There are two things concerning the Messiah which are the pillars and foundation of the church. The one is his divine nature; and the other, his work of mediation in the atonement for sin, which he was to make by his suffering, or the sacrifice of himself. For the declaration of these unto them who, according unto the promise, looked for his coming, there were two especial ways or means gra- ciously designed of God. The latter of these ways was that worship which he instituted, and the various sacrifices which he appointed to be observed in the church, as types and representations of that one perfect oblation which he was to offer in the fulness of time. The unfolding and particular application of this way of instruction is the principal design and scope of the apostle Paul in his Epistle unto the Hebrews. Whereas, therefore, that must be at large insisted on in our Exposition of that Epistle, I shall not anticipate what is to be spoken concerning it in these previous discourses, which are all in- tended to be in a subserviency thereunto. The other way, which con- cerns his divine person, was by those visions and appearances of the Son of God, as the head of the church, which were granted unto the fathers under the old testament. And these, as they are directly suited unto our purpose, in our inquiry after the prognostics of the advent of the Messiah, so are they eminently useful for the convic- tion of the Jews; for in them we shall manifest that a revelation was made of a distinct person in the Deity, who in a peculiar man- ner did manage all the concernments of the church after the entrance of sin. And herein, also, according unto our proposed method, we shall inquire what light concerning this truth hath been received by any of the Jewish masters; as also manifest what confusion they are driven unto, when they seek to evade the evidence that is in the testimonies to this purpose.
2. There is frequent mention in the Targumists of sD", “The Word of the Lord;” and it first occurs in them on the first appear- ance of a divine person after the sin and fall of Adam, Gen. iii. 8. The words of the original text are, 32 720M) Dyes nin? Sip~ms aye, —“ And they heard the voice of the LorD God walking in the gar- den.” The participle 1270), “walking,” may be as well referred unto Sip, “the voice,” as unto Dion nin’, “the Lorp God:” “ Vocem
Domini Dei ambulantem.” And although Sip most commonly sig- nifies Adyov xpopopixdy, or “ verbum prolatum,” the outward voice and sound thereof, yet when applied unto God, it frequently denotes Abyov évdidderov, “his almighty power,’ whereby he effecteth what-
SECT. 2.] UNDER THE OLD TESTAMENT. 217
ever he pleaseth. So Ps. xxix. 3-9, those things are ascribed nin iP, to this “ voice of the Lorp,” which elsewhere are assigned TH pnwurs rig duvdmews adrod, Heb. 1. 3, to “the word of his power ;”’ which the Syriac renders by “ the power of his word,” intending the same thing. Now, all these mighty works of creation or provi- dence, which are assigned 77° -\p?, to this “voice of the Lorp,” or TH phuars rig duvemews, to “the word of his power,” or “ his powerful word,” are immediately wrought per Adyov ob0100y or évurdorarov,—by the essential Word of God, John i. 3, Col. 1.16; which was with God “in the beginning,” or at the creation of all things, John i. 1, 2,-as his eternal wisdom, Prov. viii. 22-26, and power. This expression, there- fore, of M7) iP may also denote riv Adyov rod @e08, nar’ eZoyjv, the Word of God that is God, the essential Word of God, the person of the Son: for here our first parents heard this “ Word walking in the garden” before they heard the outward sound of any voice or words whatever; for God spake not unto them until after this: Gen. iii. 9, “The LorD God called unto Adam, and said unto him.”
And this change of the appearance of God some of the Jews take notice of. So the author of Tseror Hammor, Sect. Bereshith: wow xis yma xd ony PWIY) DDY ITD 7 NAD DN YT NDA pNP #2 on» sp ;—“ Before they sinned they saw the glory of the blessed God speaking with them; but after their sin they only heard his voice walking.” God dealt now otherwise with them than he did before. And the Chaldee paraphrast, observing that some especial presence of God is expressed in the words, renders them, 5p-n’ youn n3a2 Pann onds 4 SM ;—“ And they heard the voice of the Word of the Lord God walking in the garden.” So all the Tar- gums; and that of Jerusalem begins the next verse accordingly, paxd ods 9 sa N7p1;—“ And the Word of the Lord God called unto Adam.” And this expression they afterwards make use of in places innumerable, and that in such a way as plainly to denote a distinct person in the Deity. That this also was their intendment in it is hence manifest, because about the time of the writing of the efirst of those Targums, which gave “ normam loquendi,” the rule of speaking unto them that followed, it was usual amongst them to express their conceptions of the Son of God by the name of 6 Aéyog rod @<0¥, or “ the Word of God,” the same with % x71".