The patriarch of the Jewish nation became known by many. Also outside the Scriptures we have abundant evidence of the way that Abraham was regarded by his posterity in the Jewish nation.
The oldest of these witnesses, Ecclesiasticus, contains none of the accretions of the later Abraham-legends. Its praise of Abraham is confined to the same three great facts that appealed to the canonical writers, namely, his glory as Israel’s ancestor, his election to be recipient of the covenant, and his piety (including perhaps a tinge of “nomism”) even under severe testing (Ecclesiasticus 44:19-21). {International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia}
Abraham got a unique position and piety cherished by the Jews. Also to Mohammed Abraham is of importance in several ways and gets mentioned in no less than 188 verses of the Koran, more than any other character except Moses.
For Jews, Christians and Muslims Abraham is the first in line of important men of God, revealing God’s Word and giving an example and guidance to mankind. Being one of the series of prophets sent by God he is the common ancestor of the Arab and the Jew playing the same role of religious reformer over against his idolatrous kinsmen as Mohammed/Muhammad himself played.
Abraham is said to have build the first pure temple for God’s worship (at Mecca!). As in the Bible so in the KoranAbraham is the recipient of the Divine covenant for himself and for his posterity, and exhibits in his character the appropriate virtues of one so highly favoured: faith, righteousness, purity of heart, gratitude, fidelity, compassion.
Gunkel (Genesis, Introduction), in insisting upon the resemblance of the patriarchal narrative to the “sagas” of other primitive peoples, draws attention both to the human traits of figures like Abraham, and to the very early origin of the material embodied in our present book of Genesis. First as stories orally circulated, then as stories committed to writing, and finally as a number of collections or groups of such stories formed into a cycle, the Abraham-narratives, like the Jacob-narratives and the Joseph-narratives , grew through a long and complex literary history. Gressmann (op. cit, 9-34) amends Gunkel’s results, in applying to them the principles of primitive literary development laid down by Professor Wundt in his Volkerpsychologie. He holds that the kernel of the Abraham-narratives is a series of fairy-stories, of international diffusion and unknown origin, which have been given “a local habitation and a name” by attaching to them the (ex hypothesi) then common name of Abraham (similarly Lot, etc.) and associating them with the country nearest to the wilderness of Judea, the home of their authors, namely, about Hebron and the Dead Sea. A high antiquity (1300-1100 BC) is asserted for these stories, their astonishing accuracy in details wherever they can be tested by extra-Biblical tradition is conceded, as also the probability that, “though many riddles still remain unsolved, yet many other traditions will be cleared up by new discoveries” of archaeology.
J. Oscar Boyd {International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia}
With Abraham we come to another man who worshipped the same God as him and belonged to a small community worshipping Jehovah God and who came in contact with the Jews (Israelites) but not belonged to that people.
Meeting of Abraham and Melchizedek, Priest, King of Salem — by Dieric Bouts the Elder, 1464–67
Like Abraham receives marked tokens of the Divine favour in the shape of deliverance, guidance, visions, angelic messengers, miracles, assurance of resurrection and entrance into paradise this high priest later shall be mentioned, as a way of gratitude, by God. Melchizedek got his name already as a favourite. He is introduced as the king of Salem, and priest of ElElyon, ( an epithet of the God of Israel in the Hebrew Bible) (“God most high”). He reveals the man from God, Abram/Abraham, brings out bread and wine and blesses this giver of a tenth of the prey of the conquering of Kedorlaomer, after the battle of the four kings. (Chazalic literature—specifically Targum Jonathan, Targum Yerushalmi, and the Babylonian Talmud—presents the name (מלכי־צדק) as a nickname title for Shem, the son of Noah who blesses and El Elyon or the Elohim Jehovah.
When time passed much things had happened and around 1445 b.c.e. Moses received the request from God to help the people to remember those things which happened in the past and how they related to the Divine Creator. After Moses other fallible humans continued with the meticulous task to write down the Words of God so that man could by looking at those Words of God come to understand God’s method of revealing Himself.
Moses and the Messengers from Canaan, by Giovanni Lanfranco, oil on canvas, 85-3/4 x 97 inches, at the J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles United States
Joshua (1404-1390 b.c.e.), Samuel (1374-1129 b.c.e.) Ezra (1011-425 b.c.e.), Jeremiah (971-587 b.c.e.), Nehemiah (445 – 425 b.c.e.), Mordecai (465 b.c.e.) and David with sons of Korah wrote (ca. 1000 – 400 b.c.e.) the other first scrolls or books of which became placed in a series of books or library of books, which is the Bible, coming from the word for the bark of the papyrus.
