Demi...I personally find all this prophecy thing really pointless to the message of the Bible, which is that God loves us and Jesus died for us.
One of the vital reasons God give us prophecies that fortell the future is to prove to us that He is who He says He is. Another reason is so we can prepare for these things.
God does not expect us to have faith without evidence. Most people really misunderstand faith, but it's vital to understanding the world, life and the issues thereof. God doesn't think it's pointless, otherwise, prophecy would not be in each of the 66 books.
Just food for thought.
I mean, why in the world would a super-intelligent being want people to prepare foods certain ways, to have things on their heads, to do rituals, to circumcise children (which I agree with Carla is a horrible thing to do to any baby). It's illogical to my mind, and I believe that was part of Jesus's message, to "correct" misrepresentations of God that required all these things.
The food laws—as all of Gods law—are there to test us and protect us. The laws teach us how to live with vitality and how to stay healthy. He cares about these things. It also tests us—shows us who we are, and we really need to know.
Concerning things on our heads; that's not from the Bible. God does not require us to put things on our heads. That's just one of the many things people add to the Bible to serve their own purposes.
There is only a couple "rituals" God asks of us including the breaking of bread and baptism. Both are simple and are symbols of very important things He wants us to remember. It's for our own benefit and those who practice it understand how well it works. The feast days He asked us to honor are the same, They are reminders of extremely important events.
Circumcision has many benefits and is also a very important symbol. Many extrememly beneficial things in life are painful, yet most don't honor the
8th day circumcision and therefore they cause unnecessary pain, but that's just like us, we can't follow simple directions and we suffer as a result. Some searches on the Internet will deepen the understanding on this issue and show the import thereof.
Finally, about Jesus correcting misrepresentations of God... Christ said that not one jot or tittle of the law would fail. He fulfilled it and this was vital to his mission here. Christ corrected nothing because there was nothing to correct. He, rather, fulfilled it; completed it—or more simply—"did it".
This may be related to the reason some people misunderstand things like why He said, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?"
Amazingly, this is the beginning of the 22 psalm which was written by Christ's own forfather many years earlier which
predicted the crucifixion event that Christ was experiencing. It's as if Christ was on the cross saying, "Wake up! This is the event you've been waiting for and that has been prophecied about by my father David. This is it!" Of couse, as today, people were not ready because they didn't study:
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"And shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation."[/color]
Luke 19:44
I really don't have much time for "organized" religion, the rituals, the arguments over theology, the looking for meanings in things that we could give any meaning too that can breed prejudice and hatred and oppression.
Well said! I too have no time for organized religion. It's a waste of it.
What's so amazing is that those who read and study the Bible realize that these things don't cause confusion and don't have different meanings. It's people that cause confusion.
It starts with people who have ulterior motives who slander the book, then these people are blindly listened to by others who know too little about the Bible and for this reason the slander is accepted as truth. Just like mercury-amalgam issue; you can talk until you're blue in the face but some people just won't listen. Some Doctor's just keeps believing that the ADA or AMA has told them the truth. Others only listen to mainstream media, which is horrible, slanderous, and terribly inaccurate.
There's one way to know, and that is to read it for yourself.
I believe a wise person will, as Jesus said, build his home on a rock - i.e. will listen to the moral guidelines of the Bible and live by them. They will love God, their fellow human beings, the animals and the natural world.
Here's the verse you're speaking about:
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"Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it."[/color]
Matthew, 7:24-27
Christ is speaking about those who do what He says; these are the ones who build on the rock.
Of course, how can we do them unless we know them. How can we know them unless we read and study them.
Carla...Re the "war that we supposedly won", Russ, after which the Bolsheviks took over much of Europe and Israel was formed - that may or may not be what the Bible was talking about; it is hard to draw a straight line. It may be what the Bible refers to, but maybe not. I personally can live with this ambiguity and uncertainty.
This is an excellent subject to study because it get right to the heart of the deception that is to come, and you need to know about this deception because:
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"And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six."[/color]
Revelation 13:16-18
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"The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name."[/color]
Revelation 14:10-11
Not only are there tough times ahead, but those who are not prepared or don't know about the eternal doom prnounced to those receiving the mark will pay dearly.
I work in the field of publishing and I know about the coming technology called biometrics which is already being used to protect digital media and Internet content. This is a very pertinent prophecy for our time for you are about to live through it.
and these little nations are constantly at the heart of world politics! It looks like with the apparently soon-to-come war in Iraq, WW 3 will commence - and for what? One of the most unwelcoming, desolate areas on earth! Shouldn't big conflicts be over some beautiful, fertile, live-giving areas?
Very good, point well taken, yet, why is this happening? Just as I say in alternative health I say likewise here: "Everything has a cause."
The fulfillment of this coming deception is the reason.
It's very important to powers-that-be to put themselves in a place of great power—in the place of God—and they are orchestrating these events to do just that. Nothing will stand in their way and many will suffer and many will die.
Of couse, this isn't the first time this has happened. Throughout history, men have declared themselves to be God and have ruled over huge areas. You just happen to be living in the final incarnation of this event. Some deeper prophecy teachers call it "The Revived Roman Empire". That's a good name for it.
The English are descended from Judeans? The English are largely blonde and rosy-cheeked and physical. The Judeans are dark, with different kinds of features, and I don't know what you mean by warning me that I'm making assumptions. I am making a bold statement that middle-eastern-based peoples are as different from Europeans as cats from ducks, and I am not casting aspersions on either the cats or the ducks. Anyway, couldn't the matter of lineage by solved simply by DNA tests?
I would search out old pictures of Christ and see what He looks like. I would also read the preface to the 1611 Bible.
You have to remember, this is a war between God and Satan. Of course, God will win without more than a bruised heel. Nevertheless, you and I are caught in the middle of it, and for good reason.
In the big picture, we are here caught in a great filter—the Apocrypha calls this "the narrow space"—a filter that separates those who care from those who don't:
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"So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent."[/color]
Revelation 3:16-19
If you see the facts behind the idea that the blood-English are the modern Judeans, I believe you too would consider the possibility. I don't have time to present it here, but there is much readily-available information that can help you.
Take care and thank you both for the excellent dialog!