It is enough for me to testify to Ecc. 1:9 and Matt. 24:35.
I will leave you to your belief.
But I cannot say that I do not see it that way, because God is showing it to me.
How do preachers or teachers explain this?
- Thread starter Godsgood
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I will leave you to your belief.
But I cannot say that I do not see it that way, because God is showing it to me.
Well, you seem happy to believe that there is still a world-wide flood happening (despite God in His word revealing that the flood of Noah's day ended), and that the Israelites are still slaves of Pharaoh in Egypt (even though God tells us in Exodus that He brought the Israelites out of Egypt, and caused Pharaoh and his army to perish in the Red Sea).
I am glad that you are no longer going to try to persuade me that such things are true.
Please stop using that phrase, "We who have come to know the one true God." It makes it sound as though you are making the judgement that others of us are not even Christians. That surely cannot be right.
I cannot stop saying that we have come to know the one true God, because that is the truth. If it hurts you, then the truth really does hurt. (Hebrews 24:12).
That is the attitude of the Jews, led by their teachers, the scribes and Pharisees. When the Lord said that He knew the one true God, and that they did not know Him, they were hurt just like you are. That is why they became angry with Him. However, they could not stop the Lord from speaking the truth.
JOHN 8:54-55
54 Jesus answered, If I honour myself, my honour is nothing: it is my Father that honoureth me; of whom ye say, that he is your God:
55 Yet ye have not known him; but I know him: and if I should say, I know him not, I shall be a liar like unto you: but I know him, and keep his saying.
Am I not testifying to you today about Ecc. 1:9 and Matt. 24:35, that what happened in the time of the Lord is also happening today, and there is no difference? Therefore, God’s word then is the same today. It does not pass away.
So please tell me, why does Hebrew and Greek have to conform with English usage? Jesus told His followers to love their enemies. He Himself as a Child was subject to Mary and Joseph; He didn't hate them:
What comes out of your mouth shows that you do not understand God’s word for yourself.
Yet, many times, it has become apparent that your understanding of God’s word is literal.
That is why you insist that the parents referred to in Luke 14:26 are your biological parents.
Isn’t it clear that you are misunderstanding it yourself? What kind of a child would you be if you rejected your biological parents?
Yes, I also have been (and continue to be) enlightened by God's word, which I agree is still God's word today. When have I said anything different?
If you are truly enlightened by the word of God, then I hope you are fulfilling both of God’s different commands: in Luke 14:26, “Hate them,” and in Matt. 10:37, “Love them.”
If you are hurt by it, then you are hurt, but for me, it is a joy to say it.
We who have come to know the one true God fulfill both of those different commandments.
And because we know the one true God, we claim that we are Christians who have been enlightened by the words of God.
It doesn't hurt me. It just becomes rather tedious to keep reading the same phrase, that implies that you know which of us on Christian Chat are Christians and which are not.
There you go again, trying to tell the rest of us that because God's word will never pass away, that must mean that all the things recorded as happening in God's word must still be happening today. So Adam must still be being made out of the dust of the ground, Eve must still be being tempted by the serpent in the Garden of Eden (even though God ejected Adam and Eve from that garden), Jesus is still lying in a manger, the apostle Paul is still on his first, second and third missionary journeys, and so on. Don't you see how ridiculous it is to say that all the events recorded in Scripture are still happening today?
But much of the Bible is literal. God literally created the earth, sun, moon, stars, animals, birds, fish, mankind, etc. He literally sent a world-wide flood, which killed all humans and animals not with Noah on the ark. He literally sent His only begotten Son to be born of a virgin, and to die literally on a literal cross, and literally rise again. I wonder what Noah though God meant by His words in Genesis 9:11:
Even if the things you are talking about literally happened, that does not mean that the message of God in His words is literal. In truth, they are spiritual words of God, or spiritual truth. God is not after the literal meaning; He is after the spiritual message or the truth. Because if you look only at the literal meaning and not at God’s spiritual message or truth, how can you believe the Lord’s story of the Prodigal Son, which did not literally happen?
NKJV Gen 9:11 Thus I establish My covenant with you: Never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood; never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth."
Your understanding of this is literal. That is why it contradicts Ecclesiastes 1:9 and Matthew 24:35.
The benefit of the literal meaning of God’s word is only for the flesh or the body. Whereas the benefit of God’s spiritual word, which is called the truth, is for the soul. For it is the soul that God is harvesting, not the body. What do you want God to harvest from you? Your decaying body, which only goes as far as the cemetery, or your soul, which can be with God in eternal life?
Understanding that verse as literally true does not in any way contradict Ecclesiastes 1:9 and Matthew 24:35.
What kind of water did John the Baptist use for baptism?
All of those things are truly happening in our time.
But I am not forcing you to see them that way. It simply means that you were not given the eyes to see all of these things.
However, we who have come to know the one true God are clearly being shown by the Lord that these things continue to happen.
That is why we see things that others do not see, because God has blessed us with faith.
HEBREWS 11:1
11 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
It doesn't hurt me. It just becomes rather tedious to keep reading the same phrase, that implies that you know which of us on Christian Chat are Christians and which are not.
In the time of the New Testament, the Jews, led by the scribes and Pharisees, followed and enforced God’s commandments according to their literal meaning—such as, “You shall not steal,” “You shall not lie,” and “You shall not commit adultery.”
My question to you is: Were they of God?
Of course they weren't. But it wasn't a matter of literal versus non-literal. The Scribes and Pharisees imagined that adultery only meant physical sex with somebody to whom was not married. Jesus explained that adultery includes adulterous thoughts. He explained the same with the matter of murder.
So if a world-wide flood is still happening today, why are you and I not drowned? Can you not see that it is nonsense to say that everything recorded in the Bible is still happening today?
I’d really like to join this conversation, but I have to admit I’m a bit lost. I’m not entirely sure what the original question was.
This is where your understanding diverges from reality. Much of the Bible is literal narrative; it describes things that happened, words that were said, appearances of the environment, etc. These are not parables nor are the inherently "spiritual" words with additional non-literal meanings. Yet, this is what you assume, and you decry anyone who suggests otherwise.
The Bible is spiritual in the sense that it is God's word, and it does convey spiritual truth. Further, some passages of the Bible specifically address spiritual issues, and some passages have a literal meaning that is different from the spiritual meaning. Additionally, God can convey truth relevant to any person using any part of Scripture, and again this makes it "spiritual", but that still doesn't mean there is one specific "spiritual" meaning behind every passage.
However, assuming that there is a "spiritual" meaning behind every passage and "seeking God" for that deeper meaning is leading you astray from the truth. This is demonstrated in some of the claims you have made.
It is a literal statement. Understanding it as such does not create a contradiction with either passage you note.
You’re right to insist that much of Scripture is straightforward narrative, and a Christian should never treat clear history as if it were a parable just to manufacture “deeper” meanings. Creation, the Exodus, the cross, the resurrection—these are real events, not mere symbols. At the same time, the Bible itself teaches that those real events also carry God‑given theological depth: Paul reads the Exodus typologically in 1 Corinthians 10, and Jesus treats Jonah and the temple as pointing beyond themselves. The problem is not recognizing spiritual significance where the text itself invites it; the problem is assuming every passage must have a hidden, private “spiritual” layer that overrides the plain sense. That kind of hunting for secret meanings can indeed lead people into error and self‑deception. A Christian posture is simpler: honor the literal meaning as primary, let the Spirit apply that meaning to the heart, and allow spiritual or typological readings only where Scripture itself or its canonical patterns warrant them—not where our imagination demands them.