Visible Appearance of the Messenger Jehovah to Hagar.
The first recorded instance of the visible appearance of the Angel or Messenger Jehovah, is that to Hagar, Gen. xvi., where the designation Melach Jehovah is repeated several times. The Messenger Jehovah found Hagar by a fountain of water. He called her by name; directed her to return to her mistress; promised to multiply her seed exceedingly; and directed her to call her son Ishmael, “becauseJehovahhad heard her affliction.” “And she called the name ofJehovahthat spake unto her, Thou El seest me: for she said, Have I also here looked after him that seeth me?” The visible Person whom she saw, and who spoke to her, and promised what none but a Divine Person could promise, is called Melach Jehovah, and also Jehovah, and El. He was therefore not a messengerofJehovah, or a distinct person from him, but Jehovah himself, as recognized and worshipped under the several designations here applied to him. Considered as the administrator of Providence, the things said and done by him were in keeping with his delegated character, and with the acts ascribed to him on other occasions. There is a further notice of his dealings with Ishmael, Gen. xxii. 17, after his expulsion, with Hagar, from Abraham’s house, and her abandonment of him in despair of his life. “And Elohim heard the voice of the lad: and Melach Elohim [in our version, the angelofGod] called to Hagar out of heaven, and said unto her, What aileth thee, Hagar? Fear not; for Elohim hath heard the voice of the lad, where he is.Arise, lift up the lad, and hold him in thy hand; forIwill make of him a great nation. And Elohim opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water; and Elohim was with the lad,” &c. Here the speaker is Melach Elohim, which designation must refer to the same official Person as that of Melach Jehovah in the former instance, for he personally promised the same thing; saying in the one case, “Iwill multiply thy seed exceedingly, that it shall not be numbered for multitude;” and in the other, “Iwill make him a great nation.” That the import and reference of the two formulas is the same, is also evident beyond a question from other passages, where both are indifferently applied to the same person; as Judges vi. 20, 21: “AndMelach (the) Elohimsaid unto him, Take the flesh and the unleavened cakes and lay them upon this rock, and pour out the broth. And he did so. ThenMelach Jehovahput forth the end of the staff that was in his hand, and touched the flesh,” &c. And again, Judges xiii. 3-9: “And Melach Jehovah appeared unto the woman, and (the) Elohim hearkened to the voice of Manoah, and Melach (the) Elohim cameagainunto the woman.” The narratives in which these passages occur clearly restrict the reference to one and the same Person.
In the original of these quotations, the article is prefixed to the word Elohim, as it is also elsewhere, (underscored, or included above and hereafter in parenthesis,) which is by some supposed to require the rendering to be, as in our common version,the angel or messengerof Elohim. But this conclusion cannot be sustained: 1st, because it indicates something different in respect to the Person referred to from the formula Melach Jehovah; and 2d, because in other instances of similar formulas the article does not occur, as in Gen. xxi. 17: “And MelachElohim called to Hagar.” The occurrence of the article does not determine the construction. It is often redundant, and is prefixed to the word Elohim where it cannot be a sign of the genitive, because not immediately preceded by a noun to govern it. Thus in the passage above quoted from Judges xiii. we read, “andtheElohim hearkened,” &c., the article being prefixed in the original. So Gen. vi. 11: “The earth also was corrupt beforetheElohim.” Gen. xvii. 18: “And Abraham said untotheElohim.” Gen. xxii. 3, 9, xxvii. 28, and many other places.
No visible Divine Appearances ever made except of the Messiah, the Mediator in all the Relations of God to the World.
Having shown that the denominative Melach, when coupled with the name Jehovah, or the name Elohim, or used interchangeably with either of those or with other Divine names, is a designation of the Messiah; that when that denominative is employed interchangeably with the names Jehovah, Elohim, or Adonai, those names designate the same official Person; and that the formulas Melach Jehovah and Melach Elohim have one and the same personal import and reference, the way is prepared for an examination of other Scriptures in which occur the same designations of the delegatedOneof whom Moses and the prophets wrote, theWordwho was in the beginning, and by whom all things were created and are upheld.
This wonderful Person often, in the course of the ancient dispensations, manifested himself visibly in the likeness of that form which in due time he permanently assumed, by taking human nature into union with his person. In his delegated official character, being the agent in all external and visible works and manifestations, and the medium of all relations between creatures and the Self-existent, he was from the beginning the image and acting representative of the invisible Deity; delegated of the Father to accomplish the works which, pursuant to the counsels of eternity, belong to his comprehensive administration. To him, in this character and in distinction from the Father, belonged all visible personal manifestations. And hence, to enforce the necessary discrimination, and prevent erroneous impressions, the Evangelist John, chap. i., on announcing the visibleWord, theWordincarnate, as the visible expression of the glory of the Father, says: “No man hath seen God (the Father) at any time; it is [see Campbell’s version] the only-begotten Son, that is in the bosom of the Father, who hath made him known.” And again, chap. vi. 45: “Every man that hath heard and learned of the Father cometh unto me; not that any man hath seen the Father;” (or, as rendered by Campbell,) “not that any man, except him who is from God, hath seen the Father. He, indeed, hath seen the Father,” Again xiv. 9: “He that hath seen me, hath seen the Father;” that is, hath seen the image, the only visible representative of the Father. And in his first epistle, chap. iv: “No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us. And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world.”
These statements preclude the supposition of anyvisible personal appearance during the preceding dispensations, excepting of the delegated official Person to whom the revelation of the Invisible was assigned; and who when referred to as Creator is called Elohim and Jehovah, and when referred to as the administrator of Providence, or in his relations to individuals and to the house of Israel, is called indiscriminately by all the Divine names and titles, whether significant especially of his Divine nature, or of his official person, agency or character.
In these multiform relations he was the great theme, as he was the lawgiver, administrator and revealer of the ancient dispensations; asserting the same prerogatives and performing the same acts when referred to by official titles, as when specially denominated Jehovah or Elohim. In both cases, from the nature and historical connection of the acts ascribed to him, it is evident that the actor was personally one and the same.
The word Elohim is a general term, employed, it may be presumed, originally, with reference only to the Supreme Being, but subsequently appropriated to imaginary deities. In the Hebrew Scriptures it occurs in several forms, as El, Elohe, Eloah, Elohim, referring sometimes to the Divine Being absolutely, sometimes definitely to the Father, sometimes to the Holy Spirit, but commonly to the Son; as is the case with corresponding and equivalent designations in the New Testament. The radical idea of this word, in its simplest form, is, according to some Hebrew lexicographers, that of interposer, intervener, mediator; derived from the intervention of air and light between all bodies in space, and indicating the universal agency of the Divine Person, primarily designated as interposer or mediator. And undoubtedly the scope of numerous passagesimplies this special reference, though not always apparent, without reference to other scriptures; as in Psalm xlv. 6: “Thy throne, Elohim, is for ever and ever;” and cii. 24: “I said, El, [with the suffix for my, and rendered O my God,] take me not away in the midst of my days: thy years are throughout all generations. Of old hast thou laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of thy hands. They shall perish,” &c. These passages are quoted, Heb. i., as having referred expressly to Christ.
