Hello Lana. You are correct to believe that Almighty God cannot be seen by human eyes ( John 1:18); for God is Spirit and altogether Holy. Even if we mortals were able to have a glimpse of Him, we would be consumed instantly ( Exodus 33:20).
So, the only way we could understand this encounter with God that Jacob had (even as Moses, Isaiah & Job did; as also Abraham, Jacob, Gideon & Manoah with the Angel of the LORD), is to believe that God had provided these men a glimpse of His Holiness, yet not actually seeing the 'Face' of God. In the matter with Jacob ( Genesis 32:24-30) wrestling this unknown man (where did he come from and why was he even there wrestling?), we can understand this 'man' to be sent by God and through this event, proclaim to Jacob that he would be called 'Israel' (a prince of power that has prevailed with God and men).
There have been other interpretations of "this man": that he was Jesus before His incarnation on Earth, or he was an angel (whether Michael or Gabriel, or another), even a special angel to represent God on Earth to Jacob and also to those others mentioned earlier. However one understands the person & origin of this man, the fact remains that Jacob, and the others, would not have been able to see the Person of God (even as God only revealed His Glory to Moses as He passed by him - Exodus 33:20-23). I believe that Jacob, not only wrestled with a physical man, but understood that this man was sent from Heaven by God & in some way revealed to him something of the Power & Glory of God. And so Jacob called that place, Peniel, a place where he saw God (at least what God revealed to him of Himself) & Jacob was relieved to have survived that encounter.
I hope that goes some way to help you understand that Jacob, and the others, would not have seen the Person of God, but what God chose to reveal to them of His Glory, Majesty, and Power - and this revelation was to them as if they had encountered God in Person.
"And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy."
Deuteronomy 7:9
"Know therefore that the LORD thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations;"
Isaiah 55:7
"Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon."
Hello "The Bible Alone" and thanks for sharing that and since you addressed it to both "Mr Spencer and others", I would like to comment if I may.
You gave Romans 3:9-18 (taken from Psalm 14:1-4) to show that both Jew and Gentile are under sin, that no one can escape this awful reality & bondage.
You also quoted Romans 9:14-16,22, presumably to support the belief that it is God Who shows mercy on those whom He elects to be His people. When we read Romans chapter 9, we see Paul agonizing over his kinsmen. They were indeed blessed, having received the Law, the adoption, the Covenants, & the Promises, yet still fell far short before their God. Through Isaac & his seed would the Promise be established and not through Ishmael (son of the flesh).
Again, God selects (or, elects) Jacob over Esau, that the "elder shall serve the younger", which seems totally incompatible to the law of inheritance & rights, and seemingly unrighteous of God to make such an appointment. Paul then goes on to give the example of Moses ( Exodus 33:13-19), where God says in v19, "and (I) will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy."
I share this to show that this passage has nothing to do with salvation from sin, but of election of Israel through Abraham, Isaac & Jacob (to the exclusion of all others). And with Moses, a special granting of Mercy to have a limited sight of God's Glory. So the LORD could say to him that He would be gracious and merciful to Moses to reveal His Glory, as He could do to some and not to others. Onto Page 2.
Hi dear Grace friends, in Jesus name. I have some serious word who hawe hunted me today. And i want to bring it before you all sweet people, and graciously faithful people. Full of grace, truth and love. I love you all!
I wondering of the word, of God and rememered something il read. at first i thought it was Jesus words, but it is not. Its in Jac.4:3. But often He said that we needed to pray. Joh 16:24 and Joh 14:13. And He will give the answer. So i look to myself and wondering, why its so hard nowadayes to have a breakthru in pray? Is it me who have something unforgiven? Or what is it? I searched for this for myself. And came to a terrible conclusion. My God expect from me to give my whole heart! He want me to give my self for Him who have saved me. He have given me peace, insight, knowledge, certainly, learning and most if all His trust and love and much more.
First He need much Attention, praice, my tears. Full surrender and love for my friends. Much of this i give always and every day. Anyway this is serious things. No one can expekt an answer to prayer if this is not on the wallpaper. I can not rest on my laurels anymore. The word led me further to the ten virgins. Mat 25:1 Five of them have enough oil in their lamps. i wonder of in this though. So what ever i do, let it be the best i can do. Not half hearted always have good time for Him. Always full of spirit and soul and never a pray without belive. With praise and surrender and full attention on what i can do for my Lord, Savior, and King, He will be fearsome that day He come back. Remember how God Him Self said to the Moses when he got the ten commandments. Exodus 33:5
And now we are in the last hour! 1 Joh 2:18. This applies to all of us. No one of Jesus ppl have time to do half-finished pray anymore. Amen! God be with us il pray.
Grace is nothing new in the New Testament. The Old Testament has men that found grace . Noah found grace.
Genesis 6:8
But Noah foundgracein the eyes of the LORD.
Jacob found grace.
Genesis 33:10
And Jacob said, Nay, I pray thee, if now I have foundgracein thy sight, then receive my present at my hand: for therefore I have seen thy face, as though I had seen the face of God, and thou wast pleased with me.
Joseph of the Twelve Tribes of Israel found grace.
Genesis 39:4
And Joseph foundgracein his sight, and he served him: and he made him overseer over his house, and all that he had he put into his hand.
Moses found grace.
Exodus 33:12
And Moses said unto the LORD, See, thou sayest unto me, Bring up this people: and thou hast not let me know whom thou wilt send with me. Yet thou hast said, I know thee by name, and thou hast also foundgracein my sight.
The best one of them all is Jesus Christ was full of grace.
John 1:14
And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full ofgraceand truth.
Jesus Christ is Grace.
John 1:17
For the law was given by Moses, butgraceand truth came by Jesus Christ.
Ray , in Christ Jesus 1 Corinthians 15:1-4 please believe the gospel of grace
Every sinner is in need of God's mercy. When one realizes this and cries to God for mercy we admit to deserving eternal punishment for our sins as well as being undeserving of His mercy. By rights, we should be under his impending wrath, like all mankind ( Ephesians 2:3) - but for "the tender mercy of our God" ( Luke 1:78), in which Jesus took god's wrath in our place and allows for our sins to be forgiven.
In Titus 3:4-7, the apostle Paul gives us one of the best descriptions of God's mercy as revealed in Jesus Christ:
4 But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared,
5 Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;
6 Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour;
7 That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
God's mercy forgives and saves us specifically because He withholds the punishment, condemnation and wrath we deserve.
Romans 5:9
Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.
1 Thessalonians 5:9
For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,
1 Thessalonians 1:10
And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.
Exodus 33:19 reveals a great glimpse of God's mercy. In one of the most important passages in all the Bible, after Moses has asked God to show him his glory, God answers, "I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name 'The Lord.' And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy."
When asked to show his glory, God puts his goodness in grace and mercy on display - and his utter freedom in showing his mercy to whomever he chooses.
Exodus 33:19 says "I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the LORD, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion."
Through God's favor a seed of faith is planted in your heart. As it sprouts, matures and grows in your heart, it should then be overtaken by a desire to be continually growing, continually pleasing God and continually gaining in God's favor.
This is what it means to be in pursuit of God.
His favor grants you access and provides the transformative power to be a new creation in Christ. It is, in fact, a transformation towards Christ-likeness.
Our faith is crucial for receiving God's favor. A key aspect of faith is that it allows us to receive God's grace and favor freely, not because of our own works or efforts.
Ephesians 2:8-9 declares, "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God- not by works, so that no one can boast."
As Hebrews 11:6 says, "And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him."
