Does God contradict Himself in the Scriptures?
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Hang on Blue lol. God is a good and loving God. Think about what God actually did when he killed almost everybody off.
Genesis 6:9 KJV
These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God.
Noah was the only one perect in his GENErations... What does that tell you about all the people that God killed off?
Genesis 6:9 KJV
These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God.
Noah was the only one perect in his GENErations... What does that tell you about all the people that God killed off?
J
That's only among sound rules of Bible study others taught me. There's the Golden Rule of Interpretation:
"When the plain sense of Scripture makes common sense, seek no other sense; therefore take every word at its primary, ordinary, usual, literal meaning, unless the facts of the immediate context, studied in the light of related passages and axiomatic and fundamental truths, indicate clearly otherwise."
It works!
I always liked J. Vernon Magee's thoughts on interpretation. He believed in literal Bible interpretation as a strong principle, disdained Amillennialism, Preterism and Replacment Theology, as well as properly disdaining anti-Semitism. He simply believed what is obvious of interpretation to keep out front, that God means what He says. It is certain J. Vernon Magee was of the Spirit, and many other wonderful men of God, who faithfully teach the Bible.
"One should never use one statement in Scripture to argue against the clear meaning of another passage, as if they are pitted against one another."
"When the plain sense of Scripture makes common sense, seek no other sense; therefore take every word at its primary, ordinary, usual, literal meaning, unless the facts of the immediate context, studied in the light of related passages and axiomatic and fundamental truths, indicate clearly otherwise."
It works!
I always liked J. Vernon Magee's thoughts on interpretation. He believed in literal Bible interpretation as a strong principle, disdained Amillennialism, Preterism and Replacment Theology, as well as properly disdaining anti-Semitism. He simply believed what is obvious of interpretation to keep out front, that God means what He says. It is certain J. Vernon Magee was of the Spirit, and many other wonderful men of God, who faithfully teach the Bible.
"One should never use one statement in Scripture to argue against the clear meaning of another passage, as if they are pitted against one another."
J
Miles Coverdale's rules of Bible study:
1) What is spoken
2) Of whom
3) With what words
4) At what time
5) To what intent
6) With what circumstances, considering what goes before and what follows, i.e., context.
"A text apart from its context is a pretext." Then study the facts of the context in the light of related passages and axiomatic fundamental truths. "... No prophecy of scripture is of private (special) interpretation" (2 Peter 1:20); "The sum of thy word is truth" (Psalm 119:160).
1) What is spoken
2) Of whom
3) With what words
4) At what time
5) To what intent
6) With what circumstances, considering what goes before and what follows, i.e., context.
"A text apart from its context is a pretext." Then study the facts of the context in the light of related passages and axiomatic fundamental truths. "... No prophecy of scripture is of private (special) interpretation" (2 Peter 1:20); "The sum of thy word is truth" (Psalm 119:160).
What do we do with verses like the one below. Do you we believe it for exactly what it says or do we change to something easier to swallow and totally miss the deep spiritual truth being taught in that verse?
Luke 14:26 KJV
If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.
Luke 14:26 KJV
If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.
I know God is good and loving. I'm not disputing that.
Noah was perfect in his generations, yes, but if God wanted perfect humans, why did he allow evil and sin to infiltrate humans and the world? To me, "starting over" with the world again, just seems like God isn't perfect himself or he wouldn't have had to destroy the world. He just seems to contradict himself throughout the bible. I KNOW God is perfect, but it SEEMS like he changes his mind alot..lol
J
I understand that verse in terms of a strong statement of the primacy of love of God and that it divides one with unbelievers, have no problem with it. But, also, I was merely trying to contribute some positive rules for Bible study, maybe somebody else would like to go back and forth on that verse?
A lot of misunderstanding comes from not recognizing the difference in God's Word with analogy, metaphor, and symbolic speech vs. direct statements.
In Rev.9 about the locust army descriptions, many have a hard time understanding that because they cannot get past those symbolic images which are actually pointing to something else other than actual locust monsters. Same with the scorpion stinging mentioned there, which also is an analogy and not meant about literal scorpions stinging people.
Many struggle with understanding the resurrection also, because they have yet to understand per God's Word what our total created makeup is regarding being made in God's Own Image and Likeness. Many struggle with the difference between flesh and spirit. When Apostle Paul is speaking of the "spiritual body", he's not talking about the fleshy bodies we have today, yet many can't fathom being without today's fleshy type body, so they don't understand about those future events in the correct Biblical perspective either.
In Rev.9 about the locust army descriptions, many have a hard time understanding that because they cannot get past those symbolic images which are actually pointing to something else other than actual locust monsters. Same with the scorpion stinging mentioned there, which also is an analogy and not meant about literal scorpions stinging people.
Many struggle with understanding the resurrection also, because they have yet to understand per God's Word what our total created makeup is regarding being made in God's Own Image and Likeness. Many struggle with the difference between flesh and spirit. When Apostle Paul is speaking of the "spiritual body", he's not talking about the fleshy bodies we have today, yet many can't fathom being without today's fleshy type body, so they don't understand about those future events in the correct Biblical perspective either.
