Category Archives: Answers

Bible Answers: Understanding Spirits – What is Spirit Life and Spirit Death – Do Babies in the Womb that Die Go to Heaven?

(Ver 1.1) This is a Bible response to some awesome reader questions, concerning spiritual life and death. This may be one of the most important Bible lessons you can find on this website. There are too many Christians that are unlearned in spiritual basic truths. It is interesting that there has been growing number of unsaved people in the world that know more than a lot of Christians about spirits, but primarily the evil spirit Satan. There has been a growing worship of evil spirits, but my God is greater than all of these.

Christians today, need to know and understand that they are a “spirit” first and a human body “last”. This helps us identify and change our priority of focus. We also need to know our enemy is a “spirit” also and this helps us know how to deal with Satan. But most importantly we need to know about the Greatest and Most High Spirit that is God who created us all and trust Him to help us get through all of life’s unplanned events. Therefore, the reason for this Bible lesson.

A certain reader asks some very deep and relevant questions concerning the meaning of spiritual life and death. Here were the basic questions:

  1. Where does the human spirit come from?
  2. Is there “spirit life” in a human, and if so,
  3. When does spirit life begin?
  4. Is there “spirit death” and, what is it?
  5. and if spirit death exists, when did or does it occur?

From these questions about spirit life and death, we can also derive some other fundamental implied questions that many Christians are asking about today. There are countless numbers of women and men today that have known or personally experienced the death of an unborn child. Whether this was the intentional murder of the child through abortion, or an unintended miscarriage or other unexpected birth complication, we are going to answer these and other questions using only the Bible, which is the Word of God (Mat 4:4), also called the Word of Truth (2 Cor 6:7). Here are the applicable questions that come from the reader’s questions that will also be answered today:

  1. “Does a child that died in the womb, have a spirit?”
  2. “Was a child that died in the womb or out of the womb spiritually alive?”
  3. “Does a child’s spirit that died naturally or was killed intentionally, go to heaven or to hell, or just cease to exist?”

These are all great and thoughtful questions. It must be stated first that I do not desire to give my thoughts, or opinions on anything of this extreme importance, if possible. I will try to avoid sharing my thoughts because my opinions are as worthless as anyone else’s. However, I will share what the Spirit of God has taught me about this subject today based upon the Word of God.

I will also share with everyone at least one key God life experience. This relevant experience is the fact that my wife had a miscarriage over 30 years ago. This was a traumatic unexpected experience for us both. This occurred at a time when I had felt like the LORD had said He would give us another child. My wife had a difficult and drawn-out time of not getting pregnant. But it finally came to pass, and we both felt happy that God had answered.

However, an unexpected miscarriage was a shocking and saddening surprise. There is not much anyone can do once the conceived baby passes and is lost. This pregnancy had ended. It took years of Bible study and listening to the Holy Spirit to try to figure out what had happened and if we would ever see this child again.

It was only in the last few years that God gave me a dream about this loss. I saw a vision of this child in heaven. I saw it was a little girl. From this dream we can have confidence that children that die prematurely can be assured to be seen again in heaven.

However, this night vision while it was a great reassuring comfort, is not sufficient evidence and still must be further confirmed by what God has already taught us from His Word. Therefore, today we will use the Word of God to be assured and confident that unborn children go to heaven, and not by us just experiencing a night vision only. If you are ready to learn what the Word of God says on this essential subject concerning understanding spirits, and their life and death, let us open our Bibles and study.

Introduction to Spirit Basics

We will begin learning the spiritual basics with the straightforward question, “Are spirits eternal”? We will begin to understand this answer by first observing God’s revealed Spirit characteristics:

Joh 4:24  God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

The most fundamental truth about God is found in this verse of John. Here it is revealed that God is a “Spirit”. This establishes the foundation for knowing all other truths about God. This means God before creating the natural universe in Genesis 1:1, existed only in an unseen Spirit form and dimension.

But this verse also establishes that humans must worship God in spirit and in truth. This is your first clue that humans have a spirit, but it also reveals a lot of humans are not aware enough to know about their own spirit. Now let us look at the revealed nature of God’s Spirit:

Psa 90:2  Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God

This is a very plainly stated verse that God existed before the universe was created and will still be God after it. Therefore, God is clearly described to have existed from everlasting to everlasting, claiming God Spirit is an eternal Spirit. This is very logical to understand because time was not created until Genesis 1:1 also. But we will look at another verse to confirm His eternal existence:

1Ti 1:17  Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen.

We have now observed references from both the Hebrew Old Covenant and the Greek New Covenant that the Spirit of God is eternal. This means God’s Spirit will never cease to exist. It also implies that God’s Spirit has no beginning nor any ending. Therefore, we learn it is impossible for God’s Spirit to cease to exist, die a death, or to be destroyed.

Hence, we have established a basic truth about the Creator God of the heaven and the earth being an everlasting Spirit, without beginning and without end. But this is different apparently from all other spirits that are mentioned in the Bible. This is because the Bible reveals to us that humans and angels have a single point of origination that causes their existence.

Whether we call this a spirit birth (Jn 3:3), or a spirit creation event (Deu 4:32), or some other term, these types of spirit beginnings certainly happened. We will now continue with the “first man” named Adam and when and where his spirit came from.

Gen 2:7  And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

Let us establish a few other essential spirit basics on this subject from Genesis. The Eternal Spirit of God formed the physical body of Adam from the dirt of the ground. Then as we can observe in Genesis 2, God breathed into the nostrils the “breath” of life and the man became a living soul (Gen 2:7). From these stated truths we learn the body of man was made and formed from pre-existing created red “clay” soil before there was a spirit or life present in the body.

God says very specifically that man’s body was “formed” from this previously created earth substance. The Hebrew word H3335 translated as “formed” describes the work of a “potter” that is squeezing wet clay to make Adam’s human form. This means this work of God was extremely personal and hands on. It also demonstrates divine artistic design and composition.

Even modern science can find and name the basic dirt-like characteristics of the human body. Just some of the significant elements found in the human body are elements like “oxygen, carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, calcium, and phosphorous”. But there are also found trace elements of minerals like iron, iodine, zinc, fluoride, selenium, copper, chromium, etc. All these elements and minerals can be found in basic earth composition. Yet none of it is “alive” in and of themselves alone. Uh oh!

Therefore, after completion of forming Adam’s body from dirt, he only had a lifeless human shell that had no spirit or any ability to live. We know from reading James 2:7, “that the human body without the spirit is dead”. Therefore, the body of Adam was a lifeless corpse until God breathed into him a spirit that came from God’s breath (Spirit)!

This Hebrew word H5397 translated as “breathed” is a word that comes from a root word meaning “to blow” as exhaling a strong wind of air. This is difficult for some to comprehend since God is not a man (Num 23:19) that has natural lungs to exhale from. Also, as we have seen He is clearly described to be only a Spirit in John 4:24. Therefore, we can easily conclude that Adam’s “life” source and his internal “spirit” came from the eternal Spirit of God.

In fact, Adam’s blood also came from this breathing out of the Spirit of God. How do we know Adam’s blood came from God? We can know this for several reasons, but we will begin by knowing that it was necessary for the “Blood of God” in the body of Jesus, hanging on a cross, that was required to pay for the sins of humans.

God says in Hebrews that it was impossible for the blood of created bulls and goats to pay the debt of man’s sins (Heb 10:4). This verse proves that sinless created animal blood was not sufficient payment for the debt of human sin. This literally means man’s blood was of a much higher value than all other created beings and can only point us to Adam’s blood having come from God.

This fact makes the redemption of humans a very costly purchase price as we can read in 1 Peter 1:19. This verse says that our redemption required the precious blood of Jesus to buy us back, indicating the loss that was given away when the first Adam sinned, was of such great value to God, that it was enough for Him to die personally for us to get us back. This fact demonstrates God’s immense love for His created human children.

The second reason we know Adam’s blood was from God is found in Leviticus 17:11. In this verse of the Law, God reveals the life of the flesh is in the “blood”. Therefore, if Adam had no life before God breathed into his nostrils a spirit, he also had no blood, or he would have been alive already, like all other created animals. You do understand that no other created animals have a spirit? Not a fish, not a bird, and no other land mammal has a spirit. Nothing was made in the likeness and image of God except for “man” (Genesis 1:26). This simply means Adam was not created like animals and that both the “spirit” and the “blood” had to enter Adam’s body for scripture to be truthful.

The third reason is the name that God gave to “Adam”. This name is comprised of three Hebrew alphabet letters. The first is the letter “Alef” and in the ancient Hebrew lettering is an image of an ox, a strong symbol of God. The next two Hebrews letters is the combined “Dalet” + “Mem”. These two letters spell the Hebrew word we translate as “blood”. Therefore, combining these meanings, we have the hidden message from God that Adam means “God’s blood”. Wow! That is amazing!

What we have just discovered is that Adam’s spirit originated as a gift from God. Without God there would have been no life in the formed body of the man. Therefore, what kind of life did Adam have in his spirit after creation? It had to be God’s sinless Spirit that held His nature of eternal life, the man being made in the image and likeness of God (Gen 1:26). God is also perfect in purity and holiness (1 Pet 1:16), and this was also transferred to Adam by God’s Spirit breath. This was God’s original design for man and as we know after Adam “sinned” this caused a new problem for God to solve.

We have quickly established the human beginning of the first man was God giving Adam, His own life, spirit, and blood. But let us now look at some verses concerning an angelic beginning point next:

Eze 28:12  Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty.

Eze 28:13  Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created.

Eze 28:14  Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.

Eze 28:15  Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.

These are an essential set of verses to learn and know. They are written by a prophet of God, that viewed some long past ancient events that transpired before humans were created. These verses are speaking of only one angel in particular named “Lucifer” who is further described in Isaiah 14. This description reveals this being was angelic in nature, being called an anointed “Cherub” in verse 14. This being was certainly created as revealed in verses 13 and 15. We have discovered angels were created. This information teaches us clearly that angels were not in the eternal everlasting past, like God’s Spirit was. But rather that they were also created beings with a very specific beginning point, like the first man Adam. We have confirmed that Adam had a spirit, so now let us confirm angels are also spirit beings:

Heb 1:13  But to which of the angels said he at any time, Sit on my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool?

Heb 1:14  Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?

This verse teaches us that angels were created by God to have “spirits” and that they were designed by God to minister to those that are heirs of salvation. Therefore, these angelic beings have spirits. But what about a physical body like the created man? Are they bodiless or do they have an everlasting physical body housing their spirit? If they have a body, are they everlasting or are they mortal, like man?

This would take a lot to answer these questions completely. But please understand that angels do have physical bodies. We know this because of several stories found in the Bible. For example, please see what Psalms 78:24-25 says. In this verse God claims the manna that He sent down from heaven for the children of Israel to eat in the wilderness was made from heavenly corn that God called angel food. If humans and angels can eat the same bread, this shows us that they are both designed with very similar body types. Therefore, there are important similarities and differences to the bodies of angels and humans and they both were designed as internal “spirit” containers.

Hopefully we will confirm whether these created human and angelic “spirits” have an ending point soon. But for now, the assumption appears to teach us that man and angel spirits have no ending of their spiritual life/existence since their spirits came from God the Eternal Creator Father of spirits (Heb 12:9).

Let us now shift to a very important new subject within our main subject of “spirits”, called “sin” and find its effect upon angels and humans. We will begin with the subject of angel spirits first because they existed before human spirits. If you did not know this fact, it is revealed to us in Job 38:7. In this verse God reveals when the earth and heaven was created, “the morning star sang (Lucifer) and the sons of God (angels) all shouted for joy”. Notice what God writes to us about Lucifer in the account of Ezekiel:

Eze 28:15  Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.

This verse reveals when Lucifer was created (began to spiritually exist and be alive in a body), he was absolutely created as perfect and without flaws. But then God writes “iniquity” was found and this was a major problem for God, causing God to speak some very profound prophecies.

Eze 28:16  By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire.

This is an amazing verse of information concerning Lucifer the created anointed cherub. Notice this verse further names him to be a “sinner” that is filled with violence. But God then begins to reveal His plans for this angel. God says, “I will cast you out as profane out of the “mountain” of God. First understand “mountains are significant symbols for governments, like God’s Heavenly Kingdom”. Therefore, God is prophesying the future removal of Satan (Lucifer turned into God’s adversary named Satan) to be cast down and out from the Kingdom of God.

This is your first clue to the concept of spirit “separation”. This would be defined as God removing a sinner from His Holy presence. Whenever God says He will cast Lucifer out, indicates that this means this will be a coming event, and that it did not happen instantly when Lucifer sinned. This also strongly implies to us that Lucifer has a right to be in God’s presence for him to be forcibly cast out. Why would God allow Lucifer to stay in His presence? Here is one potential good reason:

Eze 28:13  Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created

Here we find Lucifer being described to be covered with stones. These 9 stones mentioned can be found on the High Priest’s breastplate that Moses made for God’s earthly tabernacle. This strongly implies Lucifer was the High Priest of the Heavenly temple. If you did not know there was a heavenly temple, please take the time to read the book of Hebrews. God plainly states that Moses’ temple was patterned after the heavenly one.

Just this information alone implies a lot. First there is never a mention of Satan ever being “destroyed” as in our definition of obliterated never to exist. The Hebrew word in Ezekiel 28:16 that is translated as “destroy” is “H6” and this word simply means to be “separated from”. In fact, this Hebrew word is spelled “Alef” + “Beyt” + “Dalet” and placing the ancient Hebrew letter meanings together appear to say to us “God’s House has a “Door”. This door in God’s house swings two ways. One way is for an “Entrance” and the other way is for an “Exit”. Guess which way Satan is headed for in the end?

Isa 14:12  How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!

Isa 14:13  For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:

Isa 14:14  I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.

Isa 14:15  Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.

Wow! We are seeing the prophecy that was written over 2500 years ago about the soon coming prophesied “end of Satan”. However, pay attention there is no prophesied death ending (as in cease to exist) speaking of this created angel. God is rather only speaking of Lucifer about to “be separated” from the Kingdom of God. When we say “soon” this is potentially a point of confusion because God teaches us this ultimate end won’t happen for at least another 1000+ years. Read about it in Revelation 20:

Rev 20:2  And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,

Rev 20:3  And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.

Rev 20:7  And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,

Rev 20:10  And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.

As we can observe from these selected verses the “spirit” named “Lucifer”, “Satan”, “the serpent”, “the Dragon”, and “the devil” is eventually and totally going to be separated from the “Kingdom of God” forever and ever. This verse 10 confirms angelic spirits live forever, without any way for God to kill them. Thus, spirits once created, live forever!

This is our first clue to finding the definition to what “spiritual death” is to God. What we are learning is that angel spirits that have sinned will be permanently separated from all other spirits being thrown into a “pit” as God said would happen in Isaiah 14.

Please take notice that according to scripture there are at least 1/3 of the angels that have followed Satan. These are rebellious, evil, and appear unrepentant. Therefore, God needed a way to separate Himself being Holy and Pure. This strongly indicates that there is no salvation for the sins of angels probably because they had and have no “blood”.

Remember Adam was created with “blood” intentionally by God’s planned design and purpose. There is no mention of angels having blood in the Bible that we know of. We also know after Jesus was “resurrected” from the dead, His eternal physical body housed His Spirit which returned His physical life, and this body only had flesh and bone (Lk 24:39) and was absent of blood becoming like the angels (Mat 22:30).

Yet please notice in the Bible that there is also no immediate separation from God mentioned for their vast sins. We could explain why this is in great detail, but it would take too much detailed information for this lesson. However, we need to mention a few things to prove this to help us understand that even fallen angels can approach God’s presence even until today. We know this first because we can read the book of Job:

Job 1:6  Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them.

Job 1:7  And the LORD said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.

We have already seen where the “sons of God” sang for joy when the world was created in Job 38:7. Therefore these beings called the “sons of God” are the created angels. This knowledge helps to understand Job 1:6 much clearer.

Job 1:6 says there was a “day” when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD. The LORD is a governmental authority title for God as the Supreme Judge. Notice that Satan is in this massive presence of angels also and the LORD directs all His words to Satan. This again strongly indicates that Lucifer is the chief or head priest of the heavenly group of living beings.

This is amazing information. Please recall that Lucifer has already committed sins, rebelled against God, and has 1/3 of the angels under his authority. This means all these heavenly angels are in the presence of God as a preplanned event and that after sin, there was no casting down of any of them because they are moving back and forth from the earth as Satan mentions in verse 7 and we can read about in Genesis 28:12 where God describes a ladder that allows movement from heaven to earth.

But let us look at the time after the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus from the dead. It is a fact that Jesus defeated Satan when He was crucified and was raised from the dead. But I have heard a lot of preachers claim that this means Satan no longer has access to go back to heaven for any reason. But this teaching violates and contradicts other verses that teach us differently:

Rev 12:7  And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,

Rev 12:8  And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.

Rev 12:9  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.

Rev 12:10  And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.

These are some of the most important verses you can learn about Satan’s soon coming demise and ejection from heaven. These verses have NOT occurred and will not occur until after the rapture. In Revelation 4:1 the voice from heaven told John to come up here, so that he could be shown things that would happen here after. This confirms this chapter 12 happens after chapter 4 and it is happening during the 7-year tribulation.

The first thing in Revelation 12:7 we find a spiritual war taking place between Michael and his angels, and Satan and his angels. Satan is unable to prevail in this war and he and all his angels are cast down. Sound familiar? This is the prophesied removal of Satan being cast down from heaven and the Kingdom of God and in verse 8, God says very clearly “Now was their place and position in heaven ended”.

Verse 10 confirms this by saying “Now has come salvation, and strength, and the Kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ”. Wow, that is an amazing statement about the final defeat of Satan. Do you remember reading in Hebrews 1:13 where God says to Jesus, “sit at my right hand until I make your enemies, your footstool”. Apparently, Jesus while defeating Satan, is still awaiting a coming time while seated in heaven for every enemy to be placed “underfoot”. Guess when this occurs. We are reading about it right now in Revelation 12!

But the main reason we are here is because of how verse 10 ends. This is the final confirmation that Satan has access today in heaven. This ending verse clearly states, “for the accuser of our brethren, is cast down, which accused them before our God, day and night”. This is a literal statement about a spirit being named Lucifer going to heaven to accuse Christian brothers and sisters on a 24-hour basis. This heavenly visitation continues until he is cast down permanently.

Therefore, we have observed a lot essential Bible truths about angel spirits from just these few verses.

  1. Angels are created “spirit” beings having a physical body.
  2. Angelic bodies have no blood, are not mortal and do not die.
  3. Angels and humans can eat the same food.
  4. The angelic spirit also does not die or cease to exist.
  5. Sin had no immediate consequence for removal of angels from heaven. We see this from Satan appearing before God in Job 1, and we see this again in Revelation 12 when Satan is finally cast down to the earth after accusing Christians day and night before God for at least 2000 years.
  6. There is coming a single appointed time of separation from God for all sinful angelic beings.

We have only touched on this subject but have established the basic facts on angel spirits. Therefore, let us analyze the sin effect and consequences upon Adam and all humans next.

What happened when Adam sinned? Let us first go to Genesis 2 and notice what caused Adam to sin and why there were any consequences at all:

Gen 2:16  And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat

Gen 2:17  But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die

God has just given man a “law” from a spoken commandment to not eat from a tree called “the tree of the knowledge of good and evil”. If this “law” of commandment is broken, God says in the same day you eat you will die. Uh oh! What kind of death is God speaking of? Hopefully, you do understand that there are “two” kinds of death mentioned in the Bible.

But before we go to this part of our lesson, let us discover, what God says happens to the “spirits” of men and women that experience natural death on the earth? Do they cease to exist? Or do they remain eternal like the Spirit of God and angels. We will learn this answer from reading a real story that Jesus taught us about spiritual life after physical death.

Luk 16:19  There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day:

Luk 16:20  And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores,

Luk 16:21  And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.

Luk 16:22  And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried;

Luk 16:23  And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.

Luk 16:24  And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.

Luk 16:25  But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented.

Luk 16:26  And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.

Luk 16:27  Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father’s house:

Luk 16:28  For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment.

Luk 16:29  Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.

Luk 16:30  And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent.

Luk 16:31  And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.

Please do not show your ignorance and be foolish to leave us a comment that this is a “parable” and does not teach us anything about life after death. That is a deception and a lie from Satan to believe that. This is a literal real story of three men that lived upon the earth and died a natural death.

Two of these men have real names. Remember that Jesus never said this was a parable, and if He uses real names in a story and if it is not truthful, this makes Jesus a liar and God does not lie! Therefore, this story literally happened and is a warning to everyone to what could happen to them.

As you can see, the story is about a real man who was a beggar named Lazarus who sat outside another unnamed real rich man’s house. This beggar was in very poor health and appears to be completely disregarded and ignored by the rich man living well inside the house.

Lazarus died and his body was buried, but his spirit departs the earth to go down into an underground area which is called “Abraham’s bosom”. “Abraham” appears to be chief resident in charge in this area before Jesus died on the cross. There are good Bible reasons in Romans 4 and Galatians 3 to name two references that give us clues to why Abraham is of such importance to God and even us, now after Christ died.

However, notice the facts about the rich man after he died physically on the earth. His spirit also descended the surface of the earth, but he was not in Abraham’s realm of temporary existence. He makes the direct claim that he was in a place of fire and torment and even desired for Abraham to send Lazarus to dip his finger into a drop of water to cool his tongue.
Wow, if this story does not scare you into turning your life over to Jesus, there are no other ones in the Bible that are as graphic and plain. What we clearly discover from this real story is that “human” spirits live forever. But there are two direct after-life possibilities of eternal existence. One is a spiritual life after our natural death in an eternal torture in fire, and the other is an eternal life in a place Jesus called “paradise” to the thief that was hanging next to Him on the cross (Lk 23:43).

Also please notice that Abraham claims these two after-life realms of existence, are completely “divided” apart from each other and there is no traveling between them available. This is exactly what we saw was happening in the story of Lucifer and his destined dwelling in a pit. The pit is not the location of the Kingdom of God. These are just some of the basics of human spiritual existence. Let us review:

  1. The human spirit has a spirit origination point.
  2. Despite what some people try to teach, the human spirit is not “reincarnated” from a prior existence.
  3. From God’s description of the first man Adam, this human spirit origination appears to come from God’s Spirit
  4. Also, we have found that human spirits, like angels, have no ending point where they cease to exist or die.

There are many verses that teach us that spirits do not cease consciousness or existence. For example, Paul when speaking of his soon physical death, claimed for him to be absent from his body, is to be present with the risen from the dead eternal Lord Jesus in heaven (2 Corinthians 5:8).

However, we have also seen where human spirits that are alive forever, have two potential destination points for eternal existence after physical death. This appears to be divided into one group figuratively called the “sheep” versus the other opposite group called the “goats” (Mat 25:33).

We have not yet confirmed anything that is called “spiritual death” so far in this lesson. We have only established something called “spiritual separation” after natural death. But this is going to get a lot more interesting as we continue to learn what the Bible says. Let us go and explore the subject of the human spirit’s origination next. This should be very interesting.

Where do Spirits Come From?

This is probably one of the more difficult questions to answer. But God does give us clues in the Bible to help us understand enough to draw a sound conclusion. For example, the Bible strongly indicates by omission, that before the creation of angels and humans, there were no other spirits that were admitted existing, at least that we can find easily in the text. This fact alone points us to God as the source of all “spirits”. Therefore, the first clue given to us by God is that he chooses to write “no clue” about the existence of any other spirits. But there are also other relevant clues.

Clue number two, we can clearly read about the creation of the first man and see plainly that Adam’s spirit originated from the “breath” of God being blown into him. This is another direct reference that spirits come from God’s Spirit. Therefore, we have two witnesses that teach us the source of spirits can only be God. If you can find any contradictory verses that claim otherwise, please feel free to share them and we will look at their truth and application to our subject.

Next, we can read a New Testament verse that also indicates God to be the source of spirits. Let us turn to the book of Hebrews and read this:

Heb 12:9  Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live

As you should be able to see and understand, this verse is a contrasting comparison between two father types. The first father mentioned concerns “fathers of our flesh”. This of course the male that contributed the sperm to form a child in the female womb. This father is a totally natural reference, but it is amazing what it says and does not say.

For example, this verse does not give the sperm contributor any involvement in the baby’s spirit existence. In fact, it completely refutes the baby’s spirit coming from the natural father based upon a comparison to God who is a Spirit (John 4:23) and He is being called the “Father of spirits”.  This statement implies “ALL” spirits come from God the Father of spirits.

Therefore, we have two types of “fathers”, one is physical, and the other is spiritual. We can also take note of words that Jesus spoke in John 3:6 when speaking with a natural man about a new birth that has been prophesied. In this verse Jesus said, “That which is born of flesh, is flesh and that which is born of spirit, is spirit”. While this statement does not attribute the spirit origination being from God, it clearly says a spirit can only create a spirit. That sounds important and this confirms that since God was the only known Spirit to exist before any creation takes place, He is the only Father that can point us to their existence. This also helps us understand why angels are called the ‘sons of God” in the Old Testament.

These concepts are confirmed in another reference found in 1 Corinthians:

1Co 15:45  And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.

1Co 15:46  Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.

1Co 15:47  The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven.

This is a potential new controversy. The Greek word translated as “soul” in verse 45 has a larger scope definition than just a “spirit”. From this Greek word G5590 (psuche) we get the English word “psyche” having the synonyms “spirit”, “soul”, “mind”, “ego”, “essence”, etc. This Greek word has its roots in a word meaning to “blow”, and this simply means exhaling of breath, or to breathe. Therefore, the word “G5590”, figuratively means to have “life” and this goes along with Genesis 2:7, “Adam became a living soul after the breath of God entered the formed earth made body”.

Ok, we are going to quickly give an overview of the triune nature of man for the ever-increasing numbers of new readers and subscribers. Every human is a spirit, has a soul, and lives in a body (1 Ths 5:23). If there is breath in this body, there is physical life and there is access for the unseen internal spirit to communicate with God and the created world simultaneously. If the spirit leaves the physical body, the body is dead and natural communication with physical people ceases and that is not a good situation for those that have not given their lives to God to believe in His Son Jesus Christ. We will get into this more soon because this is what God is calling “spiritual death” as in the process of separation.

What we are learning is the first Adam was a human body created from dirt, and then a spirit was given to him by God, and this caused the combined spirit, soul, and body to be a natural living human able to communicate in two realms. We can see this very clearly in Genesis 2 and 3 when Adam is speaking with and listening to God’s spirit voice, and later he also hears his wife’s natural voice, confirming two realms of communications were taking place simultaneously.

This has only been a quick overview of this part of the subject of where spirits come from. But from all these clues given to us, God appears to be the only viable and powerful enough source to create all spirits, whether human or angelic. This would be a good time to mention that there are no new angels being created that we can easily find in the Bible.  But we know humans are having new babies every day. Therefore, there are still potential new spirits being created today. Let us move into this part of the lesson next and speak about babies that have spirits.

Baby Human Spirits

We need to go and find specific verses concerning naturally born babies on the earth that came out of the loins of the first created man Adam. Here are the basic questions that need answers:

  1. Where do human baby spirits come from?
  2. When is their spirit present? a. before birth or b. after birth?
  3. Are baby spirits alive or dead (separated from God)?
  4. If the Baby physically died before birth, do they go to heaven or hell?
  5. If the Baby physically died after birth, do they go to heaven or hell?

These are a lot of great questions. Does God answer them? The answer is “Yes”. God anticipated every question a human could conceive and places the answers somewhere for us to find in His Word. Are you ready? We will address the questions next.

When is the Spirit Present in a Conceived Baby?

This is a very important part of this topic that Satan does not want you to know about. Satan using cooperating humans living in the darkness of this world, has dehumanized conceptions in the womb, calling them just a blob of tissue and flesh. They have placed upon a real child, the degrading term of calling them just a generic “fetus”. This term causes a desensitized removal of thought that they are a child with an identity and personality that can be named, and that they have no “life” that can be killed.

This plan of Satan facilitates an access way for removing an unwanted pregnancy and makes the decision easier to agree with. This attempts to remove human guilt or regret for eliminating the created growing child and permits a reduction of shame and any temporary pain of conscience. This is where they have killed millions of children in the world convincing people this is not a child, but is this the TRUTH?

This is absolutely, not the TRUTH, and God speaks to this issue over and over and over in His Word. Even modern science is afraid of the TRUTH getting out. They have 3-dimensional sonograms today that show all the details of the new human and their life, a heart that beats, movements of torso, head, arms and legs, feelings, expressions, reactions to sound and pain, and sucking their thumbs and many other things that can be seen easily with modern technology.

Another modern science development has photographed the process of conception and fertilization. This is a truly amazing photo and video to observe. When the “sperm” cell encounters and enters the female egg, there is a significant flash of “light”. Scientists are trying to explain this as only a release of “zinc”, but according to scripture God is Light (1 John 1:4) and this is just a way to explain away God’s involvement in conception and the human spirit creation event at the time of conception.

From a Bible perspective, God is trying to communicate with us that this small light explosion that is clearly visible, appears to be God bringing into the single combined cell a “spirit” that obviously must come from Him (Light). This video is available on the internet when you search “spark of light fertilization”. It is easy to find, and you can judge for yourself.

Let us stop and think about the evidence of just DNA. The mother contributes half of the DNA necessary to conceive. The father of the child contributes the other half of DNA, including the sex determining chromosome either “X” or “Y”. Separated they have no ability to produce a child, but joined together they produce a single cell that is completely alive, and it begins to double itself, over and over until in a very short time, the exponentially increasing number of cells have formed a full featured child. This combined DNA of the egg and the sperm are “Life” and it is alive. Any educated scientist if they found this cell on “Mars” would claim we have found life on Mars. Why is this not considered the same here on earth?

After going through the physical evidence, let us move to the highest authority called the Word of God. God will either contradict the natural claims or agree with them. I believe True Science and the True Word of God Understanding will Always Agree! Let us find out what the Bible says on this subject:

Gen 25:21  And Isaac intreated the LORD for his wife, because she was barren: and the LORD was intreated of him, and Rebekah his wife conceived.

Gen 25:22  And the children struggled together within her; and she said, If it be so, why am I thus? And she went to enquire of the LORD.

Gen 25:23  And the LORD said unto her, Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels; and the one people shall be stronger than the other people; and the elder shall serve the younger.

Here we have the real story of a promised son of “Abraham” named “Isaac”, who married a wife named “Rebekah”. She was barren and unable to conceive a seed. But Issac seeks the Lord, and she becomes pregnant. Uh oh, what happens next is amazing. Rebekah is pregnant with twins. There are two sons, and they are fighting against each other within her womb already. She also seeks the Lord to find out what is happening to these two womb children inside her.

In verse 23, the LORD God says to her, “Two nations are in your womb”. Let us stop immediately and analyze this statement. God has already placed an identity upon them and said each will create a different nation of people. What would have happened if Rebekah had aborted them? There would be no two nations, and no Jesus Christ since He was in one of the children to be named Jacob.

All this discussion is based upon foreknowledge. We can see that God even knows who will be born first and second, and that the elder firstborn son will serve the younger son that will be named Jacob. God obviously knows all children in the womb, believe it or not. God obviously has a plan for all children in the womb. This literally teaches us that these developing children have a spirit, and a planned life, long before birth.

This story of two brothers in a womb simultaneously teaches they are aware of each other. This is true, because they are already fighting each other, and this war makes their mother very physically aware of what is happening. Therefore, these are confirmed to be living humans that have at least some limited awareness and consciousness. They were not blobs of lifeless flesh. Any woman that has endured pregnancy has experienced this life movement inside. They can kick fairly strong, and this can be irritating, but it proves they are living. If they are living this also means they have a spirit, because the body of Adam had no life or movement until after God places a spirit inside the body.

Let us look at another example:

Jer 1:5  Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.

This is one of those amazing hidden verses because a lot of people do not read the Old Covenant prophets. Here in the book of Jeremiah God makes a declaration about the man Jeremiah. God says very plainly that before Jeremiah was even conceived in his mother’s womb God already had a purpose and plan for his life. This is called “foreknowledge” and it is recorded in multiple verses of the Bible. But then notice what else God says.

The next statement is about Jeremiah in the womb. Remember this is a human male that is a descendant of the original human sinner Adam. Therefore, this man should be dead to God according to a lot of preacher beliefs and teachings. Yet God says I have already “sanctified” you while you were in your mother’s womb. This sounds a lot like the twins we just read about again, with God knowing them personally before they were born. This demonstrates God’s awareness and personal involvement in every child that has been conceived.

The Hebrew word H6942 that is translated as “sanctified” is defined as “to pronounce or observe as clean”. This is an amazing concept if you think about it. This is giving us the appearance that God is viewing humans a lot differently than religious minded humans view them. God literally, “knew” this future man, “chose” this future man, and made him “clean” long before he exited the womb of a woman. If God did this only for Jeremiah, He would be a respecter of persons, and the Bibles says God is not this way (Rom 2:11). Let us look at another human conception and birth about another prophet:

Luk 1:13  But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John. 

Luk 1:14  And thou shalt have joy and gladness; and many shall rejoice at his birth

Luk 1:15  For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother’s womb

Luk 1:16  And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God

Luk 1:17  And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord

God sent an angel to a man named Zacharias that ministered as a priest before the Lord. This meant this man was from the tribe of Levi that allowed him to be in the presence of the LORD in the tabernacle. The angel sent from God gives Zacharias a lot of information that only God could provide based upon “foreknowledge”.

The angel tells him that His wife will conceive, so it will be a natural conception and a natural birth process of 9 months of development. It is also amazing that God knows it will be male, since the father determines this by which “sperm cell” reaches the egg, either an “X” or a “Y” Chromosome will determine the sex of the child. Yet God knows exactly which one will arrive.

Now here is where it really gets interesting. The angel informs Zacharias that the developing male child will be “filled with the Holy Ghost” even while in the womb. Wow, if that is not amazing, what is? God is going to fill a developing baby’s body with His own Holy Spirit to be in full fellowship with the already present John’s spirit even before birth. This information shocks people who say abortions are just a lifeless blob of tissue and flesh. God does not view it this way at all and knows the child and their destined plan and purpose for existence long before they are born. Wake up! Let us read further down in this chapter to see what else is happening to the child John while in the womb:

Luk 1:39  And Mary arose in those days, and went into the hill country with haste, into a city of Juda

Luk 1:40  And entered into the house of Zacharias, and saluted Elisabeth

Luk 1:41  And it came to pass, that, when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost: 

Here is another example of the internal womb “life” of a “living” human body that is alive being connected to a living human spirit. Remember what we learned from the story of Adam. There was no life, no movement, no ability to respond or communicate if there was no “spirit” in the natural body. Uh oh?

When Mary, the future mother of Messiah comes to visit her cousin Elisabeth the baby John “leaps” inside of her when sensing the presence of Messiah. This action of a child in the womb proves human life is present and a human spirit must be inside the flesh. These children in the womb can do things, sense things, and know things, much more than you can possibly imagine, and this is exactly why the devil wants to kill them all.

We have fully confirmed based upon scriptural and scientific evidence that developing babies in the womb have life and a spirit. One popular movie called “Unplanned” documented the life of a woman that previously worked at abortion clinics. This woman was asked to help a physician perform a procedure on a woman. She was tasked at holding the sonogram paddles in place so the doctor could see how to dismember the developing child to kill it.

This woman saw the reaction of the baby at each doctor attempt to pull off its legs, arms, and head. The baby could feel the pain and even moved around to try to keep it from happening. This alone proves there is life and a fighting spirit awareness in these developing children. Please do not allow this to continue taking place.

Is a Womb Baby’s Spirit Alive or Dead?

We have already seen strong evidence in the last section that babies have a spirit, and that they can be known by God and even can be filled with the Holy Spirit before birth. These types of interactions lead us to conclude that human baby spirits are alive unto God like the first Adam was before and after sin. Uh oh! What did I say? Please put down your stones until you learn what else the Bible says, first.

We have also already seen some key answers to know about the spirits of babies in the womb entering at the initial fertilization union of the two joining cells that were designed by God to become one new flesh and spirit life. This strongly implies that these babies in the womb are also fully alive and able to fellowship with God as in the case of John the Baptist in the womb of Elisabeth.

Therefore, we are entering some potential new grounds for beliefs that could certainly be controversial or even contradictory with the world, but also with many churches, pastors, and teachers of the Word of God.

In this section we are going to explore some additional scriptures about children that may rock the religious boat and mind of many Christians, especially those that tolerate or are completely passive for allowing abortions to occur.

This is our first clue that God still creates every human spirit at conception. As the reader questioned, if God gives the spirit, then it must be still made in His image (Gen 1:26). This is exactly a very true fact found in scriptures. We are about to go through some new verses that maybe you have never focused upon to see some things that will potentially change your ways of thinking about what some claim is a dead spirit as defined to be completely separated from God by the sin of the first Adam.

In 2 Samuel 12, we find the story of Bathsheba and David who had an affair and she got pregnant from it. We will not focus on all the sins that David committed during this episode. But rather we will only focus on the child that was produced and what David told us about him.

We know when this child of Bathsheba was born, David was told by a prophet that he would die because of the sins of David. David fasted and prayed hoping for mercy from God, but the child still died. After the child’s death, David said the following:

2Sa 12:23  But now he is dead, wherefore should I fast? can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me.

As you can see, David is speaking of two realms of human existence. One is the natural body life of the child and the other is the after-natural-life experience of a continuing eternal spirit life. David could clearly see that the body of the dead child was still present with him, but now the spirit had departed from the body. This was the opposite of Adam’s body being formed dead and then the spirit entering to give life. In this example, the baby was born with a spirit that left the body causing the body to be dead.

David said some amazing things in this experience that is essential to see and understand about human spirits. David says, “I cannot bring him back to me (here in the natural realm), but I will still go to him (in the spirit realm when I die)”. Also note that David is not talking about him or his child going to hell here in this statement, believe it or not.

Despite Davids’ obvious imperfections, let us help to establish his righteousness. In the book of Acts, David is called a man after God’s own heart (Acts 13:22). If you read the Psalms that were written by David, you can find a lot of his repentance and beliefs is an eternal salvation based upon God’s righteousness. We can also see in Psalm 23, that David called God His LORD and Shepherd. Jesus Christ is also called the “Seed of David”, meaning Messiah and we find Jesus comes to the earth being called the Son of David (Mat 21:9). God had a very special relationship with David, and it looks guaranteed in scripture that David will be in Heaven when we get there.

Therefore, we can understand when David is saying “I cannot bring him back”, he is speaking of bringing his son’s spirit back from a place where righteous people are all presently gathered. Let us confirm the reality that unborn babies and even children not of the age of accountability will be taken to heaven if they die a physical death. We will only look at one statement that Paul wrote about himself.

Rom 7:9  For I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died.

If you read the context, you will find Paul writing about the Law. In fact, in verses 1 through 8 Paul is speaking about the binding of the law to people that are under the law and have knowledge of the law. Paul also writes about how “death” separates the human from their bondage from the “law of sin through death”.

Paul makes it very clear in verse 7 of this chapter that he would not have known sin if he had not known the law. Continuing, he says he would not know that “lust” was sinful without first knowing God said “Thou shalt not covet”. Wow, this is more amazing information than you can possibly understand without God enlightening it to your spirit. Your carnal mind is not going to be able to understand this without God’s Spirit helping.

However, this chapter applies to children, and even unborn children. God is saying without the knowledge of “law”, there is not an impartation of guilt, and therefore no sin can be held against a child. Every child in the womb has an almost zero % chance of knowing what is good or evil, right or wrong. This is because they cannot speak or understand these types of complex concepts without maturity and training.

This is why Paul writes in verse 9, “I was alive once without (the knowledge of) the law”. Once Paul grew to the age of accountability, which is normally for Jews at the age of 12, they are considered able to judge right from wrong. But this is because they have all memorized the Torah before this age occurs. It is this knowledge that makes a child accountable for their sins. Once this occurs, they must choose Jesus as Lord to be saved. If this salvation decision is not reached when natural death occurs, the child/adult departs to go to hell.

This is why my wife and I’s miscarried daughter, was seen in a vision being in heaven. This is also why every aborted baby from the womb goes to heaven also. Any death of an unaccountable child will be a transportation into the presence of God automatically. This is because God is loving, just, and must judge righteously about every human the same. If you are still struggling with this information, let us confirm it again with a new set of verses spoken by Jesus:

Mat 24:15  When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) 

Mat 24:16  Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains: 

Mat 24:17  Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house: 

Mat 24:18  Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes. 

Mat 24:19  And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days

These are verses about the rapture of the church to be taken out of the earth by a very sudden departure. These verses are written with warnings to those that have missed the rapture. But will only focus upon verse 19, because this is one about our subject of children and accountability.

In this verse Jesus said, “Woe to those (women) that are “with” child (pregnant), and to those (women) that have breast-feeding children in those days. Why does Jesus warn women about this time? It is not very complicated. This is because these two groups of children in the womb and those born below the age of accountability “WILL be taken up in the rapture”. This again is fair, just, and righteous judgements from God to save them from a certain death. Those humans that were left on earth after the disappearance of children and ready to go Christians, are warned to run away quickly without even taking any food or clothes with them. This means something is about to happen that is at any moment certain destruction.

Wow! Hopefully, this information is convincing you about the truth, that children have spirits, and they are not “dead” or separated from God until they obtain an age that they can know and make a conscious intentional decision to accept or reject Jesus.

This information also brings to question special needs children. What would happen to an autistic child that is not all there mentally? Could they seriously be held accountable to understand everything about what is right or wrong? Many do not believe so. This sounds like an opportunity for a loving God to demonstrate great mercy and compassion. I believe this is God’s heart. You can choose for yourself what you would like to believe.

We have just discovered in two sections the following scriptural facts of truth:

  1. Babies have a spirit at conception.
  2. God knows the baby, plans their destiny and purpose.
  3. God can even speak with the baby in the womb.
  4. All of this means a child’s spirit is viewed as innocent in the eyes of God.
  5. Therefore, baby spirits go to heaven if a death occurs before the age of accountability and sin awareness takes place to give the child the fair right of choice.

This was good news for those that have lost a child. If you have chosen to believe in Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection and you will confess Him as your Lord (Rom 10:9-10), you will be saved to go to heaven and see your child again standing with Jesus’s loving arms around them. Let us shift to the last and another essential subject of how to define “spiritual death”.

Is there Spiritual Death?
What is “Spiritual Death” and
When Does it Occur?

Here is another popular misconception that is preached all over the church. People are widely taught that Adam spiritually died immediately after sinning. But everyone must still acknowledge that Adam lived 930 years until physical death occurred. But when does the Bible say his spirit died? Or does it say? We might be surprised what the Bible says about this subject.

In fact, this belief of spiritual death as it is taught by many pastors and Bible teachers, just does not balance with the rest of scripture when we take the time to study. Remember Paul wrote to us and said, “Study to show yourself approved, a workman, that does not need to be ashamed” (2 Tim 2:15). Therefore, we need to study this subject for ourselves, using a deeper understanding of “all” scriptures on the subject. We will begin this section on spiritual death by using verses that Jesus taught us on the existence of the “spiritually dead”.

Mat 8:21  And another of his disciples said unto him, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. 

Mat 8:22  But Jesus said unto him, Follow me; and let the dead bury their dead.

This is a short but radical conversation between Jesus and a disciple. A certain disciple came to Jesus and asked Him, “Allow me to go bury my father”. Therefore, we have a man that has just died a natural death and his natural son has a desire to bury him, and Jesus’ reaction is more than significant.

Please let us use some spiritual common sense and see that Jesus is speaking of two different states of humans. Or more precisely two types of “death” and the “dead”. The first death type being referred to by the disciple is only “natural” death which is common to all humans after the sin of Adam (Romans 5:12). But the second type of death must be a spiritually viewed type of death because Jesus said let these types of natural people bury their own physically dead.

Jesus is implying to this disciple that he is not a spiritually dead man, therefore, Jesus was telling Him to continue to follow Him. Uh oh! Remember Jesus is speaking to a man that was not yet born again, because Jesus had not died and been resurrected. This means neither were born-again. Not the “dead” that would bury their “dead” (physically) nor the disciple that is following Jesus could be saved. Therefore, Jesus’ definitions of what a living man is, and what a dead man is, is completely different than what we have thought or heard taught before.

What was the difference between these two people types? The disciple that was following Jesus was in face-to-face personal relationship with God in the flesh, and all those not present were not known by God and did not know or speak with God. Could this be what Jesus is referring to? Does a relationship with God make the difference whether we are called living or dead to God?

This is where new controversy begins, that not too many people have ever been taught. What made this disciple spiritually alive, and other humans spiritually dead is something that we need to learn. How can we understand this based upon the fact that we have already seen clear evidence that “spirits” do not ever die or cease to exist?

Remember, we learned this concept from a story Jesus gave to the disciple about a rich man and beggar named Lazarus. In this story, both men died physically and then their spirits were carried away departing to an under the surface of the earth existence in two separated and eternally divided realms of after natural life existence. Do you remember this?

This story is essential to understanding how to differentiate those people who are spiritually alive and dead on the face of the earth while they were both physically alive simultaneously. Then knowing what happens after their natural death where their spirits departed the earth and are then divided apart from each other under the earth. Of course, this was taking place before Jesus was crucified and resurrected from the dead. This means in this story there was not, an access door named Jesus who would facilitate the human access to the Father in heaven.
This is only the beginning to help us understand what is taking place. What we are seeing, are these facts:

  1. Human spirits never die or cease to exist.
  2. However, Jesus labels some living humans on the earth as “dead” even while naturally breathing air in the flesh.
  3. According to scripture these people called dead did not have a relationship with God, speaking with Him and listening to His voice for directions.
  4. Jesus further implies there were some naturally living people on the earth that were already alive in their spirit and we have seen this more than once before in this lesson. These types of people appear to be those in intimate contact with the living God.
  5. From the story of the rich man, he was designated as “unrighteous” type of spiritually dead on the earth that continues to be separated in a lake of fire called the “tormenting” realm. According to Abraham he, must not have read and studied the Torah. Therefore, he did not know God intimately.
  6. But simultaneously the poor beggar named Lazarus is designated by implication to be “righteous” after natural death that departs to be with Abraham in the side of existence called the “comforting” realm. No doubt Lazarus had a lot of time to pray and ask God for help and assistance. There had to be some relationship with God for him to be in the righteous side of the natural dead humans.

That is a lot of new information but let us stop and go back to the beginning and work our way back up to this point of reference with Jesus walking the face of the earth in the flesh.

Please take the time to read Genesis 1, 2, and 3 again. These are all essential basics to understanding life and death both from the spiritual and natural parallel views. Take note in Genesis 1:26 God says, “Let us make man in our image and after our likeness”. Therefore, God is a speaking Spirit that is capable of the highest level of intelligent conversation and speech.

The first mention of God speaking to Adam occurs in Genesis 1:28-29. In these verses God “blessed” them by speaking the first words to them saying “Be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth”. Then God gives them dominion (authority) over all the works of God’s hands. This is all pre-sin conversations, and there is no mention of Adam responding. There is a presumption that implies that he heard and listened. This is first indicator that God and His man Adam had fellowship and relationship. This appears to be the plan of God for all His humans, and not just the first two.

Man was created in the same pattern of God, with the same features, characteristic, and capabilities as their Creator God. This means man was also a speaking spirit made on a slightly lower order than God (Psalms 8:4-5). Then we find in Genesis 2:15-17 God places the created man Adam in the garden that the Lord has made. Here God commands the man saying it is good to eat from every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shall not surely eat, for in the day you do, you shall surely die”.

Therefore, we have God being seen in the garden and again we see He is talking with Adam and giving Him one law to not eat from one tree that will cause him to die. Notice there is no mention of two deaths. Also notice God does not define death and what that means. Adam had never seen death before; how could he understand what this was? But he obviously asked no questions causing the presumption that he must have understood enough to not ask any questions.

Next in Genesis 2:19 we find God bringing to Adam every beast and bird for him to give a name. God says whatever the man calls them, that will be their name. This proves Adam knows and understands a language, has an intelligent and capable mind to understand and remember what he is doing. Clearly Adam understood the commandment that God had spoken. All of this confirms there was a relationship with Adam before sin entered the world. This according to the words we saw from Jesus meant Adam was not spiritually dead.

Next in Genesis 3:1, we find the introduction to another spirit being other than, God, Adam, and Eve. God describes this being as a symbolic “serpent” which is defined in Revelation 12 to be a representation for Satan. It is this serpent that tempts Eve and deceives her into partaking of the tree that God commanded them not to eat from. Next, we find Adam taking of the same tree being with her during the entire event. Therefore, sin has just entered the world and death by sin. Yet no one is dead. I wonder why? Did God lie or did we just misunderstand? I vote we misunderstood.

Next, we find God coming to the earth again to walk and talk with His creation in Genesis 3:8. Don’t forget who we are dealing with. God is the Creator of the heaven and the earth (omnipotent). He knows everything (omniscient). He sees everything (omnipresent). Therefore, there is nothing God does not see or already knows what has happened. But we find God the Highest and most Holy Spirit in the presence of 3 spirits that have all committed differing sins.

Do you see a problem here? How is it when preachers say that Adam died immediately in the spirit realm, that God is found in the presence of these dead sinners to be even asking questions to each of them and speaking with them all? This reality is a major problem to defining man or Satan as being spirits that were separated from God immediately after they sinned. We have already seen that Satan will not be cast into hell until at least another 1000 years from now at a specific appointed time. Does this concept of an appointed time for Satan’s spiritual death also apply to men? The answer is Yes! Let us continue to learn.

