Starting to read the bible

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purgedconscience

Guest
#81
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Eva1218

Guest
#82
I Thank GOD that you are willing to open your mind to read the Bible. If I could just ask you to please pray first and ask GOD to Reveal HIMSELF to you. Ask HIM where would HE have you to start and to sit with you and Teach you by way of HIS SPIRIT. Ask JESUS to make HIMSELF Known. And expect to have an experience. I too shall Pray.

GOD Bless you and please share your experience.

Blessings!!!!!!!
 
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Tintin

Guest
#83
Aside from the space issue. We have the question of how did the animals get to the ark from places like Australia etc, then how did they find their way back?

After the flood wiped out everything, what would the animals eat when they got back on land? What would the meat eaters eat if everything was gone?

Then we have the salt water and fresh water mixing which would kill a lot of the sea dwellers.

I shudder to think how the cleaning duties would be handled lol.

All seriousness though. I'm struggling with this already. Before I continue I have to be assured of the facts of the Ark story.
The story of Noah and the account of the Flood are historical fact. It's also rather intense and not at all a children's story (eg. a happy animal cruise with a bit of water).

There are answers for all of these things. There would have been plenty of space for everyone on the ark. It was a huge three-decked animal shelter with an absolute maximum of 16,000 individual animals (this includes extinct kinds, and yes, even dinosaurs. Plus the seven pairs of every clean animal). God warned Noah well before the Flood and he and his family had upwards of 70 years to build the ark. They likely employed labourers to help.

You've heard of the continental drift, yes? The reality is it happened, yes. Not millions of years ago, but during the Flood and a little after it (roughly 4,500 years ago). That's the only time it could have happened. The land was all one and during the Flood it split into the continents we know today. The very highest mountains and most, if not all volcanic, tsunami, earthquake activity etc. is a result of the Flood and the aftereffects of the Flood. Any earlier than the Flood and the continental drift (up, down, back and forth) would've killed every living land creature (both mankind and animal) and any later - the same thing. The Flood was beyond devastating! No living vertebrate creature survived the Flood, save those on board the ark. As for how the animals came to the ark, the Bible says God called them to the ark, but the text also seems to suggest that this process could have been done over a long time and that Noah had a hand in it.

In the early post-Flood world, after disemb'ark'ing the carnivores would have eaten the many carcasses strewn across the landscapes (both animal and human). They would have eaten fish and other water life, if they were near the coasts or near rivers, lakes, streams. The herbivores would probably have eaten grains and seeds and much dead foliage that was also strewn everywhere. Over time, plants and flowers and fruit trees would have grown. Noah and his family would have eaten grains and seeds and various plant life and the rare sheep or goat or cow (the others were for breeding and sacrifices to God). I believe life straight after the Flood would have been rather tough. All about survival, then building shelters and progressing to farming early on (Noah's vineyard would likely be seen as a luxury and that would have been a good 5 years after the Flood). Many children were born to Shem, Ham and Japheth's wives during these years and they helped with everything. The landscape of earth was forever changed. By the end of the Flood, Noah and his family would be animals experts, so they could easily have domesticated animals.

There was the Creation of everything good, then there was the Fall of Man when sin, death and their consequences entered the world, but Adam and Eve are spared and kicked from the garden in Eden. Following that, we have Noah and the Flood. Following the Flood is another new beginning. And following the tower of Babel dispersal, we have another new beginning as people travel to the 'four corners' of the world.

As for salt and freshwater creatures, it's believed those differences are possibly a post-Flood occurrence, not pre-Flood. Sea creatures were okay, although many would have died as the waters thrashed about, churned around etc. Same for insects and crawling creatures - they're usually very hardy and could have survived in any kind of shelter they found eg. fallen trees, reed mats.

Cleaning duties? Noah and his family would have worked very hard, but it would've been do-able. I can't remember the details, but Noah's family were very intelligent and had many skills.



There are plenty of resources concerning Noah and the Flood. Here are a few to get you started:

Creation Ministries International
- there are upwards of 1000 articles here on Noah and the Flood:
Search - creation.com

The Genesis Account by Jonathan Sarfati (available for purchase on the CMI website)


Answers in Genesis - this website has many hundreds of articles on Noah and the Flood:
https://answersingenesis.org/search...En0vuLw1yXGt4LqCUFsB5OFD&site=articles&q=Noah

Free online books:
The New Answers Book #1 - Check the contents
https://answersingenesis.org/answers/books/new-answers-book-1/

The New Answers Book #2 - Check the contents
https://answersingenesis.org/answers/books/new-answers-book-2/

The New Answers Book #3 - Check the contents
https://answersingenesis.org/answers/books/new-answers-book-3/

And if you wish to read about a biblical answer to the Ice Age, try this book:
Frozen in Time by Michael Oard
https://answersingenesis.org/answers/books/frozen-in-time/


The Institute for Creation Research
Search Tools | The Institute for Creation Research

And for a highly comprehensive and sometimes interesting, but frankly rather dry technical book on the subject, I recommend: Noah's Ark: A Feasibility Study by John Woodmorappe. You won't have any questions after readin it.
 
