It is important here to understand how the word jealous is used. How it is used in Exodus 20:5 to describe God is different from how it is used to describe the sin of jealousy. When we use the word jealous, we use it in the sense of being envious of someone who has something we don't have. A person might be jealous or envious of another person because he or she has a nice car or home (possessions). Or a person might be jealous or envious of another person because of some ability or skill that other person has (such as athletic ability). Another example would be that one person might be jealous or envious of another because of his or her beauty.
When we look at this verse, we find that it is not that God is jealous or envious because someone has something He wants that He does not possess. Exodus 20:4-5 says, "You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God..." Notice that in this verse God is talking about being jealous if someone gives something that belongs to Him to another.
In these verses, God is speaking of people making idols and bowing down and worshiping those idols instead of giving God the worship that belongs to Him alone. God is possessive of the worship and service that belong to Him. It is a sin (as God points out in this commandment) to worship or serve anything other than Him. So, in summary, it is a sin when we desire, or we are envious, or we are jealous of someone because he has something that we do not have. It is a different use of the word jealous when God says He is jealous. What He is jealous for belongs to Him; worship and service belong to Him alone, and are to be given to Him alone.
Perhaps a practical example will help us to understand the difference. If a husband sees another man flirting with his wife, he is right to be jealous, for only he has the right to flirt with his wife. This type of jealousy is not sinful. Rather, it is entirely appropriate. Being jealous for something that belongs to you is good and appropriate. Jealousy is a sin when it is a desire for something that does not belong to you. Worship, praise, honor, and adoration belong to God alone, for only He is truly worthy of it. Therefore, God is rightly jealous when worship, praise, honor, or adoration is given to idols. This is precisely the jealousy the Apostle Paul described in 2 Corinthians 11:2, "I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy..."
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Why does God allow evil?
The Bible describes God as holy, righteous, just, and sovereign. These attributes tell us the following about God: 1. God is capable of preventing evil, and 2. God desires to rid the universe of evil. So, if both of these are true, why does God allow evil? If God has the power to prevent evil, and desires to prevent evil, why does He not prevent evil? Perhaps a good way to look at this issue would be to consider some alternative situations for how people might have God run the world:
1. God could change everyone’s personality so that they cannot sin. This would also mean that we would not have a free will. We would not be able to choose right or wrong because we would be “programmed” to only do right. Had God chosen to do this, there would be no meaningful relationships between Him and His creation.
Instead, God made Adam and Eve innocent but with the ability to choose good or evil. In doing so, they could respond to His love and trust Him or choose to do their own thing. They chose to do their own thing. Because we live in a real world where we can choose our actions but not their consequences, their sin affected those who came after them (us). Similarly, our decisions to sin have an impact on us, and those around us.
2. Another choice would have God compensating for people’s evil actions through supernatural intervention 100% of the time. For instance, if a drunk driver causes an automobile accident, God would have to keep him and the people in the other automobile from getting harmed, for there would be many people who could possibly be caused to suffer from the accident or the death/injury of those that were in the accident. God would have to keep the drunk driver from crashing into power lines, buildings, etc. because these things would cause innocent people to suffer.
Another instance might involve a lazy person plumbing a house, and he doesn’t bother to check the plumbing for leaks before the house is finished. God would have to make the plumbing not leak because otherwise the home buyers would have to suffer for the lazy person’s sin.
If a father gets addicted to drugs and spends all of his money on drugs, God would somehow have to miraculously provide both the food and the social needs of the children so that they would not have to be adversely affected by the evil of the parent.
In such a world, God would be like a bad parent who enables a wayward child’s destructive behavior. There would be no consequences for one’s actions, and as a result no one would learn integrity, purity, honor, responsibility, or self-control. There would be no “good consequences” for right behavior, no “bad consequences” for wrong behavior. What would people become except more deviant and sinful?
3) Another choice would be for God to judge and remove those who choose to commit evil acts. The problem with this possibility is that there would be no one left, for God would have to remove us all. We all sin and commit evil acts. While some people are more evil than others, where would God draw the line? Ultimately, all evil causes harm to others.
Instead of these or other options, God has chosen to create a “real” world in which real choices have real consequences. In this real world of ours, our actions affect others. Because of Adam’s choice to sin, the world now lives under the curse, and we are all born with a sin nature. There will one day come a time when God will judge the sin in this world and make all things new, but He is purposely “delaying” in order to allow more time for people to repent so that He will not need to judge them. Until then He IS concerned about evil. When He created the Old Testament Laws, He established laws that discourage and punish evil. He judged nations and kings who disregard justice and pursue evil. Likewise in the New Testament, God states that it is the government’s responsibility to provide justice in order to protect the innocent from evil. He also promises severe consequences for those who commit evil acts, especially on the "innocent".
