The Topeka state journal., 1913-04-19
EvERYBODY'S Bible BOX.

EvERYBODY'S BIBLE BOX.
| Q.-Will you kindly explain the fol-
| lowing two verses of Scripture "And
they saw the God of Israel: and there
was under his feet as it were a paved
work of sapphire stone, and as it were
| the body Of heaven in it's clearness.
And upon the mobiles of Israel he laid
not his hand: also they saw God, and
| did eat and drink?''-Exodus 24:1O, IL.
In what sense did they see God? (G.
J A. T.)
Answer-In view of the positive de-
clarations of the Scriptures elsewhere
| to the effect that no mortal being has
| ever seen the majestic presence of the
| Almighty God, and that no man cou4~
see Him and live; 1t becomes evident
that these verses must be regarded in
| a figurative sense and not in literal
one. The narrative contains all the
settings of a vision-the paved work
of sapphire" and ,'as it were the body
of heaven in it's clearness.' The ex-
preston "as it were' indicates that
what they saw was not actually so.
but merely the appearance of the
things which they glimpsed. The state
ment in Exodus 33:11, Jehovah spake
unto Moses face to face as man
speaketh unto his friend,' should be
considered in the same light as the
foregoing, particularly so when the
goth verse in this same chapter is re-
membered-"And he said, Thou canst
not see my face and live
On Matthew 27:5 it is stated that
Judas hanged himself and in Acts, 1:18
the account is to the effect that Judas
fell headlong and died from the result
ing injuries. Which is correct?
(Smarg).
Answer.-These should not be re-
garded as conflicting accounts of Ju-
das' death but rather as narratives of
different details of the same event.
Matthew'S account simply states that
he went out and hanged himself, while
the account in the book of the Acts of
the Apostles gives some of the details.
For lack of fuller information, we may
reasonably suppose that what really
occurred was, that Judas selected a
tree whose branches overhung a ravine
or gorge, and, that attaching one end
of the rope to the tree and the other
end to himself, he leaped off the edge
of the canyon into space. The line
breaking, his body was dashed to
pieces on the rocks far below. This
in all probability was what really
transpired, and thus Judas was both
hanged and dashed to death in the
manner described in both of the Scrip
tural accounts. The Bible reader
should always in mind that much of
the Scriptures is but a brief outline
of the events which occurred, just
enough without going into the details,
to give a general idea as to the facts.
story of the three men, who came to
Abraham of whom two (angels) went
on to Sodom, while the third, Jehovah,
remained to talk with Abraham and
then went his way?" Did the Creator
actually appear to Abraham and en-
den.)
Answer.-It would not be reasonable
to suppose that the great Creator of
the Universe would find it necessary
to come down to the earth and appear
as a man in order to converse with
Abraham. Rather, we would under
stand. that in a representative sense
only did the Lord God appear and con-
verse with the patriarch. In all prob
ability, it was the Logos, the Lord Je-
sus in his prehuman state, who, as the
Fathers representative, appeared in
company with the two angels and de-
livered the divine message of encour-
agement. This thought is in agree
ment with lie Apostles words-'But
to us there is but one God, the Father,
of whom are all things, and we in him;
and one Lord Jesus, by whom are all
things and we by him. q Corin-
thians S:6.) Thus, as described in the
eighteenth chapter of Genesis, Jeho-
vah, God, in the person of His only
begotten Son. the Lord Jesus, appear
ed to Abraham.
ON what sense are we to under
stand the following two verses of
Scriptures? In the one it is said that
God temptS no man, and in the other
it SIS said that He tempted Abraham?
See James lib and Genesis 22:1.
Henry)
Aaswer.-In tie first mentioned text.
the thought is that God does not tempt
any man in the sense of inducing him
to do wrong. AS the Apostle proceeds
to explain (verse 14) But every man
is tempted when he is drawn away of
his own lust and enticed." This is
very evtdeI.t from the fact that some
people have raging desires for intoxi-
eating liquors, while with others there
is not the slightest desire to look upon
the wine when it is red The entire
testimony of the Scriptures is to the
effect that Satan, and not the Lord, is
the one who places temptations in the
way of mankind, appealing to their de-
sires to induce them to go contrary to
the principles of righteousness. The
word tempt" in the last mentioned
text has more the significance of the
word test The Lord tested the faith
and loyalty of Abraham, not by tempt
ing him to do wrong, but by proposing
to him that he sacrifice his son as an
offering to God. 1t is an invariable |
rule with the Lord God that all with
whom He has to do, He tests their |
to