Do You Really Believe What The Bible Says?

On a homeschool forum a lady raised a question about something that she read in Apologia's Exploring Creation With Zoology 3 book. The book mentions in the first chapter, which is available to read online as a sample, that all animals at creation were vegetarian. It has the scripture to back up what it is saying. Her question was "Is this a common Christian belief?" She stated that she is a Christian and had never heard this before.

Please understand, I am not the final judge of "who is or is not a Christian", but I do sometimes wonder why people will say they are Christians, yet when they are faced with some of the *hard* to believe things, they question the Bible. The original question asker wanted to know if this was a common belief. Some people responded yes, some no. Some responded by saying things like how it would be ridiculous to think that a T-Rex would have had a vegetarian diet. I really think, however, that how a person views those first few chapters of Genesis says a lot about the person and their beliefs.

Think about it: If you do not believe that God is capable of doing things that seem irrational to us (T-Rex eating plants, whales and such not eating other sea creatures) why do they think the Bible states it a certain way? And what, exactly is God capable of doing, if you feel this way? I really thought when I was younger that it did not matter if a person believed that the earth was 6,000 or billions of years old. But, if a person does not believe God from the outset of those first few chapters, I wounder why they should believe ANY of the Bible.

Some of the people who responded to this lady's question gave the verses showing why this is believed

Genesis 1:28-30:28And God blessed them. And God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth." 29And God said, "Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. 30And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food."

and

Genesis 9:1-3 1And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. 2 The fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth and upon every bird of the heavens, upon everything that creeps on the ground and all the fish of the sea. Into your hand they are delivered. 3 Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. And as I gave you the green plants, I give you everything.

Yet, they are people saying they don't believe it! Have you ever come across someone who can be shown a verse and still say "Well, I still just don't believe it."? Hmm.... I would never do that! Or would I? Do I really believe that I am am going to have to give an account for every careless word? If I believe that I would choose my words more carefully than if I not believe it. Do I really believe that children are a blessing? Am I treating my children like blessings if I yell at them, or speak those careless words to them? So, I think you see where I am going with this one. We all have areas where we need to improve. The question is, are you seeking to improve, or are you saying I just don't believe that way? What say you?

God's Providence

Mark has been teaching a series of lessons to the youth on Wednesday nights about how everything in the Bible is there to show God's glory. He is teaching one-two lessons from each book. Some stories (like Joshua and the Battle of Jericho) are easy to quickly read through and see God's glory and triumph shining. Others are easy to just skim over and hardly notice the big picture.

A couple of weeks ago he taught on Ruth. I have read Ruth several times, but never really studied it. Just a quick look at the meaning of some of the names in Ruth is fascinating. Elimelech (My God is King) is married to Naomi (pleasant). They have two sons, Mahlon (sick) and Chilion (pining). {Great names for the kiddos, huh?} There is a famine. I think, for me anyway, it is hard to imagine what these people would go through in a time of famine. I mean think about it, here if there is a bad season and crops we can always go to the grocery store that has fresh produce available year round. We can go to restaurants anytime we please and get anything we want. These people suffered greatly if there was a time of famine. To keep their sickly kids from starving Elimelech and Naomi had to leave their home and go to a far away place. They left Bethlehem and settled in Moab.

This is another one of those things that I have at times just read over and not really thought much about. Moab. The people of Moab are descended from the incestuous union of Lot and his daughter. {side note here: Mark taught a lesson about the effects of alcohol to the youth over a year ago titled I love my Family...But Not That Way! . He used the story of Lot to teach that alcohol can make you do weird things and make you so out of it that others can do bad things to you. The youth still remember almost every detail of the story. As soon as he said the Moabites were descended from Lot they all started saying things like "EEWWW, Yuck!!!"} So the Moabites as a people had a less than desirable beginning. Not only that, but they worshiped some pretty horrible gods. One of which (Chemosh) was a god of child sacrifice. Could you imagine something so terrible that you had to take your family away from everything safe and comfortable and put them in a place like that? It would be horrible!

They were not there for just a little while. They were there long enough that the boys became men and found someone to marry. I feel pretty sure that the parents would have liked for them to marry nice Jewish girls. Guess what? They were in Moab, surrounded by Moabite girls! Who did they marry? Moabites. I always assumed that was a bad thing. I mean. God had said not to marry foreign women, right? Not exactly.

