Date: Tue, 14 Mar 1995 09:52:17 +0100
Reply-To: t.benschop@pobox.ruu.nl
Sender: Christian explanation of the Scriptures to Israel
From: Teus Benschop
Subject: The Scriptures opened, 22
Contents
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1. Weekly reading, Leviticus 6:1-7, Sin and atonement
2. Isaiah 1:16-18
3. 1 Cor.14:1-25, Prophecy is more then unknown tongues (3/3)
4. Books
1. Weekly reading, Leviticus 6:1-7, Sin and atonement
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1 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
2 If a soul sin, and commit a trespass against the LORD, and lie unto
his neighbour in that which was delivered him to keep, or in
fellowship, or in a thing taken away by violence, or hath deceived his
neighbour;
Until now, Moses has dealt with sins, committed by mistake. But here, he
begins to speak about more deliberate sins. Also for this kind of sins,
there is forgiveness, as we see in the seventh verse. There will be
people, when they hear that there is forgiveness for deliberate sins,
they will sin more easily. These are the ungodly. They use God's grace to
sin more carefree. They abuse God's grace to do evil. They say, let us do
evil, that grace will be multiplied, "whose damnation is just." (Rom.3:8)
When we see that there is forgiveness, even for the more deliberate
sins, we learn that we must not think too harshly about God. He is a
merciful God.
Our verse speaks about one who deliberately sins, who trespasses
against God, who lies unto his neighbour, or who takes something by
violence, or has deceived his neighbour. One sins deliberately when he
knows that something is forbidden, but nevertheless does it. You know,
for example, that it is forbidden to do your work on the Sabbath. But
nevertheless, you do some work in your house, that nobody sees it. In
your heart, you know that it is forbidden, yet, you do it. This is a
deliberate sin against God, and a transgression of His commandment.
3 Or have found that which was lost, and lieth concerning it, and
sweareth falsely; in any of all these that a man doeth, sinning
therein:
The sins in this verse are the following: You have found something on the
street, or wherever, and you lie concerning it. When one asks if you have
found some money on the street, and you say "no", while it is "yes", you
lie concerning it. A deliberate sin. Or when you swear falsely. The false
swearer calls upon God's Name, that He is the Witness that he is speaking
the truth. When you swear falsely, you call upon God's Name that you
speak the truth, while you lie. In doing so, you make God a Liar. For you
say that He is a Witness of your lies. Just as if He is a Liar. This is
very clear an intentional sin. Yet, as you see in the seventh verse,
there is forgiveness. How merciful is our God. But do not abuse His
grace, for then will your damnation be just.
4 Then it shall be, because he hath sinned, and is guilty, that he
shall restore that which he took violently away, or the thing which he
hath deceitfully gotten, or that which was delivered him to keep, or
the lost thing which he found,
What you have robbed, or deceitfully gotten something, you must give it
back. Do not think that the forgiving is an easy way to become rich. For,
when you have stolen, and you ask for forgiving without restoring the
stolen things, you would easily become rich in worldly goods. But you
would abuse God's grace. Nothing of this all. When there is true
repentance, you will, when possible, compensate your sin. When that is
done, you will ask for forgiving.
5 Or all that about which he hath sworn falsely; he shall even restore
it in the principal, and shall add the fifth part more thereto, and
give it unto him to whom it appertaineth, in the day of his trespass
offering.
The sinner shall restore the stolen goods, adding the fifth part more
thereto, "in the day of his trespass offering". Of course, it was also
allowed to restore the goods in the days before the offering, but surely
not after the offering. God did not accept offerings, when the sin was
still not made up. For, this would defile the offering, and make it
unacceptable before God. It was impossible that one could offer with an
upright heart, when he knew that there was something between him and his
neighbour. God, who penetrates the heart, would reject it. Let we keep
this in mind.
6 And he shall bring his trespass offering unto the LORD, a ram
without blemish out of the flock, with thy estimation, for a trespass
offering, unto the priest:
The sinner will bring his offering unto the LORD. Will this offering make
atonement? No, the offering in itself will not make forgiving. A dead
beast in itself is not enough to pay for your sins. Would God accept the
finite dead beast for such great sins as false swearing, robbery, and the
like? These sins are committed against God, and are therefore infinite.
Some beast cannot pay for infinite sins. In the next verse, you will read
how the atonement will be made.
7 And the priest shall make an atonement for him before the LORD: and
it shall be forgiven him for any thing of all that he hath done in
trespassing therein.
Not the offering will make an atonement, but the priest will do so. The
offering itself was not the price for the forgiving. The atonement is
based upon the priesthood. The sinner brought his beast to be offered,
but it was not able to pay for his sins. The priest did so; that means,
the priest made the atonement before the LORD. And then, it shall be
forgiven him for all that he has sinned against the LORD.
