Results 1 - 12 of 12
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Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Unanswered Bible Questions Author: drbloor Ordered by Date |
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Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
1 | Elijah went where? | Genesis | drbloor | 171499 | ||
If Elijah went to Heaven how and why was he back on Earth writing a letter to Jehoram King of Judah nearly ten years later? (2 Chr 21:12) How can Enoch or Elijah have been taken up to heaven if "no man hath ascended up to heaven but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven" (Jhn 3:13). Did Jesus lie? |
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2 | Was Cain the son of Adam? | Gen 4:1 | drbloor | 166700 | ||
One of the strangest Biblical claims I have come across is that Cain was not the son of Adam. Any thoughts? | ||||||
3 | Does Satan Exist Part I | Bible general Archive 3 | drbloor | 166179 | ||
PART I Dear BradK, (As the opposite of a P.S. note, I would like to mention that this answer has become a little longer than I had originally envisaged. I hope that you will approach it with an open mind and take it in the spirit with which it is intended – that Grace and Truth may abound. If I gain nothing else from this, it has been a useful study for myself, but as I say, I hope and pray it may help and encourage others to search out the things of Truth.) Thanks for your reply. I certainly believe in the Lord Jesus, but I have tremendous problems believing in a physical Satan, and your references are actually part of the problem with belief in a physical Satan, and not part of the solution. For example, Ezekiel 28. (Taken as a case study. As you can see a complete answer to all your points would take a very long time.) Ezekiel 28 is clearly a prophesy against Tyre, just as the previous chapters 26 and 27 are also prophesies against Tyre. If this is not true then you would have to accept that chapters 26 and 27 are also about Satan, which would indicate that: 1. Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon would fight against Satan and destroy him. (Ezekiel 26:7 onwards) 2. Satan will become a place for the spreading of nets in the midst of the sea. (Ezekiel 26:5) 3. Satan is in fact situated by the seaside. (Ezekiel 27:3) 4. Satan has ships made from the fir trees of Senir and the cedars of Lebanon. (Ezekiel 27:5) 5. The fact that Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon fought against Tyre, and that Alexander the Great scraped the dust from Tyre and made her like the top of a rock in direct fulfilment of this prophesy is all just a coincidence. There are obviously an abundance of examples such as these in chapters 26 and 27, and without covering all of them, I hope we can agree at least that these chapters concern literal Tyre. If chapters 26 and 27 concern literal Tyre, and the end of chapter 28 concerns literal Sidon (a city to the north of Tyre) it would seem out of place to include a pronouncement against the person of Satan in the middle of these prophecies against cities, especially when verses 2 and 12 of Ezekiel 28 explicitly state that the pronouncement is against Tyre. ------------------------------------- To answer specifically your points about Ezekiel 28: 1. He was in Eden. (Ezekiel 28:13). This appears to be a prosaic device, or for want of a better definition, a metaphor. There is clear evidence that Ezekiel uses this device elsewhere – in fact in chapter 31 Ezekiel describes Assyria as a tree in the Garden of Eden. Unless Assyria WAS in fact a literal tree in the Garden of Eden, and was somehow later transmogrified into a nation or person, this argument does not stand. It is more probable that Ezekiel is here comparing the fall of Tyre to the fall of Adam in Eden. This is borne out in verse 15: Ezekiel 28:15 "Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee." This verse exactly fits the fall of Adam, which is a historical event already recorded in The Bible, unlike the fall of Satan. If a verse in the Bible refers us to another part of Scripture, surely we must analyse this before we introduce an extra-Biblical conception. In other words, we must extrapolate Scriptural teachings from Scripture, not interpolate extra-Biblical teachings into Scripture. And you cannot back-up your argument that Ezekiel 28 refers to the fall of Satan by presenting Ezekiel 28 as corroborating evidence. If your best source of evidence for the fall of Satan is Ezekiel 28, and the only way you know it is the fall of Satan is "because it sounds like the fall of Satan" then yours is a circular argument. If we are told that this person was in the Garden of Eden and was perfect until iniquity was found in him, then the only logical step is to see who The Bible (not man) says was in Eden and was perfect until iniquity was found in him. There is only one candidate – Adam. This must therefore be a comparison between the fall of Tyre and the fall of Adam. In fact, the comparison between Adam and the king of Tyre runs throughout Ezekiel 28: Ezekiel 28:2 "thou art a man, and not God, though thou set thine heart as the heart of God". Genesis 3:5 "For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods" According to The Bible, this was the sin of Adam – that he set his heart as the heart of God. That he believed that he could become "as God". Note that this is NOT the sin of the serpent, at least not according to The Bible account. |