In summary, we live in a real world where our good and evil actions have direct consequences and indirect consequences upon us and those around us. God’s desire is that for all of our sakes we would obey Him that it might be well with us. Instead, what happens is that we choose our own way and then we blame God for not doing anything about it.
So this is why God does not prevent evil from happening.
God bless!
1. God could change everyone’s personality so that they cannot sin. This would also mean that we would not have a free will. We would not be able to choose right or wrong because we would be “programmed” to only do right. Had God chosen to do this, there would be no meaningful relationships between Him and His creation.
Instead, God made Adam and Eve innocent but with the ability to choose good or evil. In doing so, they could respond to His love and trust Him or choose to do their own thing. They chose to do their own thing. Because we live in a real world where we can choose our actions but not their consequences, their sin affected those who came after them (us). Similarly, our decisions to sin have an impact on us, and those around us.
2. Another choice would have God compensating for people’s evil actions through supernatural intervention 100% of the time. For instance, if a drunk driver causes an automobile accident, God would have to keep him and the people in the other automobile from getting harmed, for there would be many people who could possibly be caused to suffer from the accident or the death/injury of those that were in the accident. God would have to keep the drunk driver from crashing into power lines, buildings, etc. because these things would cause innocent people to suffer.
Another instance might involve a lazy person plumbing a house, and he doesn’t bother to check the plumbing for leaks before the house is finished. God would have to make the plumbing not leak because otherwise the home buyers would have to suffer for the lazy person’s sin.
If a father gets addicted to drugs and spends all of his money on drugs, God would somehow have to miraculously provide both the food and the social needs of the children so that they would not have to be adversely affected by the evil of the parent.
In such a world, God would be like a bad parent who enables a wayward child’s destructive behavior. There would be no consequences for one’s actions, and as a result no one would learn integrity, purity, honor, responsibility, or self-control. There would be no “good consequences” for right behavior, no “bad consequences” for wrong behavior. What would people become except more deviant and sinful?
3) Another choice would be for God to judge and remove those who choose to commit evil acts. The problem with this possibility is that there would be no one left, for God would have to remove us all. We all sin and commit evil acts. While some people are more evil than others, where would God draw the line? Ultimately, all evil causes harm to others.
Instead of these or other options, God has chosen to create a “real” world in which real choices have real consequences. In this real world of ours, our actions affect others. Because of Adam’s choice to sin, the world now lives under the curse, and we are all born with a sin nature. There will one day come a time when God will judge the sin in this world and make all things new, but He is purposely “delaying” in order to allow more time for people to repent so that He will not need to judge them. Until then He IS concerned about evil. When He created the Old Testament Laws, He established laws that discourage and punish evil. He judged nations and kings who disregard justice and pursue evil. Likewise in the New Testament, God states that it is the government’s responsibility to provide justice in order to protect the innocent from evil. He also promises severe consequences for those who commit evil acts, especially on the "innocent".
In summary, we live in a real world where our good and evil actions have direct consequences and indirect consequences upon us and those around us. God’s desire is that for all of our sakes we would obey Him that it might be well with us. Instead, what happens is that we choose our own way and then we blame God for not doing anything about it.
So this is why God does not prevent evil from happening.
God bless!
Did God create evil?
It might seem that if God created all things then evil must have been created by God. However, there is an assumption here that needs to be cleared up. Evil is not a "thing" like a rock or electricity. You can't have a jar of evil! Rather, evil is something that occurs. Evil has no existence of its own; it is really a lack in a good thing. For example, holes are real but they only exist in something else. We call the absence of dirt a hole, but it cannot be separated from the dirt. So when God created, it is true that all that existed was good. One of the good things that God made was creatures who had the freedom to choose good. In order to have a real choice, God had to allow there to be something besides good to choose. So God allowed these free angels and humans to choose good or non-good (evil). When a bad relationship exists between two good things we call that evil, but it does not become a "thing" that required God to create it.
For example, if I were to ask someone "does cold exist?" their answer would likely be yes. Except, this is incorrect. Cold does not exist, cold is the absence of heat. Darkness does not exist, darkness is the absence of light. And evil is the absence of good/God. God did not have to create evil, but rather only allow for the absence of good.
So God did not create evil, He allowed it. Why did He allow it? Check out my other question about it!
God bless.
For example, if I were to ask someone "does cold exist?" their answer would likely be yes. Except, this is incorrect. Cold does not exist, cold is the absence of heat. Darkness does not exist, darkness is the absence of light. And evil is the absence of good/God. God did not have to create evil, but rather only allow for the absence of good.
