- The world stage according to the Bible
- In OT times, God spoke through the prophets, in NT times through Jesus
- Does God still speak to us today?
- The scriptures of the Bible can only be understood if the Holy Ghost opens them.
- Being born of the Spirit
- The Lord spoke
- No one has seen God, if he sees, he dies.
- Urim and Thummim
- The holiness of God
- God spoke to me in a vision
- Can an imperfect person become holy?
- God sends an angel who can appear as a human being.
- New heaven and new earth.
The world stage according to the Bible
1 God, having in the past spoken to the fathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, 2 has at the end of these days [or: in these last days] spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom also he made the worlds. (Heb 1:1)
“Father’s time” is until the birth of Christ. God the Father created the world, and all that is in it. What does the Bible mean by saying that God created the world through the Son? I have interpreted it so that the new world ahead of Christ is the time of the Son of God, his creation, through which he has created the aion (aion means a period) the world age to come. He does not create the physical world but the world of salvation and the world of final judgment and the subsequent spiritual world, opening the New World of God. It is inhabited by the saved of eternal life, as co-workers with God.
Did you pay attention to the phrase “in these last days” used in verse 2? Often people think that the last days are only in the future. However, the Bible says that God spoke in the last days through Jesus. If we assume that the last days are still going on and will continue in the near future, then I believe that Jesus is the one who speaks to us today. Jesus, “God’s representative on earth,” speaks to us in the last days now underway, through the doctrine he gave to his disciples, and these were passed on to the churches in many letters.
The above interpretation of the beginning of the last days as early as the time of the Epistle to the Hebrews, defending it, Paul strongly emphasized the behavior of men and the desire to live in the way of the king of this world (Satan). It was easy to see that such a sinful way of life indicated the end of time. Second, Jesus had promised to come soon, and the apostles and congregations were waiting for Christ to come again at any time.
However, the hallmarks of the last days, listed by Matthew, for example, are a description of such significant events shaking the world that I believe the last days did not begin until these signs were fulfilled. For example, World wars I and II can meet the hallmarks of anxiety these days.
In OT times, God spoke through the prophets, in NT times through Jesus
In Old Testament times, God seemed to be active in directing Israel’s actions and instructing the kingdom’s leaders. Even on minor issues that could be considered to belong to his angelic army’s leadership. Take the conversation between God and King David as an example of this: 2 Sam 2:1 “It happened after this, that David inquired of Jehovah, saying, shall I go up into any of the cities of Judah? Jehovah said to him, Go up. David said, where shall I go up? He said, to Hebron.”
If a person asks God a question that troubles him, will God answer, and if not, then why not? There is, of course, a difference between things. Even the burning issues of individual people are insignificant compared to the problems at the national level. If God were to guide individual people in the little things of everyday life and grateful people would tell in the “God answered” column what advice each received from God, God would easily become a too mundane problem solver.
God can also be understood in another way; God speaks to a man in faith through his Holy Spirit, and man does not hear speech with his ears but with his heart.
Heb 1:1-2 “in these last days did speak to us in a Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He did make the ages.”
God has spoken “in these last days” through Jesus Christ. What does the phrase “in these last days” mean? Does it mean “in the end-times” if the Bible says the end times began already in the time of Jesus? Or does it mean during the past days or “recently,” that is, just now? John 6:39 uses the same word “And this is the will of the one who sent me, that I should not lose anything that he has given me, but should raise it to life on the last day.” Perhaps the apostles believed the last days were at hand because they also believed and hoped Christ would return to them soon.
God created the old, physical world; Act 17:24 “The God who made the world and all things in it, he, being Lord of heaven and earth, doesn’t dwell in temples made with hands.”
The essential message in Hebrews 1:2 is that God has spoken to us through the Son. What kind of world did Christ create when the Bible testifies in Deuteronomy 10:14; “Behold, to Jehovah your God belongs heaven and the heaven of heavens, the earth, with all that is therein.”
Christ has laid the foundation of the New Spiritual World. This world can only be reached through Christ. Jesus emphatically says, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. According to the Bible, God often spoke to people in his own voice. Here are some examples from Old Testament times:
2 Moos. 3:14: “God said to Moses, I AM WHO I AM, and he said, You shall tell the children of Israel this: I AM has sent me to you.”
Josh 1:1 “Now it happened after the death of Moses the servant of Jehovah, that Jehovah spoke to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ minister, saying,”
1 Sam 3:11 “Jehovah said to Samuel, Behold, I will do a thing in Israel, at which both the ears of everyone who hears it shall tingle.”
Isa 7:3 “Then Jehovah said to Isaiah, Go out now to meet Ahaz, you, and Shearjashub your son, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool, on the highway of the fuller’s field.”
Jer 1:7 “But Jehovah said to me, Don’t say, I am a child; for to whoever I shall send you, you shall go, and whatever I shall command you, you shall speak.”
Act 8:26 “But an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying, Arise, and go toward the south to the way that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza. This is a desert.”
