230 APPEARANCES OF THE SON OF GOD [EXERC. X.
dreams, and appearances, or representations, of himself, instructing them in his future condition from the beginning; and God who con- versed with men on earth was no other but the Word who was to be made flesh.” The other is Justin Martyr, whose words need not be produced, seeing it is known how he contends for this very thing in his dialogue with Trypho.
21. That which is more direct unto our purpose, is to inquire into the apprehensions of the Jewish masters concerning the divine ap- pearances insisted on, granted unto the patriarchs and church of old, with what may thence be collected for their conviction concern- ing the person of the Messiah. The most part of their expositors do, IT confess, pass over the difficulties of the places mentioned (I mean those which are such unto their present infidelity) without taking the least notice of them. Some would have the angel mentioned to be Michael, unto whom they assign a prerogative above the other angels, who preside over other countries; but who that Michael is, and wherein that prerogative doth consist, they know not. Some say that Michael is the high priest of heaven, who offers up the prayers of the righteous: so R. Menachem. “ He is the priest above, that offereth or presenteth the souls of the righteous,” saith another, more agreeably unto the truth than they are aware of. One signal — instance only of the evidence of the truth insisted on, in the words of Moses Nachmanides Gerundensis, on Exod. xxiii., which hath been taken notice of by many, shall at present suffice. His words are: “ Iste Angehis, si rem ipsam dicamus, est Angelus Redemptor, de quo scriptum est, ‘Quoniam nomen meum in ipso est; ille mquam Angelus qui ad Jacob dicebat, Gen. xxxi. 13, ‘Ego Deus Bethel;’ ille de quo dictum est, Exod. ui. 4, ‘Et vocabat Mosen Deus de rubo.’ Vocatur autem Angelus quia mundum gubernat: scriptum est enim, Deut. vi. 21, ‘Eduxit vos Jehovah ex Algypto;’ et alibi, Num. xx. 16, ‘Misit Angelum suum, et eduxit vos ex Aigypto.’ Praeterea scriptum est, Esa. 1xi. 9, ‘ Et Angelus faciei ejus salvos fecit ipsos,—nimirum ille Angelus cui est Dei facies; de quo dictum est, Exod. xxxiii. 14, ‘ Facies mea preeibit, et efficiam ut quiescas.’ Denique, ille Angelus est de quo vates, Mal. iii. 1, ‘Et subito veniet ad templum suum Dominus, quem vos queritis, et Angelus foederis, quem cupitis.’” And again to the same purpose: “ Animadverte attenté quid ista sibi velint, ‘Facies mea preeibit;’ Moses enim et Israelites semper opta- verunt angelum primum, ceeterum quis ille esset vere intelligere non potuerunt, neque enim ab aliis percipiebant, neque prophetica no- tione satis assequebantur. Atqui ‘facies Dei’ ipsum Deum significat, quod apud omnes interpretes est in confesso. Verum ne per som- nium quidem ista intelligere quisquam possit, nisi sit in mysteriis legis eruditus.” And again: “ ‘Facies mea preecedet;’ hoe est, ‘An- gelus foederis, quem vos cupitis, in quo videbitur facies-mea;’ de quo
SECT. 21, 22.] UNDER THE OLD TESTAMENT. 231
dictum est, ‘Tempore accepto exaudiam te; nomen meum in eo est; faciamque ut quiescas; sive efficiam ut ipse tibi sit lenis et benig- nus, neque te ducat per rigidum, sed placide et clementer ;’”—“ This Angel, if we speak exactly, is the Angel the Redeemer, concerning whom it is written, ‘My name is in him, Exod. xxiii. 21; that Angel who said unto Jacob, ‘I am the God of Bethel, Gen. xxxi. 13; he of whom it is said, ‘And God called unto Moses out of the bush,’ Exod. iii, 4. And he is called an Angel because he governeth
the world: for it is written, Deut. vi. 21, ‘The Lorp brought us out of Egypt;’ and elsewhere, Num. xx. 16, ‘ He sent his Angel, and
brought us out of Egypt.’ Moreover, it is written, Isa. xii. 9, ‘ And
the Angel of his face (presence) saved them,’—namely, that Angel who is the face of God; of whom it is said, Exod. xxxiii. 14, ‘My
face shall go before thee, and I will cause thee to rest.’ Lastly, it
is that Angel of whom the prophet speaks, Mal. iii. 1, ‘And the Lord,
whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, the Angel of the covenant, whom ye delight in.” His following words are to
the same purpose: “ Mark diligently what is the meaning of these
words, ‘ My face shall go before thee;’ for Moses and the Israelites
always desired the chiefest Angel, but who that was they could not
truly understand, for neither could they learn it of any others nor
obtain it by prophecy. But the ‘face of God’ signifieth God himself,
as all interpreters acknowledge. But no man can have the least
knowledge hereof unless he be skilled in the mysteries of the law.”
He adds moreover: “ ‘ My face shall go before thee,’ that is, ‘ the
Angel of the covenant, whom ye desire, in whom my face shall be
seen; of whom it is said, ‘ In an acceptable time have I heard thee;
my name is in him; I will cause thee to rest, or cause that he shall
be gentle or kind unto thee, nor shall lead thee with rigour, but
quietly and mercifully.’ ”
22. This R. Moses Bar Nachman wrote about the year of the Lord 1220, in Spain, and died at Jerusalem anno 1260, and he is one of the chiefest masters of the Jews. And there are many things occurring in his writings beyond the common rate of their present apprehensions, as in the places cited he doth plainly evert one of