I command you to heed Levi because he will know the law of the Lord… -Reuben #twelvepatriarchs
This echoes Yeshua's admonition to heed the Scribes and Pharisees *so long as they are teaching the Law of Moses*, not man-made traditions that are contrary to the Law.
The woman called magicians and gave him potions but Joseph's determination admitted no evil desire. -Reuben #twelvepatriarchs
Temptation needs a lever to be effective against you. When you know that, you can build countermeasures ahead of time.
https://firstcenturychristiani....ty.net/the-greatest-
Often we may not look at what is required to believe in something. Usually it is not due to malice or negligence, but rather our finite logical processes. There a few “theories” we often look at and accept at face value without really looking at the supporting evidence, or rather, the opposing facts.
The big bang theory, for example requires a lot of faith as well as disregard for scientific principles. Either one must believe in the eternity of the universe (which opens up another can of worms) or one must believe in a beginning, a creation. If one believes in a creation, and also wishes to disbelieve in something outside of the universe creating it, then it must create itself, which is of course ludicrous for multiple reasons. We know matter and energy, inside of the universe, and according to the laws the universe operates on, namely the laws of thermodynamics, cannot be created or destroyed. Therefore you must either envision that nothing had the power to temporarily disregard the laws of existence to create itself from nothing, and organize itself into more complicated forms (ignoring another law of thermodynamics), or, that something else did (or that it happened in another way). And for some reason when that nothing exploded, it also ignored the conservation of angular momentum, despite the explosion of nothing happening in a supposedly scientific way.
Evolution being another example. Assuming the big bang is indeed true, and the second law of thermodynamics continues to abate for evolution to occur, you have the issue with at minimum forward eternity (and possibly backward eternity, if indeed there is no beginning of the universe, above). If with enough “rolls of the dice” planets and suns can come from explosions, life from unlife, complex from simple, etc. then eventually more advanced lifeforms, including quite advanced beings, become not just possible, but inevitable. Evolution uses the existence of such things we can observe as “proof.” If evolution is indeed true, God becomes inevitable, mathematically speaking. Unless of course there is a beginning and an end, and thus a finite number of “rolls.” Which of course begs the question, what would exist before and after (I.e. who or what created the finite universe and timeline?). So according to evolution and the big bang, God will eventually exist assuming He does not already. Or, if the universe goes back indefinitely, and an infinite number of rolls of the dice have already occurred, then God already exists. If God is infinite, has He not always existed? Perhaps more importantly, since we know He must exist mathematically speaking, is it so far fetched to think a being might exist outside of our understanding or outside of the laws that were apparently broken in order to create the existence we now observe? A computer programmer existing outside of the computer, yet still interacting with the program (to greatly oversimplify).
And yet, evolution and the big bang are oft postulated as proof that God does not exist, despite pointing toward a mathematical certainty to the contrary. That level of faith would be admirable, were it not so contradictory.
A pit unto the soul is the sin of fornication…deceiving the mind and leading men into Hades. -Reuben #twelvepatriarchs
10 Virgins (Matthew 25:1–13)
I have been thinking for a number of years about what the "oil" in the parable could relate to. This morning I woke up with what I hope could be the meaning.
Psalm 119:105 says: "___ is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path"?
Please complete the poll below before reading on...
If ___ is the light to my path then the oil must represent whatever is causing ___ to "provide the light".
Proverbs 6:23 offers a companion thought: “For this command is a lamp, this teaching is a light, and correction and instruction are the way to life.”
If the answer is "Your word" then the oil can only represent (well, in my view at least) the reading/intake of the Word. That is why the 5 virgins tell the other 5 to go and get more oil. It took them time to go and get more understanding from the merchants and when they returned it was too late as the door was locked.
If a person could go to a merchant to get more of the Holy Spirit then I would spend all my life's earning to buy more, but that is not possible. I therefore do not believe it is the Holy Spirit. What we can do however is spend more time in His Word as it gives light to our path. We can actually pay to learn more...
When Yeshua returns and a person hasn't read the Word, how could you know that it is truly Him? You would have to go and study the Bible to see what the signs would be.
BUT if you are one of the wise virgins who have studied the Word and fell asleep while waiting on His return then you will have the "reservoir" of Scripture in you to continue to the wedding supper as you will know the signs and times. You won't have to first go and get more knowledge.
Does that make sense or am I missing the plot here? What are your thoughts on this?
Rhy Bezuidenhout
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