Results 1 - 6 of 6
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Results from: Answers On or After: Thu 12/31/70 Author: Rob Aronson Ordered by Date |
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Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
1 | The beast with seven heads and ten horns | Bible general Archive 1 | Rob Aronson | 68494 | ||
Here are the passages that you are referring to: Re:13:3: And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast. Re:13:14: And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live. These passages refer to either the death of the Antichrist, and his counterfeit ressurection; or more likely, the death and Revival of the old Roman Empire (which today is the European Union). Consider as well that there is a difference between the heads, the horns, and the crowns of the Beast: Daniel:7:8: I considered the horns, and, behold, there came up among them another little horn, before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots: and, behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things. Amongst the seven heads and ten horns, another "little horn" emerges, who plucks up three of the other horns (rulers). The little horn is the Antichirst. Therefore, the wound to the head is probably not the physical death of the Antichrist (because he's a horn), but the death and revival of a kindgom (a head). Hope this helps, -Rob |
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2 | making wine.Did Jesus make a mistake. | Bible general Archive 1 | Rob Aronson | 68449 | ||
"Touch not wine?" Can't find that phrase in the KJV or the NASB. What version are you reading (or not reading)? Take care, -Rob |
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3 | making wine.Did Jesus make a mistake. | Bible general Archive 1 | Rob Aronson | 68447 | ||
Laughlin, This is a common question, and I've heard so many answers to it that it's not even funny (and some of those answers are just PLAIN funny themselves). I hear many people rationalize that Jesus didn't make wine, but grape juice (Jesus would never make wine--drinking alcohol is evil)! Wait a minute... First, let's clarify something. People seem to be under the impression that to drink alcohol is a sin. This is a mistaken assumption (though it does not give free license to be drinkers). Did you know that gluttony (overeating) is a sin? Let's understand why. Merrian-Webster's defines gluttony as: 1: excess in eating or drinking 2: greedy or excessive indulgence This definition brings to light the heart of the matter: excessive indulgence. Is it a sin to drink wine? If it is then Christ could not have saved me, be Jesus is without sin--yet He drank wine. Did he get drunk from wine or drink in excess? No. Even though Jesus Himself said that this was a claim the Pharisees would make against Him. M't:11:19: The Son of man came eating and drinking, and they say, Behold a man gluttonous, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners. But wisdom is justified of her children. In short, to eat pizza is not a sin; but to eat that 20th piece in one sitting is gluttonous (you don't need it, but you continue to eat because it tastes good). This same holds true for alcohol. To drink alcohol is not the sin, but to drink in excess (which means to become drunk and lose self-control). Saying that drinking is not a sin, again, is not an endorsement to go out and drink a few beers. If you get drunk, that's sin; but if you have one drink (and you're of legal age to do so) there is no harm. Neither am I justifying anything with my answer, I almost never drink; but if I do, it's certainly in moderation and done using good judgement. There is a line, however, that you can cross in which good judgement goes out the window, and this is where sin sets in. One more pearl for you to consider if you don't want to take my word for it: 1Tm:3:8: Likewise must the deacons be grave, not doubletongued, not given to much wine, not greedy of filthy lucre; Here, there rules for becoming a deacon in the early church were established. Pay attention to what it says about wine: "not given to much wine." Is the requirement, "must not ever drink any wine at all?" Read it again if you're unsure. Take care, -Rob |
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4 | Where are guardian angels mentioned? | Bible general Archive 1 | Rob Aronson | 68443 | ||
Gomar, Consider these passages... Dan 10:13 "But the prince of the kingdom of Persia was withstanding me for twenty-one days; then behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left there with the kings of Persia. Dan 10:21 "However, I will tell you what is inscribed in the writing of truth. Yet there is no one who stands firmly with me against these (forces) except Michael your prince. Dan 12:1 "Now at that time Michael, the great prince who stands (guard) over the sons of your people, will arise. And there will be a time of distress such as never occurred since there was a nation until that time; and at that time your people, everyone who is found written in the book, will be rescued. Rev 1:20 "As for the mystery of the seven stars which you saw in My right hand, and the seven golden lampstands: the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches. We see from this that indeed there are "guardian" angels, but I prefer not to use this term. If I am not mistaken, the notion of personal guardian angels comes from Catholicism; however, there is nothing biblical which states that each person is given an angelic guardian. In terms of kingdoms though, it seems that each nation (or prominent nations) have national angelic princes, i.e. Micheal is the prince of Israel. In the Revelation, we see that each of the early churches had an angelic gaurdian. Moreover, the angel that came to Daniel was witheld 21 days from reaching him by the prince of Persia, and Michael had to come to his aid. From this scriptural account, we get a small glimpse at the angelic order and heirarchy, yet still, it is not even enough of a glimpse to fully support the claim I've made concerning national guardianship. How much more then should we question such a doctrine as "personal guardian angels" (for which there is no scripture for)? To believe this doctrine would require believing in something that the Bible doesn't fully back up. I don't think it's possible to fully comprehend the angelic order; after all, we have our own world to fully make sense of, which for any of us is plenty. Take care, -Rob |
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5 | do we have any free will? | Bible general Archive 1 | Rob Aronson | 68157 | ||
