'Tis plain from hence, that what the Lord, viz. the very God, is faid to have don and spoken, was in Reality don and spoken by his Angel, who acted in his Name and Stead, and fpake the very Words of God, like unto God himself, or after the fame manner as if God himself had perfonally spoken them.

you

And accordingly we read, that an angel of the Lord came up from Gilgal to Bochim, and faid, I made to go up out of Egypt, and have brought you unto the land which I fware unto your fathers; and I faid, I will never break my covenant with you. And ye shall make no league with the inhabitants of this land; you shall throw down their altars: but ye have not obeyed my voice. Why have ye done this? Wherefore I alfo faid, I will not drive them out from before you but they shall be as thorns in your fides, and their gods shall be a fnare unto you. And it came to pafs, when the angel of the Lord fpake these words unto all the children of Ifrael, that the people lift up their voice and wept, Judges 2. 1, 2, 3, 4. I dare fay, I need not make any Obfervations upon this Meffage. For, not to mention other Particulars, common Sense will inform the meaneft Reader, that the Angel could not call the Covenant with the Ifraelites, which was fo certainly God's Covenant with them, by the Name of my Covenant, if he did not thus speak the Words of God.

But I fhall give a Variety of other Inftances.

And the angel of the Lord found her by a fountain of wa ter in the wilderness, by the fountain in the way to Shur: And he faid, Hagar, Sarah's maid, whence cameft thou? and whither wilt thou go? and she said, I flee from the face of my mistress Sarah. And the angel of the Lord faid unto her, Return to thy mistress, and submit thy felf under her bands. And the angel of the Lord faid unto her, I will multiply thy feed exceedingly, that it shall not be

E 4

numabred

numbred for multitude. And the angel of the Lord Said unto her, behold, thou art with child, and fhalt bear a fon and fhalt call his name Ishmael; because the Lord hath heard thy affliction. And he will be a wild man: his band will be against every man, and every mans hand against him: and he fhall dwell in the prefence of all his brethren. And he called the name of the Lord that (pake unto her, Thou God fecft me: for fhe faid, have 1 alfo here looked after him that feeth me? Gen. 16. 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13. And God heard the voice of the lad, and the angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven, and said unto her, what aileth thee, Hagar? fear not for God hath heard the voice of the lad where he is. Arife, lift up the lad, and hold him in thine hand; for I will make him a great nation, Gen. 21. 17, 18. And the angel of the Lord called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham. And he faid, Here am 1. And he said, lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto bim: for now I know that thou fearest God, feeing thou haft not withheld thy Son, thine only fon from me, Gen, 22. 11, 12. And he blessed Jofeph, and faid, God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Ifaac did walk, the God which fed me all my life long unto this day, The angel which redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads, and let my name be named on them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Ifaac, and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth, Gen. 48. 15, 16:

Thefe Texts are plain Proofs of what I have before obferv'd.

Again, in the History of Joshua we read thus, And it came to pass when Joshua was by Jericho, that he

lift up bis eyes and looked, and behold there ftood a man

over against him with his fword drawn in his hand: and Joshua went unto him, and faid unto him, Art thou for us, or for our adverfaries? And he said, Nay, but as captain of the host of the Lord am I now come. And fo

fhua fell on his face to the earth, and did worship, and said unto bim, What faith my Lord unto his fervant? And the captain of the Lords hoft faid unto Fofhua, Loofe thy shoe from off thy foot, for the place whereon thou ftandeft is holy: and Fofhua did fo, Jofh. 5. 13, 14, 15.

Thus ends the Fifth Chapter; and then immediatly follows a Continuation of the fame Appearance and Discourse in thefe Words, Now Jericho was ftraitly shut up, because of the children of Ifrael: none went out, and none came in. And the Lord faid unto Foshua, See, I have given into thine hand Jericho, and the king thereof, and the mighty men of valour, Josh. 6.

I, 2.

