known it). So when we see a possible problem in Scripture, we need to state the problem. If we do not state the problem, we cannot answer it. If Scripture states in Matthew 15:38, “And those who ate were four thousand men, besides women and children.” And in Mark 6:44, Luke 9:14 and John 6:10, “Jesus said, ‘Have the people sit down.’ Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand.” So there were two events. The event in Matthew was in the hill country, and they had been with Jesus three days. They found seven loaves and a few fish. The event John describes is described as being along the Sea of Galilee, and a boy with five loaves of bread and two fish. The details are entirely different, including the number of men in attendance. The ninth rule of hermeneutics distinguishes between the principle and its cultural application. An example might be a hat in church. In some cultures a scarf or hat is proper within the culture. In 21st Century United States, a hat belongs to an elderly church member. Many of the women in our churches have very long hair they use as a covering, where in my mother’s day they used bobbed hair and a hat. One personal note, I have traveled all over North America and Asia and a scarf even in very hot weather is seen in many cultures and denominations. The tenth rule of hermeneutics allows Bible scholars to evaluate your interpretation. “No Scripture is to be uniquely interpreted.” Most of the cults come from a different or unique interpretation of a passage made by one person.
and chariots of fire all around Elisha.” This is a key verse. Eternity is very close. Viewing the Spirit world is an eleven word prayer away according to this verse. We don’t want to be like the Sadducees and deny God’s Word. There is a resurrection and there is a God we can see. Genesis states we were made in God’s image, Revelation says we will see Him at the resurrection. Moses saw God at least four times, in Exodus 3 at the burning bush, on Mt. Sinai in Exodus 20, with the 70 elders of Israel in Exodus 24 and at the second giving of the Decalogue in Exodus 27-28. God is real, God [Elohim] is visible, and because of sin God protects us from His Glory. All that is good appears to be light. The closer we get to light, the closer we get to God. Darkness belongs to evil. “And this is the judgment, that the light is come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light; for their deeds were evil.” (John 3:19) “Again therefore Jesus spoke to them, saying, ‘I am the light of the world; he who follows Me shall not walk in the darkness, but shall have the light of life.’” (John 8:12) Even Job, in the Old Testament says, “Behold, I go forward but He is not there, And backward, but I cannot perceive Him; When He acts on the left, I cannot behold Him; He turns on the right, I cannot see Him.” This passage is poetry and must be understood as such and does not indicate God is invisible, only that God is excellent at hide-and-seek. “By faith we understand that the universe [aiwnas, ages] was formed at God's command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.” (Hebrews 11:3)
God), without YHWH having some form of body. To me this story just doesn’t make sense without everyone involved having a body. 3. Jacob sees Elohim standing at the top of a ladder that reached to Heaven with angels of Elohim walking up and down the ladder. Granted this is a dream, but it is a visual image connected with God. In Genesis 28:12-13, it states, “And he had a dream, and behold, a ladder was set on the earth with its top reaching to Heaven; and behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. And behold, the Lord stood above it and said, “I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie, I will give it to you and to your descendants.” 4. Jacob wrestled with Elohim and walked away limping. Then Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until daybreak. And when he saw that he had not prevailed against him, he touched the socket of his thigh; so the socket of Jacob's thigh was dislocated while he wrestled with him. Then he said, “Let me go, for the dawn is breaking.” But he said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” So he said to him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.” And he said, “Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but Israel; for you have striven with God [Elohim] and with men and have prevailed.” Then Jacob asked him and said,
