My Journey Through The Bible

In a nutshell, theories are explanations using proven hypotheses to determine an event or phenomena. The evidence of the supporting hypotheses are so overwhelming that there is no other explanation that would logically work. Unfortunately theories are not able to be proven in many cases and therefore often leave some doubt. Take the “Theory of Evolution” the main supporting hypothesis is that creatures “evolve” and adapt to their environment. This has been proven over and over in the fossil record as well as during recorded history.

Species adapt to their environment to gain an advantage. But there are some things that defy adaptation. Say, a reptile changing to a mammal. This has never happened in human history nor is there any evidence in the fossil record, yet this has to be true for evolution to work. The evidence and proven hypothesis of micro evolution only loosely supports macro evolution. We can assume that this may have happened this way, but it’s no more a faith issue than believing in the Almighty God.

Reading “One Question” by Ken Coleman and it got me thinking about questions. Honestly, that part of conversations is more important than almost any other aspect. If you are asking the right questions, it shows you really care, you’re listening.

• How are you?
• What’s your favorite team?
• What’s your favorite color?

These are all questions that require no thought. It’s the deep questions, the ones that get to a persons inner being that are important. So next time, before starting a conversation … think about asking ONE special question that will go deep.

Also, a key is learning to develop questions along the way. Don’t be afraid to change your plan or go into areas not considered, if that’s where the conversation goes. I think they key to focusing on questions takes to focus off self and places it on others. AND that is the key to Jesus’ ministry.

I was sitting in a small Baptist church one day when the preacher said the KJV is the only true word of God, all others a blasphemy. I did not question it then, but wondered why the other Baptist church I attended used the NIV. Others used the NKJV, while others used the ESV. So my question was which was right?

First let’s look at history of the KJV Bible. It was started in 1604 and finished in 1611 under the watchful eye of King James. This started with a “riff” between the Catholic Church and the English monarchy. In 1534 with King Henry VIII, who at the time wanted to divorce his wife and Rome forbid it. Although the Church of England split from the Catholic Church, it still maintained much of its theology and practices with Henry VIII. The Protestant reformer slowly applied influence, but the “reforms” we limited. This is the state of the Church during the time when King James took control.

The Bible was written primarily to ensure the writings would reflect the “episcopal” structure of the Church of England. It is ironic that this was  in direct conflict with many of Protestant beliefs, including the Baptists (where some consider the Church of England and the Catholic Church a “cult”). Interestingly the earlier English versions (the Wycliffe, the Tyndale and the Geneva Bibles) were considered flawed because of their links to the reformers.

With the history behind us we know the roots of the KJV, now let’s look at other versions. The game of telephone is a perfect example used by many to justify the other translations being wrong. This games is where you tell someone something and then it goes around to more and more until it gets back to you very changed. Each person put their “spin” on it until the story had changed significantly from the original. When you apply this logic to say the NLT it fails, since all these versions were transcribed from the original texts and not any other translation.

The English language has evolved so much since 1611 that even the KJV had to be updated to the NKJV. Even in the last 100 years words like “gay” have taken a whole new meaning that directly conflicts with today’s meaning. “Tom is gay” means something completely different in 1920 than today. So often we need to refresh the interpretations so people reading it today could understand.

This ties into the problem with the Catholic Church who at the time of the KJV only allowed a Latin version, thus limiting the translation by the priests since Latin was a dead language. The information was controlled by the papal leadership; much like the Pharisees controlled the Word in Jesus’ time. Before the Church took control there were hundreds of translations, once the Catholic Church came into world power it was limited to the one Latin Version.  That was the other reason King James commissioned the Bible, to “in your face” to the Catholic Church.

The other problem with limiting the interpretations is “hermetics” or the true meaning of the author. We use the word “love” to interpret 4 Greek words. Agape is the love for other, Eros is the sensual love, Philla is the love for family and close friends and Storge is the natural love on feels for their offspring. Each means different things and depending on how the word love is used could change the whole meaning of a verse. So often people get into a nuts and bolts arguments over did Jesus say we could move a physical mountain or a “figurative” one?

My quest is to fully understand God’s word without having to learn, Greek, Hebrew, Latin and Aramaic. I also wish to learn what other non-canonical text has to say. I notice the Gospel of Thomas includes references to the “second heaven” while canonized texts only touch on the first and third heavens. I want to know God and fully understand the battle before us. If we do not take the time to learn as much as we can in a language we all understand it’s all for naught if some false teacher can mold us away from Jesus.

Revelations 21 – 22

Verse 21:1 opens with a major change:

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.

Then end of Revelations is confusing since it is not clear on if we are in “renewed” bodies or if we are solely spirit beings at this point.What got me in this first verse was talking about the “first heaven and the first earth” are mentioned. Earth is to be freshened up I understand, but what about the “first heaven”. This is the only place in the ESV this is mentioned and 2 Corinthians 12:2 is the only place the “third heaven” is mentioned. The “second heaven” is not mentioned at all. I searched other versions where this is consistent, but interestingly many omit these two references altogether.

The three heavens are described by many as three unique places. The first is earth, the second is space and the third is where God dwells. But since God is omnipresent one could argue He “dwells” everywhere and therefore is in all three. What has made sense to me is the first heaven is our physical world. We as body, spirit and soul beings live in this world. The second heaven where there is no mention anywhere is the veil between the spirit world and God. What goes on here is not explained in the canonized Bible, but is explained other places. It appears this is where the demons and spirit beings dwell and move. People have said one can “astral project” in this realm and contacts “spirits”. Unfortunately this “spirits” are usually just demons who have observed a person’s life and can tell you what they did.

The third heaven is the layer with God. Now since God is omnipresent I believe this is not a location but is everywhere also. It’s like quantum physics where you can energized into different orbits around a nucleus. Each is the same but different and we exist in all three also. The problem is we cannot get to the third unless God “excites” us to that state.

Verse 21:4 shows God refreshing the world:

He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain any more, for the former things have passed away.“

The next verse God says, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Then it describes a beautiful New Jerusalem which is beyond comprehension when you look at the details. My question is will this be a place for our physical bodies or our “spirit” bodies? Will we be “renewed” without defects or flaws? Are the bodies refreshed from the dead? What about the cremated or ones who naturally turned to dust? This is where I stop worrying about it and am excited to see the end.

Verses 22:8 – 9 are another warning to not worship other God’s, even His angels:

8 I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I heard and saw them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who showed them to me, 9 but he said to me, “You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers the prophets, and with those who keep the words of this book. Worship God.”

As the “End Times” draw near, we need to be on guard on who we “worship”. Here John falls and worships one of God’s angels and this angels has him stand to recognize they are both workers for the only God. We need to be on guard for the anti-Christ whom many will believe is Jesus returned. He will not be a Hitler or an Osama bin Laden, but one everyone can warm up to. The “New World Order” will be orchestrated by Him with little resistance. We must be aware of the signs and prayerful to the only uncreated one, Jehovah God.

In the end as you see we win and everything is beautiful. Our “sin natures” are gone and we can hang out with Jesus for eternity. How cool is that? We have a little inconvenience today for an eternity of joy tomorrow. The key is are we going to hide in our bunkers with our food supplies or suffer while we go out save as many as we can? If you are in the “hunker down” mode, make plenty of space, don’t hog it all. Otherwise make joy for others who do not know the salvation waiting for them through the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus.

Deuteronomy 30 – 34

Verses 30:2 – 3 shows God’s love for people who follow Him:

2 and return to the LORD your God, you and your children, and obey his voice in all that I command you today, with all your heart and with all your soul, 3 then the LORD your God will restore your fortunes and have compassion on you, and he will gather you again from all the peoples where the LORD your God has scattered you.

Often I wonder what if we “backslid” and drifted away from Christ, would the road back be long and difficult? We have many stories that make sure we understand that the road is not long and difficult, but rather easy. The one thing I think people read into this too much is the “restore your fortunes” part. Does this mean money and wealth or the actual relationship with God? I think we read money and get very disappointed when that doesn’t happen, at the same time how many of us who have “backslid” actually lost much?

Think about the Prodigal Son who went a blew his fortune, he returned to his father and his fortune was restored. The people of Israel often lose it all and have their place restored. Personally when I “backslid” my “fortune” was not effected but I believe my future fortune was. I put me first and ignored God and his guidelines for financial success. Instead of putting money into a retirement account I spent it on racing and drinking. Now in my 50’s when I pray for “restoration” it’s not happening since really there was nothing to restore. So when we are praying for God to “bless us” with fortunes, based on this verse. Look where we started from before expecting the Lottery win.

Verse 30:19 – 20 is a basic question for everyone:

19 I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live, 20 loving the LORD your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him, for he is your life and length of days, that you may dwell in the land that the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.”

What do you choose life or death? This is giving you the only real option of life with God, the only uncreated one. We love God and follow His rules, life may not be “Easy Street” but it is in His plan. I read this an got caught on the “choose life” statement and immediately apply it to the “pro-choice” movement for “abortion rights”. Again I am kind of “wishy-washy” here to many, since I am more “pro-choice” in a way. I feel abortion should be safe and legal, but it should be the last resort and those faced with the decision should “choose life” as this verse states.

Verse 31:6 is an important piece of advice:

Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the LORD your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.”

Fear is the most dangerous emotion since it can immobilize you and put you at risk. Courage is not without fear; it overcomes the fear and allows one to act. If we allow fear to control us, the usual response is freeze like a deer in the head lights. That response does not end well for the deer or for us. We should be strong and not ignore the fear, but don’t let it control us. When the Trade Center towers were attacked, the ones running into the smoke and rubble controlled their fear for the sake of others. If they had allowed fear to control their decisions, more people would have died that day.

Granted courage cost many lives that day, but sometimes it’s not about saving our asses, but rather those who we never knew. As Christians are you waiting in your bunker for Armageddon or are you running into this dark world trying to rescue as many as you can? We have the Lord our God with us, who can defeat this? I have seen evil retreat at the name of Jesus Christ, don’t let fear overcome you but rather help guide you. We don’t need to be attempting the impossible, but at the same time we must realize all things are possible in God. Approach your fears with prayer and learn to listen to the Holy Spirit.

Deuteronomy 27 – 29

Sometimes you just want to get it done and can’t, as in the case with today’s reading. Originally I discovered a problem with the study where it left out the final few chapters of Deuteronomy. Well the plan was finish them off in one reading, which could have worked until I realized the chapters were each very long and I missed a 3 additional chapters in the book. Also, didn’t help that drama was infused before bed time which distracted me from the reading.

Verse 27:8 has the Law written plain and simple on stone:

And you shall write on the stones all the words of this law very plainly.”

Notice how the Lords instructions were to write them “very plainly” unlike the law today that was written in “legalese.” God’s plan is very simple and mankind tends to add the complexity. Even in the first writings of Moses, God wanted everything “very plainly”. The “legalists” of the religion made the Law so complex and impossible to understand much less follow. The Law was there not to give us guidelines, but rather to show us that no one can follow God’s standards and how we need Jesus.

Verse 28:12 is part of an “if then … else statement”:

The LORD will open to you his good treasury, the heavens, to give the rain to your land in its season and to bless all the work of your hands. And you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow.

If Israel is good and follows God, then the blessings are described in verses 1 through 14 in this chapter. This one is typical of a blessing and a rule at the same time. Notice how God wants to bless others and not hoard the “blessings”. This is the same as today, notice the Law no longer applies in our lives, but Jesus made love the rule. So where God said be generous, Jesus says love and give generously out of that love.

Verse 28:42 is the other part of that programming statement:

The cricket shall possess all your trees and the fruit of your ground.

If your good, then the first 14 verse, else you get the curses through verse 68. It’s painfully obvious you do things right and things are ok, but you mess up and thing will go really bad. God has the ability to do most of this and interestingly he rarely will take it this far. But honestly, why test Him? The key is not to please God for stuff, but rather to please Him like you would your earthly father.

The thing we need to take from the Law is there is no way we can do it, but at the same time we should want to do it and more out of love for our heavenly father. It’s not legalism, but loveeism. We have the Holy Spirit to guide us on things, listen closely and learn.

Jude 1, 2 Peter 1 – 3

Verse 4 from Jude is a stark warning:

For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.

This is critical and why we must read our Bibles outside of church. How can we be certain about if we are getting the full story or Gospel unless we know. Don’t let other pollute you thoughts that the Bible has been edited for an agenda. I look at words and meanings, but it’s not there to fool us, but rather so we will know better.

I can’t say enough how important it is to be on guard for false teachings especially today. If we see this happening we are turning an eye from them and not pointing out inconsistencies. We need to be vigilant and ensure the body of Christ is not being fooled or lead astray. We cannot rely on someone else, but we have to do it ourselves! So read, pray and be attentive.

Verses 1:5 – 7 in 2 Peter is important to understand fully:

5 For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, 6 and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, 7 and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love.

To become full in Christ it comes in stages we cannot rely on one of these alone. One example is without virtue; John would say we are without God. We need to look at being whole with God, and that requires more than just going to church once a week. If we strive to follow this list we will be more closely connected with God and His will.

Verse 2:2 in 2 Peter gives us another warning of false teachers:

And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed.

I cannot stress how important it is NOT to follow false teachers or drift into what feels good. If we live on feelings alone we can quickly get lost down a rabbit trail of deceit. Use sex as an example, if feels good. If we follow feelings that the logic of it feels right creeps in and suddenly you are in an adulterous affair, because of feelings and not God’s will. The prosperity gospel is another one where our feelings cloud out the true will of God.

