| To list of all questions on Website |
Is 'Ash Wednesday' Biblical, is it or 'Lent' in the Bible?
For those who don't know what "Ash Wednesday" is: It is a day that marks the beginning of mainly Catholic holiday. On Ash Wednesday, the Catholic layperson receives a mark on their foreheads made of ashes by a priest, they are to where that mark until it wears off (all day). And NO, Ash Wednesday is not Biblical. Below is a short excerpt we had in our files. The only thing we could add to it is that forehead marking is seen among the heathen. We have all certainly seen the Pagan Eastern Religions marking their foreheads. Women of the Hindu religion for instance wear a Kumkum which is a red or black powdered forehead mark. Within the Catholic tradition, the forehead is marked by a Catholic priest once a year at the beginning of Lent, and that mark is composed of the ashes of the prior years Palm Sunday palms that are burned. The Bible knows nothing of such a practice but rather it is a tradition of man that much like the Catholic Confessional, necessarily places the Church between you and God. But we as Bible believing Christians know that we do not need to go through a man (priest) to interact with our Heavenly Father for any reason, confession or otherwise. These type of things are just Catholic manipulation tactics by which they control their congregants by supposedly dispensing the graces of God which are not theirs to dispense. After all, they would say, if the people don't need us to get to God who will pay our salary, pensions, and other bills? Excerpt (author unknown):
I hope that helps. Below is an interesting story regarding the marking of the forehead of the Catholic Pope John Paul II by a pagan Shiva high-priestess. Upon receiving the picture from a reader, I verified the source of same. Below is the correspondence I received after I asked for documentation of the story. You will notice in the below that the action was defended by a high Catholic official (Archbishop Foley), who admits that it happened but says that it is not what it appears to be. So since they do not deny it, I feel comfortable posting it. It is truly shocking when you consider the implications!!!
"Years ago, a 'schismatic group' of the Society of St. Pius X, from Cleveland, sent me a picture of Pope John Paul II receiving a mark on his forehead. Along with the picture, we received pages from a book called Peter, Lovest Thou Me with the following quote and its source: Still at Madras on February 5, 1986, a sugarcane, fashioned into the form of a cross, signifying a Hindu offering to a carnal god, was brought into the presence of the Pope. A little later, during the offertory procession, a coconut was carried to the altar, a typical Hindu offering, which they offer to their idols. Finally, a man placed sacred ashes on his forehead. It was not a matter of Tilac but of sacred ashes or Vibhuti. (‘msgr.’ lefebvre, op. cit. p.177.) three days earlier, on February 2, he had received on his forehead the Tilac or Tika, the red powdery paste of the Hindus, the sign of the adorers of Shiva*. (la croix of February 6, and 'i' express' of February 7/13, 1986, with photo.)
Catholicism has made a vain attempt to cover the pope’s actions as meaningless. Just listen to what archbishop Foley says when confronted by a Catholic:
As proven, the pope took another mark, the "sacred ashes or Vibhuti" "three days earlier". It seems the Pope has no problem marking his forehead in either case! It was the response of Archbishop Foley that I specifically found interesting. He feels that the actions of the pope is "no more the worship of a heathen deity than is the decoration of a Christmas tree by American Christians a return to the pagan rituals of Northern Europe". The interesting part is that the archbishop, knowing full well that it was Rome who instituted the pagan practice of worshipping God by the putting up of a Christmas tree. He also knows that Christianity has polluted herself with the same pagan practices. The archbishop must have felt pretty safe that no one would dare speak out against a Christmas tree without condemning himself, therefore they could not speak out against receiving a mark either. This kind of trickery is common of Rome! I've enclosed a couple pictures that may better help one understand the real nature of the papacy! The one picture is the Pope kissing the Muslim holy book, the Koran. The other is a picture of his "seat" when he was at the sea of Galilee. Rebecca A Sexton
WBSG NOTE: There can be no justification for the Roman Pontiff John Paul II to kiss the Koran (thus giving the Papal Blessing) which is a Muslim holy book that denies that Jesus Christ is the only begotten Son of God Savior, as well as denying the Holy Trinity (Triune Godhead) which is a foundational Christian belief. Below is a scripture from the Koran that Pope John Paul II gave the Papal Kiss to:
