What Was Cain’s Mark Mentioned In Genesis?

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The word “mark” in Genesis 4:15 in the King James Version of the Bible is a translation of the Hebrew word “owth.” According to “Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible“, the Hebrew word “owth” may be rendered “mark,” or “signal, flag, monument, sign, or beacon.”

The “owth” — mark or sign — that God made for Cain could have been something to carry on his person, perhaps around his neck — from which the ancient and modern custom of wearing a charm or talisman for protection may be derived. Is it not possible that Cain or his descendants may have begun to look upon this sign — which may have been in the form of a CROSS — as a “good luck” charm and turned it into an item of idolatrous worship? (Compare Num. 21:4-9 with II Kings 18:4 for a similar example.) The various forms of the cross are of pagan origin and go back to earliest antiquity.

The Hebrew word “owth” could also indicate even a boundary marker that God set up to separate or segregate Cain and his descendants from the rest of mankind. Genesis 4:12 shows that God banished Cain to the land of Nod — meaning land of “wandering” — east of Eden or Palestine.

The “Jewish Publication Society” translation renders Genesis 4:15, “And the Lord said unto him [Cain]: ‘Therefore whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold.’ And the Lord set a SIGN FOR Cain, lest any finding him should smite him.” The original Hebrew conveys both meanings — a mark on the person of Cain, or a sign set up for him to segregate him from others.

Some have thought that Cain’s mark involved skin color. Cain’s mark was NOT the changing of his skin color as some suppose. Cain, in accordance with certain West African traditions, may well have been dark, but his sin was a matter of character, not of heredity.

God created ALL races — white, yellow and black, to serve and glorify Him with their own particular abilities. Racial differences are not due to the “mark of Cain.” God originally planned that humanity be divided into various races so that they might learn to live and work together in their own respective heritages around the world.

 

Source: Plain Truth, 1967

Do You Ignore God The Father?

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What are the two most universal errors in the proclaiming of the “Gospel” by the various sects and denominations of traditional Christianity today?

1) They ignore God the Father

2) They proclaim a false gospel—in which God the Father is mostly ignored. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the good news that Jesus Christ, as God’s Messenger, brought. In other words, the message GOD THE FATHER sent to mankind by His Son and Messenger (Malachi 3:1) to mankind.

Jesus said plainly, “I speak that which I have seen with my Father . . . for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me” (John 8:38, 42). Again, Jesus said, “The words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, He doeth the works” (John 14:10).

In the first sermon Peter spoke to gentiles, he said, “The word [Gospel] which God sent. . . preaching peace by Jesus Christ. . .” (Acts 10:36).

What has been proclaimed? MAN’S “gospel” about the Person of the Messenger, but omitting His MESSAGE, which came from God the Father.

Now how else do they ignore God the Father?

They preach Christ—but Him only.

What Is The Origin Of God?

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We are used to living in a limited world. Everything around us has limitations-beginnings and endings. We are aware of infants being born. We are aware of grandparents dying. We observe animals, plants and insects beginning life. We see their lives come to an end. We speak of the birth and the death of civilizations, of storms, volcanoes and comets. We are accustomed to seeing things get old. Clothing and furniture wear out. Automobiles fall apart. Buildings deteriorate. Our bodies become wrinkled and slow. To mortal man everything has a beginning, a period of usefulness and an end. We mark this progression of events on our clocks and calendars.

To us, only what is measurable by hours, days and years seems to have real significance. So when we hear that God is eternal, that He always has been and always will be, our minds balk. The words tend to be meaningless because we have nothing familiar to relate them to. And that is just the problem: we are trying to relate what cannot be related in physical terms. We are trying to apply the limitations of the physical existence we know to the unlimited spiritual plane on which God lives. The two cannot be compared. Our minds can encompass an hour, a century, a millennium, but we cannot grasp past eternity. They are not big enough to fully comprehend spiritual existence. We can’t even fully comprehend the physical universe! As an illustration, let’s consider for a moment what God has created.

