Bible Discussion Replies PAGE 331

is cremation acceptable to God?

Good morning Chris,

I hope this Lord's Day finds you well. I appreciate your responses. I am not trying to evade answering your questions and will try address the two passages you reference as best I can in a separate post. But I will say upfront that I do not understand everything that God is teaching in either of these passages.

I do believe that the 1 Kings 18 passage you reference is an absolutely accurate account of the historical events that took place at that time. I also believe that God is teaching some moral and spiritual lessons that are directly evident from the historical event itself. But I am also certain that God has chosen to include this event in the Bible and has chosen precise words and phrases teaching some aspect of the Gospel, i.e. something about God's Judgment and Salvation Program. The latter is more difficult to understand and is where "comparing scripture with scripture" is essential in coming to truth because there is only one True Gospel and what ever conclusions we come to must agree with everything else that Bible has to say about the Gospel.

As far as Revelation 20 is concerned, that is much more difficult on all levels. The Book of Revelation is replete with types and figures and also is not necessarily chronological as we go from passage to passage. Not every passage is describing an event LITERALLY as it will occur. For example, we read of Christ coming on a white horse with a sword protruding from His mouth. Christ will not be returning on a literal white horse which I believe represents to power and purity of Christ Himself, and the sword is a reference to the Word of God which IS Christ Himself.

But I would like to turn the tables on you a bit, if I may, by asking you to describe the "Hermeneutic" that you believe we should be using as we interpret the Bible, along with some scriptures that address that view. I have tried to do exactly that for the Hermeneutic that I believe the Bible teaches in my previous posts.

Hello, Eyobed. I saw where you inquired which verse in John 11 is the one disputed over. I believe it could be the shortest verse in scripture or verse 35, "Jesus wept.". There has been some deliberation over time as to why He wept. Hope that answers your question. Have a good day and keep in the Word!

When he said I'll let you see my back parts, some of us need to see God back parts, I see God back parts sick laying in the hospital bed, the miracle that he working with my life right now, thank you God for letting me see your back parts, and know that your Holy Spirit is with me! I'm going to rest in You and trust you through it all in Jesus name, and it is so!

Hello Carol. I believe that Moses learned that he was a Hebrew, being born from among the Israelites. As you know, he was only a babe, found in the bulrushes by Pharaoh's daughter, but was then, by the guidance of God, loaned back to his (Moses') mother to care for him. Then in Exodus 2:10 we read, "And the child grew, and she (Moses' Mother) brought him unto Pharaoh's daughter, and he became her son. And she called his name Moses: and she said, Because I drew him out of the water."

So the babe Moses was weaned by his natural Mother, who, like her husband, were from the tribe of Levi. As Moses came to an age when he was old enough for solid food (approx 6 months of age, or his Mother might have kept him for as long as she could, as a Mother would with her precious son), she might have whispered to him in simple terms of who he was & to whom he belonged. And as he grew in Pharoah's household, he would have learned further of his background & events leading to his position in the Egyptian royal family. But when Moses saw an Egyptian striking a Hebrew man, he automatically took the Hebrew's side. This shows how Moses still held onto his strong connection to God's people & resisted his Egyptian ties & religion.

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d. the revelation of the anti-Christ is restrained ( 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12). Paul's reason for writing this was because the Church was greatly troubled that the Day of the Lord (Christ) had begun. Paul said that that day wouldn't commence until Jesus came for them & raptured them ("our gathering together unto him": v1). The 'restrainer' is the Holy Spirit in God's people, then when He is removed, God's people are removed, for the Holy Spirit was sent to indwell us & work in & through us & for the Gospel's propagation ( John 16:7,8,13).

e. a comparison between an imminent Rapture & Rapture at the Second Coming:

1. Translation of all believers ( 1 Thessalonians 4:15-18) --- No translation at all ( Revelation 19:6-21).

2. Raptured saints return to Heaven ( 1 Thessalonians 4:17; John 14:1-3) --- Raptured saints return to Earth ( 1 Thessalonians 3:13; Revelation 19:14).

3. Any moment, in readiness, without signs ( 1 Corinthians 1:7; Philippians 4:5; 1 Thessalonians 1:10; 1 Thessalonians 5:6; Titus 2:13; James 5:7-9; Revelation 3:11, 22:7,12,20) --- many signs given of the Great Tribulation which leads into Jesus' coming (so a readiness cannot be expected, as the seven year's count down begins with the anti-Christ).

A Pre-Tribulation Rapture position keeps the Church ready & watching for her Lord's Coming. Any other position can give her the tendency to apathy & carelessness. The Church is told to be watchful, in spite of ridicule, "where is the promise of his coming" ( 2 Peter 3:4). But Christ's coming is held back until the full number are saved (v9) - and then Jesus will come to take His Church Home.