When we now look around us, we see that the offerings have ceased. The
priests have ceased. So, who will make an atonement for us before the
LORD? Bringing offerings, whether it be beasts, prayers, or whatever,
will not give atonement. A priest is needed. So, while there is no
priest, is there also not forgiveness? No, reader, there is still
forgiveness. For, there is one Priest, namely a High Priest. Jesus the
Messiah is the Priest now. He makes an atonement for all those who
believe in Him. The priests of the Old Testament were the pictures of
Jesus, the Messiah. They have ceased now, with their temple, in order
that Jesus is the only high priest now. Jesus, the present priest differs
from those ancient in several respects. One respect is that the ancient
priest offered beasts, but that Jesus offered Himself. He himself was the
offering. That was the reason why He had to be crucified. Having made the
atonement, it is for everybody who believes in Him. However, do not abuse
His grace by continuing in sin. The greatest heap of Christians does so.
They say: believe in Jesus and you will go to heaven. And no good works
are visible in their lives. While they deceive theirselves, reader, take
heed. A faith which is not visible in our life, that is, when we not do
good works as a result of that faith, is a false faith. A true faith is
not fruitless, but brings forth the blessed fruits of repentance, love,
good works, godsfear, service of God, humility, prayer, awareness of own
sin and worthlessness before God. Such a true believer will be saved
through the only High Priest, Jesus Christ, the Son of God. "If any man
love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema Maranatha." (1
Cor.16:22)
2. Isaiah 1:16-18
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16 Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before
mine eyes; cease to do evil;
17 Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the
fatherless, plead for the widow.
18 Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins
be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like
crimson, they shall be as wool.
In the previous verses, the prophet Isaiah has said that God abhorred the
whole external worship of the Israelites, for while doing the rites, they
were evil. While coming unto the temple, they committed the greatest
sins. He said: "Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination
unto me; the new moons and Sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot
away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting." (Isa.1:13) It was
not so that the LORD abhorred the rites in itself, but he abhorred the
people who did them. The nation, by committing the greatest sins, made
their worship one great hypocrisy, absolutely worthless. The people
however, thought that they did a good thing; for the service of God is
good, isn't it? They forgot that it was unacceptable when they went to
God's house on the Sabbaths, and did evil the rest of the week. They
feigned to be good on the Sabbaths, but during the week they showed their
true nature by their evil deeds.
God, being righteous, could have said: Go away; you are not longer my
chosen people. God, being righteous, could have called up the enemies to
destroy both the land and the people. God, being righteous, could have
sent famine, sword, sickness, death, as their just reward. But, great
wonder, though God is righteous, He also is merciful. Before He destroys
the people, he sends His prophet Isaiah. This man had to preach to the
nation, about their true behaviour, about the necessity of penance, about
the coming wrath, and the like. He had to call them up to penance. Let us
listen to this holy prophet, send by God.
"Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from
before mine eyes; cease to do evil; Learn to do well; seek judgment,
relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow." The
prophet puts the outward repentance in two things: cease to do evil, and
learn to do well. When one but ceases to do evil, and not holds out his
hand to help the people, he does but the half of it. This is of no use.
When you only does not evil, then you are of no use for the other people.
It would be the same as if you did not exist, for you do nothing
positive. On the other hand, when you do well, but continues to do also
evil, also that has not any value. For what you build up with your one
hand, you break down with the other. The result is again nothing, and it
would be as if you did not exist. "Cease to do evil; learn to do well".
Concerning evil, God says: put away the evil of your doings "from
before Mine eyes". Let we know therefore, when we put away the evil
before the eyes of the people, that this is not enough. God's eyes see
also in the darkness, also the hidden things are open before him.
Bettering our outward deeds is necessary, though not enough. We must be
clean before *God's* eyes. God, the Knower of our heart. Who will be able
to cleanse his heart? That heart which is an always flowing fountain of
evil? We see in the sentence "from before Mine eyes", that God's power is
needed, to wash our hearts from evil. When you, reader, say: Yes, but my
heart is not so bad, then I say you, that you are utterly blind. You do
not know what is in your heart, for the Bible says that nobody's heart is
good. "Who can say, I have made my heart clean, I am pure from my sin?"
(Prov.20:9)
Concerning doing good, pay attention on which things the prophet calls
good. "Judge the fatherless, plead for the widow." In the world, many
will judge the matter of the rich, for then you may have advantage of it.
But the fatherless, and the widow, who will help them? They are often
poor, so they cannot pay you. In the world, the fatherless and the widows
stand at the bottom. They have much need, but few helpers. Therefore, the
prophet calls them up to do also these things, which are often forgotten.
