Of the Doctrines, Worship, and Faith of those earliest mentioned
in Scripture--Reference to the History of Moses, Noah, Joshua.
Waiving for the present a notice of many analogous instances in other
parts of Scripture, it may be observed that there are, in the history of
the patriarchs, a variety of statements and expressions which, from the
occasions to which they relate, the connections in which they occur, or
the things specified, naturally imply the local personal presence of the
Divine speaker, especially when considered in connection with the
instances in which it is clearly shown that he was visibly present. In
the course of that history there are numerous intimations that the
worshippers of Jehovah had places appropriated to their religious
services, where they offered prayers and sacrifices, and where, by an
audible voice, he held immediate and familiar converse with them. Thus
in the first recorded instance of worship, Gen. iv., we read that Cain,
and Abel also, "brought an offering unto Jehovah. And Jehovah had
respect unto Abel and to his offering: but unto Cain and his offering he
had not respect; and Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell. And
Jehovah said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance
fallen?" It is apparent from this narrative, and from their dissimilar
occupations, that they prepared their offerings not in concert, but
separately from each other; that they brought them to the same place at
the same time; that they respectively offered them to Jehovah; and that
he was present in such a way as to be recognized by them, for he
immediately indicated to their apprehension and conviction his
acceptance of one and rejection of the other, and spoke directly and
pointedly to Cain. After his slaughter of Abel, and probably on his
resorting again to the place of worship and Divine manifestation,
Jehovah spoke again to him, and pronounced a curse upon him for his
crime; to which Cain replied, as though not unaccustomed to speak to
Jehovah, and said, among other things, as though conscious that he was
excommunicated and banished from the consecrated place: "From thy _face_
shall I be hid, and I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond in the
earth.... And Cain went out from the _presence_ of Jehovah." Strongly
implying that he had been accustomed to the visible presence, and had
seen Jehovah, and that banishment from that place forbade the hope of
such vision of him again.
It is evident from the details and circumstances of this scene, and
from references to it in other parts of Scripture, that there was no
want of intelligence in either of the parties, as to the nature and
import of their offerings, the ritual and reference which they implied,
or the righteous discrimination and the moral bearing and significance
of the verdicts and consequences in their respective cases. "Cain was of
the wicked one," a disciple and servant of the great adversary, and slew
his brother "because his own works were evil and his brother's
righteous." He knew, as the questions which Jehovah addressed to him
imply, that if he did well, if with the like faith he made an offering
like that of Abel, he would in like manner be accepted; and that he had
no just ground to be angry, or even to be disappointed on being rejected
for taking a contrary course. But he brought--not like Abel a sin
offering, implying a conviction and acknowledgment of his personal
sinfulness, and of his faith in that great expiatory sacrifice to which
his typical offering owed all its significance--but an offering of
fruits, an expression of acknowledgment to the Creator, which implied no
acknowledgment on his part of his being a sinner and needing a Saviour,
or of his having any faith in the prefigured atonement, or any
disposition to conform to the ritual of worship. The faith of Abel
exhibited on this occasion was, like that of Abraham, effectual to his
justification; a faith in the person, sacrifice, and righteousness of
the Divine Redeemer; and is the first on the illustrious roll recorded,
Heb. xi. And from the nature of the case, as well as from the
particulars of the narrative, we must conclude that his offering was in
all respects an example of conformity to the ritual of worship
instituted by Jehovah, that it comprised not merely firstlings of his
flock, but such as had all the characteristics which are specified in
subsequent records; that it was made by fire on an altar, at a place
appropriated to that object; that it was a medium of his faith and an
expression of his homage and obedience, solely by reason of its
reference to the person and prefiguration of the atoning sacrifice of
Christ; and that it was rendered to that Person then locally present, in
the form which he was at length permanently to assume, and in which his
sacrifice of himself was to be made. So far at least as these
particulars are concerned, the ritual and rationale of the worship
prescribed does not appear to have been changed during the patriarchial
dispensation, nor in that which ensued, though in the Mosaic ritual many
details were added on the basis of those originally prescribed. The
method of acceptable worship, the immediate object of homage, and the
faith which was unto salvation, continued the same; and it is clear from
the narratives in various instances, that burnt offerings, typical
sacrifices, were made to the delegated one, personating the promised
Seed, under the designation of Jehovah, or Melach Jehovah, when he was
locally and visibly present.
