The Better Part, week # 57

 

Another couple of weeks of FB posts...

The Better Part, Day #266:

 

 

Here's the latest things I didn't know in Revelation, from Jack Hibbs:

 

 

Rev 6:1 Now I watched when the Lamb opened one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures say with a voice like thunder, "Come!"

Rev 6:2 And I looked, and behold, a white horse! And its rider had a bow, and a crown was given to him, and he came out conquering, and to conquer. 

 

Some people think this is Christ, but they are wrong... the "crown" he wears is a victor's wreath in the original, not "many Diadems" as Christ wears later in Revelation; and where Christ has the 'sharp two-edged sword' coming out of His mouth, this guy has a bow- but no arrows! This is thought to symbolize how he will conquer with words... lying words. This is the Antichrist.

 

 

 

The Better Part, Day #267:

 

When Russia is on the warpath and two different pastors you listen to, in the middle and beginning of different series, reference praying for Israel because of Genesis 12:3- "I will bless those who bless you, and curse those who curse you..."... you bet I'm going to remember a little harder...

 

 

 

 

The Better Part, Day #268:

 

So I woke ready to type in the Wednesday Bible Study on my blog, and saw that I had accidentally scheduled last week's typing for the 30th instead of the first. I take that as a sign of one of two things. Either today's typing hasn't been given enough thought... or someone who needed last week's wasn't available Wednesday. All in God's providence!

 

 

 

The Better Part, Day #269:

 

 

Near the end of the Book of Job, Elihu lets us know exactly what he thinks is wrong with both sides in the argument- the three friends are oh-so willing to condemn Job- he has to have sinned because look at the state he's in- but they have nothing of value to help. Job, he says, justifies himself, rather than God. Which led both sides to the same conclusion- they were fighting for the win, instead of seeking God's will.

 

God has nothing to say TO the three friends- they have no real knowledge of God, just their perceptions of what a god should be. Job, who is seeking God, if irreverently, gets told that God has two things against him: first, he's doing a lot of talking and knows nothing; second, he's trying to put God in the wrong so that he can be right. Which, of course, just what Elihu told him.

 

 

I think the book was God's way of letting the Jews know why they were getting farther and farther from him. They were about creating a God that fit their purposes; they had all the opportunity to learn about God and didn't; and refused to admit that they COULD be wrong. How many of those lessons did I need today?

 

 

 

The Better Part, Day #270:

 

 

Recently, a FB friend shared a pretty ridiculous meme, once one thinks about it: "The names of NONE of the Gospel Writers are in their gospels. We have to rely on TRADITION to know them." Or something close to that, and exact in meaning.

 

 Simple logic and a little respect tell you that there is a difference between traditions on facts, like this, and those that deduce from one thing (say, Mary being blessed) something that is totally against the rest of Scripture (Say, that Mary should be prayed to for access to Jesus, when Jesus said He was the only Way). Peter and Paul, who DID sign their Gospels, tell you this much- but you have to read the word and not rely on what non-Apostolic men regurgitated.