This of all things should be the most compelling reason to pick up your Bible each and every day to learn the Truth. Don’t fall into false teachings who have you following feelings more than the Holy Spirit. This is something that is today an onslaught on the church. More than ever ones are trying to cloud the meaning of God’s word to force an agenda of evil. Don’t believe me just look at the idea Jesus is fictional and not real. This crept in around the 1700’s. Honestly if He was not real don’t you thing the Jewish Rabbis or the Romans who were there would have exposed this lie? It’s evil creeping into our faith. Also, notice the date and what Luciferian cult started around that time.

Acts 27 – 28

Verse 27:10 is Paul’s vision or common sense:

saying, “Sirs, I perceive that the voyage will be with injury and much loss, not only of the cargo and the ship, but also of our lives.”

It’s unclear if this was just plain common sense or a vision Paul had,but as you read on you see they ignore his warning. They set sail for Rome and end up losing the cargo and being shipwrecked on an island. Verse 27:24 does have an angel talk to Paul about the storm:

and he said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul; you must stand before Caesar. And behold, God has granted you all those who sail with you.’

They were all safe but shipwrecked and all seemed fine until verse 28:3 when Paul was feeding the fire:

When Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and put them on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat and fastened on his hand.

This was apparently a deadly one since the locals were concerned. Put Paul just shook it off and “suffered no harm”. Crazy when you think about this and how something that is deadly caused no harm. The viper could also be an illustration of Satan and his deadly grip. The only end result is death when he latches on to you, unless you are protected by the power of Jesus Christ.

Verse 28:23 had Paul proving Jesus through the Holy texts:

When they had appointed a day for him, they came to him at his lodging in greater numbers. From morning till evening he expounded to them, testifying to the kingdom of God and trying to convince them about Jesus both from the Law of Moses and from the Prophets.

This is where I can’t stress enough the power and importance of reading the Bible. Not just the New Testament, but the whole thing. Don’t stop once, but keep reading it over and over. Over my life I could not tell you how many times I have tried and read a bunch, but after three complete reads I find something new or something that finally makes sense each time I read. Don’t fall back on the Sunday church service to give you what you need, learn and read the scripture.

I pray one day to be like my friend Harold, he is my living Bible app. Any subject and any situation he turns right to the applicable scripture in his well-used Bible. The notes and highlights so great insight and devotion to reading. This is not a set on a bookshelf for reference or a read once book, it’s an everyday book to read over and over.

Revelations 18 – 20

Verse 18:1 opens with an angel:

After this I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was made bright with his glory.

When I first read this it probably made me think of different things than most Christians. I figured this was Lucifer or “Shinny One” and not an angel of God. As you read you find this angel has great authority and is shining the light on all the evil that remains. This angel will call out the evils of the earth how all nations are “drunk” from “her” which makes me wonder who “her” represents.

You will notice in Chapter 18 there are references to Babylon which is interesting since Babylon did not exist when John wrote this book. So there has been much speculation on where the “New Babylon” actually exists. Will Babylon get reborn or does this represent another city like Babylon? Often time’s people say this is Las Vegas or LA, while many point to New York or London. At this time we do not know and will only find out as this unfolds.

Verse 19:13 caught my eye with the verbiage:

He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God.

This is the rider on the white horse and is apparently God himself. Now is this Jesus or God, it’s not clear but the “Word of God” implies the Bible. This is written indication that the Bible is the “living Word of God”. We have this happen often where we will find the part we are reading have direct application on our lives. So either the Bible is so general that any place can apply to any circumstance, or the word can be found and given where applicable and when needed.

Verse 19:19 is one that concerns me:

And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth with their armies gathered to make war against him who was sitting on the horse and against his army.

This appears to be happening right under our noses. It’s too long to get into here, but search the Black Awakening. In a nutshell this is the armies of “multiples” are being created to unleash a worldwide war. This war would no longer be on a battlefield, but in our homes and neighborhoods with people we though we knew and loved.

Verse 20:1 talks about the end:

and threw him into the pit, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he might not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were ended. After that he must be released for a little while.

My question is this a thousand years of peace here on earth and THEN Revelations finishes? Or is this something that is happening now? Is Hell is where Satan is now and Lucifer is running the show here on earth? See this is where one’s head can spin when reading this book. It can easily be applied to today! Have peace that the name of Jesus will win over ALL!!

Song of Solomon 7 – 8

Verse 7:1 opens with more looking at her body:

How beautiful are your feet in sandals,
O noble daughter!
Your rounded thighs are like jewels,
the work of a master hand.

From what the footnotes say in my study Bible, she appears of noble lineage, but came from humble backgrounds. I believe that is why she was abused by the watchman and not honored. If she had come from noble lineage I do not believe that would have been an issue.

Verse 7:3 is a repeated verse and is done multiple times within this book:

Your two breasts are like two fawns,
twins of a gazelle.

Solomon seems to have a boob fetish since that appears to be the focus when he is describing her. He later in this chapter describes them as clusters of fruit on a palm. Honestly, I have to ask why? Why did they include this book in the Bible and no other missing books? I read this each time trying to find deep spiritual significance and just came up with a personal love poem that focused on how she looked.

I assume this came near the end of his life when women were the focus. Some say he lost his mind and 700 wives with 300 concubines proved it. Crazy or not, either way in today’s vernacular he would be called horny.

Verse 8:14 ends with her wanting him now:

Make haste, my beloved,
and be like a gazelle
or a young stag
on the mountains of spices.

It seems again like two that are caught up. In reading this it appears the song is sung during Passover in Jewish tradition, but again has no real formal theological themes. I believe it was included since it was in the Megilloth or 5 scrolls, but I have to ask why.

The only thing I see here is why can’t this passion for lust be turned to passion for Jesus? We seem genetically wired to “continue the species” and once sex becomes an option the focus is lost on everything else. We have to learn to love God with the same passion that Solomon loves her, except not focusing on the wrong things. That may be the only purpose of this message.

Psalms 149 – 150

Verse 149:1 seems like a perfect opening to one of the last Psalms:

Praise the LORD!
Sing to the LORD a new song,
his praise in the assembly of the godly!

Often times we get stuck in a repetitive prayer, like the Lord’s Prayer, and just keeprepeating it over and over. The Lord’s Prayer was a model and not a word for word recital. This prayer or Psalm is ensuring we get out of that rut and sing a “new song” to the Lord. We can use the Lord’s Prayer as a model, praise God, as for his will, pray for others, confess your sins and then pray for yourself. The only thing I tend to modify is push the confession thing to the top, reason being is it ensures God’s ears are open and we have cleared the junk away.

Throughout the Psalms we are reminded to “sing a new song” more than once. Psalms 33, 40, 96, 98, 144 and 149 all talk about a new song. I think the reason He wants that from us is because it means we are thinking about Him and making it personal. We recite a prayer over and over, out connection gets soft. We focus on the ritual and not the spirit. I know for almost a year all I prayed was the Prayer of Jabez. Over and over, once I broke from that things seemed to free up between God and I.

Try making a new song, don’t worry about performing it in front of the church, but just sing something from the heart. Make it a song of thanks, of praise, of joy or of need but just try. I will this week and take it one step further, post it on YouTube!! It will be short and sweet, but take this challenge.

Verse 150:6 ends with what we are going to do:

Let everything that has breath praise the LORD!
Praise the LORD!

We get caught in the moment so often and forget to do this. God doesn’t want to hear how great He is, but if you say it that shows Him you understand. God is the only one on record to create something from nothing. Think about that! Since the age of science and discovery we have landed a man on the moon, yet have never created something from nothing or for that matter made something living from something non-organic. Now the Science Dictatorship will tell you it just happens when you have an infinite amount of time.

We need to be amazed at everything in creation! Every bird that flies is incredible and how it took mankind 5 to 6000 years to figure it out. Every worm that helps decompose the waste produced and is also used to feed those birds that fly. It’s all interconnected and amazing, PRAISE GOD!!

Esther 6 – 10

Verse 6:11 is much like rubbing salt in a wound:

Then the king said to Haman, “Hurry; take the robes and the horse, as you have said, and do so to Mordecai the Jew, who sits at the king’s gate. Leave out nothing that you have mentioned.”

The king asked Haman how he should honor a person, and Haman replied with honor, assuming it was for himself. When he found out it was for Mordecai, whom he despised (v5:13), he was enraged. Here he had to serve the one whom he made all these schemes. Funny how God humbles us from time to time, in this case having him do something that repulses him.

Verse 7:6 has Esther point out the problem in Haman:

And Esther said, “A foe and enemy! This wicked Haman!” Then Haman was terrified before the king and the queen.

Here the king has just been informed of a law Haman coerced him into putting in place, that would not old kill the man of honor, Mordecai, but also his queen. When you think about it this story is amazing. Here a young orphan Jew becomes queen at just the right time to save the nation of Israel. This is amazing when you think about it, because it shows God favors His people even when they are not always in His favor.

Verse 10:3 ends this story:

For Mordecai the Jew was second in rank to King Ahasuerus, and he was great among the Jews and popular with the multitude of his brothers, for he sought the welfare of his people and spoke peace to all his people.

And they all lived happily after, the end. If you notice this is the way many of God’s stories end, things become horrific and then the ultimate plan is seen and all is well in the world. One could say this is the same with the story of Jesus, after his triumphant return to Jerusalem. In short order he was beaten and hung on the cross. But in three days all things changed and He came back not only to save the Jews, but the world. How cool is that?

Deuteronomy 23 – 26

Verse 23:1 is just one of those odd laws:

No one whose testicles are crushed or whose male organ is cut off shall enter the assembly of the Lord.

Initially it is difficult to understand why this is wrong; I mean it’s not something they can control. But then I did some reading and found that it was a common pagan practice for in the world then. Apparently the eunuchs were most common to do to those looking after children. This was a willing mutilation of one’s body and violated God’s creation of man. Since they is no longer a practice it made no sense to me, but after doing a little research makes perfect sense.

Verses 25:11 -12 are another odd set of laws:

11 “When men fight with one another and the wife of the one draws near to rescue her husband from the hand of him who is beating him and puts out her hand and seizes him by the private parts, 12 then you shall cut off her hand. Your eye shall have no pity.

This is the origin of fair fight rules. Interestingly it does not mention what would happen if a man were to win by doing this act. It is laws like this that suddenly bring forward legalism. Would there be exceptions if the man was trying to murder her husband? Would this be valid f it was a robber they were trying to subdue? This is how more laws beget more laws.

Look at the tax laws today, they government has created one of the most complex systems of taxation known to mankind because it needed clarity. It has also been manipulated by the rich so they can avoid taxes, which creates loopholes that required more laws to close them up. This was the condition of Israel when Jesus came on the scene. Pharisees were there to clarify the Law and to create new laws to ensure the people were “holy” before God. Jesus came to this world and simplified the law tremendously, just do things in love.

Think about this love would not have these men fighting in the first place. Love would not have a person mutilating another to win. Love would not have one murdering, stealing or committing adultery. Today the “free love” movement of the 60’s has perverted this and made it more love of self or do what feels good. This has taken us down a dangerous road where adultery is being justified even by TV evangelists. The argument is you can’t stop them from doing something wrong, so make it safe for them. In the TV evangelist’s words, forgive because he is a man and could not help himself.

Now back to the verse, this seems extreme to cut a woman’s hand off for grabbing a man’s “junk” in a fight. If she was defending herself I am sure this would be ok, but why is it wrong here? Is it more than just hitting him and more like the previous verse where she mutilates the man to help her husband? Not sure, but again seems odd.

Today I seemed preoccupied with the privates of a man and how the Law dealt with them. Actually one verse I was going to pick was concerning nocturnal emissions. Sorry about the preoccupation on this subject. At the same time it all seems odd why there is so much focus on those things.

3 John

This book is a letter from John to Gaius. The two points he wanted to bring is support for the church and opposition against it. Verse 8 talks about how we should support others:

Therefore we ought to support people like these, that we may be fellow workers for the truth.

Today this is supporting those in the mission field. When you think about it this is the most important job we do, it’s called the “Great Commission” by many.Interestingly, Jesus never called it that (Mat t28:16-20) but has been labeled by many in the church. John is saying support those who are forwarding the Gospel in Jesus’ name. Ensure they have the resources required for their missions.

We get “envelopes” all the time from youth to go on short term mission trips and give from time to time. John has charged us to do this always and although many trips to us seem more like spring break or summer vacation, they are learning the first step to true mission work. We need to open our doors to help those traveling so they can saves their reserves.

Verse 11 warns the church about imitating evil:

Beloved, do not imitate evil but imitate good. Whoever does good is from God; whoever does evil has not seen God.

John is actually pointing out an individual, Diotrephes, who apparently has pride issues. He “puts himself first” which is in direct conflict with all of Jesus’ teachings. Above all we are to love one and other in servitude. Once we put ourselves first, we have effectively made ourselves gods. I know this is hard to swallow when you look inward!

When I think about it, I can’t say how many times I “treated myself” first before others. How many times I took the last goodie without offering it to others. I remember how many times my agenda was put before everyone else’s. So when I read this I become very convicted get concerned my actions are not pleasing to God. I do not believe I am trying to be a “god”, but often my actions put me before God or in direct conflict with him.

The key is we are not free to do as we desire. Jesus’ death on the cross freed us from the Law and therefore could live lawless lives. But that’s not what Jesus said, that’s not what the Holy Spirit says, no “do as thou wilt” is from Satan. Self-sacrifice verses a self –centered life is what Jesus wants for us. We should put others before ourselves and that is what Diotrephes was not doing.