For Evolutionists Only….

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Most creationists are guilty of the very thing they accuse evolutionists of doing: misinterpreting the evidence!

Actually, the commonly accepted religious concept of creation has changed little since medieval theologians insisted the earth is flat.

Only some six or so thousand years ago, according to this concept, God created “out of nothing” the universe and everything in it.

Not only does this idea overlook the actual biblical account of creation, it also represents a misinterpretation of the physical evidence to support a preconceived and erroneous notion.

One can only wonder how many educated people have rejected the whole idea of special creation merely because they have not heard the true biblical account. The biblical account of creation, as recorded in the first chapters of Genesis, is compatible with the entire body of provable, observable, measurable, recordable scientific data. What this means is that the physical evidence of and by itself does not require choosing between an evolutionary process on the one hand or belief in a universe that is only about 6,000 years old on the other hand.

Did God Create A Devil?

Is there a devil? Many people talk about the devil and Satan. Others scoff and say it’s just superstition and imagination. But is there a devil? According to most Christians the Bible is supposed to teach that the devil is “the god of this world.”

What does the Bible actually teach? To find out let’s look back to the very beginning in Genesis 1:1. “In the beginning God ….” God was before all. The next word in the King James version is “created.” “God created.” He created the heaven and the earth.

But the very next verse says this: “The earth was without form, and void.” The Hebrew words for “without form, and void” are tohu and bohu. Translated into English they mean chaotic, in confusion, waste, and empty.

When God created the heaven and the earth, did He create this earth originally in a state of confusion? Did He create it all topsy-turvy and chaotic?

World NOT Created in Chaos

We read in I Corinthians 14:33 that “God is NOT the author of confusion.” God is the author of peace. God is the author of order and of law.

Why would He create the earth in disorder and then have to straighten it out? That doesn’t make sense! One scholar points out that the Hebrew word for “created,” bara, used in Genesis 1:1, “implies that the creation was a perfect work.” That very word “created” implies a perfect and a beautiful order and system, not chaos or confusion!

The book of Job shows God talking with Job about the creation. God is saying to Job, “Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth?” There is the implication here that Job had directed the building of some very great edifice — such as the great pyramid of Giza in Egypt. Job was righteous and somewhat proud of his accomplishments. God was whittling him down to humility by a comparison of accomplishments.

God continues, “Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched the line upon it? Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened [margin, “sunk”]? or who laid the corner stone thereof; When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?” (Job 38:4-7.)

It is significant that the great pyramid is a building where the corner stone is not laid in the foundation, but the final stone to be laid — at the pinnacle. The “morning stars” are light-(truth-) bringing angels and archangels, according to Biblical interpretation of symbols. As creations of God, they also are referred to as “all the sons of God.” So this, too, implies a perfect and glorious creation of the earth.

Everyone Needs A Boss

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It’s not generally known, but in the center of the Vatican there is a tiny private garden used by the pope when he feels like refreshing his mind and being alone with his thoughts. There’s a gardener there named Guiseppe who has been taking care of that area for more than 40 years.

One day Guiseppe was working in the garden when he noticed on the far side a bush begin to shake and shimmer as the light hit it. The whole bush seemed to dance and move. Guiseppe became afraid and ran to a telephone to call the cardinal.

“Cardinalli, Cardinalli, God’s in the bushes!”

And the cardinal responded about the way you would expect. He thought Guiseppe had been standing in the sun a little too long, or maybe he was getting a little senile. So he said, “No, Guiseppe, that’s not so.”

But Guiseppe says, “Cardinalli, look outa your Window.”

So the cardinal says, ”All right.” He walks over and sees the bush shimmering and shaking boldly and brightly. And he comes back and tells him, “You’re right, Guiseppe. You’re right!”

Then Guiseppe says, “Cardinalli, what should I do? What should I do?”.

