Why does the Old Testament even exist ...if we just need Jesus??
Well, with the internet as our teacher (yet, I suggest it not be), we can easily find a number of sites which focus on what they call discrepancies of the Bible ...secular (supposed) scholars attempting to disprove the Bible. And if we can simply believe in Jesus, that would be great, if we can simply believe the truth about Him?
The fact is, a large number of these internet sites focus on their perceived inconsistencies of the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John ...so, with that, how are we to know the truth of Jesus if we doubt the accuracy of what we read about Him??
Well, when we do read the accounts of Jesus ...it should be noted that Jesus always points us to the Father, and states that He and the Father are One.
In 2 Timothy 3:16, we are told that all Scripture is inspired. The word used for inspiration is 'theopneustos' which means "God-breathed", implying that what was written had its origin in God Himself. In 2 Peter 1:2 we read that the writers were "carried along" by God. Thus, God used each writer, including his personality to accomplish a divinely authoritative work, for God cannot inspire error. (From: 101 Cleared-up Contradictions in the Bible ---by: Jay Smith, Alex Chowdhry, Toby Jepson, James Schaeffer)
So, why do we find what some call error?? Well, let me say this. On occasion my older brother has mentioned an event in our childhood ...and he has not taken advantage to brag about it as he may have other things, but the truth is, he saved my life. We were floating boats in a large water trough for cows ...and when I reached for the boat that was floating from my reach, I fell in. Now, I would not just assume I'd become like one of those water babies ...and just begin swimming, and not need my brother's help. For all practical purposes of discussion, my brother saved my life ...as my Dad tells it. Now, we were both so very young ...and perhaps my brother can't recall the details as clearly as he told them to our Dad that day. Likely our Dad recalls quite accurately the event as it was told by my brother that day. Yet, if Dad, my brother, and myself were going to write it down ...there would likely be some differences in the story, maybe we were floating sticks instead of toy boats. And I don't know if I fell all the way in, or just head-first with my legs kicking upwards. The fact remains, that I fell in ...and he pulled me out. Any slight differences in the story, I would not call error. An error would be if I said I pulled him out. Yet, if I wrote that, and no person wrote their version of the story ...that is all you'd have to go on. It's great that we have four Gospels, and they virtually say the same thing.
Similarly, if you read the Old Testament, it is a rich history which sets the stage for His story.
Charles Wesley summarizes this high view of inspiration brilliantly when he says, "The Bible must be the invention either of good men or angels, bad men or devils, or of God. However, it was not written by good men, because good men would not tell lies by saying 'Thus saith the Lord'; it was not written by bad men because they would not write about doing good duty, while condemning sin, and themselves to hell; thus, it must be written by divine inspiration." (McDowell 1990:178)
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Here are some other points that should not be ignored, though are not clear enough for many people ...so, they accept confusion over attempting to pray for God's guidance in understanding. Yet, I know many of us could pray for God's leading and the result may be much more than just mild differences.
In fear that this may happen, many of us just take the safe route ...and accept traditional thinking. People did this in Columbus's day and stood firm with the fact that the earth was flat. It was not a fact though ...and is not a fact.
May it also be noted that Columbus lived during a time where they needed to emerge out of wrong thinking. We see through history, that when people believed in God, they made significant progress to improve their lives ...including many life-saving medical discoveries and advancements.
People also formed new thinking without God in mind, minimizing God, or not acknowledging Him at all. So many young minds were taught evolution ...and have come to reject anything that does not align with that (wayward) theory, or any other number of combined workings of the imagination, promoted as fact.
There are also those who find evolution compatible with a belief in God.
There is sort of a Deist point of view that has been prominent with even some of the Founding Fathers of our nation ...but, it is not what our Heavenly Father has shown us in His Word.
By definition, deism is: 1) belief in the existence of a God on the evidence of reason and nature only, with rejection of supernatural revelation (distinguished from theism ). ...deism is the belief in a God who created the world but has since remained indifferent to it.
If we personally adhere to a belief system similar to this, do we also believe that God has approached Satan this way?? Do we believe God created Satan (or Lucifer), and then remains indifferent to what he does??
One of the oldest Books of the Bible, Job, states that the angels sang at Creation ...not stating when the angels were created, but it appears rather convincing that it was before the stated Creation of the first Chapter of the Book of Genesis ...there having to be 'beings' behind the singing.
And if the angels existed before, what was their habitation??