I mentioned this on 2 John but look at verse 14 and notice he apparently held back for a face to face discussion:

I hope to see you soon, and we will talk face to face.

I wonder how much of the Bible was either lost due to decay or never recorded, like in these face to face meetings. This is where the Holy Spirit comes into play for us today, it helps us discern what is right and what is wrong. We don’t need the entire story or all the minutia of Jesus’ ministry to understand the meaning.

Acts 25 – 26

Verse 25:5 has Paul before the Roman authorities with the Pharisees wanting to have him put to death:

“So,” said he, “let the men of authority among you go down with me, and if there is anything wrong about the man, let them bring charges against him

It’s amazing how much of a fight these early Christians endured to profess their faith. I think this alone would be an indication that Jesus’ story was true. Think about it, would you DIE for a lie? Sure you may put up with a load of ridicule and torment, but death is different. Really think about this because it’s key. We as Christians today believe we know the truth based on “feelings” and “experiences”, but if someone had a gun to your face and you knew the trigger would be pulled if your Christianity was exposed, would you profess Christ.

The disciples all died professing Christ. This was not something anyone would do for a lie. But they experienced and wrote about the events that many consider “allegory” or “tales” and then died for this story. I may understand one or two taking it for a lie, but every one of them? How about the many others who were persecuted for their faith who witnessed the events? The only way to believe this was not true is to claim it was a story and that there is no specific corroborating evidence to support it. There is plenty of evidence to support early Christians being put to death and there is no counter claims documented that this was a story, other than claiming Jesus was not the Messiah.

Verses 26:20 -21 describe why Paul was before the court:

20 but declared first to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem and throughout all the region of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds in keeping with their repentance. 21 For this reason the Jews seized me in the temple and tried to kill me.

All Paul was doing was spreading the good news and the Pharisees were protecting their system. It amazes me how people fight to protect something they know against something they have been waiting for their entire lives. The Pharisees were legalistic and Jesus showed the problems with legalism. They needed to crush the rebellion before it took hold and destroyed their positions of power.

Interesting how this has taken hold in today’s Christian churches and it can be summed up in blue jeans. Some churches are strict with the Sunday best idea and other way would be disrespecting God. Other churches say it’s not the outward appearance but the inward and blue jeans are ok. What’s the right answer? There isn’t! If you believe God needs to be respected in a suit and tie and in your heart you believe that, good. At the same time if you believe in you heart that jeans are ok, good. What did Jesus say about this? NOTHING!!

Now does that mean we are free to do what we want? No way!! But don’t start a new level of legalism that Jesus freed us from. The key point is if something is done in selfless love and not if it’s done for selfish ambitions or obeying a set of rules to become “holy”. Jesus never said this in his ministry. When asked about the law, he showed how absurd it was to try to keep it. Not that we should “give it all to the church” for true salvation, but rather to give lovingly, joyfully and freely. Show the fruits of the Holy Spirit and not what suits your desires.

So wear jeans or wear a suit, it doesn’t matter. Live like Jesus and love everyone like you love yourself and all will be fine. Judge what needs to be judged and ignore the silly stuff. We cannot have random moral laws, but at the same time we need to listen to the Holy Spirit more to learn what is right and wrong. This can be tricky are a new believer much less and old one, they key is learning to know when it’s Jesus or when it’s you. You will make mistakes and learn, that is the key never give up!!

Revelations 12 – 17

Interpreting Revelations can be tricky at times. Throughout history we have been able to apply bits and pieces to determine the end times are here. I know for 2000 years Christians have been looking at these writings to determine if the time is now. Verse 12:5 is difficult to figure out:

She gave birth to a male child, one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron, but her child was caught up to God and to his throne,

I read this and wonder if it’s the antichrist or the one to rule God’s people, Jesus. He is to rule with a “rod of iron”, but was “caught up to God”. What does that mean? Many interpret this as Christ with the woman as Mary, it makes sense except for the rod of iron comment that ties back to Micah 5:2 when he talks about the rod of iron. If so is this the first coming or the second? Is Jesus to be born back into the world or appear from heaven?

Verse 13:17 talks about the mark of the beast:

so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark, that is, the name of the beast or the number of its name.

Now today we have a growing problem of personal security with more and more people losing everything from identity theft. There have been ideas of using “biometrics” (a unique identifier of one’s body, finger print, eye, etc.) or having us “chipped”. The fervor over chipping people has become the latest mark of the best commotion. This one is the most viable one in history, we now have the systems in place to ensure that people could not fake this easily and would provide safety from fraud.

If we suddenly have the banks offering a bio-security option soon, I will pass.

Verse 14:8 is some critical imagery we need to be aware of in this world today:

Another angel, a second, followed, saying, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, she who made all nations drink the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality.”

Babylon has been mentioned throughout the Bible, well after it was wiped off the face of the earth. So why does God feel it necessary to keep bringing it up? This is really a critical point to understand and you will need to do a bunch of research about it for clarity. Babylon first came on the scene in Genesis with Nimrod and the tower of Babel. This was the first real time Satan revealed himself to the world. And this has been the root of everything evil since.

Nimrod was trying to become a god and therefore control everything around him. Satan portrayed as a serpent in the garden did now work, so “Lucifer” the sun god came to being. The “shiny one” that attracts the unenlightened entered this world through Babylon. Part of the key to becoming a god is one can live for yourself fully. “Do as thou wilt” is the “motto” for Satanist. Many who claim they do not worship or believe in any god or Satan, but it’s all for “self”.

I got sucked into two books I feel are potentially dangerous yet benign on the surface. One is “The Secret” and the other is “The Isaiah Effect”. Both put us in this world as a spiritual being with the ability to have our energy interact with the universe. While this may be true, we tend to get sucked into evil when we focus too much on “self”, especially from “The Secret”. While Gregg Braden’s book has many spiritual undertones it too tries to have use become like God. As nice has having what you visualized may seem, it will remove your focus off God.

If your meditation time is on a Ferrari and not the Word, you will quickly separate from God. Soon “the shiny one” will have more to offer than the one who asks us to follow a narrow path. Do you think that narrow path is lined with fancy sports cars? Or has this path been shown to us by the disciples who were martyred or jailed? I know it’s easier to attract people into a Ferrari than a donkey, but we should show how the donkey is the true way!!

Song of Solomon 5 – 6

Verse 5:7 needs to be compared to verse 3:3 and notice sometimes “visions” or dreams do not match reality:

The watchmen found me
as they went about in the city;
they beat me, they bruised me,
they took away my veil,
those watchmen of the walls.

The dream did not have the watchmen treat her badly, where in reality they bruised her. One has to wonder why the watchmen would treat the king’s love poorly, in that day and age it could have meant death. We often see this happen today where our “watchmen” or police beat suspects with zeal, often without justification or need. I wonder what happened to cause this encounter.

Verse 5:15 is part of her praise about her beloved:

His legs are alabaster columns,
set on bases of gold.
His appearance is like Lebanon,
choice as the cedars.

The description does not match Nebuchadnezzar’s dream Daniel interpreted, but with a head of gold it has some similarities. Granted her description is much more personal where Nebuchadnezzar’s dream was allegory for the future kingdoms. Alabaster columns sound strong and mighty, where his appearance is like the beautiful cedars. What do you think? Is there a connection or am I making a stretch?

Verse 6:5 caught my eye because it’s similar to other verses:

Turn away your eyes from me,
for they overwhelm me—
Your hair is like a flock of goats
leaping down the slopes of Gilead.

This was almost verbatim from verse 4:1 and I though it odd before. We have goats and their hair is not pleasant to touch. It’s course and rough, not like a cat’s fur. To me it’s almost an insult to compare her hair to goats. Now it’s like a flock which I do not have, so the “dynamics” may be more like a wave and that is what he is comparing her hair to.

The next line compares her teeth with a “flock of ewes” which again seems odd. The first thing I think of is my morning teeth where they look white, but feel fuzzy. Sorry I did not have any great theological insight from the reading today, I have had problems getting much out of this reading. Interestingly pastor Kevin Queen drew out some insight from chapter 2 in describing how often faith requires attention to the small things before we see big things. Check out the pod cast on 12 Stone’s site.

Just a thought on confession that we need to make sure we understand. Originally God set the standard with the Law. Now man cannot be holy before God since to follow this standard is impossible for man. So God provided a way to cleanse the people. Now NO sin can be before God and therefore He had to provide a way to cleanse the people. This was done through the sacrificial system that enabled man to shed his sin onto an animal who would be killed. 

It sound brutal but make sense when you look at it through sin before God. Now comes Jesus who died once for our sins. The problem is 1 John 1:9 says:

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

Now back to the sacrificial system which needed to be done for each sin. It was something than many we constantly doing and needed to be done to remain just before God. Now back to the New Covenant with the people. We are taught that Jesus’ death is applied to ALL our sins; past, present and future. The problem is many believe it is one confession for ALL sin.

In reality this is false and keeps us separated from God. If we confess and then knowingly sin without confession we are without God. Because of this confession is a constant activity for me. It’s simplest to catch it, figuratively lay your hand on Jesus’ head and confess the sin. 

Do it when necessary. I like to start all prayers with confession. Specific when I know or general with asking God to shed light on my sins when I don’t know. The key is it’s best to keep those paths open at all times.

Psalms 146 – 148

Verse 146:2 started some conviction in me:

I will praise the LORD as long as I live;
I will sing praises to my God while I have my being

How many times have I sung this in church or given the preacher an “amen” for saying it. Now once I would leave church, this would be forgotten and set aside for the next time I go to that safe place. We are told to be salt and light, not lukewarm Christians who will be spat out. This has become my biggest fear over the past few years where I become more in tune with the world in public and God in private.

Verse 147:11 is another time fear is used and I get an improper image:

but the LORD takes pleasure in those who fear him,
in those who hope in his steadfast love.

On the surface we read this in English and it seems God enjoys watching us cower in fear of Him. It is verses like this that on the surface make God seem maniacal. How can someone who loves us want to live our lives in fear that He may crush us? Hence why I get into the hermeneutics of the Bible and do not rely on just one version. Since I do not know Hebrew, Greek or Aramaic I must rely on different translations to gain clarity.

Although most translations to English say fear, there are some who include adjectives like “reverently and worshipfully” to describe the type of fear. The Voice has just made it to BibleGateway and I think says it best:

But the Eternal does take pleasure in those who worship Him,
those who invest hope in His unfailing love.

We are not to fear God unless we do something wrong and do not give a heartfelt confession. We do need to respect His authority and grandeur; therefore not treat Him as a “mate” (Aussie). We need to have frank and honest prayers, but with reverence and honor.

Verse 148:3 caught me by surprise:

Praise him, sun and moon,
praise him, all you shining stars!

If you have not noticed in my writings I have been studying for some time the occult. Not from an aspect of wanting to get into it, but more knowing what it is and how it’s affecting my relationship with God. Like this morning I saw a “God” post of the sun with an outer ring and a black dot. On this surface it was beautiful, but it formed the occult symbol for sun and was a being present as God being light and a drop of blood. The comments, although benign were very disconcerting when you look at this through the occult filter.

Back in the 70’s I went to a conference called Basic Youth Conflicts with Bill Goddard. It was a wonderful time, but the only real thing I took away from it was he wanted me to burn my vast record collection of rock-n-roll. I took that as rubbish and they still sit in my barn today. Granted I don’t listen to them anymore, but keep them still thinking that they are benign, just vinyl. That is where evil is allowed to creep into our lives. Yesterday I started burning all the stuff we had from the shop with occult symbols, starting with the Bam “Heartogram” socks.

Although they are just cotton and fuzzy, the pentagram symbol with heart shapes is an occult symbol which demons could attach themselves to, so into the fire they went. It was hard since they were the best tube socks I own. Now back to this verse and the reference to God with the sun and moon. In the occult the sun is Nimrod and the moon is his wife Semiramis (more common as Jezebel). I saw these three with the little “h” him and was concerned we were talking gods and not the Lord most high. Again the Voice tends to clear it up a bit:

Sun, moon, and all you brilliant stars above:
praise Him!

So there you have it, my paranoia is not praising the sun and moon, but rather praising God for them.

Ester 1 – 5

Ester is one of those stories about God working in the lives of others. Although I still question that He orchestrates all events, when He does get involved like this there is no doubt.

Verse 1:17 is the start of the ultimate plan:

For the queen’s behaviour will be made known to all women, causing them to look at their husbands with contempt, since they will say, ‘King Ahasuerus commanded Queen Vashti to be brought before him, and she did not come.’

The king was upset that his queen did not obey his order to be paraded before his friends like a Pomeranian. Today we take this and cannot see the problem; her husband was drunk and wanted to show her off. She felt it was demeaning and refused. But that was not done then and caused a major crisis in the kingdom.

This is when the king decides to search for a new queen. Ester is one of his “subjects” who was picked up. This young lady was being raised by her uncle Mordecai, since her parents were dead. She was chosen by the king as one of 12 to be brought before the king for a “review”.

Verse 2:17 tells of the kings first meeting:

the king loved Esther more than all the women, and she won grace and favour in his sight more than all the virgins, so he set the royal crown on her head and made her queen instead of Vashti.

Here a Jewish captive girl has been raised to the position of queen. This alone is amazing since God is setting something up which at the time no one is aware. She has kept her faith hidden and when her uncle Mordecai discovers a plot to kill the king, they have contact again. Like Moses’ mothers assisting the queen of Egypt to nurse her son without them knowing the truth.

