Appearances of the Messenger Jehovah to Abraham and to Jacob. In the narrative of Abraham's offering of Isaac, Gen. xxii., we read that "Melach Jehovah called unto him out of heaven, and said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, for _I_ know that thou fearest Elohim, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son, from _me_. And Melach Jehovah called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time, and said, By myself have I sworn, saith Jehovah, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son, That in blessing I will bless thee, because thou hast obeyed _my voice_." At the commencement of this narrative it is said that (_the_) Elohim did tempt Abraham, _i. e._, try him in respect to his faith and obedience. "And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah, and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of. And Abraham went unto the place of which (_the_) Elohim had told him." There he built an altar, and having bound Isaac he laid him on the altar, and took the knife to slay him; when Melach Jehovah called to him, forbade the intended sacrifice, and said, I know that thou fearest Elohim, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son from _me_. From this it is evident that the offering was intended to be made, and was virtually made, to Melach Jehovah. For "By faith Abraham when he was tried offered up Isaac; accounting that God was able to raise him up from the dead, from whence also he received him in a figure." Heb. xi. His faith, in this extraordinary act of worship, had immediate respect to the delegated Messenger Jehovah, then and ever the resurrection and the life. He was the Divine speaker on the occasion, his voice it was that Abraham obeyed, and to him he rendered the highest acts of homage and obedience. It was in his official name, as well as in that of Elohim, that he spoke to Abraham, and to him in all respects the scene evidently refers. After offering the animal provided in place of Isaac, he discerned an import and a reference in the transaction, which were to be fulfilled on the same mount at a future day; and he therefore named the place Jehovah-Jireh, importing that what was signified by his offering would be realized and witnessed there, and giving rise to a saying expressive of that result, and pointing no doubt, so explicitly as not to be misunderstood, to the sacrifice of Christ: namely, "In the mount of Jehovah it shall be seen;" or, according to Warburton, Book vi. sec. 5, "In the mount Jehovah shall be seen."