The water flowing from the rock was like a river of life to the children of Israel. Who can describe the distress throughout the camp; and the appearance of the people, when they were invited to approach a flinty rock, instead of a fountain or a stream, to quench their thirst? What angry countenances were there, what bitter censures, and ungrateful murmurings, as Moses went up to the rock, with nothing in his hand but a rod! “Where is he going,” said they, “with that dry stick? What is he going to do on that rock? Does he mean to make fools of us all? Is it not enough that he has brought us into this wilderness to die of thirst? Will he mock us now by pretending to seek water in these sands, or open fountains in the solid granite?” But see! he lifts the rod, he smites the rock; and lo, it bursts into a fountain; and twelve crystal streams roll down before the people! Who can conceive the sudden transport? Hear the shout of joy ringing through the camp, and rolling back in tumultuous echoes from the crags and cliffs of Horeb! “Water! water! A miracle! a miracle! Glory to the God of Israel! Glory to his servant Moses!” It was a resurrection day to Israel, the morning light bursting upon the shadow of death. New life and joy are seen throughout the camp. The maidens are running, with cups and pitchers, to the rock. They fill and drink; then fill again, and haste away to their respective tents, with water for the sick, the aged, and the little ones, joyfully exclaiming—“Drink, father! Drink, mother! Drink, children! Drink, all of you! Drink abundantly! Plenty of water now! Rivers flowing from the rock!” Now the oxen are coming, the asses, the camels, the sheep, and the goats—coming in crowds to quench their thirst, and plunging into the streams before them. And the feathered tribes are coming, the turtle-dove, the pigeon, the swallow, the sparrow, the robin, and the wren; while the croaking raven and the fierce-eyed eagle, scenting the water from afar, mingle with them around the rock. Brethren, this is but a faint emblem of the joy of the church, in drinking the waters that descend from Calvary, the streams that gladden the city of our God. Go back to the day of Pentecost for an instance. O what a revolution of thought, and feeling, and character! What a change of countenance, and conscience, and heart! Three thousand men, that morning full of ignorance, and corruption, and guilt—idolaters, sensualists, blasphemers, persecutors—before night were perfectly transformed—the lions converted into lambs—the hard heart melted, the dead conscience quickened, and the whole man become a new creature in Christ Jesus! They thirsted, they found the “Spiritual rock,” tasted its living waters, and suddenly leaped into new life, like Lazarus from the inanition of the grave!