Temporary

February 13th, 2010

There is permanent and there is temporary. Permanent, lasts for ever and ever and past the end of time, past the end of everything of this creation, and is before beginning of anything. Temporary has a beginning and it has an end. Temporary exists in time and can be a very short duration of time or can be a very long duration of time, but temporary is never forever. Temporary might last for a Pico-second, or for 100 billion years. 100 billion years is still temporary, 100 trillion years is still temporary; permanent is eternal.

Which is bigger, a flea or an elephant? How much bigger? A million times? Maybe. Which is longer, a day or a year? Is the difference significant? If you measure something in geologic time, then a year and a second are pretty much the same thing. For example: when someone says that this or that dinosaur lived 100 million years ago do they mean to the second or to the year? No, it could actually be 101 million years ago or 105 million years ago, or 95 million years ago—a span to ten million years! What is a second or a single year compared to ten million years—nothing.

The Bible uses a different word than permanent, it uses eternal. Eternal or eternity, are forever. Actually it is not even correct to say that eternity is forever, because forever it tied to time. There is no time in eternity. It is better to say that eternity is, and leave it at that.

God is eternal and a man’s life is very temporary. It is said that the universe, that is, God’s creation is about 13 billion years old, give or take a billion or so years either way. But, what is that to God? A billion years or one day; it is all the same to God. In eternity there is no time.

Man, on the other hand, is very much tied to time; his body and mind are anyway. A man is conceived, and cell by cell is nit together in the womb. He is born, and cell by cell he is added to. Then the machine that is the body starts to break down and eventually (very quickly actually) some critical component of the body fails and the body stops functioning.

Man is unique of all God’s creatures, man is a hybrid being. He has a very temporary body, but within man is a piece of eternity. Of all the beings that God created only man is both temporary and eternal.

Ecclesiastes 3:11
He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end. (NIV)

Heart here is a metaphor. Here the heart means the core or defining central part from which everything else drives its meaning. The heart of man is spirit, just like God. The heart of man is eternal, just like God.

Genesis 1:26
Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” (NIV)

The image and likeness here is not speaking of the body, but rather it is speaking about the spirit or heart of man. That is, the part of man that is like God is not his flesh and blood body, but rather his inner spirit self. Inside we are like God, outside we are like other natural animals. The outer man is temporary and actually meaningless, but the inner man is like God and is eternal.

God created the universe out of matter, or energy if you like, which are really one and the same thing. Matter can be converted to energy and energy can be converted into matter. The very famous equation says, E=MC2, which means that the amount of Energy is equal to the amount of Mass (atomic weight of each atom all added up) times the Constant, which is the speed of light squared. This energy, or mass if you prefer, is temporary. The scientific word for this is entropy. Entropy is a fundamental characteristic of the universe and it basically means that everything in the universe will eventually cool down and stop working—temporary. It is true that this entropic effect will take a very long time, but as we have seen earlier, time is meaningless. Because of entropy eventually time itself will cease to exist, so in this way we can say that time is meaningless.

Ecclesiastes 1:2
“Meaningless! Meaningless!” says the Teacher. “Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless.” (NIV)

Solomon here was speaking of anything and everything that is of this universe, that is, created things, things made out of energy, things that obey the laws of nature. Solomon was not talking about God, and neither was he talking here about the heart of man for he later says…

Ecclesiastes 12:13-14
Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. 14 For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil. (NIV)

The key to reconciling these two passages of Solomon is the word Judgment here in the last verse. Judgment is not about the body which is meaningless and temporary, but rather concerns the spirit, that is, the eternal heart of man. Within the hybrid nature of man is the real (but invisible) person, the Godlike person, the person that is.

People live in this world thinking only of the outer person, the temporary person, the meaningless person, while merrily ignoring the eternal within.

Psalm 37:10
A little while, and the wicked will be no more; though you look for them, they will not be found. (NIV)

“A little while,” is a key phrase in the Bible. It is pointing out this fact that the world is temporary.

We should not focus on the world or on anything in the world. Focus, rather, on the eternal, that is, on God.

Hebrews 12:26-29
At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.” 27 The words “once more” indicate the removing of what can be shaken—that is, created things—so that what cannot be shaken may remain.
28 Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, 29 for our “God is a consuming fire.”(NIV)

Of your two parts, one is eternal and the other is temporary. Consider what this means.

Please read the 39th Psalm

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Awesomeness of God, Meaning of Bible, Relationship with God | No Comments »

Sovereign Lord

January 23rd, 2010

Genesis 1:1
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. (NIV)

Job 42:1-2
Then Job replied to the Lord: 2 “I know that you can do all things; no plan of yours can be thwarted. (NIV)

Matthew 5:18-19
I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. 19 Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. (NIV)

Ecclesiastes 1:9
What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun. (NIV)

Did you know that the phrase Sovereign Lord appears 298 times in the NIV? Do you know what it means? It means that God is in charge and there is no other authority that God must contend with. God is sovereign and he is the only one. What he has determined, will come to pass. No one can oppose him. He is the King and if he commands, “Off with their heads!” then their heads come off.

There is another Scripture that I would like you to consider in the light of these others.

Revelation 9:14-16
It said to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.” 15 And the four angels who had been kept ready for this very hour and day and month and year were released to kill a third of mankind. 16 The number of the mounted troops was two hundred million. I heard their number. (NIV)

God’s plan that has been ticking down is exact. Look carefully at verse fifteen and consider what exactly it means. Jesus said that every single passage will be fulfilled and this passage tells us that the timing is exact too. There is nothing that you, nor I, nor anyone in heaven or on the earth can do to alter God’s Plan. Can you save the world? Can you make the world a better place on your own and by your own power? Can you invent some invention that changes the world, for better or for worse, apart from it being in the plan of God? No, no, no.

