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faid, I am Jehovah the God of Abraham thy Father, and the God of Ifaac, behold I am with thee in all places whither thou goeft, and in thy feed fhall all the families of the earth be bleffed. And Jacob waking out of his fleep faid, furely JEHOVAH is in this place, and I knew it not: It is none other but the houfe of God, and the Gate of heaven. Gen. xxviii. 13,-17. Now the God, who appeared to Abraham, Gen. xxii. 1, to Ifaac, Gen. xxvi. 24 to Jacob, Gen. xxviii. 13.--and to Mofes, Exodus iii. 6. is again and again called the Angel of Jehovah or rather Jehovah the Angel, as appears from Gen. xxii, 11, 12, 18. Exodus iii. 2. and Mal. iii, 1. Now that this Jehovah, Angel both of the Jewish and of the Christian covenant, is the Son, appears from these three reafons. (1) The Fathern ever fuftained the part of an Angel, a Meffenger, or an Envoy. Who fhould fend him? (2) The Son, who can with propriety, be fent by the Father, is frequently faid to have been delegated on errands worthy of redeeming love. And (3) The Scriptures exprefsly declare, that Jehovah Angel of the Covenant, is our Lord Jefus Chrift, Compare Mal. iii. 1, &c. with Mark, i. 1, &c.

Nor will it avail to fay that the Jews, not having the New Testament, could not find out the truth I affert, for as has been obferved in the former part, the Old Teftament, clearly indicates, that, in the Deity, there is a myfterious diftinction of Interlocutors and Agents, though without any divifion. The Jews who (as we have feen) had this key given them at the very beginning of their revelation could not but take notice that although each of thefe Interlocutors is called Jehovah, yet one of them is Jehovah the Envoy, the Ambaflador or the Angel. And they might as well deny the veracity of. Mofes as deny that Jehovah who appeared to Jacob in Bethel is Jehovah the Envoy.

For

For Jacob faid to Rachel and Leah, the Angel of God appeared to me in a dream, faying, I am THE GOD OF BETHEL, where thou anointedft the pillar, and where thou vowedft a vow unto me: Now arife, get thee out from this land. Gen. xxxi. 11, 13, Now the God of Bethel, declared to Jacob in Bethel that he was the God of Abraham, and of Ifaac, and therefore every attentive Jew could not but fee that Jehovah Envoy, or the Angel of the Jewish Covenant was the God of the Patriarchs, viz. the Logos, the Son, who, being Jehovah, rained from Jehovah fire upon Sodom, after he had told Abraham that he could not fpare that wicked city.

And

Chrift is reprefented in the new Teftament as the Captain of our falvation, armed with a fword: Heb. ii. 10. and Rev. xix. 15. And the old Teftament exhibits Jehovah-Envoy as fuftaining the fame character. When Jofhuah was by Jericho, he lift up his eyes, and behold, there flood a man over against him, with his fword drawn in his hand: and Joshua went to him, and faid, Art thou for us, or for our adverfaries? And he faid, Nay, but as Captain of the hoft of the Lord am I now come. Fofhua fell on his face to the earth, and did worship, and faid unto him, What faith my Lord unto his fervant? And the Captain of the Lord's hoft faid unto Fofhua, Loofe thy fhoe from off thy foot, for the place. whereon thou ftandeft is holy. [The very charge which the God of Abraham, Ifaac, and Jacob gave to Mofes from the flaming bufh in Horeb.] And when Joshua had obeyed, the man, who appeared as Captain of the Lord's hoft, gave him directions about the taking of Jericho, as the God of Abraham had given directions to Mofes about the delivering his people from their Egyptian bondage. Thele orders are thus expreffed: And Jehovah faid unto Joshua, fee, I have given into thy hands Jericho:

Ye

Ye fhall compafs the city fix days, c. Joh. v. 13, &c. and vi. 2, &c.

Unless we abfurdly suppose, that the Captain of the Lord's hoft appeared merely to bid Joshua loofe his fhoes from off his feet, it follows from this narration, that the perfonage who appeared 10 Mofes' fucceffor, was Jehovah God of Abraham. This is evident, (1) From his being called Jehovah, --and (2) From his requiring and accepting religious worthip from Joshua. And that it was Jehovah the Son, is equally plain, (1) From his affuming the form of a fervan; (2) From his ftyling himfelf the Captain of Jehovah's armies; for according to the analogy of faith, the Son, Jehovah. Envoy, may be called the Captain of his Father's hoft, but the Father can never be sent on an expedition, as Captain of his Son's armies.

