Appearance of the Lord God himself, for never, at any time, did they fee his fhape. Again, it is often faid, that the moft High God Spake to the Patriarchs, to Mofes, and the Prophets; but our Lord affirms, that they never heard his voice at any time. How fhall we reconcile this feeming inconfiftency?

The true folution, according to the Scriptures, is this: That the Lord God never fpake or appeared in perfon, but always by a proxy, nuncius, or meffenger, who represented him, and therefore fpake in his name and authority, faying, I am God all-fufficient; I am the God of Abraham; I AM THAT I AM. Which words were pronounced by an Angel; but are true, not of the Angel, but of God, whom he reprefented, and upon whofe errand he came. So a herald reads a proclamation in the king's name and words, as if the king himself were fpeaking. Or, to use a more common inftance, fo a brief is published in the king's name and language, as if the king himfelf were addreffing the congregation where it is read. Thus, GEORGE by the grace of God, &c. whereas it hath been reprefented to US, &c. therefore they have humbly befought US to grant unto them OUR Letters Patent, &c. unto which their request WE have graciously condefcended, &c. But much, furely, would he be miftaken, who should imagine, that the perfon who reads the proclamation, or the brief, was his Majefty KING GEORGE, because he useth his words, and speaks as if the king himself were speaking.

That this is a true reprefentation of the cafe, will appear,

I. From the fignification of the word ANGEL, [ay] which is a Greek word, and both in that language, and in the Hebrew, fignifies a messenger, or nuncius, an ambassador; one who acts and speaks, not in his own name, or behalf, but in the name, perfon, and behalf of him that fends him. And thus the word is frequently rendered in our tranflation. And had it always been rendered the messenger of the Lord, inftead of the Angel of the Lord, the cafe would have been very plain. But Angel, being a Greek word, which the English reader doth not underftand, it throws fome obfcurity upon fuch paffages.

II. It is in Scripture exprefsly faid, that it was an Angel, a nuncius, or meffenger of the Lord, who fpake, even when the Lord himself is faid, or supposed to speak. As Gen. xvi. 7. The Angel found Hagar; and, ver. 10, faid unto her, I will multiply thy feed exceedingly. Gen. xviii. 1. The Lord appeared unto Abraham, ver. 2. And he lifted up bis eyes, and lo, three men, three Angels in the fhape of men, jood by him. Now one of those men, or Angels, was a nuncius fent particularly to Abraham; for, ver. 10, he faid, as he was fitting at meat, I will certainly return unto thee; and lo, Sarah fhall have a fon. And Sarah heard it, ver. 12, and laughed. Ver. 13. And the Lord, i. e. the Angel who fpake in the Lord, faid, Wherefore did Sarah laugh? Ver. 14. Is any thing too hard for the Lord? At the appointed time I will return unto thee, and Sarah Shall have a fon. Again, Gen. xxii. 15. And the Angel, or meffenger, of the Lord called unto Abraham out of heaven, ver. 16, and faid, by myself have I fworn, faith the Lord, that in bleffing I will blefs thee, &c. Upon which place St. AUSTIN, quoted by Bp. PATRICK in his Commentary upon the place, argues in this manner.

VOL. I.

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"In the beginning of this chapter, ver. 1, 2, we read, that GoD "tempted [tried] Abraham, and bad him go, and offer up his fon Ifaac; "but, ver. 11, 12. The Angel of the Lord called unto him out of heaven, " and faid, Lay not thy hands upon the lad. What is the meaning of this? "Will they lay, that God commanded Ifaac to be flain, and that his "Angel forbad it? and that Abraham obeyed the Angel who bid him "fpare his fon, againft God, who ordered him to flay him? This is "ridiculous, and not to be endured. The plain meaning is, that God "fpake both times, in the one cafe, and the other; but he spake by "an Angel, who was his minifter. That is the reafon Angels fome"times fpeak as if they were the Lord, because they fpake in the Lord's 66 name. Juft as when a public crier in a court pronounces the fen"tence of the judge, it is not entered in the public records, that the "crier pronounced that fentence, but the judge, in whofe name and "authority the crier pronounced it." Thus St. AUSTIN.In Exod. iii. 2. the Angel, nuncius, or meffenger of the Lord, appeared unto Mofes; and faid, I am the God of Abraham; I AM THAT I AM; fpeaking not of himself, but of the Lord whofe meflenger he was.-Joshua vi. 2. The Lord faid unto Joshua. It appears from chap. v. 13, 14. that it was not the Lord who ipake, but an Angel, under the title of the Captain of the Lord's Hoft.