The phrase in Ecclesiastes 1:9 used to bother me. I couldn’t understand how it could be true. I mean, people invent things almost every day that the world has never seen before. How can the Bible say that there is nothing new under the sun? This passage is true and every Bible verse is true. It is true because there is nothing that is, that God did not make exact provision for. You, my friend, cannot think a thought that God has not considered long long ago.

No person is the captain of his own destiny. Are we then puppets? Sort of, or rather you might be. God has a plan. Every single detail is plotted out. You can think of the future history of the world as a completely worked out storyboard. Do you know what a storyboard is? It is like a comic strip where every plot moving action is pictured in a series of events that take place to tell the story. Film producers/directors/screenplay-writers frequently use storyboards to visualize the scenes that must be filmed to tell the story from start to finish. God’s storyboard is in the Bible. Every major scene is depicted there within the Bible, from start to finish. Someone once said, “All the world’s a stage and we are but players within.” How true that statement is.

Are we but pawns in God’s chess game? We are pawns and rooks and bishops and knights and kings and queens all. We are all players in God’s play, or should I say plan.

Romans 9:16-21
It does not, therefore, depend on man’s desire or effort, but on God’s mercy. 17 For the Scripture says to Pharaoh: “I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” 18 Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden.
19 One of you will say to me: “Then why does God still blame us? For who resists his will?” 20 But who are you, O man, to talk back to God? “Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, ‘Why did you make me like this?’ ” 21 Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for noble purposes and some for common use? (NIV)

So, if everything in the world is already mapped out then what is the point of our lives? you might be wondering. The point is, is that God is Sovereign and he has a plan that he will work out, but the parts are not yet determined. The Sovereign Lord is auditioning the actors (that is you) for the various roles that he must fill.

2 Timothy 2:20-21
In a large house there are articles not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay; some are for noble purposes and some for ignoble. 21 If a man cleanses himself from the latter, he will be an instrument for noble purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work. (NIV)

Verse 21 above is the key to your destiny. You job, as it were, is to recognize the Sovereign Lord’s plan and to get in line with it. You are to submit to the Lord and to his plan. He is the screenwriter and the producer and the director. He isn’t interested in changing the screenplay. He is interested in selecting the perfect players for the various roles that will be played out. You can make yourself suitable for the more noble roles or be cast against your will for the fall-guy roles. It is up to you.

When you were an infant your parents did a million and one things for you that you had no idea about. You didn’t have to think about food or clothing or warmth or anything else. You just had to grow. As you matured you grew more and more like your parents. In maturity you became like your parents knowing and anticipating the needs of your own children. Looking back you can see that your parents gave up their time of doing what they wanted in order to do what was needed for you. At the time you couldn’t see it, but later you can. It is the same with you and your heavenly Father. As you mature you recognize more and more of the things that God has and is doing for you.

Romans 8:28
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. (NIV)

Stop striving for things. Walk with God. Accept what is and walk with God. Be patient, loving, helpful, kind, gentle, and good. Seek not your own good but the good of others and God will bless you with godliness, or should I say, God-like-ness. Prepare yourself for God’s better parts, so that after all is over you will be rewarded for a job well done.

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Awesomeness of God, Meaning of Bible, Relationship with God | No Comments »

Freedom

January 10th, 2010

I have heard countless times about how we are free. I was born and I have lived my entire life in the United States and the message of freedom is very much identified with its citizens. America the land of the free and the home of the brave seems to be the national slogan. The United States of America is not alone in this thinking. All the nations of the so-called West all tout freedom as being the central point of the national cultures. Democracy and Capitalism are seen as to be a central part of a system of free people.

John 8:31-36
To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. 32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
33 They answered him, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?”
34 Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. 35 Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. (NIV)

The Jews too thought that they were free, but Jesus told them that if they sin then they were not free, rather that they were slaves to sin. True freedom is only attained in Christ.

Near where I grew up there is a school that has formed into a prominent quote, “You will know the truth and the truth will set you free.” That quote was taken from John 8:32 above, but is totally misquoted, that is, quoted out of context. I don’t know how many times I have heard that quote and it is always quoted the same way, that is, it expresses the idea that you can study and learn and the knowledge that you gain will bring you freedom. That is not a true sentiment. Truth can set you free, but truth is not learned in school.

Notice that John 8:31 says, “To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said …” Jesus did not tell everyone how they might be set free. He told those that believed him. In fact, pretty much, Jesus only ever talked to those that would believe him. Freedom comes only through submission to Christ Jesus. A person cannot be free apart from Jesus. It is utterly and totally impossible.

Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples.” If you hold to Jesus’ teaching, says he. A person cannot be a disciple of Jesus unless he subjects himself to the teaching of the Bible. And it is through this relationship of Master and obedient student that freedom comes.

Sin is like the smallest yet most totally potent and incurable poison. A drop of the minutest amount is irrevocably fatal. Once ingested you are a goner.

2 Samuel 14:14
Like water spilled on the ground, which cannot be recovered, so we must die. But God does not take away life; instead, he devises ways so that a banished person may not remain estranged from him. (NIV)

This wise woman that spoke these words to King David was talking about this fatal nature of sin when she said that we must die. We have each and every one of us sinned and so each and every one of us must die. We are not free for we are subject to sin, that is, death. But, this wise woman goes on to say that God did not abandon us to sin and death, but rather he devised a way in which we might be reunited with Him.

Romans 6:23
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (NIV)

This is saying what I have been saying, and that is, if you are guilty of sin then you must die. But, God devised a way to resurrect us from death and bring us to life.

