I asked for your questions about the Bible. Wow!
Several weeks ago I invited listeners to send in questions about the Bible, a Bible character or story, or anything related to the Bible. This is my way of celebrating the 150 episode of The Bible Speaks to You Podcast.
Before we dive into your questions, there are a couple of things I need to mention.
First, I want to thank all of you who sent in questions. I am very impressed with the really thoughtful and thought provoking questions you sent in. It shows that you are thinking about what the Bible says and want to get a better understanding of its deep, spiritual meaning and how to put it into practice in your daily life.
Now, just to let you know, I don’t have the perfect answers to these questions. I don’t know all the answers.
And as you know not everyone agrees on what the Bible says because we look at it from different perspectives and through different lenses.
But I will share my thoughts on these questions and hope it will spark you to study the Bible in a fresh way and continue to pray about these questions and any other questions that come up in the process.
Asking Bible questions is so important
It’s one of the ways we learn. I know too many people whose churches do not encourage, or even forbid, them to ask questions. They are just supposed to accept whatever the church tells them without comment.
I feel the exact opposite. And it’s important to learn how to ask questions as well.
So let’s take a look at questions you sent in.
Here’s something a new listener sent in
Contradictions in the Bible?
QUESTION: I didn’t read the Bible until I was 60 years old. Since then, reading it has become part of my daily morning devotion. But as I read more, the more questions bug my mind which I want to find answers to. This is not in any way challenging the book. There are lots of contradictions in it. So one of two contradictory statements must be false. How do you know what’s true?
Here are some examples:
- Yahweh in the Old Testament is an angry, jealous, vindictive and destructive God.
- Abraham in Genesis 18:20-32 bargained with God not to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah if there are good people there.
- In the New Testament God is loving, just and merciful.
- Is incest allowed by God or not?
- In Genesis 18:10 and 20:11-13 Abraham and Sarah who are siblings found favor from God who gave them a son, Isaac.
- But Leviticus 20:17 says “If a man takes his sister, a daughter of his father… and sees her nakedness…, it is a disgrace and they shall be cut off… shall be subject to punishment.”
What a great question!
First, I’m grateful you’ve started reading the Bible. And you’re right, when you read it from one perspective, there seem to be lots of contradictions, like the ones you mentioned. Does God change from being “angry, jealous, vindictive, and destructive” in the Old Testament to become more “loving, just, and merciful” in the New Testament?
Does God change?
The prophet Malachi quotes God as saying,
I am the LORD, I do not change; Malachi 3:6 NKJV
My question for you then is, Does God change or does our perception of God change?
One time my wife and I camped in Deer Park in Olympic National Park in Washington State. The day we arrived it was foggy and we couldn’t see more than 50 feet in front of us. Over the next day or so, the fog lifted and we caught glimpses of several mountains through the remaining clouds. Then one evening, the wind shifted and we saw clearly an entire mountain range in the bright light of the full moon. It was breathtaking.
The mountains had been there all along. They had not changed. We just saw them clearly when the fog and clouds were gone.
God doesn’t change, but as our thoughts and lives become more spiritual, the fog and clouds of fear, selfishness, and material approach to life begin to shift and we see more clearly who and what God is like.
God has always been the loving God described in the New Testament,
God is love. 1 John 4:8 NKJV
But people in the Old Testament often looked at God through the lens of their own materialistic view of the world, and the pagan culture around them. They knew God was existed, but they didn’t see Him clearly.
How did Jesus see God?
If you want to get a good idea of what God is like, look at how Jesus acts. He said of himself,
the Son can do nothing by himself. He does only what he sees the Father doing. Whatever the Father does, the Son also does. John 5:19 NLT
I have come down from heaven to do the will of God who sent me, not to do my own will. John 6:38 NLT
I don’t speak on my own authority. The Father who sent me has commanded me what to say and how to say it.
And I know his commands lead to eternal life; so I say whatever the Father tells me to say.” John 12:49, 50 NLT
Whatever Jesus does or says is God’s will and what God is doing. Jesus is like a window into God’s true nature.
Cloudy thinking obscures God
Everything in the Bible that doesn’t match up with what Jesus reveals about God’s nature is kind of like the clouds obscuring the mountains on that camping trip. The more you get to know the God that Jesus knew, the more you’ll be able to see in other parts of the Bible when someone let their own perspective or beliefs cloud their discernment of God true nature.
