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Date:         Tue, 26 Sep 1995 09:06:26 +0100
Reply-To: Christian explanation of the Scriptures to Israel 
Sender: Christian explanation of the Scriptures to Israel 
From: Teus Benschop 
Subject:      The Scriptures opened, 50
To: Multiple recipients of list CHR-EXP 

Contents
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1. Deuteronomy 31:16    - Israel will forsake God
2. 1 Corinthians 15:3,4 - Christ, according to the Scriptures


1.  Deuteronomy 31:16 - Israel will forsake God
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Reading: Deut. 31:1-30


Deuteronomy 31:16

And the LORD said unto Moses,
    Behold, thou shalt sleep with thy fathers;
    and this people will rise up,
    and go a whoring after the gods of the strangers of the land,
    whither they go [to be] among them,
    and will forsake me,
    and break my covenant which I have made with them.

Wayomer Adonai 'el Moshe
    Hincha, shochev 'im 'avoteicha;
    wekam ha'am hazeh,
    wezanah 'acharei 'alohei nechar ha'aretz,
    'asher hu' va' shamah bekirbo,
    wa'azavani,
    wehefer 'et beriti 'asher karati 'ito

At  the  end of Moses' life, the LORD foretells him what will  happen.
After  Moses will have died, the people will forsake God. As  long  as
Moses will live, they will follow after the true God, Who led them out
of  Egypt. But when Moses will die, after him they will begin to serve
other gods. They will forget the God, Who delivered them out of Egypt,
and  they  will serve the gods of the land, who did nothing  for  them
(since  they  were  no  gods). That is, what God  foresays  to  Moses.
"Behold, thou shalt sleep with thy fathers; and this people will  rise
up,  and  go  a whoring after the gods of the strangers of  the  land,
whither they go [to be] among them, and will forsake me, and break  my
covenant which I have made with them." When God will have brought them
into  the  promised land, the land Canaan, they will forget him.  When
God  has  helped them in the taking possession of the  land,  they  no
longer  need  Him,  and will forget Him, forsake Him,  and  break  His
covenant. That is their thank. Though they will not say it with  their
mouth,  yet  through their deeds they say: "God, Thou have brought  us
into this good land. Now we no longer need Thou, so Thou may go." This
is real great ingratitude. But what else can we expect of a man? Isn't
mankind  fallen in sin? Aren't we forgetting God always?  We  are  all
born of the same tribe, namely of the tribe of Adam. So, what good can
be  expected of us? As long as we need God, to give us things we wish,
we  will serve Him, as least, we will do as if we serve Him. But  when
we  have our desires, we forsake God. So did Israel of old, and so  do
we. When we have all we wish, we don't need God. Therefore, to keep us
with  God, it is necessary that we are also kept in some need. We have
need of need, lest we forget God, our Weldoer.
     Behold, Moses, you shall sleep with your fathers. But after  your
death,  this people will rise up against Me. Formerly, they were  low,
and subjected themselves to Me. But after your death, Moses, they will
rise  up. Not against you, as they were wont to do in the desert,  but
even  against Me. They will forsake Me, their God. Though I have  done
nothing but doing them well, they will yet forget Me. I have led  them
out the house of bondage, and have brought them into this land. Though
I  brought  them in this land, a land flowing of milk and honey,  they
will  forget me. Living in the midst of all pleasant things,  which  I
have given them, they will forsake Me. Moses, instead of following me,
the  true  God, they will go a whoring after the gods of the strangers
of  the  land.  Though those gods were unable to  protect  the  former
inhabitants,  yet,  they will serve them. The wooden  gods  are  dead.
Though  these gods are hand-made, they will yet serve them, and reject
the living God. In doing that, they will break the covenant. For, when
the  covenant was made, they promised that they would serve  Me  only.
But they will forget Me, and break the covenant.
     We  know that Israel has done all these things. When Moses  died,
they  got  Joshua in his place. When also Joshua died, they still  had
the older people, who knew of Gods deeds, and told the people thereof.
But  when  also  that old generation had passed away,  they  began  to
forget  God,  their  Deliverer. We know that these things,  which  God
foretold  Moses, have indeed happened. Not without reason, the  people
live  scattered throughout the whole world. And we, being children  of
this  fathers,  are  of the same character. Also we  are  inclined  to
abandon God, whenever there is some prosperity, and we don't need Him.
Let  we  then pray God, that He may deal thus with us, that we  always
experience our need of Him. Let we always adhere to Him, when  we  see
that  our  salvation is in Him alone. Let we not flatter ourselves  by
saying:  "We  are the children of the covenant". For, our father  have
broken  the covenant, and we are therefore born in a broken  covenant,
that is, we are born in no covenant at all. A broken covenant has lost
its  power. Only when God renews the broken covenant with us,  we  are
again  reconciled with Him. Until that time, we are like the strangers
of the land, like the nations, whose gods we serve, as the text said.


