Do you sometimes feel the bible is misleading?

[thermal]

A five year old boy knows his father has gone to war. One day, he receives a letter saying that he will soon be with his father; that his return is near. With great joy and anticipation, the boy jumps out of bed every morning and runs to the beach, with the hope that today his father's boat will return. He does so, unwavering, for seventy years, before finally passing away from old age.

Do you feel that the letter was misleading?

This is the best analogy I can think of relating to the frequent biblical exhortations that the end time is near.

I understand and accept that in God's context, 'soon' may be a thousand years or fifty thousand years. I also fully accept that God can set His own timetable any way He wishes. What I struggle with sometimes is the feeling that the numerous passages telling us that Christ's return is near, from a human context, are somewhat misleading.

Does anybody else struggle with this or feel this way?

 

[JudaicChristian]

Sometimes the scriptures are not correctly translated, and there are those who believe they know what scripture says, but they are mistaken. The truth is that correct interpretation of scriptures is a very rare gift. Truth is narrowly defined, it is not broad and all encompassing. There can only be one truth for a Christian and that is God,s truth. We are told the truth in parables, and if a person can not properly negotiate with any parables, they will most certainly misunderstand. If a person wants to know the truth, then they must be prepared to acknowledge that they could believe any number of doctrinal errors, and even more. Truth is not what ever a person wants to believe, and it can very well be undesirable. So the question for everyone is, how honest are you? Truth is made known by the reason of the facts.

 

[Shilohsfoal]

Hard to understand at times but not misleading.Took me a while to understand who the scriptures were speaking to but after I understood that,it all started making sense.

 

[Tabasco Breath]

A five year old boy knows his father has gone to war. One day, he receives a letter saying that he will soon be with his father; that his return is near. With great joy and anticipation, the boy jumps out of bed every morning and runs to the beach, with the hope that today his father's boat will return. He does so, unwavering, for seventy years, before finally passing away from old age.

Do you feel that the letter was misleading?

This is the best analogy I can think of relating to the frequent biblical exhortations that the end time is near.

I understand and accept that in God's context, 'soon' may be a thousand years or fifty thousand years. I also fully accept that God can set His own timetable any way He wishes. What I struggle with sometimes is the feeling that the numerous passages telling us that Christ's return is near, from a human context, are somewhat misleading.

Does anybody else struggle with this or feel this way?

Those versus where Jesus himself says the time is near, in fact, the very first thing he says right after his Baptism, echoes what Jesus tells his disciples as the end occuring in their lifetime is because that is exactly what they thought.

 

[faithtransforms]

No, I don't really think its misleading. Like you said "soon" for God could be 100K years from now for all we know. But I think in this date and time, so many of the OT prophecies are being fulfilled, that we may really be nearing the end. I suspect within the next 50 years (could be earlier, but there are quite a few things that need to happen before the end can come that haven't happened yet).

Anyhoo, I'm no expert in eschatology. I feel I have a pretty decent grasp on the subject but while I've read the NT over and over and over, and I've read the book of Daniel several times, I have not completed the entire OT. I mean I've read the Pentateuch, Joshua, Ruth, 1 & 2 Samuel, Esther, Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Jonah, Zephaniah and Malachi. (Sorry, I was just looking at the OT books in my table of contents and taking a personal inventory, lol). Now I've read most of Isaiah, some of Jeremiah, some of Nehemiah, some of 1 & 2 Kings, some of Lamentations, some of Joel (mostly key passages in these books that were referred to in the NT, particularly the prophetic ones, but some I sat down to read and just never made it through them b/c the Holy Spirit led me somewhere else.)

Sorry, didn't mean to give you my whole bible history!!! But while I was posting I got to thnking, "Just what have I read in the OT?" LOL.

But I do sometimes wonder how Paul, being a pharisee and an expert on the Hebrew scriptures, could think the end was so near when there were so many prophecies in the OT that needed to be fulfilled prior to the end coming. I don't know, guess I'll ask him when I get to heaven, lol.

 

[veteran]

Indeed, God's timetable is not like our limited sense of time. Yet He assures us this world will end one day, and He has given us the events to be watching all the way to that end. And so what if it doesn't come as quickly as we may want it to? Like our Lord said, the harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few. We've got work to do here for Him until the end does come, and other than staying focused on Him that's our main responsibility. The longer the ends waits, the more time we have to witness to those who might come to Him through His Son. In that we should see God's compassion for all His children, for as Peter said, it's God's will that all come to repentance and not perish (2 Pet.3:8-9).

 

[JudaicChristian]

The translators of our scriptures somtimes leave out the most important things. For example like God,s personal name.

Yahwah reveals His name to Moses
Exodus 3:13-15.
13 And Moses said to Elohiym, “Suppose I go to the siblings of the Israelites and say to them, 'The Elohiym of your forefathers has sent me to you,' and they ask me, 'What is His name?' What shall I say to them?†(Elohiym means, “God of The Living.â€) It can also be translated as “god-s of the living†or “god-s of life;†for those who have life immortal.
14 And Elohiym said to Moses, “The Living that Lives. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: 'The Living has sent me to you.†(HaYah) in the ancient Semitic language means: The Living, or The Life.)
15 And Elohiym also said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, 'Yahwah, the Elohiym of your forefathers; the Elohiym of Abraham, the Elohiym of Isaac and the Elohiym of Jacob has sent me to you.' That’s my name forever, the name by which I’m to be remembered, from generation to generation.â€

 

[GodspromisesRyes]

The word of God is written in a way so that the wise of this world will not understand, but the understanding shall be given to babes.