Well, with the internet as our teacher (yet, I suggest it not be), we can easily find a number of sites which focus on what they call discrepancies of the Bible ...secular (supposed) scholars attempting to disprove the Bible. And if we can simply believe in Jesus, that would be great, if we can simply believe the truth about Him?
The fact is, a large number of these internet sites focus on their perceived inconsistencies of the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John ...so, with that, how are we to know the truth of Jesus if we doubt the accuracy of what we read about Him??
Well, when we do read the accounts of Jesus ...it should be noted that Jesus always points us to the Father, and states that He and the Father are One.
In 2 Timothy 3:16, we are told that all Scripture is inspired. The word used for inspiration is 'theopneustos' which means "God-breathed", implying that what was written had its origin in God Himself. In 2 Peter 1:2 we read that the writers were "carried along" by God. Thus, God used each writer, including his personality to accomplish a divinely authoritative work, for God cannot inspire error. (From: 101 Cleared-up Contradictions in the Bible ---by: Jay Smith, Alex Chowdhry, Toby Jepson, James Schaeffer)
So, why do we find what some call error?? Well, let me say this. On occasion my older brother has mentioned an event in our childhood ...and he has not taken advantage to brag about it as he may have other things, but the truth is, he saved my life. We were floating boats in a large water trough for cows ...and when I reached for the boat that was floating from my reach, I fell in. Now, I would not just assume I'd become like one of those water babies ...and just begin swimming, and not need my brother's help. For all practical purposes of discussion, my brother saved my life ...as my Dad tells it. Now, we were both so very young ...and perhaps my brother can't recall the details as clearly as he told them to our Dad that day. Likely our Dad recalls quite accurately the event as it was told by my brother that day. Yet, if Dad, my brother, and myself were going to write it down ...there would likely be some differences in the story, maybe we were floating sticks instead of toy boats. And I don't know if I fell all the way in, or just head-first with my legs kicking upwards. The fact remains, that I fell in ...and he pulled me out. Any slight differences in the story, I would not call error. An error would be if I said I pulled him out. Yet, if I wrote that, and no person wrote their version of the story ...that is all you'd have to go on. It's great that we have four Gospels, and they virtually say the same thing.
Similarly, if you read the Old Testament, it is a rich history which sets the stage for His story.
Charles Wesley summarizes this high view of inspiration brilliantly when he says, "The Bible must be the invention either of good men or angels, bad men or devils, or of God. However, it was not written by good men, because good men would not tell lies by saying 'Thus saith the Lord'; it was not written by bad men because they would not write about doing good duty, while condemning sin, and themselves to hell; thus, it must be written by divine inspiration." (McDowell 1990:178)
*******************************************************
Here are some other points that should not be ignored, though are not clear enough for many people ...so, they accept confusion over attempting to pray for God's guidance in understanding. Yet, I know many of us could pray for God's leading and the result may be much more than just mild differences.
In fear that this may happen, many of us just take the safe route ...and accept traditional thinking. People did this in Columbus's day and stood firm with the fact that the earth was flat. It was not a fact though ...and is not a fact.
May it also be noted that Columbus lived during a time where they needed to emerge out of wrong thinking. We see through history, that when people believed in God, they made significant progress to improve their lives ...including many life-saving medical discoveries and advancements.
People also formed new thinking without God in mind, minimizing God, or not acknowledging Him at all. So many young minds were taught evolution ...and have come to reject anything that does not align with that (wayward) theory, or any other number of combined workings of the imagination, promoted as fact.
There are also those who find evolution compatible with a belief in God.
There is sort of a Deist point of view that has been prominent with even some of the Founding Fathers of our nation ...but, it is not what our Heavenly Father has shown us in His Word.
By definition, deism is: 1) belief in the existence of a God on the evidence of reason and nature only, with rejection of supernatural revelation (distinguished from theism ). ...deism is the belief in a God who created the world but has since remained indifferent to it.
If we personally adhere to a belief system similar to this, do we also believe that God has approached Satan this way?? Do we believe God created Satan (or Lucifer), and then remains indifferent to what he does??
One of the oldest Books of the Bible, Job, states that the angels sang at Creation ...not stating when the angels were created, but it appears rather convincing that it was before the stated Creation of the first Chapter of the Book of Genesis ...there having to be 'beings' behind the singing.
And if the angels existed before, what was their habitation??
And later we read of a much earlier event, a qute dramatic heavenly rebellion ...actually it is often referred to, but finally in the Book of Revelation, Chapter 12, we read: "the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who was called the devil and Satan.
