Replies To Reader’s Comments [6]

RESPONSE TO READER’S COMMENT – Are ALL People Tempted to “Do” Wrong?? – TEMPTATION [5] – [6]

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I received a very insightful comment to my last post, Are ALL People Tempted to “Do” Wrong??  –  TEMPTATION [5],  http://wp.me/p5nZpi-xt.  This reader requested a post to address their questions.

Here is the comment that I received…

Very interesting. I would like to see a post on how — if we do “give in” to the temptations we endure (“deal with”)— how God reacts to that, how we ask for forgiveness / what God does when we ask for forgiveness. I think it’s inevitable to “give in” to temptation, even for the little things.

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The reader’s questions will be highlighted in orange, and my response will be in black.

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HOW DO WE (“DEAL WITH”) “GIVING INTO” TEMPTATION —

The aftereffect of giving into our temptations is the same, yet different, depending on whether you’re a Christ-follower or not.

HOW GOD REACTS TO PEOPLE WHO “GIVE INTO” THEIR TEMPTATION —

Both Christ-followers, and non-Christ-followers experience the natural consequences of their choices, their yielding to temptation.  But being set free from the guilt of sin, is where Christ-followers and non-Christ-followers differ.  God’s promises to Christ-followers do not automatically apply to non-Christ-followers.

If you are not a Christ-follower, see The Cornerstone… to learn more about becoming a Christ-follower, http://wp.me/P5nZpi-bJ,  Jesus has taken away your sins, past, present, and future, when He died on the cross, and He provided a way for people to enter heaven.  He (Jesus) personally carried our sins in His body on the cross so that we can be dead to sin and live for what is right. By His wounds you are healed. –  1Peter 2:24

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Ephesians 1:7, He (God) is so rich in kindness and grace that He purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins.

The word “forgive” means to wipe the slate clean, to pardon, to cancel a debt. Granting and receiving forgiveness is so important because it enables relationships to be restored.

                                          Forgive-Debt

 

HOW DO WE ASK FOR FORGIVENESS —

If we confess our sins to Him, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness. – 1 John 1:9    

The verse above tells us to “confess” our sins to God. The word “confess” means “to agree with.” When we confess our sins to God, we are agreeing with God that we were wrong, and that we have sinned against Him.

We also see in this verse that God is faithful.  This means that He forgives the sins of all those who receive Christ as Savior, God is faithful, through whom you were called into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. – 1 Corinthians 1:9

WHAT DOES GOD DO WHEN WE ASK FOR FORGIVENESS —

After we acknowledge our wrong doing, God applies what Jesus did on the cross for humankind.  Jesus paid the price for the sins we’ve committed, and will commit.  God forgives us, and restores our relationship with Him.

God frees us from our guilt, but we will still have to “deal with” the consequences of our choices.

When we confess our sins to God it is important that we have a change or attitude, a change of direction.  To acknowledge our wrong doing is an important first step, and sinning no more, in that area, is an important second step.

Remember what Jesus told the woman caught in adultery, …“Go and sin no more”  –  John 8:11

Jesus did not condemn (criticize or belittle) the woman, but He didn’t ignore or condone her sin.

God recognizes that everyone has sinned; that all fall short of His glorious standard – Romans 3:23 But with God’s help we can receive forgiveness and stop doing “wrong”.

IT’S INEVITABLE TO “GIVE IN” TO TEMPTATION, EVEN FOR THE LITTLE THINGS —

You are right on target when you say it’s inevitable to “give in” to temptation, even for the little things.

The Bible confirms this,

Ecclesiastes 7:20, Not a single person on earth is always good and never sins. 