Here is what the Holy Spirit said to me this morning. God said, “Do you remember that I am the Good Shepherd?” What does a good shepherd do to save one lost sheep? He leaves the 99 and goes to find the lost sheep (Lk 15:4). Uh oh! Do you see that the first Adam was now a lost sheep that has chosen by reason of fear to depart from the presence of God and hide himself, covering his nakedness?

When God came down to the garden to talk with His lost sheep God knew exactly what had happened. God could not forgive the sin because Adam had the “blood” of God and there was not a sinless blood that could be offered to eliminate this sin permanently. However, God already had a plan knowing Adam would fail, He preplanned a Son of Adam who was also the Son of God, that could take away with His sinless blood every human sin from Adam downward.

Remember Jesus claimed to be this “God Good Shepherd” in the flesh (John 10:11). He was God (John 1:1-14), and the High Priest of God (Heb 2:17), the Temple of God (John 2:19), and the Sacrificial Lamb of God (John 1:36) in one combined package. Remember the parable of the lost sheep is found in Luke 15:4. And Jesus said He was only sent by God to the lost sheep of Israel in Matthew 15:24.

So, we have a major problem developing with the definition of spiritual death as being an immediate separation from God caused by human or angelic sin. We can find this problem continuing throughout the entire Old Testament. We find God speaking with human after human that is supposedly been separated from God by spiritual death. For example, the next time after Adam, we find God speaking to Cain after killing his brother Abel. Again, we find God dealing intimately with a lost sheep sinner man one on one. Let us look at another man that was truly amazing:

Gen 5:21  And Enoch lived sixty and five years, and begat Methuselah: 

Gen 5:22  And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters: 
Gen 5:23  And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years:

Gen 5:24  And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.

Enoch is one of the most amazing men in the Old Testament. He only has a select number of verses, but these words contradict the belief of immediate separation from God after sin is present. Notice God writes that Enoch walked with Him for 300 years.

This sounds a lot like Adam with God walking in the garden to fellowship. It should be becoming clear that man was created to have fellowship with God, and this continued even after sin.

Therefore, there is no separation from God if man is willing to communicate with God as we are discovering. It appears man is considered alive to God, if they speak to Him and walk with Him following His directions being in relationship with Him.
But here is the most amazing fact about Enoch. Genesis 5:24 says, that Enoch walked with God so closely that God just took him from planet earth in a rapture like event. This means Enoch’s spirit, soul and body were all removed from the earth simultaneously. This fact alone refutes the belief that all humans were eternally lost and separated from God.

What made Enoch so special to God. We are given to clues to this relationship God to man, man to God relationship. Let us look at the first to realize what causes God to be able to fellowship with some sinners and not others.

Heb 11:5  By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.

This verse is found in the Hebrews 11 “Hall of Faith”. This literally means Enoch pleased God by walking with God in faith. We know this because the next verse after this one says, “But without faith it is impossible to please God, because he that comes to God, must believe that He is (exists) and that He is a rewarder to those that diligently seek Him”. This is the major reason why Enoch was raptured off the planet long before Jesus ever died to save anyone. This is the most significant reason we have that contradicts why humans are not dead spiritually until the appointed time that we have not yet learned. The only other N.T. reference to Enoch is found in Jude:

Jud 1:14  And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints,

Here we have another amazing statement that Enoch prophesied about the LORD coming with ten thousand of his saints. This proves Enoch walked with God so closely that God gave him future prophetic visions of Jesus coming back to the earth in the 2nd Advent. These examples, show why God was so pleased with a man that He took him without seeing natural death.

There are countless other O.T. opportunities to view God speaking with human sinners that supposedly had dead spirits. There is Noah in Genesis 6:8-13. There is God speaking to Abraham in Genesis 12-17 and beyond. We find God speaking with Jacob in Genesis 35:1. We find God speaking with Moses in Exodus 3:14.  In Numbers 22:12 we find God speaking with “Balaam”.  We find God speaking directly to Solomon in 1 Kings 3:11.

There are other examples of God speaking with David, Joshua, and many other prophets, priests, and kings. These are all problems for defining man to have a dead spirit that is implied to be separated and unable to hear from God! Let us observe one modern definition for their modern view of spiritual death:

Spiritual death: is the separation of the soul from God. In Genesis 2:17 God tells Adam that in the day he eats of the forbidden fruit he will “surely die”. Adam does fall, but his physical death does not occur immediately; Therefore, God must have had another type of death in mind – spiritual death.

This was a very classic and traditional attempt from human reasoning to define what spiritual death is. This definition uses human thinking and terms with complete disregard for God’s definitions and thoughts. Therefore, we need to refocus what was written, what was said, and what happened to a new God definition and viewpoint for spiritual death to remove the carnal human reasoning factors that can only produce error. Here is the verse as spoken by God to Adam:

Gen 2:17  But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

Here is a new way to view this verse that eliminates the erroneous explanation for why Adam did not die the moment he partook of the deadly poisonous fruit. The key word that is being defined wrongly is “day”. This is because to a human we live every 24 hours as one day. This is not how God is defining or applying this word H3117 that was translated as “day”. There are literally several different ways this “word” is used in the Bible. Here is a list of some of them:

  1. A Day = The Sunny Hot 12 Hours of a Day from Sunrise to Sunset, and the opposite would be Night! (Genesis 1:5, called Light Day)
  2. A Day = 24 Hours of Time from One Sunset to the Next Sunset including evening (night) and morning (light) (Genesis 1:5, the First Day).
  3. A Day = Meaning a Single Connected Period of Time describing an event, as in “the Day of the Lord” when God created the heaven and the earth (Gen 2:4).

These are just three examples of the definition of a “day”. But there are others, and the key one that we need to learn from to apply is found in Psalms:

Psa 90:4  For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night.

The Hebrew word translated as “yesterday”, is the same Hebrew word H3117 that is found in Genesis 2:17 used to describe “the Day you eat”. Notice what this verse in Psalm 90:4 says, “A thousand years in your sight, is a day”.

The Hebrew word translated as “sight” is H5869 (Ayin) and this word is normally translated as “eyes”. Therefore, we are getting a new God defined perspective to how He views and sees what a “Day” represents. Instead of us trying to define a “day” to be 12 hours, 24 hours, or the time of an event, let us see if this God view works out better.

Gen 5:5  And all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years: and he died. 

God writes and informs us that all of Adam’s days that were lived was 930 years. It is interesting how God used the same Hebrew Word H3117 this time translated as “days” in a count of years lived. Let us take out the “plural” form from the verse and say it using the literal “Day” translation:

Gen 5:5  And all the day that Adam lived was nine hundred and thirty years: and he died.

That is amazing when you see it. God has just written to us and said, of the “Day” (1000 Years, Ps 90:4) that God had spoken of in Genesis 2:17, Adam only lived 930 years. Now let us go back and see how this fit in to the words spoken in Genesis 2:17:

Gen 2:17  But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day (1000 years) that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die (930 years).

Here is another nugget of meat to chew on. If we take 1000 years as 1 Day and subtract 930 years of total Adam lifespan, we get the remainder of 70 years. Therefore, 70 years is the remainder of God’s Day definition that Adam live short of fulfilling one day of God’s existence limit for sin. In other words, Adam living short of 1000 years matches God’s Word of warning. It appears that God was speaking of only natural death, so far.

Did you realize that in Psalm 90:4 God used the word Ayin which is the spelled out Hebrew word for the Hebrew letter “Ayin”. This letter and word both mean “eye”. But the Ayin alphabet letter, also has a gematria value of “70”. We are confirming how it was God’s view of a day that was used to define what He spoke when He told Adam when he would die. This Day of death for sinning was within a 1000-year timed maximum God calls 1 Day. God foresaw this happening and now we have eliminated the confusion of the need to define what a spiritual death represents to God also using our own human reasoning.

Therefore, we are still in need of knowing what spiritual death more fully represents to God’s view, omitting our opinions. Do you recall that we found there was an exact time of separation of Satan from God? We found this in Revelation 20. If spiritual death is a separation from God, there appears to be an appointed time when this event begins and then it continues to occur without a course of reversal. Therefore, true spiritual death appears to be a separation from God but only from a timed beginning with a never-ending separation experience apart from God. If this was true for Satan, could it also apply to humans? It appears so, based upon what we learned from reading Luke 16 with the death of the rich man and Lazarus. Let us look at a new scripture that helps us understand this better:

Heb 9:27  And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:

Notice what God says and reveals to us in this verse. This verse plainly states, “man is guaranteed once to die, and after this comes the judgment”. Wow, this sounds important. Please never forget, that God is LOVE (1 Jn 4:8)! Also, we must remember that God is longsuffering, not willing that any should perish, but all should come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9).

Can you see where God is taking us? Remember earlier what the Lord said about “Him being the good shepherd that would leave the 99 saved sheep to go out and find the single lost one”. We are discovering that all humans even, those that commit sins like Adam, or differently than Adam have an opportunity for relationship with God. This would include humans submitting to God, as well as fellowshipping with Him. This as we saw in 2 Peter also involves human repentance for sins.

In other words, God has not closed the door for any human to know Him. He desires us all to be saved. He seeks us out and looks for ways to get our attention to cause us to come to Him and want relationship. This was true from Adam to Jesus, and is still true for the church from Jesus, the Last Adam to the end of this age. Those in the O.T. were given opportunity to gain righteous relationship with God and be saved on credit, waiting for the blood payment of all sin by Jesus on the cross. But us after the death, burial and resurrection, can just hear about Jesus, and turn to believe in Him and confess Him as Lord and we are brought in completely by Faith in His works. Let us end this section with God’s definition of “spiritual death”:

Rev 2:11  He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.

Here Jesus is speaking to the church a warning. Jesus is very clear that those in the church that overcome, shall not be hurt of the second death. Therefore, there is a second death that occurs after the first natural and physical death.

Rev 20:14  And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.

Here is God’s definition of “spiritual death”. It occurs when people and angels are cast into the lake of fire in the heart of the earth. The rich man that died in Luke 16 was thrown there and is still there now. He asked Abraham to send Lazarus to his brothers on the earth so they would not come to this place where he was. But Abraham said, they have the Word of God to read so they may not go there. Uh oh? This appears to say reading and studying God’s Words are a part of having a relationship with God.

Here are some basic rules to help us learn the truth to what spiritual death represents.

  1. Spirits do not ever die or cease to exist. Therefore, once a spirit comes into existence, they are alive for ever.
  2. Spirits of humans can choose to walk with God and live being in relationship with Him causes spiritual life.
  3. A human spirit if it is in a human body can be in relationship with God to be saved.
  4. A human spirit in a human body, without any relationship with God is considered dead already.
  5. It is only the spirit that leaves the body of a human without remaining in relationship with God that will be apart from God eternally in the Lake of Fire, called the 2nd death.

Conclusion

Thank you very much for taking the time to read and study the Bible with us. We love you all more than words can describe. The hundreds, and thousands of hours spent here to provide these Bible study lessons is our complete pleasure to share with the body of Christ as well as anyone else that is willing to read.

Hopefully you have learned a lot today, that you never saw before in the Bible. This subject was significantly shortened because of the amount of information that is given to us by God on these subjects. This subject of Jesus coming to the earth to give us spiritual and physical life to saved us from the everlasting spiritual death separation demonstrates His infinite love. Thank you, Jesus! Hopefully you have learned that every human spirit is spiritually “alive” and capable of being saved as long as they are abiding in their mortal body. Any human on earth has the ability to cry out to the LORD and He will answer them. This can become the beginning of your relationship with God.

Do you remember the parable that Jesus taught on the “Prodigal Son”? In this story of Luke 15, Jesus taught about a young son that left his father’s house after demanding his inheritance. This son went out into the world and had a party with all the money until it was gone. Then the desperate son while feeding pigs, came to himself and deceived to repent and return to his father. The father saw him returning a very far distance off and ran to him and kissed him.

In Luke 15:24, the father in this story told by Jesus confirms what being dead represents. While the son was apart from his father, there was no relationship together between them. The father calls this a son who is dead. But it was when the son returned that the father threw a party to welcome his son back into relationship to the family. This is very profound. I taught us death (spiritually) is being separated from Father God. We choose to do this of our own will. Therefore, to return to father is also our choice. This helps us significantly to understand what spirit life is and what spirit death is. by God’s definition.

If you have had an abortion or have lost a child, they are alive and waiting for you in heaven. They are not mad at you. They actually love you very much. There is hope for an eternal reunion in heaven. If you have not forgiven yourself, God loves you so much that He sent someone to write you a letter to help you get through this life. God has already paid for all sins, but we must humble ourselves and go to Him and receive His forgiveness. It is a free gift, just ask and take it by faith. If you have not ever accepted Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior, to make a relationship with Him, this is a perfect time to do so. Please go to the link at the bottom and click on it to find out how to be saved from hell.

God bless and keep you all, the day of the Lord’s return is closer than ever. Get ready for His return, and stay ready, it could be today!

Are You Saved? Do you Know Jesus? Life is Short! Jesus wants to Know You! Please come and get to Know Him!

Bible Answers: Solving the Mystery of Israel – God’s Firstborn Versus God’s Covenant Wife

israel_sign(Ver 1.1) This Bible lesson is a reply to a great reader question about the natural nation of Israel. This is an advanced Bible subject. Therefore, this lesson is potentially offensive and is intended for mature Christians that desire to learn something new in the Bible with an open heart and an open mind.  Please judge yourself if this is your desire and motivation before continuing to read about a potential Bible subject from a fresh perspective.  This lesson will be about a conflict that occurs between scriptures concerning the natural nation of Israel.  We will learn several concepts about this name “Israel” that may have never been taught to you before.  I warn you up front to help set your expectations so that I do not become your enemy by showing you something new (Gal 4:16).  Please stop and pray and ask God to help everyone see what He wants us to learn in this Bible study.

Also, this is another in-depth Bible lesson with a lot of great Bible verses to study.  I would recommend that you break it into sections and maybe do one section a day and this will spread it out over a period of time and hopefully not overwhelm anyone with too much new information at once.  I give a lot of Bible verse references and I do not address them each in detail.  Therefore, it would be highly advisable that you go and look up each verse, read it carefully, study the context, look up each Greek or Hebrew word and verify in your mind that it is saying what you think it says and use that information to apply to this lesson.  This is being a noble Berean type of Bible student mentioned in Acts 17:11. Please do not believe a word I say in any Bible lessons without you verifying it in your own Bible study. Place your trust in God and the Spirit of God on the inside of you to help you see the truth.

Some Christians think a Bible study is just reading a chapter a day for 15 minutes and bang you are done.  But that is not what a real Bible study is, even if God says something to you that is helpful to get you through that day. No according 2 Timothy 2:15, God tells us to “Study to show yourself approved, a workman unto God that will not be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of Truth”.  This verse claims Bible study is more than a casual reading.  God has implied that we are to dig deep to be able to understand His Word correctly.  Meaning it is not easy and not automatically understood.

Finally I want to say something very important to help people not get offended easily.  I love the natural nation of Israel.  I love the people living in the natural nation of Israel.  I desire everyone both Jew and Gentile to come to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ (Rom 1:16).  So if you read something in this lesson that causes you to think I am a racist or a hater of anyone, you are wrong.  Are you ready study now?  Let us step into an initiation of the controversy within scripture.

QUICK INTRODUCTION TO ISRAEL’S
FOUNDATION AND RELATIONSHIP TO GOD

According to Jeremiah 3:8, Jeremiah 3:14, Jeremiah 3:20, Jeremiah 31:32, Ezekiel 16:8, Ezekiel 16:32 and Isaiah 54:5-6 to name only a few verses, where the natural people of Israel are called the Old Covenant wife of the Lord God.  These teach us that God’s Old Covenant relationship between the natural blood line descendants of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and his 12 sons and all the natural people that descended from Jacob was that of a husband and a wife.  These people were called God’s covenant wife (H802) until they committed adultery and whoredom (Eze 16:17, Jer 3:9, Hos 2:2) with so many other gods and idols.  God finally handed these people a bill of divorce (Deut 24:1) that ended that covenant as we can read in Hosea 2:2, Jeremiah 3:8, Isaiah 50:1, and Galatians 4:30 to name just a few. These are simply basic facts of scriptures that need to be understood.

However, there are not a lot of ministers and teachers of the Bible that I know of, that have taught this part of the subject of Israel.  But the bottom-line conclusion is that the natural nation of Israel was considered by God to be His set apart woman and His wife (H802).  This officially occurred when she entered into a freewill covenant relationship with God on Mt Sinai where God gave them the Law (Jer 31:32, Gal 4:24).

There are several other Bible lessons that go into this in more detail on this website, if you have never studied this subject.  I would suggest that you begin with “Understanding Bible Covenants” first.  But we have seen enough verses to understand Israel was an Old Covenant female wife in covenant relationship with God her Husband.  Let us continue with this introduction to see the apparent contradiction of scripture about Israel.

INTRODUCTION TO AN ISRAEL
BIBLE CONTRADICTION

The opening lesson introduction statements and verses were probably very controversial to many new Bile students. But we now need to get into a deeper discussion that represents a suggested conflict within scripture.  This potential conflict characterizes the root of my reader’s question. Let us get started in learning what was the question and the mystery that is raised within our minds creating some difficult and potentially strong levels of confusion to many Christians.  For example, my reader pointed out that in Exodus 4:22-23, the natural nation of Israel while they were in bondage in Egypt, they were potentially called by God, His “firstborn son”. Here is my reader’s exact question and comment:

“I have a question and you can post this on the blog if you want. I understand how earthly Israel is one of the wives of God, but Israel is also called God’s firstborn son in the Old Testament (Exodus 4:22-23). How do you reconcile Israel being both a wife and a firstborn son to God the Father? I am having trouble figuring out the connection and would appreciate any info you could share on that.”

What a tremendously thoughtful and excellent deep Bible question about an apparent conflict of scripture.  How can a group of natural people be a male firstborn son and a female covenant wife simultaneously?  Can you see the potential confusion that this creates?  Let us continue this section of the lesson by reading the verses in question:

Exo 4:22  And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD, Israel (is) my son, (even) my firstborn:
Exo 4:23  And I say unto thee, Let my son go, that he may serve me: and if thou refuse to let him go, behold, I will slay thy son, even thy firstborn.

It is clear from reading Jeremiah 31:32 and other verses that natural Israel was called God’s covenant wife making God their covenant Husband.  But here in Exodus 4 we can clearly see an apparent conflict emerging.  The people of Israel before entering the covenant marriage on Mt Sinai to God (Gal 4:24), were potentially referred to in Exodus 4 as God’s “son” and “firstborn”.  Therefore, we have God the Father declaring someone or a people His firstborn son in relation to their existence in Egypt.  That is an amazing contradiction.  Are they His wife? Or are they His son?  Or are they both simultaneously?  There appears to be a factor of great gender confusion being suggested in scriptures.

Anytime an apparent contradiction occurs in the scripture it is a time for rejoicing.  Every perceived conflict should be viewed as an expectant great opportunity to learn, because God does not make any mistakes and there are no conflicts when understood correctly.  I have found that whenever I encounter something that looks like a conflict at first in the Bible, it is caused because I do not understand the correct point of view of the subject from God’s spiritual perspective. In other words, I was usually thinking too naturally and not enough from a spiritual viewpoint.  We all know God is a Spirit (Jn 4:24) and we should know that His Spirit thoughts are much higher than our natural thoughts (Isa 55:8).  Therefore, I seek and ask God to reveal to me, His Word from His viewpoint.

For example, Jesus told us in John 5:39 that if anyone would search the scriptures of the Old Testament, we would find Him (everywhere) in them because they were (ALL of) those that testified of Him. This teaches us that Jesus is hidden in every word, sentence, paragraph, chapter, and book somewhere using some technique of spiritual concealment.  Wow, that means Jesus must be found here in Exodus 4 somewhere. Therefore, when I see any potential conflict, I immediately begin my hunt for conflict resolution by searching for Jesus.  Let us get started.

Let us begin this part of the lesson by removing the italicized translator added words and punctuation from the verses in question in Exodus.  This may help us to see something new.

Exo 4:22  And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh Thus saith the LORD Israel my son my firstborn: 

By the removal of two added words and from this verse and the translator’s commas, it changes the focus tremendously.  The translators believed they were adding focus to the natural people and nation, but they have only detracted from God’s statement that this verse was about Jesus.  “Thus, saith the LORD Israel My Son My Firstborn”.  By removing the added italicized words, it appears the word “Israel” is a name of God’s firstborn son.  This should begin to open our eyes to see something that we may have not seen before.  But let us verify this using scripture rather than my opinion.

We will begin the verification process with a dive into the Hebrew word used by God to describe Israel.  The first word H1121 was translated as “son”.  This Hebrew word literally means a male child that is born to carry the name and blood of the family into the next generation.  Without the continued male line in the family the family name ends.  This is why God created the law where if a firstborn son marries a wife and does not have any children, then his brother was to marry his brother’s widow.  They would then try to have children for his dead brother in order to carry on the family name.  Ok, we can see this concept first mentioned in Genesis 38 when Judah has 3 sons, and his oldest son marries a woman named Tamar, but he dies before having any children.  She then marries the next son, and he refuses to have children for his dead brother, and he dies.  The third son is never given to Tamar and so Tamar dresses as a prostitute to have a child through her dead husband’s father Judah.  Tamar does get pregnant thought Judah.  Thus, the family lineage of Jesus through Judah was preserved by a righteous act of Tamar’s deception (Gen 38:26).

All of this was a God designed connection called a “kinsman redeemer”.  This occurred when one blood relative took the wife of a dead relative to have children for him to continue the family name. We can read about this concept again in the Book of Ruth exclusively as a type of our redeemer “Jesus”.  Ruth was a Gentile, and a type of the church and Boaz was the type of Jesus the kinsman redeemer that redeemed humanity out of the chains of bondage of Satan’s dark kingdom..

It is also noteworthy that the Hebrew word “H1121” translated as “son” is what Jesus was called in the Bible repeatedly.  Every time in the Gospels when Jesus called Himself the “Son of man” or the “Son of God”, the word “Son” was equivalent to this Hebrew word H1121. Right there we have two possible connections to sonship in Exodus 4 and Jesus. First, Jesus was a “Son” (H1121) of Adam and second, He was the “Son” (H1121) of God simultaneously.  This was accomplished because Mary the mother of Jesus was a virgin daughter ancestor of Adam that was impregnated by the Holy Spirit (Mat 1:20).  Let us go to the word “firstborn” next.

H1060 that is translated as “firstborn”.  This Hebrew word comes from the Hebrew word H1069 and it does mean a natural childbirth that opens the womb of a physical women for the first time. Could this potentially also be a hidden reference to Jesus?  I believe it is.  We know this by reexamining the birth of Jesus in Matthew and Luke to confirm how Mary got pregnant and then notice what this resulting child is called.  Please go read both accounts and notice all the details.  Pay close attention to Matthew 1:25 and Luke 2:7 to begin.  Both verses claim that Mary brought forth her “firstborn” son.  Wow, that sounds like the exact wording and phrase used by God in Exodus 4, especially knowing who the Father was to this child by reading Matthew 1:18 and Luke 1:32.  Both verses claim Jesus’ Father was God the Holy Spirit!

Now ask God this question about our brand-new conflict rising before us in scripture.  Was Jesus Christ God’s firstborn Son or was natural Israel in Exodus 4 God’s firstborn son?  I mean it CANNOT BE BOTH!  It is impossible to have 2 firstborn sons.  Even when Jacob is described as birthing 12 sons from 4 different women, there was only 1 “firstborn” to Jacob.  According Genesis 35:23 the firstborn son of Jacob was Rueben. The second son’s birth regardless of the mother is always the second son to the father even if it was her first.  The first son’s birth regardless of the mother is always the first son. This is also true even if they were conceived simultaneously as twins, only one son can exit the womb first (Gen 25:24-25). There is always only one “first” and one “second”.  Therefore, a natural nation of Israel cannot be God’s “firstborn” son while we see Jesus also being called His “firstborn”.

We get the further resolution to this new conflict of two potential “firstborn” sons by reading John 3:16. In John 3:16 God says “For God so loved the world that He gave His ONLY BEGOTTEN SON…”  The Greek word G3439 translated as “ONLY BEGOTTEN” means “only born”.  John 3:16 defines Jesus to be God’s “ONLY” naturally born Son.  This truth of Jesus being the ONLY NATURAL BORN SON is further confirmed by God in John 1:14, John 1:18, John 3:16, John 3:18, and 1 John 4:9.

If Jesus was God’s ONLY naturally born Son, then He must also be God’s “FIRSTBORN” Son. This is basic logic and common sense.  An only child is both the first and the last child.  We can further confirm Jesus being the “Firstborn” of God by reading these verses: Romans 8:29, Collosians 1:15, 1:Collosians 1:18, Hebrews 1:6, Hebrews 12:23, and Revelations 1:5. In every verse the Greek word G4416 that was used to describe Jesus being Mary’s firstborn son is used to describe Jesus as being God’s “Firstborn” Son.  We have just confirmed using scripture that Jesus is the ONLY BORN SON of God and the FIRSTBORN SON of God.

Therefore, the natural nation of Israel would not qualify to be called by this name or title of “firstborn” even though it was the message that was given to us by translators in the English Old Testament. Uh oh!  The controversy continues unless both verses are about the same firstborn Son named Jesus with the same common name Israel. Could this be possible?  I believe it is.  God just gave us a great confirmation that it was His Son Jesus that He was referring to in Exodus 4.  But we are not done yet and there is more evidence to consider.  We need to continue our Sherlock Holmes type of Bible Study to discover and examine all the clues.

OUT OF EGYPT I HAVE CALLED MY SON

We have been going through Exodus 4:22 and 23 trying to learn who God is speaking of as being His firstborn son with a name of Israel.  I want us to examine some new clues given to us by God in the Gospels.  I hope you read and noticed that in the book of Matthew chapters 1 and 2, God provides us amazing evidence in the narrative of the natural birth of Jesus and His early childhood.  We will be reading some truly relevant verses about Jesus starting in Matthew 2:13. Please read these verses over carefully and notice how they appear to relate directly to Exodus 4:

Mat 2:13  And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him.
Mat 2:14  When he arose, he took the young child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt:
Mat 2:15  And was there until the death of Herod: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called my son

Wow, we are discovering some especially important information about God’s Son and the natural nation of Egypt in verses 13, 14 and 15. God purposefully connects Jesus to the natural nation of Egypt very plainly. As we should know, the ruler Herod was angry that the wise men did not return to tell him of the location of Jesus.  Herod then killed every male child under two years old in Bethlehem and continued his search for Jesus in case he missed him in other locations of his ruling region.

The angel of the LORD was sent by God to warn Joseph of this plan and he told Joseph to take Jesus into the nation of Egypt. Joseph was told to stay there until he was given the word to leave and return to his home in Nazareth. Then Matthew makes an extraordinary claim. Matthew reveals that this action of Joseph would be the fulfillment of an Old Testament prophecy saying, “Out of Egypt, I have called my Son”.  This prophecy can be easily passed over or ignored by many Bible students.  Let us go back into the Old Testament and examine God’s original prophecy that is quoted by Matthew:

Hos 11:1  When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt. 

The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge gives us the necessary links to the verse of Matthew 2:15 by connecting this fulfillment back to both this verse in Hosea 11:1 and the Exodus 4 verses in question.  The original Exodus 4 divine statement of Israel being God’s Son that was being called out of Egypt is indirectly related to being fulfilled in the child Jesus in Matthew 2. Therefore, the Hosea 11:1 verse that we just read is very plainly and directly related to Jesus and Egypt.  I find this amazing to see how God speaks many hundreds of years before Jesus was born on the earth and then tells us in Matthew all of this was fulfilled in the life of Jesus.  This just continues to confirm what Jesus said that all of the O.T. was written about Him.

We should realize that God’s spiritual timings are not based upon normal human expectations.  We learn from reading in 2 Peter 3:8 that one thousand years of human time is just the same as a single day to God.  We can logically deduce that God spoke of Jesus coming out of Egypt as if it were occurring when Moses took the people of Israel out Egypt.  But this interpretation creates the conflict with other scriptures that declare this woman being taken out was going to be His Old Covenant wife and that would still not qualify to be the fulfillment of Matthew 2.

I would suggest that you go and read Ezekiel 16 to help us see God has always viewed the natural nation of Israel to be a covenant female.  In this chapter of Ezekiel 16, God described the birth of a discarded baby child that is thrown away in the pool of her own blood. This chapter further goes to describe how God took pity on this baby girl and commanded her to live and took care of her to grow up.  We can then read how she matures sexually and how God clothed her with fine clothing and jewels. This is the description of these natural people being a woman that were saved out of Egypt.  But then we still have a problem with the contradiction of Israel being a male in Exodus 4 if we take the literal English translation as a present tense fact and not a future tense prophecy.

Romans 4:17 reveals and teaches us a divine principle that God calls things that are not yet visibly seen and observable as if they were already manifested into our natural reality. We first learn this concept from Genesis 1 where several times God would say something like “Light Be” and then “Light was”.  This is how God works throughout the Bible.  Before He does a thing, He would speak it and then it would come to pass only after He had spoken it.

After creation God reiterates this principle speaking through the prophet Amos.  In Amos 3:7 God says, “Surely the LORD God will do nothing except He reveal His secret to His servants the prophets”. We learn from this concept that the prophet Moses writing in Exodus was declaring a future secret concerning Jesus. This is the pattern of God declaring His secret plan for future years before the timing of them happening.  This principle was certainly repeated by the prophet Hosea 11:1 about Jesus coming out of Egypt and I believe it is the same being said by the prophet Moses writing in Exodus 4.

Let us get back to Hosea 11:1. Did you notice what Hosea 11:1 said?  It is easily missed.  We know from reading the quotation in Matthew 2 that this verse was a prophecy of the child Jesus being taken to Egypt and then back out of Egypt at God’s direction.  But this verse begins with a very radical declaration “When Israel was a Child…”. Notice that it does not say “When Yeshua (Jesus) was a Child”. Ok, that continues the subject and repeats the question that is vital to understanding a lot of the Bible.  Who exactly is Israel?  It appears from what we are seeing so far that Israel is a name of God and Jesus.  Let us analyze this Israel name subject in more depth in our next section.

WHO IS ISRAEL?

Most Bible preachers and teachers that I have learned from believe the name “Israel” is only defined in the Bible as a natural nation of people that originated from Jacob and his 12 sons. And it just so happens, that it was these people that moved to Egypt after their son and brother Joseph was sold into slavery (Gen 37:28) where he eventually became the second in command in Egypt. Remember there was a famine in the land but before it occurred a dream was given to Pharaoh and only Joseph was able to interpret the dream (Gen 41:14-15). It was this famine that was hidden in the dream that drove Joseph’s father to send some of his remaining sons into Egypt to buy them food. While in Egypt they met with Joseph and eventually reconciled, and the entire family moved to Egypt.  One of the key brothers of Joseph that is noteworthy was Judah.

Judah was the brother that saved Joseph from being killed by his other brothers.  It was Judah that suggested they all sell Joseph into slavery.  It was this act of salvation that caused them all to eventually be saved by Joseph from starvation and end up in Egypt.  But my key point in this story is that Judah is also the name of the son of Jacob that will bring forth their Messiah named Jesus the Christ. This is an extremely important point to remember. We will try to get to this in depth later. But, for now we have just confirmed how these people came to exist in Egypt.

Now, let us consider how all of these natural people obtained the name “Israel”.  To know this, we must read Genesis chapter 32:

Gen 32:24  And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day.
Gen 32:25  And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob’s thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with him.
Gen 32:26  And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me.
Gen 32:27  And he said unto him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob.
Gen 32:28  And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.
Gen 32:29  And Jacob asked him, and said, Tell me, I pray thee, thy name. And he said, Wherefore is it that thou dost ask after my name? And he blessed him there.
Gen 32:30  And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.

We can clearly see a divine encounter taking place between Jacob and a supernatural being in the form of a “man”.  I am not going to attempt to teach this entire encounter.  We only need to focus upon the name change that takes place. Here after wrestling this supernatural man, this man asks Jacob his name and says from henceforth your name will no longer be called “Jacob” but rather “Israel” because you have obtained “power” with God and men and have prevailed.  Jacob then asked this man his name and then uses the information given to him to name the place where he was wrestling “Peniel”.

Peniel is a Hebrew word that means the “Face of God”.  From what we have been reading and studying in Genesis 32, we can surmise that Jacob has just been with God or at the least a supernatural representative of God.  We can further deduce that Jacob was given God’s name during this encounter.  Wow, I hope you got that. I am totally convinced that “Israel” was one of God’s names first and that it was passed down to the earth as a marriage covenant name change for His chosen natural people that would come from him. Our traditional human marriage covenant name change, for the wife to take the husband’s name was a God created idea.  I do not know why so many people have not seen this before. The evidence for this conclusion is all over the Old Testament.  Read these verses to help us see what God is saying to us:

2Ch 7:14  If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. 

Isa 65:1  I am sought of them that asked not for me; I am found of them that sought me not: I said, Behold me, behold me, unto a nation that was not called by my name

Jer 7:10  And come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, We are delivered to do all these abominations? 

Jer 7:11  Is this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, even I have seen it, saith the LORD

Jer 7:30  For the children of Judah have done evil in my sight, saith the LORD: they have set their abominations in the house which is called by my name, to pollute it. 

Jer 32:34  But they set their abominations in the house, which is called by my name, to defile it. 

Dan 9:19  O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, hearken and do; defer not, for thine own sake, O my God: for thy city and thy people are called by thy name

I do not have time to go over every verse that I just listed.  There are plain references in these sample verses that claim God’s natural people on the earth are all called by His name.  This is probably one reason why Satan hates these natural people so very much. In a couple of these verses it may appear to indicate that it is just the city Jerusalem or the tribe of Judah alone that have His name, but that would be a rush to judgment without giving the verses enough thought.  For example, if I said the city of Jerusalem is my capital.  It requires me asking which Jerusalem and which nation is Jerusalem the capital of?  The correct answers would be that God is speaking of the natural Jerusalem on the earth in the middle east and it is the capital of the natural nation of Israel.  Therefore, the greater binding covenant name above Jerusalem would be Israel.  And all of the people living in the subset of the city of Jerusalem would still be called by the larger mathematical set name Israel also.  These are just basic laws of mathematical sets.  Every subset category is still a member of the larger encompassing set.

This is also true for the people within in the tribe of Judah.  Judah was the one brother that was used by God to bring Jesus into the world. The single tribe of Judah is still under the national heritage of their father Jacob who was renamed Israel.   All these people that came from natural Jacob would all be labeled by God as a part of Israel.  It is important to notice how the corporate nation containing all 12 tribes originated from one man that was renamed Israel by God.  But there are other verses that we may also need to consider helping us confirm the truth.  For example, read these verses and notice what they say:

Exo 5:1  And afterward Moses and Aaron went in, and told Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Let my people go, that they may hold a feast unto me in the wilderness. 

Jos 8:30  Then Joshua built an altar unto the LORD God of Israel in mount Ebal, 

Jer 7:3  Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, Amend your ways and your doings, and I will cause you to dwell in this place. 

There are approximately 200 verses that have the similar phrase “God of Israel” in it.  Please think with me and consider what the word “of” means.  We should begin by defining the word “of”.  “Of” can generally mean the first noun comes from the source or origin of the following noun. It would be like us saying the people of Jerusalem.  That clearly would indicate that the people being spoken of came from a city named Jerusalem.  But when God says “the God of Israel” it would seem to be an indication that God came from Israel and that does not really make sense, does it?  That would appear to be another contradiction since we know someone from heaven came down to give Jacob this name and therefore the name definitely came from heaven.

The antithesis of saying “the God’ of Israel” is found in Galatians 6:16 where God wrote the “Israel of God”. The Galatians 6 verse is clearly speaking about an “Israel” that originated from God, but the phrase “God of Israel” seems to be saying something different or is it. In the first example the God of Israel appears to indicate that God is the lower object that is contained within the higher object that is named Israel.  But in the Galatians 6 example the “Israel of God” that cannot be the same type of relationship as Israel appears to be a lower object that is contained within the larger object God.  This is just getting too complicated, isn’t it?

I am going to propose another possible solution to this complexity.  I believe the word “of” can be eliminated completely and this might solve our problem and help us confirm Israel is God’s name at the same time. This is the same principle that we used earlier by removing translator added italicized words. If you analyze the original Hebrew text in parallel to the English words being stated, you will find that there is no Hebrew word that is translated as “of”.  Therefore, it appears to be a translator suggestion to what they thought the other actual words meant.  I mean the translator could have written “God in Israel”, “God by Israel”, “God from Israel” as well as the “God of Israel” or even a multitude of other prepositional English words.  These prepositions have been added by translators thinking they help us understand the words given to us by God, but sometimes they distract from the original intended meanings.

Let us go back and reread Exodus 5:1 removing the inserted English preposition “of” that is not in the Hebrew.  It would read “Thus saith the LORD GOD ISRAEL”.  That statement makes a tremendous amount of plain sense to me knowing what I know now. We all should know that God sits in the heavens (Mat 22:32, Heb 1:3).  We now have learned that God gave Jacob a name “Israel” that came from heaven (Gen 32:28). Therefore, we have a direct connection of the name Israel coming from God in heaven.  Based upon this information it would not be an abuse of scripture to say, “Thus says the LORD GOD ISRAEL”.

Most of the English prepositional words like “the”, “of”, “in”, “by”, “from”, “with”, etc. were added by translators thinking they were helping to clarify the Hebrew words mentioned in God’s ordered sequence.  Most of the time they did a great job and they do help us.  But please understand there was not a Hebrew word found in the original Hebrew language text that could be translated “of” or “the” in any of these verses. For example, back to Exodus 5:1 if we remove all the words added by translators, God said in the Hebrew “Thus(H3541) saith(H559) LORD(H3068) God(H430) Israel(H3478)”.

If you like the added word “of” in “God of Israel” more than the “God Israel” that is fine, and I will not debate you.  For now, I see it more clearly with the omission of the word “of” as being one of God’s names that was given to Jacob in Genesis 32.  If you are an advanced Hebrew scholar and would like to share your thoughts on this wording “God of Israel” versus “God Israel”, I would love to hear your comments to learn more about it. But, I now think that we need to move to a different and even deeper study of the name “Israel” that should turn up the intensity of the light on this subject.

UNDERSTANDING THE NAME ISRAEL – DEFINITION

Israel_MeaningThis part of the subject study of the word “Israel should be a Bible study all by itself. But I will give the shortened overview to help us understand that the name Israel is particularly important to our understanding of the Bible.  Let us analyze the definitions given to us by dictionaries like “Strong’s”.  The Hebrew word translated as “Israel” is H3478.  Here is the definition given to us by “Strong”:

H3478

יִשְׂרָאֵל
yiśrâ’êl
yis-raw-ale’

From H8280 and H410; he will rule as God; Jisrael, a symbolical name of Jacob; also (typically) of his posterity: – Israel.

First notice this word H3478 is made up from the combination of two other Hebrew words.  The first “H280” means “to prevail or to have power as a prince or a ruler”.  Then that word is combined with “H410”.  This word H410 literally means “to have strength or to be mighty” and it is translated as “God” over 200 times in the Old Testament. This Hebrew word is typically viewed as a shortened form (EL) of God’s plural name “Elohim” and is often found in many other Hebrew names.  In fact, this short form of God’s name occurs in at least 150 other names found in the Bible like “Samuel” that means “heard of God”.

What I would like you to consider for a takeaway is for us to see that Strong defines this word Israel as “He will rule as God”.  Then ask the obvious questions. Who is he?  And who can rule as God?  Is the answer the natural man Jacob? Is the answer Satan?  Or is it possible that He who will rule as God is the conquering and victorious Jesus?  I believe it can only be Jesus.  We can see several clues revealing this to us in the Bible.  For example, read Revelation 12:5 which is a description of male child that is birthed by a woman that is stated to rule with a rod of iron. This male child is not named but he must represent a form of God. Then read Revelation 19:15 where a grown man riding on a white horse comes back to the earth from heaven to rule all nations with a rod of iron.  Reading back up in Revelation 19:13 we find this man’s name is the “Word of God”.  This of course is another name for Jesus (God the Son).

From just these few examples, I have concluded that Israel (HE WHO WILL RULE AS GOD) is Jesus the risen from the dead Christ.  And if we are in Him and overcome our flesh, the devil and the world, then according to Revelation 2:25-26 we read this promise:

Rev 2:26  And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations:
Rev 2:27  And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father. 

Here we have the Highest Ruler Jesus speaking to the churches and He says that whoever overcomes and keeps His works till the end, to them He will give power over the nations and they will rule with Him with a rod of iron.  That is an amazing statement of truth.  This should give us motivation and hope for a significantly better future. It is self-evident to me that only Jesus qualifies to rule over every nation on the earth. It further says to me that only Jesus is qualified to delegate this authority to anyone else.  Therefore, the name Israel can only be God’s name and only He will rule as God!  Let us conclude this lesson with a new particularly important perspective.

LET MY SON GO

We have been studying to determine who God was speaking of in Exodus 4:22-23 that is called His Son.  We have seen in these verses where God spoke to Pharaoh of Egypt through the prophet Moses and commanded him to let God’s Firstborn Son go or else Pharaoh’s firstborn son would be killed.  We all should know the context of this command.  This occurred during God’s first Passover.  Pharaoh made the wrong choice and did not let God’s Son go.  The children of Israel were then told to obtain a lamb to slay it, and to place it’s blood upon the doorposts of the houses.  We all should know that this slain lamb was a symbolic representation of Jesus the firstborn Son of God.  Jesus was God’s Lamb that would be crucified hundreds of years later, on a cross on Passover.  It was this lamb’s blood on the doorposts of homes in Egypt that instructed the death angel to bypass  their houses and all their firstborn were saved. But the firstborn of every house of Egypt without any lamb’s blood their firstborn child died, including Pharaoh’s.

Here is the main point. When God was speaking of His firstborn Son to be freed from bondage, He was looking forward in time seeing the Son of God that would be born from the people of the nation of Israel that were being held in bondage in Egypt. All the living descendants of Jacob/Israel were being held captive slaves in this natural nation of Egypt. And if they were never freed, how could their Messiah Jesus have been born in Bethlehem?  How could there have been a temple built in Jerusalem?  How could there have been David the King of Israel, and on and on we could go.  God was calling things that were not yet manifest as if they were already real when He commanded His Firstborn Son to be freed from Egyptian slavery.  Wow, I pray you are receiving what the Holy Spirit is saying to us.

I need to show you a principle that is revealed to us in the book of Hebrews that is a MUST to understanding a lot of the Bible.  I have taught this principle in other Bible lessons because it applies to many other subjects and it represents a fundamental law of God called the Law of Seeds.

Heb 7:5  And verily they that are of the sons of Levi, who receive the office of the priesthood, have a commandment to take tithes of the people according to the law, that is, of their brethren, though they come out of the loins of Abraham:
Heb 7:6  But he whose descent is not counted from them received tithes of Abraham, and blessed him that had the promises.
Heb 7:7  And without all contradiction the less is blessed of the better.
Heb 7:8  And here men that die receive tithes; but there he receiveth them, of whom it is witnessed that he liveth.
Heb 7:9  And as I may so say, Levi also, who receiveth tithes, payed tithes in Abraham.
Heb 7:10  For he was yet in the loins of his father, when Melchisedec met him

Verse 5 begins with a description of Levi and his descendants being given the responsibility of High Priests in Israel.  God then says these descendants were commanded to receive tithes of their brothers in the other tribes of Israel. God ends the verse with the radical statement that all of these people came out of the “loins” of Abraham their father. That was the fundamental law that you need to see.  When God showed me these concepts I was literally blown away.  Think of the implications that this truth is revealing to us.  For example, God knows the exact sperm cell and their order of impartation into a female to cause every impregnation of every born child down the entire family blood line.  We can clearly see that God is into every detail of our life.  This is a divine characteristic of Him.

family_tree1Notice what God said in verse 5.  Remember that Levi was the great-grandson of Abraham.  Levi came from the family lineage of his father Jacob/Israel.   Then Jacob going down the family tree came from his father Isaac.  Isaac continuing down the family tree then came from his father Abraham.  Yet God speaks of them all as a corporate single individual sperm cell being one together, from one source and one father.  Wow!  You may not understand this concept of a sperm cell.  A natural sperm cell is called a “seed” by God in the Bible.  You can read about this concept in Genesis 38:9 in the story we looked at earlier about Onan who married Tamar his dead brother Er’s wife to raise up a seed for him.  In the case of Jesus it was God’s word that was His Seed that impregnated the virgin Mary.  Read down to verse 9 to find out the most important concept that applies to our lesson.

Did you notice what God says in verses 9 and 10?  God makes it very plain that Levi who received tithes three generations later after Abraham also paid tithes to Melchisedec because he was that one sperm cell in the “loins” of his father Abraham when it happened.  Wow, Wow, and Wow!   This is the law of fruit with seeds inside itself given to us by God in Genesis 1:11.  There is an old concept that  says “No one knows how many apples are in one apple seed.  That is a part of what God is teaching us, “No one knows how many children are in one Abraham “seed” except God.  We notice this concept being repeated by God in 1 Corinthians 15:22 where God says “in Adam (his seed) all die, but in Christ (His Seed) all shall be made alive”.  What God is saying is because Levi was a seed inside Abraham, whatever Abraham did was what all of his descendants from that seed also did.  Again, Wow!

Can you see how this law of Seeds from Genesis 1 applies to what God said in Exodus 4:22-23?  Since Levi was in an Abraham seed, so also was his brother Judah.  Since Jesus came from the tribe of Judah, Jesus also paid tithes to Melchisedec like Levi. This is such a radical revelation. Why do you think it was so important for God to put Jesus’ genealogy in the books of Matthew and Luke?  These genealogies show us who Jesus was in all the way back to His natural father Adam.  Jesus was in Adam when he rebelled and caused everyone that comes from him to also die.  This teaches us that Jesus was born into the world to die.  It also helps us to understand how God says in Revelation 13:8 that Jesus was the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.  God had Jesus planned to come into the world when He created Adam.  Jesus was the preplanned seed of redemption inside of Adam before there was any need for Him to come.  This is a great descriptive example of the Omniscience of God.  He knew what was going to happen before it happened and it was already taken care of in His mind and His designed actions when creating our world.

Therefore, Jesus was the continuing seed in all of His natural family lineage loins including when they were being commanded to be released from Egyptian captivity and slavery in Exodus 4:22-23.  This confirms how God’s commandment to Pharaoh to let go His “firstborn” was a directive to speak of His coming Firstborn Son Jesus the Christ.  When God was speaking of releasing the nation of Israel in Egypt, there was present one seed (sperm cell) in this group of all the people that contained His firstborn Son.  Please understand that I am not making up facts of truth.  God teaches us very clearly in Galatians 3 this one seed concept speaking of Abraham.  Read this verse that confirms the one seed concept:

Gal 3:16  Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ. 

We can plainly read when the promises of God were given to Abraham and his seed that God was only focused upon a single seed that was Jesus Christ.  God again saw every detail and selected one sperm cell and made His promise to that one seed that would continue until Jesus came into the world.  Wow!  I don’t know how anybody is not totally amazed at God’s wisdom.  Praise the LORD!

CONCLUSION

We have been discovering some radical new information and how to understand and apply it to JESUS.  Thank you to my reader for a great Bible question.  We just learned how God commanded the entire nation of Israel from Pharaoh’s captivity while He was speaking of just one Seed that would become His, Firstborn Son, named Jesus being born in a manager in Bethlehem some 1400+ years later.  Is there anybody like God?  I don’t think so!  We have just given the resolution of a major conflict of scriptures simply by seeing the verses from God’s higher perspective.  We have discovered that Jesus said all of the verses in the Old Testament testify about Him and now we are beginning to see how this can be with a lot more clarity.  I pray that you can see how God could simultaneously be speaking of natural Israel, His covenant wife while declaring His natural born ONLY SON was in her to command a world ruler to let Him go.

Today we should have learned the following facts of information:

  1. Israel was a given name that came down from God in heaven.
  2. The name Israel was given to one man named Jacob
  3. But in Jacob were the seeds for the entire nation so everyone is called Israel
  4. Israel is a name that means “He will rule as God”
  5. Israel became God’s Old Covenant wife being a nation of people referred to as a single female bride
  6. Israel committed adultery and whoredoms with other gods
  7. Israel was divorced by God ending the covenant
  8. Israel became captive slaves to Egypt
  9. God raised up a deliverer of Israel named Moses that was faithful to God to bring His message to Egypt
  10. God commanded Pharaoh to let His Son His Firstborn go or else Pharaoh’s son would be killed
  11. We now know from the N.T. that Jesus is the “Only Born” Son of God
  12. We now know also from the N.T. that Jesus is the “First Born” Son of God
  13. Therefore we know that natural Israel the nation cannot be the same
  14. We can now conclude that God’s Firstborn Son that was being commanded to be freed was a prophetic reference to Jesus who was a single seed in the natural nation of Israel and whatever happened to them would happen to Jesus
  15. Pharaoh released the natural nation of Israel (God’s Son) without fully understanding who he was freeing.
  16. Israel is Jesus’ name and He will rule as God now and in the future 1000 year millennium. 

These were some of the key points that should have been understood in today’s advanced Bible lesson.  I would highly recommend that you go back and reread lessons like this more than once.  It was too much information to get it all with one reading.  I hope and pray that everyone gained some spiritual knowledge that helped them understand God’s Holy Word.  I also pray that you learned how to study the Bible more than just to read what the Bible says on the surface.  This desire should cause us to begin to see things more like God sees them and to look for Jesus in every word.