So, I would invite you to re-frame your question about incest. How about asking instead, “How would Jesus treat someone in that situation? How would he express love to them in a way that they felt God’s love?”
We don’t have any record of Jesus being judgmental of Zacchaeus, the tax collector who climbed a tree to see him. I always wondered what Jesus said to him (see Luke 19:2-9 below). Whatever Jesus said, it opened Zacchaeus’s eyes to what he needed to change in his lifestyle. Let that be our model. Let people see God’s love manifested in your life and let God reveal to them what they need to know or do.
The human mind wants a quick and easy answer, but the real answer is about how much we love all God’s children.
Okay, that was a bit of a long answer, but there’s always so much to a question.
Adam and Eve
QUESTION: Are Adam and Eve the first humans created by God? Is this a legend or not?
As I like to say, “I wasn’t there, so I’m not 100% sure.” I had a serious conversation with my brother-in-law several years ago on this very issue. He believed Adam and Eve were real people who were the first humans created by God. If they weren’t real, he felt his whole faith would fall apart.
Personally, I tend to believe that the story of Adam and Eve is more of a metaphor. It’s one of these times when a writer or writers discerned something about the way God created the world, but they were looking through the mists, or clouds, of a material way of thinking. They were trying to figure out and explain where evil came from and why we have so many problems.
The first chapter of Genesis gives a very different perspective of how God created the world. The order of creation is different. Man is made in God’s image instead of out of dust. Everything God made was very good. In the Adam story of creation there is good and evil.
There’s only one creation. But it looks very different when you look at it from a material or a spiritual perspective.
How to interpret the Bible
QUESTION: Should we interpret the Bible literally or figuratively?” For example: in Matthew 10:34, Jesus said, “ I have not come to bring peace but a sword.” Does Jesus imply war?
I love this question and did an episode on this very topic a couple of years ago. Episode 17 – If You Take the Bible 100% Literally, You’ll miss 90% of What is Says
That will have a more complete answer than what I have time for here. But I will say this. There are so many metaphors in the Bible that were never meant to be taken literally. For example, Jesus is not literally a rock, a vine, and a door.
Jesus’s sword
When he said he came to bring a sword instead of peace, he didn’t mean a literal sword made of iron or steel. He was not bring peace to worldly, sinful ways of thinking. His sword was the truth he spoke. Paul uses this metaphor of a sword in his letter to the Ephesians
Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Ephesians 6:17 NLT
And the image of Christ in Revelation is described
He held seven stars in his right hand, and a sharp two-edged sword came from his mouth. Revelation 1:16 NLT
These are metaphors, just like Jesus’s parables, to help us understand things that are spiritual.
There are many parts of the Bible that are literally true, but so much of it is imagery and metaphor to help us get a glimpse of spiritual ideas.
This next question is a little simpler to answer.
Jesus’s brothers and sisters
QUESTION: In Matt 12:46 “while Jesus was talking to the people his mother and brothers wanted to speak to him.” Does Jesus have siblings?
As Jesus was speaking to the crowd, his mother and brothers stood outside, asking to speak to him. Matthew 12: 46 NLT
Yes, Jesus had siblings. Although technically you would have to say they are half-siblings. They had the same mother but not the same father.
There more references to Jesus’s siblings in Mark and John:
Then they scoffed [the people in Jesus’s hometown], “He’s just a carpenter, the son of Mary and the brother of James, Joseph, [or Joses] Judas, and Simon. And his sisters live right here among us.” They were deeply offended and refused to believe in him. Mark 6:3 NLT
…and Jesus’ brothers said to him, “Leave here and go to Judea, where your followers can see your miracles! You can’t become famous if you hide like this! If you can do such wonderful things, show yourself to the world!” For even his brothers didn’t believe in him.
But after his brothers left for the festival, Jesus also went, though secretly, staying out of public view. John 7:3-5, 10 NLT
As it turns out Jesus’s half-brothers James and Jude, wrote the books in the New Testament which bear their names. At some point they believed that Jesus, was indeed the Messiah.
Some churches believe when Joseph got married to Mary the mother of Jesus, he was a widower with the children already referred to and that Mary remained a virgin the rest of her life. But the Scripture doesn’t specify that. It does imply that Mary and Joseph had children together. (See Matthew 1:25 below)
Bad things and good people
The next question is one that has been asked so many times and there are just as many answers:
QUESTION: If God is all powerful, all knowing, and all loving why do bad things happen to good people? And since bad things happen, is that a reason we shouldn’t believe God is good and all-powerful?
