Bible Discussion Replies PAGE 1464

...re-confirms the Abrahamic blessing to Jacob. This blessing is the same as Isaac said over Jacob, but God wanted Jacob to hear it from Him as well. A double witness to Jacob that what his father had told him all these years is indeed from God God did this same thing to Isaac when He first appeared to him after his father's death. In this instance, Isaac was still alive. Jacob exclaims that this very place was the House of the Lord (which is what Bethel means) and the very gate of heaven. Jacob recognized that this is a very remarkable vision/dream. He memorialized it by using the stone he used for a pillow and standing it upright to be a pillar, marking it as an awesome place, a holy place. It says he was afraid, so this vision must have made a deep impression on him, as I imagine any vision of God would do. He anointed the pillar with oil, setting it apart as a holy item set apart for the Lord.

After anointing the stone, Jacob makes a vow to God along the lines of, if God fulfills his promises to me, then He will be my God. At this time, Jacob had not committed to God. He perhaps was unsure if the dream or vision was real or just his imagination, or maybe wanted to see if he could trust God. He needed to grow in faith, as we all do.

Some commented why God appeared and blessed Jacob when Jacob had sinned. God's ultimate purpose and plan does not depend on man's perfect obedience. It is all about grace-Giving us what we do not deserve. Jacob can never say that he earned this blessing by perfectly obeying God. This knowledge will humble him. He also knows now that he can approach God even when he is not perfect, because God has made a way for that to happoen.

Adam P.S. One other point God will go beyond what the word guarantees to accomplish that which is profitable for the Church body of Christ and to Accomplish His Word. Example the walls of Jericho were never touched by physical force but by a man of God given instructions to do something that didn't make any sense but was obeyed and the walls came down.

It defied normal physical laws but in that specific case that is what God told Him to do. Prayerfully this communicates better.

I have read all of the comments on this chapter. I appreciate everyone's contributions. This chapter picks up where the previous chapter left off, with Jacob pronouncing his blessing on Jacob, conferring to Jacob the blessing of the promise and covenant Isaac received from his father, Abraham. This is a transfer of the blessing from one person of the promise to another. It is very important. Jacob receives the blessing without hesitation. Ishmael must have overseen this event, as he knew that his father had told Jacob to go to the house of Bethuel to take a wife, not from the Canaanite women, as Esau had done. This must have stung Esau. It seems he went out to Ishmael's family to take a wife, so he, too, could perhaps please his father. So, now he had three wives and through them he fathered 12 sons. He was when he tookk his first two wives. It is unknown how much time had passed, or if he had any children yet.

In the last chapter, it says Rebekah was sending him away to escape Esau, but here, Isaac and Rebekah send Jacob off to Padan Aram with the charge to take a wife from Laban's household Jacob obeys and heads out from Beer-Sheba. Along the way he stops in the area north of what is now Jerusalem, a place called Luz. He takes stones to serve as pillows and beds down for the night. I assume that this is an open field on a hill. During the night, he has a dream from the Lord. It is interesting that the angels go up and down. someone asked, "What does that mean?" I really don't know, but perhaps it is to show that Lord is the open gateway between heaven and earth. Perhaps t announce a restoration of the two way interactions of Adam in the Garden with the Lord. This would make this a prophetic dream. the Lord stands at the top of the ladder. It does establish that the angels are lower beings than the Lord and they serve him, as we should. Perhaps this is a nod to Paul's warning against the worship of angels.

The Lord speaks to Jacob. He announces Who He is and

Hi Adam Sorry didn't mean to give misunderstood communication to clarify God will not change what he set up to agree with what someone thinks not that you go off the deep end just giving clarification. All laws that God set up whether physical or mathematical or elemental or chemical were for order in His Creation. All

these are in Gods Word and when man tries ro change or manipulate calamity usually follows. The same when man breaks His Word calamity results.

The Word of God Is The Will of God.

Hi Rick , hope you don't mind me butting in . Who or what is satan ? We read in Job Ch 1 , V 6-12 , that who or whatever he is he stands chatting to God . God cannot look on sin , so does this mean satan doesn't sin ? How come he gets to stand in the presence of God if he is the evil malicious vile hateful creature that many think he is ? Sin is disobeying God

. Does satan sin or not ? If he does , how come he gets to stand in the presence of God ? You may notice I haven't even attempted to answer any of these questions and I don't intend to . I shall leave you to study the topic for yourself and draw your own conclusions .

