them judicially to enter into the herd of swine'. The Sethites then, being confined in Tartarus, are confined in the central abyss beneath the ocean and thence they are to be brought forth, as out of a prison, to the judgment of the great day. Accordingly, as St. Peter and St. Jude pronounce this to be their doom: so the prophet of the Apocalypse seems to allude to their final production, together with the production of the countless multitudes that perished in the deluge, when he pointedly says, that the sea gave up the dead which were in it. V. As I thus understand the fallen ANGELS, mentioned by St. Jude and St. Peter, to be no more than certain apostate MESSENGERS or PRIESTS of God: so I am compelled, by the sound principle of homogeneity of exposition, to understand any other ANGEL OF ANGELS, mentioned severally by them in the course of the same passage, after a similar manner. 1. Accordingly, I have already supposed Michael the ARCHANGEL, Spoken of by St. Jude, to be no created spirit, but our Lord Jesus Christ himself: and I have stated, that the title of ARCHANGEL or CHIEF MESSENGER is betowed upon him, not in reference to his divine nature, but in respect of the covenant office which he graciously sustains. 1 See Bishop Horsley's Serm. vol. ii. serm. 20. 2 Rev. xx. 13. He is so styled, not as God; but as the principal medium of communication between the Father and his creature man: he is so styled, not as an eternal being himself; but as the WORD of Jehovah, as the MESSENGER of the covenant, as the HIGH-PRIEST of the Gospel Dispensation: he is so styled in short, just as, in an inferior and subordinate capacity, every PRIEST of the Lord, who communicates his will to erring mortals, is denominated an ANGEL or MESSENGER. 2. In a similar manner therefore I understand those ANGELS, who are mentioned by St. Peter in the clause which is evidently parallel to that wherein Michael the ARCHANGEL is mentioned by St. Jude. Of the latter, St. Jude says, that he brought not against Satan a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee: of the former, St. Peter remarks, Whereas ANGELS, which are greater in power and might, bring not a railing accusation against them before the Lord. Hence the two clauses are manifestly parallel and hence, whatever principle of interpretation is adopted in the one case, it must also be adopted in the other case. Now the understanding the fallen ANGELS to denote apostate sacerdotal messengers requires, that we should view Michael as the chief sacerdotal messenger of Jehovah: and, if we thus view Michael; then the ANGELS, who are mentioned in the clause parallel to that wherein he is mentioned, must similarly be esteemed subordinate sacerdotal messengers. Such, accordingly, is the manner in which I do esteem them. St. Peter sets out with foretelling, that, as there were false prophets in the Levitical Church; so there shall be false teachers in the Christian Church or at least under the Christian Dispensation, who shall privily bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them. These he afterward describes as men, that walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness and despise government; presumptuous, self-willed, not afraid to speak evil of dignities. And then he adds, Whereas ANGELS, that are greater in power and might, that is to say, greater in power and might than these false teachers, bring not a railing accusation against them, that is against the dignities, before the Lord. Here the decent moderation of these righteOUS ANGELS is contrasted with the indecent. petulance of those false teachers in the last ages, whose conduct is compared to that of the primeval ANGELS which sinned in keeping not their principality and in leaving their own habitation. The righteous ANGELS therefore must be men, no less than the false teachers of the last ages and the primeval ANGELS of the house of Seth: otherwise, there could be no mutual comparison; for it were nugatory to remark, that the glorious unembodied spirits, who surround the throne of God, are greater in power and might than a knot of mere human false teachers. But, if we suppose the righteous ANGELS to be men, as the homogeneity of the whole passage requires; we shall then find the apostle perfectly consistent both in his remark and in his comparison. These pious ANGELS or sacerdotal MESSENGERS are greater in spiritual power and might, than the false teachers who deny the Lord that bought them and yet, though very possibly they may discern some mixture of human frailty in the appointed dignities both civil and ecclesiastical, they bring not, like the apostate pretenders, a railing accusation against them before the Lord; but, remembering the precept of the Law and the example of St. Paul, they bear their faculties meekly, and conscientiously refrain from speaking evil of the ruler of their people'. VI. The general bearing of this discussion upon the main point before us is sufficiently manifest. If the apostasy of Cain and the antediluvians consisted in a bold rejection of the doctrine of the atonement, through the future sacrifice of the Man-Jehovah born incarnate as the Seed of the woman; then must that doctrine have Exod. xxii. 28. Acts xxiii. 5. Bayerische MONCHEN |