And regarding the inverted cross, the Catholic Church asserts that Pope John Paul II's chair with the upside down cross is really not representing the cross of Jesus Christ but rather the cross of Apostle Peter. Profane history (non-Biblical) has a tradition where-in Peter was crucified up-side down, but this is not found in the Bible. Up-side down crosses have been used for centuries by satanic cults to defile Jesus Christ's salvation work on the cross, the Catholic Church knows this, and by using the up-side down cross on the seat of Roman Catholic power are either acting spuriously or exhibiting monumental poor judgment. The Pope is not the only one who likes the Koran, below is a shocking story of one recent new copy of the Muslim holy book the Koran (or Qur'an):
Monday, 25 September, 2000, 16:59 GMT 17:59 UK President Saddam Hussein has taken delivery of a copy of the Koran written using his own blood. Iraqi TV and newspapers reported that the Iraqi leader had the volume produced in thanks to God for bringing him safely through many "conspiracies and dangers" in his long political career. "My life has been full of dangers in which I should have lost a lot of blood...but since I have bled only a little, I asked somebody to write God's words with my blood in gratitude," President Saddam Hussein said in a letter published in the official media. The special-edition volume was handed over at a ceremony at the weekend. Three years in the writing The Iraqi leader commissioned the work three years ago on his 60th birthday. Press and TV reports gave no indication of how much blood he had provided for the team of calligraphers who produced the work. But a senior Iraqi official suggested the amount was considerable, given that the Muslim holy book comprises over 6,000 verses and some 336,000 words. BBC Monitoring, based in Caversham in southern England, selects and translates information from radio, television, press, news agencies and the Internet from 150 countries in more than 70 languages. | Back to top |
The Roman Catholic Church has elevated and worshipped Mother Mary in a most irresponsible and idolatrous manner. They (the church) misconstrue Scriptures to support their 'goddess' theory and the mistaken belief that Mother Mary is co-mediatrix with Christ (co-Savior). Observe the Pope in the below quote add a whole lot of supposition into the Holy Scriptures to support his unhealthy 'veneration' (we say worship) of the deceased woman Mary who bore the Christ child: " (Emphasis added)
But that is not what the Bible says, the Bible says that Jesus gave Apostle John the responsibility to care for Mary, and that John took Mary away from the cross so she would not have to endure watching her Son go through the final agony of His work for our salvation on the Roman cross:
So some might then say: "The Roman Catholic Church means well, so what's the difference?" The 'difference' is that they are minimizing the work of Christ on the cross for our salvation. They are in essence saying that you are saved EITHER by Christ crucified AND/OR by Mary's prayer and intercession. But in God's written word the Bible, and Jesus Christ, yea, even The Holy Spirit of God states something far more different:
So then the very Holy Scriptures of God reprove the Catholic Church and lay bare their plans to propagate their false doctrines, corrupt Scripture, and the attempted unseating of Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God only through whom salvation is come to man. Observe the Roman Catholic Catechism (teachings):
Even the Catholic Bible (the Douay Rheims version) was corrupted by the Roman Catholic Church. The Catholic Bible was taken from the Vulgate (A.D. 380), but not the true first Latin Vulgate of A.D. 150. first we will document where, how, and when the Catholic Church corrupted the word of God, The latin vulgate. Then we shall observe one of the corruptions of Jerome's Catholic version of the Vulgate of A.D. 380. An excerpt from:
(end of excerpt) Now let's look at some of the handiwork of the Catholic Church in regards to the corruption introduced into their Bibles and their unhealthy veneration (worship) of Mother Mary, the Lord's mother. In {Gen 3:15} we find the prophecy of the Messiah Jesus Christ. Genesis 3:15 is where God tells the serpent (satan) that the seed (Jesus) of the woman (Eve) shall crush his (the serpents) head. However, that is not how the Catholic Bible reads (the Douay Rheims). The Douay Rheims is copied from Jerome's corruption of the Latin Vulgate as we have seen above. Jerome changed "it" (the seed of the woman), to, "she" (the bearer of that seed) in his manuscripts thus changing the one who crushes satan's head from Jesus Christ (the seed), to Mother Mary (as the bearer of the seed):
You should have also noticed that the Catholic Bible states that satan shall lie in wait for HER heel, but the Scripture states that the serpent (satan) shall bruise HIS heel, i.e., the Messiah Jesus Christ' heel. Christ' heel was bruised as His feet were crossed and only one was rammed against the cross as they were nailed through and down firmly (notice that "heel" is in the singular, for while both would be pierced by the nail, only one would be bruised by such an attachment to a wooded beam). This is even further corrupted in that the "she" being referred to is Eve, not Mother Mary. God is referring to Eve as the bearer of the seed (4000 years later by genealogy). this