It is my number one goal to teach people how to fish for their everyday truth food in Bible study and not to just give someone a single fish snack Bible lesson for the day.  I love God and the Bible more than life itself.  The Word of God is the most amazing Book that is available anywhere in the world.  I pray that you saw something new in this Bible lesson that you have never seen before and that this increase in your spiritual knowledge.  I pray that every new revelation that you receive from God, will help to open your eyes to become a severely starving and thirsty Christian that only knowing more about Jesus will satisfy.

We love you and we thank you and God bless you very much for spending your very valuable time reading and studying the Bible with us on “Agapegeek.Com“.  We are always extremely blessed to be a blessing to our readers and subscribers.  Please leave us a comment, press the like and share this lesson if it was a blessing to you.  Also if you have a Bible Question that you have been struggling with, please leave it as a comment and if the Holy Spirit leads, I will attempt to answer it.  Thank you.

If you need prayer for absolutely anything that Satan is trying to do to you in this crazy end time, please leave us a comment with that information and we will pray for you.  Help us to spread the good news of Jesus Christ, because Jesus is coming back very soon.

AGAPE “GEEK” CHRISTIAN RECCOMENDATIONS

High-Tech companies are trying to silence us.  If you are using the most popular search engines as your source for information they are tracking everything you do on the internet and you have no privacy or rights.  They also filter what you see on your searches to their biased ungodly preferences using corrupt algorithms that are biased against all Conservative Christian voices.

I highly recommend that you change immediately your search browser to the “DuckDuckGo” browser and search engine to protect yourself and keep these high-tech monopoly companies from placing Christians at the bottom of the search results to silence us.  Also get off of Social Media like Facebook.  I stopped using this over 5 years ago.  I recommend Parler as a free speech alternative platform  Thank you and God Bless you all very much.

BIBLE ANSWERS: How Can the Bible Be Called a Personal Love Letter Written to Me?

bible-answers2(Ver 1.1)  Today’s Bible lesson contains a response from the Spirit of God to answer a very important question asked by a loyal Agapegeek reader.  My reader asked me why I could call the Bible a personal love letter written from God to you and me.  I have mentioned this concept more than once in other Bible lessons.  I have suggested to peoplet that they read the Bible like it was”a personal love letter from God written to them”.  I firmly believe that if each of us would just change or adjust our perspective of the Bible slightly to see it differently from where we may have seen it before that it would be of great benefit for us to help us learn the truth.  What if we read the Bible as if it was a private love correspondence written from a very dear boyfriend or girlfriend?  How would this attitude change your expectations of the words on the page?  Would you consider the word’s of the Bible more meaningful or to be significantly changed by God’s great love for you?  I really do believe that you would.

I grew up in the age before email and text messaging.  In that age to reach someone of any distance you had to write a letter to them.  Yes, I know the telephone was there and that could be used to convey a lot of the same or even better information with feelings by hearing their voice directly.  But long distance calling was expensive so the best way to normally talk to someone in any length was to write a letter to your love.   While God could certainly boom out His message directly from heaven for everyone to hear, He too has chosen to reach out to us using a written form of messaging.  This raises two questions immediately in my mind and these were 1). for what purpose was the Holy Bible written and 2). what were God’s thoughts for us when it was written?  The intent of the Bible could have been anywhere from an attitude of anger, rage and hate on one side of the pendulum to being from a calm, peaceful and loving attitude towards us on the other side.  Which one was it?

Many people read the Bible as if it was written only by a powerful angry God of judgment and punishment for all of their sins and the evils that they have done in this world.  But I am not one of those and I believe the Bible came from a God with a personal caring attention and a specific communication style of love directed at at all of those that would take the time to read what He said!  I believe that we should each receive the Bible like it was an important special delivery love letter written from the most distant place called heaven from the most special person in our lives and see it as Him speaking directly sweet, kind and loving words written to us.  Look at the Bible as God making well intended promises about what He will do for us and to us when He comes for us because of His great love for us.

My reader said that God’s Spirit on the inside of him witnessed with his spirit that this type of Godly loving attitude of message content was a correct perspective to receiving the Bible.  He also felt that it was a true saying that I wrote about in my Bible lessons when I said we should read it like a love letter from God.  But, yet he still needed scriptural evidence and proof for the defense of this statement to confirm his belief.  In other words how could he defend this stated belief if someone asked him why he believed His Bible was a supernatural personal love letter written to him from God?  What an excellent question and what an admirable quality of Christian character to possess.  For someone to be so open minded and in tune with the Spirit of God but at the same time wanting to verify whatever is taught with the backing of the Bible caused him to be like one of the noble Berean types of Christians found in Acts 17:11.  I hope and pray that you are the same way.  Therefore let’s obtain foundation evidence from the Bible for a belief that God wrote the Bible as a personal love letter.

 

WHY WE NEED TO KNOW THE ANSWER

 Let’s open this Bible study with a directly related discussion to why we need to be able to answer when someone asks us a question about the Bible concerning why we believe the way we do about what is written in it.  What I want you to learn in this initial section is why it is important to learn, know and remember the sound Bible truths in order to respond to the questions of people desiring to understand the foundation basis of our beliefs and faith in Jesus Christ. We will begin reading form the book of Colossians:

Col 4:3  Withal praying also for us, that God would open unto us a door of utterance, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in bonds:

Col 4:4  That I may make it manifest, as I ought to speak.

Col 4:5  Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time.

Col 4:6  Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.

This is such an excellent set of verses.  Paul writes to the church of Colossae.  This information should immediately raise the question in your mind “why am I reading a letter written nearly 2000 years ago to someone else originally like it was applicable to me?  This is what many intellectual deceived people will conclude.  I have also heard religious people that graduate from unnamed seminaries use this argument to explain away verses that did not conform to their traditions.  However that is a lie from Satan.  This letter was written to the Church of Jesus Christ and that is me because I’m in the same body of Christ and they were. There is no new body of Christ today from back them.  I hope that you understand that.

Paul writes both a request for prayer as well as to give them instructions on our important subject question do we need to defend our faith to non-believers?  Paul asks for them to pray that God would open a door for him to be able to preach the mystery of Christ to the lost.  Paul expounds clearly and plainly that God’s word contains divine mysteries that are not easily understood by carnal minded unsaved people.  Therefore Paul then asks them to pray that God would show him what to speak so that he could walk in divine wisdom toward them that were unsaved.  This is an excellent prayer for me if you would have the time to do that.  I know if you are witnessing to people it would be a good prayer for you also.  Let’s continue to go through some more of the information found in these verses written to us in the church.

Paul is talking about speaking the right words for the specific situations for those coming opportunities that God was going to present to him through the open doors being prayed for.  Can you understand what Paul needed and why it is even necessary to ask God for this to help others get saved?  Think with me for a moment.  Every man is different.  Each individual being different will respond to only certain personal words.  One answer to one man will be rejected by another.   This is why we need God to help us because only He knows the right words to speak for every person we encounter.

What if someone that is unsaved comes to you and asks you why do you believe in Jesus?  Do you have an answer?  Wow, I think many do not.  Now let me ask you something related to what Paul prayed.  Do you have the answer that they will receive?  Someone coming to you and asking why you believe in Jesus is really no different than if someone comes to you and asks you why are you reading the Bible?  I believe that one possible good answer to that question would be “I read the Bible because this is God’s love letter that He wrote to me personally”.   However this answer may just bring up another direct question about why you said that?  Will you be able to answer that question also?  What kind of proof or evidence do you have to present to anyone in the court of human personal interaction to defend your statement?  I hope and pray that is the reason that you are reading this Bible lesson to find out.

Col 4:6  Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.

Look at verse 6 again because this is the main point that I wanted you to see in this introduction.  God says through Paul for our speech (words spoken to the unsaved world) to always be done with God’s Grace (full of grace, spoken in grace, led by grace and even done with and for grace).  Then God says to let your words be seasoned with salt.  Wow now we are getting into more difficult symbolism.  We could spend days talking about the subject of salt but that is not my main subject today.  Therefore let’s move to the last statement in verse 6.

In the last statement in verse 6 God says if we let our words be as the seasoning and preserving salt filled with grace this will cause us to be able to answer any man’s question the way that we should.   What God is saying is you better expect questions concerning your faith and beliefs to come from unsaved people and then you also better expect to give them answers to those questions right away.  Are you ready to do that?

1Pe 3:15  But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:

Today the question asked to me was “Why I believe the Bible is written to me personally as a divine love letter from the Almighty God”.  Let’s get into the subject of why the Bible can be considered a divine love letter written to you and I from the most intelligent and all powerful being that you can imagine named God.

 

WHY SHOULD WE CALL THE BIBLE A LOVE LETTER?

 I’ll begin this section of the subject study by using a very basic important fact presented to us in the Bible about how God identifies to us His character as being love.  This basic foundational fact should be one of the truths that every Christian learns directly after being saved.  Knowing God’s true character and nature will help us to know how to understand the entire rest of Bible.  We should always balance God’s revealed character of love with His stated works and actions.  I will say that this is a complex question to answer and sometimes Bible answers to basic questions are not as easy as reading only one verse but I will still try to answer the question as best as I can in this presentation of message delivery.  Let’s start with seeing this very important basic Bible truth of God’s character found directly in the first epistle of John:

1Jn 4:8  He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.

1Jn 4:16  And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.

Notice the declaration of divine character being presented to the church in these two verses that “God is LOVE”!  The Greek word translated as “God” in these verses is G2316 and this Greek word can be transliterated as “THEOS”.   THEOS is one of the dominate N.T. names of God and is found in 1172 verses.  THEOS is LOVE is one of the most vital statements of God’s makeup, character, personality and nature found in the entire Bible.  Love is stated to define who and what God is and this declaration must be the revealed source for His other great qualities such as His morals, His compassion, His mercy and His grace.  God wraps all of His other Bible described attributes in the one word named Love.  This word translated as “love” is the Greek word “AGAPE” (G26) and we all need to learn this word.  According to John 3:16 AGAPE means to give grace, mercy and compassion to someone when it is not desired, deserved, earned or even appreciated.  I am not going to explain that statement further so if you can’t read John 3:16 and see that this is a true statement you need to spend a great deal of time studying on this verse before you continue in this lesson.

God’s (THEOS) divine love (AGAPE) is nowhere close to a normal human type of expressed love.  The God kind of love is unconditional.  God loves us because this is His character and nature and not because of anything that we can do for Him or to Him to earn it.   I would like to make a point that God does not have love because these verses say very clearly that God is love.  There is a huge difference between being something and having something. For example if I had gold that is completely different than saying that I am gold.   Humans fall in love and fall out of love and this is not an example of God’s love (AGAPE).  God is never going to stop loving you because you did something wrong, made a mistake or even told Him that you did not love Him.  Wow, that is difficult to even comprehend.

What we observe from these two statements in 1 John 4:8 and 4:16 is that there is a definite mathematical law that what one (GOD THEOS) is the other (LOVE AGAPE) is.  Each are declared to be the equivalent representative of the other only using a different description, name, title or label.  Wow, that was a very powerful statement of truth.  What I am saying is when you see “AGAPE” you should see “THEOS” and when you see “THEOS” you should see “AGAPE”.  There is no difference between the two by God’s definition.  Remember that this is God’s definition and not mine.  God teaches us that they both are stated to be mathematically equivalent.    This truth is like saying “GOD/THEOS” = “LOVE/AGAPE” in mathematical notation terms.  Let’s check out another verse that claims God is love:

2Co 13:11  Finally, brethren, rejoice, be made complete, be comforted, be like-minded, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you.

Here we have further confirmation that God is love.  I like to give more than one verse to prove the statements that I make because God declares in the mouth or two or three witnesses from the Bible let every word be established.   Here is God writing through Paul to say “the God of LOVE”.  It would be perfectly fine to say “the God (THEOS) who is love (AGAPE) and peace will be with you”.   Wow, I just love the Bible.  This is simply teaching us because we have God on the inside of us we have LOVE present.  We cannot or at least should not deny that God (THEOS) is stated to be love (AGAPE).

Ok we have just learned and now should know that God and love are stated to be equivalent and so whatever God does should be concluded to be based upon HIS dominant descriptive quality of Him being LOVE.  Do you understand this logic so far?  Therefore, based upon 1 John 4:8, 1 John 4:16 and 2 Corinthians 13:8 we have a new mathematical rule to use that states wherever GOD (THEOS) is found LOVE (AGAPE) can be found also by the mathematical law of algebraic substitution.  Using these mathematical commutative laws it is perfectly acceptable and even encouraged to say GOD (THEOS) = LOVE (AGAPE) and therefore LOVE (AGAPE) = GOD (THEOS) and we can use either titled name form to describe Him or point others to Him.  Do you understand this very basic mathematical truth reality?  If you do then please read this verse next carefully with this in new information in the forefront of your mind:

2Ti 3:16  All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:

Now change the single most important focused subject word “God” (THEOS) found in this verse to the equivalent of “Love” (AGAPE) using the mathematical laws of substitutionary equivalency and reread the sentence:

2Ti 3:16  All scripture is given by inspiration of LOVE (AGAPE), and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:

Now we should be able to begin to easily understand why I could say that God’s Holy Word was a personal Love Letter written to you and me.    Based upon this knowledge, one of the primary reasons for the purpose of the Bible being given to us is because of GOD/LOVE.  Then God explains in this verse because of His love His Word is beneficial to teach us (doctrine).  This literally means God’s Word instructs us like children helping us to grow up.  The next benefit for God’s word is “reproof” and this is a Greek word that means to give us “proof” or “evidence”.  Uh oh that is exactly what we all need to answer any question.  We are finding the proof that the Bible is God’s love letter simply by studying and learning what He says.  This is us again coming to God’s Word like 2 year old children asking their loving parent why, why and why.  Next the Bible is then stated to benefit us by “correcting” us.  This simply means a confirming repetition of the previous statements that God is turning us away from the ways that are not good for us using His loving Word.  This is exactly the role of a loving parent given to their child in a caring and loving relationship.  The final statement is a Greek word translated as “instruction” which declares the same loving purpose for the Word of God meaning “tutorage”.  God is simply saying My Word will train you in the way you should be going as a wise loving parent will do for any of their children with great love.

What we have just observed is a Loving Heavenly Father that gives us His word in Love and for AGAPE instruction, training and evidence.  This should be changing your perspective of the Bible dramatically by now if you are His child and want to grow spiritually.

 

HOW CAN ALL OF THE WORD OF GOD BE PERSONAL TO ME?

 Jer_29_11We have just gone through a simple quick introduction to the subject of why the Bible is a written love letter from God.  But we still need to connect why the entire Bible should be considered personally written to you and I?  In other words if the Old Testament was originally written to the natural nation of Israel, how do any of these previous Old Testament words apply to us today in the New Testament church?  I will answer that question by saying Old Testament verses do relate and apply to us if we know how to use them.  But let’s begin by taking a specific O.T. example to consider.  We will go back to a verse that is often used by modern church preachers.  This verse is found in the book of Jeremiah.  Yet it this old verse is often quoted to be for us now in the church.

Jer 29:11  For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.

First consider the verse using the knowledge gained from the second section in the lesson on the subject of GOD = LOVE.  Is this verse in Jeremiah 29:11 a love based statement?  I believe it is very clear that it is AGAPE based.  The LORD is speaking in this statement and He declares that He has good plans for the intended reader of this text.  It further says that God has good thoughts of peace towards these people also.   Sounds like a loving father to me, how about you?   If you read the context you will see in verse 1 of this chapter that these words were written to the remnant of Israel that was taken captive into Babylon.  This is clearly not me or you, is it?  So how does this type of verse apply to us in the church?  That is the great question.  Do verses like Jeremiah 29:11 have anything to do with you and I today?

Do you remember that we just learned from 2 Timothy 3:16 that “ALL SCRIPTURE” was given by inspiration of God for our instruction and this statement was written directly to the church and I am certainly in the church.  This verse in 2 Timothy immediately teaches us that even the Old Testament contains inspired words that are at the least important and beneficial for us to learn from.   Do you understand this so far?  Do you agree with this concept so far?

When the church was first established based upon the description given to us in the book of Acts, the disciples preached the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the people of that day using only the Old Testament writings.  Therefore the O.T. verses were the only divinely inspired Words of God that could be used to verify doctrinal information that they possessed or were presented.  The Old Testament was the only proof and evidence that was present to confirm everything that was being taught by the disciples.  If you read Acts 17:11 as I previously mentioned it declared the more noble Berean Christians searched these O.T. scriptures daily to verify what was being taught by Peter, James, John, Paul and etc.  This should help us to begin to understand the significance of why even the Old Testament is so important to learn and correctly understand for us in the modern church.  It is vital to remember that the Old Testament verses were given by the same inspiration of AGAPE that the New Testament verses were given by.  There is absolutely only one Bible written by only one author and He is the God called LOVE and this fact will sustain us to arrive at the truth if we continue to study and learn.

Christians today often still struggle to understand how a verse written to the Old Testament natural nation of Israel could be applicable to them.  Therefore, let’s examine some verses in the New Testament that help us to understand why they do apply to us.  We will begin by reading a verse found in 2 Corinthians:

2Co 1:20  For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us.

 Here is where life could begin to get complicated for many Bible readers.  This is a verse of Holy Scripture that teaches all of us in the church that “EVERY” promise made by God applies to us even if they were made by God during the Old Covenant.   That statement is also a complicated concept that passes over the head of Christians.  They tend to over analyze and see many O.T. promise verses as being only made to the people of natural Israel but that is not what this verse said.  Every is an all-inclusive statement omitting none of them.  That means if God made a promise it is ours by the definition of 2 Corinthians 1:20.   However there is a qualification given in order to be included in this statement.  Did you see it in the verse?  We must pay attention to every detail or we will fall into error easily.

The qualification for God’s promises to be made manifest was given to only those that were “IN HIM”.  I’ll say it again “All the promises of God are given to those that are in Him”.  All the promises of God are Amen (so be it) to ONLY those that are “in Him”.  What does that mean?   This simply teaches us a principle that is not widely taught in the church but I will try to explain this without going into great detail in this lesson.  I’ll begin by asking you “Are you in Him?”  The “Him” is of course referring to Christ Jesus!    You are either “In Him” if you are saved or you are “separated and apart from Him” if not saved.  That is the basic simple truth.

So why is it important for us to be in Jesus Christ?  Wow that is an amazing question to find the answer if you really think about it?  Who was Jesus Christ?  We should already know that Jesus was the Son of God the second person of the Godhead and trinity.  But, we should also know that He was the Son of Man (Adam) and a descendant of Abraham.  The genealogy of Jesus given by divine inspiration in Luke 3 proves to us the natural family lineage of Jesus as direct descendant of the natural nation of Israel.  This makes Jesus our qualifying partner.  Jesus was and is the reason we can possess the Old Testament promises of God written to natural Israel.  There are over 100 verses in the New Testament that informs us that we are in Christ Jesus.  Because we are said to be in Jesus Christ, we have what He has.  What Jesus possesses we possess.  It is very simple and yet so very profound.  Let’s explore some additional New Testament verses to help confirm what is being taught:

Gal 3:9  So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham.

Here is another potentially confusing verse.  They which “be” of faith is speaking of “you and I” if you are saved by God’s grace through your faith (Eph 2:8).  Are you of faith?  I know I am of the faith!  Then it says if you are of faith then you are blessed along with and the same as faithful Abraham.  Why would this be a true statement?  Many of us in the church are probably not a natural descendant of Abraham.  So how can we have the same blessings as Abraham?  Let’s continue down to another verse in Galatians to learn more:

 Gal 3:14  That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

Oh, this verse is beginning to speak more directly of me because I’m definitely a Gentile man.  Notice that the blessings of Abraham will come upon the Gentiles through the Lord Jesus Christ.  Now we have two keys to the puzzle.  There was the mention of faith in verse 9 and mention of Gentiles being blessed through Christ Jesus in verse 14.  What we are doing is gathering puzzle pieces to learn how the spiritual things of God were accomplished and how they apply to us by faith.  But there is much more to learn and we are missing the main puzzle piece still.  Let’s continue to read down into verse 16:

Gal 3:16  Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.

Notice what this verse says because this is a very essential New Testament truth ignored by many.  God through the Apostle Paul writes to us that all of the promises made to Abraham were made to him and to his seed.  But here is where the clarification comes from God that it was not all of the people that were born from Abraham but rather only one seed being Jesus Christ.   Do you understand this?  God promised the blessing to only Abraham and to only Jesus the seed of Abraham.  That is an amazing statement of truth being given by revelation to Paul.  Seed is a word that can be singular or plural without any modification.  It is only by the choice of the speaker which one it is.  Since God is the speaker we need to conform to which one He said it was and not what we thought or learned from a man.  Do you understand that principle?

Why did I just go through all of these verses in Galatians to teach you these basic Bible facts?  It is simply because since we are “IN CHRIST” we have everything that He has been given by God.  Every blessing that was promised to Christ belongs to me and to you also if you are in Christ.  I’ll say it one more time “What was given to Jesus has been given to us by our faith in Him”.   I will only go over one other puzzle piece in this chapter for the conclusion of this part of the section:

Gal 3:29  And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

If you are Christ’s then God declares that you are Abraham’s seed and an heir according to the promise given to Abraham and his seed.  Wow again an awesome statement.  This is just further confirmation that whatever God promised to Abraham in the Old Testament was given to Christ and because we are “IN CHRIST” we have also become the seed of Abraham.  Are you receiving this message from God?  The primary reason I am going through these verses is to teach you why statements made to the natural seed can and will still apply to us in the church today.  Most of the church today are not natural seeds of Abraham but because Jesus was a natural seed that the promise was made to then we have obtained the blessing also.  This is one of the primary reasons why most of the blessing verses written to natural Israel can and will apply to us today in the church.

Do you remember how we got here?  I began teaching this section declaring the truth of 2 Corinthians 1:20 that teach us that “all of the promises of God are in Him Yes and Amen in Christ Jesus”.  What we have accomplished is the placing together of many pieces to present a greater and more complete pictured truth.  Each individual picture piece represents a truth that when joined together correctly present a view into something that is truly much more significant for us to know.   I’ll end this section of the lesson with only one other verse concerning the promises of God:

Heb 8:6  But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises.

This verse is again speaking of Jesus.  The works of God through Christ Jesus are so much greater than most of us really know or understand.  What God has done through Jesus and given to us because of His death, burial and resurrection is far beyond the human imagination.  All of God’s promises of blessings given to natural Israel have been given to us plus a whole lot more.  The promises of God in the New Covenant must be greater than all of those given in the Old Covenant or no one could call them better.  This is just another reason why it is legal for us in the church to go back into the Old Testament and use any of those words of blessing from God in our lives.  Whatever we can find spoken and written down by God through one of His prophets will be the minimum that we should possess.  In other words we can claim by our faith in Jesus because we are IN HIM and we now have better promises that trump those of the Old Testament.

 

CONCLUSION

 I hope and pray that you enjoyed this very basic but very essential Bible lesson answering the question “How can the entire Bible be considered a personal love letter from God written to me?”  This lesson should provide us a firm foundation for why the verses of blessing that were written to the natural nation of Israel can be applied and taken as a promise from God to us today in the church.  I began this lesson teaching the basic character trait that GOD/THEOS = LOVE/AGAPE.  I then took this truth and applied it to the Bible being given and inspired by GOD/THEOS who is LOVE/AGAPE.  We substituted AGAPE for THEOS in the verse of 2 Timothy and this taught us that the Bible was LOVE inspired written down by men of God for us to learn from.  We went through the fact that there are over 100+ verses in the Bible that tell us those that are saved are “IN CHRIST”.  These verses benefit us because we were given the promises of God made to Abraham by our faith the same as Jesus because we are “IN HIM”.

If you have any questions or comments about anything that was written down here I would be very glad to read them and to respond to them as time and the Lord permits.  Please share this website with you friends and family to help the Word of God’s truth be spread to everyone for free on this planet.  The more God can reach and help people the faster that Jesus can come back and take us out of this world.  I’m personally looking forward to Jesus coming very soon.  Redeem the time because the time is short.  Stand firm in the faith of Jesus Christ and tell everyone you can about His saving grace.  Thank you and may God continue to richly bless you to grow spiritually.

Bible Answers: When did Satan Fall from Heaven?

Lightning194(Ver 1.2)  This lesson will be a detailed advanced Bible answer addressing a very difficult question.  I received this question from someone after they read the Revelation 12 series of lessons.  I will warn you that this is an advanced Bible study designed for only for spiritually mature Christians.  Spiritually mature is defined as anyone that has been born again and Spirit filled more than 5 years that has studied the Bible continually during this time.  It also means a Christian with a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and daily fellowship with Him.  These positive qualities will allow spiritual growth of the fruits of the Spirit to occur.  You may or may not agree with that definition but this is generally how God has taught me to view it.  This Bible lesson will go over some very technical concepts even though I will attempt to describe them as simply as I can.  This Bible lesson will introduce some new concepts you may have never heard before and thus it will be controversial in nature.  I ask you to be the judge of your spiritual maturity.  If you feel that you do not qualify to meet the criteria for an advanced Bible study, I would recommend that you go study a different Bible lesson on my website.  I try to warn new Christians of this at the beginning of many of my advanced Bible lessons so that I do not offend anyone with a meat lesson when they are in need of a milk lesson like Paul describes in 1 Corinthians 3:2.

The root of my reader’s question was “When did Satan fall from heaven?”  The reader’s question arose from the specific part of the Revelation 12 lesson that taught us everything after chapter 4 of Revelation is future tense and has not yet occurred.  This part of the Revelation 12 teaching was established upon a literal interpretation of God’s statement to John from the voice speaking from heaven in Revelation 4:1.  This voice told John to come up to heaven so that he could be shown things that would soon happen after being taken up to heaven.  The clear conclusion drawn from this statement is that nothing that is recorded by John after Revelation 4:1 has yet occurred or the voice from heaven would have been made a liar.  Since the Bible declares that it is impossible for God to lie, w should just choose to believe what He said literally.

Why was this question asked about when Satan fell?   There is a potential conflict brewing with two different verses of the New Testament.  First, reading in Revelation 12:9 we can see that Satan is finally cast down to the earth never to have a place found in heaven again.  This occurred after an intense war  in heaven that takes place between Michael and his angels and Satan and his angels.  It was further revealed in Revelation 12:4 describing the dragon’s tail to have swept 1/3 of the stars out of the heaven.  This teaches us that 1/3 of the angels were fighting with Satan and 2/3 remained on God’s said and fought with Michael.

This war occurring in heaven in Revelation 12 would indicate that the casting down of Satan from heaven is a future event and has not transpired based upon Revelation 4:1 and 12:9.  But my reader was prompt to point out that in Luke 10:18 Jesus claimed to have seen (translated as beheld a past tense English word) Satan fall from heaven like lightning and this would cause a major conflict with what I taught in the Revelation 12 series if they are speaking of the same fall of Satan event.

falling_star_to_earthThe statement that Jesus makes in Luke appears to indicate that Satan has already been cast down from heaven.  So which one is it?  1) Did Satan already fall from heaven as stated by Jesus in the KJV or 2) will Satan’s fall occur in the future as indicated by Revelation 12?  Or 3) did Satan first fall in the past and then the final fall will occur in the tribulation when he will fall from heaven again for the last time?  There are just so many possibilities and difficult questions to answer and learn about.

IS EVERYTHING AFTER REVELATION 4:1 IN THE FUTURE?

This section will be a review of what God said in the previous lessons on the “True Identity of the Woman in Revelation 12”.  If you have read that and do not dispute what was taught then you could skip this section of the timeframe prophetical review.  However if you would like to learn some new things concerning this and how we resolve this significant Bible conflict please continue to read.  A potential scripture conflict is the reason for the rest of this Bible lesson today.  I have discovered that whenever scripture appears to contradict other verses in the Bible, God is presenting us an opportunity to think in a new higher spiritual way.  This is usually us seeing things from His perspective above rather than from our natural human perspective below.

One key to understanding the Bible is to come to this realization.  It is impossible for the Bible to be in direct opposition or contradiction to itself when every verse is interpreted correctly.  Therefore, I hope this resolution to the conflict has peaked your interest and curiosity to learn how to resolve future conflicts that you may encounter in your Bible studies.  Therefore, if you want to learn when Satan was thrown down from heaven please continue reading.  Let us review the verse in Revelation 4:1 to begin our study to resolve another Bible controversy on whether Revelation 12 is future tense or past tense or both:

Rev 4:1  After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter.

The Greek word G3326 which was translated as “hereafter” is also many times translated as “after” or “afterward”.  If you are observant you will notice that the verse begins with this word and ends with this word.  In this usage it indicates a specific position within the dimension of time beyond the previous timeframe of events that had just been described.  This is God describing events using a logical order of expressed or implied events in their properly arranged sequence.  I hope that did not sound too technical.  I’ll try to explain.  For example if event A occurs first, followed by event B next and these are followed finally by event C, then B would only come “after” A and C would only occur “after” both A first and B second in this collated sequence.  It is basic step 1, step 2 and step 3 in this order only.  No other randomization or variation can occur because of the laws of created time sequence.  I pray that we all understand the concept of ordered arrangement and sequence?  These are God created patterns and models and they represent His intelligent design of our world.  Time only moves forward for us.  We can potentially move to the future, but we are never able to move backwards to return in our past to fix any of our previous mistakes.

Keep in mind that this same Greek word is used several times in this exact manner to state a preceding event followed by another subsequent stated event like in “after (G3326) 6 days Jesus takes them up” (Mat 17:1).  Using this definition that I just gave you it is very plain that at the conclusion of a 6 day period of time event, Jesus is said to initiate a new event of going up.

Now take this information back to what was given to us by God in Revelation 4:1.  God’s usage of this word in Revelation 4:1 means after the events conclude in Revelation chapter 3 concerning the church, John was taken up to heaven where he will be shown more events that will come in the future and this is actually a very important concept for the rest of this lesson.  This is not rocket science but there are people that still refuse to believe what God just literally said.  Let me give you the sequence of events given to us in Revelation 4:1:

  1. After all of the things recorded in the first 3 chapters
  2. John is taken to heaven
  3. John is shown the future
  4. The future is given in ordered logical sequence

There were four ordered steps given by God in this verse.  I have concluded in step 4 that the future is given to John by God in mostly sequential order because of the establishment of order from the preceding steps.  In other words the revealed future events are simply an extension of the previous steps given.  Therefore, nothing in the future could be random, unordered or chaotic when shown to John to be written down.  Knowing these facts, any attempt to interpret any recorded event of Revelation chapters 4 through 22 as a “past tense” historical event renders God as a liar.  Was God incapable of understanding the difference between future tense events and past tense events?  I personally do think so and just choose to believe what God says literally.

Now let me quickly to get into a new point about Revelation 4:1.  The apostle John was a prophet of God, yes?  Wasn’t John just shown the future before it had occurred?   Could this have been given to him by a divine spiritual vision from God?  I believe firmly that it was a divine vision of the future.  After this vision of the future what would John’s description of these events have been to those that he would be speaking to in the physical natural realm?   Do you understand what I am asking you?   Could John have said in talking about the woman in Revelation 12:1  “I beheld (saw) this woman clothed with the sun and the moon under her feet and it was amazing”. I know this was not what is written in the Bible but ask could John had said this while talking with one of his co-workers in the faith after returning from the vision?  Could this future vision description have been a past tense statement even though it had not yet occurred.   Now do you see it?   John the prophet could speak like it had already happened even though it was still yet to come.   I want you to keep this in mind as we study what Jesus said about having seen (past tense) Satan’s fall from heaven like lightning.

The fact that Revelation 4:1 states that the things following are future events causes many Bible teachers great turmoil and confusion simply because they cannot or do not yet understand how some of these recorded events in Revelation can be events that have not already occurred.  For example the vast majority of Bible teachers teach that the pregnant woman of Revelation 12 is the historical account of the birth of Jesus.  These Bible teachers simply believe that some events like this one in Revelation 12 concerning the pregnant woman were recorded by John “out of sequence and order” from the stated timeline of reference given to us clearly by God.  However, just because someone does not understand how an event can happen in the future does not mean that it will not happen and we need to know that.   One natural woman giving birth to a natural male child named Jesus in the Gospels does not mean that this same type of event can not or will not spiritually occur again in the future!  I probably just lost a lot of readers making that statement.  You see the woman in Revelation 12 is a spiritual woman and not a natural woman as I have already taught you in that lesson series on this chapter.  She is symbolic by definition because she is wearing symbolic clothing and standing on a symbolic figure of Satan.  This symbolic woman cannot be Mary.  This symbolic woman cannot be natural Israel either.  I’m not going to teach this again so if you do not understand it please go and read those lessons and believe God will help you to see it.

There are just so many Christian people who are not thinking spiritually in this world.  I wish people would quit pretending that they understand the whole Bible because only God knows it all and the rest of us are still learning.  Please stop making assumptions in your mind that limit what God is capable of doing.  If you did not just comprehend what I said, I will say it again using different words to help everyone realize that I believe firmly that everything after Revelation 4:1 happens in literal and basic chronological order and has not yet occurred because the beginning of the 7 year tribulation period has not yet begun.   Chronological means time sequenced events, it is a word that defines a series of situations where one event comes after another event and they do not and cannot occur out of the ordered sequence of time.  But, please also realize that the Book of Revelation does have chapters that describe multiple subject viewpoints of these future sequenced events.  For example, Revelation chapters 11 and 12 are totally overlapping with 4-10.  Chapters 11 and 12 both describe events that span the first 42 months of the tribulation.  Therefore, they overlap in the future and describe concurrent events taking place simultaneously.  God does this to provide us multiple event descriptions concerning different subjects.  I just want to mention this to help you in your future study of the this book.

Here is the problem with many teachers’ interpretation of the book of Revelation.  They are viewing things from a narrowed perspective of traditional theological teachings filled with error and not thinking or taking into account the facts provided by God.  Also they do not rightly divide between which verses are literal statements and which are symbolic or figurative statements.  Further they do may not discern correctly between spiritual realities and natural realities.  Many Bible teachers must ignore Revelation 4:1 in order to teach an out of sequence series of events.   They are very creative in doing this and it often appears legitimate until we read the verse in Revelation 4:1 and actually begin to believe what God literally said.   One of the number one rules of correct Bible interpretation will be for us to take the Bible literally when it makes sense to do so.  Revelation 4:1 is an example of this type of verse that states a literal truth that needs to be properly incorporated and balanced with the rest of the book of Revelation.

I will point out that I have heard Bible teachers revert back to the first chapter of Revelation in order to explain how things later in the book occur out of sequence.  They use a statement made by Jesus to help justify what they teach about Revelation 12 being out of timed sequence.  I will give you this statement by the Lord Jesus to help you better judge this attempt at believing an out of sequence book of Revelation:

Rev 1:19  Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter;

It is clear that Jesus tells John to write about three things for us to read.  Therefore the entire book of Revelation is a revealing of God’s wisdom from the lips of Jesus Christ.  You need to understand that “revelation” in the Greek language means “uncovering” or “to take off the cover”.  Therefore, God has placed information in this book that is very important for us to understand the rest of the Bible.   But, then Jesus divides these written things into three separate categories of timed events or references within an age.  These three age categories were 1) the things that were “past”, 2) the things that are “present” and 3) the things that shall be hereafter in the “future”.  However did you just notice that these three timings were listed by God in the chronological order that they occur and they were not given to us out of sequence?   That is the first very important thing that needs to be understood about the book of Revelation.

Jesus is giving us a direct clue to how things are ordered and arranged in the book of Revelation.  Jesus confirms with this statement that the entire book is in chronological ordered sequence.   Then notice that the Greek word for the future events (G3326; hereafter) is the same Greek word used by God in Revelation 4:1 for the same coming future events.  In other words God is very consistent in the definition of this Greek word for “hereafter” in the book of Revelation when it is used in this manner.

I have heard at least one Bible teacher try to take this verse in chapter 1 and attempt to use it to explain how the book of Revelation contains “past”, “present” and “future” events, which is a true statement.  However they take that truth and add an error, when they say these past, present and future events occur in an integrated or combined mention in the same context in the book of Revelation.  There is an attempt to misapply Revelation 1:19 to explain why certain chapters appear to contain past historical information that they believe are not in chronological order.  The claim is stated that since Jesus said this book contains every category of timed information that it may legally display these in any random order without making Revelation 4:1 untruthful.  However, that would be an erroneous assumption based upon ignorance and it would still contradict with what God said literally in Revelation 4:1.  Which is true?  Is Jesus speaking in Revelation 1:19 the truth or is the voice coming from heaven in Revelation 4:1 truth?  I will tell you plainly that both statements are correct and truthful.  There is no contradiction between them both when rightly applied. The statement of Jesus is true for the book of Revelation and the statement spoken by God in Genesis 4 is also true concurrently.  The only way they can both be simultaneously true is for everything after chapter 4 to be the future 7 year tribulation that has not yet occurred.  This is not that complicated.  Let us please pray together and ask God to open our spiritual eyes so that we can see His truth and not our private interpretations.

ASKING JESUS WHEN SATAN FELL

The previous part of the lesson was just the introduction for the answer to the real study question topic.  The question asked by the reader was based upon the fact that if the later chapters after chapter 4 of Revelation are future tense “how could Jesus’ have stated in Luke 10:18 that He saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven” and also be true?   I think we have already seen one potential answer to this problem but we will verify that answer using the Bible to help us to be more assenting of the truth.  Perhaps it would be wise to review the exact verse in question that appears to contradict with the statement of Revelation 12:7 to help us understand the apparent predicament:

Luk 10:18  And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.

Here is Jesus making the bold statement that He personally “beheld” (past tense) Satan falling from heaven.  If this is a correct translation then it causes us major problems to determine when this occurred.  Since Jesus spoke these words prior to the implementation of the New Covenant it is logical to conclude that this must have occurred somewhere in the Old Testament.  However, I looked and I could not find any verses that said this.  But, perhaps you have seen a verse somewhere in the Old Testament that I have not seen.  Perhaps you can share it with us so that we might all learn.  Are there any past recorded Bible events prior to the Gospels where Satan is stated to have fallen from heaven?  Do you know of any?  I believe that I found some O.T. prophecies of this occurring in the future but that is not the same as a recorded historical event.  I believe us not finding any verses prior to this statement that Satan has been cast down from heaven makes me think it has not occurred and thus we need to resolve why this verse Luke was translated as past tense like the casting down had already happened.

What my reader was asking was how could Jesus have already seen this event describing that it appeared that it had previously transpired when Revelation 12 had not yet occurred?  This was an absolutely great question.  I pray that more serious Bible students would not be afraid to ask hard questions to God or anyone.  I know God knows the answers and He is willing to share these answers to anyone that seeks to find them.

This is where we must learn the correct way to study the Bible.  God gives us many hidden clues to find truths if we can locate them and use this information to correctly join and fit them together correctly. Every normal Christian would really like to see the truth easily without any extended effort to work and study and that is not how we find the truth by God’s design (2 Tim 2:15).  It is my goal to help teach people some of the many keys to understanding and resolving Bible conflicts.  Please, continue reading with an open mind and allow the Holy Spirit to help us.

Personally I have only found a limited number of scriptures concerning Satan falling from heaven.  One prophecy is found in Revelation 12 that points us to this future event occurring during the first half of the tribulation.  Then you can also find this prophecy of Satan falling in the book of Ezekiel if you read Ezekiel 28:16.   I think I will give you this prophecy so that you can review what God says about it:

Eze 28:16  By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire.

The covering cherub being referenced in this verse is believed to be Satan.  God declares that he will be cast out of the mountain of God.  If you do not understand that this is a reference to God’s heavenly kingdom and the Holy mountain Zion in heaven, I’m sorry but I don’t have the time to try to explain it in depth today.   Notice in this verse, that the translators clearly state this to be a future tense prophetic statement and I firmly believe this to be very accurate.  If we study we will find that the book of Ezekiel was written close to 600 years before Christ’s first physical appearance on the earth.  Now using Ezekiel’s prophecy we must logically determine that this casting down event has not yet occurred before Ezekiel wrote this book.  We are definitely narrowing the scope of time when this event could have possibly occurred.  I hope we can agree that Satan could not have fallen or been cast out of heaven prior to the writing of the book of Ezekiel, but still you could have seen something that I have not.  Let me give you another verse of prophecy concerning Satan’s fall:

Isa 14:12  How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!

Here is another verse that is probably mistranslated.  Again the translators changed the Hebrew word H5307 to “fallen” a past tense variation of the word.  However, this Hebrew word is defined as “to fall” by Strong.  That sounds future tense to me.  There are over 400 times that this Hebrew word  occurs in the O.T. and it was translated as “fall”, “fell”, or “falling” to name just three examples.  Therefore, it is possible that the word might could be viewed as past, present or future tense.  But, it is most often translated 151 times as “fall” present tense.

Perhaps if we read the context of this statement we will find more information about the timing of the event.  For example in verse 15 God says “You shall be brought down to hell, the sides of the pit” and this was translated as future tense.  Then in verse 24 God makes a further confirming statement of future tense that is very profound and important to note about what has just been spoken of previously through the Prophet Isaiah:

Isa 14:24  The LORD of hosts hath sworn, saying, Surely as I have thought, so shall it come to pass; and as I have purposed, so shall it stand:

God tells us clearly these are His thoughts spoken and that these will come to pass in the future.  Therefore I am still a firm believer that Satan has not yet been cast out of heaven but will be soon as established by the Word of God.  We could spend a lot more time going through O.T. prophecies but I think I will move on.  Let’s go back to Luke 10:18 and look into this verse in some more detail.  We need to ask, did Jesus really say this casting down of Satan had already occurred in the Greek language?  Let’s review the Greek word translated as “beheld” to learn its definition in the Strong’s:

G2334

From a derivative of G2300 (perhaps by adverb of G3708); to be a spectator of, that is, discern, (literally, figuratively [experience] or intensively [acknowledge]): – behold, consider, look on, perceive, see. Compare G3700.

If we can read and understand the definition it should become evident that this word is normally a present tense view of something that is currently happening right now.  The person performing this verb is stated to be a current observer.  This Greek word occurs in around 55 verses of the New Testament.  In 40 of these verses it is clearly translated in the present tense version of “see”, “seeing”, “seeth”, “beholding”, “looking on”, “behold”, “beholding” and etc.   However I will agree that it can also be legally translated as a past tense observation and either way it could potentially be correct.   But, this determination is also more complicated than this as we will soon learn.  What we need to determine, is Jesus seeing the event as He is speaking or has He seen the even at some time previously in the past?   Both are technically possible since Jesus Christ is God in the flesh.  But just because Jesus has seen the event does not still necessarily mean that it has transpired just like John saw the future in Revelation before it had occurred and he could then speak to seeing future things that have not happened in from a past tense point of view .

Please understand that God is omniscient and has seen everything even before it occurs (Isa 46:10).  God has the knowledge and the ability to show a human the future before it occurs and it is in God’s sovereign control to do so.  “GOD DOES NOT LIVE WITHIN THE CONSTRAINTS AND LIMIATIONS OF TIME”.  Uh oh, now we can begin to see where I’m going.  Let’s review another statement that Jesus declared about this potential event:

Joh 12:31  Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out.

I believe that there are at least three events that can be confused as one event within prophecies.  These three separate events are 1). the rebellion of Satan, 2). the casting out of Satan from heaven and 3). the casting out of Satan from the earth into hell.   This statement here in John could be either of the last two.   Confusing or combining multiple prophetic events into the same event is a very common cause of error.  We can see this in multiple instances.  For example, the rapture of the church is often confused with the second advent of Christ but these events must also be viewed as separate or confusion will abound.

Here in John 12:31 Jesus is talking about Satan calling him the prince or ruler of this world that will be cast out.  This statement does not appear to be translated as past tense and should be regarded as a future tense prophecy.  It is not stated directly when Satan is to be cast out from this verse.  It also does not state directly where Satan will be cast out from.  It could be taken as the world that is being referenced or it could be heaven or even both.  I personally believe that this prophecy could be the same prophecy as we have already observed in Ezekiel or it could also be a reference to the prophecy in Isaiah 14:15 where Satan is cast into hell.  This is why studying prophecy is so potentially complicated.  Let us look quickly at another verse that is interesting and many teachers attribute this verse to Satan falling from heaven:

Rev 9:1  And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit.

we must begin by understanding “stars” normally represent “angels” in the Bible.  We know that stars represent angels by reading in Isaiah 14:13, Revelation 1:20 and Revelation 12:4 to name just three witnesses to this fact.  This verse in Revelation 9 is describing an angel coming down from heaven at an implied fast rate of speed as if being thrown down.  However, this angel cannot be Satan because this angel holds the key to the bottomless pit where Satan will be cast later in Revelation 20:3.  It is logical to deduce if Satan is thrown into this pit by force later in Revelation that it cannot be him that holds the keys to it coming down from heaven.  It is possible that this angel coming down represents Satan because of his name given to us in Revelation 9:11 as the Hebrew “Abaddon” and the Greek “Apollyon” which both mean “destroyer”.  Since we know from John 10:10 that Satan has only come to the earth to “kill, steal and destroy” it would appear that this is a reference to Satan being cast down to the earth where he releases some nasty demonic powers to torment humans.  Let us examine Revelation 12:9 to one of the main verses that is in our question.

Rev 12:9  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.

My reader made a valid interesting point that Luke 10:18 appear to contradict with what Revelation 4:1 and Revelation 12:9 appear to say.  But perhaps we have not considered all of the facts before assuming there is a controversy.  You see it is impossible for the Bible to contradict the Bible if both verses are accurately interpreted and accurately translated.  Also if Jesus had already seen Satan fall from heaven then it must have happened sometime after the books of Ezekiel and Isaiah and before Jesus was born in the manger.  But we must understand there exists other verses in the O.T. that state that Satan has direct access to heaven.   For example, Satan is clearly seen to be in heaven in the book of Job.

Job 1:6  Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them.

Here is a great example that Satan and his angels come to present themselves before God’s throne in heaven as they will.  This verse in Job is referring to a spiritual location and not a physical or natural one.  If God allowed Satan to present himself in heaven before His throne, then this teaches us that the final fall of Satan from heaven has not yet occurred when Job lived on the earth.  Can we agree with this?  If Satan has access to heaven in the Old Testament can we ask if he still has access in the New Testament?  Let’s go and read Revelation 12:8 next to see what is stated by God about Satan:

 Rev 12:8  And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.

Didn’t God just declare that Satan’s place is now no longer found in heaven after this war with Michael?  That statement literally means that Satan had a place in heaven right up until this war event concluded, doesn’t it?  Can we agree that Satan had a rightful place to be in heaven before this end of war statement and being thrown down?  Perhaps you don’t see it yet, but that is what God just said.  I think we need to read down to the next verse 9 to help confirm what God has revealed to us in this verse 8 statement:

Rev 12:9  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. 

Ok, notice who God is speaking of.  The Great Dragon who is also called the “old serpent”.  Wow, this is profound revelation.  This is informing us that the previous verse is both the “serpent” in the garden” and the “dragon in the tribulation” and his name is Satan.  Wow, this information confirms that Satan in Genesis was not already cast down nor was the dragon in Revelation at the beginning of the tribulation already cast down permanently either.  These two facts of truth declare the same Satan in between these two bookends of the has not been cast down either.  Now, observe the ending statement, Satan was cast down to the earth “with” his angels.  This means they both had a place in heaven until this war occurred.  Let us read the next verse in Revelation 12:

Rev 12:10  And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.

Please read this verse very carefully and consider what God just said.   Notice the phrase “Now is come..”.  This is a future tense prophetic proclamation. Then notice that this is being spoken from heaven.  This verse indicates multiple time periods with “past, present and future” implications occurring.  God is stating something that use to be that has changed at this stated present time in the future and this will cause something different to occur from the past accesses.  Pay particular attention to the last part of the statement.  God says “for the accuser of our brethren is cast down which did accuse them before our God day and night”.  The accuser of our brethren is another reference to Satan.  The brethren are those saved people in the church.  Now do you see it?

This verse said that Satan was in heaven standing before God to accuse Christians, doesn’t it?   Uh oh, I thought Jesus said that Satan had been cast down from heaven like lightning? How then could Satan still have access in heaven to accuse Christians before God both day and night (continually)?  A little light bulb should be coming on in our brain right about now.   This verse claims that Satan continued to do what he did with the man Job in the book of Job going before God to accuse God’s righteous ones all the way through to the tribulation.

If this is true and it is, then it is impossible for the statement of Jesus in Luke 10:18 to be fully interpreted or understood in the way that my reader with the question wanted to understand it.  In other words Jesus was telling us of an event in Luke that had not fully occurred even though He had already been given a vision of it occurring by God.  I believe from Jesus’ point of view it had occurred in the spiritual eye viewpoint but from the physical timeline perspective it was still yet to occur.  Let me prove to you that Jesus claimed to be a prophet of God:

Mar 6:4  But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honour, but in his own country, and among his own kin, and in his own house.

Here is Jesus speaking about the people of his own hometown where he was raised as a child.  Jesus claims in this statement to be a prophet of God and He says no prophet is given any honor by those that knew him.  If Jesus is a prophet what is that?   How do we define what a prophet is and what they do?  I will give you the fast definition.  A prophet is called a “seer”.  A seer is someone who sees and can foretell the future before it occurs in the physical time dimension.  This literally means that Jesus’ statements must be judged correctly to whether they are past, present or future references.  Jesus is certainly capable of speaking of the past in many verses and He does.  Jesus is also certainly capable of speaking about His present time on the earth in many other verses.  Finally, Jesus can also speak of things that have not occurred in many verses and He does this many times also.  I have become a firm believer that the statement of Jesus in Luke 10:18 is a vision of a future account of an event that has not officially transpired.  But our salvation is not dependent upon believing this therefore believe what you like if you disagree or see it differently.  I would be very happy to read your comments on this subject.

