God is incomprehensible - The Bible Concealed

Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. (Jam 4:8)

Probably no one understands God fully. It’s sad if a person doesn’t even, ask ‘why God?’ The answer is seldom obtained from a priest or a church. The answer is found through diligent inquiry, approaching God. One Bible scholar I know, whom I respect as a hard-working and knowledgeable Bible scholar, seems to have lost his faith and blames God. Excerpt from his blog in my post. As we persevere in approaching God, He also approaches us. In this article, I approach God with questions. I don’t ask to show my disbelief, but to get answers.

Why did God punish Adam and Eve and not Satan?

The first chapter of the Bible tells how Eve and Adam fell into sin in God’s Paradise. Everyone knows the story and knows how Satan betrayed the first people. Genesis 3:14 “Jehovah God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, cursed are you above all cattle, and above every animal of the field. On your belly shall you go, and you shall eat dust all the days of your life.” – It was Satan who was guilty, not the serpent that God punished. Adam and Eve violated God’s command after Satan lied and tempted them. Shouldn’t God have punished Satan? Instead, God drove Adam and Eve out of Paradise but gave Satan control of the whole world.

All Christians know the story of how Satan enticed Eve to take the fruit of the forbidden tree and eat it with Adam. Regardless of whether this biblical account is true or merely a figurative narrative, however, we can deduce God’s attitude toward breaking his commandments from the Bible account.

Genesis 3:3 “but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat of it, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’ 4 The serpent [Satan] said to the woman, You won’t surely die, 5 for God knows that in the day you eat it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

What happened? Eve believed Satan’s lies and took a fruit from the tree. God was angry, and Satan chuckled with satisfaction. God drove Adam and Eve out of paradise and set an angel’s guard to keep them from getting back. God was especially worried that they would not be able to eat from the tree whose fruit gave man eternal life. Gen 3:22 “Jehovah God said, Behold, the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil. Now, lest he put forth his hand, and also take of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever…”

The above Bible verse is very relevant. God, Himself says that man (as a species) has become like any of us! As a result of disobedience, the man gained wisdom and became “like any of us,” referring to celestial beings and angels. Why didn’t God want Adam and Eve to know the difference between good and evil? Until this violation, they had been ignorant. They didn’t know they were doing wrong! Yes, they knew that God had denied eating from this tree, but when they did not separate right and wrong, can it be said that they did wrong?

Now God was worried: What if man also ate from the tree of life and lived forever. Indeed, there were two trees in Paradise from which it was not permitted to eat 1) the tree of good and evil knowledge and 2) the tree of life.

By eating from the tree of life, the first people would live forever. We meet this same tree in the Book of Revelation, where saved people can eat this tree’s fruits. Let’s go back to Eden.

God gave the world to Satan.

Satan, who was guilty of Adam and Eve’s transgression, was not (at least immediately) punished. On the contrary, it seems to have happened that Satan gained the kingdom of the entire world. When it first became clear to me, I had a hard time believing that this had really happened.

Yes, Christians know that Satan attracts people to his side. Many even know that Satan is called ‘the king of this world.’ Not many people know that Satan has received the kingdom of the world from God. I have never heard any priest in his sermon acknowledge this. But that’s the way it is.

After fasting in the wilderness for 40 days, Mat 4:8 explains: “Again, the devil took him [Jesus] to an exceedingly high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world, and their glory. 9 He said to him, I will give you all of these things, if you will fall down and worship me.”

Luke describes the same as follows: 4:6 “The devil said to him, I will give you all this authority, and their glory, for it has been delivered to me; and I give it to whomever I want. 7 If you therefore will worship before me, it will all be yours.”

Satan says that the whole world has been given to him, and he will give it to whomever he pleases. Note that “delivered,” but by no means forever in his possession.

Who else could have given all the power of the world (KJV Luke 4:6) and their glory to Satan other than God the Father? However, what is clear is that Satan has not received all of this forever, but Jesus Christ, when he comes to earth the second time, will capture Satan and bind him for a thousand years. Satan will still not be destroyed, but he will be imprisoned so that he will not tempt anyone in his time of imprisonment. Yes, we know what will happen as these thousand years have passed: The Millennial Kingdom of Christ is coming to an end, and Satan will be set free. Why? This must be an experiment God has set for mankind to see who is faithful and who is joining Satan’s forces. Yes, this experiment hits those people who happen to be alive at that time. It says nothing about those who have during the thousands of years.

We know this will happen from the Bible account. But why wasn’t Satan initially punished for enticing Adam and Eve to break God’s command? Why was Satan rewarded by giving the whole world to him? Why did God choose only the small nation of Israel as his own and leave all other nations to survive alone? This is God’s plan!

Who is the “King of this world”?

1 Joh 5:19 “We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one”. What John says is to the greatest extent true. – The evil i.e. Satan is, according to Scripture, “the king [god, prince] of this world”.
2 Cor 4:4 In their case, the god of this world has blinded the minds of those who do not believe to keep them from seeing the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God.”
John 12:31 “Now is the judgment of this world. Now the prince of this world will be cast out.

Eph 2:2 “in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the powers of the air, the spirit who now works in the children of disobedience;”

In general, people believe that God is ruling the world. People do not understand why God allows many things or why God does not intervene when something bad happens. In particular, believers are being tested; they find it hard to believe why they are suffering because they consider themselves true believers, and God does not prevent evil events. God is almighty, and he is also righteous; how could God allow injustice to win? It may not be possible for God to allow his faithful servant to become a victim of an unfair destiny!