is very important, for with this corruption they have been able to thrust
Catholic's into the forbidden practice of worshipping Mother Mary as a
co-Savior. Mother Mary, they say, is the one whom shall put satan
underfoot! But the Word of God says: "But
this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down
on the right hand of God; From henceforth expecting till his enemies be
made his footstool." {Heb 10:12-13} (see
also: {Psm 110:1, Heb 1:13, Mk 12:36, Lk 20:42-47}). Observe below. According to the apparition of Mary by visionary Catherine Laboure, Rome was commanded by "Mary" to make the image at right of her with the serpent under her feet and a "promise" for those who wore this medal. The image is still very popular in Roman Catholicism. From Catholic author, Omar Englebert, in his book, Catherine Laboure and the Modern Apparitions of Our Lady, page 237, we read:
Below we shall excerpt a segment of a Bible study from elsewhere on our site that describes the significance of the year A.D.1830 which saw the birth of two un-Biblical practices (the Rapture theory & the worship of the deceased person Mother Mary). Excerpted from The Rapture Theory; What Does God's Word Say About It?: "In port Glasgow, Scotland, in the Spring of the year A.D. 1830, a bedridden woman had a revelation on her sick bed, supposedly from God, in where she was shown what has become to be known as "The Rapture Of The Church." Prior to this day, the concept of an 'at any moment, fly away doctrine' (Rapture) was unknown. Within the first few paragraphs of her monumental Scripture-riddled statement. Ms. Macdonald makes an ominous statement about her vision, in that at first, at the time of the vision, it felt as though there was "Great darkness" and "Error" about it. This is something they will not teach you from the false pulpits of the beguiled Rapture Churches. Christian beware! Below, we have quoted from the first few paragraphs of her infamous 'Rapture of the Church' revelation, taken from Ms. Margaret Macdonald's own handwritten account of her 1830 pre-trib revelation, as included in Robert Norton's Memoirs of James & George Macdonald, of port-Glasgow (1840), pp. 171-176. And also found in The restoration of Apostles and prophets; In the Catholic Apostolic Church (1861), pp. 15-18. And also found in The incredible Cover-up by Dave Macpherson, Appendix A:
Ms. MacDonald then goes on to outline a series of 'visions' now known as the Rapture Doctrine. The spirit world is very real, but there is the Holy Spirit of God and there are satan's evil spirits, demons and the like. This is why the Bible strictly prohibits the conjuring up of spirits and communicating with the dead (Necromancy). Margaret Macdonald might well have been visited by a spirit on her sick bed that day, an evil spirit!
Just as the young girl below who though she was visiting with the Mother Mary. Observe below as satan fulfils the Scripture: "And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light" {2 Cor 11:14}:
For whatever reason, it just seems as though evil spirits have an affinity for women and children, evident by the majority of false 'Mother Mary' sightings being by women and children. You should find it no small coincidence that both the Rapture Doctrine and Mother Mary worship were channeled through demons in the same year, A.D. 1830; the Rapture doctrine in the Spring of 1830, and Marian worship on July 18, 1830 (see below).
The year 1830 was indeed spiritually significant, however evil, in ways we probably will not ever fully comprehend. For along with the Rapture doctrine that shall take down the Rapturists, and the the Marian worship that is destroying the Catholic faithful, 1830 also witnessed the first publishing of the demonically channeled Book of Mormon by Joseph Smith and the founding of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints cult, which among other things, teaches that Jesus Christ and Lucifer were brothers, and that we can all aspire to become gods (eerily reminiscent of New-Age theology). Another such significant year or time frame revolves around the year 1948 which saw the establishment of the United Nations (1948-1950), the birth of the World Council of Churches (the largest such ecumenical body), the Nation of Israel once again being established (May 14, 1948), the coming to power of the modern Chinese Communist Party by Mao Tse-tung in October 1949, the Dead Sea Scrolls recovered (1947-1956), and 1948 also saw the first of our modern computers - the Super Computer E.N.I.A.C. (first to figure Pie out to 2,037 characters),.... But back to the Rapture theory, why did satan choose women to unleash two of his greatest deceptions (the Rapture theory & the worship of the deceased person Mother Mary) on the Christian Churches ? We can't know for sure other than that is their custom..." (end of excerpt, end of segment) | Back to top |
Why does God let bad things happen to us?