The plural form Biblia (“books”) was first used of the collection of holy writings but since this neuter plural has the same form as a feminine singular it became mistaken for the singular form, hence “books” became “book” (Bible). The mistake in the grammatical derivation of the word was not inappropriate as growing conviction developed regarding unity of the whole. In Jerome’s time the whole collection was known as the divine library (Bibliotheca), which draws attention to the diversity within the whole. The Bible is simultaneously “the book” and “the books”, both a single volume and a library.
In the collection or assemblage of books the writers put their own personality aside and wrote down what God wanted them to write down. Given the infallibility of the Bible, one can assume that there is a Higher Force behind those writings which show mankind in its weak and imperfect state and the Divine Creator as the Omnipotent. God is the Creator and Overlooker of the text of the Bible, making sure to prevent the authors from committing any error.
In the Torah writings, commonly called Law or Law of Moses, Moses presents the books of the Beginning (Bereshith or Genesis) telling about the special relationship with certain people, protecting them and getting them out of difficulties and out of slavery (Shemoth or Exodus). In the five books of Moses, also known as the Humash or Pentateuch, Law or Teaching the Wyyiqra or Leviticus is followed by the Bemidbar or Numbers or Numeri and Debarim or Deuteronomy.
Up to the book of Psalms we see the revelation of God, how the people went on and how God coped with their behaviour. From the beginning God created man in His image and choose certain persons to be a medium for Him. Those chosen people showed that they had an intimate communion with God, a spirit trained to discern spiritual things, a perfect understanding of and zeal for God’s purpose.
David’s confidence in God and his declarations of His faithfulness bring him to praise the maker of everything and declare God’s revelation in the creation.
In the first part of the Old Testament God’s methods which are harmonious with one another are proclaimed. They also show how God has given men natural faculties to acquire scientific knowledge and historical information. The Elohim did not stultify this gift by imparting such knowledge in a miraculous and unintelligible manner. There is no evidence that inspired men were in advance of their age in the knowledge of physical facts and laws. And plainly, had they been supernaturally instructed in physical knowledge they would so far have been unintelligible to those to whom they spoke. Speaking from the point of view of his contemporaries, and accepting the current ideas regarding the formation of the world, King David attached to these the views regarding God’s connection with the world which are most necessary to be believed. What he had learned of God’s unity and creative power and connection with man, by “the inspiration of the Holy Ghost,” he imparts to his contemporaries through the vehicle of an account of creation they could all understand. It is not in his knowledge of physical facts that he is elevated above his contemporaries, but in his knowledge of God’s connection with all physical facts. No doubt, on the other hand, his knowledge of God reacts upon the entire contents of his mind and saves him from presenting such accounts of creation as have been common among polytheists. He presents an account purified by his conception of what was worthy of the supreme God he worshipped. His idea of God has given dignity and simplicity to all he says about creation, and there is an elevation and majesty about the whole conception, which we recognise as the reflex of his conception of God.
Christians and Israel (debatepolitics.com)
Without Israel, there wouldn’t be Christianity. Christians have an obligation to stand with Israel.
We shouldn’t be silent about that.
Theory that the biblical holy land was not in present day Israel (ask.metafilter.com)
I’m trying to find an article by some historians that posited that the places described in the Bible we not actually in present day Israel. The historians had done some theorizing that the mountains and valleys mentioned in the bible (can’t remember which book) fit better with an area in Saudi Arabia off the coast of the Red Sea. I’ve searched the Google but can’t find any mention of this theory. I would love to find it again.
“He struggles with God. God perseveres; contends. In the bible when Jacob was in his nineties as a token of blessing God changed his name to Israel.”
So, we could all just be satisfied with knowing that the Dillards named their son after something religious, but we’re not! There has to be even more to it!
Book of Genesis, Jianning (Jian’ou) Bible. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Offering, sacrifice and worship are only mentioned casually in the book of Genesis. The stories of those who continued to populate the earth are also offered in the Book of books, the Bible, which we consider as the infallible Word of God. There is no reason to give a historical detail and the person who wrote down the Words of God had also no such intention. We are also reminded that it is the glory of God to conceal a matter, but that man has the task to find God and to search all things, making it possible to receive glory by searching matters out.