Jesus was a man that not once lived for himself. He read the Scriptures and ordered himself to every revelation contained within them. Jesus was in every sense a servant of God Most High. The Scriptures say, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28 (NIV) Jesus believed this even before this was written. He believed it and he lived by it. Jesus believed that each and every little ocurrence in his life was orchestrated by God and therefore was there for his benefit. Jesus trusted in God in every situation because of his understanding concerning this. My friend, this is a huge thing. It is easy to miss this, but it is nonetheless critical that you do not. If you love God as you say that you do, then each and every little thing in your life is there to teach you something, or to help you in some way.

Matthew 5:39
But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. (NIV)

You do not resist an evil person in this way because God has allowed it to happen to you. If God has allowed it to happen to you then you needed it. When you submit to God in this way then you will come to know the Truth and then the Truth will set you free. It is like an oxymoron. You must submit to Christ as his slave before you can really and truly be free. Weird but true.

When you become Christ’s obedient slave, as it were, you experience peace and then the truth of things begins to dawn on you. You can’t see the truth when you are fighting against it. When you are fighting against the truth then sin is in control and you are (against your will) a slave to sin. Every single person that fights against God is a slave to sin. Sin will reign in their life and will condemn them to eternal death.

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Relationship with God | No Comments »

Judgment Day – Part Two

December 25th, 2009

Revelation 20:11-15
Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. Earth and sky fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. 12 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. 13 The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what he had done. 14 Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. 15 If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. (NIV)

“Earth and sky fled from his presence, and there was no place for them.” When the Day of Judgment comes the earth will be no more. The earth is only a temporary place. The universe is only a temporary place. When God’s plan for the earth is over, the earth and the physical universe will no longer have any purpose, so they will be removed. My friend, please do not live in the world as though the world mattered. You live here now, but ultimately this is not our home.

We saw in a previous post that those that belong to God are not really said to be dead when their body dies. They are said to be asleep in the earth. But, here we see those that are called “the dead,” and their fate is much different than that of those are merely asleep. I am not sure when a person’s name is written into the Book of Life, but whether it is written at conception or written in later is unimportant. The important thing is that when you have a living faith in God and in his Son Jesus Christ, then your name is either written into the Book or it remains in the Book. Those people that are in rebellion toward God do not have their name in the Book and are therefore spiritually cut-off from God. You can think of God as a large spiritual being and those that belong to him actually exist within him, like cells in a body as it were. If you are like a cell within the body of God then you are fed and nourished like any ordinary cell; God’s sustaining life force is connected to you and you are fed like blood brings nutrients to your mortal cells. If you are inside of God then you are alive, because God is alive. If you are outside then you are dead. Dead things don’t remain healthy looking long. They decompose and are gone.

We see here that the dead are judged according to what they have done. I will explain this a bit. It is like a human family. If a husband and a wife have a child then their child is in the family. As long as the child has love and faith towards the family then the child is in the family and all is well. If some outsider says to the father and mother, “I am a better child than your child so you must accept me into your family too,” they would not for that reason be adopted into the family. This presumptive child might indeed be a much better person than the natural son or daughter. They might be an A student at school and a real help around the house, but those things will not make any difference. Children of the family are either real children or adopted children, and both/either are members of the family by faith and love. Faith and love play a vital role in families whether or not the family members realize it or not. Faith and Love are king. If a child is accepted into the family then he or she is regardless of merit. God’s family is like that too. Those of his family are not judged as to be good enough. And those that are not of his family are not admitted into his family on merit alone. They can be admitted if they reach out in faith and love, but on account of merit.

So, we see that the dead are judged, but the living are not. Those that are judged will find that even though they are in some ways better, they will not be accepted because they are not in the body of God, that is, they did not love God nor have real faith in him, they are not members of his family as it were.

Verse 13 above is pretty interesting. “The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what he had done.” The sea is a symbolic word that means the mass of human beings. What this is saying is that those that are still alive at the time of Judgment Day, that is to say, alive in the flesh, but not alive towards God, are judged. And death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them is talking about those that have died a physical death before the Day of Judgment and have been waiting for Judgment Day in Hades. Both of these groups are treated the same. Both are condemned. Neither were in the family of God. Notice that Hades is a temporary holding place. I think it likely that the notion of purgatory comes from this temporary nature of Hades. Notice too, that a person doesn’t spend time in Purgatory (Hades) paying for certain sins and then gets out and enters into heaven. This is a very common belief but I can find no Scriptural validation for this teaching. If a person dies, that is, their body dies, and they themselves do not have a living relationship with God, then they are excluded from the presence of God, that is to say, they will not live out their existence in a relationship with God, that is to say, they will not go to heaven.

The Second Death

The first death is the death of the body. The second death is the permanent exclusion from the presence of God. As long as we are alive we can turn from our rebellious ways and seek God in faith and love. God is willing to accept any and all who come to him. He is more than willing, he is delighted.

Physical death is only a metaphor for permanent spiritual separation from God, or the Second Death. Physical death is meaningless. It is a translation from one existence to another. Ironically physical death is more like physical birth than anything. During physical birth a being doesn’t suddenly become alive, no rather, they were alive in the womb but are now alive in a much broader sense. Physical death is like that. We are alive but then we undergo the death of the body and become much more alive than before. The difference between those that leave their mortal bodies and go to live with God and those that are sent to Hades and then to the Lake of Fire has everything to do with their relationship with God. Those that die in the family of God are translated into ever more life, those that die outside of the body are excluded from the life giving love force of peace and healing.

It is my opinion that what makes Hades bad is the fact that you are there with selfish people, as it were. God’s nature of Love is a healing nature. God’s nature brings Peace. Those that are connected to God are connected to Love and Peace. Those that are not connected to God are thrown into a prison with very unloving and un-peaceful people. Why are human prisons so bad? Is it not because you are there with people that make it bad? I believe so. But, even in the worst human prison, you can be there with God inside of you; protecting and sustaining you. And if you are there with God then you know that it is only temporary, but the Lake if Fire is forever.