This is not to say that it is our faith that earns God's favor, rather, it is often the means through which God causes His favor to flow to us. He chose to have favor upon us out of His goodness and eternal plan, but He brings us His favor at the time in our life when He determines it is best and will accomplish the most good.
Abraham was called by God before He believed. Moses was called by God before He knew Him. Paul was transformed by God while he was persecuting Jesus and His church. But, by God's choice, He favored all of these men in order to bring them to faith, salvation, and glory and to work out his plan in history during their lifetimes.
Thank you for your response GiGi. And to be fair, I should wait for your submission on Election, though I see that you have brought it up in your other recent posts. In any case, you shared a couple of Scriptures: Exodus 33:19 and Romans 9:18. And we could include Romans 9:15. In each of those examples, it is clear that God has the power to relegate mercy & blessings or else judgement & punishment, according to His Will. But none of those examples point to the soul's salvation; in the first instance, for accepting Moses' requests for God's Presence both with His people & to pass before his (Moses') own eyes. God approved of Moses, his position appointed to him, & Moses' uncertainty & lack of assurance of God's Work before his eyes.
In Romans 9:15,18, we read of the selection of Jacob & his descendants over Esau & his, that "the election of God might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth" (v11); i.e. through Sarah & not Hagar. And v18: where Pharoah's heart was hardened by God in the matter of the Israelites departure from Egypt. These examples serve to show that God indeed has every right to do with us according to His Purposes. But how should this be understood when referring to the sinful condition of the human heart and its need for salvation, given the Holy Character of God? Can we expect that God will apply the same conditions of Election as seen in those examples: Moses' standing before God; the descendency of His special people through Isaac & Jacob; & using a heathen ruler to accomplish His Will, when the very essence of His Offer & Provision of His Salvation through His Son is bathed in Holy Love & Mercy for all, for all have sinned?
I am glad to respond to you on this topic. Please read what I posted to Chris and what I post to you here will follow that post to Chris.
In using the word favor, I am not speaking of favoritism, but biblically as it is used in Exodus 33:19 and Romans 9:18. God's favor is God's good pleasure extended to undeserving creatures. Hope that clears that question up a bit for you.
The other matter of "righteousness". No one gains God's favor for their own good deeds because Scripture is clear that no one is righteous, seeks God, or can merit God's favor. It is the righteousness of Christ every elect person must have to be justified before God. But if we are dead in our sin and rebels against God, not wanting to obey Him at all when unregenerated, how can anyone turn to God to be saved unless God performs in us what is needed to do such a repentance of turning to God to be saved.
God is not capricious or arbitrary in His election because to be that way would be sinful. Nor is He a "respecter of persons" (such as deciding "I will only elect men" or some other aspect He finds in a person) because that would be sinful, too. God is just and righteous. Therefore His reasons for electing who He does in hidden in His internal counsel in the persons of the Godhead. We are not given the reason why He chooses some and not others in Scripture. But it does say in Romans 9 that it is not according to someone doing anything good or evil such as with Jacob and Esau, or because some unregenerated people will choose to be righteous due to their faith in God because they CANNOT have faith in God unless God graces them with it.
Thanks for responding to my post. I always am glad that you "press into" what people post to get more clarity or to engage in discussion of differing ideas on a topic.
I can understand your query on this topic of God being free to favor whomever He wishes and to not favor whomever He does not.
We see God speaking this way to Moses in Exodus 33:19 when Moses asked to see God's glory and also in Romans 9:18.
I will speak on this more when I get to the topic of election, but for this post I will say that I don't think we really know why God chooses the way He does in election and in extending His grace and mercy to some to save the elect and not to others. But I do believe that everyone who is not elected is not condemned so much because God determined it to be so (which is strict determinism) but rather stand condemned because they freely chose to sin against God as we all have done and are therefore completely responsible for being vessels of wrath as Romans 9 states. However, the elect were chosen by God before creation and before any of us had done anything good or evil, as Jacob and Esau are given as an example in Romans 9.
I can't truly say why God chose you or me or anyone who is given faith by God to believe the Gospel and place our faith in Jesus alone for salvation. But I do believe that our election is not because God looked forward I history to see that we would choose to believe these things on our own because Paul speaks clearly in Romans that no one is righteous or seeks God or can please God, being dead in sin and blind to the gospel of grace. Although God does know all things past present and future and works history out according to His perfect, wise, and holy will, pleasure, and plan for creation. This does not mean that He is the cause of all things that happen, but that He is sovereign in whatever comes about in history as a whole and in individual lives. He brings about circumstances to affect people for His purposes and allows or disallows events according to this same wisdom and will. But this is not determinism because every person chooses freely their actions, words, and motives . see Pt. 2
Hi GiGi. As with bros S. Spencer & Carleton, I appreciated what you had submitted & found it very sound, though my thoughts too focussed on your sentence, "And we must admit that He is free to show favor to whomever He pleases and to withhold it from whomever He pleases. ( Exodus 33:19; Romans 9:15)."
On its own, that Truth certainly stands firm without question. But the question that arises in my mind is: if that's all we had to go on, then God is indiscriminate in granting His Favor, Mercy, & Graciousness, and by extension, those not receiving that Love are consigned to complete estrangement from Him & His Salvation for no fault of their own since that was already His Will for them. To deal with such a thought & undergirding it with John 3:16 for example, that God loved the world (of sinners), I've always believed that there was something behind God's election of people, that caused Him to show or withhold favor to some & not others. Maybe this thought of mine goes outside the purvue of your submissions, but wanted to share, as you've invited comments.
As an example, & this would particularly be of interest to ex-military, our drill sergeant asked us to form a single line before him, with the tallest men at the ends, descending to the shorter ones in the center. From the left, each guy had to shout out numbers from 1, 2, etc. Then the command for only the odd numbers to take two steps forward (always had that one who forgot his number). And then with the two lines of men before him, the command given to turn right. What we had now were two lines of men that still maintained the height order that the sergeant wanted & without any other requirement (i.e. not character or expertise-based). This then would be an authority figure who randomly elected each one to a position in the squad, without any pre-knowledge or pre-qualification.
Should we understand God to also be so indiscriminate in selection, randomly appointing some to receive His Favor, others not?
Since we know that Scripture reveals God's right and authority and power and prerogative to do as He pleases and we know that whatever He pleases to do is always holy, good, righteous, and pure, we must admit that He is free to determine the judgment and curse of sin for sinners according to His wisdom, not ours. And we must admit that He is free to show favor to whomever He pleases and to withhold it from whomever He pleases. ( Exodus 33:19; Romans 9:15).
God alone determines what is morally right and wrong. He alone decides how He will deal with sin, evil, and wickedness in His creation. He alone decided that He will unconditionally redeem those He has chosen before creation to receive His mercy, grace, and favor. He alone determined that those who are unredeemed sinners are under eternal condemnation and recipients of His unmitigated wrath. In all of these determinations, God is just, right, and sovereign.
Before creation, there was only God. He existed forever as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in a unified oneness of being. He is and always is one being with three distinct "persons" or centers of consciousness or "subsistences" each sharing eternally the one divine essence (nature) fully and equally. Before creation, God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit loved each other and were completely satisfied within the Being of the one Godhead. He was self-sufficient in all ways, in need of nothing outside of His one Being. No other being in creation is like this. And, since we are finite in all ways, we cannot wrap our minds fully around this quality of God. In this way, He is transcendent.
