A sheep in wolf's clothing.
And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.
( Genesis 1:6 )
Conservative Christians have an extensive doctrine for why the King James is the Bible you should use. It’s tedious and unnecessary. If your Bible doesn’t have the word firmament in Genesis 1:6 then it’s not a real Bible.
That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us:
Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil;
Whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an high priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.
( Hebrews 6:18-20 )
God cannot lie.
Continue reading “An Anchor of the Soul”
Continue reading “Cutting the Link between Mass and Gravity”There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day: And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores, And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried; And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame. But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented. And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence. Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father’s house: For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment. Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them. And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent. And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.
(Luke 16:19-31) KJV
So let all thine enemies perish, O LORD: but let them that love him be as the sun when he goeth forth in his might. And the land had rest forty years.
(Judges 5:31) KJV
The sun goest forth in his might? The song of Deborah speaks of the sun as if he’s a person, a sentient being. Who are we to say he isn’t?
Continue reading “Who is the Sun?”
The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, Until the day in which he was taken up, after that he through the Holy Ghost had given commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen: To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God:
And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me. For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.
When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power. But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight. And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven. ( Acts 1:1-9 )
*Definition (miraculous) power, might, strength
*Usage (a) physical power, force, might, ability, efficacy, energy, meaning (b) plur: powerful deeds, deeds showing (physical) power, marvelous works.
Do we have dynamite power?
What do we have to do the get dynamite power?
Before the mountains had been shaped, before the hills, I was brought forth, before he had made the earth with its fields, or the first of the dust of the world. When he established the heavens, I was there; when he drew a circle on the face of the deep,
(Proverbs 8:25-27) ESV
We think of Earth as down and the sky as up. Heaven above and hell below. Whatever happened on the second day has to allow for the eventual formation of heaven and hell. These aren’t spiritual concepts.
Continue reading “The Point of the Compass”
And before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal: and in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were four beasts full of eyes before and behind.
(Revelation 4:6) KJV
Accepting the firmament as a sphere of rigid crystal on the edge of space solves many scriptural and physical problems. The King James Version is the only Bible from which an accurate cosmological model may be deduced.
Continue reading “A Sea of Glass”
And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.
( Genesis 1:6 ) KJV
If we are going to use deductive reasoning to understand what the Bible is teaching us about creation then we have to be willing to accept what we deduce. In science the idea is to use inductive reasoning to make everything work out the way you want and promote the Star Trek universe as real.
Deduction requires that we know the end from the beginning and the beginning from the end. The major issue that is going to confront us is this: what is the firmament?
This is an issue that Christianity has refused to deal with. In part because it appears that science has rendered the firmament as below mythological status, it’s just a joke. This has had a very interesting effect on Bible versions. In general they are written so as to make it seem as if the issue does not exist.
I got saved in July 1997. Starting in 1998 I began to read the Bible. The one which I had at the time was a New International Version. I loved it. I became so interested in the Bible that I began collecting Bible versions. I went to used book stores and went directly to the Bible or Religion section to see if there were any Bible versions that I had not seen before.
At this time, 1998-99 I was struggling to understand today’s passage. The reason I struggled was that I was using Bible versions that do not contain the truth. My favorite version at the time, the NIV, translates the passage as such:
And God said, “Let there be a vault between the waters to separate water from water.” So God made the vault and separated the water under the vault from the water above it. And it was so. God called the vault “sky.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the second day.
( Genesis 1:6-8 ) NIV
This is how the New Living Translation renders it:
Then God said, “Let there be a space between the waters, to separate the waters of the heavens from the waters of the earth.” And that is what happened. God made this space to separate the waters of the earth from the waters of the heavens. God called the space “sky.”
And evening passed and morning came, marking the second day.
( Genesis 1:6-8 ) NLT
The English Standard Version:
And God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” And God made the expanse and separated the waters that were under the expanse from the waters that were above the expanse. And it was so. And God called the expanse Heaven.c And there was evening and there was morning, the second day.
