WEEKLY BIBLE STUDY

[Cinga]

With so much going on in the world today, I feel the Spirit of the Lord is working among us in a Great Awakening, but at the same time The Father of Lies is doing his best to deceive the world because he knows his time is short. This is not a thread of debate over Faith, it is a thread for like minded to come together to share their beliefs and to help those on the fence or looking for guidance. 

I accept this, and encourage anyone who helps with this thread to understand James 3:1,

"Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly."

so keep this thread civil and on point to lift up the Lord and to edify each other.

Mods, if this is out of line feel free to delete it but I hope you all see the worth of it. 

 

We're going to try this weekly at first and see where it goes from here. Last week I posted a Sunday in Headlines that I will expand on and move over here a little later today so for the first week will will do a twofer.

 

[Cinga]

Sometimes these may only be a single verse, but for this first week I feel it important to cover much more, as it will help us to understand better what will come in later sections. If there are any that would prefer a verse by verse from the very beginning, please let me know and we’ll see if we get enough interest to pursue that.

 

My comments are in italics.

 

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 

 

² He was with God in the beginning. (The Beginning in the Bible refers to the time/space continuum. We’ll see it more in the future and I’ll do my best to explain it. Let’s instead for now focus on the WORD. Who or what is that?)

 

³ Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. (This is like the beginning of Genesis, except here learn the Word is the Creator)

 

⁴ In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. ⁵ The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome^[a] it. (We'll see in Genesis how light, and the breath of life came to be)

 

⁶ There was a man sent from God whose name was John. ⁷ He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. ⁸ He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. (This is in reference to John the Baptist who announced the coming of the Messiah)

 

⁹ The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. ¹⁰ He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. ¹¹ He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. (Again, we see that the world was created by Him, but here we find it doesn’t recognize Him when they see Him)

 

¹² Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God ¹³ children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God. (This is referring to His sacrifice for the atonement of our sins and the introduction of being Born Again of God later in John 3:16)

 

¹⁴ The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. (Here is the kicker I’ll explain more below)

 

So what can we learn from this?

What we learned is that the Word, is in fact Jesus Christ the Son of God and we know from verse 1 that He was with God from the beginning. Now go look at the beginning of Genesis which we’ll see in depth later, but what are the first Words? “In the Beginning, God Created the Heavens and the Earth”…. Now look at verse 2 and 3 again to fully understand the depths of this! Jesus is not “only” our Savior, He is the one who actually created us!

[Fansince88]

John 1 is the best "who is Jesus" Chapters in the Bible. Great word to begin with brother! The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. The beauty of this and beyond that is the work of the cross, burial, and resurrection brings the among in this verse to now be within.

 Now we have all seen this in the Billy Graham episodes. The "Just as I am without one plea........I come. Billy was great and did well to do what he understand. But it is more then this. It is about relationship. I know how John continues so I know we will learn this. All, Enjoy!

[Cinga]

Aug 15

 

We’ll go back to John in a few weeks, but for the next couple weeks I want to help you to understand the things we’re seeing and hearing right now, and how we know the Bible is the True Word of God.

You see as man we think logically as in “show me and I’ll believe you”. But God doesn’t work that way, He tells us to believe and then He will show us. Our very nature has us always searching for something more out there.

I really believe we are born Knowing God, He’s still fresh in our memories as He knit us in our mother’s womb. But eventually for most of us the noise of the world drowns out His Spirit and we forget leaving a hole in our soul. One we all strive to fill in one way or the other. Drugs/alcohol, extraterrestrial life, oneness with nature, even atheism looks inward to humans as a sort of god. But if that hole is still there, maybe you’re looking in the wrong place?

When Jesus walked among us, He often spoke in Parables, stories that helped to teach us a lesson. Scholars are often dumbfounded by them, trying to determine some kind of hidden meaning.

Matthew 13 begins with the Parable of the Sower and I encourage you to read the entirety, but for this week I want to focus on Verses 10 – 17 because in this, the Lord explains to us how to study His Word to understand it as He explains why He uses Parables..

 

Italics are my comments

*******

10 The disciples came to him and asked, “Why do you speak to the people in parables?” The disciples knew what the Parable was teaching but were afraid that the people might not understand the teaching.

