The Tupelo journal., 1906-08-03

deliveranceS God had wrought, tHeyl
cried out in the bitterness and hard
ness of their hearts that God had Tor
gotten them. and that II he Moses
would prove his right to leadership ne
must then and there satisfy their
thirst.
"Didst thou not sweeten the waters
at Marah?" they cried. WIN then
canst thou not give us water here?
Where is thy rod with which thou
didst divide the waters of the Red sea?
Show what thou canst do with that
same rod here in the Wilderness"
II And when he rebuked them sharply,
reminding them that 1t was God n
not he who had done these wonders,
they cried out the more vehemently,
declaring that it was for this purpose
that he had brought them into the
wilderness that they might perish OF
thirst with their little ones and thei
cattle. 1t was useless for him to point
to the Cloud and to remind them that
God was in their midst. They would
not listen and at last in despair he
had gone apart by himself and cried
unto God, saying:
20 Lord, what shall I do unto this
people? They be almost ready to
stone me. They will not listen unto
my voice. They will not remember
all that thou hast lone for them"
And then out of the stiffness which
had followed when Moses had ceased
speaking came the voice Of God, say
ing:
go out 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. Be-
hold! will stand before thee upon
the rock in Horeb; and thou shalt
smite the rock, and there shall CONF
water out of it, that the people may
drink"
And in the face of the derision and
the angry complaining of the people,
Moses had gathered the elders together
and went forth with them to the rock.
There it had stood rugged and forbid
ding. How was it that the hard, dry,
cold rock could pour forth its flood of
waters? But in the face of the OPP
position and the doubt Of those with
him, Moses had gone bravely and bold
ly forward and when they had come to
the rock he had bowed his head rever-
emily. Then was it that a strange
thing happened, for the Cloud. which
up to this time had rested over the
camp, came and stood upon the brow OF
the great rock, and as he lifted his
eyes Moses knew that the Lord was
there to show forth his marvellous
grace and power.
Behind him was a people perishing
for water. Shut In the wilderness
there was no escape. No human hand
could succor. They could not go back.
To go forward meant death on the
burning sands. But before him there
on the rock was the glory of Gods
presence.
In that moment a new thrill OF
gladness had stirred his heart, and
while the elders gathered about him
had watched expectantly, he had
reached forth his hand and with the rod
struck the rock, at the same time call
ing upon God and reminding him of
his promise to send forth a stream of
refreshing water from the hard, finty
rock.
Down from the overshadowing Cloud
had flashed the flaming finger of God
cleaving the mighty rock in twain,
and forth had gushed the life-giving
waters.
Overcome by the majesty and glory
of the scene, the elders had fallen on
their faces to the ground, but as the
springing waters surged about their
feet they had suddenly realized what
God had wrought for them, and leap
ing to their feet had bounded back to-
wards the camp, shouting as they ran:
Water at the rock! Water at the
rock! Water at the rock!"
And Moses as he stood there 10 re-
called the eager Joy with which the
people had streamed forth to that
fountain which God had opened up for
them. They had drank deep and long
and then, rushing back to the camp,
had returned with all the skin bottles
and jars they could find to fill them,
"lest." they said, "the water should
fail"
But there was the water now gush-
ing forth with undiminished flow.
Never before had he seen SO abundant
a fountain. Out Of the rift in the rock
it poured as though the source of sup
ply behind was i~nexhaustible. AL
ready the waters had cut for them
selves a channel in the yielding sands
and were flowing on and on towards
the camp. His eyes followed the
stream and thence IN he turned his
gaze to the tents Of the sleeping Israel
ties. Above them hung the pillar Of
fire.
"God in our midst, indeed" Moses
whispered softly to himself, "and God
here, too" he exclaimed, turning to
the rock and speaking as though it
we're a thing of life. God here, too,
for these waters speak of his unbound
ing grace. The God who so abundant
ly supplies the needs of the body will
also provide for his people a refuge"
And as the faint glimmer of light Of
Gods abundant mercy stole into his
heart he rejoiced, for the cleft rock in
the wilderness had given him a new
vision Of God.
IN DUTCH EAST INDIES.