CONCLUSION

God is a self-existent being with no stated beginning and no stated ending.  God lives inside the spiritual dimension of eternal existence and outside of the created dimension of time.  The Bible very clearly states that God makes known the end from the beginning (Isa 46:10).  If God knows what the future holds then God can and does tell us of it before it occurs as proven by the Bible consistently.  Reading Luke 4:24 Jesus claimed to be a prophet.  A real prophet will always tell us of the future before the future occurs and it will never fail.  A prophet is also called God’s seer and voice.  A prophet will see things in visions before they literally occur in our reality and write them down for us to learn from.  This is exactly what Jesus is saying in this verse:

Joh 13:19  Now I tell you before it come, that, when it is come to pass, ye may believe that I am he.

Did you see what Jesus declared?  Jesus teaches us that He will tell us of things to come so that when they occur people will believe in Him.  All of the evidence that I have found in the Bible about Satan being cast out of heaven points us to an event that has not occurred.  This event will take place after the war in heaven during the 70th week of years found in Daniel. This prophesied war will be between Michael and his angels and Satan and his angels.  Satan will continue to accuse Christians until this war has been completed and he has been cast down to the earth.  Satan will continue to dispute our righteousness because Christians are imperfect people that still fail but have been saved by the divine grace and mercy of God.

Remember what God says in 1 Peter 5:8.  God said to the church that “Our adversary the devil goes about as a roaring lion seeking whom him who he may devour”.  The Greek word translated as adversary literally means our legal opponent in a court of law.  God is warning Christians that e can be taken to the High Courts of Heaven to be accused by Satan.  There wuld be no need for any warning if we could not found guilty and Satan given access to devour us.  Please understand this access into heaven is what is being terminated during the tribulation.

I thank you for taking the time to read this Bible lesson.  I hope and pray that you received some new knowledge that you did not know before on this subject.  If you have any questions or comments you are free to leave them with us and I will do my best to get to them all.  God Bless you until next time.

BIBLE ANSWERS: Was Jesus the ONE and ONLY Son of God?

One and Only Son of God(Ver 1.3)  There is a popular false teaching going around in many churches that claims that Jesus was the one and only son of God and that is NOT what the Bible says.  However, I do not want you to throw stones at me yet.  I do want to say up front that I believe in the Triune Godhead.  God is comprised of three unique personalities called 1) God the Father, 2) God the Son and 3) God the Holy Spirit. Therefore, Jesus is the only Son within the trinity of God.  But that does not mean there are not other sons of God in His family.  In fact preaching one son of God only is not even close to what God says in the His Word.  Are you ready to learn the truth and see what God actually wrote us in the Bible? This false belief that Jesus was the one and only son of God has even crept into several modern Bible translations and thus it appears to become more legitimate than it truly is.  Many Christians will read an erroneous modern Bible translation and think this is what God really said but they have to ignore the details of the correct writings of God in the original language word meanings to believe this way.  This false teaching is destroying the truth to project an image that there are no other children of God except for Jesus.  This leaves Christians with the impression that we are “a nothing” and “a nobody” and this is exactly what Satan wants us to believe so that he can condemn and accuse us.

Please understand this very basic truth, only the original scriptures in the original languages were God inspired (breathed) and at no time were any of the TRANSLATIONS that were created by men ever inspired by God.  Every translation produced by a human introduces some new version of the personal opinions of the translators that must be weeded through in order to find God’s intended accurate truth.    I literally mean that we can find many translation errors in the KJV Bible, the NIV Bible, the NASB Bible and every other translation if we go back and study to find the truth from the original Greek and Hebrew.  This of course becomes highly controversial in many Christian circles.  This Bible study will be potentially discarded simply because people do not seek to learn, know or understand what God says.  Being a “concrete” or “firmly set, dry and hard” Christian will cause many to miss the truth and I hope and pray this is not you today.

I am a detailed oriented type of person.  I was a computer programmer for over 25 years.  You cannot write a computer program without paying attention to all of the little details or it will not work.  Using this same detailed oriented approach is how God taught me to study the Bible.  Please learn to pay attention to the details found in the Bible and this will help to see the scriptures more from God’s perspective who spoke them.

I’m going to repeat this again, please do not read this lesson and believe that I am saying there is more than one Son in the Trinity!  I am not claiming this and do not intend for the message to be understood this way.  I know this Bible lesson will be offensive to some and I know that some people will potentially take the message wrong.  People become so narrow minded  when hearing something new.  People like to take hold of one truth and abandon all others.  I have said this more than once; there is more than one truth in the Bible.  Jesus is the primary truth and the greatest reason to study the entire Bible but God teaches us other things like this lesson that should also be made known to be His truth.  This Bible lesson is not taking away from the message of Jesus Christ being the only begotten Son of God within the Trinity.  Do not read this and believe that at all!  I teach the Trinity of God very strongly.  I teach the fact that Jesus is the only begotten Son of God very strongly.   I teach the fact that God came to the earth personally in the flesh and died for our sins to give us His gift of righteousness to save us.  Before you criticize me on one Bible lesson go read everything and then ask questions.

INTRODUCTION TO SONS

The main focused scripture today in this Bible study is one that we have all heard at some time in our Christian life.  This verse is one of the most popular verses learned and memorized by many children at an early age in Sunday school.  This verse is one that Satan would like to remove from the Bible and this is the reason for his attack to pervert it.  Here is the main verse in question that will be answered:

Joh 3:16  For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (KJV)

John 3:16 is the focused controversial verse that I will be talking about in this lesson today.  I started with the basic KJV translation of the verse since I believe it to be one of the most accurate.  However, this verse was translated by men in several different conflicting ways in other translations.  For example the WNT, CEV, ESV, BBE and NIV Bible translations all get parts of the original language meanings very wrong changing the original Greek language into “Only Son of God” or “One and Only Son of God”.  The KJV, NKJV, NASB, Webster, YLT, AMP, ASV, Darby, LITV and the MKJV translations all translated it correctly saying “only begotten Son”.  While “Only Begotten Son” is more accurate, this English word “begotten” is not well understood to what the term means.  This of course was not a complete list of all the available Bible translations but it gives us a clear view of why there is a controversy and asks the question who is correct?    For your review comparison here is the NIV translation of John 3:16.  Please note the differences given:

John 3:16  For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (NIV)

Both the KJV and the NIV translations cannot be correct since they simply mean two completely different things.   “One and Only Son of God” and “Only Begotten Son of God” cannot be considered identical because one set of modern translations completely left out one of the most important words “begotten” when the other set included it.  The NIV further convolutes the truth to add the word “One” before Son and this just brings further confusion since the word “one” does not even appear anywhere in the original Greek language.

Now consider the English grammar found within John 3:16.  What does the term “only begotten” represent and how does it relate to the noun “Son”?  You should begin to understand that the term “only begotten” represents an adjective modifier to the noun “Son”.  An adjective is only required to limit the scope of the discussion of the types of the noun being referenced.  In other words if there is only one sun in the sky then there is no need to modify that noun to qualify which one you are speaking of.  The same is true of the moon in our sky.  When only one exists the need for qualification is eliminated.  Now what would happen if there were two moons in our night sky?  Then we would need to qualify which one we are referring to.  This is exactly what God is doing in John 3:16 with the adjective “only begotten”.

Now what does “begotten” mean and why is it found in so many translations?  Why was “begotten” omitted from many other translations to change the meaning?  What changes when the word “begotten” is eliminated?  We need to learn the facts in order to determine the truth and this is what we will attempt to do in this lesson.

Someone might try to ask if it is even important for us to believe the Bible correctly.   Why am I being so nitpicky to think that it makes a difference how we believe what John 3:16 actually says?   I would answer that question with this reply; does it matter if you believe the Koran is the truth or the Bible is the truth?  Does it matter if I believe they both are the truth?  They certainly contradict each other.  Therefore, they both can’t be the truth so does it matter which path you chose to be on?

Of course it does matter what we believe is the truth more than we can imagine.  Jesus very clearly said that He was the only way to be saved (John 14:6).   So now take that truth to the next level.  Does it matter if you believe that Jesus was just a man like those in Islam because according to the Koran He was just a prophet of Allah when He died or should we believe what God says in the Bible that He personally came down in the flesh to save us?  I hope you are getting the point.  If it does not matter greatly what we believe then God would not have given us His Word to study and learn.

Therefore, if a Koran or a Bible belief matters then it must also matter if Jesus was the “One and Only Son of God” or the “Only begotten Son of God”.  We just can’t omit one word that God included and think that it does not matter.  This is exactly what I was referring to with computer programming.  The omission of just one single letter, number or symbol can cause the entire design of the entire software to fail.  What I am getting at is that we need to learn as much accurate Bible as we can so that we are not deceived by someone that comes along with a message of one small lie mixed with good several truths.  How can we recognize the truth if we ignore the details of God’s Word?

I will warn you that this is an advanced Bible subject intended for spiritually mature Christians only.  It is not a rudimentary lesson that is designed to feed baby or young Christians the milk of the Word of God.  This lesson is definitely a meat subject that can cause immature Christians to choke.  If you do not feel like you are very spiritually mature then please just go read another lesson so that I do not offend you with something that you are unable to receive.  I will also warn you up front that this is another long Bible lessons with a lot of spiritual scriptural content.  Some subjects tend to grow lengthy because there is so much that needs to be taught from the Bible on any given subject.  I usually do this using a series of shorter Bible lessons, but these Bible Answer responses to reader questions are usually stand alone.  I hope you understand and will continue to read to the end.

In this lesson I will be using a minimum of 3 primary rules of sound Bible interpretation to verify the truth.  I will also introduce you to a concept that you have probably never been taught before.  This concept found in the Bible will teach us that there are at least 4 unique types of individuals that are called “sons of God” in the Bible.  I can already hear the gasps being loudly raised by that last statement.   People might be resistant to anything new simply because they have never heard it taught before.  But please do not reject the message without first reading what is taught with an open mind.  Then only after reading what is taught here do I ask that you become an Acts 17:11 type of more noble Christian and verify everything that is being taught using your own Bible study.   This is the only correct method to confirm what the Spirit of God wants us to know.  Work within God’s methods and grow or work apart from them and fail to see the truth.  It is each of our own personal choice.

CORRECT RULES OF INTERPRETATION

driving-in-manilaI am going to begin this Bible lesson by introducing some of the basic rules of valid Bible interpretation.  I will not be covering every rule that exists but these three will be used in this lesson for us to find the truth to what was written by God in the John 3:16 verse.  Can we begin by agreeing that rules are good?  What would be the outcome if driving on the road was a freeform chaotic madness with no rules to govern the actions of all of the drivers?  How many drivers would still be alive after a few days if driving was based upon a chaos random approach of  actions that allowed people to go however they wanted, where ever they wanted, how fast they wanted and whenever they wanted type of driving style?  If governments permitted unstructured driving methods to how fast they could go or where they could drive it would be an extremely dangerous environment.  This same principle of a no rules approach to Bible interpretation represents the same level of dangers except restricted to a mental or spiritual environment.  I hope that you can agree in this introduction with the need for good Bible interpretation rules.

I will use three rules of Bible Interpretation that the Holy Spirit taught me to use.  I did not learn these rules in any seminary so they may not adhere to your version of hermeneutics.  But I would rather attempt to follow God’s spiritual guidance than man’s rules because only God’s will give us the correct truth.  Please read these rules and then I will try to explain each briefly to help us learn how they work and why they are important to follow:

  1. Find and Use Hebrew and Greek Original Word Definitions
  2. Compare an Original Word’s Usage with Other Occurrences in the Bible
  3. Search for Direct Bible Contradictions to Balance each Scripture in Harmony

ORIGINAL WORD DEFINITIONS

One of the keys to correctly understanding any translated Bible verse is to judge each translated word using the comprehensive definitions of the words found in the original transcripts of the Bible.  Without studying the original word definitions we must trust and rely on an imperfect translator that was not inspired by the Spirit of God in what they wrote.  Also many translated English words like other languages transform or mutate into new or different applications and meanings as the world changes around us.   For example in the KJV Bible the Greek word that was often translated as “charity” would be almost always misunderstood by the majority of modern Bible readers.  The modern application of “Charity” is not what the word means in the original Greek.  This word was “agape” which represents the unique God kind of love.

These original word definitions are critical to discover.  Without them the original meanings were often lost in many of the modern translations.  I have heard some claim that the KJV Bible was God inspired and that no other Bible translation should ever be read.  These types of proponents often claim there is no need to study the original Greek or Hebrew words.  This is entirely a wrong belief based upon ignorance.  These types of people have been so deceived that they may never know or see the truth of God unless they learn to dig deep and study to find it.  I have discovered so many errors in the KJV Bible that leaves me no doubt that the original language study is indispensable to knowing the real truth.  You are free to disagree with me, but by you ignoring the original language this will help us to resolve why we differ on what any one verse means.  Let’s move on to another rule of correct understanding of the Bible.

OTHER BIBLE OCCURRENCES OF THE WORD

Another key to understanding specific original words is to go and look for God’s usage of the same Greek or Hebrew word in the rest of the Bible.  To do this we need to use our computer devices, smart phones or tablets to search in our Bible for all of the places where God uses only the exact same Greek or Hebrew word that we are trying to learn.  In doing this we obtain a more complete understanding of  this one word that we wish to study.  I need to emphasize that we do not search the Bible for the English translated word because more than one Greek or Hebrew word can be translated to the same English word.  For example the Greek language has at least 3 different words that mean a type of “love”.  But only God’s selection of the one can be compared correctly to learn how each verse usage is related.  If we attempted to mix the Greek word “philedelphia” (G5360) and the Greek word “agape” (G26) we would be mixing apples with oranges and only causing confusion.

This rule of interpretation allows us to see how one word in one verse relates to the other occurrences of the same word in other found verses.   This type of study method is what I call doing a “word study”.  There is also a type of study that I call a “subject” study that goes into considerably more detail but also take more effort to perform.  There are at least two different ways of doing a word study or a subject study.  First in a word study you can restrict your search to only using the direct Greek or Hebrew word in question.  This will shorten and limit the study considerably.  The Subject study would need to include the matching Hebrew word for the Greek word in question as well as include every other word that is a synonym of the word in question and this can take significantly more time but can also give great benefits to new truths.  Today I will only be performing a very basic word study for “only begotten”.

This word study technique of understanding the Bible introduces us to the concept of consistency and uniformity.  I have found through many years of Bible study that God is normally very consistent in His selection of words, their usage, their application and what they mean.  In other words if God wanted to say something differently in one verse from another verse, He would have used a different word.  I call this God’s “Intelligent Design” of His Words.  God knows every word and what they each mean better than you do, so do not attempt to change a word’s definition based upon some random human speculation or reasoning.   Keeping a Greek word’s definition consistent will help bring stability and balance to our understanding of every word being selected by God.  In review this step of correct Bible interpretation involves at minimum finding every occurrence of the Greek or Hebrew word being studied and reading each verse closely to see how it was used by God.  We then compare each verse to every other verse to understand how they are related attempting to understand why God chose this single word in each.  In doing this we attempt to balance every word’s usage into a single definition and application.  This can be simple or it can be complex based upon the number of times any word is used by God.  Some words are used less than 10 times (simple) and other times they are used many, many hundreds of time (complex).  Let’s move on to the next guideline for correct Bible understanding.

NO VERSE CONTRADICTS ANY OTHER VERSE

The next method of understanding correct Bible interpretation is for us to utilize the basic fact of truth that NO one Bible verse when correctly interpreted will EVER conflict or contradict with any other Bible verse when both are correctly interpreted.  Do you understand this rule?  This is another essential part of understanding absolutely anything in the Bible.  Realize that God is not stupid.  Then understand that God does not change or flip flop on truths, word definitions, thoughts, concepts or ideas.  God is not here today on this word’s definition and then there tomorrow on the same word.  God is not a Dr. Jekyll or a Mr. Hyde type of God.  God is a God of never changing goodness, purpose, character and qualities.  What God says today will never change tomorrow.   What God said in the beginning will remain true at the end and what was said will not reverse, disqualify or eliminate anything else that was spoken by God in between.  I do not know how to explain this rule more clearly.   If one verse says God has only one son and another verse says God has many other sons then one verse is clearly NOT TRANSLATED CORRECTLY.   There can be no conflicts within the Bible when understood correctly.  The only time a conflict exists is when a human does not correctly comprehend the truth of what was spoken by God.

I am going to apply these three basic rules of correct Bible interpretation and understanding to answer the question “Was Jesus the One and Only Son of God”.   After you see what God and the Bible actually says about this subject you must agree that Jesus was not the one and only son of God.   I will begin with the rule of searching for the original word definitions to find what God meant by them and then this will help guide us to what the word means in the verse that we are questioning.

G3439 ORIGINAL WORD DEFINITION

Joh 3:16  For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten (G3439) Son (G5207), that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (KJV)

This verse has become very controversial by Satan’s design. This verse was previously held up in football games like the Super Bowl until it was banned by the NFL again by Satan’s design.   It has been cried loudly on street corners to passing people that walked by indifferently and ignored the message.   It has been preached on TV and in many churches by countless preachers.  It is one of the first verses that a child learns and memorizes in Sunday school.  However this verse has stirred up a modern dilemma and debate asking was Jesus the One and Only Son of God as the NIV and many churches claim?   The translation that I opened with was the KJV Bible and it is stated to say “only begotten”.  However you already observed in the NIV how it was changed to say something almost completely different.

While the NIV change on the surface seems to be insignificant to many, the underlying application of the subtle difference is very profound.  If Jesus was the one and only Son as the NIV Bible states then this verse translation invalidates a great number of scriptures in the rest of the Bible.  This NIV translation purposefully causes a direct conflict within God’ Word and that teaches us that we need to determine the resolution to the conflict in order to correctly understand this part of the Bible.  We will do this by beginning to see what the original Greek word means as defined in the original language using the Strong’s dictionary:

G3439

From G3441 and G1096; only born, that is, sole: – only (begotten, child).

The Greek word translated into English as “only begotten” in the KJV Bible is “G3439” and it is a single Greek word that is created from the combination of two other Greek root words.   The first Greek root word designates the single or solitary occurrence of something, someone or somewhere.  This Greek word is where the translators got the application of the English word “only” which is correct so far.  However, the second Greek word designates something that was made or caused to be.   Let’s stop there and consider what is stated when something was caused to be or made?  Anything made was not in existence previously and that only means that Jesus was a new type of Son and nothing else can be assumed from this definition or it would be adding to it or changing what was given by God.  These two Greek words literally mean that Jesus was uniquely made and did not compare with anyone previously created or anyone that was subsequently created.  However it does not mean that there are no other types of sons that came into existence in some other way.  Do you understand this so far?

Let me use an analogy of an automobile.  There are many types of automobiles, but yet someone can also create or make one unique auto that was created as a special custom model that is unlike all the others.  People do this all the time.  This new custom car could be called this type of “only made” (G3439) model of cars.  That is exactly what Jesus is being called in this definition.  This definition does not mean that there are no other sons of God; it only means that this one named Jesus was made especially unique unlike every other son.   Think about it before you reject it.  Was Jesus uniquely made?  I personally do not know of another human that came from a virgin woman, do you?  I think that makes Jesus especially different than me and you.

The Strong’s dictionary further defines this Greek word as “only born”.  What does this mean?  I think this part of the definition also applies to Jesus very well.  Were there any other naturally born sons of God?  Not according to the Bible as we will soon learn.  The New Testament is very explicit in declaring Jesus to be the only naturally born Son of God.  This is the literal definition for “only begotten’ in John 3:16.  To be called the “only begotten” means that Jesus was God’s only naturally born child.  Again this does not disqualify other sons or children of God from existing using this correct definition.  Did you know that God is all powerful?  God being “omniscient” and “omnipotent” simply means that God is able and knows how to make a new unique child if He so desires to do it.  This was God’s design of Jesus.

In the Thayer dictionary he makes the point that this Greek word G3439 is only used to describe a son or a daughter when viewed within their relationship to the stated parent(s).  That is a very important part of the meaning and we will discover this as we continue through the other rules of interpretation.  When using the Thayer consideration we must now deliberate who the parents of Jesus Christ were.  Any serious Bible student will say that Jesus was both the Son of God and the son of a natural virgin woman named Mary.  But we must eliminate Mary from this “only begotten” participation since in John 3:16 it is only speaking of God the Father who gave His Son to save the world with no mention of Mary.  We should also know from further Bible study that Mary had other natural children born from the union with her husband Joseph.  Therefore, Jesus was not the “only begotten” son of Mary.  Nowhere in the Bible is Jesus called the only begotten of Mary and there are a lot of people that need to learn that fact.  What I am introducing you to is what this Greek G3439 word means.  Jesus was the only naturally born son of God and this is the only way that this can be correctly interpreted based upon the definition and the contextual subject matter.  Uh oh I just introduced another important rule of correct Bible interpretation that was not one of the 3 that I was going to use today. This new rule states that no one can take any verse out of context to make it say what it was not intended to say within the context.

You see in John the 3rd chapter Jesus is speaking to a natural man named Nicodemus that asks Jesus how to be saved.  Jesus tells this man that he must be “born again” in order to enter into the kingdom of God.  Clearly Jesus was teaching Nicodemus about birth types in this chapter.  Jesus is using two contrasting types of birth to explain salvation.  Jesus was saying to Nicodemus that there is a coming spiritual birth that must occur after the natural birth occurs.  We will soon discover in this Bible lesson that there are many spiritual births that have occurred since Jesus was raised from the dead.  However, please note that up until this point in John 3 that no man was ever born again because the sacrifice for their sins had not yet taken place on the cross.  It is within this context of the subject of births that we find this Greek word G3439 that was translated as “only begotten”.   It makes logical sense to conclude “only begotten” son of God is related to the contextual subject of birth types.

Therefore, the “only begotten” son of God could only represent Jesus coming into the world through a natural birth experience and could not be related to this coming spiritual birth that Jesus described.  This again is what this “only begotten” Greek word means.  God only had one Son that was naturally born and His name was Jesus Christ.  God’s usage of this Greek word to describe Jesus teaches us that only He could be called the naturally made, created or born Son of God.   However, that still does not mean that there are no other types of sons of God that were spiritually born or created by some other methods.  I hope you understand this but if not it should become clearer as we continue through the other verses found in the Bible on this subject.

OTHER VERSES WITH THE GREEK WORD G3439

If you search the New Testament you will find this Greek word G3439 that was translated as “only begotten” in John 3:16 is only found in 8 other verses.  Five times it is used to describe Jesus in relation to His Father God but 4 times it is used to describe other naturally born children that were the only begotten son in direct relation to his earthly mother.  For example, in Luke 7:12 God describes a man being carried out at a funeral and he is called by this name G3439 as being this mother’s only born son.   What this means is that this dead man was her only child that she actually conceived inside her and gave birth to.  Notice that only the mother is mentioned in this verse because of her presence.  I would also like to point out that the KJV translators made the same mistake as the NIV translators did in John 3:16.  In the KJV, Luke 7:12 says that this man was her “only (G3439) son (G5207)” but they intentionally leave out “begotten” part of the definition and that makes it an error.  This woman could have had other adopted sons but that would be ignored by the translators from what God intended it to say.

What I want you to begin to see is that an “only born son” is always given using the relationship to only the specific parent being mentioned and does not necessarily apply to the other parent involved.  There is no mention of the father in Luke 7:12 and he could have had many children through other women like Jacob did in the O.T. before he died.  People like to put God into an oversimplified human box of limitations.  However the Bible says very clearly that what is impossible with men is possible with God (Mat 19:26).   So while a natural woman may have had only one naturally born son it is entirely possible for God to have other types of children that were not naturally born even though Jesus is still called His only begotten.  Do you understand this?

I am certainly not teaching you that God had other naturally born children other than Jesus.  Jesus by definition from the dictionary and word use application was the only naturally born Son of God that ever existed.   Just please do not limit God to say this is the only way that He can produce children.  That would be very foolish if someone believes their limits placed upon God effects what God is able to do.  If we continue to look through the book of Luke we will find two other examples of this Greek word G3439.  In Luke 8:42 a ruler of the synagogue came to Jesus asking Him to come and heal his “only born” daughter.  I will just tell you that this is the same type of translation error example as seen before in the NIV.  The daughter being described is not the only daughter in the nation born but she was this man named Jairus’ only born daughter.   Again the KJV translators get it very wrong and leave out the word begotten.  In fact the KJV translators in this verse added the word one to further confuse people.  Instead of being consistent and making the word “only begotten” they changed it to “one only”.  This just proves that there are errors in the KJV Bible the same as other translations.  Now let’s look at the next word occurrence also found in a verse in Luke:

Luk 9:38  And, behold, a man of the company cried out, saying, Master, I beseech thee, look upon my son: for he is mine only child.

Here again is an example of a very wrong translation.  It should not say “only child” it should rather say “only begotten” or “only born”.  The word child is not found in the original Greek word.  If God would have wanted the word child to be included in this verse He would have added the Greek word G5043 that is normally translated as “child” in several other N.T. verses, for example:

Luk 1:7  And they had no child (G5043), because that Elisabeth was barren, and they both were now well stricken in years.

Here in this verse God is saying that this couple does not have a child.  The woman Elisabeth is said to have been barren.  What we can learn from this truth is that God has other words in the Greek language that literally means a child.  So if God wanted to say “only child” in Luke 9:32 it could have been accomplished using other specific Greek words that actually mean that.  The translators thought they were making a good assumption but this simply produces inconsistences that were not stated by God.  God selected by His choice to say “only begotten” or “only born” and this was the correct original meaning.  It is just so obvious to me that if God wanted to say “only child” that He would have said G3441 (only) followed by G5043 (child) and this would have matched what the KJV translators thought.  However since God did not say this why did the translator not understand what they were doing was changing God’s word into something that was not stated causing a potential confusion to occur.

The last occurrence of G3439 not being used to describe Jesus is found in the book of Hebrews.  In this verse God is describing Abraham and his “only begotten” son named Isaac.  Let’s examine this verse and consider the implications given by God on this subject of Jesus:

Heb 11:17  By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son,

Notice that God calls Isaac the “only begotten” of Abraham.  Uh oh, that is a major problem since Abraham had several other children.  The first born of Abraham was a child named Ishmael and this child was born from Hagar.  God does not consider this child to be an heir of promise.  Also if you read in and study in Genesis I believe that you will discover that Abraham had other children later after Isaac.  Yet God still calls Isaac the “only begotten”.  What this teaches us is that God could have had other children before Jesus Christ as well as other children after Jesus Christ and that the existence of these other children still cannot disqualify Jesus to be called the “only begotten”.  I know that this is potentially complex information but Abraham is a type pattern that was given by God in the Old Testament to teach us about spiritual truths.  You see if you read in Galatians 4 carefully you will discover that God teaches us that the life of Abraham represents an allegory of spiritual truth that is much deeper than the natural story.  I am not going to go into this allegory in depth today because that will take too much time.  You should go and read my other Bible lessons to discover what this allegory represents.

I believe we need to be consistent when viewing this Greek G3439.  I believe we can clearly see that every time it is selected by God in the New Testament that it is in reference to an “only born” child in reference to a single parent.  You can go through every reference in Luke and see this very clearly.  You can find this pattern again in Hebrews when God only speaks about Abraham and his only begotten son Isaac.  Consistency is an important factor.

ARE THERE ANY “ONLY SON OF GOD” CONFLICTS IN THE BIBLE?

The next rule of correct Bible interpretation involves researching for potential conflicts to any given statement.  If the NIV Bible translation is correct claiming that Jesus is the ONE AND ONY SON OF GOD then there better not be any other verses found in the Bible that contradict with that statement.  If only one verse is found that can be shown to disagree directly then there is a major problem with one of the verses being read.  So here we go with discovering the conflicts of the statement “One and Only Son of God”.  We will begin with Genesis 6:2:

Gen 6:2  That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.

Here is another potentially ontroversial verse.  Many have tried to explain away this verse as not saying what God describes.  There are two separate types of individuals being described by God in this verse.  There are the “sons of God” and the “daughters of Adam”.  If the father of the sons of God is God then the father of the daughters of men must clearly be Adam.  Perhaps you do not see it so clearly.  If you research the Hebrew word translated as “men” in this verse you will discover that it is the Hebrew word H120 and this is the exact same Hebrew word as H121 that was translated as “Adam”.  Therefore these women originated from Adam and these other beings had to originate from the spiritual creator God and they cannot be the same because of the two different associated fathers being described.  Perhaps I need to tell you that this Hebrew word translated as “God” in this verse is one of the most popular names for God in the O.T. Bible.  This Hebrew word H430 is found in over 2200 verses in the Old Testament.  Nine times out of ten it was translated as “God” starting in Genesis 1:1 where it was first used to describe the creator.  The other Hebrew word used in conjunction with this name of God is H1121 which was used to describe a “son” is defined to be a male builder of the specified family name.  The family name here is God and the sons are clearly his spiritual children within His personal family.  In order to confirm who these “sons of God” represent in Genesis 6, we need to look for other examples of these same word combinations in the Bible just as we did with our search for the “only begotten” Greek word.  If you do the search you will find some important verses that help to reveal who these sons of God are:

Job 1:6  Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them.

In the book of Job, God again describes the “sons (H1121) of God (H430)” but this time using some new contextual realities.  The previous Genesis 6 setting was definitely set upon the earth with human female interaction but this time in Job this same group of beings are found to be in the very presence of God in heaven.   What type of beings can be found both here on the earth and up in heaven in the presence of God?  If you do not understand that these are angels then you will need to go study the subject of angels in more depth before continuing.  I will give you a verse from a dream that God gave to Jacob and this will help establish that angels can travel between these two separate dimensions:

Gen 28:12  And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it.

These sons of God must be angels based upon the logical facts given.  There are other verses that we could explore but I need to move on.  Please notice that Satan appears with the “sons of God” in Job 1:6.  This is actually a very interesting concept given by God and implies a great deal of hidden information.  The Hebrew word H8432 that was translated as “among” in Job 1:6 literally means that Satan was in the center of them.  This Hebrew word represents a bisection of the group of “sons of God” with one half being on the left side of Satan and the other half being on the right side of Satan standing before God.  This places Satan as the implied leader of the “sons of God”.   We know from reading in Ezekiel and Isaiah that Satan was one of the chief angels if not the chief leader of them all.  Also notice that the position of Satan being in the center of the “sons of God” means that Satan was also one of this group of sons by association.  Did you know that Satan and the angels were called “sons of God”?  Let me give you some additional proof:

Isa 14:12  How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!

Here in this verse the individual named Lucifer is called a literal “son” of the morning.  The morning is actually a poor translation because this Hebrew Word H7837 means “dayspring” or more literally “early light” or even “first light”.   The emphasize detail in this definition is the light and the timing of its appearing. Who is called The Light in the New Testament?  God is clearly called “Light” in 1 John 1:5.  Also Jesus claimed to be the light in John 8:12, John 9:5 and John 12:46.  But since Jesus was God in the flesh both are equally the Light.  I think I need to give you another key verse to this puzzle:

Luk 1:78  Through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the dayspring from on high hath visited us,

You can clearly see from this verse that Jesus was called the “dayspring” from on high.  This literally means that Jesus was God but it also confirms who Satan was as a revealed son of God in Isaiah 14:12.  If you look up the definition of “dayspring” you will see plainly that this Greek word in Luke 1:78 has the meaning of the early light of dawn and it is a perfect match for the Hebrew word definition of “morning” or “dayspring”.   What God is revealing to us in these verses is that Lucifer was one of the first created beings that God produced.  Early light in the context that God is Light simply means the preceding order of time which is a difficult concept for us to grasp about a God who lives outside the dimension of time.  God is clearly indicating to us that Lucifer was His son before Jesus became His son.  I know that is hard to grasp for many people because it is new information.  Just keep in mind that Jesus was God who created everything and that He had children called angels before He ever had a Son name Jesus.  All of this will become clearer as we continue to discover who are represented as the other “sons of God” in the Bible.

I want you to notice in Isaiah 14:12 that the Hebrew word H1121 translated as “son” is repeated in this verse the same as in Job 1 and Genesis 6 for the “sons of God”.  God claims that Satan is a builder of His family name.  The name of God is His family and God of course is the head of the family being the Father of all spirits.  Perhaps this is a good time to introduce a New Testament confirmation verse that is related to this subject of sons and fathers:

Heb 12:9  Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?

Here is a very revealing verse for the discussion of spiritual fathers and spiritual sons.   God is being named the spiritual Father of all spiritual beings.  Is Satan a spiritual being?  Is every angel a spiritual being?  You must understand that created Satan and every created angel are both eternal and spiritual beings before you continue to learn more complex Bible truths.  I try not to teach anything without at least giving you a reference for what is being stated so I will give one about angels being spirits to help you see it:

Heb 1:14  Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?

Reading this verse in context you will discover God speaking of angels.  God declares His angels to be ministering spirits sent to minister for those that are heirs of salvation.  I know this is talking about me because I’m an heir of salvation.  Therefore God’s ministering spirits (angels) will be there for me to help in this world.  What I have just done is establish a basic truth of angels being called “sons”.  Since God is clearly called the Father of every spirit in the Bible.  I hope you are beginning to learn how poorly translated the NIV Bible was in John 3:16.  We have just witnessed the reality that every spiritual being is called a child of the spiritual God who is called Father.  This literally means that we should find this father and son theme in the Bible in other places.

I have only introduced you to the second type of a son of God found in the Bible.  Jesus was my first type called the “Only Begotten” but before Jesus we found that angels were previously called God’s sons as the second revealed type of a son.  Technically speaking angels existed first as sons before God became His own Son in the natural form of Jesus.  Did you notice what I just said?  God created everything and everyone and He clearly self-existed eternally.  However, the eternal God chose to become His own son before the foundation of the world to redeem us from our sins as well as accomplish many other things that I can’t get into in this lesson.  God becoming a Son being born 4000 years after the creation of Adam was clearly a mystery that took Satan by complete surprise.  However the wisdom of God prevailed and we find that truly “All things are possible with God”.  I hope you understand this truth of the eternal Spirit of God manifesting as a human Son because this defeated Satan and set you free from Satan’s rule.

What I have just given to you is the realization that before Jesus physically existed that there were other spiritual beings called angels that are referred to by God as His spiritual children.   This is enough of a conflict to cause us to reconsider the NIV translation of the verse in John 3:16.  But there are many other verses that also cause additional conflict.  Let’s look at another important verse:

Rom 8:14  For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.

Here is an additional verse that was written to the church (me and you if you are a Christian) that conflicts with the belief of “one and only son” of God.  This verse indicates that those that are led by God’s Spirit will also be called God’s children.  Are you a spirit?   Do you remember that God is called the Father of spirits?  God has made you a son when you were previously not His son.  How did these people being led become God’s children?  We have to do further research in order to answer that question and this answer is found here in this verse:

Joh 1:12  But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:

Do you believe in the name of Jesus?  Have you received Jesus Christ?  If you have done both of these then you qualify to be called a son/child of God.  Now consider what else this verse says.  This verse clearly indicates that we were once not His child but have become this son by God’s plan of salvation.  Uh oh!  That raises too many questions that just cannot be answered fully in this Bible lesson.  You see you were a spirit being before being saved but yet you had to become saved in order to become this new son of God status.  If God created our spirit and He was previously our Father then how did we lose this son status in order to need this again?   The Bible is a highly complex book of spiritual information and this is just one mystery of the many that God solves by His extreme wisdom.  I will not answer this question in this lesson so if you want to know this you will have to leave a comment and ask for the answer or go find it for yourself.  However, I will give you this verse since it is found in the context of my main subject of John 3:16 to help confirm what I have just said:

Joh 3:3  Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

In the context of John 3:16 we find Jesus telling a man that he must be “born again”.  Uh oh again!  What does this mean?   Nicodemus thought that it meat that he needed to reenter his mother’s womb and be born naturally and that was not what Jesus was teaching.  Jesus was teaching a spiritual birth and not a natural birth.  Notice what Jesus confirms here.  Unless you are born again spiritually you will not enter into the kingdom of God.  That means before we were born again we were not in God’s family and needed to be saved (born again) to become a member of His family.  Being a son/child of God is essential to being saved.  We were once not His children but now being born of the Spirit of God have become His children and this is the new third type of son being described in the Bible.  This son type differs from every other son type previously mentioned and yet there is still a fourth type of son that has not yet been mentioned.  Let’s discover the fourth type of son of God that was not like the only begotten Jesus, the angels or the born again church.  Here is where I will start next:

Luk 3:38  Which was the son of Enos, which was the son of Seth, which was the son of Adam, which was the son of God.

This is another controversial verse that is ignored by most non-serious Bible students.  This is the genealogy of Jesus Christ recorded by the author Luke given to us by the inspiration of God.  This genealogy proceeds in reverse order all the way from Jesus back to Adam and then finally concluding with God the Father of every spiritual being.  Every named pair represents a father and his son relationship however the Greek word for “son” is not included so many believe that this was omitted to allow God not to be called the Father of Adam.  However that is just the deception of Satan trying to keep you from learning the truth to what is stated in this genealogy.  Let me go back to the top of the list and show you the beginning:

Luk 3:23  And Jesus himself began to be about thirty years of age, being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, which was the son of Heli,

Notice what God says here.  God says Jesus was SUPPOSEDLY the son of Joseph.   Any learned Bible student knows that God is correct to state it this way since God was His Father and not Joseph.  Now consider the end of the list of names using the light of the beginning.  If Adam was not the Son of God then God would have said “SUPPOSELY” again and since He did not do that we know that Adam was a created fourth type of a son of God.   Now to confirm this we need to go back to read Genesis 2 where God created the man named Adam.  Read this chapter in full if you like.  I will not quote it all because I want you to focus on verse 26 primarily:

Gen 2:24  Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.

This verse was written about Adam leaving his Father to be joined to his wife.  Who then was his father that he left if not God?  It has to be God that was the spiritual Father of Adam.  I know this because of what we read previously in Hebrews 12:9 where God is declared to be the Father of every spirit.  If you go back up in the chapter at Genesis 2:7 you will read where God breathes the breath of life into Adam.  This Hebrew word translated as breath is the same word that means “spirit” and this word teaches us when and where Adam received his spirit directly from God his spiritual Father.

We have now discovered 4 types of sons of God and there is at least one other type but that is sufficient overwhelming evidence that John 3:16 cannot be correctly translated as “ONE AND ONLY SON”.  This erroneous translation simply conflicts with too many other verses in the Bible that teaches us about other “sons of God” that existed before Jesus came to the earth and after Jesus returned to heaven.  I received one additional question that I will end with in this lesson.  I received a question about Jesus having brothers and who these brothers were.  I have alluded to this truth in some of my other Bible lessons but never fully explained it.  I may not be able still to fully explain it here but I will at least introduce the subject for your consideration.

If there are multiple types of sons of God as I have demonstrated and God is the Father of them all, then  it makes good logical sense that Jesus has brothers/siblings.  If Jesus is a Son of God which He clearly is then every other son of God must also be His brother.   In many of the parables taught to us by Jesus there is more than one son given.  Even within Old Testament typology there are many examples of multiple sons. For example, Isaac was a half-brother of Ishmael.   Isaac was accepted and the older brother Ishmael was cast out.  This is a common pattern found in the Old Testament types.  For example, there was Cain and Abel the first two sons of Adam mentioned by God.  Abel was killed by his older brother Cain.  Abel’s offering was accepted by God but Cain’s was not.  Then there was Jacob and his older brother Esau.  Again Esau the firstborn was rejected but the younger Jacob was chosen by God.  Abel, Isaac and Jacob are all clearly types of Jesus Christ.  Yet who are these brothers a type of?  I personally believe that they are types of Satan.  I have other Bible lessons where I address these subjects so I will not repeat it here.

What I am doing is teaching you that Jesus had spiritual brothers.  We now know that Adam was a brother of Jesus since God was both of their direct spiritual Fathers.  We should also now know that Satan was a brother of Jesus since he was called a son of the early light in Isaiah.  We also know from reading that we Christians are also called spiritual brothers/sisters of Jesus if we have become “born again” by the Spirit of God and being led by His Spirit.  How do we know this?  Well we know this because Jesus was called the “firstborn” from the dead in Colossians 1:18.   That verse teaches us that this means Jesus was given preeminence by God’s design being the first to be born again from the dead.  Wow God teaches us some pretty hard things for us to grasp.  Who understood that Jesus was talking about Himself being born again in John 3?    If Jesus was the first then there are others that followed Him being called second, third, fourth and etc.   There are many other verses that teach us that we are called brothers and sisters of Christ.  For example we are called “joint heirs” with Christ Jesus in Romans 8:17.  What is an heir?  An heir is normally a child that inherits what is left after the Father/Parent dies.  Who died to make us an heir with Jesus?  It was Jesus who died to allow us to become an heir.  This is just another divine mystery.  God died and became the first heir and this act of God allows us to become the same in subsequent numbered positions.  This is a very complex spiritual subject that is not known or understood by many Christians.

Today in this Bible lesson I want to reemphasize the fact that I am not taking away from the deity of Jesus Christ nor am I reducing His most significant Son of God status with the existence of other created sons of God.  I always capitalize Jesus as the Son of God and any other being like Lucifer was but a mere son of God.   I fully acknowledge Jesus Christ as being Supreme.  Just because I taught you that there are other types of sons of God that exist in the Bible that does not disqualify the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit within the trinity.  These three are the One True God.  If you perceived any other message from this Bible lesson than what I just stated here then you need to go back and reread this lesson again and again.

My website is called “Advanced Bible Study”.  This is one of those types of lessons that have been designed for spiritually mature Christians.  I went over many things that will be rejected by a lot of immature people who call themselves Christians but yet that is the nature of teaching advanced subjects to students who are only capable of understanding simple basic subjects. I used 3 to 4 basic rules of good Bible interpretation to confirm the truth in this lesson.  You should have learned these rules so that you can apply them in your Bible study.  If you disagree with this lesson please do not leave me any nasty comments.  I really am not going to change what I teach if you are incapable of understanding spiritual truths.  I thank those that can see the truth and understand why it is important to learn.  I could not include everything in this lesson so if you have questions I am willing to hear them and see if I can help you to understand anything that was not covered sufficiently.  In conclusion I will give you the list of 4 types of sons of God:

  1. Only Begotten (natural born) Son (Jesus Christ)
  2. The angelic beings are called the sons of God created before the world existed
  3. The born again church are called sons of God if they are led by the Spirit of God
  4. Adam created as a son of God who left his Father to be joined to his wife

I hope that you enjoyed this advanced Bible lesson and will leave me a positive comment or question if you learned anything that you can share with others please do that also.  Also please point others to this website to help the Word of God to be spread to the entire world.  Post links to my Bible lessons on Facebook, Twitter or any other social media site where people can learn about Jesus. I thank you and may God continue to bless you as you are led by His Spirit with me.  God Bless!

BIBLE ANSWERS: Understanding Biblical Typology! Does God Use O. T. Typology to Explain Spiritual Things in the New Testament?

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(ver 1.1)  I received a very disturbing comment from a potentially confused reader concerning the latest Bible study lesson given to me by the Holy Spirit.  This lesson was regarding the subject of the Rapture that has been hidden by God within O.T. Typology.   While I generally ignore critics, I felt led by the Spirit of God to answer this comment publically in order to potentially help someone else that this person might teach these untruths to.   A few of my critics are some of the unsaved people of the world but the majority of them are very carnal Christians that do not understand the spiritual meat found in the Bible.   Anyone with a growing level of spiritual maturity should be able to see the truths of the deep spiritual knowledge that God is sharing.  I certainly realize that there are still many milk drinking Christians that are not capable of receiving meat.  That is why I try to regress into milk subjects occasionally to help everyone grow.

According to this commenter’s beliefs the use of “Typology” is not an established, valid or sound method of Exegesis or Hermeneutics.   I would have laughed at their comment if it was not so saddening.  There is a major problem occurring within the body of Christ today where people who think more highly of their personal knowledge and abilities come to correct others before attempting to learn what was stated.  This is happening constantly on Facebook and on many other internet websites.  People that come to teach others without asking ANY questions to the teacher is a display of their human pride in their own knowledge and understanding of every verse in the Bible.   People just might discover their ignorance if they would only open up their minds to think and learn to find answers to a few simple questions in order to understand why what was stated was taught.  By the nature of this man’s comment I understood that he was un-teachable and I did not reply to him.  If they read this article that was their response I would be shocked.

I have said this before but it is worthy of repetition.   My favorite non-Bible quote is by Will Rogers when he said “We are all ignorant, just about different things”.   That was so profound and accurate that I cannot say it enough.  I am a Bible teacher not because I know everything or because I agree and teach what you want me to say.  I’m called by God and only accountable to Him and I will be judged for the content of my message according to if I have heard from Him correctly.  Therefore I take this responsibility with great concern and respect.  I do not publish free Advanced Bible lessons because that is what I wanted to do.  If the Spirit of God does not lead me to teach a subject then I am silent on that subject.   Why then does anyone judge me or anyone else to correct us using their own limited knowledge (Romans 14:10-13)?  Have they appointed themselves to be my judge (1 Cor 6:6)?  Of the gifts of the Spirit listed in the New Testament, I do not recall any that are referred as the judge’s anointing.  Don’t you realize that the world is watching your arguments and laughing at them?   Christian arguments are placing stumbling blocks before those that do not believe but still need to be saved.     I personally believe these argument stumbling block people will be judged very severely for not helping others to come into the kingdom.   If you do not like my Bible lessons, just go somewhere else and find someone you like.   I’m not going to argue with you or debate you on any subject!  Let’s let God be true and every man a liar.

Today I am going to teach those that want to know the truth that God believes in O.T. Typology, Types and Shadows and He calls them clear and valid methods for exegesis (aka Bible interpretation).  God also believes in symbolism, symbolic representations, parables and metaphorical interpretation.  God further believes in allegory, spiritual names and the other methods of sound exegesis that have been placed in the Bible by God’s design.  These are just some of the revealed truths found in the New Testament that God used to teach the hidden spiritual message from the Old Testament to Christians in the early church continuing to us today.  These methods were clearly taught to Paul by the Holy Spirit and by Paul to the early church through the direction of the Holy Spirit.  We in the church today can still benefit from this knowledge by learning to observe it in what God wrote through Paul and the other Apostles.  Therefore my commenter must not believe the New Testament since it is founded on these principles.  This Bible study will prove beyond any reasonable doubt that God created the method of Typology and that I have done nothing in my Bible lessons but observe their presence.  After I learned about these truths in the Bible I believe that it would be totally foolish of me to deny they exist just because someone from seminary says they are not valid.  I pray that you will also do the same.  In this Bible lesson we will seek the answers to the following questions from the N.T.:

  1. What is Typology?
  2. Why is the use of Typology a valid form of correct Bible Interpretation?
  3. How did God conceal Typology in the Old Testament?
  4. How is Typology revealed by God in the New Testament?
  5. Why did God use Typology in the Bible?

I will definitely warn you at the beginning that this Bible lesson will be one of the most advanced complex deep spiritual subjects that is found on my website.  The title on my website is “Advanced Bible Study” and this will be one that qualifies for this category of lessons.   If you are a brand new Christian or not a very mature spiritual Christians then I really do not recommend that you try to study this subject.  I am going to need to go over some very advanced concepts and some very technical definitions.  This is just a word of warning of what will come next.

WHAT IS EXEGESIS AND HERMENEUTICS?

Before I begin today in this Bible lesson to teach that Typology is a divinely created reality found and taught to us by God in the New Testament, I would like to go through some foundational basics on the subject.  I will go into sufficient detail to what the Bible says on this subject of typology but I first want to show everyone an explanation of what Wikipedia says about the word “exegesis” to help establish the correct understanding and definition of what this potentially unknown theological term represents.   This was the complaint of my commenter that typology does not conform to sound exegesis and I believe that there are at least some Christians that actually know very little about what this word means.   Don’t allow an unfamiliar word to sway you to one side of belief or the other until you at least find out what it is defined to be:

  • The terms exegesis and hermeneutics have been used interchangeably.  However, hermeneutics is a more widely defined discipline of interpretation theory: hermeneutics includes the entire framework of the interpretive process, encompassing all forms of communication: written, verbal and nonverbal, while exegesis focuses primarily on the written text

As you can read both words exegesis and hermeneutics deal with Bible interpretation methods.   But the most important word in this description that must be observed is the given term “THEORY”.   Does God have any theories?  I do not believe that He does since He knows everything.  Is the Bible a book of theories? Again I do not believe it is simply because the God of infinite knowledge and wisdom is the author.   Therefore, if God is not the source of human theories then we need to ask “Why do humans resort to theories?”  Let me give you a definition of a theory.  A theory should be defined as any subject being discussed which is based entirely upon human ignorance of all of the known true facts of the subject.  In other words if we knew and correctly understood all of the true facts of any given subject we would have no need for any further theories or theoretical discussions.  Do you understand what I am teaching?   A theory is completely derived from the lack of sufficient evidence or proof to support it.   A theory is also totally originated from human speculation, rumor, assumption, conjecture and guesswork.   All of these are synonyms for what a theory represents.   People today often believe theories to be science and that is not accurate.  The theory of evolution lacks any sufficient proof for its existence to be taught but yet is widely accepted by ignorant students to be a fact.   Just because a subject is widely accepted does not make it a truth. This is the same that is true for man’s theories of exegesis.

