Results 1 - 11 of 11
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Results from: Answers On or After: Thu 12/31/70 Author: Lampstand Ordered by Date |
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Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
1 | Can anyone recommend a good study book? | Bible general Archive 3 | Lampstand | 173049 | ||
What Does the Bible Really Teach? is excellent. Covers topics such as What is the truth about God? Where are the dead? What is God's Kingdom? Are we living in the last days? Why does God allow suffering? and many more. Has numbered paragraphs with questions and scriptures to back it all up. Paperback 223 pages. Free to any who want a copy. Please email your address to dvdland@hughes.net | ||||||
2 | what if i can't pay all of my tithes? | Mal 3:10 | Lampstand | 173047 | ||
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3 | Paul from the bible | Gal 4:15 | Lampstand | 173046 | ||
Paul was not dependent on hospitality. He had learned a trade that required hard work and long hours but resulted in low wages. When the apostle arrived in Corinth as a missionary, “he found a certain Jew named Aquila . . . and Priscilla his wife. . . . So he went to them and on account of being of the same trade he stayed at their home, and they worked, for they were tentmakers.”—Acts 18:1-3. Later, in Ephesus, Paul was still hard at work. (Compare Acts 20:34; 1 Corinthians 4:11, 12.) He may have specialized in working with cilicium, the rough, goat-hair tent material from his hometown area. We can imagine Paul sitting on a stool, bent over his workbench, cutting and sewing until late into the night. Since shop noise was likely minimal, making it easy to talk while toiling, Paul may have had opportunity to witness to the shop owner, his employees, slaves, customers, and friends.—Compare 1 Thessalonians 2:9. The missionary Paul refused to commercialize his ministry or in any way give the impression that he was living off the Word of God. He told the Thessalonians: “You yourselves know the way you ought to imitate us, because we did not behave disorderly among you nor did we eat food from anyone free. To the contrary, by labor and toil night and day we were working so as not to impose an expensive burden upon any one of you. Not that we do not have authority, but in order that we might offer ourselves as an example to you to imitate us.”—2 Thessalonians 3:7-9. |
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4 | God and the parable | James 1:13 | Lampstand | 173045 | ||
Now God did not actually harden the heart of Pharaoh so that Pharaoh lost his free will in the matter. His heart hardened because of the message declared to him by Moses and Aaron. It was what caused him to react in hard stubbornness and anger. But since the message Moses and Aaron declared was really God’s message, the account says God hardened his heart. The repeated extension of God’s mercy to him by the lifting of plague after plague did not soften the Egyptian ruler, but as is usual in the case of bullies and tyrants this forbearance only made Pharaoh more intolerable, brought to the fore all the more his bullying characteristics. At Exodus 8:15 the result of relief is shown: “When Pharaoh saw that there was respite, he hardened his heart.” And again after the lifting of one of the plagues: “Pharaoh hardened his heart at this time also.” (Ex. 8:32) Also 1 Samuel 6:6 states: “The Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their hearts.” Does it not say Pharaoh hardened his own heart? Yes, because that was actually what happened. It only says Jehovah God did it because that was how Pharaoh reacted to God’s message. Mercy shown to such arrogant men only serves to let them store up more wrath against themselves. (Rom. 2:4, 5) It is not unusual for wicked men to interpret God’s long-suffering as a sign of weakness and thus become more set in their evil ways, thinking the time of reckoning will never come: “Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil.” (Eccl. 8:11) Pharaoh’s heart was so set in him. | ||||||
5 | God's Blessing ... for us? | Bible general Archive 3 | Lampstand | 173044 | ||
To the first-century Hebrew Christians, the apostle Paul wrote: “There remains a sabbath resting for the people of God. For the man that has entered into God’s rest has also himself rested from his own works, just as God did from his own. Let us therefore do our utmost to enter into that rest.”—Hebrews 4:9-11. When Paul spoke of God’s resting from His work, he was apparently referring to what is stated at Genesis 2:2, where we read: “By the seventh day God came to the completion of his work that he had made, and he proceeded to rest on the seventh day from all his work that he had made.” Why did Jehovah proceed “to rest on the seventh day”? Surely it was not because he needed to recuperate “from all his work that he had made.” The next verse provides a clue: “God proceeded to bless the seventh day and make it sacred, because on it he has been resting from all his work that God has created for the purpose of making.”