Understanding What You Read

[Dwight55]

When reading the Bible, . . . one must always look at:

Who is speaking?

To whom is the speaking given?

Is it a message for another time, . . . or for today?

Exactly WHAT was said?

Understanding these concepts will keep us from being beguiled by the charlatans and shysters selling books, tapes, cruises, etc, . . . and will also keep us from having one eye on the sky, . . . looking for planet X to come and destroy us.

See this message on that point: https://youtu.be/u3EhRxVQ3fo

May God bless,
Dwight

[BucketBack]

Hal, Joel, come to mind.

[Mister Mills]

The only book that has given me real trouble is Revelation, I have had to read that one over again, slowly. I do not think that people want to read that one, for the most part.
Otherwise they would have to believe that there are 200,000,000 demons in the Abyss: that the angel Abaddon is their leader and they are waiting to be be released: and their destiny is to torment mankind for 5 months.
I believe it myself, and that is just an example, there are plenty of things in the Bible that people do not want to know about. And there is where a lot of trouble begins, they are fearful of what the Book says.

[Dwight55]

The only book that has given me real trouble is Revelation, I have had to read that one over again, slowly. I do not think that people want to read that one, for the most part.
Otherwise they would have to believe that there are 200,000,000 demons in the Abyss: that the angel Abaddon is their leader and they are waiting to be be released: and their destiny is to torment mankind for 5 months.
I believe it myself, and that is just an example, there are plenty of things in the Bible that people do not want to know about. And there is where a lot of trouble begins, they are fearful of what the Book says.

Part of the "trouble" people have in reading the Bible, . . . from my observation, . . . is that they tend to read it, . . . thinking it is like a novel.

They tend to think that Genesis is the first chapter, . . . Revelation is the last chapter, . . . and everything in between is in chronological order, . . . and can be easily cross referenced.

Actually, nothing could be further from the truth.

The story of our earthly universe ends with Revelation 11, . . . and most people you tell that to, . . . jump up and down and scream, . . . but there's 11 more chapters, it cannot end.

AND, . . . they tend to miss little words and phrases that make all the difference in the world in understanding. In Daniel, chapter 4 I believe, . . . Nebuchadnezzar talks about his dream of the big tree. He refrains from using the word "Angel" but instead calls them "holy ones" and "watchers".

When God allowed that word to be used in His Bible, . . . he reinforced the concept (by not disagreeing with it anywhere else) that indeed the angels of heaven can be "watchers" over what goes on here. Meaning??? The angels watch over us. I love that idea.

If you miss that one word, . . . insignificantly placed in a relatively insignificant chapter, . . . you wonder forever if the angels CAN SEE US, . . . and get into discussions with the YES crowd vs the NO crowd.

I just try to emphasize to all to watch what you read, . . . define the words as you go, . . . you'll get a whole lot more out if it if you do.

May God bless,
Dwight

[Mister Mills]

Part of the "trouble" people have in reading the Bible, . . . from my observation, . . . is that they tend to read it, . . . thinking it is like a novel.

They tend to think that Genesis is the first chapter, . . . Revelation is the last chapter, . . . and everything in between is in chronological order, . . . and can be easily cross referenced.

Actually, nothing could be further from the truth.

The story of our earthly universe ends with Revelation 11, . . . and most people you tell that to, . . . jump up and down and scream, . . . but there's 11 more chapters, it cannot end.

AND, . . . they tend to miss little words and phrases that make all the difference in the world in understanding. In Daniel, chapter 4 I believe, . . . Nebuchadnezzar talks about his dream of the big tree. He refrains from using the word "Angel" but instead calls them "holy ones" and "watchers".

When God allowed that word to be used in His Bible, . . . he reinforced the concept (by not disagreeing with it anywhere else) that indeed the angels of heaven can be "watchers" over what goes on here. Meaning??? The angels watch over us. I love that idea.

If you miss that one word, . . . insignificantly placed in a relatively insignificant chapter, . . . you wonder forever if the angels CAN SEE US, . . . and get into discussions with the YES crowd vs the NO crowd.

I just try to emphasize to all to watch what you read, . . . define the words as you go, . . . you'll get a whole lot more out if it if you do.

May God bless,
Dwight

I use college dictionaries and Bible references too; like these.
3870 3869
I have diabetes and it has scrambled my brains, so it is harder for me to grasp some things now. That was not the case in my younger days, I was a quick study.
But most times, I studied too quickly, I wanted to reach the end of the book, so I went pretty fast. As far as Watchers in Heaven, yes, they are there; angels are our fellow ministers, and we have a cloud of witnesses.

The beings that I referenced, as being in the bottomless pit, have given me no end of pondering. They must have really, really, really, screwed up somewhere. And it is a fascinating thing to study.