Verse 3:13 we learn why God placed Ester where He did:

Letters were sent by couriers to all the king’s provinces with instruction to destroy, to kill, and to annihilate all Jews, young and old, women and children, in one day, the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar, and to plunder their goods.

Here the king has unknowingly sentenced his queen to death. Mordecai discovers the plot and relays it to the queen. With this the queen sets in motion a plot of her own to uncover Haman’s evil deed. Interestingly in verse 5:13 we see Haman’s disgust for the Jewish people:

Yet all this is worth nothing to me, so long as I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king’s gate.”

Here is going to have a feast and party with the king and queen, yet just the site of Mordecai ruins the evening. When we see this hate and disgust of the Jewish people we must know it’s not of God. This is prevalent with a few Christian’s where they persecute the Jews for the evils of Jesus’ crucifixion. Nazi Germany is the most egregious example of “Christians” killing millions for an evil purpose.

Can’t wait to see what God will do with Ester.

Deuteronomy 19 – 22

Found a flaw in the study with this book. The last study for this book ends at chapter24, the book ends at 31. So I am modifying the reading slightly and adding a chapter per study and putting the last chapters (27-31) between the second to last and last readings.

Verses 19:18 & 19 are laws which our legal system should consider today:

18 The judges shall enquire diligently, and if the witness is a false witness and has accused his brother falsely, 19 then you shall do to him as he had meant to do to his brother. So you shall purge the evil from your midst.

You will notice how many of these laws have severe punishment; many are death for something that would be accepted in today’s society. This law would limit false accusations and wrongful prosecutions, since there would be consequences if the person was caught. Today the biggest problem is people trying to get a pay day with liability lawsuits. There are lawyers who will file these cases “pro-bono” and take the money on the payout. If the loser had to pay legal fees for the other party, that would limit these cases.

Verse 21:14 ends an odd section about marrying captives:

But if you no longer delight in her, you shall let her go where she wants. But you shall not sell her for money, nor shall you treat her as a slave, since you have humiliated her.

This section allows the Israelites to marry captives, which contradicts many of God’s orders from battles to kill everything. It seems odd that God would allow this practice which throughout their history it caused problems. Solomon and Samson’s wives both caused their demise and were foreigners. They may not have been “captives” but either way they introduced an evil that caused problems.

Why is God so against bringing in evil customs and practices to the faith? It’s really simple, the practices were the antithesis of God’s domain. They followed gods and demons that Satan put in place near the beginning of time. Ironically, if you really dig into the history of the evil in this world, it has roots to Babylon and Nimrod (tower of Babel fame). Even the “scientific dictatorship” today has roots to the Babylonian gods, but that would take hours to explain. Research it!!

Verse 22:5 caught my eye:

A woman shall not wear a man’s garment, nor shall a man put on a woman’s cloak, for whoever does these things is an abomination to the LORD your God.

Think of how it’s common for women to wear men’s clothing. The thing that I wonder is if the style of “skinny jeans” or men wearing women’s cut jeans goes against this or are those still considered men’s clothing?

Verse 22:22 highlights how the Law got perverted in Jesus’ day:

If a man is found lying with the wife of another man, both of them shall die, the man who lay with the woman, and the woman. So you shall purge the evil from Israel.

Remember the woman about to be stoned for adultery in John 7? Jesus wrote something on the ground and the crowd slowly dispersed until it was her and Jesus. The hypocrisy was the man was not there. The Law was being unjustly enforced where the man was getting off and the woman was subject to death. The Law is clear here, both parties should die. Today this “Law” is a joke in today’s society where “if you can’t love the one you love, love the one your with” seems to be the norm. Divorce is rampant where almost half of all marriages fail, many because of adultery. But that number would be different if death was still the punishment.

Also, think about why this was then. The idea was not to allow evil practices to take hold in society. I alluded to Babylon earlier and will again now. If you look into the roots of sex with whomever, it goes back to Nimrod and his wife Semiramis. She actually seems to be the root of most of the evil in this world throughout history if you study closely.

2 John

I find it interesting that this is addressed to “the elect lady” since often the Bible is considered “sexist”. Verse 4 talks about her children:

I rejoiced greatly to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as we were commanded by the Father.

I hope today I can say the same thing about our children. Veronica has just graduated UGA and Devon is riding X-Games, both have achieved their near term goals. They are both doing well and working on their relationship with God. One of the most important things we do in life is to raise our offspring well. Unfortunately the culture is more about me now, just as Satan wants, and the children often take second place to our professional or personal desires. Sacrifice is not only for brief mission trips, but also long term projects.

Verse 9 gets into the absolutes of the Christian faith:

Everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God. Whoever abides in the teaching has both the Father and the Son.

John does not hold any punches when it comes to how we should act. The concern I have is the number of churches teach half the story. Many teach about the love and salvation side, but go no further. If they receive salvation and abide by the teachings of the church is this ok, even if it’s incomplete? I pray that these churches will become enlightened soon on the truth so not to possibly jeopardize their congregation’s salvation.

This is why it is important to read the Bible daily! You will come across these verses and learn the truth. Think about the dangers of this, in 600AD there was only on version of the Bible in Latin. The priests disseminated the Gospel to the people and put their perspective on it. This is where the “reformers” like Martin Luther, John Calvin and Myles Coverdale focuses on ensuring the Bible was translated so all could read. Today we have so many interpretations in English alone so we can understand the truth without a filter.

One thing to be clear with the “interpretations” of the Bible there are a few notes to consider. First they are interpreted off the original texts and not each other. This is key to ensure you are not getting a “second hand” interpretation where something may be missed. The only one I know of that did not consider the original text was the English version of the Catholic Bible which was interpreted from the Latin. Second is find one that you can read and become a hermeneutics nerd. Ironically the KJV is considered the only English translation by many Baptist and Protestant churches, which was developed by the Anglican Church of England who persecuted these faiths.

Verse 12 makes me wish I could have been there:

Though I have much to write to you, I would rather not use paper and ink. Instead I hope to come to you and talk face to face, so that our joy may be complete.

I wonder how much was lost in face to face conversations that were not recorded. This is why I have an interest in the apocryphal and the gnostic gospels. I want to see what else has been said, these documents were either incomplete, redundant or deemed irrelevant when the Bible was canonized. So that may be my next study and “thought”. I would love to hear these conversations and find out if we are “missing” something important.

Acts 23 – 24

Many look at Acts for deep spiritual truths when it’s mostly solid examples of how we should live. The prosperity preachers like to cherry pick verses that imply we will have riches and comfort if we ask. None of Acts imply that the life of a Christian is anything but sacrifice. I think we need to stop praying for wealth from God and focus more on his mission for us. Fortunately we live in a time where, at least in the USA and most of the “western world” we don’t have to worry about persecution in the same form as Paul and the disciples. Our “persecution” is more ridicule and less jailing.

Verse 23:8 differentiates between the Sadducees and the Pharisees:

For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, nor angel, nor spirit, but the Pharisees acknowledge them all.

Interesting how the Sadducees do not believe in basic fundamentals of our faith. Angels were depicted in Genesis as were spirits. Also, they must have been familiar with the story of Elijah who was resurrected. Or Job who had angels mentions. Why would they not believe the fundamentals of the religion? If you can’t believe that than how can you believe in an all-powerful God who parted the Red Sea.

I often wonder how groups like this come to being. I know there are some great contrasts between the “denominations” in Christianity. I think the largest one is the Trinity and understanding of that. There are slight nuances to outright denial with the Jehovah’s Witnesses. But they all believe in angels, the resurrection and spirits. Those seem to be a fundamental belief with God. Question I have if they don’t believe in angels, does that mean they do not believe in demons?

Verse 24:14 caught my eye because of the word “sect” and how it’s used:

But this I confess to you, that according to the Way, which they call a sect, I worship the God of our fathers, believing everything laid down by the Law and written in the Prophets,

“The Way” appears to be a sect of Christian Jews who follow Christ. It’s unclear if that is what they call themselves or that is what others call them. Seems like an odd choice for a non-believer. This was actually introduced in chapter 9 where they were calling themselves the Way. Honestly it’s a great name since Jesus is the “way, the truth and the life”. I wonder why more churches haven’t used that name.

Revelations 7 – 11

After mentioning the 144,000 from Israel seated in heaven we get an vision in verses 7:9-10 of a great multitude:

9 After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, 10 and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”

Many dooms day preachers focus on the 144,000 and say that’s all that are going to heaven, the rest remain on earth. This is not what Jesus said, but rather simple faith in Him will allow you into heaven. This proves that Jesus’ was right and these preachers who believe heaven is limited is not reading past verse 8. Again we have two images of Jesus in Revelations, one as coming down from the clouds to enact judgment and the other is here as a lamb.

This is where I believe the imagery of Revelations could get us in trouble. How many times have we been preached that Jesus will return to clean the earth as a warrior? Like the Israelites who had a preconceived idea on who the Messiah would be and since Jesus did not match that idea they rejected Him. What if Jesus came again, but not in flowing white robes, but rather jeans and a tee? Would we reject Him because He just is some “dude”?

Verses 9:20 & 21 are after 6 trumpets have been blown:

20 The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands nor give up worshipping demons and idols of gold and silver and bronze and stone and wood, which cannot see or hear or walk, 21 nor did they repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts.

I almost wonder if we are close to here now. I wonder if we are not in Revelations and again since it doesn’t match perfectly with the images we are rejecting this. Now more than ever we are worshiping idols of wood, gold, metals or glass. We are allowing seeming innocent portals to be opened in our faith which are undermining it completely. Horoscopes are a perfect example; they seem relatively benign and are fun to read. They don’t seem intrinsically evil but have roots back to Egypt. The Sphinx is a representation of Libra and Leo the first and last sign of the zodiac joined.

We need to be more vigilant on how we look at evil. These seemingly benign practices open paths to demons and Satan himself. This is a subject that one could go hours on, but just be on guard. Even popular stories like Harry Potter or Twilight are so deep in the occult it’s spooky.

Verse 11:8 had me scratching my head:

and their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city that symbolically is called Sodom and Egypt, where their Lord was crucified.

The comment about the Lord being crucified in Egypt caught my eye. Our Lord and savior Jesus was by all accounts crucified in Jerusalem, not Egypt. The verse talks about dead bodies in Sodom and specifically says “their Lord” implying not God or Jesus. But the fact Lord was capitalized is confusing. The one thing I noticed different from this word and other uses of Lord in this version on Bible Gateway is this is “Lord” and other instance is “LORD” implying one is deity and the other is just a name. Since it’s difficult to change font and how “LORD” appears I tend to leave it just “Lord” in my writings, but the copies show different.

Any ideas about who this “Lord” is in this verse?

Song of Solomon 3 – 4

Verse 3:3 is an excerpt of the brides dream:

The watchmen found me
as they went about in the city.
“Have you seen him whom my soul loves?”

She is seeking her love and gets help from the watchman. I guess what caught my eye on this is the comment about the watchman. We really need watchmen over our spiritual lives or else we can drift wildly. Here the bride is searching for her love and gets assistance. We need assistance when searching for our love in Jesus. Often if we allow others to discriminate the Bible, they will cherry pick verses to drive point, when the context is much different.

We need to be the watchmen, pick up our Bibles and actually make it a point to read it cover to cover. Learn what is in it, so we can protect the faith. We cannot rely on others, we need to step up to the plate.

Verse 4:9 also seemed strange:

You have captivated my heart, my sister, my bride;
you have captivated my heart with one glance of your eyes,
with one jewel of your necklace.

Initially this smelled of incest so I had to research. I love my sister, but would never consider her for my wife. So when I read this from Solomon I was wondering if it may be a second sister, or one of David’s offspring from one of his other wives. The answer was relieving since it’s neither, apparently during this time it was common to compare one’s love for his wife to that of his sister. Since the bonds of family are inseparable, using this analogy shows the love for your wife as inseparable also.

Any verses jump out at you today? And other than the two fawns or twin gazelles, please!!ALSO IF YOU DON’T GET WHAT THE TITLE MEANS YOU ARE NOT READING THE BIBLE ALONG WITH THIS STUDY;-)

Psalms 143 – 145

Before I get started, if you are following the guide you will know after this we have 19 more “thoughts” and then we are finished with this version. I am going to spend a month after that not doing a thought and get caught up on other reading and testing I need to do. After that I am considering writing a book about an Engineers view on the Bible. What would you like to see or not see?

Verse 143:2 states something we don’t think about much:

Enter not into judgement with your servant,
for no one living is righteous before you.

We must realize that no matter how “good” we think we are, we still fall short.Jesus throughout his ministry made this perfectly clear. He pointed to lust of a married man as an adulterous act, even if it was just a thought. He also pointed out the love of money was evil. Note that money itself is not evil, but focus on it and you will be separated from God. We have a way to keep out lives in check; it is our confession to Jesus. Remember this is not a one time all is ok pray, but often a multiple time a day prayer.

Verse 144:2 describes God in a military sense:

he is my steadfast love and my fortress,
my stronghold and my deliverer,
my shield and he in whom I take refuge,
who subdues peoples under me.

My many of the people in the Bible God means military might, David became the accepted king by his military might. God was with him and provided the defenses so he could win on the offensive. There are so many others whose relationship with God was more about war that about love. I think of Samson whose hair was his fortress and once gone he was overtaken. Also, one of the main reasons Jesus was rejected was the people were looking for a warrior in the Messiah and not who Jesus was in reality.