But this happens. Why? Think about Job; Satan argued that Job believed in God because God bestowed Job, his righteous servant, all sorts of success in the world. Satan claimed to God that if Job were deprived of his worldly success results, he would curse God and turn away. This did not happen, though Satan harassed Job and even caused him all kinds of hardships. Job had even grown abscesses, and all his friends abandoned him. Job, however, believed in the Lord despite all the hardships.

How has Satan succeeded? Well, very well! Most of humanity serve false gods. Many Christians are nominally Christians and have forsaken the true faith, and most do not believe in God. One could say that Money is their God. Mat 13:22 “What was sown among the thorns, this is he who hears the word, but the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful.”

What is Satan’s plan for the end-times?

Satan is charming mankind. For the past hundred years, mankind has taken many technological steps forward: the automobile, the airplane, the internet, achievements in health care … New inventions are continually being made. Think of all the advances that mankind has taken in the technical sense over the last hundred years. Human health is improved; life expectancy increases. But, secularization advances, and man forgets God.

As we look at today’s world, we cannot overlook the ever-accelerating technical development – we could say in all sectors of society. This affects Western countries and parts of the rest of the world. China is evolving at a daunting pace. The rest of the world’s nations are lagging; Africa, South America, Russia, Asian countries … What is common with these underdeveloped countries? They are not Christian except for a small part. But that also suits Satan well. The main thing is that they do not rely on God.

One of Satan’s “titles” is “prince of the power of the air.” For centuries this has been a mystery to people. Today, when mankind has developed airplanes and rockets, visited the moon, plans trips to Mars, and sends scientific research equipment to space, it’s easier to understand what the prince of the power of the air could mean. The Revelation tells about the future activities of Satan’s forces: 20:9 “and they did go up over the breadth of the land, and did surround the camp of the saints, and the beloved city, and there came down fire from God out of the heaven, and devoured them.” This translation in 20:9 is supported by Eph verse 6:12 “For we have not a fight against blood and flesh, but against governments, against powers, against the rulers of this darkness, against the spirits of evil in the heavenly places.”

People’s values have changed. Satan wants to promote such a development that makes people forget God’s purpose for mankind. Even in Eden, it turned out that Eve was fascinated by the idea of understanding everything, like God. Modern people want to know everything and master everything. All this Satan promises to humans. There is only one thing people lack – eternal life. In one Apocrypha, Satan was described this way; he has the means to cause death, but he cannot create life.

Apostasy is what has happened to them. Unfortunately, this is also the case with most of the world’s churches.

Population growth in underdeveloped countries also means that the gospel’s good news does not reach the world population’s ever-increasing number. Jesus Christ preached good news about the coming Kingdom of God. God’s Kingdom means God’s government. Satan’s grip tightens, and the government in the world is ”Satan’s government.”

To prevent Adam and Eve from eating from the tree of life, God says in Bible 3:24, “So he drove out the man; and he placed Cherubs at the east of the garden of Eden, and the flame of a sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life.” – Would it not have been easier to fell this tree, in which case it would not have been able to bear the fruit of eternal life?

The account of Adam and Eve may well be either an entirely or at least partially figurative narrative. Secondly, was Adam and Eve’s transgression so tremendous and severe that it has been considered to have brought sin into the world. Sin that is guilty of all evil between God and his creatures.

Why had God forbidden eating from this particular tree? Satan said, “For God knows that in the day you eat it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” – Wouldn’t it have been just a good thing if Adam and Eve, like God, had learned to know what was right and what was wrong? Isn’t this God’s intention for people to understand and act on it? Now people don’t always know this, even though the Bible teaches what is God’s will (good) and what is Satan’s (evil).

In what way had God justified his prohibition to Adam and Eve? Except warning of its consequence, death. God had not explained why he had given such a prohibition. Maybe God just wanted to test the obedience of the first people. At least it is not clear from the Bible whether and how God justified the prohibition. Did Adam and Eve understand what death meant? They had no experience of it. Against this background, were their transgressions so severe that they and their descendants all deserved the death penalty? However, this is what the Bible says happened.

The next sanction for the infringement is shocking and, in my view, seems unfair to the greatest extent possible. Evil did not receive a punishment, but the greatest reward.

Why has God not eradicated evil from the world?

Of course, God wanted to wipe out sinful people from the earth by raising the flood that drowned all people on earth except Noah and his family. It didn’t work. The evil did not go away from the man, and soon the situation was the same.

I asked about it above, but I repeat: shouldn’t God have destroyed Satan and his angels instead of trying to destroy evil by drowning humanity underwater? Yes, God has captured angels who have been disobedient and put them in chains to await judgment. It is a group of angels who took physical form and entered into sexual relations with the earth’s women.

Even today, Satan and his angels are raging on earth to entice people. Indeed God has a reason to allow this. Christ has the same powers as God the Father. I think that Christ would have wanted to destroy Satan and the angels in his troops immediately after ascending in heaven. However, he has not done so. Why is Satan still allowed to do this? We know from the Bible that God and Christ will destroy Satan’s forces in the future, but why is it allowed to last so long? Many Christians are anxiously waiting for the power of Satan to cease.

Why does God make people for different uses?

