Does the Bible really say that? Excerpt from my book, 27

[Continuing a discussion of prophecy]

There are also differences in views on the millennium, a thousand-year reign of Christ. Some Christians are amillennialists – they believe that the Biblical millennium refers to the activity of the church in history, or that the millennium is figurative, not literal. Pre-millennialists believe that Christ will return before the millennium. Post-millennialists believe that Christ will return after a thousand-year period during which Christians will rule the earth, or else that the millennium is not literal.

The most common view among the Christians I am familiar with is futuristic, with the rapture before the tribulation, and the millennium after the tribulation. This view is known as dispensationalism. Dispensationalism is often taught in conservative Christian churches. The Left Behind series of books and related material is based on dispensationalist theology. (I have not read any of these books, and cannot comment on them intelligently. For discussion, including criticism, see the Wikipedia article on the series.)

Dispensationalism has not always been so popular, and it was not the view of the early church. It was introduced in the 19^th century, and has grown in popularity since that time.

It is not possible to rule out dispensationalism scripturally, and it may be true. However, dispensationalism is not firmly supported by the Bible. The following is a discussion of the weakness of the support for that view.

The rapture

The word, “rapture,” doesn’t occur in the Bible. It refers to an event where believers are taken from the world by God. Here is the main scriptural support for the idea:

1 Thessalonians 4:13 But we don’t want you to be ignorant, brothers, concerning those who have fallen asleep, so that you don’t grieve like the rest, who have no hope. 14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. 15 For this we tell you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left to the coming of the Lord, will in no way precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with God’s trumpet. The dead in Christ will rise first, 17 then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air. So we will be with the Lord forever. 18 Therefore comfort one another with these words.

These verses describe the event that dispensationalists call the rapture. There is controversy over how literally to take this, and the timing. Some Bible scholars believe that this is like a triumphal procession, with Christ coming to earth accompanied by the believers, rather than taking them away.

This passage also may be speaking of a rapture:

Matthew 24:37 “As the days of Noah were, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For as in those days which were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ship, 39 and they didn’t know until the flood came, and took them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 40 Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken and one will be left; 41 two women grinding at the mill, one will be taken and one will be left. 42 Watch therefore, for you don’t know in what hour your Lord comes. 43 But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what watch of the night the thief was coming, he would have watched, and would not have allowed his house to be broken into. 44 Therefore also be ready, for in an hour that you don’t expect, the Son of Man will come.

However, this seems to be mostly talking of Christ’s return to earth, not about believers leaving. It is also true that, shortly before the above verse, Jesus said this:

Matthew 24:29 But immediately after the oppression of those days, the sun will be darkened, the moon will not give its light, the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken; 30 and then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky. Then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory. 31 He will send out his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together his chosen ones from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.

Many popular depictions of the rapture, from the dispensationalist view, include this type of story:

Alice will be at home, and come to realize that she can’t find her husband and children, even though she thought they were home with her. They have disappeared. After searches, phone calls, etc., Alice realizes that this has happened to a lot of people, and that the ones who can’t be located are believers. She has been “left behind.”

That sort of idea about a rapture is strange, because verse 16 of 1 Thessalonians 4, and Matthew 24:29-31, which are both above, indicate that the events described, whatever they are, won’t be secret at all. They will be associated with some loud noises and visible phenomena, such as the archangel. It seems that, even if people are going to be left behind, they will know that something extraordinary has taken place.

Why don’t some Bible scholars believe in a rapture, or don’t believe in the dispensationalist version of it? One reason is that there are scriptures that don’t seem consistent with such an event. Here’s 1 John 2:28: Now, little children, remain in him, that when he appears, we may have boldness, and not be ashamed before him at his coming.

This seems to be saying that Christians should look forward to some sort of judgment as the next big event.

1 John 3:2 Beloved, now we are children of God, and it is not yet revealed what we will be. But we know that, when he is revealed, we will be like him; for we will see him just as he is. 3 Everyone who has this hope set on him purifies himself, even as he is pure.