That Jehovah-Envoy, fo frequently ftyled the Envoy of Jehovah, or as we have it in our tranflation the Angel of the Lord, was known to the Jews as the Mighty God, whofe name is wonderful, appears from the following account:-The Angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, and faid Jehovah is with thee, and Jehovah looked upon him and faid, Go in this thy might, [the might which I impart unto thee,] and thou shalt fave Ifrael: have I not fent thee? And when Gideon drew back, Jehovah [namely the Angel Jehovah] faid unto him, Surely I will be with thee, and thou fhalt fmite the Midianites as one man. Hence the Ifraelites, when they fell upon the Midianites fhouted, The fword of Jehovah, and of Gideon. When Jehovah-Envoy, who appeared only as a traveller, with a staff in his hand, difappeared, after giving a proof of his divinity, by fhewing he was God that anfwereth by fire, [lee Judges vi. 21.] Gideon perceived the infinite dignity of the Perfonage who had spoken to him, and remembering that Jehovah had faid to Mofes,

Mofes, No Man fhall fee me [in my form of God] and live, Exod. xxxiii. 20; and thinking he was to die immediately, cried out, Alas! O Lord God: for becaufe I have feen the Angel of the Lord face to face: And Jehovah (as he disappeared) faid unto him, Peace be unto thee, fear not, thou shalt not die? And Gideon built an altar there unto Jehovah, and called it JEHOVAH SHALOM, [that is, The God of peace.] From this account it is evident: (1) That the Angel, who appeared to Gideon, is the very Angel Jehovah, who appeared to Abraham onmount Moriah, to Jacob in Bethel, and to Mofes in Horeb. (2) That he is Jehovah, who anfwers by fire, seeing he manifefted his glory to Gideon as he did to Mofes and Elijah, by a fupernatural fire. (3) And that as the analogy of faith does not per mit us to believe that God the Father ever ap peared as a man with a staff in his hand, it was without doubt Jehovah Jefus, who as the great Saviour of the Ifraelites, appointed Saviour's for the deliverance of his people, and Gideon among others, as afterwards in the days of his flesh, as the great Apoftle of our profeffion, he appointed twelve Apostles to inftruct mankind.

ites.

This doctrine is confirmed by the account we have of the manner in which Samfon was raised to the Office of a temporal Saviour of the IfraelA Perfonage who is called several times the Angel of the Lord, or the Envoy-Jehovah, appeared as a man to Manoah and his wife, to whom he promised the birth of Sampfon: Manoah, not knowing his dignity, afked him his name. And the Angel of the Lord faid unto him, Why afkeft thou thus after my name, seeing it is fecret, or wonderful [PELI; the very word afterwards used by the Prophet, who faith, His Name fhall be called wonderful, PELI: Ifaiah ix. 6.] So Manoah took a kid, with a meat offering, and offered C

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it upon a rock unto Jehovah; and the Angel of the Lord [or Jehovah-Envoy] did wonderfully, for fhewing himself the God that appeared in the burning-bufh to Mofes, and accepting the propi tiatory facrifice, which Manoah and his wife offered] he afcended in the flame of the altar, as they Looked on and fell on their faces to the ground. Then Manoah knew that he was Jehovah-Envoy, or the Angel of the Lord; and he faid unto his wife, We Jhall furely die, becaufe we have feen GOD: But his wife [perceiving that it was Jehovah-Shalom, the God of Gideon, the God of peace who had appeared unto them] faid to him; If Jehovah were pleafed to kill us, he would never have received a burnt-offering at our hands. Judg. xiii. 23.

The fame reasons which prove, that the Perfon who appeared to Gideon is Jehovah Jefus, prove alfo that the Person who appeared to Manoah and his wife, whom they at firft called a man, and before whom they trembled, when they knew him to be God and Jehovah, is that very Immanuel, that God manifefted in the flesh, whom Chriftians worship as Jehovah Shalom, coming to make peace and reconciliation.

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