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CHRIST IN ALL T H E SCRIPTURES
The Ark bore the judgment.
storm
of
The Ark had to be entered by the Door.
Ps. lxix. 2. I am come into deep waters where the floods overflow Me. Ps. xlii. 7. All Thy waves and Thy billows are gone over Me. John x. 9. Jesus said, I am the Door, by Me if any man enter in he shall be saved.
We have a picture of the Church, the Bride of Christ, in the Story of Rebekah (Gen. xxiv.), who was willing to forget her own people and her father's house to go to be the bride of Isaac. In Jacob's ladder—bridging the gulf from earth to heaven —we have a picture of the Cross, which has for ever bridged that gulf for us. Furthermore, we have in Genesis appearances of Jehovah Himself in human form, under the name of the Angel of Jehovah. Surely this is none other than Christ Himself, God manifest in the flesh, who said, " Before Abraham was, I AM." In Genesis xvi. 7-14, He appeared to Hagar saying, "I will multiply thy seed exceedingly." This is language suited only to Jehovah Himself. " A n d she called the name of Jehovah that spake unto h e r : Thou God seest me," or as the Jews more correctly render the clause, " Thou art God, visible to me." In chapter xviii. Jehovah appeared to Abraham in the plains of Mamre. Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw three men, he provided food for them which they ate. Verse 22 and chapter xix. 1 show that two of these heavenly visitors (" angels") went toward Sodom, but Abraham stood yet before the third, Jehovah. In Genesis xxii. 11, 15, 16 we find the same Angel of Jehovah calling to Abraham from heaven and saying, " By Myself have I sworn, saith Jehovah," showing again that the names Jehovah and Angel of Jehovah are used interchangeably. In Genesis xxxi. 11, 13 this same Angel (called this time the Angel of God) speaking to Jacob, says, "I am the God of Bethel." In Genesis xxxii. we have an account of the man who wrestled with Jacob till the breaking of the day. He changed Jacob's name to Israel, a prince of God, " for thou hast striven with God and with man, and hast prevailed. . . . And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel—the Face of God—for I have seen God face to face and my life is preserved." Surely this is none other than the Son of God, who is the effulgence of the Father's glory, and the express image of His substance (Heb. i. 3, R.V.).