Bible Words & Terms

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Theophanies & Epihanies

The thing is: no human eyes have ever seen the supreme being in person,
nor have human ears ever heard the supreme being's actual voice. (John
1:18, John 5:37, 1Tim 6:16) Yet there are numerous persons, visions,
sightings, and voices identified as the supreme being throughout the both
the old testament and the new.

I don't know how the supreme being is able to project Himself so realistically
by means of theophanies and epiphanies-- even as persons capable of dining
upon ordinary foods and beverages --but apparently it's for our own safety
that He does because the supreme beings levels of dignity and supremacy
are off the scale.
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Savior

An Hebrew word for savior in the old testament primarily refers to liberators
and/or liberation, i.e. assistance.

A liberator is typically someone with the wherewithal to rescue people in
grave danger when they themselves are helpless to do anything about it.

Jesus is a liberator in more ways than one. He's primarily on track to take
full political control of the land of Israel and establish a theocratic kingdom;
which of course will eventuate in many beneficial reforms and
improvements.

● Luke 1:32-33 . .The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David,
and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never
end.

Best of all: Jesus has all the powers and abilities of the supreme being at his
disposal to protect his country from foreign invasion so Israel will finally,
once and for all, become a safe place to dwell.

But before taking the reins, Jesus had to address a very important issue, to
wit: his people's religious association with God is based upon the covenant
that the Jews entered into with God per Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and
Deuteronomy. That covenant placed many of Jesus' countrymen right smack
in the line of fire of the curses for non compliance listed at Lev 26:14-39,
Deut 27:15-26, and Deut 28:15-68

● Matt 1:20-21 . . An angel of The Lord appeared to him in a dream and
said: Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife,
because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth
to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his
people from their sins.

So Jesus was put on track to not only protect his people from foreign
invasion, but also to rescue them from those curses.
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Hypocrite

The Greek word translated hypocrite basically refers to actors playing a role
working from a screenplay and/or a script on stage and screen.

We don't mind the folks who do that for a living when they're making our
favorite movies and whatnot because they aren't trying to leave us with a
false impression about themselves. For example Johnny Depp does an
excellent job portraying a buccaneer in Pirates Of The Caribbean but Johnny
would be the first to assure us he's not a pirate in real life; though his
dialogue and his mannerisms are very convincing.

The bad hypocrites are those who put on a front to conceal who they really
are behind the facade, viz: a phony, e.g. virtue posturing.
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Backslider

A common misconception pertaining to backsliding is that of a normally
sterling Christian stepping out of character and behaving in ways
unexpected, e.g. honesty to dishonesty, fair to unfair, charitable to
uncharitable, kind to unkind, deferent to demanding, law-abiding citizen to
scofflaw, etc.

Backsliding actually pertains to animal husbandry. In other words, when
ranchers move their herds to different pastures, or the slaughter house, they
load their cattle on semi trucks by means of ramps. Well, sometimes a cow
or two balks and sets their two forelegs as stiff and rigid as bamboo poles
thus very effectively resisting forward movement up the ramp and onto the
truck; sometimes their resistance is so energetic that they manage to lose
whatever progress they gained to begin with and end up back down on the
ground.
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Apostate vs Heretic

Basically an apostate is a defector whereas an heretic is an insurrectionist.
Apostates typically renounce their current belief system so they can leave
and affiliate with another, whereas heretics stay where they are and work to
undermine a church's leadership, and to revise its established beliefs,
teachings, and doctrines.

Apostates we can condone, viz: we shouldn't want folks to stay with us
whose heart is elsewhere, but heretics we cannot condone because they are
a serious danger to congregational unity.
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Spiritual Body

Jesus' crucified dead body underwent some miraculous changes after his
resurrection. His body today is commonly known as "glorified". (Phil 3:20
21)

Now although his glorified body is technically a spiritual body, it is still
capable of dining upon ordinary foods and beverages.

● Matt 26:29 . . I tell you: I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now
on until that day when I drink it anew with you in my Father's kingdom.

● Luke 22:15-16 . . I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you
before I suffer. For I tell you: I will not eat it again until it finds fulfillment in
the kingdom of God.

● Luke 22:28-30 . .You are the ones that have stuck with me in my trials;
and I make a covenant with you, just as my Father has made a covenant
with me, for a kingdom, that you may eat and drink at my table in my
kingdom.

The thing is: the Greek word translated spiritual doesn't always pertain to
things consisting of spirit material. For example:

Spiritual gifts (Rom 1:11)
Spiritual law (Rom 7:14)
Spiritual things (Rom 15:27)
Spiritual people (1Cor 2:15)
Spiritual nourishment (1Cor 10:3)
Spiritual water (1Cor 10:4)
Spiritual rock (1Cor 10:4)
Spiritual counselors (Gal 6:1)
Spiritual blessings (Eph 1:3)
Spiritual music (Eph 5:19)
Spiritual understanding (Col 1:9)
Spiritual housing (1Pet 2:5)
Spiritual sacrifices (1Pet 2:5)

So then, a spiritual body's properties aren't necessarily those of a specter's.
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Works

The common Greek word translated works in the new testament basically
refers to activity of any amount, scope, or description-- from the grandiose
to the mundane; even the activity going on inside one's head.

● Heb 9:14 . . How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the
eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience
from dead works to serve the living God?

* The supreme being is an active deity.

● Gen 1:1 . . In the beginning God created the Heaven and the earth.

Although the cosmos is completely finished, God isn't idle. He manages to
stay busy with projects about which mankind is mostly unaware.

● John 5:17 . . My Father is always at His work to this very day.
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The Kingdom Of Heaven

According to the many prophecies in the old testament speaking of the
kingdom of Heaven, we're all residing on its premises right now, and have
been all our lives.