So God did not create evil, He allowed it. Why did He allow it? Check out my other question about it!
God bless.
Why doesn't God take our free will away so there is no sin?
God could change everyone’s personality so that they cannot sin. This would also mean that we would not have a free will. We would not be able to choose right or wrong because we would be “programmed” to only do right. Had God chosen to do this, there would be no meaningful relationships between Him and His creation.
God bless.
God bless.
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Who was Cain's wife?
The Bible does not specifically say who Cain’s wife was. The only possible answer was that Cain's wife was his sister or niece or great niece, etc. The Bible does not say how old Cain was when he killed Abel (Genesis 4:8). Since they were both farmers, they were probably both full grown adults, and maybe with families of their own. Adam and Eve had surely had more children than just Cain and Abel at the time Abel was killed and they definitely had many more children later as said in, Genesis 5:4. The fact that Cain was scared for his own life after he killed Abel indicates that there were likely many other children and perhaps even grandchildren or great grandchildren of Adam and Eve at that time. Cain's wife would've been a daughter or granddaughter of Adam and Eve.
Since Adam and Eve were the first (and only) human beings, their children would have no other choice than to intermarry. God did not forbid inter family marriage until much later when there was enough people that intermarriage was not necessary which is said in Leviticus 18:6-18. It may seem strange or even disgusting to think of Cain's wife being his sister. In the beginning, since God started with one man and one woman, the second generation would have no choice but to intermarry amongst themselves.
God bless.
Since Adam and Eve were the first (and only) human beings, their children would have no other choice than to intermarry. God did not forbid inter family marriage until much later when there was enough people that intermarriage was not necessary which is said in Leviticus 18:6-18. It may seem strange or even disgusting to think of Cain's wife being his sister. In the beginning, since God started with one man and one woman, the second generation would have no choice but to intermarry amongst themselves.
God bless.
How can I become closer to God?
The way God works can vary.
To become closer to God you need to pray everyday, and read the Bible every day.
This is how I became closer to Him:
Every night, I would pray that I would become much more closer to the Lord, but nothing happened. Yet, I still continued to pray. Then one night, the Lord put me in a problem, He gave me a big fear, every night I went to bed. I didn't know what to do, I hated going to sleep being scared. I tried watching tv, and reading a book to get it off my mind, but the fear was still in my mind. One night, I decided to read the Bible for about 40 minutes, and then I went to bed. I noticed that I wasn't scared! From that night on I read the Bible every night, but if I didn't I would be scared. And by reading the Bible every night I came closer to the Lord and actually I wrote a few psalms about it.
Sometimes, the Lord will use a problem to bring us closer to Him.
But anyway, just keep praying to the Lord, and ask Him to bring you closer to Him, also reading the Bible.
Prayer makes things happen.
God bless!
To become closer to God you need to pray everyday, and read the Bible every day.
This is how I became closer to Him:
Every night, I would pray that I would become much more closer to the Lord, but nothing happened. Yet, I still continued to pray. Then one night, the Lord put me in a problem, He gave me a big fear, every night I went to bed. I didn't know what to do, I hated going to sleep being scared. I tried watching tv, and reading a book to get it off my mind, but the fear was still in my mind. One night, I decided to read the Bible for about 40 minutes, and then I went to bed. I noticed that I wasn't scared! From that night on I read the Bible every night, but if I didn't I would be scared. And by reading the Bible every night I came closer to the Lord and actually I wrote a few psalms about it.
Sometimes, the Lord will use a problem to bring us closer to Him.
But anyway, just keep praying to the Lord, and ask Him to bring you closer to Him, also reading the Bible.
Prayer makes things happen.
God bless!
Who wrote the Bible? And what if the disciples made it all up?
The prophets, and the disciples wrote the Bible. Moses wrote the first 5 books, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, which is also called as the Torah.
God didn't just say the words out loud, on what to write. But the words of the Bible were inspired by God.
But how do we know the disciples didn't just make the Bible up?
And there are the "Dead Sea Scrolls", and they are parts of the Old Testament, which are dated way back early in the B.C times, so how could the disciples written the Bible when most of the scriptures were there before they were born. I could go on, and on about how the disciples couldn't of made it up.
God bless.
God didn't just say the words out loud, on what to write. But the words of the Bible were inspired by God.
But how do we know the disciples didn't just make the Bible up?
History records of the 12 ‘disciples’ of Jesus, every single one of them was killed because they believed Jesus is Lord and that he rose from the dead. There was one exception - the Apostle John was not killed for being a Christian. But he was sent into exile for the rest of his life because he was a Christian.
