It was an insight in class one day from Jo Alambro. I had been talking about the curiosity of that storyline running throughout the whole Bible even to the story of the prodigal. We had already discussed the Elohim material in Genesis One through 11 and she put the two together and I thought it made a lot of sense.
Oh brother… I remember reading Deuteronomy 32, years ago in the Living Translation, and I was awestruck at what it said. I remember saying to myself, “I must find out more about this. I’ve never heard this before. Is there anyone out there teaching about this.” That is when you asked me to pick up a book for you and bring it to you when we were coming to Thailand. That book was the “Unseen Realm”. By the time we landed in Thailand I had devoured that book, and I haven’t look back since😊. Thank you!!!
Like you, the Bible nags at my mind and I have many questions which the Lord always answers because I just don’t stop seeking His truths. One of those nagging questions, which has been answered according to my working theory 😊. Is, why would Satan ever rebel against God in the first place? What would cause him to think he could overthrow God and what caused him to think God’s love was not enough? The answer, in my short working theory, is man! God was willing to give us, lesser beings, rulership with Him and to allow us to become one with Him, in Christ. I don’t think other beings get that privilege. Just my two cents in a nutshell.
On to another topic, alcohol, I remember coming across a verse in the Old Testament that sealed the deal for me. I’ve discovered others since then, but my favorite showstopper is…
{24} "But if the journey is too long for you, so that you are not able to carry [the tithe, or] if the place where the LORD your God chooses to put His name is too far from you, when the LORD your God has blessed you, {25} "then you shall exchange [it] for money, take the money in your hand, and go to the place which the LORD your God chooses. {26} "And you shall spend that money for whatever your heart desires: for oxen or sheep, for wine or similar drink, for whatever your heart desires; you shall eat there before the LORD your God, and you shall rejoice, you and your household. (Deuteronomy 14:24-26 NKJV)
It appears God is saying, take your tithe money and buy wine or similar drink and celebrate with it. What? Take my tithe money and buy drink and celebrate? That’s blasphemy! :-) I wonder how that would preach in churches, lol.
Wade, Thanks so much for your thoughtful comment. I agree with you that the thing that makes the most sense in terms of how the great rebellion against God started is probably the creation of humans and God giving them the dominion over the new world when the "elder brothers" are clearly superior in many ways. Note all the Bible stories where the elder brother expects to inherit and it goes to the younger brother instead.
Its so hard to see why anyone who is in His presence could ever do anything but worship Him and serve loyally.
Re alcohol, I'm not making a case for alcohol drinking. It's easy to make a common sense argument against it. My point was the way we twisted scriptures to make a law the Bible never makes. The point for me is to let the Bible be the Bible. Let it tell us what it wants to say and then we need to adjust ourselves to line up with it.
Thanks again for engaging with the material as I create it.
"Note all the Bible stories where the elder brother expects to inherit, and it goes to the younger brother instead." Nice, I never thought of it that way! To clarify, I am not making an argument for drinking either, I believe we have an even greater reason for not drinking, "love". Love does not create a stumbling block for someone else so therefore I choose to abstain from alcohol, not because the Bible forbids it. Thanks for the great insight to the "older brother concept". That puts a nice bow on it for me :-)
It was an insight in class one day from Jo Alambro. I had been talking about the curiosity of that storyline running throughout the whole Bible even to the story of the prodigal. We had already discussed the Elohim material in Genesis One through 11 and she put the two together and I thought it made a lot of sense.
Oh brother… I remember reading Deuteronomy 32, years ago in the Living Translation, and I was awestruck at what it said. I remember saying to myself, “I must find out more about this. I’ve never heard this before. Is there anyone out there teaching about this.” That is when you asked me to pick up a book for you and bring it to you when we were coming to Thailand. That book was the “Unseen Realm”. By the time we landed in Thailand I had devoured that book, and I haven’t look back since😊. Thank you!!!
Like you, the Bible nags at my mind and I have many questions which the Lord always answers because I just don’t stop seeking His truths. One of those nagging questions, which has been answered according to my working theory 😊. Is, why would Satan ever rebel against God in the first place? What would cause him to think he could overthrow God and what caused him to think God’s love was not enough? The answer, in my short working theory, is man! God was willing to give us, lesser beings, rulership with Him and to allow us to become one with Him, in Christ. I don’t think other beings get that privilege. Just my two cents in a nutshell.
On to another topic, alcohol, I remember coming across a verse in the Old Testament that sealed the deal for me. I’ve discovered others since then, but my favorite showstopper is…
{24} "But if the journey is too long for you, so that you are not able to carry [the tithe, or] if the place where the LORD your God chooses to put His name is too far from you, when the LORD your God has blessed you, {25} "then you shall exchange [it] for money, take the money in your hand, and go to the place which the LORD your God chooses. {26} "And you shall spend that money for whatever your heart desires: for oxen or sheep, for wine or similar drink, for whatever your heart desires; you shall eat there before the LORD your God, and you shall rejoice, you and your household. (Deuteronomy 14:24-26 NKJV)
It appears God is saying, take your tithe money and buy wine or similar drink and celebrate with it. What? Take my tithe money and buy drink and celebrate? That’s blasphemy! :-) I wonder how that would preach in churches, lol.
Thanks again for your insight!
Wade, Thanks so much for your thoughtful comment. I agree with you that the thing that makes the most sense in terms of how the great rebellion against God started is probably the creation of humans and God giving them the dominion over the new world when the "elder brothers" are clearly superior in many ways. Note all the Bible stories where the elder brother expects to inherit and it goes to the younger brother instead.
Its so hard to see why anyone who is in His presence could ever do anything but worship Him and serve loyally.
Re alcohol, I'm not making a case for alcohol drinking. It's easy to make a common sense argument against it. My point was the way we twisted scriptures to make a law the Bible never makes. The point for me is to let the Bible be the Bible. Let it tell us what it wants to say and then we need to adjust ourselves to line up with it.
Thanks again for engaging with the material as I create it.
"Note all the Bible stories where the elder brother expects to inherit, and it goes to the younger brother instead." Nice, I never thought of it that way! To clarify, I am not making an argument for drinking either, I believe we have an even greater reason for not drinking, "love". Love does not create a stumbling block for someone else so therefore I choose to abstain from alcohol, not because the Bible forbids it. Thanks for the great insight to the "older brother concept". That puts a nice bow on it for me :-)
Hi Wade, thank you so much for your constant encouragement to me through many, many years