In His holiness, God is set apart from all He created, being transcendent and beyond the reach of any created being, especially in that humans are sinful and therefore rightly restrained from God's presence. God's glory in His transcendent holiness and majesty determines that no man can see the face of God and live. We will be consumed by His glory and wrath for sinfulness. He did not let Moses see His face (glory) in Exodus 33:20 because Moses was still in sinful flesh. The full revelation of God to mankind is reserved for the future. Now we know in part, but then we will know more fully. Isaiah 64:6-7 speaks to our unworthiness to be in fellowship with God and abide in His presence. "all of us have become like one who is unclean.."
God's holiness and righteousness forces God to turn His face away from what is sinful and keep Himself separate from anything and anyone sinful, impure, unclean, and less than perfect. But paradoxically, God does draw near to those who He redeems and it in this His immanence that any creature can have fellowship with Him and come to truly know Him. Jer. 23:23-24 speaks of this. It is also in His immanence that He controls and upholds the universe, in His work within history, time, and space, and in His plan to create and redeem.-- Pt. 3
So, some will say "where does free will come in concerning the angels, humanity, and any other conscious moral powers, rulers, authorities in the heavenlies?"
God will that all moral beings He created would be free to choose to obey Him or not. When the angels sinned and the other angels did not, He then sealed the holy angels to be forever sinless and judged the sinful angels to never be restored to their original holiness.
For human beings, He consigned all human beings over to sin and corruption, leaving none that are truly righteous as He is righteous. Romans 11:32 i order that He may be merciful to them in their need for redemption.
Adam and Eve were the only humans who truly had a will that was free to obey God or disobey. Since their sin, they and all humans are now in bondage to sin and the corruption of sin and the wages of sin, which is death.
We are not free to righteously choose to seek God, obey Him, love Him, or worship Him in our fallen, unredeemed state. We are only free to choose sin, and that we do. But thank God, that in His sovereignty He chose to regenerate those He elected so that they can have a new nature that is once again free to choose to obey Him yet still having a nature that wills to disobey. See Romans 7.
The sovereignty of God is absolute. We cannot sway His eternal will inn any way. We are all at His mercy and in need of His grace. Thank God He is Yahweh, who is gracious to whomever He is gracious to and gives mercy to whomever He is merciful to. Exodus 33:18-19. This is a major aspect of what His name means! He shows mercy and grace to those He sovereignly chooses.
We cannot understand the workings of this mercy and grace within the Godhead and His will. We are altogether NOT like Him and His ways are far beyond our ability to search out. But He is love and He expresses that love to humans in that while we were yet dead in sin, He made us alive to Him and saved us through the Son. ( Eph. 2:1-8)
And the LORD spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend. And he turned again into the camp: but his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, departed not out of the tabernacle. ( Exodus 33:11).
Having wiped out my most recent attempt at this post TWICE now (aargh) I'll give it one final "hail Mary" as it were.
I suppose once I've committed the entire Bible to memory I'll stop pushing the wrong button to find verses online that knocks me out.
Anyway; I started posting today as I saw a couple individuals concerned about their salvation and it seemed to be a topic needing to be addressed. Earlier I stated that POST salvation that there is indeed a "two way" communication between a believer and the Lord; as it were in prayer. Proverbs 4:18 says But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day. Thus; if we know the Lord we learn to recognize our own flaws with mental processes and emotional issues as well as physical desires that all can lead us to sin. I consider doctrines of election as important for many reasons not the least being that God never changes and His covenants relate to that.
Hebrews 8:10 declares "For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people:"
As a vessel fit for His purposes we are not our own as 1 Corinthians 6:20 states we were "bought with a price." Of course all souls are mine as Esekiel 18:4 states. There are two polar opposites we want to avoid; first fear and cowardice which is warned about in Revelation 22 as something that brings people to hell; but also being presumptuous in for instance; claiming that we no longer sin as believers.
God gives us courage; as He did for Peter after Christ's Ascencion. Dying to self brings true joy! It comes from God not our own hand!
It appears that there were at least 14 prayers of Moses; which I think I can safely say shows his prayers were more frequent and a more intimate relationship with the Lord than anyone besides David and of course Christ Himself; except perhaps John the Baptist. Exodus 33:11 speaks of the uniqueness of Moses who spoke face to face with the Lord and even got to view him from afar (his back quarters) in Exodus 33:20-23. We do well to "camp out" on these prayers to learn something about humility as we see was part of Moses' character; as well as his two faults listed in scripture.
Going back into history a bit; we can see through the prayers for offspring of Abraham and Sarah; and that of a wife for Isaac that the entire Biblical lineage as well as the foundation of the patriarchs who constituted the beginnings of the nation of Israel to come much later were established. We go further to Joseph who oddly enough from what I can see doesn't have any prayers listed although certainly lived a faithful existence. With Abraham we have promises of freedom of captivity after 400 years ( Genesis 15:13) which was finally coming to fruition with Moses being God's chosen vessel for this undertaking. Now we had an entire nation of Jews along with a multitude of others along with untold women and children exiting Egypt and basically wandering in the desert; punished by God so that only Joshua and Caleb remained of the original generation to be accompanied by the next generation. It is noteable that Moses' prayer or plea to God to enter the Promised Land was rejected; although He was allowed to view it from afar. ( Deut. 32:52). This was due to his sin at Meribeh ( Numbers 20:13-15). Moses only had one other sin listed; that of killing the Egyptian back before his own 40 years of exile and hiding in Exodus 2:12.
Themes of prayer for a corporate body in Exodus remind us of prayers needed for the church at large. We also need leaders today like this
May we learn to love and praise the LORD. May we forget not of HIS forgiveness of our sin and the power of HIS presence in our lives. It is most unfortunate for us to only really want and desire what we had after we have lost it. Colossians 3:1
Let us stay close to the "ROCK" of our salvation, and the wisdom of our GOD through our diligent study and application of HIS word. Let us walk in the LORD and not fall to the lust of this world. Galatians 5:16
GOD bless everyone as we enter into this new year 2024!
January 1, 2024
The Lord to shine HIS face on all who love HIM; and bless us gloriously.
When considering the return of Christ from our perspective we look forward to the conquering King at His second coming (which in reality is at least His third appearance since He ascended from the grave as a sort of part b to His first appearing in the form of the Son of Man; and the Second Coming is split into the Rapture when He appears in the air and when He physically returns at Armaggedon being a sort of "fourth" coming).
Of course this term doesn't appear in scripture; nor does the Word "trinity". Rapture is what Harpazo means after translation to the term "rapturo" so it isn't in our English texts. In a broader context; Christ appeared in the Old Testament many times (known as a Christophene if it is spelled right). It would seem that the Preincarnate Christ would be there all times; in fact when the Lord communed with man; as no man can see God and live ( Exodus 33:20). The same could be said for Christ in all His glory; John fell at His feet as though dead in his encounter in Revelation ( Rev. 1:17-18).
It is truly profound to consider how Christ was reduced to the microscopic size of a human fetus; just as much as a virgin birth. Surely in that state the angels were protecting him; being part of the Godhead wasn't part of His earthly ministry ( Philippians 2:7) as He had to live as a substitute for us; but without sin as well as dying as our atonement as the perfect sacrifice. The fact that Christ died for His enemies is remarkable. How He took on our sins is incomprehensible as well; but this was God's plan from before the foundation of the earth.
May us all remember the verse Matthew 21:44 in regard to falling on Christ. When He returns He will fall on His enemies and crush all the empires of this world as foretold in Daniel 2:45. Let us fall down in worship and adoration today.
There is no contradiction, we see in Exodus 33:20-23 God told Moses he cannot see my face and no man can see me and live, so God showed Moses His backside, that is the closest any person has come to seeing God. Matt. 5:8 Jesus says those pure in heart meaning those who are amongst the saints/saved will see God. Job knew this as he says in Job 19:26, his glorified flesh/body.