Hi Earl, thanks for sharing your opinion, but I don't believe any of that is true. It sounds like you're not considering many other verses but just honed in on only 2 verses and interpreted them in such a way to arrive at your desired outcome. I don't believe your personal definition of freewill vs choices. These are one of the same. Eve chose to eat the fruit, and wasn't just an actress in a play God wrote. The Bible doesn't contradict itself, but I believe some readers make false assumptions. I suspect maybe you're not open to my previous points brought up. Other verses already shared that clearly show we have freewill to choose James 1:13-16, Joshua 24:15, Galatians 5:13, etc. so God bless.

Thanks David. I'm not sure what to say about your remark. If you believe that God created everything then you would believe He created gravity, physics. It sounds like you just said God can't do everything, such as that (or maybe you meant He has the power but wouldn't want to change it?), but God already did create it, so of course He has power to do His will. So, I don't understand your comment, because an all powerful God is very basic to Christianity, not a limited one. I wonder where your belief originates from. God bless.

Carol,

I'm not trying to be the bearer of bad news to anybody who thinks that talents in the Bible has to do with human abilities. The word talents, TALENTA in Greek, it has nothing to do with human ability.



There are churches that teach the parable of the talents, and they tell people that this has to do with your talents, your human abilities. And they were told that they had to use their "talents for the Lord."



I have even been in discussions with people who believe that this is talking about human talents. I had to break the bad news to them. Needless to say, I was not their most favorite person anymore!



Talents in the New Testament, is a piece of money. It is equal to 6,000 drachmas. This may not mean anything to anyone, but 6,000 drachmas, which is 20 years wages, it equals 1 TALENTA.



In our money, one talent would be worth $600,000. So we are going to deal with somebody that gave back 10 talents. So now we've got a $6 million investment here. That is a lot of money.



So a talent in the bible is a piece of money, not a human ability.

I have been taught that the Father is completely Spirit and cannot be seen by beings he created. But I was taught that Jesus had a form before His incarnation and the Father resides in Him, as Jesus stated this in John 14:7, 9-11. Even though the Father is completely Spirit, it does not mean that He is not personal. But we experience Him through Jesus Christ. The Spirit is also obviously completely Spirit. He is able to reside in us, therefore bringing Jesus and the Father to also reside in each believer. It is such a mystery.

Many years ago I wrote a song and the first stanza said,

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit'

Three in One; yet One in Three;

Holy God, the One the Only;

Oh, to grasp Your Mystery!

So much conflicting information about covid vaccines. There is a reason big Tech is suppressing info that doesn't fit what they wish to be distributed on their sites. My approach is to be prayerful and chose what God has laid on your heart to do and then trust Him, whether you chose to vaccine or not. I chose to be vaccinated because of multiple health problems. I know that Jesus is my covering and will deliver me safe in the end, come what may. If I was young and healthy, I would not get vaccinated because of what statistics show about low risk to this group of people. I am not afraid. I feel at peace that I have followed the lead of God. Bless you for considering training for utilization of med beds. I have not heard anything about this. I will have to l look it up. Thank you.

God did not will for man to gain knowledge of good and evil. Agreed. However, He made man with what is called free agency, the ability to chose to obey or disobey God. God knew even before He created the heavens and the angels and all spiritual beings that Satan would sin and tempt other angels to sin. God knew before he created the earth and mankind, that man would sin. Before anything was created, God knew this would happen and He allowed it, knowing that He would through the free agency of mankind, show His grace and mercy to mankind through redeeming mankind in Jesus Christ. He did not make any of the angels or man sin. He cannot do evil. But He created these beings with freedom to choose their own actions. That is why we are accountable for our own sins. We cannot blame it on God or the devil, or anyone else, for that matter. If we did not have free agency, then we would not be culpable for our own sin and any judgment on us would be unjust. But God is perfectly just, and also in His infinite wisdom and free agency determined that it was best for mankind to experience His grace and mercy in redemption. If man had never sinned, we would not know His grace and mercy. God decided it was important for us to have this knowledge about God in this world and into the next. it must be important for us to know His grace and mercy in eternity.

God

Brother David,

So let's close the loop. James and Paul were talking to the new Christians/Church, which includes us today.

God Bless

There are documented cases of fatal side effects from almost all the vaccines that humans have made. We balance this with the efficacy of their intended purposes.

Leave us not forget that as of this writing there are 783,174 deaths of Americans and over 5 million worldwide and the US has a long history of mandatory vaccines.