Most people do not actually believe God has all power.
They say they believe God is omnipotent, but they really don’t. They believe also in many other powers, material, emotional, and mental, culminating in an almost all-powerful devil, or evil force, in the world.
The way you think of God will determine how you answer this question and how you ask the question.
If you really see God as all-powerful, all-knowing, and all-loving, then you realize this is the wrong question because it starts with the assumption that God had either allowed, arranged for, or directly caused bad things to happen to good people.
Where does evil come from?
Another way to ask the question is: Where does evil come from?
Or perhaps, Where does evil exist? Certainly evil runs rampant here on earth.
But is there any evil in the kingdom of heaven? The Bible states that, in the new heaven and new earth,
‘He [God] will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ [Isaiah 25:8] or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away. Revelation 21:4 NIV
In the new heaven and earth, there is no evil. Is this new heaven and earth way off in the future? That’s what most people believe. But Jesus said,
From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Matthew 4:17 KJV
He also said
To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. John 18:37 KJV
The kingdom of heaven is at hand
I firmly believe that the truth Jesus came to bear witness to is the fact that the kingdom of heaven is at hand, here, now.
I refer to this idea a lot on the podcast. In fact, I did a podcast episode specifically on this topic as well, All the way back on Episode 2 – The Kingdom of Heaven Is at Hand.
Jesus was so conscious of what was true in heaven, it was like a light shining on and dissolving the darkness of earth. When a sick person came to him for healing, Jesus saw what was true about them in the kingdom of heaven where there is no sickness. They were healed.
To the degree we bear witness to the kingdom of heaven as being present right now, as Jesus did, we will see no more tears, death, pain, sorrow, and sin here on earth as well.
So this question about why bad things happen to good people to me is the wrong question. A better question is: How can I bear witness to what is true in heaven like Jesus did? I’ll let you think about that one.
Okay, that’s just a few things to think about from a different perspective.
The loaves and fish
QUESTION: Can you shed some light on the how Jesus multiplied the loaves and the fish?
Well, again, I like to say, I wasn’t there and didn’t get to ask Jesus how he pulled that off. Everyone, including his disciples were not expecting this to happen.
Some Bible scholars say that a lot of people had food hidden away, and not just the little boy who shared his. If that is true, then there is still the wonderful example of sharing the little you have with someone else. That, in itself, is a miracle to the selfish human mind.
But let’s say there was no other food and that Jesus did multiply the few loaves and fish in such quantity to feed a crowds of 5,000 and 4,000. And those numbers don’t even count the women and children.
Gratitude in advance
One thing that stand out to me in this situation is that Jesus prayed and thanked God before he had his disciples distribute the food.
And he commanded the people to sit down on the ground: and he took the seven loaves, and gave thanks, and brake, and gave to his disciples to set before them; and they did set them before the people. Mark 8:6 KJV
Expressing gratitude for what you do have and thanking God before your prayers are answered is a powerful prayer.
I also did an episode about expressing gratitude in advance Episode 24 Give Gratitude in Advance of a Healing or Blessing
Here again, I believe Jesus’s modus operandi was bearing witness to what is true in the kingdom of heaven. He saw that in heaven everyone had all they needed.
This was like turning on a light switch and because he saw so clearly everyone had all they needed, they saw it to.
If you were in a dark room with a lot of food, but couldn’t see it because it was dark, and someone turned on the light, then you would be able to see the food that was there. This is not the greatest analogy but it hints just a little bit at what I think might have happened.
My hope here is that you will focus more on what is going on in the kingdom of heaven and bring that light to whatever you’re doing here on earth.
Eunuchs in the Bible
QUESTION: What does the Bible say about eunuchs?
The word for eunuch in Hebrew literally means a castrated male. In Greek, the word means “the keeper of the bed,” implying someone who guards the bedchamber.
There are lots of references to eunuchs in both the Old and New Testaments so I’ll just mention a few.
Eunuchs were often important servants in a king’s palace, sometime in a high position and sometimes to protect the royal bedchamber.
I love this passage about eunuchs from Isaiah.
And don’t let the eunuchs say,
‘I’m a dried-up tree with no children and no future.’