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Tintin

Guest
#84
AllanSnackbar, I hope I didn't overwhelm you with all the answers relating to Noah and the Flood. Just take it slowly. :)
 
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AllanSnackbar

Guest
#85
AllanSnackbar, I hope I didn't overwhelm you with all the answers relating to Noah and the Flood. Just take it slowly. :)
Haha! No. I've been overwhelmed with housework instead. I've had to recarpet the stairs too! I'll be back on the bible by Monday hopefully :)
 
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Tintin

Guest
#86
Haha! No. I've been overwhelmed with housework instead. I've had to recarpet the stairs too! I'll be back on the bible by Monday hopefully :)
No worries mate. Hope your housework isn't too much of a pain. Have a blessed weekend! :)
 
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AllanSnackbar

Guest
#87
No worries mate. Hope your housework isn't too much of a pain. Have a blessed weekend! :)
I made the cardinal Sin of telling the wife I booked days off work. Resulting in me now having to do a list of things I've been putting off for months lol
 
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Eva1218

Guest
#88
Just wanted to check in on you and see how things are going. Are you still studying? Please share

Blessings!!!!!!! :")
 
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AllanSnackbar

Guest
#89
Hi Eva. I've switched to the New Testament because I was really struggling with the Old.

I've read the gospels so far and intend to read them again from tomorrow.

I'm usually a useless reader... As in I read all the words but I don't absorb alot, so that's why I'm reading them again to make sure. After I've read them again I wouldn't mind checking out some supporting materials and opinions.
 
Feb 7, 2015
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#90
Hi Eva. I've switched to the New Testament because I was really struggling with the Old.

I've read the gospels so far and intend to read them again from tomorrow.

I'm usually a useless reader... As in I read all the words but I don't absorb alot, so that's why I'm reading them again to make sure. After I've read them again I wouldn't mind checking out some supporting materials and opinions.
It's $5. LOL
 
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purgedconscience

Guest
#92
Hi Eva. I've switched to the New Testament because I was really struggling with the Old.

I've read the gospels so far and intend to read them again from tomorrow.

I'm usually a useless reader... As in I read all the words but I don't absorb alot, so that's why I'm reading them again to make sure. After I've read them again I wouldn't mind checking out some supporting materials and opinions.
May I ask what you were struggling with in the Old Testament? I'm not opposed to you jumping over to the New Testament. I'm just curious. Thank you.
 
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AllanSnackbar

Guest
#93
May I ask what you were struggling with in the Old Testament? I'm not opposed to you jumping over to the New Testament. I'm just curious. Thank you.
To be honest, I was having a hard time believing it. I tried to rationalise things as much as I could but in between talking snakes and Noah's Ark I just couldn't treat it as a factual account. I'm not saying it didn't happen, I just struggled to believe it.

I was advised to start with the New Testament in the first place so maybe I should have listened.
 
Feb 7, 2015
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#94
Are you on Commission or something?

Lol
Send me your address, and I'll even buy it for you. It's that important to me that you don't get discouraged trying to wade through all the Thee's and Thou's and that mess of begats.
 
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Tintin

Guest
#95
Allan, there are audio Bibles available, if that would help. Some of them are even free.
 
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purgedconscience

Guest
#96
To be honest, I was having a hard time believing it. I tried to rationalise things as much as I could but in between talking snakes and Noah's Ark I just couldn't treat it as a factual account. I'm not saying it didn't happen, I just struggled to believe it.

I was advised to start with the New Testament in the first place so maybe I should have listened.
Hi Allan.

Regarding the talking serpent, it's best to take your eyes off of the physical serpent and consider instead whose voice it was that was actually speaking. In the book of Revelation it is written:

Revelation chapter 12 verse 9

And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

That old serpent, a direct reference to the talking serpent of Genesis, is none other than the Devil and Satan who deceives the whole world along with the angels who followed him in his rebellion against God. Don't get me wrong. I do believe that there was a literal, physical serpent involved, but, again, we need to consider whose voice it was which was actually being heard in the account. It was, no doubt, the voice of Satan. You said on your The Evil of Humanity thread:

AllanSnackbar said:
Some people conclude that the evilness of men is proof of no God. I am starting to come around to the fact that maybe evilness of man is proof of something non godly, if that makes any sense.
There is something, no, someone, totally non-godly or ungodly in this world and that someone is none other than Satan our adversary. By reading the Genesis account, we can get a pretty good idea of his schemes and tactics and thereby guard ourselves from the same. What then are his tactics? Let's read the account:

Genesis chapter 3 verses 1 thru 7

Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:
But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.
And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.
And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.