11 He replied, “Because the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. So right off the bat we know the disciples understand the Parables because this ability has been given to them

12 Whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. Often in Scripture this is referred to as a hardening of their heart, and you’ll see why in the following

13 This is why I speak to them in parables:

“Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand.  See but not seeing? Hear but not hearing? Not understanding what they see or hear?

14 In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah:

“ ‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.

15 For this people’s heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Here we see that hardening (calloused) of the heart (underline mine)

Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.’ How can we possibly understand with our heart? See below….

 16 But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear. 17 For truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.

******

First, you need to understand the Bible is one tremendous LOVE LETTER FROM GOD YOU! And in the middle of this awesome Parable Jesus, the very Word of God in the flesh, is telling us the “secret” to understanding! That is to read the Word with your HEART; to read the Bible out of Love for Him! This is also why non-believers and scholars don’t understand as well; their hearts are hard towards the Word.

[Fansince88]

I gave my life to the Word when I was 9 years of some 42 years ago. Right out of the gate I dug into scripture, beginning with my children's Bible. So much truth in your last statement. I have read through it too many times to count yet not enough to know it all. 

 The sermon on the mount has often been preached. Yes, also by myself. All of scripture points to Jesus whether Old Testament pointing ahead to him or the gospels confirming his or the remainder of the New testament  bragging upon his gift of life. 

 My final point is that as  @Cinga said, He can give you wisdom in His word if you just ask. To explain salvation in the best way Jesus said later in Matttthew 13:44 the following. The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field. 

That in a nutshell is the truth of relationship with Christ. When you find Him all else doesn't  matter. You are willing to loose it all and find him! 

[Cinga]

Originally Posted August 1 (edited Aug 22)

Sometimes a verse or section of Scripture comes along and takes stage as if it had been hidden (locked up?) in the Word. The Prayer of Jabez, 1 Chronicles 4:10 is one of those that seemed to take off a few years ago. It’s not that they are truly hidden, it’s that we tend to overlook them, but their meaning helps us to understand so much more! Last week we learned that as Christians, we study the Bible with our Heart, literally out of Love of God and a desire to get to know and understand Him better.

What about other things of this world besides Faith? Wisdom, Intelligence, Science or Politics? Does God affect them for believers or non-believers?

I originally posted this in Headlines and it is one of many so important to help understand during the times we are in today. This is also one of those sections becoming more prominent under current world circumstances

My comments are below in italics.

 

 1Corinthians 1:18 - 25 (NIV)

18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 

19 For it is written: When Scripture says this, you can find it written elsewhere in the Word, usually in the Old Testament and in this case, it is from Isaiah 29

“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise;

the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.” 

20 Where is the wise person? Where is the teacher of the law? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 

21 For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. 

22 Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, - Remember me mentioning that we as humans demand evidence (signs), then we believe. But God doesn’t work that way.

23 but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, - Sometimes the term Greek and Gentile are used interchangeably and refers to all non-Jews.

 24 but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 

25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.

 

We’re not only talking the Bible here, but we’re also taking about the wisdom of the world. Since we know for many non-believers, their hearts are hard towards God, the message of the Cross is foolishness to them. So why then did we need this extra emphasis on the wisdom or intelligence of the world?

Especially with current events that some demand you “follow the science” and you know that they are doing anything but. Yet they still insist they are? Then you look to leadership and wonder at some of the decision making you’re seeing?

We know people are given free will and sometimes we just make poor decisions regardless of Faith. Part of this could be that people of Faith tend to have different Judeo-Christian ethical morality which certainly affect most other things in their life, including decision processes. Just as important, this moral difference can also gives people a much different worldview as well. So when we see these poor decisions and policies coming from people who you thought would know better and you wonder where has the wisdom of the world gone, know that God has a plan, and He is True and Faithful!

[Cinga]

Next week will be back to verse by verse study with some side studies mingled in when needed or due to current events. I'm thinking alternating however every other week between John which we started and Genesis next week.

 

Any thought or input is appreciated.

[Fansince88]

7 minutes ago, Cinga said:

Originally Posted August 1 (edited Aug 22)

Sometimes a verse or section of Scripture comes along and takes stage as if it had been hidden (locked up?) in the Word. The Prayer of Jabez, 1 Chronicles 4:10 is one of those that seemed to take off a few years ago. It’s not that they are truly hidden, it’s that we tend to overlook them, but their meaning helps us to understand so much more! Last week we learned that as Christians, we study the Bible with our Heart, literally out of Love of God and a desire to get to know and understand Him better.