For this is what the LORD says:
I will bless those eunuchs
who keep my Sabbath days holy
and who choose to do what pleases me
and commit their lives to me.
I will give them—within the walls of my house—
a memorial and a name
far greater than sons and daughters could give.
For the name I give them is an everlasting one.
It will never disappear! Isaiah 56:3-5 NLT
Isn’t that a beautiful promise? This can apply, not just to eunuchs, but to anyone who feels incomplete, alone, or unworthy. It shows God’s love and care for you.
Jesus and eunuchs
In the New Testament Jesus has this to say about eunuchs.
For there are eunuchs who were born that way, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by others—and there are those who choose to live like eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. The one who can accept this should accept it.” Matthew 19:12 NIV
Jesus always takes things to a deep spiritual level. He wants us all to live for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. I don’t think you have to be a eunuch to do that. It’s more of a mental or spiritual attitude of embracing a spiritual approach to life.
All too often we think of ourselves as fleshly beings, trying to be more spiritual. But Jesus invites us to start with a spiritual perspective of ourselves and go from there. Paul echoes this when he declares boldly
Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God. You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. Romans 8:8, 9 NIV
You are not in the realm of the flesh. What powerful words to ponder in our hearts.
Most important book in the Bible?
A long time listener writes,
QUESTION: If only one of the sixty-six books that comprise the Bible could be preserved for all eternity, which book do you feel it should be?
That is really a tough question. But I think I’ll go with the gospel of John.
But in a way, this is kind of a trick question. It starts with a false premise, that some of Jesus’s words could be lost. Jesus said,
Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. Matthew 24:35 KJV
Everything in this material world will pass away, Jesus says. And I guess that means all physical copies of the Bible. But spiritually, the words Jesus has spoken, as well as all truth contained in the Bible, will remain and never pass away.
Looking at the Bible spiritually
Here’s a question from someone who was recently in one of my Bible workshops.
QUESTION: How can we see the Bible stories more spiritually and with fresh eyes instead of just from a human perspective?
This is kind of related to the question about taking the Bible literally, which I talked about earlier.
There two parts to my answer. First I think we need to look at the Bible stories with a broader human perspective. In other words, put yourself in the shoes, or sandals, if you please, of everyone in a particular story. Try to see what’s going on from their perspective and ask questions accordingly.
Then to get a more spiritual perspective of things, look at a story from the perspective of what’s going on in the kingdom of heaven, not just trying to understand the human circumstances of the situation.
How did Jesus heal the blind man?
In the story of Jesus healing the man born blind, there’s a lot to learn from looking at what’s going on from the perspective of everyone involved, including the Pharisees, who question the man after he was healed and even talk to his parents. And by the way, what was his parents’ perspective of what took place?
Then, ask “What was going on in the kingdom of heaven? Was this man ever blind in heaven and then healed?” No, because there is no blindness in heaven.
I encourage you to look at things from the heavenly perspective and see what insights that gives you about what’s happening on earth.
Can we heal today like Jesus did?
Here’s a question about healing:
QUESTION: Are the miracles and healings of the patriarchs, the prophets, Jesus and his disciples, just symbolism of God being in power or can these things happen today? If so, how? If not, why not?
Wow, we could talk a lot about healing in the Bible and healing today. I’ve done lots of episodes about this. Just type the word “healing” in the search bar on this page and see is there’s something that looks interesting.
When you’re praying for healing, here are some things to think about.
If you start your prayer with the assumption that God may not be willing or able to heal a given situation, this attitude saps the power and Christly authority of your prayer.
The more I study the healings of Jesus, the more I am convinced that what we call healings were simply him seeing what was already true in the kingdom of heaven.
How to heal like Jesus
How can we heal like Jesus did? Quit looking at things with your material eyes and believing what you see. Jesus said not to judge according to the outward appearance of things (See John 7:24, below)
Use your spiritual, heaven-based vision to look at things when you pray. See if that makes a difference. Quit trying to change something and start trying to see what’s true in heaven, or as Jesus put it, bear witness to the truth.
Why does healing not happen? Because we’re not looking at things from heaven’s perspective.
Here’s a follow-up question from the same listener:
QUESTION: Why doesn’t God just heal us automatically?
I would ask you, What if God does and we’re not aware of it? Every time we look at things from our personal perspective here on earth, we are not seeing the whole picture, not even humanly, and we are certainly not seeing things from the perspective of what’s true in heaven already.
