32. And now let us enquire whether elsewhere than
in the case of Hagar the Angel of God has been discovered to be God
Himself. He has been so discovered, and found to be not only God,
but the God of Abraham and of
Isaac and of Jacob. For the Angel of the Lord appeared to Moses
from the bush; and Whose voice, think you, are we to suppose was
heard? The voice of Him Who was seen, or of Another? There
is no room for deception; the words of Scripture are clear:
And the Angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire from
a bush, and again, The Lord called unto him from the bush,
Moses, Moses, and he answered, What is it? And the Lord said,
Draw not nigh hither, put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the
place whereon thou standest is holy ground. And He said unto him,
I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of
Jacob Exod. iii. 2, 4–6.. He
who appeared in the bush speaks from the bush; the place of the vision
and of the voice is one; He Who speaks is none other than He Who was
seen. He Who is the Angel of God when the eye beholds Him is the
Lord when the ear hears Him, and the Lord Whose voice is heard is
recognised as the God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob.
When He is styled the Angel of God, the fact is revealed that He is no
self-contained and solitary Being: for He is the Angel of
God. When He is designated Lord and God, He receives the full
title which is due to His nature and His name. You have, then, in
the Angel Who appeared from the bush, Him Who is Lord and God.