It is to be considered that Moses wrote about 2500 years after the
creation; that the children of Israel had retained the language and
customs of their ancestors, so as to render it superfluous to
particularize either the religious or civil institutions of earlier
times, any farther than was necessary to the personal narratives or
historical notices of individuals and families. They understood and
practised what had been handed down from the beginning through Noah,
Abraham, Jacob, and others, and though to some extent infected with the
idolatrous spirit of the Egyptians, were familiar with the ritual, the
sacrifices and offerings, and other institutions of the revealed system
of religion. Moreover, all that concerned their religious doctrines and
rites was, under his ministry, renewed, and with new revelations and
ordinances set forth in writing for their instruction, and that of their
successors. Hence the scanty, and for the most part merely incidental,
mention of things of that nature in his retrospective history. It by no
means follows from the brevity and infrequency of his notices, that such
men as Abel, Enoch, Lamech, Noah, Shem, Job, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,
whose united lives extended from the first institution of religious
rites down to the settlement of Israel in Egypt, had not a clear and
comprehensive knowledge of all the leading truths and essential
doctrines of revealed religion, which were known to Moses or any of his
successors prior to the advent of Christ. On the contrary, judging from
the characters and relations which they sustained, the personal converse
with Jehovah which most of them are recorded to have had, and the
references made to several of them in the prophets and in the New
Testament, we must conclude that they had such knowledge. They received
instruction directly from the Great Revealer. Most of them were, at
times, inspired, and prophesied. And one might as well conclude that
Solomon did not understand even the simplest forms of numerical
computation, because mathematics are not mentioned among the subjects
upon which he spoke or wrote, as to conclude, because so little is
recorded of them in detail by Moses, that these men of world-wide
celebrity for their religious faith and practice, and their eminence as
princes and heads of nations, did not understand the doctrines and the
faith which they professed, and for which they are set forth as examples
to Christian believers under the present dispensation.
The possession of such knowledge on their part, and the reality of the
local presence and often the visible appearance of the Messiah, the
Messenger Jehovah, may be illustrated by reference to the personal
history of Moses, Noah, and Joshua, and to the use of terms by them and
by other sacred writers.
After the children of Israel had sojourned in Egypt about four hundred
years, Moses was called to conduct them to the land of promise. By
oppressive laws and rigorous exactions under a new dynasty of kings
towards the close of the period of their bondage, they were greatly
depressed. At the birth of Moses, however, there were those who had
faith, and the knowledge of the true religion was by no means generally
effaced. In the exercise of faith his parents concealed him three
months. "The children of Israel sighed by reason of their bondage, and
they cried, and their cry came up unto _the_ Elohim by reason of the
bondage. And Elohim heard their groaning, and Elohim remembered his
covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob; and Elohim looked
upon the children of Israel, and Elohim had respect unto them." Exod.
ii. The people generally, it would seem, cried to the Elohe of their
fathers for relief, and were heard and regarded.
Though from childhood to the age of forty Moses was one of the family
and court of Pharaoh, and probably, therefore, could have had no
peculiar advantages of instruction in the true religion, he nevertheless
had such knowledge and experience of it, that "by faith, when he was
come to years, he refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter;
choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to
enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; esteeming the reproach of
Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt: for he had respect
unto the recompense of the reward." Heb. xi.
In this brief testimony concerning him, we clearly recognize the faith
of Abraham, and of the prophets and martyrs of later times. He made no
compromises with the honors, riches, or pleasures of the world, but
renounced them. He sought not to serve two masters. He clearly discerned
what distinguished the people of God from idolaters and unbelievers, and
was well aware of the afflictions and trials which were consequent on
their faith, and their allegiance and obedience to the Messiah, the
Divine Mediator, the Messenger Jehovah, the Christ. In the certain
prospect of affliction, reproaches, and sufferings, he chose publicly to
manifest his faith and allegiance by his conduct. He forsook the court
of Pharaoh, renounced the pleasures of sin and the riches of Egypt, and
welcomed the cross.
In the family of Jethro, the priest of Midian, he probably found true
worshippers, and met with nothing detrimental to his sentiments; and by
the scene in which the Messenger Jehovah visibly appeared to him,
doubtless his faith was so confirmed, and his knowledge increased, as to
qualify him for the extraordinary services to which he was called. Hence
we further read of him that, after the miracles and plagues by which
Pharaoh was at length made to yield, "By faith he forsook Egypt, not
fearing the wrath of the king.... And by faith he kept the passover and
the sprinkling of blood." Heb. xi.
Now it is in the light of his character as thus referred to--of his
knowledge and experience of the true religion as held by the people of
God then and in earlier times--of his faith in the person and
mediatorial work of the Messiah--that we are to regard him as the writer
of the primeval and patriarchal history; and if it is evident that he
recognized the Messiah in the person of the Messenger Jehovah, and that
in all his subsequent narratives he designated the same official person
by the terms Jehovah, Elohim, and Elohe, as well as by the terms
Messenger, Adon, and Adonai, then it is safe to conclude that he
intended to designate the same Person by the same terms in the earlier
history.
At the period of the legation of Moses, the word Elohim was in familiar
use in Egypt and among the Israelites as the designation of the object
of religious homage; very probably it was the only name of God known to
the people generally. Moses accordingly, in the first two chapters of
Exodus, which probably were written before the book of Genesis, employs
that name only. The third chapter opens with the announcement of the
Messenger Jehovah appearing in the bush, and in its progress applies to
him indifferently the names Elohim and Jehovah; and in the fourth and
ensuing chapters, the same, and Adonai and El-Shadai, but most
frequently Jehovah.