“Id better call the Papa,” says the cardinal. So he telephones the pope. Meanwhile, Guiseppe is cringing down in his telephone booth. Down in the comer, he can barely see the light shining through, blinding everything around. Finally his phone rings again, and the cardinal says, “Guiseppe, I justa talked to the Papa.”

And Guiseppe says, “Well, what did he say?”

“The Papa say,” came the reply, “looka busy.”

When the boss is around, everyone tries harder, everybody “looka busy.”

Everybody has a boss

But who needs a boss? Do you? Judging by the fact that everybody has a boss, evidently everybody must need a boss, right up to and including Jesus Christ Himself. He has a boss. The Father is clearly in charge and the Father is the only one in the entire universe who does not have a boss.

Why God Hates Gossip

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Do you know what scourge victimizes more people every year than all the sicknesses and accidents in the world? It is the deadly poison of gossip.

The Bible reveals that Satan the devil is the accuser of the brethren (Rev. 12:10). But how does he accuse us? By spreading rumors and causing gossip.

Satan introduced gossip into the world shortly after the creation of Adam and Eve, when he spread rumors about God. Satan told Adam and Eve that God lied to them. He made them suspect God’s loving concern and wonderful plan for all mankind to inherit eternal life.

God told the man, after putting him in the Garden of Eden: “Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die” (Gen. 2:16-17).

God’s command was clear. But Satan put doubts in the first couple’s minds. He made them question why God had forbidden them to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. He made them feel that God was keeping from them something that was good for them.

Notice how Eve answered Satan (who appeared to her in the form of a serpent), when she repeated God’s order.

Eve told the serpent: “We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die” (Gen. 3:2-3).

Why Did God Kill In The Old Testament?

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God said: “All who behave unrighteously, are an abomination to the Lord your God. Remember what Amalek did to you [Israel] on the way as you were coming out of Egypt, how he met you on the way and attacked your rear ranks, all the stragglers at your rear, when you were tired and weary; and he did not fear God” (Deuteronomy 25:16-18).

Notice how harsh and unfair the Amalekites were. They waited until their enemy was extremely weak, and even then, they attacked from behind, killing the laggers one by one.

But why did God slay all of the Amalekites? Surely some must have been righteous. If so, why didn’t God spare them?

Let’s take another example, that of Sodom and Gomorrah. In Genesis 18:23-32, Abraham asked God if He would spare those sinful cities if as few as 10 righteous people could be found in them. God said yes.

The same principle applies to the Amalekites. God may have spared the Amalekites if there had been even 10 among them who were righteous. But there wasn’t one innocent person among them!

But understand God’s plan. Are these people lost forever? No!

They will be resurrected to mortal flesh and given a chance to live under God’s government (Revelation 20:12). If they then repent and obey God, they will be given eternal life as members of His Family. God put these people out of their misery, realizing that He would later resurrect them and give them their first real chance for salvation.

How merciful is God (Psalm 103:1-18)!

Source: The Good News, May 1985

Why Is God Called The "Eternal?"

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Why is God called the “Eternal?” When He introduced Himself to Moses, He revealed His name to be “I Am That I Am.” (Exod. 3:13-15). That means God has always existed and always will exist.

God was here for an eternity before anything else existed (Psalm 90:1-2). Can you imagine a thousand years going by as one day? (Psalm 90:4). God definitely sees time differently than we do. He “inhabits” eternity (Isaiah 57:15) — He isn’t bound by time. That means He can even reverse time, as shown in scripture.

It’s hard to imagine such a thing because as physical beings, we are bound to time and our own time on earth is extremely short. We are all like little children compared to the Eternal and need to be humble before Him (Rev. 1:8).

Who And What Is God, Part III: God's Appearance, Nature & Character

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God is Spirit (John 4:24, Revised Standard Version). Why is God not real to so many people? Because God and the Word were composed of spirit, not matter, not flesh and blood, like humans. God is invisible to human eyes (Col. 1:15). He does not seem real. To seem real, the mind naturally wants to visualize a definite form and shape. But even though God is composed of spirit and not of visible matter, God nevertheless does have definite form and shape.

