Dialogue with Trypho
Chapter 36: He Proves that Christ is Called Lord of Hosts
Then he replied, "If what you say is true—that it was foretold Christ would suffer and be called a stone, and that after His initial appearance, where it was proclaimed He would suffer, He would return in glory as the final Judge and eternal King and Priest—then show if this man is the one of whom these prophecies were made."
And I said, “As you wish, Trypho, I will come to these proofs you seek in the appropriate place; but for now, allow me first to recount the prophecies. I wish to do this to prove that Christ is called both God and Lord of hosts, and Jacob, in parable by the Holy Spirit; and your interpreters, as God says, are foolish, since they claim that reference is made to Solomon and not to Christ when he brought the ark of testimony into the temple he built.
The Psalm of David is this: ‘The earth is the Lord’s, and all it contains; the world, and all who live in it. He has founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the waters. Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? Or who shall stand in His holy place? He who is clean of hands and pure of heart, who has not taken his soul in vain, and has not sworn deceitfully to his neighbor: he shall receive blessings from the Lord, and mercy from God his Savior.
This is the generation of those who seek the Lord, who seek the face of the God of Jacob. Lift up your gates, rulers; and be lifted up, everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty in battle. Lift up your gates, rulers; and be lifted up, everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The Lord of hosts, He is the King of glory.’ Therefore, it is shown that Solomon is not the Lord of hosts; but when our Christ rose from the dead and ascended to heaven, the rulers in heaven, under God’s appointment, are commanded to open the gates of heaven so that He, who is the King of glory, may enter and, having ascended, may sit at the right hand of the Father until He makes His enemies His footstool, as shown by another Psalm.
For when the rulers of heaven saw Him with an unappealing and dishonored appearance, and without glory, not recognizing Him, they inquired, ‘Who is this King of glory?’ And the Holy Spirit, either from the person of His Father or from His own person, answers them, ‘The Lord of hosts, He is this King of glory.’ For everyone will agree that none of those who presided over the temple gates in Jerusalem would dare to say concerning Solomon, although he was such a glorious king, or concerning the ark of testimony, ‘Who is this King of glory?’