If now we suppose the book of Genesis to have been written by him after
the events in Egypt, at the Red Sea, and at mount Sinai, and the setting
up of the tabernacle, (which occurred about twelve months after the
exodus,) where the people, though generally familiar only with the name
Elohim, must have become in some degree used to the name Jehovah, we may
perhaps discern a fitness and beauty in the first announcements of the
Creator in Genesis; where, in the first chapter and the first three
verses of the second, the name Elohim only is used; in the second, from
the fourth verse, the name Jehovah Elohim, and in the ensuing chapters
these names separately and conjointly, and various other designations,
as Melach Jehovah, Adonai, and El-Shadai. In numerous instances the
_article_ is prefixed to the name Elohim, as if emphatically to
designate the God of Israel, the Creator, as _the_ true Elohim, in
distinction from the false god of idolaters.
By this method he recalled, and reëstablished in the minds of the
people, all the Divine designations known to the patriarchs of preceding
ages, and their reference and applicability as designations to the one
mediatorial Person; rendering it plain that _the_ Elohim of the
Israelites in Egypt, and of the first chapter of Genesis, was identical
with Jehovah, Melach the Messenger, Adonai, &c. In this view the
resemblance of the first verses of the Gospel of John is noticeable,
considering that it was his object to identify the Christ, as he
appeared visibly incarnate, with Elohim the Creator announced in the
first verses of Genesis.
Let it then be observed that in the narrative, Exod. iii. and iv., it is
evident that one Divine personage only is referred to and designated by
the several titles which are employed. That Divine personage appeared to
Moses in the established or visible glory, the bright cloud-like
envelope so familiar afterwards on mount Sinai and in the tabernacle.
Moses, recording this appearance, says, "The Messenger Jehovah appeared
to him." This was a person bearing an official title--one sent--the
Messenger of the Covenant, for whose appearance incarnate John Baptist
was to prepare the way, Mal. iii. Moses turned to behold the sight. And
when Jehovah, he who appeared in the visible glory, the Messenger, saw
that he turned aside to see, Elohim, that is, the person in the visible
Shaking, "called unto him out of the midst of the bush, ... and said, I
am the Elohe of thy father, the Elohe of Abraham, the Elohe of Isaac,
and the Elohe of Jacob. And Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to
look upon Elohim;" that is, upon the ineffable glory of the Person, the
Messenger Jehovah, the Elohim, who thus visibly appeared to him. "And
Jehovah said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are
in Egypt, and have heard their cry, ... and _I am come down_ to deliver
them:" come down as a Person, so as to be locally and visibly present.
The Elohim to whom the children of Israel cried, (chap. ii.,) and who
heard their cry, is, on his first appearing visibly, called the
Messenger Jehovah, and here announces himself to be Jehovah who had
heard their cry and come down to deliver them. So surely therefore as
these acts of seeing the affliction of the people, hearing their cry,
coming down, and speaking to Moses, are the acts of a Person, this
narrative and these several designations relate to one and the same
Person; and this Person is shown to be the Messiah by his official
title.
It being thus manifest that, as a Person locally and visibly appearing,
these several designations were equally applicable to him, Moses in the
next ensuing verses calls him Elohim, and asks by what name he shall
designate him to the children of Israel. It is to be observed that there
is no record of any visible appearance of the Messenger Jehovah prior to
this since the days of Jacob; and it is probable that the names Jehovah
and Messenger Jehovah, though known to the true worshippers, were not
familiar to the people generally. But these designations being peculiar,
and more distinguishing than that of Elohim, which was in common use
among idolaters, were now to be proclaimed and brought into familiar
use. "And Elohim said unto Moses, I am that I am; and he said, Thus
shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you:"
expressions equivalent to those of John, "In him was life," "I am he
that liveth;" that is, the self-existent. "And Elohim said moreover
unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, Jehovah
Elohe of your fathers, the Elohe of Abraham, the Elohe of Isaac, and the
Elohe of Jacob, hath sent me unto you.... Go and gather the elders of
Israel together, and say unto them, Jehovah Elohe of your fathers, the
Elohe of Abraham, of Isaac and of Jacob, _appeared_ unto me, saying, I
have surely visited you and seen that which is done to you in Egypt."
But it was the Messenger Jehovah who _appeared_ to him, and speaking
from the midst of the bush said, "I am the Elohe of thy father, the
Elohe of Abraham, the Elohe of Isaac, and the Elohe of Jacob.... I have
surely seen the affliction of _my people_ which are in Egypt, and have
heard their cry."
Again: "The elders of Israel shall hearken to thy voice, and thou shalt
come, thou and the elders of Israel, unto the king of Egypt, and ye
shall say unto him, Jehovah Elohe of the Hebrews hath _met_ with us....
