Skip to main content

Posts

Appearances of Jesus in Genesis?

The Bible tells us that no one has seen God (John 1:18). Moses wanted to but was told in no uncertain terms that it was not possible (Exodus 33:20). However, there are statements in Scripture about seeing God (such as the rasslin' match between Jacob and God in Genesis 32:24-30 or Isaiah's terrified exclamation in Isaiah 6:5). How do we reconcile these things? The appearance of the angels to Abraham , Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, 1728 Specifically, no human can see God the Father face-to-face and live. The reference in Isaiah and other places were visions, yet certain people experienced the divine. God has been involved with humanity from the beginning, which includes visitations from angels. Now we come to an interesting aspect. In Genesis and other places we read about "the angel of the Lord". When you read those accounts, this angel is distinct from other angels that God sends to people. Although theologians disagree on this , most seem to believe that this w

Satan Testified that Jesus is the Creator

There are times when someone who opposes a person or belief and admits something that is favorable. In American legal parlance, it is a statement against interest , and can be used in court proceedings. Satan knows full well that Jesus is the Creator, and indirectly admitted this fact. There are fools who deny God's existence (Psalm 14:1) or pretend that Jesus is a myth, but even Satan and demons have sense enough to be afraid (James 2:19 NIV). When Jesus was on the earth, he was able to do creation miracles, and Satan (the ultimate sidewinder) tried to use that against him. Matthew’s Gospel (4:1–4) has the following account of the temptation of Christ by Satan: ‘Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry. Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.” But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘M

Unbelievers Riding the Bandwagon

As biblical creationists, we want to be able to share the truth of creation, help equip Christians, and to ultimately share the gospel message. There is clearly abundant evidence refuting evolution and affirming special creation. We also provide evidence for the Genesis Flood. Why do unbelievers reject the truth? Credit: Cropped from Pixnio / Adrian Pelletier There are many reasons. I have long maintained that they reject the truth because they do not want it, preferring instead to embrace materialism as well as justify their rebellion against God. Also, they are under the control of their master down below (1 Cor. 2:14, 2 Cor. 4:4, John 8:44), which supports the idea that it is a spiritual matter and not about evidence. Remember, it is not our job to save anyone, and not every discussion will lead to a commitment to Jesus Christ. We do our parts and leave the rest up to the Holy Spirit. Then there is the matter of pride. Atheists and other evolutionists want the approval of ot

Behemoth Baffles Bible Scholars

If in Job 40:15 behemoth was simply noted and God moved on, it is easy to assume that Bible readers and scholars would have imply written it off as some animal of which Job was aware. The confusion results from the further descriptions of behemoth in the rest of the chapter. Image cropped from Pixabay /  Ladycoffee There are several reasons why scholars and us reg'lar folk may wonder what that beasie is, what with having immense power and a tail like a cedar. The first is that the Bible does use real animals and names in symbolic passages, such as Rahab (Joshua 6:25, Isaiah 51:9) and Leviathan (Job 41:1, Isaiah 27:1). Since the behemoth was unknown, maybe this was something strictly symbolic. But that doesn't fit with the text because God was not referring to mythical or symbolic creatures. A second reason people are baffled is because this animal is unknown and apparently no biblical references exist outside the book of Job. Biblical creationists believe that the text

Hezekiah in History

Many years ago, I attended a Christian high school that was run by Fundamentalists, but the school was interdenominational . Quite a change for this child who was being raised in liberal theology. Anyway, they had a daily "chapel" for the small high school. One guest pastor told us to turn to the book of Hezekiah. I started flipping through my Bible, and the girl next to me was doing nothing. For good reason. King Hezekiah crying out to God. Image credit: Sweet Publishing via Free Bible Images ( CC BY-SA 3.0 ) Many of the kings of Israel and Judah were mighty wicked folks, but when it was Hezekiah's turn, his heart was right toward God. Trouble is, they had neighbors that would get the occasional notion to make war. The Assyrians attacked, and things looked bad until Hezekiah implored the Lord for help. He got it in a big way. Bible deniers have said that archaeology has found no evidence of some things recorded in the Bible, therefore, the Bible is full of myths

The Environment, Science, and the Dominion Mandate

There is a term use about a biblical principle that may seem scary to some people. It is called the dominion mandate. It may sound like one of those political doctrines for the abuse of power like the divine right of kings or eminent domain , but the dominion mandate is a term for our Creator's command to understand and care about the world he has given us. Credit: Unsplash / Dylan Sauerwein Shortly after God created Adam and Eve, he told them, essentially, "See this nice planet I gave you? Reproduce (critters are to do this also), fill the earth, and get it under control". He did not tell them to run rampant and trash the place so he could be like a modern parent and clean up after his spoiled offspring. No, we are responsible to our Creator for how we care for the world. To do that, we must also learn about and understand many things. It is interesting that Jesus indicated this aspect as well! It’s noteworthy that this was God’s first commandment to the man an

Denying Genesis Compromises the Gospel

Perhaps, as some tinhorns claim, those who deny Genesis and recent creation try to appear moderate or reasonable. After all, science has proven that evolution happened and that Earth is billions of years old, right? Not hardly! Such antics are expected from those who ride for the atheism brand, but it is not fitting for professing Christians to do so. Image credits: Original from Morguefile / JCKL8888 , then processed through PhotoFunia People who have little or no understanding of theology, even though they may have attended a church, often reject the plain reading of Genesis because evolution. Because uniformitarianism. Because science. Because they want to look intelligent in the eyes of enemies of God. Because rejection of biblical authority. People also compromise because their church leaders are liberal in their theology or have not bothered to think through how Genesis affects the gospel message. While Christians need to understand God's Word, their leaders have a gr