—Genesis 2:3; Isaiah 40:26, 28. The “seventh day” was different from any of the preceding six days in that it was a day that God blessed and made sacred, that is, a day set aside for, or dedicated to, a special purpose. What was that purpose? Earlier, God had revealed his purpose regarding mankind and the earth. To the first man and his wife, God said: “Be fruitful and become many and fill the earth and subdue it, and have in subjection the fish of the sea and the flying creatures of the heavens and every living creature that is moving upon the earth.” (Genesis 1:28) Although God had given mankind and the earth a perfect start, it would take time for the whole earth to be subdued and transformed into a paradise filled with a perfect human family, as God had purposed. Thus, on “the seventh day,” God rested, or desisted, from further earthly creative works in order to allow what he had already created to develop in accord with his will. By the end of that “day,” all that God had purposed will have become a reality. How long will that rest be? Getting back to Paul’s statement in Hebrews, we note that he pointed out that “there remains a sabbath resting for the people of God,” and he urged his fellow Christians to do their utmost “to enter into that rest.” This shows that when Paul wrote those words, “the seventh day” of God’s rest, which had started some 4,000 years earlier, was still in progress. It will not end until God’s purpose regarding mankind and the earth is completely fulfilled at the end of the Thousand Year Reign of Jesus Christ, who is the “Lord of the sabbath.”—Matthew 12:8; Revelation 20:1-6; 21:1-4. With that wonderful prospect in view, Paul explained how one might enter into God’s rest. He wrote: “The man that has entered into God’s rest has also himself rested from his own works.” This tells us that although having a perfect start, mankind as a whole had not entered into God’s rest. This was because Adam and Eve did not long observe God’s rest on “the seventh day” by accepting his arrangement for them. Instead, they rebelled and wanted to become independent of God. In fact, they went along with Satan’s scheme of things rather than accept God’s loving direction. (Genesis 2:15-17) As a result, they lost the prospect of living forever on a paradise earth. From then on, all mankind became enslaved to sin and death.—Romans 5:12, 14. Mankind’s rebellion did not thwart God’s purpose. His rest day continues. However, Jehovah made a loving provision—the ransom—through his Son, Jesus Christ, so that all who accept it on the basis of faith may look forward to release and rest from the burden of sin and death. (Romans 6:23) That is why Paul urged his fellow Christians to ‘rest from their own works.’ They needed to accept God’s provision for salvation and not try to work out their own future in their own way, as Adam and Eve had. They also needed to avoid pursuing their own works of self-justification. Putting aside one’s selfish or mundane pursuits in order to do God’s will is indeed refreshing and restful. Jesus sounded this invitation: “Come to me, all you who are toiling and loaded down, and I will refresh you. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am mild-tempered and lowly in heart, and you will find refreshment for your souls. For my yoke is kindly and my load is light.”—Matthew 11:28-30. Paul’s discussion of God’s rest and how one might enter into it surely was a source of encouragement to the Hebrew Christians in Jerusalem, who had endured much persecution and ridicule for their faith. (Acts 8:1; 12:1-5) Similarly, Paul’s words can be a source of encouragement to Christians today. Realizing that the fulfillment of God’s promise to bring about a paradise earth under his righteous Kingdom is near at hand, we too should rest from our own works and do our utmost to enter into that rest.—Matthew 6:10, 33; 2 Peter 3:13. |
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6 | marriage and divorce | 1 Cor 7:1 | Lampstand | 173043 | ||
Jesus showed that immorality is the only ground for a divorce that would free the innocent mate to remarry.—Matthew 19:9. | ||||||
7 | What does "ask the liver" mean? | Bible general Archive 3 | Lampstand | 173041 | ||
The birthplace of divination was Babylonia, the land of the Chaldeans, and from there these occult practices spread around the earth with the migration of mankind. (Ge 11:8, 9) Of the portion of Ashurbanipal’s library that has been unearthed, one fourth, it is said, contains omen tablets that purport to interpret all the peculiarities observed in the heavens and on earth, as well as all the incidental and accidental occurrences of everyday life. King Nebuchadnezzar’s decision to attack Jerusalem was made only after resorting to divination, concerning which it is written: “He has shaken the arrows. He has asked by means of the teraphim; he has looked into the liver. In his right hand the divination proved to be for Jerusalem.”—Eze 21:21, 22. Looking into the liver in quest of omens was based on the belief that all vitality, emotion, and affection were centered in this organ. One sixth of man’s blood is in the liver. The variations in its lobes, ducts, appendages, veins, ridges, and markings were interpreted as signs, or omens, from the gods. A large number of clay models of livers have been found, the oldest being from Babylon, containing omens and texts in cuneiform used by diviners. (PICTURE, Vol. 2, p. 324) Ancient Assyrian priests were called baru, meaning “inspector” or “he who sees,” because of the prominent part liver inspecting played in their fortune-telling religion. |