Human theories are always based upon inadequate fallible human reasoning and thought which attempts to teach or explain something that is not completely known or understood by the speaker.  Therefore according to Wikipedia “exegesis” and “hermeneutics” are both human attempts at theories for interpretation based upon the lack of sufficient known facts to prove or verify their accuracy.   That is the primary purpose of the rest of this Bible lesson today.   I am here to relieve your ignorance and present you with the God given Bible facts on this very important subject of Typology so that you can depart from your exegesis theories and believe the truth of God.   The main point in this part of the lesson is that man’s theories of exegesis are always trumped and overruled by God’s facts every time.  I seriously hope that you believe what God says in His Word and will choose to ignore what ignorant men say in order to not be led astray.

What I have been attempting to introduce you to is the fact that human theories of exegesis are only necessary today because people have not yet discovered or do not completely understand ALL of the true facts for the subject of correct Bible interpretation revealed by God in the Bible.   God gives us an amazing set of lessons in His word concerning correct Bible interpretation.  He defines very specific rules for interpretation.  He defines very sound methods for correct Bible interpretation.  He even gives us many great examples of each type of interpretation for us to learn from and apply to our study.  This will be the focus for the rest of the Bible lesson.  But before we do that let’s talk briefly about hermeneutics.

According to Wikipedia, the subject of hermeneutics is a more inclusive discipline for interpretation including the entire framework of the interpretative process.  I found that statement to be very oxymoronic and contradictory to their previous statement of it being a theory of human work.   This statement of the “entire framework” clearly “assumes” in error that they know and understand the complete process.  To state that a discipline includes everything means that they know and understand it all and that is clearly not the case.   What is being stated here is the fact that they just said it was a theory and then they changed positions attempting to define it to be all-inclusive and all knowing.  There is absolutely no way that is possible.  You need to be careful when you read human explanations for what words mean.  If there are contradictions then there are problems.

But here is another very interesting point to consider about the subject of Hermeneutics.  This word is derived from a pagan Greek name of a mythological god called “Hermes” which was their false messenger god.      It would stand to reason from knowing this fact that anything to do with Hermeneutics is potentially a demonically inspired distraction from obtaining the real truth of God in His Word.  What did I just say?   I said if Hermes was a Satan inspired distraction from the true and living God then “Hermeneutics” could be the same.   What we should observer by the review of Hermeneutics and Exegesis is that they are both man’s attempt at creating rules to define how to understand a God that they clearly do not understand.  This is one of the main reasons that I avoid any manmade rules and theories of Bible interpretation.  I long to only know what God says on the subject of interpretation and I will follow only Him completely and whole heartedly.    I could have talked a lot more about those two words but this was a brief overview and certainly not a detailed book discussion of the subjects.

BUILDING THE TYPOLOGY FOUNDATION

We began by exploring the words of exegesis and hermeneutics in order to establish their origins and definitions.   We clearly saw them to be theoretical works of men that conform to their own incomplete understanding of the subject of Bible interpretation presented to us in the Bible.  Please allow me to do the same type of research for the word “typology” as a comparison.   Is Typology based upon human guesswork, reasoning or speculation?   Is Typology a manmade theory?  We need to answer these in order to see how typology fits into correct Bible study.  I believe you will quickly discover as we research this subject that typology is the opposite from what exegesis was defined to be.  Both exegesis and typology are based upon rules but the origin of these rules will become apparently different.   Let’s start this part of the subject study with a dictionary definition of the word “typology”:

  • TYPOLOGY
  • 1. The study or systematic classification of types that have characteristics or traits in common.

I thought this was an excellent definition.   Can you see any differences between this and exegesis with your first review of the word typology?  First understand that typology is NOT defined to be a theory.   It is not based upon indeterminate human speculation.  There is no reference to it being a theoretical effort of work like we saw in the definition of exegesis.  Next, I would like to emphasize what this word means.  Begin with the initial part of the definition to see that Typology represents a “STUDY” or a “CLASSIFICATION”.   Right there this teaches us the fact that it is a clear effort of human labor which is predominately based upon observation.  Study implies that someone is attempting to discover, learn and understand the known facts from either God or from any human subject teacher.   Bible Study should be defined as the “acquisition of Bible knowledge” and Bible knowledge should be defined as “any established facts of truth found within the Bible context”.  Therefore we have no theories involved in true Bible study.  Did you understand what I just said?  Typology is not a theory, but rather it is a study method and that is extremely insightful.   If a person studies the subject of how automobile engines work they are seeking to learn the established facts of these machines and there should be no desire to learn from any speculative theories or opinions from people who have never built one, worked on one, repaired one or learned how they work or can even operate one personally from experience.  Did you understand that automotive analogy?   What I was attempting to say is that any serious Bible student should not need to learn from any man that teaches on the basis of theories because the true facts can only found in God’s Word.

Let’s shift into a Biblical spiritual discussion about “study” for a moment.  What does God teach about the subject of “Study” in the Bible?  Are we required to study the Bible?  In other words is it necessary to study the Bible to understand it?  Is typology a part of God’s study method?   If you do not remember the answers to those questions I will show you the key verse that God gives to answer them:

  • 2Ti 2:15  Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

According to God “study” is a personal effort of labor.    The Greek word that was translated as “workman” in this verse is G2040 and it literally means “a toiler”, “a worker” and “a laborer”.  This Greek word comes from a root word that means “to work”.  I believe that it is now self-evident that study is a level of extended effort way beyond just reading the text on the pages.   Reading has never been studying, but studying does involve reading.   God very clearly says here in this verse that if we do not study the Bible that we may fall into a negative state of shame someday.   Therefore Bible study is a requirement given from God by N.T. command.    This is very good and important information to consider.

I could spend a lot of time talking about study, how to study and how study works and the application to the spiritual man but that is not my main subject here in this lesson.   I will briefly teach an overview of spiritual study to help you get started.  The human spirit is incapable of any Bible study without the engagement of the human mind’s comprehensive application.  Why is this mind and spirit interaction a necessity?  It is because of the divinely created triune state of a human.  The triune nature of a human is first the visible exterior body layer, the next layer of the human makeup is the invisible interior middle layer called the mind or soul and the final unseen layer is the innermost center of the living being called the spirit or heart.  In Matthew 9:4 Jesus said to the people “Why do you think evil in your hearts”.   The heart of man is the spirit of man and Jesus was connecting the two interior human realms together to teach how they work in unison.   From that statement in Mathew Jesus just revealed that the heart of man can be in one of two states, either evil or good.   All humans by nature are evil from the age of accountability which came from the works of their father Adam being passed down to his every descendant.  How then do we get the evil out and allow the good to enter to replace it?  Romans 12:2 will provide a clue to this answer by God commanding us to “be transformed by the renewing of our minds”.  I personally believe this is like computers and the old computer programmer saying that went “Put Garbage In, Get Garbage Out”.    In other words what you allow to be placed into your heart through your mind’s eye is what will be produced outwardly.    Like I said this is a very deep subject to even try to mention here in a paragraph so please read some of my other lessons or ask questions if you do not understand the nature of a human and how the parts work together.

Now let’s research the term “classification” found within the “typology” definition.  According to the dictionary this word means “the act or process of classifying things based upon common qualities or characteristics”.  Again we are not concerned with any theories simply because classification is only dealing with the observable facts between two or more objects.   What we are witnessing is that classification is a formalized approach to organization.  Did you notice God’s inclusion of classification within the verse we just read in 1Timothy 2:15 about study?  What does it mean to “rightly divide” the Word of Truth?  Rightly dividing is a synonymous work of classification.  God is literally saying that we need to organize the truth into proper like groups in order to understand it and that is called typology whether you believe it or not.  This means when we study a subject in the Bible we may need to correctly observe the facts and then organize these facts in order to understand any of them.  Perhaps, it will help if we first understand the definition for the term “classifying”.   This word means “the systematic arrangement in groups or categories according to fixed established criteria”.   Again this is a form of division and organization.  To organize anything you must divide it up within known like categories.   This is exactly what God was saying in 1Timothy 2:15 when he said to rightly divide the word of truth.   To rightly divide God’s truth it must be classified into like categories.   The antithesis truth to rightly dividing is wrongly dividing and this simply means that people can easily put truths in improper groups or categories of organization.  I really hope that you are grasping these deep complex concepts found in God’s Word.

Organization is just a bad word to many people because it involves work again.  Clearly we learned from God in 1Timothy 2:15 that work is involved in correct Bible study.  This literally teaches us that organization must be a part of the same effort.  Therefore if you are a lazy Christian you will never study the Bible.   What I have observed from my Bible study is the fact that God is a highly organized being.  There is no unorganized chaos found within God or His creation.  Look around you and you will observe order everywhere you look.  Order and organization do not originate from or appear from disordered chaos.   It only stands to reason that if God operates in the realm of order and has created order then His Word must also be organized in some manner that would reflect His own divine qualities.  This is one of the main reasons why I believe in Typology so strongly and we are about to learn many other great reasons soon.

What we are doing here is discovering the basics to what typology represents to God and man.   Placing like items or objects together is the study of the arrangement, classification, grouping or organization of similar forms, kinds, types, etc.  This method of classifying is based upon observing each object’s participation in a well-known and well-defined common set of like features, patterns, characteristics, qualities, abilities, etc.  So far knowing these definitions we can make the claim that typology is the study of the “systematic” classification of types that have the same traits or characteristics.  Wow, that is still a potential mouth full, isn’t it?    Do you really understand what this typology means?  Have you ever worked at filing in the days of the old file cabinets?  Every old office paper filing system was organized by a defined rules based system to enable organized storage and facilitate the fast retrieval of the filed information.  In a large stack of office papers it could take someone days to find the right paper if there was no organization applied to it.  But with proper planned organization it is found in a few minutes.  This old style manual filing organization was normally done by placing documents in alphabetical order based upon the name of a company or an individual’s last name.  A paper filing method was always a “rules based” system of defined storage and retrieval and this is actually directly related to what God has done in the Bible using typology and rightly dividing the Word of Truth.   I guess we need to look up the definition of “systematic” next.  I know we are going through some really basic technical information in this part of the lesson, but I believe this will help you understand why God uses typology:

  • Systematic:
  • Done or acting according to a fixed plan or system; methodical.

Systematic represents anything that is created, performed, established or done according to a defined set of never changing rules, standards and methods.  Systematic also represents a repeatable discovery or process by continuing to follow the same rules.  In other words a systematic discovery is one that is not accidental or unknown to how it was achieved.  Thomas Edison went through a systematic process in discovering the light bulb.   Every time that he discovered a light burning filament process that didn’t work that one was thrown out until the one that did work could be repeated consistently.  The discovery of the defined process for creating light bulbs created a new systematic process that remained for many, many years of reliable service.    If you understand this definition then you need to ask, does God have a plan before He does something?  Does God follow any set methods of design before doing something?   Does God use any set patterns when creating?  Because people are so uninformed, they usually do not know to ask these questions and they certainly do know the answers to these very important questions.     Let me repeat the definition of classification because this is just essential:

  • CLASSIFICATION:
  • The action or process of classifying something according to shared qualities or characteristics.

Like I have tried to say before,” classification” represents the human work of organizing and grouping like objects together based upon observable common features, characteristics, patterns, or any other standard observable qualities of similarity.  Is classification a good or an evil system or method of work?  Surely you can see that it is all good.   Where did classification originate from man or God?   I am firm believer that if you can see that classification is good and not evil then it had to have originated from God based upon what God said in James 1:17.  Go read that verse and you should see what I mean.

I have talked about this concept of classification in several of my Bible studies on this website.   Classifying like objects together is based upon basic mathematical set rules.   Every object of a like nature can be grouped together in a common set and can be referenced by the superior group label or title.  Each object in the set is unique but they are capable of being organized together because of the common feature being associated together.   For example, the mammal classification or set of created beings will have in common certain observable facts that they are all 1) warm blooded 2) vertebrate 3) animals.  Therefore any animal that fits this rule based description can be included in the set called mammals.  That is what classification represents.   Is this too complicated for a Bible study?

Concluding this part of the technical discussion we have learned that typology is the study of the systematic (rules based unchanging well defined methods) of classifying (organizing and grouping together) like or related individual objects (people, places, events and things) sharing common features or common characteristics.  What this teaches us is that by learning about one object in the defined set we can apply this knowledge to learn about every other object in the set in some limited degree of defined classification.    I might be going over the heads of many of my readers with this technical discussion about how types work but we need to learn this or remain ignorant.   We need to learn these are God given facts and that in order to understand many things found in the New Testament correctly it requires us to obtain correct knowledge of the given Old Testament types.  God’s use of Typology contains very specific classifications of like subjects, actions, individuals, groups, people, created objects, etc. that help us to understand spiritual things that we have never seen before.  Are you beginning to grasp the significance of this subject?   Let’s start an introduction to the subject of types found in the Bible.

BEGINNING TO SEE HEAVENLY TYPES IN THE OLD TESTAMENT

Gods Image BearersLet me take you into the classification of created man to help you understand that God declared the existence of types all the way back in Genesis 1.  In Genesis 1:26 God says “Let us make man in our image and after our likeness…”.    Man being the literal image and likeness of Almighty God is a mind blowing concept that is ignored by many Christians.  The angels of God could look at created man and immediately see the features and characteristics of God being demonstrated and repeated.   Man being made in God’s image is the definition of the word found within types and typology.  The created man possessed the common qualities and features of God by God’s design and purpose.  This Bible fact makes created man a literal “type” of the God class of beings using these common observable characteristics.  I know that is not very religious sounding but it is what the Bible says.

By observing the original created design in man we can perceive the unseen qualities of God and learn about Him in so many ways.   I do not have time to go into this subject fully today but I will give a quick overview of it.  For example God is described in the Bible to be a triune being.  Man was also created as a triune being consisting of three distinct and separate parts that comprise the whole as I mentioned earlier in this lesson.  God is described with a mind and man was created with the same likeness of mental capacity with reasoning and thought.  God speaks words audibly and man was created after this same pattern as a speaking individual.  I hope that you will do more research or even ask questions if you do not understand how that God can be observed in a created being called man.   Also do not misunderstand what I was saying about man being in the God class of beings.  I was not declaring man to be equal to God so put down your stones.  What I am beginning to teach is that spiritual things existed before there were any natural things and these naturally created things came from existing spiritual patterns, types and objects that were found present in the spiritual realm.   I could teach this subject for a long time but I will not do a comprehensive inclusion of every characteristic of man as a type of God in the Bible.  The primary point from Genesis 1:26 was that God existed eternally before man existed but yet when God created man He placed Himself as the pattern within the man.  One of the main points from Genesis 1:26 is the fact that anything with like characteristics represents a type and fits within the typology definition.  We will learn a lot more about this from the New Testament as we continue to study so do not yet give up or despair that you are not grasping it fully yet.

KONICA MINOLTA DIGITAL CAMERAI will now go over another O.T. prevalent subject quickly that God revealed to me about the existence of types.  This subject is mentioned in many of my other Bible studies because of the importance of this typology revealed by God.   If you search the Bible for the name of the city called “Jerusalem” you should find that it occurs in over 700 verses directly.  This city is also indirectly labeled and named by many other titles of a symbolic nature and the total verse count is actually much greater than 700.  Are all of these verses about the same city here on the earth?  You may be surprised to discover that they are not.  Have you ever considered that there may have been a heavenly version of this city named Jerusalem before the earthly city was ever conceived by God?  I know that I have, especially after reading what God wrote to us in the New Testament.  If you go and read in Galatians 4:26 you will find where God declared that there exists a city called “Jerusalem Above” which is a totally different city than the one that is now presently here on the earth.   Let me give you two main verses to consider concerning these two different cities both named Jerusalem:

  • Gal 4:25  For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children.
  • Gal 4:26  But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.

There are just not very many Christians that understand this truth because it was a new revelation from God sent to Paul for us to learn from in the last days.   This city “Jerusalem Above” is called the spiritual mother of the church and I do not have time to explain that either.  Notice in the verse before that God speaks of the earthly city of Jerusalem as a separate physical entity.   It is very obvious to me that these two cities named Jerusalem are types of each other.  It might not be as obvious to you but I have studied this subject for over 16 years and it becomes very apparent when you dig into it and allow God to open it up to your spiritual understanding.  If you need to learn about this city in more depth, it is covered in several other Bible lessons on my website.  What God has just revealed to you, is called hidden typology within the Bible.   God implies that the earthly city Jerusalem here in the Middle East has been patterned from a city that already existed in the spiritual heaven.  This is called typology where two cities are grouped together based upon common features and characteristics.  God has just demonstrated a superior classification called “Jerusalem” where exists more than one individual types of the city in the set.    Ok, God says for us to let every word be established in the mouth of two or three witnesses and I will give you another N.T. verse about this heavenly spiritual city:

  • Heb 12:22  But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels,

This is another extremely important verse to learn.   It directly teaches us that there is another city in heaven named Jerusalem where the angels of God reside.   When were angels created?   That is a very difficult question to answer since we are never directly informed of this event in the Bible that I know of.  There are several verses that indicate to us that angels were created long before man existed.  I do not have time to teach them in this lesson but they are in some of my other Bible lessons on angels and creation.   What we are observing is the realization that spiritual things existed before natural things but they can also both exist concurrently at the same time.   We are also beginning to understand that some of these natural things have been modeled after the original spiritual things and even named the same.   The Jerusalem that is on the earth is certainly not the Jerusalem just mentioned that was found in heaven.   But by God calling them by the same name this teaches us the valid existence of typology.   Also if you go and read back in Galatians 4:24 you will discover that both of these cities represent covenants with God.    That gives them common features causing a likeness that can be grouped or classified together.   Wow, I am hoping that you can understand and apply the typology concepts here to this information given to us by God.

What I am trying to say is that both of these cities belong to the classification called “Jerusalem cities”.  Therefore we can learn about one of them and this knowledge will teach us many things about the other one and vice versa.   If the Jerusalem below had a temple then the city above has the same type of feature.  If the Jerusalem below has a high priest then the city above will contain the same type of feature.   If the Jerusalem below was the home of a nation of God’s people then the city above will have the same characteristics.   We could just go on and on with this subject of Jerusalem for a very long time but that was enough to get you started thinking.  I will end this part of the introduction to this O.T. Bible typology discussion by trying to emphasize again that the naturally created things here on the earth will always point us back to the unseen spiritual things that existed before (Rom 1:20).   This is what God reveals to us in the New Testament and we will now explore more examples of this divine use of typology in the next section.

DISCOVERING MORE OF GOD’S DUPLICATION OF EXISTING HEAVENLY PATTERNS

I have been going through the introduction of two hidden examples of Old Testament natural patterns that were concealed projections of existing heavenly spiritual patterns.  Both the natural and the spiritual shared common features and characteristics allowing them to be legally grouped together within our typology study.  This was the nature of typology by definition.  As we continue to learn more about what has existed in the spiritual heaven has now been repeated by God here on the earth as types of heaven we will be able to learn about spiritual things that were never conceived within our human minds before.  In fact it would be impossible for us to know of the existence of these spiritual things without God giving us the natural things to observe.  We will also learn that these natural types on the earth will return back to the spiritual realm as in a full circle.  All of this was a hidden concept taught by God in the Bible.  Paul obtained the revelation of these truths and God is now making them known to us in the church in these last of the last days.  What I want to do is to help confirm what I just introduced you to by using what God says in the Bible about these subjects.   What will be doing is confirming that these O.T. things came from existing heavenly spiritual objects.   Let’s start with a verse in Acts:

  • Act 7:44  Our fathers had the tabernacle of witness in the wilderness, as he had appointed, speaking unto Moses, that he should make it according to the fashion that he had seen.

Have you ever considered the information given by God in this verse?  God is informing us that Moses had a spiritual vision of heaven in order to see this preexisting pattern that he was to build.    God was telling Moses to make the articles of the temple on the earth after the pattern design that was found in heaven.  I know this verse can be taken other ways.  For example God could have shown Moses what to build and these could have been completely new designs.  However that interpretation does not match with what else God says in the N.T. and we must take into account every scripture that is given to us about this subject.  If what I said about these earthly temple articles being heavenly patterns is true, this literally teaches us that the design of the temple in heaven was transferred to the earth through Moses and everything that was found here was a man made duplication of the divinely created spiritual realm.   Obviously this means that the natural objects were not spiritual object but the resemblance could be seen if you knew both like the angels of God did.    I will give you another verse that explains this more clearly next:

  • Heb 8:5  Who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for, See, saith he, that thou make all things according to the pattern shewed to thee in the mount.

Please read this verse very carefully.  There are three key Greek words that need to be defined in order to understand that this is God using Typology to teach the people.  The three Greek words are G5262, G4639 and G5179 translated in this verse as “example”, “shadow” and “pattern” respectively.   But before we explore these Greek words let’s observe that this verse in Hebrews is a partial quotation of an Old Testament verse from Exodus and go and read it:

  • Exo 25:40  “See that you make them after the pattern for them, which was shown to you on the mountain.

God again tells Moses directly that the objects of the temple will be made after the “pattern” that was given to him on the mountain.   If you do not understand the concept of patterns in creation you will never correctly understand the Bible.  A pattern is a creation technique and/or a device that causes duplicates to occur.  A pattern is used to recreate any original work of creation.   This is used in manufacturing, the garment creation industry, construction, automotive manufacturing and many other human work efforts.   Man did not invent this method of work, God did!   Please take a look at the definition for the Hebrew word H8403 translated as “pattern”.

  • H8403
  • From H1129; structure; by implication a model, resemblance: – figure, form, likeness, pattern, similitude.

Does any of this definition sound familiar to what we have been covering in this Bible lesson?  Take what I taught first in the previous section about Adam being made in the likeness of God.   That was a different Hebrew word in Genesis 1:26 but the meanings are very synonymous.  Both Hebrew words mean a resemblance or a model from a pattern.    Strong even places the word “pattern” as a legal definition and that is what was translated in KJV Bible.  Let’s go back to Hebrew 8:5 and look up the three Greek words that I was telling you were important to this subject.   The first word is G5262 that was translated as “example”.  What is an example?  According to the dictionary an example is “a thing characteristic of its kind or illustrating a general rule”.   Wow, that is the definition of a type within typology if I ever heard of one.   God is teaching you some very profound truths located in the Bible and I pray that you are not letting them slip away from your mind.   Again in the Strong’s definition we see concretely the words “likeness”, “model”, “resemblance” and “pattern”.  Learn these words and remember them.   See how they apply to Adam and God and then we will continue to learn how they apply to other types to come.

The next Greek word that I would like to point out is G4639 which is translated as “shadow” in this verse of Hebrews.   This Greek word being included within this verse context is one of the main reasons why many teach that “types and shadows” are synonymous terms referring to the same concept within Typology.   What is a shadow?   A shadow is usually a place where the light does not fully reach, right?   This means a shadow is where there is some level of darkness found to be present.  In other words there is something that is blocking the light from being seen directly on that spot.   I find that concept extremely informative to why people do not see or understand typology.   It also implies that God withheld certain levels of detailed information within typology so that he could reveal them later.   When Jesus came into the world in the flesh, He declared himself to be the light of the world (John 9:5).   Jesus literally taught many new things that were hidden from the foundation of the world.  This was Jesus being a light to the world explaining things that were never revealed before to man.  If you have ever seen a television studio you know that it has a lot of lights in it.   Bright lights cause shadows and that is not good for TV so they add more bright lights to eliminate the shadows.  That is exactly what Jesus was doing taking the shadows of the Old Testament and bringing more light to them.   Let’s review the Strong’s definition of this word:

  • G4639
  • Apparently a primary word; shade or a shadow (literally or figuratively [darkness of error or an adumbration]): – shadow.

This Greek word is defined to be a “shade or a shadow” literally or figuratively and in this case in Hebrews 8:5 it is certainly a figurative usage.  The word in this definition that I found the most interesting is probably a word that you have never heard of.  Do you know what an “adumbration” is?   This word means to “give a sketchy outline of something”.   It literally means to provide “a sketchy, imperfect, incomplete or even a faint representation” of something else that is not given directly by reference.  In other words it means that you can only know what is being stated if you understand the complete subject but otherwise you will not have a clue what the vague outline is about.  This is a good description of a shadow on the ground.  Unless you know who or what is casting the shadow the sketchy outline will be useless information to you.  An adumbration also means the “vague foreshadowing” of a plan, event or a person.   All of this information that we have discovered is completely relevant to the subject of Typology and God’s purpose for using it.  Please tell me that you understand these vital concepts?  The last Greek word that must be understood for this subject in Hebrew 8:5 is the Greek word G5179:

  • G5179
  • From G5180; a die (as struck), that is, (by implication) a stamp or scar; by analogy a shape, that is, a statue, (figuratively) style or resemblance; specifically a sampler (type), that is, a model (for imitation) or instance (for warning): – en- (ex-) ample, fashion, figure, form, manner, pattern, print.

duplicatedThis Greek word is also one of the most important found in the verse and is the best description yet of typology.  Please observe the concepts given in the definition.  Do you know what a “die” is?   This device is used in the manufacturing process to create duplicate objects.  It is usually made of metal and hollow on the inside where other metal or plastic can be poured into it to harden and become a new identical piece.   There are other types of these tools that are also used as stamps to leave an impression of an identical image.  This is a common type of tool used in leather work.   The idea that the one tool leaves a repeatable image in something represents another description of what Typology is to God as you can observe by continuing to read the rest of the definition.    The key word in this definition is the word “TYPE”.  It means that you can look at the thing being spoken of as a model of something else that is not normally revealed.   Patterns are also found in this definition.   We now have three different Greek words to search for in our Bible to learn how God uses them.   These are essential elements to understanding Bible Typology.  We have just covered the foundational basics for the subject and will now begin to explore the dynamics of some of the other aspects found within the New Testament.

GOD’S DETAILED USAGE OF O.T. TYPES AND SHADOWS IN THE N.T.

I have presented Biblical evidence that the naturally created things on the earth were patterned after unseen heavenly spiritual realities that pre-existed before the natural.  We are now going to discover that the next step to this designed process is to see exactly how God has placed in the Old Testament very specific natural patterns, types and shadows that point us again to unseen New Testament spiritual types.   God has taken this reality of patterns in a full circle from the spiritual to the natural then back to the spiritual again.  What you will begin to discover are some of the reasons that God did this but probably not in total coverage in this Bible lesson.   There are literally a great number of very specific natural types and shadows found in the O.T and these were designed to teach the church about the coming complex unseen spiritual truths found in the New Covenant.   Without the existence of the natural realm the church would have no comprehension of the spiritual realm.  As I have stated God created the natural world as a hidden reflecting window into the spiritual world.   God very clearly said in Romans 1:20 that “The invisible things of God even His godhead and power are clearly viewed in the things that He has created so that men are without excuse”.   I believe this verse teaches us something so very profound about the existence of typology.  I believe God was saying that which has been in the past is that which is seen now and that which is seen now is that which shall be again in the future.  If that doesn’t sound familiar you need to read Ecclesiastes to discover what God has said to us about this subject:

  • Ecc 1:9  The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.

Hopefully you can read and understand that God says there is NOTHING NEW under the sun.  Nothing is a very comprehensive word and does not omit anything that can be observed in the natural.  What does that teach us?   That literally means everything that we see here right now in this world was modeled after what existed previously in the spiritual world.   I am totally convinced that this is the concept of types and shadows used by God as repetitious patterns.  These patterns found in the Old Testament bring us light to know what is occurring in the spiritual New Covenant.  Let’s explore some more of the specific types revealed by God to us in the New Testament that were hidden by God in the Old Testament.  I’ll begin this section of the lesson with a verse that is found in Romans 5:

  • Rom 5:14  Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come.

This is God’s commentary on the creation of Adam in Genesis 1 and 2.  In this N.T. explanation God very specifically reveals that Adam was a “TYPE” of the coming Lord Jesus.  We can further confirm this truth by observing how God called Jesus the “Last Adam” in 1 Corinthians 15:45.  What we are learning here in these two verses is further confirmation that God can use duplicate names like Adam or Jerusalem to establish a valid type set comparison and relationship.  This concept was exactly what I taught you previously about the name of the city of Jerusalem.  God will often repeat the name of an O.T. reality calling it HEAVENLY, NEW, LAST or by using some other adjective modified form to cause it to be known that it is not the same object as the one mentioned previously but is rather a new type of that one.   If you continue to study this subject of typology you will soon discover that God will use a natural named reality found in the Old Testament to teach us about a spiritual reality again and again.  The Greek word that was translated as “figure” in this verse in Romans is the repeated key word that was covered in the last section concerning the temple that Moses built in Hebrews 8:5.  Do you remember the Greek word G5179 that meant a “die” or a “stamp”?    How can Adam be called a stamped pattern of Jesus?   By not understanding this word and how to apply it to Jesus will cause you to totally miss the very important message being taught by God concerning the legitimacy of typology.   Can we agree to at least try to learn and understand what God wants us to know about this subject?

If you recall from the definition of G5179 it was based upon an engraving process, a printing press process, or even a modern “model” building process.  When I was a kid I use to like to build models.  I would buy them and then put them together trying to follow the instructions with glue and the finished model would “resemble” a real airplane that could be flown in the Air Force.  It was such a great lesson of what is happening in this God example given to us in Romans 5:14.  God is saying Adam is not Jesus but the resemblance and characteristics that he possessed clearly point us to Jesus using typology.   It is exactly the same as the model airplane is not the greater real airplane but it teaches us and points us to what the real airplane looks like.  That is obviously one of the greatest values for the existence of typology in the Bible.  God says by us using typology that we can learn about Jesus from reading about a naturally created man named Adam.   Wow, I wonder, how this Adam truth of Biblical typology fits into your theoretical rules of correct hermeneutics and exegesis.   According to some believers and Bible teachers today God is incorrectly interpreting His own scriptures by using typology.   Who among us believes that God knows what He is doing here?  I choose to believe this very strongly and that is why you cannot talk me out of it with your manmade exegesis rules.

I can still hear many questioning how this reality is possible that Adam was a type of Jesus.   I really do not have time to teach that in depth in this lesson today since that is not the main subject of this study.   I will tell you that if Adam had a wife that came out of his side then Jesus will also have a wife that will come out of His side.  That is one of the most profound hidden truths concerning the Adam typology.  I will tell you that the law of marriage given to natural Israel in Genesis 2:24 is quoted in Ephesians 5 where God is talking about husbands and wives.  In this chapter of Ephesians, God clearly reveals the wife of Christ Jesus to be the church.  If you do not understand how this typology is possible either, ask questions or go read some more Bible lessons where I talk about this very important subject.  I hope that I can challenge you do a study of Adam now with a new set of Jesus spiritual viewers on.   God has just concretely confirmed the existence of O.T. types and shadows.

Jesus revealed in John 5:39 that the natural Jews needed to search their scriptures because these were the words that testified concerning Him.   Jesus was teaching them that He was the predominate subject of their Holy Law.   If they had to search in order to find Him, then He was not found plainly or easily in the surface text of the words written on the pages or scrolls.    It was not until God reveals to us in the New Testament how Jesus could be found there that anyone could possibly know that Adam represented a “TYPE” or “PATTERN” of the coming Jesus.   This single fact alone teaches the validity of using TYPOLOGY in correct Bible interpretation.   Are you receiving this?  I’m not done teaching so that is not all that I have to say on this subject but I have already given you very significant Bible evidence that should help you to begin to learn the truth about Typology.   Let’s examine another type of Jesus found in the New Testament that confirms the reality of Typology:

  • Heb 7:15  And it is yet far more evident: for that after the similitude of Melchisedec there ariseth another priest,

Here we have a new and different Greek word but yet it means the exact same things as the ones that we have looked at previously.  All of these Greek words G3665, G5179 and G8403 are very synonymous in their definitions.   Here in Hebrews 7:15 God declares that Jesus is a priest “like” Melchisdec.   The Greek word G3665 that is translated as “similitude” is the key word from this verse that must be understood.   If you read the context of this verse you will discover that God relates the story of Abraham meeting the priest Melchisdec and how he gave to him a tenth of the spoils.  What God is doing in this verse is teaching us that Jesus is again a spiritual type of the natural O.T. high priest Melchisdec.  In doing this Jesus has become our high priest for the people in the church today.  Perhaps we need to review the Strong’s definition for this Greek word in order to comprehend the typology connection completely:

  • G3665
  • From G3664; resemblance: – like as, similitude.

This Greek word comes from a root word that means “similar in appearance or character”.   Again we see the definition of what typology represents.  This is the exact same concept as I gave you concerning the creation of man in Genesis 1:26.   Man being made in the likeness and image of God is what God is saying about Jesus being made in the likeness and image of Melchisdec.   Do you need me to repeat the definition of typology?   Remember that typology was defined to be the systematic classification of similar objects based upon common characteristics.  There are a lot more types of Jesus found in the Old Testament than these two witnesses that God just gave to you.   What you will discover is that God has left many more types of Jesus for us to discover by teaching us of their existence using the examples of Adam and Melchisdec.   I’ll give you one more N.T. example of typology which is more difficult to find but was written to the Hebrews who clearly knew the Law of Moses:

  • Heb 3:1  Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus;
  • Heb 3:2  Who was faithful to him that appointed him, as also Moses was faithful in all his house.
  • Heb 3:3  For this man was counted worthy of more glory than Moses, inasmuch as he who hath builded the house hath more honour than the house.
  • Heb 3:4  For every house is builded by some man; but he that built all things is God.
  • Heb 3:5  And Moses verily was faithful in all his house, as a servant, for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken after;
  • Heb 3:6  But Christ as a son over his own house; whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end.

Nowhere in these verses does it say specifically that Moses is a type of Jesus by using the 4 key Greek words that we have already found, but yet the description given to us is exactly within the context of the Typology subject discussion.   Both men are said to be faithful.  Both men are said to be “servants”.  Both men are said to be builders of houses.   Those few characteristics give them commonality that can be classified together.   This is the definition of typology again.  Can you see it?  Of the two being referred to Jesus is clearly called the greater.  This again is the repeated pattern of creation coming full circle.  The greater God created the lesser man named Adam and then the greater God became like a lesser man Adam who died and has now been raised up to life again and exalted back into the realm of greatness.   I am trying to teach the effectiveness and validity of Typology using as many examples as possible in this limited format lesson.  I hope that you can seeing these for what they really are and learn how to apply them to your Bible Study going forward.  Let’s talk about another aspect of Moses being a type of Jesus before we leave this part of the study.

If you recall the story of Moses he was chosen by God and deemed to be the “deliverer” of the natural nation of Israel.  Again these were all types that pointed us to what Jesus did.  Jesus was chosen by God and He was the “deliverer” of the whole world from Satan’s kingdom of darkness.   The whole O.T. story of the deliverance of the people of natural Israel from Egypt is an extremely important lesson using Typology of how God brought the N.T. people out of the realm of control from Satan.  Natural Israel was captive for 430 years in Egypt and the people of the earth were held captive to Satan for 4030 years.   The natural story occurs in Exodus as a type but the greater story of deliverance was given to us by God in the Gospels and then revealed in the letters written to the church.   If you still can’t understand these concepts after all of this I am beginning to think that I can’t help you.   I would suggest that you go to Ephesians 1:16 and pray the prayer that Paul prayed for the church at Ephesus for God to open the eyes of their spiritual understanding to see the wisdom and revelation of Christ Jesus.  If you pray this for yourself I know God will answer it because that is what He did for me.

Always remember that before these N.T. church letters were written there were only the Old Testament scriptures to find Jesus in.  Acts 17:11 teaches us about a part of the church that was found by God to be more noble than others.  These church members were open to what Paul was preaching but then they used their Old Testament scriptures to verify everything that was spoken was actually written in the Holy Book.   The letters written to the church simply taught the people how to find Jesus and explain the many techniques that were used to conceal Him there.  I write about this frequently because this is one of the number one problems that I face on my website.   The only way that I have figured out how to get people to overcome not seeing the truth is by teaching it frequently over and over.  Eventually people will either get tired of me saying the same thing and leave or finally get it into their spirit to believe.

We could talk about typology for a very long time since it is so dominate within the Old Testament.   I will not even attempt to give you every possible type found in the Old Testament but I will quickly provide an overview of some that I found very interesting.  We have already looked at Adam but the first two sons of Adam were Cain and Abel.  Notice the fact that Abel was the younger brother because that will become a pattern within itself in many of the types found in the O.T.   Cain’s offering is rejected by God and Abel’s offering is accepted.  Cain gets angry and kills his younger brother.   Abel is a type of Christ in this story.  Christ came to the earth and was killed by Satan on the cross.   God certainly accepted the Lamb’s sacrifice that was shed on the cross and God had already rejected Satan’s offerings.  The blood of Abel was “like” the blood of Christ.  Perhaps you struggle with my conclusions but what I say is based upon scriptures and not my own reasoning.  Take a look at this verse and see the typology being mentioned between Jesus and Abel:

  • Heb 12:24  And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.

Why would God even mention Jesus and Abel in the same verse if they were not in some related classification together?  Both were killed and both had their blood poured out on the ground during the commission of the act.  God is giving you a clue about how typology works in this verse.  God does not tell you everything that the type reveals so that you can still go and read it and discover more.  This is called TYPOLOGY people and it is right in front of your face if you will just read it and see what it says.

Let’s consider the O.T. man Isaac next.  This was the promised son that God told Abraham would come.  However Abraham got impatient and listened to his wife and they had an Ishmael through a maid servant.   God specifically told Abraham that this Ishmael was not his heir.   Years later the promised son was given and Isaac was born.  The maidservant and her son were cast out of the family and God reveals in the New Testament that this is an allegory of a far greater spiritual truth.   Remember when I talked about Jerusalem above versus Jerusalem below?   These were revealed using a form of typology called allegory.  Allegory is simply a real natural story that reveals a hidden spiritual story of greater importance.   If you go and read Galatians 4 you will find that Sarah was a type of the city Jerusalem that was above.  Hagar was a type of the Jerusalem that now is here on the earth.   I’m not going to teach this lesson again here so I do not have to explain it over again.   Just try to conceive what God has done in the Bible using typology.  The promised son Isaac is a very specific type of the Lord Jesus Christ the promise made to the whole world.   When Abraham took his son to sacrifice him a ram was conveniently caught by the horns nearby.  The Ram is symbolic of God coming to the earth in the flesh take the place of Isaac.  The typology within this story is rich and very deep with spiritual content.  Every player in the story of Abraham, Sarah, Hagar, Ishmael and Isaac has a role in the greater spiritual story.  God the father is the type of Abraham.  Isaac was a type of Jesus Christ.  As we have seen the city of Jerusalem in heaven a type of Sarah and the city of Jerusalem in the middle east a type of Hagar.  I’m not here to teach this whole allegory, so we will move on.

The subject of typology is found throughout the New Testament but let’s go back to chapter 7 of the book Acts.  Earlier I gave you one verse from this chapter that was about Moses being given the heavenly patterns from God on the mountain.  The rest of this chapter is also about hidden typologies found within the Old Testament.   The man Stephen is speaking to the leaders of the synagogue and Stephen uses much of their law to try to explain why Jesus had to come to the earth.   These are clearly all typology comparisons that were inspired by the Holy Spirit to teach them they were not seeing their scriptures correctly.   These words are still true today for those that use private exegesis rules that disallow the use of Typology.   If Typology is an invalid interpretation method then chapter 7 of Acts is from the devil.  Please read this chapter carefully and learn what is being stated.   Solomon is being stated by God to be a type of the coming Jesus in verse 47 who builds God a new spiritual house like Solomon did in the Old Testament.   Also King David in the preceding verse is used to represent a type of God the Father in heaven.  I’m just not going to spend the time to go through this whole chapter.  You can do that for yourself.

I hope and pray that you are beginning to understand typology’s significance in the correct interpretation of the Old Testament.   I could have told you about many other types of Jesus found in the Old Testament but I gave you enough to prove the reality that it should make you change your perspective to how you read the Old Testament.   Learn from early church Bible teachers like Peter, Stephen, Paul and John who write and taught initially from only the Old Testament foundational verses about Jesus.   Try to understand how they applied the O.T. scriptures to mean what they were revealed to them by the Spirit of God to mean in the New Testament.   When you read the Old Testament if you are not looking for Jesus primarily then you are probably missing the main reason that the words were written.  Then when you find a type of Jesus if you are not looking at the other named individuals that interact with the type of Jesus then you are missing another of the main reasons that they were also included in the text.   God’s intelligence is way beyond what you can comprehend.   God will take words within natural stories and teach you such profound spiritual knowledge and wisdom that it is staggering to the human mind.   If you learned anything from this lesson I would enjoy hearing about it.  These positive comments will counter the negative comments that will also surely come.   God Bless you and if you keep studying the Bible to find the truth, Jesus said that it will be found (John 8:32).  Thank you!

Bible Answers: Was the Eye of the Needle in Mark 10:25 a Literal or Figurative description and what does it mean?

Ver 2.0)  I recently received a question about what Jesus meant concerning the “camel” going through the “eye of a needle” spoken to us in Mark 10:25.   This is a commonly misunderstood verse in the Bible that is often misused and misapplied to mean many things that was not truly stated.   If we read the surrounding verses we might discover that there were two primary subjects being spoken of.    One subject was salvation and the other was physical money or possessions.  Jesus actually taught more on the subject of money than practically any other subject found in the Gospels.   It is very obvious to me that this makes money a very important subject to learn and understand correctly.   It further teaches us if money was discussed in the same context as salvation that we are required to learn how they fit and work together to have any confidence that we are following the words and teachings of Jesus accurately.   This is a potentially controversial topic to teach.  There are so many strong opinions on this subject of money and they go from one extreme on the far left to the opposite extreme on the far right.  This subject will be difficult for some to receive but please do not get offended by anything that I say just because you disagreed.  To become offended at your brother for saying something is a childish carnal reaction.  If you want to grow spiritually and discuss it in a mature Christian way, I will be happy to hear what you have to say if you have Bible verses that back up what you believe.

There is a significant challenge being presented by God with studying a prolific subject like money.  The more abundantly any subject is presented in the Bible the more difficult it becomes to learn completely because every verse on the subject must be balanced with every other verse about the same subject in order to come to the correct interpretation of what is being taught as a whole.   If we go and do some study we should find that there are over 2000 verses in the Bible that directly or indirectly relate to the subject of money.   That is a lot of verses to study and to understand.  If you know and understand them all, please feel free to share that with me so that I may learn from you.   If not, then please do not condemn what I teach by the guidance of the Holy Spirit.   Since no one knows or understands every verse on any prolific subject except for God we need to trust God to speak what we need to learn about today and trust that He will guide us into more knowledge and a greater understanding tomorrow.  What I have learned from studying this subject is that if we take any single verse on a broad subject like money in Mark 10:25 and study it in isolation it will cause only confusion and misunderstanding because we lack sufficient knowledge to make any correct assessment.   We will begin with the primary verse in question and then continue to understand what is being said by Jesus using certain basic Bible interpretation rules:

  •  Mar 10:25  It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.

The question being answered today “Is Jesus talking about a literal sewing needle in this verse or one that is figurative representing something else?”   I guess that also implies, is Jesus talking about a literal camel in this verse or is the camel also a symbolic representation for something else?    If one is symbolic the other by direct association must also be symbolic and the antithesis to that truth is if one is literal then the other reference must also be literal.   Because the camel is stated to pass through the eye of the needle both objects must interact directly with the other.  It is usually wisdom to be consistent in the interpretation of objects of such close proximity in the scriptures especially if they interact with each other.   Determining whether or not these objects are literal or figurative will be a difficult question to answer so we need to use the defined rules of Bible interpretation to come to the proper conclusion.  We will start with the rule of God’s Selected Word Usage in the other parts of the Bible to determine if God sets any pattern of usage or if God has presented us with any redefinitions for any of the words being questioned.  This is actually one of the most significant Bible interpretation rules that is often ignored, not known or not applied.   I hope that you at least understand the principle behind why this rule is beneficial.  I’m not here today to teach rules for interpretation, but I will always use them whether I tell you about them or not.

GOD’S SELECTED WORD USAGE

The Greek word G4476 translated as “needle” is only used in three verses in the entire N.T. and these all quote this same statement (Mat 19:26, Mark 10:25, Luke 18:25).  This Greek word literally means a sewing instrument also known as a sewing needle according to the Strong’s dictionary.   The Greek word G5168 translated as “eye” is also only found in these three same quoted statements in the same three verses in the N.T.   The meaning of the “eye” is literally an opening like an orifice in the human body.  Clearly this is a description of a literal natural sewing needle.  Therefore, we have no other word usage convention in the N.T. to help us compare God’s selection of the terms to be either literal or figurative.  That means we need to move to the next Greek word and learn what it teaches us.

The Greek word G2574 that was translated as “camel” is used in the same exact three quoted verses but this word is also found in three additional N.T. verses where two times (Mat 3:4, Mar 1:6) it is definitely used by God to describe an actual literal created camel.  In these two verses John the Baptist is described wearing a coat of “camel’s” hair and since John is literal the camel-hair coat must also be literal by the rule of direct interaction that I mentioned previously.  There is only one other verse (Mar 23:24) in the N.T. where this Greek word for camel is used and this time it is clearly selected by Jesus to be a figurative statement where it cannot be taken literally.   In this verse Jesus is talking to the scribes and the Pharisees and He tells them “You strain a gnat and swallow a camel”.   These were “figures of speech” with deeper meanings that could be understood by the hearer.  The gnat and the camel were not to be taken as literal statements where they were literally straining gnats and literally swallowing a whole camel.  I do not have time to explain figures of speech but they are found in the Bible in several places by God’s design.

What we have discovered so far is that it is not going to be easy to learn what these words really mean by observing only the usage of the Greek words in the rest of the Bible.  There are no definitions for the words given in the rest of the Bible that I have found.  There were no other occurrences of the words “eye” or “needle” in the New Testament.   The Greek word for “camel” could be taken literally or as a figure of speech and that only means the verse in Mark 10:25 is one of the two and we need to continue to study to determine which it is.   That was only one rule of Bible interpretation and there are others to follow so let’s go to the next and find how that applies.

Before I apply the next interpretation rule, let’s expand the reader’s question using the implied unstated meaning behind the question.  What I have discovered is that the reason for one asking a question is equally as important as the question itself.  I understood my reader’s question to imply “If this verse is a literal camel going through a literal needle’s eye, then Jesus was teaching that we shouldn’t become rich, own any possessions or live outside of the realm of absolute poverty”.   But was that what Jesus was actually teaching us?   I have seen where many believe this to be true and go and live in a commune owning nothing.   I have even heard preachers teach that this verse in Mark 10 is a proclamation that having wealth and riches in this world is a direct pathway to hell.   I do not know for sure if that was the reason for the question, but that will be the focus for my answer to the question nonetheless.   Is having money a negative in the eyes of God?  If we own nothing is that a positive thing in the eyes of God?   If having money, wealth and possessions in this world is a negative then I believe hell is full of a lot of Old Testament saints that were rich like, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, David, Solomon, Job and I could name others that possessed great wealth in the Bible.   If the possession of wealth causes one to be evil, I would begin to ask God, why did you create it?   I would then ask an even better question next to God saying “why are the streets of heaven paved in gold”?   It would appear to me that the Bible contradicts the teaching that having wealth is an evil by giving us so many examples to the contrary.  This is where we need to learn the application of balance.   Let’s balance every verse about money in the Bible and not just focus on this one alone in Mark 10.   We still need to overcome the apparent contradiction to the presumed statement made by Jesus in Mark 10:25 about a rich man not being able to enter into the Kingdom of God.

STUDYING THE CONTEXT OF MARK 10:25

One of the key Bible interpretation rules is to interpret the verse in question using the surrounding context of the statement.  Ignoring the context or taking the verse out of context will usually result in a false meaning of the information given within the verse.  This is normally true except when a verse contains information of a universal truth nature.   A universal truth is a statement made by God that is true regardless of the context or application.  This verse in Mark 10:25 is NOT a divine universal statement of truth and therefore the context is valuable and even essential to understanding the meaning.  A context type of study would include what is being described directly around the statement in the chapter and if you want to expand the search to go beyond the chapter context you can also include what was spoken in the entire book about the subjects presented.   But context study also includes the search to find the answers for three additional questions which are:

  1. Who is speaking?
  2. Who is being spoken to?
  3. Who is being spoken about?

This verse is a prime example of the necessity for this rule’s application.  We cannot read this verse in Mark 10:25 alone and attempt to understand it because it is a small part of a much larger story that is being used to teach a far greater principle.   Therefore, we really must consider the surrounding context in order to better understand what is being stated by Jesus in verse 25.   It is very similar to what I said in a previous paragraph.  The reason for Jesus speaking this statement in Mark 10:25, is equally as important as what was said by Jesus in the statement alone.   Without understanding the purpose behind it, you will never understand the statement being made.  Please read all of these context verses together starting with verse 17 where the lesson begins:

  •  Mar 10:17  And when he was gone forth into the way, there came one running, and kneeled to him, and asked him, Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?

  • Mar 10:18  And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God.

  • Mar 10:19  Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Defraud not, Honour thy father and mother.

  • Mar 10:20  And he answered and said unto him, Master, all these have I observed from my youth.

  • Mar 10:21  Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me.

  • Mar 10:22  And he was sad at that saying, and went away grieved: for he had great possessions.

  • Mar 10:23  And Jesus looked round about, and saith unto his disciples, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God!

  • Mar 10:24  And the disciples were astonished at his words. But Jesus answereth again, and saith unto them, Children, how hard is it for them that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God!

  • Mar 10:25  It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.

