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WORD FOR TODAY “do you live in the darkness or the light?”: Isa 30:9 For this is a rebellious people, false sons, Sons who refuse to listen To the instruction of the LORD; Isa 30:10 Who say to the seers, "You must not see visions"; And to the prophets, "You must not prophesy to us what is right, Speak to us pleasant words, Prophesy illusions.
SPOKEN VERSE FOR TODAY: Pro 19:21 One can devise many plans in one's mind, but YEHOVAH’S will prevail.
“Faith comes by hearing” positive frequencies spoken out loud hourly.
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Some Christians seem to become aggressive when presenting their position. A good friend (Dr. Shawn) has named them “religious Rottweilers” with good reason. They do not display the humble humility nor the love we expect from someone representing our Creator. While I won’t try to guess why their attitude assumes that of arrogance, I will remind them of this passage from Solomon. Ecclesiastes 7:20, “Surely there is no righteous man on earth who does good and never sins.”
Question 20: Did Abraham see YHVH in one of the Three Men Who visited him?
Answer:
There is doubtless difficulty in reconciling the passage in Genesis 18 with the statement in John 1:18, that "No man hath seen YHVH at any time." Authorities regarded the Genesis passage as relating to one of the "theophanies" of the Old Testament; that is, a real appearance of YHVH to man. It is believed however, that these appearances were of Moshiach the Son, rather than YHVH the Father. The New Testament teaches that Moshiach existed co-eternally with the Father and it is not inconceivable that He would at times take the appearance of humanity when He wished specially to make Himself known to men. This explanation reconciles all these occurrences with the statement of John that no one has seen YHVH; that is, YHVH the Father. Moshiach is the Personal manifestation of YHVH to man.
Question 19: What were the meaning and result of Abraham’s sacrifice:
Answer:
The story of Abraham will ever be an important one and particularly that part of it dealing with the memorable doings at the place he named "YHVH Yireh," where, as related in Genesis 22, he showed his wonderful obedience to YHVH. Whatever may be conjectured to the contrary, the record in Genesis is clear and unmistakable. It was a test of Abraham's faith in YHVH. Some critics want to know why, if YHVH is all knowing, he should have said to Abraham: "For now I know that thou fearest YHVH" (Genesis 22:12). The problem of foreknowledge is an extremely difficult one and discussion about it is usually fruitless. YHVH in this case speaks of the test of Abraham as though it had been an experiment. He proved him and found him firm in faith and perfect in obedience. It was in obedience to the Elohiym's command that he stood ready to offer up his son Isaac and not because he himself had chosen such a sacrifice, in order to be like his idolatrous neighbours, who offered up their children to Molech. Genesis 22:2 dismisses this latter suggestion altogether. The immediate effect of Abraham's successful test was the great blessing which YHVH bestowed on him (verse 16), which, together with YHVH's covenant, made Abraham the most important Biblical character and his name better known than that of any other human being on earth. All the promises to Abraham have been fulfilled, except the return of his descendants to the Promised Land. His seed is past all reckoning. Not only have all the Jews been his offspring, but believers as well are in a sense his spiritual children. Their faith in Moshiach brings them into his family and makes them heirs of the promises made to him. The land of Canaan was promised to his seed forever. Since they are not in possession of it now, we must believe they will return, as many other prophecies also declare. The promise was however, not made to Abraham alone, but to him and his seed, which includes Moshiach -- to the literal Israel and also to the spiritual Israel. The complete fulfilment of the covenant awaited the coming of Moshiach, "the seed," concerning whom it was made. See Galatians 3:16.
Question 18: Was John the only writer of Revelation?
Answer:
This question has been long disputed by scholars. Dionysius, in A. D. 240, was one of the earliest to express a doubt. It was attributed to John Mark, the companion of Paul and Barnabas and the author of the Gospel of Mark; to John the Presbyter, to Cerinthus and others. The majority of German scholars agree with Luther in denying that Revelation was written by the apostle. On the other hand, there is internal evidence of John's authorship. His description of himself is in the manner of John. The apostle was the only man of prominence of that name who was banished to Patmos. The addresses to the seven churches of Asia show knowledge of them consistent with the fact that the apostle was their overseer. On the whole therefore, there seems good reason to believe that it was written by the Apostle John. The differences in the style of the Gospel and the Revelation, which are very marked, doubtless first gave rise to the doubt of the apostolic authorship. These are accounted for by the age of the author and by his perturbation of mind under the excitement of the visions.
Question 17: What are the famous songs of the Bible?
Answer:
The great songs of the Old Testament, besides the Psalms and certain metrical passages in Job, are: Lamech's Sword Song -- Genesis 4:23, 24; Noah's Song – Genesis 9:25-27; Moses' and Miriam's Song -- Exodus 15:1-19,21; War Songs, etc., -- Numbers 21:14, 15, 17, 18, 27-30; Moses' Prophetic Song -- Deuteronomy 32:1-43; Song of Deborah and Barak -- Judges 5:2-21; Samson's Riddle Song -- Judges 15:16; Hannah's Magnification -- 1 Samuel 2:1-10; David's Song of the Bow -- 2 Samuel 1:19-27; David's Song over Abner -- 2 Sam. 3:33, 34; David's Thanksgiving -- 1 Chronicles 16:8-36; Hezekiah's Song -- Isaiah 38:10-20; Jonah's Prayer Song -- Jonah 2:2-9; 26; Habakkuk's Prayer Song -- Habakkuk 3:2-19; and the four original songs in the New Testament -- Luke 1:46-55; Luke 1:68-80; Luke 2:14; Luke 2:20-33.
Frequently asked questions and answers:
Question 16: What are the omitted Books of the Bible?
Answer:
The excluded books are known as "Apocrypha," and are as follows: 1 Esdras, 2 Esdras, Tobit, Judith, several chapters of Esther which are found neither in the Hebrew nor the Chaldean, The Wisdom of Solomon, The Wisdom of Joshua, son of Sirach or Ecclesiasticus, Baruch, The Song of the Three Holy Children, The History of Susanna, The History of the Destruction of Bel and the Dragon, The Prayer of Manasseh, 1 Maccabees, 2 Maccabees. They were excluded by the early believers Church on the ground that they were of doubtful authority and not tending to spiritual edification. This decision has never been reversed, although in some periods of the Church's history a number of the apocryphal writings were published in smaller type after the regular books in the Bible. At one time the volume of apocryphal writings was even larger than the genuine but very many of them, being rejected, quickly perished.