What Do I Do With My Tarot Cards?

[RiverJordan]

What is the larger point with the quoted verses?

I've seen all sorts of commentaries on this regarding what the woman, child, dragon, stars, etc. represent. Given the wildly symbolic nature of it all, and the times in which it was written, IMO the overall point has to do with the persecution of the early Christian church and Satan's role in that.

But most definitely I don't see the point of it being enumeration of demons.

 

[TheCurseOfTheRodain]

Jesus is NOT the bible. His words are IN the bible. If you take everything in the bible completely literally, then you are going to have some trouble because mathew, mark, luke, and john contradict each other in many ways. They each tell slightly different stories of how the resurrection took place, to give one example. While the fundamental message in the bible is one of love and redemption, there are some very questionable parts that any one with half a brain would know aren't right. Here are some examples:
Exodus 21:7-11 And if a man sell his daughter to be a maidservant, she shall not go out as the menservants do.
If she please not her master, who hath betrothed her to himself, then shall he let her be redeemed: to sell her unto a strange nation he shall have no power, seeing he hath dealt deceitfully with her.
-This gives permission for a man to sell his daughter into slavery. Is that ok with you?
Exodus 21:17 And he that curseth his father, or his mother, shall surely be put to death.
- A child curses at his parents should be put to death. Is that ok with you?
Deuteronomy 22:28-29 If a man find a damsel that is a virgin, which is not betrothed, and lay hold on her, and lie with her, and they be found; Then the man that lay with her shall give unto the damsel's father fifty shekels of silver, and she shall be his wife; because he hath humbled her, he may not put her away all his days.
- If a virgin is raped, she must marry the rapist (if they are "found"). Is that ok with you?
Romans 8:13 For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.
- Here it recommends you castrate yourself. Have you done this? Doesn't the bible also say to bear as many children as possible?
1 Peter 2:13-14 Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme;
Or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers, and for the praise of them that do well.
-Does this include nazis? Didn't Jesus break a few laws?
1 Timothy 2:12 But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence.
-I wonder how many churches follow this one....
James 4:7-10 Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness.
-
last but not least:
James 5:14-15 Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.
- Far too many kids have died because their families refused medical care, choosing only to pray. Don't you see, God gave you a brain and modern medicine for you to use!

There are MANY other things I could put here. I have studied the bible, and I love the bible, but the bible was compiled and edited by men a long time ago. God's word IS perfect, but men can and have corrupted it many times throughout history. This is why you have to use the tools God gave you to figure out which parts are applicable in your life.

Jesus IS the Word of God. That is what God's Word calls Him. He became flesh (God in a man's body). What part of that don't you understand? It's quite simple; just because you don't understand the whys and hows of what God has said and done doesn't make them untrue - it just means you don't understand. The problem isn't with the Bible, it's with you. God is not the problem, your understanding is.
When you were born, you didn't know anything about your parents. Not a single thing. You didn't know the first thing about how you were created or how you came from the womb. You didn't know a thing about who your parents were or why they were doing whatever they did to take care of you. Yet, it all still worked just fine, yet you understood nothing. Then as you grew, they would tell you things as your understanding grew, but still ask of you and tell you things that you didn't understand - you would obey and get good results. Or else disobey and get bad results, not because they were unloving, but because you chose your own way.
This is a perfect picture of growing up in God. ASK God to give you the understanding of the things you understand not - ask and expect to receive. If you don't have the understanding, it's because you didn't ask God, and so you didn't receive. Be teachable and correctable and God can teach you all things by His Holy Spirit, just as Jesus said. Be quick to obey Him and watch Him teach you.

With regard to all your stuff up there:
Exodus 21:7-11 says nothing about slavery. Notice the word betrothed, that is for marriage. And it says she can be redeemed if he does not want her, which means her parents may pay to have her back again so that this evil husband does not send her away to some evil nation. See also how God set up marriage and the terms used in the old English of master being the husband. People who have been abused by those in authority see that word and want to rebel because the person that was supposed to be good to them (as Christ loves the Church Eph 5) wasn't following Christ and was evil to them. But when the husband actually does what GOD says, he fulfills his office as husband and that marriage covenant works, and his wife has no trouble at all following her husband who is actually following Christ. These people back then...just because someone does something doesn't mean God told them to do it or that He endorsed it. There are a lot of hardhearted jerks that are Christians (or claim to be), but that doesn't mean God endorses their behavior.