Apt 9:4 “He [Saul, later Paul] fell on the earth, and heard a voice saying to him, Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? 5 He said, Who are you, Lord? The Lord said, I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.” – This account is perhaps the most shocking New Testament account of how Jesus spoke to Saul, blinded him, and a few days later, Saul, who persecuted Christians in his lust for murder, had turned into a faithful follower of Christ.
Act 9:15 “But the Lord [Christ] said to him, Go your way, for he is my chosen vessel to bear my name before the nations and kings, and the children of Israel.” – Christ spoke to Ananias in a vision while Saul Christ spoke on the road to Damascus. Saul’s traveling companions heard nothing, so Christ’s speech was only for Saul.
A search for “the Lord said” finds about a thousand Bible verses. “God said,” e.g., Gen 21:12, “God said to Abraham, Don’t let it be grievous…” There are hundreds of sentences in the Bible that include the phrase “God said…” – I can only say that God, or Lord, has been very active, especially on the Old Testament side.
Does God still speak to us today?
God has spoken to us through his Word. 2 Tim 3:16 “Every writing inspired by God is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction which is in righteousness.” – In his second letter, Peter highlights how grace and peace increase through knowing God and our Lord Jesus. 2 Pet 1:3 “His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through the full knowledge of the one who called us by his own glory and excellence. 4 Through these he has given us his precious and wonderful promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, seeing that you have escaped the corruption that is in the world caused by evil desires.”
A blog post answered the headline question, “Does God speak to us?”; Yes, he speaks, but the Holy Spirit of God speaks through the word of God.
God speaks to us through our conscience to distinguish right from wrong. Paul warns us not to allow this world age to change us accordingly; “Don’t be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what is the good, well-pleasing, and perfect will of God.” “…every man who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think reasonably, as God has apportioned to each person a measure of faith” (Rom 12:2-3). – Except that Christ spoke to us through his Apostles two millennia ago, everything essential is recorded in the Bible and is still available today. Christ speaks to us today, too, if we only listen and seek his truth.
The scriptures of the Bible can only be understood if they are opened by the Holy Ghost.
The Bible says in 2 Peter: 1:21 “For no prophecy ever came by the will of man: but holy men of God spoke, being moved by the Holy Spirit.”
People have little understanding of the Bible. They don’t even understand it after reading it. Nor do they understand what the priest speaks in the church because the priest does not teach but repeats old phrases. People have fallen asleep.
Romans 11:8 says, “As it is written “To this day God has given them a spirit of deep sleep. Their eyes do not see, and their ears do not hear.”
Jesus repeated to his disciples the words of Isaiah about a people whose hearts were hardened and whose eyes were closed so that they would not see and understand.
Isa 6: 9 “And he [God] said [to Isaiah]: Go, and tell this people, ‘You hear indeed, But don’t understand; And you see indeed, But don’t perceive. 10 Make the heart of this people fat; Make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; Lest they see with their eyes, And hear with their ears, And understand with their heart, And turn again, and be healed.” (See Act 28:26)
Mat 13:13 “Therefore I [Jesus] speak to them in parables, because seeing they don’t see, and hearing, they don’t hear, neither do they understand.
14 In them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says, ‘By hearing you will hear, And will in no way understand; Seeing you will see, And will in no way perceive.
15 For this people’s heart has grown callous, Their ears are dull of hearing, They have closed their eyes; Or else perhaps they might perceive with their eyes, Hear with their ears, Understand with their heart, And should turn again; And I would heal them.”
Even when Christ was on earth, he had to state, as did Isaiah, that people have a spirit of drowsiness and cannot see or hear. This is still the case today; even though God and Christ speak to people through the Bible, people are the same way, “sleepy,” and do not be bothered to find out what God has spoken to them through Christ. So, pray that the Holy Spirit of God would open for you the Bible’s message. Not everything begins at once, but one thing at a time.
God speaks to you when he gives you understanding!
Being born of the Spirit
God in ancient times promised the Israelites: Eze 36:26 “A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you; and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. 27 I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and you shall keep my ordinances, and do them.” – When a person begins to believe, he similarly receives a “new heart” and a “new spirit.”
The Apostle Paul writes: “But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if it is so that the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if any man doesn’t have the Spirit of Christ, he is not his” (Rom 8:9). Jesus said: Joh 10:27 “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.”
Paul’s Epistle to the Romans contains important reading: 8:11 “But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if it is so that the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if any man doesn’t have the Spirit of Christ, he is not his.”
“For all who are led by God’s Spirit are God’s children. For you have not received a spirit of slavery that leads you into fear again. Instead, you have received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba! The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if, in fact, we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory” (Rom 8:14-17). – Romans 8:11 also speaks to the people of this time; if the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, then the one who raised Christ from the dead will also make your mortal bodies alive by his Spirit who lives in you.
Romans chapter 8 speaks to the disciples, saying that the disciples will have the same glory as Christ if they suffer together with Christ. Jesus promised the apostles that each of them would reign with Christ — Christ as King of the world, the apostles of each of the twelve tribes of Israel.
