5. That
Christ is at once Angel and God.
3955
In Genesis, to Abraham: “And the Angel
of the Lord called him from heaven, and said unto him, Abraham,
Abraham! And he said, Here am I. And He said, Lay not thine
hand upon the lad, neither do thou anything unto him. For now I
know that thou fearest thy God, and hast not spared thy son, thy
beloved son, for my sake.”
3956
Also in the same place, to
Jacob: “And the Angel of the Lord spake unto me in dreams,
I am God, whom thou sawest in the place of God
3957
where thou anointedst me a pillar of
stone, and vowedst to me a vow.”
3958
Also in Exodus: “But
God went before them by day indeed in a pillar of cloud, to show them
the way; and by night in a pillar of fire.”
3959
And afterwards, in the same
place: “And the Angel of God moved forward, which went
before the army of the children of Israel.”
3960
Also in the same place:
“Lo, I send my Angel before thy face, to keep thee in the way,
that He may lead thee into the land which I have prepared for
thee. Observe Him, and obey Him, and be not disobedient to Him,
and He will not be wanting to thee. For my Name is in
Him.”
3961
Whence He
Himself says in the Gospel: “I came in the name of my
Father, and ye received me not. When another shall come in his
own name, him ye will receive.”
3962
And again in the cxviith
Psalm: “Blessed is He who cometh in the name of the
Lord.”
3963
Also in
Malachi: “My covenant of life and peace was with
Levi;
3964
and I gave
him fear, that he should fear me, that he should go from the face of my
name. The law of truth was in his mouth, and unrighteousness was
not found in his lips. In the peace of the tongue correcting, he
walked with us, and turned many away from unrighteousness.
Because the lips of the priests shall keep knowledge, and they shall
seek the law at His mouth; for He is the Angel of the
Almighty.”
3965
3955
[i.e., the Jehovah-Angel. See Tertullian, vol. iii. p. 335.]
3956
Gen. xxii. 11, 12
.
3957
Scil
. “Beth-el,” “the house of God.”
3958
Gen. xxxi. 13
.
3959
Ex. xiii. 21
.
3960
Ex. xiv. 19
.
3961
Ex. xxiii. 20, 21
. [See Tertullian, vol. iii.
p. 335, a valuable passage. De Maistre has something to say on
this, quite to the purpose. See Bull
passim
: e.g.,
vol. v. pp. 21–26, 33, 40; 745–760.]
3962
John v. 43
.
3963
Ps. cxviii. 26
.
3964
Otherwise, “My covenant was with life and peace.”
3965
Mal. ii. 5–7
.