Of his being appointed by God to free his People. Moses was now eighty years old; and, in an humble and recluse state, took care of the sheep of his father-in-law, the priest of Midian.---Exodus, ch. iii. ver. 1. And he led the flock to the backside of the desert, and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb. V. 2. And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire, out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and behold the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed. V. 3. And Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt. V. 4. And when the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I. Upon this it pleased God to assure him, that he had not forgot his people; that he had been witness to their affliction; and their cry was come up before him. He would therefore put an end to their servitude; and they should be brought out of Egypt and be placed in the land of Canaan, in the country of the Hittites, Perizzites, Amorites, and other nations. V. 10. Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people the children of Israel out of Egypt. V. 11. And Moses said unto God, Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt. Moses was frightened when he heard his destination. He started back; from a just sense of the greatness of the undertaking; and a fearful consciousness of his own inability. It pleased God to assure him of his guidance and protection: and he added, V. 12. This shall be a token unto thee, that I have sent thee; when thou hast brought forth the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God upon this mountain. This was a circumstance, were it not for the person, who promised, and appointed it, scarcely to be believed. For what connection had Horeb with the borders of Canaan? When however this was afterwards accomplished, it was a sure token, that the mission of Moses was from God. Moses however is still in a state of uncertainty, and dreads some illusion.---He accordingly says, V. 13. Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent I 'The road from Egypt was in a quite different direction. me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them? By this I should imagine, that the Israelites were far gone in the idolatries of Egypt; so as to have forgotten the Lord Jehovah; or else Moses was not quite assured of the person before whom he stood; and apprehended some illusion. The Lord upon this told Moses, that the title and character by which he would be made known to the people, should be,---' I am that I am :-Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I Am hath sent me unto you. Observations upon this Order. The reason why it pleased God to be described in this particular manner, seems to have been owing to the false worship of the Egyptians, whom the Israelites copied and to the abuse of this divine title, which it was necessary to remedy. The chief deity of Egypt was the Sun, who was improperly called On as by that term, I conceive, was denoted the living God. That this was a title given to the Sun we may learn from Cyril upon Exodus iii. 14. Hoseah. * Ων εσιν ο Ήλιος- Ων δε εσιν παρ' αυτοις (τοις Αιγυπτιοις) ὁ Ἡλιος. The term On among the Egyptians signifies the sun. Hence the city On of Egypt was uniformly rendered Heliopolis, or the City of the Sun. Theophilus, upon the authority of Manetho of Sebennis, in speaking of this place, says, SV, STIS 8511 2 Ων, ήτις εσιν Ηλιοπολις. 'Hλ18TONIS. On, which is Heliopolis, or the city of the Sun and the authors of the Greek version afford the same interpretation. When mention is made of Potiphera, or rather Petephre, the Priest of On, it is rendered 3 Пregn iEgEWS 'HISTOλEWS: Petephre, the Priest of Heliopolis. The same occurs in another place. 4 Ασενεθ θυγατηρ Πέτεφρη ἱερέως Ἡλιοπολεως. Aseneth, the daughter of Petephre, the priest of On, or Heliopolis. It is also to be found in the Coptic version, where the same city is described -5 WN ETE OR&кi, æдpн пe: Оn, which is the city of Ree, the Sun. From hence it is manifest that the term On among the Egyptians, in those times and afterwards, was applied to Helius, the same as Osiris, the Sun: but how properly remains to 1 P. 145. * Ad Autolycum, 1. 3. p. 392. 3 Gen. xli. 45. I то be considered. I have mentioned it to be my opinion, that by this term was denoted originally the Living God, the self-existent Being. And in this opinion I am confirmed by Plato, and many other Greek writers, who, whenever they allude to this Egyptian name, express it by the terms To Ov: which signify, by way of eminence, The Being; or, in other words---the great first cause. These writers derived their theology from Egypt: and from hence we may infer, that they knew well the purport of the name. This, I think, may be farther proved from the Coptic language; in which are undoubtedly to be found the remains of the ancient Egyptian. Here the same words, which the Greeks rendered ov2 denote both life and to live to exist, and to be. They are expressed in the Coptic characters with a final aspirate on and wne Onh, and Onh with an omega: also with the prefix, пwn. Hence the terms п ш пел signify vita æterna. Plato therefore with great and ων, 1 Αυτό το ίσον, αυτο το καλον, αυτο έκαςον, ὁ εςι το Oy- -Plato in Phædone, v. 1. p. 78. To Ov. Plutarch Is. et Osiris, p. 352. A. * See Coptic Lexicon published by Mr Woide, p. 189, 193. |