Joh 3:3 “Jesus replied to him, Truly, truly I tell you, unless a person is born from above [Or: born again] he cannot see the kingdom of God.” – Rebirth means being born of the Holy Spirit of God. Without it, you cannot understand the word of God, but the possibility of misunderstanding exists, and you will quickly fall into the belief of misinterpretations.
Jesus said Joh 3:6: “What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Don’t be astonished that I said to you, ‘All of you must be born from above.” Paul’s letter to the Ephesians continues: 2:18 For through him we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father. 19 So then you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God.” – Then God’s original plan will come true, to make man his own image, his own children. And then, of course, God the Father speaks to his children, his own family, his own co-workers.
Rom 8:13 “For if you live after the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.
27 He who searches the hearts knows what is on the Spirit’s mind, because he makes intercession for the saints according to God.
28 We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, to those who are called according to his purpose.
29 For whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.”
How do I know that I am born again? How can I be sure that what I write in this blog is the truth of God? We all have the opportunity to read the same Bible. There are different translations, but in the end, it’s about understanding the Word. I ask myself, have I understood correctly and many others who believe otherwise have misunderstood?
I’ll take an example. In the third or fourth centuries, Church leaders gathered for large ecclesiastical assemblies. Decided after long speeches that God is one but triune. They were so sure then and still today that for centuries those who did not believe in this were to be killed. They were persecuted and burned at the stake and cursed. Ask yourself: can such faith, which leads to such terrible deeds, be right and following God’s will? You may say defensively that this is no longer the case today. Well, no, but would that justify a thousand-year-old argument that no longer today!
I wrote above about believing misinterpretations. I have met stable Christians, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Pentecostal, Roman Catholic, and Lutheran, of course. I do not accept some of the teachings of Jehovah’s Witnesses, such as that Jesus was the ark angel Michael before God exalted him.
I wrote an article about Roman-Catholicism and has pointed out several false interpretations and practices. However, God knows people’s hearts and will not judge a person if he is sincerely mistaken.
I asked, how can I know that my interpretation is correct? I pray that the Holy Spirit of God will guide me. This is what I ask every time I write about biblical questions. I also understand the vision I received from God, showing his light and fire that encourages me to write boldly and without a doubt. I admit that I don’t know and don’t understand nearly everything. Indeed, knowing everything correctly is not essential to salvation; What matters is the heart’s right attitude, a desire and effort to understand the word of the Bible. What matters is not the blind faith in people’s doctrines and shared and repeated by the Church for centuries.
Who is not born again of the spirit?
2 Cor 4: 4 says this: “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.”
– The Bible uses the name “God of this world” for Satan. Satan’s goal is to get, if possible, all the people of this world. What does the Bible mean when it says that Satan has blinded the eyes of those who do not see the light of the gospel of Christ? Blindness occurs in the way that man begins to seek worldly good and life “according to the course of this world.” There is no time in that life to delve into the word of God. When a person seeks money, power, glory, admiration of other people, etc., for worldly good, he imagines that he is getting a lot when he succeeds. However, he gets little, and that too is disappearing. If he sought sanctification and access to the Lord, he could already attain peace and happiness on earth and ultimately eternal life.
I dare say that such “disciples of Satan” are also the majority of Christians. They are nominally Christians. They consider it enough to attend the Christmas Church for the children’s sake, but they lack the desire to partake of the light provided by Christ that comes from the gospel of the Kingdom of God.
At worst, these blind people are, as told in 2 Timothy:
3:1 But know this, that in the last days, grievous times will come. 2 For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3 without natural affection, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, fierce, no lovers of good. 4 traitors, headstrong, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God; 5 holding a form of godliness, but having denied the power thereof. Turn away from these, also.
The Lord spoke
Exo 3:4 “When Jehovah saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses! Moses! He said, Here I am. 3:6 Moreover he said, I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look at God.”
Exo 3:14 “God said to Moses, I AM WHO I AM, and he said, You shall tell the children of Israel this: I AM has sent me to you.”
Jud 20:18 “The children of Israel arose, and went up to Bethel, and asked counsel of God; and they said, Who shall go up for us first to battle against the children of Benjamin? Jehovah said, Judah shall go up first.”
1 Kin 18:24 “You call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of Jehovah; and the God who answers by fire, let him be God. All the people answered, It is well said.”
2 Kin 1:10 “Elijah answered to the captain of fifty, If I be a man of God, let fire come down from the sky, and consume you and your fifty. Fire came down from the sky, and consumed him and his fifty.”
1 Chr 14:14 “David inquired again of God; and God said to him, You shall not go up after them: turn away from them, and come on them over against the mulberry trees.”
Psa 99:6 “Moses and Aaron were among his priests, Samuel among those who call on his name; They called on Jehovah and he answered them.7 He spoke to them in the pillar of cloud. They kept his testimonies, The statute that he gave them.”
Jonah 4:9 “God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry about the vine? He said, I am right to be angry, even to death.”
Mat 3:17 “Behold, a voice out of the heavens said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”
Act 11:9 “But a voice answered me the second time out of heaven, ‘What God has cleansed, don’t you call unclean.”
