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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Untitled Article
sonaga / they ^ atrshij > ect Was one and the same Being who had appeared to their fathers and to Moses in the illuminated bush . In short , all the pure religious worship of the Israelites or Jews , from the days of Moses to the present time , has been paid to him and to him alone who first dwelt
in the bush , ( Deut . xxxiii . 16 , ) and afterwards in the tabernacle and temple : and still when they pray they turn their faces to Jerusalem where the cloud rested . The Jews themselves
have always believed that it was Jehovah himself that spake to them From the cloud of glory , and not another being that personated him . Our Lord ' s conversation with the Sadducees supposes this , Luke xx . 37 , &c , and so does the Apestle Peter ' s speech that we have in Acts vii . 30 , &c .
Now I maintain that it is absolutely incredible that it should have been so , if the Patriarchs and Israelites had not believed that it was the voice of God himself , and not the voice of any delegated being , that they heard speak to them from the cloud
pf glory . For then Jehovah would not have been worshiped directly at all by them from that day to this , but only some other being that personated him ; i . e . the patriarchal and Jewish religious worship would all have greatly or perfectly resembled the
religious worship of the Hindoos , who , as a nation , totally and designedly neglect the worship of the one Supreme Being , while they ignorantly and most stupidly pay their devotions to a very considerable number of fancied emanations from him .
Believe tins who will , my understanding strongly revolts at the very thought of it . 5 . Moreover , God promised Moses that he would not leave him to the
care of an angel , which he threatened to do , but that he would go himself with him and his brethren through the wilderness in their way to Canaan . Exod . xxxiii . 3 , 15 .
C . As to this appearance being called the au ^ cl of God , it will be sufficient to hint here , that every thing by which God either communicates good or evil to men is called his angel or messenger . See Ps . civ . 4 : * ' Who makcth his angels spirits and lmmi-
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nisters a flame of fire , ** There fe solid reason to suspect that the great Assyrian : army that is said to have been destroyed before Jerusalem by the angel of Jehovah , was really effected by a deadly vapour called the Simoom , that sometimes suddenly blasts travellers in the eastern parts of the world . 1 Kings xix . Bruce ' s
Travels . 7 . Our friend adds , If in a future state we shall be indulged in perpetually new displays of God ' s power , wisdom and other attributes , coupled with new assurances and experiences of his love , our happiness will not be diminished by his
eternally veiling from our knowledge the mysteries of his person / 1 Certainly n 6 t . And it may be observed , that both the Scriptures of the Old Testament and the New , encourage this pleasing expectation . Thfc Psalmist says , ** I shall behold thy face in righteousness ; I shall be satisfied when I awake with thv likeness , " Ps .
xvii . 15 . " Blessed are the pure in heart , for they shall see God . " Matt , v . 8 . But I presume it would greatly diminish the pleasure arising from
the prospect of it and the positive enjoyment of it , if we believed that it would not be actually the appearance of God himself , but only of a substitute . But if a substitute may be admitted on earth , why not in heaven ? When I consider that God is so
pure and perfect a Being that we cannot form any positive notion of ^ him , I can almost admit that insurmountable obstacles will , for a long time , and perhaps for ever , prevent any creature , especially any human being , from , literally speaking , seeing God . The vast distance and
dissimilarity that-there must naturally be between a creature and his infinite Creator may forbid it . The majesty of the Supreme Being may forbid it , and so may the improvement and happiness of man .
His glories shine with beams so bright , No mortal can sustain the sight . But here I freely confess my great ignorance .
However , if the above reasoning is just , then there can be no difficulty in admitting that such a symbol of the Divine presence , or one vastlysu *
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652 . Personal Manifestation of the Deity .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Nov. 2, 1826, page 652, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2554/page/16/
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