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Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Ordered by Verse | ||||||
Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
1 | "God told me to do it" | Gen 22:1 | Ricardo Della-Ricca | 107527 | ||
Hi Makarios Thanks for this response, however my friend Tim argues with the whole thing and is pushing his case. Here is a letter from him. Ricardo. I can thus deduct, that God does indeed tell people to do bad things... Hmmmm, that somehow doesn't sound right... It is therefore impossible to tell whether or not it is the devil, or God talking to us in our dreams. Because as Gen 22:1-19 tells us, "God asked Abraham to sacrifice his son to God... (ie burn and murder him)". That is why I would not be tempted to look into dreams as an indicator of or duty to God, or future. It is clear, that from this, we do not know who is putting things in our head. Could it therefore be possible, that those people we see, who hear voices in their head, telling them to do "bad things", could indeed be God speaking to them? However unlikely this may be, it is certain we must look at Gen 22:1-19 and reconsider our response. Simply not labelling those people as "wackos". I could gurantee you, that if Abraham had consulted a psychiatrist in this day and age, about how he had heard a voice claiming it was God, ordering him to kill his son, he would almost certainly be put in a straight jacket. We however know it was God, and that Abraham was not a "wacko". Puts a new edge on defining a mental illness doesn't it? No psychiatrist has the corner on truth... God does indeed tell people to do bad things... (As a test). Yet God disallowed Abraham to go through with his sacrifice... I would encourage all people who look deeply into dreams, and visions, to treat such things with caution. Always consult the scriptures before acting on anything. Ricardo, I will try and collaborate more verses to evidence my case. What do I make of Gen 22? In my view, it would seem ridiculous for God to test a mere man's faith, for he already knew the extent to which Abraham's faith reached... Possibly God is trying to say that he can tell people to do bad things. I do not know, I am only human, and cannot explain God's actions. However, from this, I do know that it is very important that we treat all dreams and visions with the highest degree of caution. For if you are ordered to sin, we must not cross out God as the voice, as Gen 22 tells us... It could just as equally be the devil polluting our minds... Then again, we could be mentally ill... I honestly do not know... This arguement is somewhat jumbled, as I've just been rifling off what ever's on my mind. But if I have not made something clear, please ask. Tim thanks regards Ricardo |
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2 | "God told me to do it" | Gen 22:1 | stjones | 107530 | ||
Hi, Ricardo; A couple of points: There was no benefit to God in testing Abraham's faith; as your friend Tim said, God already knew what Abraham's choice would be. We need to ask ourselves two questions when we study an event like this: 1) What was the benefit to or effect on the participants? Perhaps it was important for Abraham to know that God might make extraordinary demands, but he would always provide the means for satisfying them; at least, that seems to be what he learned and passed on to Isaac. And perhaps Abraham needed to discover for himself the depth and importance of his obedience. It was after passing this test that God reaffirmed his covenant with Abraham. 2) What did God want us to learn? Most of what happened during Old Testament times was not recorded. Only events and conversations of God's choosing were written down for us. So why did God preserve this incident for us? Was it his intent to teach us that he will sometimes ask us to do things that are wrong? If that were his intent, I would expect to see other examples; I don't. No, I think God wanted us to learn lessons similar to those taught Abraham. It is also important to remember the context of these events. It is silly to imagine that God will interact with us the same way he interacted with Abraham. None of us will be called to start a new covenant and a new nation as Abraham was. None of us will appear in the Bible. Abraham's experience was unique. Should we believe a virgin who in 2004 claims that Gabriel told her whe would bear the son of God? Of course not; that was reserved for Mary; it will not happen again. Like Mary, Abraham lived the life God set out for him. None of us will re-live his life. Finally, we need to remember that Genesis, the rest of the Pentateuch, the rest of the Old Testament, and the rest of the Bible represent a progressive revelation of God's character and will. Abraham had no Law to guide him; God was revealing his will a step at a time. It is likely that Abraham did not yet know that God abhorred the sacrifice of children. Through Moses his descendants knew it and so do we. If Abraham had not been paying attention the second time God spoke, he might have had a flimsy excuse for sacrificiing Isaac; we would have none. In short, with all of Scripture to guide us, we can be confident that God absolutely will not tell us to do wrong. There is no scriptural basis for believing that he would. Peace and grace, Steve aka Indiana Jones |
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