And now let us go that we may sacrifice to Jehovah our Elohe." Jehovah
Elohe of the Hebrews, and the Angel Jehovah who appeared to Moses, is
therefore one and the same Person. The Messenger Jehovah, the Person who
locally and visibly met with Moses, was the Elohe of the patriarchial
dispensation.
In what follows, chap. iv., for the encouragement and confirmation of
Moses, the power of working miracles is imparted to him by Jehovah, that
the people might "believe that Jehovah Elohe of their fathers, the Elohe
of Abraham, and the Elohe of Isaac, and the Elohe of Jacob, hath
appeared unto thee." By thus demonstrating the reality of the
appearance, he would no less conclusively show that the appearance of
the Messenger Jehovah was no other than the appearance locally and
personally of the Elohe of their fathers.
Jehovah, still conversing with Moses, said, (verse 11,) "Who hath made
man's mouth, or who maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the
blind? Have not I, Jehovah? Now therefore go, and I will be with thy
mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say." Here the same Person, the
Messenger, asserts the prerogatives of Creator, and the office of
prophet or teacher. When Moses and Aaron had gathered the elders of
Israel, "Aaron spake all the words which Jehovah had spoken unto Moses,
and did the signs in the sight of the people. And the people believed;
and when they heard that Jehovah," that is, the Messenger, "had visited
the children of Israel, and that he had looked upon their afflictions,"
which the Messenger asserted of himself, "then they bowed their heads
and worshipped."
In the progress of the narrative, and throughout the writings of Moses,
the use of the same Divine appellations as in chap. iii. and iv.,
indifferently and interchangeably, with reference to the same acts,
leaves no room to doubt but that the same Divine personage is uniformly
referred to. Generally, that Person is called Jehovah when he speaks to
Moses. When he appears visibly, as in the cloudy pillar, he is called
the Messenger Jehovah. When his attributes or relations, as in covenant,
are referred to, he is called the Elohe. In all cases alike he is the
official Person, the Messiah, the Messenger of the Covenant. Hence
Stephen, Acts vii., referring to the whole period of Moses' intercourse
with him, says, "This Moses is he that was in the church in the
wilderness with _the Messenger_ which spake to him in the mount Sinai,
and with our fathers, who received the lively oracles to give unto us."
Thus it was the Messenger who spoke to Moses and to the elders and
people at mount Sinai, though he is there called Jehovah and Elohim.
"And Jehovah said unto Moses, Lo, I come unto thee in a thick cloud,
that the people may hear when I speak with thee, and believe thee for
ever.... And Jehovah came down upon mount Sinai on the top of the
mount.... And Elohim spake all these words, saying, I am Jehovah thy
Elohe, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, &c.... And the
people [at the close of the scene] said unto Moses, Speak thou with us,
and we will hear, but let not Elohim speak with us lest we die." Exod.
xix., xx. Here the several Divine appellations are by Moses employed to
designate the Person whom Stephen calls the Messenger. And Moses, Deut.
v., says, "Jehovah talked with you face to face in the mount, out of the
midst of the fire."
Once more, Exod. xiv. 19, Moses, speaking of the passage of the
Israelites through the sea, says, "The Messenger Elohim, which went
before the camp of Israel, removed and went behind them; and the pillar
of the cloud went from before their face, and stood behind them: and it
came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel, and it
was a cloud and darkness to them, but it gave light by night to these."
Here the same Person who is elsewhere called the Messenger Jehovah, is
called the Messenger Elohim. This Person, and his change of position,
are distinguished from the cloudy pillar, and its removal from the front
to the rear of the camp. The Divine acts which ensued are ascribed to
Jehovah; among which we are told that "Jehovah looked unto the host of
the Egyptians _through the pillar of fire and of the cloud_, and
troubled the host of the Egyptians." But it was the Messenger who was in
the pillar of fire, (the Shekina,) and who therefore looked through the
pillar of cloud which had been interposed between him and the
Egyptians.
Suppose the Israelites under Moses to have had a knowledge, by previous
revelations, of the truth concerning the person and work of Christ, and
the way of salvation through him. In that case, such revelations not being
committed to writing prior to Moses, but having been matter of oral
instruction, were significantly expressed in an outward and visible manner
by typical sacrifices, and other religious rites and prescriptions. By
complying with these rites, the devout Israelite expressed his faith in
the revealed truths which they were employed to recall and commemorate.
The visible types were illustrative of revealed truths already known. They
were not the medium of a revelation, but a medium through which faith in
an existing revelation and obedience to it were expressed. Their office
was not prophetic, but illustrative.
