Showing posts with label Moses. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Moses. Show all posts

Thursday 26 March 2015

Solution for Willing hearts filled with gifts

Getting closer to the 14th of Nisan, the most important day of the year in which we celebrate our salvation, we think about freedom or liberty.

Many people may be caught in chains but not aware of it. Many may be bounded to this world, but not aware of it. Lots of people can  not find true wisdom because they are not really interested in the reality and truth. For lots of people what is important is that hey enjoy life as much as they can. But they forget that lots of problems they get in life are just because they have not liberated their thoughts from the binding with this world.

In ancient times we can find the Israelites giving ear to their leader Moshe (Moses) and bringing a freewill offering to the Most High Elohim Hashem Jehovah. They were not yet so bounded to the material goods like many present inhabitants of this world. At that time every man and woman whose heart was willing to bring materials for all the work that God through Moses had commanded them to do, were prepared to take time for God and to bring offerings. Moses told them who God had chosen to fill them with His Power, giving them skill, with understanding, with knowledge, and in all kinds of work. The men of God got all sorts of skills,  to design artistic designs, to work in gold, in silver, and in bronze,  and in cutting stones for their setting, and in cutting wood, to do work in every artistic craft.

Though He not only gave them skill and wisdom just for themselves, but also to put the things in their heart to teach.
Exo 35:29-35 MKJV  The sons of Israel brought a willing offering to Jehovah, every man and woman whose heart made them willing to bring for all kinds of work which Jehovah had commanded to be made by the hand of Moses.  (30)  And Moses said to the sons of Israel, See, Jehovah has called the son of Uri the son of Hur, by the name Bezaleel, of the tribe of Judah.  (31)  And He has filled him with the spirit of God in wisdom, in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all kinds of work,  (32)  and to devise designs, to work in gold, and in silver, and in bronze,  (33)  and in the cutting of stones to set, and in carving of wood, to make any kind of skillful work.  (34)  And He has put in his heart that he may teach, he and Aholiab the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan.  (35)  He has filled them with wisdom of heart to work all kinds of work; of the smith, and of the skillful worker, and of the embroiderer, in blue, and in purple, in scarlet, and in bleached linen, and of the weaver, of those who do any work, and of those who work out artful work.
These days we think about the many challenges the People of God received.

Exodus 1:1-22 had portrayed in graphic detail the suffering which Pharaoh had inflicted upon the Israelites. Exodus 2:1-25 shows us what God wanted do about it. God's solution consists not in some phenomenal miracle or in the promotion of a mighty Israelite leader who was already alive (either of which we might have expected, had we not already known the story). God's solution consists instead in the birth of a son.

This provides both a pattern for the future and a salutary lesson. One day God would again send a son -- this time His Own -- to deliver a people from slavery. Again He would prepare the child from birth, bringing it safely from the womb and nourishing and developing it for the immense task that lay ahead. the Old Testament shows us how a begin was made to create a people and in the New Testament we can find again an other people was finding a creation with a creation of a New Word, Jesus Christ becoming the firstborn of that creation.

In the 4th chapter of Exodus we do find signs showing God's control over life and death, how inanimate objects can become alive; living things can become dead!
In the 5th chapter we find God not requesting His people's freedom, but Him demanding it!

God requires actions from Moses, Pharaoh and form those men and women who say they want to worship the Only One True God. God is willing to hear their moaning and is willing to come close to them and to liberate them form slavery.

The world was going to see what the Adonai Creator of heaven and earth was going to do to Pharaoh, for compelled by His strong Hand Jehovah will release His People, and by His strong Hand He drove them out of the land of Egypt.
All people had come to know that This Liberator is the Most High Saviour, like there is no other.   God spoke to Moses and declared Who He is and Who the people should come to know Who He is.