From this, it would seem unusual if the disciples made the story of Jesus up. Why would they all be prepared to die for a lie which they knew they had made up? Why not admit your lie rather than be killed?And there are the "Dead Sea Scrolls", and they are parts of the Old Testament, which are dated way back early in the B.C times, so how could the disciples written the Bible when most of the scriptures were there before they were born. I could go on, and on about how the disciples couldn't of made it up.
God bless.
How can God have always existed?
How has God always been here? If someone asked you ‘ Who created God?’, you would probably say ‘ No one did. He has always been there and always will’. The thing that I don’t understand is how is that possible?
“You are my witnesses,” declares the LORD,
“and my servant whom I have chosen,
so that you may know and believe me
and understand that I am He.
Before me no god was formed,
nor will there be one after me (Isaiah 43:10).
Well, in heaven which is where God is there is no time. God created time but just because He created time doesn't mean where He is (which is heaven), there is time.
So there is no time line, no time!
God bless.
“You are my witnesses,” declares the LORD,
“and my servant whom I have chosen,
so that you may know and believe me
and understand that I am He.
Before me no god was formed,
nor will there be one after me (Isaiah 43:10).
Well, in heaven which is where God is there is no time. God created time but just because He created time doesn't mean where He is (which is heaven), there is time.
So there is no time line, no time!
God bless.
Am I good enough to go to heaven? What do I have to do to go there?
We have all sinned. We have all lied, coveted, been mean to someone, etc. We have all sinned! And we do it everyday.
A little girl was once watching a sheep eat grass and thought how white it looked against the green background. But when it began to snow she thought, “That sheep now looks dirty against the white snow!” It was the same sheep, but with a different background.
When we compare ourselves to man’s standard we look pretty clean, but when we compare ourselves to the pure snow white righteousness of God’s standard, we can see ourselves in truth, that we are unclean in His sight.
So here is the answer, am I good enough to go to heaven? What do I have to do to go to heaven?
You need to have faith! If you believe that Jesus was born of the Holy Spirit, and was crucified for the sins we have committed, and then rose from the dead you will go to heaven. You do not go to heaven by good works, but by salvation by faith in Jesus.
You need to repent from your sins (ask God for forgiveness), and have faith in Him.
If you killed 1000 people, but repented with faith, you would still be going to heaven. T (that doesn't mean you can kill 1000 people on purpose knowing you will ask for forgiveness later) that's how merciful our Lord is. So NO MATTER how many sins, or how bad the sins you have done are, if you repent and have faith you are going to heaven.
God bless.
How should a Christian respond to someone saying, "there is no God"
"So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God" James 1:19-20
This verse is good of what not to do. But what should you do?
Jesus wasn't threatened nor offended by non believers and scoffers, quite the opposite, in fact. We are told over and over again in the Gospels that Jesus wept over Jerusalem because of unbelief. Jesus spoke about hell more than He did about heaven, actually. Nevertheless, He never campaigned to silence the non believer and their agenda, but continued to tell all who would listen that He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. He never robbed anyone of their freedom.
The Bible teaches that we are to expose false teachers and stand firm on and in the word of God, but it also says we are to do it with grace, love, and respect for all people.
Jesus told us this world is not our home; He told us that people are blind and dead in their sin without Him. I think we are guilty of forgetting that we were once blind and it is only by the grace of God that we were able to respond to the truth. It must be the reason we get up tight and self righteous when things that challenge God come up. We think we are doing God a great service by standing up for him, when really; we are pushing people further away.
The Bible tells us that the ruler of this world is Satan and he blinds the eyes of non believers. We say we believe in eternal separation from God and hell. If we truly believe this, shouldn't our response be to weep as Jesus did? Shouldn't our first thought be a prayer that God would lift the blinders from their eyes as He did ours? Unfortunately, this isn't always the case, instead we are angered and appalled. This is not the heart of God.
An Atheist stands firm in faith that there is no God. They are fully convinced they can live as they please and they will not be held accountable. Think about it for a moment. No matter what comes their way, giving cause to doubt, they shake off and remain firm in their faith. How many Christians turn from God the minute they don't get their way?
How should a Christian respond to "There is no God"? I believe it should be with weeping and prayer.
"...Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and long suffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?" Romans 2:4
If someone said "there is no God" to me, I would quote scripture, and then I would pray for the person that said it. Or, maybe I would just be silent and pray for them.
God bless.
This verse is good of what not to do. But what should you do?