1 John 1:8 says, If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth.

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KNOW THAT GOD LOVES PEOPLE —

God would do anything to restore our relationship with Him.  Perhaps you’ve seen this well-known, but often disregarded, verse at sporting events.  This is how much God loves us…

He gave His one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.  –  John 3:16

                             Saved

 

I hope this has answered your questions 🙂

I encourage any of my readers to please leave comments or questions in the comment section, and I will do my best to answer those for you.  As the saying goes, no question is a dumb question, and other people probably have the same question.  🙂

**TO READ THE ORIGINAL POST, SEE BELOW LINK**

Are ALL People Tempted to “Do” Wrong??  –  TEMPTATION [5],  http://wp.me/p5nZpi-xt

What Is Driving Our Temptations??  –  TEMPTATION – [7],   http://wp.me/p5nZpi-yx

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  • A great resource for Bible verses, Bible Topics, Commentaries, etc. – http://www.BibleGateway.com

 

Response to Reader’s Comment – Are All People Children of God??? (Part 2 of 3)

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Thank you very much KaraLee for the thought-provoking comment on the post Are All People Children of God???  (Part 2).  See post and comment at http://wp.me/p5nZpi-pI.

Before I respond to KaraLee’s comment, I like to offer a brief description qualifying my study and explanation of Scripture.

I understand all Scripture to be…

  • inspired by God, All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. – 2 Timothy 3:16
  • written by human authors
  • written within a historical setting

Therefore, applying exegesis (critical explanation or interpretation of a text, especially of Scripture) in my opinion, requires understanding the usage of language in sentences and paragraphs,  examining verses/words/sentences within their context,  and seeking to understand the passages within their cultural setting.

KaraLee had so many great comments that I’d like to address them individually.  KaraLee’s comments will be highlighted in orange, my responses will be in black.

Thanks for the food for thought! I thought of a lot of stuff- hope it makes sense!          

I personally believe that our Heavenly Father literally created our spirits before we came to live on this earth and that our mortal parents are the facilities that house our eternal spirits (Hebrews 12:9).

Hebrews 12:9 – Since we respected our earthly fathers who disciplined us, shouldn’t we submit even more to the discipline of the Father of our spirits, and live forever?

  1. If we look at the context of Hebrews 12:9, see the passage, https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Hebrews+12:1-12, we’ll notice that this passage is not addressing pre-birth spiritual existence of people.

2.  The writer of Hebrews is addressing discipline in this passage.  He is referencing the similarity between a human father’s discipline and God’s discipline, as an expression of love.

3.  You’ll even notice that the word discipline is used 10 times within these 12 verses.

4.  God is described as the Father of our Spirits in v.12:9, but no where in this verse, other verses in the Bible, or within the context of this passage, was I able to find support that God created people’s spirits before they were born.

5. The only passage referring to pre-birth, and God, can be found in Psalm 139:13-16,

13You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body
    and knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!
    Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.
15 You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion,
    as I was woven together in the dark of the womb.
16 You saw me before I was born.

The entire passage can be found – https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+139

Which is why I think our Father in Heaven is so invested in our return to Him.

I wouldn’t want to lose any of my children.

Along with this statement is the assumption that you are your children’s mother.  Your children are children of KaraLee. But the Scriptures say that we are not automatically children of God. We are created by God. And it’s not until we, as individuals, believe Him and accept Him, that He gave the right to become children of God. – John 1:12

I do think all are children of God.

Here’s how the Scriptures define a child of God –

To all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God.  –  John 1:12

An opportunity, a right, not an automatic or a given that ALL people are children of God.

In this next passage, Jesus says that not all people’s father is God.

Jesus told them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, because I have come to you from God. I am not here on my own, but he sent me. Why can’t you understand what I am saying? It’s because you can’t even hear me!  For you are the children of your father the devil… ” –  John 8:42-44

Whether people accept or recognize Him doesn’t mean He forgets them.

I agree with this statement, but it has nothing to do with a person’s status in “God’s family”.  Rather, it reminds us of the Biblical fact that God is love – 1 John 4:8, and that it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones (anyone – my add) should perish. – Matthew 18:14

Scripture confirms that…

  1. God gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike. – Matt. 5:45
  2. God is being patient for our sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent.  – 2 Peter 3:9
  3. Jesus also is clear that ALL people will not recognize Him as Lord. In John 10, Jesus uses the parable of the sheep and the gate, saying… I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me—but you do not believe because you are not my sheep. My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. – John 10:9,14,26-28
  4. And in Matt 7:22-23 Jesus says, On judgment day many will say to me, ‘Lord! Lord! We prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name. But I will reply, ‘I never knew you. Get away from me, you who break God’s laws. 

