God the Word that spoke this to the People the ancient Church could not doubt as we see in the Book of Deuteronomy where Jonathan tells us that thus Moses minded his People of what they had heard and seen at the giving of the Law Deut. iv 33. Is it possible that a People should have heard the voice of the Word of the Lord the Living God speak out of the middle of the fire as you have heard and yet live Again v. 36. Out of Heaven he hath made you hear the voice of his Word and ye have heard his words out of the midst of the fire Again he puts them in mind of the fright they were in Deut. v. 23. After ye had heard the voice of the Word out of the midst of the Darkness on the Mount burning with fire all the Chiefs of you came to me and said Behold the Word of the Lord our God has shewed us the Divine Majesty of his Glory and the Excellence of his Magnificence and we have heard the voice of his Word out of the midst of the fire why should we die as we must if we hear any more of the voice of the Word of the Lord our God for who is there living in flesh that hears the voice of the Word of the Living God speaking out of the middle of the fire as we do and yet live Again Deut. xviii 16. he minds them of the same thing in some of the same Words Many more such Quotations might be added but these are sufficient to prove that it was the undoubted Tradition of the ancient Jewish Church That their Law was given by the Word of God and that it was he that appeared to Moses for this purpose As the Word gave the Law it was he that made those many Appearances to Moses throughout his whole Conduct of the People of Israel through the Wilderness To begin with that Divine Appearance which was continually in sight of all the People of Israel for forty years together throughout their whole Travel in the Wilderness namely the Pillar which they saw in the Air day and night Where this Pillar is first spoken of namely at the coming of the People of Israel up out of Egypt there it is expresly said That the Lord went before them in the Pillar of Cloud by day and fire by night Exod. xiii 21. Afterward indeed he is called the Angel of God Exod. xiv 19. where we read that the People being come to the Red-Sea and being there in imminent danger of being overtaken by the Egyptians by whom they were closely pursued the Angel which had gone before the Camp of Israel all day removed at night and went behind them That this Angel was God it is certain not only because he is called God Exod. xiii 21. xiv 24. Numb xii 5. But also because he was Worshipped Exod. xxxiii 10. which was a sure Proof of his Divinity Being therefore God himself and yet the Messenger of God it must be that this was the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Word and that this was the Tradition of the ancient Church we are taught not only by Philo in the place above mentioned Quis rer Div. haeres p. 397. F.G. but also by the Jerusalem Targum on Exod. xiv 24. and Jonathan on Exod. xxxiii 9. and by Onkelos on Deut. i. 32 33. as has been mentioned When the Children of Israel after the first three days march found no other Waters but what were too bitter for them to drink at which they murmured Moses cried unto the Lord who thereupon shewed him a Tree which they threw into the Waters and thereby made them sweet Exod. xv 25. Here was a Divine Appearance and it was of the Word of the Lord according to the Jerusalem Targum A Month after their coming out of Egypt for want of Bread they murmured against Moses and Aaron at which God shewed himself so much concerned that he made his Glory appear to them in the Pillar of Cloud Exod. xvi 7 10 That according to the sense of the ancient Church this was the Shekinah of the Word has been newly shown both from Philo and from all the Targums and the same we find here in this place v. 8. where Moses tells them your murmurings are not against us but against the Word of the Lord according to Onkelos and Jonathan When Exod. xvii 8 c. the Amalekites came against this poor people that had never seen War and smote the hindmost of them God not only gave his people a Victory over them but also said unto Moses write this for a Memorial in a Book That I will utterly put out the Remembrance of Amalek from under Heaven Exod. xvii 14. See how Moses performs this v. 15. In the place where they had fought he set up an Altar inscribed Jehovah Nissi The Lord is my Standard meaning that it was the will of God they should be in perpetual War against Amalek and this reason for it he entreth in his Book v. 16. according to Jonathan for the Word of the Lord has sworn by his Glory that he will have war against Amalek for all Generations The next Divine Appearance we read of was at the giving of the Law on Mount Sinai whereof enough has been already said and we must avoid being too long For which reason we