In heaven, you are already whole and perfect. There is no sin or sickness, no tears, or sorrow, pain or death. What is there to be healed?
Anytime we think we’re not healed, we’re looking at things from a limited earth perspective. The more we can look at things from the heaven-is-at-hand perspective, the more we’ll see our wholeness. From earth’s perspective it will look like we are healed, but from heaven’s perspective we were already whole.
The mud/sin metaphor
In my Bible talks and workshops, as well as on the podcast, I often refer to being covered in mud as a metaphor for the sins and mistakes we’ve made, along with the negativity and limiting beliefs systems we’ve adopted. These negative influences and experiences are no more part of you than the mud that you fall or jump in or someone throws on you.
This next question refers to this mud metaphor.
QUESTION: How do you know the mud of sin washes off? What if the mud seems really convincing that it’s part of us? How do we get rid of muddy thinking?
Well, I know that mud will wash off because when I have been covered in mud, or my kids have, it has always washed off.
But I know you’re talking about the mud as a metaphor. How do I know it can wash off? Because I have seen it be washed away by tears of repentance and tears of gratitude.
And sometimes the Holy Spirit comes in with one big Whoosh! and cleans up the whole mess in the twinkling of an eye.
Jesus and the Samaritan woman
Think of the Samaritan woman at the well of Jacob. Jesus started a simple conversation asking for a drink, but he quickly took things in a much more spiritual direction. (See John chapter 4, starting verse 7)
He knew the woman had had five husbands and was currently living with a man she wasn’t married to. But he did not condemn the woman. He didn’t see this “mud” so to speak, as part of her. He offered her living water, that would wash away the muddy or negative thoughts from her thinking. It would clean her up from the inside out.
Maybe the mud the world has thrown on you seems very convincing and hard to wash away. And you may not even realize it’s mud. You think the problem is just part of you and it will never go away.
Let’s go back to the kingdom of heaven. Is that problem something you’ll have or be part of you in heaven? If not, then you know it’s not really part of you now. This may not instantly remove all the mud, or its allure, but it gives you a bigger perspective of what’s true from a spiritual point of view. You get more of what you focus on. So choose wisely.
Favorite Bible passage
QUESTION: What is your favorite Bible story, quote, or inspiration, and why?
That is probably the hardest question to answer. It changes depending on what situation I’m in or how I’m feeling, or what I’m thinking about.
But I would have to say right now, one of things that inspires me the most is the first two words of the Lord’s Prayer, “Our Father.”
I think those are the two most pregnant words in the Bible. They include the fact that God is not just my Father, my creator, but the Father of everyone. That implies that we are all brothers and sisters and that no one is excluded. And we are praying to the same God Jesus did.
When God calls you…
A new listener asks,
QUESTION: If God wants you to do something that is daunting and seems impossible, how do you know it’s really God guiding you and not the whispering voice tempting you to jump off the pinnacle of the temple?
Whoa! What a great question. The first epistle of John says,
Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 1 John 4:1 NIV
The real answer to this question comes in cultivating your relationship with God before a need or challenging circumstance comes up.
I have sometimes asked God for a sign as to what to do.
Other times I have gone round and round trying to humanly figure out what to do and been unable to know what the right choice was. It was only when I gave up trying to figure everything out and realized how completely dependent on God I was, that I got an answer.
Another prayer that has brought answers has been simply asking God, “What will bless the most in the long run?” This helps me to get myself out of the way.
Gideon had doubts
Remember when the angel visited Gideon and told him he would help deliver the children of Israel from the Midianites? Gideon balked. He didn’t feel worthy.
But he kept asking questions and he asked for a sign several times until he could believe he was the one for the job. (See Judges 6, starting verse 11)
And I would also add that you can listen to what others have to say, but never do something because someone else tells you to. Wait until you have a clear sense from God.
When times are rough
QUESTION: When times are rough, how do you keep walking in the Spirit, even though you’re afraid and times are hard?
There’s no one-size-fits-all answer to this.
I would simply say this is when you need to have a supportive community. It could be church, an online support group, or just a friend who can listen and encourage you.
And it helps if there is someone you can encourage. You may not feel like you have all your problems solved, but I guarantee there is someone somewhere that you can help and encourage. Sometimes we get so absorbed in our own problems we forget we can help someone else. So maybe the real answer here is to help someone else along the way.