Hengstenberg, in his Christology, p. 160, vol I., introduces his investigation respecting the character of the Angel or Messenger, in which he designs to show that the alleged essential oneness of the Messiah with the Jehovah does not contradict the Old Testament doctrine of the unity, by observing, “that the New Testament makes us acquainted with God, the Father of Jesus Christ, as a Spirit, who, being every where equally present, never manifests himself in a sensible form. But besides this concealed God, it makes known to us also a revealed God, associated with him by the oneness of their nature; the Son or Logos, who has constantly filled up the infinite distance between the Creator and the creation, and been the Mediator in all the relations of God to the world and the human race; who, even before he became man in the person of Christ, was in all ages the light of the world, and to whom especially the whole direction of the visible Theocracy belonged. Although this doctrine was first unfolded with perfect clearness in the New Testament, yet we find an essential distinction between the unrevealed and the revealed God, even in the writings of the Old Testament.”
After examining the principal passages which speak of the Messenger or Angel Jehovah, and showing “thatthey really contain the doctrine of a distinction between the concealed and the revealed God,” pp. 165-182, he thus concludes, pp. 183-187: “We believe then that we have satisfactorily shown that by the Angel of Jehovah is to be understood the Revealer of God, who being a partaker of his Godhead, and united with him in the same nature, was the mediator in all his relations, first with the patriarchs, and afterwards with the visible Theocracy. This Revealer of Jehovah then was expected as a great Restorer in future times. This is evident from those places in the Old Testament which ascribe to the Messiah Divine names, attributes, and works; for if the Messiah were God, he could stand, according to the whole system of the religion of the Old Testament, in no other relation to the Most High God than that which the Angel of Jehovah was thought to sustain. Further, the passage in Malachi iii. 1 affords the most distinct testimony in favor of the identity of both. There the Messiah bears the name of the Angel of the Covenant, either, according to the general import of the term covenant, the angel who is the mediator in every engagement between God and men, or, according to its special meaning, the angel who established the covenant of Sinai with the people of Israel. From this appellation, therefore, it appears that the Messiah is the same as the Angel Jehovah, whose agency in giving the law at Sinai is not indeed expressly mentioned in the Mosaic account, but it is rendered sufficiently certain by analogy, and by the positive testimony of the prophet. As the Angel Jehovah, in those passages where he is expressly named, bears interchangeably the names Jehovah and Elohim, so must we often suppose him to be intended, where Jehovah only is spoken of throughout. Comp. Gen. xxxii. 24, &c., withHosea xii. 4-6, and Exod. xx. 3, where the angel is not mentioned, and Jehovah says, ‘I am the Lord thy God, who brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.’ Allowing it to have been the office of the Angel Jehovah in general to act as mediator in the transactions between the invisible God and men, his mediation must be assumed, in many instances, where it is not expressly mentioned.” “This identity of the Angel of Jehovah and the Messiah was acknowledged also by the later Jews.” “But what renders this identity indubitably certain is the evidence of the New Testament, in which Christ appears as the Mediator of the Old Covenant, and every thing is attributed to him which in the Old Testament is spoken of Jehovah and his Revealer. According to John xii. 41, Isaiah saw the glory of Christ and spake of him; on the other hand, in the passage referred to, chap. vi., Isaiah saw the glory of Jehovah. 1 Cor. x. 9, it is said, ‘Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted and were destroyed of serpents.’ According to this passage, therefore, Christ was the leader of the Israelites through the wilderness, and was tempted by them. On the other hand, the Pentateuch relates that they were led by the Angel Jehovah; and in Numb. xxi. 5-7, that they tempted Jehovah. 1 Pet. i. 10 declares that the Spirit of Christ spake by the prophets: but the prophets themselves always refer to Jehovah as the source of their predictions. According to Heb. xi. 26, Moses preferred reproach for the sake of Christ, to the treasures of Egypt: the narrative in Exodus informs us that he sacrificed every thing to the service of Jehovah. According to Heb. xii. 26, at the giving of the law, the voice of Christ shook the earth: in Exodus this was done by Jehovah.” “We must in a certain respect distinguishbetween the Angel Jehovah and the Son of God, and not, with the Fathers and most of the old theologians, venture to say that they are perfectly identical.” “That the Mediator of the New Testament was also, as the Angel Jehovah, the Mediator in all the relations of God to the people of the Old Testament, was, with the exception of the above named Fathers, the unanimous opinion of the ancient Church.”
After quoting a list of authorities, he concludes: “Let us now briefly sum up the result of the preceding investigation. In the prophetic Scriptures, a divine as well as human nature is attributed to the Messiah; and yet every polytheistic idea is excluded by the assumption of his essential unity with the Most High God. It was expected that the Angel or Revealer of Jehovah, who had often before made himself occasionally visible, and acted as the Mediator between God and the people, in all their transactions, would assume human nature in the person of the Messiah, and redeem and bless both Jews and Gentiles.
“Here the question yet arises: If the distinction between the revealed and the unrevealed God was already made known under the Old Testament, wherein is the New Testament in this respect superior to the Old? The preference consists in this: Under the Old Testament the distinction was necessarily kept more out of view, and hence might easily appear to be founded not so much on a relation in the Godhead itself, as on a relation to those to whom the revelation was made. In the Old Testament, the Mediator commonly spoke and acted in the name of God, whom he revealed. Nor could it be otherwise before the Logos had become flesh. Hence the Revealer and He who was revealed in a manner lost themselves in each other. But under theNew Testament, on the contrary, they appeared distinguished from each other, as Father and Son. Religion thus gained a two-fold advantage. It became more spiritual, and at the same time more an object of sense: more spiritual, by the exclusion of those limited conceptions of the spirituality, the omniscience, and the omnipresence of God which arose from confounding the Revealer with him who was revealed; more an object of sense, because the Son of God, in his life, sufferings, and death, brought the Divine Being nearer to man than was possible in the transient appearances of the Angel under the Old Testament. But such a condescension of the Deity to fallen man is indispensable to his becoming like God.”
On these passages it may be observed, that in what the author says of the Mediator having “constantly filled up the infinite distance between the Creator and the creation,” he proceeds on the common theory that the invisible, the concealed God, in distinction from the personal Word, is the Creator. This is inconsistent with the preceding statement, that he never manifests himself in a sensible form: for He who created, upholds and governs, appeared personally and visibly to Abraham, Jacob, Moses and others, as Jehovah, gave the law at Sinai, and was the leader of Israel. With respect to the distinction which he refers to as existing in a certain respect between the Angel of Jehovah and the Son of God, it is presumed that he considered the latter title as applicable to the second Person of the Trinity, eternally, and as designating that Person anterior to his appointment as Mediator, and without reference to his incarnation or his official work in any respect. The doctrine which he ascribes to the Fathers is presumed to be, that the official Person who is called the AngelJehovah, and who took on him the seed of Abraham, was identically the same Person before and after the accession and union of man’s nature to the Divine; and that he was designated as the same person by the phrase, “the Son of God.” In the passages above quoted, where the prepositionofis not inserted between the words Angel and Jehovah, the author gives the Hebrew words. When he translates them, he inserts the preposition.
Appearances of the Messenger Jehovah to Abraham and to Jacob.
In the narrative of Abraham’s offering of Isaac, Gen. xxii., we read that “Melach Jehovah called unto him out of heaven, and said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, forIknow that thou fearest Elohim, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son, fromme. And Melach Jehovah called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time, and said, By myself have I sworn, saith Jehovah, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son, That in blessing I will bless thee, because thou hast obeyedmy voice.”
