type and Original! I have also heard of him by the hearing of the ear; I read his own descriptions of himself in his word; I contemplate the representations he has given of himself in his ordinances; and these are truly glorious, but they are adapted to the dark and grovelling minds of mortals in this obscure region, and fall infinitely short of the original glory. I can think of him; I can love him; I can converse and carry on a spiritual intercourse with him; I feel him working in my heart; I receive sensible communications of love and grace from him; I dwell at times with unknown delight in the contemplation of his glory, and am transported with the survey: but, alas! I cannot fully know him; I cannot dive deep into this mystery of glory; my senses cannot perceive him; and my intellectual powers in the present state are not qualified to converse with spiritual objects, and form a full acquaintance with them. O! if it would please my God to show me his glory in its full lustre! O that he would reveal himself to me so that my senses may assist my mind; if such a manner of revelation be possible!

Such thoughts as these may naturally rise in our minds; and probably some such thoughts possessed the mind of Moses, and were the occasion of his request, I beseech thee show me thy glory.

These chapters, whence we have taken our subject of discourse, present us with transactions that must seem very strange and incredible to a mind that knows nothing of communion with the Father of spirits, and that is furnished only with modern ideas.

Here is, not an angel, but a man ; not a creature only, but a sinner, a sinner once depraved as ourselves, in intimate audience with the Deity. Jehovah speaks to him face to face, as a man speaketh to his friend. Moses uses his interest in favor of a rebellious people, and it was so great that he prevailed: nay, to show the force of his intercessions, and to give him an encouragement to use them, God condescends to represent himself as restrained by this importunate petitioner, and unable to punish the ungrateful Israelites, while Moses pleaded for them, "Let me alone," says he, " that my wrath may wax hot against this people, that I may consume them." Exod. Moses urges petition upon petition; and he

xxxii. 10.

obtains blessing upon blessing, as though God could deny nothing to such a favorite. He first deprecates the divine wrath, that it might not immediately break out upon the Israelites, and cut them off, verses 11—14. When he has gained this point, he advances farther, and pleads that God would be their Conductor through the wilderness, as he had been till that time, and lead them into the promised land. In this article God seems to put him off, and to devolve the work of conducting them upon himself; but Moses, sensible that he was not equal to it, insists upon the request, and with a sacred dexterity urges the divine promises to enforce it. Jehovah at length appears, as it were, partly prevailed upon, and promises to send his angel before him as his guide. Chap. xxxii. 34, and xxxiii. 2. But, alas! an angel cannot fill up his place; and Moses renews his petition to the Lord, and humbly tells him that he had rather stay, or even die where they were in the wilderness, than go up to the promised land without him. If thy presence go not with me, carry us up not hence, chap. xxxiii. 15. "Alas! the

company of an angel, and the possession of a land flowing with milk and honey, will not satisfy us without thyself." His prayers prevail for this blessing also, and Jehovah will not deny him anything. O the surprising prevalency of faith! O the efficacy of the fervent prayer of a righteous man!

And now, when his people are restored unto the divine favor, and God has engaged to go with them, has Moses anything more to ask? Yes, he found he had indeed great interest with God, and O! he loved him, and longed, and languished for a clearer knowledge of him; he found that after all his friendly interviews and conferences he knew but little of his glory; and now, thought he, it is a proper time to put in a petition for this manifestation; who knows but it may be granted! Accordingly he prays with a mixture of filial boldness and trembling modesty, I beseech thee, show me thy glory; that is to say, "Now I am in converse with thee, I perceive thou art the most glorious of all beings; but it is but little of thy glory I as yet know. O! is it possible for a guilty mortal to receive clearer discoveries of it? If so, I pray thee favor me with a more full and bright view." This petition is also granted, and the Lord

promises him, "I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before thee."

That you may the better understand this strange history, I would have you observe a few things.

1st, In the earliest ages of the world, it was a very common thing for God to assume some visible form, and in it to converse freely with his servants. Of this you frequently read in the history of the patriarchs, particularly of Adam, Abraham, Jacob, &c. It is also a tradition almost universally received in all ages, and among all nations, that God has sometimes appeared in a sensible form to mortals. You can hardly meet with one heathen writer but that you will find in him some traces of this tradition. Upon this, in particular, are founded the many extravagant stories of the poets concerning the appearances of their gods. Had there been no original truth in some appearances of the true God to men, there would have been no color for such fables; for they would have evidently appeared groundless and unnatural to every reader. This tradition therefore was no doubt originally derived from the appearances of the Deity, in a corporeal form, in early ages. * Sometimes God assumed a human shape, and appeared as a man. Thus he appeared to Abraham, in company with two angels, Gen. xviii. and that good patriarch entertained them with food as travelers; yet one of them is repeatedly styled the Lord, or Jehovah, the incommunicable name of God; sce verses 13, 20, 22, 26, &c., and speaks in a language proper to him only, verses 14, 21, &c. Sometimes he appeared as a visible brightness, or a body of light, or in some other sensible form of majesty and glory. Thus he was seen by Moses in the bush as a burning fire; thus he attended the Israelites through the wilderness, in the symbol of fire by night, and a cloud by day;