When we become as babes and walk by faith in the Lord Jesus we become Kings and Priests of the Most High and it becomes our pleasure to search out what God has hidden

Pro 25:2 [It is] the glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honour of kings [is] to search out a matter.

Then the understanding of the kingdom is given to us. But to the world it is not given

 

[essentials]

I dont know about other people here but I tend to think relatively liberally-I view the bible as a source of spiritual wisdom and metaphors for life lessons, not necessarily the "be all and end all" truth.

 

[GodspromisesRyes]

I dont know about other people here but I tend to think relatively liberally-I view the bible as a source of spiritual wisdom and metaphors for life lessons, not necessarily the "be all and end all" truth.

Well if there is spiritual wisdom in the bible which I agree with you there is, Then is it not possible that what is contained therein is wiser then we are yet? If that is so and surely it is, then we should believe the claims the scriptures make about themselves.

Mat 4:4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

Jhn 17:17 Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth

Jhn 6:63 It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, [they] are spirit, and [they] are life.

Psa 119:160 The sum of thy word is truth; And every one of thy righteous ordinances [endureth] for ever.

 

[RaymondKroft]

the thing about following a inproper interpretation of the bible is that it is no different than following a lie.

 

[ChevyRodeo]

This is black and white. Soon is soon. Why would God use a metaphor for that. Why would God willingly and knowing say soon or near when he did not mean soon or near. The definition is pretty straight forward for near and the context is straight forward he was talking to living people in the 1st century. Why would he say He would return quickly when 'quickly' was an ill representation for the amount of time. Why would he use a time frame relative to God and not to the people he was directly speaking to?

When Jesus told those people, I will return quickly. He knew that in their minds , they would interpret that as soon as months to as far as years, no one assumed quickly meant 20 centuries. Why didnt Christ say something more accurate like, " I will return after you are long gone but you must prepare the people and nations to come after you"




I accept that with God, quicky CAN mean 10,000 years but Jesus said quickly KNOWING that humans dont relate centuries to "quickly" It would be the same as saying, " I have a red chariot" when the chariot is obviously pink. To say red rather then pink IS IN FACT misleading.

 

[veteran]

This is black and white. Soon is soon. Why would God use a metaphor for that. Why would God willingly and knowing say soon or near when he did not mean soon or near. The definition is pretty straight forward for near and the context is straight forward he was talking to living people in the 1st century. Why would he say He would return quickly when 'quickly' was an ill representation for the amount of time. Why would he use a time frame relative to God and not to the people he was directly speaking to?

When Jesus told those people, I will return quickly. He knew that in their minds , they would interpret that as soon as months to as far as years, no one assumed quickly meant 20 centuries. Why didnt Christ say something more accurate like, " I will return after you are long gone but you must prepare the people and nations to come after you"




I accept that with God, quicky CAN mean 10,000 years but Jesus said quickly KNOWING that humans dont relate centuries to "quickly" It would be the same as saying, " I have a red chariot" when the chariot is obviously pink. To say red rather then pink IS IN FACT misleading.

It was given in that kind of time reference to benefit those who serve Him, and to confuse all others:

Matt 16:1-4
1 The Pharisees also with the Sadducees came, and tempting desired Him that He would shew them a sign from heaven.
2 He answered and said unto them, When it is evening, ye say, It will be fair weather: for the sky is red.
3 And in the morning, It will be foul weather to day: for the sky is red and lowring. O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times?
4 A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given unto it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas. And He left them, and departed.
(KJV)

They had all the sign they needed to understand with Jesus standing there in front of them. Yet they still refused to believe. So why should The LORD show them anything? They were so wise thinking in their own hearts, puffed up and proud, so why should God show them anything to help remove their doubt?

But to believe God's Word, not treating It as merely some poetry book, nor a book of philosophy , nor equating It with any of man's works, is to trust in His Word as The Truth, and is to start waking up out of the spiritual sleep created by this world.

 

[Shilohsfoal]

This is black and white. Soon is soon. Why would God use a metaphor for that. Why would God willingly and knowing say soon or near when he did not mean soon or near. The definition is pretty straight forward for near and the context is straight forward he was talking to living people in the 1st century. Why would he say He would return quickly when 'quickly' was an ill representation for the amount of time. Why would he use a time frame relative to God and not to the people he was directly speaking to?

When Jesus told those people, I will return quickly. He knew that in their minds , they would interpret that as soon as months to as far as years, no one assumed quickly meant 20 centuries. Why didnt Christ say something more accurate like, " I will return after you are long gone but you must prepare the people and nations to come after you"




I accept that with God, quicky CAN mean 10,000 years but Jesus said quickly KNOWING that humans dont relate centuries to "quickly" It would be the same as saying, " I have a red chariot" when the chariot is obviously pink. To say red rather then pink IS IN FACT misleading.

Did God say he was talking to people in the 1st century in the book of Rev?