Tina writes:
Answer: Don't be too hard on your friend for her anger toward God. She obviously doesn't know any better. God understands, and He does ascribe a certain degree of innocence to ignorance. God understands our emotions and how overpowering they can sometimes become. After all, He made us that way. God also understands what it feels like to lose a loved one to mortal death, for Jesus was His only begotten son. We also are His children, He loves us all the same; God does not play favorites. But God understands something that we seem not to understand; the end of our flesh life on earth is not an end, but a beginning. It is the end of our life in this flesh body earth age, but it is also the beginning of an eternity with God in the Heaven age in our perfect spiritual bodies. Spiritual bodies do not age nor are the handicapped in any way, and in the eternity there is no pain, suffering, or tears:
We as people living in a flesh body know that, at best, we can expect to live, what, maybe 80-100 or so years. But the eternity is timeless, it is forever. When God calls us to come home to Him, then it is our time (AND NOT BEFORE!). God is all wise and knowing. He knows what is best. And in God's infinite wisdom, mercy, and love, He gave us words of truth, comfort, and understanding. These words are written in a book and were divinely handed down to us in the form of The Bible. Your friend may feel as though she can not handle the pain of her loss, but God has promised us that He will not allow us to go through any more than we can handle, and that is on an individual level. Some are stronger than others. Below is a verse that she may find helpful when she encounters a situation such as the one she is now in that seems so terrible that she feels like she can't handle it. You will notice that the word translated here to "temptation," in the English from the original Greek text of the Bible manuscripts, means much more than we commonly understand it in our language:
God does not cause the death of our loved ones to hurt or punish us. But many times God does let the events in our society run their course. God does NOT bring hardship on us, God forbid; but rather He does let us experience the up's and down's that this flesh life holds. We either individually or collectively as a society bring the bad things upon ourselves and others. This does not apply to your friend's situation, but sometimes God does correct us in our lives, sometimes He does allow adversities to occur in our lives when we bring them upon ourselves through our bad decisions or actions. But even this is done out of God's love for us. Once again, this has nothing to do with your friend's family member being murdered. The answers in this section of our web site are tailored to cover many peoples varied questions and experiences. God does however allow us to feel the sting of our mistakes, but He's always standing by for us to reach out for Him when we can go no further ourselves. And just as we as parents, when our children insist on touching the candle flame; we let them touch it just long enough to feel the pain, but we pull their hand away from the fire for them before any damage is done. That child never touches a candle flame again. But when that child grows older, he does not say to us: "Why did you let me touch the flame and hurt my finger?" As that child grew and matured, he grew to understand that it was because you loved him that you let him feel the pain of his error, but unknown to him at that time, you were always right there, just waiting to step in on his behalf. Like wise, we who become spiritually mature, understand that if our Heavenly Father did not let us experience for ourselves the pitfalls and pains of this life that we would be naive and weak, easy to be misled and destroyed by satin and his lot, and certainly then we could be of no use to God as a servant against all that is evil in this world, and we would not be strong willed enough to withstand satan who comes to deceive us as the false christ (antichrist). You could help her best by assisting her in the study of God's Word, for all our answers are contained within it. You could help her learn of God's Word if she is interested, but if she is not, then it would do no good to push it on her, it might even drive her away. Just let her know that you are available if she has any questions about the Bible and God and Jesus and salvation. When she is ready, she will come to you with questions, and she will respect the fact that you aren't some kind of religious nutcase begging people to believe in God. Perhaps in time she will come to understand that we all must die someday, some sooner, some later, some of natural causes, and some at the hands of others. But we all go back to God at the instant of death. On judgment day many will go into the Lake of Fire and many will go to Heaven with God.
Tina, if you don't feel that you are knowledgeable enough in the Scriptures to teach your friend, there's no shame in being honest about it, you could invite your friend to tune into (another Ministry on TV) Bible study that is broadcast nationwide and over many parts of the world via television and satellite. This is the only television ministry that we at Watchmen Bible Study Group can endorse and recommend. You can find "(another Ministry on TV) " in your local TV guide, or on satellite "Galaxy 6 Trans 16." You might want to check out their web site if you can't them on satellite. (another Ministry on TV) has a streaming video Web-site page at www.shepherdschapel.com. But you must be careful where you study God's Word from, because satan has planted many false teachers into this generation (just turn on religious TV some day, and you'll see them). This of course was all prophesied in the Bible, just as everything is. For in the book of Amos, written in 687-689 BC, we are told of the lack of knowledge about God that our present generation would wallow in, and is in fact wallowing in as we speak. The famine in the end times is for understanding the True Word of God.