Pro 25:2 NSB It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, but the honor of kings is to search out a matter.
In our life we shall have to search for God and should come to know what God’s expectations are and why God listens to some one and does not come to help to others. In Genesis 6 we can see how God was patient and gave enough time to people to come to other ideas and to stop our egoistic life, giving us opportunities to come to live the way God wants us to live.
The Bible assumes and asserts the existence of God,
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth”;
and is itself the most illustrious proof of his existence, as well as our chief instructor as to his nature and will. It puts a voice into the mute lips of creation; and not only reveals God in His works, but illustrates his ways in providence, displays the glories of His character, His law, and His grace, and brings man into true and saving communion with him. The Book of books reveals Him to us as a Spirit, the only being from everlasting and to everlasting by nature, underived, infinite, perfect, and unchangeable in power, wisdom, omniscience, omnipresence, justice, holiness, truth, goodness, and mercy. He is but One God, Who gave His Name to the world to be known all over the world. The proper Hebrew name for God is Jehovah, which signifies that “He is the Being” or that “He is the Essence of Being” or “Essence of life”. As time passed by the Jews, from a feeling of reverence, started avoiding pronouncing this holy name, substituting for it, wherever it occurs in the sacred test, the word Adonai (Lord); except in the expression, Adonai Jehovah, Lord Jehovah, for which they put, Adonai Elohim, Lord God.
Tetragrammaton YHWH Je-Ho-Vah, God’s Name illuminating
This usage, which is not without an element of superstition, is very ancient, dating its origin some centuries before Christ; but there is no good ground for assuming its existence in the days of the inspired Old Testament writers. The proper word for god or God is elohim or Elohim, which is plural in its form, being thus used to signify it is a higher or important person (a god) and in this case even the Most HighGod of gods, signifying the manifold perfections of God, or, as some wrongly think, the Trinity in the godhead. In Exodus 3:14, God replies to Moses, when he asks Him His name,
“I AM THAT I AM”;
which means either, “I am He who I am”, or, “I am what I am”. In either case the expression implies the eternal self-existence of Jehovah Who is Only One God “Who Is”. He “Who is Who He is” is the Source, Owner, and Ruler of all beings, foreknows and predetermines all events, and is the eternal Judge and Arbiter of the destiny of all. True religion has its foundation in the right knowledge of God, and consists in supremely loving and faithfully obeying him.
In the early times that holy Name and what this Only One God wanted from His creation was told from one generation to the next. But after the situation had become so bad that God had made the choice to destroy that ungodly population we can see a sufficient reason why the sons of Noah renewed the tradition of presenting the stories and name and titles of God and godly people in their families, as they were naturally disposed to perpetuate the memory of their distinguished ancestors.
The Flood came that God’s purpose might be fulfilled. The course of nature was interrupted, the arrangements of social and domestic life were overturned, all the works of men were swept away that this purpose might be fulfilled. It was expedient that one generation should die for all generations; and this generation having been taken out of the way, fresh provision was made for the co-operation of man with God. On man’s part there is art emphatic acknowledgement of God by sacrifice; on God’s part there is a renewed grant to man of the world and its fullness, a renewed assurance of His favour. There was made a covenant with Noah on the plane of nature. It is man’s natural life in the world which is the subject of it. The sacredness of life is its great lesson.
Men might well wonder whether God did not hold life cheap. In the old world violence had prevailed. But while Lamech’s sword may have slain its thousands, God had in the Flood slain tens of thousands. The covenant, therefore, directs that human life must be reverenced. The primal blessing is renewed. Men are to multiply and replenish the earth; and the slaughter of a man was to be reckoned a capital crime; and the maintenance of life was guaranteed by a special clause, securing the regularity of the seasons.
The sons of Noah (Sem/Shem, Cham, Japheth) continued the tradition of telling the Works of God and having to face the difference in tongue spoken with the different languages the Word of God became told in different languages as well.
You would expect the people to have more sense after the flood and after the experience of Babel but lots of people kept ignoring what God wanted from them. They did seem to have difficulty to learn from the Flood that wickedness must not be allowed to grow unchecked and attain dimensions which nothing short of a flood can cope with. It may be felt that the matters about which God spoke to Noah were barely religious, certainly not spiritual. But to take God as our-God in any one particular is to take Him as our God for all. If we can eat our daily bread as given to us by our Father in heaven, then we are heirs of the righteousness which is by faith. It is because we wait for some wonderful and out-of-the-way proofs that God is keeping faith with us that we so much lack a real and living faith.
