Ver. 22. The

faid to Abraham, I will certainly return unto thee, &c. Ver. 13. The Lord faid unto Abraham, v. 14, is any thing too hard for the Lord? I will return unto thee. Ver. 16. And the men rose up from thence, &c. Ver. 17. And the Lord faid, fhall I hide from Abraham, &c. Ver. 20. The Lord faid, ver. 21, I will go down now, &c. men went toward Sodom, and Abraham stood yet before the Lord, &c. Ver. 26. The Lord faid, if I find in Sodom fifty righteous, &c. then I will spare, &c. Ver. 28. If I find forty-five, I will not destroy it. Ver. 30. I will not deftroy it, if I find thirty. Ver. I will not for twenty's fake. Ver. Ver. 32. I 31. will not for ten's fake. Ver. 33. And the Lord went his way, &c.

Gen. xix. 1. And there came two messengers to Sodom at even. Ver. 2. my Lords, turn in, &c. a feaft. Ver. 10. The and pulled Lot into the house. Ver. 12, 13. The men DWR faid unto Lot, we will deftroy this place. The Lord hath fent us to deftroy it. Ver. 15. The messengers haftened Lot. Ver. 16. The men laid hold on his hand, &c. Ver. 21. He (i. e. one of the men; fee ver. 16) faid I have accepted thee, that I will not overthrow this city. Ver. 22. Efcape, for I cannot do any thing till thou be come thither. Ver. 24. Then the Lord rained upon Sodom and Gomorrah brimftone and fire from the Lord. Ver. 29. When God destroyed the cities, &c.

And Lot faid, behold now, Ver. 3. And he made them men put forth their hand,

Judg. ii. 1. A messenger of Jehovah came up from Gilgal to Bochim, and faid, I made you to go up out of Egypt, and have brought you to the land which I fware unto your fathers; and I faid, I will never break my covenant with you; but ye have not obeyed my voice. Ver. 3. I also faid, I will not drive them out, &c. Ver. 4. When the messenger of Jehovah spake thefe words unto all the children of Ifrael, the people lifted up their voice, and wept.

Dr. Priestley remarks on this paffage, that no prophet while living on earth fpake in the name of God, but as his meffenger. The Jews fuppofe this was a living prophet, as he is faid to come up from Gilgal; but the perfons who appeared to Abraham and Lot came like other travellers. See Gen. ch. xviii. and xix.

vi. 11. There came a messenger of Jehovah, and fat under an oak in Ophrah, and Gideon threshed wheat by the wine-prefs. Ver. 12. And the messenger of Jehovah appeared unto him, and faid, &c. Ver. 13. And Gideon faid unto him, Oh, my Lord, if the Lord be with us, &c. Ver. 14, and the Lord looked upon him and faid, go, and thou fhalt fave Ifrael; have not I fent thee. Ver. 16. The Lord faid unto him, furely I will be with thee. Ver. 19. Gideon went in, and made ready a kid, and cakes, and brought it out to him under the oak; ver. 20, and the messenger of God faid to him, &c. Ver. 21. Then the messenger of Jehovah put forth the end of the ftaff that was in his hand, and touched the flesh and cakes, and fire rofe up out of the rock, and

confumed them. Then the messenger of Jehovah departed out of his fight. Ver. 22 When Gideon perceived that he was a messenger of Jehovah, Gideon faid, alas, because I have seen a messenger of Jehovah, face to face.

Heb. xiii. 2. Be not forgetful of hofpitality; for by this fome have unknowingly entertained messengers. See Gen. ch. xviii. and xix.

Subd. 3. With both fplendid light and a human form, fpeaking as the messenger of God.

Matt. xxviii. 2. Lo there had been a great earthquake; for a messenger of the Lord had defcended from heaven, and had rolled back the ftone from the door, and fitten upon it; ver. 3, his appearance was as lightning, and his raiment white as fnow Ver. 5, the messenger faid to the woman, &c. Coming from heaven means, coming from God, Matt. xxi. 25; John vi. 39, 40, 50, 51, 57, 58.

Acts xii. 6. Peter was fleeping between two foldiers, bound with two chains; and keepers before the door; ver. 7, and, behold, a meffenger of the Lord came upon him, and a light fhone in the prifon; and he fmote Peter on the fide, and awoke him, faying, rife up quickly and his chains fell off from his hands: ver. 8, and the messenger faid to him, gird thyfelf, and follow me; ver. 9, and Peter went out and tollowed him, and knew not that what was done by the meffenger was real, but thought that he faw a

vision; ver. 10, and the iron gate opened to them of its own accord, and they went out, and paffed through one street; and immediately the messenger departed from him; ver. 11, when Peter came to himself, he said, now I certainly know that the Lord hath fent his messenger, and hath delivered me from the hand of Herod, and all the Jewish people.

Luke xxiv. 23. The women faid, that they had feen a vifion of messengers, who faid, that Jefus was alive. Onlaσav ayyeλwv. Syr. Angelos. This was in the day time, when they were awake, as onlara is also used, Luke i. 22; Acts xxvi. 19. In Luke xxiv. 4, they are called duo avopes, in fhining garments.

John xx. 12. Mary feeth two messengers in white fitting, the one at the head, the other at the feet, where the body of Jefus had lain; ver. 13, and they say unto her, woman, why weepest thou? Comp. Luke xxiv. 4.

SECTION IV.

Visionary articulate Voices, and visible
Appearances.

Subd. 1. Speaking as the messengers of God. Gen. xxxii. 1. Jacob went on his way, and the messengers of God met him; ver. 2, when Jacob faw them, he said, this is God's hoft. Ainsworth calls this a vision; Dr. Priestley, a trance in the day time,

as 2 Kings vi. 17. Pyle fays, this appearance was to allay his fears of Efau, and to affure him of divine protection. Comp. xxviii. 12; xxxii. 24, &c. No voice is mentioned.

Dan. iv. 13. In the vifions of my head upon my bed, behold, a watcher, even a holy one, defcending from heaven; ver. 17, by the decree of the watchers is the matter; even according to the word of the holy ones is the business; to the intent that the living may know that the Most High hath dominion in the kingdom of men, &c. In ver. 24, this decree is called the decree of the Moft High. Therefore the watchers here are messengers of the Moft High. God himself is called the keeper of Ifrael, who neither flumbereth nor fleepeth; Pf. cxxi. 4. Comp. Pf. cxxvii. 1; Ifa. xliv. 26.

viii. 13. Saint feems fynonymous with watcher; iv. 13, 17.

15. When I Daniel had seen the vision, and fought for the meaning, there ftood before me like the appearance of a man; ver. 16, and I heard a human voice over the Ulai, which called aloud, and said, Gabriel, explain to this man the vifion.

ix. 21. As I was yet fpeaking in prayer, the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in a vision before, (viii. 16,) fwiftly flying, reached me about the time of the evening oblation.

Zech. i. 9. The messenger that talked with me.

11. The meffenger of Jehovah, who flood among the myrtles; ver. 12, the messenger of Jehovah faid, &c.