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8 | seeking God | Is 43:7 | Lampstand | 173040 | ||
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9 | ...the LORD blessed the sabbath ..holy" | Bible general Archive 3 | Lampstand | 173039 | ||
First of all a sabbath would begin at sundown Friday and continue to sundown on Saturday. However, even though God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, he did not command man to observe a sabbath. That was only established with the nation of Israel and ended when Christ died, as he fulfilled the Law. | ||||||
10 | What is Hell like? | Rev 20:15 | Lampstand | 173038 | ||
Webster’s Dictionary says that the English word “hell” is equal to the Hebrew word Sheol and the Greek word Hades. In German Bibles Hoelle is the word used instead of “hell”; in Portuguese the word used is inferno, in Spanish infierno, and in French Enfer. The English translators of the Authorized Version, or King James Version, translated Sheol 31 times as “hell,” 31 times as “grave,” and 3 times as “pit.” The Catholic Douay Version translated Sheol 64 times as “hell.” In the Christian Greek Scriptures (commonly called the “New Testament”), the King James Version translated Hades as “hell” each of the 10 times it occurs.—Matthew 11:23; 16:18; Luke 10:15; 16:23; Acts 2:27, 31; Revelation 1:18; 6:8; 20:13, 14. The question is: What kind of place is Sheol, or Hades? The fact that the King James Version translates the one Hebrew word Sheol three different ways shows that hell, grave and pit mean one and the same thing. And if hell means the common grave of mankind, it could not at the same time mean a place of fiery torture. Well, then, do Sheol and Hades mean the grave, or do they mean a place of torture? Before answering this question, let us make clear that the Hebrew word Sheol and the Greek word Hades mean the same thing. This is shown by looking at Psalm 16:10 in the Hebrew Scriptures and Acts 2:31 in the Christian Greek Scriptures, which verses you can see on the next page. Notice that in quoting from Psalm 16:10 where Sheol occurs, Acts 2:31 uses Hades. Notice, too, that Jesus Christ was in Hades, or hell. Are we to believe that God tormented Christ in a hell of fire? Of course not! Jesus was simply in his grave. When Jacob was mourning for his beloved son Joseph, who he thought had been killed, he said: “I shall go down mourning to my son into Sheol!” (Genesis 37:35) However, the King James Version here translates Sheol “grave,” and the Douay Version translates it “hell.” Now, stop for a moment and think. Did Jacob believe that his son Joseph went to a place of torment to spend eternity there, and did he want to go there and meet him? Or, rather, was it that Jacob merely thought that his beloved son was dead and in the grave and that Jacob himself wanted to die? Yes, good people go to the Bible hell. For example, the good man Job, who was suffering a great deal, prayed to God: “O that in Sheol [grave, King James Version; hell, Douay Version] you would conceal me, . . . that you would set a time limit for me and remember me!” (Job 14:13) Now think: If Sheol means a place of fire and torment, would Job wish to go and spend his time there until God remembered him? Clearly, Job wanted to die and go to the grave that his sufferings might end. In all the places where Sheol occurs in the Bible it is never associated with life, activity or torment. Rather, it is often linked with death and inactivity. For example, think about Ecclesiastes 9:10, which reads: “All that your hand finds to do, do with your very power, for there is no work nor devising nor knowledge nor wisdom in Sheol [grave, King James Version; hell, Douay Version], the place to which you are going.” So the answer becomes very clear. Sheol and Hades refer not to a place of torment but to the common grave of mankind. (Psalm 139:8) Good people as well as bad people go to the Bible hell. |
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11 | Is it wrong to have | Bible general Archive 3 | Lampstand | 173037 | ||
The Bible too establishes clearly that from ancient times wine, beer, and other alcoholic beverages have been consumed. (Genesis 27:25; Ecclesiastes 9:7; Nahum 1:10) As with other foods, Jehovah gives us as individuals a choice—to drink alcoholic beverages or not. Jesus often drank wine with his meals. John the Baptizer abstained from alcohol.—Matthew 11:18, 19. The Bible forbids overindulgence in drinking. Drunkenness is a sin against God. (1 Corinthians 6:9-11) So your answer is no, it is not wrong to have a little alcohol a few times a week. Even every day is okay. The sin comes when you abuse it and become drunk. |
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