What about other things of this world besides Faith? Wisdom, Intelligence, Science or Politics? Does God affect them for believers or non-believers?

I originally posted this in Headlines and it is one of many so important to help understand during the times we are in today. This is also one of those sections becoming more prominent under current world circumstances

My comments are below in italics.

 

 1Corinthians 1:18 - 25 (NIV)

18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 

19 For it is written: When Scripture says this, you can find it written elsewhere in the Word, usually in the Old Testament and in this case, it is from Isaiah 29

“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise;

the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.” 

20 Where is the wise person? Where is the teacher of the law? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 

21 For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. 

22 Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, - Remember me mentioning that we as humans demand evidence (signs), then we believe. But God doesn’t work that way.

23 but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, - Sometimes the term Greek and Gentile are used interchangeably and refers to all non-Jews.

 24 but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 

25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.

 

We’re not only talking the Bible here, but we’re also taking about the wisdom of the world. Since we know for many non-believers, their hearts are hard towards God, the message of the Cross is foolishness to them. So why then did we need this extra emphasis on the wisdom or intelligence of the world?

Especially with current events that some demand you “follow the science” and you know that they are doing anything but. Yet they still insist they are? Then you look to leadership and wonder at some of the decision making you’re seeing?

We know people are given free will and sometimes we just make poor decisions regardless of Faith. Part of this could be that people of Faith tend to have different Judeo-Christian ethical morality which certainly affect most other things in their life, including decision processes. Just as important, this moral difference can also gives people a much different worldview as well. So when we see these poor decisions and policies coming from people who you thought would know better and you wonder where has the wisdom of the world gone, know that God has a plan, and He is True and Faithful!

Follow the science that is ever changing or God who changes not! I will that God every time.

[Cinga]

Aug 29

 

Especially now, no Book of the Bible is attacked more than the Book of Genesis probably due to the entire Creation vs Evolution debate and the claim that Creationists are anti-science. Neither can be proven one way or the other simply because no human was there to witness it. I’m not going to get involved in that debate here other than to try to explain the significance and Truth of the Word of God. As we progress through the Bible you will instead learn that in fact the Bible proves science over and over again. A simple definition of “science” is the study of knowledge. To people of Faith, God is the very essence of knowledge.

With that, a bit of a narrative to start.

I hope to help you to understand that as the Creator, God stands outside of Creation. A tough concept I know since the only human comparison I can make would be a man and an ant farm. That farm is completely encased and its own little world while the person raising it stands completely outside of it, only with God it's on a much more massive scale since He also stands outside of time itself.

There is so much going on in the very first day of Creation I might be able to write an entire book on the subject. You’re also going to see that Chapter 1 is a condensed version of what we will see in Chapter 2. Because of that, this first look at the first 3 verses of the Bible and Genesis will be lengthy but worth it!

My comments in italics….

 

1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Two things going on here right off the bat. First, what gives us the concept of TIME? Raise your hands if you said the movement of the earth and stars or as some might call it, matter and space of the space time continuum! So before there was a Heaven or Earth, there was no such thing as time. Is this Creation of the Heavens and Earth (matter and space) then the very beginning of time when the clock started to run? Technically yes, but we as humans base time on visibility of their movement. Before this Creation, there was nothing to base time on.

² Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. Once more, 2 things going on. First, a few weeks ago you were introduced to the second part of the Triumvirate nature of God, or what Christians call the Trinity. His Son Jesus Christ who as we learned, was also there in the beginning, just as you now see the Spirit of God, or the Holy Spirit. But everything is still formless and dark (dark matter?) so we can’t see them move right? But also see that the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters insinuating there was no dry ground yet, the Earth was covered in water! Keep this in mind when we get to Noah and discuss where the water came from….

³ And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. ⁴ God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. ⁵ God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day. Now we have light and notice the concept of separating light dark from each other into night and day. And He saw that the light was good… We’ll hear this after every other day of Creation except the 6^th day which He says is “very good”. But God is not done yet with light as you will see in Gen 1:14 or you can “cheat” and jump ahead and see it yourself.

 

Next week we will go back to the Gospel of John so we will be alternating between the New and Old Testaments on bi-weekly basis. I pray as we move forward, you join me in rejoicing in the study of the Word of God and develop a hunger to know Him better!

