to the Hebrews
(1:2) proves the excellence of the New Law over the Old; because in
the New Testament "God . . . hath spoken to us by His Son," whereas
in the Old Testament "the word was spoken by angels" (Heb. 2:2).

Reply Obj. 1: As Gregory says at the beginning of his Morals (Praef.
chap. i), "the angel who is described to have appeared to Moses, is
sometimes mentioned as an angel, sometimes as the Lord: an angel, in
truth, in respect of that which was subservient to the external
delivery; and the Lord, because He was the Director within, Who
supported the effectual power of speaking." Hence also it is that the
angel spoke as personating the Lord.

Reply Obj. 2: As Augustine says (Gen. ad lit. xii, 27), it is stated
in Exodus that "the Lord spoke to Moses face to face"; and shortly
afterwards we read, "'Show me Thy glory.' Therefore He perceived what
he saw and he desired what he saw not." Hence he did not see the very
Essence of God; and consequently he was not taught by Him
immediately. Accordingly when Scripture states that "He spoke to him
face to face," this is to be understood as expressing the opinion of
the people, who thought that Moses was speaking with God mouth to
mouth, when God spoke and appeared to him, by means of a subordinate
creature, i.e. an angel and a cloud. Again we may say that this
vision "face to face" means some kind of sublime and familiar
contemplation, inferior to the vision of the Divine Essence.

Reply Obj. 3: It is for the sovereign alone to make a law by his own
authority; but sometimes after making a law, he promulgates it
through others. Thus God made the Law by His own authority, but He
promulgated it through the angels.
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FOURTH ARTICLE [I-II, Q, 98, Art. 4]

Whether the Old Law Should Have Been Given to the Jews Alone?

Objection 1: It would seem that the Old Law should not have been
given to the Jews alone. For the Old Law disposed men for the
salvation which was to come through Christ, as stated above (AA. 2,
3). But that salvation was to come not to the Jews alone but to all
nations, according to Isa. 49:6: "It is a small thing that thou
shouldst be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to
convert the dregs of Israel. Behold I have given thee to be the light
of the Gentiles, that thou mayest be My salvation, even to the
farthest part of the earth." Therefore the Old Law should have been
given to all nations, and not to one people only.