The Great One Who appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob as God Almighty, had to become known by His Holy Name. In ancient Egypt God was not yet known by the people over there. Though He gave them His Name and established His covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, where they were living as resident foreigners. He also heard the groaning of the Israelites, whom the Egyptians were enslaving, and He had remembered His covenant.  Therefore Moses had to tell the Israelites that He, Jehovah is the Most High LORD Who would bring them out from their enslavement to the Egyptians. It is this Most High Adonai Who will rescue us from the hard labor we are imposes. The Judaic people received the assurance that God will redeem them with an outstretched arm and with great judgments and will take them to Himself for a people, and He will be their God.  Then also they will know that He is the LORD their God, who brought them out from their enslavement to the Egyptians.
Then Jehovah also promised them again that He will bring them to the land He swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob — and He will give it to them as a possession because He is the Lord over all the lords, the God of gods.

Exo 6:1-8 MKJV  And Jehovah said to Moses, Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh. For with a strong hand he shall let them go, and with a strong hand he shall drive them out of his land.  (2)  And God spoke to Moses, and said to him, I am Jehovah.  (3)  And I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob as God Almighty. But I was not known to them by the name JEHOVAH.  (4)  And I also established My covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their travels, in which they traveled.  (5)  And I have also heard the groaning of the sons of Israel, those whom the Egyptians are keeping in bondage. And I have remembered My covenant.  (6)  Therefore say to the sons of Israel, I am Jehovah, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rescue you out of their bondage. And I will redeem you with a stretched-out arm, and with great judgments.  (7)  And I will take you to Me for a people, and I will be to you a God. And you shall know that I am Jehovah your God, who brings you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.  (8)  And I will bring you in to the land concerning which I lifted up My hand to give it to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. And I will give it to you for a heritage. I am Jehovah!
Knowing the Only One True God, God's people has to come together to worship this Adonai but also to remember what happened in ancient Egypt.  therefore all over the world millions of believers will gather after sunset on the 3rd of April to remember the liberation of God's People and the provision for those who want to follow the send one from God.

Please be welcome at the remembrance services Friday night April 3, 2015

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Find also to read:
  1. Death of Christ on the day of preparation
  2. Imprisonment and execution of Jesus Christ
  3. For the Will of Him who is greater than Jesus
  4. On the first day for matzah
  5. Servant for the truth of God
  6. The Anointed One and the first day of No Fermentation
  7. Vayikra after its opening word וַיִּקְרָא, which means and He called
  8. Slave for people and God 
  9. Servant of his Father 
  10. Self inflicted misery #3 A man given to suffer for us 
  11. 14 Nisan a day to remember #1 Inception
  12. 14 Nisan a day to remember #2 Time of Jesus
  13. 14 Nisan a day to remember #3 Before the Passover-feast
  14. 14 Nisan a day to remember #4 A Lamb slain
  15. 14 Nisan a day to remember #5 The Day to celebrate
  16. 14-15 Nisan and Easter
  17. Around the feast of Unleavened Bread
  18. A Holy week in remembrance of the Blood of life
  19. High Holidays not only for Israel
  20. Festival of Freedom and persecutions
  21. Timely Growth
  22. A Messiah to die
  23. Impaled until death overtook him
  24. Swedish theologian finds historical proof Jesus did not die on a cross
  25. Why 20 Nations Are Defending the Crucifix in Europe
  26. Christ having glory
  27. Kingdom Visions of a Man, Throne and Great crowd
  28. Salvation, trust and action in Jesus #3 as a Christian
  29. Self inflicted misery #6 Paying by death
  30. After the Sabbath after Passover, the resurrection of Jesus Christ
  31. Vrijdag 3 april 2015 een dag voor verenigde samenkomst ter herinnering
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Saturday 21 February 2015

Who is on the Lord’s side

Miniature ofrom Folio 8r of the Syriac Bible o...
Miniature ofrom Folio 8r of the Syriac Bible of Paris shows Moses before Pharaoh. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

“Who is on the Lord’s side?”

(February 20)

Moses’ challenge rang out, “Who is on the Lord’s side?” After all the dramatic experiences and evidence of God’s power as they escaped from slavery in Egypt and then witnessed the destruction of the Egyptian army that followed them – and then experience the dramatic physical happenings as they encamped before the mountain of God at Sinai, the majority of the people still had not perceived the special and wonderful nature of the one true God they were privileged to know in such a way that they were becoming “his people”.