I wouldn’t disown my child if they decided to go against me. I do think that people can be called ” a child of God” in a deeper sense if they are His disciples or followers.

It’s not so much a matter of “in a deeper sense”, but it is the only way to be considered a “child of God”.  And that is, if you are His follower.  You are either a child of God, or you’re not.

But to all who believed Him and accepted Him, He gave the right to become children of God. – John 1:12

And Jesus says in Matthew 7:21 – Not everyone who calls out to me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter.

As far as the scriptures referring to “adoption” I feel like it is a matter of semantics.

I disagree with this comment.  The word adoption holds much more weight than it is given credit for.  It has a specific meaning.  According to Webster Dictionary’s definition, semantics means that words have the same effect.  There’s no real difference.

However, the word adopt is defined in Dictionary.com  –  to take and rear (the child of other parents) as one’s own child, specifically by a formal legal act.

The child of other parents, is a BIG distinction that makes God’s use of the word adoption in the Scriptures significant, and certainly not a matter of semantics.

I will be getting into adoption more in the next post.

We are already his literal creation, but we have to work at coming unto Him or being His “Chosen” people or ” people who choose God”.

This comment seems to me to be an oxymoron.

On the one hand, we’re God’s creation, which I agree with – For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities– all things have been created through Him and for Him. –  Colossians 1:16

Yet, on the other hand, we have to work at being His “Chosen” people.  So if ALL people are children of God, as your children are children of KaraLee, do we/them have to earn our parent’s love?  Earn our place as a son or daughter in the family?

I don’t believe we have to work at being “chosen” by God. God wants us all to be part of His family.  ALL people have been given a choice, freewill, to accept God’s provision to be reunited with Him. And, Because of His grace declared righteous, having confidence that we will inherit eternal life. – Titus 3:7

That provision was His Son, Jesus, who became an acceptable sacrifice, for ALL the sins of ALL people.  It was the precious blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God. – 1 Peter 1:19

For God loved the world so much that He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. – John 3:16

This is what differentiates Christ-followers from all other religions or spiritual groups. God came to us. God pursues US. We don’t have to “do” to get God to notice us, and choose us.

Ephesians 2:8 – For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,

Because Adam and Eve’s left the Garden of Eden, they also left being so close to the presence of God.

Adam and Eve didn’t leave the Garden on their own accord. God banished them from the Garden, Genesis 3:24.

Their choice to disobey God, to sin, by eating the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, made it impossible for them to be in presence of a Holy God.

So in a sense we all have all been separated from our Father in heaven and need to gain knowledge of good and evil and follow or adopt Heavenly Father’s good ways.( Isaiah 56:3-8); (genesis 3:22-24)

Yes, ALL people have been separated from God.

…For the sin of this one man, Adam, brought death to many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and his gift of forgiveness to many through this other man, Jesus Christ. – Romans 5:15

And the result of God’s gracious gift is very different from the result of that one man’s sin. For Adam’s sin led to condemnation, but God’s free gift leads to our being made right with God, even though we are guilty of many sins. – Romans 5:16

Yes, Adam’s one sin brings condemnation for everyone, but Christ’s one act of righteousness brings a right relationship with God and new life for everyone. Because one person disobeyed God, many became sinners. But because one other person obeyed God, many will be made righteous.  God’s law was given so that all people could see how sinful they were. But as people sinned more and more, God’s wonderful grace became more abundant.  So just as sin ruled over all people and brought them to death, now God’s wonderful grace rules instead, giving us right standing with God and resulting in eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. – Romans 5:18-21

It’s not a matter of gaining knowledge.  It is a matter of repenting of our evil ways, turning to God, and following His ways vs. the world’s ways.  Only then can we come back into God’s Holy Presence.