[Cinga]

Sept 5

 

A few weeks ago when we began this study, we started with perhaps the most important part of the Bible to begin to get an understanding of Who, or What was the infallible Word of God. We followed that with a few lessons to help see why people of Faith read and understand the Word, and some things of the world from a different perspective than secularism does.

As we continue to move forward now we are going to alternate between Genesis which we started last week and John. I would encourage you to go back and re-read the first one on Aug 8 before this  lesson as a reminder of where we left off.

 

15 John testified concerning him. He cried out, saying, “This is the one I spoke about when I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’ ”  If you go back to verse 6-8 there is the first mention of John the Baptist, not the same as the author John the Apostle. Then he tells us of the one coming who surpassed him even before he was? Again go back once again to verse 1, and we know from it that Jesus, the flesh and blood Word of God was there in the Beginning.

 

16 Out of his fullness of His grace we have all received one Blessing after another. We are told in Scripture our Blessings are renewed every day and we just need to ask for them. There is a story of a man who after he passes goes to Heaven, and as the Lord is showing him around, they enter a huge warehouse, stacked floor to ceiling and as far as the eyes can see with boxes. When he askes what they are, the Lord replies that these are all the Blessings he never asked for in life. Understand too though that they are Blessings, always intent to help those who ask. If you feel God is not giving you what you ask for or letting you do something you may want, sometimes the answer is no, or in my personal case for years about something, “not yet” but it is still an answer nonetheless.

 

17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. This is where we begin to see the distinction between the Law we have in the Old Testament Books and the Grace we see in the New Testament. The Old is made up in part of the Jewish Torah which is the first 5 books of the Old written by Moses. As we continue through it, we will learn there are over 600 “laws” with the familiar 10 Commandments front and center, but a number of other ones as well. Many we can look at today and totally understand why now, like bath and wash downstream from where you drink or gather cooking water to throwing away a cracked pot because it is now “unclean”. The stream to us today is obvious for water cleanliness, and of course for the pot we now know the crack could harbor bacteria that can be harmful to us. Remember when I said last week that the Bible will in fact prove science over and over again? Some of the other Laws will explain to us what the redemption for sin is and as we will learn, it would require an unblemished blood sacrifice that could be a young dove to a LAMB or a young calf. The blood would “wash” the sin away. See even back then, God had a plan to redeem people to Him.

So you can see here then how Moses being the author of those first 5 Books, was the one to “give” us the Law. In the New Testament we learn that Jesus was the literal fulfillment of that law in that He was “unblemished” and as the Lamb of God, gave His Blood as a sacrifice for us. That is why now we live under His Grace if we acknowledge Him and accept His Gift. Contrary to what some might claim though, it does not mean we are not subject to, and don’t have to follow the laws of the Old Testament though. While I am forgiven for my sins through Grace, I’d still be a fool to drink from a cracked pot that has bacteria hiding in the crack.

 

18 No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known. I pray you feel the excitement as we get to this verse! Already with the beginning of both Genesis and John we see the Triune Nature of God or the Trinity. The Spirit of God hovering over the water in Gen 1:2, and of course here God the Father, the part of Him who stands outside of Creation that man cannot bear to see due to what might be referred to as His Shekinah Glory! We know this when we (go ahead, jump ahead and see) look in Exodus 33 & 34 as well as other places you will find. There, God agrees to let Moses see His backside, because God tells him no man can look on His face and live. So God put Moses in the cleft of a rock, shielded him with His hand, and only showed Moses His backside as He passed. Later, in Exodus 34:29 we learn the effect it had on Moses to see even this small view of the Glory of God the Father. There is more if you want to study especially once you get to the Temple and the Holy of Holies inside of it.

So by now I hope you are wondering that if Jesus Christ wasn’t born until Thousands of years after the Creation, how could He possibly also be with God in the Beginning? We have already established the God who stands outside of Creation in God the Father, Jesus is therefore the God who subjected Himself then into the Creation. So when do we first see this persona of God in a more human form? Soon in our studies; Genesis 3:8 as He sometimes walked in the Garden during to cool of the day. You see, He has always been with us, even from the beginning!

[Cinga]

Sept 12

 

When we started Genesis on Aug 29, we covered verses 1 through 5. This week we will look at 6 though 10 and as always I’m going to suggest you refresh your memory by covering that lesson again before moving on to this one.