I have to make a quick comment on verse 144:4 and Ecclesiastes:

Man is like a breath;
his days are like a passing shadow.

Solomon in Ecclesiastes said “there is nothing new under the sun” in Ecclesiastes 1:9. This is one of those verses that appear in part by Shakespeare in Macbeth, a line that compares out lives to shadows and candles sounds very similar to the above verse.

Verse 145:8 is something we all hope:

The LORD is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.

As we meander through life one has to wonder how much this really applies. We seem to be going through trials and difficulties all the time. Often we look at this and wonder how can that be, then we have to look at the world around us to realize this is true. This world has become so self-centered that it surprises me Revelations is not underway already. Think about how God is being replaced by scientific explanations that although still do not have the answer but have removed God, the true answer, from the equation. Many Christians look to Jesus as their Buddha where they rub his belly and get what they wish for. We as not about sacrifice, but about self, even in the church today. Remember the fate of the apostles today as you go out.

Nehemiah 10 – 13

As Nehemiah finished rebuilding the temple he now focuses on the Jewish traditions. Verse 10:35 talks about the first fruits:

We bind ourselves to bring the firstfruits of our ground and the firstfruits of all fruit of every tree, year by year, to the house of the LORD;

The idea of the offering was twofold; first was you submission to God and the second was to ensure the priest and Levites had provisions to survive. When you think about it this was really necessary since they were not allowed to own land. Today we justify not giving because Jesus “fulfilled” the Law and it’s therefore no longer valid. I am still struggling with God’s real intention here, but as for the tithe it supports our church and shows submission to God.

Verse 12:4 continues a long list of names and jobs:

Iddo, Ginnethoi, Abijah,

You may ask what’s so special about Iddo, Ginnethoi and Abijah that I would choose them. They key is that God thinks they are special. Think about how many time in the Old Testament we read chapters of names and jobs from censuses or as in this case repopulating Jerusalem. God wants us to understand that it’s important to him that each and every person is accounted for by name. It’s not just filler in the Bible, but rather an expression of God’s love for his people that he would care about each and every one. As annoying as it may be to read a dry list of names, it means something to Iddo. God cares so much about Iddo that He ensured He was included in the Holy Bible.

Verse 12:27 is dedicating the wall:

And at the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem they sought the Levites in all their places, to bring them to Jerusalem to celebrate the dedication with gladness, with thanksgivings and with singing, with cymbals, harps, and lyres.

This is a joyous moment as the city is complete and safe. It’s time to party and have some fun. God is not all work and no play, he wants us to work hard, but also have some fun. Notice He is not all about fun and only fun. This is one of the most damaging aspects of the prosperity Gospel since it’s just pray and money will rain from heaven. When it may or may not rain, but will require hard word for any results. Tell me one story where God blessed a person for doing nothing other than having faith and praying.

Verse 13:26 shows people the result of marrying outside the faith:

Did not Solomon king of Israel sin on account of such women? Among the many nations there was no king like him, and he was beloved by his God, and God made him king over all Israel. Nevertheless, foreign women made even him to sin.

Solomon really drifted when he married outside the Jewish faith. He became involved in sorcery and summoning demons. Today there are so many fakes that do this we tend to dismiss this as parlor tricks, but it’s real and a dangerous place to be. In today’s Christian community we often marry outside our faith without though of the consequences. In a way I did, but at the same time we ended up doing ok. Things would have been much smoother if we started in the place we are today.

Deuteronomy 16 – 18

Again we get into looking at more detail of festivals and holidays on the Jewish calendar. The ESV uses the actual Hebrew names for the months like Abib which falls over March and April. Verse 16:19 get into something that affects all people in the USA today:

You shall not pervert justice. You shall not show partiality, and you shall not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and subverts the cause of the righteous.

In theory this is how our legal system works.As you read all the Laws concerning Justice it matches our system. This system has been used as a model for most “civilized” countries, except brutal dictatorships and socialist/communist countries. The key to any judicial system working is showing no partiality.

Unfortunately today’s system of “justice” has become so complicated and bias you cannot represent yourself. I have been involved with two “pro-se” cases where we were ignored by the judge. One instance we were never notified about the trial since our lawyer “recused” himself and we handle it ourselves, pro-se since it was open and shut. We never got notification, the judge would not set aside and the appeal was not done to the letter and we lost. The other one was 4 lawyers against me in court, the two that were in the gallery were doing research. The pulled at precedence which allowed them to do part, but not all and the judge took their side without consideration of the mountains of cases which were in my favor.

Verse 17:17 is talking about rules for a king if they choose to have one:

And he shall not acquire many wives for himself, lest his heart turn away, nor shall he acquire for himself excessive silver and gold.

The great king Solomon broke both these laws in his reign over Israel. He also broke the Law marrying outside the faith, specifically his wife from Egypt that appeared to pervert his mind. This is when the nation fell apart as he started into the sorcery of the Egyptians. This is the time when he allegedly wrote incantations to summon demons in the Lesser Key of Solomon. Jesus also points this out in his teachings since both will pull your attention away from God and more to yourself.

Verse 18:10 seems obvious, but was apparently a custom then:

There shall not be found among you anyone who burns his son or his daughter as an offering, anyone who practices divination or tells fortunes or interprets omens, or a sorcerer

We still have fortune tellers and the laundry list that follows, but to my knowledge people don’t burn their children as offerings. Now to me this implies sacrificing them, but it may imply just burning them, which is a practice that is still done in cults. Either way how anyone could harm their own children is beyond my comprehension. With that said there are active Luciferian cults all over the place that will sodomize their own children to “enlighten” them to the second heaven. The key is never follow or consider any on these practices or subsequent verses. This includes the horoscopes, which seem benign but are from worshipers of the starts and sun (which is warned about in 17:3).

1 John 5

Before I start the answer is YES!! The Bible is clear and absolute, we just have to discover that interpretation.

John has always been one of absolutes, not much wiggle room in his writings. Verse 5:1 is a perfect example:

Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him.

This is almost comical when you look at the history of the church and how many have died in bitter disputes over what the Bible means. If you think about it the United States many came here seeking religious freedom. Sure one of the main battle cries of all war was taxation without representation, but the roots of the uprising were “religious oppression”. The same underlying reasons are the root cause for the conflict in Ireland.

Look at local churches and internal squabbles, how many times have I heard this and that about this church or that one. If this statement were true NONE of this would happen. We would love everyone who confessed his sins. Heck we don’t even need to look at the local level, just search your heart! How many “Christians” do you avoid, not get along with or down right dislike? I hang my head in shame because I can name a few.

Verse 5:6 interests me since it talks about more than just a water baptism:

This is he who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ; not by the water only but by the water and the blood. And the Spirit is the one who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth

Initially I read this and thought we needed to be baptized in water and blood, but as I often do I found the true meaning on a reread. I had developed an awesome paragraph tying in the absolutes that John wrote verses how we actually believe salvation is obtained. When I read it this morning, it became clear the Jesus was baptized in water and then was sacrificed in his blood. We come to the spirit by water only, where Jesus was the spirit in water and blood.

Verses 5:16 & 17 starts asking the question of when do we “call a brother out”:

16 If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask, and God will give him life—to those who commit sins that do not lead to death. There is sin that leads to death; I do not say that one should pray for that. 17 All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that does not lead to death.

Although it’s still not clear if we are to intervene in this instance, I find it interesting that “there is sin that does not lead to death.” I can only assume that means physical death and not spiritual death. One of the most over used verses on correction is Matthew 7:1 saying “judge not, that ye will not be judged.” We either use it to avoid pointing out the problem or we throw it back on others when being corrected.

It’s a difficult matter since none of us are “perfect”. In many “discussions” over matters I get this “thought” thrown back in my face where it’s either being put before the family or just a “routine” trying to buy brownie points with God. As you see most often it’s done early before anyone gets up, so I try not to put it before family. It often becomes a routine ritual that does not include prayer, reflection or anything else beyond reading and writing. I am currently in one of those times, but God still opens my eyes just reflecting over writing this daily “though”.

Acts 21 – 22

Today’s reading seems to lack significant theological points, but has some significant historical ones. Many tend to run towards safety, in this instance Paul is running into the burning building. Verse 21:11 is one of the many warnings he received:

And coming to us, he took Paul’s belt and bound his own feet and hands and said, “Thus says the Holy Spirit, ‘This is how the Jews at Jerusalem will bind the man who owns this belt and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.’”

Even with many saying don’t go, with many prophesying the dangers, he still goes. Now that’s faith, when God is telling you through prophets to not go, and you still feel it’s what God wants you to do. I sometimes question if Paul should have gone, but his points for going were sound. He had two problems, the Jews felt he turned on them while the messianic Jews were concerned he was preaching a false Gospel. Verse 21:21 is James’ concern with Paul’s teaching:

and they have been told about you that you teach all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children or walk according to our customs.

This is a sticky point with many, are we “Gentiles” not bound at all by the Law or should we follow it? Jesus “fulfills” the Law, but what exactly does that mean? You read the concerns of James and it seems like the game of telephone, where you tell someone something and see how it changes as it passes through many people. What was innocent discussion of Gentiles and the Law, became a major offense by the time it got to James.

Now per the question of Gentiles either obeying or not the Laws and customs of Moses, we need to explore the truth. Before we go on, “truth” something I am developing and often my beliefs go against traditional church dogmas. My personal opinion is that messianic Jews are bound by the Law but Gentiles are not. Now Jesus’ sacrifice fulfills the sacrifice portions of the Law and messianic Jews are no longer required to sacrifice, but they are still bound to the other Laws. Gentiles on the other hand are not bound by the Law, but we should honor it just the same.

By the end of chapter 21, Paul is already in custody with angry Jews and Christians. He is brought before the Roman’s to be flogged and wiggles out of this beating. Verse 23:25 has him getting legal on the centurion:

But when they had stretched him out for the whips, Paul said to the centurion who was standing by, “Is it lawful for you to flog a man who is a Roman citizen and uncondemned?”

Interesting how God uses the most unlikely people to further his message. Paul was a man who was Roman and persecuted the Christians, yet wrote most of the Bible. Think about Moses, he was raised in Egyptian royalty and left a murderer before God used him. So NEVER say “God cannot use me” because he can and will!!

Revelations 1 – 6

Starting this book means the end in more ways than one. It’s obviously the last book of the Bible, but it also starts the end of this year long reading. Revelations is one of the most difficult books in the Bible to read because it is full of imagery and allegory that could apply to many ages over time. Remember when this was written, they were expecting Jesus’ return during their life. Ever since I presume each generation has been saying this. Just in the last 100 years people have looked at Hitler, Hussein, Stalin, Mao, and even Obama have been claimed as the Antichrist.

Honestly almost every leader in modern history has been called the antichrist by the opposition. I think it’s going to be harder to notice them, but that is not where this reading is going today. Verse 1:8 reminds us who God is in our world:

I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

We have a tough time with things on this scale. Sure God has always been and always will be, but to really comprehend that is difficult.The universe is something that we have put limits on, saying it is 16 billion years old. But what was there before and how did it get here. Limitless boundaries are difficult to imagine for any human, yet that is the God we serve. We try to put Him in a box more often than not. Remember He raised the dead!!

The next few chapters are notes to the seven churches and a report on how they are doing. Verse 2:29 caught my eye because of recent study:

And I will give him the morning star.

The “morning star” is what I have been attracted to in this verse. My study Bible is clear that it is Jesus and gives other references that show it to be Jesus. At the same time we go to Strong’s Concordance and find Lucifer means the “shining one, morning start”. With that said could this verse be construed that Lucifer is being handed over to God and not Jesus since He and God are one? See how difficult the imagery can be to interpret; here are two very different readings of “morning star”. (NOTE – all the translations I searched had the same wording, interestingly the Orthodox Jew Bible actually details how it’s Venus).

Verse 5:12 uses the imagery of a Lamb to represent Jesus:

saying with a loud voice, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honour and glory and blessing!”

This is a key image to the sin sacrifice the Israelites would sacrifice in the temple. They would take an unblemished lamb, place their hand on it to transfer their sins and kills it. This is in effect what Jesus did for mankind. He did this once for all humanity where we must place our hands (figuratively) on the head of Jesus and confess our sins. He was the only true perfect lamb, worthy of taking the sins of the world.

I like how “wealth” is slipped in there. Wealth is NOTHING in the afterlife, or at least it has a different definition than of the living. We get so hung up on the prosperity aspect of the Bible I often wonder if that is more a sin than a blessing. If it matters to us than much, we are like the rich man who could not give everything for Jesus. We are pushing Jesus aside for riches, so we can presumably serve him better. Guess what, even the poorest amongst us can serve the Lord, so don’t wait for the big trade or lottery win. JUST DO IT!!

Song of Solomon 1 – 2

This book is one of those books that can be taken two ways, either it’s a love poem to his wife or a poem to God. Either way it is beautiful prose. Verse 1:2 opens with an expression of love:

Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth!
For your love is better than wine;

There is no doubt that this is the romantic love and not a love of friends. Just based on this one line I have a difficult time with the idea this is a love letter to God. Although that is the interpretation that some draw from this book, I tend to take it as face value. When I express love to God it is not with the idea of kissing. As we read we will explore areas where the implication is between God and Israel.

The phrase “your love is better than wine” has always made me giggle, since many can’t stand wine. I know as a child through my early 20’s I could not stand wine so a verse like this would make no sense. Once I started tasting quality wine it made a little more sense, but still I assume it’s the feeling and not the taste. If it were taste and I was writing it would be “you love is better than crème brulèe!”

