Things I have learned from studying the Bible

In the past gay people were hated, discriminated against, and sometimes physically attacked.  Today we live in a society which accepts being gay as normal and even allows persons of the same sex to get married.  In fact, it seems as if the reality is just the opposite of the title of this post.  If this life were the only one we had, that would be correct.  There is one problem.  We must all die. It is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment.   (Hebrews 9:27) God began the human race by creating a man and a woman and uniting them in the first marriage. Then the man said, “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.” Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.   (Genesis 2:23,24) The commands God has given concerning marriage make it clear that marriage is only between a man and a w...

Jews were required to sacrifice animals at the temple.  Sometimes they didn’t have the required animal and had to buy one.  Dealers made a living by selling them the animals they needed. Eventually these dealers began doing business inside the temple.  They didn’t operate in the temple building but in courts outside of it, which were considered part of the temple.  When Jesus began his public ministry he visited the temple and found this going one. The Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.   In the temple he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money-changers sitting there. And making a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and oxen. And he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables. And he told those who sold the pigeons,  “Take these things away; do not make my Father’s house a house of trade.”   (John 2:13-16) He spent about thr...

For thousands of years everyone regarded the earth as the center of creation and believed that the sun, moon, and stars revolved around it.  Early in the 16th century Nicolaus Copernicus proved that this belief was wrong and that the earth revolved around the sun. The Bible tells us that this earth will someday be destroyed by fire and replaced by a new one. Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. (Revelation 21:1) This new earth will become God’s dwelling place. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.   (Revelation 21:3) We know that the world we live in now is not the center of the universe but I think it is possible that the new earth might be.  After all it will be God’s dwelling place.  Perhaps the erroneous belief that man...

The Bible warns against false prophets. The prophet who presumes to speak a word in my name that I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that same prophet shall die.   And if you say in your heart, “How may we know the word that the  Lord  has not spoken?”— when a prophet speaks in the name of the  Lord , if the word does not come to pass or come true, that is a word that the  Lord  has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously. You need not be afraid of him.   (Deuteronomy 18:20-22) God called Jonah to go to Nineveh and deliver a message to them. So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the  LORD . Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, three days’ journey in breadth. Jonah began to go into the city, going a day’s journey. And he called out, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!”   (Jonah 3:3,4) The people of Nineveh responded. And the people of Nine...

When two angels visited Sodom in preparation for its destruction they met Lot. The two angels came to Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them and bowed himself with his face to the earth   and said, “My lords, please turn aside to your servant’s house and spend the night and wash your feet. Then you may rise up early and go on your way.” They said, “No; we will spend the night in the town square.” But he pressed them strongly; so they turned aside to him and entered his house. And he made them a feast and baked unleavened bread, and they ate.   (Genesis 19:1-3) The fact that Lot was sitting in the gate tells us something of his status in the city.  The gate was where important business was carried out and the important men in the city were frequently found there. The first mention of a city gate is found in  Genesis 19:1 . It was at the gate of Sodom that Abraham’s nephew, Lot, g...

The battle against abortion is both political and spiritual.  We need to change laws so that unborn babies are protected, but we also need to pray for all who are involved in this activity.  We must pray that women who are considering abortion will receive the help they need to give birth to their child and support him after he is born.  We must pray that those who are involved in the business of providing abortions will recognize repent of their sin.  We must pray that all children will be allowed to be born. Ending abortion is only the first step.  Jesus said that unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.  We must pray that those babies whose lives are saved by our efforts will go on to experience the second birth.

It seems incredible to me that anyone could profess to be a Christian and yet believe in reincarnation.  However such people do exist.  Here is a post I read in a Christian forum by one who claimed he was a Christian. Was John the Baptist really Elijah? If so, does that mean reincarnation is a biblically backed position? What do you make of these passages— Matthew 17:11-13 11 Jesus replied, “To be sure, Elijah comes and will restore all things. 12 But I tell you, Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but have done to him everything they wished. In the same way the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands.” 13 Then the disciples understood that he was talking to them about John the Baptist. Reincarnation of Elijah The author of the post didn’t say that he believed in reincarnation but he was open to the possibility that it is true.  Even if it were true Elijah could not have been reincarnated because he never died.  Here is what the Bible says a...