These appearances were probably made in the person of the Son, and might be intended as a prelude or earnest of his assuming human nature in the fulness of time, and his dwelling among mortals. He was the immediate Agent in the creation of the world; and the Father devolved upon him the whole economy of Providence from the beginning; and hence he had frequent occasions to appear on some grand design. It cannot seem incredible that he should thus assume some visible form to such as believe that God was at length really manifested in the flesh; for this temporary apparent incarnation cannot be deemed more strange than his really being made flesh, and dwelling among us.

and thus he often appeared in the tabernacle, and at the dedication of Solomon's temple, in some sensible form of glorious brightness, which the Jews called the Shechinah; and looked upon as a certain symbol of the divine presence.

2dly, You are to observe that God, who is a spirit, cannot be perceived by the senses; nor were these sensible forms intended to represent the divine essence, which is wholly immaterial. You can no more see God than you can see your own soul; and a bodily form can no more represent his nature than shape or color can represent a thought or the affection of love. Yet,

3dly, It must be allowed that majestic and glorious emblems, or representations of God exhibited to the senses, may help to raise our ideas of him. When the senses and the imagination assist the power of pure understanding, its ideas are more lively and impressive: and though no sensible representations can bear any strict resemblance to the divine nature, yet they may strike our minds deeply, and fill them with images of grandeur and majesty. When I see a magnificent palace, it naturally tends to give me a great idea of the owner or builder. The retinue and pomp of kings, their glittering crowns, sceptres, and other regalia, tend to inspire us with ideas of majesty. In like manner those sensible representations of Deity, especially when attended with some rational descriptions of the divine nature, may help us to form higher conceptions of the glory of God: and the want of such representations may occasion less reverence and awe. For instance, had the description of the Deity, The Lord God, merciful and gracious, &c., been only suggested to the mind of Moses as an object of calm contemplation, it would not have struck him with such profound reverence, nor given him such clear or impressive ideas as when it was proclaimed with a loud majestic voice, and attended with a visible glory too bright for mortal eyes. Human nature is of such a make, that it cannot but be affected with things of this nature.

Consider the matter well in the light in which I have set it, and you may see something of the propriety and good tendency of these appearances, and at the same time guard yourselves against mistakes. Let me now give

you what I apprehend the true history of this remarkable and illustrious appearance of God to Moses.

Moses had enjoyed frequent interviews with God, and seen many symbols of his presence and representations of his glory; but he still finds his knowledge of him very defective, and apprehends that God might give him some representation of his glory more striking and illustrious than any he had seen. Therefore, finding that now he was in great favor with him, he humbly moves this petition, I beseech thee, show me thy glory; "give me some more full and majestic representations of thy glory than I have hitherto seen." The Lord answers him, "I will cause all my goodness," that is, a glorious, visible representation of my goodness, which is, "my glory, to pass before thee," which may strike thy senses, and make them the medium of conveying to thy mind more illus. trious and majestic ideas of my glory. And as no sensible forms can fully represent the spiritual essence and perfections of my nature, while I cause a visible representation of my glory to pass before thee, I will at the same time proclaim the name of the Lord,* and describe some of the principal perfections that constitute my glory and goodness. But so bright will be the lustre of that form which I shall assume, that thou art not able to see my face, or the most splendid part of the representation; the glory is too bright to be beheld by any mortal, ver. 20. But there is a place in a rock where thou mayest wait, and I will cast darkness over it till the brightest part of the form of glory in which I shall appear is passed by, and then I will open a medium of light, and thou shalt see my back parts; that is, those parts of the representation which are less illustrious, and which pass by last the glory of these thou shalt be enabled to bear, but my face shall not be seen." ver. 2-23.

Thus God condescended to promise; and when matters were duly prepared, he performs his engagement. The Lord assumed a visible form of glory, and passed by before him, and proclaimed his name, which includes his

The LXX render the passage, I will call by my name, the Lord be. fore thee. And this is the most literal translation of the Hebrew: they are rendered Inclamabo nominatim Jehovah ante faciem tuam, by Junius and Tremellius. According to this version the sense seems to be, "When the symbol of my glory is passing by, I will give thee notice, and call by my name the Lord, that I may not pass by unobserved."