On the Old Testament side in particular, according to some sources, there are as many as two thousand (I counted about 1,500) sentences in which God said, “The Lord said,” or “God spoke,” or some other similar expression as a message from God or a voice from heaven. The spectrum of examples above is broad: God can speak, like Moses, of a burning bush. God can also advise on who should first go out to fight the Benjaminites. In determining which god of the two parties is the true God, the one who lit the fire, was the true God. At Elijah’s request, God sent fire from heaven and consumed fifty men. God gave David detailed counsel to attack, saying, “Do not go after them, but turn around them and attack them from the balm trees.” When the Israelites cried out to God for help, he spoke to them from the cloud. God and Jonah had a dialogue about the mercy of Nineveh’s city, and the Lord grew a plant for Jonah and the next day sent a worm to dry it.
God spoke to Jeremiah, 1:9 “Then Jehovah put forth his hand, and touched my mouth; and Jehovah said to me, Behold, I have put my words in your mouth.”
On the New Testament side, “there could be a voice from heaven saying…”. In the NT, God has left appearances to Jesus; in the OT “God said… “ or in the NT “Jesus said…” is repeated countless times.
Luke 1:12 tells how the angel of the Lord appeared to Zechariah the priest. “When Zechariah saw him, he was shaken, and fear overwhelmed him. 13 But the angel said to him, Don’t be afraid, Zacharias, because your request has been heard, and your wife, Elizabeth, will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John.” – We all know the story of the appearance of an angel to the Virgin Mary (Luke 1:30) and later to Joseph (Mat 1:20) and the birth of Jesus to a group of shepherds in the field (Luke 2:10).
No one has seen God, if he sees, he dies
It is difficult for us Christians to understand the fear of seeing God’s face or hearing the voice of God, leading him to death. However, Isaiah was terrified because he had seen the Lord. This was a common belief in Biblical times, and specifically in Old Testament times. The reason has been considered to be the emphasis on the holiness of God during that time.
Exo 33:20 “He said, “You cannot see my face, for man may not see me and live.”
Exo 20:19 “They said to Moses, “Speak with us yourself, and we will listen; but don’t let God speak with us, lest we die.”
Deu 5:25 “Now therefore why should we die? for this great fire will consume us: if we hear the voice of Jehovah our God any more, then we shall die.”
Deu 18:16 “Let me not hear again the voice of Jehovah my God, neither let me see this great fire any more, that I not die.”
Jud 13:22 “Manoah said to his wife, We shall surely die, because we have seen God.” – In fact, Manoah and his wife had seen the angel of the Lord; 13:21 “But the angel of Jehovah did no more appear to Manoah or to his wife. Then Manoah knew that he was the angel of Jehovah.”
Exo 33:19 “He said, I will make all my goodness pass before you, and will proclaim the name of Yahweh before you. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. 33:20 He said, You cannot see my face, for man may not see me and live.”
Deu 5:26 “For who is there of all flesh, that has heard the voice of the living God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as we have, and lived?”
Jud 6:22 “Gideon saw that he was the angel of Jehovah; and Gideon said, Alas, Lord Jehovah! because I have seen the angel of Jehovah face to face. 23 Jehovah said to him, Peace be to you; don’t be afraid: you shall not die.”
After all these warnings, remember the great promise of Mat 5:8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”
Urim and Thummim
The Israelites needed to know how God would react to future situations. God did not even answer the high priest’s questions in his voice. However, God’s answer was obtained by asking a question and two options for it. Of these, God chose the answer.
Exo 28:30 ”You shall put in the breastplate of judgment the Urim and the Thummim; and they shall be on Aaron’s heart, when he goes in before Jehovah: and Aaron shall bear the judgment of the children of Israel on his heart before Jehovah continually.”
Num 27:21 “He shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who shall inquire for him by the judgment of the Urim before Jehovah: at his word shall they go out, and at his word they shall come in, both he, and all the children of Israel with him, even all the congregation.”
It is not clear from these verses, which mention Urim and Thummim, what they were like. However, their purpose is clear, to bring God’s answers to the Israelites, provided they had two alternative solutions to choose from.
During the Old Testament. 1st book of Samuel: 28: 6 “When Saul inquired of Jehovah, Jehovah didn’t answer him, neither by dreams, nor by Urim, nor by prophets..”
1 Sam 14:41 “Therefore Saul said to Jehovah, the God of Israel, Show the right. Jonathan and Saul were taken by lot; but the people escaped.” – This shows what is all about; the drawing of the right answer as it was believed that God would reveal the correct answer by the lot.
A new apostle by the lot replaced Judas. While Jesus was still with the apostles on earth, he, of course, instructed and guided his disciples in all matters. After Jesus ascended to heaven, the disciples must have been puzzled by many problems. One such issue was the appointment of a new apostle to replace Judas Iscariot. Did they receive selection instructions from Christ from heaven? All in all, they didn’t get it because they resorted to the old way; after prayer was drawn between two alternative candidates.
Act 1:23 “So they nominated two men—Joseph called Barsabbas, who also was called Justus, and Matthias.
24 They prayed, and said, “You, Lord, who know the hearts of all men, show which one of these two you have chosen
25 to take part in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas fell away, that he might go to his own place.”
