And the rest of the statements by the Lawgiver and the Prophets are of the same kind. But I suppose that I have said sufficiently that, when my God says: God went up from Abraham, or, The Lord spake unto Moses, and The Lord came down to see the tower which the children of men built,Genesis 11:5 or when God shut the ark of Noah on the outside Genesis 11:5 you should not consider that the unbegotten God has come down, or gone up, from anywhere.
For the ineffable Father and Lord of all neither comes to any place, nor walks, nor sleeps, nor arises, but abides in His place, wherever that is, seeing acutely and hearing acutely not with eyes nor ears, but with power beyond all speech. And He surveys all things and knows all things, and no one of us escapes His notice. Nor is He moved, who cannot be contained in any place, even the whole world, who in truth was even before the world came into being.
How therefore should He speak unto any, or be seen of any, or appear in a tiny part of earth, when the people had no power to behold at Sinai even the glory of him who was sent by Him, nor had Moses himself power to enter into the tabernacle which he made, if it was filled with the glory from God; nor, further, could the priest endure to stand before the shrine, when Solomon brought the ark into the House that was in Jerusalem, which Solomon himself had built?
Neither Abraham therefore, nor Isaac, nor Jacob, nor any other man, saw the Father and ineffable Lord of all things whatsoever, and of Christ Himself, but only Him who, in accordance with God’s will, is both God, His Son, and Angel, from the fact of His ministering to His purpose, Him whom He has also willed to be born man through the Virgin, Him who also once became Fire when He held that conversation with Moses from the Bush.
Since if we do not understand the Scriptures, the result will be that the Father and Lord of the universe was not in heaven at the time when it is said by Moses: And the Lord rained on Sodom fire and brimstone from the Lord out of heaven, and again when it is said as follows by David: Lift up your gates, ye princes, and be ye lifted up, ye everlasting gates, and the King of glory shall come in; and again when He says: The Lord saith to my Lord: Sit on my right hand, until I set thine enemies thy footstool.