God has been compared with a potter, and so does he. As the creator of everything, God has the right to make people fit for the different purposes of God. Israel, God’s chosen people, is also in his hands like clay in the hands of a potter. All the more so because the Gentiles are in the hands of God — according to the word I use — expendable. God does nothing without plan and purpose. We don’t nearly always know what God’s purpose and the plan is. In particular, I have been thinking and guesswork God’s plan for the Gentiles’ harsh treatment. The Gentiles are also human beings, created by God. Below I consider the fate of the Gentiles in more detail.

Jer 18:2 “Arise, and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will cause you to hear my words. 3 Then I went down to the potter’s house, and, behold, he was making a work on the wheels. 4 When the vessel that he made of the clay was marred in the hand of the potter, he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.
6 House of Israel, can’t I do with you as this potter? says Jehovah. Behold, as the clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand, house of Israel.”

Rom 9:21 “Or hasn’t the potter a right over the clay, from the same lump to make one part a vessel for honor, and another for dishonor? 22 What if God, willing to show his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath made for destruction,
23 and that he might make known the riches of his glory on vessels of mercy, which he prepared beforehand for glory.
24 us, whom he also called, not from the Jews only, but also from the nations,
25 As he says also in Hosea, “I will call them ‘my people,’ which were not my people; And her ‘beloved,’ who was not beloved.
26 It will be that in the place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’ There they will be called ‘children of the living God.
27 Isaiah cries concerning Israel, “If the number of the children of Israel are as the sand of the sea, it is the remnant who will be saved;”

2 Tim 2:20 “Now in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of clay. Some are for honor, and some for dishonor. 21 If anyone therefore purges himself from these, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified, and suitable for the master’s use, prepared for every good work.”

In this way, even an ordinary “vessel” can become a vessel for noble use. Even a pagan can become a “Jew,” a member of God’s people. Romans 2:29 says, “but he is a Jew who is one inwardly, and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit not in the letter; whose praise is not from men, but from God.” – In this respect, I am a Christian Jew. There are many of us, such “Jews.”

Chapter 9 of Paul’s Romans is partly clear but partly enigmatic. What is clear and understandable is that God modifies people for different purposes. He had previously prepared the “vessels of mercy” for God’s mission and the associated “glory.” The call applies not only to Jews but also to Gentiles. Originally Jewish, Israel was God’s property people. Now God says, “ I will call them ‘my people,’ which were not my people and her ‘beloved,’ who was not beloved.” Paul refers to the prophet Hosea, whose book was written as early as the 7th century BC. God’s foresight was to be seen at that time! What is the nation that will replace Israel?

I certainly can’t say. I don’t think it’s a nation or a state that could be mentioned by name. It could be in question of so-called messianic Jews, those who are Jews according to the heart’s inner feeling (verse 29). It may include Jews who have taken Christ as their savior but also converts from other religions.

God will not betray the promise which he once made to the fathers of Israel. Israel’s faithful remnant will survive, but it is only a ‘remnant.’

Why has God given people a different amount of faith?

… God has allotted to each a measure of faith (Rom 12:3)

Salvation has been attributed to sufficient faith in God. If God himself regulates the amount of people’s faith, man himself is not responsible for his faith. In the final judgment, he can defend himself by saying, “God did not give me more faith.” Or, he can say, “God created me as such a ‘cheap vessel.’ Or, he can tell, “I died young when Israeli forces slaughtered my compatriots and me. I couldn’t even think about God.”

The essence of God includes righteousness. Christ, in turn, emphasizes the growing grace. I dare say that destroying or otherwise punishing such people is not fair. I do not know how God and Christ will execute their judgments justly.

Why did God not give everyone an equal amount of faith, but he gave a different measure? Rom 12:3 “For by the grace given to me I ask every one of you not to think of yourself more highly than you should think, rather think of yourself with sober judgment on the measure of faith that God has assigned each of you.”

1 Cor 12:11 “But one and the same Spirit produces all these results and gives what he wants to each person.”

Rom 9:21 “A potter has the right to do what he wants to with his clay, doesn’t he? He can make something for a special occasion or something for ordinary use from the same lump.”

2 Tim 2:20 “In a large house there are not only utensils made of gold and silver, but also those made of wood and clay. Some are for special use, while others are for ordinary use.”

God distributes gifts as he wills, to each according to their capabilities. God has also decided whom he calls and whom he chooses and attracts himself and to Christ. Paul did not have the opportunity to refuse Christ’s invitation. For three days, he was blind, without eating and drinking. Then the enemy of the Lord became his steady advocate. God does his will. The man who feels that he has not received as much as some others can be comforted that God remembers him in the final judgment.

What happens to people who receive little faith?

How does Jesus judge them at the last judgment? Jesus told about this in his parable.

Mat 25:14 “For it is like a man, going into another country, who called his own servants, and entrusted his goods to them.
15 To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one; to each according to his own ability. Then he went on his journey.
16 Immediately he who received the five talents went and traded with them, and made another five talents.
17 In like manner he also who got the two gained another two.
18 But the one who received one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground, and hid his master’s money.

The man of the parable (Jesus) gave his servants money to invest “each according to his ability”. The man expected results to accumulate during his trip; the one who had received a hefty sum was expected to have better results than the small servant who had just received a small sum. – This is also the case with faith; most of mankind has had little faith. From them, Jesus only looks for the minimum, to keep it safe what they have got. Those who have had much faith are often teachers, priests, bishops, and even popes – Jesus expects much more. When they are in service in the local Congregation or the Church in a significant position of power, Jesus judges them more severely than those who have got less faith. If they have worked well and turned many to righteousness, they will shine brightly like the stars. In the opposite case: if they have forsaken the faith of Christ, persecuted believers otherwise, burned them at stake, or if they have committed pedophilia and raped the little and innocent trusted in their care, their judgment is severe.