At the commencement of this narrative it is said that (the) Elohim did tempt Abraham,i. e., try him in respect to his faith and obedience. “And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah, and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of. And Abraham went unto the placeof which (the) Elohim had told him.” There he built an altar, and having bound Isaac he laid him on the altar, and took the knife to slay him; when Melach Jehovah called to him, forbade the intended sacrifice, and said, I know that thou fearest Elohim, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son fromme. From this it is evident that the offering was intended to be made, and was virtually made, to Melach Jehovah. For “By faith Abraham when he was tried offered up Isaac; accounting that God was able to raise him up from the dead, from whence also he received him in a figure.” Heb. xi. His faith, in this extraordinary act of worship, had immediate respect to the delegated Messenger Jehovah, then and ever the resurrection and the life. He was the Divine speaker on the occasion, his voice it was that Abraham obeyed, and to him he rendered the highest acts of homage and obedience. It was in his official name, as well as in that of Elohim, that he spoke to Abraham, and to him in all respects the scene evidently refers. After offering the animal provided in place of Isaac, he discerned an import and a reference in the transaction, which were to be fulfilled on the same mount at a future day; and he therefore named the place Jehovah-Jireh, importing that what was signified by his offering would be realized and witnessed there, and giving rise to a saying expressive of that result, and pointing no doubt, so explicitly as not to be misunderstood, to the sacrifice of Christ: namely, “In the mount of Jehovah it shall be seen;” or, according to Warburton, Book vi. sec. 5, “In the mount Jehovah shall be seen.”
In the narrative of Jacob’s departure from Laban, Gen. xxi., he says: “Melach (the) Elohim spake unto me in a dream, and he said, I have seen all that Labandoeth unto thee. I am the El of Beth-El, where thou anointedst the pillar, and where thou vowedst a vow untome.” Here the Messenger Jehovah declares himself to be the God of Beth-El, and that the vow made there was made to him. In chap. xxviii., where that transaction is related, he is announced, not by this special name of office, but by other designations, showing that in his official character he was familiarly recognized by the various Divine names, whether employed separately or conjointly. And Jacob awaked and said, “Surely Jehovah is in this place; this is the house of Elohim: and Jacob vowed a vow, saying, If Elohim will be with me, &c., then shall Jehovah be my Elohe.”
There is in the history of Jacob another striking illustration of this usage. On his way from Padan-aram, after his interview with Esau, he came to Shalem in the land of Canaan and pitched his tent there, and built an altar which he called El-Elohe-Israel. Subsequently Elohim said unto Jacob, “Arise, go up to Beth-El, and dwell there; and make there an altar unto El that appeared unto thee when thou fleddest from the face of Esau thy brother. Then Jacob said unto his household, Let us arise and go up to Beth-El, and I will make there an altar unto El who answered me in the day of my distress, and was with me in the way which I went. So Jacob come to Beth-El, and he built there an altar, and called the place El-Beth-El, because there (the) Elohim appeared unto him, when he fled from the face of his brother. And Elohim appeared unto Jacob again; and Elohim said unto him, Thy name is Jacob: thy name shall not be called any more Jacob, but Isra-El shall be thy name. And Elohim said unto him, I am El-Shadai, (God Almighty.) And Elohim went up from him in the place where he talked with him.” Chap.xxxv. But He who visibly appeared to, and wrestled with him on the occasion referred to, Gen. xxxii., and whom he saw face to face, was Elohim in the likeness of man, and is called by Hosea Melach, the Messenger, even Jehovah Elohe of Zebaoth.
The above-mentioned appearance of Elohim to Jacob was doubtless a visible appearance, for after talking with Jacob, Elohim went up from him and from the place of meeting. And it is clear that the same Person who before was called a man is here called Elohim. Probably in other instances, where Jehovah or Elohim is said to appear, as to Isaac, Gen. xxvi. 2, 24, and to Abraham and others on various occasions, were visible personal appearances.
Another instance in the history of Jacob, in which the official designation Melach occurs interchangeably with Elohim, is Gen. xlviii. 15: “And he blessed Joseph and said, (The) Elohim, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac did walk, (the) Elohim which fed me all my life long unto this day,the Melachwhich redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads.” The identity of Person here is made emphatic by the article prefixed to each designation.
References to various Appearances of Jehovah and Elohim to the Patriarchs.
It is evident from the preceding illustrations that during the patriarchal dispensation, the personal Word, Jehovah in the delegated character of Messiah, appeared visibly in the form of man, and was recognized under official and other Divine designations, appropriated separately and interchangeably to the one manifested and acting interposer and agent in the works of creation, providence and redemption. There are in the records of that dispensation numerous collateral evidences and implications to the same effect, which may be comprised under what relates to personal designations and appearances, the import and reference of sacrificial offerings, the places, manner, and immediate object of worship, prayer, faith and trust, and the familiarity of intercourse on the part of the Divine administrator of Providence and guardian of his people during that economy.
As a further evidence that the instances in which it is said that Elohim or Jehovahappearedto Abraham or others were local, personal, visible appearances, it may be observed that on the occasion mentioned, Gen. xvii., it is said that Jehovahappearedto him: “And he left off talking with him, and Elohimwent upfrom Abraham;” as in a passage before referred to, chap. xxxv., that “Elohim appeared unto Jacob; and Elohimwent upfrom him in the place where he talked with him.” The word translatedwent up, signifies toascend,to go up, &c., and is of frequent occurrence. Thus, Ps. lxviii.18: “Thou hastascendedup on high, thou hast led captivity,” &c.; quoted and applied to Christ, Eph. iv. Judges xiii. 20: “When the flamewent uptowards heaven from off the altar, Melach Jehovahascendedin the flame of the altar.” Ezekiel xi. 23: “And the glory of Jehovahwent upfrom the midst of the city, and stood upon the mountain.” Gen. xix. 28: “The smoke of the countrywent up, as the smoke of a furnace.”
The like evidence as to the local, personal presence of Jehovah on such occasions, results from the use of the word translatedcame down,descended, where his presence or the local exercise of his prerogatives is mentioned. Thus, with reference to Babel and the dispersion: “Jehovahcame downto see the city and the tower.... So Jehovah scattered them abroad,” &c. Gen. xi. 5. So on the occasion of his first visible appearance to Moses: “Melach Jehovah appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon Elohim. And Jehovah said, I amcome downto deliver them,” &c. Exod. iii. Again: “Jehovahcame downupon mount Sinai, on the top of the mount; and Jehovah called Moses up to the top of the mount, and Moses went up.” Exod. xix. 20. And when Moses took the two tables of stone up to the top of Sinai, “Jehovahdescendedin the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of Jehovah.” Exod. xxxv. At the consecration of the seventy elders, “Jehovahcame downin a cloud, and spake unto Moses.” Numbers xi. 25. At the sedition of Miriam and Aaron, “Jehovahcame downin the pillar of the cloud, and stood in the door of the tabernacle, and said, Hear now my words.” Ibid. xii. 5. These and various other passages clearly import a personal descent in a visible form; and no less clearlyindicate, by the titles, occasions and acts narrated, that it was the delegated One, the Word, to whom all such manifestations refer, conformably to the allusion to the ascension of Christ, Ephes. iv.: “He thatdescendedis the same also thatascendedup far above all heavens.”