Fire is symbolic of sin. Being thrown into the Lake of Fire is to be thrown into the realm of sin—forever.

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Meaning of Bible, Prophecy, Relationship with God, Symbolic Bible Words | No Comments »

Judgment Day – Part One

December 17th, 2009

Matthew 25:31-46
“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
40 “The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’
41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’
44 “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’
45 “He will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’
46 “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.” (NIV)

Do you notice that verse 31 above says that this is a Coming of the Lord? Israel, for the most part, did not understand that when the Christ came the first time that he would leave and return again. The Church, for the most part, doesn’t understand that the Second Coming of the Lord is not the final Coming. The Lord will Come to the earth three times; first for the Church, second for Israel, and third for Judgment Day.

Knowing this about the Comings of the Lord helps to make sense of the Scriptures regarding his Comings. It can be confusing if you read about his Coming and think that they all are talking about the same time. Many people have read the above passage from Matthew and then assumed that when the Lord Comes, at the time of the beast, that that is the end of the world. But, every Scripture will be fulfilled. There will be a thousand year kingdom of Israel. This is a fact and it can’t be forgotten. So, as we see above, there must be a Third Coming of the Lord.

Looking at the above parable we can see that verse 41 says that the eternal fire, or the Lake of Burning Fire or Sulfur, was created for Satan and his angels and not for man. It is important to understand that the heavenly beings fell first. The happenings on the earth as recorded in the Bible are not just for man, they are for the angels in heaven too.

1 Corinthians 4:9
For it seems to me that God has put us apostles on display at the end of the procession, like men condemned to die in the arena. We have been made a spectacle to the whole universe, to angels as well as to men. (NIV)

Revelation 20:11-15
Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. Earth and sky fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. 12 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. 13 The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what he had done. 14 Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. 15 If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. (NIV)

There is an end to God’s plan for man on the earth. The earth is a temporary place where certain lessons can be learned in accelerated time, as it were. On the earth we have two kinds of life; animal life and spiritual life. In heaven there is only one kind of life, and heaven is the real place (eternal) and the earth is only a temporary place.

On earth the more real existence is the spiritual existence, even though it doesn’t appear to be that way. Our animal existences seem more real, but because they are only temporary they are therefore much less important. When a person dies we say that they are dead, but frequently the Bible says that they are asleep, in the earth as it were.

John 11:11-15
After he had said this, he went on to tell them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake him up.”
12 His disciples replied, “Lord, if he sleeps, he will get better.” 13 Jesus had been speaking of his death, but his disciples thought he meant natural sleep.
14 So then he told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead, 15 and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.” (NIV)

The point here is that physical death doesn’t mean to God what it means to man when man doesn’t see things from God’s perspective. We can see things correctly only when we read the Bible and believe in what it says.

We need to see things from God’s perspective because he sees what is real and we see only what is right in front of our faces and what appears to be real.

1 Thessalonians 4:13-14
Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. 14 We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. (NIV)

Tags: , ,
Posted in Meaning of Bible, Prophecy, Relationship with God, Symbolic Bible Words | No Comments »

Gog and Magog – Part Three

November 30th, 2009

Ezekiel 38:14-16
“Therefore, son of man, prophesy and say to Gog: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: In that day, when my people Israel are living in safety, will you not take notice of it? 15 You will come from your place in the far north, you and many nations with you, all of them riding on horses, a great horde, a mighty army. 16 You will advance against my people Israel like a cloud that covers the land. In days to come, O Gog, I will bring you against my land, so that the nations may know me when I show myself holy through you before their eyes. (NIV)

Again, we see that Gog sees the bounty of Israel and Israel’s apparent weakness and comes from the far north with all of her supporting nations to attack and blunder the peaceful children of God. We see again that the passage says that they will come ‘riding on horses’ and not like horses.

Ezekiel 38:17-23
“ ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Are you not the one I spoke of in former days by my servants the prophets of Israel? At that time they prophesied for years that I would bring you against them. 18 This is what will happen in that day: When Gog attacks the land of Israel, my hot anger will be aroused, declares the Sovereign Lord. 19 In my zeal and fiery wrath I declare that at that time there shall be a great earthquake in the land of Israel. 20 The fish of the sea, the birds of the air, the beasts of the field, every creature that moves along the ground, and all the people on the face of the earth will tremble at my presence. The mountains will be overturned, the cliffs will crumble and every wall will fall to the ground. 21 I will summon a sword against Gog on all my mountains, declares the Sovereign Lord. Every man’s sword will be against his brother. 22 I will execute judgment upon him with plague and bloodshed; I will pour down torrents of rain, hailstones and burning sulfur on him and on his troops and on the many nations with him. 23 And so I will show my greatness and my holiness, and I will make myself known in the sight of many nations. Then they will know that I am the Lord.’ (NIV)

The point of the Gog and Magog story is to show everyone that has eyes that see that following the Lord is the way to go. If any one, or any people, will follow the Lord with their whole heart then God will bless them with peace and prosperity. This is the promise from the beginning. God is in complete control of the world and everything that goes on in it. If pain and suffering are rampant in the land then you can know that that land is not obeying the Lord as they should. If a land is depending upon its military might for safety then military calamity will soon come. God will destroy everything that rises up against the knowledge of God. When you stop and think about it, it is the only way. For God to look the other way it would mean that God has abandoned them. As long as there is pain and suffering in your life, then at least you can know that God is working to bring you around.