This seems, again to be warning about a judgment, not about being zipped off to heaven.

Revelation 22:20 He who testifies these things says, “Yes, I come quickly.”

Amen! Yes, come, Lord Jesus.

This is the next-to-last verse in the Bible. Although it is difficult or impossible to fully know what Revelation means – it is highly symbolic and apocalyptic – there doesn’t seem to be anything in these verses, or in the entire book, that suggests that Christ will come back and remove believers. Instead, John seems to be describing the Second Coming of Christ.

Some Bible scholars believe that the event described in 1 Thessalonians 4 (quoted at the beginning of this section) has a different meaning. 1 Thessalonians 4:15: “who are left to the coming of the Lord,” in Greek, is ho zaō paraleipomai eis parousia (source). Parousia, according to the Blueletter Bible’s Outline of Biblical usage, means 1) presence

2) the coming, arrival, advent

a) the future visible return from heaven of Jesus, to raise the dead, hold the last judgment, and set up formally and gloriously the kingdom of God

N. T. Wright says that parousia concerns two ideas:

The first meaning was the mysterious presence of a god or divinity, particularly when the power of this god was revealed in healing. People would suddenly be aware of supernatural and powerful presence, and the obvious word for this was parousia. . . . The second meaning emerges when a person of high rank makes a visit to a subject state, particularly when a king or emperor visits a colony or province. The word for such a visit is royal presence: in Greek, parousia. In neither setting, we note, obviously but importantly, is there the slightest suggestion of anybody flying around on a cloud. Nor is there any hint of the imminent collapse of the space-time universe. (Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church, New York: HarperOne, 2008, page 129)

The above is an excerpt from my recently published e-book, Does the Bible Really Say That?, which may be obtained free of charge, or purchased from Amazon for $0.99, which is the lowest price Amazon lets an author set. Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain.

The previous post in this series is here. God willing, the next post in this series will continue a discussion of this topic, prophecy. Thanks for reading.

Pi day - on the ratios of similar shapes

Today, March 14, or 3/14, is celebrated by some, especially by schoolteachers, as pi day. The reason is that 3.14 is an approximation for pi. Why isn't 3.14 pi?

Pi is the ratio between the circumference, the distance around, and the diameter, the distance across, of a circle.

Let's consider a seemingly unrelated topic. Suppose you think about someone you are very familiar with, someone you have seen many times in current photos. Perhaps yourself, perhaps someone else. Can you recognize that person in a small photo, as well as a large one? Of course, unless the photo is so small that you can't make out details at all. Why is that so? The photos are different, yet they are all of the same person, and they are similar. Similar in what way? Several ways, such as eye color, perhaps, but they are similar in many ratios. The distance between that person's eyes, in the photos, has the same ratio to the distance from one corner of the mouth to the other, in every photo. The distance from one corner of the left eye to the tip of the nose has the same ratio to the distance from one corner of the right eye to the tip of the nose, in every photograph. You haven't measured these distances, or calculated the ratios, but if these, and many other ratios, weren't the same in each photograph, you would start to think that some of the photographs weren't of the same person. (For a person's face, we need to allow some leeway for whether they are smiling, the angle that the photo was taken from, and the like, but the ratios need to be close to the same, or the same, for the photo to look natural.)

One more example. Consider squares. Are all squares the same size? No, of course not. But all squares have some ratios that are identical, or they wouldn't be squares. Most obviously, the ratio between any one side of a square, and any other side, is 1. The sides are all identical. Another ratio of all squares is the ratio between any side and the distance from one corner to the opposite corner. That ratio can be determined by the Pythagorean Theorem, which tells us that the sum of the squares of the shorter sides of a right triangle is equal to the square of the hypotenuse, the longest side. From that, the ratio of the distance across a square, from one corner to an opposite corner, to a side of that square, is equal to the square root of 2. Always, for all squares.