In Genesis 1:26, “God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.” We know the form and shape of man. That is the image, likeness, form and shape of God.

In various parts of the Bible, it is revealed that God has a face, eyes, a nose, mouth and ears. He has hair on his head. It is revealed God has arms and legs. And God has hands and fingers. No animal, fowl, bird, fish, insect or any other kind of life we know of has hands like human hands. Even if any other living being of which we know had a mind to think with, without hands and fingers he could not design and make things as a man does.

God has feet and toes and a body. God has a mind. Animals have brains, but no mind power like man’s.

If you know what a man looks like, you know what is the form and shape of God, for he made man in his image, after his very likeness!

Who And What Is God, Part II: God's Personage And Creating Power

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God is Creator of all—of everything in the vast universe—the stars, the galaxies in endless space, this earth, man and everything in the earth.

That is what God is—what he does. He creates! He designs, forms and shapes. He gives life! He is the great giver. And his law—his way of life—is the way of giving, not getting, which is the way of this world.

But what is God like? Who is God? There have been many conceptions. Some believe God is merely the good or good intentions, within each human—merely some part of each human individual. Some have imagined God was some kind of idol composed of gold or silver, or carved out of wood, stone or other material. The Israelites thought, while Moses was communing with God on Mount Sinai, that God was, or looked like, a golden calf.

Many think God is a single individual supreme Personage. Some thought he was a spirit.

But the generally accepted teaching of traditional Christianity is that God is a Trinity—God in three Persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit, which they call a “Ghost.” The word trinity is not found in the Bible, nor does the Bible teach this doctrine.

Who And What Is God, Part I: Human Ignorance Of Their Creator

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God reveals Himself to us in the Bible, if we will just understand it. Of the peoples of the Roman Empire, God inspired the apostle Paul to write:

“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and wickedness of men who by their wickedness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. Ever since the creation of the world his invisible nature, namely, his eternal power and deity [spiritual], has been clearly perceived in the things that have been made [physical]. So they are without excuse; for although they knew [about] God they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking and their senseless minds were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools” (Rom. 1:18-22, Revised Standard Version).

The billions now living on earth not only are ignorant of the most important knowledge—who and what God is—they seem not to want to know! They are willingly in ignorance of this most important knowledge and relationship possible in human life! Astonishing—but true!

And why have humans been willingly ignorant of man’s most important relationship? One explanation, only, is possible! All nations have been deceived (Rev. 12:9). And the fact of this universal deception makes certain the fact of a super deceiver!

How To Become A Friend Of God

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A Christian must show his faith by works. Faith is a lot more than merely believing in God. Faith with works means we believe God and do what he commands (Jam. 2:18)

God plainly states that faith without works is dead (Jam. 2:19-21). Now a lot of preachers will tell you that a Christian cannot be saved by works, and they are completely right. But they fail to state that works are still a necessary part of the qualification process for gaining eternal life. Otherwise it would not be listed in these verses. Leaving “works” out of the equation is merely another way of saying the law of God is abolished. But faith and obedience go hand in hand.

Scriptures also tell us that demons believe in God and tremble. But they don’t believe God (what He says) and still refuse to do faithful works. Now they face the blackest future one can imagine.

Verses 19-21 speak about Abraham being justified by his works. We know that God didn’t actually require Abraham to kill his son, but in his mind it was as good as done. Abraham waited 25 years for this promised son. He was an old man when Isaac was born, yet he was ready to sacrifice him to God – which was a prime example of his works – the kind of works that bring faith alive.

Abraham is the father of the faithful (Rom. 4:11). God desires that true Christians emulate his example and how far he was willing to go in obeying God. If we build up that type of faith filled obedience, God will bless us also, as He did Abraham.

God The Father:Character Reflected in Light!