Thus, when under the Levitical economy the high priest, duly prepared
and arrayed, entered the most holy place, his official person and acts
constituted a striking visible emblem of certain truths concerning the
Messiah's person and sacerdotal work. Beholding that visible token and
illustration of these truths, the believer's faith was called into
exercise. So when the priest offered a sacrifice of atonement and
sprinkled the blood, burnt incense, or performed any other official act;
and when the worshipper laid his hand on the head of the animal to be
sacrificed, celebrated the paschal supper, or complied in any other
respect with the prescribed ritual.
This method of worship and obedience through significant tokens and
visible emblems, and types illustrative of known truths, was instituted
soon after the fall, and suited in all respects the economy of outward
and visible manifestation which prevailed down to the advent of Christ.
Thus Abel, the patriarchs and prophets, worshipped, and thus Simeon and
Anna at the time of the incarnation.
Of the patriarch Noah we read, Genesis vi.-ix., that he found grace in
the eyes of Jehovah; that he was a righteous man; that he walked with
(the) Elohim; that Elohim repeatedly spoke to him, directed him to build
an ark, and prescribed the form of it, forewarned him of the deluge and
of its object, directed him to enter the ark, and shut him in; that he
did according to all that Jehovah commanded him; that Elohim directed
him to go forth from the ark; that he built an altar unto Jehovah, took
of animals denominated clean, and offered burnt offerings on the altar,
and was accepted; that Elohim blessed Noah and his sons, prescribed
certain laws to be observed thereafter, and announced a covenant of
which the rainbow was made a perpetual token.
In all these communications, the form of address is like that of a
person locally and visibly present: "I, even I, _do bring_ a flood of
waters upon the earth to destroy all flesh.... But with thee will I
establish my covenant.... _Come_ thou and all thy house into the ark;
for thee have I seen righteous _before me_, in this generation....
Elohim spake unto Noah and to his sons with him, saying, I, behold, I
establish my covenant with you and with your seed after you." And when
Noah offered burnt offerings on the altar, "Jehovah smelled a sweet
savor." From all which, and the occasion and nature of the things said
and done, and a comparison of this with the occasions of local
appearance to Abraham and others, which are declared to have been
visible, we may without presumption conclude that He who spake to Noah
was present in a visible form. That he was one of the most eminent and
most favored of those with whom Jehovah conversed, whose righteousness
he attested, and to whom he assigned the most important services, and
imparted the highest gifts, is shown by his being named first of the
three, who, by their preëminent righteousness, might, if present, be
expected by the captive Israelites to shield them from exterminating
judgments. "Though these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in the
land, they should deliver but their own souls by their righteousness,
saith Jehovah Elohim." Ezekiel xiv. And if there was, in the course of
the patriarchial or Levitical dispensations, any occasion on which the
nature and magnitude of the events were reasons for the local and
visible presence of Jehovah, surely that of the judicial destruction of
the whole race, excepting Noah and his family, may be assumed to have
been such.
The word translated altar is from a root which signifies _to kill_, _to
slaughter_ animals _for sacrifice_, _to sacrifice_; also _a sacrifice,_
the _victim_, or _thing_, _sacrificed_; and in the form translated
_altar_ it denotes the place or instrument of sacrifice, on which the
slaughtered victim (wholly or in part) was consumed by fire, and the
blood poured out or sprinkled. See Levit. viii. 21, 24, xvii. 6, and
elsewhere. Accordingly, to build an altar unto Jehovah, was to erect a
structure on which to offer to him slaughtered animals, to be consumed
(probably in all instances of acceptable worship) by fire caused
immediately by him. Such altars were, in many instances, and probably in
all, erected by his direction, and at places specified by him, and they
were places of customary worship and of Divine manifestation. It would
therefore be incongruous and preposterous to suppose that the
worshippers did not understand the doctrines and typical references
involved in the system, as well as the ritual forms and observances.
The altar of burnt offerings, above referred to as the instrument of
sacrifice by the shedding of blood, was typical of the cross as the
instrument on which our Lord offered himself a sacrifice; and to this
undoubtedly the true worshippers had reference, which implies a right
apprehension of his person and office, as well as of the necessity and
efficacy of his expiatory death, and its relation to the justification
and acceptance of believers. His personal presence, in a form adapted to
suggest such apprehensions, would seem to have been as necessary, when
typical offerings were made by Abel, Noah, and others, during the
patriarchial dispensation, as when made in the tabernacle and temple,
where he was present in the visible Shekina, as is hereafter to be more
particularly noticed. At present it may suffice to observe, that since
he is declared to have been present in the likeness of man, and as the
Melach Jehovah, on some occasions when burnt offerings were offered to
him with his sanction and acceptance, as in that relating to Isaac in
the history of Abraham, that of his appearance to Manoah, and that to
Gideon, it may reasonably be inferred that his personal presence was
equally requisite on all occasions of similar offerings.