Verse 2:1 can be considered as an analogy of Jesus:

I am a rose of Sharon,
a lily of the valleys.

Many interpret Jesus as the rose, but that becomes a stretch I believe since the illustration is way too vague. The idea is this book pictures Jesus’ “bridegroom” love for his bride the church. Again, you really have to dig to find this connection, unlike most of the other prophecies of Jesus that are relatively blunt or make total sense once you know the story of Jesus. So again, read this as a love poem and apply it to the love of your life.

Verse 2:17 talks about the enduring love each have:

Until the day breathes
and the shadows flee,
turn, my beloved, be like a gazelle
or a young stag on cleft mountains.

She adoringly gives qualities of animals to her love; the gazelle is swift and responsive while the stag is strong and dominant. Both are qualities of a man who can protect his love and ensure she is always safe. I fail at this often since Katy is so capable and I have been sucked into the “equality movement”. She can build stuff and repair engines like few men can. This often blurs the lines between the roles and often makes me forget she needs help.

One thing I never have stopped doing is opening doors and treating her with respect. I don’t stop giving her that kiss good bye, be it a short jaunt or a long business trip. Just often expect the deck to be finished or the 4 wheeler’s engine to be rebuilt without my input. I need to read this more often and rekindle our love from time to time.

Psalms 140 – 142

Verse 140:1 shows how we must pray constantly for safety:

Deliver me, O LORD, from evil men;
preserve me from violent men.

This is the most obvious group one needs protection from in the world. They can immediately destroy your world and make things miserable, so protection from the thief, the assaulter or the murder is important. Rather than focus of the obvious maybe we should start praying for protection from the not so obvious. Those subtitle little changes that make evil seem hip or cool. Not so long ago, vampires, werewolves and demons were evil, but now with shows like Twilight they are no longer portraying someone you want protected from but rather someone you want to be.

This is the “violent men” you really want the true protection from, since they subtly erode your belief systems. They come in and make evil seem benign and hip. The virtues of following evil are fame and fortune in this world since they make the end seem like that, the end. No mention of an afterlife or anything that may happen to you soul once you die, because these “violent men” are lulling you into a false sense of security with no God. Ironically their “god” is real and they are just following orders for the sheep that follow.

Verse 141:1 is where David asks God for his ear:

O LORD, I call upon you; hasten to me!
Give ear to my voice when I call to you!

This implies that God is not listening all the time, which I have to disagree. God is always listening, He is not always responding when we expect a response. There is a scene in Bruce Almighty, where Morgan Freeman play God asks Bruce to pray. He struggles for the prayer until he gets to his heart and hits the mark. God is hears all our prayers, it’s just often they are too vague or not his will to warrant a response.

Case in point is how many have prayed for a lottery win? Millions each week pray and feel like God is listening with a deaf ear. If He would just give us his good ear we would be swimming in money. When in reality we have verse after verse that warns us about the evils of money. Not that money is evil, but what we do with it afterwards is evil.

Science has actually gotten involved and researched the subject if money can buy happiness and it came with interesting results. I have no idea how much was spent on this research, but they found that if you become self-indulgent money buys temporary happiness, but if you give it provides joy for a longer time. Sharing the happiness brings longer term joy than just buying the Ferrari. So this study proves what the Bible has been saying for thousands of years.

Verse 142:5 is something we all need to consider:

I cry to you, O LORD;
I say, “You are my refuge,
my portion in the land of the living.

A friend wrote a song titled My Refuge which signs the meaning of this verse. We need to sometimes go to God for protection and refuge. In this Psalm David in hiding in a cave from Saul who is trying to kill him. I pray you never have to hide from that kind of fear, but often we need Him for life. Relationship or financial problems are the most common. God will not fix them always, but He will provide comfort and safety to get through them. Saul did not stop pursing David, but David was spared when Saul was in the cave with him.

Nehemiah 5 – 9

The big question Nehemiah had in verse 5:9 concerns the oppression of the poor:

So I said, “The thing that you are doing is not good. Ought you not to walk in the fear of our God to prevent the taunts of the nations our enemies?

God never intended us to oppress anyone and to live within a fair system. There will never be equality since there are differences in every person. You cannot have equality but you can be fair, look at the way God treated us. Many gain favor, while others are just drudging through the day. We consider this as unfair when in reality God chose people for their influence. Moses was in the kings court before he was exiled and returned.

God had raised him to be the one to deliver the Israelites from Egypt. He did not just randomly pick Moses to do this task. Moses was not equal with everyone in this aspect, he was the right man for the job. Granted he was groomed for it by God, it was not something that anyone could just step into and do.

Nehemiah had to deal with other nations and leaders who were frightened on what the Israelites would do once they fortified the wall. Verse 6:9 Nehemiah answers their concerns:

For they all wanted to frighten us, thinking, “Their hands will drop from the work, and it will not be done.” But now, O God, strengthen my hands.

It was his intention to protect the people and not create an offensive position. He was just doing what he said he would and promised to the king that sent him. Notice how this is what happens in most conflicts is one party misinterprets what the other is doing and instead of confronting the fear initially it festers into something bad. All Nehemiah wanted to do was restore a place to worship God, and they freaked about other conspiracies.

The end of verse 9:5 says it all:

Then the Levites, Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah, said, “Stand up and bless the LORD your God from everlasting to everlasting. Blessed be your glorious name, which is exalted above all blessing and praise.

We need to stand up for God more and spend less time hiding from those who oppose Him. Think about it this is about the best way we can really bless God. He is over all and will be forever, one we get that into our heads maybe our short lives could be used for his everlasting glory and not ours! So next time someone challenges your faith, stand up and defend it. That will bless God more than you can imagine.

Don’t think that there are not people out there that are trying to bring down the Christian Church. Also, it would be naive to believe that these “forces” are not Satanic in one way or another. We have seen cult abuse first hand, and it’s demonic in nature, so I talk with a bit more knowledge that someone who has watched one to many YouTube videos. As with everything spiritual, do your research.

If you don’t think this stuff could be real than you just dismissed a bunch of the Bible you claim is “truth”.  Little “g” gods are mention WITH idols not as idols, so one thought is they are demons or the devil himself.

The only thing I can say is after years of study and experiencing the “supernatural” the more I believe in the Bible.

Deuteronomy 13 – 15

Verses 13:1 – 3 are a critical warning against the coming anti-Christ:

1 “If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder, 2 and the sign or wonder that he tells you comes to pass, and if he says, ‘Let us go after other gods’, which you have not known, ‘and let us serve them’, 3 you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams. For the LORD your God is testing you, to know whether you love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.

Initially I was looking at just using verse 1 and then read the rest; this is very important and needs to be addressed. We are in a time where signs and miracles are happening all around us and we don’t even notice them. At the same time science is progressing to a point where it’s making many miracles possible. Please be vigilant as new technology becomes revealed and test it. One of the potential got-ya’s is with nanotechnology and the healing abilities. Right now, from what I have gathered, they are further along they we know and before being completely revealed it will be used in an evil way. Possible uses are with the “anti-Christ” healing using this technology to fool the masses into following them.

The key this verse is telling us and what John told us in the last reading is TEST all spirits, the “deceiver” is an expert and sucking us away from the one true uncreated God. Don’t let a technological wonder make you wonder if God even exists. That is exactly what “they” want to do, ironically many who lead this movement worship Lucifer. It can be seen in much of the symbols in pop culture today. One example is how often the “all seeing eye” in a pyramid is used. This is a cult symbol and many are concerned it’s on the dollar today.

Now if you are still with me, since this kind of talk creeps people out and has been categorized at talk of loony conspiracy theorists. May be true, but also what a great way to deflect the truth. It’s done all the time in elections, so why not with cults. Hitler was a master and if he wasn’t evil than no one else is either.

Verse 14:3 starts a chapter on food and tithing:

You shall not eat any abomination.

Now I have often said eat kosher since it’s the food God deemed worthy to the body. Also, I have suggested that maybe the Israelites got this wrong and legalized a “suggestion”. In reading this it’s clear, this is God’s Law for the Israelites. It is a sin to those under the Law to eat pork, and I believe this to be true for Messianic Jews also. Now for Gentile’s who become Christians I am still trying to figure out if we are bound to the same laws. I know this is NOT a common or even slightly considered notion since I can’t count the number of Church dinners with pork as the main dish.

As Christians do we have a duty to honor the parts of the Law Jesus’ sacrifice did not fulfill? Should we follow the Law because it’s good living and not a sin? Or does it not apply and is just a nifty historical document to understand Jesus’ roots. As you know when addressed with questions concerning the Law, Jesus stepped it up. Some examples include lusting in your heart being the same as the actual act of adultery. The widow giving it all becomes the standard for giving and not just a tithe.

Or standard is MUCH higher than the Law and my belief is we should honor it, not as a document of sins, but rather to glorify God.

1 John 3 – 4

Verse 3:1 opens with some reasoning on why our faith is so odd to others:

See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him.

The last line really hit me hard and often makes me wonder how we found Him. Think about how counter intuitive our faith is to others. At the same time we can find good in people who do not know Christ, which is often difficult to understand how they could reject Christ. This can be discouraging when looking at saving the world, but the key to people’s hearts is a servant’s attitude. Don’t look at the blessing you will get, but rather the blessing of salvation they will get. Honestly, who cares if you are never materially blessed, but your actions saved thousands. The problem is we keep our feet in the “world’s” door and hope for comfort in this life.

The disciples never showed us that life. All the people preaching the Gospel were ridiculed, jailed and often killed for their beliefs. How we got “richly blessed” meaning money is just how the “world” has corrupted the message of Jesus. Sure we can point to thousands of believers who are “blessed” and live well, but is that because of deeds for heaven or just hard work on this earth?

Verses 3:5 & 6 are tough ones to take:

5 You know that he appeared to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. 6 No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him.

We know that Jesus died to “take away” our sins and allow us to have a connection with God. Sin blocks that connection and therefore must be confessed to remain in God’s will. That is simple to understand, but verse 6 gets very difficult. We all “keep on sinning” in one way or another, so how can this be true for us? Think about your life and even the most “holy” people I know mess up from time to time. Does that mean no one really knows Jesus? I think the difference is intentional sin and stuff we keep doing even when we know it’s wrong. If we know it’s a sin, STOP DOING IT! Simple!! The key is maintaining a fellowship in Jesus and to do so we must be “confessed up”!

Verse 3:22 must be carefully interpreted:

and whatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him.

They key here is how we define “whatever”. If “whatever” are material things I believe we missed the mark. We need to release the world and what attracts us to it to really be in fellowship. Rather than asking God for a “million dollars” like George Bailey in “It’s A Wonderful Life”, give thanks for the blessings you have in front of you. I thank God every day for my two fantastic children, one is graduating UGA and the other is getting his first invite to the X-Games. I can’t thank the Lord enough that they turned out the way they did, even with all my mess ups.

Verse 4:1 is a critical verse:

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.

The most dangerous Christian is one who will blindly follow their leader. Not because there are not some great leaders, but because they “blindly” follow. We need to ALWAYS test the spirit to ensure it does not get corrupt. When PK starts preaching his Gospel and not the Gospel of Jesus I will move on. Even though I have learned to trust him, I will continue to test and ensure he is not drifting. Don’t feel that just because you are new to Christ that you cannot test, two benefits is you will grow quicker and you can often shake the blind followers to their senses with a new perspective.

Acts 19 – 20

Verse 19:10 caught my eye more on geography than anything else:

This continued for two years, so that all the residents of Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks.

When you read this it think everyone things of Asia as being either South East Asia or Russia. People are no longer called “Chinese” but “Asian” when they have eyes similar to the Chinese, because they could be from Japan, Korea, Vietnam or a host of other nations. Then you have to remember India, Russia and even Israel is in Asia. So when they are talking about Asia with many Greeks, I can only assume they are traveling to what is present day Turkey and not India or Thailand.

Without mass communication and flight the Gospel is limited to where they can walk or ride a horse. But when Jesus said spread the Gospel that’s exactly what Paul did. You look at a map of where Paul traveled and it’s very impressive. He was all over the place making sure the Gospel was taught to the point where they could teach without his guidance. Do you have that same passion?

Verse 19:40 ends an “uprising” and near riot:

For we really are in danger of being charged with rioting today, since there is no cause that we can give to justify this commotion.”

The craftsmen who made idols were losing business because of the teachings Jesus. They started a commotion that escalated. The people whose livelihoods were dependent on buying idols were no longer making sales and therefore were going out of business. The town clerk quickly acted and dispersed the crowd and clamed everyone. Imagine today if Jesus came and how the churches would respond. This would be a problem, especially the “mega churches” where their livelihood was dependent on Jesus “coming” and not being here.

Verse 20:12 caught me by surprise:

And they took the youth away alive, and were not a little comforted

This “youth” trying to hear Paul fell three stories and died. Paul, through the power of Jesus, brought him back to life. The first thing that would be going through my mind was peace since there was irrefutable proof that this Jesus thing was real. Instead the words are “not a little comforted”, so this prompts me to check other versions. There is a mix of “greatly relieved” and similar wording to the ESV. I cannot imagine that they were not comforted, so therefore “a little” must imply they were greatly comforted.