He was asking them to have a relationship with him, but the great majority of them failed. When Moses was not physically present for 40 days they reverted to human ways of thinking and doing; they looked for a physical representation of God – finding it more satisfying to worship a representation of something he had made – than the Creator himself.

Moses is mortified – he becomes so greatly distressed that he breaks the stone tablets God engraved when he was in his presence on the top of the mountain. He comes down the mountain and his challenge rings out, “Who is on the Lord’s side?” Wonderfully the Levites responded to the challenge and stood with Moses – yet, among them, as we will soon read, there was to arise the experience of being unable to serve God properly. The Lord says to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against me, I will blot out of my book” (verse 33).

This is the first time we learn that God has a “book”! There are references to God’s book in different parts of Scripture which climax near the end of the last book in the Bible when, what is called “the book of life” (Revelation 20:12) is opened and “if anyone’s name is not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire” (verse 15). Obviously this lake symbolizes the trashing of all those who have had the opportunity to be “on the Lord’s side”, but decide to serve themselves rather than God and His Son. Are you on the Lord’s side?

- Christadelphian Today's thought

Monday 13 October 2014

Which man is mentioned most often in the Bible? Jesus, Moses, Abraham or David?

Jesus or Jesus Christ is mentioned approximately 968 times.  Christ (without Jesus) is mentioned an additional 286 times (approx).  Making a total of  approximately 1254 times
English: Icon of Jesus Christ
English: Icon of Jesus Christ (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Moses is mentioned 852 times.
Abraham is mentioned 250 times and Abram 62 times making a total of  312 times.
David is mentioned 1141 times.
So Jesus/Jesus Christ/Christ occurs 113 times more than David.
Of course there are many references in the old testament to Jesus in the types and in the prophecies of the messiah, but I only listed the times the actual names occurred in all cases.

(I didn’t manually count the number of occurrences – I searched using 2 methods and got a discrepancy of 2 in one instance, so these numbers are likely to not be totally accurate)

 - Bible Q; Rob. Hyndman


Thursday 19 June 2014

Does there have to be a Holy Trinity Mystery

On Journey Towards Easter with subtitle: Discovering the beauty of truth, the writer who is an Englishman, living in Scotland writes that the Trinity is a symbol of the knowable and unknowable.

According to him
 – the One who reveals Himself to us is the same One who can never be fully understood.
would the God Who loves His creation raeally not want His creation to know Him an not want His creation to understand Him?

The god of Love from the start of His creation had the intention to have a good relationship with His creation. Good relations are build on comprehension, understanding each other and on being open for each other. God never had and/or never has the intention to have secrets for the world. For millenniums He wanted to play open card game with the people who inhabited His world. He took care all people could find a Guide in their life and would be able to find the guidebook or manual to make the best of their life.

The writer of the article himself knows:
The knowledge we receive from God about Himself is sure knowledge, by which we cannot be deceived, but it only serves to deepen our appreciation for how far God exceeds our expectations, and is infinitely more than we can or could ever have imagined.
Then he refers to the Old Testament reading for his day he want to celebrate a three-une god,
from Exodus (34:4b-6, 8-9), where we read that:
“4 And he hewed two tables of stone like unto the first; and Moses rose up early in the morning, and went up unto mount Sinai, as Jehovah had commanded him, and took in his hand two tables of stone. 5 And Jehovah descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of Jehovah. 6 And Jehovah passed by before him, and proclaimed, Jehovah, Jehovah, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abundant in lovingkindness and truth; 7 keeping lovingkindness for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin; and that will by no means clear [the guilty], visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, upon the third and upon the fourth generation. 8 And Moses made haste, and bowed his head toward the earth, and worshipped. 9 And he said, If now I have found favor in thy sight, O Lord, let the Lord, I pray thee, go in the midst of us; for it is a stiffnecked people; and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for thine inheritance.” (Exodus 34:4-9 ASV)
He clearly understands that this passage speaks of God coming near to man (Moses in this case) and revealing Himself to us.
 He ‘stood with him there’ and proclaimed His name – that is, His character, ‘a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness’ (v.6), so that His people would know it for sure.
but than he makes a strange twist, mixing tow different persons, of one is not exactly a man because It is a Spirit and the other is a man of flesh, bones and blood.
God desires to come close to us and show us who He is – something shown to an even greater extent in today’s Gospel reading (John 3:16-18).
In that reading you may find:
“16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have eternal life. 17 For God sent not the Son into the world to judge the world; but that the world should be saved through him. 18 He that believeth on him is not judged: he that believeth not hath been judged already, because he hath not believed on the name of the only begotten Son of God.” (John 3:16-18 ASV)
clearly everybody should see that the God, Who does not tell lies,  has given His only begotten son to the world, i.e. not Himself.


