Chp.56 (Pt.2) - The Two-fold Mediation Of God

". . . And Trypho said, “Prove now that this is the case, that we also may agree with you. For we do not understand you to affirm that He has done or said anything contrary to the will of the Maker of all things.” Then I said, “The Scripture just quoted by me will make this plain to you. It is thus: ‘The sun was risen on the earth, and Lot entered into Segor (Zoar); and the Lord rained on Sodom sulphur and fire from the Lord out of heaven, and overthrew these cities and all the neighbourhood.’ ”1 Then the fourth of those who had remained with Trypho said, “It2 must therefore necessarily be said that one of the two angels who went to Sodom, and is named by Moses in the Scripture Lord, is different from Him who also is God, and appeared to Abraham.”3" Justin Martyr. (1885). Dialogue of Justin with Trypho, a Jew. In A. Roberts, J. Donaldson, & A. C. Coxe (Eds.), The Apostolic Fathers with Justin Martyr and Irenaeus (Vol. 1, p. 224). Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Company. To recollect our thoughts and purpose, it is good to review that Justin's purpose for using this passage is to reveal to Trypho the mediating intentions of the love of God. We are laboring to see how not only Christ is mediator but how the Holy Spirit in Abraham now mediates for the twin cities. For the sake of time Justin skips to the end (and conclusion) of the passage to define for Trypho the reason why God "the Mediator" answers Abraham's prayer . . . with Justice.

Abraham spent a good portion of his conversation with the Mediator (of heaven) to intercede for the people of these cities, pleading for God to act justly. So this "Lord" (YHWH) from heaven, in the appearance of a man (distinction)(vs.19:24), by his own authority "sends" fire out of heaven from the Lord (YHWH), the invisible Almighty in heaven (distinction). This is to show the "order" of mediation. The Lord (YHWH), in the appearance of a man, was sent (in full agreement) to "hear" the pleadings of those who suffer under the penalty of the curse (vs.18:21), but God the Mediator will not hear apart from the Mediation of the Holy Spirit. So the Mediator reveals to Abraham want He was going to do "against" the cities. So Abraham, by the Spirit, intercedes for them, and the Lord turns his heart to listen. So the Lord sends the angels, who accompanied him, to investigate, for the mediation of Abraham. It is important to note that the Lord already knows what the judgment is, but for the sake of the elect angels and the tribe of Abraham, God uses ordinary and super-ordinary means to demonstrate the glory of God. This is God among us (Emmanuel), operating within us, to make us participants of His glory (Rom.9:21-24). Upon the completion of the investigation, the angels rescue whom Abraham loved, who was acting in self-preservation, in an unjust fashion, to make an "ungodly" peace with the people of Sodom. Though saved out of the destruction, Lot suffers loss because of his sin and was judged, though not equally, with Sodom as unjust. Lot lives another day to see the mercy of the Lord, but was he just in the sense of the divine Word? "The Spirit" expressly says he was justified (2Pet.2:7). But the Spirit does not condone his unrighteous compromise that left these people under the wrath of God. Lot should have been an intercessor and not a compromiser of the righteousness of God, for human peace, and give his soul over to the free-will of the devil.

If there was "one" justified (soul) God would have spared the towns, but there wasn't. So in order to preserve a future for the justified, God removes the mediation from the cities and delivers them over to the blindness of their will; and completely destroys them, all of them, from the eldest woman to the soul of a child, just conceived in the womb, of this sin-filled land, not sparing one of them, to reveal the Justice of God to the mediation of Abraham, filling him with more of the Holy Spirit's understanding and eternal presence in the Lord's (YHWH) affairs with men. ". . . “It is not on this ground solely,” I said, “that it must be admitted absolutely that some other one is called Lord by the Holy Spirit besides Him who is considered Maker of all things; not solely [for what is said] by Moses, but also [for what is said] by David. For there is written by him: ‘The Lord says to my Lord, Sit on My right hand, until I make Thine enemies Thy footstool,’4 as I have already quoted. And again, in other words: ‘Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever. A sceptre of equity is the sceptre of Thy kingdom: Thou hast loved righteousness and hated iniquity: therefore God, even Thy God, hath anointed Thee with the oil of gladness above Thy fellows.’5" Justin Martyr. (1885). Dialogue of Justin with Trypho, a Jew. In A. Roberts, J. Donaldson, & A. C. Coxe (Eds.), The Apostolic Fathers with Justin Martyr and Irenaeus (Vol. 1, p. 224). Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Company. Justin wants to reiterate a point he made earlier to Trypho and show the order of God's mediation for men (and women). Justin also wants Trypho to understand this, so that he may see that Jesus is superior to the image of a god which he has created in his own mind. He wants Trypho to see that he himself is not worshiping the God of Abraham or of David. Justin is using the mediation of the Word to intercede on behalf of his fallen and depraved mind, but until this "blindness" is removed by the Lord's Mediator, Trypho will remain under the curse of sin. This, therefore, also preaches the "exclusivity" of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is what separates a (traditional) Jew from a Christian transformed into the image of God the Holy Spirit, who breathes (in and out) the divine Word of the Lord's mediation. It is only by the Holy Spirit that we say, "Jesus is (YHWH)," and by the Spirit that we cry, "Abba, Father."

If, therefore, you assert that the Holy Spirit calls some other one God and Lord, besides the Father of all things and His Christ, answer me; for I undertake to prove to you from Scriptures themselves, that He whom the Scripture calls Lord is not one of the two angels that went to Sodom, but He who was with them, and is called God, that appeared to Abraham.” And Trypho said, “Prove this; for, as you see, the day advances, and we are not prepared for such perilous replies; since never yet have we heard any man investigating, or searching into, or proving these matters; nor would we have tolerated your conversation, had you not referred everything to the Scriptures:6 for you are very zealous in adducing proofs from them; and you are of opinion that there is no God above the Maker of all things.” Justin Martyr. (1885). Dialogue of Justin with Trypho, a Jew. In A. Roberts, J. Donaldson, & A. C. Coxe (Eds.), The Apostolic Fathers with Justin Martyr and Irenaeus (Vol. 1, p. 224). Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Company. We see, here, now, why this conversation has been able to continue. It is because Trypho has a need for the understanding of the Word, which he already believes to be the infallible Word of God (YHWH). If it wasn't for this doctrine already implanted in his heart the conversation may have not made it this far; but because there was common soil in the soul, Justin and Trypho were empowered by the Spirit of Truth to work together for a conclusion (Matt.13:1-23). But their aim has been thus far to subject their souls to the Word of Truth. But they both must concede that only one of them possesses the Truth (internally), as the Lord intends it. This must be the heart of all debate or the soul will continue in the lies and deceit of its own depraved nature and "tradition" of wicked leaders. Jeremiah 17:9–10 (NKJV) 9 “The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it? 10 I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind, Even to give every man according to his ways, According to the fruit of his doings.