Only a small amount tried to stay faithful to the Creator. One of them was Abraham. The consequences of Abraham’s movements and beliefs have been limitless and enduring.
With Abraham there is introduced the first step in a new method adopted by God in the training of men.
The dispersion of men and the divergence of their languages are now seen to have been the necessary preliminary to this new step in the education of the world — the fencing round of one people till they should learn to know God and understand and exemplify His government. It is true, God reveals Himself to all men and governs all; but by selecting one race with special adaptations, and by giving to it a special training, God might more securely and more rapidly reveal Himself to all. Each nation has certain characteristics, a national character which grows by seclusion from the influences which are forming other races. There is a certain mental and moral individuality stamped upon every separate people. Nothing is more certainly retained; nothing more certainly handed down from generation to generation. It would therefore be a good practical means of conserving and deepening the knowledge of God, if it were made the national interest of a people to preserve it, and if it were closely identified with the national characteristics. This was the method adopted by God. He meant to combine allegiance to Himself with national advantages, and spiritual with national character, and separation in belief with a distinctly outlined and defensible territory. {Expositor Bible}
God revealed Himself to Abraham who knew about the deities worshipped by his fathers in Chaldea, but his ears were open to the God of gods and he wanted to follow His instructions even when He asked to offer his son.
Had Abraham abandoned Charran at the command of a widely ruling monarch who promised him ample compensation, no record would have been made of so ordinary a transaction. But this was an entirely new thing and well worth recording, that a man should leave country and kindred and seek an unknown land under the impression that thus he was obeying the command of the unseen God. While others worshipped sun, moon, and stars, and recognised the Divine in their brilliance and power, in their exaltation above earth and control of earth and its life, Abraham saw that there was something greater than the order of nature and more worthy of worship, even the still small voice that spoke within his own conscience of right and wrong in human conduct, and that told him how his own life must be ordered. While all around him were bowing down to the heavenly host and sacrificing to them the highest things in human nature, he heard a voice falling from these shining ministers of God’s will, which said to him, “See thou do it not, for we are thy fellow-servants; worship thou God!” This was the triumph of the spiritual over the material; the acknowledgment that in God there is something greater than can be found in nature; that man finds his true affinity not in the things that are seen but in the unseen Spirit that is over all. It is this that gives to the figure of Abraham its simple grandeur and its permanent significance. {Expositor Bible}
Things The Bible said would happen, but didn’t (ask.metafilter.com)
Outside my work today I got to talking with a Jehovah’s Witness. When talk turned to the Bible, I said I didn’t take any of it literally. None of it Reall happened like that.
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According to my very religious parents there are no biblical prophesies that haven’t happened, just ones that haven’t happened yet.
Your best personality. (yoursuccessinspirer.com)
There are people whose best personality is in the Old Testament.
The God Who Sees (theloveliestlifeblog.wordpress.com)
God saw Hagar when she was in her lonely wilderness, and he went to her. This passage has reminded me so much of God’s sight and concern for us, each of us. No matter our standing or background, God’s eyes are on each of us at all times. He knows where we are and what we’re going through. We are never alone.
What To Do About The Old Testament Law (jsparkblog.com)
Though the Old Testament Law was entirely fulfilled in Christ for us, the OT Law still stands in principle for us today. Even the weird things about shellfish and fibers shows a very meticulous God who was perfect, even quirky, and shows a God we could’ve never made up.
Against The Flow by John C. Lennox (create-with-joy.com)
Unlike many books that primarily focus on the prophetic aspects of the book of Daniel, Against The Flow delves into all aspects of the book, looking at Daniel from a historical, cultural and theological perspective.One of the author’s primary purpose for writing Against The Flow, however, is to highlight the similarities between our modern culture and the ancient Babylonian culture in terms of antagonism towards people of faith – and to provide insight and inspiration into how God empowers His people to go against the flow – to stand up for what they believe in – to cling to what is right, even when there is a high cost.
