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NASB | Revelation 17:5 and on her forehead a name was written, a mystery, "BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH." |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Revelation 17:5 And on her forehead a name was written, a mystery: "BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF PROSTITUTES (false religions, heresies) AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH." |
Bible Question:
Robert, Thanks for your comments. My mother has told me of how they had to save my life using a blood transfusion on or about the first day after my birth. But, there is still one scripture that I cannot get past: Acts 15 "23They wrote this, letter by them: The apostles, the elders, and the brethren, To the brethren who are of the Gentiles in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia: Greetings. 24Since we have heard that some who went out from us have troubled you with words, unsettling your souls, saying, "You must be circumcised and keep the law"[5] --to whom we gave no such commandment-- 25it seemed good to us, being assembled with one accord, to send chosen men to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, 26men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. 27We have therefore sent Judas and Silas, who will also report the same things by word of mouth. 28For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things: 29that you abstain from things offered to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from sexual immorality.[6] If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell. " Notice: "...no greater burden than these necessary things: 29that you abstain from things offered to idols, from blood, ...". Why is this to be kept in the new testament? I think it is because God is saying in both the old and new testaments, that the life (spirit) is in the blood: Deuteronomy 12:23 Only be sure that thou eat not the blood: for the blood is the life; and thou mayest not eat the life with the flesh. John 6:53 Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. Is this really related to blood transfusions or DNA mixing? I wonder. Pastor Glenn |
Bible Answer: I'm not sure this is an answer to the question you asked, but here are some words I have wrote in the past concerning Acts 15. The letter sent to the Gentiles said they would “do well” (commanded?) if they abstained from things offered to idols, from blood, from things strangled and from sexual immorality (Act_15:29). Three of these were addressing the eating habits of Gentile Christians. The Gentiles were not bound to the ceremonial Levitical Law (1Co_8:8), but they were not to use their liberty to be a stumbling block to there Jewish neighbors either (1Co_8:9). If they abused their liberty they would be sinning against their brethren, and thus, would be sinning against Jesus (1Co_8:12). I think the instruction for the Gentile Christians to abstain from sexual immorality here does not mean the common acts of fornication, as this was recognized as wrong by all Christians. This was instructions for the Gentiles to observe certain marriage regulations spelled out in the Levitical Law which prohibited marriages between relatives. This was something most Gentiles of that time thought little of. The Gentile believers here were simply asked to give up some of their "rights" as a display of their love for their Jewish brethren. Read 1Co_8:1-13, that will help put this in perspective. My conclusion would be that this scripture (Acts 15) has nothing to do with some special ceremonial laws that God wanted NT believers to keep, but rather instructions for the Gentile Christians that received the letter to get along with their Jewish brethren better. The application for us today would be that any “right” we think we might have as a believer is never gonna be “right” if we exercise it with no regard for our brothers. retxar |