We have our confirmation in Revelation 22:3-4 And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him: 4 And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads.
We will see God's face and the Lamb/Jesus for they will be the light and the temple of the new earth and the new Jerusalem, Revelation 21:22-23.
Jesus was subject unto God his Father like anybody else
Galatians 4:4 But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,.."
God was not Superman to come as a human being he sent his Son Jesus John 3:16. If Jesus was God he sure is the weakest one I ever read as Jesus can do nothing by himself without the spirit of God his Father in him. John 5:30
John 5:30 I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.
No man can see God's face at anytime as people will die. Moses can never see God's face and neither can we, we only have the Son of God as an example who God his Father really is. Jesus preached God is a spirit John 4:24. Jesus never said that he was God in the whatever and if so nobody would be able to see his face.
John 1:18 No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.
Exodus 33:20 And he said, Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live.
21 And the LORD said, Behold, there is a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock:
22 And it shall come to pass, while my glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a clift of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand while I pass by:
23 And I will take away mine hand, and thou shalt see my back parts: but my face shall not be seen.
Jesus fulfilled the law, which means he died and did everything that was written of him to do. The testimony of two m((en)) is true John 8:7 and not one m((an)). God was not Superman to become flesh, it was his Son as all the prophets of old knew that God had a son.
Daniel 3:25 He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.
God never left his throne he sent his Son Jesus and not himself Romans 8:3.
And in nothing terrified by your adversaries: which is to them an evident token of perdition, but to you of salvation, and that of God. (PHillipians 1:28)."
And as soon as we had heard these things, our hearts did melt, neither did there remain any more courage in any man, because of you: for the LORD your God, he is God in heaven above, and in earth beneath. ( Joshua 2:11).
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom ( Proverbs 9:10). Continuing with some ideas from my previous post; it seems that when it comes to supposed testimonies of hell; the fear of the Lord and a sense of it being His wrath as a great part of the terror is lost in accounts of suffering. The same thing makes us even more suspect with those testimonies about heaven; even Moses who knew God unlike any other man at the time ( Exodus 33:11) and spoke to Him as a friend still had fear when He appeared in all His glory ( Deut. 9:19). WE ALL SHOULD TAKE THIS ADMONITION SERIOUSLY as to fear and AWE of Him no matter how long we have been believers (sorry but I felt caps were needed here).
The assurance of salvation and the evident blessings being present on someone brings meaning to the first quote from Philippians; and the fact that we will return with Him ( Rev. 19:14) will strike fear in those whose eyes are now opened;
along with the fear of judgment to come.
The concept of our enemies also needs to be addressed along with our own enmity toward God that we now have reconciled.
Romans 11:28 shows how the unbeliving Jews were enemies in one sense; yet Paul wished that he himself could be accursed to save them ( Romans 9:3). We are to love our enemies; but not fraternize to gain reputation as the world does; for what is honorable among men is an abomination to God ( Luke 16:15 also could be "highly esteemed"). We should have no part fellowshipping with those who preach a false Gospel; and in no uncertain terms testify to the peril the unsaved is in apart from repentance.
Lot's wife never demonstrated saving faith from what scripture would indicate; at the very least desiring more to turn back to see the fate of the city doomed for destruction rather than to escape. "Righteous Lot" ( 2 Peter 2:7-8) was vexed every day; and clearly quite compromised in his dealings when he offered his daughters to the men who were trying to break down his door to commit abominations. No mention of his wife is in the scriptures; as was with Sarah; for instance in Hebrews 11.
Today in church it was discussed how Abraham was said to be the only one who was a "friend" of God ( James 2:23). Exodus 33:11 states the same of Moses as well so technically my Pastor erred. My point here I may expound on later; namely the fact that God truly spoke in a different manner to them than many others in the Bible. The friendship; in other words went both ways. The discussion also came up today in Sunday school on how He is both Master and friend. This is a mystery in itself; and forces us beyond stereotypical cultural viewpoints toward such a relationship. As for now; I will just state that Lot had to be "shoved" out of his town literally; and the angels had to put up with his ridiculous bantering about going to the nearby little town; which was promptly abandoned once Lot saw what happened and hid in the mountains. Abraham and Moses both had slow starts and their own issues; but were able to have close fellowship with the Lord as we see from Genesis 18:17 with Abraham and Exodus 32:30 where Moses acted to intercede to prevent God from destroying all of Israel. That scene is another discussion as to its theological implications.
We all should strive to be as the saints in the "hall of fame" in Hebrews 11; not stubborn like Jonah as an ox. Nonetheless these all are true believers. We CANNOT claim God's promises with an imaginary Christ or on other terms than scripture dictates and expect it to be true.
When he said I'll let you see my back parts, some of us need to see God back parts, I see God back parts sick laying in the hospital bed, the miracle that he working with my life right now, thank you God for letting me see your back parts, and know that your Holy Spirit is with me! I'm going to rest in You and trust you through it all in Jesus name, and it is so!
Revelation 11:1, Revelation 3:7-13, The Church of Philadelphia is interestingly encouraging to me. Philadelphia as being the Miraculous place of USA Declaration of Independence, Liberty Bell, US Mint (still printing IN GOD WE TRUST ) the faith filled prayers, sacrifice, devotion to GOD & freedom to worship GOD, documents the give & gave GOD glory, honor & reverence, started in Philadelphia USA spreading into most US State Constitutions including California & even unto many countries constitutions. In the modern age.
Notice; it says "to the angel of the church" I'm assuming it's because it's not to the people as a whole. Exodus 33:16, 1Thessalonians 5:22,
Your first question; is there anywhere in the heavens or the earth that God cannot be, Psalm 139:7-10Proverbs 15:3Jeremiah 23:23-24Hebrews 4:13Isaiah 6:3. But is the universe, the earth, and everything on the earth a manifestation of God? NO that is Pantheism and is forbidden in the Bible as idol worship, if everything is God it can be worshiped.
His dwelling place is in heaven that is above heaven (universe) and earth, beyond and outside of the physical universe, 1 Kings 8:301 Kings 8:432 Chr. 20:6Psalm 11:4Daniel 2:28Matt. 5:16Matt. 6:9. God gave His only begotten Son to die for us, John 3:16 God by the Holy Spirit can dwell in us if we accept Jesus as our savior we are cleansed by His blood, Romans 8:9-111 Cor. 3:16
God can see everything and take action anywhere, Prov. 15:3Heb. 4:13 but God is everywhere at once? He is in that he is aware of everything in the physical universe both past, present, and future, and he can turn his attention to anyone or anything at any time.
Has anyone seen God? Moses came the closest, God showed him His backside, Exodus 33:12-23. No man in the flesh can see God's face and live, John 1:18John 4:121 Tim. 6:16. We will see His face after the resurrection in our immortal and incorruptible body, Rev 22:4.
How can one Know that God exists? The Bible: He has revealed things to us, and the evidence is convincing if anyone is willing to consider the evidence. History also confirms many things that were prophesied in the Bible long before they happened. The word of God is the truth, and the Holy Spirit will reveal it to those with an open mind and open heart who honestly want the truth.
This is my understanding in love may it help, search and pray for yours.