omit much more that might be said of the following Appearances in the Wilderness which are all ascribed to the Word in one or other of the Targums But I ought not to omit to take notice of some special things So for their places of Worship God promised according to the Jerusalem Targum Exod. xx 24. Wheresoever you shall mention my Holy Name my Word shall appear to you and shall bless you and the Temple is called the place which the Word of the Lord your God will chuse to place his Shekinah there according to Jonathan's and the Jerusalem Targums on Deut. xii 4. Especially at the Altar for Sacrifice which was before the Door of the Tabernacle God promised Moses both for himself and the People according to Onkelos and Jonathan on Exod. xxix 42. I will appoint my Word to speak with thee there and I will appoint my Word there for the Children of Israel Above all at the Mercy-seat where the Ark stood God promised to Moses according to those Targums on Exod. xxv 22. xxx 36. Numb xxvii 4. I will appoint my Word to speak with thee there And in sum of all the Precepts in Leviticus it is said at the end of that Book according to those Targums on Levit. xxvi 46. These are the Statutes and Judgments and Laws which the Lord made between his Word and the Children of Israel When they entred into Covenant with God obliging themselves to live according to his Laws Hereby they made the Word to be their King and themselves his Subjects So Moses tells them Deut. xxvi 17. according to the Jerusalem Targum You have
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is begotten of God Alleg. ii p. 76. B. Which can agree only to a Person And 2. where he proves that the Word acted and spoke in all the Divine Appearances that are mentioned in the Old Testament which certainly supposes a Person 3. Where he describes the Word as presiding over the Empires of the World and determining the Changes that befall them Lib. quod Deus sit Immutab p. 248. D. 4ly Where he brings in the Word for a Mediator between God and Men Quis rer Div. haer p. 393. that renders God propitious to his Creatures de Somn. p 447. E. F. That is the Instructer of Men Ib. p. 448. and their Shepherd alluding to Psal xxiii 1. The Chaldee Paraphrases are full of Notions and Expressions relating to the Word conformable to those of Philo touching the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 So that he must wink hard who does not see that in their sense the word is truly a Person And 1. they almost always distinguish the Memra or Word of the Lord which answers to Philo's 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from the word Pithgama which signifies a Matter or a Discourse as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 does in Greek 2. They ascribe the Creation of the World to the Word 3. They make it the Word that appeared to the Ancients under the name of the Angel of the Lord. 4. The Word that saved Noah in the time of the Flood and made a Covenant with him Onkelos on Gen. vii viii 5. They say that Abraham believed in the Word which thing was imputed to him for Righteousness Onkel on Gen. xv 6. 6. That the Word brought Abraham out of Chaldea Onk. on Gen. xv 7. and commanded him to Sacrifice Gen. xv 9. and gave him the Prophecy related v. 13. 7. That Abraham swore by the Word Onk. on Gen. xxi 23. 8. That the Word succoured Ishmael Gen. xxi 21. and Joseph in his Bondage Gen. xxxix 2 3. The like Notions has Onkelos in his Targum on Exodus 1. It is the Word's assistance that God promises Moses Exod. iii. 12. iv 12. xviii 19. 2. It is the Word in whom Israel believed as well as in Moses Exod. xiv 32. 3. It is the Word that redeems Israel out of Egypt Exod. xv 2. 4. It is the Word against whom Israel murmur'd in Sin Exod. xvi 8. 5. It is the Word before whom the People marched to receive the Law Exod. xix 17. 6. It is the Word whose Presence is promised in the Tabernacle Exod. xxx 6. xxxvi 42. which is repeated Numb viii 29. 7. It is the Word between whom and Israel the Sabbath is made a Sign Exod. xxxi 13 17. and so Lev. xxxvi 46. 8. It is the Word whose Protection was promised Moses when he desired to see God Exod. xxxiv 22. Much the same has Onkelos on Leviticus and Numbers 1. It is the Word whose Commandments the Israelites were to observe carefully Lev. viii 35. xviii 30. xxii 9. Numb ix 19. xx 23. 2. It is spoken of the Word that he will not forsake the People if they continue in their Obedience Lev. xxviii 11. 3. By the Word God regards his People Ib. 4. The Majesty of the Word did rest among the Israelites Numb xi 20. 5. It is the Word whom Moses exhorts the Jews not to rebell against Numb xiv 9. xx 24. 6. They believed in the Word Num. xiv 11. xx 12 7. The Word meets Balaam Numb xxiii and opens his Eyes xxii 31. The same things or the like we find in Onkelos on Deuteronomy 1. The Word brought Israel out of Egypt and fought for them Deut. i. 30. iii. 22. viii 2. xx 1. 