Page:God Manifest.djvu/167

Rh me, son of man," &c. The fourth chapter, "Thou, also, son of man, take thee a tile," &c. The fifth chapter, "And thou, son of man, take thee a sharp knife," &c. The sixth chapter begins, "And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying." The seventh chapter, "Moreover, the word of the Lord came unto me, saying." And so on. And that the Divine Being addressed him, not mentaliy, but by an actual voice, (as He did to Moses at Sinai) is plain, also, from the opening words of the ninth chapter: "He cried, also, in mine ears, with a loud voice, saying," &c.—Is not this veritably God Speaking? Does not this show, that the same God, Jehovah,—who spoke to the people amidst thunders and lightnings at Sinai, and afterwards to Moses alone, on the mount,—continued from time to time to address men his creatures with a living voice, when they needed reproof, correction, or instruction—thus showing His continued and constant observation of, and interest in, all their doings?

But turn, now, to the last of these Divine Writings,—the last of what is termed the "Old Testament," namely, the Prophecy of Malachi. Throughout nearly the whole of this Book, we find God speaking directly, in the first person. It is not said, as in Ezekiel, "The word of the Lord came unto me, saying," but the writer does not at all speak of or from himself,—he is merely the mouth-piece of Jehovah. Thus, the Book opens, "The burden of the word of the Lord to Israel by Malachi" (or, as more correctly translated, '"by the hand of Malachi—showing that the latter was the mere scribe). "I have loved you, saith the Lord," &c.—"A son honoreth his father, and a servant his master: if I then be a Father, where is mine honour? and if I