is can be explained only by
Jesus' being concealed behind Jehovah who appeared to him, and gave him
the promise, that in him and his seed all the nations of the earth
should be blessed. This blessing of all the families of the earth is
the day of Jehovah,--the day when He will be glorified on the earth.

The key to the right understanding of this is furnished by the doctrine
of the Angel of the Lord, which meets us as early as in Genesis. From
the passages in which, at the appearances and revelations of Jehovah,
the mediation of the Angel is expressly mentioned, we infer that it
(the mediation) took place even when Jehovah by Himself is spoken of;
and the more so, since, even in the former series of passages, the
simple name of Jehovah is commonly varied by that of the Angel of
Jehovah. The Evangelist John's whole doctrine of the _Logos_ points to
the personal identity of Jesus with the Angel of the Lord. Not less so
does the passage, John xii. 41; and there is unquestionably a purpose
which cannot be misunderstood in the fact, that, throughout the
discourses of Jesus, as reported by John, the declaration that God
_sent_ Him occurs with such frequency and regularity. But we can
scarcely conceive of any other purpose than that of marking out Jesus
as the Angel or Messenger of Jehovah spoken of in the writings of the
Old Testament. Compare, _e.g._, xii. 44, [Pg 52] 45: "Jesus cried and
said, He that believeth on Me, believeth not on Me, but on Him that
_sent_ Me; and he that seeth Me, seeth Him that _sent_ Me." So also iv.
34, v. 23, 24, 30, 37, vi. 38-40, vii. 16, 28, 33, viii. 16, 18, 26,
29, ix. 4, xii. 49, xiii. 20, xiv. 24, xv. 21, xvi. 5.

Let us now, in addition, turn to the words, "Abraham rejoiced to see
(literally, that he might see) My day." It cannot be liable to any
doubt, that these words express the heartfelt, joyful desire of Abraham
to see that day, and that _Bengel_ correctly explains it by the words:
_gestivit cum desiderio_. It is true, [Greek: agalliaomai] signifies,
by itself, only "to rejoice;" but it has added to it the idea of joyful
desire by its being connected with [Greek: hina]. The words now under
consideration are expressive of Abraham's joy and longing in the spirit
for the manifestation of the day of Jehovah and of Christ, while those
in the last clause of the verse express the gratification of this
longing, which was produced by his receiving the promise that all the
families of the eart