2. The Word led Israel in the Pillar of a Cloud Ch. i. 32. 3. The Word spake out of the fire at Horeb V. 34 36. Moses was Mediator between the Word and his People V. 5. 5. Moses Exhorts the Jews to obey the Word xiv 18. xv 5. xxvii 14. xxviii 1 3 15 45 62. xxx 8 19 20. 6. The Word conducts Israel under Joshua to the Land of Canaan xxxi 6 8. 7. The Word created the World Chap. xxxiii 27. So agreeable as you see are the Notions of Onkelos to those of Philo though the one writ in Egypt the other in Palestine and both before the time of our Lord Jesus Christ But besides Onkelos on the Pentateuch we have two other Paraphrases the one which is very diffuse is said to be Jonathan's the other which is called the Jerusalem Targum and is short and as it seems imperfect The Reader may soon judg by comparing them whether they differ from Philo and Onkelos or no. The Jerusalem Targum saith That God Created the World by his Wisdom which he grounds on the word Bereshith Gen. i. 1. And Philo means the same things when he calls the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the first Emanation de Confus Ling. p. 267. B. The same Targum saith the Word made Man after his Image Gen. i. 27. Jonathan's affirms the Garden of Eden was planted by the Word for the Just before the Creation of the World Gen. ii 8. And both Jonathan's and the Jerusalem Targum say the Word spoke to Adam in the Garden Gen. iii. 9. the Word lifted up Enoch to Heaven Gen. v. 24. Jonathan's affirms that the Word protected Noah and shut the Door of the Ark upon him Gen. vii 16. That the Word threw down the Tower at Babel Gen. xi 6. And both have it That God promised Abraham that his Word should protect him Gen. xv 1. Jonathan's makes it the Word that plagued Pharaoh for Abraham's sake Gen. xii 17. The Jerusalem Targum saith it was the Word that appeared to Abraham at the Door of the Tent Gen. xviii 1. And that the Word rained Fire from before the Lord Gen. xix 24. And both that Targum and Jonathan's say That Abraham taught his People to hope in the Name of the Word of the Lord Gen. xxi 33. The Jerusalem Targum makes Abraham say The Word of the Lord will prepare a Sacrifice Gen. xxii 8. And asserts that Abraham invoked the Word and called him Lord in his Prayer Gen. xxii 14. Jonathan's Targum brings in Abraham swearing by the Word of the Lord Gen. xxiv 3. And God promising his Word should succour Isaac Gen. xxiii 24 28. repeated Gen. xxxi 3 5 42. xxxii 9. The same Targum says That the Word of the Lord made Rachel bear a Child Gen. xxx 22. Which is consonant to what Philo saith That the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 caused Isaac to be born Alleg. l. 2. p. 77. According to this Targum the Word sent Michael to save Thamar Gen. xxxviii 25. The Word went down with Jacob into Egypt Gen. xlvi 1 2 3 4. The Word succours Joseph Gen. xlix 25. Which Joseph acknowledges Gen. l. 20. We may trace the same Notions in their Targums on Exodus According to Jonathan's The Word built Houses for the Midwives that feared God Exod. i.
all this while even the same that appeared to him in the Bush Moses being thus employ'd by the Word of God as his Messenger to the Children of Israel for the discharge of his Ministry had both his Instructions and Credentials from the Word according to the Targums For the first of these God appeared to him oftener than to any before him R. Akiba who lived since Christ's time saith that Moses acted as Mediator between the Gevura that is the Word of God and the People of Israel and observeth that God spake to him 175 times They were times without number that God spake to him from off the Mercy-seat upon the Ark of Testimony from between the two Cherubims Numb vii 89. But those which R. Akiba reckons were Appearances upon extraordinary occasions In both these Appearances ordinary and extraordinary it was the Word of God that spake to Moses according to the Targums Thus of God's speaking to him from the Mercy-seat to appoint my Word for thee as God promised there according to Onkelos and Jonathan on Exod. xxv 22. xxx 36. So Numb vii 89. Jonathan saith it was the Word that spake to him And thus likewise in those Occasional Appearances both Jonathan and the Jerusalem Targums tell us once for all Deut. xxxiv 10. The Word of the Lord knew Moses 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 speaking to Moses as oft as Moses spake to him on any occasion For his Credentials were as we see Deut. xxxiv 11. All the Signs and Wonders which the Lord sent him to do or according to the Targums which the Word of the Lord sent him to do in Egypt to Pharaoh and his Servants and all his Land and in all that mighty Land and that great terrour which Moses shewed in the sight of all Israel For the Acts