Hezekiah was king when Sennacherib, King of Assyria came to attack Jerusalem. Isaiah, the prophet, was given a message from God that He would defend the city and save it. “Then it happened that night that the angel of the Lord went out, and struck 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians; and when men rose early in the morning, behold, all of them were dead.” (II Kings 19:35) This same story is told in Isaiah 37:36. “Then the angel of the Lord went out, and struck 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians; and when men arose early in the morning, behold, all of these were dead.” 12. The angel of the Lord as a guardian angel. There are a few instances where the angel of the Lord is seen as a guardian angel. “The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him, and rescues them.” (Psalm 34:7) And “Let them be like chaff before the wind, with the angel of the Lord driving them on. Let their way be dark and slippery, with the angel of the Lord pursuing them.” (Psalm 35:5-6) In Psalm 91:11 it says, “For He will give His angels charge concerning you, to guard you in all your ways.” This is not specific to which angel. But if the Angel of the Lord is God Himself, God is watching over each of us all the time. That should give comfort to all that trust the Lord. 13. The Angel of the Lord in the Myrtle Trees Zechariah reports on a vision in Zechariah 1:7-17. In the vision, there are some who report to the Angel of the Lord. “So they answered the angel of the Lord who was standing among the myrtle trees, and said, ‘We have patrolled the earth, and behold, all the earth is peaceful and quiet.’ Then the angel of the Lord
One of the problems I have with a 100% invisible God is the glory of God. Men can see the glory of God. In Exodus 33:18, Moses asks, “I pray Thee, show me Thy glory!” And in verse 22, God says, “While My glory is passing by,” you will see my back. There appears to be a relationship between the kabod or glory of God and his back in this passage. Moses was looking at the back of God as it emitted glory. In Exodus 16:7 in the RSV we read, “And in the morning you shall see the glory of the LORD.” What is the “glory” of YHWH? First, we must recognize that the “glory” is something that will be seen. Secondly, the word “glory” is an abstract word. If we look at how this word is paralleled with other words in poetical passages of the Bible, we can discover the original concrete meaning of this word. In Psalm 3:3 the kavod of God is paralleled with his shield, and in Job 29:20 Job's kavod is paralleled with his bow. In Psalm 24:8 we read “who is this king of the kavod, YHWH is strong and mighty, YHWH is mighty in battle.” The original concrete meaning of kavod is battle armaments. This meaning of “armament” fits with the literal meaning of the root of kavod which is “heavy” as armaments are the heavy weapons and defenses of battle. In the Exodus 16:7, Israel will “see” the “armament” of YHWH, who is the one who has done battle for them with the Egyptians. How does an invisible, ethereal “being” have either a back or a way to have glory? Moses was so close to God that he was required to wear a veil when he was with the people because it was hard to look at him, because of the Glory of God shining in him. In Exodus 24: 9-11, in these three verses in this one
mad, provoked, and irritated. The Greek word, haron is uses 41 times, all describing God’s burning anger. Anger is a characteristic of all humans, but especially those with large amounts of testosterone. Men appear much angrier than women. We rarely hear of women starting wars. There are three prisons for females in California; there are 30 for men. Men get angry and do stupid, dangerous, and evil things that land them in prison. For a short time I was a volunteer chaplain at a local Juvenile center near my home. I worked with 72 teenage boys on Friday evening. Each one that talked to me, talked about his anger and the “stupid” things he did while he was angry. I did a study from the Bible over several months on anger during chapel and the room was so crowded they limited the number of boys that could be in the room. Anger is not sin. Ephesians 4:26 states, “BE ANGRY, AND YET DO NOT SIN; do not let the sun go down on your anger.” Anger and sin are related, but are not equivalent. God can be angry and be holy. Both men and God get angry. Depending on what you get angry about and what you do about that anger, is what can make it sin. “…like the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, which the LORD overthrew in His anger and in His wrath.” (Deuteronomy 29:23) “Because they have forsaken Me and have burned incense to other gods that they might provoke Me to anger with all the work of their hands, therefore My wrath burns against this place, and it shall not be quenched.” (II Kings 22:17)
“Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things which have not been done, saying, ‘My purpose will be established, and I will accomplish all My good pleasure.’” (Isaiah 46:10) PATIENCE anoch: The King James frequently uses the phrase, long suffering. Galatians 5:22, in the NAS95 states, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness...” These are the fruit of the Holy Spirit. This is God’s definition of His personality and it should be our personality if we are in His Spirit. In Romans 3:25 it states, “Whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith.” This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed. “Strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience; joyously.” (Colossians 1:11) This verse uses two separate words for not being quick to anger. “Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction.” (II Timothy 4:2) “Who once were disobedient, when the patience of God kept waiting in the days of Noah, during the construction of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through the water.” (I Peter 3:20) “The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.” (II Peter 3:9)
descriptions of Himself as figures of speech which are called anthropomorphisms. Let’s look at Genesis 1:27. “And God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.” “Our image,” in English; The Image of God (: tzelem , "image of God", or “Imago Dei” in Latin; “imagen de Dios” in Spanish, each of these translations have the same understanding. We mortals, humans, homo sapiens, have bodies fashioned not unlike God’s. If we have bodies and if there is a God, this verse clearly states we were created in God’s image. This is the crux of the consideration that God has a body. “Then the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.” (Genesis 2:7) God has lungs and is required to be alive to give mankind life and psyche in order to breathe it into Adam. When I contemplate “in His own image,” what God looks like, the more I realize “His own image, in the image of God” is the key. God doesn’t have human physique—we have God’s physique called “human.” God indicates He has a human physique, including hands, face, mouth, eyes, arms, olfactory, and mouth, or a human physique. “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.” (Romans 1:20)
WORKS CITED Albert Barnes. Adam Clark’s Commentary on Exodus [Public Domain] in Power BibleCD, [CD-Rom]V5.6, John Gilbertson, ed., Bronson: Online Publishing, 2007. Albrektson, Ray, et al. 99 Annoying Attributes of God. Colorado Springs, CO: Honor Books, 2005. Print. Alken, Roy Davidson. “The Holy Spirit of God.” The Holy Spirit of God. Roy Davidson Alken, 1096. Web. 16 Oct 2011. “All About God.” Attributes of God—Holy Characteristics. All About GOD Ministries, Inc, 2012. Web. 24 Jul 2012. <http://www.allabout god.com/attributes-of-god.htm>. “Antarctica breast cancer doctor dies aged 57.” ABC News. ABC News, June 25, 2009. Web. 24 Jul 2012. Benner, Jeff A. “Ancient Hebrew Research Center.” Glory—Kavod. Ancient Hebrew Research Center, 2012. Web. 24 Jul 2012. ISBE MIND20120718 “BibleStudy.org.” Melchizedek. Web. 23 Dec 2011. <http://www.biblestudy.org/basicart/who-was-melchizedek.html>. Bowen, Jim. “BibleStudy.org.” Who Was Melchizedek? BibleStudy.org, n.d. Web. 16 Oct 2011. <http://www.biblestudy.org/basicart/whomelcz.html>. Bullinger, Ethelbert W. Figures of Speech Used in the Bible. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 1968. Callaway, Timothy Walton. Revised and Rewritten by Graves, Paul F. Christ in the Old Testament. New York: Loizeaux Brothers, 2001. (Accessed October 16, 2011).
Henry, Matthew. Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible [Public Domain] in Power BibleCD. [CD-Rom]V5.6, John Gilbertson, ed., Bronson: Online Publishing, 2007. "Holy Bible." Bible Master for Windows Version 1.3.CD-ROM.La Habra, CA: Lockman Foundation, 1994. Hurt, Bruce. “Attributes of God.” Attributes of God. N.p., 1/11/2011. Web. 23 Mar 2012. <http://www.preceptaustin.org/attributes_of_god.htm>. Kaiser, Walter C. The Majesty of God in the Old Testament, A Guide for Preaching and Teaching. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2007. “La Biblia De Las Americas.” Bible Master for Windows. La Habra, CA: Lockman Foundation, 1994. Lee, Witness. The New Testament: Recovery Version. Anaheim, CA: Living Stream Ministry, 1991. Lemmel, Helen, H., “Turn your Eyes upon Jesus.” Public Domain (1922) Lenski, Richard Charles. The Interpretation of St. Matthew’s Gospel. Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg Publishing House, 1964. ______, The Interpretation of St. John’s Gospel. Minneapolis MN: Augsburg Publishing House, 1943. Lindner, Phil. Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon. Power Bible CD 5.6.CD-ROM. Bronson, MI: Online Publishing Co., 2007. ______. King James Translation. Power Bible CD 5.6.CD-ROM. Bronson, MI: Online Publishing Co., 2007. ______. New American Standard Bible, 1995. Power Bible CD MI: Online Publishing Co., 2007. ______. New King James Translation. Power Bible CD 5.6.CD-ROM. Bronson, MI: Online Publishing Co., 2007. Maas, Anthony. “Hermeneutics.” The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 7. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910. 16 Oct 2011 <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07271a.htm> Mason, David. “New Name of God.” Message to Don Lyles. 09 January 2005. E-mail.