God is angry at a generation that has denied Him and His Son Jesus Christ. God foresaw this and had it written to us some 2600 years ago in the Scripture above, but God did NOT cause it to become necessary!! Mankind has kindled God's anger on their own, but we are all judged individually and not by the actions of society in general. God bless you always Tina, and may God help you and your friend to understand the unsearchable wisdoms and mysteries of His letter to you, The Bible, with all the understanding of a child that it was written to. And remember to pray , prayer to our Father goes a long way with Him, and it does cause Him to bless. "The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much." [James 5:16]
Divorce; does God want us to stay in a 'bad' marriage? Dee writes:
Answer: Hello Dee, obviously you are in the midst of a predicament with your marriage. My opinion is unimportant, but what you could benefit from is some Scripture relating to marriage and divorce. Also Dee, I will cover many topics in this answer, so don't think that I am directing any one thing towards you individually, I am simply answering the question generally for all who may read it. First of all, God hates divorce, but second of all, God is also Himself a divorcee having divorced Israel (in a spiritual sense of course). In the Bible, divorce is called "putting away". And the term "covering of a woman with the skirt" means to marry her. You remember how Ruth had encouraged Boaz to marry her in [Ruth 3:9], she told him to place his skirt (coat, cloak, garment) over her. This is how they married back then. I don't want to be too blunt, but what they did then was to go into the tent and he covered her with his coat (cloak, skirt, garment) and they consummated the marriage. And it was a binding marriage in the eyes of all, as well as in the eyes of the Lord. They didn't need to pay some clergy in some church all kinds of money to be married, man added that as he adds many things.
But now lets look at some scriptures that cover the topic of divorce. There is permissible reason to get a divorce in God's Word. In the below scriptures, both Old and New testament we see:
So then, is divorce for reasons other than those above sinful? That's what the Word says. Is divorce an unforgivable sin? Of course not. Jesus Christ was tortured and murdered on the cross for the sins of mankind, for ALL who would simply accept Him and believe upon Him. To say that you can not be forgiven for a divorce is to say that Christ's blood that day at Calvary was not able, that the sacrifice and offering of One whom had lived 33 years in the flesh and committed not even one sin was not a worthy and an acceptable offering to God in your stead. God forbid! Divorce is like any other sin, if you have committed it, repent to the Father and asked to be cleansed of it in the name of Jesus Christ. Then it is gone, erased as though it never existed; in fact it is an insult to Christ to ask the Father to forgive the same one sin twice, because what you are basically saying is that you did not believe that God counted Christ's blood and sacrifice worthy the first time. If you commit a particular sin again, then you must repent again. See the FORGIVENESS in-depth Bible study. Once we ask God to forgive us in the name of Jesus Christ, We are cleansed, not because you or I am worthy, man never could be, but because The One who stepped in for us was worthy. If we had to be worthy of forgiveness we would all go to hell. God knew that, that is why He sent us Jesus Christ, that through Him we could have life eternal. God was not just bored and decided to become flesh one day to be tortured and murdered by a bunch of heathen; there is a reason for everything He does, and it is all done in a love that we could never fathom. Even when God chastises us, and He does have His ways of chastising us, it is done BECAUSE He loves us: "He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes." [Prov 13:24].
Dee, I don't know what you are going through, but you do seem saddened. God knows this, God can read our hearts (minds): "And God, which knoweth the hearts, bare them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as he did unto us" [Acts 15:8]. God does not wish any to suffer, but He must let us realize the consequences of our actions and decisions, or how else will we ever learn and overcome? We are still in the flesh here on earth, the time for heaven is not yet. But that time will come in our near future when we can look forward to the eternity in heaven, God promised it and He does not lie: "In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began" [Titus 1:2].
It would be irresponsible of me to suggest for, or suggest against a divorce when I don't know both sides of the story, and there is always another side to every story involving human emotions. But certainly if you were in danger of extreme physical abuse, you'd be better to divorce. I base that on the fact that in God's Law it is permissible to kill in self defense, certainly it is permissible to divorce to protect yourself. See the WHEN A CHRISTIAN TAKES A LIFE in-depth Bible study. Have you considered prayer, I know prayer seems to be "out of style" in these degraded times, but prayer is just as powerful to the believer now as it ever was; God did not withdraw His blessings from those who pray and believe.
God created everyone, and owns all things, he can touch the mind of those you struggle with, and effect changes that would not be possible for man to accomplish.
