Bible Discussion Replies PAGE 1979

Rod I apologize for not responding sooner. Thank you for your kindness to reply. I have been put on trial by some comments about my relationship with God on a personal level and was thinking that i do not have anything to contribute to this site. I am very guilty of having an unchangeable heart.

I see so many answers to questions that i believe are unable to be answered by anyone when it comes to the way to salvation. So i just wanted to share my love for God. as unworthy as I have been to receive such an overwhelming personal experience with God, who is my Heavenly Father. Thank you so much and i hope that my testimony brings you comfort that God is truly within those who search for him. Thank you for your reply.

Common Hebrew understanding of the heavens. The heavens in the Old Testament are fairly earth centered, much in the same way we look at the universe.

The first heaven is the earth atmosphere. In this atmosphere, birds fly and clouds form. This heaven is spoken of often in the Old Testament. "The Lord will open the heavens, the storehouse of his bounty, to send rain on your land in season and to bless all the work of your hands" ( Deuteronomy 28:12).

The second heaven the Hebrews described consisted of the universe as we know it. This heaven consisted of sun, moon, and stars. "In the heavens he has pitched a tent for the sun . . . It rises at one end of the heavens and makes its circuit to the other . . . " ( Psalm 19:4,6).

The third heaven is the dwelling place of God. This was the experience Paul described. "In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven" ( Matthew 5:16). God dwells in the highest heaven, "But will God really dwell on earth? The heavens, even the highest heavens cannot contain you" ( 1 Kings 8:27)

That's not a question that one could easily answer as all judgement is executed by our great Judge only. And then again, how do you understand a 'backslider'? Is he/she given over to some repetitive sin(s), is now coming to the Lord for forgiveness, but still finds it hard to give up that sin? Or to the other extreme, has that person gone totally into a sinful lifestyle, has no remorse & in many ways, rejected God, & Christ's offer? So, what I'm saying here, has the 'backslider' ever 'slid forward' in the first place? Has he or she, ever been born again by God's Spirit? How these questions are answered may give you a clue as to the state of that soul, & yet there remains a place of repentance which the Lord offers to all in sin.

Raymond W.Smith,

The ancient practice was to hang your enemies in a public display, as was the case in 1Samuel 31, where Saul and his sons were displayed on the city walls. When John Milius wrote Apocalypse Now, his mad Colonel Kurtz character employed the same tactic in the Vietnam era to create fear in his enemies.

I found the explanation by SkipVought to be thoroughly entertaining and I will never forget it. However I might want to investigate it further, I doubt I will ever find the sages and commentators, no doubt the Kabbalistic sort, on line to see for myself the veracity of such a tale of divine justice. You will note that where Skip left Agag alive, a few verses later Samuel hacks him to death, 1 Samuel 31. The label of Haman as an "Agagite" is more of an ethnic connection to Agag, rather than a bloodline, but I wouldn't lose any sleep over it if he was.:)

Kratom has many uses, such as treating wounds, but as with a lot of things can also be abused or used in the wrong manner. Using a plant that God created for medicinal purposes is one thing. Using that plant to obtain a "high" or the opioid effect is another. There are serious side effects that come with high doses of kratom and especially with long term use. Dependency or addiction may be hard to overcome. The best thing you can do is stop as soon as possible. Change your lifestyle. If you are born again you are repenting of your sins and stumbling blocks. Time to overcome. The feeling of God's presence in your life feels far greater than any high that can be purchased. You can do this!

Cigarettes, will kill you. Point blank. Use patches to ween your body from the nicotine addiction. Chew gum or use suckers.

"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."

Pray for the strength to quit and for the strength to overcome the urge or temptation to use again.

Anytime you feel the urge open your Bible or pray.

You have the will power.

Hi Emma.

1 Corinthians 10:1-2 (KJV) Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea;

And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea;

I think if we also take Hebrews 11:29 and connect the story to these 2 passages it may shed some light on your questions.

Hebrews 11:29. By faith they passed through the Red sea as by dry land: which the Egyptians assaying to do were drowned.

When Water Baptism is taken place we're professing being Identified with the death and resurrection of Christ and Baptized here in 1 Corinthians 10-2 is used the same way, The children of Israel is Identified with Moses when they crossed the red sea. "By faith they passed through the Red sea" By who's faith? their owns? NO "They crossed over by Moses faith " They was Identified with him. When we read the story we see they were scared, They wanted to go back to Egypt.

