2. "And the Lord said unto Joshua, See I have given into thine band Jericho, &c." Here it seems evident that the captain of the host of the Lord is also called the Lord or Jehovah; and Joshua is commanded, just as Moses was, to loose his shoe from his foot, because the place was holy, that is, because God himself was present there.

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Judges ii. 1. And an angel of the Lord came up from Gilgal to Bochim, and said, I made you go up out of Egypt, and have brought you into the land, which I sware unto your fathers, and I said, I will never break my covenant with you. This was certainly a human appearance, for the angel came from Gilgal to Bochim, which plainly intimates a visible person moving or passing from one place to another; yet the words are as plainly the language of God; so that, in all probability, this was also the angel of God's presence.

Judges vi. 11. "And there came an angel of the Lord, and sat under an oak which was in Ophra: and Gideon threshed wheat by the wine-press. Verse 12. And the angel of the Lord appeared to him, and said unto him, the Lord Jehovah is with thee, thou mighty man of valour. Verse 13. And Gideon said unto him, O my Lord, if the Lord Jehovah be with us, why is all this befallen us? Verse 14. And the Lord Jehovah looked upon him, and said, Go in this thy might, and thou shalt save Israel from the hand of the Midianites: Have not I sent thee?" Here is a long dialogue between the Lord and Gideon. Verse 20. "And the angel of God said unto him, Take the flesh and unleavened cakes, and lay them upon this rock, and pour out the broth; and he did so. Verse 21. Then the angel of the Lord put forth the end of the staff that was in his hand, and touched the flesh and unleavened cakes, and there rose up fire out of the rock and consumed the flesh and the cakes, and the angel of the Lord departed out of his sight. Verse 22. And when Gideon perceived that he was an angel, Gideon said, alas, O Lord God, for because I have seen an angel of the Lord face to face. Verse 23. And the Lord said unto him, peace be unto thee; fear not, thou shalt not die." On this transaction I make these few remarks:

1. This angel had doubtless a human shape, figure and voice, for he sat under an oak; and Gideon brought him a present of flesh and cakes to eat, thinking at first it might have been a man of God or a prophet; though when the angel bid him offer it in sacrifice, and then consumed it by a miraculous fire, he perceived that it was no man, but an angel of God; and it is hardly to be supposed, but that Gideon saw his face. Here is an angel of the Lord, who by the sacred writer is several times called Jehovah; for these names the Lord or Jehovah, and the angel of the Lord, are used promiscuously by the histo

rian, though Gideon did not know it was God himself. 3. The Janguage which this angel speaks, is not such as would immediately determine Gideon to believe it was Jehovah or God himself who appeared, and therefore we find Gideon does not worship him nor address him as Jehovah. 4. Though Gideon does not expressly call this angel, God or Jehovah, but only perceived at last that he had seen an angel of the Lord, yet we may suppose that in his recollection he took it to be that peculiar angel in whom God resided or dwelt, for he feared he should die because he had seen him. Now though there was an ancient and current opinion among the Israelites, that none could see the face of God and live, yet there does not seem to have been any such notion that death would ensue upon the sight of a common angel. But however, whether Gideon supposed this angel to be inhabited by Jehovah or no, it is plain that the sacred historian calls him Jehovah.

Judges xiii. 3. “The angel of the Lord appeared to the wife of Manoal, and said unto her, thou shalt conceive and bear a son, &c. Verse 6. The woman came and told her husband, saying, a man of God came to me, and his countenance was like the countenance of an angel of God, very terrible, &c. Verse 8. And Manoab entreated the Lord or Jehovab, and said, Let the man of God which thou didst send, come again to us. Ver. 9. And God hearkened to the voice of Manoah, and the angel of God came again to the woman: she called her husband, and Manoah said unto him, Art thou the man that spakest unto the woman? And he said, I am. Verse 15. And Manoab said unto the angel of the Lord, Let us make ready a kid for thee. Verse 16. And the angel of the Lord said unto Manoah, I will not eat of thy bread, and if thou wilt offer a burnt-offering, thou must offer it unto the Lord; for Manoah knew not that he was an angel of the Lord. Verse 17. And Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, What is thy name? And the angel said unto him, Why askest thou after my name, since it is a secret, & or wonderful?" The same name which is given to Christ ; Isa. ix. 6, His name shall be called, Wonderful. Verse 19. So Manoal took a kid, with a meat-offering, and offered it to the Lord: and the angel of the Lord ascended in the fame of the altar. Verse 21. Then Manoah knew that he was an angel of the Lord Verse 22. And Manoah said to his wife, we shall surely die, because we have seen God. Ilere also is such an angel in whom God is supposed to reside, for Manoab said, we have seen God, and therefore he thought that they should both die.

I do not remember any appearance of God to David. He saw the angel of the Lord that was sent to spread a pestilence among the people, by the threshing-place of Araunah the Jebusite; 2 Sam. xxiv. 16. And David spake unto the Lord or

Jehovah, when he saw the angel that smote the people, and said, Lo, I have sinned, and done wickedly. But it does plainly appear by all the circumstances of the history, that this was that peculiar angel in whom God dwelt, or that the angel was called Jehovah. The Lord appeared also to Solomon ; 1 Kings iii. 5. and ix. 2. but it was in a dream by night, whence therefore I derive no inferences at present. 1 Kings xxii. 19. The prophet Micaiah said, "I saw the Lord sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven standing by him on his right-hand, and on his left and the Lord said, Who shall persuade Ahab, &c." But this seems to be a vision divinely represented to the imagination of the prophet, from whence therefore I infer nothing concerning God's real appearances. Job iv. 13. When Eliphaz represents the apparition of a spirit before his face in thoughts from the visions of the night, he does not give us sufficient ground to form any conclusions concerning the real appearance either of God or an angel, in a book of such sublime poetry, wherein this is introduced in a manner of what the poets call a machine.

