Jer. 7: 10. And come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, We are delivered to do all these abominations. Luke 21 36. Watch ye, therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and tc stand before the Son of Man. Rev. 20: 12. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God, and the books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. APPEAR BEFORE THE LORD. - Deut. 31: 11. When all Israel is come to appear before the Lord thy God in the place which he shall choose, thou shalt read this law before all Israel in their hearing. Ps. 42: 2. My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God? Isa. 1: 12. When ye come to appear before me, who hath required this at your hand, to tread my courts? PRESENCE OF THE LORD. Gen. 3 8. And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day; and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden. Gen. 4 16. And Cain went out from the presence of the Lord, and dwelt in the Land of Nod, on the east of Eden. Exod. 33: 14, 15. And he (God) said, My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest. And he said unto him, If thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence. Lev. 22: 3. Say unto them, Whosoever he be of all your seed among your generations, that goeth unto the holy things, which the children of Israel hallow unto the Lord, having his uncleanness upon him, that soul shall be cut off from my presence: I am the Lord. 2 Kings 24: 20. For through the anger of the Lord it came to pass in Jerusalem and Judah, until he (the Lord) had cast them out from his presence, that Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon. 1 Chron. 16: 26, 27. For all the gods of the people are idols: but the Lord made the heavens. Glory and honor are in his presence; strength and gladness are in his place. Verse 33. Then shall the trees of the wood sing out at the presence of the Lord, because he cometh to judge the earth. 2 Chron. 20 9. If when evil cometh upon us, as the sword, judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we stand before this house, and in thy presence (for thy name is in this house), and cry unto thee in our affliction, then thou wilt hear and help. Job 1: 12. And the Lord said unto Satan, Behold, all that he (Job) hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand. Sc Satan went forth from the presence of the Lord. : Job 23 15. Therefore am I troubled at his presence; when I consider, I am afraid of him. Ps. 9: 2, 3. O thou Most High. When mine enemies are turned back, they shall fall and perish at thy presence. Ps. 16 11. Thou wilt show me the path of life in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore. Ps. 17 2. Let my sentence come forth from thy presence. Ps. 51 11. Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy Holy Spirit from me. Ps. 68: 2. As smoke is driven away, so drive them away: as vax melteth before the fire, so let the wicked perish at the presence of God. Verse 8. The earth shook, the heavens also dropped at the presence of God; even Sinai itself was moved at the presence of God. Ps. 95 2. Ps. 97 5. Ps. 100: 2. with singing. Ps. 114: 7. Ps. 139: 7. Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving. Tremble, thou earth, at the presence of the Lord. from thy presence? Ps. 140: 13. Isa. 64: 2, 3. waters to boil, to The upright shall dwell in thy presence. As when the melting fire burneth, the fire causeth the make thy name known to thine adversaries, that the nations may tremble at thy presence. The mountains flowed down at thy presence. Jer. 4 26. I beheld, and lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness, and all the cities thereof were broken down at the presence of the Lord, and by his fierce anger. Jer. 5: 22. Fear ye not me? saith the Lord: will ye not tremble at my presence, which have placed the sand for the bound of the sea by a perpetual decree, that it cannot pass away? Jer. 23: 39. Therefore, behold I, even I, will utterly forget you, and I will forsake you, and the city that I gave you and your fathers, and cast you out of my presence. Jonah 1 3. But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord, and went down to Joppa; and he found a ship going to Tarshish so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. Zeph. 1: 7. Hold thy peace at the presence of the Lord God: for the day of the Lord is at hand; for the Lord hath prepared a sacrifice, he hath bid his guests. Luke 13: 26. Then shall ye begin to say, We have eaten and drunk in thy presence, and thou hast taught in our streets. Acts 3: 19. Repent ye, therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord. 1 Cor. 1: 29. God). That no flesh should glory in his presence (presence of 2 Thess. 19. Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power. SECTION II. Remarks on the phrases STAND BEFORE GOD, APPEAR BEFORE GOD, and PRESENCE OF THE LORD. The passages which we have collected together, in Section 1 of this Chapter, from the Bible, in which these phrases occur, require but very little comment. They speak for themselves. If the reader will carefully consult them, he will see that the following facts are perfectly obvious. 1. Mankind are frequently spoken of as standing before God, appearing before God, and as being in the presence of God, when no reference is had to a future world; and, when all of this took place in the present world. 2. It was a common mode of speech among the Hebrews, when anything remarkable took place, or when any particular interposition of divine Providence was manifest, to represent those who saw it, as standing before God, and as being in God's presence. 3. It was supposed by the Jews that God's presence was in a particular manner in the temple of Jerusalem, in the city of Jerusalem, and in the land of Judea. 4. The Jews are spoken of as being in God's presence, when nothing more is meant than that they were in the enjoyment of their national rights and privileges in the land of Judea. And they are spoken of as being cast out from God's presence, when nothing more is meant than that they were banished from the land· of Judea, from the temple and holy city, and carried captives to Babylon 5. When, therefore, John saw in a vision, "the dead, small and great, stand before God," Rev. 20: 12, it by no means follows that he saw them literally stand before God; nor that this standing before God took place in another world. 