of his Ministry they were chiefly these three 1. His bringing the People out of Egypt 2. His giving them Laws and Statutes and Judgments from God 3. His Leading them through the Wilderness to the Confines of Canaan In each of these was the Word that appeared to him according to the Targums His bringing the People out of Egypt is wholly ascribed to the Word by Onkelos and Jonathan on Deut. xx 1. and by Jonathan on Deut. xxiv 18. The People were commanded to teach this to their Children that it was the Word of the Lord that did all those Signs and Wonders in Egypt saith Jonathan on Exod. xiii 8. It was the Word that sent all those Plagues on Pharaoh and his Servants and all the Land of Egypt saith Jonathan on Deut. xxviii 6. and xxix 2. Especially it was the Word that gave that stroke which finisht the work according to the Jerusalem Targum Exod. xii 29. namely It was the Word of the Lord that appeared against the Egyptians at midnight and his right hand kill'd the first-born of the Egyptians and delivered his own first-born the Children of Israel After this the Word of the Lord led the People through the Desert to the Red-Sea saith the same Targum on Exod. xiii 18. The Word of the Lord being their Leader in a Pillar of Fire by night and of a Cloud by day saith Onkelos on Deut. i. 32 33. And when the People being come to the Red-Sea and seeing Pharaoh with his Army behind them were in a rage against Moses and he cried to God Exod. xiv 15. according to the Jerusalem Targum the Word of the Lord said to Moses How long dost thou stand and pray before me Bid the Children of Israel come forward and do thou reach out thy Rod and divide the Red Sea He did so and according to the Jerusalem Targum on Deut. i. 1. The Word divided the Sea before them So that the Children of Israel went into the midst of the Sea on dry ground Exod. xiv 22. the Egyptians following them And at morning v. 24. according to the Jerusalem Targum The Word of the Lord lookt upon the Army of the Egyptians and threw upon them Bitumen and Fire and Hail out of Heaven and v. 25. The Egyptians said Let us fly from before the People of Israel for this is the Word of the Lord that gets them victory But their flight was in vain for by the Word of the Lord the waters were made heaps according to Onkelos on Exod. xv 8. And according to him also when God spoke by his Word the Sea covered them v. 10. Thus as the whole work of the People of Israel's Deliverance out of Egypt so every part of it has been ascribed to the Word of the Lord by the Targums For the giving of the Laws by which they were to be formed into a Church and Kingdom First immediately after their coming out of the Red-Sea Exod. xv 25. according to the Jerusalem Targum the Word of the Lord gave them Precepts and Orders of Judgments particularly as Jonathan has it the Word of the Lord gave them there the Law of the Sabbath and that of Honouring Father and Mother and Judgments concerning Bruises and Wounds and for the Punishment of Transgressours Afterwards when they were come into the Wilderness of Sinai Exod. xix 3. the Text saith Moses went up to God and the Lord called to him out of the Mount saying Thus shalt thou say to the House of Israel c. there Onkelos saith according to one of Clark's various Readings Moses went up to meet the Word of the Lord Exod. xix 8. Moses returns with the People's Answer to the Lord then v. 9. according to the Jerusalem Targum the Word of the Lord said to Moses Go to the People and sanctifie them to day and to morrow and let them wash their Clothes and be ready against the third day for the third day the Lord will come down in the sight of all the People upon Mount Sinai Accordingly the People having prepared themselves on the third day according to Onkelos Exod. xix 17. Moses brought the People out of the Camp to meet the word of God Yet the People only saw Thunder and Lightning and the Mountain smoking and felt the Earth quake under them They also heard the noise of the Trumpet which so affrighted them that they removed and stood at a distance and said to Moses Speak thou to us and we will hear but let not the Word from before the Lord speak with us lest we die Exod. xx 19. according to Onkelos in one of Clark's various Readings Moses therefore according to Jonathan on Deut. v. 5. Stood between them and the Word of the Lord to shew them the Pithgama the matter and words that were spoken to him from the Lord. What they were we read Exod. xx 1 c. where according to the Jerusalem Targum the Word of the Lord spoke the tenor of all these words saying I am the Lord thy God which brought thee out of the Land of Egypt out of the House of Bondage then follow the Ten Commandments commonly called the Decalogue That it was