Deuteronomy 7:1-3: 1"When the LORD your God brings you into the land that you are entering to take possession of it, and clears away many nations before you, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations more numerous and mightier than yourselves, 2 and when the LORD your God gives them over to you, and you defeat them, then you must devote them to complete destruction. You shall make no covenant with them and show no mercy to them. 3 You shall not intermarry with them, giving your daughters to their sons or taking their daughters for your sons,

Hmmm... They were told not to marry women of the lands they were conquering. Moab was not on the list. So these guys were doing nothing wrong. They married girls named Orpah (stubborn) and Ruth (friendship).

During the ten year stay in Moab Elimelech died. Then Mahlon and Chilion died. Naomi had some really hard things in her life. If this were happening to someone today (had to move far away, lost her husband and children) we would feel sorry for them. It would be very sad. In that time however, she could not just run out and get a job someone to support herself. Plus, she had two daughters-in-law to look after.

Naomi hears that there is once again food in Bethlehem. Or as the Bible puts it "The Lord had visited His people". These people may have had their faults in many ways, but they were right on in giving God His glory when he blessed them. They understood that goodness comes from God. So Naomi is going to head back to Bethlehem. She tells the girls to go back to their families since she has no more sons for them. See, God had made a law to take take of young widows.

Deuteronomy 25:5-6- If brothers dwell together, and one of them dies and has no son, the wife of the dead man shall not be married outside the family to a stranger. Her husband’s brother shall go in to her and take her as his wife and perform the duty of a husband’s brother to her. And the first son whom she bears shall succeed to the name of his dead brother, that his name may not be blotted out of Israel.

There were no more sons. No one to take care of or provide for these women. Naomi tells them twice to go back to their families and to their gods. So these women must have been worshiping the true God while they were married to the Israelite men. Orpah leaves, but Ruth stays with Naomi.

Ruth 1:16-17:16But Ruth said, "Do not urge me to leave you or to return from following you. For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God. 17Where you die I will die, and there will I be buried. May the LORD do so to me and more also if anything but death parts me from you."

Wow. She was willing to leave everything behind and follow the true God. She was willing to stay with Naomi, even though it meant not living a life of ease. As they departed for Bethlehem, somewhere along the way Naomi changed her name to Mara (bitter). Very fitting since her life over the last ten years had been very bitter.

Going back had to be hard. They were two widows. No means of support. More or less, they were beggars at the mercy of others. God's providence was at work again. You see, many years before in the law God had given commandments to take care of the poor.

Leviticus 19:9-10- When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field right up to its edge, neither shall you gather the gleanings after your harvest. 10And you shall not strip your vineyard bare, neither shall you gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard. You shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner: I am the LORD your God.

When they returned to Bethlehem it *happened* to be right at the beginning of the barley harvest. Ruth volunteered to go out and reap for herself and Naomi. She *happened* to end up in a field belonging to a wealthy relative. That relative (Boaz) *happened* to notice her in the fields. He asked someone who she was and found out that she had come from Moab with Naomi. Boaz tells her to stay in his field, with his people so that she will be protected. Can you imagine being a woman in a foreign country, with no way to support yourself, no family other than an elderly mother-in-law, and some kind stranger offer to protect you? In chapter 2 verse 8 he says to her, "Now listen, my daughter...". He offers her his protection and kindness because of the love she showed to Naomi.

Ruth 2:11-12-11But Boaz answered her, "All that you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband has been fully told to me, and how you left your father and mother and your native land and came to a people that you did not know before. 12 The LORD repay you for what you have done, and a full reward be given you by the LORD, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge!"

He even fed her lunch. Then he told his servants to drop a few sheaves so that she would have more to take home.

So Ruth get home with her big load of grain. Naomi is, of course, happy to see how much she brought home, but even happier to hear where Ruth has been. Boaz is a close relative. According to the law the closest male relative has certain responsibilities for those left behind after a death. They could include a). avenging a death. We see no evidence of foul play at hand in this story. b.) buying back family property that was sold to pay debts. This does come into play here. c.) buying back a family member that had sold himself into slavery. Fortunately no selling of humans in this story. d.) marrying the deceased's widow. Older women (historically) have always thought being married was best, and you can get a glimpse of Naomi scheming when she says "This man is a close relative of ours, one of our redeemers." (Verse 20.)