With that said, I’m sure you are aware of the many theories out there that postulate that these Days of Creation could have been thousands, or even millions of years each. But I want you to see how He specifically tells you that it was evening, and morning meaning He knew these discussions would come. And He knew to be specific enough in the Wording of evening and morning He was talking of 6 literal Days of Creation.

My comments in italics

 

6 And God said, “Let there be a vault (or expanse) between the waters to separate water from water.” – Remember, we have an earth now, but as I pointed out, the Spirit of the God was hovering over the waters (Gen 1:2). So if the earth in the beginning is covered with water, God has to do something with it right?

 

7 So God made the vault and separated the water under the vault from the water above it. And it was so. 8 God called the vault “sky.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the second day. – I want to emphasis that God instructed Moses to write that He separated the water. Not water and clouds, And in between was that expanse, or what God would call the Sky. So above the sky, let’s say the upper reaches of the atmosphere, there was a layer of water. Talk about greenhouse? But that water would act as a blanket, certainly blocking harmful rays on the sun, but also maintaining a perfect temperature throughout the entire earth.

 

9 And God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear.” And it was so. 10 God called the dry ground “land,” and the gathered waters he called “seas.” And God saw that it was good. – See, here we again have the distinction between the water above, and the water below the sky as God gathers the water below, I’m sure by depressing the ground in areas to hold the water and raising the ground in areas to become dry ground which God would tell Moses He called land. At this point it doesn’t matter to us if it is one huge continent or the 7 we know of today. But we now have the seas, and the land. And this was the second day of Creation.

[Joe]

This is what I get for not coming to this subforum really ever.

 

Missed this.

 

[Fansince88]

22 hours ago, Joe said:

This is what I get for not coming to this subforum really ever.

 

Missed this.

 

Catch up. Stop back next week.

[Jabba The Hutt]

On 8/22/2021 at 12:07 PM, Fansince88 said:

Follow the science that is ever changing or God who changes not! I will that God every time.

Believe and you will see your signs! 

[Cinga]

Sept 19

 

There are a number of predictions throughout the Old Testament we will see, that predict the coming of the Messiah who we will learn is Jesus Christ. Again, I encourage you to go ahead and “cheat”, by looking ahead and you will find that John the Baptist was a part of those predictions.  In Isaiah 40 you will hear if him as the “Voice Calling in the Wilderness” and in Malachi 4 he is the spirit of the prophet Elijiah to herald the coming Messiah.

My comments are in italics

19 Now this was John’s testimony when the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him who he was. - Priests and Levites is somewhat redundant here as the Levites were of the tribe of Levi. You will learn that all 12 tribes are descended from the 12 sons of Jacob. They were the ones specifically appointed to oversea everything regarding the Temple, the Ark, and the Holy of Holies inside the Temple.

 

20 He did not fail to confess, but confessed freely, “I am not the Messiah.”  - This was probably asked to try and trick him into blasphemy as you will see later a tactic they will use often. But if anything, John was brutally honest and as you know, it’s hard to trick someone who always tells the truth since they don’t have to try remembering a lie they told.

 

21 They asked him, “Then who are you? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” He answered, “No.” – The priest would have been well aware of the prophecy of Malachi and seem here to take the prediction literally, in that Elijiah himself returns. I’ll discuss this more in a footnote because Elijiah is VERY important and will indeed return one day, and some think very soon.

22 Finally they said, “Who are you? Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” 23 John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, “I am the voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way for the Lord.’ ” – Here John confirms what we know from Isaiah.

 

24 Now the Pharisees who had been sent 25 questioned him, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?” – Here is your introduction to the Pharisees, so let me get this out of the way now. There were 2 main groups at this time, the  Pharisees and Sadducees that for lack of a better term, were the main political parties. The Sadducees were strict adherents to the Torah, while the Pharisees tended to think it could be re-interpreted to fit the times. Sound familiar?

 

26 “I baptize with water,” John replied, “but among you stands one you do not know. 27 He is the one who comes after me, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.” – Nor would any of us be worthy enough to untie His sandals as John is referring to Jesus here. But you also see that john is telling them now that their prophecy of a Messiah is being fulfilled by someone now, at that very moment among them. This theme, of hearing but not hearing, seeing but not seeing from our lesson of Matt 13 back on Aug 15.

 

28 This all happened at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan, where John was baptizing. – So we have the introduction of baptism by water here with John which will come to be known as a public declaration of Faith as a follower of Jesus Christ. The practice is still universal among the different branches of the Christian Faith though it may vary as to how it is done somewhat. The Jordan River is significant in Biblical history because the Hebrews has to cross it to get into the Promised Land. We even use it today metaphorically as crossing into our promised land of Heaven.