26 They drew lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias, and he was numbered with the eleven apostles.”
The holiness of God
Moses wanted to see the face of the Holy God. Exo 3:6 “Moreover he said, I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look at God.”
Exo 33:20 “He said, “You cannot see my face, for man may not see me and live.”
In Heaven “One called to another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is Jehovah of Hosts! The whole earth is full of his glory!” (Isa 6:3). Isaiah was also afraid to meet God, though only in a vision 6:5, “Then I said, Woe to me! For I am undone, because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for my eyes have seen the King, Jehovah of Hosts!”
In the new world of God, after the Last Judgment, there are the only righteous people who do not sin anymore. The first resurrection participants have already seen Christ; 1 Joh 3:2 “Beloved, now we are children of God, and it is not yet revealed what we will be. But we know that, when he is revealed, we will be like him; for we will see him just as he is.” – That is understandable, for Christ is a human in heaven. Perhaps the glory of Christ is not the same as the Father of God. Seeing the face of Christ, the Bible speaks and promises that his co-rulers will see him “as he is.”
After the final judgment, those who have received a favorable verdict can see the face of God because they are now Holy and no longer have sin. In the same way, when Christ comes, his own will rise to receive him in the clouds and can see Christ as he is because both Christ and the participants of the first resurrection are all Saints.
What about the face of God the Father, can the saved get to see God?
Isaiah 6:2 tells of a vision in heaven: “Above him stood the seraphim. Each one had six wings. With two he covered his face. With two he covered his feet. With two he flew.” – Seraphim are the most high-ranking angels in the presence of God. If they have to cover their eyes to protect themselves from the glory of God, indeed, no other angel can see the glory of God. However, the Bible does not say more about it. The glory of God is so powerful that it cannot be seen by angels in heaven or by people on earth. If God wants to appear to man, he cannot appear in all his glory but must use something substitutes, such as an angel or three human figures.
2 Cor 4:4 “in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.”
The Bible describes the message of Christ as light. – God is a spirit (like everyone else in heaven), God is love, and God (and Christ) is light. 1 Joh 4:8 “The person who does not love does not know God, because God is love.”
“God is pure light that is not tainted or obscured by anything. The old translation said he is light. As such, he has not been able to appear to any human being, for we would not withstand such intense light. Instead, he is present in heaven. The book of Revelation says: “There will be no night, and they need no lamp light; for the Lord God will illuminate them. They will reign forever and ever” (Rev 22:5). Three things are expressed about God’s nature: God is Spirit, God is love, and God is light. The light depicts his holiness. The apostle John writes in the first chapter of his letter: 1 Joh 1:5, “God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.”
They shall see God; During the Old Testament, no one could see God. Seeing the holy God meant death. Christ, as a human, was visible to all. Matthew says, who can see God: 5:8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” Heb 12:14 “Pursue peace with everyone, as well as holiness, without which no one will see the Lord.” The Lord is in this verse κύριος, which refers to Christ. For example, when the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph, the angel is said to be the “angel of the Lord,” or the same Lord, translated by the word κύριος. However, it could not be an angel of Christ, but an angel of God the Father, because Jesus had not even been born yet. The angels of God are ἄγγελος θεός, Aggelos theos.
God says: “I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also who is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite.” (Isa 57:15)
What does the holiness of God mean? Perfection? Righteousness? Mercy? At least, God is perfect. Everything is possible for him. Indeed, God has been described as saying that he is omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent. Is God righteous? When God gave the order to destroy the enemy of Israel until the last man and woman and child, leaving no one alive, many wonder if this was right? Shouldn’t he have given mercy and left even a small part alive? God must have thought that the people of Israel had to be kept clean from pagan influences, and therefore God gave orders to cleanse from among his people, for example, those who ate blood or sacrificed to idols. (Lev, Chapter 17). The same regulations did not affect those living further away because their customs did not easily spread among God’s people.
According to the Bible, God is jealous and avenging, and his anger could ignite in a moment. This was the case, for example, when the Ark of the Covenant was being transported, and the bulls stumbled. Uzzah feared Ark would fall off the ride and took hold of Ark. Perhaps Uzzah was guilty of unbelief; he did not believe that God would come to his aid and that he would not have to touch the Ark of the Covenant (2 Sam. 6:6-7). And why didn’t God show mercy, for example, to the sabbath-breaker who gathered twigs for firewood on the Sabbath day during the wilderness journey? God was angry and commanded him to be stoned. The man who had collected the firewood must have known the provision that firewood was not to be collected on the Sabbath; he did not believe that this commandment of God was so absolute.
In this way, God is judged by a sinful, imperfect man who does not understand God’s reasoning. God says in his word, Isa 55:9 “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
As a human, Jesus Christ knows man’s nature and has the opportunity to have mercy on all sinners. After all, God, the Father, has given him the task to provide the final judgment to each person. Joh 5:22 “For the Father judges no one, but he has given all judgment to the Son.”
