Tag: God (page 4 of 9)

John 10 Verse 30

Ruth D – Does John 10:30 mean that Jesus is equal to God or just a person with the same purpose as God?

Dave – The Jehovah’s Witnesses teach that it does not mean equality but rather purpose. Since they deny the deity of Christ, they have to say this. However, the following two verses indicate otherwise because the Jews wanted to stone Jesus because He was making Himself out to be God.

Feedback:
Nels – Right on Dave!

The Witnesses in Revelation

Ruth D – Skip Heitzig believes that God hid the body of Moses because he is one of the two witnesses in Revelation and that is why on the mount of transfiguration Moses and Elijah appeared. I will be listening to Skip as we go through Revelation because he goes verse by verse.

Dave – I don’t see a connection with hiding Moses’ physical dead body from living humans to the fact that he appeared at the Transfiguration. I think the only reason Moses and Elijah appeared with Jesus is that Moses represents the Law and Elijah the Prophets, thus Jesus is their fulfillment. Maybe if I heard Skip’s full explanation, something would then click.

Mr Heitzig is most likely a dispensationalist and I am not. If so, our interpretation of Revelation will be quite different. Dispensationalists will see verses literally even when Scripture’s context is symbolic. For example, those two witnesses in Revelation may not be two human beings as Skip automatically assumes. Dispensationalism dominates Western Christian circles today. Not so in the early church. Dispensational thinking started during the Counter Reformation via the Roman Catholic Church in the late 1500s. Jesuit priest Fransisco Ribera did not like what Luther and other “protesters against Catholicism” were saying about the seat or position of the papacy being Anti-Christ (in place of Christ) so he invented the theory that there will be only ONE MAN in the far future that will be THE Anti-Christ. Later in 1800s with John Darby, a kind of arrogant man that was quick to harshly judge leaders who did not subscribe to his thoughts, further promoted this idea.

Unfortunately, most Christians in the West have only been taught dispensational thought without realizing it. I was one. But when I was exposed to historicism, I found more concepts that made sense. Only in the last few years have Chrisitan bookstores included historicist books on their shelves, but dispensationalist books remain dominant. I guess the latest guess about who THE Anti-Christ is sells more books.  I strongly urge folks to read the following books:   Great Prophecies of the Bible by Ralph Woodrow,  Seventy Weeks and The Present Reign of Jesus Christ by Robert Caringola,  and two books by Philip Mauro – The Seventy Weeks and the Great Tribulation and The Seventy Weeks.

I think a good case can be made that the two witnesses are the Old and New Testaments and the Word of God was spreading fast once the Roman Catholic Church (papacy) lost its world power and the Reformation got under way. In the aftermath of the French Revolution, however, France officially pronounced God was dead and that they were an atheistic nation. This was their response to the horrible satanic oppression of the Catholic Church over many generations. As part of their celebration, they tied and Old Testament and a New Testament onto a donkey’s tail and mocked the Word of God publicly. But as the Reformation continued, the Word of God made a nice comeback. This parallels Revelation Chapter 11 closely.

My main problem is that leaders do not treat these issues fairly as they allow only one point of view to come forth to their sheep, and the sheep do not even know about other approaches to interpreting End-Time Prophecy. This is not proper or fair. It is a lot like evolution today. It is pounded at people constantly with no other point of view expressed. That’s called brainwashing. And, as much as evolution has permeated our minds over the years, so has dispensationalism, and people do not realize it. The truth is that Revelation is difficult to understand and should be taught as such without making broad, emphatic statements and make them part of church doctrine. Beliefs about how to interpret Revelation usually have nothing to do with orthodox Christianity or salvation. So they should not divide the Church, but they do! I think believers should be exposed to all valid methods of interpretation allowing them to decide for themselves what they believe. This is not happening in today’s church. A book that does this fairly is Rose Guide to End-Time Prophecy by Dr. Timothy Jones, a Baptist. You can order it easily via Amazon.com.

For a more complete view of the “two witnesses,” click on my “Bible Commentary” and then “Revelation.” finally, go to Chapter 11 in Revelation.

Moses and the Promised Land

Trish S – Why was Moses not allowed into the Promised Land?

Dave – Thanks for your question. There are two key Scriptures to consider:

  • Exodus 17:6 – God directs Moses

    Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb, and you shall strike the rock, and water shallcome out of it, and the people will drink.” And Moses did so, in the sight of the elders of Israel.

  • Numbers 20:8-12 – God directs Moses a different time 

    “Take the staff, and assemble the congregation, you and Aaron your brother, and tell the rock before their eyes to yield its water. So you shall bring water out of the rock for them and give drink to the congregation and their cattle.” And Moses took the staff from before the Lord, as he commanded him. Then Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock, and he said to them, “Hear now, you rebels: shall we bring water for you out of this rock?” And Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock with his staff twice, and water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their livestock. And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not believe in me, to uphold me as holy in the eyes of the people of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land that I have given them.”

The first time in Exodus, no problem. But that second time in Numbers God told Moses to just SPEAK to the rock. Well, Moses was so upset with the people that he not only struck that rock but did so twice. I think he was not only venting his anger in front of those he was leading, but also said “we” as if it was he and God supplying the miracle water rather than just God alone. We learn from James 3:1 that people given more authority has more responsibility before God therefore any punishment is more severe.

Feedback:

Nels F (3/4/14) – Wonderful answer easy to understand – Dave!

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