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"The angel of Jehovah appeared to Moses, in Horeb, in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush." This angel is called Jehovah, God, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob,-Jehovah, God of the He. brews, I am, and I am that I am,-throughout the chapter. Exod. iii; see also chap. iv, et seq.

When Jehovah sent Moses to lead his people Israel to the land of Canaan, he was pleased to promise, "Behold, I send an angel before thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared," Exod. xxiii, 20. But of this angel Jehovah said, "Beware of him, and obey his voice: provoke him not; for he will not pardon your transgressions, for my name is in him,” Exod. xxiii, 21. This angel then had the power, authority, and name of Jehovah.

"When Joshua was by Jericho, behold there stood a man over against him, with his sword drawn in his hand: and Joshua went unto him, and said unto him, Art thou for us, or for our adversaries? And he said, Nay, but as captain (or prince) of the host of Jehovah am I now come. And Joshua (well understanding this language) fell on his face to the earth, and did worship, and said unto him, What saith my Lord unto his servant? And the captain of Jehovah's host (approving this) said unto Joshua, (in the language of Jehovah to Moses,) Loose thy shoe from off thy foot, for the place whereon thou standest is holy," Josh. v, 13-15. This captain of Jehovah's host is immediately called Jehovah : “And Jehovah said unto Joshua," &c., Josh. vi, 2.

"The angel of Jehovah appeared unto Gideon, and said unto him, Jehovah is with thee, thou mighty man of valour," Judg. vi, 12. Here also the angel is styled Je. hovah "And 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?" See Judges vi, 14, 16, 23.

"The angel of Jehovah appeared to Manoah and his wife. And Manoah said unto his wife, We shall surely die, because we have seen God." See Judges xiii. Such were the manifestations which God gave to his people till the time of the judges of Israel.

We may now perceive on what authority Job was

enabled to say, "I know that my Redeemer (now) liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth," Job xix, 26.

The knowledge of the Redeemer of mankind was still farther imparted to David, who spake of him as the Son and the (Messiah) anointed of Jehovah: "Jehovah hath said unto me, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee," Psa. ii, 7. What were David's views of his person we may understand from his subjoining, "Kiss the Son lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little blessed are all they that put their trust in him," Psa. ii, 12. For the saints of the Old Testament were not ignorant that "cursed is the man that trusteth in (mere) man ;" and that "blessed is the man that trusteth in Jehovah,” Jer. xvii, 5, 7.

That David wrote the forty-fifth Psalm with reference to the expected Messiah, and not to Solomon, is abundantly proved from the psalm itself. The language of the psalm is not at all applicable to Solomon. He was not the man of war, who "girded his sword upon his thigh," ver. 3-whose "right hand taught him terrible things," ver. 4-whose "arrows were sharp in the hearts of the king's enemies;" or "under whom the people fell,” ver. 5. He was not remarkable for "loving righteousness," or "hating iniquity," ver 7. His "throne is (not) for ever and ever," ver. 6. His children were not "made princes in all the earth," ver. 16. Nor do "the people praise" him or his spouse "for ever and ever," ver. 17. Yet these are the terms in which David speaks of the subject of this psalm. On the other hand these terms are applicable to the Messiah. He is the " King," ver. 1, set upon the holy hill of Zion: compare Psa. ii, 6. He is "fairer than the children of men; grace is poured into his lips," ver. 2. He is "anointed with the oil of gladness above his fellows." Him "God hath blessed for ever and ever," ver. 2. Now in this psalm, of which the Messiah is so clearly the subject, the writer, who had called the King" the Son of God, in his addresses to this " King," says, "Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever.

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*Our argument does not admit of our quoting in this place the testimony of the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews, who, however, cites the words of this psalm as the words of God to the Son.

The Messiah was now known as the Son of God, and his name was deemed a mystery. If the "Angel Jehovah" said to Jacob, "Wherefore dost thou ask after my name?" and to Manoah, " Why askest thou thus after my name, seeing it is secret" (or wonderful?) Agur, perhaps with equal reference to the mystery of the incarnation, asks "Who hath ascended up into heaven, or descended? Who hath gathered the wind in his fists? Who hath bound the waters in a garment? Who hath established all the ends of the earth? What is his name and what is his Son's name, if thou canst tell?" Prov. xxx, 4. Both are equally mysterious.

