Understanding the Bible - discover the meaning of Scripture
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- Written by: Sebastian
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God's will - how to interpret God's response to our request
Do animals pray? They don't. And it's exactly the same zero effect that prayers asking for advice have when we assume in advance that we won't even do God's will when it conflicts with our own.
Many of us, when we have a problem or make an important decision in life, ask God in prayer for an answer on how to proceed. Once we get that answer, what do we mostly do? We don't follow God's will, but man's. If the answer doesn't satisfy us, we recognize that we misinterpreted the situation, that it probably wasn't the answer, and we ask again. We keep asking until we get the answer we expect, that is, the one that suits us. Is this the correct interpretation? Definitely not. Many such cases are also described in Scripture. Here are some of them:
Read more: God's will - how to interpret - a question to God and His answer
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- Written by: Sebastian
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The 2nd commandment vs. the 11th commandment
The second commandment (called the eleventh by many), you will find in Exodus 20.4-6 and Deuteronomy 5.8-10 and it reads:
King James Version
Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; And showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.
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Hezekiah' pride
Isaiah 39: "(1) At that time Merodachbaladan, the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present to Hezekiah: for he had heard that he had been sick, and was recovered. (2) And Hezekiah was glad of them, and shewed them the house of his precious things, the silver, and the gold, and the spices, and the precious ointment, and all the house of his armour, and all that was found in his treasures: there was nothing in his house, nor in all his dominion, that Hezekiah shewed them not. (3) Then came Isaiah the prophet unto king Hezekiah, and said unto him, What said these men? and from whence came they unto thee? And Hezekiah said, They are come from a far country unto me, even from Babylon. (4) Then said he, What have they seen in thine house? And Hezekiah answered, All that is in mine house have they seen: there is nothing among my treasures that I have not shewed them.
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Does a person have influence over his life
Many people wonder if they have influence over their lives, since the Bible says that all our deeds have already been written in a book, e.g: Psalm 139.16 "Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them."
So why should we toil and act morally when everything has already been predicted, and our fate is already known anyway? One might say, "what is to be, will be". Nothing could be further from the truth.
Just because God knows our future doesn't mean you know it. So why would Jesus come to earth? Let the fact that the Savior, prayed for us, suffered so that we could be saved, talked to people and tried to guide them to the right path, be eternal proof that we are the ones who influence our lives, otherwise prayers with requests would be foolishness or a waste of time, which is what Jesus taught.
Read more: What is to be will be - do we have an impact on our lives
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Stress-free child rearing in Scripture
The children referred to in the article do not refer to toddlers who do not distinguish between right and wrong, but to children and teenagers who are aware that they are doing wrong.
Is stress-free parenting a good thing? What does Scripture say about corporal punishment of children? The answer may seem surprising to some, but the Bible has nothing against the use of corporal punishment for sons. This is evidenced, among other things, by the words:
Proverbs 3.12 "For whom the LORD loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth."
Proverbs 13.1 "A wise son heareth his father's instruction: but a scorner heareth not rebuke."
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Love for neighbor based on Psalm 37
Reading Psalm 37 in the Old Testament, we will come across texts that talk about how we should deal with an evil neighbor. The Psalm is very interesting and I encourage you to read it, we will learn there, among other things, about how the evil ones end up, how we should treat them and what awaits us after death.
Already in the first and second verses of Psalm 37 we read: "Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity. For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb." How hard is it to give way to this doctrine, how many times a month do you give vent to your anger, and over small things?
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What Scripture says about vegetarianism. Does God allow you to eat meat
When Adam and Eve lived in the Garden of Eden, only plants served them as food, and more importantly, the same was true for animals that ate plant food. There was no sin yet, so there was no death either, and since there was no death then you couldn't eat meat either, because it was obvious that it came from dead animals.
Genesis 1.28-30 "And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat. And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so."
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Biblical Decalogue
differences in translations
The 10 commandments of God called the Decalogue contained in the Old Testament are different from those known to most of the public. To make matters worse, during a conversation in which they are quoted the Biblical Decalogue, they find that the given translation of Scripture is false, because they have not heard of such commandments. Sad, but true. Most of us, know the 10 commandments preached by the Roman Catholic Church, which do not coincide with the biblical ones. Why is that?
The Roman Catholic Church has slightly changed the content of God's commandments, it is believed that it has removed one of them, so that the last commandment about lust is divided into two parts.
It is also worth mentioning that it is conventionally accepted to divide the 10 commandments, with some seeing it as 8 (combining the first, second and third biblical into one), 9 (combining the first and second biblical into one) or even 11 (dividing the tenth biblical into two parts).