God spoke to me in a vision
Once, when I went to bed, late at night, at the darkest time of the year, a light came on in my room by itself. I knew it came from God because the light was pure and white, like milk. The light went out on its own. After that, I saw a fire that I associated with my writing. What does this light in the vision mean? Christ said he was the light of the world, and I understood that he promised his light to me. I interpreted the fire to represent the fire of the spirit and that the understanding I’ve gained I should transfer to other people as well. I won’t go into more detail, but the experience was for me to strengthen my faith, and I will continue to write with confidence, although I am at odds with the mainstream theology in some details.
Joh 8:12 “Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, I am the Light of the world; he who follows me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.”
1 Joh 1:5 “This is the message we have heard from him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in him there is no darkness at all.”
Unlike the Old Testament prophets, I cannot say that “this word of God came unto me…” As a result of diligent reading and study, I’ve just learned to pay attention to certain things over the years. I thank God for this. Without him, I would have just read and repeated phrases known to everyone. The web is full of them. Well-meaning believers write thoughts. Why hasn’t God spoken to them as he did to me?
As I write these Bible writings, I often have difficulties in interpreting. The Bible is thus written. Recently, I asked in one of my writings, why didn’t God write such a Bible that readers would have no trouble understanding it, and there wouldn’t be so many contentious Churches. I take an example of a problem of interpretation: On the last page of this writing, I bring up God’s promise concerning the New World. This site is linked to the New Testament – one of the countless translations – and has all the verses where Jesus is speaking marked in red. Such a verse is also in Revelation 21:5. However, it does not matter whether the promise is made by God the Father or by our Lord Jesus Christ. Regardless of the color, I concluded that in verse 5 onwards, God the Father speaks.
Almost every day, I write these blog posts. Almost daily, I read verses of interest from the Bible. I then find that there is a mistake in this or that verse. Let’s take a couple of examples:
The beginning of the Gospel of John says, “and the Word was God.” After all, we all know that this means that Jesus Christ is the word of God, and when the Bible says that the Word was God, no one can argue that the Word, or Jesus Christ, is God. Take a look at the original text! It says there that “God was the word”! John 1:1 καὶ θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος. I searched for different translations of the Bible, but in just one translation, I found the correct translation version: CLV “In the beginning was the word, and the word was toward God, and God was the word.” CLV means the Concordant translation.
I will take another example: Think of the situation where Jesus was crucified, dead, and then he is resurrected. After losing faith and all hope, the disciples meet their resurrected teacher. He gives them a new commandment; go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and the Holy Ghost. Everyone has heard this! Indeed the disciples said to Jesus, Yes, Son of God, this is what we promise to do. Did they use just those words? Maybe not. But now finally, the disciples, having witnessed the death and resurrection of Jesus, finally believed to the bottom of what Jesus said. Yes, teacher, this is definitely what we will do!
Soon was the first Pentecost, and the Holy Spirit was poured out on both the disciples and thousands of others. The Bible tells how the disciples baptized three thousand listeners “in the name of Jesus Christ.” What on earth!
Had the disciples forgotten that they had promised to baptize new Christians in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit? Or would it be an explanation that this Bible passage is a forgery? The answer is that the Catholic Church had a burning need to find support in the Bible for the Triune God? Here was an excellent opportunity to improve the text of the Bible and correct the mistake left in it. Thus, the text was corrected because it had apparently lacked the words “Father” and “Holy Spirit.” Did the apostles, therefore, have to be baptized “in the name of the Father, and of Jesus Christ, and of the Holy Ghost?” Still not going entirely right. They just baptized “in the name of Jesus Christ.”
This mission statement appeared in biblical manuscripts, perhaps as early as the 3rd century. It is for this reason that many believe it to be genuine and original. At this time, ecclesiastical assemblies began their efforts to incorporate the Triune God into the Catholic Church’s teachings. Today, there is a rationale for the authenticity of the mission order. What if Jesus had given such a baptismal command? No one has yet succeeded in explaining why the apostles did not keep Jesus’ commandment but baptized thousands only in the name of Jesus Christ.
Therefore, ask God to let his Holy Spirit guide you as you read the word of the Bible. When the Holy Spirit guides you, you will not mechanically repeat what you have been taught over millennia. The Holy Spirit stops you to think, and you will understand what the Bible says. Ask God to speak to you about where people have developed the doctrine and where it is the accurate word of God. How often do I encounter believers’ otherwise excellent writings, but there is only one shortcoming in them. All repeat the verses learned without thinking that they are not based on the teachings of the Bible but are based on ancient decisions of Church meetings, that is, the teachings of men, not on what God has said through His prophets.
Indeed, Colossians says: 2:20 “If you died with Christ from the elements of the world, why, as living in the world, are you subject to ordinances 23 These things have the appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion, humility, and harsh treatment of the body, but they have no value against self-indulgence.”
A distinction must be made between God’s word and the old ways, the commandments and doctrines of men, the traditional laws! Mark writes of this: 7:8 “For you set aside the commandment of God, and hold tightly to the tradition of men -the washing of pitchers and cups, and you do many other such things. 9 He said to them, “Full well do you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition. 13 You are destroying the word of God through your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many other things like that.” Rev 21:10 “He carried me away in the Spirit to a large, high mountain and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven. 27 There will in no way enter into it anything profane, or one who causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s [Christ’s] book of life.”