When we look at the book of Ezekiel; we see the prophet being spoken to as "son of man". (chapter 12; verse 12). Christ's presence is with capital letters In Daniel; He was called the "Son of Man" and God the Father the "Ancient of Days.". ( Dan. 7:9-14). His presence in someone like Jacob was seen in that He wrestled with God and prevailed. He asked for a blessing; recognizing the divinity of God and was given i ( Gen. 32:29). We also see examples such as with Abraham where the remaining visitor was clearly God or Abraham wouldn't have requested an answer about how many righteous people would need to remain in Sodom for God to preserve the city. ( Gen. 18:16-33). The distinction between the preincarnate Christ and the other 2 angels rests in that angels; messengers of God are faithful in only representing God (or Christ in the Godhead). Their actions are direct orders from the Lord.
We see the impartiality of God in the Angel of Gideon when he stated that he was "on the Lord's side" in Judges chapter 5. It wasn't revealed fully until chapter 6; verse 22. The "Angel" of God that people were instructed to follow also signified God because of the capital letter as well as the fact that disobedience would result in Divine punishment. There was surely a Saviour promised in the O.T.; and Genesis mentioned man being created in "our likeness". The distinction of the Godhead could only be stated in the fact that God the Father never appears to have a definite appearance; as the N.T. states no one has "seen God." ( John 1:18). No one can "see God and live" ( Exodus 33:20) and Moses could only see the back parts again probably of the preincarnate Christ.
It was in the visions and dreams (such as with Daniel) such as the rock that destroyed the rest of the kingdoms of the earth where Christ's glory is revealed. ( Dan. 2:31-36).
So, the only way we could understand this encounter with God that Jacob had (even as Moses, Isaiah & Job did; as also Abraham, Jacob, Gideon & Manoah with the Angel of the LORD), is to believe that God had provided these men a glimpse of His Holiness, yet not actually seeing the 'Face' of God. In the matter with Jacob ( Genesis 32:24-30) wrestling this unknown man (where did he come from and why was he even there wrestling?), we can understand this 'man' to be sent by God and through this event, proclaim to Jacob that he would be called 'Israel' (a prince of power that has prevailed with God and men).
There have been other interpretations of "this man": that he was Jesus before His incarnation on Earth, or he was an angel (whether Michael or Gabriel, or another), even a special angel to represent God on Earth to Jacob and also to those others mentioned earlier. However one understands the person & origin of this man, the fact remains that Jacob, and the others, would not have been able to see the Person of God (even as God only revealed His Glory to Moses as He passed by him - Exodus 33:20-23). I believe that Jacob, not only wrestled with a physical man, but understood that this man was sent from Heaven by God & in some way revealed to him something of the Power & Glory of God. And so Jacob called that place, Peniel, a place where he saw God (at least what God revealed to him of Himself) & Jacob was relieved to have survived that encounter.
I hope that goes some way to help you understand that Jacob, and the others, would not have seen the Person of God, but what God chose to reveal to them of His Glory, Majesty, and Power - and this revelation was to them as if they had encountered God in Person.
"And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy."
Deuteronomy 7:9
"Know therefore that the LORD thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations;"
Isaiah 55:7
"Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon."
Blessings
You gave Romans 3:9-18 (taken from Psalm 14:1-4) to show that both Jew and Gentile are under sin, that no one can escape this awful reality & bondage.
You also quoted Romans 9:14-16,22, presumably to support the belief that it is God Who shows mercy on those whom He elects to be His people. When we read Romans chapter 9, we see Paul agonizing over his kinsmen. They were indeed blessed, having received the Law, the adoption, the Covenants, & the Promises, yet still fell far short before their God. Through Isaac & his seed would the Promise be established and not through Ishmael (son of the flesh).
Again, God selects (or, elects) Jacob over Esau, that the "elder shall serve the younger", which seems totally incompatible to the law of inheritance & rights, and seemingly unrighteous of God to make such an appointment. Paul then goes on to give the example of Moses ( Exodus 33:13-19), where God says in v19, "and (I) will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy."
I share this to show that this passage has nothing to do with salvation from sin, but of election of Israel through Abraham, Isaac & Jacob (to the exclusion of all others). And with Moses, a special granting of Mercy to have a limited sight of God's Glory. So the LORD could say to him that He would be gracious and merciful to Moses to reveal His Glory, as He could do to some and not to others. Onto Page 2.
I wondering of the word, of God and rememered something il read. at first i thought it was Jesus words, but it is not. Its in Jac.4:3. But often He said that we needed to pray. Joh 16:24 and Joh 14:13. And He will give the answer. So i look to myself and wondering, why its so hard nowadayes to have a breakthru in pray? Is it me who have something unforgiven? Or what is it? I searched for this for myself. And came to a terrible conclusion. My God expect from me to give my whole heart! He want me to give my self for Him who have saved me. He have given me peace, insight, knowledge, certainly, learning and most if all His trust and love and much more.
First He need much Attention, praice, my tears. Full surrender and love for my friends. Much of this i give always and every day. Anyway this is serious things. No one can expekt an answer to prayer if this is not on the wallpaper. I can not rest on my laurels anymore. The word led me further to the ten virgins. Mat 25:1 Five of them have enough oil in their lamps. i wonder of in this though. So what ever i do, let it be the best i can do. Not half hearted always have good time for Him. Always full of spirit and soul and never a pray without belive. With praise and surrender and full attention on what i can do for my Lord, Savior, and King, He will be fearsome that day He come back. Remember how God Him Self said to the Moses when he got the ten commandments. Exodus 33:5
And now we are in the last hour! 1 Joh 2:18. This applies to all of us. No one of Jesus ppl have time to do half-finished pray anymore. Amen! God be with us il pray.
Grace is nothing new in the New Testament. The Old Testament has men that found grace . Noah found grace.
Genesis 6:8
But Noah foundgracein the eyes of the LORD.
Jacob found grace.
Genesis 33:10
And Jacob said, Nay, I pray thee, if now I have foundgracein thy sight, then receive my present at my hand: for therefore I have seen thy face, as though I had seen the face of God, and thou wast pleased with me.
Joseph of the Twelve Tribes of Israel found grace.
Genesis 39:4
And Joseph foundgracein his sight, and he served him: and he made him overseer over his house, and all that he had he put into his hand.
Moses found grace.
Exodus 33:12
And Moses said unto the LORD, See, thou sayest unto me, Bring up this people: and thou hast not let me know whom thou wilt send with me. Yet thou hast said, I know thee by name, and thou hast also foundgracein my sight.
The best one of them all is Jesus Christ was full of grace.
John 1:14
And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full ofgraceand truth.
Jesus Christ is Grace.
John 1:17
For the law was given by Moses, butgraceand truth came by Jesus Christ.
Ray , in Christ Jesus 1 Corinthians 15:1-4 please believe the gospel of grace
GOD'S MERCY IS NEW EVERY MORNING AND NEVER FAILS
Every sinner is in need of God's mercy. When one realizes this and cries to God for mercy we admit to deserving eternal punishment for our sins as well as being undeserving of His mercy. By rights, we should be under his impending wrath, like all mankind ( Ephesians 2:3) - but for "the tender mercy of our God" ( Luke 1:78), in which Jesus took god's wrath in our place and allows for our sins to be forgiven.
In Titus 3:4-7, the apostle Paul gives us one of the best descriptions of God's mercy as revealed in Jesus Christ:
4 But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared,
5 Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;
6 Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour;
7 That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
God's mercy forgives and saves us specifically because He withholds the punishment, condemnation and wrath we deserve.
Romans 5:9
Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.
1 Thessalonians 5:9
For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,
1 Thessalonians 1:10
And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.
Exodus 33:19 reveals a great glimpse of God's mercy. In one of the most important passages in all the Bible, after Moses has asked God to show him his glory, God answers, "I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name 'The Lord.' And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy."