Further, it is evident from every part of the law of Mofes, that it was given and ordained by God, the LORD, the most high God; and in his name it is every where worded and enjoined, Exod. xx. 1, 2. And God Spake all these words, faying, I am the Lord thy God. And the Lord faid unto Mofes. And Mofes faid unto the Lord. And yet it appears from repeated teftimonies in the New Teftament, that it was not the Lord, who immediately himself fpake, either to Mofes, or to all the people. Thus Stephen, a man full of faith, and of the Holy Ghoft. Acts vii. 35. This Mofes, whom they refufed, did God fend to be a ruler, and a deliverer by the hands of the Angel, or meffenger, who appeared to him in the bush; and who is called the Angel of his, God's, prefence. Ifai. Ixiii. 9. ver. 28. This [Mofes] is he that was in the church in the wilderness, with the Angel who fpake to him in Mount Sinai. [Note it was an Angel, meffenger, that fpake to Mofes in Mount Sinai.] ver. 53.—who have received the law by the difpofition, in the Conftitutions publifhed by the miniftry, of Angels. Gal. iii. 19. Wherefore then ferveth the law of Mofes? It was added, because of tranfgreffions, till the feed fhould come, to whom the promife was made; and it, the law, was ordained by the miniftry of Angels. Heb. ii. 2. For if the word Spoken by Angels was steadfast, meaning the law given by Mofes. That law was spoken to him, and to all the people, by angels, who fpake, not of themselves, but what was communicated to them from God.

III. The Jews very well understood the nature of those manifeftations. They knew when a miraculous voice came to them, fpeaking as God himfelf would speak, that it was a meffenger from God, who fpake in his name and ftead, Gen. xvi. 7, 9. The Angel of the Lord appeared and fpake to Hagar; yet fhe knew it was a Divine Appearance, and that the Angel perfonated the moft High God. Therefore, ver. 13. She called the name of the LORD, that spake unto her, thou GOD feeft me.

Gen. xxxii. 24,

Gen. xxxii. 24. There wrestled a man with Jacob. Now Jacob knew that man was a meffenger from God; and therefore, ver. 30. he called the name of the place Peniel; for I have feen God face to face, i. e. I have feen an evident manifeftation from God. The common token, that fuch were Divine Manifeftations, was the glory which attended the meffenger, who pronounced the words of the meffage. And whenever that glory appeared, the Jews knew the meflage came from God, whoever it was that brought it. Thus Luke ii. 9. The Angel of the Lord came upon the fhepherds, and the glory of the Lord fhone round about them. They knew the glory they faw was not the glory of the Angel, but a token of the Divine Prefence and authority, fignifying that the meffage came from the Lord. Therefore they fay, ver. 15, Let us now go and fee this thing, which the LORD hath made known unto us. And fo Saul knew the light fhining from heaven, was the glory of the Lord, and an infallible proof of a Divine Manifeftation. And, 2 Pet. i. 17. He, our Lord Jefus Chrift, received from God the Father, honour and glory, when there came fuch a voice unto him from the excellent Glory, This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleafed. Whoever the meffenger was that uttered these words, the Difciples, that faw the transfiguration on the mount, knew that the thing came from God the Father; because the voice, or words, came from the excellent Glory, or the Shechinah.