I know God is good and loving. I'm not disputing that. Noah was perfect in his generations, yes, but if God wanted perfect humans, why did he allow evil and sin to infiltrate humans and the world? To me, "starting over" with the world again, just seems like God isn't perfect himself or he wouldn't have had to destroy the world. He just seems to contradict himself throughout the bible. I KNOW God is perfect, but it SEEMS like he changes his mind alot..lol
Noah was perfect in his generations, yes, but if God wanted perfect humans, why did he allow evil and sin to infiltrate humans and the world? To me, "starting over" with the world again, just seems like God isn't perfect himself or he wouldn't have had to destroy the world. He just seems to contradict himself throughout the bible. I KNOW God is perfect, but it SEEMS like he changes his mind alot..lol
Genesis 6:4 KJV
There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.
So there were two types of beings in Noah's time:
1) those with DNA that God wrote - perfect, exactly how God designed them.
2) those with the DNA that God wrote mingled with DNA of the sons of God.
So who did God wipe out... regular people like you and I? No, those things were not human. They were put there to prove Noah. Noah was proven when he entered the ark (Christ). So what God actually did was he removed the wicked giants from the earth after Noah and his family were proven.
That's exactly what happens to us when we're spiritually proven.... God removes the giants.
R
I completely understand what you mean because I thought the same. Analytical people often do. However, first things first, read for yourself! Do not rely on others to feed you the message (this my opinion - I am quite sure many will beat me down for it - but it's fine).
As a new believer (if you are) find an easy to understand version of the Bible. I would suggest the Holman Christian Standard Bible - it's the latest translation written in plain English and do not worry - it has been reviewed many many times to ensure noting was lost.
However - you are free of course to find the version that fits you best. Visit bible.com !! They also have an Android and Apple App....
A
I'm not picking on you in any way by bringing this up. I'm trying to show that people don't really believe the words written in the bible. Again I'm not picking on you, but your understanding of that verse is a private interpretation, the text doesn't say it's a strong statement of the primacy of the love of God.... it just doesn't say that.
Instead of making the verse say something that it doesn't say, have you ever considered that the verse may not be talking about your earthly father and mother? We do have a spiritual father (the devil) and a spiritual mother (Agar).
Should we not hate that spiritual father and spiritual mother as the verse says?
Instead of making the verse say something that it doesn't say, have you ever considered that the verse may not be talking about your earthly father and mother? We do have a spiritual father (the devil) and a spiritual mother (Agar).
Should we not hate that spiritual father and spiritual mother as the verse says?
One thing I've wondered about is this: God destroyed (most of) the people in the world to rid it of evil, right? Since Noah and his family were "perfect", then how did sin re-infest the world?
By Satan's angels leaving their own habitation and going after strange flesh (Jude 1), the Nephilim (giants) were used to try and taint the Seed of the Woman, which if you think about it would have meant a lot of success in preventing Christ's later birth through woman. This was the real reason for the world-wide flood of Noah's day, and also God telling Israel to wipe out the seven specific nations of the land of Canaan, because that's where another irruption of the giants had happened after the flood, as they had evidently corrupted the Canaanites also into doing wickedness.
Gen.6 mentions those giants were the men "of renown". That means men of the legend or myth, mythologies. Per many of the ancient writings of mythology, the giants apparently had superhuman attributes, not just physically but spiritually also. People on earth began worshping them as gods, knocking God's Salvation Plan out of balance. So God destroyed them off the earth.
In some OT Scripture, the Hebrew word for Rephaim, a name for the giants, was instead translated to "dead" or "deceased" in the English. This is one of them:
Isa 26:14
14 They are dead, they shall not live; they are deceased, they shall not rise: therefore hast Thou visited and destroyed them, and made all their memory to perish.
KJV
Do you know what that "they shall not rise" is in reference to? That's about the idea of resurrection. The spirits of those dead giants will not be resurrected from the dead. That's another proof that the 'giants' (Nephilim) of Gen.6 was not simply about bad men turned to bullying, but an actual race of hybrid offspring from the fallen angels that were outside of God's Plan for this present world.
One thing I've wondered about is this: God destroyed (most of) the people in the world to rid it of evil, right? Since Noah and his family were "perfect", then how did sin re-infest the world?
What are generations? Generations are the passing down of DNA from father and mother to their child. Noah's DNA was perfect because his family was not interbreeding with the sons of God. This is expllained well here:
Matthew 19:5 KJV
And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh?
That's exactly what happens when a man and woman have a child... 23 chromosomes from the man unites with 23 chromosomes from the woman. The man and woman become one flesh in the child.
The same happens to Christians. Our human DNA combines with Jesus' DNA (the incorruptible word of God) and our spirit man is born. The twain have become one...our flesh comnbined with God's spirit in one new man.
The word "understanding" is used in scripture with different meanings. One is "binah" which means understanding of the intelligence. Another one is "lebab" or "leb" meaning understanding of the heart. There are a few more, but this is just to illustrate.
For instance, I had "binah" for years, but it was when I obeyed or experienced something personally that I gained the "lebab" - the understanding deep in my heart.
Yes, the Holy Spirit played a big part in what I understand. But I look back and now see that he was waiting for that opening which came from some choices I made.
Not that I have arrived fully yet in my understanding. It is a lifelong pilgrimage with Jesus.
For instance, I had "binah" for years, but it was when I obeyed or experienced something personally that I gained the "lebab" - the understanding deep in my heart.
Yes, the Holy Spirit played a big part in what I understand. But I look back and now see that he was waiting for that opening which came from some choices I made.
Not that I have arrived fully yet in my understanding. It is a lifelong pilgrimage with Jesus.