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Wednesday, March 6, 2019

Hard Sayings In The Bible - Part 4










Hard Sayings In The Bible - Part 4





Lot Offers His Daughters For Rape (Genesis 19:8)



“Behold, I have two daughters who have not known man; let me bring them out to you, and do to them as you please; only do nothing to these men, for they have come under the shelter of my roof.”







The offer of Lot to sacrifice his daughters echoes other sacrifices of loved ones in the Bible, such as Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice Sarah (twice, in Genesis 12:13 and 20: 2) to the lust of Abimelech and Pharaoh, and the sacrifice of Isaac. In none of the cases is the sacrifice necessary, but it is offered to show the seriousness of the situation. 


Lot’s daughters were virgins, but were betrothed, which had the same legal status as marriage. It’s unlikely Lot even had the legal right to offer them to them mob, which is an example of his panic and the gravity of the offense to Lot’s hospitality embodied in the Sodomites. In the next section Lot's daughters will get their father drunk and copulate with him in order to bear children, so even though lot and his daughters are rescued, they’re not being held up as models of righteousness.






The angels were offered protection by Lot. As Claus Westermann points out in his three-volume Genesis commentary, “The ‘shadow of his roof’ became thereby the place of security for the guests, the violation of which was a fearful crime with incalculable consequences.” Lot exposes himself to great personal risk in order to reason with the men, leaving his home and closing the door behind him. He councils them against committing the sin of homosexual rape by offering heterosexual rape as an alternative. 

Quite clearly, this speaks to the reduced respect for women in the ancient world, but it also emphasizes the grave depravity of sodomy. The two acts of sexual violation would not have been considered equal. There’s no reason to choose among misogyny, violations of hospitality, or violent anal rape as the sole root of Lot’s offer and the source of Sodom’s condemnation. They’re all reasons.





The offer itself is wicked by any understanding of moral theology. You do not address one grave evil with another. We don’t have to believe that Lot is in the right to understand the point of the story.



http://www.ncregister.com/blog/tmcdonald/five-hard-bible-passages-and-what-they-mean






Hard Sayings In The Bible - Part 3










Hard Sayings In The Bible - Part 3





Genocide (various)









Deuteronomy 20:16-17:  

But in the cities of these peoples that The LORD your God Gives you for an inheritance, you shall save alive nothing that breathes, but you shall utterly destroy them, the Hittites and the Amorites, the Canaanites and the Per′izzites, the Hivites and the Jeb′usites, as The LORD your GOD Has Commanded.

Joshua 6:21:

Then they utterly destroyed all in the city, both men and women, young and old, oxen, sheep, and asses, with the edge of the sword.

1 Samuel 15:3:

Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have; do not spare them, but kill both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.



The ancient world could be a barbaric place. Total annihilation of an enemy was a standard element of warfare. 

When we find GOD Commanding this violence, we're shocked. How can A CREATOR of Love and Compassion Order the killing of women and children?
There are a couple of easy responses. 

Some readers merely recoil and condemn GOD as a Moral Monster, Turning Away From HIM and Losing Faith. Some try to wave the passages away as evidence of ancient tribal culture given a Veneer of Divine Sanction, rather than The True WORD of GOD. 

Neither of these is an acceptable response. The GOD of New and Old Testaments Is The Same. There's no slithering away from this. Either you take YAHWEH and JESUS together, or you take neither.

And that's the key to understanding this. Canonical criticism (which I discuss here) approaches the Bible as a totality rather than a series of independent stories sliced from context. It is The Revelation of ONE GOD Mediated through many human voices. It shouldn't surprise us that the Origin of all things speaking across time, space, and matter to people separated by vast cultural differences and temporal contexts should communicate in polyphony. 

The work of the faithful is to tune our ear to better hear HIS Voice, particularly when the words strike discordant notes, as they do in passages about merciless warfare.
The main recurring narrative theme of the Old Testament is Israel turning away From GOD to follow false religions. 

Modernists like to think all religions are equally valid (or invalid) and thus none is better than any other. History reveals this to be demonstrably untrue, so when we look more deeply into the past shouldn’t be surprised to find barbaric people and belief systems. 

The Canaanites engaged in a laundry list of awful practices, including child sacrifice, temple prostitution, witchcraft, idol worship, and just about every thing The LORD Had Ordered the Jews not to do. "Every abominable thing which The LORD Hates they have done for their gods; for they even burn their sons and their daughters in the fire to their gods." (Deuteronomy 12:31)

One curious difference with warfare in the Bible is that The LORD Forbids Jews to take spoils of war in certain cases. Indeed, the story of Achan's punishment in Joshua 7 is an example of the harsh punishment meted out when someone disobeys this command. Spoils made war more appealing and prosperous, and forbidding them meant people were not fighting simply for financial gain.

Israel, in fact, didn’t wipe out the Canaanites. They rarely did what GOD Commanded, and they often reaped the whirlwind of this disobedience. 

In Psalm Psalm 106:36-39 we’re told just happened:


They served their idols,
which became a snare to them.
They sacrificed their sons
and their daughters to the demons;
they poured out innocent blood,
the blood of their sons and daughters,
whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan;
and the land was polluted with blood.
Thus they became unclean by their acts,
and played the harlot in their doings.

The People of GOD took up the wicked habits of those they had been ordered to conquer, and fell into damnation because of it. GOD Had Chosen the Jews To Be HIS People, writing the history of HIS Work in the world through their lives as HE Slowly Ushered them from savagery to salvation. 