Farther, God's Manifeftation of himself to Gideon is very remarkable. And there came an angel of the Lord, and fat under an oak which was in Ophrah, that pertained unto Foafh the Abi-Ezrite: and his fon Gideon threshed wheat by the wine-prefs, to hide it from the Midianites. And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him, and faid unto him, The Lord is with thee, thou mighty man of valour. And Gideon faid unto him, Oh my lord, if the Lord be with us, why then is all this befallen us ? and where be all his miracles which our fathers told us of, faying, Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt? but now the Lord hath forfaken us, and deliver'd us into the hands of the Midianites. And the Lord looked upon him, and faid, Go in this thy might, and thou shalt Save Ifrael from the hand of the Midianites: have I not fent thee? And he faid unto him, Oh my lord, wherewith shall 1 fave Ifrael? behold, my family is poor in Manaffeh, and I am the leaft in my fathers houfe. And the Lord faid unto him, Surely I will be with thee, and thou shalt fmite the Midianites as one man. And he faid unto him, If now I have found grace in thy fight, then fhew me a fign that thou talkeft with me. Depart not hence, I pray thee, until I come unto thee, and bring forth my prefent, and fet it before thee.

And

And he faid, I will tarry until thou come again. And Gideon went in, and made ready a kid, and unleavened cakes of an ephah of flour; the flesh he put in a basket, and he put the broth in a pot, and brought it out unto him under the oak, and prefented it. And the angel of God faid unto him, Take the flesh, and the unleavened cakes, and lay them upon this rock, and pour out the broth. And he did fo. Then the angel of the Lord put forth the end of the staff that was in his hand, and touched the flesh, and the unleavened cakes, and there rofe fire up out of the rock, and confumed the flesh, and the unleavened cakes: then the angel of the Lord departed out of his fight. And when Gideon perceived that he was an angel of the Lord, Gideon faid, Alas, O Lord God: for because I have seen an angel of the Lord face to face, Judges 6. 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22. This is manifeftly one and the fame Hiftory and Appearance; and 'tis exprefly attributed to the Angel, v. 11, 12, 20, 21, tho' 'tis exprefly attributed to the Lord, v. 14, 16. And tho' Gideon anfwer'd the Lord, yet he certainly convers'd with the Angel, v. 17, 18, 19,

22.

I fhall only add the following Paffage of the Prophet Zechary. And he fhewed me Joshua the high prieft, ftanding before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to refift bim. And the Lord faid unto Satan, The Lord rebuke thee, O Satan, even. the Lord that hath chofen Jerufalem, rebuke thee: Is not this a brand pluckt out of the fire? Now Joshua was cloathed with filthy garments, and stood before the angel, And be answered, and spake unto thofe that stood before bin, faying, Take away the filthy garments from him. And unto him be faid, Behold, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will cloath thee with change of raiment. And I faid, Let them fet a fair mitre upon bis head: So they fet a fair mitre upon his head, and

cloathed

cloathed him with garments, and the angel of the Lord ftood by. Zech. 3. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.

The Truth is, 'twas ufual in thofe Parts for fuch as deliver❜d Meffages from others, to speak after the fame manner, as thofe very Perfons would have don, in whose Names they came; and those that return'd Answers by Meffengers, fpake as if thofe very Perfons were prefent, in whofe Names the Meffengers came. The Hiftory of our Savior and the Centurion furnishes us with a notorious Proof of this. For let us compare the two Evangelifts.

St. Matthew fays, And when Jefus was entred into Capernaum, there came unto him a Centurion, befeeching him,

And Jaying, Lord, my fervant lieth at home fick of the palfie, grievously tormented.

And Fefus faith unto him, I will come and heal him. The Centurion answered and faid, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldft come under my roof: but (peak the word only, and my fervant fhall be healed.

For I am a man under authority, having fauldiers under me and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh: and to my fervant, Do this, and he doeth it.

When

St. Luke fays,

Then Jesus went with them. And when he was now not far from the house, the Centurion fent friends to him, saying unto him, Lord, trouble not thy felf, for I am not worthy that thou Shouldst enter under

my roof. Wherefore neither thought I my felf worthy to come unto thee but say in a word, and my fervant fhall be healed.

For I also am a man set under authority, having under me fouldiers, and I fay unto one, Go, and he goeth: and to another, Come, and he cometh: and to my fervant, Do this, and he doeth it. Luke 7. 6, 7, 8.