The author of the article also says
To be saved by God we must first know who He is,
This is a very important issue. We should know exactly who Jesus is and who his Father is, the Only One True God.

Where he gets "the meditations" from he sells out: of His Church.
He does not give a clarification ho his church may be guided by the Spirit and than giving them the revelation that within God there would be a community of persons – Father, Son, Holy Spirit – who exist in an eternal pattern of mutual, self-giving love (which is true) but what he means is that they woudl also be one and the same person (which is not true).

People may not forget that being one in thought or even being equal does not mean being the same.

Lots of people do like mysteries but The God is a god of clarity. Some may like to say that we as human beings need the mystery of God and that in the Christian tradition the word “mystery” refers to something partially revealed, much more of which lies hidden.
We may wonder why so many would like to keep to teachings which are not clearly given in the Holy Scriptures but were imposed by men throughout history. Though beyond the reach or understanding of many of those Christians they keep refusing looking at what the words of the Bible say so clearly.

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Find the original article: The Holy Trinity: Mystery, Knowledge, Love

Plus more on the Trinity
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Recent Developments In Trinitarian Theology
Recent Developments in Trinitarian Theology explores the major renaissance that Trinitarian theology has undergone in recent 9781451470406bdecades. Remarkably, all the main Christian denominations have participated in this, and contemporary Trinitarian theology is a discussion that often crosses over confessional boundaries.
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Saturday 31 August 2013

Is it “Wrong” to Believe that the Earth is a Sphere?

A response by CC Walker to a brother who believed that based on his reading of the Bible, it was wrong to believe in a spherical Earth. Bro,.

 Walker's response:

Is it “Wrong” to Believe that the Earth is a Sphere?

WE have received the following letter:—
To the Editor of The Christadelphian.

Modern Astronomers and the Dots in the Heavens
Dear Brother Walker.—Referring to your brief eulogium on Sir Robert Ball’s speculation as to the “dots in the heavens” (The Christadelphian, July, page 316), I shall be glad if you will condescend to reply to the following queries through the columns of The Christadelphian.
Terrestrial globe named
Terrestrial globe named "Erdapfel" produced by Martin Behaim. Considered to be one of the oldest globes ever made. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Seeing that the veracity and verbal inspiration of the Scriptures are denied by many on the basis of the revolving globe-earth theory, even to the extent of rejecting the ascension of Jesus into the heaven of heavens as a “geometrical impossibility.” the matter surely cannot be set aside as of no importance, and beyond the province of a magazine devoted to the defence of Biblical teaching and the overthrow of pagan and papal dogmas.

The globe-earth theory is essentially pagan in its origin, and no amount of ingenuity has yet succeeded in harmonizing it with the cosmogony of the Bible.
It is supposed that the theory was first introduced into Europe by Pythagoras, in the sixth century b.c., and he was a rank pagan. It was afterwards adopted by Plato, and latterly modified to its present form by Aristarchus of Samos, “who went to the length of ranking our green world as a planet revolving yearly round the sun.” Through Copernicus and Galileo the theory has acquired a distinct Romish taint.