Dear Home Church, We have to trust that God loves us and gives the ability to choose any outcome for any situation that we want. Inherent within this ability, is the option to choose evil, and ultimately eternal seperation. Yes, this choice is against the will of God, but God does not force His will on us concerning this choice that we must all make. 2Pe:3:9: The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. God is not some cruel monster that winds us all up like toys and watches us spin out into predetermined outcomes for His amusement. I realize that this is not what you're saying, but many foolishly make this charge against God. Fully understanding the nature of free will, requires us to think outside of the reality that we know. We percieve reality as happening in a linear time-based fashion. That is, all events have a logical history of causes happening one after the other. Though imagine for a minute how God, being eternal and not subject to our time, sees time itself. God doesn't see events happening one right after the other, all time and all outcomes are laid out before Him. Before God created the universe, He knew the outcome of every choice that His free willed creations would choose. Now I realize that this may be difficult for us to fully comprehend or accept, but not for God. God's experience of existence is not the same as our experience, and this is due in part to our perception of time. Since God has seen every outcome and the final fate of the creation as an outside observer, the universe is in a sense predetermined. We, however, do not share in this knowledge. We percieve time in a linear fashion and do not know the outcome of all events, therefore, we live oblivious to them (though through prophecy, God has given us a limited knowledge of the future). To us, nothing in the future is "completely" known (even though God has given us a very detailed outline). As a result of this, our experience is completely free willed, and our lives are shaped by the decisions we make, the outcomes of which, we don't fully know until the choice is long behind us. These concepts are difficult to understand, but consider the following illustration concerning the mystery of prophecy: In ancient times, God delivered messages to His people using prophets. God would tell the prophet something like, "Tell my people that I have seen what they are doing, and I do not like what they are doing. Tell them that if they don't stop doing THIS, then THIS THING will happen to them." God, through prophets, also sometimes said things like, "Tell my people THIS so that they should avoid THAT, but they will not listen, therefore THIS THING will happen, for I have seen it." How could God know such things if He had not already seen them? Prophecy certainly attests to God's complete knowledge of all time and events. Also, prophecy is a great example that shows us that God truly cares, which can be summed up using one word: intervention. The greatest intervention that God ever made is shown by John 3:16, in that God came here Himself to save us and bring us back into a proper relationship with Him. Please understand, that built into free will is the option to choose the wrong thing (and all of us have done this). God has accounted for this and shown us why we must choose what is right, and learn not to choose what is evil. However, in order to know why we shouldn't choose evil, we had to first experience evil, otherwise we would've never known about it. By allowing the creation to experience the corruption of evil for a short time (in comparrision to eternity), God will make an end to evil and bring in everlasting peace once His plan is complete. Consider, can a parent make a child do everything right and never do anything wrong just by establishing rules? No way. Children have to learn through experience, no matter what their parents teach them or tell them, because they will not listen until they know better. Knowing comes with experience, but with no experience, knowledge cannot be ascertained, and nothing can be learned. God's creations are this same way: We can't just be told what the right way is, we have to learn what the right way is, and why it's better to choose than the wrong way based on our own experiences. Consider these questions: 1. Is the universe completely determined because God has seen it? Yes. 2. Do we share this ultimate knowledge of all events with God? No. 3. Do the choices we make directly affect our lives, and the lives of others? Yes. 4. Is accepting Christ a choice? Yes. 5. Do we have complete free will to choose then? Absolutely. God Bless, -Rob |
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6 | HOW COULD JESUS BE A DESCENDANT OF DAVID | Bible general Archive 1 | Rob Aronson | 67946 | ||
Speedy, The answer can be seen right from the wording of your question: "How could Jesus be a descendant of David if He was concieved by the Holy Spirit? He did not have an earthly father." I am assuming that this is an honest question and that you are truly trying to understand this, so let's examine your question, because you seem to be under a couple of mistaken assumptions. Jesus was not concieved by the Holy Spirit, He was concieved by Mary: Matt 1:20 But when he had considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. So Mary concieved and carried the child, who the Holy Spirit had formed in her womb. Consider the wording in Jeremiah: Jer 1:5 "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, And before you were born I consecrated you; I have appointed you a prophet to the nations." If we can agree that God formed Jeremiah and purposed him through natural laws (convential human birth), then we can also see that God indeed formed Jesus through supernatural means and purposed His life. Moreover, not only did God form the flesh body of Jesus, He occupied it. Consider the gospel of John: John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. John 1:14 And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. To conclude this portion of the question, not only did God form Jesus, but He dwelt in the physical body of Jesus through His Spirit. As far as the lineage of David, Joseph and Mary were both descendants of David. In fact, in the gospel of Luke (3rd chapter), the lineage of Jesus can be traced all the way back to Adam. So not only is Jesus a descendant of David, but also of Adam. Jesus is a descendant of Adam, Seth, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David, and Joseph. However, you said that Jesus had no earthly father. That's not quite correct, Joseph was His father--though Joseph had no part in His making, only His parentage. Joseph was the father of Jesus on earth, but God is His father by making(i.e. God made Him, and God dwelt in Him). In short, try to think of Joseph as the "step-father" of Jesus, with God being His "biological" father (please, no one get upset over this, you know what I'm implying). Also, think of it this way, if a child is adopted by a man and his wife, does the child go fatherless? Certainly not. The man who adopts the child becomes the child's father, howbeit not biologically, but legeally. The child then takes on the last name of the father. Hope this enlightens you. Take care, Rob Aronson |
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