To your point: while flue vaccines have been used successfully for years, the annual vaccine that you take to protect against flu is a different vaccine every year. Flu mutates and there are different strains that become predominant every year, hence the need for a repeated re-vaccination. The acceptance of this by the masses is the only reason that this is a predominating method of protection. Even so there are significant deaths amongst the un-vaccinated and the vaccinated alike.

I think that images of our earth from satellites pretty much show us the the earth is a sphere. It is awesome to look at the earth from space in these pictures. It is truly a beautiful creation and God created it for us to dwell upon it! Thank you Lord.

I think the Septuagint is an authentic translation of the Old Testament. It was written about 300 years before Christ in Greek.

Hi Robert, I would like to share a couple things with you.

Number one, about Gadara:

Gadara was the center of pagan and demonic worship in that region. In fact, history tells us that Gadara was the most active place on the planet, the inhabitable world, as they knew it back then, for demonic activity and worship.

Guess what they sacrificed in demonic worship? Pigs! These were not ordinary pigs. These pigs were raised to be used for pagan worship. They were all black pigs.

So if you ever want to know what these pigs were doing out there, now you know why. So they came to the Gadarenes. Here is something that is also important to know. It is illegal for the Jews to have this herd in the back pasture where they couldn't be found. The pigs are unclean and they can't touch pigs.



So it is interesting how the Lord flushed out an illegal business. And because of that, they didn't want him around.

I believe the last 2000 yrs have been a time of spritual darkness ,Jesus said I am the light of the world but the nite comes when no man can work. A time of falling away All the churches are desolate even the big mega Churches are all desolate, begging for money all the time,Preaching that money is Ministry and material Gain is Godliness , Paul said from such turn away from . I believe the last 2 k yrs are the 2 days he was in the tomb a day being a 1000 yrs in the sight of God . Are not the 2000 swine a 2000 yr spritual famine, In Pharoahs dream he saw 14 kine come out of the River prophetic that a 14 yr famine was coming. Imo the 2000 swine that drowned in the River was Prophetic that a great spritual famine was coming not a famine of natural bread but a famine of spritual bread the living words of God ( THE BOOK NEEDS TO BE OPENED ) that is in the Fathers right hand . which is the new covenant a birthing covenant A marriage covenant Real Faith, thus a spritual pregnancy, As a real Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen the Children of the Kingdom . Its just as Jesus said the Kingdom of God is like great King that wants to make a marriage for his son . That Woman in Rev 12 is a picture of the world , the field where that good seed is gona be sown resulting in a Child that is gonna be as the stars of heaven, our fruit unto God Rev 12 : 10 now is come Salvation and the Kingdom of our God and the power of his Christ ( the Children ) that are gonna be born in Us. Don'cha see the Kingdom does not come till the book is Opened and the woman births the Children, That Woman is US, Remember when Isaiah saw the Kingdom coming he said unto US a child is born unto US a son is given. Isaiah 9 : 6 Kjv. But right now we are still in a Spritual Famine till the book is opened the last days as God told Daniel in 12 : 9 kjv

Hi Earl Show me the scripture where it literally says verbatim that God created Satan I repeat it has to say exactly that. It can't say things it can't say waster it can't say destroyer no figurative language it must say Satan.

Earl Again pulled out of Context.

Brother Earl,

Regarding the issue of man having a freewill. You stated to Brother Adam: "it isn't that God couldn't give man free will if he wanted to, it's just that there is nowhere in God's word that it says he gives man free will."

You are gravely mistaken. Please read this scripture showing God giving man the freewill to choose:

Deuteronomy 30:15-19

15 See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil;

16 In that I command thee this day to love the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments, that thou mayest live and multiply: and the LORD thy God shall bless thee in the land whither thou goest to possess it.

17 But if thine heart turn away, so that thou wilt not hear, but shalt be drawn away, and worship other gods, and serve them;

18 I denounce unto you this day, that ye shall surely perish, and that ye shall not prolong your days upon the land, whither thou passest over Jordan to go to possess it.

19 I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live.

This scripture above is a very clear example of God setting forth the free choice for (the Israelites) a freewill to make a choice of life or death!

God continues to give man a freewill and a choice between Life and Death! Let's hope this clarifies the freewill issue for you.

Read and Believe!

God Bless.

The vaccines categorically do NOT alter your DNA nor are they made from DNA. They use mRNA, Messenger Ribonucleic Acid. MRNA basically instructs your cells to produce a piece of a foreign cell, in this case the spike protein that is part of the COVID19 virus. At that point your immune system does its job and destroys the proteins and the mRNA and retains a "memory" of the protein and the next time it encounters that protein your body can overcome it.