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Every good and perfect gift comes from the great God. Look at what He created. When you look at the material creation, you see a lot of shadows. For example, the planets cast shadows. But God is not that way. The book of James says with God there is “no variableness, neither shadow of turning.” He is brighter than the sun at high noon – 100 percent light. This is the total opposite of darkness and there isn’t a trace of evil in Him.

The expression “with whom” should read in whom is no varibleness, neither shadow of turning. “This is referring to our Father’s perfect character – God is 100 percent agape love. His goal is for us to become perfect as He is perfect (Matt. 5:48). God cannot sin. There isn’t even a speck of a shadow of evil in His nature. His love toward us is perfect and absolute – 100 percent light. He would never do anything to harm us spiritually. True Christians must know His character and totally trust Him – even in fiery trials.

Spiritual light should dazzle us millions of times more than the lights from the universe. God’s desires is for us to inherit all things and we have to cooperate with Him for that to happen. Nothing but good gifts come from the Father.

Massive Survey Of Cosmos Proves Dark Matter Defies Law Of Physics

This dark matter map was created by the Hubble Telescope by measuring light from distant stars thought to have been deflected by dark matter. The map of half the Universe reveals dark matter filaments, collapsing under the relentless pull of gravity and growing clumpier over time - dailymail.co.uk

Most astronomers believe that the universe began in a Big Bang up to 15 billion years ago. The Big Bang model holds that the resulting universe should contain exactly the “critical density” of matter required to keep it geometrically “flat,” with just enough gravity to balance the outward momentum, slowing it down.  The result: a cosmos coasting indefinitely on the verge of collapse.

Here’s the bad news for this theory. New evidence from a massive survey of the cosmos (which included 446,000 galaxies) was recently carried out by an international team using the Hubble Space Telescope. It indicates that stars and galaxies are flying apart in all directions at an ever-increasing rate – thanks to an anti-gravity boost from some kind of unseen “dark matter” of an exotic nature, of which most of the universe exists. Normal matter is only a few per cent of the total, so most of the universe is dark, dark matter and dark energy, and scientists have absolutely no clue what its physical nature is.

The  Province.com quoted University of B. C. astronomer Ludovic Van Waerbeke as suggesting that dark matter is counteracting the pull of gravity on a cosmic scale. If the new results hold up, scientists said, they could have enormous ramifications for theories of cosmic “evolution.”

In other words, scientists are surprised to find that the expansion of the universe is actually accelerating, and they have no way to explain this phenomenon because it is supposed to be impossible according to the law of physics.

God's Unusual Communication Methods

One of the best ways to understand God’s willingness to communicate to people is to note the various methods, some of them quite unexpected, that He has used to give His message. Following is a sample of them and the people He contacted:

http://www.moshereiss.org

Jacob, Zechariah, Mary, Shepherds — contacted by angels — Genesis 32:22-32, Luke 1:13, 30, 2:10

Jacob, Joseph, Baker, Cup-Bearer, Pharaoh, Isaiah, Joseph, Magi — contacted in dreams — Gen. 28:10-22, 37:5-10, 40:5, 41:7-8, Is. 1:1, Matt. 1:20, 2:12-13

Belshazzar — contacted via writing on the wall — Dan. 5:5-9

Balaam — contacted through talking Donkey — Numb, 22:21-35

People of Israel — contacted through pillar of cloud/fire — Exod 13:21-22

Jonah — contacted through being swallowed by a fish — Jonah 2

Abraham, Moses, Jesus at His baptism, Paul — verbal contact — Gen. 12:1-4, Exod. 7:8, Matt. 3:13-17, Acts 18:9

Moses — contacted through fire in bush — Exod. 3:2

People of God today — contacted through God’s Son — Heb. 1:1-2

How Does A Christian "Bless" God?

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God rules the universe supreme! He owns everything that exists. Yet each of us can bless God and bring Him pleasure, delight and joy. How? If we examine the context of the passages that instruct us to bless God, we find exactly what this term means. Notice Psalm 34:1: “I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth.”