Having trust in God, and faith in Jesus Christ can secure all. And like we stated in the beginning of this answer, God is Himself a divorcee. Below is the scripture which documents that fact beyond any doubt. In the following scripture we will see that God did in fact marry Israel (His chosen people), but we also will see that Israel whored after (chased after) other gods and betrayed God. God then "put Israel away" which means He divorced 'her'. We also shall see that God will future yet forgive 'her' and take her back to wife again. There is a beautiful love story in the below set of scriptures [Ezek chapter 16], but you must relate to it in a spiritual sense, for obviously God does not go through a literal marriage festival with a Nation of people, and through Christ, all the peoples of the world can be grafted into the bride of Christ.. We will be covering the sixty-three verses of Ezekiel chapter sixteen, but to save space, we will only supply the subject topic for each group of the verses and certain specific verses. You can read all the verses in your King James Version Bible, (click to review). Remember to look at the spiritual meaning of the below verses. It is literally about a woman being born, blossoming into a woman, and eventually marrying. Then she commits adultery and is divorced by her husband. She is later forgiven by her 'husband' and is remarried to him. That is exactly what happened with God's chosen, Jerusalem. And the adultery of Israel was to worship other gods and idols. EZEKIEL CHAPTER 16 Ezek 16:1-63 In Ezek 16:1-7 below, we see Jerusalem have an unclean birth. When Jerusalem was founded it was called "Je'bus." Before David conquered it, it was a heathen place:
In Ezek 16:8 below, we see God marry Jerusalem:
In Ezek 16:15-59 below, you see that man (Jerusalem) falls and disappoints, as he always does with God. We won't post these 44 verses for space considerations, but in these verses we see that Jerusalem falls into idol worship and betrays her first love, The One True God Jehovah. The comparison of Jerusalem betraying God is likened to a beloved bride becoming the whore of other men. In fact, in verse 33 we see that she not only doesn't get paid to play the whore, she pays them to use her. God gives us this illustration so we can fully understand how He feels about our apostatizing and following other false gods and man made false religions. God not only was angry, but He was hurt, for He loves His children but they always only betray Him: "For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: All these evil things come from within, and defile the man." [Mark 7:21-23]. We are made in the image (likeness) of God, we have emotions because He has emotions. He even came in the flesh so as to fully feel and understand the flesh that we are bound to live in. God is totally fair. We as a world are betraying God in our current generation, just look at all the false and corrupted religions that abound. When someone tells you that they have found a new kind of spiritual kick or a new religion, remember how God feels about it before you go whoring after it.
In Ezek 16:60-63 below, we see that God promises to forgive and remarry Jerusalem, once again renewing the covenant (marriage) deed, this time forever in the eternity (Heaven). This has not yet happened, which is what makes it prophecy.
In the below scripture we see that Jesus will return at the Second Advent to wed those who overcame and remained faithful to The Father, thus fulfilling the scripture above in [Ezekiel 16:60]. Remember that through Christ, salvation is open to all, not just Israel.
Can you remarry after you have been divorced, or are you commiting adutery every time you 'sleep' with your new husband or wife? It all goes back to Christ's sacrifice on the cross for the forgiveness of sin. If you have repented for your part in the broken marriage and divorce, and you believe that you have been forgiven of it in Christ's name, then where is the sin? Christ's blood is able to cover all your sins. The sin of the divorced marriage is blotted out upon repentance, therefore you are freed of the prior marriage vow and allowed to remarry as you see proper. For is it not written:
Please don't misinterpret that I am an advocate for flippant divorces, I most certainly am not, divorce is a terrible thing. Divorce is like a death in the family, for it is the death of the family. It seems in this generation we are too quick to divorce. Many times couples become friends again in time, wondering what acually happened, even remarrying each other again in some cases. But the innocence and exclusivity is shattered by then in most cases. It just isn't the same anymore, probably never will be. That is sad. Divorce affects people differently, some people just give up on life after a divorce. It's sad to think that someone you trusted and loved enough to spend the rest of your life could hurt and betray you so. The saddest thing of all is that many times we do it out of anger, spite, retaliation, or just a bluff or threat taken too far until we get boxed into a corner. We've all seen the broken people in this country, sitting in the bars all day, day after day; sleeping in the street; suicide; drugs; prostitution; despair; but I wonder how many became broken because of a broken family and their inability to deal with it. And I wonder what percentage of people who have hastily divorced, would not two years later, give anything to take it back and make it go away. But it never will go away, that's why we must be 100% sure before we make an irreversible decision that affects not only us and our once chosen for life mate, but also our children, family, and friends. The Feminist movement was built upon the single independent woman, now twenty-something years later, many realize that what they really wanted was what they were too independent to settle for, and now it is too late for them; sad. And please don't think that I am blaming women for divorces, in fact it is probably the man's fault more often that the women's, but the numbers are not that far apart any more and they are closing fast. Dee, I don't know if that helped, but I do know who can help you; they are your Heavenly Father and His only Begotten Son Jesus Christ. Whether it be in a change in the relationship for the better, or be it the touch of the Spirit letting you know that it is OK to go, this can only come from our Heavenly Father. It takes wisdom to make the right choices in our lives, because it is we that must account for them, we will be held accountable for all sins that we have not repented of; that wisdom can only be found in our Father and it proceeds out from Him:
God bless you and your marriage Dee, and thank you for having the courage to share your question with us, many others are in the same situation as you and may be blessed by your question & answer. Most importantly, always remember this one thing; our Heavenly Father is able, and prayer means more to Him than we can ever begin to understand!