  • Mar 10:26  And they were astonished out of measure, saying among themselves, Who then can be saved?

 

I gave you several verses before verse 25 and one after because they all go together in a single lesson.   Jesus is the primary speaker with the majority of the spoken words being in red ink.   However, there are secondary statements being made by a rich man at first and later the disciples of Jesus.   Actually it is important to note that the rich man initiates the conversation and that causes Jesus to begin to respond to his question.   Therefore the conversation was not initiated by Jesus.  It is always important to notice if Jesus initiates something or if it is simply Jesus responding to what another has initiated.  One reason for this distinction is to know if Jesus is teaching generally to everyone or if Jesus is teaching directly to just one person.   This fact will have direct bearing upon how we view the context.  What we have is Jesus as the main speaker answering a question from a solitary rich man not about money but about his salvation.  Therefore the lesson within the conversation begins with a personal response to one man and not a general discussion to everyone about how to be saved.  Do you understand this?   I’ll try to say it again differently; Jesus is speaking to only this one rich man at first with the disciples in observance of the conversation not being direct participants but rather simply observant students of the Master who was giving a lesson to an isolated rich man about his personal salvation.

As you can read in verse 17 the primary subject of this discussion is concerning only salvation.  One of the secondary subjects of the conversation that later comes out is about the subject of the rich man’s money in verse 21.   We know from reading verse 22, that Jesus was approached by a very wealthy man asking what he could do to inherit eternal life.  Jesus names several of the commandments of God in verse 19 and the rich man claims to have followed all of these since his age of accountability in verse 20.  Many today would think that obeying God’s law would be enough to be saved but that is not what the New Testament teaches us.   In Romans 4:13-14, God says that the promise to be an heir of salvation was not given to any man through the obedience of the law but rather it came by faith in Jesus Christ alone who was doing the speaking in this lesson.  In Galatians 2:16 God says “No flesh will be justified by the works of the law”.   This knowledge of the law makes the initial answer that Jesus gave to the rich man almost irrelevant.  So there must be another reason for Jesus making the statement.

Why then does Jesus tell him that he should have obeyed the law if this obedience was not required for New Covenant salvation?   Well first we need to remember that the New Covenant was not yet implemented and thus they were still under the jurisdiction and the concluding timeline of the Old Covenant.  The Law was the only Words of God available to follow, so that is clearly the emphasis being given at first.   However, Jesus was not done talking and continues with some personal spiritual realities on things this rich man would need to fix in order to be saved after the New Covenant was implemented.   I am not sure if you understood fully what I just said, but it will become clearer as we go forward.

What I observe here in this lesson to the rich man so far is that Jesus was dealing with his core spiritual heart issues and not just his perceived loyalty to obey God’s commands.  Jesus appears to be confirming the existence of the rich man’s pride by offering him a chance to admit to just one law that he has not followed completely in his entire mature life.   You see the law was created by God to show man that it was impossible to keep the entire law consistently and by coming to this revelation of the truth teach man the need for a savior.   Romans 3:20 teaches us that it is by law that the knowledge of sin was given to man.   In Romans 2 Paul talks a lot in this chapter about those under the law attempting to keep the law but then breaking it in some way.  Then in Roman 5:20 Paul wrote that the law entered so that the transgression of the law might abound.  I’m not sure if you understood that last statement either that God made through Paul.  You see here in the U.S., the 5 largest cities with the strictest and most prolific gun  control laws are where the majority of gun murders occur.   If you want more deaths by guns to occur God just said you should pass more laws against them and this will cause the violation of the law to increase.   Wow, that was good to learn!  I wish more of our government would learn that.

This rich man’s claim to have followed the law completely is a virtual impossibility since only Jesus fulfilled the law to the full extent.  One problem that Jesus consistently encountered in the Gospels was religious people who believed that they were superior to Him because of their self-righteous good works.   These Pharisee types looked at their ability to obey the law as the true way to God.  They created manmade traditional rules on top of God’s laws to insure that they never even came close to violating God’s law.   However, Jesus would look at them and say that they were like whitewashed tombs that looked pretty on the outside but were full of unclean dead men’s bones on the inside (Mat 23:27).  This rich man’s response was much like those of the Pharisee types.  Therefore the rich man was clearly in pride not admitting to the truth of his own faults and shortcomings in need of a savior.  This is when Jesus begins to dig deeper into the man’s inner heart condition to show him that there were more profound root issues that needed correction in order for him to receive this “eternal life” that he was seeking.

Jesus says to go and sell his possessions and give to the poor and that is when the rich man turns away from his only hope named Jesus in a state of grief.  That was the end of that personal conversation with the rich man about his salvation and that is very important to note.   Jesus then looking around about at his surroundings said out loud “how hard it is for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God”.  This new statement to a totally different audience appears to be the beginning of a major controversy for the disciples of Jesus and it was totally unexpected to them because they did not understand the reason for what had just happened to the rich man.

What we must observe is that a significant target audience transition has just occurred.   Jesus has just moved from answering a rich man’s personal question on what he needed to do to be saved to teaching a different valuable lesson to His disciples and us in the church.  This new lesson is about a greater previously unmentioned subject.   What that should potentially mean to us is that the primary subject has moved from a conversation about the salvation of a single natural rich man to a conversation about spiritual internal conditions that were never discussed.   Here is a good time for us to ask, why did Jesus ask the rich man to sell his possessions and give to the poor.   The reason behind the request is actually again more important than the request itself.

This is where the Bible reader who desires to know the truth needs to become a Sherlock Holmes type of serious Bible student to observe the details to what is really being taught to the church and not to an unsaved rich carnal man.   Why were the disciples so astonished at this saying of Jesus in verse 23?   Why were His disciples so surprised by this statement about the rich of this world being so hard to save?   Think about it.  If the disciples were all poor men that had nothing and owned nothing they should be rejoicing because they could now be easily saved on their way into the Kingdom of God, but that was not their reaction at all, was it?  Can you read?   Can you see what their reaction was?  This was clearly the reaction of men that were NOT poor.  Being shocked that a rich man is almost impossible to save makes no logical sense for anyone but men with money.   I believe if you study the Bible you might agree that these men selected by Jesus were not poor men who owned nothing.  In fact, the majority of the disciples described came from successful businesses that were making them money.   Many were fishermen like Simon Peter and Andrew who caught and sold fish for money (Mat 4:18).   James and John are described to also be fishermen with possessions (Mat 4:21).   Clearly fishermen owned large boats, fishing gear, nets, as well as owned houses and worked and made money in the markets.  One disciple named Matthew was definitely a tax collector (Mat 9:9) and years later when Luke wrote about this story he was described to be a doctor (Col 4:4).  None of these followers were poor men begging for money to exist.   That is why they are so very concerned with this statement that Jesus just made.  Do you understand this?

Jesus then continues the lesson saying “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to be saved”.  Again all of the disciples that heard Jesus were flabbergasted and confused and that confirms that they all have money. This saying of Jesus was making them think about asking if they could even be saved.   What I have discovered being taught within the Bible is that the Bible is not opposed to people having money.   Jesus was not teaching poverty in this example.   Jesus was not even teaching that we need to sell or give away everything in order to be saved.   That would be very unintelligent religious thinking that is drawn from wrong conclusions and interpretation that would teach this is found in the Bible.

What Jesus was teaching, is that rich people MUST NOT trust in their money more than they trust in God.  This further says that rich people must not love their money and their possessions more than they love their God.  Jesus was making a point to the rich man that he needed to learn to trust in God and His Grace rather than to place all of his confidence in what he had done and what he had obtained.  Any rich person who is self-reliant, self-made, and self-sufficient in their own eyes will find it very hard to be saved because they are full of pride in their own accomplishments and abilities.   The Bible says that God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble (James 4:6).   The rich man that came to Jesus was asking how to be saved but he was too heavily bound to and by his money and his possessions for him to let go of them to make Jesus his Lord.  The rich man therefore does not qualify to receive grace.  His money was in effect his god.   He was joined to his money and he was unable to part with any of these temporary things of this world simply because he valued them more than he valued the eternal rewards of God and that was the major problem that Jesus was addressing in this personal lesson to the rich man.

Jesus was dealing with a heart issue and not a money issue.   What we value will be what we place our trust and confidence in.   A man with great wealth has learned that money will buy him practically anything and he has placed a false trust in it.  Jesus actually spoke of this in Matthew 6:2 when he said “Where you treasure is there will also be your heart”.  Jesus clearly says what a man values in this world is what he will be focused on in his heart.  Jesus is not going to share first place in your heart with your money or your possessions.   Everyone is going to have to choose between Jesus and money or whatever it is that they value to determine which will be of more lasting worth and benefit and then make only one of these their priority in this life.

In the first part of the lesson to the rich man Jesus was trying to get him to see that he needed to change.  In the last part of the lesson to the church Jesus was teaching a lesson about how people can still possess money but that this money must not possess them or they will never see the kingdom of God.  This lesson being taught goes along with other statements that Jesus made on the subject of money that are parallel examples to what is being taught in Mark 10:25:

  •  Mat 6:24  No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

You see when a person becomes a Christian they are required by the design of God in Romans 10:9-10 to make Jesus their personal Lord and Savior.   You cannot make Jesus your Savior without also making Him your simultaneous Lord.   If Jesus is your Lord then your money or your possessions or whatever cannot be your Lord.   Jesus states this very clearly using money in Matthew 6:24.   When someone tries to serve two masters they are distracted by the one to not fully serve either.  Jesus requires your undivided attention when you make Him your Lord.   He is not going to share His Lordship with your business or your money.   That was the major problem with the rich man that came to Jesus in Mark 10:25.   Jesus was attempting to get a commitment from the rich man to make Jesus His Lord, but the rich man turned away to continue to serve his wealth.   Does this make sense to you now?

Jesus was teaching the rich man about his problem without ever stating that he had a problem.   When the rich man heard this he should have become humble and asked a few more questions instead of going away without knowing the rest of the truth for the reason to why Jesus asked what He did.   What did I say earlier?  I said the reason for the statement is as important as the statement itself.   This man heard the request but did not desire to know the reason behind the statement.  That was one of his greatest failures.   It is not offensive to God if you ask Him questions.  People are generally like two year old children to God’s level of thinking.  God understands that people are in need of knowledge and understanding to grow.

Asking questions is an excellent way to learn more about your situation.   Don’t believe me?   When the angel of God comes to Mary and tells her that she will have a child, she doesn’t walk away in grief saying, “yea right”.  No she was wiser than this rich man and she asked “how shall this be seeing that I have never known a man?’  God was not angry at the question and gave her the straight answer and this was to her benefit because now she understood more about how this was possible to occur.   Do you ever ask God questions?   I ask God questions very often, it is the easiest way to learn the truth.

 

 WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY ABOUT GIVING TO THE POOR?

Now for some more potentially controversial parts of the lesson.  I have already shown briefly what the N.T. says about Jesus’ instructions concerning obeying the law so we should move to the next statement made by Jesus and learn more about this subject.  Since the rich man was next instructed by Jesus to release his possessions and then to “give” to the poor it might be helpful if we understood how this relates in order to understand what would have happened to the rich man if he would have been obedient to the LORD’s request.  I will confirm that his disobedience to Jesus’ request to sell and give to the poor cost him his salvation but then I will also say that it would not have been his poverty that saved him either.   I’ll repeat this again, it was Jesus working on the man’s heart issues that caused the request to sell and give.  I know I repeat myself, but these are important facts that need to be understood.

One key to understanding a subject is to find related verses in the Bible that speak about the subject.   We did this with the key words “camel”, “eye” and “needle” and found very little to help us, but that is not all of the word subjects within the context of the verse in question.   We know before Jesus spoke these words about the camel going through the eye of the needle that Jesus asked the rich man to go and sell his possessions and to “give” to the poor”.   I tried to teach you that this rich man was not valuing the correct things and placing them in the correct order of priority.   He was clearly placing his trust in his money and possessions and that will never please God.   Still there is a need to understand what “giving” has to do with God’s proposed solution to change this man’s heart around to learn to trust Him!  Wow, that sounds like an awesome thing to learn for every Christian.  So let’s get started.

Jesus literally taught many other things in the Gospels about money.   Because the rich man did not know these other sayings he walked away from obtaining a blessing and he didn’t even know it.   God says in His Word “My people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge” (Hosea 4:6).  I just taught you that we need to learn to ask God questions if we want to learn more from Him.   I really meant that!   So let’s ask God the question “what would have happened if the rich man gave away all of his possessions to the poor”?  What would be the end result of such obedience?  Would this rich man have remained in poverty from then on?  Could this rich man never work or earn anymore money ever again?   Or should this rich man go to work but then continue to give everything that he makes away?  In order to begin to learn how to answer these questions from God’s word I believe that we need to learn what God said about giving.  I’ll start with a verse that is certainly important and directly related about this subject of giving:

  •  Act 20:35  “In everything I showed you that by working hard in this manner you must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He Himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.‘”

Whaacts_20_35t is being repeated here in this verse?  I want you to first observe that this statement says the writer is working hard as an example to those that he was writing to.   Therefore we just answered a part of the question about should a Christian continue to work after becoming a Christian!  Did you know that the writer of the book of Acts was Luke?   Can you agree  that Luke heard and learned the same rich man’s lesson from eye witnesses?    Did Luke learn anything from their experience?   Apparently he did!   Luke is saying that we should help the weak.   This Greek word translated as weak means the sick, the diseased, and the feeble which implies those that are poor because they are unable to work.   Everyone in a weak condition is not able to work and therefore is in need of assistance.   Can we agree that this statement applies to the poor?

Then Luke by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost quotes something that Jesus taught us directly.   Luke said that Jesus said “It is more blessed to give (to the poor) than to receive (from the poor).   I put the poor in the statement because that was the associated meaning based upon context.   Do you understand that?  Please tell me that you do.  Why is God asking His people to help the poor, the sick and the weak by giving to them?   It is primarily because the poor need the help, but God also says whoever gives will be blessed more than those that received the gift.   Oh, that doesn’t make any sense does it?   How is a rich man the one that is blessed by him giving away all of his money?   That is a divine mystery that is being ignored in much of the church body today.  What I would like you do to is to start believing that there is a blessing associated with giving to the poor.  Now we just need to determine if this blessing is here in this life or is only found in the eternal rewards to come?

I’ll try to answer when this giving blessing occurs by observing more about what Jesus taught us on the subject of giving in the Gospels.   However I do need to review an observation of where Jesus placed the emphasis when He told the rich man in Mark 10:21 to go and sell and give.  I did not go over the last part of the verse previously.   If you go back and read this verse again you will notice that Jesus after telling the rich man to give to the poor Jesus then promised him that he would have treasure in heaven for doing this.  That is very self-evident that there is a stated eternal blessing from God that will be given to him if he would have been obedient and had given to the poor.  Jesus places the primary emphasis upon eternal rewards and that makes total logical sense to me.

An eternity of blessings and treasures is far more significant than a natural 100 years of existence on earth with riches.   But do not assume too much here.  Just because Jesus did not emphasize any earthly benefits to the rich man does not mean that they do not exist.   That would be foolish presumption to take one verse as the complete truth on the subject of giving to the poor.  Therefore we need to study and find additional Bible information in order to come to a balanced conclusion.  Can we at least agree that God will bless us also, if He comes to us and asks us to give to the poor?   If you understand that God shows no favoritism (Acts 10:34) and what He promised to one is the same that is available to any other in the same circumstances then you should be able to agree with that belief.

Let’s turn to the book of Luke and read a verse that many of you may already be familiar with.  Read this verse very carefully and observe that the same Greek word translated for “Give” in Mark 10:21 is used in this verse connecting the lessons together by God’s direct word selection and subject connection.   Then notice what Jesus teaches about giving in this verse.   This verse must also apply to the rich man’s giving or God becomes a liar:

  •  Luk 6:38  Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.

According to Jesus (God in the flesh), If the rich man would have only understood that what he gave to others, this verse states that God would have caused those gifts to be returned back to him multiplied.  This knowledge has the potential to cause the rich to see the giving away of his riches in a much different light.   Of course the rich man did not give Jesus the opportunity to teach this part of the lesson about money and giving nor did the rich man ask Jesus any questions about it.  Jesus also did not voluntarily offer this information up either since Jesus wanted the rich man to learn faith and trust in God first.  I’m not sure if you understood what I just said or not?

The rich man trusted in his money to be his supplier and God’s word says “My God shall supply all of your needs according to His riches in glory” (Php 4:19).  There is a promised supply by God in the N.T. By the rich man having to learn to look to God instead of his own money and this rich man would have learned a more valuable lesson about trusting God and walking by faith.  However, it still does not mean that the rich man could never have any money again.  I believe that the rich man assumed too much just like many Bible readers today assume too much when they read this lesson.  Remember what God says in the Old Testament?   Let me remind you:

  •  Jer 29:11  For I know the thoughts and plans that I have for you, says the Lord, thoughts and plans for welfare and peace and not for evil, to give you hope in your final outcome. (AMP)

God says very clearly when He asks you to do something it is for your good and not to harm, hurt you, ruin you, or even to make life hard for you.   Failure to believe or understand this is one of the key reasons why people today will resist God’s instructions.  This rich man in Mark 10 was not asked by God to do something that was not going to benefit him in the long run if he would have just been willing and compliant God would have rewarded him greatly for his obedience.  If you believe that God is going to take something away from you without knowing the purpose behind the request then you are not trusting God’s wisdom, knowledge and plan for your life.   It is usually at this point where I emphasize that you need to learn if God is directing you to turn away from anything then there is a greater purpose behind that request and if you ask for Him for the reason why, God might just show you or you can just trust Him and learn it when it happens which is usually wiser.

But, it is also important to understand if Satan is trying to steal anything from you (John 10:10) you need to fight against that and resist him.   If you do not know how it works yet, God will ask you usually to give something up voluntarily, but if you refuse this can open the door for Satan just to come and take it from you without asking.  It is pretty simple to learn which is which.  Let’s go back and talk some more about Luke 6:38 and Mark 10:21.

There is a stated law of reciprocity that is placed in effect with God when a human in faith participates voluntarily and willingly with the requests of God.  God is not going to ask anyone to give away something without observing the obedience and blessing them in return.  We clearly saw this stated in Mark 10:21 when Jesus informed the rich man that there would be treasure in heaven awaiting him for his giving.   Then again in Luke 6:38 God says if you give to men, men will also give back to you.   Reciprocity is also found in the established decree of God called the Law of Sowing and Reaping (Gen 8:22).  Sowing is the stated release of a seed from your hand into the ground that is believed to be given back to you multiplied over time.

I believe that if the rich man would have viewed the release of his money into the poor as a seed sown that it would have been returned back to him multiplied based upon what Luke 6:38 taught us.  God states this clearly in Luke 6:38 when He says that others will return to you what you have given away as multiplied.  This is a very basic farming concept where any seed planter sows their valuable seeds that are returned back as a greater and more valuable return after time has passed.   This multiplication principle is implied in Luke 6:38 in the phrase “good measure, pressed down and shaken together and running over”.    That certainly makes it sound like giving to others is a benefit and not a liability to me.    If you don’t understand the concept of seeds in the Bible I would recommend that you go read that lesson series (Understanding Seeds in the Bible).

We should still understand that in Mark 10 that Jesus was not emphasizing this sowing and reaping part of the lesson simply because He was dealing with the man’s love for his money and possessions.  Do you understand the motivation for Jesus telling the rich man to get rid of his possessions and give to the poor, now?

Whenever God asks you to give away something it will normally be because it controls you and gets in the way of His relationship with you.   After a time of learning that God is more important to pursue than the item that is given, many times God will see that you get back what you were asked to give up.   This of course is not true if it is drugs, alcohol or some other substance that controlled you and will do physical harm to you and this is even true for money and possessions if they return to being your gods.  I’ve been going longer than I expected in this lesson so let me see if the Holy Spirit will allow me to wrap it up by giving you one more O.T. verse on this subject about giving to the poor:

  •  Pro 19:17  He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the LORD; and that which he hath given will he pay him again.

If the rich man would have just considered this old fact written by Solomon probably one of the richest men ever in the Bible, I believe that it could have made a tremendous difference in his attitude towards giving to the poor.  You see this verse literally says that when we give to the poor the Lord observes it and takes over the responsibility for the debt.   Therefore we do not expect the one that we gave something to, to give back to us anything in return even in the future.  This is simply because God says “I owe the debt” and I believe God is faithful to repay it.   If God takes the responsibility for the debt, then we must ask is this repayment now in this life or is this in the next life to come?   I believe that we could get correct answers for both beliefs, by saying all of the above.

I do not place any limitations upon what God wants to bless me with or when God wants the blessing to arrive.   Since I’m not God He can sovereignly do as He pleases.    I definitely believe that there are eternal rewards based upon what Jesus taught in Matthew 6:20 when He taught that we should be laying up treasures in heaven where moth and rust will never corrupt them.   But the balanced counter to that statement was given to us in Luke 6:38 that claims if we give to men (here and now) that men will give back to us (here and now).  Luke 6:38 is clearly talking about receiving a return for giving here in this life.   I’m not going to teach this part of giving anymore in today’s lesson.   I really do not know how many I have offended by even mentioning it.   Christians often ignore vast parts of scripture thinking they are not applicable for today.   However to those like me that believe in them they still work just fine.  I will end this section about giving by saying that there are definitely heavenly rewards laid up for us for everything that we give here on the earth so the eternal benefits will by far outweigh any temporary benefits that we can enjoy for a short time here on this earth.    You should always keep your focus on the eternal rather than the carnal temporary, as I try to do.

 

CONCLUSION

In conclusion I will say that there are certain Bible teachers who teach that the “eye of the needle” was a figurative type for a city gate designed to be very narrow to limit passage into the city.   This was done in Bible days as a safety measure to keep large foreign armies and enemies from invading the city in mass numbers.  This narrow gate was like a funnel that kept the inflow and outflow of traffic to a very few with limited size of restrictions that were easily controlled.  This city opening was so narrow that many times a fully loaded camel would not be able to even enter it.   The merchant or traveler would usually have to unload the camel and squeeze it through the gate and then carry the loads by hand into the city.   So many teachers today believe that this was what Jesus was talking about in this verse in Mark 10:25.

However, that is still a private interpretation of the verse since it is not mentioned in the Bible anywhere and therefore I do not agree with it.  It also mixes one noun found in Luke 10:25 “the eye of the needle” as a figurative object and the other noun (camel) as a literal object and I do not agree with that type of interpretation.  I take scriptures literally when I can and then I apply what is stated spiritually based upon what is specified or being taught following the rules of interpretation of which I only mentioned two or three today in this lesson.   In conclusion I will give you two more verses to consider:

 

  •  1Co 5:9  I wrote unto you in an epistle not to company with fornicators:

  • 1Co 5:10  Yet not altogether with the fornicators of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or with idolaters; for then must ye needs go out of the world.

We have more directions being given to the church in these passages.   God is speaking to the church and telling them not to associate with those that are in the world.   Uh oh?  That sounds serious to me!   Then God lists a few types that fit that description.   Read these again and tell me if you see the rich man being described?    I’ll help you by pointing you to two key words.  The first word is “covetous”.  This Greek word means a human with a desire for more of something.   This type of person has a very difficult time at releasing anything.  I believe that description fits the unsaved lost rich man.  Since the rich man was unwilling to give away any of his possession that implied that he loved them greatly and possibly desired (coveted) to even have more of them.   It was like he was a collector of natural things.  Any collector that I have ever observed is never satisfied with their collection.  Most collectors are looking for more of the same whether it be coins, stamps or baseball cards.    This “covetous” word is a problem if you are wanting more natural possession and not more of God.   Again remember that Jesus said you cannot serve two masters.   The second Greek word in this sentence describing the rich man is “idolater”.    What is an idolater?   This is a person that worships a manmade object.   Uh oh again for our rich man!   It is very clear to me that this rich man placed too much emphasis upon his possessions.  They had become his focus and they are clearly manmade objects of temporary status.  Do you understand why Jesus asked him to sell them now?  I could give you many more Bible verses on this subject but I have gone long enough today.

What I believe about Mark 10:25, is that Jesus was speaking of a literal camel and the literal eye of a needle with a human trying to pass this large beast through it.  That would be a nearly impossible task and that was the message being communicated to the church, but not to the rich man since he was not present to hear it.  Therefore, we should take this verse literally and see that the salvation of a rich man is a nearly impossible task.  However, we also need to balance that message with the fact that it was not the money that caused the problem but rather the love of the money that was at issue.

Jesus was clearly motivated by the heart condition of the rich man and tried to show him that the money and possession were his lord.   Know that Jesus deals with individual heart conditions differently.   Only man looks at the outward and sees a rich man and believes that he should be poor to be saved.   God looks at the man’s heart motivation for being rich and if it is for his love of these objects it will become the area that God will attempt to correct in our lives.

Each person is unique to God and only God knows what is taking priority over your relationship to Him.   What God tells me to get rid of will almost always be different than what God will tell you to get rid of.   And if you believe that God will never instruct you to get rid of anything then you are either deceived or a perfect person in need of no savior.

Jesus was teaching that it was impossible for anyone here on the earth that was rich to be saved if they did not put aside their love for their money to make Him their Lord.   While this is impossible for most men to do, we know from reading the Bible that with God all things are possible if we believe (Mat 10:27).   So a rich man can be saved if they want to learn how to enter through Jesus who is called the narrow gate in Mat 7:14.   Remember what Jesus said there in Matthew 7?   Jesus declared there were only two paths to choose from.   One narrow way was describing the selection as Jesus to be your Lord.   The other choice was a wide gate and a broad path and many there are that will choose it to their destruction (Mat 7:13).   This was a description of worldly lusts and desires that take the place of Jesus.  Please don’t allow something so temporary like money or possession be the reason for selecting the wrong path as this rich man in this lesson did today.   Thank you for your time reading and studying the Bible and until next time may you continue to grow in the knowledge of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.

BIBLE ANSWERS: What Does the Bible say About Church Governance and the Proper Structure of Authority?

Question-marks(Ver 1.1)  I recently received this question and felt led to respond to it publically.  The question was asked, what is the correct organized structure of authority for church government?  My answer from the Bible may or may not conform to what you believe is true or the way that your church does things.   But, my answer will definitely be spiritually Word of God based and that will automatically cause many to reject it.  You are welcome to give me any specific Bible verses that teach what you believe represents the truth for this answer.  What I will not accept is your denomination’s doctrinal statement created by ignorant men that does not conform to any Biblical truth.   If that is what you want to give me don’t waste your time or mine.  I only base my beliefs on the Bible and I leave out the opinions of all others.   You would probably be wise to do the same.

Too often Christians want to read the Bible and find all of the rules for life, the church and for being a real Christian in a neat set of itemized instructions.  People like to over simplify everything and live by a list of prioritized “do this” and “do not do this” in order to believe that they are on the correct path to pleasing God.   They often feel like their good works permits them to be worthy to be in God’s presence.  Possessing any feelings that you are pleasing to God because you have satisfied a very small part of what you think you know about the Bible is a very foolish attempt at exalting yourself to match God’s established standards and know everything that God knows.  If this approach did not work for Lucifer it will never work for us either.  What I am attempting to do is to point us to a new spiritual way to think about church government.    Quit thinking like mere men and consider the thoughts and ways of God and make these your priority in the church.  Today I’m going to list at least 3 key factors for establishing correct church government and structure.  Without all of these three spiritual factors being involved nothing that we do will work.

#1: BEING LED BY THE SPIRIT

What I have noticed about God in the Bible is that He rarely does the same thing twice exactly as He did before with anyone.  One time in the wilderness when the people desperately needed a drink of water God told Moses to hit the rock with his staff and the water would come.  The next time this exact same event occurred God said “speak to the rock” and the water will come.  If God addresses the same problem in two different ways why do people want to make every church organization look exactly the same?  That mindset does not make any sense to me!   A one solution fits all approach to Christian life and church government is not how I have ever viewed that anything really works successfully.  What works well in one church may not be what God wants to happen in another church at another time and another place.

There is a very profound statement made to ALL Christians in the New Testament that is sometimes rarely followed in many church organizational structure designs.   This essential concept is found in Roman 8:14 where God says “Those that are led by His Spirit, they are the sons of God”.   This verse is very clear to me and it says for us to seek God’s direction and He will guide our steps into the correct paths when organizing our church governments.  God knows how it should be setup and who should be in every position.  Ignore God’s leading and you will get what you will get and that is your best effort to satisfy God in your ignorance.   I believe Romans 8:14 applies directly to us right here and right now in establishing and organizing any church.   Therefore what God might lead for one church might not match exactly for another church.  There are just too many variables and  factors that are involved in creating and managing a church.  The location can be different, the culture can be different, the people can be different, the leadership can be different, the community outreach can be different and all of these play a role in God’s decision on how to direct.  Of course the Spirit of God is never going to contradict His written Holy Word.  Whatever God directs us to do with His Spirit will align perfectly with the Words in the Bible that apply to this subject.   But we need to be careful with following the traditions of men who thought they knew the answer while possibly ignoring the leading of the Spirit of God for what He desires will work best.    Consider the fact that God knows more than you do.  Then realize we need to ask for this wisdom or we will potentially fail.  Therefore the number one factor for establishing correct church government is to be led by the Spirit of God.  Can I get a witness?

GOD IS A GOD OF ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURED AUTHORITY

I saw in my Bible studies that angels are a highly organized group of spiritual beings separated into tiered levels of organization with varying levels of authority.   Angels appear to be organized like a large military body.   Jesus said that He could call down 12 legions of angels in Matthew 26:53.  That statement implies a high degree of organization with a precise arrangement containing a direct hierarchical structure of authority.   Therefore if God has structure and established levels of authority in heaven it makes perfect sense for the same to be present here on the earth in the church.  Do you agree with this?  What I also observe from reading and studying the Bible is that God is a very detail oriented being.  He pays attention to the least little details to even number the hairs on our head (Mat 10:30).   I use this information to confirm that every church needs to be organized and have the same great attention to every detail within the church.

In the ministry of Jesus on the earth you can clearly observe an organized structure of authority.  Jesus was the leader and the next group under His authority were the 12 disciples that I call His inner circle followers.   Jesus would spend extra time and effort with those of the inner circle to explain the plan of God and what He taught to others in parables only.  Within the group of 12 not everyone has the exact same role of responsibility.  Peter, James and John would go with Jesus when the other 9 did not always go.   Judas held the money bag and acted as the treasurer for the group.  Therefore the other 11 came to Judas for financial matters.  Clearly there were roles of designated responsibility to each follower.  Underneath the second tier of12 within the Jesus ministry organization came the 70 (Luke 10:1).  This is now the third tiered level of authority with new responsibilities and roles.   These 70 were assigned the task to go ahead of Jesus and the twelve and prepare other cities for their coming.

It is just very clear based upon just these two examples given to us by God that every church requires at least the same basic organization, structure, designed roles, responsibilities and varying levels of authority and accountability.  This should be very basic common sense and I pray that you see the need for such to exist.

#2: JESUS THE HEAD OF THE CHURCH

I do not agree with the Catholic Church philosophy of church government.  The Catholic Church is the largest group of people that call themselves Christians on the earth and they are extremely organized with varying degrees of authority rising to their ultimate leader called the Pope.  Nowhere in the Bible is one man designated to be the head of the church other than JESUS CHRIST.   Ephesians 5:23 leaves no room for misinterpretation clearly stating that Christ is the Head of the whole Church.  This truth represents the church past, present and future and there can never be any other head than He.  The church is clearly called the body of Christ and Jesus is clearly called our head (Col 1:18).   How then can any individual body part of the church claim to the leader of the body?  I think we need to learn the truth and stick with only that.  When we are led by the Spirit of God we are being led by the Head of the Church.  The Spirit of God will not speak of Himself but what He hears that will He speak (John 16:13).    I just paraphrased a portion of that last verse in John to make a point that the Holy Spirit speaks to us and directs us into things to come.  Go read the verse for yourself and see how it applies to setting up church governments and being led by His Spirit.  Recognizing the Head of the church to be Jesus Christ is the number two factor for establishing correct church government.   Ignoring the Head of the church will just result in man’s attempts to please a God that they do not know.

CHURCH ORGANIZATION, STRUCTURE AND AUTHORITY

There are certain and specific church offices of differing roles and responsibilities mentioned in the Bible.   For example, in Ephesians 4:11 God lists what many call the “5 fold ministry”.   These five are apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers.   I personally believe that those are listed in the order of church authority.   It is essential to know and understand that not everyone is called to be in these offices.  In fact in the body of Christ there are mostly disciples and they can later be promoted to one of these 5 specialized callings by God’s choice.  When a person is called by God to stand in one of these offices they are anointed by God to fulfill that role.  Therefore God enables them with gifts to do the role.  Each role of office is important and necessary and we as Christians need to give proper respect to those in these offices.  I am not going to go through what every role entails in detail.  But I will give a quick overview.  An Apostle is one that is sent by God for a specific purpose.  The 12 Apostles were clearly given leadership roles that others under their authority should revere.  Apostles are clearly called by God.  Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 1:1 that he was a called apostle.

The Prophet is also another major role within the church body today.  God calls certain individuals to be His voice on the earth.  These people hear directly from God and speak His words to the people of God.  They are often given revelation knowledge and can even hear from God about coming events on the earth.   Paul stood in the office of both an Apostle and Prophet since Paul was given special revelation from God and Paul wrote about things to come as direct prophecy in his letters to the church.

The third ministry office is called the Evangelist.  The primary role of the Evangelist is to preach the Gospel to the lost world to turn them to receive Christ as their Savior.   While every Christian has this basic role, some are called by God to do this as their service for God.  Phillip was an evangelist in the early church and this office still exists today.  The Evangelist is not so much a teacher as he is an exhorter to call people to repentance.  John the Baptist held a role very much like this found in a modern day Evangelist.  John called people to the kingdom of God pointing them to one that was greater than he was.

In a local body congregation the leader of that body is always a Pastor.  A pastor is the designated shepherd of the flock.  Peter was a shepherd and an apostle.  Jesus asked Peter to feed His sheep (John 21:17).  Feeding the sheep is the primary role of the pastor.  They take the Word of God and feed it into the spirits of their congregation.   Every Pastor shepherd is usually always a teacher also.  They go hand in hand to some extent.   Peter was a teacher as well as an Apostle.  Paul was a teacher as well as an apostle and a prophet.  One person can be in multiple offices but rarely is it more than 2 or 3 offices at the most and then not every office is in continuous manifestation in everyone full-time.  One person might be a teacher on occasion and an Apostle full time.  Another person might be an Apostle full time and part time prophet.  One person can be a pastor full time and a part time evangelist.  All of these offices can teach on occasions but not all may be called to teach full time.  Again this is called Jesus is the Head of the church and you are not!  If the Spirit of God leads someone to do a specific task then they just do it because God desires it and not because they asked to do it.

Jesus was the only person that I know of that held every office role concurrently.  Jesus is called an Apostle and a Prophet in the Bible.  Jesus said He was the Great Shepherd meaning a pastor of all.  He also demonstrated that He was a teacher and an evangelist.  Therefore, Jesus clearly showed us that He could fulfill multiple roles being the head of the church.   It is essential for you to learn what your role is in the body of Christ.  Everyone has a purpose and a place.   God has a planned reason why you are here no matter what you think about it.  It does not have to be a role where you stand in front of thousands to teach the Bible.  No it could be simply a behind the scenes ministry position that supports the pastor’s role.

Churches as they grow need increased levels of support to oversee the work of God.  A pastor in a small church can do several roles but in a large church that becomes unmanageable.  One pastor in a large church should have an inner circle of associate shepherds to help lead the flock in manageable numbers.   There are needs for many other leadership positions and roles especially in large congregations.  One Pastor or Shepherd cannot adequately maintain a flock of 5000.  Even Jesus taught this when He designated the inner circle 12 to have the authority to go and feed the flock of 5000 the 5 loaves and the 2 fishes.   Jesus stood back and watched while the under shepherds did the feeding.  Don’t misunderstand what I am saying we all know that Jesus taught the whole group but when it came time He appointed others certain  roles to play.  You can clearly see that Jesus did not even try to do it all Himself.  Let’s talk briefly about the other Biblical roles in a local church’s government.

Correct church organization for leadership should include what the Bible calls “elders”.  Church Elders are not just mature looking people on the outside.  It is more important to be a mature spiritual Christian inside regardless of what your appearance is on the outside.  A spiritually new born baby that has an appearance of maturity externally is not fit to be called an elder of the church.  God very clearly tells us that He does not look at the outward appearance of humans but rather He judges them and calls them according to their hearts (1 Sam 16:7).  People tend to judge how the person looks externally in order to determine if they should become their leader.   But that is certainly not being led by the Spirit.  That practice is walking by your sight or by the appearance of others and that is clearly not a spiritual way to do anything in the church.

I personally believe that a spiritual elder is someone born again and spirit filled for at least 10-20 years.  These people should also display the fruits of the spirit in observable clear ways even under pressure.  An elder of the church should have wisdom that is needed to fulfill their role of responsibility.  God can give people anointed gifts in certain areas of church administration that are needed to wisely manage the church’s affairs.   It is very clear that elders played a role in the early church’s organization.  However, in the spiritual food chain of authority they are always under the authority of the other 5 church offices.   Elders do not hire or fire the pastor, God calls the pastor to be the pastor.  This makes God the head of the church and not the elders.

The other major church role mentioned in the Bible is often referred to as the “deacon”.  This is a very interesting term because it denotes someone called to serve another.  That clearly means they are not in the top command of authority or it could mean that they purposefully lowered themselves in order to serve someone that is in need regardless of their called position.   Jesus demonstrated this concept when He set the disciples down and washed their feet.   He lowered His position to become the least among them even though He was the greatest one present.  Any church office within the Body of Christ is called to be a servant of God.  In the church we all serve Christ first and others second.  If people would gather this knowledge and implement it the church would become a great place to be a part of.

RESOLVING CHURCH CONFLICTS CORRECTLY

Within any large church congregation there will always be potential conflicts.  Most of the time these are human carnal jealousy based factors.  People see what others get from God and think this should just automatically apply to them.  I am not going to address every church problem and the reason for them.  I am only going to give one quick example of God establishing a structure of church administration in the early church.  These verses are found in the book of Acts chapter 6:

  • Act 6:1  And in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplied, there arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews, because their widows were neglected in the daily ministration.
  • Act 6:2  Then the twelve called the multitude of the disciples unto them, and said, It is not reason that we should leave the word of God, and serve tables.
  • Act 6:3  Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business.
  • Act 6:4  But we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word.
  • Act 6:5  And the saying pleased the whole multitude: and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolas a proselyte of Antioch:
  • Act 6:6  Whom they set before the apostles: and when they had prayed, they laid their hands on them.

I am not going to go into everything these verses say in great detail.   I underlined most of the key words that need to be understood on this matter.  In verse 1 we see the problem being stated between two carnal groups of disciples.  Disciples in the church organization are the lowest in the church authority so this is why I called them carnal thinkers in need of spiritual growth.   The twelve represents the apostle group that holds the ultimate responsibility and authority for church administration.  Did you notice what they said?  They acknowledge the need but said it was not their responsibility to leaven teaching the Word of God to feed the body of Christ with natural food.  In a small church they could do this, but in a large growing church it becomes impossible for even 12 to do everything.   Therefore they said that there should be a selection of 7 men with wisdom that were honest.  But foremost they must be filled with the Spirit of God and that goes back to them being led by the Spirit of God.

This is just an excellent story for how church government should work and be established.  We do not create positions just to create positions.  We only create new positions when new needs arise to solve problems.   As soon as any new need becomes a distraction to the pastor in a church so that he is unable to spend adequate time in prayer and study to preach the Word of God that is when new areas of church government needs to be expanded.   As the church grows and more needs arise, more roles of responsibility can be established.  It is also important to note how this was done.  After they have been selected, the hands of the leadership are placed upon them and this is done for what reason?   You see this represents a transfer of authority and anointing.  What the leader was anointed to do is passed down to the next level for them to perform as the representative of the pastor.  God teaches us so much in this example and I hope that you will take the time to study it and see how God wants things to work and grow in church governments today.

#3:  THE NEW TESTAMENT LAW OF LOVE

I’m going to end this Bible study lesson talking about the third spiritual factor for establishing correct church government.  What is your motivation for creating this church government?   There is only one commandment given directly by Law from the Head of the church to the church in the New Testament and this is the God established Law of Divine Love.   The Law of Love governs every action of every church member from the disciple to the apostle.   Jesus very clearly said a NEW COMMANDMENT I give thee (John 13:34).   If a church’s government is not founded, established and ruled by the law of love then they are not within the church’s prime directive and will fall short.   Therefore we must permit love to govern our motivations and our actions.   God is defined to be LOVE in 1 John 4:8.  Therefore when we are led by the Spirit of Love we are being led by God.    Do you see how all of these three factors for correct church government establishment are connected together?   Christ is the head of the church, Christ is Love personified and we all answer to follow His desired directions of love.

Love rules the church!  Love governs the church!   Love leads the church!  Love teaches the church!   Love preaches to the lost!  Whatever is not done in love is not by the leadership of God.   This is just the spiritual basics for what we do as Christians.   I have said this before but it will apply here again.  I like to teach WWLD.  If you have heard this before then take it as a courteous reminder.  Before doing anything in this life, ask What Would Love Do?   When reflecting on God’s love in order to make a decision this will help guide you into a closer relationship with the Head of the church.  Are you love dominated and love controlled?   If not then you are in serious trouble.

I have just given you three directives for establishing correct church government.   I will recap them one more time for those that need it.   When creating a church government do the following:

  1. Recognize that Jesus is the Head of the Church and no one else takes His place.
  2. Be led by the Spirit of God who is the Head of the Church when creating your government.
  3. Be led by the Spirit of Love in Love extended towards all others.

Only those that will submit to authority correctly can understand how to be in authority correctly.   All others not submitted to the Lordship of Jesus Christ will be establishing their own church to benefit themselves.  Run from these people quickly or be consumed with their selfish motivations.  My subject today was not authority and what it is defined to be by God, but it does apply and you need to learn this subject.   Being faithfully submitted to God’s authority will give God the privilege to promote you to higher authority levels.    Thank you for reading my Bible studies.  May God continue to lead and guide you into higher spiritual levels of understanding His Precious Holy Word!

Bible Answers: Does the Bible Say Anything About How Women Should Dress?

getting_dressed(Ver 1.1) Here is a very common question that I received from two different women recently.  So I thought I would answer them both in one short Bible lesson.  This is a potentially controversial subject.   Many men try to dominate women to tell them what to do while ignoring their own inadequacies.  I do not want to ever place myself into a position of superiority that comes across that I am better than anyone else.  That is why I try to give people balanced answers from the Bible and I do not try to spin the verses into saying something that they do not say.  We all need to simply read the Bible and learn to follow what God says regardless of what we think is right or what others are doing around us.   However, many Christians will continue to do as they please today simply ignoring the Bible to satisfy their own pleasures.  Pride is a negative part of the fallen human nature that motivates Christians to say “Life is all about me”.   Christians need to begin to understand that this new life of Christianity is no longer focused on the “me” but should be now directed to focus on Christ and others.  Baby Christians are only immature self-centered me types.  Mature Christians are able to place the needs of others ahead of their own needs.   I’ve just started the answer to this question with the subject of pride and I will end it with the same subject but in the middle I will address why this is such an important part of how and why we dress the way that we do.

covered_women2For the answer of women’s dress I could go with either of two extremes or I could take a more middle of the road approach and that is what I will suggest that we all do.  Let’s talk briefly about the extreme positions of dress first.  One extreme is a law based dress code where religions like Islam command women to cover everything except for their eyes.   That is a very stupid solution for a very stupid problem.  Because men were created to like women undressed men have created rules of law that they think help them to keep themselves more pure.  They feel if a woman cannot be seen then she is no longer a temptation for me.  That is partially good logic but mostly a wrong approach to solving it.  Law based dress is one extreme and I do not agree with it at all.  Therefore I will give no rules in this lesson for dressing.  The law was introduced by God but law was never given by God to fix the problem; it was only presented to prove to all men that there was a better solution that was needed.  No one in history except for Jesus was ever able to keep all of the law.   Therefore we need to learn law is not our solution and that it only points us to a new and better way that was coming.  Not very many people have learned this truth but I stand by it firmly.  Stop passing idiotic laws and find the better new way to live in Christ Jesus.

The other extreme position is anything goes or I should rather say everything goes.  The antithesis of covering everything up on a woman is to uncover everything.  That is just another extreme example that falls into the identical level of error as the first extreme.  Being a male, I cannot begin to understand why any woman would willingly participate in either extreme.  I could theorize that a woman who likes to show off her skin could feel like she gained distinction, notoriety, fame or special attention by participating.  It is a normal human desire to be wanted and accepted and some people will do very foolish things to achieve it.    Modern peer pressure is a major contributing factor for people falling into error.   If everyone is doing something wrong it suddenly appears like you are the one that is a fool for not doing it.  If you would like to leave a comment and help me understand why someone would follow either of these two extremes from a female perspective I would appreciate hearing your point of view.

To me based upon what I know of the Bible a woman’s choice for wearing less and showing off more skin is her way of telling everyone that “life is all about her” without having any consideration for anyone else on the planet or for God.  I think that it screams the more people who are attracted to her, the more popular she feels like she becomes.  But that is a very selfish and self-centered approach for the way of dressing.  There are probably other ways to look at it and you are still free to tell me why you think either extreme exists today.  No matter what we think in this world, there will always be one extreme or the other.  One group of women will approach dress based upon the rules of law that attempts to alleviate the temptation factor for human desire.   This will gain them acceptance in one group while being labeled religious fanatics by the other group.  The other opposite dress extreme will be “I’m very desirable and I’m just here to tempt you”.  These women will be labeled whores by the strict law based group and scorned for their ways while being accepted by the loose moral crowd.  There is a level of acceptance and rejection in both extremes.    But clearly both of these are very wrong motivations for dress.   Where is the correct balance between two erroneous extremes?

What we could have learned from these extremes is that what people do reflects their motivations either known or unknown to other people.  Most people in the world only look at the outside actions of the person and typically ignore the motivations that caused them to do it.  That approach of analysis is very shallow and is the opposite of what God teaches us that He looks at.   I think we need to examine motivations more closely for what people do rather than try to judge what they did and this might help us to solve their dress problems. You can read about this concept in the Old Testament:

1Sa 16:7  But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart.

Clearly God informs us that the inward parts of the man or woman are more important than the outward perceived portions of that person.   That means God cares more about your spiritual conditions like your motives, your desires, your hurts, your feelings, your emotions and your thoughts than He does about your actions or dress.  Now, you could jump to the wrong conclusion from that and conclude God does not care how we dress or if we dress and that is just ignorant foolishness.  No, what God is saying is if you have right intents on the inside, you will do right actions on the outside.    If you have wrong things going on in the inside parts these will manifest on the outside.   These truths teach us so much.  It also helps us to know bad actions can be solved with right internal corrections.  Therefore I’m not going to tell you how to dress so much as I am going to try to change how you think about dressing.

Christians first need to realize that they are a spirit living in a body and not just a body living on the earth.  Refocus your attention on spiritual things and the outwards things will automatically take care of themselves.   What are your motives for how you dress today?   Evaluate your intents first and if it is just for your benefit, pleasure or to draw attention to you, you have the wrong focused incentives.  Become the other person sitting in church by you before you put something on to go to church.  If the wife of another man sees you in that little apparel will it draw attention to you in a positive way or a negative way?  Is what you are wearing to church something that is loving and kind that honors your sister’s feelings and will not bring temptation to her husband?   We need to all learn the WWLD approach for dressing.   What is that you ask?   That is just a variation of WWJD and it says “What Would Love Do?”   If I love my Christian family would anyone be offended by this sleeveless or low cut short dress?  If you think someone could be offended and you still wear it then you were not motivated to do what Love would do and that is a major problem.  Let’s take a look at some Bible verses to help us learn to think differently about dressing:

1Pe 3:3  Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel;

1Pe 3:4  But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.

Here is God presenting you a refocused approach to dressing.  God through Peter writes directly about women dressing.  God very clearly says that your focus should be on the more important internal things and not on the inferior external things.  That goes against what most women do, doesn’t it?  If you are spending more time on fixing your hair and dressing than you spend in prayer and Bible reading then you are out of balance and lack correct focus.   God declares let your attention be upon the hidden man of the heart and that is simply your eternal spirit.  God directs us again to refocus our attention on spiritual things rather than emphasizing natural things.  If both males and females did this there would be no issues in the world concerning improper dress or behavior.   However since the majority of the world is not saved and are not focused internally the external will continue to dominate them and their behavior.   That is another interesting point to remember.  Before you put something on to wear, ask yourself is this what the people in the unsaved world wear?   Then ask yourself am I supposed to follow their example or are they supposed to follow my example?  Who is leading who?  Who determines your dress standards?  Is it Vogue fashion magazine, Sports Illustrated or is it the Bible?

There are two ways to learn how to dress in the Bible and I just gave you one way called the direct instruction.  The other way is to learn from indirect instruction.  These are verses that do not directly mention how you should dress but still apply to Christian behavior, character and moral values.  Take a close look at this next verse and see if you can tell how it applies to dress.

  • 1Jn 2:16  For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.

