chapter to have been the son of Caleb, the son of Ezron, the son of Pharez, the son of Judah. The rabbins and Josephus say he was the brother-in-law of Moses, having married his sister Miriam. He was a person in whom Moses put much confidence; for he left him conjoint governor of the people with Aaron, when he went to confer with God on the mount, chap. xxiv. 14. His grandson Bezaleel was the chief director in the work of the tabernacle; see chap. xxxi. 2-5. Verse 11. When Moses held up his hand] We cannot understand this transaction in any literal way; for the lifting up or letting down the hands of Moses could not, humanly speaking, influence the battle. It is likely that he held up the rod of God in his hand, ver. 9, as an ensign to the people. We have already seen that in prayer the hands were generally lifted up and spread out, (see the note on chap. ix. 29,) and therefore it is likely that by this act prayer and supplication are intended. The Jerusalem Targum says, "When Moses held up his hands in prayer, the house of Israel prevailed; and when he let down his hands from prayer, the house of Amalek prevailed." We may therefore conclude, that by holding up the hands in this case these two things were intended: 1. That hereby a reference was made to God, as the source whence all help and protection must come, and that on him alone they must depend. 2. That prayer and supplication to God are essentially necessary to their prevalence over all their enemies. It is indisputably true that, while the hands are stretched out, that is, while the soul exerts itself in prayer and supplication to God, we are sure to conquer our spiritual adversaries; but if our hands become heavy-if we restrain prayer before God, Amalek will prevail-every spiritual foe, every internal corruption, will gain ground. Several of the fathers consider Moses, with his stretched-out hands, as a figure of Christ on the cross, suffering for mankind, and getting a complete victory over sin and Satan. Verse 13. Joshua discomfited Amalek and his people] Amalek might have been the name of the ruler of this people continued down from their ancestor, (see on ver. 8,) as Pharaoh was the name of all succeeding kings in Egypt. If this were the case, then Amalek and his people mean the prince and the army that fought under him. But if Amalek stand here for the Amalekites, then his people must mean the confederates he had employed on this occasion. Verse 14. Write this for a memorial in a book] This is the first mention of writing on record: what it signified, or how it was done, we cannot tell. But it is evident that either this passage is introduced here instead of Deut. xxv. 17, by way of anticipation, or that by the words and kethob and sepher was intended only a monumental declaration of the defeat of Amalek by Joshua, by some action or symbolical representation; for it is immediately subjoined, "And Moses built an altar, and called the name of it Jehovahnissi." See Dr. A. Bayley, and see the note on chap. XXX. It is very likely that the first regular alphabetical writing in the world was that written by the finger of God himself on the two tables of stone. What is said here was probably by way of anticipation, or means some other method of registering events than by alphabetical characters, if we allow that God gave the first specimen of regular writing on the tables of stone, which did not take place till some time after this. Rehearse it in the ears of Joshua] Thus showing that Joshua was to succeed Moses, and that this charge should be given to every succeeding governor. I will utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek] This threatening was accomplished by SAUL, 1 Sam. xv. 3, &c., four hundred and twelve years after. Judgment is God's strange work; but it must take place when the sins which incensed it are neither repented of nor forsaken. This people, by their continued transgressions, proved themselves totally unworthy of a political existence; and therefore said God to Saul, Go, and utterly destroy the SINNERS the Amalekites ; 1 Sam. xv. 18. So their continuance in sin'was the cause of their final destruction. Verse 13. Jehovah-nissi] Jehovah is my ensign or banner. The hands and rod of Moses were held up as soldiers are wont to hold up their standards in the time of battle; and as these standards bear the arms of the country, the soldiers are said to fight under that banner, i. e., under the direction and in the defence of that government. Thus the Israelites fought under |