The local personal presence of Jehovah in the form in which he was often
visible is implied and affirmed in passages like the following:
When the children of Israel at Rephidim murmured against Moses because
they had no water, Jehovah directed Moses to advance with the people
and the elders, and said, "Behold, _I will stand before thee_ upon the
rock in Horeb, and thou shalt smite the rock," &c. "And Moses called the
name of the place Massah, &c., because of the chiding of the children of
Israel, and because they tempted Jehovah, saying, Is Jehovah among us or
not?" Exod. xvii. 7; _i. e._, is he personally and locally present or
not?
After the apostasy manifested in making a molten calf, Jehovah said to
Moses, Depart with the people, &c., and I will send _an_ angel before
thee; for I will not go up in the midst of thee, lest I consume thee,
&c. Moses having removed the tabernacle out of the camp, the cloudy
pillar _descended and stood_ at the door of the tabernacle; and Jehovah
talked with Moses. And Jehovah spake unto Moses face to face, as a man
speaketh unto his friend. Moses having expressed his great anxiety at
the proposed substitution of _an_ angel, and prayed for further
instruction, Jehovah said, "My presence shall go with thee;" and he
said, "If thy presence [_i. e._, thou, thyself] go not with me, carry us
not up hence. For wherein shall it be known here that I and thy people
have found grace in _thy_ sight? Is it not in that _thou goest with us_?
So shall we be separated, I and thy people, from all the people that are
upon the face of the earth." Moses, for further assurance, desired to
see the splendor of Jehovah's person, and, in a modified degree, his
request was granted. Jehovah descended--his glory passed by, &c. Exod.
xxxiii. 34. This whole scene implies his local personal presence, in
distinction from his universal, invisible presence.
The visible Deity is intended in all such phrases as, "before the Lord,"
"being seen," "going with," "among you," "in the midst of you," &c., a
local reference being manifest.
"Ye have despised Jehovah which is among you." Numb. xi. 20.
The Egyptians "have heard that thou, Jehovah, art among this people;
that thou, Jehovah, art seen face to face; and that thy cloud standeth
over them; and that thou goest before them by day-time in a pillar of a
cloud, and in a pillar of fire by night." Numb. xiv. 14. Thus Moses
argued to avert the destruction threatened on occasion of the murmuring
at the report of the spies. The passage clearly imports that it was
Jehovah himself who was seen face to face, and who went in the cloud.
So when a portion of the people resolved presumptuously to proceed,
Moses says, Go not up, for Jehovah is not among you. Numb. xiv. 42;
Deut. i. 42.
"The Lord thy God walketh in the midst of thy camp." Deut. xxiii. 14.
In the future misery and desolation of the people they will say, "Are
not these evils come upon us because our God is not among us?" Deut.
xxxi. 17.
When the Israelites were about to cross the Jordan to Jericho, Joshua,
referring to the miracle by which they were to pass over dry-shod, says,
"Hereby ye shall know that the living God is among you."
Moses is directed to exclude lepers, "that they defile not the camp in
the midst of which I dwell." Numb. v. 3.
"The sons of God came to present themselves _before_ Jehovah; and Satan
came also amongst them." Job i. 6. The context shows that a local
personal presence is intended.
"God is in the midst of her, she shall not be moved." Ps. xlvi. 5.
"Great is the Holy One in the midst of thee." Isa. xii. 6. "I am God and
not man, the Holy One in the midst of thee." Hosea xi. 9. "Thou, O
Jehovah, art in the midst of us; leave us not." Jer. xiv. 9.
Joel, predicting the millennium, says, ii. 27, "Ye shall know that I am
in the midst of Israel, and that I am the Lord your God, and none else."
See Zeph. iii. 15-17: "The King of Israel, even Jehovah, is in the midst
of thee; thou shalt not see evil any more. The Lord thy God in the midst
of thee is mighty." And Zech. ii. 5, x. 11, and viii. 3: "For I, saith
Jehovah, will be the glory in the midst of her. Lo, I come, and I will
dwell in the midst of thee, saith Jehovah. And many nations, &c. Thus
saith Jehovah, I am _returned_ unto Zion, and will dwell in the midst of
Jerusalem; and Jerusalem shall be called, A city of truth; and the
mountain of the Lord of Hosts, The holy mountain."
Jesus himself stood in the midst, &c. Luke xxiv. 36, John, &c. In the
midst of the seven candlesticks. Rev. i. 13; ii. 1. In the midst of the
throne stood a Lamb. Rev. v. 6.
The angel Jehovah appeared in a flame of fire out of the midst of a
bush. Exod. iii. 2. Jehovah spake out of the midst of the fire. Deut.
iv. 12.
"Jehovah said unto Moses, Lo, _I come_ to thee in a thick cloud, that
the people may _hear_ when I speak with thee. Be ready, ... for the
third day Jehovah will _come down_ in the _sight_ of all the people upon
mount Sinai.... And on the third day, in the morning, there were
thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mount.... And Moses
brought forth the people out of the camp to _meet with the Elohim_; and
they stood at the nether part of the mount. And mount Sinai was
altogether on a smoke, because Jehovah _descended_ upon it in fire....
