All please note that my son, Daniel, has blogged today (I will repeat this 'ad' tomorrow for those of you already done on this site for today.)
Dan has made his Dad super-proud. Battling a disease which has robbed him of so much of which God has to offer, he is now trusting Jesus to guide his life. He is 'new to this game', and has had limited 'church-schooling' (much like his Dad when I joined a church in 1996 and gave MY life to Christ). He HAS, however, found Jesus and is letting Him work in him. I am so proud of his accomplishments. As you know, I visited him recently in the center and my heart (and eyes) watered with gladness. Please welcome MY SON to a brand new and wonderful world!
January 6, 2009 7:14 AM
Sam wrote:
2nd Kings is surely a book of grandiose acts. The axe floating by Elisha (and God, of course) is just an example of the stories of wonder we see in this book.
The story of the two women who, because of the severe famine, conspired together to kill their sons for food, is also a vivid one. Here one son is killed and eaten and the next day, when the son of the second woman is to be killed, his mother hid him, very much angering the first one. This brings back memories of the story about the soccor team who crashed in the Andes and they conspired together for survival, to eat those who died. Very vivid in my mind. The two-women story also became vivid in the mind of the King of Aram (Ben-hadad---meaning, Son of Hadad). This was reality for him. His kingdom was going down in ruin, and of course he blamed it all on Elisha, when it was, (and of course), all his fault.
How many times have we blamed someone else for something, when in reality it is really our fault? I do it when I blame my wife for 'hiding' things on me, yet later I find out that I had put such and such an item where it was eventually located. Rarely do I apologize, which is not right.
Vivid stories? Yes. Vivid lessons? Absolutely. I hope each of you take the time to spend some time in this book of 2nd Kings and see what I mean. James sure has a lot to offer, but so do the wondrous REAL Scriptures of the Old Testament....Jesus' Bible. Reply to this
January 6, 2009 9:11 AM
Sam wrote:
In Hebrews 1, after I read it, I was thinking about what I got out of it. The thing that jumped out at me this time was the term 'angel' (verses 4-7, 13). I know I have told a lot of you MY story of 'angels' I claim to have existed and I saw--if others are interested, I will tell that story on the morning of the 17th. I really don't completely understand what/who angels are. Sometimes angels are 'men', sometimes 'God' (Jacob wrestled with an angel, yet called It/Him God), sometimes 'other spiritual beings'. Many angels are discussed, but only a few by name (Michael, Gabriel, and even Satan, the 'fallen angel') For those of you with a Catholic background, you might remember in the books of the Apocrypha, Raphael, Uriel and Jeremiel are also named. I am quite sure angels don't have wings (that is never mentioned in the Bible, even though there are a couple of references to angels actually flying). When angels are 'seen' in the Bible, the usually appear as men (never a woman), although some are described as 'heavenly creatures'. I see angels in the Bible that bring evil and destruction, as well as those which provide protection and wisdom. There is a whole realm of angels out there. This, to me, is a very interesting topic, one which has probably been discussed and exemplified for many centuries, with beliefs resulting from those discussions which are probably not precisely true (like them having wings or that each person has a guardian angel). I'm going to spend some time today looking more at the angels in the Bible and see what I can find out. Thanks to the writer of Hebrews for providing me this avenue of thought today. Reply to this
January 6, 2009 10:40 AM
rik wrote:
14Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?
the Hebrews writer asks this question. My question is- this a rhetorical question or an actual question? Reply to this
January 6, 2009 11:26 PM
Johnbob wrote:
This scripture jumped out to me as well. This is really encouraging - definitely seems rhetorical to me. When I am tempted to sin, I need to think that there is an angel ministering to me. Reply to this
January 6, 2009 1:56 PM
daniel wrote:
i also believe in angels as god working through people, either to open your eyes to a situation or to help others when needed. for me sometimes angels come to me as small spiritual experiences(when i witness god working in my life) it gives me hope and stregthens my relationship with god. but like you said i am new to this way of life, but i am eager to learn more about gods plan for each and every one of us Reply to this
January 6, 2009 11:35 PM
Johnbob wrote:
It is great that you are eager - so if you read 2 Kings 6, this applies to you (and all of us) - that "those that are with you are more than those that are with them". Reply to this
January 6, 2009 11:34 PM
Johnbob wrote:
It is interesting that you had Hebrews 1 together with 2 Kings 6 today. Where Hebrews 1 speaks of angels, 2 Kings 6 has Elisha telling his scare-to-death servant that those who are with us are more than those who are with them. And he asks God to open the servants eyes and he sees all the horses and chariots of fire. The point I get in both passages is that there is a spiritual world right around us as well as a spiritual war when we are battling something. We can win if we 'have eyes' and keep our focus on spiritual things instead of worldly things. Good stuff. Reply to this
January 6, 2009 10:51 AM
rik wrote:
(The Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, and that there are neither angels nor spirits, but the Pharisees acknowledge them all.) Acts 23:8
the P's and the S's could not agree on this topic either. I do not see how the S's did not believe in angels, the Word (Jesus's Bible) was littered with references of encounters with angels. even then mankind only heard what there itching ears want to hear (2 tim 4:3) Reply to this
A repeat from yesterday----God Is Good!!!
