GOD, COME DOWN
[p. 151] GOD, COME DOWN
Genesis 11: 5 - 8; Genesis 18: 20, 21; Exodus 3: 7, 8
The link in these scriptures lies in the thought that God coming down is in each. In the first and second, He comes down judicially, and in the third He comes down in mercy to deliver. That God should come down judicially is right in the eyes of all who think for God, whose consciences have become affected by the knowledge of God, who have not elected to exclude God from their knowledge. The fact that He comes in judicially is not against man. Law and justice are not against man, but when we think of God as the Executor of justice, we readily see that it is for us. And so, whilst the Babel builders may have complained that it was inconvenient to be unable to understand one another, yet this apparent inconvenience had in mind that man, segregated into families and nations, should be reserved in these limitations so that God might visit them in grace. Now, that is not against us. On the contrary it is in our favour, however inconveniencing it may have been. God has segregated the human family into subdivisions and has visited these subdivisions in time with the gospel. It was in mercy that God came in at Babel. It was extremely considerate of God to act thus. If the President of this country were to say, I am going from Washington to New York to see exactly what the trouble is there, that would be consideration, surely, on his part. How much more so with God! He came down at Shinar. It is not that He needed to come down to gauge exactly what was current there. He knew perfectly what was current there. But He would give man to understand that He is exceedingly fair. He would come to our way of thinking and would give us severally to understand that it is not beyond Him to come into each one’s circumstances. He does it.
[p. 152] The Lord Jesus came down from heaven to one man outside the gates of Damascus. He could have converted Saul of Tarsus without coming down. He has converted millions without coming down, but He came down to meet that man. It is recorded to convey to us that it is not out of keeping with the present position of the Lord Jesus to come into any of our circumstances. Later, Paul tells us that the Lord stood by him and strengthened him. So that whilst God may come near to act judicially, and to see how things are with us, He also comes near to us in grace — like the Samaritan who came where the man was who had fallen among thieves. And it is not too much to say that the Lord of glory may come into this room to have to do with some of us who are here. He has His own way of doing it, and we expect Him to come in order to find an inlet into hearts. He is here for you!
Now in the first of these scriptures the name ‘Jehovah’ is used. That is the covenant God, the God who has entered into covenant and makes engagements. And He came down, according to chapter ii, to look at the world structurally. I suppose I could hardly refer to this subject in more suggestive surroundings. I am thinking of the great buildings around us here. This city is suggestive of the world in a structural sense as no other city is. It is famous for its buildings, it bridges, its subways and other structures which are representative of the great things that the children of men can do. Also, there are the great combinations of men, great monetary combinations, commercial combinations, political combinations and religious combinations. This city is representative of all these things in superlative degree. So that from our text it is apropos that I should apply this matter so that we should place ourselves, as it were, in the plains of Shinar, where Jehovah came down to see what the sons of men [p. 153] were doing. And has He not come to New York? He has indeed! He has come down to survey what the sons of men are doing in this very city, which is a most conglomerate combination of the human race, representing, I may say, all the families that were scattered at Babel. God has followed us here. His eye watched the craft that carried Columbus to this great continent, and the thousands of craft that have brought myriads of people to these shores since.
Not one of them has been lost sight of by God. This great continent has been opened up in mercy for His creatures, to provide for the overflow of the Old World. God is a faithful Creator, not only to His children, but to all men and tribes and nations. We all live and move and have our being in God. He provides for and preserves all men, especially those who believe.
In the next scripture the Spirit of God pictures Jehovah walking along the countryside with the great patriarch Abraham, as if they were two men walking together. There was Jehovah and two angels and Abraham. Just picture such persons walking across the countryside! Where were they going? They were going in the direction of Sodom. I have spoken of New York representing the world structurally, but there are other terrible features attaching to this city. The wicked features of Sodom are attached to this city also. A certain city is spoken of in the book of Revelation as being “spiritually Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified”. Is New York exempt from this? No, sad to say, the great cities of this world are rather representative of it. Sodom represents the wicked side of the world. And who of us has not had to do with that? having our part in building it up? Who of us is not honest enough to admit that? The scripture says, “All have sinned”.
