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his pity redeemed them, bearing and carrying them all the days of old. Again, the allusion is the same, Mal. 3. 1, 'Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger (i. e. the Angel) of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts.' Here it is clear that the 'Lord' and the 'Angel of the covenant' are identical, and no one doubts that this is a prediction of the coming of Christ heralded by John the Baptist. Consequently, Christ of the New Testament, and the 'Angel' or 'Jehovah' of the Old, are one and the same. But to return to the passage last quoted from Exodus, as the 'name' of God is but another term for his nature, the import is, that the divine nature, that is, the divine power, efficacy, authority, majesty, and omniscience would be associated with the external visible symbol. To all prac. tical purposes, therefore, this cloudy pillar was to them the 'Angel-Jehovah,' the God of their nation, and they were to look up to that sublime and awful column as a visible embodiment of their covenant God, as an ever present witness, and feel as if a thousand eyes were peering out of the midst of it upon them, from which not even their slightest word or deed could be hidden. Indeed this view of the cloudy pillar as a kind of watch-tower of the Almighty, an aerial Mizpeh, or 'place of espial,' is expressly recognised in the remarkable assage, Ex. 14. 24, 25, 'And it came to pass, that in the morning-watch the Lord looked unto the host of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and of the cloud, and troubled the host of the Egyptians, and took off their chariotwheels, that they drave them heavily; so that the Egyptians said, Let us flee from the face of Israel; for the Lord fighteth for them against the Egyptians.' We shall hereafter have occasion to

notice, throughout the whole tenor of the Mosaic narrative, that this wondrous symbol is the very object which is to be understood, in innumerable in. stances, by the title 'Lord' (Jehovah), to which 'Angel of the Lord,' or rather 'Angel-Jehovah' is perfectly tantamount. This is plainly the idea conveyed by the language of the text which has given rise to these remarks; "The Lord went before them in a pillar of cloud,' &c., where we do not perceive that to the minds of the ancient readers of the Hebrew Scriptures the term 'Lord' would convey any other idea than that of the visible phenomenon by, in, and through which the divine attributes were manifested. So again Deut. 1. 32, 33, 'Yet in this thing ye did not believe the Lord your God, who went in the way before you, to search you out a place to pitch your tents in, in fire by night, to show you by what way ye should go, and in a cloud by day.' It was this visible Deity which was intended in all such phrases as 'before the Lord,' 'from the Lord,' 'unto the Lord,' &c., where the circumstances compel us to affix somewhat of a local idea to the expression.

But another important view of the subject is afforded by the fact, that it was this visible symbol of Jehovah which was the oracle of the chosen people. It was the Shekinah, the Glory, enthroned in the pillar of cloud, but afterwards removed into the most holy place of the tabernacle and temple, which issued commands and delivered responses to the congregation. Thus Ps. 99. 6, 7, 'They called upon the Lord, and he answered them. He spake unto them in the cloudy pillar.' A still more remarkable passage to the same effect occurs Ex. 33. 9-11, which we give with the omission of the Italics gratuitously introduced into the English version; 'And it came to pass, as Moses entered into the tabernacle, the cloudy pillar descended, and stood at the door of the

as the

figuration, when there was a temporary rending or laying aside of the veil of his flesh, the cloud of his human nature, and a transient disclosure of the indwelling Shekinah, the glory of his Godhead. This was a preintimation to the senses of that ineffable light and splendor in which he will appear when he comes with the retinue of his saints to be the luminary of the New Jerusalem, which is to come down from God out of heaven. The whole scene seems to have been intended to afford a demonstration to the senses of the substantial identity of the person of the incarnate Redeemer with the manifested Jehovah of the Jewish dispensation. Consequently, whatever of essential divinity is indicated by the title 'Jehovah,' it is unquestionably to be considered as belonging to Christ. The proposal of Peter on this occasion to build three tabernacles, while it showed that the overpowering display had somewhat confused his mind, shows at the same time, by a natural association, the connexion in his thoughts of the Shekinah with a taber

tabernacle, and talked with Moses. | incarnate Jehovah dwelt, or And all the people saw the cloudy pil-original has it (ɛokŋvwoɛ) tabernacled, lar stand at the tabernacle-door: and shekinized among us; 'and we beheld all the people rose up and worshipped, his glory,' referring not to the intrinsic every man in his tent-door. And the moral glory that distinguished his charLord spake unto Moses face to face, as acter, and that might be said to be seen a man speaketh unto his friend.' Here whenever his person was seen, but rather it is evident that 'cloudy pillar' and to that special and overwhelming display 'Lord' are used synonymously, and if of which John, Peter, and James were the fact of such a usage in repeated in-eye-witnesses on the mount of transstances be borne in mind, there will be no serious objection to the present mode of rendering v. 9, 'the Lord talked with Moses,' instead of simply 'it talked with Moses.' The phraseology, at any rate, is remarkable, and shows beyond question that the cloud of the Shekinah was the grand organ of communication to the covenant people. It was the Speaker, the Word, of the ancient economy; and the place whence the oracles were uttered from the Shekinah, after it became enthroned in the sanctuary, was called 77 debir, word-place, from dabar, word, to which, as every scholar knows, corresponds the Gr. Loyos, word, used by John in the commencement of his Gospel. Indeed, we are persuaded that it is only in the view above given of the import of the visible symbol of the cloudy pillar and the enshrined Glory, that we have the true clue to the Evangelist's meaning, which, if we understand it, is nothing less than an identification of Christ with the 'Jehovah,' or the oracular presence, the Shekinah, of the Old Testament. 'In the beginning,' i. e. under the old dis-nacle. Here was the Shekinah, which pensation, 'was the Word,' the speaking, commanding, law-giving Shekinah; 'and the Word was with God, and the Word was God,' equivalent to what Moses says, 'My name is in him,' all divine attributes were to be considered as associated with and dwelling in the sensuous symbol; 'And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us,' the shadowy, but glorious symbol of the earlier economy at length became substantiated in human flesh, and as the