Open Heavens Sunday, 29 March 2015 : Emmanuel (emmanuelayeni.com)
For you to fully key into the revelation of “God with us”, you need to understand who God is. God revealed who He is in discrete parts through His redemptive Names to the saints of old. He said to Moses in Exodus 6:3:
“And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty, but by my name JEHOVAH was I not known to them.”
An understanding of His redemptive Names gives us insight into His personality and allows us to profit from the consciousness that this personality is with us.
God is the Elshaddai: He is the All-Sufficient One. This means that He has enough resources to meet all your needs – be it spiritual, physical, emotional or psychological. Also, God is Jehovah Jireh: the Great Provider. He has the ability to turn your austerity to prosperity and poverty to wealth (Philippians 4:19). Another Name for God is Jehovah Rapha: the Healer.
The God of order who planned everything does not yet look at the world which would be like He has planned it. We should know that this world is not yet according to the wishes of the Divine Creator.
Their are thousands of artworks created in the art world depicting St Paul. This painting was created by the famous artist called Rembrandt. It hangs on the walls of the National Gallery of Art, Washington DC (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
It is worth reminding ourselves that this world is not as it should be. The Bible describes how suffering entered the world as a consequence of Adam and Eve’s sin. The apostle Paul says that “creation was subjected to futility” (Romans 8:20), and we see this “futility” in the world around us.
Rom 8:18-23 NSB I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that will be revealed in us. (19) For the earnest expectation of the creation is waiting for the manifestation (revelation) (disclosure) of the sons of God. (20) For the creation was subject to corruption, not by it’s own will but by reason of the one who subjected it on the basis of hope. (21) The creation will also be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. (22) For we know that the whole creation groans and is in pain together until now. (23) We also, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, even we groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption and the release from our bodies by ransom.
2Co 4:17-18 NSB Our light affliction is for the moment. It works more exceedingly an eternal weight of glory for us. (18) We do not look at the things that are seen, but at the things that are not seen. For the things that are seen are temporal (for a season). But the things that are not seen are eternal.
People do not all live to ripe old age, but some are cut off prematurely through disease or accident, others loose their life by accident. The many tragedies we may witness in our life are reminders that the world is not as God originally intended – it is a world separated from God by sin. We also can see that lots of bad things happen because the people did not live according the rules of God, not respecting others or not respecting the laws of nature.
As long as we live in this world and with this world system, not having the theocracy set up which God has prepared for the world, those who believe in God and take His Words for granted, there is hope. The prosecutor of the first followers of Christ, got a shock and had his eyes opened. As a devote Jew Saul knew the Word of God but did first not see the light because he wanted to keep strongly to the traditions and the Jewish teaching by which he was grown up. When the sent one from God, the son of manJeshua (Jesus Christ) opened his eyes, Paul came to understand that God subjected the world to futility “in hope”, because there will come a day when the world will be delivered corruption and restored to the paradise that God intended (Romans 8:20-21).
The momentary and light affliction of ours is working out for us an eternal weight of glory, great beyond expression, while we are aiming not at things seen, but at things unseen; for the things seen are temporary, but the things unseen are eternal. Lots of people get blinded to day by all those modern gadgets which seem to enliven their circumstances. Lots of people do think they can gain lots of friends of social media which would make them so much more special. How are they mislead! Lots of people are trying to build themselves a super world which they loose as soon as they die. They do not see that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be set against that glory which is about to be revealed for us. (Romans 8:18)
Lots of them do not hear the words God gave the world. After the fall the God of love did not abandon his people. He also understand the weaknesses of man and did not mind His own son even crying unto Him why he would have abandoned him (Jeshua).
Mat 27:45-46 NSB Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour. (46) About the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, »Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?« Which (translated) means: »My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?«
Mar 15:33-34 NSB It was the sixth hour and there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. (34) At the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying: »Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?« Interpreted it means, »My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?«
Jeshua who came down from heaven, not to do his own will but the will of Him (God) who sent him (Jesus), asking Jehovah the Only One God of Abraham to be with him and to help him to endure, saying, “Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me. Yet not My will, but Yours be done. “
God had not left Jesus alone, though he had perhaps that impression. (In case Jesus was God himself such a cry would naturally be ridiculous and when he would be God he could not leave himself alone or abandon himself.) Jesus who always tried to do God’s Will and not his own will, loved the God of Abraham very much and had always followed the Words of the God from the Holy Scriptures.