And ... Moses spake, and (_the_) Elohim answered him by a voice. And
Jehovah _came down_ upon mount Sinai, on the top of the mount; and
Jehovah called Moses up to the top of the mount; and Moses went up....
And Elohim spake, saying, I am Jehovah, thy Elohe.... Thou shalt have no
other Elohim before me." Exod. xix., xx.
If the acts here attributed to Moses are literally described, so also
are those of Jehovah. If Moses literally went up to the top of the
mount, the narrative no less plainly avers that Jehovah came down to the
top of Sinai. He came down visibly--in the sight of the people; was
personally and locally present.
On another occasion, chap. xxiv., he said unto Moses, "_Come up unto
Jehovah_, thou and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders,
and worship ye _afar off_; and Moses alone shall _come near Jehovah_,
but they _shall not come nigh_.... Then went up Moses and Aaron, Nadab
and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel; and they _saw the Elohe
of Israel_, and there was under _his feet_ as it were a paved work....
They _saw (the) Elohim_, and did eat and drink."
No terms could well express more distinctly a personal appearance, in
the form seen by Abraham and others. His person was manifest to their
senses. They ate and drank in his presence, who in the same form partook
of a repast with the patriarch, and walked and conversed with him as one
human person does with another.
"Jehovah called unto Moses out of the midst of the cloud.... And Moses
went into the midst of the cloud." Exod. xxvi. 16, 18. The cloud then
was such that Moses could subsist in and be enveloped by it.
"And Jehovah said, I will _appear_ in the cloud upon the mercy-seat."
Levit. xvi. 2. In this and similar instances a local personal appearance
is evidently intended. No such phraseology would be suited to indicate
the omnipresence, or merely the spiritual presence of Jehovah. See Deut.
xxxi. 15.
"And the cloud of Jehovah was upon them by day when they went out of the
camp. And it came to pass when the ark set forward that Moses said,
_Rise up_, Jehovah, and let thine enemies be scattered, and let them
that hate thee flee before thee. And when it rested, he said, _Return_,
O Jehovah, unto the many thousands of Israel." Numb. x. 35, 36.
On these occasions the cloud visibly rose above the tabernacle, and
advanced before the children of Israel; and again descended and rested
on the tabernacle. The address of Moses seems unintelligible, unless
Jehovah was personally present.
"And Jehovah _came down_ in the pillar of the cloud and stood in the
door of the tabernacle.... And he said, With Moses will _I speak mouth
to mouth, even apparently_; ... and _the similitude of Jehovah shall he
behold_." Numb. xii. Surely a local personal presence is here intended.
"At the door of the tabernacle _before_ Jehovah, I will meet you, to
speak there unto thee; and there I will meet with the children of
Israel; and the tabernacle shall be sanctified by my glory; and I will
_dwell among_ the children of Israel, and will be their Elohim. And they
shall know that I am Jehovah their Elohe, that brought them forth out of
the land of Egypt that I may _dwell among them_." Exod. xxix. 42-46.
"Defile not the land which ye shall inhabit, wherein I dwell: for I
Jehovah dwell among the children of Israel." Numb. xxxv. 34. "I have not
dwelt in any house since the time that I brought up the children of
Israel out of Egypt, even to this day, but have walked in a tent and in
a tabernacle. In all the places wherein I have walked with the children
of Israel," &c. 2 Sam. vii., and 1 Chron. xvii.
So of the phrases, "dwelleth between the cherubim," "sitteth between the
cherubim," and the like, which imply the local personal presence of
Jehovah.
The local presence and agency of the Messenger Jehovah, as Captain of
his hosts, and dictator to Joshua of all the steps taken by him in the
conquest and destruction of the Canaanites, is clearly indicated
throughout the book of Joshua.
Joshua had, for forty years in the wilderness, as minister to Moses,
been familiar with the personal presence, the agency, the miraculous
power, and the voice of the Messenger, in the tabernacle, in the pillar
of cloud by day and of fire by night, on mount Sinai, and on many
peculiar and special occasions.
His name properly signifies _Saviour_. The Hebrew word Jehoshua is
equivalent to the Greek name Jesus, or Saviour.
On the occurrence of the war with Amalek, shortly after the passage of
the Red Sea, Joshua was appointed by Moses to command the army of the
Israelites. He led out the chosen men of war, while Moses, Aaron, and
Hur took their station on a neighboring hill, where Moses held up the
rod of God, as a token that all the success under Joshua, in the
destruction of the Amalekites, was owing to the superior power of
Jehovah exerted specially on the occasion. When Moses held up his hand,
Israel prevailed; and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed.
The battle being ended by the discomfiture of Amalek and his people,
Jehovah said unto Moses, "Write this for a memorial, and rehearse it in
the ears of Joshua, That I will utterly put out the remembrance of
Amalek from under heaven. And Moses built an altar, and called the name
of it Jehovah Nissi," _i. e._, the Lord my banner. Exod. xvii.