made the Word of the Lord King over you this day that he may be your Glory And v. 18. The VVord of the Lord is become King over you in his own Name as over his beloved and peculiar people In consequence hereof as being their King he ordered them by his chief Minister Moses to make him a Royal Pavilion or Tabernacle and to set it up in the midst of their Camp Both that and all the furniture of it he ordered Moses to make according to the Pattern show'd him in the Mount Exod. xxv 40. Especially for the Presence of the great King there must be an Apartment in the inner part of the Tabernacle separated from the rest with a Veil Embroidered with Cherubims Exod. xxvii 31. which part was called the Most Holy Place or the Holy of Holies Exod. xxvi 33. There was to be placed the Ark overlay'd with pure Gold and having a Crown of Gold round about it In the Ark were contain'd the Tables of the Law Upon it was placed the Mercy-seat overshadowed with the Wings of two Cherubims that stood on the two Ends of the Mercy-seat Exod. xxxvii 9. looking each of them toward the other and both of them toward the Mercy-seat This Provision being made for the place of his Shekinah the Word which shewed it self before in a Pillar of Cloud by day and fire by night that stood over the Camp now from thence came to take possession of his Royal Seat in the Tabernacle over the Ark from whence out of the void space between these Cherubims it was that the Word used to speak to Moses and to give him Orders from time to time for the Government of his People according to the Paraphrasts on Exod. xxv 22. xxx 36. Numb xvii 4. and especially Numb vii 8 9. as has been above mentioned Henceforward throughout their whole Journey through the Wilderness the Pillar was constantly over the Tabernacle and the People attended his motion But whensoever he gave the Commandment then the Pillar removed and shewed which way the Camp was to go Upon notice of that then Moses first gave the word in a set form of Prayer which we have in the first six verses of the lxviii Psalm The first verse of it is Numb x. 35. in these words according to the Jerusalem Targum Arise now Oh Word of the Lord in the might of thy strength According to Jonathan's Paraphrase Appear now Oh Word of the Lord in the strength of thy wrath In both the Targums it followeth as in the Hebrew Text and the enemies of thy people shall be scattered and they that hate thee shall flee before thee When they had performed their Journey according to the will of their King which they knew by seeing the Pillar stand still then Moses used the Form for the resting of the Ark Numb x. 36. according to the forementioned Targums Return now Oh Word of the Lord to thy people Israel make the Glory of thy Shekinah dwell among them and have mercy on the Thousands of Israel This being said the Priests who carried the several â—ins of the Tabernacle took down their Burdens and set up all things as before and the Pillar returned to its place over the midst of the Tabernacle In this State of Theocracy their keeping of God's Laws is called by their Targums The believing and obeying of the Word their breaches of his Laws are called their despising and rebelling against the Word Of the use of both these manners of speaking there might be given more instances than can be easily numbred The Targums likewise ascribe to the Word both the rewarding of their Obedience and the punishing of their Transgressions On their Obedience according to the Targums it was the usual promise that the Word should be their help or support Numb xxiii 8 21. that he should bless them and multiply them Deut. xxiv 19. that he should rejoice over them to do them good Deut. xxviii 63. xxx 9. They were told that he would be a consuming fire to their enemies Deut. iv 24. particularly that he was so to the Anakims Deut. ix 3. That it was he that delivered Og into their hands Deut. iii. 2. That it was he that would cast out all the Nations before them Deut. xi 22. On the other hand according to the sense of the ancient Church it was the Word that punished them for their disobedience and also it was he that forgave them upon their Repentance Of both these kinds there are many remarkable instances as particularly of the punishing of their disobedience according to Jonathan on Exod. xxxii 35. It was the Word that destroyed the people for worshipping the Calf that Aaron made For their lusting at Kibroth-hattaava Moses told them whom they provoked by it Numb xi 20. according to Onkelos and Jonathan You have despised the Word of the Lord whose Shekinah dwelleth among you Their refusing to go forward toward the promised Land upon the Spies evil report of it Moses tells them according to those Targums Deut. i. 26. It was rebelling against the Word of the Lord. Afterward when they would go up contrary to order Numb xiv 41. Moses asks them Why do you transgress the decree of the Word of the Lord In their murmuring at