Dan: 12:3 “Those who are wise shall shine as the brightness of the expanse; and those who turn many to righteousness as the stars forever and ever”.

Mat 18:5 “Whoever receives one such little child in my name receives me [Jesus], 6 but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to stumble, it would be better for him that a huge millstone should be hung around his neck, and that he should be sunk in the depths of the sea.”

When God has given people a different amount of faith, it is enough “just to believe” for those received less. If there is little faith, it is more difficult to understand God’s will and implement it. What did God think about at this point? Perhaps he has planned to save in the end the people who have little or no faith. If that were not the case and only the strong faith people would find salvation, God would not be righteous.

What will happen to the Gentiles?

God allowed Israel to destroy its enemies. The lives of the Gentiles had no value in Old Testament times. Why didn’t God allow salvation for the Gentiles? Only Jesus gave the command to make disciples of all nations. Are the Gentiles already doomed to destruction?

One Bible scholar, which I have appreciated and followed for years and who knows a lot more about the Bible than myself, looks completely have lost his faith. I quote an excerpt from his writing.

“God is worse than Satan in the pages of the Bible, for only he can be the father of all suffering and the death of the innocent! Besides, the God of the Bible acts against His principles by retaliating against the children of the guilty and punishing the innocent for the sin committed by one man (Adam).

So how is it possible that Christians have such a skewed image of God as they now have? That God is a perfectly good and righteous loving father? It is because they have been taught that God is like that. Only those passages in the Bible where it is said to be so have been picked. The quotes where God kills and commands to kill the innocent are quickly ignored, and the brainwashing continues, giving the believers a distorted picture of the God the Bible tells us about.

When Christians read the Bible, they try to repeal even the clear sections, which show that God is an unjust and monstrous sadist. This makes Christianity look ridiculous and believing Christians foolish in the eyes of an outsider. Christians take into the Bible the image of a good and righteous God they have learned from outside. They try to explain all the passages so that God is as they think He is in the pages of the Bible.

The God of the Bible is evil, but there is also good in Him, just as in humans. The writers of the Bible have created their God to be like man: The God of the Bible is the image of man instead of man being the image of God. The God of the Bible thinks, speaks, and acts just like the people of his day. He changes and changes his mind the same way that people change and change their minds. He is a jealous, sudden, long in anger, unforgivable, ruthless, and a fierce God of revenge. He also knows how to be a gracious, long-suffering, forgiving, merciful, and loving father. All this according to the minds, because there is no clear formula for his actions, unless bias is considered as such.”

God chose the prophets of the Bible and the people of Israel alone according to His own choice but left other people and Gentiles to worship the idols He had given them for it. (Deuteronomy 4:19) If God wanted the Gentiles to believe in him already in the Old Testament, why didn’t He reveal Himself to them? Why did he reveal himself only to the small people of Israel and not to the whole world?”

– The message of the blog post I quoted above is that God the Father has thus consciously assigned the Gentiles to worship the sun, moon, and stars. What has God thought and planned? Has he given up from the beginning the idea of offering salvation to the Gentiles?

God chose Israel as his people. On what grounds? Israel has repeatedly betrayed its commitment to keep Jehovah their only God. Romans says in 11:26 “In this way, all Israel will be saved. As it is written, The Deliverer will come from Zion; he will remove ungodliness from Jacob..
27 This is my covenant to them, when I will take away their sins.
28 As regards the glad tidings, they are enemies on your account; but as regards election, beloved on account of the fathers.”

– “On account of the fathers” probably means Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. After all, God calls himself “the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob” (Exo 3:6)

11:29 “For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.
30 For as you in time past were disobedient to God, but now have obtained mercy by their disobedience,
31 even so these also have now been disobedient, that by the mercy shown to you they may also obtain mercy.
32 For God has shut up all to disobedience, that he might have mercy on all.”

– All are disobedient, yes. But does God have mercy on all? I mean ALL?

God could have done such great signs for Gentile nations that they would have given up their idols. Christ also came to earth only because of “the lost sheep of the house of Israel (Mat 15:24).” It was not until he was resurrected that he commissioned the disciples to take the Gospel word of salvation to all nations just before he ascended to heaven. What was the role of the Gentiles? This is what God said to the Israelians in Deu 4:19, “beware not to lift up your eyes to heaven and see the sun and the moon and the stars, all the host of heaven, and be drawn away and worship them and serve them, those which the LORD your God has allotted to all the peoples under the whole heaven.”

When God has planned this, it means that the Gentiles are confined beyond salvation. When the Gentile is raised to the Last Judgment, Christ asks him, “why have you worshiped the sun and moon” and not God the Father? The Gentile replies, “I and my people have never had a god other than the sun and the moon. We have worshiped these earnestly from year to year.”

– Will they then just be destroyed, as 2 Thessalonians says? 2 The 1:8 “in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who know not God, and those who do not obey the glad tidings [gospel] of our Lord Jesus Christ; 9 who shall pay the penalty of everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his might.”

– What does “everlasting destruction from the face of the Lord” mean?