( Genesis 1:6-8 ) ESV
The New American Standard Version:
Then God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” God made the expanse, and separated the waters which were below the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse; and it was so. God called the expanse heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, a second day.
( Genesis 1:6-8 ) NASB
The Holman Christian Standard Version:
Then God said, “Let there be an expanse between the waters, separating water from water.”i 7So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above the expanse. And it was so. God called the expanse “sky.” Evening came and then morning: the second day.
( Genesis 1:6-8 ) HCSB
This is just a small sampling. I can’t really remember my thought process at the time but I was concerned that there was something important in the description of the second day that I was missing. In every Bible version I found I looked to see what Genesis 1:6 said. There are words, as you can see, like vault, space, expanse and we are told that this is the sky. It didn’t make sense to me.
At the time I was the Custodian at a large Presbyterian Church in a major college town in North Carolina. They were not able to help me. However, as I made my rounds every day with my trash can and my vacuum cleaner I noticed that there was one particular lounge type lobby area, parlor, in which there was a large leather-bound King James Version on a table stand. I thought it wouldn’t hurt to take a look to see what it said.
Firmament.
The more conservative a Christian you are the more likely you are to pound a Bible. If you’re pounding a Bible then it will be the King James Version.
Conservative Christians have an extensive rationalization for why the KJV is the only Bible you should use. It’s tedious and unnecessary. If your Bible doesn’t have the word firmament in Genesis 1:6 then it’s not a real Bible.
For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it. ( Romans 8:18-25 )
The discipline it took to get through this month deepened my understanding. My earnest expectation is that if I apply the same discipline to writing in February as I did in January then my understanding will deepen more.
For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.
( Romans 8:18-25 ) KJV
January is about to end. For me this has not just been the beginning of a new year, but the beginning of a new way of life. I had a change of circumstances two weeks before Christmas 2017. It was a time of uncertainty but also of earnest expectation.
The month ended and all the bills were paid. Not only that, but I published a blog post every day, which was what I set out to do before my circumstances changed.
It’s more than posting to be posting though.
Discipline in writing is more effective than inspiration. Inspiration is important, but if you only write when you are inspired you may never write. Or what if you are inspired when you can’t write, like when you’re driving a car?
A lot could be said about the passage that I chose for today, but the creature that was made subject to vanity is us. We had to be made into human beings and put here on planet earth to endure it. The general idea is that we are able to endure it patiently because we know what is coming after. What we will experience after this life is over is going to be more than worth everything that we suffer here on earth.
As we prepare to move into February I have anticipation and excitement. Earnest expectation. The second day is when God created gravity. This has enormous implications for science and allows us to understand why it appears, superficially at least, that science and the Bible are in conflict. They aren’t, that’s just the place where human wisdom took it to and left it.
The discipline it took to get through this month deepened my understanding. My earnest expectation is that if I apply the same discipline to writing in February as I did in January then my understanding will deepen more.
The work of faith is like climbing a wall, imagine a climbing wall that has big hand and foot holds bolted onto it. The goal is to get to the top of the wall. That can only happen if we reach out to the highest hand hold we can reach, put a foot on a foothold then pull our selves up. We’re not on the ground any more. We are now able to reach hand and foot holds that we couldn’t reach when we were on the ground, so we move up again. The ground is further away, we might experience a quickening heart beat and the adrenaline of excitement. We are closer to the top. We can now reach hand and foot holds that are closer to the top of the wall, so we move up again.
A long time ago it occurred to me that the light on the first day of creation was created by the fusion of Hydrogen atoms that were present in the deep. It took quite a while but we moved up the wall to understand that the deep is Jesus Christ the Word of God, the lamb who was slain from the foundation of the world.
It also was a long time ago that it occurred to me that the creation of a firmament in the midst of the waters, separating the waters above from the waters below, was caused by the creation of gravity.
Let’s start climbing that wall tomorrow.
Matty (Headwind) 