Ante-Nicene Fathers/Volume VIII/Remains of the Second and Third Centuries/Melito, the Philosopher/Chapter 16

IX.

Head of the Lord&#8212;His simple Divinity; because He is the Beginning and Creator of all things:&#160; in Daniel.

The white hair of the Lord, because He is &#8220;the Ancient of Days:&#8221;&#160; as above.

The eyes of the Lord&#8212;the Divine inspection:&#160; because He sees all things.&#160; Like that in the apostle:&#160; For all things are naked and open in His eyes.&#8221;

The eyelids of the Lord&#8212;hidden spiritual mysteries in the Divine precepts.&#160; In the Psalm:&#160; &#8220;His eyelids question, that is prove, the children of men.&#8221;

The smelling of the Lord&#8212;His delight in the prayers or works of the saints.&#160; In Genesis:&#160; &#8220;And the Lord smelled an odour of sweetness.&#8221;

The mouth of the Lord&#8212;His Son, or word addressed to men.&#160; In the prophet, &#8220;The mouth of the Lord hath spoken;&#8221; and elsewhere, &#8220;They provoked His mouth to anger.&#8221;

The tongue of the Lord&#8212;His Holy Spirit.&#160; In the Psalm:&#160; &#8220;My tongue is a pen.&#8221;

The face of the Lord&#8212;His manifestation.&#160; In Exodus, &#8220;My face shall go before thee;&#8221; and in the prophet, &#8220;The face of the Lord divided them.&#8221;

The word of the Lord&#8212;His Son.&#160; In the Psalm:&#160; &#8220;My heart hath uttered a good word.&#8221;

The arm of the Lord&#8212;His Son, by whom He hath wrought all His works.&#160; In the prophet Isaiah:&#160; &#8220;And to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?&#8221;

The right hand of the Lord&#8212;that is, His Son; as also above in the Psalm:&#160; &#8220;The right hand of the Lord hath done valiantly.&#8221;

The right hand of the Lord&#8212;electio omnis.&#160; As in Deuteronomy:&#160; &#8220;In His right hand is a fiery law.&#8221;

The wings of the Lord&#8212;Divine protection.&#160; In the Psalm:&#160; &#8220;In the shadow of Thy wings will I hope.&#8221;

The shoulder of the Lord&#8212;the Divine power, by which He condescends to carry the feeble.&#160; In Deuteronomy:&#160; &#8220;He took them up, and put them on His shoulders.&#8221;

The hand of the Lord&#8212;Divine operation.&#160; In the prophet:&#160; &#8220;Have not my hands made all these things?&#8221;

The finger of the Lord&#8212;the Holy Spirit, by whose operation the tables of the law in Exodus are said to have been written; and in the Gospel:&#160; &#8220;If I by the finger of God cast out demons&#8221;

The fingers of the Lord&#8212;The lawgiver Moses, or the prophets.&#160; In the Psalm:&#160; &#8220;I will regard the heavens,&#8221; that is, the books of the Law and the Prophets, &#8220;the works of Thy fingers.&#8221;

The wisdom of the Lord&#8212;His Son.&#160; In the apostle:&#160; &#8220;Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God;&#8221; and in Solomon:&#160; &#8220;The wisdom of the Lord reacheth from one end to the other mightily.&#8221;

The womb of the Lord&#8212;the hidden recess of Deity out of which He brought forth His Son.&#160; In the Psalm:&#160; &#8220;Out of the womb, before Lucifer, have I borne Thee.&#8221;

The feet of the Lord&#8212;His immoveableness and eternity.&#160; In the Psalm:&#160; &#8220;And thick darkness was under His feet.&#8221;

The throne of the Lord&#8212;angels, or saints, or simply sovereign dominion. &#160; In the Psalm:&#160; &#8220;Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever.&#8221;

Seat&#8212;the same as above, angels or saints, because the Lord sits upon these.&#160; In the Psalm:&#160; &#8220;The Lord sat upon His holy seat.&#8221;