Is. vi. 1. "In the year that king Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. Verse 2. Above it stood the seraphims, each one had six wings, &c. Verse 3. And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts, the whole earth is full of his glory. Verse 5. Then said I, Wo is me, for I am undone, because I am a man of unclean lips, and dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips, for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts. Verse 8. Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I, send me. Verse 9. And he said, Go and tell this people, hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not. This appearance of the Lord or Jehovah to Isaiah in his glory is expressly attributed to Christ by the apostle; John xii. 39, 40, 41. These things said Isaias when he saw his glory and spake of him.

It has been objected indeed, that the word Lord in the first and eighth verses, is not Jehovah in the Hebrew, but Adonai; but it is evident, that the word in the fifth verse is Jehovah. When the prophet says, Mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts, Jehovah Tzebaoth; the person therefore whom Isaiah saw was Jehovah.

Ezekiel often had the sight of God or of Jehovah. In chapters i. iii. viii. and x. &c. But as it is expressly said in Ezek. i. 1. As I was by the river of Chebar, the heavens were opened and I saw the visions of God; so whether all these appearances were not purely visionary, may be questioned: however it may not be amiss to transcribe a few expressions of the

sacred writer on this subject. Ezek. i. 26. "Above the firmament that was over the heads of the living creatures was the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone, and upon the likeness of the throne was the likeness as the appearance as a man above upon it, from his loins upward and downward, as it were the appearance of fire, and the appearance of a rainbow round about. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord, or Jehovah. And when I saw it, I fell upon my face, and I heard a voice of one that spake. Ezek. iii. 22." And the hand of the Lord was upon me, and he said, Arise, go forth into the plain, and I will there talk with thee: Then I arose and went forth into the plain, and behold the glory of the Lord stood there, as the glory which I saw by the river of Chebar." Ezek. viii. 1. "As I sat in mine house and the elders of Judah sat before me, the hand of the Lord God fell upon me; then I beheld and lo, a likeness as the appearance of fire from his loins downward and upward, &c. And he put forth the form of an hand, and took me by a lock of mine head, and the Spirit lift me up between the earth and the heaven, and brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem: and behold the glory of the God of Israel was there according to that vision I saw in the plain." Ezek. x. 18. "Then the glory of the Lord departed from off the threshold of the house, and stood over the cherubims. Verse 20. This is the living creature that I saw under the God of Israel by the river Chebar, &c."

Dan. iii. 25. Nebuchadnezzar when he had cast the three Jews bound into the fiery furnace, said, Lo, I see four men loose walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God. It is not to be supposed here that Nebuchadnezzar knew the Messiah or Christ, who was the Son of God, but he means to express a divine and a God-like form*, which, verse 28. he calls the angel of the God of Shadrak, &c. though probably it might be the peculiar angel of God's presence, in whom was the name of God, and who is the only-begotten Son of God.

Daniel had several visions, and in some of them God appeared to him, or Jesus Christ in the form of man; Dan. vii. 9, 10, 13, 14. I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and

It is sufficiently known to the learned, that in the oriental ways of speaking, almost every thing may be called a father, a son or a daughter; the son of pride, for a proud man; the son of wickedness, for a wicked man; the sons of the mighty, for mighty men; and the word God is also used to aggrandize any idea; the trees of God for noble fair trees, &c. so that in Nebuchadnezzar's mouth this phrase, the Son of God, can only mean a very glorious person above the appearance of mankind.

the hair of his head like the pure wool: his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire. A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him, thousands of thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him; the judgment was set, and the books were opened. I saw in the night visions, and behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him; and there was given him dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all people, nations and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and bis kingdom that which shall not be destroyed." Let it be observed here, that I do not number this among the proper, and real appearances of Christ or God; for it is called a dream which Daniel had, and the visions of his head upon his bed, as verses 7, 13. yet it was a dream divinely inspired. Here the Ancient of days represents the divine being, or God himself, clothed in light or brightness white as snow or wool: one like the Son of man coming with the clouds of heaven, seems to be the Son of God or Jesus Christ, who is also the Son of man, ascending in the clouds of heaven, and he came to the Ancient of days, that is, to God the Father, and received his dominion, glory and exaltation at his ascension into heaven in a bright cloud: and it is probable, that from the language of this dream or vision, Christ borrows his name, the Son of man: and it is evident that our Saviour's description of his own future appearance as the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven; Mat. xxvi. 64. is borrrowed from this vision, and his real ascension to heaven and his exaltation there, is but an accomplishment of this prophetical scene.

Dan. viii. 15. Daniel had seen a vision just before, and while he was seeking for the meaning of it, Behold said he, there stood before me as the appearance of a man, and I heard a man's voice which called and said, Gabriel make this man to understand the vision. Surely this man who appeared seems to be Jesus Christ, who had command over Gabriel, one of the chief angels.

Dan. x. 5. I lift up mine eyes and looked, and behold a certain man clothed in linen, whose loins were girded with fine gold, &c. Here is the description of an appearance very like the appearance of Christ to the apostle John; Rev. i. 13. but whether this was the angel of God's presence, viz. Christ, or another angel, is hard to determine. Verse 10. "Behold, an hand touched me, and set me upon my knees and upon the palms of my hands, and he said unto me, O Daniel, a man greatly beloved, stand upright, for to thee am I now sent-Fear not, for from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand and chasten thyself before God, thy words were heard