2.  1 Corinthians 15:3,4 - Christ, according to the Scriptures
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1 Corinthians 15:3,4

For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received,
how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;
And that he was buried,
and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:

These  are  the  apostle  Paul's words. As soon  as  he  came  to  the
Corinthians,  what was his first work? His first work was  to  deliver
unto  them, first of all, the doctrine that Christ died for our  sins.
He  did not stay in less important things, but instantly gave them the
main  point: Christ died for our sins. This is the main point  of  our
Christian  religion1. When Paul came to the Corinthians, he made  this
his  most  important  work, as appears from  his  own  words:  "For  I
determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him
crucified." (1 Corinthians 2:2)
     This  was  not  something  new, or invented.  No,  all  this  was
according  to the scriptures. "I delivered unto you", says  he,  "that
Christ  died  for  our  sins,  according  to  the  scriptures".   With
scriptures here is meant the books of the Old Testament. According  to
the  doctrine  taught therein, Christ would die  for  our  sins.  Some
places may prove that. A very powerful place is the one in Isaiah  53.
There  we  read that "he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter",  that
"he  was cut off out of the land of the living", that "his grave  with
the  wicked"  was made, and that He was "with the rich in his  death".
(Isaiah 53:7-9) Further, we read there, that all these things came not
upon  his  for his own transgressions, but for ours. Again, read  some
passages. For whose sins was He stricken? "For the transgression of my
people  was  he  stricken", we read in vs. 8. Also  "he  had  done  no
violence,  neither was any deceit in his mouth", vs. 9. But His  death
was  for our sins, as the prophet said, that "his soul was an offering
for  sin",  vs. 10. It appears from this, that Paul spoke  the  truth,
when  he  said  "that  Christ  died for  our  sins  according  to  the
scriptures".
     Another  thing,  which Paul taught as soon  as  he  came  to  the
Corinthians,  is, that Christ was buried, and that He rose  again  the
third day, according to the scriptures. You see, that Paul dares state
nothing without standing on the firm ground of the Old Testament.  All
what  he said and wrote was "according to the Scriptures". Christ  was
buried,  according to the Scriptures. We have already seen, that  they
made "his grave with the wicked". (Isaiah 53:9) In another place also,
we read that His soul would not be left in hell, or in the grave. "For
thou  wilt  not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer  thine
Holy One to see corruption." (Psalms 16:10) When His soul will not  be
left in hell or in the grave, that means that it has once been in  it.
It is then clear, that Scripture teaches that Christ would be buried.
     Paul  also  teaches,  on the basis of the same  Scriptures,  that
Christ  would rise again the third day. We have of course  the  facts.
These  things have happened. But we also have the prophecies  thereof.
The  same  words, we just read, may prove this. When  it  is  said  in
Psalms 16:10, that His soul would not be left in hell or in the grave,
it  appears  that He would rise again. That was the only  way  wherein
could  be fulfilled, that His soul would not be left therein. Also  in
Jonah, who has been three days in the belly of the fish, and then came
to light again, we have an example of Christ. "As Jonas was three days
and  three  nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son  of  man  be
three  days  and  three  nights in the heart of the  earth."  (Matthew
12:40)
     The  term  "three days and three nights" needs some  explanation.
When is said that Christ was three days and three nights in the grave,
does  that mean that He has lain there three full days, and three full