Isaiah, so often and so justly styled the evangelical prophet, in prospect of the coming of the Messiah, breaks out, "Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The Father of the everlasting age, The Prince of peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice, from henceforth even for ever! the zeal of Jehovah of hosts will perform this," Isa. ix, 6, 7. Having spoken thus of the humiliation and exaltation, the humanity and the divinity of the Messiah, he returns to the same subject in different language: "There shall, come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots, and the Spirit of Jehovah shall rest upon him," Isa. xi, 1, 2. "And in that day," says he, "there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek, and his rest shall be glorious," Isa. xi, 10. "In that day thou shalt say, Behold God is my salvation, I will trust (in such a Saviour) and not be afraid; for the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation," Isa. xii, 2. "It was impossible for a spiritual Jew to read this description of the Messiah's peaceful kingdom, without seeing that this root of Jesse, this Holy One of Israel, so great in the midst of Zion, was the same wonderful person whom the prophet had just before called the Son given, and the mighty God;" (Fletcher's Rat. Vin. ;) that he was that Jehovah who should become their Saviour.

The same prophet, introducing the harbinger of the Messiah, exclaims, "The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of Jehovah, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. And the glory of Jehovah shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together," Isa. xl, 3, 5.

Again: "O Zion, that bringest good tidings, say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God. Behold the Lord God will come with strong hand, and his arm shall rule for him behold his reward is with him, and his work before him. He shall feed his flock like a shepherd," Isa. xl, 9-11. Who this shepherd is the Jews, without the New Testament, could understand. The Prophet Ezekiel would inform them, "I will set one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even my servant David, he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd," Ezek. xxxiv.

Jeremiah is the author of that direct testimony to the divinity of the Messiah: "Behold the days come, saith Jehovah, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely and this is his name whereby he shall be called, Jehovah our righteousness," Jer. xxiii, 5, 6. (See p. 91.)

Zechariah, speaking prophetically of the Messiah as the Shepherd of Israel, says, "Awake, O sword, against my Shepherd, and against the man that is my fellow, saith the Lord of hosts," Zech. xiii, 7.

Such are the testimonies which the writers of the Old Testament afford of the person and character of the Messiah. If we inquire what they taught concerning the Holy Spirit, we shall find the outlines of the doctrine which we have already derived from the New Testament.

That in the Old Testament there is frequent notice of the Holy Spirit, is too obvious to need any proof. As he is there denominated the Spirit of God, an enlightened Jew could entertain no doubt of his proper divinity. Mr. G. has granted that it is as obvious that the Spirit of God is God, as that the spirit of man is man. (See Lect. vol. i, p. 123.) The Old Testament is not, however, without farther proof of this. "The hand of the Lord God fell there upon me and he (the Lord God) put forth the form

of a hand, and took me by a lock of mine head, and the Spirit lift me up between the earth and the heaven,” Ezek. viii, 13. Here the same Being who is denominated the Lord God is also denominated the Spirit. Thus in Judg. xv, 14, it is expressly said, "The Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him" (Samson.) Yet when the Spirit departed from him, it is said, "He wist not that the Lord was departed from him," ver. 16, 20. The Spirit of Jehovah and Jehovah are, therefore, one and the same Being.

To the Spirit of God, the writers of the Old Testament, therefore, attribute the divine perfections of omnipresence, omniscience, and omnipotence. (See pp. 110, 111, 112.)

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Hence even the Old Testament introduces the Spirit of God as one of the Elohim to whom creation is ascribed. "And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters," Gen. i, 2. By his Spirit he hath garnished the heavens," Job xx, 30. "The Spirit of God hath made me, and the breath of the Almighty hath given me life," Job xxx, 4. "Thou sendest forth thy Spirit, they are created and thou renewest the face of the earth," Psa. civ, 30.

"By

We have now the true explanation of the Elohim, who in the beginning made the heavens and the earth. the Word of the Lord were the heavens made, and all the host of them by the breath (Heb. Spirit) of his mouth," Psa. xxxiii, 6.

This great subject is still farther illustrated in the purposed work of redemption, as in the following passages: "Hearken unto me, O Jacob, and Israel my called: I am he; I am the first, I also am the last. Mine hand also hath laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand hath spanned the heavens: when I call unto them they stand up together. And now the Lord God and his Spirit hath sent me," Isa. xlviii, 12-16. The Jewish reader would perceive, not only the divine character of the speaker, but his mission by God and by his Spirit. In this passage the distinction is, like what we have found in the New Testament, a personal distinction. One person is the speaker, two others have sent him. Again: "The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, (the Messiah, the anointed,)

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