*******************************

Side note on Elijiah….

Elijiah is one of the major Prophets of the Old Testament and perhaps only rivaled by Moses in significance. Not so much because he worked miracles which he did, but Elisha who followed him worked even greater, Christ-like miracles. It was more because even though he thought he was the last believer in God, he fervently defended his Faith and the Lord. So much so that God appreciated his work so much that He caught him up to Heaven he NEVER DIED (2Kings 2).

This is important to understand, in that we know (or will learn) from Hebrews 9 that it is given to a man to die ONCE, then judgement. I know, can open, worms all over the floor… But there is absolutely no Biblical basis for re-incarnation. We don’t get to come back and try again, not even as an ant.

So the prophecy of Elijiah return is actually in Revelation, the End Times when he is thought to return as one of the 2 Witnesses against the evil one. And during that return, he dies for his Faith in God. Some think Moses is the other Witness, but let’s cheat again and jump back to Deuteronomy, one of the first 5 Books that make up the Hebrew Torah and our Old Testament, Chapter 34 and we know that Moses died, and that God Himself buried him. Now don’t get me wrong, this is God we’re talking about after all, and I certainly won’t presume to think He couldn’t let Moses die again.

So I hope I have perked your interest for now… If there are 2 Witnesses in the End Times, and they are with God now, but will come back and suffer death, who could the other one be? Well, I’m not going to spoil it for you, but will encourage you to look for yourself. I will leave you with a clue however and tell you we will meet him soon in our Genesis study.

Suffice to say, those 2 Witnesses are there now, in Heaven with God, Witnessing history and of course God good works in it. When they come back, they share that testimony as proof of the Word of God.

With that, let me leave you with one of my favorite songs of all time that has even more significance now in my own life and maybe one day it can help you too, by the Ragamuffin Poet, Richie Mullins.

 

 

 

[Fansince88]

For anyone wondering who the Pharisees and Teachers of the Law are just think of it this way. They are like the modern day Dems. Not the party but the people. Here is what Jesus said to them in Matthew 23:1-7 Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples:  “The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat.  So you must be careful to do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach.  They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.

 “Everything they do is done for people to see: They make their phylacteries wide and the tassels on their garments long;  they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues;  they love to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces and to be called ‘Rabbi’ by others.

Further down he picks it up in vs 26-33 

“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.  Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.

 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean.  In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.

 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous.  And you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’  So you testify against yourselves that you are the descendants of those who murdered the prophets.  Go ahead, then, and complete what your ancestors started!

 “You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell?

 

So you see, Jesus wasnt fond of "do as I say and not as I do". Difference between Him and us, He knew their heart.

John 2:23-25 While He was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many people saw the signs He was doing and believed in His name. But Jesus did not entrust Himself to them, for He knew them all. He did not need any testimony about man, for He knew what was in a mans heart.

Edited September 19, 2021 by Fansince88

[B-Man]

 

 

If no one minds, I will add a post.

 

 

 

That we all would be prophets: Sunday reflection

 

 

This morning’s Gospel reading is Mark 9:38–43, 45, 47–48:

 

At that time, John said to Jesus, “Teacher, we saw someone driving out demons in your name, and we tried to prevent him because he does not follow us.” Jesus replied, “Do not prevent him. There is no one who performs a mighty deed in my name who can at the same time speak ill of me. For whoever is not against us is for us. Anyone who gives you a cup of water to drink because you belong to Christ, amen, I say to you, will surely not lose his reward.

“Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were put around his neck and he were thrown into the sea. If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life maimed than with two hands to go into Gehenna, into the unquenchable fire. And if your foot causes you to sin, cut if off. It is better for you to enter into life crippled than with two feet to be thrown into Gehenna. And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. Better for you to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into Gehenna, where ‘their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.’”

 

It’s not difficult to find prophets these days. Open up your social media apps, and prophets can be found by the millions. We get lots of predictions, mainly of doom (because doom sells!), almost none of which come true. In the old days, false prophets would be shunned, or worse. These days, most of them pick up gigs in media outlets.