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Yes Jimbob, I would be happy to & will try to be succinct. Though I should mention that the meaning of the Great Tribulation, or Day of the Lord, needs to be clarified first. I understand, as you do, that the time of the outpouring of God's Wrath upon the World can be understood as the Great Tribulation, but I see the final week (7 years) of Daniel's seventy weeks, 490 years: Daniel 9:24-27, as the final seven years - years that will change the World's existence & future forever. And by the way, you believe in a post-trib rapture & I understand that as being before God's Wrath poured out. I view this position to be one of mid-trib for the reason I've shared above, but that's not the point here.

Now my Scriptures for a pre-trib (or, pre-Day of the Lord) rapture:

a. the Church is a mystery ( Ephesians 1:1-13), by which believing Jew & Gentile are united into one Body ( Ephesians 2:11-22). Therefore, the Church's translation is not mentioned in the OT that deals with Christ's Second Coming after the Tribulation, & why the Church is promised deliverance before the time of God's Wrath ( 1 Thessalonians 1:9,10; 1 Thessalonians 5:9; Revelation 3:10).

b. the 70th week in Daniel, is the preparation of Israel's restoration & regeneration ( Deuteronomy 4:29-30; Jeremiah 30:4-11; Ezekiel 20:22-44; Ezekiel 22:13-22).

c. the Tribulation (including anti-Christ's reign) is not for the Church, but for those who are in the world ( Revelation 3:10; 8:13; 11:10; 13:8,12,14; 17:2,8). The Church is never seen here & will not participate in Israel's time of trouble.

Ok David0920, to take up the example of "God speaking about fire". Agreed, when God speaks of fire it inevitably applies to some sort of judgement from Him or a purifying work.

The point then, from your understanding, when 'Fire' is mentioned in Revelation 20:14,15, how do you interpret it? Is it a Fire of Judgement, or a Fire of eternal torment, or a Fire for all who've not obeyed God in faith and will be purified to be made acceptable & be saved, or only a spiritual Fire (i.e. not a literal Fire, therefore not an eternal one)? Sorry to put it to you in this way - I'm trying to establish what you mean by 'comparing Scripture with Scripture', because there are various interpretation methods used & many of them inconsistent with correct biblical hermeneutics, as you might have seen here, which has prompted you to raise this important matter.

And by this I mean, Fire is certainly shown in various portions of the Bible, but the word Fire can only be understood by the context it is found in (e.g. the fire that consumed bullock sacrifice in 1 Kings 18:19-40, is it the same fire in Revelation 20:14,15?). It may have exuded the same heat & power, but can we correlate it with anything other than the fire from God for the purpose of incinerating the sacrifice & nothing else? In such an example, we cannot make the two Scriptures fit together, though 'Fire' being the common word, nor can we force the meaning of other words to mean (or, apply) to other situations when the context is not the same.

Did Moses always know he was Hebrew?

When did he find out?

Dear Monica, I will pray for your upcoming surgery. Is it for your arm?

Marc, thank you for the update on your Mom,

I will continue to pray for her.

With havin so much content do you ever run into any problems of plagorism or

copyright infringement? My website has a lot of unique content I've either written myself or outsourced but it

looks like a lot of it is popping it up all over the web without my

permission. Do you know any ways to help protect against content from being ripped off?

I'd certainly appreciate it. vacation on gozo

Chris I really do appreciate all of your reply's to this post. I would like to ask you one more thing if you don't mind. Will you please provide the (scriptures) that point you to believing the return of Jesus for His church is before the tribulation? I would like to see the scriptures that have your believing in the pre-tribulation rapture so strongly. Thank you Chris.

Book of Acts, on the day of Pentecost. Apostles doctrine through Jesus Christ with love.

really to interesting to read and more learn say the bible... blessing you!

Is there written in the holy bible about the end of days deception by aliens?

Praise God for your wonderful site. I read every day and am asking God for guidance and direction in my life.

"It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life."

"And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered him." Is it possible to fulfill all righteousness without baptism? How could we identify with Him, without it?

Even so while we live in the flesh , we are dead to sin through baptism, even so we are always susceptible to sin, as long as we are alive in this world!

Gods plan is and shall be for the world to come to the knowledge of the forgiveness of sin in Christ! As you have said with the new covenant , established with the Son before the creation.

Jesus said, this is the new covenant in my blood given and shed for the remission of sin. Our faith will determine the outcome of those who are around us, the church and those in it .

As you said, we are justified by THIS FAITH, and not by works. If our devotional attitude is toward anything else but the saving grace found IN Jesus Christ, than we are still in our sin and the truth is not in us.