It is very remarkable, that when our Lord was exalted to univerfal dominion, at the right-hand of God, as head of the church, he also had his ANGEL, Nuncius, or meffenger, whom he dispatched upon the affairs of his government. Rev. i. 1. The revelation of Jefus Chrift, which GOD gave unto him, to fhew unto his fervants things which must shortly come to pass; and he, Jefus, fent and fignified it by his ANGEL unto his fervant John. And therefore, though the glorious appearance, Revi. 13-17. is rightly understood of our Lord, yet it was not he in perfon, but his ANGEL, Nuncius, or meffenger, who reprefented him, and appeared and fpake in his name. And fo in other places of the Revelation; where, nevertheless, cur Lord may justly be fuppofed to appear and fpeak.

We may here obferve, that it hath been commonly fuppofed, that our Lord, before his incarnation, was the ANGEL that appeared in the Shechinab, and fpake to Adam and the Patriarchs, to Mofes and the prophets, and is called the Angel of his prefence, Ifai. Ixiii. 9. In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the Angel of his prefence faved them; in his love and in his pity be redeemed them, and he bare them, and carried them all the days of

old.

To this purpose they underftand, John xii. 41. These things faid Efaias, when he faw his glory and fpake of him, i. e. " faw, at that time, "the glory of Chrift, who was then the medium of divine manifeftations, "and fpake of him, and of his times, or what would happen with refpect "to the reception of the Gofpel, when he should preach it to the Jews. [Dr. Doddridge.] But, when he faw his glory, may be well interpreted, when he [Efaias] forefaw his glory, or the glorious manifeftations, "which God intended to make of himself to the Jews by his Son." [Dr. Clarke.] So John viii. 56. Abraham faw, forefaw, my day, and was glad. Thus alfo, as he tabernacled among the Jews in the cloud of glory, they judge he was in the form of God, Phil. ii, 9; which form, or

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likeness he was not greedy of retaining, but emptied himself of it, and took upon him the form of a fervant. But this form, or likeness of God, may refer to the glory which he had with the father before the world was, John xvii. 5. With regard to which he may also be faid to be the image of God, 2 Cor. iv. 4.- the image of the invisible God, Col. i. 15. — the brightness of his glory, and the exprefs image of his perfon, Heb. i. 3. However, I fhould willingly admit that fuch expreffions refer to the glorious appearances of the Shechinah under the Old Teftament, were it not for this objection, that our Lord must then be supposed to publish the Law, and to prefide over the Jewish difpenfation, as well as over the Gospel; which feems to be quite inconfiftent with John i. 17. The law was given by Mofes, but grace and truth came by Jefus Chrift. See alfo Heb. i. 1, 2. ii. 2. [Here the Apoftle's argument proceeds wholly upon the difference of the perfons, the Angels, who publifhed the law, and the Lord Jefus Chrift, who publifhed the Gofpel; but his argument hath no ftrength at all, if those perfons are the fame *. See Mr. Pierce upon the text.]

Heb.

* But may we not diftinguish between the hoyos as a Proxy of Deity, or as perfonating the glorious Majefty of God in the Shechinah, and in that capacity, by the Holy Spirit, infpiring the Prophets, and prefiding over the Angels at the giving of the law; and the fame λoyos acting and speaking to us, in his incarnate ftate, in the capacity of a Prophet? In the former capacity he may be confidered in relation to God, as perfonating God, or as in the form of God, whofe agent he was under every difpenfation which God erected; and therefore as doing nothing in his own perfon. For thus, his perfon would coincide with that of the fupreme God, and is not to be confidered as different from him, but as acting in his name and authority. In the latter capacity he may be confidered in relation to us, and to our falvation by the Gofpel; for the accomplishment of which, he ftooped fo far as to take upon him our nature, and, not as perfonating God, but in quality of a Prophet fent from God, to publish among us in his own perfon and name, the promife of eternal life.