The time comes to thresh the grains. Naomi tells Ruth to take a bath, put on her best clothes, anoint herself and go to meet Boaz on the threshing floor. Naomi tells her to go and lay at his feet when he goes to sleep. (Yuck, she got all prettied up for THAT?!?!?!) Ruth does what Naomi tells her, even goes a step further. When Boaz wakes up and sees a person he asked who it was. Ruth told him who she was and even asks him to "cover her", which is basically saying that she is proposing to him. He is happy about it and says yes. He sends her away in the morning with 60-80 POUNDS of barley!!! The only snag in the plan is that there is another man, who is a closer relative that could make this whole thing not happen like they are wanting.

So Boaz gets this other relative (we really do not know the relationship, they could be cousins or even brothers, we are just not sure from the Bible texts) in the presence of some friends who are in the village. He tells him that Naomi is back and is going to sell a piece of land if he wants to redeem it. He throws in that there is also a widow of one of Naomi's sons that needs to be redeemed. The other relative does not want to have to split his children's inheritances with someone else so he tells Boaz no. This clears the way for Boaz to marry Ruth.

So many times we look at sad situations and wonder why God would allow such terrible things to happen. Why was there this famine that drove a family to a far land? Why did the father and BOTH sons have to die leaving Naomi a widow in a far away land with no one to take care of her? Why did her daughter in law have to tag along giving Naomi someone else to have to care for? The book of Ruth ends with the very reason why:

Salmon fathered Boaz, Boaz fathered Obed, Obed fathered Jesse, and Jesse fathered David.

The plan seems even clearer when you flip to Matthew and read the genealogy of Christ. This was all a part of God's plan for redemptive history. God used this Moabitess to be in the bloodline of HIS Son. With out Ruth and Boaz being married, there would have been no great-grandson David. Which would have meant no Davidic covenant. See, God knows the story from end to beginning. We can often see the here and now. If some of bad stuff had not happened, the good stuff would have not been able to happen. I pray that God helps me to remember this when something I am going through gives me the tendency to think why me. My I take Romans 5:3-4 to heart:

More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope,

Don't ever give up on hope

Samuel's New Bible

Our kids have all had a Precious Moments Bible of some sort since they were born. They have all had a small hands edition NKJV. Nathaniel had a beautiful CEV. The pictures in it were more vibrant and colorful than most Precious Moments pictures. Now that they are older Nathaniel has a plain, black Bible, Benjamin has a Faith to Grow on Bible, and Samuel has gone through several kinds. I have gotten tickled at how he points out things in certain storybook Bibles that are either illustrated too cutesy or or just worded poorly. His favorite Bible story is Noah's Ark. Ever since he found out that Noah's Ark was not a tiny boat with smiling animals sticking their heads out the many windows, he points out that what is in his Bible is not "real".(actually i was a little unhappy about one being too "real" in the Adam and Eve illustations) Tapestry of Grace recommends The Children's Illustrated Bible, but I just have not been super-impressed with it. I have really wanted something he could help read. But not a happy baby story book. Is that too much to ask?

I found a Bible at Lifeway in Huntsville one day. I really wanted to get it, but the dust jacket was ripped. Granted, it was just the dust jacket. Being the perfectionist that I am I was not paying $22.00 for something ripped. I planned to go home and order it online.

The only problem was, I forgot the name of the Bible. Do you know that if you just type in "children's Bibles" into your search engine you might stare at the screen for days? I went to Lifeway and to Christian Book Distributors with no luck. I even called the Lifeway store to ask them what the name of the children's Bible with a ripped dust jacket was. They said they could not find one with a ripped dust jacket.

So I was determined that I would find it. No matter how many hours I was not getting out from in front of the computer until I had found it. I searched all the Bible publishers that I could think of first. granted, that meant Thomas Nelson and Zondervan. Nothing else would come to mind. Then I did remember that the Bible said something about a big picture or a timeline. Every time I typed "big picture Bible timeline" I kept coming up with this, which looks nice, but is not what I wanted. But truthfully, I had never gone past the first few results from that search. I finally found it!!! Not only did I find it, but it was cheaper than it had been at Lifeway!!! Hooray!!!