James 1:2-4
Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4 Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. (NIV)

Early in my Bible reading career I really thought that the above passage is pretty funny. It still makes me grin. I mean, James was a pretty funny guy to write that. But, as I have grown older I see much more clearly the sober reality of what James is saying. This passage isn’t funny at all, it is totally true and the benefit of spiritual growth cannot be over-stated. I have seen within the Church elements that work real hard on reading the Bible and doing what they think is obedience all so that the blessings of God might come upon them. The point of a relationship with God is not to be blessed with money and health. Money, health and safety only relate to this world. Everything of this world is passing away. Nothing of this world really matters.

Matthew 6:19-21
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (NIV)

If you are reading your Bible for worldly prosperity then your heart is still focused on the world. This world just doesn’t matter. That is why it is impossible to look at a fellow man or woman and make any judgments regarding their relationship with God based on their worldly position. Just look at Job. In today’s thinking we could say that Job lost his sons and his daughters and he lost all of his assets, his Job (work) and also his health had become pitiful. Yikes, he was in a bad way! But, Job maintained his faith in God and because of that God sent to him a wise man to show Job his error. If a person were to measure their relationship with God with material things, then they would assume that Job was destitute, but he was not. Job was always prosperous.

The story of Gog and Magog is about trusting in God and being content with whatever you have. Israel was (then) with God, come good or come bad. They will not go into a panic when they see the armies of Magog coming to plunder them. Come good, or come bad, they will wait on the Lord. When you have that attitude then all is well. If you are plundered then you didn’t need that stuff anyway, and if you are killed then you go to be with the Lord, and if you are delivered, it is to teach someone else about a relationship with God. Life is not about earthly things.

Ezekiel 39:25-29
“Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will now bring Jacob back from captivity and will have compassion on all the people of Israel, and I will be zealous for my holy name. 26 They will forget their shame and all the unfaithfulness they showed toward me when they lived in safety in their land with no one to make them afraid. 27 When I have brought them back from the nations and have gathered them from the countries of their enemies, I will show myself holy through them in the sight of many nations. 28 Then they will know that I am the Lord their God, for though I sent them into exile among the nations, I will gather them to their own land, not leaving any behind. 29 I will no longer hide my face from them, for I will pour out my Spirit on the house of Israel, declares the Sovereign Lord.” (NIV)

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Meaning of Bible, Prophecy, Relationship with God, rebellion | No Comments »

Gog and Magog – Part Two

October 30th, 2009

Ezekiel 38:1-6
The word of the Lord came to me: 2 “Son of man, set your face against Gog, of the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal; prophesy against him 3 and say: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am against you, O Gog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal. 4 I will turn you around, put hooks in your jaws and bring you out with your whole army—your horses, your horsemen fully armed, and a great horde with large and small shields, all of them brandishing their swords. 5 Persia, Cush and Put will be with them, all with shields and helmets, 6 also Gomer with all its troops, and Beth Togarmah from the far north with all its troops—the many nations with you. (NIV)

When reading Revelation 20:7-10 we can see that the Gog and Magog event occurs about 1000 years after the Great Tribulation, and when reading this text we can see clues to this fact also. Much of the text regarding Gog in Ezekiel is written without the use of much figurative language. Here we do not see the word, like, as we do when reading about the Day of the Lord. This army from Magog literally has horses and swords and shields. This is not a modern army by today’s standards, and yet it is at least a 1000 years in our future. I find this fact very interesting and telling. This fact makes it evident that after the almost total destruction of the Great Tribulation, the surviving peoples will evidently shun the technology that is so revered today and return to a more rural life. The religion of science is brought so low as to be nonexistent. Interesting.

From Revelation 20 we see that Satan is released from the Abyss and he stirs up the attack of Gog and Magog against Israel, but here we see that God is behind it. This is a very important thing to understand regarding the Bible and God and Satan. God’s plan is absolute. Nothing can change anything apart from it being in the plan of God. It is the Lord God that wants to destroy the rebellious in the world and he will accomplish this destruction by allowing Satan to round up all those that are willing to attack God’s people. God doesn’t make Satan round them up and he doesn’t make any of the horde of Gog do what they do. God provides the scene and the players jump at the parts.

2 Timothy 2:20-21
In a large house there are articles not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay; some are for noble purposes and some for ignoble. 21 If a man cleanses himself from the latter, he will be an instrument for noble purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work. (NIV)

This is a very important passage. What we see in the Bible is that God has an exact plan for the world. He is looking for people to play the various parts. There will be some for the good guy roles and there will be some for the evil fall guy roles. You, my friend, are preparing yourself for some part or other. You are, and that is a fact. God is watching you and will offer you the part that you need or deserve, depending on how you look at it. This passage from Timothy tells us that we should cleanse ourselves from the ignoble so that we will be eligible to be selected for the noble parts in God’s plan.

The Lord God doesn’t make anyone do anything that is evil, or good for that matter. In the words of Moses: “This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live 20 and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the Lord is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.” Deuteronomy 30:19-20. God’s direction for you is not difficult. It is actually pretty easy to understand and do. But, you must do it, and people generally do not really want to give up what they want for what God wants. People are generally selfish and do what they think will bring them what they want. Obedience is doing what you do not want to do because the Lord wants you to.

Now, that said, Gog and Magog is about people following the evil (selfish) desires of their hearts instead of honoring those that are pleasing to God. This is the same old story that has been around from the very beginning of the story. The story of the Fall of Man is about this same thing. God told man what not to do, and then Satan tells the first woman (Eve) not to listen to God, because God is holding them back and that if they take what they want they will become like God, or in other words, they will become Godlike. Becoming like God is very appealing to the woman and so she listens to Satan and disobeys God. This is the crux of the whole Bible story. Everything revolves around this. This is why the biblical prophetic scenario pretty much ends with this story. The only biblical event that takes place after the Gog and Magog story is the final Coming of the Lord and the subsequent Judgment Day. After that, all that belong to God are in Heaven with him, and all that do not belong to God are excluded from his presence.

