Encouraging scriptures for the day (page 51)

Kosonen

Was it God himself who killed the Egyptian’s firstborns?

Exodus 11:4 Moses then said: “This is what Jehovah has said, ‘About midnight I am going out into the midst of Egypt, 5 and every firstborn in the land of Egypt will die…

Exodus 12:1 Jehovah now said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt:...12 For I will pass through the land of Egypt on this night and strike every firstborn in the land of Egypt, from man to beast; and I will execute judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am Jehovah.

Exodus 12:23 (NOG, Names of God Bible) Yahweh will go throughout Egypt to kill the Egyptians. When he sees the blood on the top and sides of the doorframe, Yahweh will pass over that doorway, and he will not let the destroyer come into your home to kill you.

Hebrews 11:28 By faith he observed the Passover and the splashing of the blood, so that the destroyer might not harm their firstborn.

Exodus 9:23 So Moses stretched out his rod toward the heavens, and Jehovah sent thunder and hail, and fire fell down to the earth, and Jehovah kept making it rain down hail on the land of Egypt.

What kind of fire did God use here? Next scripture seems to have the answer:

Psalms 78:48 He gave their beasts of burden over to the hail and their livestock to the lightning bolts. 49 He inflicted his burning anger on them, fury and indignation and distress, companies of angels bringing calamity.

Why do we need to know about the Exodus? Well it helps to understand the Revelation book.

Revelation 19:18 And there were flashes of lightning and voices and thunders, and there was a great earthquake unlike any that had occurred since men came to be on the earth, so extensive and so great was the earthquake….21 Then great hailstones, each about the weight of a talent, fell from heaven on the people, and the people blasphemed God because of the plague of hail, for the plague was unusually great.

Queequeg

w94 7/1 8-13 At Which Table Are You Feeding? ***
At Which Table Are You Feeding?

Kosonen

"At Which Table Are You Feeding?"

Strange question, 🤔

PioneerSchmioneer

Kosonen:

Why would you mention Hilter and the teaching of Papal infallibility together in the same post? I don't see the connection?

You are aware, for example, not everything a pope says or teaches is considered infallible and that in there have only been two such instances where there have been "ex cathedra" or "infallible" statements. They are made when the Catholic Church as a whole, all the people, from the least to the greatest, agree that a regular view or doctrine is to be viewed as an unchageable dogma.

Then a pope, speaking on behalf of the Catholic Church, makes the declaration "from the chair" (in Latin "ex cathedra") of his authority that "such and such" is the desire of the church, and therefore such a doctrine becomes dogma on behalf of the Church.

It happened in 1854 and then again in 1950, but only after years of much discussion with many Catholics and bishops over the matter at hand before the decision. It does not mean that a pope is infallible, but that the action of the Church at that moment via a pope is, that is, the entire Church in making a doctrine into dogma infallible.

Why make a connection between this and Hitler?

peacefulpete

The "ha-mashhit" (destroyer/death) was an evolving concept in Judaism. In some contexts it serves as a metaphor for YHWH in a role as destroyer bringer of death. In time it became a quasi-independent character acting as an emanation of God, the malik of death doing His will.

The Question of the killing of the firstborn is a complicated one requiring some hypotheses of the religion's development. It would seem Exodus 22:28 preserves an early requirement to offer the firstborn as a sacrifice. (Ex 13 parenthesis and 34 rewriting of 22 interjects the concept of redeeming not in 22). Numbers 18:16 defines the monetary value of 5 shekels of silver.

As sacrificing the firstborn in practice would be a great hardship, early on or concurrently the firstborn became offerings to the temple priests as labor. This then evolved into the Levites being interpreted as a substitute for the firstborns.

Numb 3:12 I hereby take the Levites from among the Israelites in place of all the firstborn, the first issue of the womb among the Israelites: the Levites shall be Mine.

Alternately, the story of the exodus from Egypt depicts YHWH as killing Egyptian firstborns as a substitute for the lives of the Israelite firstborn that had not been sacrificed as required. He is said to have consecrated (made holy) them by the deaths of the Egyptians. Number 3:13

So, it appears that some mnemic tradition of firstborn human sacrifice or dedication to cultic service inspired alternate explanations for this no longer being required. One solution was a monetary one, YHWH let you redeem your son with silver. Another, the killing of Egyptian firstborn as substitutes, another solution declares this arrangement replaced by the Levites. (Numb 3:12)

Interestingly the writer of this passage of Ezekiel was not a fan of the firstborn rules.

Ezk 20:26,26

I also gave them bad laws,
Laws that were not good
and rules by which they could not live.
When they set aside the first issue of every womb
I defiled them by their very gifts—
that I might render them desolate,
that they might know that I am Yhwh.

Queequeg

"Just because you don't understand it doesn't mean it isn't so."

- Lemony Snicket

Kosonen

Tender affection as Christ Jesus has, accurate knowledge, discernment

Philippians 1:8 For God is my witness of how I am longing for all of you with such tender affection as Christ Jesus has. 9 And this is what I continue praying, that your love may abound still more and more with accurate knowledge and full discernment; 10 that you may make sure of the more important things, so that you may be flawless and not stumbling others up to the day of Christ; 11 and that you may be filled with righteous fruit, which is through Jesus Christ, to God’s glory and praise.

PioneerSchmioneer

God is my witness that I tell the truth when I say that my deep feeling for you all comes from the heart of Christ Jesus himself. I pray that your love will keep on growing more and more, together with true knowledge and perfect judgment, so that you will be able to choose what is best. Then you will be free from all impurity and blame on the Day of Christ. Your lives will be filled with the truly good qualities which only Jesus Christ can produce, for the glory and praise of God.
–Philippians 1:8–11, GNT.

Paul’s letter to the Philippians began with a prayer, reminding those that he was serving that his ministry came from the love of Christ, a love he hoped would be found in them as well.

This was not some sentimentality or mere tender affection, but the type of self-sacrificing love that moved people to serve others. Because “the Day of Christ,” the Second Coming, should always be on the mind of a Christian, Paul knew it was important for them to know how “to choose what is best”as they lived their lives, “filled with the truly good qualities” that come from relying on the gospel of Jesus.

_______

Kosonen

Nice comment PioneerSchmioneer ♥️😊

Kosonen

Some valuable thoughts from my Bible reading today:

Philippians 2:12 …keep working out your own salvation with fear and trembling. 13 For God is the one who for the sake of his good pleasure energizes you, giving you both the desire and the power to act.

Luke 11:13 ...how much more so will the Father in heaven give holy spirit to those asking him!”

Encouraging scriptures for the day

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