Dr. John Pye Smith, never at a loss, easily reconciles these apparent
discrepancies by asserting that they refer to the different persons
of the Father and the Messiah, but this is only 'confusion worse
confounded,' for it is quite clear that it was not the Messiah who is
referred to, either here or in the many other texts speaking of the
appearance of the Lord to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; it is also clear
that Jesus was not invisible; so we are left without aid from the
Reverend Dr.'s comment, and must still wonder how an 'invisible' God
ever appeared to anybody.
*Chapter xxv., v. 30. Here is an absurd and useless regulation. God
could not and did not eat this bread.
Verse 40. What patterns were these, and is not Moses supposed to be in
the mount when these words were spoken? This verse either refers to a
previous interview, of which we have no account, or else this did not
take place in the mount at all.
*Chapter xxviii., w. 40, 41, and 42. Can anything be more puerile than
to imagine the God of the universe giving directions for the particular
description of girdle, bonnet, and breeches to be worn by some
insignificant puny creatures, crawling on the outside of a little planet
called the earth?
*Chapter xxix., v. 44. At the very time that God was thus intimating
that he would sanctify Aaron, the latter must have been engaged in the
manufacture of the calf. Did God know this? If he did, it is hard to
understand how he chose an idolator for his priest. If otherwise, God
is not omniscient. The family of Levi, who were so severely cursed by
Jacob, seem the most favoured by Jacob's God.
*Chapter xxx., v. 6. It is not quite clear where this altar was to be
placed; but from the text it appears to have been placed in the 'holiest
of holies,' which creates a doubt as to how an altar in daily use could
be situate in a place only entered once a year. The text is, however,
rather complex in its description, and I may be mistaken in my reading.
Verse 15. The words 'when they gave an offering unto the Lord to make
atonement for your souls,' are totally omitted in the Douay version.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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