Question: How are the children of God viewed in the First Epistle of John?
Answer: The features of God’s children are seen in this epistle, as light, love, obedience, righteousness, and faith; and are contrasted with the children of the devil, as darkness, hatred, disobedience, unrighteousness and unbelief.
Question: Was it the Lord who was seen in the fiery furnace? (Dan. 3:25).
Answer: Yes. In the Old Testament the Lord appeared at times in different forms.
In Genesis 18, He is a wayfaring man communing with Abraham the pilgrim.
In Joshua 5, He appears as Captain of the Lord’s host, giving instructions how to take Jericho.
In Daniel, He is a companion in tribulation, and a deliverer, while in it, from its power. The fire killed the men that put these three men into it, but over them it had no power. It took the cords off their limbs, and put them in the company of one like to the Son of God. Nebuchadnezzar did not know the Son of God. (It is literally “a son of the gods”). But how happy a place it was to be in. Was it not? They might be afraid before they were thrown in, but it was delightful to be in the presence of the Lord Himself (Nah. 1:7).
Question: In Exodus 30:9 why was there to be no burnt sacrifice, nor meat offering, neither drink offering offered thereon? I can see how they would have been out of place upon this altar, which was for incense only, but why the admonition? An admonition would not have been given if there had not been the danger of offering these offerings, I would think. Then, why does it not say, there shall be no sin offering offered thereon?
Answer: The altar of incense was the presentation to God in worship of all that Christ was, both in life and in death. To offer burnt sacrifice, on this altar would be to deny the work that had been done at the brazen altar. (Witness the Roman Mass). No mention is made of the sin offering, because, in its distinctive character as a sin offering, it was not offered on the altar of burnt offering at all, but burned without the camp.