he well knew had been used to abide in a tabernacle, but there was no tabernacle to receive it, and thence his proposition.

It would be easy to prosecute this train of thought to a much greater extent, and accumulate proofs of our main position, but we must leave it to be followed out by ourselves or others under circumstances that will allow of more enlargement. We doubt not it is a field in which a rich harvest of Scripture elucidation is yet to be reaped.

CHAPTER XIV.

before b Pi-hahiroth, between Mig

AND the LORD spake unto Mo-dol and the sea, over against Baal

ses, saying,

2 Speak unto the children of Israel, a that they turn and encamp

a ch. 13. 18.

CHAPTER XIV. The children of Israel had now arrived near the head of the Red Sea, and at the limit of the three days' journey into the wilderness, for which they had applied. It is therefore evident that their next move must decide their future course, and convey to the Egyptians, who doubtless kept a keen eye upon their movements, a clear and decisive intimation of their intentions. If they designed to do as they had all along declared to be their purpose, they would stay at this place and proceed to celebrate their intended feast to Jehovah; but if they meant to escape altogether, they would resume their journey, and, passing by the head of the Red Sea, strike off into the desert. The march from Etham then, whatever direction it took, was to be a decisive move, and what that move was we are now to consider.

2. Speak unto the children of Israel, that they turn, &c. Heb. yashubu, from 7, the usual meaning of which is to return, turn back, go back again, and so it is here rendered by Gesenius. But the circumstances of the case forbid this meaning except in a very limited degree. The import of the term undoubtedly is that of turning off, deviating, from the direct course, which would have been due east till they had rounded the upper extremity of the gulf. An ample confirmation of this sense of the term may be seen upon comparing Ezek. 35. 7. Zech. 7. 14-9.8. Ps. 73. 10. The divine command now given to change the direction of their route must have been unexpected and surprising to all parties, and one which on any human principle of action would have appeared

zephon: before it shall ye encamp by the sea.

b Numb. 33. 7. © Jer. 44. 1.

utterly inexplicable. To be convinced of this we need only bring before us the topography of the region. About the head of the Gulf of Suez a desert plain extends for ten or twelve miles to the west and north of the city of that name. On the west this plain is bounded by the mountainous chain of Attaka, which comes down toward the sea in a north-western direction, contracting the breadth of the plain more and more, till it finally seems to shut it up by its termination at Ras-el-Attaka, twelve miles below Suez. But on approaching this point ample room is found to pass beyond; and on passing beyond, we find ourselves in a broad alluvial plain, forming the mouth of the valley of Bedea. This plain is on the other or southern side nearly shut up by the termination of another chain of these mountains, which extend between the Nile and the western shore of the Red Sea. Any further progress in this direction would be impossible to a large army, especially one encumbered with flocks and herds, with women, children, and baggage. The valley of Bedea, which opens to the Red Sea in the broad plain abovementioned, narrows as it proceeds westward towards the Nile. It forms a fine roadway between the Nile and the Red Sea, and as such has in all ages been one of the most frequented routes in all the country, being travelled by all parties and caravans desirous of proceeding from the neighborhood of Cairo, or places to the south of Cairo, to Suez, or the region lying beyond the head of the gulf. Now, the Hebrew host being at Etham, and their next step from thence being of the utmost importance, they were directed, not-as might obviously

have been expected-to pass round the head of the Gulf into the Sinai peninsula, but to proceed southward, between the mountains of Attaka and the western shore of the Gulf, and, after passing the Ras-el-Attaka, to encamp in the plain into which the valley of Bedea opens. But the question recurs, why bring them down this way, and make the passage of the Red Sea necessary, when they might so much more easily have got into the peninsula of Sinai by going round the Gulf?—why lead them out of their way to entangle' and 'shut them in' between the mountains and the sea? The answer to this is given in v. 3, 4. It was to give Pharaoh an additional inducement to follow them to his own destruction, by his knowledge of the advantage which their embarrassed position would give him over them. The overthrow of the Egyptian host was the contemplated result of this movement; and by this overthrow not only did the Egyptians receive their complete and final punishment, but the immediate security and future success of the Israelites were greatly assisted by it. For we learn from many passages of Scripture, that the neighboring tribes and natives were too much alarmed and intimidated by this stupendous event to think of any hostile encounter, the single instance of the Amalekites excepted. But of this more in the sequel. fore Pihahiroth. Heb.