It's hard to read passages like those found in Numbers 31, when Moses orders the destruction of the Midianites: 

"Now kill all the boys. And kill every woman who has slept with a man." 

He wants to extinguish the line of the Midianites so they will no longer threaten the Jews by rising against them or tempting them to follow foreign gods.

After 2000 years under the New Law of CHRIST, this kind of cruelty is unthinkable to us. Good. The world moved on, guided by JESUS, WHO Speaks with the Same Voice as YAHWEH. The entire approach to the wicked was flipped on its head. No longer were they to be wiped out. 

Now, the People of GOD had to be willing to die rather than to kill. We were commissioned to go into all the nations of the world and preach the good news, even if it meant our deaths, as it often did. 


“Do Not Spare them” 

was changed to 

“Make disciples of all nations, baptizing them In The Name of The FATHER, The SON, and The HOLY SPIRIT.” 


Temptation is no longer fought with the edge of the sword, but in the heart of man.

GOD Does Not Change, but man does, and history is the story of his rough progression. The GOD Who Tried To Shelter HIS Beloved people from the corruption of wicked nations is The Same GOD Who Ordered HIS Followers To humble themselves even unto death in order to Spread The Word of HIS Saving Love. 

One passage doesn’t make sense without the other. You have to look at the entire Bible and consider it as a single message from A Single GOD. This is why heresies like Marcionism, Gnosticism, Manicheanism, and others that rejected the Old Testament were rejected so firmly by the Church Fathers. 

The accounts of Israel’s GOD and JESUS of Nazareth tell one story with one consistent meaning. It is the story of man being drawn, kicking and screaming, from the depths of sin To The Kingdom of GOD. 

It was never going to be easy. 



http://www.ncregister.com/blog/tmcdonald/five-hard-bible-passages-and-what-they-mean







Hard Sayings In The Bible - Part 2









Hard Sayings In The Bible - Part 2




Children Eaten By Bears (2 Kings 2:23-24)



[Elisha] went up from there to Bethel; and while he was going up on the way, some small boys came out of the city and jeered at him, saying, “Go up, you baldhead! Go up, you baldhead!” And he turned around, and when he saw them, he cursed them In The Name of The LORD. And two she-bears came out of the woods and tore forty-two of the boys.









Once again we have a popular passage for scoffers, but that’s nothing new. St. Caesarius of Arles, for example, tells us this was a favorite passage of the Manichees for mocking the Old Testament. 

Elisha has a few dozen kids killed by bears for making fun of his baldness? Hardly behavior worthy of a prophet of GOD, right? Let's break it down and see what's actually going on here.

The curse has been considered potentially immoral by exegetes almost from the beginning, leading them to look for deeper reasons. One interpretation is that this is just a tale to instruct children in respect, and therefore it’s meant to be didactic and not literal. It was meant to show the power of the prophet’s word and the respect due to him.

A variant in the Lucianic recension of the Septuagint has “they stone” rather than “they mocked,” which obviously makes their offense much more serious. It’s also worth noting that the word translated as “small boys” in English can also mean young men. This may well have been a mob intent on doing Elisha harm.

“Forty-two” may be a symbolic number simply meaning “a lot.” We also encounter it in 2 Kings 10:14 as the number killed by Jehu. The Babylonian Talmud (b. Sota 47a) records the number of sacrifices by Balak of Moab as 42, and claims that the boys killed by the bears were taken in payments for these deaths.

What about the baldness, though? Was he naturally balding, or had he shaved his head in lamentation for Elijah? If the latter, then the mockery did not enrage him because he was vain, but because it disrespected the great prophet. 

Were they jeering at baldness because he was contemptible as a bald man, or were they jeering at his baldness because it signified his prophetic gift? The latter certainly would have been a more serious offense. The Honor of The LORD HIMSELF Was Injured by the children of Bethel. We may also read it as a condemnation of the adults of Bethel through the curse on their children.



http://www.ncregister.com/blog/tmcdonald/five-hard-bible-passages-and-what-they-mean









Hard Sayings In The Bible - Part 1







Hard Sayings In The Bible - Part 1 




What JESUS Knows (Mark 13:32)


"But of that day or that hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, Nor The SON, but Only The FATHER."








If JESUS Is The Incarnate WORD, how can there be things HE Does Not Know?

The passage can’t be plucked out and interpreted in isolation, but must be understood with other comments in which JESUS Discusses the relationship of The FATHER and The SON. 

It is similar to Matthew 20:23, 

“To sit at MY Right Hand and at MY Left Is Not MINE To Grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by MY FATHER.” 

Yet it must be placed alongside 

Matthew 11:27 

“All things have been delivered to me by MY FATHER; and no one knows The SON except The FATHER, and no one knows The FATHER except The SON and any one to whom The SON Chooses To Reveal HIM,” 

John 3:35 

“The FATHER Loves The SON, and Has Given all things into HIS Hand,” 

and similar passages attesting to The Divinity of The SON.

The Church Fathers pondered these passages as well, and St. Augustine developed the “form of the servant” interpretation based upon Philippians 2:6-7: “Though HE Was in The Form of GOD, Did Not Count equality with GOD a thing to be grasped, but Emptied HIMSELF, taking the form of a servant.”

In De Trinitate(Trinity, by blogger) Augustine argues that there is no contradiction in The SON Being Greater than The FATHER and The FATHER Being Greater than The SN, because JESUS Is True GOD and True MAN. 

In HIS Deity HE Is Equal and in HIS Humanity HE Is Not: “The ONE Is To Be Understood in virtue of The Form of GOD, The OTHER in virtue of The Form of a servant, without any confusion.” 