Malachi 1 – 4

Verse 1:2 starts this last book of the Old Testament in defining God’s love for Israel:

“I have loved you,” says the LORD. But you say, “How have you loved us?” “Is not Esau Jacob’s brother?” declares the LORD. “Yet I have loved Jacob

Interestingly the next few words in verse 3 are “but Esau I have hated.” I read this in disbelief for two reasons, one how God can keep a covenant with a rebellious people who even now after 200 years is rebelling against God. Esau’s nation was the Edomites which had many conflicts with Israel. Now Esau was Isaac’s first born who gave his birthright to Jacob, the younger twin.

There is no mention in Genesis about the hated of Esau, but a 1000 years later Obadiah did mention God’s hatred for the idolatry of the Edomites. It’s odd that this text would bet the first mention of God’s hatred for Esau. What it appears to be is something lost in translation, although the CJB is worded almost the same way (CJB is the Complete Jewish Bible and is my “go to” for OT interpretations). The NLV words it as God rejected Esau so there may be some slight loss in translation. The “study” part of my ESV defines the “love” as “choosing for intimate fellowship” and “hate” as “not choosing this intimate fellowship.”

Verse 1:14 describes the expectation and reality of why God is currently mad at the Israelites:

Cursed be the cheat who has a male in his flock, and vows it, and yet sacrifices to the Lord what is blemished. For I am a great King, says the LORD of hosts, and my name will be feared among the nations.

They are rejecting God by just following his Law’s and have distanced themselves from a relationship. They no longer look at God as personal, but rater some distant being who they must follow a procedure to gather a “blessing.” No longer are they giving their best but rather the least. God does not want us to move from God being a “big deal” to “no big deal”. We need to fervently work on that relationship to maintain it and develop it. Sure there are low times, you have seen them in me over the years where I’m just a “monkey pounding the keys” yet even in those times I get encouragements and quickly turn from the funk.

Verse 3:10 is probably the most preached verse out of Malachi:

Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the LORD of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need.

I am really confused on how we did tithing before. I have gotten slack where we are “splitting” our tithe between the church and another charity. The problem is both are being short changed and we are struggling cash wise. It seemed odd that our money was going farther when we were tithing that today, and I cannot explain it through my detailed accounting process. I am struggling to get my accounts in order to ensure the tithe is going to God, not the dregs.

Now I don’t like this verse because it gets abused by churches making people feel they will prosper if they give their 10%. Basically they are being sold a false bill of goods since man cannot guarantee this. Now the preachers often point to this and people who reject it point to Jesus saying do not test the Lord in the wilderness. I like 12 Stones approach to this test where they say try for 90 days and if there is a problem they will refund 100% of your tithe. That way you can test God at no risk.

I can go on but look at two verse n your own. The first is verse 2:3 and not for any major spiritual revelations but more humor as God spreads dung on their faces. The second is verse 4:5 who most Christian scholars agree points to John the Baptist. The scripture specifically references Elijah who was the only other man to be taken up to heaven alive, so he would be a logical choice to announce the coming king. Most Christians believe Elijah came back as John while some believe this event is announcing the “second coming”.

Ecclesiastes 11 – 12

Verse 11:1 in an interesting line:

Cast your bread upon the waters,
for you will find it after many days.

This seemed odd since I look at this as illogical, since if you cast bread on water it will either be eaten or become waterlogged. If you do by chance find it after many days, there is no way you would want to do anything with it. KJV, ISV, and others seem to match this translation, so that is no help. The NIV says “Send your gain across the seas, and in time, profits will flow back to you” which makes sense. The CJV says “Send you resources over the seas, eventually you will reap a return.”

What this verse is saying is take a calculated and wise step in life and wait for a return. In today’s world this would be like investing as a young person so you can have a retirement in your old years. One needs to think about their dreams and aspirations and then calculate two things, the return for self and the benefit for the community. Investing helps companies gain capital to grow and in return you either gain in growth of the stock or dividends. In a business or job, one needs to calculate the costs, potential growth and the future potential before setting forward.

Verse 11:8 is almost an oxymoron:

So if a person lives many years, let him rejoice in them all; but let him remember that the days of darkness will be many. All that comes is vanity.

Here Solomon talks about how we need to rejoice as we get older but at the same time we have a meaningless future in the grave. Once we die very few will be remembered or thought about. Maybe at best a generation or two who knew you, but most of the time that’s only family. We look at men like George Washington and Abraham Lincoln as names that will live in infamy. While that may be true look at all the other great nations from thousands of years where little is known about their once great rulers. In essence once we are gone, that’s it, we have no more meaning just remembrance.

12:1 is probably the most important message I can give any young person:

Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come and the years draw near of which you will say, “I have no pleasure in them”;

Now don’t ever think that once you are blessed by God, life will be easy. We have no real account of this in the Bible. Job lived well and peaceful before going through torment, and then returned to this peaceful existence, but with the memory of the past. Of the disciples, all but John lived to a natural death, and he died in exile on an island. Now there are many “blessed” who do seem to live the easy life, but at the same time we need to learn their “back story” before thinking they had it easy all the time. Our pastor, PK, tells stories of how he tried to quit on the church in its early years because it was not growing. He lived through tough times, stress with the family and persevered to become one of the fast growing churches in the nation.

He did so because he had a calling from God. Granted it didn’t work out the way he expected, but at 16 he kept focus and 30 years later his vision has come true. That is why remaining close to God will keep your life in focus. I did forget to mention, guys like David who were blessed and did have to work hard for his victories, really didn’t have big problems until he drifted from God’s plan. Other stories in the Bible are similar, when man tries to force God’s promise. Abraham, Jonah, and others come to mind when not following God. Just remain in fellowship with God and things will be ok!

Psalms 137 – 139

Verse 137:6 reminds us to put God first:

Let my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth,
if I do not remember you,
if I do not set Jerusalem
above my highest joy!

The psalmist is asking to be mute if he does not remember God and puts Him in into any other slot that first. How many of us can claim God is number one? I know I can say it, but when you look into my life and heart it appears that is not the case. God ranks high, but I often allow work, family or personal desires to push Him out of the way. I can easily justify it through scripture and say I am serving others or living life to the full as God intended, but I am pushing God to the side.

Verse 138:1 caught my eye, see if you can see why:

I give you thanks, O LORD, with my whole heart;
before the gods I sing your praise;

What struck me was the lower case “gods”. David is writing this and during his reign there are other nations who worship other gods around him. We assume the “gods” are idols and not real beings. Others postulate that these “gods” are the ancients that live for hundreds of years and therefore are not going to die like men. The other idea is they are actually angels and demons. Most of the ones being “worshiped” are considered demons, since an angel would deflect their praise to God. This would make sense that the “little “g” gods” are real since the Ten Commandments tell us to put no other “gods” before him in the first and deal with idols in the second therefore differentiating between the two.

Today we are less likely to acknowledge other gods outside of cults since most of the “gods” have been “science’d” out of our society. This may be the case for gods, but idols now take the form of clothes, cars, homes, spouses, and jewelry. But one could say the “Satanic” cults are doing what they need to do, pushing an agenda of materialistic things to overshadow their “gods” and the one true uncreated God, Jehovah. This makes us dismiss all gods as being figments of early man’s imagination.

Verse 139:8 also caught my eye for different reasons:

If I ascend to heaven, you are there!
If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!

This is an interesting mention, since Sheol is often considered “hell” in many interpretations. The most common understanding is where all dead go, good or bad. If it is hell, God is there also according to this. Now think about it omnipresent does not mean he is everywhere except this place or that. No omnipresent means he is everywhere including hell.

Most faiths say we are separated from God through our sins and only salvation through Jesus will enable us to be in the presence of God. Now how could God exist in pure evil when he cannot be in our presence because we have not found salvation? You need to think about it, if God is omnipresent, than He is with all the pagans on earth as well. I believe the “wall of separation” is allowing us to enter the third heaven where God dwells.

Nehemiah 1 – 4

Ezra and Nehemiah were from the same period in history and both worked with restoring the temple and Jerusalem. Verse 1:5 has Nehemiah praying for help in convincing his occupying king to allow him to rebuild Jerusalem:

And I said, “O LORD God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments,

How many times do we start our prayers with acknowledgement that God is above all and to be revered? Or do we start them like a conversation with our best friend, more casual? Nehemiah is asking God to grant him favor in talking with King Artaxerxes who was the occupying king about rebuilding Jerusalem and the temple.

Verse 1:9 references verses we recently studied in Deuteronomy:

but if you return to me and keep my commandments and do them, though your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven, from there I will gather them and bring them to the place that I have chosen, to make my name dwell there.’

God has punished the people of Israel and exiled them to foreign lands. Nehemiah is trying to gain favor with God and return the people to their lands. When he finally has an audience with the king, which since he was the kings cupbearer was not uncommon, he gains favor and is granted his request to return. He actually is place in a position of authority as governor and immediately starts rebuilding the city.

His first order of business is to rebuild the city walls, but once other nations realized what was happening they stated to oppose the construction. This disrupted the construction since they had to take a defensive stance and arm themselves. Once the initial threat was subdued they had to remain ever vigilant and keep guard.

Verses 4:16 & 17 describes the new working conditions:

16 From that day on, half of my servants worked on construction, and half held the spears, shields, bows, and coats of mail. And the leaders stood behind the whole house of Judah, 17 who were building on the wall. Those who carried burdens were loaded in such a way that each laboured on the work with one hand and held his weapon with the other.

This threat immediately cut the workforce in half to guard the construction. It also hindered the laborers who had to work with one hand. This is significant since it limited progress, but even through great opposition the Israelites moved forward. They honored God and guarded their progress, at the cost of progress.

Think about this and how it applies to your life. We need to constantly be vigilant in building walls for our protection. At the same time we must guard ourselves from potential “breaches” over the weak parts. The main way we do this is not just attending worship services, but extending into small groups and individual studies. You need to work at fortifying your relationship with God, at the same time guarding attacks from evil. Like the Israelites we need to work hard rebuilding the “wall” while at the same time protecting ourselves from evil getting in.

Deuteronomy 10 – 12

Verse 10:16 caught my eye as odd:

Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no longer stubborn.

This seems odd that that they would describe it that way. And I wonder if that is the main purpose for circumcision, submission. I have always wondered why that was a custom to differentiate the Israelites from others. Honestly did they “whip it out” or have it exposed often? How would you know otherwise? Anyway the key here is to approach God with a soften heart, it’s hard enough to believe in an all knowing all seeing entity that you cannot see.

Verses 11:16 & 17 are a warning to the people of Israel:

16 Take care lest your heart be deceived, and you turn aside and serve other gods and worship them; 17 then the anger of the LORD will be kindled against you, and he will shut up the heavens, so that there will be no rain, and the land will yield no fruit, and you will perish quickly off the good land that the LORD is giving you.

We need to protect our hearts also for we do not want to follow false teachers. The Israelites had the same problem with so many other cultures; they needed to guard against integrating their customs and religions into Judaism. God has promised they would be protected and fruitful in the previous verses but wanted to make sure they understood it was conditional.

Today we look at “conditionality” of living today. We often see people who are wretched doing quite well and living the “good life” while good Christian families deal with tragedy after tragedy. One could easily question why this does not apply to everyone. The answer is simple, the nations that are not subject to the Law are not judged by not following it. The “heathens” who do not know Christ do not live under the same standards. They will be judged for their actions but are not subject to the same standards we Christians must follow.

Verse 12:30 continues the warning of straying from the Law:

take care that you are not ensnared to follow them, after they have been destroyed before you, and that you do not enquire about their gods, saying, ‘How did these nations serve their gods?—that I also may do the same.’

We don’t need to integrate other religions into our faith to make a “better one”. Once it happens we lose much of what our faith means. You see messages get “watered down” to appeal to a broader audience and not offend others. What we should really be doing is remaining true to the faith and allow God to filter the “offensive” statements.

I think the most polarizing issue today is homosexuality. The Bible is clear that it is wrong. We have that both in the OT and NT, so both Jewish and Christians are told it is wrong. This is where the waters get “muddied” where I believe the Hebraic Law is clear and it a sin for Israelites to lay with the same sex; Paul’s statements need to be analyzed. Was Paul addressing a “orgy/bath house mentality” and did not apply to loving relationships? If God was against gays, why are people born this way? I still am not clear on how Christians should respond. Again it seems like if it’s “Law” for us Christians, it may not apply to those outside the faith. Still trying to figure out in my head what God truly means.

It’s not our job to judge, just love and accept people, show everyone God loves them. God will change their heart of there is a problem, otherwise we do not want to reject people and damn them to help because of a misinterpretation of God’s intentions.

1 John 1 – 2

Verse 1:9 is probably one of the most critical verses that gets ignored:

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

I think one of the most damaging “theologies” for many is this idea that once you accept salvation and confess your sin, all future sins are forgiven. This may be true to a point, but John is very specific that we need to confess our sins to be cleansed of “unrighteousness”. Jesus did for our sins and since He did over 2000 years ago, He died for our future sins. Nowhere is it stated that we should just stop confessing once we “say the prayer”.

It doesn’t matter how bad we are after accepting salvation, unless we reject God we will remain in the “Book of Life” but to live life to the full we need to remain in tune with God. To do this we must figurative put our hands on his head and transfer our sins through confession. Pastor John Miller of West Side Bible described the damage of sin not being confessed by illustrating it using scar tissue.

If you cut yourself and do nothing you will scab up and develop scars. This tissue is tough and actually more difficult to remove once it sets. But if you cleanse the cut and manage it well the scar tissue is very limited. I have some deep cuts that are almost imperceptible. It’s the same way with sins, if you ignore them and keep on going we develop scar tissue between our connection with God. The longer we go without confessing sin the more difficult it is to make the connection with God. It’s simple, just confess your sins and as Jesus said to the woman about to be stoned for adultery, sin no more.