A man is told he studies the Bible too much Robert writes: I am a divorced male, who people say, spends too much time on the scriptures and very little time with my children. people think I'm a jerk.... what do you think???? Answer: Robert, you really bring up two issues;
Divorce is a terrible thing, it is just like a death in the family, for it is the death of the family. Whether it is the husband or the wife's fault, it seems that the innocent pay the dearest price. The children are the casualty in hasty decisions and the inequity of their parents. There are times that divorce is permissible in the Bible, but it seems that in our day and age, our husbands and wives are throw-away commodities, and in the process the children are divided between two adults they love, and are unfairly made to feel as though they have to chose. Broken homes and unfathered children are the main cause for the sorry state of our society. Broken homes just seem to produce broken children. I don't know the particulars of your relationship with your children before and after your divorce, but certainly they are not to be made to feel as though the divorce was their fault. You ask me what I think of you; it would be impossible for me to have an opinion of you without knowing all the facts. My opinion is unimportant, but God does say in the Bible that we should provide for our family, and especially those in our own house; so I would certainly hope that you are providing support for your children no matter who's fault the divorce was.
It seems unrealistic that your studying of the Scriptures has anything to do with your spending: "very little time with your children." I don't know how much time you study, for everyone has different thresholds. But the manner in which you pose your question suggests that there is some implication from the unidentified "people" that your obedience to God is somehow the cause. We will address these people below, but you will find that if you turn your back on your children now when they are young, they just might turn their back on you when you are old. Let's take the second issue; you don't say who the "people" are that tell you that you spend too much time studying your Heavenly Fathers Word, but I would venture to say that it is most likely someone who spends no time at all studying Almighty God's letter to them, The Bible. It seems acceptable to have God take the back seat to everything these days, and if these heathen (or most likely "play Christians," having no substance, fooling no one but themselves) think you are a jerk for studying God's Word, we can only guess what Almighty God thinks of them for not studying His loving letter to them. They would do good to read the parable that Christ spoke:
Satan will use any tactic that he can to pull you away from God. Satan uses love against us when he can get away with it. Satan even used Apostle Peter's love for Christ to try to interfere with the plan of God. In the scripture below, Peter tells Jesus that he will stand in the way of those who will come to betray and crucify Jesus. Peter's love for Jesus blinded him to the fact that the betrayal and Crucifixion was prophesied to come about by the very plan of God. For if Jesus had not died on the cross then our sins were not forgiven. Peter had allowed satan to deceive him through his love of Jesus; had Peter succeeded, he would have condemned the world to "Hell." Below you will see that Jesus saw through satan's attempt, and Jesus rebuked satan not Peter:
You do well to put God before even your family. In reality, God is your closest relative, He is your Heavenly Father, He created your soul. Below is a verse that the translators did a poor job on. The word "hate" in the verse below should be translated "love less." Many Hebrew words have multi-meaning, and for the truest translation you must take the word in the context of the scripture. Now we know that the fifth commandment [Ex 20:12] tells us to Honore our father and mother, therefore Jesus would not instruct us to dishonor them by hating them. This incidently is one of the verses that the unlearned point to as an contradiction in the Bible. With a thirty-five dollar Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible (click to review) and thirty seconds, they could have learned something and been one step closer to realizing that God's Word does not contradict itself, it is the ignorant that create contradiction in the Bible where there is none.
While this is not an advice column; for whatever it may be worth to you, my suggestion is to reevaluate your relationship with your children and always be there for them when they ask you to, things will work their way out if you let them know that you love them and that you will be there for them no matter what the state of your relationship is with their mother. Robert, you stay in God's Word and pray for guidance and direction in regards to your relationship with your children, perhaps they might like to study with you. And let the spiritually dead stay in the world, for perhaps someday they will understand what Jesus was saying to them when He stated:
The loss of a loved one Lori writes:
Answer: Touching on your Mother's age, I don't know the particulars, but if you believe in God and Jesus, then you believe that she is in good hands, and I know by the you word your letter that you do believe. We all miss loved ones when it is their time to pass. The best thing you can do for her is to make sure that she knows the Lord. Understand that the death of the flesh is not the end of life, but the beginning of eternal life. As Jesus said in [John 12:24], when a seed of the wheat plant falls off and dies, it is only then that it as a seed can be watered and be caused to sprout with a new life. This flesh must likewise die before we can live anew in our eternal spiritual body, in the eternity of Heaven with our Father and Jesus.