To bless God, therefore, means to praise Him. But why do we praise God? Just because He tells us to? No. The true, wholehearted praise God desires is the praise of sincere thankfulness and appreciation for all the blessings He first gives us: “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits” (Psalm 103:2).

The awesomeness of God is worthy of continual praise:

“I will extol You, my God, O King; and I will bless Your name forever and ever. Every day I will bless You, and I will praise Your name forever and ever. Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; and His greatness is unsearchable” (Psalm 145:1-3).

Psalm 96 shows us that God is also blessed in song and worship, and by declaring His salvation to all the world. Psalm 100:4 shows that we bless God by coming before Him in worship, praise and thanksgiving. This attitude of reverence, fear and respect for God and the laws He has given carries over into our daily lives as we obey Him and become living sacrifices for Him (Romans 12:1). God wants us to be living witnesses to others around us of the true way of abundant Christian living (Matthew 5:16). In this way we set an example and bear fruit, which glorifies God (John 15:8).

Jesus said there is great joy in heaven over every sinner who, being called by God and seeing the good example of true Christians, repents and begins on the way to salvation and membership in God’s own Family (Luke 15:10).

God created humankind to ultimately become His children (Revelation 21:7). The greatest blessing we can give God is to fulfill our purpose in life — yield to God, overcome and qualify for salvation — become a child of
God!

How Old Is God?

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We are used to living in a limited world. Everything around us has limitations-beginnings and endings. We are aware of infants being born, of grandparents dying. We observe animals, plants and insects beginning life. We see their lives come to an end. We speak of the birth and the death of civilizations, of storms, volcanoes and comets. We are accustomed to seeing things get old. Clothing and furniture wear out. Automobiles fall apart. Buildings deteriorate. Our bodies become wrinkled and slow. To mortal man everything has a beginning, a period of usefulness and an end. We mark this progression of events on our clocks and calendars.

To us, only what is measurable by hours, days and years seems to have real significance. So when we hear that God is eternal, that He always has been and always will be, our minds balk. The words tend to be meaningless because we have nothing familiar to relate them to. And that is just the problem: we are trying to relate what cannot be related in physical terms. We are trying to apply the limitations of the physical existence we know to the unlimited spiritual plane on which God lives. The two cannot be compared. Our minds can encompass an hour, a century, a millennium, but we cannot grasp past eternity. They are not big enough to fully comprehend spiritual existence. We can’t even fully comprehend the physical universe! As an illustration, let’s consider for a moment what God has created.

Astronomers estimate that 100,000 million galaxies each with 100,000 million stars dot the universe. And who knows how many planets and moons? God says He counts and names them all (Ps. 147:4). Now if we allow God one full second by our reckoning of time to count and name each star in the heavens, do you know how long it would take Him to name them all? Working nonstop, by our clocks and calendars, it would take more than 300,000 billion years just to count and name them. How long must it have taken Him to design and create all those stars? To us these figures are inconceivable. But not to God. God is eternal. One of His names in Hebrew is Yahweh-the “Everliving One.” The Creator is not bound by the laws of space and time as we are. While men are able to theorize about time warps and the relation of energy to the speed of light, God masters it all. To Him, according to His wishes, “one day … is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day” (II Pet. 3:8). God “inhabits eternity” (Isa. 57:15). That is to say He comfortably dwells in what we might think of as beginningless and endless time. Genesis 1:1 and John 1:1 show that at whatever point in the past we wish to consider as the beginning-no matter how far back we try to stretch our finite minds-God already existed. “In the beginning God…” Where did God come from? He didn’t “come from” anywhere. He was always there!

Why Did God Kill In The Old Testament?

It’s probably happened to you.  You were debating God, and someone pulled out the question, “If God is a God of love, how come he killed off so many tribes of non-Israelites in the Old Testament?”  Could you answer this question?

Many have unjustly accused God of being a murderer in the Old Testament because He either killed people or He allowed Israel to kill. However, this is a basic misunderstanding of the character of God, who does not change. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. So why was this practice allowed then, and not now, in the New Testament? Let’s explain!