However, the kingdom is currently in such a disagreeable state because the
king hasn't taken the reins yet, consequently many of Jesus' kingdom
parables portray this world as an amalgam of good and evil; which won't
improve till he returns and gets his administration up and running per Dan
7:13-14 which says:

"In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of
man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days
and was led into his presence.

. . He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations
and men of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting
dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be
destroyed." (cf. Ps 2:1-12)
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Ransom

● Matt 20:28 . .The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and
to give his life as a ransom for many.

● 1Tim 2:5-6 . . For there is one God and one mediator between God and
men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all men.

It is indeed possible to buy one's way out of their judicial troubles with God,
but not by means of the usual methods by which folks settle their debts
public and private.

● 1Pet 1:18-20 . . For you know that it was not with perishable things such
as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed
down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a
lamb without blemish or defect.

REACTION: I want nothing to do with a slaughter-house religion!

REPLY: It's only one death, and it was only that one time, rather than serial
deaths repeated many times over; and it was already done for you some +/-
2,000 years ago. All that people have to do now is take advantage of it.

REACTION: How?

REPLY: Find some privacy; anyplace will do. Cover your face with your hands
for a sense of connection and simply say, in your own words either out loud
or under your breath: "Lord I am in trouble with God and likely will continue
to be. I would like to take advantage of your son's offer of himself as a
ransom to get myself out of the prospect of facing retribution."
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Rapture

1Thess 4:13-17 predicts the sudden removal of everyone on earth unified
with Christ, both the living and the dead. The Bible gives no date for the
event.

I've watched a number of films pertaining to the rapture and every one of
them left out the part where the remains of 2,000 years of deceased
believers from all over the globe will be restored to life.

The films also left out the part where folks unified with Christ rise into the air
to meet him. Instead the films showed them here one second and gone the
next, but I rather suspect the event should be easily observed all 'round the
world if it proceeds as described because 2,000 years of believers added to
the world's current number of believers, will likely construct a flash mob
resembling a mini Oort Cloud when they levitate together all at one time to
rendezvous with Christ up in the sky.

The mob is likely to get pretty noisy too what with all the cheering, laughing,
and shouting that's sure to take place when Jesus' followers receive their
new bodies; which of course will be immune to death and the aging process.
(1Cor 15:51-53)

* The blink component of the rapture pertains to the quickness of the
miraculous transformation that Jesus' followers will undergo during the
event. (1Cor 15:51-52)

The films also showed tiny children being taken while their parents are left
behind. That's highly doubtful because minors have often been collateral
damage in the Bible when God slammed their parents, e.g. zero children
survived the Flood, and 120,00 would've been lost had God found it
necessary to follow thru with His threat to annihilate Nineveh. (Jonah 4:11)

NOTE: People left behind shouldn't let the rapture cause them panic because
it isn't the end of the world. They can still get themselves spared retribution
and perdition, i.e. it's not like all hope is lost. In point of fact, vast numbers
of folks from all over the globe will be spared during the interlude between
the rapture and Christ's feet touching down on the ground to set up the
kingdom conditions predicted by the prophets in the old testament. (Rev
7:9-14)
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[Dino246]

However; the sordid events in Genesis 38:1-30 were recorded not by
dictation, but rather, by inspiration; and therefore it's very possible for pertinent details in that story to be inaccurate and/or missing.

Either you have that exactly backwards, or you're deeply confused about the nature of Scripture.

2 Timothy 3:16a All Scripture is God-breathed....

What I just stated may seem blasphemous to some Jews and Christians

Not blasphemous, just wrong. If you keep promoting such silliness, it crosses the line into blasphemy.

 

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Mediator

● 1Tim 2:5 . . For there is one God and one mediator between God and men,
the man Christ Jesus

The Bible defines a mediator as a go-between, viz: an intercessor

The ideal mediator isn't swayed by prejudice or bias, and can clearly
understand the concerns of both sides of the table, so to speak.

Joseph mediated for his father Jacob and an Egyptian pharaoh; and was very
good at it because he spoke both their languages, was familiar with both
their cultures, and was an Hebrew the same as his dad, and an Egyptian the
same as Pharaoh.

Jesus is effective like that too. As the divine spirit being depicted by John
1:1-3, he fully understands the supreme side of things, and as the human
being depicted by John 1:14 he fully understands the human side of things.
So Jesus' job was, and is, to reconcile the differences between the supreme
being and the human being so they can associate in a way acceptable to
both; and, by the way: he's the only God given person that I know of who is
fully qualified to do this.

● John 14:6 . . I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the
Father except through me.
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The Image & Likeness Of God

To my knowledge, mankind is the cosmos' only form of life created in the
image and likeness of God. So then, mankind is nature's supreme being, so
to speak.

● Gen 1:26 . . Let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air,
over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move
along the ground.

Plus:

● Gen 1:28 . . Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue
it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living
creature that moves on the ground.

And:

● Ps 8:6-8 . .You made him ruler over the works of your hands; you put
everything under his feet: all flocks and herds, and the beasts of the field,
the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, all that swim the paths of the
seas.

Ergo: in the grand scheme of things; nature was meant to be expendable,
whereas mankind was meant to be revered.

Mankind's image and likeness of God extends to other areas; for example:

● Gen 9:4-6 . . For your lifeblood I will surely demand an accounting. I will
demand an accounting from every animal. And from each man, too, I will
demand an accounting for the life of his fellow man.

In that passage murder isn't necessarily wrong because it's a moral evil. The
thing is: human life is a sacred form of life. It is basically a sacrilege to kill
people because the act demeans the image and likeness of God.

● Gen 9:6 . .Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be
shed; for in the image of God has God made man.

The principle extends to cursing:

● Jas 3:9 . .With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we
execrate men, who have been made in God's likeness.
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