The following verses tell of God’s New World: Rev 22:3 “There will be no curse any more. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants serve him. 4 They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads.”

The above for the saved. How are those who are not saved?

The book of Exodus describes how Moses wanted to see God’s face. Then God answered him, Exo 33:20 “And he [God] said, you cannot see my face, for man may not see me and live.”

Does eternal loss mean death? All who cannot see the face of God are mortal and die when they see the face of God. This would have happened to Moses if God had not prevented Moses from seeing his face. Could God not have saved the life of Moses? Seeing the face of God may be the punishment that leads to death, which the Bible calls the ‘second death’. The punishment in the letter of Thessalonians is everlasting destruction from the face of the Lord, which may mean that the punished person once sees the face of God as a sinner and dies! Therefore, those who are saved will see the face of God only after salvation, and not before those who shall suffer punishment, even eternal destruction from the face of the Lord and the glory of his might.

Punishment contains no pain other than disappointment when the recipient of the punishment realizes that he will not be saved like others. Punishment is quick, but its effect is eternal. Does ‘eternal destruction from the face of the Lord’ simply mean death? All who cannot see God’s face are mortal and die when they see the face of God.

Of those who will be punished for everlasting destruction from the face of the Lord, I can say that in their lives, they did not want to “draw near” the true God. Their death confirms their lives. They had been made by God “for cheap use and were expendable.”

This applies to those who lived a long time ago. The situation changed when God commissioned His Son to atone for the sins of the world and begin proclaiming the gospel (good news) to the Gentiles. Christ gave this commandment to the apostles after he rose from the dead and before ascending into heaven. Mat 28:19 is recorded in the Bible as follows: “Therefore go, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” – Either the apostles were disobedient to Jesus’ command, or it is a forgery of Catholics designed to strengthen faith in the Triune God. For example, on the first day of Pentecost after Christ’s ascension, the apostles did not baptize three thousand people as expressed in Matthew 28:19,but according to Acts 2:38: “Peter said to them, Repent, and be baptized, everyone of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”

For an earlier article, I found out how many people have lived in the world to date. No one knows the exact number, but the most important thing is the order of magnitude. Demographers have calculated that well over one hundred billion. This brings to mind the question: how much of this is among the Gentiles, who, according to the Bible, should have no hope of life in God’s new world. If there were a round of one hundred billion of such “God’s disposable goods,” what ideas would it evoke? A question comes to mind for me; what is the part of God in his great plan? While this huge crowd doesn’t know our God, there are also many so-called “good people” among them who just haven’t had a chance to know God.

According to the Bible, such a person can be saved without even hearing about Jehovah. The Romans gives hope to people like these: 2:14 “For when those of the nations, which have no law, practise by nature the things of the law, these, having no law, are a law to themselves; 15 They show that what the law requires is written in their hearts, a fact to which their own consciences testify, and their thoughts will either accuse or excuse them – 16 in the day when God will judge the secrets of men, according to my gospel, by Jesus Christ.”

The final judgment will examine each case in depth. According to what each person’s conscience says? What will decide the judgment on the day when even the deepest secrets of the people are revealed?

God is love

1 Joh 4:8 “He that loves not has not known God; for God is love.” It means that:

If God the Father was harsh and placed His chosen people above all else, the final judgment will be given by the man Jesus Christ. John 5:22 confirms the words of Jesus “For the Father judges no one, but he has given all judgment to the Son.”

Rom 5:20 “Now the law crept in so that the offense would increase. But where sin increased, grace increased even more.”

Jaak 2:13 “… mercy triumphs over judgment.”

I dare say that man, Jesus Christ as supreme judge, also understands the Gentiles and sees man’s heart and finds out all the hidden thoughts of men. Thus, it is no longer decisive alone; does the person in question “know God?” The apostles were simple people. The doctrine taught by Jesus did not get through. Although the apostles had witnessed the miracles of Jesus, even the resurrection of the dead and the stormy sea’s tempering, they did not understand. Judas was, of course, an extreme example of false aspirations. It was only after Jesus’ death and resurrection, and when they had received the gift of God’s Holy Spirit, that they were up to date. Yet they were skeptical and could not see Paul’s genuine conversion, but to get rid of him, sent him to speak to the Gentiles. Paul’s forced conversion (formerly Saul) (acts 9) must be seen more broadly than the conversion of just one passionate Jew. I ask this: if one person can be completely turned around in matters of faith, could not a large multitude of the whole nation be converted in the same way?

The word of God was, therefore, to be preached as a testimony to all nations. I believe God wants that everyone hears the gospel and will be able to make a justified choice. He who then rejects Christ has earned his destiny in the Last Judgment. Are people any wiser than the apostles once were? Hardly. Therefore, I believe, even the slightest faith in Christ, and even if the faith is based on misinterpreted and most bizarre religions, it may be enough for man to have access to the purifying fire of God.

Why is the Bible so difficult to comprehend?

Why hasn’t God produced such a blatant Bible that there would be no difficulty in interpretation? There would be no different denominations. For example, the Bible could say: Only the Father is God. The Holy Spirit and the Son are not. They are …

But wait! That’s what the Bible says! Just read your eyes open. Joh 17:3 “This is eternal life, that they should know you, the only true God, and him whom you sent, Jesus Christ.” “And him whom you sent, Jesus Christ.” “Him whom you sent” is an addition to the main sentence, an addition that separates it from the main sentence and gives its own explanation.