What does God claim is not from Him?  We know God created our flesh, but according to Him, He did not create the lust that is derived from its existence.   Why is there such a great lust problem in the world today?  It is primarily because of the great frequency for the display of human flesh.  You cannot go anywhere today that someone is not nearly naked either in public or on a billboard selling some product.  In this verse who is God saying that you are like if you are showing your flesh or are the one looking at other’s flesh?  Is it from God or from the world?   I think you can clearly see that is not what God desires.  Let’s look at another verse that is also indirectly about dress:

  • 2Pe 1:4  Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

You see God says that we have been saved from the world and therefore we should not conform to their ways.   If you are participating in the lust of someone’s flesh or you make yourself are the target for this lust then you have not yet escaped the world and still reside in its bondage.   Do you think it matters to God how you dress based upon this information?  Let me give you another verse that indirectly applies to how we dress that is rarely used to teach on the subject:

  • Php 2:15  That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world;

How can you be a light to the world if you act and look exactly like they do?  Do you think your words take priority over your looks?  I believe that it is impossible for your words to be heard if your looks and your actions are the same as theirs?  People are just not that stupid.   Based upon how you dress, you will either be called a Christian or a hypocrite by the unsaved world.  If you say “I’m a Christian” but still do not present them any evidence for being different, then you are just a hypocrite.   One unsaved man that talked with me recently said “If I wanted to go to church on Sunday, I’d go to the bars on Saturday night and meet with them all there”.  He was claiming that all Christians were hypocrites that put on a false act on Sunday for God but lived like the devil the rest of the week.  You need to ask yourself “How does the world dress?”  Then make sure that you are NOT dressing like them.   Let me confirm this with one more verse from the Bible:

  • 2Co 6:14  Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?

Here is another verse that is indirectly about how you dress.  This verse is very clear but you probably do not understand what it says because you have not researched the Greek word definitions.   This verse says for us as Christian believers to not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers.  What does that mean?  A yoke is a common bond together.  What do we have in common with non-Christians?   Two oxen are yoked together to pull a plow in unison.   This means that they both are in a common bondage together so that what one does the other must also do.  God informs us not to be bound together with unsaved people in the world because we are not their equal.   If Christian music stars look like the world’s rock stars then they are being yoked together in common bondage.   The same applies to a Christian’s manner of dress to look like the world’s manner of dress.  If you are dressing like Lady Ga Ga or Madonna then you are yoked together with them and that is not good company to be associated with.

What do you think all of this verse means?  Let me give you another word that is a key to understanding this verse.  It says what “fellowship” has righteousness with unrighteousness?  Look this word up and you will see that it means to have “intercourse”.  Intercourse is defined as willing participation of a sexual nature.   That is a very strong sexual relationship you could be having with the world.  This is not speaking physically but rather spiritually when you think like the world does.  This Greek word literally means to participate with the world’s ways of thinking.  Go back and read the Old Testament prophets and you will see that this is what natural Israel was guilty of again and again.  They would become influenced by the world’s idols and then would do what God said not to do.   There thoughts were taken away from God’s word to what the people in the world were thinking and they easily fell into sin by doing this. This is verse contains far reaching information and it involves dressing like the world, acting like the world, thinking like the world and I could go on and on.  God is telling the church not to look like the people in the world.  Let me end this Bible study with one more direct verse on dressing:

  • 1Ti 2:9  In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array;
  • 1Ti 2:10  But (which becometh women professing godliness) with good works.

There is one term given here that denotes a correct Christian middle of the road approach for dress.   God says to women let what you wear consist of “modest” apparel.   Uh oh?  Even in churches today I see women not following this guideline.    What is the opposite of modesty?   I believe you understand that it is a state of immodesty.   What does being modest or immodest mean and what are the root causes for both?  One online dictionary defined “modest” dress to be a state where the person is covered.  That definition implies that immodest dress is a state of a person to be uncovered or nude.   I think that speaks volumes to how you should dress according to the Bible.   I have already touched on motivation as a factor for why people dress appropriately or inappropriately undress for others to view their bodies.   One contributing factor for modesty is humility and one contributing factor for immodesty is pride.   Women who generally want to show off their bodies to others are very proud of themselves for some unknown satanic reason.

Practically everything that I said today can apply to both men and women.  Both need to judge their motivations for how they dress.   I primarily addressed the question from a woman’s viewpoint since they were the only ones brave enough to ask the question.  I could have spent more time on the contributing lust of the flesh factor for men that drives some women to want this kind of attention but that was not the question.  Your humility and your refocused attention to the real you on the inside of your body should help to guide you to the appropriate ways to dress on the outside.   Follow the guideline of modest behavior for dress and it will cause you to appear different than the people in the world. Your devoted consideration for “What Would LOVE Do?” will also help you to not become a stumbling block for others of your same sex or a temptation for those of the opposite sex.  Setting Godly examples to follow for younger women and girls is what is desperately needed in the world today.  The peer pressure today to take your clothes off is everywhere.   We are all still here in the world but you can still make the decision to not be like the world.  Always be led by the Spirit of God and His written Holy Word.  Thank you for your questions and I hope this helped someone to have some new wisdom for a modified way to think about dressing.  God Bless!

Bible Answers: Why Did God Accept Abel’s Offering and Reject Cain’s Offering?

Cain_and_Abel(Ver 1.1)  This quick Bible lesson is the answer to a very common Bible student’s question.  We usually all have very similar questions when reading the Bible, so I will answer this question from one person and believe that it will help others that were not brave enough to ask the question.  I find it interesting that people will ask you questions as long as you give them the answer that they wanted to hear.  But if I say something new or controversial that God has taught me from the Bible, the responses can be very diverse and unexpected for a Christian.  I have had some people unfriend me or just stop talking to me because I didn’t agree with what they viewed as the only truth in the Bible.   If we are not open to learning something new and greater from God we will all remain in a stagnant state of ignorance apart from what He desired us to know.  Today, we are going to analyze the information given to us by God surrounding the story of two brothers.   Regardless of what you already think that you know about this story please leave your pre-conceived expectations behind and focus only upon what God says in His Word.   Be open to the Holy Spirit and be led by only Him.

The question asked by my reader was concerning the story described in Genesis 4.  It appears from reading these verses that one brother’s offerings were accepted by God and the other elder brother’s offerings were rejected by God.  Why was that?   This subject has been preached by many people and most of them have not seen the fullness of what the Bible actually says so they draw wrong conclusions using insufficient information and teach people about things that do not directly apply to the actual story.  For example, one preacher that I recall hearing taught that Abel’s offering was accepted by God because it was a sacrifice of shed blood and Cain’s offering was not.  He used this as a type of Jesus the coming Lamb of God that was going to shed His blood for all people.  Well that was an interesting and creative approach but that just doesn’t make total sense to me based upon other scriptures that I know on the subjects.  I certainly understand the association and how he took the leap to bring the two stories together but is that what God desired us to learn from this story?   I have found at least 4 popular human explanations for why God rejects Cain’s offerings.  Here are the four popular theories listed in random order:

  1. The Absence of a Blood Sacrifice from Cain.
  2. The Poor Quality of the Offered Sacrifice of Cain.
  3. The Heart Issue of Cain’s Attitude Giving the Sacrifice.
  4. The Sovereignty of God.

All of these are legitimate ways to look at the story from a student’s viewpoint of the text.  However, we should not attempt to say that any one of these is more important than the others because they are all contributing factors.  The story of Cain and Abel quickly becomes a war of human opinions and my opinion is as totally worthless as your opinion.   Therefore, we need to learn God’s opinion.  What does God say about it and how do we even begin to find it in the Bible.  That is the number one reason why people do not understand the Bible correctly.  They read an isolated passage in Genesis 4 and ignore the whole rest of the Bible.   That is a crazy way of studying the Bible.  I heard one preacher say we should only study one book of the Bible at a time and I thought that was a foolish way of studying a book that was designed the way the Bible was written by God.   The Bible is progressive revelation.  What is hidden at the beginning is uncovered at the end.  Therefore we cannot understand any of it without taking into account what is written in every part of the Bible about the subjects that we are studying.   If you don’t have a good Bible software program on your computer get one.  There are many that are free and I recommend one called eSword.  Then search the Bible for the subjects found in Genesis 4 like the names of Abel and Cain and read what God says about them.  For example, Abel is only referenced directly a few times but the statements describing him are infinitely important to why God accepted his offering and not Cain’s.   Get your Bible search software and let’s get started with the story of Cain and Abel.

CAIN AND ABEL TWO OFFERINGS, ONE GOOD RESULT

We will begin by going through the verses in Genesis 4 to gather the factual information to help us to understand what is expressed by God.   We will turn to the second verse in Chapter 4 and begin to read there:

  • Gen 4:2  And she again bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.

Cain was the firstborn of Adam and Eve.  That fact is interesting but not significant for this Bible lesson.  Abel was revealed to be a keeper of sheep and we all know lambs come from sheep.  Thus we have the foundation beginning for the belief in the assumption theory number 1 concerning the blood sacrifice, but we won’t go there.  Cain as you can see is a ground laborer and that is just another name for a farmer.    Let me ask you, how would a farmer of crops give God a blood sacrifice of something that he does not possess?  I think that is a problem right from the beginning.  Are we expected to give from what God has given to us or does God expect us to give what we don’t have just to please Him?  A mindset of religious works would demand that we must do specific works of the flesh in order to be pleasing to God and I do not believe that is the revealed nature of God.  I think you should think about that for a while before you answer.

  • Gen 4:3  And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD.

Pay very close attention to the phrasing of the story.  Every word has significance.   God informs us that in the process of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the land.  You do understand that it takes time for crops to produce?  Crops are not an overnight miracle.  Since Cain was a farmer this description sounded pretty good until we actually read about what Abel did in the next verse:

  • Gen 4:4  And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering:

As you can read both brother’s offerings took time.   Animals are not an instant miracle either.   A lamb can take 150 days to be born.  Therefore both offerings presented to God could only come after time.  There are certain keywords given to us by God that are important.  The term “firstling” and “fat” are two keywords that have significance to describe Abel’s offering to be remarkably different than his brother’s.  The term firstling means the first born and that is significant.  The term “fat” literally means the best.   Here is where we get the foundation for assumption theory number 2, the insufficient quality of the offering of Cain.  Abel brings God the firstlings of his flock and the fat thereof.  The absence of any adjective qualifiers describing Cain’s offering implies them to not be special.   Then notice that it says God had “respect” for Abel’s offering.

  • Gen 4:5  But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.

As you can see God had no “respect” for Cain’s offering.   Here we can also read that Cain’s attitude was not very positive.  He becomes angry and depressed and those seem to support the theoretical assumption number 3 that Cain failed God expectations with his wrong attitude.  You can quickly see how each theory has a basis for beliefs and why they are taught in churches.   The only theory that I have not touched on is assumption 4 concerning the principle of the sovereign choice of God.   There are endless numbers of Christians that place everything that happens in the world in the hands of God’s design, purpose, will, and plans and they leave nothing out for us to do or for any contribution of Satan or evil spirits to be involved.  I call this the response-less devil and human theory.  No matter what they do it makes no difference because God’s will is always done.  These types of Bible teachers go with theory 4 so that they do not have to teach any human responsibility or accountability.  These types of teachers also have to attribute every evil in the world to be a gift from God.  I was on Facebook the other day and I saw a very ignorant statement.  This person said God sent the storms so that He could prove that He was the only protection from the storms.  That sounds very religious but that is not my God and people really need to read the whole Bible.  I’m not going to go there fully but I will show you a few verses that counter this wrong belief concerning the sovereignty of God.

GETTING GOD’S COMMENTARY ON CAIN AND ABEL

Here is where I’m going to start the main lesson on the story in Genesis 4.  My approach will be to use God’s commentary on the subjects and not just the words found in Genesis chapter 4 alone.  We are going to depart from the popular 4 theories of assumed interpretations and begin to see what else God says on the subjects of “respect” and “Abel”.   I picked the subject of “respect” to begin because it is a major part of the reason that God is accused by men of making a sovereign choice.  The Bible very clearly says that God had “respect” for Abel’s offering but for Cain’s offering God had “no respect”.  What is “respect” and how or why does God respect one but not the other?  Read what Peter says about God in Acts and learn how this verse applies to our story of Cain and Abel:

  • Act 10:34  Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons:

The Greek word that is translated as “respecter of persons” in this verse means to have partiality for one individual and not for the others.  It would be like a teacher in school picking one child as their favorite and the others are not treated equally.  Being partial clearly is a conscious decision to show bias, prejudice or preference for one human and not do the same for another.    This would be like two men walking into your church.  One is dressed in rich apparel and the other is dressed in rags.  The ushers could treat both men the same and be like God or they could take the wealthy looking man to the front and sit the raggedy man in the back of the church and that would be an example of being a respecter of persons.  Showing favoritism would be preferential treatment for one while exhibiting inferior treatment for the other based solely upon their appearance.   According to scriptures in the N.T. God is not a type of God that respects one individual over ANY other.  We can clearly read that here in Acts but it is also found in Romans 2:11, Ephesians 6:9, Colossians 3:25, and James 2:9.  That is 5 verse witnesses in the Bible that teaches us the truth about God and you should not ignore them.

It appears that we have a scriptural battle raging where one verse in the O.T. says that God had “respect” fighting with 5 other witnesses in the N.T. that says God does not do that.  Here is a great opportunity to learn that the Bible does not ever contradict itself.  It is only a human’s wrong interpretation or understanding that causes the conflict in their mind.   However, pay closer attention to what God respected.  Both men gave God offerings over extended times but God saw one offering as good and the other as potentially not so good for an unknown or an unstated reason.   Notice in Genesis that God had no lack of respect for either men but rather only for their offerings.  God is stated to be love in the New Testament.  Did God love Abel more than He loved Cain?  You see I do not believe that is true.  However do not confuse God’s hatred towards your sin to be the same His love for you.  God can hate what you do and still die to save you because of His love.   Let me give you one more verse about God’s lack of human respect variance that just might help us:

  • 1Pe 1:17  And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man’s work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear:

Here is an excellent verse that will apply to what we have just read in Genesis 4 about Cain and Abel.   God says that He does not respect any specific individual but that He does judge their works.  This is a commonly ignored verse in the Bible.  This was written to Christians but it does apply to all of the people of the earth, past, present and future and it definitely has an application to what God says about Cain and Abel.    If God does not respect a person or an individual but rather will show respect for their works what was it about Cain’s works that were rejected and Abel’s works that were accepted?  Doesn’t that change the perspective of the story significantly?   That is what we are talking about in the story, right?   The fact that both men gave an offering and one was pleasing to God and one was not, that tells me a lot.  There are three basic ways to judge a person’s work.   A person’s work can be judged for what they did, how they did it or why they did it or a combination of all of these three.

Did you know that you can do the right things at the wrong times or in the wrong ways or even with the wrong motives and still be found guilty before God?  It goes back to a question that I used to ask job applicants during the interview process where I worked.  I always tried to ask them, “What matters more the end result or the methods used to achieve the end-result”?    You see in every business if the end-result was the only thing that mattered then we could all lie, cheat, steal and rob to get the job done.  Recently in the news Lance Armstrong came out in public and said that he had used banned substances to achieve his 7 bicycle race victories.  He clearly viewed the end-results to be more important than the methods to achieve them and now he is paying the ultimate price.  This was probably not the wisest thing that Lance ever did.  What I am teaching you, is that matters how you do something and why you are doing it, more than it does getting it done to God.

Learn from the lesson of Lance Armstrong and let’s see if this modern story applies to the life of Cain and Abel.   We can clearly see both Cain and Abel gave an offering to God.   But, what caused God to judge one offering to be different from the other?   There are not very many verses in the Bible about Cain and Abel but there is at least one that you need to see.  If you did the search in your Bible for the name of “Abel” you have already found my next Bible verse to learn.  God lists the name of Mr. Abel in the Faith Hall of Fame and his name is forever preserved with the heroes of the Bible like Moses, Abraham, David, and Joshua to name a few.   Let me show you what God says about Abel:

  • Heb 11:4  By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh.

Did you see it?  God says the sacrifice that Abel offered was “more excellent”.  So clearly sacrifices of lambs are better than fruits?  But is that what it really says?   What did God say directly before that statement?  Doesn’t God tell us of Abel’s motivation and methods?  How did Abel offer this more excellent sacrifice?    God says Abel offered it “By Faith”.   The implication given by God is that there was a factor missing from the offering of Cain and this factor was his faith.  You see if you read down in Hebrews 11 you will find a revelation that directly applies to the story we read in Genesis 4.

  • Heb 11:6  But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

Without faith it is impossible to even try to please God.  Is that not the reason why Cain’s offering was rejected?  The absence of faith means God will not be pleased with anything that we do and it really does not matter what you are bringing before the Lord.  Get out of your religious box and see the truth of God’s Word.  Many people today go to church and think that God is pleased because they showed up.   That is crazy thinking my friend.  If you are not going to church in faith you are failing.  I’m not going to teach you the entire subject of faith today; that would be a very long complex subject that has many parts to it.  If you don’t know about faith, go read my Bible lessons on that subject.  Faith is one of the top three Bible subjects that you need to learn before Jesus comes back.  Why?  Because Jesus said this:

  • Luk 18:8  I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?

The way I read His statement, He is looking for a people with faith that pleases Him when He returns.  So when you so dearly ignore the subject of faith in the Bible you just might find yourself to be more like Cain and less like Abel and that is not a good place to be.  What company do you wish to associate?  Which example do you wish to demonstrate to Christ?  Your name could be with the others in the Faith Hall of Fame.   It is really up to you more than you think.  If you wish to be pleasing to God then you need to learn the subject of faith.

Since God has been talking about the subject of sacrifices in Genesis 4, is God still looking for a sacrifice from His people today?  Maybe you need to go and read further in the book of Hebrews past chapter 11 where Abel was mentioned.   God speaks a lot about this subject but I’ll only focus in on 2 verses that apply to the church:

  • Heb 13:15  By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.
  • Heb 13:16  But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.

Did you notice what these verses said?  They are speaking of sacrifices but not the blood types like an animal or a lamb.  No, God is saying offer up the sacrifice of praise unto Him.  Wow, that is very strong isn’t it?  It appears that God still desires us to make a sacrifice but with the fruit of our lips.   Uh oh!  What did Cain offer God?  Was it not the fruit of the ground?   What are your lips made out of?  If you did not know it, your lips are made from the ground also and these produce fruit for God.  Why did God reject Cain’s offerings of fruit but still desires the fruit from our lips?  I pray that you are learning something new.  God just got through talking to you about the whole long subject of faith in chapter 11 and now in chapter 13 He connects that with your sacrifices which are still required.  Do you believe that whatever sacrifices you give to God that you better do them in faith to be accepted?   I seriously think that would be a great idea.  What did we read in Hebrews 11:6 that pleases God?  Without “faith” it is impossible to please Him and therefore faith pleases God.  Even though you are doing something that could please Him like praising Him with the fruit of your lips, if you are going to do it without faith it will not be found pleasing.

I just did a quick Bible lesson on the importance of your faith and giving God your sacrifices today.  There is more to the story of Cain and Abel than this, but that was the message from the Lord for you today.  Abel through his faith in God was called righteous and his name is mentioned in some elite company.   If you think it is too late for you to be added in this group I believe you are wrong.  Thank you for reading my Bible lesson.  May the love of God become known to you in new ways that are beyond your natural comprehension!  If you have any Bible questions that you like for me to see if I can answer please provide them in a comment and as I am led by the Spirit of God I will address them.  God Bless!

Bible Answers: What is the Human Soul? Is the Soul the Same as the Spirit?

theSoulMan_final_logo#8DB3F2(Ver 1.1)  This Bible lesson is a response to a good question that I received from a reader.   This is a very easily misunderstood topic in the Bible and I have addressed it at least in part in several other Bible lessons but this is a more direct topic discussion on the subject.   When I first started writing this response I thought it would be a quick and easy Bible lesson to do.  I very soon realized the broad scope of information on this subject in the Bible and it quickly grew way beyond what I could feasibly address in one lesson. This question is also potentially complex because of the very common misunderstanding that surrounds it.  I am going to have to overcome all of the false teachings that have already gone out on this topic and that is going to be challenging.  The subject of the human soul is mentioned directly or indirectly in literally thousands of different verses.  The Bible is covered with parts of this subject throughout and there are so many verses that I cannot even begin to list them all.   I will attempt to list the verses that I feel are important to help introduce the subject and focus on those.  I will learn based upon the follow-up questions and comments that I receive, if there are other lessons that need to be added.   Please feel free to leave your questions and comments and I will address them as I am led.  I’ll start by giving you a dictionary definition of the word soul.  I do not agree with this definition but it is at least a starting point:

soul  –  Noun

  1. The spiritual or immaterial part of a human being or animal, regarded as immortal.
  2. A person’s moral or emotional nature or sense of identity.

This definition of the soul is a result of the confusion behind the word’s popular usage.  It is literally a muddled attempt to define something that they know nothing about.   Let me start by saying that I agree with parts of the definition but certainly not the entire wording or the connection of the stated phrases.  The soul is definitely an immaterial part of a human; however it is not the spirit of a human as it is commonly assumed.  Both people and animals have souls but animals do not have spirits as we will observe from the Bible shortly.  The soul of the human is not the immortal spirit of the human and we will see scriptures that will confirm that also.  The soul of a man or a woman is related to their identity from a non-physical aspect or perspective.  We could call the human soul their personality and that becomes a much closer definition to what God reveals of the soul in His Word.  This dictionary definition also leaves out many other parts of the soul that are not mentioned, unknown or just ignored.   We will soon see some of these as I continue to go through the Bible lesson.

Even Bible translators struggled to know and understand how to accurately translate many of the original language words on this subject in the Bible.  For example the Hebrew word H5315 which is commonly translated into “soul” is found in 682 verses of the Old Testament.  If you study the original language translation closely you will find this same Hebrew word H5315 is translated into several different English words because of the pre-established confusion.  Here is a list of some of the popular ways that this Hebrew word was translated in the O.T. 1) soul, 2) souls, 3) creature, 4) life, 5) one 6) yourself, 7) body, 8) beast, 9) person, 10) mind, 11) heart, 12) breath, 13) will, 14) ghost, 15) appetite, 16) pleasure, and 17) desire to name some of the basic words used by translators.  That was not a complete list but we should be able to see from this diverse set of definitions this Hebrew word could be potentially all over the board.  We need to learn which words being used to describe the soul are correct and apply to the subject and which words do not?  Technically I will tell you that each English word in this list has a linked association to the subject and thus the reason for the wide misunderstanding.   I personally believe that many of the translated verses use very inadequate choices of English words to describe what is being communicated by God and perhaps I will attempt to go through a few of these examples to demonstrate what I mean.  This subject is a Bible basic truth that is essential to correctly know and understand.  You may already think that you know everything about this subject but I would challenge you to read the whole lesson to ensure that what you think you know agrees with what the Bible actually says.  In this Bible lesson I will attempt to answer the following reader questions on the subject of souls:

  1. WILL YOU DO A MESSAGE ON THE MEANING OF SOULS?
  2. WHAT THEY ARE?
  3. WHAT HAPPENS TO THEM AFTER DEATH?
  4. AND CAN A SOUL BE EATEN UP AND DESTROYED WHILE ALIVE?

In addition to these questions I will also address what the soul of man is not.  I will begin this lesson by stating the subject of the soul of man is popularly confused with the subject of the spirit of man and we saw this in man’s dictionary definition of the word.  People want to take a dictionary definition for a word that God defines to be something else and that is a foolish approach to trying to understand the God of the Bible.   Often in churches and on the internet the term soul of man is used in error interchangeably for the term spirit of man causing a general misunderstanding for the body of Christ.  What I have observed is that many people because of this confusion believe that they are the exact same things just called by two different names.  Every time the soul is used instead of the correct term spirit or vice versa, it just makes it that much harder to understand which is which.  For example, have you ever heard anyone speak of God saving 6 souls in church last Sunday?  I will guess that you have.  Do you know exactly what they were talking about?  Did you also know that Jesus did not come to die to save your soul?  Uh oh, I think I just put some people into shock.   But that is the problem because people do not know what a soul really is.  This will become much clearer after you know what a soul is defined by God to be.  Let me give you a New Testament verse to help prove my introductory point:

    • Jas 1:21  Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.

What does God say in this verse?  Does God say your soul is already saved?  If you can read you will find that is not what is stated.  God tells the church to receive the engrafted word which is ABLE to save your soul.  That is a future tense conditional promise.  If you receive the Word meekly the Word is able to make your soul whole again.   Once you begin to learn what a soul is verses like this will make so much more sense.  Knowing the basics of truths just opens the door for knowing the more complex truths of God’s Word.  I hope you can see my point from this verse.  God states your soul is not saved yet, but it can be if you continue in the Word.

GOD”S CREATION OF THE TRIUNE MAN

I never switch these two terms soul and spirit casually since I try to be a very detailed oriented person that likes to call things by their specific correct titles for clarification to what I am saying.  If I speak of the soul then I am speaking of only a soul and if I speak of a spirit then I am only talking about a spirit and they are definitely not the same thing.  Also I would like to say that my reader asking a specific question about “souls” may have intended the question to be about spirits but did not know the difference.   I run into this frequently and I will touch on both subjects in this lesson to help everyone learn the differences between spirit and soul.  In order to understand the human soul we need to understand the full created human composition and structure in the correct order of importance.  In order to understand this original human composition we need to back up to the account given by God concerning creation and see what He has to say on the subjects.   I do this to establish the foundation for the pattern transition that took place between the triune Creator God creating the triune man in His own image and likeness.  I pray that you already know what a triune being is.  If you do not understand that God is a triune being go to my Bible study on that subject and read it, I’m not going to prove the trinity of God fully in this lesson.  We will start with Genesis 1 and read concerning the revealed creation of man at the end of day 6:

  • Gen 1:26  Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

Notice this verse begins with the title of God and this is the Hebrew word H430 that is used in over 2000 verses in the Old Testament as His divine name.  From the frequency of usage you can tell that it is a very common Hebrew name for God but what you need to know about this name is that it is also a plural name for God.  Hebrew words can either be singular or plural and this name is definitely a plural form of the Hebrew word H433.   Next, notice what the plural God says “Let US”.  God speaks of Himself in another plural pronoun form through the word “US”.  These are just two clues to the trinity of God.  But I said I wasn’t going to fully teach that part of the subject, but I just did an introduction to challenge you to think.   God then says “let us make man”.   So God is speaking of man as being a new part of creation that did not previously exist.  The next part of the verse is the main part that I wanted you to see.

The Hebrew term in this verse translated as the English word image means “a figure of”.   Michelangelos-Statue-of-DavidA figure of something else would be like a created statue or a sculpture that represents something else which is greater.  For example, the artist Michelangelo created a sculpture of David and while the sculpture was great it was not as great as the original David.  I personally believe that what God was saying is that the original man was a precise representation of the greater God.   I believe the angels in heaven could look at the created man and see a lesser view of the Supreme God.  This clearly states that Adam was not God but yet had the image of his Creator upon him.  Now take the Hebrew word translated as “likeness” and know that this word means Adam was a similar instance, example, illustration, pattern, design or a model of the Supreme God who created him.   In other words what God was, the man must also be in a lesser form.   You see man is definitely not omnipotent, omniscient, or omnipresent as God clearly is, however what was present in Adam had to resemble the pattern of God or he was definitely not made in His image or His likeness.   I believe that God was a triune being and that this means man would also have to be a triune being.  I believe that whatever qualities that God possessed the  man must also have a lesser version of that feature.  Therefore we need to understand who and what this Creator God is, what qualities He has revealed to us, in order to know who and what the created man is and what he centrally consists of.

  • Joh 4:24  God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

We know from reading scriptures that God is a Spirit first and foremost.  At least 31 times in the Bible God is referred to as the “Spirit of the Lord”.  At least 22 times in the Bible God is called “Spirit of God”.  At least 7 times in the KJV Bible God is called “Holy Spirit”.  At least 89 times in the KJV Bible God is called “Holy Ghost” and that is just a common mistranslated way to say “Holy Spirit”.  God is conclusively revealed to be a Spirit by the overwhelming evidence of scripture.  Therefore man must also be a spirit being or man was not made in the similar image or likeness of God.  This is where most people begin to struggle to understand the basic human composition.  You see I previously stated that Michelangelo created an image of David and we all know that the created image was stone and the other was flesh.  So clearly a created image does not have to be made from the exact same materials to be a good representation.  That is true, but we just need to learn some more facts instead of isolating one truth in the Bible thinking that is everything that we need to know.   It is also clear from simple observation that humans are outwardly flesh based carbon creatures because this is what we can see and touch.  However, God also called man a likeness of God and that additional word changed man to be a pattern of God.   Since we cannot verify the existence of the human spirit with our senses there is no evidence from a natural perspective in this world to support its existence.  But, we should also know from reading the Bible that God is not a man (Num 23:19).  Therefore, God is not a flesh based carbon unit.  How then can man be made in the likeness and the image of God if God is a Spirit and man is only a created human body?  Those are excellent question to consider and to find the answers in the Bible.

Here is another interesting point about God.  God is described to be invisible in Colossians 1:15, 1 Timothy 1:17, and Hebrews 11:27.  If God a Spirit is invisible are there any components of the human man which are also hidden and invisible?  I believe that there is and we will find out why very soon.  People in the world seek to know the external temporary body and neglect to seek to find the truth about the more real eternal internal invisible spirit.  The majority of the unsaved world believes a human is only a physical body, a soul and nothing else.  In thinking in these terms they believe man does not differ from all of the created animals of our planet in any way.  In fact they have been deceived to believe that man simply evolved from these lower forms of animal species and that is not supported scientifically, by DNA evidence, any missing fossil linkage, the Bible or any other evidence but people still believe a fool’s theory.  There is no evidence supporting this deception of evolution.   Creative fiction taught with authority causes the majority of the acceptance of lies.

  • Gen 1:20  And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.

Here is where I think it might be good to introduce you to a concept that is important to know about humans and animals.  You see if you do a deep study of the original Hebrew word (H5315) that was translated into “soul” and the many other various words, you will find that this word has application to both man and animals equally.  Why is that?  For example here in the first chapter of Genesis is the first mention of the Hebrew word but it was translated as “life” instead of soul in this verse.   God is definitely teaching us that created animals have life or AKA souls.  I believe that this is an example where the translators would have been more accurate if they used the word soul instead of the word “life” but they both do apply.  Since created animals breathe air and have a similar form of life as men on the earth they both must possess the same type of “soul life”.  However, there is another truth in the Bible that is also very important to know about the difference between human souls and animal souls.   In several verses in the O.T. the term soul is joined together with another Hebrew word that means “dumb”.   In these verses a “dumb soul” or “dumb life” is referring to animals as being non-speaking living beings on the earth.   This fact distinguishes created man to be a completely separate class of being and a different type of soul than the created animals simply because of the existence of “speech”.   This significance or dissimilarity will become more evident as we continue to dig deeper into the truth.  Men speak words, words have power and authority and this feature reveals man to be like God where the created animals are not.  We may get into this more later, but if not just remember what I said.   Let me take you to a very important verse to study about this subject of the soul of man:

  • 1Th 5:23  And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

This Bible verse clearly identifies all of the key parts of the basic created human composition.  The three main components are listed in their proper order of sequenced priority.  This order is from the greatest or most important human feature descending to the least important part of every human.   Not very many Christians put humans into this order but that is what God says, learn it.    This verse declares every human is to be first, a spirit that second has a soul and third lives in a physical body.  Spirit, soul and body represent three different realms of human existence that require our attention and God’s attention according to this statement.   Consider the declaration being made by God closely.  God says He desires that your whole being be made holy and then He lists three separate areas for this act to take place.  Did you see what God just said?  God just told you that you were designed to be a triune being and that you definitely have a spirit using the exact same Greek word that was proclaimed as God’s Holy Spirit in many other verses.  The fact that God chooses to use the same word for spirit to describe Himself and man makes man the likeness of God.   Do you understand that point?

Right here in this single verse we have just confirmed the existence of two unseen features for the created man being made in the image and likeness of God.   Using this foundational information we understand that the human spirit is not the human soul, the human soul is not the human body, the human spirit is not the physical body and all of these in the vice versa.   To emphasize this point again I’ll restate it using basic math terms.  The human spirit is not equal to the human soul, the human spirit is not equal to the human body, and the human soul is not equal to the human body.  These are very simple truths and this is very profound information for us all to learn.  Each component is a separate and distinct part of the whole man and that is why I never use the terms soul and spirit interchangeably.  This triune pattern revealed as a whole man is the repeated design from the trinity nature of God.  Like I said before I’m not going to teach the subject of the trinity of God in this lesson; I have other lessons on that subject.  Therefore, if you still do not understand that God declares Himself as One God in the form of three unique titled personalities then you are in need of knowing the truth.

Perhaps this will be a good time to introduce confirmation for the location of the human soul.  I just stated that the soul and spirit are the unseen parts of humans and we will need to find Bible verses to help establish this or we should change to believe what the Bible does say.   Even though we do not yet fully know what the soul is, we can still learn where it is located to help us understand the subject.   I’ll give you a verse that helps to point us to the location of the human soul.

  • 1Pe 3:4  But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.

Here we have the Apostle Peter writing about a part of the human that is reported to be of greater importance than the outward human body mentioned in the preceding context verse.   God through Peter says that this internal part of the human composition is hidden from natural view.   This simply means it is not perceivable with the five physical human senses.   Clearly there is a part of humans that is invisible which is very similar to the Spirit of God.    What part of man do you believe this is speaking?  I believe it is speaking literally of the human soul and the human spirit.   In this verse it points us to the core of a man called his heart.  But we will need additional verses to confirm this belief.   Let’s go back to the Old Testament and review a verse that might help clarify this location for the soul.  Please read this next verse and if you would like, look up the Hebrew word definitions to expand your knowledge and understanding of what is being communicated:

  • Psa 103:1  A Psalm of David. Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name.

Begin by understanding the Hebrew word (H5315) translated as “soul” is the same word that we previously defined to be at the least 16 different English words.   We should be able to then look at the next most important Hebrew word and find H7130 which is translated as “within” means the center of something.  In other words the center of an apple is the core.  The center of something means something else surrounds it.  In my apple example, the skin of the apple surrounds or covers the internal parts.  That is the concept being communicated by the Spirit of God in this verse in Psalms.   Therefore the soul of man is an internal component and not an external quantity.  This again points us to the center heart.  Do you understand that?  Perhaps you do and perhaps you don’t.   Using the list of 1 Thessalonians 5:23 human components we can see that the human soul was mentioned second.   I also said that this list was given to us in the order of importance.   Either way the soul being in the middle of the other two words means it is surrounded by something else.   However that is not exactly the best description of the three components of man.

spirit_soul_bodyDo you understand what a bull’s-eye target is?  This target is a series of concentric circles with a center circle usually given the highest point achievement to hit.  This type of target is popular in shooting sports, darts, archery and other types of recreational activities.   Don’t let the word concentric cause you difficulty.  Concentric only means every circle has the same center point.   I personally believe the human composition of man is like this target design.   For example, in 1 Thessalonians 5:23 God lists the center circle of man first called his spirit, I believe this represents the bull’s-eye.   The bulls-eye is the ultimate goal that God and Satan are after.  The spirit center circle is followed by the next circle called the soul and finally the outermost circle would be last, called the human body.   You will find this concept throughout the Bible and it is important for us to understand.  Let’s go back to Genesis again and see another reference commentary to the creation of man:

  • Gen 2:7  And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

In this single verse is found all of the three stated created triune components of man revealed for us in 1 Thessalonians 5:23.  Every part of the specified composition of a man is mentioned here in this verse but they are easily confused or missed.  By contrast, in this verse God shifts the order of the mentioned priority to reveal more essential information concerning creation.  Understand that God’s order of mention always teaches something, reveals something, or states the sequence of importance, precedence, priority or authority.   You see in many secular schools there has always been the classic debate held about which came first the chicken or the egg?  The debate begins with a conclusion that a chicken always comes from an egg therefore the egg must have existed before the chicken.  However, the opposing side of the debates begins with this counter argument and states where did the egg come from?  Since the egg comes from a chicken the chicken must have existed first in order to produce the egg.  Thus we have a classic circular reasoning debate without end and without any clear winner.  However, God reveals by His phrasing exactly which came first here in His Word and ends the debate.  I guess people want to debate because they do not desire to believe in the Bible or the existence of a great creator God and thus they produce man made logic to explain away the truth.

This verse in Genesis starts with the revealed fact that God first created the complete mature body of the man from the dust of the earth.  What was the first created part of the man?  By definition it is the body.  Without a physical body there are no humans, man or woman.   When the body of a human baby is formed from the union of the female egg and the male sperm cells that action produces the body for the human spirit and before this occurs there is no human spirit and if you can read you will see that is what this verse in Genesis is teaching.   After the man’s formed body was produced by the work of God’s hand, what happened next?   The Bible says God “breathed” into his nostrils (body).  Let’s stop there and interpret this verse based upon what we have previously learned about God.  In John 4:24 we learned that God is an invisible Spirit and therefore God does not breathe air like a natural human being takes in the oxygen based atmosphere into the lungs and then exhales the carbon dioxide mixture back out.  In fact, have you ever read any verse that says air exists in heaven?  I personally believe air is a created substance and therefore the creator existed before air.   Therefore God did not need air to exist.   Surely you can see that spirits do not need air to be a spirit or to have life.  If God does not breathe air what then is God saying to us here to us in Genesis 2:7 that he breathed into Adam?

This is the introduction to the potentially complex part of the discussion on the human composition.   We learned from reading in the New Testament in 1 Thessalonians 5:3 that man is definitely a spirit first and foremost.  But here in Genesis 2:7 God creates the man’s body first and so far there is no mention of any direct spirit either God’s or man’s.  Where then did this spirit mentioned in 1Thessalonians 5:3 come from?  Are spirits created by God from nothing or do spirits originate from another spiritual being?   Did you ever ask yourself why God a Spirit is called by the direct title of “Father” repeatedly in the Bible?   In fact over 200 times in the Bible God is revealed by this title.  In order for any being natural or spiritual to be labeled a father they must procreate to produce a child.  What is the basis of procreation?  Naturally speaking it is sex, but how is that related to a spirit like God?  How does God procreate?   According to Genesis 2:7, God breathed and man became.  Analyze what natural human breath is.  Breathing is a process of inhaling or the intake of air followed by exhaling, outtake or exit of the air?  That process of breathing represents air flow or more specifically air movement.  So if God created natural things to give us pictures into spiritual things what does God breathing into the nostrils of the man represent symbolically and spiritually?  I believe that God breathing out from His Spirit and into the body of the man was God’s Spirit moving from God into the body of His creation to become Adam’s spirit.  What else can it be?   This would answer the question where the spirit of man came from.  Let’s look at a verse that Jesus spoke when teaching His disciples to pray:

  • Mat 6:9  After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.

Here Jesus says to pray “Our Father”.  This does not say “My Father”.  The term “Our” is a statement of inclusion not leaving the disciples out.  If God was their Father as well as the Father of the Lord Jesus then this is important information to remember.   This verse in Genesis 2:7 that I have been using to teach specifically says that God blows something out from His Spirit that enters into the body through the nasal air passage of the man to cause life to be first observed.   The nasal air passage is just one human gate to the body of man.  Gates can be two ways or one way.   In the case of the nose and mouth these are two way gates that allow air in and out.   Please allow me tell you briefly about a testimony of a man that I knew.  This man died as a teenager and went to hell.  This man was about to enter into hell when a voice spoke from heaven and he ascended back to the earth.  When his spirit came back into the room where his body had died, he remembers his spirit entering back into his body through his mouth.   It seems that there is a direct connection between the air passages and the internal invisible spirit of the human that resides in the body.   I haven’t proved that yet, but maybe I will get to that part later.  If not and you want to know where this is in the Bible you can ask a question.

Here is a basic simple question, was the body of the man Adam living or alive before God breathed?  If you are smart you must agree that Adam’s body had no life before God breathed.   If it was not alive then it was technically dead.   Isn’t dead the antithesis to being alive?  I am simply using the term dead to mean there was no life present until God breathed.  Here is another very interesting point to observe from the creation account in Genesis; ask yourself, why didn’t God breathe into any of the nostrils of any of the other created animals to cause them to become alive?  Have you ever thought about that?  Actually I should ask did you notice that God did not breathe into the animals.   What this proves is a basic fact that man was not created as an animal and did not originate from the animal class of species.   It conclusively proves that man’s life came directly from God’s Spirit and that makes man a very unique and a very special created being.

What does the Bible say is the reason for the life of the flesh or the body of a man?   Realistically there is more than one answer to that question but I’m going to focus in on only one part of the answer for now.   We are going to interpret the Bible using the Bible so that we can understand what God is saying in Genesis 2.  Read this verse and tell me what it says and why it applies to what we just read about in Genesis 2:7:

  • Jas 2:26  For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.

This verse clearly says that when the human body dies, the spirit of that man departs, exits, or leaves the body.   To be more precise this verse says if there is no human spirit, then there is no human life!  This verse is the stated antithesis of what occurred in Genesis 2:7 and it teaches us what happened to the man in that verse to cause life to enter his body.   The man’s spirit had to have come from the Spirit of God in order for the man’s body to become a living being.   Are you getting the connection?   Where did the spirit of man come from?  The spirit of man could only come from the Spirit of God and this is not that complicated and it must be this way for every human.  Spirits come from the Father of Spirits and this is told to us by the verse in Hebrews 12:9.  Go read it and see what it says.  I’m spending a lot of time on the spirit of man component because this is the most important part of every human being.  The spirit of man is the eternal part that never dies, never ceases to exist and will be judged someday standing before the throne of God.   The human spirit is the part of the man that was made in the direct image and likeness of the Creator.

Earlier I told you that the human soul is not saved yet and that God has given us His Word to save our souls.  Therefore, the human spirit is the only  component of God’s salvation that was reconciled back into relationship with God’s plan of salvation.  You see at the point of salvation your physical body does not change one bit.  You have the exact same body before receiving salvation as you do after salvation.   Remember the order of priority given to us by God?   God thinks about you internally to externally in that precise order.   When God offered you salvation He did it through a preacher proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  This Gospel message should have included the message of the identity of Jesus as being God in the flesh and His voluntary sacrifice to die for our sins.  But it did not end there, Jesus was then raised from the dead and that act was the key difference between every other human death and when we believe on all of this that Jesus accomplished that saved our spirit and God’s Spirit enters into our body to witness that we are now again His children.

  • 1Co 6:17  But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.

To be joined with the Lord is a marriage covenant phrase first given to us by God in Genesis 2:24.   After receiving the Lord Jesus as savior the Spirit of God becomes one spirit with your spirit and you are conclusively saved by His Grace through your faith (Eph 2:8).  Therefore, God’s Spirit joined with your spirit is the result of salvation.  The rest of you still needs to be saved and I’ll show you why next when I begin to describe the human soul.

INTRODUCTION TO THE SOUL OF MAN

I needed to spend considerable time upfront emphasizing the spirit of man because that is not the soul part of the human composition.   The spirit of man comes from the Spirit of God, but the soul of man does not.   Ok, I probably just confused most of you with that statement.  Let’s spend time analyzing what the soul of man represents.   I do not currently know of one verse that accurately describes all of the parts of the human soul.  If you know of one, share it.  I will go through and give you some verses that list specific parts of the human soul and then we will need to put the pieces together to define the whole

  • Pro 2:10  When wisdom entereth into thine heart, and knowledge is pleasant unto thy soul;

Here we have two references to two different parts of the human composition.  The heart of man can normally be viewed as the spirit of the man and the soul is the Hebrew word H5315 that I have been focusing upon in this lesson.   Wisdom goes into the spirit (heart) of man.  Let’s define wisdom as being, knowing what to do when you don’t know what to do.  I believe we could also define wisdom as being, saying the right thing when you think you don’t know what to say.  Wisdom directs good words and good actions to come forth from a man, but the lack of wisdom causes a man’s acts and words to appear foolish.  According to God wisdom is what we all should be trying to obtain.  But, God also says knowledge is a positive ingredient for our soul.  Therefore, ask yourself how do you get knowledge and where do you retain this knowledge?  Do you believe that knowledge is tied to your mind and your memory?  If you agree with me that getting knowledge is a part of your mind’s function, then the soul of man contains your mind.   Let’s consider another verse that brings in a new aspect of the soul:

  • Pro 14:10  The heart knoweth his own bitterness; and a stranger doth not intermeddle with his joy.

This verse is easily missed because of the translation error.  The term “own” here is the Hebrew word H5315 that should have been made “soul”.   This is one of those poor examples of Bible translations that I referred to earlier.   Change the word to soul and reread it.  The heart (spirit) knows his soul’s bitterness”.   What is bitterness?   If you look at the entire verse you will hopefully see bitterness is being defined as the antithesis of joy.  What is joy?  Joy is a human emotional state.  It represents a very happy moment in life.  Therefore, bitterness could be the opposite the sad, discouraged, disappointed times of life.  What we are observing is the inclusion of the human emotions into the soul realm.  So far we have found the mind and the emotions to be two parts of the soul.

  • Pro 15:32  He that refuseth instruction despiseth his own soul: but he that heareth reproof getteth understanding.

Here is another interesting verse about your soul.  What is the main subject of this verse?  If you did not know God is focused on the human soul in this verse.   We can see from the last word in the verse that God is talking about us getting understanding?  How do you understand anything?   Isn’t that with your mind again?  People get knowledge and then they can grow to understand what they know with their minds and that is an intricate part of the human soul.  However, God introduces us to a new aspect of the human soul called choice.  The right of human choice that we all possess is called our human freewill.   If we refuse to take instructions we have made a negative choice and God says we despise our souls.   This is an act of a vile person, an ignorant person and it is not a positive description to be associated.  What we have learned from this verse is that the human soul is comprised of their will or right to choose.    We could go through many more confirming verses but that was a quick introduction to the three main human soul sub-components.

WHERE DOES MAN GET HIS SOUL?

The human soul is one sub-realm in the triune whole design of man (spirit, soul & body).  We previously looked at God as being the source for man’s spirit, but where did man get his soul?  The soul of man is comprised of three main specific entities called 1) the mind, 2) the will and 3) the emotions.  These soul items were created patterns, models and qualities that God possessed but they were not God’s personal mind, God’s personal will, or God’ personal emotions present in man.  In other words man was an independent spirit possessing an independent soul, an independent mind, an independent will and an independent set of emotions all being separated from God’s soul.  Did you know that God had a soul?  Ask yourself does God have a mind?  If yes, then ask does God have a will?  If yes, then ask yourself has God ever displayed any emotions?  If yes, then God has a soul and man’s soul was modeled after God’s.  However, the created man did not come preloaded with all of the knowledge of God, the understanding or the wisdom of God after creation.  The created man was not fully packed with all of the memories of God.   The created man was not told anything specifically about the will of God except “do not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil or you will surely die”.  This was one of the only details of knowledge revealing the will of God that the man possessed.  Therefore the man was not pre-conditioned or pre-programmed to do the will of God.  How would the man even know what death was?  There is no way that he had ever seen death or experienced death because God created everything very good.  Adam did not find out what death was until after he sinned and his son Cain killed his other son Abel and that was the first recorded natural death that occurred in the Bible.

Soul_Empty_containe2rWhat I am attempting to teach is that the created man did not auto-magically possess the full knowledge of God, the thoughts of God, the ways of God or the emotions of God.  He could learn these from walking with and listening to God but they were certainly not automatically transferred to his soul when he was given God’s spirit life.   I view the human soul to be an empty large container in need of filling.  A human learning something is their empty mind being filled with knowledge.   Consider a new born natural child.  Does this new born baby possess all of the knowledge of their parents directly from birth?   Can they speak intelligently about the facts of life or the experiences of their parents?  Obviously a child is an empty container in need of an education and individual and personal experiences of their own in order to grow up and mature.   Why would you think that Adam and Eve were different than any new born babies in need of the same?   Let me let you in on another Bible pattern.   The Bible teaches us that Adam was made in the image and likeness of God in Genesis 1:24 but these two same exact words were used to describe Adam’s new born son named “Seth” in Genesis 5:3.  What I am attempting to say is if one pattern is not identical to the other pattern then God just must be confused to use the same words.  No what God is teaching us is that the same image and likeness that Adam was created with was also transferred down the life chain to every human descendent that came from Adam.  Let’s move on and talk more about the soul.

Consider the human mind to continue our soul analysis.  The human mind is comprised of both mental reasoning facilities for thought processing and knowledge retention capabilities also called our memory.  Memory is used for human learning and for experience and information storage, which demands there is also recall capabilities later for these memories to be reused for other decision making or expression.  Perhaps I need to stop and verify the existence of God’s soul using scriptures.  Start by looking at Jeremiah 5:9 and Jeremiah 9:9 to see the Lord speaking directly of His personal soul.  This is the same Hebrew word used for man’s soul an animal’s soul, etc.  I think verses like these confirm that God is in possession of a soul.  Let’s consider what God says about the “mind of Christ” in 1 Corinthians 2:16 and we will certainly verify from this verse that the Lord God also has a mind.  Now consider the prayer that Jesus taught to his disciples to pray in Matthew 6:10.  Jesus said to pray “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is done in heaven”.  Therefore, God definitely has a will.  We really haven’t fully defined what a will is, but this is the inward desire part of the spirit being.   I also said that the will was the part of a being that possessed “the right of choice”.  The inner desires usually help to determine the choices that a person makes.  Therefore, the will is another factor for decisions.  We are just going through a few of the key components of the soul to verify their existence in God.   Now consider the mind’s thought process for thinking and read Isaiah 55:8 and you will see a direct connection being made by God where He says “My thoughts are not your thoughts”.   God basically declares we both have minds that think but you are not thinking like I think.  If you continue to read in Isaiah God says “Your ways are not my ways”.  This again states the will of God to be separate from the will of man.   God was clearly saying the choices that you make are not the same as the choices that I would have made.   Are you learning anything about the related and connected parts of man’s soul to be like God’s soul?  Let’s move on to the emotional part of the soul of God.  Does God have emotions?  What are emotions?   Sadness, anger, joy, disgust, fear and surprise are all common emotional qualities found in normal humans and I did not attempt to give the complete list.  Does God ever display any of these qualities?   Read Exodus 4:14 to begin and you should quickly see that “the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses”.   It appears that God does possess emotions.  Nehemiah 8:10 states the “joy of the Lord is our strength”.   Clearly God displays joy and anger to name two emotions.   I could give you other verses but that is enough to confirm that God has a soul and that man’s soul was modeled after it.