The word translatedappeared, in all the instances of local personal manifestation, literally meansappeared visibly,was seen; as Gen. i. 9: “Let the dry landappear;” Gen. viii. 5: “The tops of the mountainswere seen;” and vii. 1: “Thee have Iseenrighteous;” ix. 14: “The bowshall be seen;” xxxi. 42: “Elohim hath seen mine affliction;” xlviii. 3: “El-Shadaiappeared unto meat Luz;” literally,was seen by me. Judges xiii. 22: “Wehave seenElohim.” Exod. xxiv. 10: “And they saw the Elohe of Israel.”
This will be further illustrated by reference to particular instances mentioned in the book of Genesis. “And Jehovah appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land: and there builded he an altar unto Jehovah who appeared unto him.” Chap. lxii. 7. That this was a visible manifestation, is indicated not only by the obvious import of the terms employed, but by Abram’s building an altar, and consecrating the locality as a place of worship, and of typical offerings to Jehovah.
Again, chap. xvii. 1: “Jehovahappearedto Abram, and said unto him, I am El-Shadai; walk before me, and be thou perfect. And Abram fell on his face; and Elohim talked with him, saying,” &c. After changing his name to Abraham, and that of his wife to Sarah, announcing a covenant with him, hearing his prayer for Ishmael, and giving sundry promises and directions, “Elohim left off talking with him, andwent upfrom Abraham.” The language, and all the circumstancesand details of this interview, imply a local, personal, visible presence of Jehovah.
The next instance, chap. xviii., is that in which “Jehovahappearedto Abraham in the plains of Mamre,” in the likeness of man; was entertained by him, walked and conversed with, and heard his requests in behalf of the righteous in Sodom: which undoubtedly was a local, visible, personal appearance of Jehovah the Word.
In the 26th chapter we read that Isaac went to Gerar, “And Jehovahappearedunto him, and said, Go not down into Egypt,” &c. Afterwards he removed to Beersheba, “And Jehovahappearedunto him, and said, I am the Elohe of Abraham thy father: fear not, for I am with thee,” &c. “And he builded an altar there, and called upon the name of Jehovah, and pitched his tent there.” At these interviews the same promises substantially respecting his descendants were made to him, that had been made to Abraham, with the same introductory formula concerning the appearance of the Divine speaker; and considering that Isaac built an altar and fixed his residence at Beersheba, worshipped, doubtless presenting typical offerings on the altar, and consecrating that as the place of his future worship in the confidence of its being thereafter a place of Divine manifestation, there seems to be very ample ground to conclude that these were local, personal, and visible appearances, similar in their form, as they were in their object, to those vouchsafed to Abraham.
The first instance to be noticed in the history of Jacob, is referred to in chap. xlviii. 3: “And Jacob said unto Joseph, El-Shadaiappearedunto me at Luz, and blessed me,” &c. The occasion was that of his vision of a ladder: “And Jehovah stood above it and said, I am Jehovah Elohe of Abraham;” see chap.xxviii. Subsequently, chap. xxxv., he was directed to return and reside at that place. “Elohim said unto Jacob, Arise, go up to Bethel, and make there an altar unto El, thatappearedunto thee when thou fleddest from the face of Esau. And he built there an altar, and called the place El-Beth-El; because there (the) Elohimappearedunto him, when he fled,” &c. The repetition of the wordappearedin these passages, its implied significance as a reason for building an altar, the occasion referred to, and the object of speaking of it to Joseph, indicate a memorable personal, visible appearance at the place specified.
“And Elohimappearedunto Jacob again, and said unto him, I am El-Shadai; and Elohimwent upfrom him in the place where he talked with him,” chap. 35: which can hardly be taken for any other than a local and visible presence.
Of the Doctrines, Worship, and Faith of those earliest mentioned in Scripture—Reference to the History of Moses, Noah, Joshua.
Waiving for the present a notice of many analogous instances in other parts of Scripture, it may be observed that there are, in the history of the patriarchs, a variety of statements and expressions which, from the occasions to which they relate, the connections in which they occur, or the things specified, naturally imply the local personal presence of the Divine speaker, especially when considered in connection with the instances in which it is clearly shown that he was visibly present. In the course of that history there are numerous intimations that the worshippers of Jehovah had places appropriated to their religious services, where they offered prayers and sacrifices, and where, by an audible voice, he held immediate and familiar converse with them. Thus in the first recorded instance of worship, Gen. iv., we read that Cain, and Abel also, “brought an offering unto Jehovah. And Jehovah had respect unto Abel and to his offering: but unto Cain and his offering he had not respect; and Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell. And Jehovah said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen?” It is apparent from this narrative, and from their dissimilar occupations, that they prepared their offerings not in concert, but separately from each other; that they brought them to the same place at the same time; that they respectively offered them to Jehovah; and that he was present in such a way as to be recognized by them, for he immediately indicated to their apprehension and conviction his acceptance of one and rejection of the other, and spoke directly and pointedly to Cain. After his slaughter of Abel, and probably on his resorting again to the place of worship and Divine manifestation, Jehovah spoke again to him, and pronounced a curse upon him for his crime; to which Cain replied, as though not unaccustomed to speak to Jehovah, and said, among other things, as though conscious that he was excommunicated and banished from the consecrated place: “From thyfaceshall I be hid, and I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth.... And Cain went out from thepresenceof Jehovah.” Strongly implying that he had been accustomed to the visible presence, and had seen Jehovah, and that banishment from that place forbade the hope of such vision of him again.
It is evident from the details and circumstances ofthis scene, and from references to it in other parts of Scripture, that there was no want of intelligence in either of the parties, as to the nature and import of their offerings, the ritual and reference which they implied, or the righteous discrimination and the moral bearing and significance of the verdicts and consequences in their respective cases. “Cain was of the wicked one,” a disciple and servant of the great adversary, and slew his brother “because his own works were evil and his brother’s righteous.” He knew, as the questions which Jehovah addressed to him imply, that if he did well, if with the like faith he made an offering like that of Abel, he would in like manner be accepted; and that he had no just ground to be angry, or even to be disappointed on being rejected for taking a contrary course. But he brought—not like Abel a sin offering, implying a conviction and acknowledgment of his personal sinfulness, and of his faith in that great expiatory sacrifice to which his typical offering owed all its significance—but an offering of fruits, an expression of acknowledgment to the Creator, which implied no acknowledgment on his part of his being a sinner and needing a Saviour, or of his having any faith in the prefigured atonement, or any disposition to conform to the ritual of worship. The faith of Abel exhibited on this occasion was, like that of Abraham, effectual to his justification; a faith in the person, sacrifice, and righteousness of the Divine Redeemer; and is the first on the illustrious roll recorded, Heb. xi. And from the nature of the case, as well as from the particulars of the narrative, we must conclude that his offering was in all respects an example of conformity to the ritual of worship instituted by Jehovah, that it comprised not merely firstlings of his flock, but such as had all the characteristics which are specified insubsequent records; that it was made by fire on an altar, at a place appropriated to that object; that it was a medium of his faith and an expression of his homage and obedience, solely by reason of its reference to the person and prefiguration of the atoning sacrifice of Christ; and that it was rendered to that Person then locally present, in the form which he was at length permanently to assume, and in which his sacrifice of himself was to be made. So far at least as these particulars are concerned, the ritual and rationale of the worship prescribed does not appear to have been changed during the patriarchial dispensation, nor in that which ensued, though in the Mosaic ritual many details were added on the basis of those originally prescribed. The method of acceptable worship, the immediate object of homage, and the faith which was unto salvation, continued the same; and it is clear from the narratives in various instances, that burnt offerings, typical sacrifices, were made to the delegated one, personating the promised Seed, under the designation of Jehovah, or Melach Jehovah, when he was locally and visibly present.