We may blame the author of “Lead Kindly Light” for following the glimmer of Rome’s magic lantern, instead of bringing his mental difficulties to be solved in the light of the word of God; but what about those who allow themselves to be led by the vapourings of scientific theorists while pondering over the plainly worded inspired narrative of creation? . . .
There may not be much danger of a brother being led astray by the perusal of modern rationalistic literature, for in that case he is prepared to antagonize the fallacies of modern thought, but morsels of error, in the form of “scientific” tit-bits, daintily wrapped up within the covers of a Biblical magazine, devoted to the defence and advocacy of Scripture doctrine, may not give rise to suspicion that there is anything wrong. The wrong is there all the same, and its effects become manifest when he who has swallowed the morsel finds, as the logical outcome of an adopted bastard theory, that the Bible and modern science are at variance, and verbal inspiration a farce. . . .

The late Prof. Woodhouse, of Cambridge University, once wrote, in reference to the globe-earth theory—“We shall never arrive at a time when we shall be able to pronounce it absolutely proved to be true. The nature of the subject excludes such a possibility” (Astronomy, Vol. 1, p. 13).
The “great astronomer,” Sir Robert Ball — wherein does his greatness lie? Certainly not in his discovery or advocacy of scientific truth. He is an evolutionist of the first order, and a pronounced anti-creationist. He is just the type of unbeliever that so-called modern science is producing; the old Scripture - revering type of astronomers, such as Ferguson, Woodhouse, and Herschell, is fast dying out as the natural effect of an anti-Scriptural theory.

But here I must submit my queries:—

1.—Is it not a fact that the Bible teaches that there are but two great lights and but one sun?
Medieval depiction of a spherical earth with d...
Medieval depiction of a spherical earth with different seasons at the same time (from the book "Liber Divinorum Operum"). (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
2.—Is it not a pure speculation, unsupported by any natural fact, the theory that the “dots in the heavens” are great suns?
3.—Is it not a fact that the enormously extravagant distances and magnitudes of the so-called “dots” have for their bases, the unproved assumption that the earth is a revolving globe, speeding through space at 68,000 miles an hour, and with an orbit of 190 millions of miles?
4.—Is it not a fact, as Prof. Robert Main, of Greenwich, candidly affirmed, that the theories “respecting the distances of the fixed stars and other cosmical problems” are based upon the “refined speculations of modern astronomy?”
5.—Is it not the teaching of Scripture that the earth, that is, the dry land, is a stationary body, founded upon the seas, and established upon the floods, and with its foundations in the deep?
6.—Is it not the plain testimony of Moses that sun, moon, and stars, were made and set in the heavens on the fourth day of Creation week?

Believing, as I do, with you, that it is “necessary to bring everything to the test of the Word of God,” I present these questions in all good faith for your serious consideration.

Faithfully yours, in the pursuit and defence of all divine truth,
T. Griffiths.

Remarks in Reply

We would not discuss this matter were it not that our brother does himself and others an injustice in proclaiming the well settled belief of so many of his brethren a “wrong” and “bastard theory” and so forth; and quite unfaithful to the Word of God.
This is not the case at all. Speaking for ourselves: before we learned “the truth” we were quite well convinced of the spherical figure of the earth from perfectly candid study of natural phenomena, and of navigation, which certainly “works” on the spherical basis. And we have found nothing in the Scriptures to unsettle this conviction in the least. Quite the contrary. In fact, the “enormous distances and magnitudes” which appear to be a stumbling block to our brother, are to us only the fitting suggestions of the Infinite and Eternal. And this is the impression of many of the brethren, as it was of the late Dr. Thomas and brother Roberts.

Though we thus believe, we are in no way responsible for the denials of ignorance and unbelief. To us, the mention of “geometrical impossibility” as an objection to the ascent of Jesus into heaven, is merely an indication of the objector’s lack of true understanding alike of The Acts of the Apostles, and of natural phenomena.