Exodus 21:17 Yes, if a child carried out that act, then you must do what God said. You clearly don't know what a curse is. It is not a swear word like today's English language. To curse is to swear before God that you are declaring someone's destruction in various horrible ways. It is the opposite of blessing. Look up Genesis 1:28 and see what Blessing is, also look at Deut 28:1-14 for more description of what that entails. Then look at Deut 28:15-68 to see manifestation of cursing. Understanding that means there is a significant amount of evil involved here.
Also realize that the Israelites, instead of walking with God under His grace (unmerited favor) like Abraham did, served God expecting to earn the Blessing of Abraham (the Blessing of the Lord). They put themselves under the Law, and it was what you had to do to EARN the Blessing, to be good enough to merit it upon your life. Part of that would be having your life absent of rebellion and to have your child curse you would be the worst thing that could happen, and to prevent others from doing it too, it had to be wiped out, just as you see other certain sins that had to be wiped out from among the people, lest they all do it and the nation falls apart.

Deut 22:28-9 I don't see anything about the damsel (young girl) being forced to do anything. God says to "lay hold on eternal life" in the New Covenant. Does that mean we forced eternal life onto us? Of course not. This is to prevent sleeping around, so that you see that the reality of sex is that it may only be enjoyed within the covenant of marriage. In this Hebrew culture they knew that you were not actually married UNTIL you had sex. (That's why we know Adam and Eve had sex in the Garden of Eden because it says they were married in the Garden of Eden)...

Romans 8:13 - you cannot be serious about taking this to mean castration. "The flesh" is a mindset first of all, and secondly it says "By the Spirit" - so the Holy Spirit would supernaturally castrate you...? Come on brother. This is ridiculous. The deeds of the flesh - if that had to do with only sexual things, then it would say "deed' singular, not plural, for there is only 1 thing the flesh could do in that instance. It is pluralized. Putting to death the flesh is the same as Gal 2:20 where Paul says he has crucified his flesh with Jesus and that he lives, yet he himself no longer lives, but Christ in him... It's about not giving place to what your flesh would like to do, but rather being led by the Spirit of God to do what God would have you do, which is what is best for you, and everyone else.

1 Peter 2 - not when they violate God's Word or forcing you to do it. Because the rest says that they are "for YOUR GOOD". The Nazis would be the definition of "NOT for your good." I hope this clears that up.

1 Timothy 2:12 - WHO is Paul's audience here? Timothy, the pastor, serving a particular church in a particular land. In the cultures that they were serving, women weren't allowed to teach men in the synagogues, so to suddenly put women up as teachers would create some firestorms and problems and probably get those women killed in those days. Wisdom. He didn't women could not teach at all - also note that suffer here has to do with propelling.

James 4:9 - read the other verses above - this verse is speaking to those he just called sinners in relation to what they have done. Read those verses in the Amplified or even the New Living and see the fullness of those words in the Greek.

James 5 - it says the prayer of FAITH. A lot of people call a lot of things faith, but many times, it wasn't. God is not to blame, He has said what works. If you don't understand, ask like you're looking for buried treasure, and you'll get the answer. I see God heal people all the time. He heals and His Word ALWAYS works.
You are like the man in Jeremiah 17:5-6. Still calling yourself a Christian perhaps, but you have departed from the Lord in your heart if you despise His Word. That's why you don't see what He promises, because you don't believe Him. His Word is just as much a manifestation of Him as His Holy Spirit. It is completely HOLY.

 

[ixoye_8]

Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John each give differing accounts about how the resurrection took place.

no they don't ..
they each give some data of the same event ..
also one needs to be able to recognize the time gaps between verses ..
which another Gospel will fill in ..

Do you believe all of them even if they contradict each other?

they don't contradict each other ..