It is to be considered that Moses wrote about 2500 years after the creation; that the children of Israel had retained the language and customs of their ancestors, so as to render it superfluous to particularize either the religious or civil institutions of earlier times, any farther than was necessary to the personal narratives or historical notices of individuals and families. They understood and practised what had been handed down from the beginning through Noah, Abraham, Jacob, and others, and though to some extent infected with the idolatrous spirit of the Egyptians, were familiar with the ritual, the sacrifices and offerings, and other institutions of the revealed system of religion. Moreover,all that concerned their religious doctrines and rites was, under his ministry, renewed, and with new revelations and ordinances set forth in writing for their instruction, and that of their successors. Hence the scanty, and for the most part merely incidental, mention of things of that nature in his retrospective history. It by no means follows from the brevity and infrequency of his notices, that such men as Abel, Enoch, Lamech, Noah, Shem, Job, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, whose united lives extended from the first institution of religious rites down to the settlement of Israel in Egypt, had not a clear and comprehensive knowledge of all the leading truths and essential doctrines of revealed religion, which were known to Moses or any of his successors prior to the advent of Christ. On the contrary, judging from the characters and relations which they sustained, the personal converse with Jehovah which most of them are recorded to have had, and the references made to several of them in the prophets and in the New Testament, we must conclude that they had such knowledge. They received instruction directly from the Great Revealer. Most of them were, at times, inspired, and prophesied. And one might as well conclude that Solomon did not understand even the simplest forms of numerical computation, because mathematics are not mentioned among the subjects upon which he spoke or wrote, as to conclude, because so little is recorded of them in detail by Moses, that these men of world-wide celebrity for their religious faith and practice, and their eminence as princes and heads of nations, did not understand the doctrines and the faith which they professed, and for which they are set forth as examples to Christian believers under the present dispensation.
The possession of such knowledge on their part, andthe reality of the local presence and often the visible appearance of the Messiah, the Messenger Jehovah, may be illustrated by reference to the personal history of Moses, Noah, and Joshua, and to the use of terms by them and by other sacred writers.
After the children of Israel had sojourned in Egypt about four hundred years, Moses was called to conduct them to the land of promise. By oppressive laws and rigorous exactions under a new dynasty of kings towards the close of the period of their bondage, they were greatly depressed. At the birth of Moses, however, there were those who had faith, and the knowledge of the true religion was by no means generally effaced. In the exercise of faith his parents concealed him three months. “The children of Israel sighed by reason of their bondage, and they cried, and their cry came up untotheElohim by reason of the bondage. And Elohim heard their groaning, and Elohim remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob; and Elohim looked upon the children of Israel, and Elohim had respect unto them.” Exod. ii. The people generally, it would seem, cried to the Elohe of their fathers for relief, and were heard and regarded.
Though from childhood to the age of forty Moses was one of the family and court of Pharaoh, and probably, therefore, could have had no peculiar advantages of instruction in the true religion, he nevertheless had such knowledge and experience of it, that “by faith, when he was come to years, he refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter; choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompense of the reward.” Heb. xi.
In this brief testimony concerning him, we clearly recognize the faith of Abraham, and of the prophets and martyrs of later times. He made no compromises with the honors, riches, or pleasures of the world, but renounced them. He sought not to serve two masters. He clearly discerned what distinguished the people of God from idolaters and unbelievers, and was well aware of the afflictions and trials which were consequent on their faith, and their allegiance and obedience to the Messiah, the Divine Mediator, the Messenger Jehovah, the Christ. In the certain prospect of affliction, reproaches, and sufferings, he chose publicly to manifest his faith and allegiance by his conduct. He forsook the court of Pharaoh, renounced the pleasures of sin and the riches of Egypt, and welcomed the cross.
In the family of Jethro, the priest of Midian, he probably found true worshippers, and met with nothing detrimental to his sentiments; and by the scene in which the Messenger Jehovah visibly appeared to him, doubtless his faith was so confirmed, and his knowledge increased, as to qualify him for the extraordinary services to which he was called. Hence we further read of him that, after the miracles and plagues by which Pharaoh was at length made to yield, “By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king.... And by faith he kept the passover and the sprinkling of blood.” Heb. xi.
Now it is in the light of his character as thus referred to—of his knowledge and experience of the true religion as held by the people of God then and in earlier times—of his faith in the person and mediatorial work of the Messiah—that we are to regard him as the writer of the primeval and patriarchal history; and if it is evident that he recognized the Messiah in the person of the Messenger Jehovah, and that in all his subsequent narratives he designated the same official person by the terms Jehovah, Elohim, and Elohe, as well as by the terms Messenger, Adon, and Adonai, then it is safe to conclude that he intended to designate the same Person by the same terms in the earlier history.
At the period of the legation of Moses, the word Elohim was in familiar use in Egypt and among the Israelites as the designation of the object of religious homage; very probably it was the only name of God known to the people generally. Moses accordingly, in the first two chapters of Exodus, which probably were written before the book of Genesis, employs that name only. The third chapter opens with the announcement of the Messenger Jehovah appearing in the bush, and in its progress applies to him indifferently the names Elohim and Jehovah; and in the fourth and ensuing chapters, the same, and Adonai and El-Shadai, but most frequently Jehovah.
If now we suppose the book of Genesis to have been written by him after the events in Egypt, at the Red Sea, and at mount Sinai, and the setting up of the tabernacle, (which occurred about twelve months after the exodus,) where the people, though generally familiar only with the name Elohim, must have become in some degree used to the name Jehovah, we may perhaps discern a fitness and beauty in the first announcements of the Creator in Genesis; where, in the first chapter and the first three verses of the second, the name Elohim only is used; in the second, from the fourth verse, the name Jehovah Elohim, and in the ensuing chapters these names separately and conjointly, and various other designations, as Melach Jehovah, Adonai, and El-Shadai. In numerous instances thearticleis prefixed to the name Elohim, as if emphatically to designate the God of Israel, the Creator, asthetrue Elohim, in distinction from the false god of idolaters.
By this method he recalled, and reëstablished in the minds of the people, all the Divine designations known to the patriarchs of preceding ages, and their reference and applicability as designations to the one mediatorial Person; rendering it plain thattheElohim of the Israelites in Egypt, and of the first chapter of Genesis, was identical with Jehovah, Melach the Messenger, Adonai, &c. In this view the resemblance of the first verses of the Gospel of John is noticeable, considering that it was his object to identify the Christ, as he appeared visibly incarnate, with Elohim the Creator announced in the first verses of Genesis.