 

Thank you again, KaraLee, for your comments 🙂

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Are ALL People Children of God???  –  (Part 1)   http://wp.me/p5nZpi-pm

Are ALL People Children of God???  –  (Part 2)   http://wp.me/p5nZpi-pI

Are ALL People Children of God???  –  (Part 3 of 3)   http://wp.me/p5nZpi-rg

 

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Response to Reader’s Comment – “I Just Wanna Be Happy!!!” – (Part 1)

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< TO READ POST, “I JUST WANNA BE HAPPY!!!”  – (PART 1) – http://wp.me/p5nZpi-kK >

 

READER’S COMMENT:

Monica thank you for the great post! I absolutely believe that happiness and peace are possible for everyone regardless of their various situations. In high school I used to think, “I’ll be happy when my skin clears up. I’ll be happy when I make the Volleyball team. I’ll be happy when I get my braces off. Now…I’ll be happy when I lose my baby weight :)Etc” I was waiting for life to provide me happiness. What I had to learn is that I have the opportunity to chose be happy today. All people experience challenges, sadness, and disappointments in this life, but we don’t have to be consumed by our hardships; we can move toward peace (And yes, I know it is easier said than done, but that is why we have our Savior to help heal our wounds and hurts). I have learned from inspiring individuals who have made peace with their challenges and live with joy amid adversity. A great medicine that works for me is to serve others in a meaningful way. When we focus our attention on helping others we are accompanied by the Holy spirit, whose comfort is true peace.

MY RESPONSE:

Thanks for your thoughtful comment 🙂

Did you take a peek at “I Just Wanna Be Happy!!!” – (Part 2)?, because your comment –

“A great medicine that works for me is to serve others in a meaningful way. When we focus our attention on helping others… “

is just the prescription the Great Physician, Jehovah – Rapha: The Lord Who Heals, prescribes 🙂

Your “cure” for happiness, I’d suspect, is not so different from what we’ve all tried in an attempt to achieve the elusive “HAPPY” feeling.  For me personally, there are almost too many times to count, when I’ve allowed my “cures” for happiness to the direct my responses and reactions, with less than desirable results.

The key for me, and probably others who can relate to your comment, is to apply what I’ve learned, and practice what I preach.
I must just listen to God’s word. I must do what it says. Otherwise, I am only fooling myself. – James 1:22

Until the Lord Jesus Christ returns, I continue to be a work-in-progress 🙂

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The Return of the Nephilim – Dun, Dun Dun, Dun… – NUMBERS 13 – (Part 1of 2)

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Recently, I received a thought-provoking, and challenging comment from the post, Names and Roles of Angels (Part 2). Original post link – http://wp.me/p5nZpi-gA, to which I replied in the post, Female Angels??  Giants?? – Replying to a Reader’s Comment – ANGELS [6], http://wp.me/p5nZpi-h7.

Since that post a follow-up question was asked about the reappearance of the Pre-Flood Nephilim mentioned in Numbers 13:33.  I was puzzled and intrigued by this question, and thought…

IF ALL THE NEPHILIM DIED DURING THE FLOOD, HOW IS IT THAT THEY SHOWED UP 1,000+ YEARS LATER IN CANAAN??

     noahsarkpeopledrowning    PRE-FLOOD

Store_Hulk_ClassicPOST-FLOOD

 

The Hebrew word used to describe the Nephilim occurs in only two verses of the Old Testament,

  1. Genesis 6:4 – The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men, and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown.
  2. Numbers 13:33 – “We even saw giants, Nephilim, there, the descendants of Anak. Next to them we felt like grasshoppers, and that’s what they thought, too!”

From the book of Numbers, we find that the descendants of Anak are part of the Nephilim. Ummm!!

What’s interesting is that there is no description of the Nephilim other than what the scouts, the men sent to explore the land of Canaan – Numbers 13:1-2, reported back to Moses in Numbers 13:30-32.

The scouts described the people they saw as strong and huge…

30 But Caleb tried to quiet the people as they stood before Moses. “Let’s go at once to take the land,” he said. “We can certainly conquer it!”

