CAPITAL PUNISHMENT
The true Eternal God is NOT against capital punishment!
Genesis 9:6 "Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood
be shed; for in the image of God made he man."
Under the laws of Moses we also find the Lord giving the
penalty of death for certain sins. To be a holy nation, and that
was the intent for Israel, they were to be a holy nation under
God. So, certain sins carried the death penalty. There were rules
to follow in order to put someone to death. The rules were
reasonably hard, so people were not executed in a shrug of the
shoulders manner. Deep repentance could sometimes bar the death
penalty from being imposed, i.e. David was not executed for
adultery with Bathsheba, though adultery carried the penalty of
death.
Here in Canada, as I write in 2008 (and many years before I
write) there is no longer any death penalty for first degree
murder. You can be a serial killer, be part of a crime gang that
deliberately, with planned thought, kills people, and you will
not be executed. The Canadian Government thinks it is barbaric to
have the death sentence on their judgment books, even for
deliberate planned murder. God has no such mind-set. In the
Lord's mind those who are deliberate murders, who with planned
thought shed men's blood, by men their blood is to be shed.
WORLD LANGUAGES
To prevent God's plan for mankind, mankind moving along too
fast, it was God Himself who scattered the people and gave them
other languages to prevent them being ALL as ONE (Genesis 11:6-
9). God has the ability to understand all languages. It make no
difference to Him in what language you talk to Him, He
understands all you have to say.
GOD SEES THE CITY BABEL
An interesting account is the story of Babel in Genesis 11,
BUT most miss verse 5!
"And the Lord CAME DOWN TO SEE the city and tower, which the
children of men builded."
As all things are possible to God, He could have willed
Himself to see it in His mind's eye, as clear as a sunny day. He
could have willed to have some kind of BIG TV SCREEN pop up in
the heavenly Jerusalem city, and seen that Babel city and tower.
He could have willed a "space telescope" (man has invented them
now, there're in outer-space spying on whoever) and looked down
on the city Babel. I suppose there could have been other ways
God could have willed Himself as to how to see the city Babel and
the tower men were building.
THE FACT IS it seems He did not choose ANY of the different
ways we have just mentioned. He WILLED to COME DOWN from heaven
and then SEE the city and tower. It makes no different that we
argue God could have stayed up in heaven and somehow (as all
things are possible with Him) seen the city Babel as He rested in
His arm chair. The truth is He wrote that He CAME DOWN to see the
city Babel. This indicates to me that God DID NOT will himself to
see the city of Babel while in His heavenly city Jerusalem above.
He decided, willed Himself, to see the city Babel, WHEN HE CAME
DOWN TO SEE IT!
This study about God, getting to REALLY KNOW Him, is not so
much on that nothing is impossible for God, it is just letting
God's Word teach us that He LIKES to do things sometimes in ways
that He just simply LIKES TO DO, period!
Should this upset us? Should this offend us? Does this
distract or take away from God the ALL "MYSTIC" theology about
God that so many people seem to like, and seem to just not want
to part with, even if the Lord tries to tell us in His Word that
He sometimes likes to do things just because He likes to do it
that particular way, and not some other way.
God is God, we are not God. We need to let Him be in charge,
even of Himself. Too many want to make God into THEIR image, and
if He acts in ways contrary to OUR idea of what He should act
like, we just freeze our minds and read right passed words in the
Bible where He is telling us He DECIDED, WILLED Himself to "do it
this way" and not the way we think He should have done it.
It is time to see, and know God as He Himself wants us to
know Him. If you read the Bible carefully you CAN come to know
Him in a better and deeper and more realistically personal way,
than you may have ever thought He could be known.
I know many will still have problems with letting go of the
false teaching that has been around for centuries, that God
should be thought of as "not being able to comprehend Him" and so
one of the teachings of the "trinity" doctrine is that it cannot
be understood, so do not even try.
If you are still in a fog then stick with me, and let's read
on, maybe the next section will see the green light go on in your
mind.
GOD APPEARS!
Abraham is called by God to go to a land of promise (Genesis
12). We read in verse 7, "And the Lord APPEARED unto Abraham ..."
Before you dismiss this as NOT LITERAL, but some kind of
appearing in the mind, you need to read chapter 17:1 with verse
22, "And He left off taking with him (God talking to Abraham) and
God WENT UP from Abraham."
If God could walk and talk with Adam and Eve, which we have
seen He did, then He could certainly come down and talk with
Abraham if He so chose to do.
Now, let's move to the next chapter - Genesis 18. It opens
up with "And the Lord APPEARED unto him (Abraham) ..." Abraham
looks up and he sees THREE persons, runs towards them and bows
before them in respect. Abraham addresses One being as "Lord." In
verse 14 we have the famous phrase "Is anything too hard for the
Lord." Obviously it is not.
We see in verse 19, that IF the Lord WILLS He can know in
advance how a person will live in whatever area the Lord is
interested in. In Abraham's case it was "child-rearing" and God
knew in advance Abraham would be a good father, to raise his
children and household to "keep the way of the Lord."
So, of course God can, if He wills it, see in advance how a
person may fare in this or that way of the things of this
physical life. Does He do it with every person who has ever
lived, and for all things that that person may move into during
his/her life, be it a wife or husband, mother or father,
carpenter, banker, shoemaker, accountant, etc. and etc. I really
do not think so. If God is going to use you in some great work He
wants you to do, like Abraham was going to be used in, then yes,
He may well choose to look in advance into your life and how you
would perform a specific, that may have importance for the work
He's called you to do. But, for the masses of people I believe
God has no need to see their life in advance, for then you get
into the subject of God PREDESTINATING every single thing in
advance that a human will do, to make it all see-able for Him in
advance. Which then really leads to a human being a kind of robot
in God's hands, with no real freedom of choice. I do not believe
God manipulates every action of a human being. That idea is
against all the facts and principles of the Bible and God
Himself, for then you would have to say God manipulates the evil
and sin that mankind does.
