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The First Apology
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Chapter 63: How God Appeared to Moses.
AND EVEN NOW: all the Jews teach that the nameless God spoke to Moses. The Spirit of prophecy, accusing them through the prophet Isaiah mentioned earlier, said, "The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master’s crib; but Israel does not know Me, and My people do not understand." Jesus the Christ, because the Jews did not know what the Father was, or what the Son was, similarly accused them; and He said, "No one knows the Father except the Son; nor the Son except the Father, and those to whom the Son reveals Him." The Word of God is His Son, as we mentioned earlier. He is called Angel and Apostle because He declares what we ought to know and is sent to reveal whatever is declared, as our Lord Himself says, "He who hears Me, hears Him who sent Me."
This is also evident from the writings of Moses, for it is written in them, "And the Angel of God spoke to Moses from a flame of fire in the bush, saying, I am that I am, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob, the God of your fathers; go down into Egypt and bring forth My people." If you wish to learn what follows, you can refer to the same writings, as it is impossible to relate everything here. But this much is written to prove that Jesus the Christ is the Son of God and His Apostle, previously the Word, and appearing sometimes as fire, sometimes like angels. Now, by God’s will, He has become man for the human race, enduring all the sufferings which the devils incited the senseless Jews to inflict upon Him. Even though it is explicitly stated in the writings of Moses, "And the angel of God spoke to Moses in a flame of fire from a bush, and said, I am that I am, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob," they still maintain that He who said this was the Father and Creator of the universe. Therefore, the Spirit of prophecy rebukes them, saying, "Israel does not know Me, my people have not understood Me."
Again, Jesus, as we have shown, while He was with them, said, "No one knows the Father except the Son; nor the Son except the Father, and those to whom the Son will reveal Him." The Jews, consistently believing it was the Father of the universe who spoke to Moses, though it was indeed the Son of God, called both Angel and Apostle, are rightly charged by the Spirit of prophecy and by Christ Himself with knowing neither the Father nor the Son. Those who claim that the Son is the Father are shown to be unfamiliar with the Father and do not know that the Father of the universe has a Son, who, being the first-begotten Word of God, is even God. In the past, He appeared to Moses and other prophets as fire and in the likeness of an angel. But now, in the time of your reign, having become Man by a virgin, according to the Father’s plan, for the salvation of those who believe in Him, He endured being scorned and suffering, so that by dying and rising again He might conquer death. What was said from the bush to Moses, "I am that I am, the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, and the God of your fathers," indicated that they, though dead, are still in existence and belong to Christ Himself. For they were the first to seek God earnestly; Abraham being the father of Isaac, and Isaac of Jacob, as Moses wrote.
Hear the Scriptures cited in The First Apology
The First Apology quotes or alludes to these Bible chapters more than any others. Each link opens the free audio Bible, where the chapter is read aloud alongside the text, cross-references, and what other early Christian writers said about it.
- Hear Isaiah 52 (audio Bible) — cited 3 times in this work
- Hear Matthew 5 (audio Bible) — cited 3 times in this work
- Hear Genesis 6 (audio Bible) — cited 2 times in this work
- Hear Genesis 49 (audio Bible) — cited 2 times in this work
- Hear Numbers 21 (audio Bible) — cited 2 times in this work
- Hear Psalms 22 (audio Bible) — cited 2 times in this work
- Hear Isaiah 65 (audio Bible) — cited 2 times in this work
- Hear Matthew 19 (audio Bible) — cited 2 times in this work
- Hear Genesis 14 (audio Bible)
- Hear Genesis 18 (audio Bible)
- Hear Genesis 32 (audio Bible)
- Hear Exodus 3 (audio Bible)