Let it then be observed that in the narrative, Exod. iii. and iv., it is evident that one Divine personage only is referred to and designated by the several titles which are employed. That Divine personage appeared to Moses in the established or visible glory, the bright cloud-like envelope so familiar afterwards on mount Sinai and in the tabernacle. Moses, recording this appearance, says, “The Messenger Jehovah appeared to him.” This was a person bearing an official title—one sent—the Messenger of the Covenant, for whose appearance incarnate John Baptist was to prepare the way, Mal. iii. Moses turned to behold the sight. And when Jehovah, he who appeared in the visible glory, the Messenger, saw that he turned aside to see, Elohim, that is, the person in the visible Shaking, “called unto him out of the midst of the bush, ... and said, I am the Elohe of thy father, the Elohe of Abraham, the Elohe of Isaac, and the Elohe of Jacob. And Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon Elohim;” that is, upon the ineffable glory of thePerson, the Messenger Jehovah, the Elohim, who thus visibly appeared to him. “And Jehovah said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry, ... andI am come downto deliver them:” come down as a Person, so as to be locally and visibly present. The Elohim to whom the children of Israel cried, (chap. ii.,) and who heard their cry, is, on his first appearing visibly, called the Messenger Jehovah, and here announces himself to be Jehovah who had heard their cry and come down to deliver them. So surely therefore as these acts of seeing the affliction of the people, hearing their cry, coming down, and speaking to Moses, are the acts of a Person, this narrative and these several designations relate to one and the same Person; and this Person is shown to be the Messiah by his official title.
It being thus manifest that, as a Person locally and visibly appearing, these several designations were equally applicable to him, Moses in the next ensuing verses calls him Elohim, and asks by what name he shall designate him to the children of Israel. It is to be observed that there is no record of any visible appearance of the Messenger Jehovah prior to this since the days of Jacob; and it is probable that the names Jehovah and Messenger Jehovah, though known to the true worshippers, were not familiar to the people generally. But these designations being peculiar, and more distinguishing than that of Elohim, which was in common use among idolaters, were now to be proclaimed and brought into familiar use. “And Elohim said unto Moses, I am that I am; and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you:” expressions equivalent to those of John, “In him was life,” “I am he that liveth;” that is, the self-existent.“And Elohim said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, Jehovah Elohe of your fathers, the Elohe of Abraham, the Elohe of Isaac, and the Elohe of Jacob, hath sent me unto you.... Go and gather the elders of Israel together, and say unto them, Jehovah Elohe of your fathers, the Elohe of Abraham, of Isaac and of Jacob,appearedunto me, saying, I have surely visited you and seen that which is done to you in Egypt.” But it was the Messenger Jehovah whoappearedto him, and speaking from the midst of the bush said, “I am the Elohe of thy father, the Elohe of Abraham, the Elohe of Isaac, and the Elohe of Jacob.... I have surely seen the affliction ofmy peoplewhich are in Egypt, and have heard their cry.”
Again: “The elders of Israel shall hearken to thy voice, and thou shalt come, thou and the elders of Israel, unto the king of Egypt, and ye shall say unto him, Jehovah Elohe of the Hebrews hathmetwith us.... And now let us go that we may sacrifice to Jehovah our Elohe.” Jehovah Elohe of the Hebrews, and the Angel Jehovah who appeared to Moses, is therefore one and the same Person. The Messenger Jehovah, the Person who locally and visibly met with Moses, was the Elohe of the patriarchial dispensation.
In what follows, chap. iv., for the encouragement and confirmation of Moses, the power of working miracles is imparted to him by Jehovah, that the people might “believe that Jehovah Elohe of their fathers, the Elohe of Abraham, and the Elohe of Isaac, and the Elohe of Jacob, hath appeared unto thee.” By thus demonstrating the reality of the appearance, he would no less conclusively show that the appearance of the Messenger Jehovah was no other than the appearance locally and personally of the Elohe of their fathers.
Jehovah, still conversing with Moses, said, (verse 11,) “Who hath made man’s mouth, or who maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? Have not I, Jehovah? Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say.” Here the same Person, the Messenger, asserts the prerogatives of Creator, and the office of prophet or teacher. When Moses and Aaron had gathered the elders of Israel, “Aaron spake all the words which Jehovah had spoken unto Moses, and did the signs in the sight of the people. And the people believed; and when they heard that Jehovah,” that is, the Messenger, “had visited the children of Israel, and that he had looked upon their afflictions,” which the Messenger asserted of himself, “then they bowed their heads and worshipped.”
In the progress of the narrative, and throughout the writings of Moses, the use of the same Divine appellations as in chap. iii. and iv., indifferently and interchangeably, with reference to the same acts, leaves no room to doubt but that the same Divine personage is uniformly referred to. Generally, that Person is called Jehovah when he speaks to Moses. When he appears visibly, as in the cloudy pillar, he is called the Messenger Jehovah. When his attributes or relations, as in covenant, are referred to, he is called the Elohe. In all cases alike he is the official Person, the Messiah, the Messenger of the Covenant. Hence Stephen, Acts vii., referring to the whole period of Moses’ intercourse with him, says, “This Moses is he that was in the church in the wilderness withthe Messengerwhich spake to him in the mount Sinai, and with our fathers, who received the lively oracles to give unto us.” Thus it was the Messenger who spoke to Moses and to the elders and people at mount Sinai, though he is there called Jehovah and Elohim. “And Jehovah said unto Moses, Lo, I come unto thee in a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with thee, and believe thee for ever.... And Jehovah came down upon mount Sinai on the top of the mount.... And Elohim spake all these words, saying, I am Jehovah thy Elohe, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, &c.... And the people [at the close of the scene] said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear, but let not Elohim speak with us lest we die.” Exod. xix., xx. Here the several Divine appellations are by Moses employed to designate the Person whom Stephen calls the Messenger. And Moses, Deut. v., says, “Jehovah talked with you face to face in the mount, out of the midst of the fire.”
Once more, Exod. xiv. 19, Moses, speaking of the passage of the Israelites through the sea, says, “The Messenger Elohim, which went before the camp of Israel, removed and went behind them; and the pillar of the cloud went from before their face, and stood behind them: and it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel, and it was a cloud and darkness to them, but it gave light by night to these.” Here the same Person who is elsewhere called the Messenger Jehovah, is called the Messenger Elohim. This Person, and his change of position, are distinguished from the cloudy pillar, and its removal from the front to the rear of the camp. The Divine acts which ensued are ascribed to Jehovah; among which we are told that “Jehovah looked unto the host of the Egyptiansthrough the pillar of fire and of the cloud, and troubled the host of the Egyptians.” But it was the Messenger who was in the pillar of fire, (the Shekina,) and who therefore looked through the pillar of cloudwhich had been interposed between him and the Egyptians.
Suppose the Israelites under Moses to have had a knowledge, by previous revelations, of the truth concerning the person and work of Christ, and the way of salvation through him. In that case, such revelations not being committed to writing prior to Moses, but having been matter of oral instruction, were significantly expressed in an outward and visible manner by typical sacrifices, and other religious rites and prescriptions. By complying with these rites, the devout Israelite expressed his faith in the revealed truths which they were employed to recall and commemorate. The visible types were illustrative of revealed truths already known. They were not the medium of a revelation, but a medium through which faith in an existing revelation and obedience to it were expressed. Their office was not prophetic, but illustrative.