They water had nothing to do with it, they went over on dry ground. Thank you,

god's message to me

Can a backslider still make heaven?

Here's more to like Iko.

2 Samuel 22:1-3 (KJV) And David spake unto the LORD the words of this song in the day that the LORD had delivered him out of the hand of all his enemies, and out of the hand of Saul:

And he said, The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer;

The God of my rock; in him will I trust: he is my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower, and my refuge, my saviour; thou savest me from violence.

Are there any quotes in the New testament you like as well?

Hello Terri,

Someone the other day asked the question of "how do I know if I have the Holy Ghost". Receiving two great replies from two wonderful brothers here. Here is the link for you to read them: Link

Hope that helps. God Bless.

Hi Rusty,

My condolence goes out to you, your wife and the family, We will keep them in our prayers. God bless you

Hi, Raymond,

This is a fantastically interesting question.

About 5 centuries earlier, in the days of King Saul, in 1 Samuel 15, the prophet, Samuel, instructed King Saul to attack Israel's mortal enemy, Amalek, and "smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass." But King Saul did not obey the instruction from God, and allowed King Agag to live.

Esther, Hadassah, her Jewish name, is elevated to be the Queen of a Gentile nation, Persia and Media, and no one but her uncle knew her Jewish ethnicity. Her life crosses paths with a rabid Jew hater, Haman the Agagite. Is he a descendant of King Agag, the Amalekite?

In Esther, she asks The King "If it please the king, let it be granted to the Jews which are in Shushan to do to morrow also according unto this day's decree, and let Haman's ten sons be hanged upon the gallows." Est 9:13

As stated by Dr. Moshe Katz of the Hebrew University,

"The ten sons of Haman had already been killed, why bother to hang them? In the writings of the Sages and the commentators, we find several ideas that could clarify this: On the word 'tomorrow,' in Esther's request, the Sages comment: 'There is a tomorrow that is now, and a tomorrow which is later.' In other words, Esther was asking that the hanging of Haman's ten sons not remain an isolated episode in history, but should recur in the future, as well."

In effect, Esther was asking King Ahasuarus to hang the ten sons of Haman on the tomorrow that is now and the King of the Universe to hand the ten sons of Haman on the tomorrow which is later.

When ancient scribes wrote the names of Haman's sons, 3 Hebrew characters were smaller and 1 was larger. The number that these 4 character represent is 5707, as a Hebrew year, equates to 1946, the year of the Nuremberg executions, where 10 Germans, guilty of crimes against humanity were hanged. Was this the "tomorrow which is later?"

What will you have with you always? It is in Proverbs I think

who was the people that rose when Jesus open the grave

Ok, I read too quickly and understand you want just old testament:

Hosea 6:2

I am very familiar with the list of sins as declared in Romans chapter 1 & have never denied the severity of them & that judgement is certain on all who are given to any type of sin.

The problem I have with your understanding, as others here do, is the manner in which you force Scripture to mean what it is never intended to mean. A good example is in what you have just written about Romans 1: "those in S&G have changed into images like animals, birds, creeping things and vipers you do not believe that scripture also stated in Romans 1".

So, you believe that those in Sodom have actually changed into those images, or at least, that's how God sees them (& us). Whereas what does the verse say? Verse 23: "And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God INTO AN IMAGE made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things." How does changing the Glory of God (i.e. His Image) into the likeness of animals (i.e. into an idol), suddenly become "that we have become into images like animals, birds, etc."?

So, my perception is still correct: you have developed in your mind that the severity of sin, especially unnatural sex/fornication is the root cause for all sin to emanate from, that everything you see in Scripture points to & supports your belief - even if it means a total denial of the natural understanding of the Scripture. At least on this website, you won't find support, as there will always be someone to withstand such a skewed understanding - though I don't know what effect this type of teaching has on those who might visit your website or read your books. I won't even begin to comment on the rest of your discussion here, when even the basic principles of comprehension are not adhered to. Thank you for your time.

Hi Michael.

I suppose I Would get an interpret who speaks Greek, ""since Greek is not considered an unknown tongue to a Greek. And the interpreter wouldn't have to have the holyspirit to relay the msg.

Or I would go online and use a translator.

However this couldn't be done in those days during Pentecost God did something special for the lost sheep of Israel who had been scattered and picked up other languages. Acts 2:4-11. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with ""other tongues"", as the Spirit gave them utterance.

And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven.

Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language.

And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galilaeans?

"" Notice this next verse, the emphasis here is not on the speaking, it's on the hearing""" The gift to interpret.

((And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born?))

Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judaea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia,

Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes,

Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God.

Michael today the Gospel is being taken to the world mostly by radio and some in person, Not in unknown tongues but in other tongues. ""Not by force, but in Charity. ( Love ).

John 13:34-35. A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.

By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.

Covet the best Gift. ( Love) God bless.

Adam, none of the New Testament had been written when this creed was first spoken, just a short time after The Resurrection. The only "Scriptures" they had would have would have been the writings that we know as The Old Testament.

Yes brother Ezekiel, if you click Reply on the person's comment that you want to respond to, they should get an alert in their email that you responded. But I think that sometimes the alert isn't sent, as I don't always get the alerts. Anyway, I always peruse all the comments for the day, so I will see them anyway & try to respond if I feel led to.

My understanding of 1 Corinthians 7:26-31, is basically Paul telling the Corinthians that, because of their present distress, they should re-focus their lives & their thoughts on things that pertain to dealing with the sufferings & maybe persecutions. That they shouldn't be consumed with the affairs of this life, whether to marry or not, or engaging in other worldly needs or pursuits. Rather they should attend to the things that would help them deal with & go through the sufferings that they face.

My thoughts turned to some of the very poor Christians in Pakistan, where I ministered for a short while. They had very little as many of the others who lived in villages had. But because they were Christians, the govt. denied them electricity, a water supply, & access to any services that would normally be available to Muslims. How did they cope? Their life was more difficult: they had to use lanterns for light or depend on a full moon to show them where to walk; they had to go a long distance to pump up water from the ground or well; & they had to make do with very little. So, they had to accept this & had to live accordingly without complaining. I then see the 1 Corinthians passage as applicable to them: they had to devote their time & energies in just surviving & encouraging each other in the faith, that to be involved in anything else seemed secondary & almost unimportant. So marriages still took place, but they weren't consumed over the matter as others; those that sorrowed or in joy, attended first to what was more important; etc. They had to look past their problems & look to the Lord, to each other & to eternity.

1 Corinthians 15:4

Acts 10:40

Luke 24:7

Luke 18:33

Matthew 20:19

Matthew 17:23

Luke 24:46

Luke 24:21

This is only a few of the instances. Is someone doubting that Jesus was risen on the third day or something? The Bible says it all over the place, so if someone is trying to claim otherwise, they have a whole mountain of scripture against them.

My wife, Patsy and her sister, Teresa, lost their only brother Tuesday and they can use some prayers.

Thank you:

Rusty Essary

It is the case.

it is about the portion of the tmh, his inheritance is his people first.

the nations will be judged for it!!

deut 30

Everyone be good for the bible cuz it is good for us i maen for it is god word

1CORINTHIANS 14 V 2 ..

For he that speaketh in and unknown tongue speaketh not unto men, but unto God: for no man understandeth him: howebeit in the sprirt he speaketh mysteries

I do not understand how Haman's sons could be killed and then hanged. Can anyone help me understand? I refer to Chapter 9 of Esther.

Yes, Richard

And Jesus said, "For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth." Mat 12:40

Hello Spencer

You have gone to great lengths to explain why you do not have to speak in tongues

imagine this you speak in english and you go to greece and they say you have to speak in greek

what do you say to the greeks...

Hi everyone ,i havent been posting on here for long but ive been reading the comments on here for quite a while now ,i have asked some questions that no one has tried to answer ,im not sure why not ,do some people think that im deliberately asking contentious questions in order to be a pain ? Are some people nervous to answer because they worry their answer is wrong or that they will offend me ? I ask questions because i like my brain to be provoked , im genuinely interested in what people think and believe ,not just one person ,i would like lots of different anwers from different people ,i may not agree with your answer but it may provoke my brain into thinking differently or looking something up that i hadnt thought of before ,this helps me to learn ! I want to be provoked into working harder and reading my Bible and seeing things that i hadnt noticed before ,as long as we are always polite to each other its not a problem to dissagree if when we dissagree we help each other to grow in understanding and patience with each other .

Oops. Not Jonah 2:20, Jonah 2:10.

Michael R Dorsey ,i always thought of the two witness' as the law and the prophets which are represented by moses ,the law ,and elijah the prophets ,same as in the transfiguration but you could of course be correct ,excellent thought provoking post from you thankyou .