Subject: Was John the Baptist really Elijah? |
Bible Note: Hi, Emmaus! You've missed my point totally: while you quote John the Baptist and the angel of the Lord, I quote Jesus (the Lord) and Yahweh (the original source); the problem is not that Yahweh is contradicting his angel, nor that Jesus is contradicting John the Baptist, but man's interpretation errs due to our misguided efforts to decipher God's intent. How do you reconcile the following: 'Look, I shall send my messenger to clear a way bedore me. And suddenly the Lord whom you seek will come to his Temple; yes, the angel of the covenant, for whom you long, is on his way, says Yahweh Sabaoth. (Malachi 3:1) and: he is the one of whom scripture says: Look, I am going to send my messenger in front of you to prepare your way before you. (Matthew 11:10) If we interpret these passages in a simplistic way we can end up with reasoning resembling the following: a) Yahweh or Jesus is lying. b) Yahweh supports the Jehovah Witnesses theory that Christ is a creature (an angel). c) Jesus is hiding something. d) Jesus is changing scripture. But we cannot interpret Biblical passages in a simplistic clinical manner. All Biblical passages are contingent upon each other: we cannot grab Malachi 3:1 and say: "see Jesus is an angel," because John 1:1 would refute that statement. And if anybody finds John 1:1 not clear enough to believe in Jesus' Divinity, Yahweh Himself gives profound testimony that Jesus is God: Hebrews 1:8! So when reading the Bible and offering our interpretation of its passages we must not succumb to worldly wisdom and claim it Law! God Bless! |