When asked to show his glory, God puts his goodness in grace and mercy on display - and his utter freedom in showing his mercy to whomever he chooses.
See Pt. 2
Pt.2
Exodus 33:19 says "I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the LORD, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion."
Through God's favor a seed of faith is planted in your heart. As it sprouts, matures and grows in your heart, it should then be overtaken by a desire to be continually growing, continually pleasing God and continually gaining in God's favor.
This is what it means to be in pursuit of God.
His favor grants you access and provides the transformative power to be a new creation in Christ. It is, in fact, a transformation towards Christ-likeness.
Our faith is crucial for receiving God's favor. A key aspect of faith is that it allows us to receive God's grace and favor freely, not because of our own works or efforts.
Ephesians 2:8-9 declares, "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God- not by works, so that no one can boast."
As Hebrews 11:6 says, "And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him."
This is not to say that it is our faith that earns God's favor, rather, it is often the means through which God causes His favor to flow to us. He chose to have favor upon us out of His goodness and eternal plan, but He brings us His favor at the time in our life when He determines it is best and will accomplish the most good.
Abraham was called by God before He believed. Moses was called by God before He knew Him. Paul was transformed by God while he was persecuting Jesus and His church. But, by God's choice, He favored all of these men in order to bring them to faith, salvation, and glory and to work out his plan in history during their lifetimes.
In Romans 9:15,18, we read of the selection of Jacob & his descendants over Esau & his, that "the election of God might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth" (v11); i.e. through Sarah & not Hagar. And v18: where Pharoah's heart was hardened by God in the matter of the Israelites departure from Egypt. These examples serve to show that God indeed has every right to do with us according to His Purposes. But how should this be understood when referring to the sinful condition of the human heart and its need for salvation, given the Holy Character of God? Can we expect that God will apply the same conditions of Election as seen in those examples: Moses' standing before God; the descendency of His special people through Isaac & Jacob; & using a heathen ruler to accomplish His Will, when the very essence of His Offer & Provision of His Salvation through His Son is bathed in Holy Love & Mercy for all, for all have sinned?
I am glad to respond to you on this topic. Please read what I posted to Chris and what I post to you here will follow that post to Chris.
In using the word favor, I am not speaking of favoritism, but biblically as it is used in Exodus 33:19 and Romans 9:18. God's favor is God's good pleasure extended to undeserving creatures. Hope that clears that question up a bit for you.
The other matter of "righteousness". No one gains God's favor for their own good deeds because Scripture is clear that no one is righteous, seeks God, or can merit God's favor. It is the righteousness of Christ every elect person must have to be justified before God. But if we are dead in our sin and rebels against God, not wanting to obey Him at all when unregenerated, how can anyone turn to God to be saved unless God performs in us what is needed to do such a repentance of turning to God to be saved.
God is not capricious or arbitrary in His election because to be that way would be sinful. Nor is He a "respecter of persons" (such as deciding "I will only elect men" or some other aspect He finds in a person) because that would be sinful, too. God is just and righteous. Therefore His reasons for electing who He does in hidden in His internal counsel in the persons of the Godhead. We are not given the reason why He chooses some and not others in Scripture. But it does say in Romans 9 that it is not according to someone doing anything good or evil such as with Jacob and Esau, or because some unregenerated people will choose to be righteous due to their faith in God because they CANNOT have faith in God unless God graces them with it.
Thanks for responding to my post. I always am glad that you "press into" what people post to get more clarity or to engage in discussion of differing ideas on a topic.
Blessings to you tonight and always.
I can understand your query on this topic of God being free to favor whomever He wishes and to not favor whomever He does not.
We see God speaking this way to Moses in Exodus 33:19 when Moses asked to see God's glory and also in Romans 9:18.
I will speak on this more when I get to the topic of election, but for this post I will say that I don't think we really know why God chooses the way He does in election and in extending His grace and mercy to some to save the elect and not to others. But I do believe that everyone who is not elected is not condemned so much because God determined it to be so (which is strict determinism) but rather stand condemned because they freely chose to sin against God as we all have done and are therefore completely responsible for being vessels of wrath as Romans 9 states. However, the elect were chosen by God before creation and before any of us had done anything good or evil, as Jacob and Esau are given as an example in Romans 9.
I can't truly say why God chose you or me or anyone who is given faith by God to believe the Gospel and place our faith in Jesus alone for salvation. But I do believe that our election is not because God looked forward I history to see that we would choose to believe these things on our own because Paul speaks clearly in Romans that no one is righteous or seeks God or can please God, being dead in sin and blind to the gospel of grace. Although God does know all things past present and future and works history out according to His perfect, wise, and holy will, pleasure, and plan for creation. This does not mean that He is the cause of all things that happen, but that He is sovereign in whatever comes about in history as a whole and in individual lives. He brings about circumstances to affect people for His purposes and allows or disallows events according to this same wisdom and will. But this is not determinism because every person chooses freely their actions, words, and motives . see Pt. 2
On its own, that Truth certainly stands firm without question. But the question that arises in my mind is: if that's all we had to go on, then God is indiscriminate in granting His Favor, Mercy, & Graciousness, and by extension, those not receiving that Love are consigned to complete estrangement from Him & His Salvation for no fault of their own since that was already His Will for them. To deal with such a thought & undergirding it with John 3:16 for example, that God loved the world (of sinners), I've always believed that there was something behind God's election of people, that caused Him to show or withhold favor to some & not others. Maybe this thought of mine goes outside the purvue of your submissions, but wanted to share, as you've invited comments.
As an example, & this would particularly be of interest to ex-military, our drill sergeant asked us to form a single line before him, with the tallest men at the ends, descending to the shorter ones in the center. From the left, each guy had to shout out numbers from 1, 2, etc. Then the command for only the odd numbers to take two steps forward (always had that one who forgot his number). And then with the two lines of men before him, the command given to turn right. What we had now were two lines of men that still maintained the height order that the sergeant wanted & without any other requirement (i.e. not character or expertise-based). This then would be an authority figure who randomly elected each one to a position in the squad, without any pre-knowledge or pre-qualification.
Should we understand God to also be so indiscriminate in selection, randomly appointing some to receive His Favor, others not?
Since we know that Scripture reveals God's right and authority and power and prerogative to do as He pleases and we know that whatever He pleases to do is always holy, good, righteous, and pure, we must admit that He is free to determine the judgment and curse of sin for sinners according to His wisdom, not ours. And we must admit that He is free to show favor to whomever He pleases and to withhold it from whomever He pleases. ( Exodus 33:19; Romans 9:15).
God alone determines what is morally right and wrong. He alone decides how He will deal with sin, evil, and wickedness in His creation. He alone decided that He will unconditionally redeem those He has chosen before creation to receive His mercy, grace, and favor. He alone determined that those who are unredeemed sinners are under eternal condemnation and recipients of His unmitigated wrath. In all of these determinations, God is just, right, and sovereign.
pt 2
Before creation, there was only God. He existed forever as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in a unified oneness of being. He is and always is one being with three distinct "persons" or centers of consciousness or "subsistences" each sharing eternally the one divine essence (nature) fully and equally. Before creation, God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit loved each other and were completely satisfied within the Being of the one Godhead. He was self-sufficient in all ways, in need of nothing outside of His one Being. No other being in creation is like this. And, since we are finite in all ways, we cannot wrap our minds fully around this quality of God. In this way, He is transcendent.