BTW: Nebuchadnezzar was taught a lesson that he never forgot, since he ate grass like a bull would do.
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Daniel+4&version=KJV

[OSFG]

I'm a Berean and believe one should read the Bible but also reference the original text and how words are used. We have to remember that the Bible, inspired by God, has been re translated into many different versions. Just as a reproduction of a reproduction is imperfect, so too is translations of the holy Bible. If one endeavors to learn not only what the words say, but what the speaker was imparting, and to whom and for what purpose they then can begin to have some insightful understanding of the bible.

[Dwight55]

I'm a Berean and believe one should read the Bible but also reference the original text and how words are used. We have to remember that the Bible, inspired by God, has been re translated into many different versions. Just as a reproduction of a reproduction is imperfect, so too is translations of the holy Bible. If one endeavors to learn not only what the words say, but what the speaker was imparting, and to whom and for what purpose they then can begin to have some insightful understanding of the bible.

I'm in the same rowboat with you OSFG, . . . and Mister Mills, . . . but somebody back in my early days of studying the Word, . . . imparted a piece of wisdom that I never have been able to shake.

The idea was God, . . . is in fact, . . . God, . . . and there are no others beside Him. He inspired the Word, . . . men wrote it down, . . . transcribed it, . . . translated it, . . . edited it, . . . and whatever else they did that I don't have words for.

But in the end it is God's Word, . . . and He wanted us folks down here at the short end of history, . . . to be able to understand what is facing us, . . . and what we are facing.

If we had to depend on some university fuddy-duddy, . . . some bishop with 14 letters after his name, . . . or anyone else in the intelligencia being the only ones or if we had to depend on forty-eleven reference books, . . . in order to understand a passage, . . . we would just be plain old "out of luck".

I'm of the opinion that the King James version that can be purchased in most Bible book stores has stood the test of time, . . . has probably seen more souls saved, hearts changed, and lives changed, . . . than any other version ever. I also believe that the proliferation of the "newer" versions are just that, . . . proliferations, . . . somebody wanting his name on the latest version for his cut of the $$$$ and let the devil be in the details.

He (God) would not have allowed any blatant, excessive, forlorn passages within it that would threaten our salvation, . . . or understanding of the ET message, . . . is the understanding I have, . . . and being the simpleminded dude I am, . . . I just hang with that.

Not that reference books are bad, devilish, or horror stricken, . . . but reference without perfect 1st person accounts, . . . is "opinion", . . . nothing more.

May God bless,
Dwight

[Inor]

Part of the "trouble" people have in reading the Bible, . . . from my observation, . . . is that they tend to read it, . . . thinking it is like a novel.

They tend to think that Genesis is the first chapter, . . . Revelation is the last chapter, . . . and everything in between is in chronological order, . . . and can be easily cross referenced.

Actually, nothing could be further from the truth.

The story of our earthly universe ends with Revelation 11, . . . and most people you tell that to, . . . jump up and down and scream, . . . but there's 11 more chapters, it cannot end.

AND, . . . they tend to miss little words and phrases that make all the difference in the world in understanding. In Daniel, chapter 4 I believe, . . . Nebuchadnezzar talks about his dream of the big tree. He refrains from using the word "Angel" but instead calls them "holy ones" and "watchers".

When God allowed that word to be used in His Bible, . . . he reinforced the concept (by not disagreeing with it anywhere else) that indeed the angels of heaven can be "watchers" over what goes on here. Meaning??? The angels watch over us. I love that idea.

If you miss that one word, . . . insignificantly placed in a relatively insignificant chapter, . . . you wonder forever if the angels CAN SEE US, . . . and get into discussions with the YES crowd vs the NO crowd.

I just try to emphasize to all to watch what you read, . . . define the words as you go, . . . you'll get a whole lot more out if it if you do.

May God bless,
Dwight

I learned quite a while ago that I am simply incapable of understanding much in the Bible that was not written by Paul. I think I have a pretty good understanding of Paul's letters, but do not claim to be able to grasp even 10% of much else. That being said, Paul's letters pretty much tell me everything I need to know to love Jesus.

Although I must admit that I do enjoy reading Leviticus and trying to apply its rules to modern life. I think it is Leviticus 7 or 8 where they are talking about recognizing lepers and what to do about them. It states if a man has white hair growing from gray skin he is leprous and needs to be shaved completely and put outside the city. To anybody the man meets outside the city he is to shout "Unclean Unclean".

So I told Mrs Inor that I think her cat is leprous because it has white hair growing from gray skin. So I think we need to shave the cat and put it outside. Furthermore, I want to make a small sandwich board for it that says "Unclean!". Mrs Inor did not think any of this was a good idea.

[Ricekila]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v667/RICEKILA/Smillies/92b54717.gif