Mat 6:9-10 NSB »‘Our Father in heaven, holy is your name. (Exodus 6:3) (Psalm 83:18) (Isaiah 42:8; 54:5; 63:16; 64:8) (10) »‘Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. (Matthew 6:33) (Daniel 2:44) (Revelation 11:15) (Psalm 37:10,29) (Acts 24:15)
Mat 7:21 NSB »Not everyone who calls me Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven. He who does the will of my Father in heaven will enter.
Mat 12:50 NSB »For everyone who does the will of my Father who is in heaven is my brother, and sister, and mother.«
Mat 26:39 NSB Then he went forward a little, and fell on his face, and prayed: »My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass away from me: nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.«
Mat 26:42 NSB A second time he went away and prayed, saying: »Father, if this cannot pass away, except I drink it, your will be done.«
Mar 14:36 NSB He said: »Abba, Father, all things are possible to you. Take this cup from me. Even so not what I will, but what you will.«
Luk 22:42 NSB He prayed: »Father if it is your will remove this cup from me, nevertheless not my will, but your will be done.«
Joh 6:38-40 NSB »I do not do my own will. I came down from heaven to do the will of him that sent me. (39) »This is the will of him that sent me that I should not lose any of those he has given me, but I should raise them up at the last day. (40) »For this is the will of my Father. Every one who sees the Son and puts active faith in him will have everlasting life, and I will raise him up at the last day.«
Joh 7:16-17 NSB Jesus replied: »My teaching is not my own. It is his who sent me. (17) »If any man does his will he shall know the teachings. He will know if it is from God, or whether I speak from myself.
When impaled, יהושע Jeshua (Jesus) cried onto his heavenly Father, the God of Abraham and the Only One True God: “Ěli, Ěli, lamah sheḇaqtani?” which is translated, “My Ěl, My Ěl, why have You forsaken Me?: My God, My God, why did You forsake Me?
Many have no eye nor ear for those Scriptures and have left God. They abandoned Him temporarily or for ever, but God stays open to receive them back. In our affliction many bad things may come over us, but we should also try to see the good things. some people do have to have first something very bad happening to them before they come to realise that they need God. When all these bad things have come upon them in the latter days, when they turn to the Lord of lord of lords, the Most HighElohim, come to recognise the existence of This God of gods, and hearken to His Voice because Jehovah, the Lord their God, is a merciful God; He will not forsake them utterly, nor totally destroy them. He will not forget the covenant of their forefathers, which in the very long past, Jehovah confirmed to them with an oath.
Deu 4:27-40 NSB »Jehovah will scatter you among the nations. You will become few in number among the heathen, where Jehovah will lead you. (28) »You will serve gods that are the work of men’s hands. Made of wood and stone. They cannot see, hear, eat or smell. (29) »From there you will seek Jehovah your God with all your heart and with all your being. And you will find him! (30) »When you are in trouble (distress) and all these things happen to you in the latter days, turn to Jehovah your God and obey his voice. (31) »Jehovah your God is a merciful God. He will not forsake you. He will not destroy you, nor forget the covenant he made with your fathers. (32) »Ask about the days from the past. A time that came before you, since the day that God created man upon the earth. And ask from one side of heaven to the other whether there has ever been anything like this great thing, or anything like it has been heard? (33) »Did people ever hear the voice of God speaking out of the middle of the fire, as you have heard, and live? (34) »Has God attempted to take a nation from the middle of another nation? Has he done this by temptations, by signs, and by wonders, and by war, and by great terrors? Yes, and by the use of his great power! Jehovah your God did all this for you in Egypt before your very eyes! (35) »This was shown to you that you might know that Jehovah Is God! There Is No One Besides Him! (36) »He made you hear his voice out of heaven. That way he could instruct (teach) (correct) (discipline) you. He showed you his great fire on the earth. You heard his words from the middle of the fire. (37) »He loved your fathers. Therefore he chose their descendants. In fact he watched over you and he brought you out of Egypt with his mighty power. (38) »He drove out nations far greater than you so that he could bring you in and give you their land as an inheritance as it is today. (39) »Know this and consider it in your heart today: Jehovah Is God in heaven above, and on the earth beneath: There Is No One Else! (40) »You must keep the regulations and commandments I commanded you today. Then all will go well with you and with your children after you. You may prolong your days on the earth that Jehovah your God gives you for all time.«
This God said so that people could come to understanding for not taking other gods as their god. Jesus knew this very well and tells us he did not want to do his own will but only the Will of his heavenly Father who Jesus considered to be the Only One God Whom we should worship, and not him or any other man. Jesus knew that it was over for him when he got impaled. (John 19:28) In order that the scripture might be accomplished or in order that the scripture might be fulfilled the sent one from Goddied with no bone of him being broken. (John 19:36)
Jesus, like several other men of God, did not abandon God nor His Laws. They followed the scrolls which were given from one to the next generation. In those scrolls we can see that though many times people did not want to see the wonders of God and were ignoring Him, He always came back to them when they had left Him.