In His holiness, God is set apart from all He created, being transcendent and beyond the reach of any created being, especially in that humans are sinful and therefore rightly restrained from God's presence. God's glory in His transcendent holiness and majesty determines that no man can see the face of God and live. We will be consumed by His glory and wrath for sinfulness. He did not let Moses see His face (glory) in Exodus 33:20 because Moses was still in sinful flesh. The full revelation of God to mankind is reserved for the future. Now we know in part, but then we will know more fully. Isaiah 64:6-7 speaks to our unworthiness to be in fellowship with God and abide in His presence. "all of us have become like one who is unclean.."
God's holiness and righteousness forces God to turn His face away from what is sinful and keep Himself separate from anything and anyone sinful, impure, unclean, and less than perfect. But paradoxically, God does draw near to those who He redeems and it in this His immanence that any creature can have fellowship with Him and come to truly know Him. Jer. 23:23-24 speaks of this. It is also in His immanence that He controls and upholds the universe, in His work within history, time, and space, and in His plan to create and redeem.-- Pt. 3
Cont.
So, some will say "where does free will come in concerning the angels, humanity, and any other conscious moral powers, rulers, authorities in the heavenlies?"
God will that all moral beings He created would be free to choose to obey Him or not. When the angels sinned and the other angels did not, He then sealed the holy angels to be forever sinless and judged the sinful angels to never be restored to their original holiness.
For human beings, He consigned all human beings over to sin and corruption, leaving none that are truly righteous as He is righteous. Romans 11:32 i order that He may be merciful to them in their need for redemption.
Adam and Eve were the only humans who truly had a will that was free to obey God or disobey. Since their sin, they and all humans are now in bondage to sin and the corruption of sin and the wages of sin, which is death.
We are not free to righteously choose to seek God, obey Him, love Him, or worship Him in our fallen, unredeemed state. We are only free to choose sin, and that we do. But thank God, that in His sovereignty He chose to regenerate those He elected so that they can have a new nature that is once again free to choose to obey Him yet still having a nature that wills to disobey. See Romans 7.
The sovereignty of God is absolute. We cannot sway His eternal will inn any way. We are all at His mercy and in need of His grace. Thank God He is Yahweh, who is gracious to whomever He is gracious to and gives mercy to whomever He is merciful to. Exodus 33:18-19. This is a major aspect of what His name means! He shows mercy and grace to those He sovereignly chooses.
We cannot understand the workings of this mercy and grace within the Godhead and His will. We are altogether NOT like Him and His ways are far beyond our ability to search out. But He is love and He expresses that love to humans in that while we were yet dead in sin, He made us alive to Him and saved us through the Son. ( Eph. 2:1-8)
Hebrews 4:16, Exodus 14:14, Exodus 33:14.
Having wiped out my most recent attempt at this post TWICE now (aargh) I'll give it one final "hail Mary" as it were.
I suppose once I've committed the entire Bible to memory I'll stop pushing the wrong button to find verses online that knocks me out.
Anyway; I started posting today as I saw a couple individuals concerned about their salvation and it seemed to be a topic needing to be addressed. Earlier I stated that POST salvation that there is indeed a "two way" communication between a believer and the Lord; as it were in prayer. Proverbs 4:18 says But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day. Thus; if we know the Lord we learn to recognize our own flaws with mental processes and emotional issues as well as physical desires that all can lead us to sin. I consider doctrines of election as important for many reasons not the least being that God never changes and His covenants relate to that.
Hebrews 8:10 declares "For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people:"
As a vessel fit for His purposes we are not our own as 1 Corinthians 6:20 states we were "bought with a price." Of course all souls are mine as Esekiel 18:4 states. There are two polar opposites we want to avoid; first fear and cowardice which is warned about in Revelation 22 as something that brings people to hell; but also being presumptuous in for instance; claiming that we no longer sin as believers.
God gives us courage; as He did for Peter after Christ's Ascencion. Dying to self brings true joy! It comes from God not our own hand!
It appears that there were at least 14 prayers of Moses; which I think I can safely say shows his prayers were more frequent and a more intimate relationship with the Lord than anyone besides David and of course Christ Himself; except perhaps John the Baptist. Exodus 33:11 speaks of the uniqueness of Moses who spoke face to face with the Lord and even got to view him from afar (his back quarters) in Exodus 33:20-23. We do well to "camp out" on these prayers to learn something about humility as we see was part of Moses' character; as well as his two faults listed in scripture.
Going back into history a bit; we can see through the prayers for offspring of Abraham and Sarah; and that of a wife for Isaac that the entire Biblical lineage as well as the foundation of the patriarchs who constituted the beginnings of the nation of Israel to come much later were established. We go further to Joseph who oddly enough from what I can see doesn't have any prayers listed although certainly lived a faithful existence. With Abraham we have promises of freedom of captivity after 400 years ( Genesis 15:13) which was finally coming to fruition with Moses being God's chosen vessel for this undertaking. Now we had an entire nation of Jews along with a multitude of others along with untold women and children exiting Egypt and basically wandering in the desert; punished by God so that only Joshua and Caleb remained of the original generation to be accompanied by the next generation. It is noteable that Moses' prayer or plea to God to enter the Promised Land was rejected; although He was allowed to view it from afar. ( Deut. 32:52). This was due to his sin at Meribeh ( Numbers 20:13-15). Moses only had one other sin listed; that of killing the Egyptian back before his own 40 years of exile and hiding in Exodus 2:12.
Themes of prayer for a corporate body in Exodus remind us of prayers needed for the church at large. We also need leaders today like this
Let us stay close to the "ROCK" of our salvation, and the wisdom of our GOD through our diligent study and application of HIS word. Let us walk in the LORD and not fall to the lust of this world. Galatians 5:16
GOD bless everyone as we enter into this new year 2024!
January 1, 2024
The Lord to shine HIS face on all who love HIM; and bless us gloriously.
When considering the return of Christ from our perspective we look forward to the conquering King at His second coming (which in reality is at least His third appearance since He ascended from the grave as a sort of part b to His first appearing in the form of the Son of Man; and the Second Coming is split into the Rapture when He appears in the air and when He physically returns at Armaggedon being a sort of "fourth" coming).
Of course this term doesn't appear in scripture; nor does the Word "trinity". Rapture is what Harpazo means after translation to the term "rapturo" so it isn't in our English texts. In a broader context; Christ appeared in the Old Testament many times (known as a Christophene if it is spelled right). It would seem that the Preincarnate Christ would be there all times; in fact when the Lord communed with man; as no man can see God and live ( Exodus 33:20). The same could be said for Christ in all His glory; John fell at His feet as though dead in his encounter in Revelation ( Rev. 1:17-18).
It is truly profound to consider how Christ was reduced to the microscopic size of a human fetus; just as much as a virgin birth. Surely in that state the angels were protecting him; being part of the Godhead wasn't part of His earthly ministry ( Philippians 2:7) as He had to live as a substitute for us; but without sin as well as dying as our atonement as the perfect sacrifice. The fact that Christ died for His enemies is remarkable. How He took on our sins is incomprehensible as well; but this was God's plan from before the foundation of the earth.
May us all remember the verse Matthew 21:44 in regard to falling on Christ. When He returns He will fall on His enemies and crush all the empires of this world as foretold in Daniel 2:45. Let us fall down in worship and adoration today.
Agape. Rich P
There is no contradiction, we see in Exodus 33:20-23 God told Moses he cannot see my face and no man can see me and live, so God showed Moses His backside, that is the closest any person has come to seeing God. Matt. 5:8 Jesus says those pure in heart meaning those who are amongst the saints/saved will see God. Job knew this as he says in Job 19:26, his glorified flesh/body.