This is where we are first introduced to that old serpent, called the Devil and Satan, which deceives the whole world and his first character trait that we notice is his subtlety. To be subtle or subtil is to be able to cleverly and indirectly accomplish something without necessarily stating your desired purpose. What was Satan's desired purpose in relation to Eve? Paul explained:

2 Corinthians chapter 11 verses 1 thru 3

Would to God ye could bear with me a little in my folly: and indeed bear with me.
For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.
But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.


Satan beguiled Eve, even as she testified herself in Genesis chapter 3 verse 13, and he did so by taking her mind off of the simplicity or singleness that is in Christ. In other words, in this world, there's really only one Person Whom we need to know and out of said knowing our whole lives are directly affected in relation to how we think and behave and that One Person is Jesus Christ. Satan, the god of this world, will do everything in his power to keep you from fixing your gaze upon Christ:

2 Corinthians chapter 4 verses 3 and 4

But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost:
In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.


The entire Bible is about Jesus Christ. Yes, in the volume of the book it is written of Him, Psalm 40 verse 7 & Hebrews chapter 10 verse 7, whether in the Old Testament or in the New Testament and no man can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Ghost:

I Corinthians chapter 12 verse 3

Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost.


Satan couldn't care less what you set your sights upon in this world as long as it isn't Christ. Before you read the Bible, pray to God and ask Him to reveal Christ to you by the Holy Ghost or by the Holy Spirit. Unless God opens your eyes to Who Christ is, the Bible will be nothing more or nothing less than perhaps an interesting read. May you truly find Christ in your reading of the scriptures.

John chapter 5 verse 39

Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.


By the way, I didn't even scratch the surface in relation to the serpent and his tactics. If you'd ever like to discuss what some of his tactics are so that you might overcome the same, then I'd be thrilled to discuss the same with you as described for us throughout the Bible.

One last thing...

Switching from the spiritual to the natural for a moment, we read the following in relation to the physical serpent in Genesis:

Genesis chapter 3 verse 14

And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:


By cursing the serpent above all cattle and above every beast of the field, which, by the way, indicates that all cattle and every beast were cursed in some manner, quite possibly regarding their own physical traits, the serpent basically lost its legs which it once had and scientists themselves believe that serpents once had legs. I'm going to provide you a link which documents as much, but, of course, I do not believe for even a split second the evolutionary nonsense which is discussed therein nor do I believe the timelines involved. Here's the link:

Studying how snakes got legless - BBC News
 
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AllanSnackbar

Guest
#97
Hi Allan.

Regarding the talking serpent, it's best to take your eyes off of the physical serpent and consider instead whose voice it was that was actually speaking. In the book of Revelation it is written:

Revelation chapter 12 verse 9

And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

That old serpent, a direct reference to the talking serpent of Genesis, is none other than the Devil and Satan who deceives the whole world along with the angels who followed him in his rebellion against God. Don't get me wrong. I do believe that there was a literal, physical serpent involved, but, again, we need to consider whose voice it was which was actually being heard in the account. It was, no doubt, the voice of Satan. You said on your The Evil of Humanity thread:

There is something, no, someone, totally non-godly or ungodly in this world and that someone is none other than Satan our adversary. By reading the Genesis account, we can get a pretty good idea of his schemes and tactics and thereby guard ourselves from the same. What then are his tactics? Let's read the account:

Genesis chapter 3 verses 1 thru 7

Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:
But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.
And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.
And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.


This is where we are first introduced to that old serpent, called the Devil and Satan, which deceives the whole world and his first character trait that we notice is his subtlety. To be subtle or subtil is to be able to cleverly and indirectly accomplish something without necessarily stating your desired purpose. What was Satan's desired purpose in relation to Eve? Paul explained:

2 Corinthians chapter 11 verses 1 thru 3

Would to God ye could bear with me a little in my folly: and indeed bear with me.
For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.
But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.


Satan beguiled Eve, even as she testified herself in Genesis chapter 3 verse 13, and he did so by taking her mind off of the simplicity or singleness that is in Christ. In other words, in this world, there's really only one Person Whom we need to know and out of said knowing our whole lives are directly affected in relation to how we think and behave and that One Person is Jesus Christ. Satan, the god of this world, will do everything in his power to keep you from fixing your gaze upon Christ:

2 Corinthians chapter 4 verses 3 and 4

But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost:
In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.