So a person's picture always has the same ratios, or nearly so, between dimensions. A square always has exactly the same ratios between various dimensions. Circles, too, are all similar, regardless of size, meaning that the ratios of their dimensions are the same. What ratio? What dimension? The ratio between the distance around any circle, the circumference, to the distance across the circle, through the center, which is the diameter, is always the same. And that ratio is pi.

It so happens that pi (and also the square root of 2) are irrational numbers. That is, even though they are ratios, they cannot be exactly expressed as ratios between whole numbers. Pi is nearly 22/7, but not exactly. Pi is nearly 3 and 14/100, but not exactly.

For much more on pi, see the Wikipedia article.

Sunspots 461

Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to someone else:
The Arts: (and Humor) What kind of music do milk cows prefer to listen to? (Or what kind enhances milk production?) From National Public Radio.
Christianity: Ken Schenck on Inspiration, Authority, Infallibility and Inerrancy.
Heart, Mind, Soul and Strength on fasting.
Computing: Gizmo's Freeware has published an annotated list of the best free apps for iPhone.
Humor: (And politics, and a lot of other things) 40 photos from the last century. Some were heartbreaking, some amazing, some weird.
Politics: (and Sports) National Public Radio reports on the man who is most likely the world's tallest legislator.
Science: NPR also reports on snakes that glide through the air, and how they do it. (Includes a brief video.)

Image source (public domain)

Cosmos, with Neil deGrasse Tyson

I watched part of the first part of Cosmos, a series about (what else) the cosmos, on Fox TV and also on the National Graphic Channel, on Sunday evenings, with Neil deGrasse Tyson as narrator. This is an upgrade of a previous series, with the same name, with Carl Sagan as narrator, which may have been the most widely watched TV series of all time. It looks like the new one is going to be a great series, with great graphics, and magnificent subject matter, but Tyson unfortunately started it off by quoting Sagan, who said that "The cosmos is all that is or ever was or ever will be." (Cosmos, p. 4. New York, Random House, 1980.) That's an interesting statement. It may even be true, although I personally don't believe it, because the Bible contradicts it -- the Bible says that there is a God who is superior to the cosmos. And it's not a scientific statement at all. It's a philosophical statement, one that can't be proved or disproved by science. Sagan didn't do any experiments that showed it to be true. Neither did Tyson, or anyone else.

Here's the Wikipedia page on the new series. The Sagan series also has a Wikipedia article -- see the "previous series" link above.

Thanks for reading.

Does the Bible really say that? Excerpt from my book, 26

[Continuing a discussion on interpreting Bible prophecy:]

The above analysis is meant to raise cautions about prophecies of end times, so popular in our own day. We don’t know how those prophecies will be fulfilled, because they haven’t been fulfilled yet, and most of them are no clearer than the prophecies discussed above.

What we do know about end times

Here’s what Jesus said: Luke 12:35 “Let your waist be dressed and your lamps burning. 36 Be like men watching for their lord, when he returns from the marriage feast; that, when he comes and knocks, they may immediately open to him. 37 Blessed are those servants, whom the lord will find watching when he comes. Most certainly I tell you, that he will dress himself, and make them recline, and will come and serve them. 38 They will be blessed if he comes in the second or third watch, and finds them so. 39 But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what hour the thief was coming, he would have watched, and not allowed his house to be broken into. 40 Therefore be ready also, for the Son of Man is coming in an hour that you don’t expect him.” [All quotations from the World English Bible, public domain.]

So here’s what we do know, for sure, about Christ’s return:

1) His coming will be unexpected.

2) We need to be ready.

These two facts ought to be enough, but human curiosity drives us to try to want to know more.

Different views of eschatology

The study of end times is called eschatology. For more information, see the Wikipedia article on Christian eschatology:

“The major issues and events in Christian eschatology are death and the afterlife, Heaven and Hell, the Second Coming of Jesus, the Resurrection of the Dead, the Rapture, the Tribulation, Millennialism, the end of the world, the Last Judgment, and the New Heaven and New Earth of the World to Come.”