We have our confirmation in Revelation 22:3-4 And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him: 4 And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads.
We will see God's face and the Lamb/Jesus for they will be the light and the temple of the new earth and the new Jerusalem, Revelation 21:22-23.
God bless,
RLW
Galatians 4:4 But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,.."
God was not Superman to come as a human being he sent his Son Jesus John 3:16. If Jesus was God he sure is the weakest one I ever read as Jesus can do nothing by himself without the spirit of God his Father in him. John 5:30
John 5:30 I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.
No man can see God's face at anytime as people will die. Moses can never see God's face and neither can we, we only have the Son of God as an example who God his Father really is. Jesus preached God is a spirit John 4:24. Jesus never said that he was God in the whatever and if so nobody would be able to see his face.
John 1:18 No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.
Exodus 33:20 And he said, Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live.
21 And the LORD said, Behold, there is a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock:
22 And it shall come to pass, while my glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a clift of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand while I pass by:
23 And I will take away mine hand, and thou shalt see my back parts: but my face shall not be seen.
Jesus fulfilled the law, which means he died and did everything that was written of him to do. The testimony of two m((en)) is true John 8:7 and not one m((an)). God was not Superman to become flesh, it was his Son as all the prophets of old knew that God had a son.
Daniel 3:25 He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.
God never left his throne he sent his Son Jesus and not himself Romans 8:3.
And in nothing terrified by your adversaries: which is to them an evident token of perdition, but to you of salvation, and that of God. (PHillipians 1:28)."
And as soon as we had heard these things, our hearts did melt, neither did there remain any more courage in any man, because of you: for the LORD your God, he is God in heaven above, and in earth beneath. ( Joshua 2:11).
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom ( Proverbs 9:10). Continuing with some ideas from my previous post; it seems that when it comes to supposed testimonies of hell; the fear of the Lord and a sense of it being His wrath as a great part of the terror is lost in accounts of suffering. The same thing makes us even more suspect with those testimonies about heaven; even Moses who knew God unlike any other man at the time ( Exodus 33:11) and spoke to Him as a friend still had fear when He appeared in all His glory ( Deut. 9:19). WE ALL SHOULD TAKE THIS ADMONITION SERIOUSLY as to fear and AWE of Him no matter how long we have been believers (sorry but I felt caps were needed here).
The assurance of salvation and the evident blessings being present on someone brings meaning to the first quote from Philippians; and the fact that we will return with Him ( Rev. 19:14) will strike fear in those whose eyes are now opened;
along with the fear of judgment to come.
The concept of our enemies also needs to be addressed along with our own enmity toward God that we now have reconciled.
Romans 11:28 shows how the unbeliving Jews were enemies in one sense; yet Paul wished that he himself could be accursed to save them ( Romans 9:3). We are to love our enemies; but not fraternize to gain reputation as the world does; for what is honorable among men is an abomination to God ( Luke 16:15 also could be "highly esteemed"). We should have no part fellowshipping with those who preach a false Gospel; and in no uncertain terms testify to the peril the unsaved is in apart from repentance.
Lot's wife never demonstrated saving faith from what scripture would indicate; at the very least desiring more to turn back to see the fate of the city doomed for destruction rather than to escape. "Righteous Lot" ( 2 Peter 2:7-8) was vexed every day; and clearly quite compromised in his dealings when he offered his daughters to the men who were trying to break down his door to commit abominations. No mention of his wife is in the scriptures; as was with Sarah; for instance in Hebrews 11.
Today in church it was discussed how Abraham was said to be the only one who was a "friend" of God ( James 2:23). Exodus 33:11 states the same of Moses as well so technically my Pastor erred. My point here I may expound on later; namely the fact that God truly spoke in a different manner to them than many others in the Bible. The friendship; in other words went both ways. The discussion also came up today in Sunday school on how He is both Master and friend. This is a mystery in itself; and forces us beyond stereotypical cultural viewpoints toward such a relationship. As for now; I will just state that Lot had to be "shoved" out of his town literally; and the angels had to put up with his ridiculous bantering about going to the nearby little town; which was promptly abandoned once Lot saw what happened and hid in the mountains. Abraham and Moses both had slow starts and their own issues; but were able to have close fellowship with the Lord as we see from Genesis 18:17 with Abraham and Exodus 32:30 where Moses acted to intercede to prevent God from destroying all of Israel. That scene is another discussion as to its theological implications.
We all should strive to be as the saints in the "hall of fame" in Hebrews 11; not stubborn like Jonah as an ox. Nonetheless these all are true believers. We CANNOT claim God's promises with an imaginary Christ or on other terms than scripture dictates and expect it to be true.
Notice; it says "to the angel of the church" I'm assuming it's because it's not to the people as a whole. Exodus 33:16, 1Thessalonians 5:22,
Hopefully these are helpful in your studies
I will give my understanding,
Your first question; is there anywhere in the heavens or the earth that God cannot be, Psalm 139:7-10 Proverbs 15:3 Jeremiah 23:23-24 Hebrews 4:13 Isaiah 6:3. But is the universe, the earth, and everything on the earth a manifestation of God? NO that is Pantheism and is forbidden in the Bible as idol worship, if everything is God it can be worshiped.
His dwelling place is in heaven that is above heaven (universe) and earth, beyond and outside of the physical universe, 1 Kings 8:30 1 Kings 8:43 2 Chr. 20:6 Psalm 11:4 Daniel 2:28 Matt. 5:16 Matt. 6:9. God gave His only begotten Son to die for us, John 3:16 God by the Holy Spirit can dwell in us if we accept Jesus as our savior we are cleansed by His blood, Romans 8:9-11 1 Cor. 3:16
God can see everything and take action anywhere, Prov. 15:3 Heb. 4:13 but God is everywhere at once? He is in that he is aware of everything in the physical universe both past, present, and future, and he can turn his attention to anyone or anything at any time.
Has anyone seen God? Moses came the closest, God showed him His backside, Exodus 33:12-23. No man in the flesh can see God's face and live, John 1:18 John 4:12 1 Tim. 6:16. We will see His face after the resurrection in our immortal and incorruptible body, Rev 22:4.
How can one Know that God exists? The Bible: He has revealed things to us, and the evidence is convincing if anyone is willing to consider the evidence. History also confirms many things that were prophesied in the Bible long before they happened. The word of God is the truth, and the Holy Spirit will reveal it to those with an open mind and open heart who honestly want the truth.
This is my understanding in love may it help, search and pray for yours.
God bless,
RLW
Exodus 33:14 kjv: And he said , My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee
rest.
Psalm 138:3 kjv: In the day when I cried thou answeredst me , and strengthenedst me
with strength in my soul.
We see the impartiality of God in the Angel of Gideon when he stated that he was "on the Lord's side" in Judges chapter 5. It wasn't revealed fully until chapter 6; verse 22. The "Angel" of God that people were instructed to follow also signified God because of the capital letter as well as the fact that disobedience would result in Divine punishment. There was surely a Saviour promised in the O.T.; and Genesis mentioned man being created in "our likeness". The distinction of the Godhead could only be stated in the fact that God the Father never appears to have a definite appearance; as the N.T. states no one has "seen God." ( John 1:18). No one can "see God and live" ( Exodus 33:20) and Moses could only see the back parts again probably of the preincarnate Christ.
It was in the visions and dreams (such as with Daniel) such as the rock that destroyed the rest of the kingdoms of the earth where Christ's glory is revealed. ( Dan. 2:31-36).
Going by the quote above is God selective when it comes to blessings?