The entire Bible is about Jesus Christ. Yes, in the volume of the book it is written of Him, Psalm 40 verse 7 & Hebrews chapter 10 verse 7, whether in the Old Testament or in the New Testament and no man can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Ghost:

I Corinthians chapter 12 verse 3

Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost.


Satan couldn't care less what you set your sights upon in this world as long as it isn't Christ. Before you read the Bible, pray to God and ask Him to reveal Christ to you by the Holy Ghost or by the Holy Spirit. Unless God opens your eyes to Who Christ is, the Bible will be nothing more or nothing less than perhaps an interesting read. May you truly find Christ in your reading of the scriptures.

John chapter 5 verse 39

Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.


By the way, I didn't even scratch the surface in relation to the serpent and his tactics. If you'd ever like to discuss what some of his tactics are so that you might overcome the same, then I'd be thrilled to discuss the same with you as described for us throughout the Bible.

One last thing...

Switching from the spiritual to the natural for a moment, we read the following in relation to the physical serpent in Genesis:

Genesis chapter 3 verse 14

And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:


By cursing the serpent above all cattle and above every beast of the field, which, by the way, indicates that all cattle and every beast were cursed in some manner, quite possibly regarding their own physical traits, the serpent basically lost its legs which it once had and scientists themselves believe that serpents once had legs. I'm going to provide you a link which documents as much, but, of course, I do not believe for even a split second the evolutionary nonsense which is discussed therein nor do I believe the timelines involved. Here's the link:

Studying how snakes got legless - BBC News
Thank you for the response. Saying Satan was the serpent, or giving a voice to the serpent at least, makes a bit more sense.

However it does open up another line of questions.

Why would God punish all serpents when it wasn't even a serpents fault in the first place?

See, its things like that which linger on my mind as I'm reading beyond it. I'm not taking in what I'm reading cos I'm still hung up on something I'd just read.
 
Feb 7, 2015
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#98
Thank you for the response. Saying Satan was the serpent, or giving a voice to the serpent at least, makes a bit more sense.

However it does open up another line of questions.

Why would God punish all serpents when it wasn't even a serpents fault in the first place?

See, its things like that which linger on my mind as I'm reading beyond it. I'm not taking in what I'm reading cos I'm still hung up on something I'd just read.
I have tons to say about much of that kind of writing.... but to lay too much out in front of superstitious slashers doesn't sound like fun this morning.
 
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purgedconscience

Guest
#99
Thank you for the response. Saying Satan was the serpent, or giving a voice to the serpent at least, makes a bit more sense.

However it does open up another line of questions.

Why would God punish all serpents when it wasn't even a serpents fault in the first place?

See, its things like that which linger on my mind as I'm reading beyond it. I'm not taking in what I'm reading cos I'm still hung up on something I'd just read.
You're more than welcome.

Hopefully, this will help to answer your question:

Genesis chapter 1 verse 26

And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.


God placed all fish, fowl, cattle and creeping things under Adam's authority. When Adam fell due to sin, everything which had been placed under his authority was affected by the same. The Apostle Paul put it this way:

Romans chapter 8 verses 18 thru 23

For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.
For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope,
Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.
For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.
And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.


The Apostle Paul said that the creature or all of creation was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of Adam's sin which subjected the same to said vanity. In other words, when Adam fell through sin, everything which had been placed under his authority fell with him, but it fell in hope. In other words, the Apostle Paul likened all of fallen creation to a woman in labor pains who is anxiously awaiting the birth of her child and the cessation of her pain. At Christ's return, all of creation will be delivered from the bondage of corruption and experience the glorious liberty of the children of God. In other words, there is coming a new heavens and a new earth and all parts of creation will be affected by the same, even the animal kingdom. Yes, there is coming a time when the wolf truly will lie down with the lamb:

Isaiah chapter 11 verses 6 thru 10

The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them.
And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice' den.
They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.
And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious.


I personally like how creation's longing desire for liberty and rejoicing at Christ's coming is described in these following passages from the Psalms:

Psalm 96 verses 11 thru 13

Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad; let the sea roar, and the fulness thereof.
Let the field be joyful, and all that is therein: then shall all the trees of the wood rejoice
Before the LORD: for he cometh, for he cometh to judge the earth: he shall judge the world with righteousness, and the people with his truth.

Psalm 98 verses 7 thru 9

Let the sea roar, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.
Let the floods clap their hands: let the hills be joyful together
Before the LORD; for he cometh to judge the earth: with righteousness shall he judge the world, and the people with equity.


The main thing is to not miss out on being one of the sons of God that we read about earlier. This can only be attained via the new birth or the born again experience that Jesus spoke of in John chapter 3. If you'd ever like to discuss the same, whether publicly or privately, then, again, it would be my honor to discuss the same with you.