Be

3

liphnë pi hahiroth, more properly written in English in the form of 'Pi-hahiroth.' 'There is not a more minute specification of locality in the Bible than that which the text affords; and one is led to think that it was thus carefully pointed out, in order to render it manifest that the passage could not there be effected by less than a miracle; or, in other words, to preclude those attempts to account for it on natural grounds which have actually resulted from the memory of the spot thus distinctly denoted being now lost Not one of the VOL. I

15

names now exists. It perhaps throws some light on the passage to read the word Pi-ha-hiroth not as a proper name, but as a descriptive epithet. Hiroth means a valley, a confined pass, or a defile among mountains; pi signifies 'mouth,' or 'entrance;' ha is merely the definite article the, or of the so that we may read the word Pi-ha-hiroth, as 'the entrance of the valley or pass.' It would thus denote, as we may take it, the pass or strip of land along the western shore of the gulf, between the mountains which skirt the sea, and the sea itself. It is certain that they crossed from the western to the eastern shore; and as this valley between the mountains and the sea commences nearly at the extremity of the gulf, the Hebrews must have encamped along its mouth' or entrance, if the sea were nearly then as it is now; and there they would have been effectually shut in' between the mountains, the desert, and the sea. The same result arises if we read Pi-hahıroth as a proper name, and apply it to the mountains which confine the valley at its entrance, the present name of which, Addagi, 'deliverance,' may be supposed to commemorate the passage of the Red Sea, and therefore to have superseded some previous name. This opinion is the more probable, because the flanks of the Hebrew host would have been exposed to the Egyptians whilst marching into the sea, if we place the point of passage any where above this valley, in which the mountains protected the right flank, and the sea the left. Here their rear only would be exposed, and accordingly we read caly of their rear being protected by the pillar of cloud, which implies that their flanks needed no protection. We also think that it has not been sufficiently considered that an encampment consisting of about two millions of people must have covered a vast extent of ground; and wherever they encamped so as to face the sea, their camp must

3 For Pharaoh will say of the children of Israel, They are en

d Ps. 71. 11.

have stretched along the shore for the extent of several miles, particularly if they were hemmed in between the sea and the mountains as we would conjecture; and if then when thus stretched out in one extensive line from north to south along the western shore of the gulf, the southern part of the body commenced the move into the dried passage in the sea, it necessarily follows that the point of passage must have been many miles below the termination of the inlet. This argument is conclusive to our minds that, consistently with their encampment along the sea coast, they must have passed many miles to the south of the end of the gulf, wherever the gulf then ended; and even if it | terminated much more to the south than at present, we are still disposed to consider this position of the camp as the most probable, because most consistent with the 'shutting in,' the ' entangling,' and the other circumstances, which imply that, when the Egyptian host took them in the rear, their only way to escape was through the sea.' Pict. Bible.

¶ Between Migdol and the sea over against Baal-zepher. It is impossible to attain to any certainty in the location of these places, nor in fact is it clear what precise idea is to be affixed to the term 'before' in this connexion. We may doubtless be satisfied that the several places mentioned were all within the distance of ten or twelve miles of each other, and probably all in sight to some part of the host, which in a valley of no great width must have spread over at least that extent. Professor Stuart (Course of Heb. Study, Exc. IV.) thinks that Migdol is identical with the modern Ber Suez, or well of Suez. "This is a small place, strongly fortified in modern times, in order to secure the

tangled in the land, the wilderness hath shut them in.

privilege of water for Suez. It is about three miles west from Suez; and in this low sandy plain, it must be altogether in view. If now in ancient times there was a similar castle or fortification at this well, (a thing altogether probable, considering the nearness of predatory Arabian Nomades), then Migdol was an appropriate name for the place. For although the regular Hebrew word for tower is an migdal, yet ban migdol, from its derivation, seems to be altogether an equivalent for migdal; and therefore to mean tower, forti fied place.'

3. Pharaoh will say of the children of Israel. Heb. amar libnë Yisraël, will say to the children of Israel; i. e. as to, respecting, the children of Israel. See this sense of the particle 'to' illustrated in the Note on Gen. 20. 2. Gr. Tepi Twv viov.——¶ They are entangled. Heb. nebukim, from

buk, to be perplexed, to wander about in perplexity, whether physically or mentally. Gr. Aurora, they rove about. The term occurs Est. 3. 15, 'The city of Shushan was perplexed ;' and also Joel. 1. 18, 'The herds of cattle are perplexed, because they have no pasture.' This sudden turn on the part of the Israelites wald naturally lead Pharaoh to conclude that they had mistaken their way, and knew not what to do. But their apparent infatuation was the means of producing in him a real infatuation, which prompted him to pursue them to his ruin.- -T The wilderness hath shut them in. The host of Israel having entered this narrow pass between the mountains on one side, and the sea on the othe: Pharaoh would suppose that by cutting off their retreat in the rear, they would have no means of escape except through the sea and

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