nights? This question can easily be answered, when we look to the  use
of  that term, "three days and three nights", in other places.  First,
we find such an expression in 1 Samuel 30:12,13.
    And  they gave him a piece of a cake of figs, and two clusters  of
    raisins: and when he had eaten, his spirit came again to him:  for
    he had eaten no bread, nor drunk any water,
                     three days and three nights.
    And  David said unto him, To whom [belongest] thou? and whence art
    thou?  And  he  said,  I am a young man of Egypt,  servant  to  an
    Amalekite; and my master left me, because
                           three days agone
    I fell sick.
What  is  here  translated with "three days  ago,  I  fell  sick",  is
literally  in Hebrew "I fell sick, the third day". When  we  take  the
day,  whereon  he says this, as the first day, then he fell  sick  the
third  day.  What we find here is a servant, who fell sick  the  third
day.  Let's  for the sake of explanation assume that it  is  Wednesday
today.  Wednesday is then that first day. Tuesday, a day back, is  the
second  day,  and  Monday, that is the third day. On Monday,  he  fell
sick,  and on Wednesday, he was found through David. So, he  has  been
sick  two nights, one full day (Tuesday) and two parts of days (Monday
and  Wednesday). Yet, he says that he has eaten and drunk nothing  for
three days and three nights. In reality, he has but eaten nothing  for
two night, but he says three. He has but eaten nothing during one full
day,  but he says three. We see from this the Hebrew mode of speaking.
When  one  says, "three days and three nights", it may mean "one  full
day and two partial days, and two nights". Let we also examine another
place,  to  see what the expression "three days and three nights"  may
mean.  We  turn  to the book of Esther, chapter 4:16  and  two  verses
further, 5:1.
    Go,  gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and
    fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink
                       three days, night or day:
    I  also  and my maidens will fast likewise; and so will  I  go  in
    unto  the  king, which [is] not according to the  law:  and  if  I
    perish, I perish. (Esther 4:16)
    Now it came to pass
                           on the third day,
    that  Esther put on [her] royal [apparel], and stood in the  inner
    court of the king's house, over against the king's house: and  the
    king  sat  upon his royal throne in the royal house, over  against
    the gate of the house. (Esther 5:1)
Before  Esther  went  in unto the king, she asked  that  the  Jews  in
Shushan  would "neither eat nor drink three days, night or  day".  She
asked  that  on the first day, and on the third day, she went  to  the
king.  So,  also here, the expression means the same as what  we  have
seen  in the book of Samuel. "Three days and three nights" means  here
"two partial days, one full day, and two nights".
     With  this  knowledge  in mind, let we  turn  to  the  phrase  in
Matthew.  "As  Jonas was three days and three nights  in  the  whale's
belly;  so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in  the
heart  of the earth." (Matthew 12:40) In fact, Jesus has been but  two
partial days in the grave, one full day, and two nights. But, like  we
found in Samuel and Esther, that span of time is expressed with "three
days and three nights".
     Christ  died  for  our sins according to the Scriptures;  He  was
buried  according to the Scriptures, and He rose again the third  day,
according to the same Scriptures. Jesus Christ is the Saviour  of  all
that  believe in Him, that they might not perish, but have everlasting
life.


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Teus Benschop  --  t.benschop@pobox.ruu.nl
Listowner of chr-exp@nic.surfnet.nl
"A Christian explanation of the Scriptures to Israel"
Institute Practical Bible-education
Web:  http://www.iclnet.org/pub/resources/text/ipb-e/ipbe-home.html
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