So, we see this huge horde that comes from around the whole world and comes to the land of Israel with the intention of attacking and taking plunder.

Ezekiel 38:7-9
“ ‘Get ready; be prepared, you and all the hordes gathered about you, and take command of them. 8 After many days you will be called to arms. In future years you will invade a land that has recovered from war, whose people were gathered from many nations to the mountains of Israel, which had long been desolate. They had been brought out from the nations, and now all of them live in safety. 9 You and all your troops and the many nations with you will go up, advancing like a storm; you will be like a cloud covering the land. (NIV)

Clearly we are told that this is a long way off.

Do you see the reference to the children of Israel having been brought back to the Promised Land? This is the restoration spoken of by Jesus here…

Matthew 24:30-31
“At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory. 31 And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other. (NIV)

The elect here are the children of Israel. This can’t possibly be the Church because the Church has been raptured some 3 ½ years before. The restoration from Babylon was only a shadow of the real restoration. It didn’t include all of the scattered children of Israel. Present day Israel also doesn’t fulfill this requirement for the same reason. This passage from Ezekiel is talking about the fact that those that are gathered after the Great Tribulation are all the scattered children of Israel and after a 1000 years they are still living in peace. This great horde of Gog and Magog think that Israel will be easy-pickens, so they come.

Ezekiel 38:10-13
“ ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: On that day thoughts will come into your mind and you will devise an evil scheme. 11 You will say, “I will invade a land of unwalled villages; I will attack a peaceful and unsuspecting people—all of them living without walls and without gates and bars. 12 I will plunder and loot and turn my hand against the resettled ruins and the people gathered from the nations, rich in livestock and goods, living at the center of the land.” 13 Sheba and Dedan and the merchants of Tarshish and all her villages will say to you, “Have you come to plunder? Have you gathered your hordes to loot, to carry off silver and gold, to take away livestock and goods and to seize much plunder?” ’ (NIV)

An unwalled village or town is symbolic language for a town that doesn’t have a military.

More to follow…

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Meaning of Bible, Prophecy, Relationship with God, rebellion | No Comments »

Gog and Magog – Part One

October 18th, 2009

The events of the Gog and Magog prophecy will occur approximately 1000 years after the events of the end-times, that is, the Day of the Lord. This is clear when you read the twentieth chapter of Revelation. When reading Revelation we see first the time of the Beast (3 ½ years), then the Beast is killed along with his false prophet, then Satan is bound and thrown into Hell for a thousand years, and then after the thousand years are over, then Satan is released and the Gog and Magog rebellion occurs. It is very helpful to know this so that you don’t confuse the events of Gog and Magog with the Day of the Lord, or Great Tribulation events.

The words, Gog and Magog, are a special key phrase that is there to tell you that Revelation 20:7-10 and the 38th and 39th chapters of Ezekiel are the same event.

Revelation 20:7-8
When the thousand years are over, Satan will be released from his prison 8 and will go out to deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth—Gog and Magog—to gather them for battle. In number they are like the sand on the seashore. (NIV)

Notice that the phrase Gog and Magog are symbolic of the nations of the whole earth that are deceived by Satan. After the Great Tribulation all sin is purged from the people of Israel and they are re-established in the Promised Land. You can read about this restoration in many places in the Bible and in Ezekiel chapters 40 through 48 in particular. The people of Israel then live in the land for a thousand years in faith and in peace. They will have no military whatsoever because they trust in God. They have become the most prosperous nation on earth, because the blessings of the Law are on them without measure. Then, after the thousand years are over, Satan is released and he stirs up jealousy and discontent concerning Israel. This is the story of man and Satan from the very beginning. Satan offers man something that he thinks that he wants and man, without seeking it from God, goes after the desired thing, only to discover that anything gained apart from God turns out to be a curse instead of a blessing. Man gets into this trouble because he doesn’t trust in God and as a result he becomes easy prey for Satan and his temptations.

James 4:7
Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. (NIV)

If you will submit yourself to God and resist the devil’s attempts to stir up covetness and thoughts of what you think that you should get, then the devil will run away from you in fear. But, people fall for this almost every time. People are so looking at themselves and what they think that they should get and how they should be treated and so on and so on. Have faith in God. The Lord God will make everything right, if not in this worldly life, then after you lay down your mortal body. There is never a need to take matters into your own hands. Wait on the Lord. Be at peace toward everyone and regarding everything. Trust in the Lord.

This is the attitude that Israel has during the Millennial Kingdom. Israel is going about waiting upon the Lord and doing the Lord’s will. Now, Israel has been doing this for a 1000 years and as a result has become very prosperous and Satan uses that prosperity to rile up jealous thoughts against Israel so a very great army is raised against the children of God. This event is called Gog and Magog.

In the very beginning of the Bible we see the story of Cain and Abel. Both Cain and Abel brought an offering to the Lord. God received with pleasure Abel’s offering, but was not pleased with Cain’s. Cain was filled with jealousy and harbored anger toward his brother. God then told Cain this…

Genesis 4:6-7
Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? 7 If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it.” (NIV)

If the peoples of the world at the time of Gog and Magog were to do right then they would receive the blessings from God too, but they evidently will not. So, they look at blessed Israel with anger and lust. They are therefore susceptible to suggestions of taking matters into their own hands. Satan is more than happy to offer those suggestions and so these disobedient peoples listen and form up a huge army with which they intend to attack Israel, a land without any military, in order to take from them what they want. The “strong” taking from the weak. Sound familiar? But, what they will not realize is that when Israel is weak then she is strong.