 

Of course, most of that kind of prophesying is more or less for entertainment value. And much of it is intended for fun, although some of it gets pretty dark. We have had cults self-destruct over malicious false prophets, and spent most of the last century dealing with political prophets and their messianic megalomaniacal attempts to reorder the world. The wars of the 20th century can be seen, rightly, as the fallout from false prophets of class and race, and the destruction they wrought as a reminder of Jesus’ warnings about false prophets in many contexts.

 

Today’s readings get to an important question for people of faith: who is and is not a prophet? We know who The Prophets were, because their prophesying has been preserved in scripture and has withstood the test of time. But are there other prophets than just The Prophets of the Old Testament and John the Baptist?

 

Our first reading offers a rather humorous moment from the greatest of the prophets before Jesus. Moses leads a group of men to the spirit of the Lord and all begin prophesying, but so do two men who were not present at this meeting. Joshua urges Moses to put a stop to it, to which Moses responds drily, “Would that all the people of the Lord were prophets!”

 

This has echoes in the first part of our Gospel reading today as well. Jesus’ disciples tell Him that a man is driving out demons in His name, and that they wanted to put a stop to that as well. Jesus doesn’t address it with humor but instead tells the disciples not to interfere with others doing His work. “For whoever is not against us is for us,” Jesus instructs, reversing the normal calculation and opening a new perspective to His disciples.

 

This teaches us two key principles of our faith. First, we cannot put boundaries on the Lord and His will. The church is His vessel, and not the other way around. Moses rebukes Joshua with a little bit of humor by declaring, “Would that the Lord might bestow His spirit on them all!”

 

And that is the second key principle — that the Lord has bestowed His spirit on us all. He gathered the Israelites to become the path of salvation for the entire world by becoming a nation of priests and prophets, ready to teach God’s word. That model failed as the Israelites and later the Judeans chose temporal power and influence over the Lord’s true mission.

 

This is why Jesus came, not in power but in humility and self-sacrificial love. Jesus’ mission makes us all prophets in the literal/biblical sense, enabled by the Holy Spirit to proclaim God’s word to the world. We have become the model of salvation by our baptism and faith. It is how we accomplish the Great Commission given to us by Christ at His Ascension to make disciples of the whole world.

 

Our choice comes down to the same choice faced by the Israelite and Judean kingdoms. Do we choose the role of prophet in both word and deed, or do we choose temporal power and comfort over our part in the Lord’s salvation?

 

https://hotair.com/ed-morrissey/2021/09/26/that-we-all-would-be-prophets-sunday-reflection-n418346

 

 

[Cinga]

Sept 26

 

Previously in Genesis we saw the Lord separate land and water but up until Day 3 which we will now cover, it was barren with nothing, and no one, yet on it.

My comments in italics

 

¹¹ Then God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.” And it was so. ¹² The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. ¹³ And there was evening, and there was morning—the third day. – I guess this answers the question of what came first, the plant or the seed. But here is also the first time we see the phrase, “according to their various kind”. We’ll see it again a bit later, but here it means an apple is an apple, and I think obvious to us now, but it doesn’t normally cross pollinate with an orange for instance.

 

¹⁴ And God said, “Let there be lights in the vault of the sky to separate the day from the night and let them serve as signs to mark sacred times, and days and years, ¹⁵ and let them be lights in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth.” And it was so. – We saw that God created light on the first day, but here He gathers it into other specific bodies that we use today to tell times and seasons.

 

¹⁶ God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. – This is where He created the Sun as the greater light to govern the day, and moon as the lesser light to govern the night.

 

He also made the stars. ¹⁷ God set them in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth, ¹⁸ to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. ¹⁹ And there was evening, and there was morning—the fourth day. – And then to add the stars and set them where they are, it didn’t take a big bang to do it. It took God to do it.

 

²⁰ And God said, “Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the vault of the sky.” ²¹ So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living thing with which the water teems and that moves about in it, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. – Now Creation has the beginning of living creatures as opposed the previous plant life. I find it ironic that evolution teaches that fish, then birds came in that order while we knew it from the Bible all along. But as you see here, it didn’t take millions or billions of years. But again, see specifically how He mentions According to their Kind. We have numerous “breeds” of dog, but they are still all the same “kind” they are dogs and can breed among themselves. But a dog cannot breed with a cat.

 

²² God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth.” ²³ And there was evening, and there was morning—the fifth day.