1 Cor 8: 6 is even more precise. “Yet to us there is one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we for him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and we live through him.” – The addition to the main sentence tells us exactly who Jesus Christ is. We have only one God. We have one Lord besides that.

Remember the passage in the Bible that said how God made Jesus Lord and Christ. Act 2:36 “Let all the house of Israel therefore know assuredly that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.” – Many read this verse, understanding it, but still not understanding its meaning. Probably the verse is true; I do not doubt at all. However, it contains essential additional information; if God makes someone Lord and Christ, this other one is worth less than God. If he had been claimed by the churches to be an equal God with the Father, God the Father would not have exalted his Son as Lord, because that would have reduced value.

There were a couple of examples of us having only one God, the Father. Isn’t that clearly stated? Is there any difficulty in understanding this? Then why, for a couple of millennia, will the two largest Christian churches strongly argue that God is made up of three equal persons? Such heretics who believed otherwise had to be killed, and also they were declared unworthy to be saved and to get to heaven.

There are Bible passages that are plain language, but the Church has forced a different interpretation. The prestige, threats, and outright persecution by the Church have been in use for centuries. Even in the Middle Ages, this was easily accomplished because the Bible was not available in vernacular; indeed, the priests spoke “in God’s own language,” that is, Latin. The Congregation did not understand anything preached in Latin. The Church also had authority and used it to convict the stubborn, even to be burned at stake.

There are no such factors today. Churches, both Catholic and Protestant, have maintained a position of authority that individual scholars or small groups of dissidents cannot upset.

Why is the Word of God written so unclearly? Although we have many different translations, commentaries, and dictionaries, there is not much increase in people’s understanding. I ask: Why did God give such an ambiguous Bible? Why did Jesus not even want his listeners to understand? If God wanted people to understand, he could have written the Bible so that no interpretation problems would have emerged. If Jesus wanted the great crowds to understand and believe, could he not even explain what his parables meant?

Why is the Bible so much full of figures of speech, symbolism, figurative narrative? Many people, both laypeople and church officials believe that everything said in the Bible must be confirmed and understood. Penalties for the final judgment with the fiery lake must, in their opinion, be taken literally. People (who in their mind are sinless and righteous) want God’s punishment to be strictly enforced.

– Understanding the Bible is more accessible when the reader learns to realize when it is a question of a figurative expression and what is behind the figure of speech and its purpose. Each parable aims to teach a spiritual truth. Jesus said that “the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.” (Joh 6:63)

Undeniably, many things in the Bible are open to interpretation. For example, the question of hell and the eternal punishment of torture in the lake of fire. Countless people believe in such punishments because “it is so clearly and repeatedly stated in the Bible.” The Church does not even want to correct such perceptions because it would take the foundation away from good sermon arguments. Fear has been a church tool throughout the ages.

The Bible provides an explanation for poor Bible understanding:

Satan blinds the unbelievers.

2 Cor 4:4 “in whom the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving, that the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should not dawn on them.” – Satan, whom the Bible calls “the god of this world,” has blinded the minds of unbelievers (and probably many believers) and these do not understand what they read in the Bible.

But God can also do so

Joh 12:39 “For this cause they couldn’t believe, for Isaiah said again:
40 “He [God] has blinded their eyes and hardened their heart, that they may not see with their eyes, and understand with their heart and be converted, and I should heal them.”

I thought Satan was the one who deceives and misleads. Why does God also have to resort to such means?’

2 The 11, “For this reason, God will send them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie.” – Would it be a more correct interpretation that God allows deception? Satan sends or initiates deception. The essential question is, to whom is the deception directed so that they may believe a lie? The preceding verses state: 2:9 “The coming of the lawless one will be accompanied by the power of Satan. He will use every kind of power, including miraculous signs, lying wonders, 10 and every type of evil to deceive those who are dying, those who refused to love the truth that would save them. 11 For this reason, God will send them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie. And the following verse adds further justification: 12 that they all might be judged who didn’t believe the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.”

The purpose of this deception seems to be to expose those people who are willing to believe the false claims of Satan’s helpers, the antichrist, and the false prophet.

This is the central basis of God’s judgment. People are tried and then judged who do not believe the truth but are pleased with injustice. Why does it require deception to reveal this fact? Surely God, who knows and sees everything, would be able to figure out who loves the truth without using deception to figure it out. And what is this delusion?

The delusion is associated with Satan’s assistant, the antichrist activities. The Antichrist even declares himself God: 2 The 2:4 “he who opposes and exalts himself against all that is called God or that is worshiped; so that he sits as God in the temple of God and declares himself to be God.” Probably a large number of people believe in this deception and receive God’s judgment. Mat 24:24 also says that “For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall give great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect.”

In the battle for human souls, both Satan and God blind people or send them a strong delusion. They are at least typical Satanic means, but why does God do the same? After all, God is omnipotent, omniscient, all-seeing. God knows us better than we know ourselves. Why does he need tools like ‘deception’?

So I ask God: you must have seen in advance, as you followed the writing of the Bible, what misinterpretations the word of the Bible has been subjected to, and through that the formation of different beliefs, even denominations. Should you have intervened in the activities of the writers of the Bible even before they published their text? You did intervene in the writing of the Bible as you gave messages to your prophets. But today, we do not know with certainty even who wrote the texts included in the Bible. For example, has Paul himself written all the letters in the Bible that are said to be his texts?