1 Corinthians 1:27
But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. (NIV)

2 Corinthians 12:9-10
But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (NIV)

Israel has all the rebellion beat out of them during the Great Tribulation. She is thereafter faithful and obedient. In this ‘weak’ state she is unbeatable. So too are we, today, if we will but trust in the Lord. My friend these prophecy stories are there to teach you the purpose of everything. With the prophecies you can see the big picture from beginning to end. This story of Gog and Magog is there for your benefit. Listen to it and trust in the Lord.

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Meaning of Bible, Prophecy, Relationship with God, rebellion | No Comments »

Reason

October 4th, 2009

The Millennial Kingdom is a shadow of Heaven. The Bible uses that word shadow to mean a smaller example of some future event. God is represented in the Sun and his light shines and illuminates future events in such a way that the events, sort of, cast a visible shadow that arrives before the real event, as it were. The Millennial Kingdom is like that. This next verse shows us what the Millennial Kingdom Age will be like.

Daniel 9:24
“Seventy ‘sevens’ are decreed for your people and your holy city to finish transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy. (NIV)

This prophecy was given to Daniel some six hundred years or so before the birth of Christ. Daniel was told that for his people, that is, the Israelites, a 490 year time was given before the things that the above passage speaks of would take place. I have written about the nature of this time in previous blogs so I won’t go into that now. What you should see now is what will happen for Israel after this time of waiting is over.

  • Finish transgression
  • Put an end to sin
  • Atone for wickedness
  • Bring in everlasting righteousness
  • Seal up vision and prophecy
  • Anoint the Most Holy

Wow, what a list! This sounds very much like heaven. This will be fulfilled before the Millennial Kingdom starts. This is how things will be for Israel during the Millennial Kingdom Age. I found it interesting when I learned that Adolph Hitler’s Nazi political system was supposed to bring this into existence. The Nazi’s were always going on about their 1000 year kingdom of German supremacy. Remember in an earlier blog how I said that Adolph Hitler was like a shadow of the coming Antichrist/Beast-man? It wasn’t a mistake that he was like the Antichrist/Beast-man. Hitler’s goings on occurred as a warning to the world, so that the world might see and understand. Some do, many do not.

Deuteronomy 30:1-10
When all these blessings and curses I have set before you come upon you and you take them to heart wherever the Lord your God disperses you among the nations, 2 and when you and your children return to the Lord your God and obey him with all your heart and with all your soul according to everything I command you today, 3 then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes and have compassion on you and gather you again from all the nations where he scattered you. 4 Even if you have been banished to the most distant land under the heavens, from there the Lord your God will gather you and bring you back. 5 He will bring you to the land that belonged to your fathers, and you will take possession of it. He will make you more prosperous and numerous than your fathers. 6 The Lord your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, so that you may love him with all your heart and with all your soul, and live. 7 The Lord your God will put all these curses on your enemies who hate and persecute you. 8 You will again obey the Lord and follow all his commands I am giving you today. 9 Then the Lord your God will make you most prosperous in all the work of your hands and in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops of your land. The Lord will again delight in you and make you prosperous, just as he delighted in your fathers, 10 if you obey the Lord your God and keep his commands and decrees that are written in this Book of the Law and turn to the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. (NIV)

I have shown this passage some time ago. This is (in my opinion) one of the most important prophecies in the Bible. Before Israel even entered the Promised Land (shadow of heaven) Moses told them that they would be kicked out because of sin and that after they had learned their lesson they would repent, totally, and be restored to the Land. Please read the above passage very carefully.

Now the question is; when does Israel repent and seek God correctly with all of their hearts? Has this ever been fulfilled? No, it has not, for the above passage says that after they do this repentance that God would make them more prosperous than at any time before that. Israel was pretty prosperous under the reigns of David and Solomon. They have never even come close to that prosperity. No, this prophecy from Deuteronomy has not yet been fulfilled. Israel has yet to repent correctly and follow the Lord.

The present day Israel is still in rebellion. They still reject the Christ, that is, Jesus. They still rely upon their own military might and upon their own hands for everything. This might be a little hard to see because the Church has so fallen from its obedient place that the Church too is guilty of gross disobedience. I don’t mean to say that everyone in the Church is grossly disobedient and neither is everyone in Israel disobedient. There are truly faithful Christians and it is very likely that some of the 144,000 obedient Israelites are alive today. I am talking about the many in both the Church and in Israel.

Anyway, something must happen to the world soon if thousands of years of rebellion are to be put to an end. Remember that prophecy above in Daniel chapter nine. Something huge and dramatic and worldwide must happen that will change the whole world. That something is the Day of the Lord, the Time of God’s Wrath, the Fiery Furnace, and/or the Great Tribulation; that 1260 days; 3 ½ years; time, times and half a time; and/or the 42 month period. All these are the same thing and it is a very big thing. Jesus, when talking about this time said…

Matthew 24:21-22
For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now—and never to be equaled again. 22 If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened. (NIV)

Never has the world seen anything like what is coming. Some 50,000,000 plus people were killed as a direct result of World War II, but that is nothing compared to what is coming. By my estimation, from reading the Scriptures, I see at least four billion people dying as a direct result of the Tribulation. The passage above says that the effects of the time will be so devastating that not one person would survive it if the Lord did not intervene. In the past the Lord has not done anything ‘supernatural’ (evidently) regarding the world’s ecology, but the effects of the coming trial are so devastating that if the Lord doesn’t fix the natural world then the world would finish off the remaining people, but, as the above passage says, for the sake of God’s chosen people he will come and fix the world. This next passage is about this recreating the world.