Scripture passages are thus interpreted by the understanding the “two resonances in them, ONE Tuned to The Form of GOD in which HE Is, and Is Equal To The FATHER, The OTHER Tuned to The Form of a servant which HE Took and Is Less than The FATHER.” When we start to understand the true meaning of the two natures of CHRIST, then numerous passages start to slide into place.


Augustine:


“In The Form of GOD, All Things Were Made By HIM (John 1:3); in The Form of a Servant, HE HIMSELF Was Made of woman, Made under the Law (Galatians 4:4). 

In The Form of GOD, HE and The FATHER Are One (John 10:30); in The Form of a Servant, HE Did Not Come To Do HIS OWN Will, but The Will of HIM WHO Sent HIM (John 6:38). 

In The Form of GOD, as The FATHER Has Life in HIMSELF, so he gave the Son also to have life in himself (John 5:26); in The Form of a Servant, HIS Soul is sorrowful to the point of death, and "FATHER, HE Said, If It Can Be, Let This Cup Pass By" (Mattew 26:38). 

In The Form of GOD, HE Is True GOD and Life Eternal (1 John 5:20); in The Form of a Servant HE Became Obedient to the point of death, the death even of the Cross (Philippians 2:8).

In The Form of GOD, everything that The FATHER Has Is HIS (John 16:15), and all YOURS Is MINE, HE Says, and MINE YOURS (John 17:10); in The Form of a Servant, HIS Doctrine Is Not HIS OWN, but HIS WHO Sent HIM (John 7:16)”


http://www.ncregister.com/blog/tmcdonald/five-hard-bible-passages-and-what-they-mean 



Tuesday, March 5, 2019

How To Better Understand Hard Sayings In The Bible








The hard topics and sayings in the Bible sometimes make Bible readers scratch their head to understand GOD'S Word As HE Would Have Intended for us to understand. 






You're not alone. For me, there were dozens of hard topics while reading GOD'S Word and tried to understand them by referring to other commentaries and Christian writings but still I have some topics unsolved to grasp the true meaning of it. 

We should not distrust GOD'S Word Which Is Inerrant in nature because we cannot fully understand GOD'S Word. Not fully knowing of it clearly makes us keep searching for the original meaning when GOD The HOLY SPIRIT Inspired human authors to convey HIS Messages to us.

I found an excellent article for you to read on this topic and hope you will understand GOD'S WORD exactly as recorded in the Bible so as to follow HIM until The WORD of GOD, JESUS CHRIST Comes to Fulfill GOD'S Truth on earth completely and finally for all!

Amen.







Hard Sayings in the Bible



One of the Savior’s notable miracles was the feeding of a large crowd (more than five thousand people) by the miraculous multiplication of only five small loaves and two tiny fish (cf. John 6:1-14). On the following day, after Jesus had adjourned to the western side of the Sea of Galilee, the masses pursued him, seeking additional food to satisfy their appetites.
The LORD Knew they needed more than physical food, hence, HE Gave a discourse on the “bread of life” (6:35). During that presentation, CHRIST Declared that eating HIS Fesh and drinking HIS Blood was requisite to the reception of eternal life (6:53-56). Due to the fact that many did not understand the symbolic nature of the instruction, some exclaimed, “This is a hard saying; who can hear it?” (6:60).

Are there hard sayings in the Bible?



Yes, there are, and it is a challenge to explore them. The hard sayings of the Scriptures fall into two general categories.
First, there are those passages which, for a variety of reasons, are simply difficult to understand. In one of his epistles, Peter declared that “our beloved brother Paul also, according to the wisdom given to him, wrote unto you; as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; wherein are some things hard to be understood” (2 Peter 3:15, 16).
Second, there are contexts which are relatively easy to comprehend; however, they are hard in the sense that they go against the human grain in some fashion. Or, they make demands upon us which we find difficult to accept.
The writer of the book of Hebrews alludes to such matters when he chastises his readers by suggesting that there are many issues which he would like to address, but he refrained from doing so because the recipients of his letter would find them “hard of interpretation” (5:11, ASV). They had become dull of hearing and had not matured spiritually as they should have. After years in the kingdom, they still were babes. Let us consider each of these areas in somewhat greater detail.

Sayings Hard to Understand



It is obvious that some portions of the Scriptures are more difficult to understand than others. In Mark 16:16, JESUS Said, “He who believes and is baptized shall be saved.” Surely that passage is easier to fathom than is Revelation 13:18: “Here is wisdom, he that hath understanding, let him count the number of the beast; for it is the number of a man: and his number is six hundred and sixty and six.”
Why are some contexts easier to apprehend than others? There are several factors which may explain the differences. Let us study several examples which illustrate these points.

Cultural Idioms



Some biblical passages are harder of interpretation due to the fact that they are couched in cultural idioms which are foreign to modern methods of expression. It is imperative that we realize that though the message of the Scriptures is ultimately Divine Truth, The HOLY SPIRIT Guided the inspired authors of Holy Writ to employ linguistical devices appropriate to the historical setting and culture in which they lived. If we would extract the meaning from certain sacred texts, we must familiarize ourselves with those antique modes of communication.
Note this example: when the beggar Lazarus died, his spirit was carried away by the angels into “Abraham’s bosom” (Luke 16:22). Truly, this text is made hard by the reference to Lazarus residing in “Abraham’s bosom.”
What is the significance of the expression? Well, it is a Hebrew idiom. A shepherd might carry a lamb “in his bosom,” suggesting a sense of safety (Isaiah 40:11). JESUS Was “in the Bosom” of GOD, indicating The LORD'S intimate relationship with HIS FATHER (John 1:18). At the last supper, the apostle John reclined “in JESUS’ Bosom,” which represented a place of great honor (John 13:23).
With these background passages in view, Luke 16:22 becomes much clearer. When Lazarus died, his spirit was ushered into a place of protection, intimacy, and honor. A hard passage becomes simpler when one understands the language motif employed.