6. When it is said of the Jews that they should "be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power," it does not follow that they were to be punished in another world, nor be banished from God's presence there. The following extract from Balfour's Second Inquiry will present this subject in its true light. "By the presence of God, or presence of the Lord, in scripture. is sometimes meant his being everywhere present. Thus, David says, Ps. 139: 7, 8, 'Whither shall I go from thy Spirit? Or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven thou art there; if I make my bed in hell (sheol), behold, thou art there,' &c. Admitting, for argument's sake, that hell is a place of endless punishment, how could the wicked even there be out of God's presence? Yet, in 2 Thess. 1: 9, the Jews are said to be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord. Again; I find the phrase presence of the Lord, refers to heaven, or the dwelling-place of the Most High. Christ is said to have gone into heaven, now to appear in the presence of God for us.' Heb. 9: 24. And it is said, Luke 1: 19, I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God.' But how could the wicked be punished with everlasting destruction from God's presence in this sense? For surely no one will say that they were ever in heaven, and like Gabriel stood in the presence of God. But, again, the phrase face of God, or presence of the Lord, refers to some places where people went to worship him, and where he met with and manifested himself to them. Thus Jacob, at Penuel, Gen. 32: 30, says, 'I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.' See Job 1: 6-12, and 2: 1-7, for examples of the same phrase, presence of the Lord. Unless there was some particular place where God was manifested in the days of Cain, how could it be said, 'and Cain went out from the presence of the Lord, and dwelt in the land of Nod (or vagabond, as in the margin), in the east of Eden?' Gen. 4: 16; and verse 14, it is added by Cain, Behold, thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the earth; and from thy face shall I be hid.' "It is very evident that the presence of the Lord was in a peculiar manner among the children of Israel. See Ex. 33: 14-17; compare Isa. 63: 9, and Ps. 51: 11. The tabernacle in the wilderness and the temple at Jerusalem were considered by the Jews as the peculiar residence of Jehovah. There he abode, and there they performed all their religious services to him. Jehovah was the God of the Jews; their land his land, and the temple there was considered the place of his immediate presence. In the temple at Jerusalem, God is said to dwell between the cherubims. Ps. 80. The show bread placed there is called the loaves of the presence or faces.' And, viewed in this light, the following texts have great beauty and force. Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms.' 'Serve the Lord with gladness, come before his presence with singing. Glory and honor are in his presence; strength and gladness are in his place.' Ps. 95: 2, and 100: 2 1 Chron. 16: 27. But that the land of Judea, and particularly the temple, was considered by the Jews as the place of God's peculiar presence, is manifest from Jonah 1: 3, ‘But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish, from thê presence of the Lord.' Where he believed the Lord's presence to be, we learn from chap. 2: 4, 'I am cast out of thy sight; but I will look again toward thy holy temple.' In short, whether the Jews were in their own land, or in captivity, when they prayed or performed acts of worship to their God, their thoughts and their faces were directed towards their temple at Jerusalem. See, in proof of this, Dan. 6: 10; 1 Kings 8; Ps. 5: 7. “But there are still some passages which deserve our particular notice, because they clearly decide what is the meaning of the phrase, presence of the Lord. The first is, 2 Kings 13: 23, And the Lord was gracious unto them, and had compassion on them, because of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and would not destroy them, neither cast them from his presence as yet.' This was spoken of the Jews; and just notice, that God speaks of destroying them, and casting them from his presence. What he here says, that as yet, he would not do to this people, in the following passage we find that he did do. 2 Kings 24: 20, For through the anger of the Lord it came to pass in Jerusalem and Judah, until he had cast them out from his presence, that Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.' The same is repeated, Jer. 52: 3. God's presence was enjoyed by the Jews in Judea, and in their temple service. To be cast out of God's presence, is to be banished from Judea into captivity, and from all the privileges which the Jews enjoyed in their land, and temple worship. This was the same as destroying them. They were thus destroyed or cast out of God's presence for seventy years in their captivity at Babylon. But they were brought back from this captivity, and again enjoyed God's presence in their own land. At the time Paul wrote the words in Thessalonians, the time was drawing near when they were to be again cast out of God's presence, and dispersed among all nations. Paul adopts the very language of the above passages, used in speaking of their former captivity, to describe the judgments of God which awaited them in their being cast out of their land, their city and temple destroyed, and they destroyed with an everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord. The Jews now are just as certainly destroyed from the presence of the Lord, as they were during the seventy years' captivity in Babylon. How, then, can any man affirm that Paul meant, by this phrase, either annihilation or endless misery? If the Scriptures are allowed |