We can read in Genesis 2 that the created man definitely had extreme thought and reasoning capabilities and he must have possessed incredible memory abilities in order to name all of God’s created animals.  Modern scientists still do not know exactly how many species exist on the planet but it is estimated to be between 9,000 and 10,000 different types.  Let’s see how long it takes you to come up with original names for each one of these groups and then remember them all.  Where did Adam get these names?   Notice in this chapter that God brings the animals to Adam and says “whatever the man calls it that is what it will be called” (Gen 2:19).  This statement implies that it was an independent man only naming operation that transpired.  God would direct the animals across Adam’s path and Adam would use his independent reasoning abilities to name them all.  This teaches me that Adam used his own personal mind, thoughts and reasoning abilities to name all of the animals and God did not contribute His abilities or thoughts into Adam’s mental thought process.  There is no stated time for how long this took Adam but the fact that it happened is good enough for me.  I want you to see that it is clear that Adam must have had a desire to name the animals or he would not have done it.  This displays the unique quality of drive, initiative, curiosity and desire; in other words Adam’s human will was a contributing factor in this Animal naming process.  Therefore the second part of the triune soul called the human will was a confirmed factor that Adam had to possess.  The fact that Adam did something without being told to do it demonstrates not only intelligence but also his freewill choice and the right to make a decision.

Consider all of the mentioned components of the soul of man; each component of the human soul has some significance in the story of Adam in Genesis 2.   God says in Genesis 2:6 that he formed the body of the man from the dust of the ground and then breathed a spirit into his body and Adam became a living soul.  This confirms that the soul of man exists only after the spirit is introduced.  This makes man the unique part of God’s creation.  You can see that every animal has a soul but without any spirit.  The fact that Adam shows interest in God’s creatures demonstrates a unique human quality that is unlike any creature that was displayed before Adam.   No other animal looked at Adam to attempt to name him.  What God was teaching Adam by parading His creation before Adam was the fact that there was no one else like him on the planet.  God showed him the whole of his work in this world and nothing that God created on the planet was Adam’s equal.  That is why God created the woman because God says it was not good for the man to be alone.  That statement by God proves Adam was an independent being separate from God.    Adam has demonstrated the three qualities of the human soul in this chapter.  This was just a quick introduction to the topic of where did Adam get his soul.  I tried to show you that Adam’s soul came as a designed pattern for God’s soul but it came void of God’s divine soul fullness.  I hope you understand these quick points, I just don’t have the time to explain them in greater detail right now.

SOUL VS. SPIRIT BEFORE AND AFTER DEATH

I am now going to provide further confirmation that the soul is not the spirit and the spirit is not the soul and give you evidence that they both still exist after death.   You may have heard me say this before but it is always a good practice to find at least 2 verses in the Bible that impart the same truth.  When we locate two verses in two different books of the Bible that demonstrate the same truth, we know this is a truth that God has firmly established by the mouth of 2 witnesses.   I think we have covered this fairly well but there is more to it that needs to be studied.  Previously I believe I stated the soul and the spirit to be hidden unseen qualities of a man.  I linked the soul and spirit to internal parts of the human not connected to the physical body and that is potentially a controversial statement since everyone knows the human brain is the container for the mind.  Or at least that is what people think in error and we will talk more about this soon.   Let’s go to the New Testament and see what God reveals on the subjects of soul and spirit:

  • Heb 4:12  For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

We are going to continue with the mind part of the soul.  In this verse God declares His word to be a sword of division capable of dividing the human soul from the human spirit.  Spirit, soul and body are all technically mentioned in some form in this verse.   Joints and marrow are body sub-components just as thoughts and intents are soul sub-components.   The spirit is directly mentioned in this verse to be separate from the soul.  But why then does God mention the heart at the end of the verse and not the spirit?  What is the difference between heart and spirit?   Here is where we get into more potentially complex discussions.  The Body as you recall is the outer layer component to the inner concentric circles of man.  The body layer is followed by the middle circle layer of the soul ending with the center circle layer of the spirit.  So the heart of a man is that which lies underneath the outer layer.  I believe the heart of a man normally refers to both his spirit and his soul together and I will try to explain this as I go.

Many people confuse the spirit and the soul to be like Siamese twins joined together at the “S”.  This verse appears to imply this relationship but it also clearly says that they can be separated, detached, parted, or divided revealing them to be unique separate human qualities.   Consider what is not directly stated here.  If the word of God says the soul can be separated from the spirit, this would tend to show that they are normally always linked together.  In other words where the spirit goes, the soul will surely follow.  I then want you to consider why it takes the Word of God to separate the soul from the spirit?  Is there anything more powerful than the Word of God?   I do not know of anything that exists that is more powerful than the Word of God.   God spoke the world into existence and that is enough proof for me but I’ll give you Hebrews 1:3 for you to research.  You may not understand that the soul and spirit are normally linked but this is actually a very true statement and I will show you verses that confirm this belief shortly.

Earlier I stated the soul is a triune structure consisting of the “mind”, the “will” and the “emotions”.  This verse in Hebrews lists two of these three parts leaving out the emotions.  The “thoughts” of man are linked to the human mind’s functionality.  You think and therefore you are.   The “intents’ of the soul mentioned in Hebrews 4:12 are the parts of you that produce purpose, drive and ability and these give you choice.   You mind is a very complex designed part of your being.  I could spend a lot of time on this subject but that would be a better separate lesson.   Know the soul is the location for your thoughts, your memories, your reasoning, your desires, your emotions, etc.   Also understand that God says that your thoughts and intents are for your spirit and not for your body.  This brings me to the next part of the lesson question.  What happens to the human soul after the death of the human body?   I’ve already shown you Bible evidence that states the spirit departs when the death of the human body occurs.  Therefore, that leaves us to decide does the human mind just cease to exist after death?  That is what some ignorant Bible teachers claim; they call this belief the doctrine of “Soul Sleep”.   They define the state of soul sleep to be an unconscious state of existence that is experienced by the spirit until the judgment day and suddenly they are all awakened by God and are back to normal.  This belief practically denies the existence of heaven and hell and ignores a lot of the truth in the Bible that counters this belief.   It is a very foolish belief that cannot be fully confirmed with all the scripture.  For example let me give you something that Jesus taught on the subject of the soul and spirit:

  • Luk 16:19  There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day:
  • Luk 16:20  And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores,

Read this story told by Jesus very carefully and give it vigilant consideration.  This information is a real literal historical story known by Jesus and not a parable as many fools claim it to be.   If it was a parable Jesus is going to state two obvious lies and one of them is found here in this 20th verse.  Jesus called the beggar directly by the name of Lazarus.  If this was not a real man named Lazarus then the story has become a work of fiction, a make believe account, and a fabrication of unimportant information.   If Lazarus does not literally exist Jesus would not have given us his name to make himself a liar.  What I am doing is countering a false teaching that attempts to explain away this real life story to make it a parable.  These soul sleep teachers have to do this in order to support the rest of their false doctrines.   You see the popular approach to discrediting any conflicting verses in the Bible that disagree with your belief is to explain them away using human reasoning.  This is a very common technique for deception.  They will take the truth and change it into a lie to help support the other lies that they claim are also the truth.   Ok, let’s continue with the information from Jesus.

  • Luk 16:22  And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried;

Notice that both men are stated to die a physical death and that their physical bodies are buried in the earth.   Then notice the wording that is used here to tell what happens to them.  What was carried away by the angels?  Did you happen to notice that the body in the ground was not them?  It was the real man that was being carried away and it was their bodies that were being buried.  Here we have the separation of the spirit from the body.    We have a very clear separation of the internal unseen man from his seen body.  Are you making any connections here?   Since the body of man was separated from the spirit of man at the time of death what happened to the soul?  Does the soul cease to exist?  That is the problem with what is being taught in many ignorant churches, they are ignoring what the Bible says on the subject to believe more untruths.   We are about to find out from words spoken out of the mouth of the creator God what happens to their souls so pay attention to what God says:

  • Luk 16:23  And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
  • Luk 16:24  And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.
  • Luk 16:25  But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented.

Use basic logic observing what is literally stated for us to learn from.    We can understand easily that everyone mentioned here is dead, right?    Abraham is dead from reading Genesis 25:8.  Lazarus we just read has died and is with Abraham.  Finally the rich man in hell was also a dead man from the same story that Jesus was using as an example warning.  These are three dead individuals that have all departed leaving their bodies on the earth.  Notice that Jesus mentions Abraham another real man and this is the second lie that Jesus told if this story is not a literal account that actually happened to Abraham.  We cannot hear a story of a real named man and conclude it to be anything but a lie if it did not actually happen.  No this is all an actual account given by Jesus stating the literal truth.  Then notice everyone that is mentioned can see, think, feel and talk.  We can easily understand from what is stated the rich man in hell literally feels the torment of the flames.  He sees Abraham and Lazarus a far distance away from the flames and asks for a drop of water to cool his tongue.  The key word that I want you to focus on is found in verse 25.  Abraham looks at the rich man and tells him to “remember”.    A memory is nothing but the recollection of real past events that were personally experienced.  I can’t remember what you did yesterday because I don’t know what you did.  We all have memories either good or bad and these are an intimate part of our mind and our soul.  Therefore, the soul of man is definitely present with the spirits of all of the men after death.    The rich man was still able to remember, to think, to reason, and to see and speak.  Without the soul and the mind none of this would have been possible.  There are many other things to learn from this story but that was the key points that I needed you to see in order to understand the existence and location of the soul after death.   Let’s look into another Bible story that is applicable to learn about the soul of man.

  • Mar 9:2  And after six days Jesus taketh with him Peter, and James, and John, and leadeth them up into an high mountain apart by themselves: and he was transfigured before them.
  • Mar 9:3  And his raiment became shining, exceeding white as snow; so as no fuller on earth can white them.
  • Mar 9:4  And there appeared unto them Elias with Moses: and they were talking with Jesus.

Here we have another literal story that happens while Jesus was physically present on the earth.   Jesus takes three disciple witnesses with Him for them to tell us what was about to occur.  These disciples observe Jesus being transfigured and suddenly two men appear with Him.  Notice, who these men are that join Jesus on the mountain.  Elijah did not die and was raptured up but Moses certainly died by reading Deuteronomy 34:7.  Did you know that the O.T. law of God prohibits talking to the dead?  Uh oh!  That is a problem until you realize Jesus was actually speaking to two living men and not dead ones.  The fact that Moses’ body had died does not make Moses a dead man.  The spirit of Moses is alive and present hundreds of years after his physical death.  Then notice the mind of Moses is still intact with his spirit since he is clearly able to hold an intelligent conversation with the Lord.   That is so important to learn what is being taught in the Word of God.  Spirits still have souls and these reside with their spirits after the body has died.  Let’s look at another verse that will assist us with this truth:

  • Rev 21:4  And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.

Let’s shift our focus to a prophetical verse about the future.   Here in this verse God declares that He will wipe away every tear.   Who is this that God is wiping away their tears?  Probably a better question would be “Why do they have tears to wipe away”?  If you read the preceding context you will discover that God is wiping the tears from people.  Not just any people, because these are the people of God that God lives in eternity with.  That means two things that are very relevant to answer the soul questions.  First the presence of the soul is confirmed in the future tense because the tears that are flowing represent the presence of their emotions.   Tears normally flow as a result of hurt, pain, sorrow, sadness or other related emotional conditions.  There is also the term “tears of joy” and that might also apply to what is being stated here.  Remember that I told you the soul was comprised of the mind the will and the emotions.   Every one of these subjects is implied to exist in the eternal man.   Why do people cry at funerals?  They cry simply because they can, but not only that they cry because they love and remember their friend, spouse, child, parent or other relative that has departed.   Therefore, memories play an important role in why tears are present.   Emotions play a role in the existence of tears.   Finally the human will plays a role in shedding tears because I have seen many choke them back to keep them from flowing.   What this does is to help confirm that the soul of man will never cease to exist.

I have just given you three great examples of man after death on the earth that still possess their souls with their memories, thoughts, wills and emotions all being implied present with their spirits.   The soul of man is an eternal part of the human composition and it will never cease to exist.  That brings us to the last part of the question; what about the soul here in this life?   You see there is another popular lie from Satan that is taught even in modern medical universities that when a human brain flat lines with no activity that the body is clinically dead and the plug should be pulled.  Is that what Jesus said?  Is that what the Bible teaches?  How does that belief line up with the truth found in God’s Word?  Didn’t the spirit of man still possess the mind even after his spirit left his body?   What I am saying is that your mind and your memory have nothing to do with your physical brain cells.  None of the dead men in Luke 16 had any physical brain cells and every one of them could still see, speak, think and remember like they were in their bodies and probably better.   I didn’t give you the full story in this lesson but you can go back and read it to see that the rich man in hell remembered his brothers that were left behind on the earth and he desired (used his will) that they be warned not to come to the same place of torment with him.  If this man remembered his life here on the earth, then every man after death can still remember his life in the past.  Here is another ending point for the rich man, not only did he remember his brothers on the earth he knew who Abraham was and Abraham had died long before he did.  You are going to know a lot of people after you die that you have never seen before.  This is just very basic knowledge based upon the Bible.  I pray that you will see it.

WHY DOES MENTAL ILLNESS EXIST?

How then do we resolve life’s soul issues?   What are the source causes for mind problems?   The existence of emotional and mental issues in this life is certainly present.  Why are there lapses in memory such as amnesia or Alzheimer’s disease where the recollection is lost?   Why are their mental hospitals and physiatrists to try to help people with unstable normal thought patterns and emotions?  I’m not going to spend a lot of time addressing this subject because it could potentially be very long and very complex.  I will however point you to a few Bible stories that will help begin the understanding process for why these types of things occur in the natural realm even when the soul is not literally tied to the physical brain cells.   Let’s start this part of the lesson with this scripture verse:

  • 2Co 4:4  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.

Did you see who God claims to be the source for mind issues?  The god of this world is a title given by God to the devil and Satan.  He rules the night and the kingdom of darkness of this world.   Darkness is nothing but the absence of light.  Since God is light, the loss of God represents darkness.   Now consider what blindness represents?  Can you see in the dark?  Have you ever been in a cave and they turned the lights off?  The darkness is so thick there that you feel like it engulfs you.   Naturally speaking, blindness is the inability to see illuminated objects clearly or at all.  Since the mind is an internal human component, how does Satan blind a person’s mind?  Did you even know that the human mind had vision?  Perhaps you have heard of the mind’s eye?  This concept is the visualization of concepts, ideas, knowledge so that they are clearly understood.   What God is saying is when a person has been blinded in their minds by Satan, the information enters their ears, but does not pass deeply enough to remain planted.  It is very much like the parable of the sower where Jesus said the birds of the air come quickly to devour the Word of God that was planted in their hearts.   You really need to give this information serious thought.  I’m not going to talk about this in great depth because I am running very long in this lesson already.  Just understand that if Satan can blind your mind then that is an area of the soul that is open for attack by a foreign spiritual being.    Let’s see if we can verify some of these concepts using other verses in the Bible.  I will continue this part of the lesson with the confirmation that the process of thinking within our minds is linked to the spirit of man and not the natural body or brain:

  • Mat 9:4  And Jesus knowing their thoughts said, Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts?

Jesus looking at some people knew their internal unseen thoughts and asked them a question that was very revealing to what we are studying.  Jesus clearly is speaking of the soul thought realm and he leads us to these thoughts being attached to their spirits and never mentions their physical brain activity.  Do you think the creator God knew what He was talking about here?  There is no reference to the body anywhere in the context.   Little clues like this are hidden in the Bible in some of the most unlikely settings.  Truth is concealed so well in the Bible that it is easily overlooked by the casual reader.  Everyone is focusing on what Jesus is doing while ignoring what He just said.

  • Pro 23:7  For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee.

Again God connects the location of the thought process to be within the center of the man called his soul and spirit and not within the physical body, the brain or the external natural realm.  The heart of man is not the physical blood pump organ, it is the center or core of the human like the heart of an apple is the center of the piece of fruit.  I’ve said this before but for those that need to hear it again that was for you.   This is the basics of God’s truth found in the scripture and that is what is needed for your understanding of the subject of the soul.  Now let’s observe what the Bible says about the cause of human mental issues:

  • Luk 8:26  And they arrived at the country of the Gadarenes, which is over against Galilee.
  • Luk 8:27  And when he went forth to land, there met him out of the city a certain man, which had devils long time, and ware no clothes, neither abode in any house, but in the tombs.

Let us perceive what is happening in this Bible account of the Lord Jesus.  They are passing through a part of the country to a town called Gadara.    They encounter a man that is far from normal.  Physically speaking he has issues, but mentally speaking he is off the charts and can be labeled crazy or a mad man.   He wore no clothes and lived in tombs.  These are clear signs of a deep mental illness but they are attributed to the presence of devils.  What we are going to discover by study of the Bible is that demons, devils, or unclean spirits cause the majority of the mental issues found in the people that Jesus encountered.

  • Luk 8:28  When he saw Jesus, he cried out, and fell down before him, and with a loud voice said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God most high? I beseech thee, torment me not.

You can see from this statement that the man is unaware of the presence of the devils.  He does not ask to be delivered from them and is directed by the demons to ask Jesus not to torment them.  The reference is to the man, but the thought for the spoken words surely originates from the demons.   Clearly this man is possessed of devils.   These devils can manifest vocally and take over the voice of a human speaking through his body.  This is normally not an ordinary human voice and can be easily identified to those that are spiritually aware.

  • Luk 8:29  (For he had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. For oftentimes it had caught him: and he was kept bound with chains and in fetters; and he brake the bands, and was driven of the devil into the wilderness.)
  • Luk 8:30  And Jesus asked him, saying, What is thy name? And he said, Legion: because many devils were entered into him.
  • Luk 8:31  And they besought him that he would not command them to go out into the deep.

You can see that Jesus understood that the devils were present and He had commanded them to come out of the man, but that was not the end of the conversation.  It is obvious that the demons did not depart on the first command and asked more questions.  Jesus then asked for their name.  The man replied “legion” because there were many devils in his body tormenting his mind.   It would be like having a thousand voices in your head and each one driving you into a state of madness and that is what was happening to this man.  I’m going to skip down to the end of the story since that is the important part to understand about the subject of mental illness.  After Jesus cast the tormenting spirits out of the madman this is what occurred:

  • Luk 8:38  Now the man out of whom the devils were departed besought him that he might be with him: but Jesus sent him away, saying,
  • Luk 8:39  Return to thine own house, and shew how great things God hath done unto thee. And he went his way, and published throughout the whole city how great things Jesus had done unto him.

Here we can see with the absence of the devil influence being present the man had returned to a sound and stable mental state and wearing clothes.   The new normal man wanted to follow Jesus, but Jesus instructed him to go back to his former house and live like a normal man like he did before he went crazy.  We have just witnessed a full circle of mental illness that went through the stages of first being normal, then becoming crazy and finally a full recovery with spiritual deliverance to again being normal.   The fact that the devils were present during the crazy times proves that they were the cause for the mental illness. The man starts out as normal, but does something that allows the devils access to enter him to take over and control his mind, he then goes crazy until Jesus comes by and delivers him.  This deliverance only occurred because of the power and the authority that Jesus used to solve this man’s abnormal situation.   Let’s move to another story found in the Bible that is also related to mental and physical instability:

  • Mar 9:17  And one of the multitude answered and said, Master, I have brought unto thee my son, which hath a dumb spirit;

Again we see the presence of a spirit being related as the cause of an abnormal human conditions.  This stated dumb spirit is not the human child’s spirit even though that is also certainly present since the boy is physically alive.   Read the next verse to see what this spirit causes to happen in this boy’s body and mind:

  • Mar 9:18  And wheresoever he taketh him, he teareth him: and he foameth, and gnasheth with his teeth, and pineth away: and I spake to thy disciples that they should cast him out; and they could not.

Is any of this description normal human behavior for a child?  I seriously do not think we can call any of this foaming at the mouth, seizures, gnashing of the teeth, and shriveling or shrinking away normal human behavior.   If you took this description to a physiatrist without explaining where you got the information from the Bible they would probably request an immediate meeting with this person very fast.  I believe it is a clear account of a mentally unstable individual.   I’m not going to go through the entire story because you can do that for yourself.  What you will find is that Jesus casts the devil out and the child returns again to normal human behavior.

What we learn from these two simple stories is that mental issues are largely originated from evil spirits being present in the bodies of the humans.    When the evil spirits depart or more specifically are cast out, normalcy returns and humans can resume their lives.  What we discover is that the human actions of an individual can be controlled by or at least certainly influenced by the existence of evil spirits.  That was a very quick overview of soul issues and deliverance.  Deliverance is possible still today because Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.

CONCLUSION

I believe this has been an incomplete discussion of the full subject of the soul given to us by God in the Bible.  However, in this lesson, I have demonstrated to you from the Bible that the soul is not the spirit and the spirit is not the soul of a human.  A human being is a spirit that has a soul and lives in a body here in the natural realm.  I have also shown you that man was created in the image of God and that God is a Spirit and that He has a soul and these were the patterns for man’s spirit and soul.  I have given you more than adequate evidence from the Bible that states the soul of man does not cease to exist after death and the separation of the human spirit from the body.  We have seen more than enough verses that teach us the soul and the spirit exist separate from the body.   Finally, at the end of this lesson I showed you how the soul realm was within the realm of influence of evil spirits.  I believe I gave sufficient evidences to prove that mental illness is caused by demonic possession.   There are probably another thousand verses in the Bible on this subject.  It would be good for you to go and see if you can find them if you truly desire to know more about this subject from the true authority.   If you run across verses that you do not understand you are welcome to ask me questions and if I know anything I will share it.   I hope and pray that you learned something that you did not know before on the human soul and triune composition of man.  I thank you for your time to study the Bible and may God bless you with the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Christ Jesus (Eph 1:16).

Bible Answers: Was the Angel Michael the Pre-Existence of Jesus?

(Ver 1.1)  I occasionally answer Bible questions.  If you have Bible questions you are free to leave them as a comment and I will get to them as I have the time.  In today’s subject I was specifically asked by a reader what my views were on the Arc-Angel Michael being the pre-existent Jesus.  This was a very strange question that I almost ignored.  However, I can see the reason behind the question and the harm that this issue raises, so I will address it in a quick Holy Spirit led Bible Response.   I will state plainly upfront that the main reason for addressing this subject is because it is a false teaching that promotes the lies of Satan.  Any subject that is a lie from Satan can always be countered with the Truth of God’s Word.   Clearly Satan is going to great extents to discredit the true identity of Jesus.   Rather than teach you directly about the lie, I would rather spend my time teaching you the truth found in the Bible.  In order to do this we need to address 9 basic questions:

  1. Do angels have pre-existence or are they created beings?
  2. How is Michael described in the Bible?
  3. Is Michael an angel or a divine component of the Godhead?
  4. Did Michael exist prior to Jesus’ birth?
  5. Does Michael still exist after the birth of Jesus on the earth?
  6. What “was”, “is” and “will be” Michael’s role in the Kingdom of God?
  7. Is Jesus ever directly connected in identity to the angel Michael in the Bible?
  8. Who did Jesus actually claim to be?
  9. Is Jesus a direct component of the divine nature of the Godhead?

I will at least briefly touch on the answers to every one of these essential questions in this lesson.  These questions will be my outline for the lesson so you will know where we are going before we get there.  Let me give you my opening verse for this entire Bible lesson.  This verse has nothing directly to do with the subject of Michael but then it also has everything directly to do with the subject of who Jesus Christ is.  Read and study it closely:

1Jn 2:22  Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son.

We should be able to see from this statement that the anti-Christ will be the one that comes denying that Jesus is the Christ.  He further goes to explain that the anti-Christ will also be the one that denies the existence of either the Father or the Son.  Either denial constitutes an anti-Christ spiritual teaching of perversion.  Why is it important for someone to affirm Jesus the Son’s existence?  Why is it important to affirm God the Father’s existence?  Both positions are placed on the same equal footing.  Both are given equal levels of importance.  Do you understand that if you deny one but not the other that you still remain an anti-Christ?  You cannot proclaim God is Father and deny Jesus is His Son because you have reduced the importance of Jesus while exalting the importance of God.  A partial lie is usually a harder deception to detect than a full complete lie.  In this verse God just clearly made Jesus the Son the equivalent to God the Father in importance and significance.   In this lesson we will discover why it is essential for every true Christian to know who the real Son is.

I believe that you will find that this teaching of Michael being a pre-existent Jesus originated from the Jehovah Witness group.  I believe that many in this organization are teaching that Jesus existed in heaven previously before coming to the earth in the form of the angel Michael.  This teaching would clearly lower Jesus to a distinct inferior level far below the level of the divine.  This teaching reduces Jesus status, character and ability to the inferior position of all angels and all other created beings.  Thus we have the first potential contradiction to my introductory subject verse that clearly places Jesus the Son on the same plain and level as the divine Father God.   This stated teaching position that reduces Christ from being deity, clearly places the Jehovah Witness group in the category that God calls the “anti-Christ” denying the Son’s equivalence.  That is potentially not a good group to be associated with by God’s definition.   Do you see the importance of not denying who Jesus was and is?  This is actually getting to be a very prevalent false teaching today because it keeps people from being saved.  If people deny that Jesus is the Christ, they cannot be saved.  If Jesus was just an angel or a normal man like you or I then we have no basis for our salvation.   Salvation is dependent upon believing correctly the truth and I really do not care what other religious people try to teach.  If anyone can get to heaven by believing anything that they want then Jesus was a liar.  Jesus very clearly said “I am the only way to the Father” (John 14:6).  Therefore, what you believe about Jesus matters very much.

The Jews today believe that God had no son. Therefore, they deny the Christ.  Islam today teaches and believes that God had no son.  So they categorically deny that Jesus was the Christ.  What we can clearly observe is a pattern of deception occurring.  This pattern of opposition represents a thread of lies that crosses boundaries between even opposing religions.  Both Judaism and Islam clearly teach and deny that God had no Son.  Now we can see this same erroneous religious philosophy corrupting modern church teachings and churches in a similar way.  The denial of the existence of the Son has now started to creep into churches.  How does one lie cross so easily between such diverse religions?  It would seem to me that there is an outside force that is prompting these separate lies of deception to be taught.   I believe that this outside force is the father of lies called Satan.  You need to ask yourself, why does Satan want people to not believe in the true identity of the Son of God?  Why is it important for people not to know the actual character, nature and origin of the man Jesus Christ?  This knowledge should peak your interest enough to find the answers because your eternal destiny rests upon you knowing the truth.   Don’t believe me?  Who then saved you?  Did an angel save you?  Did a man like Muhammad save you?  Who is your faith placed in to save you?  If it is not God then you have been deceived.

I believe that there should never be any direct connections of equivalence made between any created beings and any divine being.  We cannot lower the divine down or raise the created up to make them equal.  When anyone makes the statement that Jesus pre-existed in heaven in the form of Michael a potential angel they are lowering Jesus’ true divine position and claiming Him to be the equivalent to any other created being.  When they try to teach that Jesus is God today but before becoming a man he was Michael the potential angel, then they are raising Michael from the lower level of a created being to the level of the divine.  Either position is a corruption of the truth.  Any corruption of truth is a potential poison that may kill you.  I believe that where the confusion originated is when God the eternal divine chose by His will to be made mortal flesh and thus divine God joined Himself to His creation in a brand new manifested form.  This single act of God the divine was not expected by Satan and it seals the fate of Satan and this is why he fights it with all of his might to deny that it even occurred.   However, God by His own sovereign will did this for a very specific cause and purpose that I will not be able to fully address today in this lesson.

THE ORIGIN OF THE ANGELIC CLASS OF BEINGS

Let’s begin by researching and considering the origin of angels.  We should know from Bible study that there are only a few named angelic beings revealed to us in the Bible.  I did a more complete study of the subject of angels called “Understanding Angels” if you want to study this subject in more depth than I can spend today in this single lesson.  The three primary named angels are Lucifer, Michael and Gabriel.  These three angels each held special high roles in the organized structure of heaven.  I personally believe that each of these angels has at least some sub-ordinate angels under their authority and command.  However, I believe if you study the subject out you have to conclude that the angel Gabriel is not as strong of an angel power as either Michael or Lucifer.  We may look at this later.  However, ask the question, where did angels come from?  Are angels an eternal divine being like the divine God or do angels have a creation point where they first originated.

Eze 28:13  Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created.

Eze 28:14  Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.

Eze 28:15  Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.

Reading these verses we can clearly see that God reveals the creation of the angel Lucifer.  The Hebrew word translated as “created” here is the exact same word used by God in Genesis 1:1 when God says He created the heavens and the earth in the beginning.  Therefore, we have a one for one word match that Lucifer the angel was also a created being with a stated beginning. I have to conclude just by this information that if one angel was created then every angel was also created.  This would certainly include Michael if he is an angel.  Therefore, ALL angels had an origination point with no status of pre-existence before being created.  Anything created must come from a creator outside of the realm of the creation.  This is just very basic self-evident logic observed all around us.  We understand when we see an automobile or building that someone apart from the automobile and building created them.  According to the Bible God is the only eternal being with no stated beginning and no end.  Therefore, God is the only qualified individual to begin or create anything with an origination point.   Do you understand this logic so far?

WHAT DOES THE BIBLE REVEAL ABOUT MICHAEL?

Let’s counter the false conclusion that Michael and Jesus are the same individuals using the information revealed to us in the Word of God.  This belief would either reduce Jesus to a created being class with no pre-existence the same as Lucifer or it would raise Michael to be an eternal being in the divine class and we are beginning to see that this is not true but we need more Bible evidence to prove it.  Clearly if Jesus is reduced to a created being the argument position fails the initial verse test that places Jesus the Son on the equivalent level as God the Father.  Let’s do a further analysis of the limited information given to us about the being Michael in the Bible.  I’ll start by going to the last mention of Michael in the Bible and then working backwards through the Bible:

Rev 12:7  And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,

Rev 12:8  And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.

Rev 12:9  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.

Here what we have is a stated future war being described to us that takes place in the spiritual realm of heaven between Satan and his angels and Michael and his angels.  It is very important to note three things in this description; the timing of the event, the location of the event and then the participants of the event.  We should be able to clearly see that this event is a future tense subject by backing up and reading the scripture in Revelation chapter 4 and verse 1.   We then should be able to clearly observe that this described event takes place in heaven (a spiritual dimension) and not here on the earth (a physical dimension).  Finally, we can see two opposing forces that are in conflict against each other.  One force is directed by Satan a created being and the other force is directed by Michael.  Therefore I have concluded from this information that Michael still exists in this future event description and this was written well after Jesus was raised from the dead and had ascended back into heaven in Acts 1.  Uh oh?  I think I can see a problem conflict coming.  Do you see it?  Are there two different individuals now?  One is called Jesus and one is called Michael?  What I can observe is that if Michael was the preexistence of Jesus then Michael should have ceased to exist when Jesus was manifested yet we see Michael still mentioned after Jesus was raised back into heaven.  Is Jesus now become Michael again?  Or are there two separate individuals with one named Michael and one named Jesus?

We find by continuing to read in Revelation that Michael and his angels prevail against Satan and his angels and that Satan and his angels are then cast back down to the earth in verse 9.   Here we have the confirmation of strength difference between angelic beings.  If Satan was stronger than Michael, then Satan would prevail but that is not the stated pattern that is revealed to us in the Bible.  Michael is clearly the winner in every confrontation with Satan, but we should note that both leaders have angels that are subordinate to them.  This is a verse that could imply Michael to be Jesus or equivalent to Jesus but that is a weak erroneous assumption that falls apart by further Bible study and analysis.

The being Michael is only directly named in 5 verses of the Bible.  Three times in the book of Daniel, once in the book of Jude and this verse here in Revelation 12 that we have just looked into.  Therefore we can only read a limited set of information given about this being and draw from them whatever facts are given to us.  We also need to be smart enough to not jump to any erroneous conclusions from the provided information that is not being directly revealed.   I personally believe that God provides us sufficient information to find the truth of Michael and Jesus and we will only come to one conclusion as we continue to explore all of the information provided.

I selected this verse in Revelation to study first because this verse helps us to begin to prove that Michael is not Jesus and that Jesus is not Michael.  Nowhere in the Bible is Jesus connected to be Michael.  They are always separate distinct named individuals.  These verses in Revelation 12 are speaking of Michael as a future heavenly warrior after the physical birth, life, death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ being taken back to heaven in Acts 1.  Thus we can easily conclude that the being Michael still exists even after God became a man in his son Jesus Christ.

God very clearly describes and names Jesus as being in heaven in 12 different verses in Revelation.  In 27 other verses in Revelation we find Jesus being titled the “Lamb” and these references are also directed as Him being in heaven.  Nowhere in the Bible is Michael ever called the Lamb, associated to be the Lamb or even close to becoming the lamb.   I believe that it is technically and logically impossible for Michael and Jesus to be both mentioned in a future prophecy book using two different names at the same time if they are the same individual.  That would make Jesus a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde; one man with two personalities and that is another contradiction with scripture that teaches us “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today and forever” (Heb 13:8).  God would not name the same individual with the name Jesus and the name Michael in the same book of the Bible.  Let’s read quickly the previous found Bible reference of Michael in Jude:

Jud 1:9  Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee.

Michael is clearly revealed to be an “archangel” in this verse.  An archangel is a specific class of angelic beings which are of a higher order of responsibility than other angels.  What we have just accomplished is that we have determined proof that God in the Bible calls Michael an angel and not a divine being.  This makes Michael in the same class as Lucifer and helps us confirm that Michael was also a created being.  Here in this verse we can clearly see that Michael was in another dispute with the angel Satan over the body of Moses.  This is just a continuation of a pattern. Then notice what Michael says to Satan!  The archangel Michael says “The Lord rebuke you”.   That statement proves that Michael is not the “Lord”.  Uh oh?  That must be a new problem for anyone that says the Lord Jesus was a pre-existent Michael!   If the Lord Jesus was Michael, he would have simply said “I rebuke you” and that would have been all of that conversation and Michael would have revealed to everyone that he was the Lord.  I believe that we have just proven that Michael cannot be the Lord Jesus with this single verse and the previous one given to us in Revelation.  However, let’s look at another important verse found in the book of Daniel about this individual named Michael:

Dan 10:13  But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days: but, lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me; and I remained there with the kings of Persia.

Ok, here is another very interesting verse of truth containing more important facts about the identity and nature of the archangel Michael.  We find that the angel Gabriel is speaking to the prophet Daniel and he says the angel Michael came to help him to get through to defeat Satan in order to be present in this conversation.  This older spiritual war took place over a time period of 21 days in duration hundreds of years before Jesus was born on the earth.  Did you notice what this verse says about the named angel Michael?  Michael is very clearly described to be ONE of other unnamed “chief princes”.  We are not given the number of “chief princes” that were created but there is definitely more than one of them.  A chief prince denotes a type of ruler authority and means that there are sub-ordinate beings or princes under his command.  It also literally means that Michael is just ONE of these “chief princes” and I believe that this causes great difficulty of conflict if only one of these chief princes became the incarnate man Jesus.  What happened to all of the others and why were they not selected?  What God has just revealed about the angel Michael is that he is not a unique being.  What have we just learned from these three verses about Michael?  Here is a quick review of the basic facts:

  1. Michael existed prior to the birth of Jesus found in the book of Daniel.
  2. Michael was warring with Satan in the book of Daniel to help the angel Gabriel reach his destiny here on the earth.
  3. Michael still exists after Jesus was born, died and was resurrected back to heaven according to Revelation 12.
  4. Michael is still a warrior angel in Revelation 12 continuing to battle Satan.
  5. Michael is nothing but a created archangel according to Jude.
  6. Michael by his own confession says that he is not the “Lord” according to Jude.
  7. Michael is clearly stated to be just one of other “chief princes” making him non-unique and no more special than any other created angel according to Daniel.  I believe that this does not make Michael special enough to die to take away our sins.

How can you from these facts given to us conclude that Michael is the pre-existed Lord Jesus Christ?  I honestly do not have a clue how this teaching can be considered legitimate using these basic Bible facts.   Why, is the Lord Jesus Christ called the “KING of kings and the LORD of lords” (Rev 19:6)?   It is simply to inform you that Jesus is not one “chief prince” of many but is rather the ONE LORD and KING of all.   If Michael was the Lord, he would have said to Satan “I rebuke you” and not “The Lord rebuke you”.  This is just so elementary that I don’t know why people are missing it.

WHO DOES THE BIBLE SAY JESUS WAS?

Who was Jesus?  Who did Jesus claim to be?  Did Jesus ever claim to be an angel?  What does the Bible reveal about Jesus to us?  Did Jesus ever claim to originate from Michael?  If you do not know it yet, Jesus was the eternal God coming personally to the earth in the flesh to die for your sins.   This is why Satan wants to discredit His identity.   Here are some quick verses to help establish this essential truth:

Mat 1:23  Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.

Here is a very basic divine truth that needs to be established firmly in your heart.  The angel announces to us that a virgin shall conceive and bring forth a child and His name shall be called “Emmanuel”.  Emmanuel is a Hebrew name for the coming prophesied child that literally means “God with us”.   What is being described to us in this name definition is that the eternal Spirit of God will come and manifest physically in human form to be observed firsthand by His own creation.  The creation of God will for the first time be able to naturally observe their creator.  Jesus will be the full manifestation of the combined Spiritual divine Godhead united with His created natural mortal man.  Jesus Christ will be 100% God and 100% a man.  There is no angel Michael in this work mentioned.  The definition given to us from the name “Emmanuel” is simply that God will appear in the form of a man.  Jesus would have been given a different name if it was “Michael with us”.   Did you know that what a name means in the Bible is always important to God?  God conceals important items of truth in the names of many people found in the Bible.  If you don’t believe me then you need to go study the genealogy found in Genesis 5.  The meanings of each of the names from Adam to Noah teach the complete plan of salvation of God.  Every name has a purpose and teaches us something.  For example the name Michael means “Who is like God”.  That name teaches us that Michael is not God but rather a reflection of someone asking about Him or observing Him.   Take the name “Israel” as a direct contrast to the name “Michael”.  Both names contain the same Hebrew root word “el” which is translated as a “God”.  However it is the other root words combined with this word that makes them so different.   Do you know what the name “Israel” means?   The name “Israel” means “He will rule as God” and that informs us who Israel really is.   Israel is not just the name of a natural nation of people on the earth but according to the Bible it was a name of their God.  It is clear to me that whoever possesses the name “Israel” will be the God divine ruler.   I don’t have time to teach that but know the facts and understand that Bible names have meanings and that these meanings teach important messages.

I am going through the verses that declare Jesus to be God.  We just looked at the verse in Matthew where Jesus was named “Emmanuel” and discovered what it meant.    Let me give you other verses that say the same thing using different word descriptions.  Read these important facts closely:

Joh 1:1  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

Joh 1:2  The same was in the beginning with God.

Joh 1:3  All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.

In the beginning was the Word.  God initiates the book of John with words that parallel Genesis 1:1.   God basically connects Genesis 1:1 and John 1:1 together by His specific word selection.  God is giving his commentary on the Genesis 1:1 creation using new descriptions.  Here God says that the Word existed eternally and equally with God.  This Word being described here in John 1:1 was clearly God.  What we are observing is another parallel verse to my introductory foundation verse from 1 John 2:2.   However, in these verses in John we are seeing that God equates “the Word” to be equal with God and in 1 John 2:2 we saw that the Son was equal with God.  Do you know what that means?  I’ll tell you in minute.

I think we need to establish a basic foundational Christian truth to who this God is being described to us in the Bible.  This God called the Word in John 1:1 is the same as the God described to be a Spirit in John 4:24.   Therefore I believe that this God who is Spirit is the same as this God who is the Word.   Wrap your minds around what is being taught here because it is clearly way beyond normal human imagination.  God is clearly telling us that His Spirit, and His Word and His Son are all equal to one in the same.   How might you ask can I legally arrive at this conclusion?  I am simply using God’s created laws of mathematics and Algebra to facilitate this fact.  What law of mathematics am I speaking of?   There is a very basic law of mathematics that states if A=B and B=C then we know that A=C.  Do you see how I arrived at those statements now and how that they are correct?   We can clearly see if God = Word (John 1:1), God = Son (1 John 2:2) and God = Spirit (John 4:24) that we can apply the laws of mathematics and say that Word = God and Word = Son and Word = Spirit.   I think I probably went over the heads of many readers.  Hang in there if you do not enjoy mathematics like I do.

What we can read in John 1:3 is that God confirms to us that everything created in the beginning was created by the Word of God.  This eternal Word God created all temporary physical space and matter.  Continuing to read down in the first chapter of John you get to the confirmation of the identity of Jesus:

Joh 1:14  And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

This verse is very clear with the identity of Jesus as the Word God who is also Spirit.  Jesus was the stated Word/Spirit and He was made flesh for our benefit.  This is simply another way to say “Emmanuel” or God with us.   John writes that because God became flesh that we were able to behold (see, observe) His glory.  This was the creator God making Himself known in ways that blows the mind of devils, demons and natural men that do not want to believe in the existence of a loving God in the form of a Son.  This was an expression of divine love beyond normal human comprehension.  Why would an all-powerful God that could choose to do anything, choose to humble Himself to become a part of His own creation and walk around as if He was just one of us?

Eph 3:9  And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:

God continues to reveal in this verse that all of creation was performed by Jesus Christ the Word.  This clearly claims that Jesus Christ was the Word of God since God created everything by His Word as we have just seen in John 1:3.  If Jesus was the creator of all things then Jesus pre-existed all creation.  The only way this is possible is if Jesus is divine, eternal and the Lord God.   Notice the word ALL things in John 1:3.  If Jesus was Michael then this would make Michael a non-created being and that belief falls apart quickly.   This would mean Michael created everything and was God and that belief comes short of sound Biblical doctrine immediately just from the verses that we read about Michael.  There are so many contradictions to this teaching that I just can’t give them all to you.  But we will continue with a few more important verses of confirmation to the identity of Jesus:

Rev 19:11  And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.

Rev 19:12  His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself.

Rev 19:13  And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God.

I wanted to include these verses to help confirm who this Jesus is that is coming back to the earth in Revelation and help you see that He is not called Michael but rather in verse 13 He is named the Word of God again.  Who was the Word of God according to John 1:1?  We know the Word of God was God and thus this Word God comes back riding on the white horse to the earth.  There is no connection to Michael being stated here, formerly, presently or in any future tense.

WHO DID JESUS CLAIM TO BE?

Let’s examine who Jesus claimed to be while here on the earth to help prove that Jesus never said that He pre-existed as Michael.  Who did Jesus say was His Father?  Was it ever communicated that Michael was the father of Jesus?  Did Jesus ever claim to pre-exist?  In at least 70 verses in the N.T. Jesus is called the “Son of God”.  Clearly to be called a son means that the man Jesus originated from a source of parental beings.  From reading the Bible we know the physical natural mother of Jesus was named Mary and she is described to be a virgin having never known a man.  The angel appears to her and informs her that she has been favored and she will have a son.  She asks how this is possible and the angel tells her the Holy Spirit will come upon her and she will conceive.  If you do not understand the concepts of the virgin birth you need to read my lesson series on that subject.  I just told you that there are 70 verses that claim Jesus was the Son of God.  We must conclude that the Spirit/Word God became the Father of the man Jesus.  Therefore, the man Jesus was a product of the union between a natural woman’s egg and the Word of God coming from the Spirit that created all of creation with His Word.   Take note that if God can create a natural world by speaking words, it is a very small thing to get a woman pregnant by speaking the same kind of words.  Do you agree?   Let’s take a look at some things that Jesus spoke:

Joh 3:18  He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

Here in this verse Jesus speaking of Himself declares that His father was God.  Jesus claims to be the literal ONLY BEGOTTEN Son of God and that is a very important distinction to understand.  Earlier we saw that Michael was called one of several chief princes.  Clearly Michael was not a unique being.  Here Jesus clearly states that He is completely UNIQUE!  I’m not like Him, you’re not like Him, Satan is not like Him and Michael is not like Him.  Jesus is a one of a kind being God never having done this before.  So please tell me how a non-unique angel name Michael becomes a unique Son of God named Jesus?  Can you even try to make some new lies to explain that?  I pray that you are learning something.

Joh 14:9  Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?

What did Jesus just say in this verse?  Can you see it?  This verse is only understood if you know who Jesus really is.  If Jesus is not God in the flesh then Jesus just lied.  Jesus looked in the faces of His disciples and told them when you have seen me, you have seen my Father.  How can this possibly be if His father is not God and He is not His Father?  Go back to the law of mathematics again.  Jesus just said “Seeing Me = Seeing Jesus”.   Then Jesus literally says “Seeing Jesus = Seeing My Father”.   Therefore Jesus was claiming to be the same creator God in the flesh.  This is not rocket science people, can you see it?  Let me show you some other important verses that Jesus spoke:

Joh 5:17  But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work.

Joh 5:18  Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God.

Jesus just made a statement to the Jewish leaders and said that what He did was equal to what His Father was working.  Jesus had just healed a man on the Sabbath and this upset the religious minded people significantly.  However, that was not the final straw.  They heard these words that Jesus just spoke and realized that He had just said that He was equal to God and now they really wanted to kill Him.  Did you understand that?   Jesus said literally “My Father Works” and “I Work”.  That is a very clear reference to equality.  You cannot find any verse in the Bible that declares any angel to be equal to God.  That would include Michael, Gabriel and Lucifer and every other unnamed angel.  No angel is an equal to their creator.  Only the creator Himself can be called an equal.  Let’s look at one set of example verses to help confirm what I am teaching:  Look at these two verses very carefully:

Mat 4:6  And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.

Mat 4:7  Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.  

Here in context is Jesus being tempted after being forty days in the wilderness without eating.  The temptations are coming from the angel Lucifer also known as Satan.  The name Satan simply means “adversary”.  So Satan had become the enemy of Jesus.  In verse 6 Satan has just tempted Jesus by asking Him to cast Himself down off of a high place.  It would be like you standing on the rim of the Grand Canyon in Arizona and Satan telling you to jump.  But, did you notice what else was said?   Satan a chief prince said it is written that if you jump “He will give His angels charge over you and in their hands they shall bear you up and save you from the fall”.   Wow that is a strong statement?  Who is the He that will give His angels charge”.  It is not Michael even though Michael has angels under his command.  If Jesus was Michael here His response would have been totally different to this statement.  Did you notice what Jesus said and who Jesus claimed to be here?  Jesus quotes an Old Testament verse that says “Don’t tempt the Lord your God”.  Jesus was looking at the face of Satan saying I am your Lord God, why are you tempting me?  I think that is pretty clear that Jesus is not an angel and never was an angel.   I could just continue with many other verses but I’ll end with this one:

Mat 12:8  For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day.

Here we have Jesus personally making another statement about Himself.  Jesus calls Himself the “Son of Man” but then He also follows that name by calling Himself the title of “Lord” and that makes it very clear who He was claiming to be.  Michael is never called Lord by anyone, in fact if you read in Revelation 19:10 when John sees an angel and falls down at his feet the angel rebukes John and tells him not to worship him, because he is a fellow servant with John.  God’s Angels and Christian humans are called “fellow servants”.  What was Michael?   Was Michael not an angel of God’s also?   If Michael is an angel like the Bible says then Michael is a fellow servant with me and not my Lord.   If any angel was ever guilty of calling himself Lord it will be Satan and he will be cast in the lake of fire for his lies.   Only the God in heaven is ever called the Lord hundreds of time in the Bible.   God has no problem with calling Himself LORD as is His right.   This is what Jesus just did with His statement of being the Lord in Matthew 12:8.

Jesus never claimed to be anyone but God.  Jesus never claimed to be a former angel.   Michael never called himself Lord but Jesus clearly called Himself Lord.  Jesus clearly claimed to be unique not conceived like any other human but the Bible says Michael is not a unique being.  Only Jesus can claim to be the “Son of Man” and the “Son of God” and both be true.  I believe I have given sufficient evidence in the Bible to establish that Jesus was not Michael in the pre-incarnation spiritual dimension.  I believe that we can see Jesus and Michael both being mentioned in future prophecy of Revelation and each have their own distinct roles and responsibilities.  Michael is clearly just a warrior angel of God.  He had a spiritual warring role in the book of Daniel to get Gabriel through to the earth with a message and we can see another example of him warring in heaven and casting Satan down to the earth in Revelation 12.  The role of Michael has not changed from Daniel to Revelation.  Michael was created to be an archangel and he has not departed from that role and he will remain in that role.

Can we now agree that Michael is not Jesus?  Can we agree that Jesus is God?  I could have given you many more scriptures but that was long enough for time spent on this type of question.  I have spent two whole days writing this Bible lesson and it took away from what I was working on for a month.  I hope I helped someone to understand the truth of the Bible and may it will help to point others to the one True God Jesus Christ.  I pray that God will continue to bless you, until I get the next lesson completed.