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4 | Does Satan Exist Part I | Bible general Archive 3 | drbloor | 166212 | ||
PART I Dear BradK, (As the opposite of a P.S. note, I would like to mention that this answer has become a little longer than I had originally envisaged. I hope that you will approach it with an open mind and take it in the spirit with which it is intended – that Grace and Truth may abound. If I gain nothing else from this, it has been a useful study for myself, but as I say, I hope and pray it may help and encourage others to search out the things of Truth.) Thanks for your reply. I certainly believe in the Lord Jesus, but I have tremendous problems believing in a physical Satan, and your references are actually part of the problem with belief in a physical Satan, and not part of the solution. For example, Ezekiel 28. (Taken as a case study. As you can see a complete answer to all your points would take a very long time.) Ezekiel 28 is clearly a prophesy against Tyre, just as the previous chapters 26 and 27 are also prophesies against Tyre. If this is not true then you would have to accept that chapters 26 and 27 are also about Satan, which would indicate that: 1. Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon would fight against Satan and destroy him. (Ezekiel 26:7 onwards) 2. Satan will become a place for the spreading of nets in the midst of the sea. (Ezekiel 26:5) 3. Satan is in fact situated by the seaside. (Ezekiel 27:3) 4. Satan has ships made from the fir trees of Senir and the cedars of Lebanon. (Ezekiel 27:5) 5. The fact that Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon fought against Tyre, and that Alexander the Great scraped the dust from Tyre and made her like the top of a rock in direct fulfilment of this prophesy is all just a coincidence. There are obviously an abundance of examples such as these in chapters 26 and 27, and without covering all of them, I hope we can agree at least that these chapters concern literal Tyre. If chapters 26 and 27 concern literal Tyre, and the end of chapter 28 concerns literal Sidon (a city to the north of Tyre) it would seem out of place to include a pronouncement against the person of Satan in the middle of these prophecies against cities, especially when verses 2 and 12 of Ezekiel 28 explicitly state that the pronouncement is against Tyre. ------------------------------------- To answer specifically your points about Ezekiel 28: 1. He was in Eden. (Ezekiel 28:13). This appears to be a prosaic device, or for want of a better definition, a metaphor. There is clear evidence that Ezekiel uses this device elsewhere – in fact in chapter 31 Ezekiel describes Assyria as a tree in the Garden of Eden. Unless Assyria WAS in fact a literal tree in the Garden of Eden, and was somehow later transmogrified into a nation or person, this argument does not stand. It is more probable that Ezekiel is here comparing the fall of Tyre to the fall of Adam in Eden. This is borne out in verse 15: Ezekiel 28:15 "Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee." This verse exactly fits the fall of Adam, which is a historical event already recorded in The Bible, unlike the fall of Satan. If a verse in the Bible refers us to another part of Scripture, surely we must analyse this before we introduce an extra-Biblical conception. In other words, we must extrapolate Scriptural teachings from Scripture, not interpolate extra-Biblical teachings into Scripture. And you cannot back-up your argument that Ezekiel 28 refers to the fall of Satan by presenting Ezekiel 28 as corroborating evidence. If your best source of evidence for the fall of Satan is Ezekiel 28, and the only way you know it is the fall of Satan is "because it sounds like the fall of Satan" then yours is a circular argument. If we are told that this person was in the Garden of Eden and was perfect until iniquity was found in him, then the only logical step is to see who The Bible (not man) says was in Eden and was perfect until iniquity was found in him. There is only one candidate – Adam. This must therefore be a comparison between the fall of Tyre and the fall of Adam. In fact, the comparison between Adam and the king of Tyre runs throughout Ezekiel 28: Ezekiel 28:2 "thou art a man, and not God, though thou set thine heart as the heart of God". Genesis 3:5 "For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods" According to The Bible, this was the sin of Adam – that he set his heart as the heart of God. That he believed that he could become "as God". Note that this is NOT the sin of the serpent, at least not according to The Bible account. |
