Wait, Endure, Hold Out!
"This is God's camp!"
GENESIS 32:2
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Wait, Endure, Hold Out!
If God were not to govern the world through His angels even for one day, the devil would certainly strike down the whole human race all of a sudden, plunder it, and drive it off, destroying it with famine, plague, wars, and fires. These things would have to be endured not only by the evil but also by the good. But that we can be secure and safe from such great perils under the protection of the armies and hosts of heaven, this we should determine for certain. At times the angels even permit some evils to happen. But they do this so that we may be tried and that our faith may be proved and exercised and that in this way we may learn to recognize God in His wonderful counsels and works and give thanks to Him for His wonderful government, as this example of the patriarch Jacob teaches us. . . . When all things already seem to be at the point of crashing into ruin, all hope and confidence is still not to be completely cast off. Wait, endure, and hold out! God is still living; the angels are ruling and defending. . .. This, then, is the doctrine which is taught in this passage, that the angels are ministering spirits and servants of creation. They fight for the safety and welfare of the world and the godly, and this is their lower office. Their higher office, however, is to sing "Glory to God in the highest" and "We praise Thee, O God, etc." In heaven likewise they see the Father's face (cf. Matthew 18:10).
GENESIS 32:2
+
Wait, Endure, Hold Out!
If God were not to govern the world through His angels even for one day, the devil would certainly strike down the whole human race all of a sudden, plunder it, and drive it off, destroying it with famine, plague, wars, and fires. These things would have to be endured not only by the evil but also by the good. But that we can be secure and safe from such great perils under the protection of the armies and hosts of heaven, this we should determine for certain. At times the angels even permit some evils to happen. But they do this so that we may be tried and that our faith may be proved and exercised and that in this way we may learn to recognize God in His wonderful counsels and works and give thanks to Him for His wonderful government, as this example of the patriarch Jacob teaches us. . . . When all things already seem to be at the point of crashing into ruin, all hope and confidence is still not to be completely cast off. Wait, endure, and hold out! God is still living; the angels are ruling and defending. . .. This, then, is the doctrine which is taught in this passage, that the angels are ministering spirits and servants of creation. They fight for the safety and welfare of the world and the godly, and this is their lower office. Their higher office, however, is to sing "Glory to God in the highest" and "We praise Thee, O God, etc." In heaven likewise they see the Father's face (cf. Matthew 18:10).
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