Thus the supremacy and leadership of Jehovah was fully acknowledged. It
was his war, executed under the lieutenancy of Joshua, in accordance
with the specific directions given to Moses, and in the exercise of
faith in the will of Jehovah, as indicated by tokens of his appointment.
On the occasion of the giving of the tables of stone, Joshua accompanied
Moses, as his minister, into the mount of God. There they tarried forty
days, while "the sight of the glory of Jehovah was like devouring fire
on the top of the mount, in the eyes of the children of Israel." The
directions concerning the construction of the tabernacle were given on
that occasion. Exod. xxiv. When they descended from the mount, Joshua
seems first to have heard the shouting of the people before the molten
image they had made. Exod. xxxii.
In the progress of the events which succeeded this defection, the cloudy
pillar--the Shekina--descended from Sinai, and stood at the door of the
tabernacle, and Jehovah talked with Moses. "And Jehovah spake unto Moses
face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend. And Moses turned again
into the camp, but his minister Joshua departed not out of the
tabernacle." He, therefore, doubtless heard and saw the same as Moses.
Ibid. xxxiii.
He was one of those sent to examine and report concerning the land of
Canaan, Numb. xiii.; on which occasion, Moses changed his name from
Oshea to Jehoshua. Ten of those sent were unfaithful. The joint report
of Joshua and Caleb was true and faithful. The ten were destroyed by a
plague; the two were protected and preserved. Ibid. xiv.
Joshua was specially set apart as the successor of Moses, and
consecrated by the laying on of Moses' hands, in the presence of the
high priest and the congregation. Numb. xxvii. He, with the high priest,
was appointed to divide the land. Ibid. xxxiv. When Moses was forbidden
to enter the good land, he was notified that his minister Joshua would
lead the children of Israel thither, and commanded to encourage him.
Deut. i. 38. This he did, Deut. iii., and more emphatically, chap.
xxxi., when in the presence of all Israel he encouraged him, and cited
the predictions concerning his causing the people to inherit the land;
adding, "And Jehovah, he it is that doth go _before thee_; he will be
_with thee_; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee; fear not, neither
be dismayed."
On the death of Moses, we read that "Joshua, the son of Nun, was full of
the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands upon him; and the
children of Israel hearkened unto him, and did as Jehovah commanded
Moses." Deut. xxxiv.
Notwithstanding all this training, discipline, and intimate fellowship
with Moses for forty years, and the premonitions, designations and
predictions of him, as leader of Israel in place of Moses; yet such was
the sacredness and specialty of the relation in which he was to
officiate, that Jehovah spake unto Joshua, charged him with the duties
he was to perform, and promised him victory and complete success, in
case of his fidelity. "As I was with Moses, so _I will be with thee_. I
will not fail nor forsake thee. Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and
of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord
thy God _is with thee_ whithersoever thou goest." Josh. i.
Joshua was to act only upon the authority expressly delegated to him,
and in the strictest subordination to the directions previously given to
Moses, and those which Jehovah now and from time to time announced to
him. The circumstances, like those which attended Moses at the
commencement and throughout his official life, required an assured and
unwavering faith in the declared purposes, the promises, the presence
and power of Jehovah the Elohe of Israel, the king, preserver, teacher,
and guide of his people.
There was, no doubt, a degree of mysteriousness connected with the
personal and local manifestations of Jehovah, which rendered an
unwavering faith constantly requisite. The minds of men, no less at that
than at other periods, were most readily and strongly affected by
visible and familiar objects. The chief incitements to idolatry were
visible, and such as were supposed to be easily comprehended. The fears
of men, founded in their consciousness of guilt and ignorance, had
reference naturally to things invisible and mysterious. The conscious
depravity, corruption, blindness and ill-desert of men, in contrast with
the perfect holiness, righteousness, impartiality, and other perfections
of Jehovah, could not but excite their natural inclination to exclude
him from their thoughts, instead of loving and confiding in him, and
realizing his presence by faith.
Whether for these or other reasons, a strong, constant, unwavering faith
in the person and the perfections, prerogatives and works of Jehovah,
was not uniformly exhibited even by the patriarchs and prophets of the
ancient dispensation. That dispensation was specially characterized as
one of outward and visible manifestations, miraculous interpositions,
and audible revelations; yet in the most signal instances of strong
faith as occasioning it, some special and overpowering manifestation of
Jehovah was vouchsafed. Thus Abraham, on the occasion of entering into
and ratifying the covenant concerning the everlasting inheritance of the
promised land by his posterity, through Christ as his Seed; the Shekina
visibly appeared, passed between the pieces of the sacrifice, and
probably consumed them. And again, prior to the destruction of Sodom,
when that event was revealed, and the earlier promises were renewed to
him, Jehovah appeared in the form of man, and conversed and walked with
him.