It is said, in the 18th Chap. of
Gen. "The Lord appeared to Abraham, that Abraham saw him, that he pleaded
with him, that the Lord went his Way from communing with him," &c. In
the 26th Chap. It is said again. The Lord appeared to Isaac: And in the 32d Chap.
"He met Jacob, wrestled with him, gave him a new Name," &c. And
Jacob said, "I have seen God Face to Face;" and from hence he was
called, "The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob,"
i.e. the God who appeared to them, whom they served, and who blessed them.
In like Manner he appeared to
Moses, not only when he was hid in the Rock, and the Glory of God passed before
him, and he saw the Back parts of Jehovah, but it is also said, "he saw
the Similitude of God more than other Prophets, and spake with him Face to
Face, as a Man speaketh with his Friend," Exod. xxxiii. 11. Numb. xii. 8.
So Monoah and his Wife saw God, Jud. xiii. 22. So Joshua saw the Lord and
worshipped him, as the Lord of Hosts, Jos. v. 14. Micaiah says, "I saw the
Lord," 1 Kings xxii. 19. Isaiah says the same, "I also saw the
Lord," Isa. vi. 1. And Daniel says, "I beheld the Daniel of
Days," Dan. vii. 9. After all which our Saviour affirms, "No man has
seen the Father," John vi. 46. "Him whom you say is your God, no Man
has seen at any Time, John i. 18. 1 John iv. 12. But then who was it that
appeared? Whom did Moses and the Prophets see? It was Jesus Christ: All saw him
and spake of him: "All the Scriptures testify of him," John v. 39.
"He is the Lord," Acts ix. 17. "He is the Almighty," Rev.
i. 8. "He is the true God," 1 John v. 20. "He is the only Lord
God, and our Saviour Jesus Christ," Jude, ver. 4. (John Cennick, The
Divinity of Christ. Being the Substance of a Discourse Delivered in Dublin, in
the Year 1746 [London: M. Lewis, 1773], 7-8)