In I Samuel 15:3, God commanded Saul to “go and attack Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and do not spare them. But kill both man and woman, infant and nursing child, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.” Why did God have to deal so harshly with these people, even down to little children and animals? Was this unjust, cruel, barbaric?

God said: “All who behave unrighteously are an abomination to the Lord your God. Remember what Amalek did to you [Israel] on the way as you were coming out of Egypt, how he met you on the way and attacked your rear ranks, all the stragglers at your rear, when you were tired and weary; and he did not fear God” (Deuteronomy 25:16-18).

Notice how harsh and unfair the Amalekites were. They waited until their enemy was extremely weak, and even then, they attacked from behind, killing the laggers one by one.

God's Eyes And Ears Are On You!

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Until very recent times man has depended on slow and comparatively limited means of communications — word-of-mouth, hand, flag or smoke signals, or homing pigeons. None of these means was usable over great distances.

It was not until 1835 that Samuel B. Morse’s telegraph, an electrical device using wires, provided the first rapid method of moving a message long distances. He did it by the use of “code” — long and short pulses called dots and dashes.

Alexander Graham Bell’s “telephone,” a method of transmitting the voice via wires, soon followed. Then near the turn of the century the first means of communicating without wires, the “wireless” or “radio,” was invented. Television closely followed and now we have cell phones, the internet and other means of communications which transmit pictures, writings, sounds and voices anywhere to earth in seconds, as well as reaching to other planets. Like God, man is able to command and be obeyed at a distance.

Someone greater than man put the laws and forces in motion and sustains them to make this possible. If man has been able to use God’s laws governing electronics and communications to place a TV camera on the moon which allowed him to see, count and identify tiny particles no larger than 1/50 inch in diameter a quarter million miles away in the heavens, how much clearer and better can God see over great distances. And how much easier can He accomplish things on command through the power of His Spirit!

Now if God opens up the means, via His creation, for man to accomplish such awesome things, then we should know that know God has even better perception to see, count and identify each hair on your head or mine (Matthew 10:29-31):

“Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows.”

But what about keeping up with ever-traveling sparrows? Let’s see how man keeps up with man-made objects he has rocketed into space.

At the U.S. Government’s Space Center at Ent Air Force Base in Colorado Springs, with the aid of sophisticated electronic devises, men are able to keep track of a satellite, or a hunk of abandoned space junk — as small as six inches in diameter (the size of a grapefruit) and up to 2,700 miles from earth. They can spot and keep up with every man-made object which has been rocketed into space!

Correlating this ability with the ever-watchful eyes of the North American Air Defense Command using the latest in photographic cameras, men can photograph clearly the light reflected from a basketball-size satellite 50,000 miles away!

With all this in mind, can you more fully understand God’s ability to keep up with sparrows when they fall to the ground? Can you grasp God’s ability to keep track of you? “Ye are of more value than many sparrows,” Jesus declared (verse 31), “For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him” (II Chron. 16:9).

God’s Communications Center

Perhaps God’s communications system is similar to the one man has developed. Let’s take a glimpse at God’s communications center at His heavenly throne and compare it to the North American Air Defense Command.

The Apostle John wrote: “And immediately I was in the spirit; and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne…. And round about the throne were four and twenty seats: and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold. And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices: and there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God” (Rev. 4:2, 4, 5). This is God’s heavenly throne!

John continues: “And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts [living beings], and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb [Christ] as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth” (Rev. 5:6).

Since the Lamb — Christ — stood in the midst and had the seven “eyes” of God sent forth into the earth, do we not have an indication that God the Father may use Christ as chief director, coordinator and controller of His heavenly communications system? Could God’s central communications system be basically comparable — as an analogy — to a super-sophisticated spiritual computer supervised by 24 operators and spiritually tied in with seven spiritual surveyors (“eyes”) — “Surveyor I, Surveyor II,” etc. — each one of which can instantaneously be shifted wherever the action is?