(Each of the capitalized terms has its own article.) Many Bible scholars believe that each of these events and issues are described in the Bible. Some disagree. For example, some Bible scholars don’t believe that there will be a rapture.

The Wikipedia also tells us that there are four main schools of thought on eschatology, as follows:

Preterism is the belief that most or all of the events in the above paragraph have already happened.

Historicism is the belief that many of the events listed above have happened, since the time of Christ.

Futurism is the belief that most of the prophecies concerning the above list of events are yet to be fulfilled.

Idealism is the belief that the descriptions of coming events in the Bible are symbolic, mostly of the battle between good and evil, rather than of actual observable events.

I quoted Luke 12 above. Here are two other passages, also telling us what Jesus said to His disciples about His return.

Matthew 24:29b the sun will be darkened, the moon will not give its light, the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken; 30 and then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky. Then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory. 31 He will send out his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together his chosen ones from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.

Matthew 25:31 “But when the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. 32 Before him all the nations will be gathered, and he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. 34 Then the King will tell those on his right hand, ‘Come, blessed of my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; 35 for I was hungry, and you gave me food to eat. I was thirsty, and you gave me drink. I was a stranger, and you took me in. 36 I was naked, and you clothed me. I was sick, and you visited me. I was in prison, and you came to me.’

Matthew 24 and 25 are apparently part of the same discourse by Jesus.

These descriptions (which are prophecies) don’t seem to be compatible with a preterist, historicist, or idealist view. They seem to be describing events so momentous that, if they had already occurred, we would know about them. That supports the futurist view. Again, such support must be flavored with the same kind of caution mentioned above about prophecies about Christ’s first appearance on earth. Nonetheless, I won’t discuss the other schools of thought any further. Futurism is the prevailing view among “conservative” Christians. (Conservative in regard to Bible interpretation, not necessarily in regard to politics.) However, some common futurist ideas are not firmly supported by scripture.

Futurists mostly believe in a rapture, wherein believers are removed from the earth, and in a tribulation, generally a seven-year tribulation. There are several varieties of futurists. These include pre-tribulationists, mid-tribulationists, and post-tribulationists. These differ on the timing of the rapture and the tribulation. A pre-tribulationist believes that there will be a rapture before the tribulation.

The above is an excerpt from my recently published e-book, Does the Bible Really Say That?, which may be obtained free of charge, or purchased from Amazon for $0.99, which is the lowest price Amazon lets an author set. Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain.

The previous post in this series is here. God willing, the next post in this series will continue a discussion of this topic, prophecy. Thanks for reading.

John Wesley's Biblical support for teaching holiness

John Wesley should be known for several things, such as his concern for the poor. During his last days, he supported William Wilberforce's eventually successful fight to make the slave trade illegal. One thing that he is known for is his belief in holiness, his proposal that Christians should be entirely sanctified. His idea of holiness, sanctification, or Christian perfection, didn't mean that Christians, including himself, would never make mistakes. It did mean that it was possible for a Christian, with the help of the Holy Spirit, to refrain from deliberately disobeying God, and to love God appropriately.

A recent post lists Biblical references to what the poster calls Wesley's thirty texts in support of this doctrine. I have used that list, and fleshed it out, from the public domain World English Bible. Here is the list, fleshed out by quotations from that Bible:

Ezekiel 36:25 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. I will cleanse you from all your filthiness, and from all your idols. 26 I will also give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit within you. I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. 29 I will save you from all your uncleanness. I will call for the grain, and will multiply it, and lay no famine on you.
Matthew 5:8 Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they shall see God.
48 Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.
6:10 Let your Kingdom come. Let your will be done, as in heaven, so on earth.
22:37 Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ (Quoting Deuteronomy 6:5)

John 8:34 Jesus answered them, “Most certainly I tell you, everyone who commits sin is the bondservant of sin. 35 A bondservant doesn’t live in the house forever. A son remains forever. 36 If therefore the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.
17:7  Sanctify them in your truth. Your word is truth. 20 Not for these only do I pray, but for those also who will believe in me through their word, 21 that they may all be one; even as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be one in us; that the world may believe that you sent me. 22 The glory which you have given me, I have given to them; that they may be one, even as we are one; 23 I in them, and you in me, that they may be perfected into one; that the world may know that you sent me, and loved them, even as you loved me.

