S0O REMNANTS OF TIME. winged ox, or at least of a chariot carried or drawn by winged oxen, is a much fitter vehicle to ride upon in glory and grandeur, in majesty and terror, than the figure of a man. 4. Aaron's calf is reasonably supposed to be a cherub, for neither he nor his abettors can well be imagined so foolish as to make the figure of a mere calf, as some would have it, or of the Egyptian god Apis, who was worshipped under the form of an ox, when it was male as an idol for the Israelites to adore, since the Egyptian gods as well as men partook of the ven- geance of the God of Israel for the oppression of his people ; Numb. xxxiii. 4. It is therefore much more credible that Aaron's calf was designed as a visible symbol of the presence of the God of Israel, even that very God who released them from their Egyp- tian masters. The proclamation as made before the image was this, " These are thy gods, O Israel, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt ;" Exod. xxxii. 4. It would be contrary to all reason to represent the Egyptian gods as bringing Israel from Egypt, for then they would have been kinder to the Israelites who were strangers, than they were to their own worshippers the Egyptians. Besides, it was a feast to Jehovah, the God of Israel, which they celebrated ; Exod. xxxii. 5. and therefore it is more likely that Aaron's calf was some symbol of the presence of the God of Israel ; and that it might be the figure of a cherub, on or over which they would suppose the divine Sheci- nah or glory of God to sit, for so it appeared on the ark when it was made, and so it appeared in Ezekiel's visions ; Ezek. i. 26 28. and x: 18, 19. So David describes it, Ps. xviii. 10. when the God of Israel rode on a cherub. Shall it be said, that Aaron had not yet received the order formaking the cherubs on the ark, and therefore could not know the figures ? But I answer, that Cherubs were well known to the Jews of that age, as I hinted before, since Moses, gives no description of them to instruct the artificers : They were known of old, probably to the patriarchs and to mankind, as emblems of divine majesty and terror guarding the way to the tree of life; Gen. iii. 24. and some have supposed that Aaron with his sons and seventy elders saw God in the mount; Exod. xxiv. 20. riding on a cherub as in Ezek. i. since the other part of that description of God in Exodus is much like that in Ezek. i. 26. and x. 1. But I proceed to another argument to prove cherubs to be flying oxen. 5. Another reason why a cherub is supposed to be a winged ox is this, Jeroboam the king of Israel is most reasonably sup- posed to imitate the worship of Jerusalem, when he set up golden calves at Dan and Bethel, and thus to represent God dwelling between the cherubs on the mercy -seat, that the other tribes of
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