The descent of the Lord&#8212;His visitation of men. &#160;As in Micah:&#160; &#8220;Behold, the Lord shall come forth from His place; He shall come down trampling under foot the ends of the earth.&#8221; &#160; Likewise in a bad sense.&#160; In Genesis:&#160; &#8220;The Lord came down to see the tower.&#8221;

The ascent of the Lord&#8212;the raising up of man, who is taken from earth to heaven.&#160; In the Psalm:&#160; &#8220;Who ascendeth above the heaven of heavens to the east.&#8221;

The standing of the Lord&#8212;the patience of the Deity, by which He bears with sinners that they may come to repentance.&#160; As in Habakkuk:&#160; &#8220;He stood and measured the earth; and in the Gospel:&#160; &#8220;Jesus stood, and bade him be called,&#8221; that is, the blind man.

The transition of the Lord&#8212;His assumption of our flesh, through which by His birth, His death, His resurrection, His ascent into heaven, He made transitions, so to say.&#160; In the Song of Songs:&#160; &#8220;Behold, He cometh, leaping upon the mountains, bounding over the hills.&#8221;

The going of the Lord&#8212;His coming or visitation.&#160; In the Psalm.

The way of the Lord&#8212;the operation of the Deity.&#160; As in Job, in speaking of the devil:&#160; &#8220;He is the beginning of the ways of the Lord.&#8221;

Again:&#160; The ways of the Lord&#8212;His precepts.&#160; In Hosea:&#160; &#8220;For the ways of the Lord are straight, and the just shall walk in them.&#8221;

The footsteps of the Lord&#8212;the signs of His secret operations.&#160; As in the Psalm:&#160; &#8220;And Thy footsteps shall not be known.&#8221;

The knowledge of the Lord&#8212;that which makes men to know Him.&#160; To Abraham He says:&#160; &#8220;Now I know that thou fearest the Lord;&#8221; that is, I have made thee to know.

The ignorance of God is His disapproval.&#160; In the Gospel:&#160; &#8220;I know you not.&#8221;

The remembrance of God&#8212;His mercy, by which He rejects and has mercy on whom He will.&#160; So in Genesis:&#160; &#8220;The Lord remembered Noah;&#8221; and in another passage:&#160; &#8220;The Lord hath remembered His people.&#8221;

The repentance of the Lord&#8212;His change of procedure. &#160; As in the book of Kings:&#160; &#8220;It repented me that I have made Saul king.&#8221;

The anger and wrath of the Lord&#8212;the vengeance of the Deity upon sinners, when He bears with them with a view to punishment, does not at once judge them according to strict equity.&#160; As in the Psalm:&#160; &#8220;In His anger and in His wrath will He trouble them.&#8221;

The sleeping of the Lord&#8212;when, in the thoughts of some, His faithfulness is not sufficiently wakeful.&#160; In the Psalm:&#160; &#8220;Awake, why sleepest Thou, O Lord?&#8221;

The watches of the Lord&#8212;in the guardianship of His elect He is always at hand by the presence of His Deity.&#160; In the Psalm:&#160; &#8220;Lo! He will not slumber nor sleep.&#8221;

The sitting of the Lord&#8212;His ruling.&#160; In the Psalm:&#160; &#8220;The Lord sitteth upon His holy seat.&#8221;

The footstool of the Lord&#8212;man assumed by the Word; or His saints, as some think.&#160; In the Psalm:&#160; &#8220;Worship ye His footstool, for it is holy.&#8221;

The walking of the Lord&#8212;the delight of the Deity in the walks of His elect.&#160; In the prophet:&#160; &#8220;I will walk in them, and will be their Lord.&#8221;

The trumpet of the Lord&#8212;His mighty voice.&#160; In the apostle:&#160; &#8220;At the command, and at the voice of the archangel, and at the trumpet of God, shall He descend from heaven.&#8221;

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