Admitted that “the globe-earth theory” is of “pagan” origin, it is not therefore untrue. Much natural truth is of “pagan” discovery. We do not reject it on that account; and as to Galileo and the “Romish taint,” we have always understood that the whole weight of Papal authority was thrown against “the globe-earth theory,” which it has since been compelled to accept as true.
Orlando-Ferguson-flat-earth-map
Orlando-Ferguson-flat-earth-map (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Newman’s “religious difficulties,” which he solved by surrender to Rome, were not like natural phenomena which can be put to the tests of observation and measurement. It is scarcely right to allude to the result of scientific observation and measurement, obtained through centuries of patient labour, as “the vapouring of scientific theorists.” In these days of the discovery of the North and South Poles, and of record-breaking travel round the world, we can surely be permitted to hold to the belief in a spherical earth, without throwing ourselves open to a charge of unfaithfulness to the Bible.

With regard to the remarks of Professor Woodhouse, we are inclined to think a great many of his brother professors would have differed from his conclusion. It would largely depend upon just what he meant by “absolutely proved;” and as he is dead we cannot ask him.
So far as we understand, the prevailing type of “Scripture-revering Astronomers” is that of believers in the spherical earth. Indeed, we know of no “astronomy” apart from such a belief. But as to our brother’s queries:—

Answer 1.—No; the Bible does not absolutely limit the number of “great lights” to two; nor does it affirm that there is absolutely only one sun in the universe. It tells us that this is so with reference to the earth (which is obvious enough to the most elementary observation), but it also tells us that God made “the stars also,” without telling us what the stars are. Later, an apostle speaks of “one star differing from another star in glory,” without defining the extent of the “glory” of any. Modern astronomy reveals very great “glory” among the stars, and though, of necessity, largely speculative, is far from being the profanity that some well-meaning souls imagine it to be.

Answer 2.—No; there are “natural facts” underlying the “speculation.” Such are the ascertained velocity of light, the eclipses of Jupiter’s moons, the fact that the best telescopes will not resolve the stars into discs as in the case of the planets; the fact of the existence of the planet Neptune as simultaneously discovered by Adams and Le Verrier; the facts of parallax and spectrum analysis. “Natural facts” are the essence of modern astronomy.

Answer 3.—Without committing ourselves exactly to the figures named, we may say that what our brother calls an “unproved assumption” is with us a well-settled conviction, for reasons which may be found in any good work on astronomy, Sir Robert Ball’s “Story of the Heavens,” for example.

Answer 4.—No doubt Professor Main meant to qualify results and figures by his remark—not principles. These are too well established to admit of doubt by any Greenwich professor. With very small parallaxes distances are, of course, correspondingly indefinite. This appears to be all that Prof. Main wished to emphasise in his remark, the context on which we do not know.

Answer 5.—It is certainly written: “The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof; the world and they that dwell therein. For he hath founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the floods” (Psa. 24:1, 2). It is also written: “He stretched out the north over the empty place, and hangeth the earth upon nothing” (Job 26:7). We do not find the passages at all irreconcilable, or even difficult; and we do not believe that the burden of either of them is mainly (if at all) the figure of the earth; but rather the majesty of the Creator.

Answer 6.—Moses’ testimony is not so “plain” that it cannot be misinterpreted or misunderstood. He speaks of “the heaven and the earth” as being in existence “in the beginning;” and therefore it does not seem to be inadmissible to suppose that “the host of heaven” was likewise then in existence. Moses’ testimony was given to Israel in what might be called the infancy of the world, when men did not know the extent of the earth, let alone that of the sun, moon, and stars. And, as we believe, it was given (by God through Moses), not so much to instruct Israel in cosmogony in detail, as to impress upon them the idea that The Most High God is the Possessor of Heaven and Earth (Gen. 14:22). And this against the claims of the gods of the nations, as was abundantly proved in Israel’s history. As to “the fourth day,” we do not know of any “day” in the literal sense apart from the sun and its motion. And, therefore, if the “days” of Genesis 1. are to be taken as literal days, we feel bound to admit the sun as the origin of the “light,” and “evening and morning” that were the characteristics of “the first day.” How can you have “evening and morning” without the sun? We must settle up “the plain testimony” of verse 5 with that of verses 14–19. As we said before (The Chri tadelphion, 1910, p. 269), “If we understand Moses as saying that the sun came into existence on ‘the fourth day,’ we make him contradict himself; we make him present us with day and night, evening and morning, without the sun upon which these things depend.”