Zalmona Polyglot Vol. IV. Numb xxi 5. according to Onkelos in one of Clerk's various Readings They spoke against the Word of the Lord and against Moses Wherefore v. 6. according to the Jerusalem Targum The Word of the Lord sent fiery Serpents among the People Upon their Whoring with Baal-Peor Numb xxv 4. according to the Jerusalem Targum The Word of the Lord said to Moses take all the heads of the people and hang them up before the Lord. In short according to the Targums on Deut. xxviii 20 21 22 c. It was the Word of the Lord that would send all his Judgments and Curses that are there denounced against impenitent Sinners But on the other hand according to those Targums the Word had the dispencing of pardon to them that were Qualified for it So when Moses beg'd pardon for his People that had sinned beyond mercy if it had not been infinite Numb xiv 20. according to the Jerusalem Targum the Word of the Lord answered him and said behold I have forgiven and pardoned according to thy word And in case upon the inflicting of God's Judgments above mentioned God's People should be thereby brought to repentance It was promised Deut. xxx 3. according to Jonathan's Targum that then the Word should accept their repentance according to his good pleasure and should have mercy on them and gather them out of all Naons c. So likewise c. xxxii 36. according to the same Targum it is promised that the Word of the Lord by his mercy should judge the judgment of his people and should repent him of the evil that he had decreed against his Servants It were easie to add many more such Instances out of
the Targums but these are abundantly enough to shew the sense of the ancient Church what they thought of him that so often appeared to their Fathers in the Wilderness and spoke to them by his Servant Moses When Moses understood that God was not willing he should live to bring his People into the Promised Land thereupon he besought God to send him a Successor in these words according to Jonathan's Targum Numb xxvii 16. Let the Word of the Lord who has dominion over the souls of men appoint a faithful man over the Congregation of his People God having appointed Joshua in his stead Moses gave him this Charge in the hearing of the People Deut. iii. 21 22. according to Onkelos and Jonathan Thy eyes have seen what the Lord hath done to Og and Sihon so shall he do to all the kingdoms where thou art to pass therefore fear them not for the Word of the Lord your God shall fight for you The same he repeated afterward to all the People telling them first Deut. xxxi 2 3. according to Jonathan The Word of the Lord hath said to me Thou shalt not pass over this Jordan but the Lord your God and his Shekinah will go before you Josh iv He addeth And Joshua will go over before you as the Lord has spoken And for all your Enemies ver 5. The Word of the Lord shall deliver them up before you therefore saith he ver 6. according to Onkelos Fear them not for the Word of the Lord your God goes before you he will not fail nor forsake you After this he calleth to Joshua and saith to him before them all ver 7. according to Jonathan Be strong and of a good Courage for thou must go with this People into the Land which the Word of the Lord has sworn to their Fathers that he would give them and the Shekinah of the Word of the Lord shall go before thee and his Word shall be thy help he will not leave thee nor forsake thee fear not therefore neither be dismay'd He repeats it again from God to Joshua ver 23. according to Onkelos and Jonathan Thou shalt bring the Children of Israel into the Land which I have sworn to them and my Word shall be thy help It was the same day that together with this Charge Moses gave to Joshua his Prophetical Song Deut. xxxi 22 23. And the self-same day xxxii 48. God bade him Get thee up into Mount Nebo and dye After which Moses staid no longer than to give the Tribes of Israel his Blessing before his Death xxxiii 1. That being done he went up to Mount Nebo xxxiv 1. There according to Jonathan It was the Word of the Lord that gave that Satisfaction to his Bodily Eyes to see all the Land of Canaan before they were closed So ver 5. Moses the Servant of the Lord died there according to the Word of the Lord. He was translated by the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 De Sacr. Abr. p. 162. C. D. according to Philo. It was certainly the current Tradition of the Church in his Age that his Soul was taken out of his Body by a Kiss of the Word of the Lord as Jonathan renders it or according to the Jerusalem Targum at the Mouth of the Decree of the Word of the Lord. After his Death Joshua entred into the Government ver 9. and according to the Jerusalem Targum the Children of Israel obeyed Joshua and they did as the Word of the Lord had commanded Moses Besides all these Divine Appearances to Moses