I am a big fan of customer reviews. I read some of the reviews. They were mostly very, very good reviews. I only saw two negative ones. One of them said that their kid did not the Bible because everyone in it had a sad face. Because I had flipped through it myself, I knew that was not the case. There were lots of smiling, happy people drawn in the pictures. The other said this:

I am a very conservative Christian and I just didn't see this Bible giving an accurate account of the stories. It seemed to have a very "interpretive" spin on them. One I didn't think was accurate or appropriate. I was really disappointed, to say the least. I did, very much, feel like a lot of the stories emphasized God's "punishment" of people. While I believe strongly in discipline, and believe that "God chastens those whom He loves," I do not think the theme of "punishment," which I thought was pretty blatant in this Bible, was doing God's word justice at all. Yes, there is eternal punishment, and the Bible teaches that, but it is not what is being taught in this Bible. Further, the themes of love, redemption, grace, etc are too subtle to really be enjoyed, much less even seen by children. For instance, this Bible says that God kicked Adam and Eve out of the Garden to "punish" them. This is interpretive. It was not a punishment, it was a disciplinary measure to help them see their sin and their need for God. It was to teach them what life is like without God, and realize how they had been wrong. Further, it was to protect them--God did not want them to eat from the Tree of Life, and "live forever." I interpret that to mean, as in a mortal life, in their sinful state. God, in His *mercy," protected them from eating from that Tree, which would have been far worse since they were in a fallen state. I know that is *my* interpretation, but the "punishment" theory in this Bible is also interpretive. It would have been much better to simply leave out the interpretation, and just tell the story.

Uhm...okay. I always thought that banishment from the garden, hard labor (work), pain in childbirth, etc... WERE punishments.

It came the day before Easter!! How cool is that??? I ordered enough to get free shipping (because I am a cheapskate) so that meant it could have taken longer to get here. As a matter of fact we were not expecting it until the next Wednesday. Samuel LOVES it!!! Most of it is not something that he can sit and just read all by himself, but he can read parts of it. He gets excited that he can read it. Being a "Storybook Bible" means that it does not have *all* of the Bible stories in it. What is does have in it, however, is that Jesus is the theme of the Bible. It shows how the Old Testament gives us hints about Him. It shows how the New Testament is all about Him. It even talks about end times. Most of our story Bibles do not. It is a wonderful Bible!! No, it is not one he can use from now until he is old and grey.
But it seems just right for now.

ps. We threw the dust jacket away. It just gets in the way while we are reading.

The OUCH factor in Romans 12:1-2

Romans12 1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

I have heard it said before that the problem with a living sacrifice is that it can crawl off the altar. True, but there is something else that gets me about these verses. Being a living sacrifice, being holy is our reasonable sacrifice. This is not something in there just for the super-devoted. It is not just for the missionaries and pastors. Being a living sacrifice is not just for those who feel the call to go above and beyond the "normal Christian walk" It is what is reasonable for All people who are Christians. Considering the fact that we are flawed and sinful creatures, that seems like such a lofty goal. How are we supposed to be holy and acceptable to GOD? He is holy, perfect, sinless, righteous.....the list could on and on. We are....well, we are not like God. We get tired so we get cranky. We have a bad day so we speak unkind words to people. But that is not making us holy. How do we do that? Do we join certain church that have "holy" somewhere in their title and have strict rules about things, even dress codes for outside of church? No. There may be people in that church who are trying to pursue holiness, but belonging to this church or that one does not in and of itself make someone holy.
Verse two lights the way for us-And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. We are not supposed to follow the world for our way of life. We are supposed to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. But then, how does that happen? Do we become Christians one day then our minds are suddenly transformed? NO! We have to pray, we have to study our Bibles. Then as God reveals to us those things in our lives which are unacceptable to His will, we have to weed those things out. We have to learn to look at things through the filter of the Holy Spirit. Before we go places or do things we have to ask if Jesus would do the same in our position. Would God want to listen to the CD with us, or read the book with us, or play the video game with our kids? Would God watch that movie with us? We, as Christians, need to be careful with what we are filling our minds. If we are filling it good, holy things, there will be no room left for those things that God hates.