Isaiah 65:17-18
“Behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind. 18 But be glad and rejoice forever in what I will create, for I will create Jerusalem to be a delight and its people a joy. (NIV)

Now, as for the purpose of the Day of the Lord: I see it as having two main purposes. The first is to rid the earth of the faithless and disobedient people. As the Millennial Kingdom is a shadow of the heaven, then it stands to reason that the disobedient will not be allowed. No faithless and disobedient people will be allowed entrance into heaven. Politically correct or not that is a fact. The second reason for the Day of the Lord is to purify God’s chosen people.

Daniel 11:31-35
“His armed forces will rise up to desecrate the temple fortress and will abolish the daily sacrifice. Then they will set up the abomination that causes desolation. 32 With flattery he will corrupt those who have violated the covenant, but the people who know their God will firmly resist him.
33 “Those who are wise will instruct many, though for a time they will fall by the sword or be burned or captured or plundered. 34 When they fall, they will receive a little help, and many who are not sincere will join them. 35 Some of the wise will stumble, so that they may be refined, purified and made spotless until the time of the end, for it will still come at the appointed time. (NIV)

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Antichrist/Beast-man, Meaning of Bible, Prophecy, Symbolic Bible Words, rebellion | No Comments »

Believing

September 27th, 2009

Why should you believe what Jesus said? That is a very good question. Why should anyone believe anything that Jesus said? I think that this is the question of questions. This is the most important question that you can answer, if in fact, that you can answer it.

It is important to you that you can answer this question for yourself in a way that gives you peace.

I became a believer in Jesus Christ when I watched a video presentation in 1977 on TV titled, Jesus of Nazareth. Before I watched that show I did not believe in Jesus. Oh, I believed that he was a real person that lived two thousand years ago, and that he was a very important religious figure, but I did not believe in him. Do you understand what I am saying? I did not believe that Jesus was really any different than any over charismatic person that comes up with a popular and persuasive philosophy. After watching that show I was astounded! I was dumbfounded. I was discombobulated. My world view was turned upside down. I, who didn’t really even believe in God—believed (I had been Mister Science). I, at that time (after the video), didn’t believe that Jesus was the incarnate God, but I did believe that there was a God and that God had in fact sent Jesus to tell us, that is, me, what is what! I believed that then and I believe that now. Jesus was the one with the answers. I always wanted answers and now I knew who had them!

I didn’t know anything about anything in the Bible. I didn’t really know what the Bible was. I didn’t have any idea what the relationship between Jesus and the Bible was. I knew that the Bible had within it four records of the life of Christ. I knew that much. So, I purchased a Bible and started reading the Gospels.

I’m trying to think of an analogy that describes what I did and why—how excited I was! This is very hard to explain, that God was a person, and that he sent Jesus to us to tell us what is what, and that this Jesus was said to be the Son of God. Wow! Double wow! I was ignorant of pretty much everything, but I did, now, believe in God and the One that he had sent. I wonder, my friend, are you excited about this too? Or, were you raised with this understanding from such an early age that you have never really felt excited about it? I’ll tell you this much, this is exciting stuff for a person that doesn’t believe and then comes to understand. Wow!

I started reading the Gospels every day. Over and over and over. Eventually I expanded to the book of Acts—that was pretty interesting. But, look at this Paul—a persecutor of the Church! I didn’t figure that I’d read his stuff, so I moved on to Jesus’ apostles, Peter and John’s letters. Then later still, James. I took a few peeks at Paul’s letters, but they were different to me somehow and I didn’t understand them like I did everything else. But, finally, I started reading Paul and found that his were best of all!

I did what I did, because of faith. I stayed were my faith was. I moved from book to book, from writer to writer as my faith allowed me. Looking at this after the fact it seems like a pretty good method. My guess is, is that God was behind all of it. I am a strong believer in reading the Bible and expecting to understand it. I believe that you must strive to understand and then when you do understand something, then stick with it. If what you read and understand differs from what others are telling you, stay with what you see.

The Bible, itself, is an incarnation of the invisible God, just like Jesus Christ. When we read the Bible in faith, then God who works invisibly behind the scenes and within our hearts, opens up to us the meaning of the Bible. This action on God’s part is what Jesus was saying when he said that God the Father would send to us a Counselor and Teacher—God’s Holy Spirit. As a Christian we have a very great advantage over people in other ages. Jesus has defeated the Devil and given us the victory. We can receive God into our hearts and we can live in him and he in us and thereby have a real and powerful relationship with God—a personal relationship—just you and him. We don’t need a priest to stand between us and the Lord God. We, ourselves, are in fact the priests—even when we have not been ordained by men. God’s anointing, which comes to every real Christian, ordains us, that is, gives to us God’s Holy Spirit so that we have a special relationship with God.

I have spent more than thirty years intensely reading the Bible and I can see that it is a miracle of miracles. The Bible is a totally amazing book. There isn’t a book like it anywhere else in the world. The Bible is not always an easy book to read and understand, but as an incarnation of God would you expect it to be? We start out so far from God and that makes the book so hard to understand, because it says things that use a different logic. But, as we read and obey and read and obey, more and more, we become changed and then more and more of the Bible begins to make sense to us. We are really and truly forging a relationship with the Almighty God—think about that!

The relationship with God is built upon his willingness and our willingness to humble ourselves and accept God’s way even when it hurts. Our relationship depends, I think, more than anything else upon our self honesty. We cannot scam God. Our lying to ourselves holds us back probably more than anything else. Also our fear holds us back. Fear is the faith killer. We must be brave and stick with God even when everyone else is against us.

Tags: , ,
Posted in Meaning of Bible, Relationship with God | No Comments »

« Older Entries