Translation Problems



A context may be difficult as a result of something lost in the translation of the original language into a modern tongue. The Bible was initially composed in three languages—Hebrew and Aramaic (the Old Testament) and Greek (the New Testament). As hard as translators try to bring the meaning of the original into our modern vernacular, sometimes nuances of meaning are lost in the transition.
Here is a good example: John the Baptizer and JESUS were kinsmen. Accordingly, John must have known something of the Divine Identity of CHRIST from his earliest days. John declared to the Jews who heard his preaching that the Coming One Was Mightier than he; indeed, the baptizer claimed that he was unworthy to bear the sandals of The LORD (Matthew 3:11). When JESUS Came to the Jordan to be immersed of John, that rugged preacher confessed his unworthiness to perform the deed (3:13, 14).
In view of the esteem in which John held JESUS, how does one explain the baptizer’s statements (recorded in John 1:31, 33), wherein he says of CHRIST (as The SAVIOR Approached him for immersion), “I knew HIM not”? This appears to be in direct conflict with the passages cited from Matthew’s account.
The solution lies, I believe, in understanding the meaning of the Greek term translated “knew” in John’s account. The Greek Testament has several words which express, in some form or another, the concept of knowing. The term ginosko, for example, denoted to “know by experience,” whereas another word, oida, suggested the idea of “knowing intuitively, absolutely.” It is oida that is used in John 1:31, 33.
Though the baptizer had known (by reputation, etc.) for many years that JESUS Was Chosen of GOD, it was only after the miraculous manifestation at the baptismal scene that John had the full, absolute knowledge that JJESUS Was The MESSIAH (cf. Wuest 1946, 75, 76). Thus, a saying that is hard, as it appears in the English version, is cleared up by an appreciation for what the Greek text actually indicates.

Literal versus Figurative



Some passages appear hard because they are viewed in a crassly literalistic way, when actually they are highly symbolic. Take, for instance, the verse alluded to earlier from John 6, where The LORD Announced, “He who eats MY Flesh and drinks MY Blood has eternal life.” The statement almost seems to sanction cannibalism, and yet we know this could not be the case. How shall we interpret CHRIST'S Teaching in this instance?
We must remember that any meaning placed upon a text, which would force it to imply an absurdity or which would suggest a conflict with other clear instruction, is wrong. In this case, the language must be interpreted figuratively, not literally. The LORD Cannot Be Suggesting that disciples actually eat HIS Flesh and drink HIS Blood, for the following reasons:
  1. The participles are present tense forms, literally rendered: “He who is eating [and continues to eat] MY Flesh and who is drinking [continues to drink] MY Blood has eternal life.” Surely no one will contend that there were those present on that occasion who were literally in the process of gnawing on The LORD'S Flesh and sucking out HIS Blood! The language is clearly symbolic.
  2. Elsewhere the New Testament forbids the drinking of blood (Acts 15:20, 29).
  3. The context of John 6, along with related material, makes it clear that CHRIST Was Talking about the reception of HIS Teaching, not the actual consumption of his flesh and blood (see 6:63; cf. 6:56 with 1 John 3:24). A proper view of the nature of the language in John 6, therefore, removes the seeming hardness from JESUS' Teaching.

Sayings Hard to Receive



As we mentioned earlier, there are some biblical statements that are easy enough to understand, they are just hard to take! Material of this sort is difficult to digest for a variety of reasons. As sinful human beings, we do not appreciate the plane of perfection upon which GOD Operates; hence, from our jaundiced position, we misjudge The CREATOR. We feel that A Good GOD Ought To Act Fairly (cf. Genesis 18:25), and sometimes it appears that HE Does Not. Due to our limited knowledge and wisdom, we do not fathom what JEHOVAH Is Doing in HIS World. Men sometimes feel that HIS Methods are harsh. In reality, if we knew the entire story, our viewpoint would be radically different. Let us look as some examples.

The Destruction of the Canaanites



When the Israelites entered Canaan, they were to utterly destroy those heathen cities, including the women and children (Numbers 21:2, 3; Joshua 6:21). To many, this seems excessively cruel. It is hard to take. Perhaps, though, the following factors will help to focus the matter with a clearer perspective.
  1. The destruction of the pagan tribes of Canaan must be viewed in light of their utter abandonment of moral restraint. They practiced child sacrifice, sodomy, religious prostitution, etc. They became unfit to live (see Jackson 1982, 57ff).
  2. Their punishment had not been rendered impetuously. JEHOVAH Had Been Patient with them for centuries; finally, however, their cup of iniquity ran over (Gen. 15:16), and the time for judgment came.
  3. This type of destruction was implemented on a rather limited basis—principally upon the tribes within Palestine. This was in view of the fact that GOD Chose Canaan as the place where the Hebrew nation was to be cultivated. And this, of course, related to the Coming of The MESSIAH, The SAVIOR of the world (cf. Jackson 1998, 1). It was an example of moral surgery for the ultimate benefit of all mankind.
  4. It is still true, though, that these Old Testament narratives illustrate the fact that innocent people frequently have to suffer the consequences of evil acts which others perpetrate, due to the kind of world in which we live. This should motivate us to desire a better state wherein wickedness does not exist.
Yes, these examples of Divine Justice are hard sayings, but not beyond our ability to appreciate. Certainly they should not present a faith problem.