When we get up in years, and when illness begins setting into these aged bodies, sometimes it just reaches the point where it is that time. We sometimes selfishly wish for our loved ones to stay with us longer than they can endure. God is in control, and when your mother does pass, she will be with Him. Anyway, I trust that you are studying your Heavenly Father's Word in some fashion. And I hope the In-depth Bible Studies have in some small way helped to make your studies more fruitful. God bless you Lori, and may God always keep you and yours; in the Precious name of Jesus Christ!
The proper names of the fallen angels Vanessa writes: Hello, my name is Vanessa and I am fairly new at this way of bible studying but I am very interested in learning all I can. I have one question right at the moment, and forgive me if I word it wrong but I hope you can understand what I am asking okay here it goes: Can you tell me the names of the Angels whom God threw out of Heaven? Thanks alot, sincerely; Vanessa Answer: Hello Vanessa, I'm glad your studying our Fathers Word. In regards to your question, I think the way you meant to word it is: "What are the names of the fallen angels who left Heaven." The reason I say that is because God did not throw them out of Heaven, they left on their own which was a sin against God. Below is a scripture that will document that the fallen angels "kept not their first estate." Which means they left where they were, which was Heaven. And after God brought them back, they are now imprisoned back in Heaven awaiting judgement day.
Before I answer your question as to their proper names, let's go to the scripture where it prophecies that the fallen angels will once again come to the earth, but this time they are cast out by Archangel Michael, who is now holding them in chains at God's command. Below we see a war In Heaven, and satan and his fallen angels are CAST to the earth by force. Understand that this verse is written from the aspect of the future looking at an event as it happens (Prophecy). This has not yet happened in our time, but will come to pass in this generation.
OK, now as to the names of the fallen angels. Their names are not given in the Canonized (recognized, accepted) books of the Bible, however, in the Book of Enoch the names of some of the fallen angels are given. I must preface this with the fact that the book of Enoch is not generally accepted as scripture, and whether or not it is True Scripture I cannot say, but I will never the less supply the text of the seventh chapter of the book of Enoch and let the reader make up his/her own mind up as to accept it as true or not. One caution to the newer student of God's Word: You should stick only to the scripture in your Bible while you are new to learning of God's Word. The reason being, there are many newfangled doctrines of men that make void the True Word of God, and as a new student you will not have the solid foundation of truth in which you can discern the validity of certain doctrines and concepts. By a new student venturing off into strange doctrines, they can and most probably will become lost and confused, thus making them an easy target for the deception of the false teachers/preachers who would seek to mislead them. OK, The book of Enoch was found in Ethiopia in 1768 AD by the Scotsman, James Bruce. This book was not translated from Ethiopian to English until the late nineteenth and early twentieth century (Cannon R.H. Charles translation). Below is the whole of Chapter seven as found in the The Book of Enoch the Prophet (click to review).
Vanessa, I hope that answers your question. We at the Watchmen Bible Study Group were a study by mail organization, but we have shifted to the Internet with our Bible studies. We are working to bring all the studies to the Net. In fact we have a detailed study that covers your topic in-depth, it is called: The Fallen Angels And Giants of Genesis Chapter Six , you might want to read it. Good bye, and may God bless your study of His Word.
| To
list of all questions on Website | 
In
His Service: Contact
Editor | Bible
studies | Newer
students |
Bible Q
& A's
| Study
tools
| Search
our site NOTE: To insure quality and content integrity, these In-depth Bible Studies are © copyrighted and may only be downloaded for study and shared private use. They may not be reproduced or distributed for sale or publication without prior written approval. Other Christian Web sites are welcome to link up to this Website or any page on it. |
Answer
to WBSG query: 
Iraqi
leader's Koran 'written in blood'
we
have two figures, one representing the heart of Jesus Christ, and the
other, the heart of Mary with the sword piercing it {Lk 2:35}. The
significance of the twelve six-point stars surrounding the reverse of the
medal is unclear, it could be reference to {Rev 12:1}: "And
there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and
the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars"
{Rev 12:1}. This would explain her
standing on the orb (moon?) and the rays emanating from her (clothed with
the sun?) on the front of the medal. If so, this also would be in
error, for the woman there is from the first earth age and represents
Mother Israel, the twelve Stars being what would become the Twelve Tribes
of Israel. The inscription round about the front of the medal reads:
"Mary consecrated without sin. Pray for u* *** have recourse
to thee." ( * = unreadable letters). But the Bible
says: "For all have
sinned, and come short of the glory of God;" {Rom 3:23}.
You will also notice the date beneath the Serpent, it is 1830, which is
the year of the first Marian 'sightings' or apparitions.