Romans 2:29 but he is a Jew who is one inwardly, and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit not in the letter; whose praise is not from men, but from God.
12:1 Therefore I urge you, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service. 2 Don’t be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what is the good, well-pleasing, and perfect will of God.

2 Corinthians 7:1 Having therefore these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

Galatians  2:20 I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I that live, but Christ living in me. That life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself up for me.

Ephesians 3:14 For this cause, I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 3:15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, 3:16 that he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, that you may be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inward man; 3:17 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; to the end that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 3:18 may be strengthened to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 3:19 and to know Christ’s love which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
5:27 that he might present the assembly to himself gloriously, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.

Philippians 3:15 Let us therefore, as many as are perfect, think this way. If in anything you think otherwise, God will also reveal that to you.

1 Thessalonians 5:23 May the God of peace himself sanctify you completely. May your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Titus 2:11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, 2:12 instructing us to the intent that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we would live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world; 2:13 looking for the blessed hope and appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ; 2:14 who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify for himself a people for his own possession, zealous for good works.

Hebrews 6:1 Therefore leaving the teaching of the first principles of Christ, let us press on to perfection—not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works, of faith toward God,
7:25 Therefore he is also able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, seeing that he lives forever to make intercession for them.
10:14 For by one offering he has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.
12:14 Follow after peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no man will see the Lord,

James 1:4 Let endurance have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

1 John 1:5 This is the message which we have heard from him and announce to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. 1:6 If we say that we have fellowship with him and walk in the darkness, we lie, and don’t tell the truth. 1:7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, his Son, cleanses us from all sin. 1:8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us the sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
 3:3 Everyone who has this hope set on him purifies himself, even as he is pure.
 3:8 He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. To this end the Son of God was revealed, that he might destroy the works of the devil. 3:9 Whoever is born of God doesn’t commit sin, because his seed remains in him; and he can’t sin, because he is born of God. 3:10 In this the children of God are revealed, and the children of the devil. Whoever doesn’t do righteousness is not of God, neither is he who doesn’t love his brother.
 5:13 These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.
Thanks for reading!

Sunspots 460

Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to someone else:
Christianity: An essay in the Huffington Post tells us why we shouldn't use "I'm blessed," or the equivalent, as much as many of us do.
Computing: Wired tells us that Amazon may be about to release a device that streams video to your TV.
Gizmo's Freeware on what they say is a great free photo editor for iOS and Android devices.
Gizmo's also has an annotated list of 9 free apps that every Android device owner should consider installing.
Politics: (And Christianity) Charles Haynes on the continuing battles to get officially-sanctioned prayer back in schools.
Science: National Public Radio reports that NASA has found 715 new planets.


Image source (public domain)

Elfhunter, by C. S. Marks

I recently read Elfhunter, by C. S. Marks. It's a lot like Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings trilogy.

How is this book like Tolkien? Here are some of the ways. It's a well-crafted book of sword and sorcery fantasy, set in an earth-like world, or maybe even on earth, in temperate deciduous forest, with mountains, rivers and lakes. There are elves, living in isolated kingdoms. These elves are potentially immortal, and there is some sort of realm where they go if they are killed in battle, or just decide to die. They can marry humans, but usually don't, and, if they do, they know that they the human will die, leaving the elf to grieve on, and they know that they won't be re-united after death. There are dwarves who live in underground kingdoms. Dwarves and elves don't get along very well. Tolkien barely acknowledged that there were female dwarves. Marks doesn't so much as mention them. Neither author tells us how large groups of beings living underground could get enough food. There are no orcs, or, more correctly, there are Ulcas, which are a lot like Tolkien's orcs. There are humans here, who look a lot like elves, but are not immortal, at least not in their human bodies. The only humans in the book are Rangers, who patrol the land, much like Aragorn and his compatriots in Tolkien's work. If you like Tolkien's Middle-Earth, you should like Alterra. But there are no hobbits, and most of the characters in this book are not human.

