12, arsÉxpofitioli of the HAP. "and t7irititt, Prophets, firft ( or Books Hiftorical) and the latter ; and cr31n7, or unipri 1111, Books written by in#iration of the Holy Ghoft. Of the ground ofwhich " diftinaion feeKinichi in his Preface to thePfalms. Theirmillake lyes in this, That "Prophecy confifisprincipally in; and is diflinguífhed into feveral degrees, by the " manner ofRevelation; as by.Dreams, Vifions, Appearances ofAngels, or men, and the " like. But as 14,35 , a Prophet, and tmK13.1, Prophecy, are of a larger figitification " then that pretendéd, asNumb. t t. 29. t Sam. t o. g. t Chron. z5. ;, 2,3. will ap- "pear ; So that which madeany Revelation tobe Propbecy inthat fenfe, as to bean " infallible rule for the guidance of theChurch, was not the means ofcommunicate- " ing it to theProphets, but that infpiration of the Holy Oh ft which implanted upon " their minds, and gave forth by their Tongues, or Pens, that which Gad would utter "'in them, and by them, z Pei. t. 20, 21. i, yd. Inanfwer unto this poking ofGod in the Prophets, it is affected, that in theRevela- tionof the Gofpell, God fpake in his Son. This is the main hinge onwhich all the Ar- guments of the Apoftle in the wholeEpiftle do turn ; this bears the fireffef all the inferences afterwards by him infifted on. And therefore having mentioned it, he proceeds immediately unto that defcription of him, which gives evidence to allthat he draws from this confideration. Nowbecaufe no one Argument of the Apofllecan be underflood, unlefs this be rightly Rated, we mull on neceffity infift fomewhat largely upon it ; and unto what wepr:ncipally intend, Tome previous obfervations mull be premifed. I. I take it at prefent for granted, that theSon ofGod appeared unto the Prophet: under theOldieffameut. Whether ever he fpakeunto them immediately, or only by the Miniffry ofAngels, is notfo certain. It is alfo granted, that there was in Vifion fometimes figns or reprefentations ofthe Perfon of the Father, as Dan. 7. But that the Son ofGoddidmoldyappear to the Fathersunder the Old Teftament, is acknow- ledged by the Ancients, and is evident inScripture : See Zech. 2. 8, 9, to, t t. And he it was who is called the Angel, Exod. 23.2o, 21. The reafon that is pleadedby fome, that theSon of Gad was not the Angel there mentioned, namely, becaufe the Apolile (ayes that to none of the Angels war it fold at any time, thouart mySon, this day Ihave begotten thee, which could not bè affirmed, if theSon ofGod were that Angel, is not of any force. For notwithftanding this affertion, yet both the Ancient Jews and art/Hans generally' grant , that it is the IVIffiab that is called the Angel ofthe Cove- nant, Mal. 3. t. though the Modern Jews foolifhly apply that name toElias, whom theyfancy to be prefent at Circumcifton, which they take to be the Covenant; a pri viledge as they fay, granted him upon his complaint, that the Children ofIfrael had forfal¿en the Covenant, a Kings 29. 04. that is, as they fuppofe, neglectedCireumcifioee. The Apóftle therefore fpeaks of thofe who were Angels bynature, and no more, and not of himwhobeing Jehovah theSon,was fent of theFather and is.therefore called bit Angel or Mellinger, being fo only by (la. And this appearance of the Son of God, though not well .underftanding what they fay, isacknowledged by fluidity of the Poftalmudical Rabbins. To this purpofe very confiderableare the words of Mafis Ge- rundenfis, on Exod. 23. Ifte Angelusfi rem ipfamdicamue, eft Angelus Redemptor, de quo firiptuen e, quoniam nomen meum in ipf elf. Ille inquam Angelus qui ad Jacob dice- bat, Ego DewBethel. Ille de quo di/Bum eft, & vocabat Mofen Dem de rubo. Vocatur autem Angelus quia mundumgubernat. Scriptumeft enim eduxit nos ex"gypto. Prate- reafcriptum eft, &Angelus faciei plugs fecit cos. Nimirum ilk Angelus qui cJt Déi facies de quodilíum eft, facies mea preibit d` efficiam :et quiefse ; denique ille Angelus eft de quo Vales, fiebito tenet adTemplum fuum Dominusquern vos quaritis, Angelusfaders quern cu- pith. TheAngel ifwefpekk exa/#y, is the Angel theRedeemer, ofwhomit it written, my name is in him; that AngelWhichfaid untoJacob , Iam the GodofBethel : He of whom it it faid, Godcalled untoMofes out oftheBul3. Andhe it called the Angel, becaufe be governeth the world. For it it written, Jehovahbrought us out ofEgypt; and e f where hefeue his Angel, and brought usout ofEgypt.And again,it itwritten,andtheAngel of bit prefence [face]faved them; namely,ebeAngel which if thePretence [face] ofGod, ofwhom it isfaid, my prefence [ face]Jhallgo before thee, andIwill thee to refl. t Laftly, that Angel of Whom the Prophet fpeaks, theLord whom youPeek (hall fuddenly came to his Temple, the Angel of the Cove- nant whom you defire. Tothe famepurpofe fpeaks the fameAuthor on Exod. 33. 14, My prefencefleall go before thee; Animadverte attente quid Oa febi veline. Mfrs enim& Ifraelite limper eptavërunt Angeluni primum ; ceteritm, quis the eftverè intern ere nonpo- tuerunt. Neque enim ab aliis percipiebant, neque prophetica noeione fatis a quebaantuur, Atq
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