Answers to Correspondents: 2 Cor. 12:16; Ex. 20:10, 1Ki. 22:19, Isa. 6:1-5, and John 1:18,37?

From: Words of Faith: Volume 2

1 Kings 22:19 • 2 min. read • grade level: 6

Q.-Can you throw any light upon 2 Cor. 12. 16-" being crafty, I caught you with guile"? A. R.

A.-It would appear to us that the meaning of this passage connects itself with the previous clause of the verse, as if the apostle took them on their own ground and answered, " Be it so;" as if they had said: "Yes, you were not burdensome to us yourself, just to save appearances, but you take from us by sending another to receive it for you!" To meet this base insinuation he asks the question, " Did I make a gain of you by any of them whom I sent unto you?" Had Titus, or the brother sent with him by Paul made a gain of them? They knew better. He had not been crafty and caught them with guile in the way they suggested he had. The passage thus speaks of what the Corinthians had attributed to the apostle, and is not a statement by himself of the way he had acted towards them, as it apparently reads.

Q.-How do you reconcile Ex. 20:10¹⁰But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: (Exodus 20:10); 1 Kings 22:19¹⁹And he said, Hear thou therefore the word of the Lord: I saw the Lord sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven standing by him on his right hand and on his left. (1 Kings 22:19); Isa. 6:1-5¹In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. ²Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. ³And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory. ⁴And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke. ⁵Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts. (Isaiah 6:1‑5), with John 1:18¹⁸No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him. (John 1:18) and v. 37? A. R.

A.-The appearance or manifestation of God, suited to the comprehension and senses of man-a visible, external glory that witnessed to His power and supremacy in creation and government-is what is spoken of in the Old Testament scripture referred to; while the statements in John refer to His personal nature and being; it is of this latter the Lord Jesus speaks, and in this way no man has seen, or can see, God; as. such He dwells " in the light which no man approach unto." (1 Tim. 6:16¹⁶Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honor and power everlasting. Amen. (1 Timothy 6:16).) Christ, as man, is the image and manifestation of the invisible God. C. W.

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