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5 | Does Satan Exist Part II | Bible general Archive 3 | drbloor | 166181 | ||
PART II 2. He was the anointed cherub of God "that covereth". Ezekiel 28:14. This is a clear reference to the carved golden cherubim that were situated at either end of the mercy seat above the Ark of the Covenant, whose wings "covereth" the mercy seat (Exodus 25:20) and which was "anointed" in Exodus 30:26. If the only other cherub in the whole of Holy Scripture that has been anointed and that covereth is on the Ark, and Ezekiel is alluding to the Ephod of the high priest (the only one who could approach the Ark), and discusses the "mountain of God" – the location of the Ark, then it is reasonable to take Ezekiel at his word and accept that he is clearly referring here to the cherub of the Ark of the Covenant. The reason that this is applicable to Tyre is that Hiram, king of Tyre, was great friends with King David and Solomon, and went so far as to help build the Temple of God where the Ark of the Covenant was located (1 Kings 5). In fact it was the timber that Tyre provided that made the roof (or covering!) of The Temple. I would therefore suggest that a more natural reading of this would be to again see this verse as a metaphor, depicting by "the covering" the nature of the previous relationship between Tyre and Israel – either of protection and friendship or of the provision of the covering of The Temple. Furthermore it is evident that Ezekiel is discussing things upon Mount Zion because he clearly refers to Mount Zion in Ezekiel 28:14,16 as the "mountain of God." "The mountain of God" in the days of Ezekiel is obviously Mount Zion. To construe the "mountain of God" as heaven or anywhere else is to ignore what is here explicitly stated. If we are in any doubt over what or where the mountain of God is, we can turn to an abundance of Scripture: Isaiah 2:2,3 "the mountain of the LORDs house shall be established in the top of the mountains ... And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob ... for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem." Indeed Ezekiel himself talks of the mountain of God: Ezekiel 20:40 "For in mine holy mountain, in the mountain of the height of Israel, saith the Lord GOD, there shall all the house of Israel, all of them in the land, serve me: there will I accept them, and there will I require your offerings, and the firstfruits of your oblations, with all your holy things." Ezekiel himself locates the mountain of God in "Israel" where "the house of Israel, all of them in the land, serve me." It is inconceivable that this is anywhere other than Mount Zion. Further proof that Ezekiel 28 is discussing the Temple of Mount Zion, and articles inside that Temple follow: 3. He was adorned with precious stones. Ezekiel 28:13. Again, this is a clear allusion to Temple worship and to the Ephod that was worn by the high priest of Israel in the Temple on Mount Zion (Exodus 39). The twelve precious stones of the Ephod represent the twelve tribes of Israel and it is these stones or tribes that Tyre is said to have moved amongst in Ezekiel 28. The stones (or Israel) were a "covering" for Tyre because of the friendship between the nation of Israel and Tyre. Tyre covered Israel physically (see note on the Cherubim above) and Israel covered Tyre spiritually. ("I will bless them that bless thee, and curse them that curseth thee.") 4. He possessed great musical ability. Ezekiel 28:13. This verse does not say that anyone necessarily had musical ability, it speaks of the creation or "workmanship" of musical instruments – from your point of view, inside Satan. Unless Satan is somehow made out of musical instruments this argument does not hold. Tabrets and pipes were not used in the Temple, but they were used in the worship of God, (such as the anointing of Solomon and the bringing of the Ark to Jerusalem) so it is therefore perfectly plausible for these items to have been found in Tyre during the time of friendship between Tyre and Israel. |
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6 | Does Satan Exist Part II | Bible general Archive 3 | drbloor | 166214 | ||
PART II 2. He was the anointed cherub of God "that covereth". Ezekiel 28:14. This is a clear reference to the carved golden cherubim that were situated at either end of the mercy seat above the Ark of the Covenant, whose wings "covereth" the mercy seat (Exodus 25:20) and which was "anointed" in Exodus 30:26. If the only other cherub in the whole of Holy Scripture that has been anointed and that covereth is on the Ark, and Ezekiel is alluding to the Ephod of the high priest (the only one who could approach the Ark), and discusses the "mountain of God" – the location of the Ark, then it is reasonable to take Ezekiel at his word and accept that he is clearly referring here to the cherub of the Ark of the Covenant. The reason that this is applicable to Tyre is that Hiram, king of Tyre, was great friends with King David and Solomon, and went so far as to help build the Temple of God where the Ark of the Covenant was