I have proved in other studies that the Eternal is NOT
CALLING everyone to His truth and salvation in this life time. In
fact MOST of the population of the world is not called. It is
only the election of grace, the rest are left in blindness (Paul
argues that fact without any hesitation - Romans 9 through 11).
Hence as wise king Solomon said, time and chance can happen to
anyone. For most of the population God has no need to see in
advance everything they may do or not do in their lifetime.
This does not mean He totally ignores them. Jesus said that
a sparrow does not fall to the ground without the Father taking
note of it.
Certainly God can step in at any time in any person's life.
Certainly He can hear the prayers of anyone at any time and
answer them as He wills.
We know from the teachings of the Lord that everyone will
have eventually, in this lifetime or in the lifetime of the
SECOND resurrection, a chance to know Him in a personal way and
to accept Jesus as Savior and find salvation through grace.
In this Genesis 18 chapter we see in verse 22 that Abraham
"stood yet before the Lord" and in verse 33 "The Lord went His
way, as soon as He had left communing with Abraham ..."
There is no need to think other than this was a LITERAL
bodily visit that the Lord gave to Abraham.
SODOM AND GOMORRAH
Once more there are a few verses in this Genesis 18 chapter
that are read right over, by most. They are verses 20-22.
The cry of Sodom and Gomorrah had come up to the Lord, it
was the cry of sin, it was very grievous! (verse 20).
NOW LOOK AT VERSE 21!!
"I will GO DOWN now, and SEE whether they have done altogether
according to the cry of it, which is come unto me; AND IF NOT, I
WILL KNOW."
Do you see it? Please read that verse 21 again. STOP! THINK!
What have you just read? Do you see it?
The sins of those two cities had come to the attention of
the Lord. Why did God create ANGELS and other spirit creatures?
There are probably many reasons, but ONE is I believe that the
angels could be MESSENGERS for the Lord! We are told that this is
so in Hebrews 1:14. Certainly ministering spirits sent to those
who shall be heirs to salvation. In the book of Daniel they are
shown to be messengers among other things.
The angles had REPORTED to the Lord the GREAT SINS of Sodom
and Gomorrah! It had been brought to His attention!
What did the Lord do? Did He turn on His mind's eye and
swoop up to His mind and eye all the evil sins they were
practicing in those two cities? Did He decide to pop up His BIG
TV SCREEN and view the sins of Sodom and Gomorrah? Did He reach
out for His "spy-in-the-sky" space telescope to see the sins of
those two cities? Whatever else you can think of that God has at
His command, did He pick any of them? NO! NO!
It is there for you to read and just believe! "I WILL GO
DOWN NOW, AND SEE WHETHER THEY HAVE DONE ACCORDING TO THE CRY
WHICH IS COME TO ME; AND IF NOT, I WILL KNOW!!"
God had WILLED Himself that He would NOT KNOW how bad the
sins of Sodom and Gomorrah were in any other way than by REPORTS
coming to Him. It is clear He was operating in the mode of
WILLING Himself not to know some things, but by reports coming to
Him. THEN when those reports did come, and they were so bad in
the sins brought to Him that were going on in those two cities on
earth, He did not WILL Himself to bring them up in His mind-eye,
but He had chosen to WILL Himself to verify the reports by
PERSONALLY GOING DOWN to those cities to SEE it for Himself!!
I know there will be many out there who will bring up some
fancy theology to try and explain this verse, from meaning what
God clearly wants YOU to understand what he is saying here. What
He is telling you is that NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE for the Lord, and
IF He so CHOOSES, He can WILL Himself to verify the situation (in
reports brought to Him) in no other way but to personally go and
see it for Himself.
That is exactly what He did in this Genesis chapter 18. He
and two angels (we see the other beings were angels from chapter
19) literally (God and angels do have the power you know to make
themselves into flesh and bone if they need or desire to) came to
Abraham, had a meal with him; God talked to Abraham, told him
what He was about to do, and why He was there in the first place.
Friends, the Eternal God is not some "mystic" cosmic
nothingness. He is a LITERAL BEING, who can perform whatever He
wills Himself. He can come down to this earth and walk and talk
with man, if He so chooses. He can run the universe and all in
it, the way He desires. It is not man who made God, it is God who
made man! Man does not tell God how to be or act or do things.
Man does not have to tell you how God is supposed to be,
according to some strange theology that believes God has not told
us about Himself, hence you're not supposed to think about
finding out.
God is the One to tell you the things He wants you to know
about Himself. Those things that are revealed are for us TO KNOW!
Because nothing is impossible for the Lord, if you will but
read and believe, you have seen that God at times may CHOOSE for
Himself that He does not know certain things until it is reported
to Him; then He may choose to see for Himself the truth of the
matter, in no other way than coming to earth in the form of a
physical man, and going to see for Himself the depth of the
report and cry given to Him.
This should make you want to sing and shout His praise! Our
God is PERSONAL, you CAN know His personal ways, those ways that
He has chosen to reveal to us. What a WONDERFUL God we have so
far discovered in just a relatively few chapters in the book of
Genesis.
..................
To be continued
Entered on my website during the Feast of Tabernacles 2008
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