31 BUT the other men who had explored the land with him disagreed. “We can’t go up against them! They are stronger than we are!” 32 So they spread this bad report about the land among the Israelites: “The land we traveled through and explored will devour anyone who goes to live there. All the people we saw were huge. 

 

SO WERE THESE THE SAME NEPHILIM WE READ ABOUT IN GENESIS 6?

The word Nephilim does not describe a race of people. In the Bible, races of people were classified by their founding male ancestor. So, the Anakim, not the Nephilim, were descendents of Anak.

Also the term Nephilim (giants) in Gen.6:4 has an interesting history. Nephil means fallen one, (im at the end of any Hebrew word changes it to a plural, nephillim-fallen ones.) This does not mean giant, or monstrous in size but someone who possesses super human ability in strength and intelligence, not stature. This word is taken from its root word of nephal and nephel which means to fall. In 250 BC. the Rabbis that wrote the Septuagint, which is a Greek translation of the Hebrew scriptures, changed the word Nephillim to giant.  This is the word most translations currently have (giant in Greek gigentes implies earth born men of great stature Num.13:33 ). This was a significant change which has obscured the meaning even to today. While some contend the Nephilim were still around in the time of Numbers, the giants were not the same species of the Nephilim of Genesis 6. Since the Nephils recorded in Genesis were not Giant in size, but were “giant” in strength, intelligence and ability. – http://www.letusreason.org/Doct11.htm

 

A CONTRADICTION OF SCRIPTURE?

Since the Old Testament describes Nephilim both before and after the flood, if the Nephilim were a race, this would contradict the rest of Scripture.  However, the Bible clearly says that there were only eight survivors of the flood.  That very day Noah had gone into the boat with his wife and his sons—Shem, Ham, and Japheth—and their wives. With them in the boat were pairs of every kind of animal—domestic and wild, large and small—along with birds of every kind. Two by two they came into the boat, representing every living thing that breathes. A male and female of each kind entered, just as God had commanded Noah. Then the Lord closed the door behind them. – Genesis 7:13-16

     noahs family

All the living things on earth died—birds, domestic animals, wild animals, small animals that scurry along the ground, and all the people. Everything that breathed and lived on dry land died.  God wiped out every living thing on the earth—people, livestock, small animals that scurry along the ground, and the birds of the sky. All were destroyed. The only people who survived were Noah and those with him in the boat. – Genesis 7:21-23

    noahark

Also if you look at Genesis 10, which records the descendants of Japheth, Ham, and Shem – Noah’s sons, and there is no mention the Nephilim, post-Flood. – Genesis chapter 10 link – https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis%2010

 

SO WHY DID THE SCOUTS REFER TO THE PEOPLE THEY SAW IN CANAAN AS NEPHILIM?

<Look for Part 2 – The Return of Nephilim – Dun, Dun, Dun, Dun… coming soon>

The LORD our God has secrets known to no one. We are not accountable for them, but we and our children are accountable forever for all that he has revealed to us, so that we may obey all the terms of these instructions. – Deuteronomy 29:29

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Replies to Comments from = Stress – Chance or Choices??

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Where there is no guidance the people fall, But in abundance of counselors there is victory. – Proverbs 11:14

 

It has come to my attention that when readers leave a comment on one of my blog posts, the readers are not being notified when I reply.  I hope they do not feel that their comments were not valued, and/or simply ignored.

I want to assure my readers that this is NOT the case.  I love to read and reply to comments.  I enjoy the virtual dialogue, great questions, and comments on my posts.  They challenge me, and other readers to consider different perspectives.  It’s also great to know how people are being touched and affected by my posts.

Therefore, since I have not been able to figure out how to send my readers comment reply notifications, I’ve decided to add a post when people comment so that they, along with my other readers will see my response.

So, keep those comments coming 🙂

The following are comments/replies from the post = Stress – Chance or Choices??  http://wp.me/p5nZpi-ek

 

KARALEE’S COMMENT:                                                                                                                          Thanks for the thoughtful post.  A thought I had, there are two types of choices: 1.) the type where you set something in motion 2.) how you choose to react in any given situation.  It is really important that we look inside ourselves in how we choose to react to others choices.  Thanks for the good reminder of choice and consequence and its effects.