The Marriage Law of CHRIST



When certain Pharisees sought to test CHRIST by inquiring concerning divorce privileges (which were rather relaxed under the Mosaic system), JESUS Got their immediate attention by affirming that anyone who divorced his or her companion, unless the divorce was upon the basis of fornication, and then remarried, was living in a state of adultery (Matthew 19:9; cf. 5:32).
Some of The LORD'S disciples were stunned by the strictness of the declaration; they reflected that if such was the case, i.e., if the marriage relationship under the new covenant was going to be that tight, it would be better to remain single. JESUS Acknowledged that it was a hard saying: “Not all men can receive this saying, but they to whom it is given” (19:11).
CHRIST Seems To Be Suggesting that the responsibilities of marital life are demanding, and that if one feels that he cannot accept them, let him or her 
remain celibate (so the word “eunuch” symbolizes in verse twelve).
Why Is GOD'S Marital law so rigorous? Why can’t men and women drift in and out of multiple marriages as they desire? It is a failure to understand the basis of marriage that makes The LORD'S Teaching seem so difficult. Think about this:
  1. Marriage is the most intimate of all human relationships. Because of this, an atmosphere is created which accommodates emotional vulnerability. When marital unions are treated casually, the victims of psychological trauma become numerous.
  2. Children have the right to grow up in a stable family relationship; they do not need to be shuttled from one home environment to another. A strict marriage code is doubtless designed to protect our little ones.
  3. The family relationship is the cement that contributes to the cohesiveness of society. In this connection, it helps to create the kind of tranquil atmosphere which facilitates the propagation of the Gospel of CHRIST. A firm marriage law is a significant contributor to heaven’s redemptive plan!
When one reflects upon several matters of this nature, it is not so difficult to perceive why The LORD Gave a marriage regulation which initially appears hard, but which, upon closer examination, really makes sense!

Few Will Be Saved



In light of the biblical emphasis upon the Universal Love of GOD, several passages which suggest that only a limited number will be saved appear to be rather harsh. Many will seek to enter but will not be able (Luke 13:24). Few there be that find the way unto life (Matthew 7:14). We must remember, however, that the terms employed in these passages are relative, and they do not tell the entire story. 
The following facts give a more balanced picture.
  1. The entire human race of spiritually accountable people has sinned (Romans 3:23), hence, is under just condemnation (3:19).
  2. The whole of sinful humanity deserves to be forever lost; it is only because of GOD'S Grace that any are saved (Ephesians 2:8, 9).
  3. In spite of the fact that man does not merit redemption, CHRIST Came and Died that all (potentially) might be saved (1 Timothy 2:4, 5); and all who will may enjoy eternal life (John 5:40; Revelation 22:17).
  4. The truth is, there are many who simply do not want communion with GOD (Luke 19:14; John 6:66), and Jehovah will not force eternal bliss upon them.
  5. There are, however, clear Bible passages which affirm that many will be saved (cf. Isaiah 2:2, 3; 11:9; Revelation 7:9), and there have been times and places where the gospel has been much more productive than what we commonly observe.
  6. There are doubtless multiplied thousands of souls across the centuries and around the world who have obeyed the truth but of whom we have no personal knowledge. However, The LORD Knows them who are HIS (2 Timothy 2:19).
But is it not true that vast numbers have never even heard the Message of CHRIST, without which no one can be saved? (Romans 10:13-15). Actually, no one can prove that those who have sincerely desired to please the CREATOR have been denied access to the gospel.
GOD, WHO Knows man’s heart (Acts 15:8), Promised that those who hunger and thirst for the truth shall be satisfied (Matthew 5:6). Moreover, the New Testament gives evidence that The LORD, through IS Providential Ways, Has Directed the truth to those who wanted it and withheld it from those who were disinterested (cf. Acts 16:6-10).
Finally, we must observe that since we are assessing this entire matter through sinful eyes, we are hardly in a position to pronounce judgment upon what JEHOVAH Is Doing. One needs to be extremely cautious about characterizing The LORD as hard (cf. “austere” [Luke 19:20ff]), lest out of his own mouth the critic pronounces judgment upon himself!
Let us, therefore, not complain that the demands of our MAKER are hard (cf. Matthew 11:30); rather, let us allow the Power of the Holy Scriptures to break the hardness of our lives.

https://www.christiancourier.com/articles/248-hard-sayings-in-the-bible






Wednesday, February 27, 2019

The Traditional "6 Day Creation"












The following article is on the other side of "Gap theory" which claims there is no gap between Genesis 1:1 and Genesis 1:2, so The Creation of GOD is the same as recorded in the Bible - The Traditional "6 Day Creation".




The readers must use own discretion on which view they should take as their own view. 

The blogger have held the traditional "6 Day Creation" so far. But one thing is very clear: 


GOD'S Word Never Fail and There Will Be A Day We Can See All Things Clear As It Is. Amen!


Believing either one of them doesn't make us go To The New Heaven and New Earth, but The Righteousness of GOD In JESUS CHRIST Matters for our eternal salvation!






Gaps in the Gap Theory

Over the last several years evolutionists have done a remarkable job convincing people that the debate over origins is one between science and religion. However, both parties essentially have access to the same data, and both parties ultimately have to go by faith on certain issues, like how the first life form came to be for example. It is not something that can be scientifically observed, you either believe GOD Did it or it created itself through a series of chance events - your conclusions having been influenced either by man's theories or GOD'S Word. So because these theories are often taught as fact many people now doubt a literal interpretation of the Bible and have tried to bend scripture so that it can be harmonized with these "alternate ideas". 