Can an imperfect person become holy?
What does “sanctified” mean? Hebrews: 7:26 describes Christ as a High priest: “We need such a high priest—one who is holy, innocent, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens.”
In his Epistle to the Romans, Paul describes his own role: 1:1 “Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God.”
The saint stands out from the world. He ceases to live in the worldly way desired by the god of this world. Sanctification means receiving the Holy Spirit of God. God chooses the saints. You can lose the achieved holiness by falling back into sinful and worldly life. Even for God’s elect, this can happen.
To be, come, and remain holy, one must separate oneself from sin and everything connected with sin. Peter realized that sanctification is related to a lifelong journey: Peter wrote in his 1st letter: 1:15 “but just as he who called you is holy, you yourselves also be holy in all of your behavior, 16 “because it is written, you shall be holy; for I am holy.”
1 Pet 1:1 “to the chosen ones who are living as strangers in the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, the people chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father through the sanctifying work of the Spirit to be obedient to Jesus Christ and to be sprinkled with his blood.” – Thus, through the sanctification of the Spirit, non-Jews gained status as God’s people.
1 Pet 2:9 “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, that you may show forth the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light: 10 who in time past were no people, but now are God’s people, who had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.”
At the beginning of his greetings, Paul calls the recipients of his letters saints:
Rom 1:7 “to all who are in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
2 Cor 1:1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, through the will of God, and Timotheus the brother, to the assembly of God that is in Corinth, with all the saints who are in all Achaia.
Eph 1:1 …to the saints who are at Ephesus, and the faithful in Christ Jesus:
Hebrews 12:14 states the importance of holiness and sanctification: Follow after peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no man will see the Lord.”
A new translation translates this as “seek purity, without which no one shall see the Lord.” However, verse 12:14 uses the word ἁγιασμός hagiasmos, which means sanctification. It is not a question of ‘purity.’ If one is holy, of course, he is also pure (in the heart), but I do not consider the word purity to be successful at this point. Of course, the thoughts, words, and deeds of a holy man are pure. People should strive for sanctification in their lives because it is a prerequisite for seeing the Lord.
Rom 6:22 “But now that you have been freed from sin and have become God’s slaves, the benefit you reap is sanctification, and the result is eternal life.” – According to Romans’ verse, when one gets rid of sin, man becomes a servant of God and, as a result, receives sanctification and finally eternal life.
Col 1:2 “to the saints in Colossae, and to the faithful brethren in Christ: Grace to you, and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ!”
The first chapter of Thessalonians 4 provides much counsel on attaining sanctification by avoiding the sins that still plague believers at that time.
According to the Bible, “There is none Holy like Jehovah, For there is none besides you, And there is no rock like our God” (1 Sam 2:2). However, the Bible speaks of human sanctification. What does it mean when the Bible says that only the Lord is Holy? At least it is true that God has always been and always has been holy. Man is born unholy but can become holy.
The title of this study deals with how God speaks to man. My idea is that when a person is sanctified, he enters the Kingdom of God and becomes a co-worker with God after the resurrection. Then he can see God and talk to him, speak to God really, and get God’s answer. Man cannot achieve this unless God exceptionally so desires. It does not mean that God will not hear the man who turns to him, even though he has not yet attained holiness, but is still on his way. God speaks to man “quietly” and guides him during the journey.
Isaiah 65:24 tells of the Millennial Kingdom of Christ; ”It shall happen that, before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear.”
God sends an angel who can appear as a human being.
In the book of Tobit, the angel Raphael appeared to Abraham
Chapter 12: 13 And because thou wast acceptable to God, it was necessary that temptation should prove thee. 14 And now the Lord hath sent me to heal thee, and to deliver Sara thy son’s wife from the devil.
15 For I am the angel Raphael, one of the seven who stand before the Lord.
Rafael returns to God:
16 And when they had heard these things, they were troubled, and being seized with fear they fell upon the ground on their face. 17 And the angel said to them: Peace be to you, fear not. 18 For when I was with you, I was there by the will of God: bless ye him, and sing praises to him. 19 I seemed indeed to eat and to drink with you: but I use an invisible meat and drink, which cannot be seen by men. 20 It is time therefore that I return to him that sent me: but bless ye God, and publish all his wonderful works. 21 And when he had said these things, he was taken from their sight, and they could see him no more. 22 Then they lying prostrate for three hours upon their face, blessed God: and rising up, they told all his wonderful works. https://biblescripture.net/Tobias.html
Gen 22:10 “Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to kill his son. 22:11 The angel of Jehovah called to him out of the sky, and said, Abraham, Abraham! He said, Here I am.”
Gen 16:10 “The angel of Jehovah said to her [Hagar, Sarai’s maid] I will greatly multiply your seed, that they will not be numbered for multitude.”
Gen 19:1 “The two angels came to Sodom at evening. Lot sat in the gate of Sodom. Lot saw them and rose up to meet them. He bowed himself with his face to the earth, 19:11 They [the angels] struck the men who were at the door of the house with blindness, both small and great, so that they wearied themselves to find the door.”