The sinners belong to Sodom, in principle. But it is most interesting to picture Jehovah and Abraham and [p. 154] the two angels there in the vicinity of Sodom. It is said to be the vicinity of the Dead Sea now. Abraham did not live in Sodom; he lived in the plains of Mamre. And Jehovah and two angels came to visit him there, but now they are moving on toward Sodom. The Sodomites were sinners above all: the scripture says they “were wicked, and great sinners before Jehovah”. Doubtless they were carrying on as usual. There was no diminution in their sin. Lot was there, sitting in the gate, but he could not alter the character of Sodom. Rather Sodom altered his character, alas! No christian can alter the conditions of this world. The Lord Jesus said, “Now is the judgment of this world”. It is under judgment. Sodom’s judgment had not been pronounced as yet when Jehovah came to visit Abraham. Abraham was a praying man. There are many like him. We have prayed about this meeting and about those who have come in. Prayer is a great matter, as we will see with Abraham. The two angels went on to Sodom, but Abraham drew near to Jehovah. The doom of Sodom was imminent, for that matter had to be settled; and it was settled. And the doom of this world is a settled matter. God waits in grace and long-suffering, but its doom is fixed! That day is on the calendar; God has appointed it. And when it comes, the Man whom men have despised and crucified will take the judge’s bench and judge the world.
Well, it says that Abraham stood yet before Jehovah. How beautiful that is! Last night, at many meetings for prayer, many of the Lord’s people stood before Jehovah and told Him about the world and about the need of men. And He has heard. He heard Abraham. Abraham began his prayer in a most priestly way, saying, “Wilt thou also cause the righteous to perish with the wicked?”. And he goes on, “There are perhaps fifty righteous within the city: wilt thou also destroy and not forgive the place for the sake of the [p. 155] fifty righteous that are therein? Far be it from thee to do so”. God was delighted with that. What a matter it is to speak to God as a known God! And so he says, “Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?”. Was not God pleased with that? He was, indeed! Abraham knew it was not like God to destroy the righteous with the wicked. God is not doing that; He is lengthening out this wonderful period of the gospel that no one need be destroyed. It is not His will that any should perish, but that all should be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. And to that end God is lengthening out this wonderful day, this acceptable year of the Lord, so that you may not cry, with others, “The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved”.
Well, I do not proceed further with Abraham’s prayer save to say that God hearkened to him while he brought his request down to ten. The nearer we get to God, the more urgent we are in our prayers. He asked that Sodom be spared for fifty at first, but that it may be spared for ten righteous at the end. He stopped at ten; God did not stop him. God waited till Abraham finished. And so God waits while His people pray. What a God He is! Sodom was destroyed, but it was because there were not ten righteous in it.
I hasten on to the third scripture because it speaks of God coming down in mercy. Luke tells us that as the Lord Jesus was born into this world in Bethlehem, there were certain shepherds caring for their flocks by night, and that the angel of the Lord stood by them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them. What a beautiful scene is depicted by the evangelical writer! And the angel said to the shepherds, “Behold, I announce to you glad tidings of great joy ... for today a Saviour has been born to you in David’s city, who is Christ the Lord”. No mere babe that! Avoid any such thought of His being a mere babe, or that [p. 156] Jesus was a mere man, He is Christ the Lord. It was not that He was to be, or will be. He was the Lord, then-that holy Babe was the Lord. He was not yet anointed, but He was, personally, the Christ. He was and is a divine Person-He is God! And then they were told, “And this is the sign to you ye shall find a babe wrapped in swaddling-clothes, and lying in a manger”. There was never such a Babe on earth as that! It was God come down-not judicially — here in grace as a Babe. There is nothing to cause fear; it is God come down in grace. We are told that the grace of God which carries salvation for all men has appeared. It is for all men. But how has it appeared? It has appeared in Jesus! And then we are told that a multitude of the heavenly host was there. What a time it was! And they were saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good pleasure in men”. Heaven came down to express its feelings about what had happened; that God had come down in Jesus, the Saviour. Can anyone do without a Saviour? The soul needs a Saviour. “Ye are saved by grace, through faith; and this not of yourselves; it is God’s gift: not on the principle of works, that no one might boast”.
Well, the passage in Exodus is the same idea as I have been expressing. Jehovah says, “I have seen assuredly the affliction of my people ... and their cry have I heard ... for I know their sorrows. And I am come down to deliver them”. It all foreshadowed what would be accomplished through God coming down in grace in Jesus, through His death and the completion of the mighty work of redemption. It has all been accomplished and angels and principalities are now subject to Him. And the Holy Spirit is here, sent down from heaven. God has thus come down in Christ and in the Holy Spirit, the power of God to save. It is for every one. May God grant it.