One of these theories is known as The Gap Theory.

The gap theory proposes that there is a time gap of millions or billions of years between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2. The story says that GOD once Created a world full of dinosaurs and ape men which are often referred to as the Pre-Adamic race. At some point here the devil rebelled against GOD WHO then Destroyed that world with a flood (not to be confused with Noah's flood). GOD then supposedly Started the creation process afresh about 6000 years ago which is where Genesis 1:2 kicks in. 

The problem with this is that the Bible gives no indication that any of this happens, it actually paints a rather different picture of how events unfolded which goes something like this.

In Exodus 20:11 we read that GOD Made the heavens and the earth and everything in them (which would include the angels) in six days; based on the life spans and genealogies given in Genesis scholars place the date at around 6000 years ago. At the end of the first week GOD Looks at HIS Creation and Declares everything to be "very good" (Genesis 1:31), HE probably Would Not Have Said this had the devil and a third of the angels rebelled yet. 

Scripture actually reveals that it was only after the Garden of Eden was created that Satan rebelled, we read in Ezekiel 28:13-19 that he was in the garden, perfect in his ways and called the anointed cherub before he became prideful at his own beauty. So his fall must have occurred somewhere between the creation of man and the temptation of Adam and Eve later on in chapter 3 of Genesis.

Contradictions, contradictions...

Placing a gap of millions of years between the first two verses of Genesis causes several contradictions to materialize later in the Bible. For example, Jesus taught that the creation of man was the beginning (Mathew 19:4); had mankind only arrived on the scene 4.6 billion years after the beginning then HE Would Have Been Wrong.

Paul would also have been wrong in several scriptures. He taught that death, disease and suffering were a result of the fall in passages like Romans 5:12-14, 8:22 and 1 Corinthians 15:21-22. We have to ask ourselves, if sin never brought death into the world as these scriptures teach and they are not a result of man's disobedience, then why Did JESUS Have To Die?

John would have been wrong as well - when speaking of a future new heaven and new earth he stated in Revelation 21:1 that the world we currently live on is the first earth, why did he not say it is the second earth if one was destroyed previously?

Logical arguments can be raised as well, for instance, because people who accept the gap theory also accept the long time spans evolutionists need for their theories to sound legitimate. They must accept that sharks and crocodiles have been on our planet for millions of years.

Now if GOD Destroyed everything in verse 1 of the Bible to such an extent that HE Had To Recreate the sun and plants later on, how then did these animals survive through this period of destruction? 

Another question worth pondering on is if Satan did indeed fall before man was created, why Would GOD Judge a spiritual being by destroying the earth with a flood? It seems like everything but Satan and the fallen angels would have perished in that judgement.

With a little study one can see that most of man's opinions fall short and simply cannot stand against GOD'S Word. Once we start elevating our theories to the same level as the Bible then we start reading things in the scriptures that are not there. 

May HIS Word Be our Final Authority and Guide us into all truth!


http://www.myfaithmag.com/article?id=505





Gap Theory - Man's Idea or GOD'S WORD?






The blogger keeps searching for the useful Christian articles that can help our readers understand The WORD of GOD As HE Intended for us.

The following article gives us an insight into the Creation records of Genesis 1 and focuses on the so-called "Gap Theory", which draws our attention to The Creator of the Universe, The LORD JESUS CHRIST.

All Glory and Power To GOD, our Creator!

Amen.







The History of the Genesis Gap Theory Interpretation and its Basis in Bible Doctrine









The Bible says, "In the beginning GOD Created the heaven and Earth" (Genesis 1:1) and at Genesis 1:3 GOD Says, "...let there be light", which is followed by the seven-days of "Creation" and the making of the world into which HE Placed Adam and Eve. But between those two verses there is the mysterious and enigmatic statement of Genesis 1:2 which says:

"And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And The SPIRIT of GOD Moved upon the face of the waters."
(Genesis 1:2 KJV)

This verse should not to be dismissively taken as just some 'throw away' statement of how God began the creation process, because it is a serious declaration of factual conditions by The HOLY SPIRIT to call the reader's attention to something that is abnormal and out of place. Those facts are: 1) The "Earth" already exists, 2) The planet is void of life, 3) There is great darkness everywhere, 4) Water already exists. WHY? When was all this created?

That mysterious verse is The HOLY SPIRIT'S  guidance to a key Scriptural Truth. Specifically, the heaven and Earth of the original creation (Genesis 1:1 & Job 38:4) had been destroyed and corrupted as a result of Lucifer's sin of rebellion back in Earth's ancient past (Isaiah 14:12-16 & Ezekiel 28:13-17). That first world on the face of the Earth was now in complete ruin. What remained was shrouded in a great physical and spiritual darkness and the power of death. The reason? Sin in Deep-Time.

The Apostle Peter spoke of this mystery in the New Testament:

"For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by The Word of GOD the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water: Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished: But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men."(2 Pet 3:5-7 KJV)

People assume that the mention of the word "water" in the above passage makes it a reference to Noah's flood and the antediluvian world of man, but it is not. The phrase "willingly ignorant" and common sense should tell you otherwise. After all, anybody even remotely familiar with the Bible knows about Noah's flood. No, the verse is speaking about something else, and the only other place in the Bible where the Earth was covered in waters is Genesis 1:2. The ramifications are obvious: The Bible itself reveals that the "heavens and the earth, which are now" (made during the seven days) was not the first-time creation of all things. The Word of GOD is telling the observant reader there was a previous world on the face of this old Earth before the present world of man.