Of course, none of these spirit beings needs sophisticated electronic gear with their attendant malfunctions, however few they may be. Each of these beings has been perfectly designed and manufactured from pure spirit. Since these highly mobile units are not bound by physical laws and use spirit power, they move at speeds infinitely faster than light, which, we are told, travels at the “slow” speed of 186,000 miles per second.

Messages which travel via interference-free spirit rather than radio or television waves are never garbled — always crystal clear and INSTANTANEOUS! Crystal clear “eyes” delivering perfect pictures to the heavenly throne not only make it possible to “measure particles 1/50 inch across,” but 3/1000 inch hairs on human heads!

We need have no doubt God can see, count and record any and all information about us that He may require! But what about your thoughts?

Are Your Thoughts Really Private?

In July 1965, 135 million miles from the earth, the Mariner IV spacecraft swung close to Mars so its television camera could snap close-up still photos of the red planet and relay them to earth. “These pictures were scanned and broken into 64 different shades of gray. Each shade became a number, and the numbers in sequence were transmitted to the tracking stations of NASA and the Jet Propulsion Lab.

“The signals were faint when they reached earth — only one quintillionth of one watt strength. They were amplified, taped, and fed into computers. Each sequence of 6 ‘zeros’ and ‘ones’ became a piece of visual information, which was then reconverted into one of 64 shades of gray to make a picture, much like the tiny dots make up the picture on your TV screen at home” (Reader’s Digest, October 1965).

Can your mind comprehend how little power “one quintillionth of one watt” is? Most ordinary light bulbs in your home are probably rated at 100 watts. If written in decimal form, “one quintillionth” would be .000000000000001. Yet man was able to receive, amplify and decipher the message carried by one quintillionth of a watt of power.

Is it conceivable God could receive your thoughts in His heavenly communications center, amplify them, record them, read out and understand them by and through His Spirit?

Notice in Malachi 3:16-17 that God definitely does record certain of man’s words and thoughts: “Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another: and the Lord hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the Lord, and that thought upon his name. And they shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them as a man spareth his own son that serveth him.”

God read Job’s thoughts. Job was self-righteous. God was so interested in Job He let him go through much grief to learn to recognize and overcome that self-righteousness. Finally, Job said, “I know that thou canst do everything, and that no thought can be withholden from thee” (Job 42:2).

God Also Broadcasts Commands

When King Ahab and the whole nation of Israel sinned grievously, God allowed a three and one-half year drought to overtake the nation as punishment — to wake up the nation and its king. During this period, to keep His prophet Elijah alive, God “commanded” ravens to bring food to Elijah. God told His prophet:

“And it shall be, that thou shalt drink of the brook; and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there. So he went and did according unto the word of the Lord: for he went and dwelt by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan. And the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening; and he drank of the brook” (I Kings 17:4-6).

How did God “command” the ravens to feed Elijah? He may have done it by altering their instinct which regulated their behavior patterns. Regardless of how He did it, the Scriptures show us that God has the ability to give long-distance commands and cause them to be obeyed by His creation!

From the “miracles” of modern science and God’s Word, YOU CAN KNOW that a Living Being in the heavens can clearly see and hear the activities of any and all human beings on this earth!

God Uses His Power to HELP US!

True Christians have been chosen by God and are being scrutinized by Him. Much more than the sparrows, God, through His spiritual assistants and master spiritual communications center, watches, hears and keeps track of you, for your good.

Said Jesus Christ, “You have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you” — why? — “that ye should go and bring forth fruit” (John 15:16).

And what goal does He have in mind through that? Christ told His disciples: “No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day” (John 6:44).

That is your destiny. That is the reason God watches and hears you — to help you and guide you so you can qualify to one day be instantaneously changed, or resurrected, to join Jesus Christ and the Father in their all-powerful Family for eternity!

Source: Good News, Jan/March 1973