Under these circumstances we prefer another interpretation, holding always in reserve the thought that presently Moses will be on the scene again, and that we may then, perhaps, be permitted to hear the divine interpretation of the divine utterances of so long ago.—Ed.

Walker C.C. "Is it 'Wrong' to believe that the Earth is a Sphere?“ The Christadelphian (1913) 50:346-348

Contemporary reactions:

Dan Gaitanis
As someone who enjoys this kind of thing, I found this really interesting--but I dont really get what the debate is here--the Bible isnt a book of Astronomy, meaning we dont need to go to the Bible to figure out the composition of the universe. God created it and its awesome, but to say we have to search scripture to try our faith about the universe?
Why not just look at the night sky and be amazed? And take a telescope to see even more stars than you can see without it. A few nights ago I (finally) found Neptune in my telescope, and it amazed me as to how it was discovered in an even smaller scope than mine--it looked like a tiny, very faint, slightly blue, ball, about the size of a period.

As for the stars and sun and moon being literally created on the 4th day, I dont buy that--I think they were already there--it doesnt make sense that the Andromeda Galaxy (2 Million light years away) can be seen from earth with the naked eye, when,if the stars were created only 6000 years ago, we wouldn't see the light from Andromeda for another 1,994,000 years.

There was a time when folks' interpretation of scripture led them to deny evidence for a round earth, or for the earth going around the sun. Today we believe those things, and the Bible verses that have a flat earth at the center of the universe are not only not a problem for us--they're completely invisible. We can't even spot those verse when we read them.

It may be that today, our interpretation of the Bible still forces us to deny other evidence for other things. There are plenty of Bible believers (inside and outside Christadelphia) who deny the evidence for an old earth, for example. Because they sincerely believe that their interpretation of the Bible is the only one, and that interpretation tells them they must choose between God and the evidence.

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 the first generation of Christadelphians:

"The inconsistency spoken of between nature and scripture, arises not from antagoni
sm, but from the misinterpretations of both. It is man’s interpretation of the one set against man’s interpretations of the other. It is not nature versus scripture, but false science against true theology, or false theology against scientific fact. Some scientific men, we believe, view the Scriptures through the distorted medium of “confessions of faith” and doubt them, and theologians view science and call it false, because it does not take to their turn-pike road"

“The Christadelphian: Volume 1” (Birmingham: Christadelphian Magazine & Publishing Association, 2001), 93–94.

When we conflate our own interpretation of the Bible with its original meaning, and denounce science because it clashes with that uninspired, fallible reading, we're making the same mistake that brother WDJ (quoted above) warned against.

In the original post, we have an example of a sincere brother who took the Bible literally in a consistent way, and felt compelled to denounce the idea that the earth was spherical. Brother Walker not only accepted as reliable the science of the day, but warned against the extremes of literalism:

"This is not the case at all. Speaking for ourselves: before we learned “the truth” we were quite well convinced of the spherical figure of the earth from perfectly candid study of natural phenomena, and of navigation, which certainly “works” on the spherical basis."

The Earth seen from Apollo 17.
The Earth seen from Apollo 17. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
"Admitted that “the globe-earth theory” is of “pagan” origin, it is not therefore untrue. Much natural truth is of “pagan” discovery. We do not reject it on that account; "
"Moses’ testimony is not so “plain” that it cannot be misinterpreted or misunderstood. He speaks of “the heaven and the earth” as being in existence “in the beginning;” and therefore it does not seem to be inadmissible to suppose that “the host of heaven” was likewise then in existence. Moses’ testimony was given to Israel in what might be called the infancy of the world, when men did not know the extent of the earth, let alone that of the sun, moon, and stars. And, as we believe, it was given (by God through Moses), not so much to instruct Israel in cosmogony in detail, as to impress upon them the idea that The Most High God is the Possessor of Heaven and Earth (Gen. 14:22). And this against the claims of the gods of the nations, as was abundantly proved in Israel’s history."

The relevance of this 100 year old correspondence to contemporary Bible-science difficulties hardly needs emphasis.

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