This process is something that happens in your body naturally every day.

There is no mention of DNA in the bible because the authors had no knowledge of it. Eating a piece of fruit does not alter your DNA just as eating a piece of meat or a cookie or a glass of wine does not. The "apple" mentioned in Genesis is just a literary device and a pretty weak one at that.

How did Cain"s wife come in the picture, if Cain and Abel where the only people on the planet from from their parents, Adam and Eve?

How do you know if you are being lured into a cult ?

If they promise you something?

It could be friendship , security, belonging, etc ?

Hi Beatrice When I consider what Gods word says about this man it is beyond remarkable , he knew the judean law inside out he was a pharisee of pharisee figure of speech the top in His class taught under Gamaliel this guy before born again green beret special forces working for the enemy out of ignorance but absolutely committed to God and His Word under the law. Imagine His mind hearing we no longer have to live by the law his mind was who the Hell do you think you are disobeying my God.

When Jesus Christ appeared to Him God knew there was no other way to convince this man also Jesus Christ never beat Him up instead Hey bub why are you doing this. The shock must have been beyond belief and the quilt I can't imagine, no wander he went into the desert after being born again to talk to God and say whats going on. like our change His also was not over night.

In Galatians 1:15-19 after 3 years he shows up to talk to the leaders in Jerusalem that had to blow there minds the change, then this guy starts witnessing to gentiles and fellowships with converted jews, how many do you think he fellowshipped with that he may have murdered family members. Talk about a spiritual leader, this guy was given all the needed information from Romans to Thessalonians on the operation of The Body of Christ in this the Age of Grace and how to walk in that as individuals. There will never be another Paul what an example to follow, what George Patton was in the Army, this man was for Gods Plan fearless and unstoppable. I've only scratched surface. God Bless

Doesn't the scripture says to us be perfect for I AM perfect? If God is perfect yet a jealous God, also vengeful & hates those who hate him yet shows mercy, shall we not be the same way? Also the scriptures shows us that God has killed whole nations of people. Is this character to be imitated in mankind? If not, why does God allow wars & causalities? The scripts says something of our selfishness. But isn't God a entity that will not share it's glory with another?

Don't worryyou still got it girl! You cheered me up.

I'm smiling, sittin in the sunshine with hot apple juice. Hmmm God is good and Jesus is wonderful

Is it the will of the God of Israel for people do do evil also? If not why does God allow it?

Brother David, you made a profound statement in your last sentence.

I do believe God's will, will come to pass absolutely but on his terms.

Is not what you said, exactly what this scripture says:

Philippians 2:13 For it is God which worketh in you both TO WILL and TO DO his good pleasure (or HIS WILL).

God grace us as we mature IN CHRIST, God bless you.

Today would be a good to view TWO PREACHERS on youtube. Disasters that have happened in just the past few months!

People from those countries send their cell phone videos in to T.P. Website.

Turkey and China are really being hit hard; Pakistan and Philippines even worse.

Cold weather is upon the USA between now and Thanksgiving. Get your Turkey along with Salt for walkways (if you live north and east). Don't forget the macaroni :D

Rick, I concur with you on this. I was just reading last night on the of free will vs. total depravity. It seems that the Early church taught that man has a free will either to choose to obey God or disobey, but the Gnostic sects taught that some man (and physical matter) was totally corrupted and unable to to choose obedience to God. This teaching of the Gnostics resurfaced in later centuries, especially after the Reformation, with Calvin and Luther teaching the total depravity of man and this teaching prevails in sects of Protestantism. It was interesting to read the quotes from Clement who was a partner of Paul, and Ignatius and Polycarp (who where disciples of John),support the teaching (Doctrine) of man's free will to obey or disobey, arguing in order for rewards or punishments to be just, there must be freedom to choose good and evil.

That said, we know that no man can be justified by works. God justifies the sinner through the righteousness of Jesus.

But in the here and now of day to day life, I believe mankind has a free will to obey or not, whether a believer or not. yet, our ability to willfully choose obedience has been corrupted by the power of sin, but not fully erased. Some will argue the other side of this doctrine. I am o.k. with that. Balancing the sovereignty of God with the mankind having free agency is a difficult topic to resolve with so many Scriptures that support either position. And thus is the crux of this matter, the Scripture, which is true and does not contradict itself, presents support for both, so I believe we need to not be absolutely dogmatic either way, but instead admit that some things remain in the counsels of God.