All please note that my son, Daniel, has blogged today (I will repeat this 'ad' tomorrow for those of you already done on this site for today.)
Dan has made his Dad super-proud. Battling a disease which has robbed him of so much of which God has to offer, he is now trusting Jesus to guide his life. He is 'new to this game', and has had limited 'church-schooling' (much like his Dad when I joined a church in 1996 and gave MY life to Christ). He HAS, however, found Jesus and is letting Him work in him. I am so proud of his accomplishments. As you know, I visited him recently in the center and my heart (and eyes) watered with gladness. Please welcome MY SON to a brand new and wonderful world!
Yes, God is good!
Reply to this
2nd Kings is surely a book of grandiose acts. The axe floating by Elisha (and God, of course) is just an example of the stories of wonder we see in this book.
The story of the two women who, because of the severe famine, conspired together to kill their sons for food, is also a vivid one. Here one son is killed and eaten and the next day, when the son of the second woman is to be killed, his mother hid him, very much angering the first one. This brings back memories of the story about the soccor team who crashed in the Andes and they conspired together for survival, to eat those who died. Very vivid in my mind.
The two-women story also became vivid in the mind of the King of Aram (Ben-hadad---meaning, Son of Hadad). This was reality for him. His kingdom was going down in ruin, and of course he blamed it all on Elisha, when it was, (and of course), all his fault.
How many times have we blamed someone else for something, when in reality it is really our fault? I do it when I blame my wife for 'hiding' things on me, yet later I find out that I had put such and such an item where it was eventually located. Rarely do I apologize, which is not right.
Vivid stories? Yes. Vivid lessons? Absolutely. I hope each of you take the time to spend some time in this book of 2nd Kings and see what I mean. James sure has a lot to offer, but so do the wondrous REAL Scriptures of the Old Testament....Jesus' Bible.
Reply to this
In Hebrews 1, after I read it, I was thinking about what I got out of it. The thing that jumped out at me this time was the term 'angel' (verses 4-7, 13). I know I have told a lot of you MY story of 'angels' I claim to have existed and I saw--if others are interested, I will tell that story on the morning of the 17th. I really don't completely understand what/who angels are. Sometimes angels are 'men', sometimes 'God' (Jacob wrestled with an angel, yet called It/Him God), sometimes 'other spiritual beings'. Many angels are discussed, but only a few by name (Michael, Gabriel, and even Satan, the 'fallen angel') For those of you with a Catholic background, you might remember in the books of the Apocrypha, Raphael, Uriel and Jeremiel are also named.
I am quite sure angels don't have wings (that is never mentioned in the Bible, even though there are a couple of references to angels actually flying). When angels are 'seen' in the Bible, the usually appear as men (never a woman), although some are described as 'heavenly creatures'.
I see angels in the Bible that bring evil and destruction, as well as those which provide protection and wisdom. There is a whole realm of angels out there.
This, to me, is a very interesting topic, one which has probably been discussed and exemplified for many centuries, with beliefs resulting from those discussions which are probably not precisely true (like them having wings or that each person has a guardian angel).
I'm going to spend some time today looking more at the angels in the Bible and see what I can find out.
Thanks to the writer of Hebrews for providing me this avenue of thought today.
Reply to this
14Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?
the Hebrews writer asks this question. My question is- this a rhetorical question or an actual question?
Reply to this
This scripture jumped out to me as well. This is really encouraging - definitely seems rhetorical to me. When I am tempted to sin, I need to think that there is an angel ministering to me.
Reply to this
Hey JB!
Need to tell ya my experience with angels some day soon.
Reply to this
Looking forward to it.
Reply to this
i also believe in angels as god working through people, either to open your eyes to a situation or to help others when needed. for me sometimes angels come to me as small spiritual experiences(when i witness god working in my life) it gives me hope and stregthens my relationship with god. but like you said i am new to this way of life, but i am eager to learn more about gods plan for each and every one of us
Reply to this
It is great that you are eager - so if you read 2 Kings 6, this applies to you (and all of us) - that "those that are with you are more than those that are with them".
Reply to this
It is interesting that you had Hebrews 1 together with 2 Kings 6 today. Where Hebrews 1 speaks of angels, 2 Kings 6 has Elisha telling his scare-to-death servant that those who are with us are more than those who are with them. And he asks God to open the servants eyes and he sees all the horses and chariots of fire. The point I get in both passages is that there is a spiritual world right around us as well as a spiritual war when we are battling something. We can win if we 'have eyes' and keep our focus on spiritual things instead of worldly things. Good stuff.
Reply to this
(The Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, and that there are neither angels nor spirits, but the Pharisees acknowledge them all.) Acts 23:8
the P's and the S's could not agree on this topic either. I do not see how the S's did not believe in angels, the Word (Jesus's Bible) was littered with references of encounters with angels. even then mankind only heard what there itching ears want to hear (2 tim 4:3)
Reply to this