Do not only well, when you can obtain honour by it, but help also the
needy. Yes, help the needy in the first place, and your reward will be
given you by God.
When that all is done, through the grace of God? What now? Then it is
time to come unto God, and ask for pardon for your sins. Listen to the
prophet: "Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though
your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be
red like crimson, they shall be as wool."
"Come now", after you have done well, and after you have ceased from
evil. Come not before you have done so, as you did until now. Until now,
you came while your hands were full of blood. Then, I hid Mine eyes from
you, and when you made many prayers, I would not hear. So, come now,
after you have bettered the outward deeds of your life.
"Let us reason together, says the LORD". Let us talk together, and see
what was the cause of that I did not hear you. Why had I left you? It was
because of yours sins. "But your iniquities have separated between you
and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not
hear." (Isa.59:2) Come now, and let us reason. "Though your sins be as
scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson,
they shall be as wool." You might have been such a great sinner, but yet,
there is pardon. Your hands might have been full of blood of the
innocent, yet, there is pardon. For the greatest sinners, there is
pardon. Only, repent, and turn back to God.
In this part of Isaiah, we see the same as in our weekly reading. In
Leviticus, we saw that there was an atonement for the deliberate sinner.
However, only after he had made up his crimes, and after he had restored
the stolen goods. In Isaiah, in our part, you see the same. Stop from
doing evil, and seek to do well. And then, come unto God. When your sins
were very great, yet, there is forgiveness.
We see that the restoring of the goods was not the cause of the
forgiveness. When you better your life, you still need forgiving. We see
this, because after one has done well, he had to go unto God for pardon.
When his works were his pardon, he needed not to go unto God for
forgiveness. The same we saw in Leviticus. When he had restored the
goods, he had still to bring his offering to the priest, and the priest
had still to make atonement for him. The atonement, the forgiveness is
not based upon our works, but on God's grace only.
When one has sinned, and afterwards compensated it, the result is that
he has done nothing. He has stolen something, and he has given it back.
What good has he done then? Nothing. He has given back the goods, but
yet, he has sinned against God and the people. He still needs forgiveness
from God. Therefore, God's grace is always needed. Our God is a merciful
God.
Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins
be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like
crimson, they shall be as wool.
3. 1 Cor.14:1-25, Prophecy is more then unknown tongues (3/3)
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Short contents
The apostle Paul concludes the previous exhortation to love. He continues
to learn that the people, who follow after spiritual gifts, must most
follow after the gift of prophesy. Nevertheless, the gift of the unknown
tongues must not be despised, but used with an explanation of it. He
proves this using the parables of a pipe, a harp and a trumpet. He shows
that using unknown tongues, without explanation, is contrary to the
nature, and that it is nothing else then if one spoke to barbarians. He
moreover teaches that men must pray so, that is does not happen with the
spirit only, but also with understanding. Otherwise, who not understands
that unknown tongue, cannot say "Amen" on that prayer. He confirms his
saying with his own example, and exhorts that they do the same. He proves
from Scripture that the unknown tongues sometimes are more a punishment
than a gift. Further, it would be ridiculous when they all spoke unknown
tongues, but edifying when they all prophesied.
21 In the law it is written, With men of other tongues and other lips
will I speak unto this people; and yet for all that will they not hear
me, saith the Lord.
The apostle was speaking about the tongues, and that they had no place in
the congregation. Now, he quotes the Old Testament to give another
reason, why the tongues not must be used. "In the law is written", says
he. He quotes from Deuteronomy and Isaiah. Deuteronomy says: "The LORD
shall bring a nation against thee from far, from the end of the earth, as
swift as the eagle flieth; a nation whose tongue thou shalt not
understand;" (Deut.28:49) This is a punishment which will come upon the
nation, when they are disobedient. The prophet Isaiah is speaking about
the great apostasy of the people. Therefore will the punishment come upon
them. "For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this
people." (Isa.28:11) The meaning is: Because the nation did not want to
receive God's teachings by His Word, He will teach them by an unknown
tongue. This is their punishment. First, they did not want to hear, and
now, they will not be able to hear. This is the result of their
ingratitude and obstinacy. "Stammering lips" point to unknown tongues,
for when one speaks to us in another language, it seems like stammering
to us. So, in both places, Deuteronomy and Isaiah, it is about an unknown
language to punish their disobedience.
22 Wherefore tongues are for a sign, not to them that believe, but to
them that believe not: but prophesying serveth not for them that
believe not, but for them which believe.
In the previous verse, Paul quotes the Old Testament, and here, he uses
it in his reasoning. The strange tongues were a punishment in the Old
Testament, so also now. "Wherefore tongues are for a sign to them that
believe not". It is a sign to punish the people thereby. Because God uses
the unknown tongues as a punishment, they must not be used in the
congregation. For that would be a punishment instead of a useful gift.