Neh 9:6-17 NSB »You are Jehovah, even you only! You made heaven, the heaven of heavens with all their armies, the earth and all things in it, the seas and everything in them. You keep them from destruction and the armies of heaven are your worshippers. (7) »You are Jehovah, the true God, who took Abram and made him yours, guiding him from Ur of the Chaldees, and gave him the name of Abraham; (8) »You saw that his heart was true to you, and made an agreement with him to give the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite and the Perizzite and the Jebusite and the Girgashite, even to give it to his seed, and you have done what you said; for righteousness is yours. (9) »You saw the trouble of our fathers in Egypt, and their cry came to your ears by the Red Sea. (10) »You did signs and wonders on Pharaoh and all his servants and all the people of his land. You saw how cruel they were to them. So you made a name for yourself as it is today. (11) »You parted the sea before them, so that they went through the sea on dry land; and those who went after them went down into the deep, like a stone into great waters. (12) »And you went before them by day in a pillar of cloud and in a pillar of fire by night, to give them light on the way they were to go. (13) »You came down on Mount Sinai, and your voice came to them from heaven, giving them right decisions and true laws, good rules and orders. (14) »They received word of your holy Sabbath from you. You gave them orders and rules and a law, by the hand of Moses your servant. (15) »They received bread from heaven when they were in need, and you made water come out of the rock for their drink, and gave them orders to go in and take for their heritage the land that your hand give them. (16) »But they and our fathers, in their pride, made their necks stiff, and paid no attention to your orders. (17) »They would not obey you and gave no thought to the wonders you did among them. They became stubborn and turning away from you. They appointed a leader over themselves to take them back to their prison in Egypt. However, you are a God of forgiveness, full of grace and pity, slow to wrath and great in mercy, and you did not give them up.
Neh 9:18-33 NSB »Even when they made for themselves a bull out of metal, and said: ‘This is your God who took you up out of Egypt, and had done so much to make you angry.’ (19) »Even then, in your great mercy, you did not give them up in the wilderness. The pillar of cloud still went before them by day, guiding them on their way, and the pillar of fire by night, to give them light, and make clear the way they were to go. (20) »You gave your good Spirit to be their teacher. You did not hold back your manna from their mouths. You gave them water when they had need of it. (21) »Truly, for forty years you were their support in the wilderness. They needed nothing. Their clothing did not get old or their feet become tired. (22) »You gave them kingdoms and peoples, making distribution to them in every part of the land. They took for their heritage the land of Sihon, even the land of the king of Heshbon, and the land of Og, king of Bashan. (23) »You made their children as great in number as the stars of heaven. You took them into the land, of which you had said to their fathers that they were to go in and take it for themselves. (24) »So the children went in and took the land. You overcame before them the people of the land, the Canaanites, and gave them up into their hands, with their kings and the people of the land, so that they might do with them whatever it was their pleasure to do. (25) »And they took walled towns and a fat land. They became the owners of houses full of all good things, water-holes cut in the rock, vine-gardens and olive-gardens and a wealth of fruit-trees. They had food enough and became fat, and had joy in the good you gave them. (26) »But they were hard-hearted, and went against your authority. They turned their backs on your law, and murdered your prophets. These prophets gave witness against them with the purpose of turning them back again to you. They did much to make you angry. (27) »So you gave them up into the hands of their enemies who were cruel to them. In the time of their trouble, when they prayed to you, you listened to them from heaven. In your great mercy you gave them saviors, who made them free from the hands of their enemies. (28) »When they had rest, they did evil again before you: so you gave them into the hands of their enemies who ruled over them. When they came back and prayed to you, you listened to them from heaven; again and again, in your mercy, you gave them salvation. (29) »You admonished them so that you might make them come back again to your law. Their hearts were lifted up, and they paid no attention to your orders. They went against your life giving decisions and turned their backs on you. They were stubborn and did not listen. (30) »You put up with them for years. You admonished them by your Spirit through your prophets. Still they did not listen. So you gave them up into the hands of the peoples of the lands. (31) »Even then, in your great mercy, you did not put an end to them completely, or give them up; for you are a God of grace (loving-kindness) and mercy. (32) »Now, our God, the great, the strong, the God who is to be respected, who keeps faith and mercy, do not let his trouble seem small to you. It has come on us, and on our kings and our rulers and on our priests and our prophets and our fathers and on all your people from the time of the kings of Assyria till this day. (33) »You have been in the right in everything that happened to us. You have been true to us, but we have done evil!