And must not this bring us under greater obligations to attend to him; and be fufficient to distinguish him as acting in delivering the law, and preaching the Gofpel? He that was in the form of God, and reprefented God, when the law was delivered, and who delivered it by the miniftry of Angels and of Mofes; that tranfcendently glorious perfon afterwards became a man, and in his own perfon, and by his own miniftry, delivered to us the Gospel. Doth not this, in a very peculiar manner, recommend to us the Gospel, and oblige us to attend to its doctrines? Heb. i. 1, 2. God who at fundry times, and in divers manners, spake in time past unto the fathers BY THE PROPHETS, hath in these last days jpoken unto us BY HIS SON, &c. God always fpake by Proxy. And the Apoftle might speak as he doth, although it be true that our Lord was the Proxy of Deity under the Old Teftament difpenfation; for the Apoftle here confiders, not who was the Proxy of Deity, but by whom he immediately fpake to the fathers in the Jewish church, and to us in the Chriftian church. And the oppofition lieth between, not the Proxies or Reprefentatives of Deity, but between THE PROPHETS in the former difpenfa tion, and THE SON OF GOD in the latter. By his Son, as his Proxy, he fpake to the Prophets, and by the Prophets he fpake to the Old Testament fathers. But under the New Testament his well beloved Son, who before was indeed in the form of God, as his Proxy, himself became a Prophet, and in the form of a man fpake to us immediately as a Prophet.

Heb. iii. 1-3. [Here Mofes's houfe, and Christ's houfe, or difpenfation, are clearly diftinguifhed.]

But fuppofing our Lord was the Angel, who appeared and spake under the Old Testament, yet it must be remembered, that he appeared and spake only as an Angel, or Nuncius, from God. Which character he exprefsly fuftains, Mal. iii. 1. — and the Lord, whom ye feek, fhall fuddenly come to his temple; even an 8 the messenger, Angel, of the covenant, [not the Sinai, but the Gofpel covenant,] whom ye delight in.

С НА Р. XVI.

Of the GLORY OF THE LORD, as it hath relation to the SHECHINAH, or Divine APPEARANCES.

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T is deferving of our further observation, that the Shechinah, or divine appearances, as a token of God's prefence, and of his guidance, encouragement, and protection of his people, is often mentioned in the Old Teftament under the character of THE GLORY OF JEHOVAH. As in Exodus xvi. 7, 10. xxiv. 16. Lev. ix. 6, 23. Num. xiv. 10, 21, 22. xvi. 19. xx. 6. Hebrews ix. 5.- the Cherubim of the glory, i. e. the glory of Jehovah, dwelling between the Cherubim, over the Mercy-feat. St. Peter alludes to this, 2 Epift. i. 17.- there came a Voice from the excellent Glory. This token of God's prefence is otherwife called his Prefence, Exodus xxxiii. 14. and his Name, as that fignifieth a mark of diftinction or eminence. Deut. xii. 5. 2 Chron. vii. 16.

Certainly it was the peculiar honour and advantage of the Ifraelites, that they had fuch a public vifible manifestation of the prefence and favour of God; [Rom. ix. 4. Who are Ifraelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the Glory, or the glorious manifeftations of God.] And was well adapted to that difpenfation of the church; efpecially in the early times of its inftitution under Mofes, when they could not, by abftract reasoning, be fo well acquainted with the nature and perfections of God; and therefore ftood in need of fome extraordinary vifible token, to ftrike and affect their minds with a fenfe of his prefence, power, authority, favour, and protection.

And as the glory of the Lord appeared publicly in favour of the Ifraelites, to guard and guide them, when they left the land of Egypt; fo the glory of the Lord is ufed figuratively to denote, in general, his fpecial bleffing, favour, prefence, and protection, upon any occafion. Ifaiah lviii. 8. Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, &c. Then fhall thy light, profperity, break forth as the morning, and thy health shall spring forth Speedily: and thy righteousness [falvation, Saviour] Shall go before thee, THE GLORY