Verse 2:1 explains that the ability to confess is not an “E-Ticket” to sinning:

My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.

The trap many get into is one can confess their sins in the morning. We blow our witnesses quickly with this mindset and could damage others receiving salvation. Think about it why would someone want to live under a set of rules, that can be broken, and only make you feel guilty the “morning after.” If they saw someone living their life to the full and enjoying clean living, they will want to see what’s different.

Verse 2:15 is one of the most difficult verses to follow:

Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

Not only is this difficult, but it’s also quite damning when you read into it. How many of us love nice things and want them? A better house, a faster car, a perfect spouse or just more money are all things of this world. If we “love” our car, does that mean are separated from God? That is why this is a spooky verse because we get so caught up in turning love to something that will not bring salvation. Notice I put the “perfect spouse” in there when Jesus commanded us to love one and other. The key is “perfect” because none of us are perfect. If we love the boobs, the muscles, and the chest this makes them an object that is no different than loving a car. Men are most confused on this issue since we often confuse lust for love, we look at the body and focus on sex, not love.

This may be just as important as 1 John 1:9 because the world is a trap and we all get sucked into loving the things of the world. Now one would argue that God made this world to love. The mountains reflect God, the car reflects God and the “perfect wife” reflects God, so why can we not love them. The key is not loving them more than God. We cannot allow this world to suck us away from God. This is where “prosperity preaching” gets us in trouble because it exploits the love of this world to give to their church, with the promise of more stuff to love and separate you from God.

Acts 17 – 18

Verse 17:3 is something I understand but don’t at the same time:

explaining and proving that it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead, and saying, “This Jesus, whom I proclaim to you, is the Christ.”

I understand the scriptural significance of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross, but that doesn’t mean I understand why. Why was it required to have a blood sacrifice to atone for a sin anyway? This has been part of rituals from many different diverse cultures, so God did not just say to Israel you must sacrifice. It’s difficult for me to understand this and why for example the Mayans practiced sacrifices also and often humans.

I guess I don’t understand why someone or something needs to suffer for my wrong doing. Although I don’t understand, I do accept this as reasoning for why Jesus died and they because of this we are redeemed. Again I have to mention weeping at the scene where they crucified Jesus, it was brutal what was done to an innocent man for us!

Verse 17:13 has me questioning why:

But when the Jews from Thessalonica learned that the word of God was proclaimed by Paul at Berea also, they came there too, agitating and stirring up the crowds.

They were in Berea, where the Jews were “more noble than those in Thessalonica,” teaching the Gospel and these men were making waves. Paul and Silas has just left Thessalonica with not much success, but apparently made enough of an impact to cause them to follow for taunting purposes. Strange that people would do that just to make their point.

Verse 18:6 is strange when you think about it:

And when they opposed and reviled him, he shook out his garments and said to them, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am innocent. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.”

They are taking salvation serious, as should we. If you were to enter heaven and answer for each person in hell who we had intimate contact with and never shared the Gospel it would be an ugly sight for most of us. The only way we could have a clear conscious is if we told them and they rejected the offer. Honestly we all tend to play this salvation thing like a game when it is life and death for the salvation of everyone. If we looked at this like Paul where the only way “blood” would not be on our heads was if we professed the Gospel and they rejected, otherwise we would be charged with their eternal existence in hell.

I am exploring the possibility of comiling a book that takes he insights I have had through reading the Bible and explores them. Kind of looking at the Bible throught the eyes of an engineer.

WHAT DO YOU THINK … contact me on FB (emailsfromdad) or twitter

Zechariah 8 – 14

This reading is one you need to really study closely and compare to Jesus’ story. It’s full of what happened and was written some 500 years before the coming of Jesus. Now skeptics can say Jesus was a story written to conjure up the masses against Rome. The only problem is if it was a “story” to get support, why did they not make Jesus more like a warrior? Also, one could say Jesus knew the scriptures inside and out and therefore formed His story to match as many as possible.

Interestingly if Jesus was a fraud, how would his story have survived without being discredited? That have been no historical documents found that imply Jesus is not who he said He is, other than rejecting Him as the Messiah. Nothing has been found that says He never raised any dead, or healed many, or walked on water, only rejecting the claim. Makes you wonder!

Verse 9:9 talks about his entrance to Jerusalem for Passover:

Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!
Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem!
Behold, your king is coming to you;
righteous and having salvation is he,
humble and mounted on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

This accurately describes an event which happens almost 550 years in the future. How can that be? How could this really be staged and produced for man to get sucked in. This verse is full of fulfilled prophecies.

Verse 11:10 caught my eye because it’s the first time I remember the people of Israel losing their “favor” with God:

And I took my staff Favour, and I broke it, annulling the covenant that I had made with all the peoples.

This is a warning to the people of Israel not to reject the coming Messiah or they will lose favor with God. The prophecy is fulfilled when Jesus enters the temple and sees what is going on. Interestingly the Passover was becoming commercialized, like Christmas has today, and it was a time to profit for herders and merchants. Look at 11:14 and think about what the staff of Union represents.

Verse 13:1 is not referenced as a prophecy showing the coming of Jesus, but it does show his redeeming qualities:

“On that day there shall be a fountain opened for the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and uncleanness.

Is this the water that flowed from Jesus’ side when He was pierced on the cross? What came was the cleansing water and the redeeming blood! Did Zechariah know Jesus must die to fulfill the ultimate plan? I have been watching The Bible series off the History Channel, it’s great. Last night I watched them nail Jesus to the cross and wept. I understand the Messianic symbolism to this, but cannot comprehend why. What was done to an innocent man is abhorrent and difficult to understand even with the knowledge of the need for a blood sacrifice.

For more fun look at 11:4, 11:7, 11:8, 12:10 and 13:7 to see if you can tie them into the story of Jesus. Also, see if you can find any others. I think this is the most fun in reading the Old Testament, when you see the reality of God’s plan!

Ecclesiastes 9 – 10

Verse 9:3 has Solomon making a great point:

This is an evil in all that is done under the sun, that the same event happens to all. Also, the hearts of the children of man are full of evil, and madness is in their hearts while they live, and after that they go to the dead.

Doesn’t matter if we are kind and righteous or evil and selfish we all die. I know “everlasting life” is preached, and often gets applied to our bodies, but in reality our bodies age, decay and eventually die. The life after death is the soul or the energy that drives the body and not the meat suit we have been assigned. Solomon is just stating the fact that 1 out of 1 person born, eventually die.

The only choice we has for life after death is how we spend it. Do we live life as God desires with the love of Jesus and spend our eternity with God or do we chose to dismiss the almighty and spend existence in a lake of fire. There appears to be two choices and one needs to be selected before you die. Personally I would suggest earlier since life on earth is easier to handle knowing the true living God.

Verse 9:1 is difficult to understand on the surface:

Again I saw that under the sun the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to the intelligent, nor favour to those with knowledge, but time and chance happen to them all.

We read this and say the race is won by the fastest, the one who crosses the finish line first. Even when talking marathons and Lelisa Desisa winning time at Boston this year of 2:10:22 he was the swiftest. If you have never run a 4:58 mile try it; sure a marathon is an endurance event and finishing is not to the swift, but winning is!! But in reality it’s not about victory but enduring the life we are in. It’s not a race or a battle, although at times it seems like a never ending war, but rather a day to day experience that we need to enjoy.

To “live life to the full” like Jesus wants us to, it’s not always about winning, but rather serving. Our victories can be measured in salvations and not in blue ribbons. I can say after 20 years of racing all the trophies are long gone, but the salvations I know live on even after death. I just pray my impact has been good, since my taking a knee and praying someone through salvation is non-existent. I hope my life has influenced others to come to Christ. I know my children were led to Christ, but Pastor Bobby had them take the knee.

Verse 10:19 took me by surprise:

Bread is made for laughter,
and wine gladdens life,
and money answers everything

I struggle with money and my obsession with it. It’s not that we are rich or overly abundant, but I just pray for a windfall to help eliminate the debt so we can live with margin and not stress. Now if I had followed the 10/10/80 rule since college, retirement would be a reality. We would be in good shape and out of debt, I believe assuming we did not blow it all in a failed business. And now Solomon confirms this with the last line, “money answers everything.”

Please understand Solomon is not saying love money or put money before God. He is just saying it doesn’t suck. Those who give everything and live with the poor are noble. But I wonder how much more they could have influenced the world remaining in their position and using their earnings to help others continually. That is a question we all must ask and honestly I don’t know what would have been in their hearts. Maybe the money was distancing them from Christ and giving all was need to break those chains.

Psalms 134 – 136

Verse 134:1 talks about blessing the Lord:

Come, bless the LORD, all you servants of the LORD,
who stand by night in the house of the LORD!

NIV says “praise” while the KJV and CJB both say “bless”, so I tend to fall on the “blessing” the Lord. Honestly it’s not possible to “bless the Lord” in our physical minds. What does God need anyway? What could we do to really “bless the Lord”? To answer this question you must go outside your physical bodies, unless you have children than this is easy.

First, outside the physical world really the only thing that would bless God is more than just doing what He wants. That is why I said those who have children will understand this because when something is given or done from the heart nothing can make you feel more blessed. When the “little one” brings you a picture they spend hours on for your birthday, that is a blessing. You look at the “art” with no real form, composition or value in the art world and see nothing less than a priceless work of art. You know it came from the heart and therefore are personally blessed.

THAT is the key to blessing the Lord, doing something special from the heart! Doesn’t have to be millions of dollars in the offering plate, but it does need to be heartfelt.

Verse 135:13 is obvious, but really needs reflection:

Your name, O LORD, endures for ever,
your renown, O LORD, throughout all ages.

I fear that science and “logic” is crushing the Lord’s name and memories. We look at these stories no longer as fact, but rather literary allegory about something that happened. The earth was not made in 6 days, but rather over millions of years. The Red Sea did not part, but rather had an unusual tide. These and other explanations are attempts to remove God from our natural lives and forget Him altogether.

Interestingly the ones driving this so aggressively call themselves Satanist, but they claim not to believe in a being called Satan. Luciferian cults are also driving this “no God mindset” in our society without challenge. We don’t stand up and say wait, even when there is proof that God exists in our lives. So I wonder how God’s name will endure past the next 2 to 3 generations, unless something is done to stop this slip.

Verse 136:1 reminds us of other Psalms and writings in the Bible:

Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good,
for his steadfast love endures for ever.

His “love endures for ever” shows up 45 times in the Bible, it may show up more if we change the wording but for this search that is what I found. Now 26 of those times are in this Psalm alone, but that still means these words were written 19 other times. Again that is something that we tend to forget, no matter how distant we make God or try to deny his existence altogether, His love endures! I guess in this day and age, were 50% of the bonds of marriage fail due to a promised love not enduring for ever fails, we have a tough time imagining God loving US forever. That is why He is God and we fall short!

Ezra 6 – 10

Verse 6:3 focuses on putting the past behind us and rebuilding for a bright future:

In the first year of Cyrus the king, Cyrus the king issued a decree: Concerning the house of God at Jerusalem, let the house be rebuilt, the place where sacrifices were offered, and let its foundations be retained. Its height shall be sixty cubits and its breadth sixty cubits,

“Let the house be rebuilt” is the order by the king of Babylon and the Israelites realize it’s the way back to God. After being in exile they are allowed to return and rebuild their faith. This is one thing we see throughout the Bible, God may have strict standards but He is forgiving. If you remember Israel’s history to this point they have been shifting between faithful and way out of God’s intention. God returned to them time and time again when asked.

Like the Prodigal Son’s father, God is waiting with open arms for all of us to “rebuild” again. We just need to ask for forgiveness and humble ourselves before God. But what is true submission to God? I know often times I do contrite confessions making either global statements or just say forgive me for this sin I keep repeating. Sometimes I wonder if we get dragged through “it” to remind us who is holy and who is in control.

Verse 8:21 has Ezra order a fast:

Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God, to seek from him a safe journey for ourselves, our children, and all our goods.

Fasts are a difficult subject for many since eating is one of those necessary things we do, like breathing. Having just watched “Chasing Mavericks” about a surfer learning to surf the big waves, he learned how to go without breathing for over 4 minutes. He needed to train not for when things went right, but rather when the failed and the waves were pushing him down away from the air. Like that we need to “train” ourselves so we can go without food.

Now there are two times in the Bible where man appears to go 40 days without food or water; Moses on the mountain and Jesus in the wilderness. I wonder if they were not eating and drinking during this time. Doctors agree one can go without food for up to 8 weeks, if they have water. Most doctors agree even the most healthy humans can only go up to a week without water, and that’s assuming moderate temperatures, not the wilderness in the Middle East. I am not saying that Moses and Jesus did not survive without food or water, with God one can do this, but I would want a CLEAR sign that it would be ok before undertaking this.

Now fasting has been proven physiologically beneficial in cleaning toxins from one’s body. I think God initially wanted us to rest one day a week completely; this includes all intake of food and possibly water. Now this is what God set aside for the body so we can be healthy. The fast Ezra is doing is to remind us of God and his provisions. One really needs to include prayer in this case, otherwise it’s just a diet. Do this in private and don’t distort ones condition to bring attention to yourself, it’s between you and God!

Maybe it’s time to start rebuilding your temple and start with praying, fasting and repentance!!