located (1 Kings 5). In fact it was the timber that Tyre provided that made the roof (or covering!) of The Temple. I would therefore suggest that a more natural reading of this would be to again see this verse as a metaphor, depicting by "the covering" the nature of the previous relationship between Tyre and Israel – either of protection and friendship or of the provision of the covering of The Temple. Furthermore it is evident that Ezekiel is discussing things upon Mount Zion because he clearly refers to Mount Zion in Ezekiel 28:14,16 as the "mountain of God." "The mountain of God" in the days of Ezekiel is obviously Mount Zion. To construe the "mountain of God" as heaven or anywhere else is to ignore what is here explicitly stated. If we are in any doubt over what or where the mountain of God is, we can turn to an abundance of Scripture: Isaiah 2:2,3 "the mountain of the LORDs house shall be established in the top of the mountains ... And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob ... for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem." Indeed Ezekiel himself talks of the mountain of God: Ezekiel 20:40 "For in mine holy mountain, in the mountain of the height of Israel, saith the Lord GOD, there shall all the house of Israel, all of them in the land, serve me: there will I accept them, and there will I require your offerings, and the firstfruits of your oblations, with all your holy things." Ezekiel himself locates the mountain of God in "Israel" where "the house of Israel, all of them in the land, serve me." It is inconceivable that this is anywhere other than Mount Zion. Further proof that Ezekiel 28 is discussing the Temple of Mount Zion, and articles inside that Temple follow: 3. He was adorned with precious stones. Ezekiel 28:13. Again, this is a clear allusion to Temple worship and to the Ephod that was worn by the high priest of Israel in the Temple on Mount Zion (Exodus 39). The twelve precious stones of the Ephod represent the twelve tribes of Israel and it is these stones or tribes that Tyre is said to have moved amongst in Ezekiel 28. The stones (or Israel) were a "covering" for Tyre because of the friendship between the nation of Israel and Tyre. Tyre covered Israel physically (see note on the Cherubim above) and Israel covered Tyre spiritually. ("I will bless them that bless thee, and curse them that curseth thee.") 4. He possessed great musical ability. Ezekiel 28:13. This verse does not say that anyone necessarily had musical ability, it speaks of the creation or "workmanship" of musical instruments – from your point of view, inside Satan. Unless Satan is somehow made out of musical instruments this argument does not hold. Tabrets and pipes were not used in the Temple, but they were used in the worship of God, (such as the anointing of Solomon and the bringing of the Ark to Jerusalem) so it is therefore perfectly plausible for these items to have been found in Tyre during the time of friendship between Tyre and Israel. |
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7 | Does Satan Exist Part III | Bible general Archive 3 | drbloor | 166183 | ||
PART III 5. He was the perfection of wisdom and beauty. Ezekiel 28:12. If we agree that Ezekiel 27 is a prophesy upon literal Tyre then this is clearly an echo of the language used in Ezekiel 27 and reinforces the notion that Ezekiel 28 is also a prophesy upon literal Tyre. This quote from Ezekiel 27 is clearly not about Satan: Ezekiel 27:3,4: "O Tyrus, thou hast said, I am of perfect beauty. Thy borders are in the midst of the seas, thy builders have perfected thy beauty." Tyre was also at one time wise, as we have seen – Tyre had a great friendship with Israel, with David and with Solomon. Tyre helped to build the Temple of the Lord on Mount Zion. Surely this sets Tyre apart from many other nations as "full of wisdom"? Indeed, Hiram king of Tyre made peace and a league with King Solomon, whose most famous attribute was... Wisdom. 6. He fell through pride. Ezekiel 28:17. This may be true, in a manner of speaking, but let us examine Ezekiel 28 to discover the source of this pride: Ezekiel 28: 4,5. "With thy wisdom and with thine understanding thou hast gotten thee riches, and hast gotten gold and silver into thy treasures: By thy great wisdom and by thy traffick hast thou increased thy riches, and thine heart is lifted up because of thy riches." Ezekiel 28:16. "By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned." Ezekiel 28:17 "thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness" This "brightness" is clearly the "brightness" of "gold and silver", of "treasures" and "riches" which had been gained by "traffick" and "merchandise". The pride which is being talked about must be the pride of these monetary and physical possessions, none of which an angel in heaven would be concerned with, indeed not even Satan is supposed to be interested in these things but apparently with mens souls, power in heaven etc. It is only men who lust after gold and silver. And note Ezekiel 28:2 "yet thou art a man" – not an angel. Therefore, whoever