So, the last Book of the Bible references the first, as the serpent is cursed to crawl on its belly and eat dust the rest of its life ...yet, certainly this is not what we see as Satan doing. In the Book of Job, God asks Satan to report what he's been doing ...and he doesn't say crawling on his belly throughout the earth, he says 'walking up and down' in the earth, not 'to and fro' on his belly (the rest of his life, remember).
Chapter 24, the Book of Jeremiah, refers to the people of Israel as fig trees, some bearing fruit (in faith) and others not. And He shows us what happens by the example of that particular fig tree, as he likewise shows us with the cursed serpent.
And it also should be noted that Satan asks God permission to test Job. That certainly is not a picture of an indifferent God. And all through the Old Testament bears evidence that God wants us to know Him, and understand His character. Jesus encourages us to pray also ...not so He can respond with indifference, but because He wants us to have a personal relationship with Him ---the kind we look forward to having in Heaven.
Then there's the often mentioned Kingdom of God, and Kingdom of Heaven. There is the reference to Sons of God ...not just listed in one place.
And Pastor mentioned that Adam was placed in the Garden of Eden, not mentioned that he was formed there ...but assumedly formed outside the Garden in order to place him into it?? And what would be shown him outside the Garden, or told and explained to him ...before he was placed in the Garden??
And did God create man ...giving him no standards, only one condition of not eating a fruit? Or was the knowledge of good and evil, the knowledge that not only told them they were naked, showing them evil ...or was it more that they were for the first time also realizing true goodness, and in comparison, felt naked. Both do seem to apply.
We can see how evil influenced Cain to kill Able ...again, with consequences, yet were the fallen angels allowed to do continually unimaginable things much worse than telling Eve a lie to get her to eat the fruit ...without intervention?? And if mankind's consequence for eating the fruit was to leave the Garden to be subjected to such superior conniving ...then what would have been the purpose of God providing skins for them to be covered??
God's way clearly points to correcting and setting us on the right course ...yes, correcting us as a reminder of what He has already told us. I believe we were given a definite direction ...and we sinned. I don't see God letting us go so wild, that He has to then intervene ...and then, and only then, after coming down hard, attempting to domesticate us. That's the error of parents who approach their children wrongly ...certainly not God's way.
There are many more questions ...but, sadly, there are way more answers than there are questions. The answers to these questions can be very interesting ...but shouldn't be so interesting that we get so creative that our ideas surpass God's purpose for sharing it with us.
And what is not clear, is perhaps because God was focusing on telling us what He told us, instead of the part we don't quite understand ...which He was not telling us. It is interesting how we often seem more interested in what He hasn't revealed to us ...more so than that which He has made clear over and over again.
Then there's the often mentioned Kingdom of God, and Kingdom of Heaven. There is the reference to Sons of God ...not just listed in one place.
And Pastor mentioned that Adam was placed in the Garden of Eden, not mentioned that he was formed there ...but assumedly formed outside the Garden in order to place him into it?? And what would be shown him outside the Garden, or told and explained to him ...before he was placed in the Garden??
And did God create man ...giving him no standards, only one condition of not eating a fruit? Or was the knowledge of good and evil, the knowledge that not only told them they were naked, showing them evil ...or was it more that they were for the first time also realizing true goodness, and in comparison, felt naked. Both do seem to apply.
We can see how evil influenced Cain to kill Able ...again, with consequences, yet were the fallen angels allowed to do continually unimaginable things much worse than telling Eve a lie to get her to eat the fruit ...without intervention?? And if mankind's consequence for eating the fruit was to leave the Garden to be subjected to such superior conniving ...then what would have been the purpose of God providing skins for them to be covered??
God's way clearly points to correcting and setting us on the right course ...yes, correcting us as a reminder of what He has already told us. I believe we were given a definite direction ...and we sinned. I don't see God letting us go so wild, that He has to then intervene ...and then, and only then, after coming down hard, attempting to domesticate us. That's the error of parents who approach their children wrongly ...certainly not God's way.
There are many more questions ...but, sadly, there are way more answers than there are questions. The answers to these questions can be very interesting ...but shouldn't be so interesting that we get so creative that our ideas surpass God's purpose for sharing it with us.
And what is not clear, is perhaps because God was focusing on telling us what He told us, instead of the part we don't quite understand ...which He was not telling us. It is interesting how we often seem more interested in what He hasn't revealed to us ...more so than that which He has made clear over and over again.
Just the same, I like to discuss those things which I feel has been messed up by the imaginations of others ...and instead of approaching it as fact, to just consider perhaps what God is really saying.
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