and the Children of Israel there are also some few that were made to Balaam on their account and are therefore recorded in the same Sacred History Where these are first mentioned Numb xxii 9. both Onkelos and Jonathan have That the Word came from before the Lord to Balaam and said what followeth in that place So again the second time ver 20. according to the same Targums The Word came from before the Lord to Balaam by night and said to him what followeth in that second place It is plain that so far the Ancient Jewish Church took these Appearances to have been made by the Word But what Opinion had they of the Angel's appearing to Balaam ver 22. Others may ask what they thought of the Dialogue between Balaam and the Ass that he rode upon occasioned by the Fright that the Beast was in at the Angel's appearing to him All this as Maimonides * More Nebochim 11. p. 42. saith happened only in Vision of Prophecy But that it was a thing that really happened we are assured by St. Peter who tells us 2 Pet. ii 16. God opened the mouth of the dumb beast to rebuke the madness of the Prophet As it cannot be doubted that Balaam was used to have Communication with Devils that spake to him in divers manners so there is reason to believe they spoke to him sometimes by the mouth of dumb Beasts and if so then to hear the Ass speak could not be strange to him And why God should order it so there is a reason in Jonathan and the Jerusalem Targum The Reader may see other Reasons elsewhere †Muis Varia p. 95. but they are not proper for this place But we are here to consider whether this that appeared to Balaam was a created Angel or no. It appears by the words ver 35. to have been the Lord himself that appeared as an Angel to Balaam for thus he saith to him Go with the men but only the word that I shall speak to thee that thou shalt speak Now it doth not appear after this that any other spoke to him from God but God himself Therefore Philo saith plainly that this Appearance was of the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as has been already shown And that this was the Sense of the Church in his Age we may see in the two following Appearances to Balaam where as well as in the two that were before this the Targums say It was the Word that met Balaam and spoke to him Thus both Onkelos and Jonathan on Num. xxiii 4 and 16. CHAP. XV. That all the Appearances of God or of the Angel of the Lord which are spoken after Moses his time in the Books of the Old Testament have been referred to the Word of God by the Jews before Christ's Incarnation THUS far it has been our business to shew that it was the Word that made all those Appearances either of God or of an Angel of God that was worshipt in any part of the five Books of Moses We have been much larger in this than was necessary for our present occasion But whatsoever may seem to have been too much in this Chapter it is hoped the Reader will not wish it had been spared when he comes to reflect upon the use of it to prove that the Word was a Person and that he was God At present there will be some kind of amends for the prolixity hitherto in the
is mentioned This is he of whom it is said and God called Moses out of the Bush He is called an Angel because he Governs the World for it is written in one place And Jehovah that is the Lord God brought us out of Egypt and in another place He sent his Angel and brought us out of Egypt And again The Angel of his Presence saved them viz. that Angel who is the face of God of whom it is said My face shall go before you Lastly that Angel of whom the Prophet Malachi mentions And the Lord whom you seek shall suddenly come to his Temple even the Angel of the Covenant whom you desire At length he adds The face of God is God himself as all Interpreters do acknowledge but no one can rightly understand this without being instructed in the Mysteries of the Law R. Menachem of Rekan on Gen. xlviii 16. the same that afterwards commented on the whole Pentateuch was no stranger to this Notion Saith he He means the Shekinah when he speaks of the Redeeming Angel f. 52. See also f. 55. The like has R. Bechai the famous Jewish Writer whose Comments are constantly in the hands of the Jewish Doctors He proves that this Blessing is not different from that which is afterwards repeated Gen. xlix where no Angel is mentioned Whence it follows that the three terms in Gen. xlviii God God that fed me the Angel that redeemed me are Synonimous to the mighty one of Jacob Ch. xlix which Title the Jews in their Prayers do frequently ascribe to God Bech f. 71. c. 4. Ed. Rivae di Trento He also there teaches that this Angel was the Shekinah As does R. Joseph Gekatilia in his Book called Saare Ora according to Menasseh Ben Israel q. 64. in Gen. p. 118. Aben Sueb on this place a Man of Name among his Party writes much to the same