fell through pride, it could not have been Satan. It would clearly make more sense, especially as this chapter is addressed to Tyre, that the great trading city of Tyre had accumulated these "riches" and "merchandise" and ESPECIALLY because they have already been specifically mentioned in Ezekiel 26:12 which you have to agree cannot possibly be about Satan. ------------------------------------- The original meaning of the word "Satan" in The Bible is "an adversary". Thus it is used to describe adversaries. This is, for example, why Jesus calls Peter a Satan, or "an adversary". This is why an obedient "angel of the LORD" is called Satan in Numbers 22:22. And this explains the apparent contradiction of 2 Samuel 24:1 and 1 Chronicles 21:1 – "the anger of the LORD" is an adversary (or Satan) to Israel. To say anything else is to ignore the explicit statement of 2 Samuel 24:1 – that God moved David against Israel. If, for the sake of argument, God did this through Satan (which this verse does not say), then Satan is obediently doing the will of God; therefore Satan is an obedient angel and not a fallen one. Okay, and so much for all that. As I said at the start, this answer has (of necessity) been longer than I had thought. And the more I think about it, the longer it will grow, so I will sign off now. After one last question...! Q. If we understand angels to be direct servants of God, indeed that some, most likely all have been in the presence of God, then they must know at least as much about God as we do, and almost by definition far more than we do. We know that God is all powerful – immortal, omnipotent and omnipresent – therefore angels must know this as well. However, if Satan is an angel that rebelled and attempted to overthrow God, he must have believed that he had a chance of succeeding. Therefore angels must not believe that God is immortal and omnipotent. And this conclusion, and by extrapolation, a belief in Satan as a fallen angel, I would put to you, is blasphemous. That is the essence of why I find this belief so troubling. I hope and pray that this will give you some food for thought. If nothing else may it lead to a careful consideration of The Word of God, which "is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness." Amen, Dr. B. |
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8 | Does Satan Exist Part III | Bible general Archive 3 | drbloor | 166216 | ||
PART III 5. He was the perfection of wisdom and beauty. Ezekiel 28:12. If we agree that Ezekiel 27 is a prophesy upon literal Tyre then this is clearly an echo of the language used in Ezekiel 27 and reinforces the notion that Ezekiel 28 is also a prophesy upon literal Tyre. This quote from Ezekiel 27 is clearly not about Satan: Ezekiel 27:3,4: "O Tyrus, thou hast said, I am of perfect beauty. Thy borders are in the midst of the seas, thy builders have perfected thy beauty." Tyre was also at one time wise, as we have seen – Tyre had a great friendship with Israel, with David and with Solomon. Tyre helped to build the Temple of the Lord on Mount Zion. Surely this sets Tyre apart from many other nations as "full of wisdom"? Indeed, Hiram king of Tyre made peace and a league with King Solomon, whose most famous attribute was... Wisdom. 6. He fell through pride. Ezekiel 28:17. This may be true, in a manner of speaking, but let us examine Ezekiel 28 to discover the source of this pride: Ezekiel 28: 4,5. "With thy wisdom and with thine understanding thou hast gotten thee riches, and hast gotten gold and silver into thy treasures: By thy great wisdom and by thy traffick hast thou increased thy riches, and thine heart is lifted up because of thy riches." Ezekiel 28:16. "By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned." Ezekiel 28:17 "thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness" This "brightness" is clearly the "brightness" of "gold and silver", of "treasures" and "riches" which had been gained by "traffick" and "merchandise". The pride which is being talked about must be the pride of these monetary and physical possessions, none of which an angel in heaven would be concerned with, indeed not even Satan is supposed to be interested in these things but apparently with mens souls, power in heaven etc. It is only men who lust after gold and silver. And note Ezekiel 28:2 "yet thou art a man" – not an angel. Therefore, whoever fell through pride, it could not have been Satan. It would clearly make more sense, especially as this chapter is addressed to Tyre, that the great trading city of Tyre had accumulated these "riches" and "merchandise" and ESPECIALLY because they have already been specifically mentioned in Ezekiel 26:12 which you have to agree cannot possibly be about Satan. ------------------------------------- The original meaning of the word "Satan" in The Bible is "an adversary". Thus it is used to describe adversaries. This is, for example, why Jesus calls Peter a Satan, or "an adversary". This is why an obedient "angel of the LORD" is called Satan in Numbers 22:22. And this explains the apparent