Peter was a devout Jew. what happened with the sheet and the unclean animals would be the outcome from God towards all mankind. Like us ,We all need to open our hearts and mind to all men! Both Jew and gentiles!

i saw acloud in center of cloud a stone arch

two layers white moter joints door to arch was open below arch aroad comming toward ground stoping 20ft above ground was road with 2perfect curbs

Leviticus 20:13

"If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them."

Daniel's vision talked about christians suffer much.Tjid confirms my belief that there is no such thing as the pre rapture.Since always Those Rai ing alive,will be caught up to meet Christ in the clouds

Hello Good morning,

First of all. I will like to say a big thank you to everyone who took their time to set up this Bible reading , which I enjoyed every day. Besides, that I am indeed of a new Bible ,please, thank you.

May the Lord God bless you all in Jesus name.

Joy.

Hi DDGC. By definition, 'begotten', or 'beget', is similar to what the dictionary shows. But when used biblically, and I mean about Jesus (as in John 3:16,18; 1 John 4:9), it gives us the description as "ONLY begotten". And this is important, as in Greek, the word is 'monogenes', which means, 'one & only', or 'one (mono) of a kind (genos)'. And Jesus was like no other - there was never a human born on Earth, born of a virgin and Who also held the fullness of the Deity in His Person ( Colossians 2:9). We can rightly say that Jesus was indeed the 'only begotten of God'.

Hello Edward. That's a good question, but the answer to it becomes clear when we examine the Character & Names of Jesus.

What you read in Matthew 1:23 "...they shall call his name Emmanuel...", is taken from Isaiah 7:14, where God gives a prophetical word to wicked King Ahaz of Judah, "Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel."

Does this verse in Isaiah in conflict with Matthew 1:25, "And knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name JESUS?" When we study the names or titles attributed to Jesus, such as Immanuel, we learn that there is significance in giving each of these names. For example, the prophecy in Isaiah 9:6, tells us, "unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace." Here is a whole list of names attributed to the coming Jesus & though they are descriptive of the Character & Work of this One from Glory, I don't believe that anyone ever used those names, even in the Greek, when speaking to Jesus.

Likewise, when the prophecy was given in Isaiah 7:14, it was about the Name that Jesus' Coming would bring, i.e. Immanuel, or in Hebrew, 'with us is God'. And of course, this ties in beautifully with Isaiah 9:6, that Jesus IS the Mighty God (i.e. He not only comes from God, but out of God's Being, wholly Divine, & in His incarnation, wholly Human).

And you could look up Jeremiah 23:5,6 & see two other Names by which Jesus is identified: the Righteous Branch & The LORD our Righteousness (in Heb. Yahweh Sid-qenu), i.e. God's Name attributed to His Son Jesus, the Christ.

So, Jesus is His Name (in Heb. Yehoshua, or Joshua): the LORD is Salvation, but He can have many Names attributed to Him, each one depicting Who He is, and Immanuel is just one Name given to Him.

No comment here Ruby - I've responded to this elsewhere.

Very difficult for me to return comment on this one of yours Ruby, simply because I cannot see Revelation chapter 8, 'Jesus Who opened the seventh seal & silence in Heaven about the space of half an hour', has anything to do with the fifty days from Passover to Pentecost. How do you work that one out, especially when most of the Seal Judgements are yet to come (i.e. in the coming Great Tribulation)?

And "that THIRD PART are the ones of the house of JUDAH", of course I've rejected by my other comment on Ezekiel chapter 5.

True, Ruby: "Prophecy can be inside actual historical events", & this is what this prophecy in Ezekiel was given to do. But how do we understand this chapter 5 prophecy?

The prophet was required to graphically demonstrate what would happen to Judah at the end stages of the Babylonian siege on Jerusalem. This was a prophecy to Judah to tell them what would come upon them & to provoke them to repentance. This demonstration by Ezekiel by cutting his hair in three parts plus one, showed them that a third would die in the city, a third probably in battle, & a third dragged into exile. So, these first five verses in Ezekiel chapter 5, are about the coming destruction & captivity, & only a few (vv 3,4) considered faithful, but still subject to suffering.

None of these "were chosen to have the Spirit to cause them to come to the truth" & none ever received Him since that time until Jesus opened the Door for Judah (& Israel), & gave them His Spirit when they turned to Him in faith, that their eyes might be opened.

Yet, Zechariah 12:10 will be fulfilled at the Second Coming of Jesus, "And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn" ( Revelation 1:7). Is then Ezekiel chapter 5 about a "fire coming forth INTO all the house of Israel"? I don't believe so. Rather, it's a fire going THROUGH the house of Judah (& Israel) as judgement for their many sins against the Holy One.

In Matthew 1:21 the angel says to name him JESUS, but in Matthew 23 the prophecy from isaiah says that he shall be called Emanuael. why the different names?

What does begotten mean biblically?

adjective. : brought into existence by or as if by a parent.

From Merriam Webster