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- Written by: Sebastian
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Nehemiah prays to God
beautiful example of prayer
Prayer to God is something wonderful, we can send our thanks and requests directly to the Creator. We don't need any human intermediary or angel for this. Every loving Father wants to talk to his children, and so does God want us to talk to him. The Bible contains a multitude of prayers addressed to God and not a single one addressed to God through a human intermediary, including a dead person. An interesting prayer can be found in the Book of Nehemiah:
Nehemiah 1.4-11 "And it came to pass, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned certain days, and fasted, and prayed before the God of heaven, [5] And said, I beseech thee, O LORD God of heaven, the great and terrible God, that keepeth covenant and mercy for them that love him and observe his commandments: [6] Let thine ear now be attentive, and thine eyes open, that thou mayest hear the prayer of thy servant, which I pray before thee now, day and night, for the children of Israel thy servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel, which we have sinned against thee: both I and my father's house have sinned.
Read more: An example of a prayer to God uttered by Nehemiah
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How to interpret the words
Truly I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise
Luke 23.43 "And He said to him, Truly I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise." NASB
Luke 23.43 " "And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise." KJV
Because of the above sentence, there are different opinions in many churches. Two rather strongly differing interpretations have emerged. The first says that the thief was still in paradise with Jesus on the same day, while the second says that he was not, because the word "today" refers to the fact that Jesus singles out the day on which he utters the word. To me, such an interpretation is strange, to say the least, because it doesn't fit with the rest of Scripture. Who among us utters the words: "I say to you that today we will go for a walk together" having in mind that the walk will be on another day, and the word today is an indication of the day on which the sentence was spoken. As far as I'm concerned, it doesn't make sense.
Read more: Truly I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise
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Is praying to people right and in line with the teachings of Scripture?
Definitely NO. In the entire Bible you will not find a single sentence in which a servant of God prays to another person, including one who has already died. So why do Catholic churches so persistently urge people to pray to saints, the dead, the Pope, etc.?
Let's look at such a situation.
The Lord God rescues the Israelites and leads them out of Egypt. During their wandering, he speaks directly to Moses, who is later mentioned many times in Scripture as one of God's most faithful people. After Moses' death, the people continue to pray directly to God. The same situation is repeated with Joshua, Henoch, Isaiah, Jeremiah and others. All of these people, can be role models for us, they are so close to God, and yet no one prayed to them.
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Did demons appear in the Old Testament
Of course they do, we find them in the poems:
Leviticus 17.7 "And they shall no more offer their sacrifices unto devils, after whom they have gone a whoring. This shall be a statute for ever unto them throughout their generations."
Deuteronomy 32.17 "They sacrificed unto devils, not to God; to gods whom they knew not, to new gods that came newly up, whom your fathers feared not."
Psalms 106.36-38 "And they served their idols: which were a snare unto them. Yea, they sacrificed their sons and their daughters unto devils, And shed innocent blood, even the blood of their sons and of their daughters, whom they sacrificed unto the idols of Canaan: and the land was polluted with blood."
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What the Bible says about vows and oaths
Nowadays, the expression "I swear by God" has become quite widely used. It is uttered by young and old alike, even not always in topics related to faith. Because of overuse, the holiness of the Lord is disregarded. What the Scriptures say about swearing by God.
Leviticus 19.12 "And ye shall not swear by my name falsely, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I am the LORD."
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Isaiah 25.6
How to understand words, fatty food and wine
There are many texts in Scripture that, when read literally, will give a false picture of God. In this article we will deal with Isaiah, chapter 25, verse 6.
King James Version (KJV) "And in this mountain shall the Lord of hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined."
New International Version (NIV) Isaih 25.6 "On this mountain the Lord Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food for all peoples, a banquet of aged wine-the best of meats and the finest of wines."
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Hope. God forgives our sins
God gives us a guarantee of forgiveness of sins and eternal life if our sinful lives improve. Among other things, the Old Testament speaks of this:
Ezekiel 18.21-32 "[21] But if the wicked will turn from all his sins that he hath committed, and keep all my statutes, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live, he shall not die. [22] All his transgressions that he hath committed, they shall not be mentioned unto him: in his righteousness that he hath done he shall live. [23] Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? saith the Lord GOD: and not that he should return from his ways, and live?
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What the Bible says about divination and witchcraft
Calling up spirits, séances in which we supposedly see the spirit of a dead person, divination, tarot, etc. satanic practices were definitely forbidden in the Holy Scriptures. God Himself, while leading the Israelites in the desert, gave them a prohibition against using such "services," knowing what it would lead to. People who disregarded God's decree were to be punished with death, God was very concerned that people should not have to deal with such practices. Let the following quotes serve as proof:
Exodus 22.18 "Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live."
Read more: Divination, witchcraft what Scripture says about it
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What the Bible says about tithing
Everything we have comes from God. We also live by His grace:
Psalm 24.1 "The earth is the LORD'S, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein."
Psalm 50.1,10-12 "The mighty God, even the LORD, hath spoken, and called the earth from the rising of the sun unto the going down thereof.", "For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills. I know all the fowls of the mountains: and the wild beasts of the field are mine. If I were hungry, I would not tell thee: for the world is mine, and the fulness thereof."
Read more: Tithing in the Bible. Is it still relevant today.