The LORD GOD Created the heavens and the Earth and HE Authored the Bible through HIS HOLY SPIRIT. 

Those are two (2) witnesses to GOD'S truth (Matthew 18:16) . 
One witness is the Earth's geology, which reveals evidence of death in the fossil record extending back millions and millions of years. The other witness is the written Word of GOD which, when rightly-divided, can tell men why there is death in the fossil record. 

The Genesis Gap Doctrine, commonly called the "Gap Theory" or "Ruin-Reconstruction" interpretation of Genesis, is not a modern-day interpretation of the Holy Bible. It is a theological teaching that was espoused by the early Church and even the fundamental Protestant faith in the years before Darwin's Theory of Evolution was even published, at a time when the geological sciences were still in their infancy. The Genesis Gap Doctrine has always been within the Holy Bible. It was there when Moses penned the book of Genesis, it is not a recent notion.

The Genesis Gap Doctrine does not contradict the modern-day geologic observations that indicate an Earth that is at least 4.5 billion years old with known evidence of death in Earth's fossil record extending back at least three-billion years, nor does it contradict the Holy Bible. On the contrary, the doctrine clarifies why these apparent contradictions between the Bible and Science exist. Why the old "world that then was" ended, and why GOD Made a new world and modern Man (Adam), requires a study into the ancient origins of Lucifer and the angels. 

This Biblical knowledge opens a clearer window into understanding why we see the world as it is today. It also provides a more perfect understanding and warning against what is yet to come upon the world in the near future, and why. The subjects of the Bible and Geology are not mutually exclusive concepts. The Earth has an ancient natural history that can be deciphered from the geologic record, but it also has an equally important ancient spiritual history that can only be deciphered from a Rightly-Divided Holy Bible. Knowledge of both, and enlightenment through The HOLY SPIRIT, brings comprehension of the proper context of Earth's Geology within the Book of Genesis.


THE BIBLE TIME-GAPS:








The HOLY SPIRIT Reveals there is a time-gap between the first two verses of the Old Testament. This is not the only time-gap in the Old Testament; there are two (2) others. There is the "gap" in the Old Testament between the first and second comings of The LORD JESUS CHRIST. It is commonly called the "Church Age" or the "Age of Grace." The other is the 1,000 year Millennial reign of the KING of kings, The LORD JESUS CHRIST, which will be here on the Earth after HIS second coming and before the final great Judgment Day, followed by the creation of the New Heaven and Earth in eternity. The late Clarence Larkin referred to these Old Testament "gaps" as Valleys between the peaks of prophecy. The illustration below is a schematic of this line of reasoning:


All three of these Scriptural Old Testament "gaps" or valleys have one thing in common: These are things that are spiritually discerned through the Holy Spirit, spelled out plainly in the New testament, which sheds light on what is written in the Old Testament. The HOLY SPIRIT Reveals these things through the knowledge of The LORD JESUS CHRIST - the source of all true wisdom. (See Revelation 19:10 & Colossians 2:2-3).  The Spirit of Prophecy certainly looks forward into the future, but it also can look backward into the past and you will be able to see this in the KJV Holy Bible. Keep in mind that what transpired in the past directly sets the course for what will happen in the future. This is why it is essential to understand why there is a gap between the first two verses of the Bible.

Peter's New Testament statement (2 Peter 3:5-7) tells us something that is not directly revealed in the Old Testament at Genesis 1:2. But before we amplify the matter further, you need to see why Peter is NOT speaking about Noah's flood:

"For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by The Word of GOD the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water: Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished: But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men."(2 Pet 3:5-7 KJV)

Compare the phrases: "the heavens and earth, which are now" to the phrase the "heavens were of old" in that verse. Ask yourself this question: When Noah's flood happened did it change anything in the upper heavens? That is, would a flood on the Earth's surface have any effect on the sun, moon, or stars high above? The obvious answer is NO.

"And GOD Said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth."(Genesis 6:13 KJV)

The heavens of Noah's days were the same heavens as in Adam's day; same sun, same moon, same stars. Noah's flood had no effect on the upper heavens. All of Noah's flood's effects were confined to the Earth's surface and its atmosphere. If the effects of Noah's flood were confined to the Earth's surface and atmosphere, then Noah's flood did not affect or alter anything in the upper heavens, so logic and common sense demands that this verse must be speaking about an event other than Noah's flood. 

And Genesis 1:2 is our only other Biblical alternative.
Notice also in that passage that the earth is said to be "standing out" of the water and "in" the water. In our English language, these descriptive terms suggest that these particular waters were not confined to the surface of the planet. The passage describes a deluge that raged across the solar system, and beyond with Earth caught up in the destructive overflow. Try to draw this mental picture: Think of a dark and ruined universe with water strewn throughout it like one big messy galactic spill. That is what Genesis 1:2 is speaking about when it says that darkness was upon the face of the "deep" (Genesis 1:2). And imagine the planet Earth drifting awash in this roaring and rolling, formless mess while still orbiting around the dead star that once was Earth's early sun. Where would such waters have come from? Well, it is an established scientific observation that aging stars create and give off lots of water. (See also Astronomers Find Largest, Most Distant Reservoir of Water

Certainly there must have been lots and lots of stars in the heavens that were "of old" (just as there are today) and, if something had caused the entire cosmos to have gone dark, and all those stars died (including our sun), then there would be excessive waters everywhere throughout outer space. If that was indeed the case, then all those extinguished stars would need to be reignited to be seen in our present heavens. Although many "Gap Theory" advocates believe that the sun, moon and stars were not affected and were only being obscured by deep cloud cover until the fourth of the seven days, that interpretation does not hold up under closer scrutiny of the Scriptures.