Thus, when under the Levitical economy the high priest, duly prepared and arrayed, entered the most holy place, his official person and acts constituted a striking visible emblem of certain truths concerning the Messiah’s person and sacerdotal work. Beholding that visible token and illustration of these truths, the believer’s faith was called into exercise. So when the priest offered a sacrifice of atonement and sprinkled the blood, burnt incense, or performed any other official act; and when the worshipper laid his hand on the head of the animal to be sacrificed, celebrated the paschal supper, or complied in any other respect with the prescribed ritual.
This method of worship and obedience through significant tokens and visible emblems, and types illustrative of known truths, was instituted soon after the fall, andsuited in all respects the economy of outward and visible manifestation which prevailed down to the advent of Christ. Thus Abel, the patriarchs and prophets, worshipped, and thus Simeon and Anna at the time of the incarnation.
Of the patriarch Noah we read, Genesis vi.-ix., that he found grace in the eyes of Jehovah; that he was a righteous man; that he walked with (the) Elohim; that Elohim repeatedly spoke to him, directed him to build an ark, and prescribed the form of it, forewarned him of the deluge and of its object, directed him to enter the ark, and shut him in; that he did according to all that Jehovah commanded him; that Elohim directed him to go forth from the ark; that he built an altar unto Jehovah, took of animals denominated clean, and offered burnt offerings on the altar, and was accepted; that Elohim blessed Noah and his sons, prescribed certain laws to be observed thereafter, and announced a covenant of which the rainbow was made a perpetual token.
In all these communications, the form of address is like that of a person locally and visibly present: “I, even I,do bringa flood of waters upon the earth to destroy all flesh.... But with thee will I establish my covenant....Comethou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteousbefore me, in this generation.... Elohim spake unto Noah and to his sons with him, saying, I, behold, I establish my covenant with you and with your seed after you.” And when Noah offered burnt offerings on the altar, “Jehovah smelled a sweet savor.” From all which, and the occasion and nature of the things said and done, and a comparison of this with the occasions of local appearance to Abraham and others, which are declared tohave been visible, we may without presumption conclude that He who spake to Noah was present in a visible form. That he was one of the most eminent and most favored of those with whom Jehovah conversed, whose righteousness he attested, and to whom he assigned the most important services, and imparted the highest gifts, is shown by his being named first of the three, who, by their preëminent righteousness, might, if present, be expected by the captive Israelites to shield them from exterminating judgments. “Though these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in the land, they should deliver but their own souls by their righteousness, saith Jehovah Elohim.” Ezekiel xiv. And if there was, in the course of the patriarchial or Levitical dispensations, any occasion on which the nature and magnitude of the events were reasons for the local and visible presence of Jehovah, surely that of the judicial destruction of the whole race, excepting Noah and his family, may be assumed to have been such.
The word translated altar is from a root which signifiesto kill,to slaughteranimalsfor sacrifice,to sacrifice; alsoa sacrifice,thevictim, orthing,sacrificed; and in the form translatedaltarit denotes the place or instrument of sacrifice, on which the slaughtered victim (wholly or in part) was consumed by fire, and the blood poured out or sprinkled. See Levit. viii. 21, 24, xvii. 6, and elsewhere. Accordingly, to build an altar unto Jehovah, was to erect a structure on which to offer to him slaughtered animals, to be consumed (probably in all instances of acceptable worship) by fire caused immediately by him. Such altars were, in many instances, and probably in all, erected by his direction, and at places specified by him, and they were places of customaryworship and of Divine manifestation. It would therefore be incongruous and preposterous to suppose that the worshippers did not understand the doctrines and typical references involved in the system, as well as the ritual forms and observances.
The altar of burnt offerings, above referred to as the instrument of sacrifice by the shedding of blood, was typical of the cross as the instrument on which our Lord offered himself a sacrifice; and to this undoubtedly the true worshippers had reference, which implies a right apprehension of his person and office, as well as of the necessity and efficacy of his expiatory death, and its relation to the justification and acceptance of believers. His personal presence, in a form adapted to suggest such apprehensions, would seem to have been as necessary, when typical offerings were made by Abel, Noah, and others, during the patriarchial dispensation, as when made in the tabernacle and temple, where he was present in the visible Shekina, as is hereafter to be more particularly noticed. At present it may suffice to observe, that since he is declared to have been present in the likeness of man, and as the Melach Jehovah, on some occasions when burnt offerings were offered to him with his sanction and acceptance, as in that relating to Isaac in the history of Abraham, that of his appearance to Manoah, and that to Gideon, it may reasonably be inferred that his personal presence was equally requisite on all occasions of similar offerings.
The local personal presence of Jehovah in the form in which he was often visible is implied and affirmed in passages like the following:
When the children of Israel at Rephidim murmured against Moses because they had no water, Jehovahdirected Moses to advance with the people and the elders, and said, “Behold,I will stand before theeupon the rock in Horeb, and thou shalt smite the rock,” &c. “And Moses called the name of the place Massah, &c., because of the chiding of the children of Israel, and because they tempted Jehovah, saying, Is Jehovah among us or not?” Exod. xvii. 7;i. e., is he personally and locally present or not?
After the apostasy manifested in making a molten calf, Jehovah said to Moses, Depart with the people, &c., and I will sendanangel before thee; for I will not go up in the midst of thee, lest I consume thee, &c. Moses having removed the tabernacle out of the camp, the cloudy pillardescended and stoodat the door of the tabernacle; and Jehovah talked with Moses. And Jehovah spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend. Moses having expressed his great anxiety at the proposed substitution ofanangel, and prayed for further instruction, Jehovah said, “My presence shall go with thee;” and he said, “If thy presence [i. e., thou, thyself] go not with me, carry us not up hence. For wherein shall it be known here that I and thy people have found grace inthysight? Is it not in thatthou goest with us? So shall we be separated, I and thy people, from all the people that are upon the face of the earth.” Moses, for further assurance, desired to see the splendor of Jehovah’s person, and, in a modified degree, his request was granted. Jehovah descended—his glory passed by, &c. Exod. xxxiii. 34. This whole scene implies his local personal presence, in distinction from his universal, invisible presence.
The visible Deity is intended in all such phrases as, “before the Lord,” “being seen,” “going with,”“among you,” “in the midst of you,” &c., a local reference being manifest.
“Ye have despised Jehovah which is among you.” Numb. xi. 20.
The Egyptians “have heard that thou, Jehovah, art among this people; that thou, Jehovah, art seen face to face; and that thy cloud standeth over them; and that thou goest before them by day-time in a pillar of a cloud, and in a pillar of fire by night.” Numb. xiv. 14. Thus Moses argued to avert the destruction threatened on occasion of the murmuring at the report of the spies. The passage clearly imports that it was Jehovah himself who was seen face to face, and who went in the cloud.
So when a portion of the people resolved presumptuously to proceed, Moses says, Go not up, for Jehovah is not among you. Numb. xiv. 42; Deut. i. 42.
“The Lord thy God walketh in the midst of thy camp.” Deut. xxiii. 14.
In the future misery and desolation of the people they will say, “Are not these evils come upon us because our God is not among us?” Deut. xxxi. 17.