Elfhunter is well-written, and character-driven, although there is a plot, and there are settings that are important. I found almost no usage errors. (This is a second edition, and perhaps some of errors in the earlier version were eliminated.) Marks does use "'ere." rather than "ere," for some reason, and she uses it fairly often. There is a thorough glossary, which is interesting. I read the Kindle edition, which has a good working table of contents.

There are differences from Tolkien. As indicated above, there aren't many humans in this book. There's no Gandalf to come in and save the day, and even offer his life for others. The leading character is a female elf scout, Gaelen, and her best friend, and co-scout, Nelwyn, is also a female. Both of them fall in love, and those that they fall in love with, Rogond, a Ranger, and Galador, an elf from a different group of elves, are also major characters. There is a quest, but it's to destroy an evil being, Gorgon, the Elfhunter, rather than to destroy a ring of power. That's all I'll say about the plot, except to note that the book does come to an ending which is a reasonable closure, although there are suggestions that there is more to come. (There are at least two more books in the series, which I have yet to read. The third book has not yet come out in a second edition.)

There are beings known as Asari. They don't seem to be elves, or equivalent to the Istari, Tolkien's wizards, but some sort of higher immortal being. By the time of the events in the book, most of the original twelve of these have passed from the earth. At least one of them has joined with Wrothgar, the supreme evil being of Alterra.

There are quite a few scenes of violence, in battle and single attacks, and the book is not for the squeamish. There's no overt sex in the book, although some characters fall in love.

Like Tolkien, there is a struggle between good and evil, and we usually know which is which. There was no good in Tolkien's orcs, and little or none in the Ulcas. The Elfhunter is portrayed as being incapable of good, or even of appreciating beauty in nature, although there are hints that these characteristics might possibly change in the future. Here's a key quotation on that point:
He heard Gaelen muttering in her soft, clear voice: "If only you could know how beautifully the stars burn tonight… if only you could feel the longing in my heart for them… and for you." "But…I do feel it," Gorgon muttered in reply, though he was not aware of doing so. His eyes were closed now, for he concentrated entirely upon the brilliant field of silver lights that wheeled above him. "Such beautiful lights…so bright…so cold. Like cold fire burning for eternity…."

Several characters pray, although it's not clear what or who they are praying to.

I liked this book, and have begun the second volume. Thanks for reading.

Does the Bible really say that? Excerpt from my book, 25

[Continuing a discussion of the first four prophecies about Christ in the book of Matthew:]

The second prophecy listed by Matthew as fulfilled is

Matthew 2:6 ‘You Bethlehem, land of Judah,

    are in no way least among the princes of Judah:

for out of you shall come forth a governor,

    who shall shepherd my people, Israel.’

The original statement is:

Micah 5:1 Now you shall gather yourself in troops,

    daughter of troops.

He has laid siege against us.

    They will strike the judge of Israel with a rod on the cheek.

2 But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,

    being small among the clans of Judah,

    out of you one will come forth to me that is to be ruler in Israel;

    whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting.

3 Therefore he will abandon them until the time that she who is in labor gives birth.

    Then the rest of his brothers will return to the children of Israel.

4 He shall stand, and shall shepherd in the strength of Yahweh,

    in the majesty of the name of Yahweh his God:

    and they will live, for then he will be great to the ends of the earth.

5 He will be our peace when Assyria invades our land,

    and when he marches through our fortresses,

    then we will raise against him seven shepherds,

    and eight leaders of men.

6 They will rule the land of Assyria with the sword,

    and the land of Nimrod in its gates.

It is clear that at least one scholar understood that verse 2 referred to the birth of the Messiah, because he communicated that to the Wise Men. But the context, before and after, involves warfare, in particular against the Assyrians. Would anyone familiar with this prophecy, when it was given, have understood that it was talking about the birth of God’s Son, the Savior?