purpose on this place These are followed by two Eminent Authors of the Cabalists The one in his Notes on Zohar f. 122. toward the end saith the Angel that delivered me from all evil is the Shekinah of whom Exod. xiv 19. And the Angel of the Lord which went before the camp of Israel removed and went behind them and may God bless us in the age to come The other is he who contracted the Zohar on Genesis and is called R. David the less He in that Book Ed. Thessalonic f. 174. professes to follow the opinion of R. Gekatalia in his Saare Ora. Nor does Menasseh Ben Israel himself much dissent from these in the above-mentioned place For though he attempts to reconcile Gen. xxviii 16. with the first Commandment Exod. xx Thou shalt have no other Gods before me by saying it was the opinion of several of their Masters that there was no contradiction between them yet at length he produces the opinion of the Cabalists for the satisfaction of his Readers who possibly would not acquiesce in his former reason drawn only from Modern Authorities I mention not R. Levi ben Gersom's opinion who denies the Angel here spoken of to be a Creature but calls him the Intellectus Agens because he seems to have borrowed the Notion from the Arabian Philosophers nor is it commonly received by those of his Religion Many others might be added to these Jewish Testimonies but what I have already produced is I think very sufficient SECT V. Having thus shewed the Opinions of the ancient Jews concerning Jacob's Angel and that to this day the Tradition is not quite worn out that exalts him above a created Angel I now proceed to the third Question the clearing of which will fully justifie that Opinion of the Ancients concerning this Text. And that is Whether this form of Blessing be not an express Prayer The soundest and most part as well of Jews as Christians do agree That we can't worship Angels without Idolatry This Maimonides affirms as I quoted him above and the Protestants as all Men know do abhor this Idolatry in the Roman Church I do therefore positively assert That these words contain a Prayer to the Angel as well as to God for a Blessing on his Children This the Jews can't gain-say since Jonathan their Paraphrast and other Writers after him do commonly term this Blessing 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or a Prayer And for this reason R. Menasseh thought it necessary to endeavour to reconcile this Prayer of Jacob with the first Commandment which forbids Angel-Worship according to the Jews Interpretation R. Menach de Rek in Pent. f. 97. c. 4. It is true Jacob's form of Blessing does seem to proceed from him either as a Wish or a Prophecy A Wish as if he had said Would to the Lord God and his Angel would bless the Lads A Prophecy as if he had foretold that God and his Angel should in after-times fulfill what he now wished But it might be both Wish and Prophecy and notwithstanding be a direct Prayer to God and the Redeeming Angel 'T is well known how the Jews commonly delivered their Petitions to God in this form And yet I can't forbear giving one instance to confirm it You may read it in Deut. vi 22 c. And the Lord said to Moses saying Speak to Aaron and his Sons thus shall you bless the children of Israel and say The Lord bless thee and keep thee 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Lord make his face shine upon thee and be gracious unto thee the Lord lift up his countenance upon thee and give thee peace And they shall invoke my name for the children of Israel so our Translation is to be mended and I will bless them So that in plain terms the form of Blessing here prescribed by God is called Invocation I cannot therefore see what should hinder but that we after Jacob's example may offer up our Prayers to a created Angel supposing as some do that Jacob prayed for a Blessing to such a kind of Angel De Sanct. Beat. l. 1. c. 29. Corn. A Lap. on Gen. xlviii It is a necessary consequence that Bellarmine and others of his Communion draw from this instance Holy Jacob invoked an Angel therefore it is not unlawful for the pretended reformed to do the like therefore one may worship others besides God these things saith he cannot be denied unless you reckon Prayer to be no act of Worship not peculiar to God alone But let them of his Church get out of these difficulties as they can who believe Jacob's Angel to have been a meer Creature Let them try how they can convince a Socinian from Ephes i. 2. and other places of Scripture where Worship is ascribed to Christ The Socinian has his answer ready he may wish and pray to Christ for Grace though he be not God since he does no more than Jacob did when he prayed for a Blessing on his Children to a meer Angel I am more concerned for these Divines of the Reformed Church who have given the same Interpretation of Jacob's Angel