 

Before we leave it there for the week, I need to emphasis that we are discussing God Creation here and I think by now you realize that this did not have to take 6 days for God to accomplish all of this. That He could have just done it instantly through the power of His Word and at the end of this, He didn’t really need a day o rest on the 7^th day either. But man does… We may be able to work all week, but there is no doubt we need the rest as well. So right away in His Creation He is establishing a weekly plan for us.

[Cinga]

10 minutes ago, B-Man said:

 

 

If no one minds, I will add a post.

 

 

 

That we all would be prophets: Sunday reflection

 

 

This morning’s Gospel reading is Mark 9:38–43, 45, 47–48:

 

At that time, John said to Jesus, “Teacher, we saw someone driving out demons in your name, and we tried to prevent him because he does not follow us.” Jesus replied, “Do not prevent him. There is no one who performs a mighty deed in my name who can at the same time speak ill of me. For whoever is not against us is for us. Anyone who gives you a cup of water to drink because you belong to Christ, amen, I say to you, will surely not lose his reward.

“Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were put around his neck and he were thrown into the sea. If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life maimed than with two hands to go into Gehenna, into the unquenchable fire. And if your foot causes you to sin, cut if off. It is better for you to enter into life crippled than with two feet to be thrown into Gehenna. And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. Better for you to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into Gehenna, where ‘their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.’”

 

It’s not difficult to find prophets these days. Open up your social media apps, and prophets can be found by the millions. We get lots of predictions, mainly of doom (because doom sells!), almost none of which come true. In the old days, false prophets would be shunned, or worse. These days, most of them pick up gigs in media outlets.

 

Of course, most of that kind of prophesying is more or less for entertainment value. And much of it is intended for fun, although some of it gets pretty dark. We have had cults self-destruct over malicious false prophets, and spent most of the last century dealing with political prophets and their messianic megalomaniacal attempts to reorder the world. The wars of the 20th century can be seen, rightly, as the fallout from false prophets of class and race, and the destruction they wrought as a reminder of Jesus’ warnings about false prophets in many contexts.

 

Today’s readings get to an important question for people of faith: who is and is not a prophet? We know who The Prophets were, because their prophesying has been preserved in scripture and has withstood the test of time. But are there other prophets than just The Prophets of the Old Testament and John the Baptist?

 

Our first reading offers a rather humorous moment from the greatest of the prophets before Jesus. Moses leads a group of men to the spirit of the Lord and all begin prophesying, but so do two men who were not present at this meeting. Joshua urges Moses to put a stop to it, to which Moses responds drily, “Would that all the people of the Lord were prophets!”

 

This has echoes in the first part of our Gospel reading today as well. Jesus’ disciples tell Him that a man is driving out demons in His name, and that they wanted to put a stop to that as well. Jesus doesn’t address it with humor but instead tells the disciples not to interfere with others doing His work. “For whoever is not against us is for us,” Jesus instructs, reversing the normal calculation and opening a new perspective to His disciples.

 

This teaches us two key principles of our faith. First, we cannot put boundaries on the Lord and His will. The church is His vessel, and not the other way around. Moses rebukes Joshua with a little bit of humor by declaring, “Would that the Lord might bestow His spirit on them all!”

 

And that is the second key principle — that the Lord has bestowed His spirit on us all. He gathered the Israelites to become the path of salvation for the entire world by becoming a nation of priests and prophets, ready to teach God’s word. That model failed as the Israelites and later the Judeans chose temporal power and influence over the Lord’s true mission.

 

This is why Jesus came, not in power but in humility and self-sacrificial love. Jesus’ mission makes us all prophets in the literal/biblical sense, enabled by the Holy Spirit to proclaim God’s word to the world. We have become the model of salvation by our baptism and faith. It is how we accomplish the Great Commission given to us by Christ at His Ascension to make disciples of the whole world.

 

Our choice comes down to the same choice faced by the Israelite and Judean kingdoms. Do we choose the role of prophet in both word and deed, or do we choose temporal power and comfort over our part in the Lord’s salvation?

 

https://hotair.com/ed-morrissey/2021/09/26/that-we-all-would-be-prophets-sunday-reflection-n418346

 

 

 

Of course we don't mind, and in fact i would encourage others to post when they feel the Lord move them to. 

 

And you chose an excellent lesson believe it or not that I needed right now!

[TakeYouToTasker 2.0]

@Cinga

 

I want to thank you for creating and curating this thread. I can’t tell you how many times it’s come to my aid.