When Adam and Eve were cast out they could tell their children what happened. And their children could continue telling what happened in the Garden of Eden and what the consequences were of the things man had done wrong. The population grew and more and more things happened where God had to intervene and God had to give guidance again so that people would be able to come back on the good track.
To help man, enabling him again to restore the relationship with their Maker God gave them His Words so that they could get more understanding of all things.
Dead and Buried (fbcpolson.wordpress.com)
One of the grandest blessings in the entire Bible is often missed by believers. It is the burial of Jesus Christ! That’s right! The burial of Jesus is a blessing to you. Because not only have we died with Him, we have been buried with Him.
Christ Receives Sinful Men (headedhome.wordpress.com)
Jesus Christ is referred to as the “Lamb of God”. This symbol points to Christ being a perfect sacrifice for sin. It also conveys his meekness and his willingness to submit to suffering and death and that He did.
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Through the death of Jesus Christ, God has provided a means of removing guilt, thus op
Ten Commandments in Christianity – Intro (cmoneyspinner.wordpress.com)
Some think or believe that these Divine edicts were done away with via Christianity. This is false. In Christian Scriptures, these Commandments are restated in the gospels by Jesus Christ and in the epistles by His Apostles.
“… If We Only Had The Backbone To Do Our Duty?” (gunnygbb2.wordpress.com)
many professing Christians wrote me with comments to the effect that we should not be concerned about whatever global tyranny may be developing, because “it’s all a part of God’s plan,” or “Jesus is coming soon,” and similar statements. I, too, believe in the imminent return of Jesus Christ to earth.
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They seem to look at God as some kind of glorified fireman, who is obligated to rush in at the last minute to rescue them from a burning fire–a fire that they helped ignite, or at least, refused to put out themselves when they had the opportunity to do so. It’s the old, “God would not let that happen in America” syndrome.
Preparing For Eternity (therenewedreformedmind.wordpress.com)
God promises to give so much to his children and none of which we deserve. Peter tells us that our inheritance is unfading. He later in the same chapter tells us to set our hope fully on the grace that will be brought to us at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
Learn how and why the bible is a revolutionary’s handbook and the antecedent for modern Individualism, Existentialism, Democracy, and Communism as Shawn and Aaron are joined by DJ Matt Hogan for a very special bible study.
Culture Change by the Apostle Paul (bpardekooper.wordpress.com)
The Apostle Paul was a dynamic leader as a founder of Christianity and the church of Jesus Christ. As a Jew, Paul was keenly aware of the culture of the Jewish people and their customs, but recognized growth was necessary for his people to follow Jesus the Christ. Paul’s central message throughout his ministry focused on a simple concept: to become like Jesus Christ and live a life in accordance with his teachings and example. (I Co. 11:1, Ep. 5:1, 4:22-24, Ga. 3.27, Ro. 8:29) In establishing Christianity, Paul was on a journey to change the culture of the Jewish people to embrace a new reality given to them by Jesus.
Joel Osteen’s false gospel (babylonexposed.wordpress.com)
We never like to close our broadcast, without giving you a chance to make Jesus the Lord of your life.
Who Will We Reach? (foolforhim.wordpress.com)
If we retreat from the world because everyone else is unholy, who then would be saved? If we retreat from preaching and praying and influencing people in the world, then who will we reach?
Christian Benefits (faithcounts.wordpress.com)
Whether you are a Christian or not, it is helpful to know what Christian benefits are, and are not. You might be surprised. Many people incorrectly think that Christians have health, wealth, no problems, and an easy life. — Not! God does not promise any of these to Christians.
Messiah For All 