Thou  God  seest  me.'  'The  angel  of  the  Lord'  arrested
Abraham  in  doing  that  which  God  had  bidden  him  to
do, — to  offer  Isaac  his  son.  Angels  of  God's  host  met
Jacob ;  but  it  was  one  to  whom  '  he  made  supplication,'
and  who  '  blessed  him,'  and  of  whom  Jacob  said,  *  I
have  seen  God  face  to  face.  ...  By  '  the  angel  of  the
Lord '  God  upbraided  Israel  in  the  time  of  the  Judges  :
'  I  made  you  to  go  up  out  of  Egypt,  and  have  brought
you  unto  the  land  which  I  sware  unto  your  fathers,'
etc.  '  The  Angel  of  the  Lord '  pronounced  the  curse
upon  Meroz  for  unfaithfulness  ;  and  it  disappears  from
history.  Of  this  Angel,  and  of  others  with  him,  it
seems  to  be  said,  '  The  Angel  of  the  Lord  encampeth
round  about  them  that  fear  Him,  and  delivereth  them.'
This  then,  in  itself,  involves  a  distinction  among  the
heavenly  beings,  so  far,  at  least,  that  in  the  earliest
books,  as  well  as  in  Daniel,  we  hear  of  one  angel  above
those  ordinarily  spoken  of.
In  the  Seraphim  (probably  fiery  spirits),  in  Isaiah,
and  the  Cherubim,  we  have  other  orders  of  spirits  in
their  relation  to  God.  Of  these,  the  Cherubim  are
not  mentioned  to  have  any  office  of  ministry  to  man,
but  having  been  placed,  with  symbols  of  terror,  to
prevent  his  return  to  Paradise,  were  objects  of  awe.
