Narrative concerning Job.
In the narrative concerning Job, who is supposed to have lived in the
age preceding that of Abraham, we read, chapter i., that he from time to
time offered burnt offerings continually; and that "there was a day when
the sons of (the) Elohim came to present themselves before Jehovah, and
Satan came also among them. And Jehovah said unto Satan, Whence comest
thou?--And Satan went forth from the presence of Jehovah." A statement
in the same words is made in relation to another day, chapter ii.; from
which passages it appears that Job, as priest of his family, offered
typical sacrifices according to the custom of that age; and that there
was a place to which the true worshippers came to present themselves
before Jehovah--a place doubtless of customary resort for worship, and,
from the analogy of the patriarchal history, of visible manifestation.
They came there to present themselves before Jehovah, implying that he
was personally and locally present; which is also strongly implied in
the statement, on both occasions, that Satan went forth from _the
presence_ of Jehovah. That adversary and accuser of the sons of Elohim
was literally present, and it is not perceived how he could be said to
go forth from the spiritual presence of Jehovah. It is probable that he
was not visible to the worshippers, and that neither the words addressed
to him, nor his replies, were audible to them. But those words proceeded
from Him from whose presence he went forth.
However this may be, it is evident from subsequent passages that Job had
clear apprehensions of the person and office of the Redeemer, and
recognized him as Jehovah in the administration of providence. To that
official person he doubtless refers under the designation _Shadai_,
translated Almighty, which he employs more than thirty times; which
appears from Exod. vi. to have been familiar to the patriarchs, and
which, from a comparison of passages from the Old and New Testaments,
signified the same divine Person as Melach Jehovah. In one instance only
he employs the term Adonai as a Divine designation--namely, in the
passage concerning Wisdom, chap. xxviii.: "Elohim understandeth the way
thereof. When he made a decree for the rain, then did he see it. And
unto man he said, Behold the fear of Adonai, that is wisdom." In chapter
xix. he refers to the same Person under an official designation of
frequent occurrence. "I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that he shall
stand at the latter day upon the earth; and ... in my flesh shall I see
Eloah." The word _Goel_, translated _Redeemer_, is employed with the
same reference in the following among other passages. "Melach the
Messenger, which _redeemed_ me from all evil." Gen. xlviii. "Let the
words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy
sight, O Jehovah, my strength and my _Redeemer_." Ps. xix. "And they
remembered that Elohim was their rock, and El, their _Redeemer_." Ps.
lxxviii. "Thus saith Jehovah your _Redeemer_, and the Holy One of
Israel." Isa. xliii. 14. "Thus saith Jehovah, the King of Israel, and
his _Redeemer_, Jehovah Zebaoth." Ibid. xliv. 6. "Thus saith Jehovah thy
_Redeemer_, and he that formed thee, I am Jehovah that maketh all
things, that stretcheth forth the heavens alone," &c. Isa. xliv. 24.
"All flesh shall know that I Jehovah am thy Saviour, and thy
_Redeemer_, the Mighty One of Jacob." Isa. xlix. 26.
The original word, as a verb, signifies to redeem, to ransom; and as a
noun, a kinsman, blood relation, one having a right, or to whom it
pertained, to redeem; redeemer, kinsman-redeemer. Hence, when employed
as in the passages above cited, it includes a reference to the complex
person of Christ, and to Eloah in human nature, as spoken of
prospectively by Job.
At the close of his appointed trial, when the integrity of Job had been
vindicated, and the imputations and predictions of the adversary confuted,
a different and more glorious manifestation of Jehovah was made to him, a
manifestation adapted and designed--like that to Ezekiel, chap. i., in the
likeness of _a man_ on a throne in the midst of fire and cloud, moving as
in a whirlwind, and like that to Isaiah, chap. vi., and that to the
disciples on the holy mount--to impart to him new and more exalted
apprehensions of the perfections, prerogatives, and works of Jehovah; to
fit the humbled and penitent beholder for the gifts and honors he was to
receive, the duties he was to perform, and the conspicuous station he was
to occupy as one whose righteousness had been publicly tried and divinely
attested. "Jehovah answered Job out of _the whirlwind_, and said, Where
wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth?" &c.; adding a
prolonged detail of his works of creation and providence, and contrasting
the ignorance and nothingness of man with the operations of his wisdom and
power. Job answered: "Behold, I am vile, what shall I answer thee? I will
lay my hand upon my mouth." He confesses his sinfulness, the ignorance and
errors which had marked his replies to his friends, and adds: "I have
heard of thee by the hearing of the ear, but now mine eye seeth thee.
Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes." He saw him in
that ineffable and, to mortals, all but insupportable splendor of glory,
which caused such an impression of his deity and his holiness, as in
contrast to make him conscious of his own vileness as a sinner, and induce
in him the utmost self-abasement; as in the parallel instance of Ezekiel,
it is said that "he fell upon his face;" and in that of Isaiah, that he
exclaimed, on seeing Adonai Jehovah Zebaoth, "Woe is me! for I am undone,
because I am a man of unclean lips;" and of Daniel, in an analogous
instance of his vision of the same glorified Person in the likeness of
man, chap. x., that he fell with his face to the ground, that there
remained no strength in him, that his comeliness was turned into
corruption. So at the Transfiguration on the mount, the disciples fell on
their faces and were sore afraid. Paul, on witnessing a like personal
manifestation, fell to the earth; and John, in Patmos, seeing that
glorified Person, fell at his feet as dead.
There was prevalent, at a very early period, a sentiment that to see God
would occasion or be followed by the death of the beholder; which
probably arose, not from simple appearances in the likeness of man, on
occasions which called for no exhibitions of Divine majesty and glory,
but from manifestations of overpowering, insupportable radiance,
comparable only to that of lightning, or that of the unclouded sun. Such
a manifestation we may well suppose to have been made on the expulsion
of Adam from Eden, in conjunction with the cherubic forms, as in
repeated instances afterwards. It was demanded by the occasion and the
end to be accomplished. There were sword-like flames, or lightnings, as
when Moses brought forth the people out of the camp to meet with (the)
Elohim, when he descended on mount Sinai; and they, terrified by the
lightnings, said, "Let not Elohim speak with us, lest we die;" and as in
the vision of Ezekiel, "out of the fire went forth lightning." So when
the seventy elders ascended mount Sinai with Moses, "and saw the Elohe
of Israel, the sight of the glory of Jehovah was like devouring fire."
The sentiment or apprehension above referred to is indicated by Jacob,
after wrestling with the Messenger Jehovah: "I have seen Elohim face to
face, and _my life is preserved_." Also in the words addressed to Gideon
after he had exclaimed, "Alas, O Adonai Jehovah! for because I have seen
the Messenger Jehovah face to face. And Jehovah said unto him, Fear not,
thou shalt not die." And, "Manoah said unto his wife, We shall surely
die, because we have seen Elohim." Such an inference is very likely to
have been drawn from the declaration of Jehovah to Moses, Exod. xxxiii.
20: "Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man _see me_ and
live;" that is, _see me_ unveiled by the human form, or by a dark or
luminous cloud-like envelope, as in the burning bush, on mount Sinai,
and in the tabernacle; for in these modes of appearance Moses had
repeatedly seen him, and in the chapter above referred to, vs. 9, we
read that, "As Moses entered into the tabernacle, the cloudy pillar
descended and stood at the door of the tabernacle; and Jehovah spake
unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend." But, owing
to the defection of Aaron and the people in making and worshipping a
molten image, he had, to the consternation of Moses, intimated a purpose
to withdraw from among them; and after he had, upon the earnest entreaty
of Moses, signified that his presence should continue with them, Moses,
in his anxiety and perturbation, and perhaps fearing that he would not
visibly manifest himself, (see vs. 16,) besought that he would show him
his glory, the unclouded glory of his person. This was denied, as
certain to be fatal. But as far as he could endure the sight and live,
the request was granted. "And Jehovah descended in the cloud and stood
with him there, and proclaimed the name of Jehovah. And Moses made haste
and bowed his head toward the earth, and worshipped."