MY REPLY:                                                                                                                                             Thanks for your comment 🙂 Your second point, is right “on point” 🙂
Wow, how many times can we look back – again, if we dare, and see how we’ve chosen to respond in a situation, or towards a person. Did our response result in a “healthy” discussion and resolution, or distance and division?
How often have we felt hurt because of what someone did or said to us? But in an attempt to avoid confrontation, we “try” to ignore the offense, under the guise of being a “godly” person. Yet, inside we’re raging, holding bitterness and resentment towards that situation or person, further damaging the relationship.
Here’s a great take away = the next time we find our insides begin to tighten up, and we’re ready to blow our stack, let’s take a deep breath…, and remember –
OUR CHOICES HAVE CONSEQUENCES 🙂

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CRAIG’S COMMENT:                                                                                                                                     I think of my ex-wife who was a notorious flirt and was involved in multiple affairs. She thrived on male attention and it didn’t matter if the man was single or the husband of another woman. In the end, she got involved with her boss, a man whose wife was dying of cancer – both friends of the family. I can still vividly remember this man embracing my wife as she passed through the reception line at his wife’s funeral, kissing her full on the lips in front of me and all the other guests. Neither of them were the least bit embarrassed by this public display of affection. Clearly, it wasn’t the first time they had kissed.

Although they were unashamed, their reputation was tarnished. They became pariahs among their co-workers. The divorce cost me not only my family but my entire life savings. My ex-wife’s life was consumed with stress as she continued to pursue a double life-style with lies and deceit. Not to mention the damage done to the children by the break up of their family and estrangement of their father. Though I tried to reason with my wife over the years, she refused to change her behavior. Just as Proverbs says, the results were disastrous.

MY REPLY:                                                                                                                                               Thank you for sharing the devastating effects of your ex-wife’s betrayal. I am so sorry you had to experience those “deep” hurts 😦
Thank you also for sharing the results of the betrayal. You have further reinforced the high costs of choosing “our way” vs “God’s way” – tarnished reputations, shame, financial ruin, lies, deceit, emotional pain, breakdown of family, trust, pain, etc. all left in the wake of one’s selfish choices.
As the previous person commented, how “we choose” to react in any given situation can be the difference between sinking into despair or pushing through and rising above.
I applaud your courage and perseverance.

Those who trust in the LORD will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles… – Isaiah 40:31

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CRAIG’S COMMENT:                                                                                                                                     I omitted one important fact. The Lord afflicted my ex-wife with a condition that made it impossible for her to enjoy physical intimacy without severe pain.

MY REPLY:                                                                                                                                                   The Lord works in mysterious ways…

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Female Angels?? Giants?? – Replying to a Reader’s Comment – ANGELS [6]

buildafoundation 2 Comments

…When the disciples heard this, they were very astonished and said, “Then who can be saved?” And looking at them Jesus said to them, “With people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”  – Mark 19:25-26

 

In this post I will be replying to a comment made on my post Names and Roles of Angels (Part 2). Original post link – http://wp.me/p5nZpi-gA

I’m replying as a post rather that replying directly to the comment on the initial post, for 2 reasons:

  1. The question/comment posted was very challenging and thought-provoking.  It was something I hadn’t thought of, and I would like to learn more about.
  2.  I wanted my readers to know that there is a section below every post where you can leave comments, suggestions, questions, etc.  All are welcome!! 🙂

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Here is the reader’s comment/question:

There is no mention of female angels anywhere in Scripture. Jesus said, “…in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven” (Mt. 22:30). Do you think the absence of females in heaven was one reason the sons of God married the daughters of men, giving birth to the ancient giants called the ‘Nephilim’?

Gen 6:4 “The Nephilim were on the earth in those days … when the sons of God were having sexual relations with the daughters of humankind, who gave birth to their children. They were the mighty heroes of old, the famous men.”