Gen 18:1 “Jehovah appeared to him [Abraham] by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day. 18:2 He lifted up his eyes and looked, and saw that three men stood opposite him. When he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself to the earth.”
“Don’t forget to show hospitality to strangers, for in doing so, some have entertained angels without knowing it.” (Heb 13:2)
Many anxious people unleash their pain on God, saying, God, why don’t you answer me!
God, the Father, spoke on various occasions during the OT times to both prophets and ordinary people. While living on Earth, Jesus spoke to people. After Christ ascended to heaven, he has not spoken directly to just anyone. However, Christ appeared to Paul and spoke directly to him, although others close by heard nothing.
For some directly – like Paul – or in a vision like Ananias. Paul was approaching Damascus, Acts 9:3 tells: “As he traveled, it happened that he got close to Damascus, and suddenly a light from the sky shone around him. 4 He fell on the earth, and heard a voice saying to him, Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? 5 He said, Who are you, Lord? The Lord said, I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.” – Jesus considered it necessary to speak directly to Saul, who then became the apostle Paul and the most diligent writer of the New Testament.
1 The 2:13 “For this cause we also thank God without ceasing, that, when you received from us the word of the message of God, you accepted it not as the word of men, but, as it is in truth, the word of God, which also works in you who believe.”
Isa 55:11 “so shall my word be that goes forth out of my mouth: it shall not return to me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.”
2 Pet 1:3 “His [Jesus Christ’s] divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through the full knowledge of the one who called us by his own glory and excellence. 4 Through these he has given us his precious and wonderful promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, seeing that you have escaped the corruption that is in the world caused by evil desires.”
Reformers such as Martin Luther and John Calvin declared that there is only one place where God speaks to us, and that is the Bible. These men highlighted the principle, known as Sola Scriptura. I have been a supporter of this principle from the very beginning. This principle puts the word of the Bible above all religious activity; now, it has happened that ecclesiastical assemblies, popes, and bishops have taken upon themselves the right to interpret and even change the word of God.
I do not accept such changes in the word of God as, for example, that Catholics have removed one commandment and divided another commandment into two so that the total number of commandments did not change. Instead, I accept and support the development in the Bible’s language that results from the interpretation of the Bible so that the people of the time in question would understand it correctly.
God and Jesus Christ speak to us through the word of the Bible.
New heaven and new earth
The second last chapter of the Revelation describes the New Heaven and the New Earth because the first heaven and the first earth have disappeared. The saying that the sea no longer exists is probably a symbolic narrative. It possibly means that the great masses of sinful people no longer live, but that they have received their judgment and that they have no access to God’s new heaven and earth.
Rev 21:1 “I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth have passed away, and the sea is no more. 2 I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready like a bride adorned for her husband. 3 I heard a loud voice out of heaven saying, Behold, God’s dwelling is with people, and he will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.”
John sees in his vision that the holy city, the new Jerusalem, will descend from heaven. With it, God Himself will dwell on the earth in the new Jerusalem, among its inhabitants. All that remains is God, Christ, and their people.
Rev 21:4 “He will wipe away from them every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; neither will there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain, any more. The first things have passed away.”
5 “He [God] who sits on the throne said, Behold, I am making all things new. He said, Write, for these words of God are faithful and true. 6 He said to me, It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give freely to him who is thirsty from the spring of the water of life. 7 He who overcomes, I will give him these things. I will be his God, and he will be my son.”
Death is overcome, no more sorrow, because all the former is gone. God gives life to all thirsty people from the fountain of water as a gift. John does not see the temple, for it is not needed because God and Christ are its temple. The city does not need to illuminate the sun or the moon, for God’s glory illuminates it, and the lamp is Jesus Christ.
21:22 “I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God, the Almighty, and the Lamb, are its temple. 23 The city has no need for the sun, neither of the moon, to shine, for the very glory of God illuminated it, and its lamp is the Lamb. 21:27 Nothing unclean, or anyone who does anything detestable, and no one who tells lies will ever enter it. Only those whose names are written in the lamb’s Book of Life will enter it.”
The book of Revelation is, to the greatest extent possible, a figurative expression. This is especially true of Revelation. I lean in the direction of the opinion that sees the description as telling of a spiritual community ruled by God and the Lamb. It is supported by e.g., the above description of city lighting; The new Jerusalem does not need the light of the sun or the moon. Second, according to the description at the end of the chapter, the city is built using precious stones such as jasper, sapphires, chalcedony, emeralds, sardonyx, etc. The city’s twelve gates are made of twelve pearls, each gate of one giant-sized pearl, and the city street is pure gold.
According to the Bible, the participants in the first resurrection are in the spirit body. I see no reason why the participants in the second, the resurrection of judgment, should not be. Why would they need to switch to physical bodies? When the Bible speaks of “the resurrection of the body,” one should not understand the physical body as the body of the resurrection. The whole of New Jerusalem, ruled by God the Father, and Christ, and all the inhabitants are in the spirit body.
