X-Sender: benschop@nic.cc.ruu.nl Mime-Version: 1.0 Date: Tue, 10 Oct 1995 08:39:50 +0100 Reply-To: Christian explanation of the Scriptures to Israel Sender: Christian explanation of the Scriptures to Israel From: Teus Benschop Subject: The Scriptures opened, 52 To: Multiple recipients of list CHR-EXP Contents ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Exodus 33:15 - Go not without God's presence 2. Psalm 15 - The righteous shall abide in God's house 3. 2 Corinthians 1:3,4 - God's comfort in tribulation 1. Exodus 33:15 - Go not without God's presence ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Reading Exodus 33:12 - 34:26 Text Exodus 33:15 And he said unto him, If thy presence go not [with me], carry us not up hence. These are the words of Moses. He says unto God: "If Thy presence go not [with me], carry us not up hence". Lord, without Thy presence I dare not go forward. Without Thee, we are not safe. Without God's presence, we have but ourselves, being unable to keep the right way. Why does Moses ask for God's presence, to go with them in their midst? He asks so, because some verses back, God had said that He would no longer go up in their midst. They had so grievously sinned, that God no longer could bear it. "I will not go up in the midst of thee; for thou art a stiffnecked people: lest I consume thee in the way." (Exodus 33:3) Moses is here pleading for the people, that God might go with them. The people had again sinned, and again Moses speaks for their advantage before God. "If Thy presence go not with us, carry us not up hence". And again, in the next chapter, we read the same. "And he said, If now I have found grace in thy sight, O Lord, let my Lord, I pray thee, go among us; for it [is] a stiffnecked people; and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for thine inheritance." (Exodus 34:9) Again Moses prays for forgiveness, confessing the sins of the people, for they are stiffnecked. Moses, being an intermediary between God and the people, is an example of Christ, Who does the same work. Moses was always praying for the people before God. Christ does the same. Moses brought God's words to the people, and Jesus Christ does it also. What will become of us, when God's presence does not go with us? What will happen to us? We are not safe without His protection. While we go through the desert of this life, too much dangers threaten us. We will undoubtedly perish without God's presence going with us. LORD, do not forsake us. Go with us. Though we are sinning daily, forgive us. Do not to us according to what we have deserved. Show Thine mercy to us. Let us find grace in Thy sight, O Lord. Go with us, and be among us. Pardon our iniquity and our sins. Many seek happiness in this fading world, but we know that there is no real happiness without God's presence. When God shines upon us with the light of His Spirit, we are filled with His joy. "Many say, Who will shew us good? LORD, lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us." (Psalms 4:6) There is no better thing than God going up in our midst. Let the light of His countenance shine upon us, and we will walk in His truth. But when we turn away from Him, a sure destruction awaits us. 2. Psalm 15 - The righteous shall abide in God's house ---------------------------------------------------------------------- A Psalm of David LORD, who shall abide in thy tabernacle? who shall dwell in thy holy hill? An important question: Lord, who shall abide in Thine house? Who shall dwell in Thy holy hill, that is, in Thine city? God, will everybody abide with Thou, or only the righteous? Who shall abide with God? LORD, who shall abide in thy tabernacle? who shall dwell in thy holy hill? He that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness, and speaketh the truth in his heart. LORD, who is the man that shall dwell in Thine house? It is he that walks uprightly, does righteousness, and speaks truth in his heart. This man will dwell with Thou. His feet do the good works, for he walks uprightly. His hands do good, for he works righteousness. His mouth and heart do good, for he speaks truth in his heart. Is this all, the godly will do? No, there is more. LORD, who shall abide in thy tabernacle? who shall dwell in thy holy hill? He that backbiteth not with his tongue, nor doeth evil to his neighbour, nor taketh up a reproach against his neighbour. He will abide in God's tabernacle, who does not use gossip. He does no evil with his tongue to his neighbour, neither with his hands. He forsakes all evil words, which would hurt his neighbour. Any reproach against him, he will not take up. LORD, who shall abide in thy tabernacle? who shall dwell in thy holy hill? He, in whose eyes a vile person is contemned; but he honoureth them that fear the LORD. He that sweareth to [his own] hurt, and changeth not. He that putteth not out his money to usury, nor taketh reward against the innocent. The man who shall abide in God's tent is he, who thinks the same as God does. A vile person is contemned in God's sight. So also in the eyes of the righteous man, that vile person is contemned. He does the same as God does. God honours them that fear the LORD. So also the righteous man and woman will honour such a one. The man who will abide in God's house, has he ever sworn to his own disadvantage, he will not change. He will not take back his words, but will keep his oath. He does not put out his money to abuse the poor, to put it out to usury. Whenever there is a poor one, asking for his help, he will help him, and give him as much as he needs. He also takes no reward against the innocent. For, a reward would blind his eyes, and then he would condemn the innocent. He that doeth these things shall never be moved. He that does all these good things, and refrains from all these evils, he will not be moved until eternity. The doing of these good things, and the forsaking of these evils, are the signs whereby we may recognise the righteous believers. Doing these things is not the ground of our firmness, but the signs whereby we know that God keeps us. "And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand". (John 10:28) 3. 2 Corinthians 1:3,4 - God's comfort in tribulation ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 2 Corinthians 1:3,4 Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God. The apostle begins his letter with God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be God, the Father of Jesus Christ, and also the Father of all mercies. Whenever there is any mercy, it is coming from Him. He is the God of all comfort. Whenever we have need of comfort, being afflicted by this life, let us flee to Him alone. Let we not go to the comforts of this world, for they are but for a short time, and partial. Let we go to God, the Father of all mercies and of all comfort. The comfort wherewith he comforts us, is enduring and eternal. Some seek comfort in food and drink, or in their family circle, or in their husband or wife. But these comforts are temporal. When we are comforted thereby without God, it is better that these things are taken away from us. Let we expect no comfort but that which is from God, the Father of our Lord Christ, and the Father of all grace. Why must the servants of God suffer much? Because then there is occasion for God to comfort them. Then the servants experience God's comfort. God's grace is then for them no longer mere words, but it has become experience. When speaking of God's comfort, and when they have experienced it, they know about what they speak. When preaching to the congregation, they know where they talk about. For it is their experience. Why must then the servants of God suffer much? Because then they are able to comfort others, and to help others in their tribulations. They must suffer much in order to be a good minister. The more they suffer, the more they will be comforted by God, and the better ministers they are for the people. The more they suffer, the better it is. All this within the bounds determined by God, of course. Their suffering and tribulations are not limited by their own will, but by God's wisdom. This is what Paul said: "Blessed be God, Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God." The more a servant is suffering, and the more comfort he receives of God, the better is he for his flock. May God then prevent his servants from looseness, lest they become useless for their people. May God always comfort the people, who in their following of Christ, suffer much. Christ said: "In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world." (John 16:33) Blessed is then God, the Father of all comfort, Who brings up His children through much tribulations and comfort, to make them fit to their tasks in this fading world. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Teus Benschop -- t.benschop@pobox.ruu.nl Listowner of chr-exp@nic.surfnet.nl "A Christian explanation of the Scriptures to Israel" Institute Practical Bible-education Web: http://www.iclnet.org/pub/resources/text/ipb-e/ipbe-home.html ------------------------------------------------------------------------ -------------------------------------------------- file: /pub/resources/text/ipb-e/so: s-open-052.txt .