If this is true, then it is possible for angels to sin. But most theologians say that the angels who did not fall with Satan are sealed by God and cannot sin. What do you think?

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       femaleAngel

The word angel appears over 175 times in the New Testament and over 200 times in the Old Testament. And you are correct, that there is no mention of female angels anywhere in Scripture.

The Greek word for “angel” in the New Testament, angelos, (messenger) is in the masculine noun form.  In the Old Testament, the word used for angel (messenger) is malak.  It is also used in the  masculine noun form.  In fact, a feminine form of angelos or malak does not exist in the Bible.

I believe it would be impossible for angels to reproduce with people because it goes against the physical laws God established in “the beginning”, at creation.  God said that species would reproduce after their own kind, Genesis:1:11-12, 21-25).  Angels are one “kind”, and people are another kind.

I DON’T THINK THAT THE ABSENCE OF FEMALES IN HEAVEN HAS ANYTHING TO DO WITH THE SONS OF GOD MARRYING THE DAUGHTERS OF MEN, AND HERE’S WHY:

It would seem more likely to me that the “sons of God” referenced in Genesis 6:1 were the descendents of Seth, who worshiped God – Genesis 4:26, and intermarried with Cain’s descendents, those who did not worship God. It is assumed that Cain had no post-Flood descendants.  All his descendents were destroyed in the Flood, and that Noah and his sons were descendants of Adam’s son Seth.

Because of these “unequally yoked” marriages – 2 Corinthians 6:14, godly influence was weakened, while depravity increased.  A result was similar to Solomon’s intermarrying, 1 Kings 11:2 – The Lord had clearly instructed the people of Israel, “You must not marry them, because they will turn your hearts to their gods.” Yet Solomon insisted on loving them anyway.

 

AS FOR THE NEPHILIM:

      paulbunyan

The Nephilim were not a result of the intermarrying, but were present prior to the intermarrying.

The Nephilim were on the earth in those days–AND also afterward–when the sons of God went to the daughters of humans and had children by them. They were the heroes of old, men of renown. – Genesis 6:4

 IS IT POSSIBLE FOR ANGELS TO SIN?

I believe that when God created the angels He gave them free will.  I believe this because when I read the story of creation, Genesis 1:1-31, https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+1, I read that everything God created was good – Then God looked over all he had made, and he saw that it was very good! – Genesis 1:31.  I believe that He also created the angels “good”.  As angels were created before the creation of earth based on Job 38:4-7, https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Job+38%3A4-7&version=NLT

Therefore, if the angels did not have free will they would not have been able, as Satan and his followers did, to choose to rebel against God.  Without free will they would have essentially been robots created by God to “fan” and “worship” Him.

ARE THE ANGELS, THAT DID NOT FALL WITH SATAN, SEALED BY GOD?

I believe the answer to this question in yes.  I think we can compare the angels to people in this respect.  While we are still on planet earth it is possible for us to repent of our sins and “choose” to follow God.  –  (For more on choosing to follow God, see my tab in the menu – The Cornerstone) However, once we have “passed” from our earthly lives we will move on to one of two destinations – eternal separation from God – Hell = each person is destined to die once and after that comes judgment – Hebrews 9:27,or eternally present with God – Heaven.

In the book of Genesis the Garden of Eden is synonymous to heaven.  Because Adam and Eve disobeyed God, God drove out the man and the woman, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life. –  Genesis 3:24   If they would have stayed in the garden and eaten from the Tree of Life, they would have lived forever.  Forever, though, in a sinful/separated from God state.

The angels that rebelled against God were forever banished from Heaven -…the ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, the one deceiving the whole world—was thrown down to the earth with all his angels.  – Revelation 12:9                                                                                                      Whereas, the angels who “choose” to stay and obey God were sealed by God, and will eternally remain in His presence.

Hope this answered your questions 🙂  Thanks again for reading my blog 🙂  Keep those questions coming!! 🙂

Some of the above material was adapted from :  gotquestions.org, and Strong’s Concordance, and wordwise-bible-studies.com

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