At the beginning of this site is an article about Ivan Panin’s five decades of work. He calculated the sums of the numerical values of the letters of the Bible and found that the entire original text formed groups of words divisible by seven. If such a group was not found at some point, Panin could detect an error at that point. In this way, for example, he could find out whether the Bible spoke of Junia or Junias. Such testimonies would be the best confirmation of the divine origin of the entire Bible. However, there was something significant missing from Panin’s work that would be easy to implement today with computers’ ease. Too bad no one has intervened and continued Panin’s work. Still, I recommend reading this article. In any case, it reveals many features of the text of the Bible that are unknown to humans. For example, Panin has shown dozens of remarkable qualities in the first seven words of the Bible, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”

Why would not God himself follow his commandments?

God commands us to love our enemies: Mat 5:44 “But I tell you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who mistreat you and persecute you.” – If sinners at the last judgment are the enemies of God, should not God follow his commandment and love them? God guided us to forgive our offenders, if necessary, even “seventy times seven.” Why would not God himself be merciful and forgiving to his creation, but would send them in the fiery lake to be tortured for eternity? Why?

God says in the Bible that he wants everyone to be saved. However, he intends to destroy most of humanity.

Rom 8:20-21 ”For the creation was subjected to vanity, not of its own will, but because of him who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of decay into the liberty of the glory of the children of God.” God declares here that [the whole] creation, contrary to its own will, be subjected to corruption, but is liberated from the bondage of corruption (KJV) to the freedom of the glory of the children of God. The Roman letter promises hope to the creation, but in many places, the Bible assures it is damnation, weeping and gnashing of teeth, eternal separation from God’s face, etc.

God created people and subjected them to ‘corruption.’ Old English translations like the KJV uses the word vanity, which could also be characterized by pursuing one’s interest, by living in the way of this world. God also ensured that among people, there are righteous men who are his chosen ones.

I am now drawing this vital conclusion: God made an essential dichotomy regarding his creation in his wisdom. We have also read how God gave faith to each one of us according to his discretion. For the sake of salvation, people go from a different starting point to compete for the prize of eternal life. However, I will conclude that God will correct the last judgment’s situation and offer salvation easy. From the Bible, we already know that to gain salvation, it is enough to call out just one word: Jesus! If you want to be verbose, you can say: Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me! But that one word is enough. Jesus knows what you mean by saying it. He remembers it at the last judgment.

Act 17:31 “because he has appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness by the man [Christ] whom he has ordained; whereof he has given assurance to all men, in that he has raised him from the dead.”

God has appointed a human as chief judge. Christ righteously judges all mankind. In the Bible, judgment is based on the works of each person. According to their works, Rev 20:12 …The dead were judged out of the things written in the books. There are various works and, therefore, various judgments. Judgments are undoubtedly righteous. Many sinners are cleansed of their actions and receive life. I would very much like to believe in universalism, that all people will ultimately be saved. In the last chapter of this series of articles, ‘Last Judgment,’ I deal with the Lord’s cleansing fire disclosed in the Corinthians letter, the fire that burns away human sin after the resurrection. Many sinners can thus be saved, but there seems to be a prerequisite for that; man must have “built his house” on Christ, even to a small extent. This fire is not a purgatory, in which the Catholics believe. Purgatory burns people after death before a person reaches heaven, the Catholics believe.

The purifying fire burns people after the resurrection, for a person to be purified and saved. This involves at least one major problem. If it is true that bad people will suffer a specific time in the fiery lake, what will happen to them when the punishment is over? Can they join the others in the heavenly Paradise? Or is their destiny annihilation, the end of existence? Or is it so that there is no fiery lake, but those who are not directed to a purifying fire of God, shall be annihilated immediately? A difficult question I cannot answer without further studies.

Next, I will consider the fate of the Gentiles. How do they fit into God’s great plan? After all, as human beings, they are also created by God and images of God.

Strange events in the Bible

The angel of God fights on the side of Israel

Hezekiah, king of Judah, were in trouble before the Assyrian attack. He prayed God 2 Kun 19:19, “And now, Jehovah our God, I beg you, save us out of his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you, Jehovah, are God alone.” The Lord answered his prayer 19:34 “And I will defend this city, to save it, for my own sake, and for my servant David’s sake.” This is what happened:

19:35 “It happened that night, that the angel of Jehovah went forth, and struck in the camp of the Assyrians one hundred eighty-five thousand in the camp of the Assyrians; and when men rose early in the morning, behold, all of them were dead.

God asks for advice (1 Kings)

King Jehoshaphat of Judah and the king of Israel were negotiating to start a war in Ramoth Gilead. The king of Israel gathered four hundred prophets, and all of them assured that the war would succeed. Yet Micaiah the prophet was consulted: “Micah, are we to go to Ramoth Gilead or not to go?” And he said unto him, “Come forth, and you shall overcome, and the Lord shall deliver it into the hand of the king.”

1 Kin 22:19 continues: “Micaiah said, Therefore hear you the word of Jehovah: I saw Jehovah sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven standing by him on his right hand and on his left”.
20 Jehovah said, Who shall entice Ahab, that he may go up and fall at Ramoth-Gilead? One said on this manner; and another said on that manner.
21 There came forth a spirit, and stood before Jehovah, and said, I will entice him.
22 Jehovah said to him, ‘How?’ He said, ‘I will go forth, and will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.’ He said, ‘You shall entice him, and shall prevail also: go forth, and do so.’

