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SECT. XXXI.

SOVEREIGN; ANGEL OF THE COVENANT.

Mal. iii. 1.

1. Behold, I send my messenger,

And he shall make ready the way before me.
And unexpectedly shall come to his temple
The Sovereign whom ye are seeking;

5. Even the angel of the covenant,

In whom ye are delighted.

Behold, he cometh; saith Jehovah of hosts.*

THE Messiah is here denominated LORD or SOVEREIGN by a term in a peculiar form, appropriated to signify the Supreme God as the Ruler of his visible church, and the Possessor of univer

* L. 2. 1 in pihel, literally to sweep, but make ready is preferred as being less low.-L. 4. 11 Sovereign. This word is often applied to magistrates, fathers, and other human rulers; but, in every instance in which it occurs, as here, with the emphatic prefix, it is used only as a name of Deity. So says the learned and minutely indefatigable John Henry Michaelis, the uncle of the late professor at Gottingen; Note in Proph. and the same is intimated by Cocceius and Stockius in their Lexicons, and by Eichhorn in his edition of Simonis.-L. 5. It may seem arbitrary to render angel which in L. 1. was rendered messenger. But, as it is certain that in the one instance it refers to the forerunner of the Messiah (Matt. xi. 10.) and next, at least, to

sal dominion. The definite use of this term appears in the demand of obedience to the Most High, as "the SOVEREIGN, Jehovah the God of Israel;*" and in the denunciation of his judgments upon the obstinately wicked, as the inflictions of "the SOVEREIGN, Jehovah of hosts." Yet this term, thus defined and appropriated by the usage of the Hebrew scriptures, is, in the place before us, expressly attributed to the Messiah,

The other term, 66 Angel of the covenant," falls under the same head of consideration with a number of passages, to which the next Section will be devoted.

certain, that in the other it designates the Messiah himself, the use of the two terms favours perspicuity, and, it is hoped, does not violate fidelity.—" Angel of the covenant-: that great Messenger, who shall be sent on no common occasion, but to establish a new covenant, better than the old, with both Jews and gentiles. That these words are to be understood of the Messiah, Kimchi has admitted." Grotius in loc. "The two persons here announced cannot be any other than John the Baptist, for the former, and Jesus the Messiah for the latter." Dr. Priestley's Note.

.האדון יהוה אלהי ישראל .23 .Ex. xxxiv *

+ Is. i. 24. nr

7

also ch. iii. 1. x. 16, 33. xix. 4.

SECT. XXXII.

ON THE PERSON DENOMINATED, IN THE OLD TESTAMENT, THE ANGEL OF JEHOVAH.

In several parts of the Old Testament Scriptures, a person is introduced under the name Angel of JEHOVAH,* in circumstances, and with attributes and ascriptions, so remarkable as to require a peculiar consideration. We shall recite the principal of these passages.

To Hagar the Angel of Jehovah said, I will exceedingly multiply thy seed."-Three times besides the same person speaks under the same name; and at last it is added that Hagar "called upon the name of JEHOVAH who had spoken to her, Thou art GOD who seest me!"†

Some conceive that the latter noun is in apposition rather than in construction, and that the term should, therefore, be translated Angel Jehovah. This remark cannot be absolutely disproved; neither can it be established by such evidence as approaches to certainty. There are so many instances of other nouns put in the same way before л, and unquestionably to be construed in regimine with it, that the current of analogies is against this opinion. So also is the evidence of the Ancient Versions.

↑ Gen. xvi. 7—13.

"The Angel of Jehovah from heaven called to him-Now I know that thou fearest God, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only one, from ME.-The Angel of Jehovah called to Abraham a second time from heaven, and said, By MYSELF I have sworn, saith JEHOVAH, that since thou hast done this thing,-in blessing I will bless thee."*

"The Angel of God said to me,-I am the GOD of Bethel.-"†

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"He blessed Joseph, and said, The God in whose presence my fathers Abraham and Isaac have walked, the God who hath nourished me from my first being to this day, the Angel who hath redeemed me from all evil, bless the youths!"

To Moses "the Angel of Jehovah appeared in a flame of fire, from the midst of the bush.-And Jehovah saw that he turned aside to look, and God called to him from the midst of the bush ;-I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob:-I AM THAT I AM.-"§

To the same Being is attributed, in the New Testament, the giving of the law to the Israelites; and certainly that was the act of God himself. "This [Moses] is the person who was in the

* Gen. xxii. 11-18. ‡ Gen. xlviii 15, 16.

+ Ch. xxxi. 11-13.
Exod. iii. 2-15.

assembly of the people in the wilderness, with the Angel who spoke to him on mount Sinai.-"*

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Behold, I send an Angel before thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee to the place Revere his presence, and

which I have prepared.

listen to his voice.

Revere his

Provoke him not; for he will

not bear your rebellions; for MY NAME is within him.-"†

"The Angel of Jehovah encampeth around them that fear him, and delivereth them. ‡

"He was their Saviour: in all their distresses, he was no oppressor; and the Angel of his presence saved them. By his love and by his kindness he redeemed them: and he bare them and sustained them all the days of old."-§

"He shewed me Joshua the high priest, standing in the presence of the Angel of Jehovah; and the adversary standing at his right hand to oppose him. And Jehovah said to the adversary, Jehovah rebuke thee, O adversary! Jehovah rebuke thee,

* Acts vii. 38. compared with Exod. xix. 19, 20. xx, 1. See Note [A] at the end of this Section.

Psalm xxxiv. 7.

§ Isa. lxiii. 8, 9. The reading of the common Hebrew text seems more consonant with the sense of the passage than the marginal Keri which the established translation has followed: and does not signify an afflicted person, but an enemy or op

pressor.

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