I have also spoken by the prophets, and I have multiplied visions, and gave symbols, by the witness of the prophets.
Read Chapter 12
George Leo Haydock
AD 1849
Prophets. They have represented me as it were under visible forms, that you cannot plead ignorance. The prophets prefigured Christ, the end of the law (Calmet)
Stephen, teaching these truths, when he was yet on earth, saw the glory of God and Jesus on his right hand, and he exclaimed, “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God.” When he said these words, he was stoned. Thus did he fulfill the perfect teaching, reflecting in every respect the one who led to martyrdom and praying for those who were slaying him in these words: “Lord, lay not this sin to their charge.” Thus were they made holy who came to recognize one and the same God through various dispensations, who from beginning to end was present with humanity in various dispensations, just as had been declared by the prophet Hosea: “I have multiplied visions, and used similitudes by the hands of the prophets.” .
Thus, therefore, was God revealed; for God the Father is shining forth through all these works, the Spirit indeed working, and the Son ministering, while the Father was approving and human salvation being accomplished. As he also declares through Hosea the prophet, “I,” he says, “have multiplied visions and have used similitudes by the ministry of the prophets.” But the apostle further expounded this very passage when he said, “Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are differences of ministrations, but the same Lord; and there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God who worked all in all. The manifestation of the Spirit is given to every one to profit thereby.” He who works all things in all is God. As to what nature he is and how great he is, God remains invisible and indescribable to all creatures that have been made by him. But he is by no means unknown. For all things learn through his Word that there is one God the Father, who contains al...
How is it, then, that John says, “No one has ever seen God”? He says this so that you may know that he is speaking of a clear knowledge and a perfect comprehension of God. All the cases cited were instances of God’s condescension and accommodation. That no one of those prophets saw God’s essence in its pure state is clear from the fact that each one saw him in a different way. God is a simple being; he is not composed of parts; he is without form or figure. But all these prophets saw different forms and figures. God proved this very thing through the mouth of another prophet. And he persuaded those other prophets that they did not see his essence in its exact nature when he said, “I have multiplied visions, and by the ministries of the prophets I was represented.” What God was saying was, “I did not show my very essence, but I came down in condescension and accommodated myself to the weakness of their eyes.” However, John does not say only of humanity that “no one has ever seen God.” T...
How is it, then, that John said, “No one has at any time seen God”? He was affirming that all those instances were manifestations of his humbling of himself, not the vision of pure Being itself. If they had actually seen the very nature of God, they would not have beheld it under different appearances. For that which is itself simple, and without shape, and not made up of parts, and not restricted by limits, does not sit or stand or walk about, since all these are functions of material bodies. However, he alone knows how he exists. Now, to show this, God the Father declared by one of the prophets, “I have multiplied visions, and by the hands of the prophets I have used similitudes,” that is, “I reached out for the lowly. I did not appear as I was in myself.” His Son was soon to appear to us in the guise of real flesh. But in the prophets he gave them experience of this beforehand by allowing them to see something of the substance of God in the way in which it was possible for them to s...