What is noteworthy here? First, a vision where God is sitting on his throne, and all the hosts of heaven were in front of him. Then God asked a question: “Who shall entice Ahab, that he may go up and fall at Ramoth-Gilead?” Why should God ask such advice from his angels? And was God provided with good advice? No, “one said one thing and the other said another,” as one translation indicates.

Then came forth a spirit before God … Who is this spirit, the Bible does not tell, but I bet the spirit was Satan. He promised to entice Ahab by being a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. God accepted Satan’s proposition and answered: ‘You shall entice him, and shall also prevail: go forth, and do so’.

The whole scene is strange. How is it possible for God to gather millions and millions of angels to ask them how to seduce a little king to wage war against another king on earth. The assignment is given to Satan, to the one who seduced Adam and Eve into sin. One would think that Satan would be the last one God would show his trust. Satan’s solution is characteristic of him; Satan will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all Ahab’s prophets. Is not God alone able to decide how to get two kingdoms to fight with each other? Did God have no other solution than war?

“The sun stood still” (Joshua 10:10-13)

The Israelites had to avenge their enemies, the Amorites. The battle lasted and lasted, and no clear victory was gained.

Jos 10:10 “Jehovah confused them before Israel, and he killed them with a great slaughter at Gibeon… 11 … Jehovah cast down great stones from the sky on them to Azekah, and they died: they were more who died with the hailstones than they whom the children of Israel killed with the sword. 12 Then spoke Joshua to Jehovah in the day when Jehovah delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel; and he said in the sight of Israel, Sun, stand you still on Gibeon; You, Moon, in the valley of Aijalon. 13 The sun stood still, and the moon stayed, until the nation had avenged themselves of their enemies. Isn’t this written in the book of Jashar? The sun stayed in the midst of the sky and didn’t hurry to go down about a whole day.”

Did the sun stop? The modern man would say that the sun does not even orbit the earth! And did the world stop rotating? I will not ponder either of them. Instead, I ask: If God wanted Israel to overcome the Amorites, why did God not do as he is told in 2 Kings 19:35: “And that night the angel of the Lord went out and struck a hundred and eighty-five thousand men in the camp of the Assyrians, and when it rose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead bodies. ” – Imagine, one angel killed 185,000 enemy soldiers during the night.

God uses various means to achieve his goal. He can assist his chosen people in winning the battle or intervene in the events with his angels. Again, it is worth recalling a crucial biblical passage: “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.” (Isa 55:9)

God punishes severely

Here are a couple of examples of God’s punishments.

1 Sam 6:19 “He [God] struck of the men of Beth-shemesh, because they had looked into the ark of Jehovah, he struck of the people fifty thousand seventy men; and the people mourned, because Jehovah had struck the people with a great slaughter.” – God’s holy Ark of the Covenant must not even be looked upon. If people looked without permission, it cost the lives of fifty thousand men.

2 Sam 6:6 “When they came to the threshing floor of Nacon, Uzzah put forth his hand to the ark of God, and took hold of it; for the oxen stumbled.”

7 And the anger of Jehovah was kindled against Uzzah; and God smote him there for his error; and there he died by the ark of God..”

The Ark of the Covenant is the holiest of all in the temple of God. He who violates this holiness pays dearly when the wrath of God is kindled. As the Ark of the Covenant was being moved, the bulls stumbled, and a man named Uzzah feared the Ark would fall off the carriages’ platform. He instinctively raised his hand and grabbed the Ark to prevent it from falling. At the same time, the wrath of God was kindled, and he smote Uzzah because he touched the Ark. Yet God’s punishment on Uzzah feels wrong; Uzzah acted instinctively to prevent the Ark from being damaged.

Num 15:32 “And while the children of Israel were in the wilderness they found a man gathering sticks on the sabbath day. 35 Then the LORD said to Moses, “The man shall surely be put to death; all the congregation shall stone him with stones outside the camp. 36 So all the congregation brought him outside the camp and stoned him to death with stones, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.”

The grave sin was to gather twigs for his firewood on the Sabbath during the wandering in the desert. God commanded him to be stoned to death. Such “work” was not allowed to be done on the Sabbath day. Everything was precisely defined, even the number of steps was regulated.

With the coming into force of the New Covenant proclaimed by Christ, such situations will no longer arise. The question, then, is what happens to those people who violated God’s ordinances during the old Covenant of Law. The open question is how, in the final judgment, Christ, as supreme judge, will treat Gentiles who have never known God the Father or even his Son.

King David

King David was a man after God’d heart. Act 13:22 “When he had removed him [Saul], he raised up David to be their king, to whom he also testified, ‘I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after my heart, who will do all my will.” – However, King David issued an order to murder Uriah, the husband of Bathsheba, to obtain this beautiful wife for himself. God punished King David, and he repented of his actions.

David was initially a man of God’s will. Then God was angry with David and punished him by taking the spirit of David’s son. David’s son Solomon, in turn, gained God’s favor. David himself is promised Israel’s kingdom when Christ comes the second time and establishes the Millennial Kingdom. Acts 2:34 proves that “For David has not ascended into the heavens,” but David awaits in his grave the resurrection.

I cited King David as an example of how God’s favor can vary with different human life stages.

We do not know everything, and we do not understand everything we know; “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.” (Isa 55:9)