At Genesis 1:2 the heaven and the Earth are in darkness and great waters are upon the deep. If we interpret the deep to include everything in the physical universe, which included everything below GOD'S heavenly realm far above (See John 8:23), then the situation becomes clear. Before any reconstruction of the heavens and Earth could begin, GOD Had To Do something with all that water scattered across space. That is why the Bible says:

"And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so."
(Genesis 1:7 KJV)


The Bible is saying that GOD Placed a "Sea" (waters above the firmament - See Psalms 148:4) between the Footstool of HIS Heavenly Throne and the less than pure physical cosmos down below that Satan's rebellion ruined. This division was not good, but necessary. Note that, although GOD Says, "it was good" concerning days 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, HE Does Not Say that about the work of day 2 (see for yourself).
Prior to that, GOD Made another division at the beginning of the seven-days that was good:

"And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And The SPIRITt of GOD Moved upon the face of the waters. And GOD Said, Let there be light: and there was light. And GOD Saw the light, that it was good: and GOD Divided the light from the darkness. And GOD Called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day."(Genesis 1:2-5 KJV)

This light was NOT PHYSICAL LIGHT as in sunshine, because GOD Did Not Make the sun, moon and stars of this present world until the fourth-day. This light was The Light of GOD. You should take note that the translators of the King James Bible did something very important in this passage. They capitalized the words "Day" and "Night" in Genesis 1:5 to stress the importance of these word definitions. The correct interpretation of these terms is found in this New Testament passage:

"Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness."(1 Thessalonians 5:5 KJV)

The  Bible itself provides the correct interpretation of the meaning. There were two (2) types of darkness present at Genesis 1:2: Yes, there was literal darkness (an absence of light), but there was also spiritual darkness (the presence of evil within the ruins of the creation). The Scriptures tell us that both good and evil are present when GOD Made Adam's world.

"And out of the ground made the LORD GOD To Grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil."
 (Genesis 2:9 KJV)

Why this was the case is discussed in greater detail elsewhere on this website. 


HISTORY OF THE "GAP THEORY" INTERPRETATION:

This Ruin-Reconstruction interpretation of Genesis was the bread and butter Creation doctrine of the Protestant Fundamentalist Church in the early part of the 20th century. The interpretation has mainly been credited to the Scottish theologian, Thomas Chalmers, who began to preach it back in the early 19th century. Contrary to contemporary Young Earth Creationist allegations, Chalmers did NOT invent the Genesis Gap interpretation as a compromise of The Word of GOD to accommodate the Theory of Evolution. The fact that Chalmers was preaching the Genesis Gap out of the Holy Bible for well over twelve years BEFORE Darwin even published his 'On the Origin of Species' reveals the fallacy of such unfounded accusations.

Keep in mind that from the days of the Apostles up through the Dark Ages, and until just a few centuries ago, a 6,000 year age for the heavens and Earth was accepted dogma in the institutions of both the Church and Academia. Up until then, the real age of the Earth was not a burning issue. However, after the Bible was published for the masses, and as the scientific evidence for an old Earth grew, so did the breech between the establishment Church and establishment science. What we have in the case of Thomas Chalmers and the post Reformation times is an example of Revelation and Illumination from the Holy Scriptures. 

That is, when the proper time came, The Word of GOD once again proved itself timely and relevant to the level of scientific and Spiritual understanding of the day, and The HOLY SPIRIT Began opening eyes to a truth that was already there in the Scriptures. The Bible can provide true and faithful answers to all scientific 'discoveries' that appear to challenge the fundamentals of the Christian Faith. The problem today is that people have, for the most part, abandoned faith in the infallibility of the Holy Scriptures.


RIGHTLY-DIVIDING THE WORD OF GOD:



GOD The SON, The LORD JESUS CHRIST, Is The Divine Author of both the Scriptures and the Earth's Geologic record. Both are from HIS Hand. Both witness to historical and spiritual Truth. HE Established the principles of science (knowledge) by which we can search out the answers to things preserved within the Earth's geology. 

HIS Scriptures provide us with a definitive and infallible source of Authority and a faithful guide to verify the validity of the things man observes hidden within the Earth. Therefore, there cannot possibly be any real contradiction in facts between Geology and Genesis. Any such contradictions only arise within the flawed paradigms of our understanding, be they scientific or Biblical. Remember, the Theory of Evolution is a faith-based belief; a belief system founded on observations without the benefit of Biblical clarification.
  
Let's be honest, Biblical Creationism will never find fair and equal standing and acceptance with the non-believing world's accepted paradigm of origins. The world has placed its "faith" in the Theory of Evolution and carnal reasoning. The truth of the Bible must be accepted by faith as The Word of GOD, and you have to trust HIM above what your Pastor or Science teacher thinks is truth.

The supernatural intervention or acts of an invisible Divine Sovereign can neither be proved nor disproved by the scientific method. Regrettably, a large segment of Fundamental Christianity has placed its faith in an interpretation of Genesis which denies not only the historical facts contained within the Earth itself but, in some cases, the very wording of the Holy Bible as well. 

TRUST YOUR BIBLE.
"For MY Thoughts [are] not your thoughts, neither [are] your ways MY Ways, saith The LORD. For [as] the heavens are higher than the earth, so are MY Ways higher than your ways, and MY Thoughts than your thoughts."(Isaiah 55:8-9 KJV)