When the Israelites were about to cross the Jordan to Jericho, Joshua, referring to the miracle by which they were to pass over dry-shod, says, “Hereby ye shall know that the living God is among you.”
Moses is directed to exclude lepers, “that they defile not the camp in the midst of which I dwell.” Numb. v. 3.
“The sons of God came to present themselvesbeforeJehovah; and Satan came also amongst them.” Job i. 6. The context shows that a local personal presence is intended.
“God is in the midst of her, she shall not be moved.”Ps. xlvi. 5. “Great is the Holy One in the midst of thee.” Isa. xii. 6. “I am God and not man, the Holy One in the midst of thee.” Hosea xi. 9. “Thou, O Jehovah, art in the midst of us; leave us not.” Jer. xiv. 9.
Joel, predicting the millennium, says, ii. 27, “Ye shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the Lord your God, and none else.” See Zeph. iii. 15-17: “The King of Israel, even Jehovah, is in the midst of thee; thou shalt not see evil any more. The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty.” And Zech. ii. 5, x. 11, and viii. 3: “For I, saith Jehovah, will be the glory in the midst of her. Lo, I come, and I will dwell in the midst of thee, saith Jehovah. And many nations, &c. Thus saith Jehovah, I amreturnedunto Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem; and Jerusalem shall be called, A city of truth; and the mountain of the Lord of Hosts, The holy mountain.”
Jesus himself stood in the midst, &c. Luke xxiv. 36, John, &c. In the midst of the seven candlesticks. Rev. i. 13; ii. 1. In the midst of the throne stood a Lamb. Rev. v. 6.
The angel Jehovah appeared in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. Exod. iii. 2. Jehovah spake out of the midst of the fire. Deut. iv. 12.
“Jehovah said unto Moses, Lo,I cometo thee in a thick cloud, that the people mayhearwhen I speak with thee. Be ready, ... for the third day Jehovah willcome downin thesightof all the people upon mount Sinai.... And on the third day, in the morning, there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mount.... And Moses brought forththe people out of the camp tomeet with the Elohim; and they stood at the nether part of the mount. And mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because Jehovahdescendedupon it in fire.... And ... Moses spake, and (the) Elohim answered him by a voice. And Jehovahcame downupon mount Sinai, on the top of the mount; and Jehovah called Moses up to the top of the mount; and Moses went up.... And Elohim spake, saying, I am Jehovah, thy Elohe.... Thou shalt have no other Elohim before me.” Exod. xix., xx.
If the acts here attributed to Moses are literally described, so also are those of Jehovah. If Moses literally went up to the top of the mount, the narrative no less plainly avers that Jehovah came down to the top of Sinai. He came down visibly—in the sight of the people; was personally and locally present.
On another occasion, chap. xxiv., he said unto Moses, “Come up unto Jehovah, thou and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders, and worship yeafar off; and Moses alone shallcome near Jehovah, but theyshall not come nigh.... Then went up Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel; and theysaw the Elohe of Israel, and there was underhis feetas it were a paved work.... Theysaw (the) Elohim, and did eat and drink.”
No terms could well express more distinctly a personal appearance, in the form seen by Abraham and others. His person was manifest to their senses. They ate and drank in his presence, who in the same form partook of a repast with the patriarch, and walked and conversed with him as one human person does with another.
“Jehovah called unto Moses out of the midst of thecloud.... And Moses went into the midst of the cloud.” Exod. xxvi. 16, 18. The cloud then was such that Moses could subsist in and be enveloped by it.
“And Jehovah said, I willappearin the cloud upon the mercy-seat.” Levit. xvi. 2. In this and similar instances a local personal appearance is evidently intended. No such phraseology would be suited to indicate the omnipresence, or merely the spiritual presence of Jehovah. See Deut. xxxi. 15.
“And the cloud of Jehovah was upon them by day when they went out of the camp. And it came to pass when the ark set forward that Moses said,Rise up, Jehovah, and let thine enemies be scattered, and let them that hate thee flee before thee. And when it rested, he said,Return, O Jehovah, unto the many thousands of Israel.” Numb. x. 35, 36.
On these occasions the cloud visibly rose above the tabernacle, and advanced before the children of Israel; and again descended and rested on the tabernacle. The address of Moses seems unintelligible, unless Jehovah was personally present.
“And Jehovahcame downin the pillar of the cloud and stood in the door of the tabernacle.... And he said, With Moses willI speak mouth to mouth, even apparently; ... andthe similitude of Jehovah shall he behold.” Numb. xii. Surely a local personal presence is here intended.
“At the door of the tabernaclebeforeJehovah, I will meet you, to speak there unto thee; and there I will meet with the children of Israel; and the tabernacle shall be sanctified by my glory; and I willdwell amongthe children of Israel, and will be their Elohim. And they shall know that I am Jehovah their Elohe, that brought them forth out of the land of Egyptthat I maydwell among them.” Exod. xxix. 42-46. “Defile not the land which ye shall inhabit, wherein I dwell: for I Jehovah dwell among the children of Israel.” Numb. xxxv. 34. “I have not dwelt in any house since the time that I brought up the children of Israel out of Egypt, even to this day, but have walked in a tent and in a tabernacle. In all the places wherein I have walked with the children of Israel,” &c. 2 Sam. vii., and 1 Chron. xvii.
So of the phrases, “dwelleth between the cherubim,” “sitteth between the cherubim,” and the like, which imply the local personal presence of Jehovah.
The local presence and agency of the Messenger Jehovah, as Captain of his hosts, and dictator to Joshua of all the steps taken by him in the conquest and destruction of the Canaanites, is clearly indicated throughout the book of Joshua.
Joshua had, for forty years in the wilderness, as minister to Moses, been familiar with the personal presence, the agency, the miraculous power, and the voice of the Messenger, in the tabernacle, in the pillar of cloud by day and of fire by night, on mount Sinai, and on many peculiar and special occasions.
His name properly signifiesSaviour. The Hebrew word Jehoshua is equivalent to the Greek name Jesus, or Saviour.
On the occurrence of the war with Amalek, shortly after the passage of the Red Sea, Joshua was appointed by Moses to command the army of the Israelites. He led out the chosen men of war, while Moses, Aaron, and Hur took their station on a neighboring hill, where Moses held up the rod of God, as a token that all the success under Joshua, in the destruction of the Amalekites, was owing to the superior power of Jehovah exerted specially on the occasion. When Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed; and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed.
The battle being ended by the discomfiture of Amalek and his people, Jehovah said unto Moses, “Write this for a memorial, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua, That I will utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven. And Moses built an altar, and called the name of it Jehovah Nissi,”i. e., the Lord my banner. Exod. xvii.
Thus the supremacy and leadership of Jehovah was fully acknowledged. It was his war, executed under the lieutenancy of Joshua, in accordance with the specific directions given to Moses, and in the exercise of faith in the will of Jehovah, as indicated by tokens of his appointment.
On the occasion of the giving of the tables of stone, Joshua accompanied Moses, as his minister, into the mount of God. There they tarried forty days, while “the sight of the glory of Jehovah was like devouring fire on the top of the mount, in the eyes of the children of Israel.” The directions concerning the construction of the tabernacle were given on that occasion. Exod. xxiv. When they descended from the mount, Joshua seems first to have heard the shouting of the people before the molten image they had made. Exod. xxxii.