contradiction of 2 Samuel 24:1 and 1 Chronicles 21:1 – "the anger of the LORD" is an adversary (or Satan) to Israel. To say anything else is to ignore the explicit statement of 2 Samuel 24:1 – that God moved David against Israel. If, for the sake of argument, God did this through Satan (which this verse does not say), then Satan is obediently doing the will of God; therefore Satan is an obedient angel and not a fallen one. Okay, and so much for all that. As I said at the start, this answer has (of necessity) been longer than I had thought. And the more I think about it, the longer it will grow, so I will sign off now. After one last question...! Q. If we understand angels to be direct servants of God, indeed that some, most likely all have been in the presence of God, then they must know at least as much about God as we do, and almost by definition far more than we do. We know that God is all powerful – immortal, omnipotent and omnipresent – therefore angels must know this as well. However, if Satan is an angel that rebelled and attempted to overthrow God, he must have believed that he had a chance of succeeding. Therefore angels must not believe that God is immortal and omnipotent. And this conclusion, and by extrapolation, a belief in Satan as a fallen angel, I would put to you, is blasphemous. That is the essence of why I find this belief so troubling. I hope and pray that this will give you some food for thought. If nothing else may it lead to a careful consideration of The Word of God, which "is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness." Amen, Dr. B. |
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9 | Where in scripture is the fall of Satan? | Bible general Archive 3 | drbloor | 166062 | ||
Thank you for your quick response Mark. I believe my misunderstanding of the view of Satan as an actual person has arisen because I thought that Revelation 12 was the explanation of Satan being a fallen angel. Where in scripture does it describe the 'creation' or 'fall' of Satan? Thanks again. |
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10 | Is there any way to edit posts? | Bible general Archive 3 | drbloor | 166058 | ||
Is there any way to edit posts? For example I have quoted from 2 Samuel 24:1 in my question regarding Satan, but accidentally missed that out. If not, is this an option that the people running this forum could introduce? |
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11 | Does Satan Really Exist? | Bible general Archive 3 | drbloor | 166055 | ||
Does 'Satan' Really Exist? If 'Satan' is an actual person, how can the parallel accounts of Davids numbering of Israel be explained: 1 Chronicles 21:1 "And Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel." 24:1 "And again the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he moved David against them to say, Go, number Israel and Judah." If 'Satan' is an actual person, scripture would here indicate that 'Satan' is God. How is this possible? Secondly, if you believe that the 'war in heaven' of Revelation 12 is a literal war and not symbolic, how can it be understood in terms of it's correct chronological context: Revelation 1:1 "The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass." This means that the 'war in heaven' must occur some time after the giving of The Revelation - it must "shortly come to pass." This would place it historically some time after circa 70AD. In other words, if you believe that 'Satan' is a fallen angel, then you must also believe that he did not become a fallen angel until after the whole of The Bible had been written, thus preventing the 'Satan' of Revelation 12 from being the 'Satan' of the rest of The Bible. Okay, and thanks. Dr. B. |
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12 | Does Satan Really Exist? | John 8:44 | drbloor | 166060 | ||
Does 'Satan' Really Exist? If 'Satan' is an actual person, how can the parallel accounts of Davids numbering of Israel be explained: 1 Chronicles 21:1 "And Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel." 24:1 "And again the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he moved David against them to say, Go, number Israel and Judah." If 'Satan' is an actual person, scripture would here indicate that 'Satan' is God. How is this possible? Secondly, if you believe that the 'war in heaven' of Revelation 12 is a literal war and not symbolic, how can it be understood in terms of it's correct chronological context: Revelation 1:1 "The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass." This means that the 'war in heaven' must occur some time after the giving of The Revelation - it must "shortly come to pass." This would place it historically some time after circa 70AD. In other words, if you believe that 'Satan' is a fallen angel, then you must also believe that he did not become a fallen angel until after the whole of The Bible had been written, thus preventing the 'Satan' of Revelation 12 from being the 'Satan' of the rest of The Bible. Okay, and thanks. Dr. B. |
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