Jesus wasn't threatened nor offended by non believers and scoffers, quite the opposite, in fact. We are told over and over again in the Gospels that Jesus wept over Jerusalem because of unbelief. Jesus spoke about hell more than He did about heaven, actually. Nevertheless, He never campaigned to silence the non believer and their agenda, but continued to tell all who would listen that He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. He never robbed anyone of their freedom.
The Bible teaches that we are to expose false teachers and stand firm on and in the word of God, but it also says we are to do it with grace, love, and respect for all people.
Jesus told us this world is not our home; He told us that people are blind and dead in their sin without Him. I think we are guilty of forgetting that we were once blind and it is only by the grace of God that we were able to respond to the truth. It must be the reason we get up tight and self righteous when things that challenge God come up. We think we are doing God a great service by standing up for him, when really; we are pushing people further away.
The Bible tells us that the ruler of this world is Satan and he blinds the eyes of non believers. We say we believe in eternal separation from God and hell. If we truly believe this, shouldn't our response be to weep as Jesus did? Shouldn't our first thought be a prayer that God would lift the blinders from their eyes as He did ours? Unfortunately, this isn't always the case, instead we are angered and appalled. This is not the heart of God.
An Atheist stands firm in faith that there is no God. They are fully convinced they can live as they please and they will not be held accountable. Think about it for a moment. No matter what comes their way, giving cause to doubt, they shake off and remain firm in their faith. How many Christians turn from God the minute they don't get their way?
How should a Christian respond to "There is no God"? I believe it should be with weeping and prayer.
"...Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and long suffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?" Romans 2:4
If someone said "there is no God" to me, I would quote scripture, and then I would pray for the person that said it. Or, maybe I would just be silent and pray for them.
God bless.
Why does God let people suffer?
Why does God let people suffer?
The starving people in countries, the people with deadly diseases, etc. Why does He let them suffer? God created us with the ability to rule the earth.
He gave us free will, we are the ones that allow people to starve, we are the ones that have wars, and kill many, many people. We are the ones that screwed up this perfect world that God created in the Garden of Eden. It is our fault for sinning. God can't do all the work, and just suddenly click his fingers and suddenly all problems are gone. He has given us the tools, so we can fix it. God doesn't let people suffer, we let people suffer! What are you doing on your couch watching tv, and stuffing your face with food? You may be hoping that they will get better, but you aren't doing anything.
Although, that is not the only reason we suffer.
Suffering can motivate people to seek God, and as they draw closer to Him, they can understand Him better. Often people won't pay attention to God unless they're suffering and are aware of their need for Him. Turning to God can open the door to strength, courage and miracles.
When we make wrong choices, God allows us to live with the consequences of the choices we picked, which often means suffering. God is righteous, and loving to everyone. Like, a good parent, He disciplines those He loves to help them grow. God will forgive anyone who seeks His forgiveness, but He won't always take away pain that our wrong choices have caused.
And suffering also, puts faith into work, leading to deeper trust in God.
God bless.
The starving people in countries, the people with deadly diseases, etc. Why does He let them suffer? God created us with the ability to rule the earth.
He gave us free will, we are the ones that allow people to starve, we are the ones that have wars, and kill many, many people. We are the ones that screwed up this perfect world that God created in the Garden of Eden. It is our fault for sinning. God can't do all the work, and just suddenly click his fingers and suddenly all problems are gone. He has given us the tools, so we can fix it. God doesn't let people suffer, we let people suffer! What are you doing on your couch watching tv, and stuffing your face with food? You may be hoping that they will get better, but you aren't doing anything.
Although, that is not the only reason we suffer.
Suffering can motivate people to seek God, and as they draw closer to Him, they can understand Him better. Often people won't pay attention to God unless they're suffering and are aware of their need for Him. Turning to God can open the door to strength, courage and miracles.
When we make wrong choices, God allows us to live with the consequences of the choices we picked, which often means suffering. God is righteous, and loving to everyone. Like, a good parent, He disciplines those He loves to help them grow. God will forgive anyone who seeks His forgiveness, but He won't always take away pain that our wrong choices have caused.
And suffering also, puts faith into work, leading to deeper trust in God.
God bless.
Introduction
Hi, this website will help you answer any questions you have about the Bible.
For example, "Why does God let people suffer?", and like, "Why doesn't God give us evidence He exists?", etc.
If you have any questions that you want me to post on here, I will.
My email: macrya@hotmail.com
-- I will keep updating this website with more and more questions + answers everyday.
For example, "Why does God let people suffer?", and like, "Why doesn't God give us evidence He exists?", etc.
If you have any questions that you want me to post on here, I will.
My email: macrya@hotmail.com
-- I will keep updating this website with more and more questions + answers everyday.
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