Unknown tongues are a sign of God's anger. The unbelievers, who
obstinately reject God's Word, get unknown tongues from God. Did they not
hear? Now they shall not be able to hear! Therefore, who gets unknown
tongues in his congregation, is obviously disobedient. Otherwise, God had
not given them. So, people, does not boast on these tongues, which you
see as a gift of the Holy Spirit. For it is a punishment, like the Old
Testament says you. When you have a minister, who is difficult to
understand, then this is like an unknown tongue. You hear him speaking,
but you cannot well understand what he means. God gave you such a
minister, namely to punish the congregation for their disobedience.
On the other hand, the "prophesying serves for them which believe".
God sends a good minister to His believers, His beloved. Therefore,
follow after prophecy, and do not use any unknown tongue.
23 If therefore the whole church be come together into one place, and
all speak with tongues, and there come in those that are unlearned, or
unbelievers, will they not say that ye are mad?
The apostle again uses another argument. When you all speak in tongues,
and some outsiders come in, what would they say? They will say that you
are mad. Such outsiders come in, and they hear several strange voices.
They will think that you are not wise, or that you cannot speak, or that
there are stutterers on the pulpit. Such outsiders will consider the
Christian religion as a religion of crazy people. They will think that
Christianity makes the people frenzied. Therefore, do not longer like the
children, who play with unknown tongues, but pursue after prophesying.
24 But if all prophesy, and there come in one that believeth not, or
one unlearned, he is convinced of all, he is judged of all:
You see the difference between when one comes in unto the speakers of
unknown tongues, or unto the people who prophesy. Prophecy is the
speaking of "edification, and exhortation, and comfort." (1 Cor.14:3) So,
when an unlearned comes in, and he will hear the minister speaking
edification, exhortation and comfort, "he is convinced of all, he is
judged of all". When he hears the people speaking in a clear manner, well
understandable, he is convinced that the Christian religion is the truth.
He also will be convinced of his sinful nature, namely then the minister
speaks about God's Law and when he gives some practical examples of
transgressions. The unlearned will say: "I did not know that this and
that also is a transgression. What a great sinner am I!" It will happen
to him, like is written: "Now when they heard this, they were pricked in
their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and
brethren, what shall we do?" (Acts 2:37)
Besides being convinced of all, he also is "judged of all". He will be
condemned by all, namely about his previous sins. When he not accepts
what the people tell him out God's Word, he will be judged. When he knows
the truth, he cannot be ignorant any longer. For now he knows the truth.
25 And thus are the secrets of his heart made manifest; and so falling
down on his face he will worship God, and report that God is in you of
a truth.
"The secrets of his heart are made manifest", namely when he hears the
prophecy, that is, the exhortation, and the explanation of God's Word.
His sins were secret before. Perhaps, he didn't even know it himself. He
compares the heard things with his heart, and discovers how bad it is
there. "And so, falling down on his face, he will worship God". He will
be convinced of the fact that God is in you. All these things will not
happen when the ministers, like children, are speaking and playing with
unknown tongues in your midst, but when they prophecy.
Paul's conclusion is: do not use unknown tongues, for they have no
value. Use prophecy, for this yields blessed fruits of repentance, and
the increase of God's people, and thus gives the most honour to God.
The present charismatic movements would be considered by Paul as being
punished by God. The charismatic people themselves boast on gifts of the
Holy Spirit, but let we use our understanding. Let them boast; no,
better, warn them that they destroy their congregation by doing so. Let
them return to the Scriptures, and practise the explanation, exhortation
and comfort. Then the people who come in will be convinced, and falling
down on their face, worship God.
4. Books
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Stephen Charnock, The Knowledge of God
This one-time assistant to John Owen has tended to be known only through
his writing of "The Attributes of God". But no less valuable, and
certainly more readable, are Charnock's sermons. Fifteen are here
reprinted commencing with "A Discourse on the Knowledge of God". Other
major themes which follow include "Unbelief", "The Lord's Supper", "Self-
Examination", and "The Death of Christ".
ISBN 0 85151 448 0
604 pp. Cloth-bound.
Price around $20,00.
Ordering: ask your local bookstore or reply this description to
chr-exp-request@nic.surfnet.nl - Your order will be forwarded to a
bookshop. When ordering by reply, include your full name, address, ZIP-
code and state and/or country.
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Chr-Exp, a Christian explanation of the Tanach and the New Testament
Editor: Teus Benschop - t.benschop@pobox.ruu.nl
No copyrights on this publication
Institution Practical Bible-education, the Netherlands
End of The Scriptures opened, 22
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