Thanks so much!
That is it! I hope you enjoyed all these great questions. Please share this episode with a friend. And as I said at the beginning of this episode, please don’t take my responses to these questions as the final word. They are just a starting point for you to think more deeply about these topics.
If you have questions or comments please contact me. I’d love to hear from you..
Photo Credit: Samantha Sophia
_________________________________________
James Early, the Jesus Mindset Coach, is a Bible teacher, speaker, and podcaster. He conducts Bible workshops online and in person. His focus is on getting back to the original Christianity of Jesus by embracing the mindset of Christ in daily life. Contact him here.
Subscribe to the podcast Support the show
Bible References in this episode:
Malachi 3:6 NKJV
6 I am the LORD, I do not change;
1 John 4:8 NKJV
8 God is love.
John 5:19 NLT
19 the Son can do nothing by himself. He does only what he sees the Father doing. Whatever the Father does, the Son also does.
John 6:38 NLT
38 I have come down from heaven to do the will of God who sent me, not to do my own will.
John 12:49, 50 NLT
49 I don’t speak on my own authority. The Father who sent me has commanded me what to say and how to say it.
50 And I know his commands lead to eternal life; so I say whatever the Father tells me to say.”
Luke 19:2-9 NLT
2 There was a man there named Zacchaeus. He was the chief tax collector in the region, and he had become very rich.
3 He tried to get a look at Jesus, but he was too short to see over the crowd.
4 So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree beside the road, for Jesus was going to pass that way.
5 When Jesus came by, he looked up at Zacchaeus and called him by name. “Zacchaeus!” he said. “Quick, come down! I must be a guest in your home today.”
6 Zacchaeus quickly climbed down and took Jesus to his house in great excitement and joy.
7 But the people were displeased. “He has gone to be the guest of a notorious sinner,” they grumbled.
8 Meanwhile, Zacchaeus stood before the Lord and said, “I will give half my wealth to the poor, Lord, and if I have cheated people on their taxes, I will give them back four times as much!”
9 Jesus responded, “Salvation has come to this home today, for this man has shown himself to be a true son of Abraham.
Matt hew 10:34
34 Jesus said “ I have not come to bring peace but a sword”
Ephesians 6:17 NLT
17 Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
Revelation 1:16 NLT
16 He held seven stars in his right hand, and a sharp two-edged sword came from his mouth.
Matthew 12: 46 NLT
46 As Jesus was speaking to the crowd, his mother and brothers stood outside, asking to speak to him.
Mark 6:3 NLT
3 Then they scoffed, “He’s just a carpenter, the son of Mary and the brother of James, Joseph, [or Joses] Judas, and Simon. And his sisters live right here among us.” They were deeply offended and refused to believe in him.
John 7:3-5, 10 NLT
3 and Jesus’ brothers said to him, “Leave here and go to Judea, where your followers can see your miracles!
4 You can’t become famous if you hide like this! If you can do such wonderful things, show yourself to the world!”
5 For even his brothers didn’t believe in him.
10 But after his brothers left for the festival, Jesus also went, though secretly, staying out of public view.
See Matthew 1:25 IV
25 But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.
Revelation 21:4 NIV
4 ‘He [God] will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ [Isaiah 25:8] or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.
Matthew 4:17 KJV
17 From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
John 18:37 KJV
37 To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth.
Mark 8:6 KJV
6 And he commanded the people to sit down on the ground: and he took the seven loaves, and gave thanks, and brake, and gave to his disciples to set before them; and they did set them before the people.
Isaiah 56:3-5 NLT
3 And don’t let the eunuchs say,
‘I’m a dried-up tree with no children and no future.’
4 For this is what the LORD says:
I will bless those eunuchs
who keep my Sabbath days holy
and who choose to do what pleases me
and commit their lives to me.
5 I will give them—within the walls of my house—
a memorial and a name
far greater than sons and daughters could give.
For the name I give them is an everlasting one.
It will never disappear!
Matthew 19:12 NIV
12 For there are eunuchs who were born that way, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by others—and there are those who choose to live like eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. The one who can accept this should accept it.”
Romans 8:8, 9 NIV
8 Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God.
9 You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you.
Matthew 24:35 KJV
35 Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.
John 7:24 KJV
24 Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.
1 John 4:1 NIV
1 Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
