Would you give the difference between the devil, the flesh, the world? Also between “the lust of the flesh,” “the lust of the eyes” and “the pride of life”? The devil is sometimes blamed as the cause of believers falling, when often it is our own unwatchfulness. —Gateshead.
THE devil is a person, a spiritual being of great power and influence, originally one of the highest of created beings, but now fallen into rebellion against God and personal antagonism to Christ.
The flesh is the nature of man as a fallen being. The word is of course used often of man’s body, his physical frame, as for instance in 1 Corinthians 15:3939All flesh is not the same flesh: but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and another of birds. (1 Corinthians 15:39). But since man in his fallen estate is utterly disorganized morally, and hence has fallen under the power of his bodily desires, the term “flesh” is used in Scripture to designate his fallen nature.
The “world” also has various meanings in Scripture. It may mean the sum total of humanity, as in John 3:1616For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16). As used in many other passages — such, for instance, as John 17:14-1814I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. 15I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. 16They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. 17Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth. 18As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world. (John 17:14‑18); Galatians 1:44Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father: (Galatians 1:4); 1 John 2:15-1715Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. 17And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever. (1 John 2:15‑17)—it means the elaborate system of things that has been built up by fallen humanity under the leadership of the devil.
As regards the three expressions which you quote from 1 John 2:16,16For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. (1 John 2:16) we may differentiate between them thus: —The lust of the flesh is the desire of possessing oneself of all those things which minter to our fallen nature. It is the desire of HAVING.
The lust of the eyes is the desire after all that diverts the senses or that informs the mind. It is the desire of SEEING, whether by the eyes of the head or the eyes of the mind.
The pride of life is the insatiable craving after all that exalts oneself. It is the desire of BEING — the desire for a self-centered greatness.
We believe you are quite right in saying that often we try to salve our consciences in view of our failures and sins by putting the blame on the devil. It is of course true that he lies behind all the evil which fills the world, as being the originator of sin. It is also true that in certain cases he personally tempts to evil, as in the case of our Lord. Yet far more frequently, we believe, the case with us is that we are drawn away of our own lust and enticed, as the apostle James tells us (1:14).
In looking over the metals in the Tabernacle we find mentioned, gold; silver, brass. In the Holy City (Rev. 21) we only read of gold. In Ezekiel’s description of the earthly temple all three are omitted. Can you give any reason as to why they, are not all mentioned in each case? —North Shields.
The answer to your question, we think, lies in the fact that while the tabernacle in the wilderness was a pattern of things in the heavens, and therefore specially designed and described with its typical significance in view, the other two can hardly be described as types at all.
In the case of the Holy City we have symbolic language; and gold, the least corruptible of metals, is the symbol of that which is divine and incorruptible. By that the Holy City is characterized. Yet the Holy City is not typical, for it symbolizes that which will be established when all need for types is over, inasmuch as the things typified have been reached.
This may also be said of the temple which Ezekiel describes by the spirit of prophecy. That millennial temple will be the final thing as far as this earth is concerned, so it is not presented as a type, and its Materials are not mentioned.
The tabernacle however was typical. Its actual use was but for a very limited time. Its typical value has remained even to our day and for our instruction. Hence the minuteness of its description in Exodus.