Tag: descended

45.c. “Wilderness” – 9.i. “And Moses quickly bowed his head toward the earth and worshiped.”

 

Exodus 34:5-8  The LORD descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD. The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.” And Moses quickly bowed his head toward the earth and worshiped.

The Lord descended by some open token of his presence and manifestation of his glory in a cloud, and thence proclaimed his NAME; that is, the perfections and character which are denoted by the name JEHOVAH. The Lord God is merciful; ready to forgive the sinner, and to relieve the needy. Gracious; kind, and ready to bestow undeserved benefits. Long-suffering; slow to anger, giving time for repentance, only punishing when it is needful. He is abundant in goodness and truth; even sinners receive the riches of his bounty abundantly, though they abuse them. All he reveals is infallible truth, all he promises is in faithfulness. Keeping mercy for thousands; he continually shows mercy to sinners, and has treasures, which cannot be exhausted, to the end of time. Forgiving iniquity, and transgression, and sin; his mercy and goodness reach to the full and free forgiveness of sin. And will by no means clear the guilty; the holiness and justice of God are part of his goodness and love towards all his creatures. In Christ’s sufferings, the Divine holiness and justice are fully shown, and the evil of sin is made known. God’s forgiving mercy is always attended by his converting, sanctifying grace. None are pardoned but those who repent and forsake the allowed practice of every sin; nor shall any escape, who abuse, neglect, or despise this great salvation. Moses bowed down, and worshipped reverently. Every perfection in the name of God, the believer may plead with Him for the forgiveness of his sins, the making holy of his heart, and the enlargement of the Redeemer’s kingdom. (Henry)

All sin of every sort is deviation from a standard to which we ought to be conformed. There is a path which is ‘right’ and one which is ‘wrong,’ whether we believe so or not. There are hedges and limitations for us all. This law extends to the ordering of all things, whether great or small. If a line be absolutely straight, and we are running another parallel to it, the smallest possible wavering is fatal to our copy. And the smallest deflection, if produced, will run out into an ever-widening distance from the straight line. Every sin is apostasy from or rebellion against God. Our obligations are not merely to a law, but to Him who enacted it. So it becomes plain that the very centre of all sin is the shaking off of obedience to God. Living to ‘self’ is the inmost essence of every act of evil, and may be as virulently active in the smallest trifle as in the most awful crime. How infinitely deeper and darker this makes sin to be! When one thinks of our obligations and of our dependence, of God’s love and care, what an ‘evil and a bitter thing’ every sin becomes! Every sin misses the goal at which we should aim. By it we fall short of the loftiest purpose. Whatever we gain we lose more. For consider what human life might be: full of God and full of joy. Consider what the ‘fruits’ of sin are. ‘Apples of Sodom.’ How sin leads to sorrow. This is an inevitable law. Sin fails to secure what it sought for.

In it all things work under God, but only for ‘good’ to them who love God. To all others, sooner or later, the Nemesis comes. ‘Ye shall eat of the fruit of your doings.’ God forgives, and therefore He does not leave sin unpunished. It is divine mercy that strikes. The end of His chastisement is to separate us from our sins. Divine forgiveness and retributive justice both centre in the revelation of the Cross. (MacLaren)

14.z. “So must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.”

John 3:13  No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

Proverbs 30:4     Who has ascended to heaven and come down? Who has gathered the wind in his fists? Who has wrapped up the waters in a garment? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is his name, and what is his son’s name? Surely you know!

Ephesians 4:9     (In saying, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower regions, the earth?

Numbers 21:7-9    And the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD and against you. Pray to the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people.  And the LORD said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.”  So Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on a pole. And if a serpent bit anyone, he would look at the bronze serpent and live.

2 Kings 18:4   He removed the high places and broke the pillars and cut down the Asherah. And he broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until those days the people of Israel had made offerings to it (it was called Nehushtan).

John 8:28     So Jesus said to them, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he, and that I do nothing on my own authority, but speak just as the Father taught me.

John 12:32-34    And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.”

Jesus “makes it clear that He can speak authoritatively about things in heaven, though no one else can.” Jesus made a remarkable statement, explaining that the serpent of Numbers 21:4-9 was a picture of the Messiah and His work. The people were saved not by doing anything, but by simply looking to the bronze serpent. They had to trust that something as seemingly foolish as looking at such a thing would be sufficient to save them, and surely, some perished because they thought it too foolish to do such a thing. As it says in Isaiah 45:22: Look to Me, and be saved, all you ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other. We might be willing to do a hundred things to earn our salvation, but God commands us to only trust in Him – to look to Him. “Nicodemus had failed to grasp the teaching about the new birth when it was presented to him in terms drawn from Ezekiel’s prophecy; now it is presented to him by means of an object-lesson, from a story with which he had been familiar since childhood.” Belief consists of accepting something, not doing something.  When the disciples asked Jesus what work of God they must do, He replied; “Believe in the one He has sent”.  When  Paul was asked by the jailer “What must I do to be saved?”, Paul replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ”.   

To those who know they are perishing, they seek help and redemption from that which is causing it.  Like a breath of air to the drowning.  Like a physician’s healing to the sick. Like water to those on fire.  Like food to the starving. Like the Israelites bitten by fiery serpents.  Like Jesus Christ to the sinner.  Unless the person realizes they are in need or realizes there is a need, they will not be seeking help and redemption from that which is causing it.  The drowning man can’t breathe, the sick person is feeling bad, the person on fire feels the pain of burning, the starving are hungry, and the Israelites were dying from snake bites, these all felt the physical pain and realized the need for help and redemption.  The pain of sin, when realized, is more than physical pain, it is soul-deep and affects the entire body, heart, mind, and soul.  When is sin pain realized?  When the heart, mind, and soul are exposed to the Word of God and His Holiness. Many are walking around with their soul drowning in their sin but do not seek the breath of air found in Jesus Christ.  Many are walking around with their soul-sick in the sin but do not seek the Great Physician, Jesus Christ.  Many are walking around with their soul burning from sin but do not seek the living water of Jesus Christ.  Many are walking around with their soul starving in sin but do no seek the bread of life found in Jesus Christ.  The need for Jesus Christ is more urgent than anything in this world.  Just because others do not believe you are drawing, on fire, sick, and starving does not make it true.  Seek God’s Word and allow it to lead and guide your heart and mind and soul.