The third fulfilled prophecy, according to Matthew, is this:

Matthew 2:14 He arose and took the young child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt, 15 and was there until the death of Herod; that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, “Out of Egypt I called my son.”

Here’s the original:

Hosea 11:1 “When Israel was a child, then I loved him,

    and called my son out of Egypt.

2 They called to them, so they went from them.

    They sacrificed to the Baals,

    and burned incense to engraved images.

3 Yet I taught Ephraim to walk.

    I took them by his arms;

    but they didn’t know that I healed them.

4 I drew them with cords of a man, with ties of love;

    and I was to them like those who lift up the yoke on their necks;

    and I bent down to him and I fed him.

5 “They won’t return into the land of Egypt;

    but the Assyrian will be their king,

    because they refused to repent.

This seems to be speaking of the Exodus, and subsequent events. (Ephraim is sometimes used, in the Old Testament, to signify the Northern Kingdom.) Apparently God meant this prophecy to cover more than one event, one national – all the Israelites – and one related to the early life of Christ. Matthew tells us that it is, in part, anyway, a prophecy of Joseph, Mary and Jesus going to Egypt. However, note that Hosea prophesied that the Israelites wouldn’t return to Egypt. Clearly, that didn’t include the Holy Family.

The fourth prophecy, a sad one, is:

Matthew 2:18 “A voice was heard in Ramah,

    lamentation, weeping and great mourning,

Rachel weeping for her children;

    she wouldn’t be comforted,

    because they are no more.”

The source is Jeremiah 31:11 For Yahweh has ransomed Jacob, and redeemed him from the hand of him who was stronger than he. 12 They shall come and sing in the height of Zion, and shall flow to the goodness of Yahweh, to the grain, and to the new wine, and to the oil, and to the young of the flock and of the herd: and their soul shall be as a watered garden; and they shall not sorrow any more at all. 13 Then shall the virgin rejoice in the dance, and the young men and the old together; for I will turn their mourning into joy, and will comfort them, and make them rejoice from their sorrow. 14 I will satiate the soul of the priests with fatness, and my people shall be satisfied with my goodness, says Yahweh. 15 Thus says Yahweh: A voice is heard in Ramah, lamentation, and bitter weeping, Rachel weeping for her children; she refuses to be comforted for her children, because they are no more. 16 Thus says Yahweh: Refrain your voice from weeping, and your eyes from tears; for your work shall be rewarded, says Yahweh; and they shall come again from the land of the enemy. 17 There is hope for your latter end, says Yahweh; and your children shall come again to their own border.

It would seem that this would have been difficult, or impossible, to read as a prophecy of Herod killing the boy babies to try to kill Christ. The passage, as a whole, is a prophecy of the restoration of Israel.

We know that these four prophecies have been fulfilled, and how they were fulfilled. The Bible tells us that they have been fulfilled. But, in their own time, they would seem to have caused real difficulty for anyone trying to understand them the way Matthew did. All of them had more than one meaning, and the first meaning was not related to Christ’s early life. God could, of course, have especially revealed the second meaning to an individual, or more than one. Perhaps He did this in relation to Micah’s prophecy of Christ’s birth in Bethlehem. These four examples are not atypical. Additional prophecies referred to in Matthew, who, more than the other Gospel writers, emphasizes fulfilled prophecy, seem equally obscure in their original context, unless we know how they were fulfilled.

The above is an excerpt from my recently published e-book, Does the Bible Really Say That?, which may be obtained free of charge, or purchased from Amazon for $0.99, which is the lowest price Amazon lets an author set. Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain.

The previous post in this series is here. God willing, the next post in this series will continue a discussion of this topic, prophecy. Thanks for reading.

The following is not excerpted from my book:
On September 24, 2019, the Resurrecting Orthodoxy blog posted an examination of the use of Isaiah 53 (the suffering servant passage) in the New Testament, and concludes that most people's understanding of it (including mine) are wrong. More examinations of the use of prophecy in the New Testament are to be added, in this series.