Thoughts by Theophilus

[theophilus]

Now Joseph had been brought down to Egypt, and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the guard, an Egyptian, had bought him from the Ishmaelites who had brought him down there.
Genesis 39:1 ESV

Joseph’s brothers had sold him to a caravan of Ishmaelites who were on their way to Egypt. When the Ishmaelites reached Egypt they sold Joseph to Potiphar. We are told two things about him: he was the captain of Pharaoh’s guard and he was an Egyptian. Saying he was captain of the guard makes sense. It gives us some information about who Potiphar was. But saying he was an Egyptian seems redundant. He lived in Egypt and was an officer of Pharaoh. What could he be except an Egyptian?

Calling Potiphar an Egyptian would only make sense if Egypt were ruled by a foreign people. It would identify him as a native Egyptian and not one of the foreign rulers. At one time Egypt was ruled by a group of people called the Hyskos. Joseph’s enslavement might have taken place during their rule.

The Hyksos were a group of mixed Semitic-Asiatics who settled in northern Egypt during the 18th century BC. In about 1630 they seized power, and Hyksos kings ruled Egypt as the 15th dynasty (c. 1630-1521 BC).

http://history-world.org/hyksos.htm

(I wonder how the other Egyptians felt about Potiphar. Did they consider him a traitor because he served their rulers?)

The fact that the Hyksos were Semitic means they were more closely related to Joseph and his family than they were to the native Egyptians. This would explain why Pharaoh was willing to promote Joseph to a position of authority and welcome his family to settle in Egypt.

It might also explain why a later Pharaoh was so hostile to their descendants.

Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. And he said to his people, “Behold, the people of Israel are too many and too mighty for us. Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply, and, if war breaks out, they join our enemies and fight against us and escape from the land.”
Exodus 1:8-10 ESV

Perhaps this Pharaoh was not a descendant of the one who favored Joseph but a native Egyptian who had ousted the Hyksos from power. He would naturally look on the Israelites as enemies because of their friendship with Egypt’s conquerors.

[theophilus]

We need food to keep our bodies healthy and functioning. We all realize this and we put a great deal of effort into making sure we get all the food we need. But we are more than just physical bodies. Our souls and spirits need nourishment just as much as our bodies do. The Bible provides this nourishment.

Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart, for I am called by your name, O LORD, God of hosts.
Jeremiah 15:16 ESV

It is written, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.”
Matthew 4:4 ESV

There are things we do to make sure we get the physical nourishment we need. We need to do the same things to ensure that our spiritual nourishment is adequate.

We need to eat enough food to keep our bodies strong and healthy. Most of us eat three meals a day. On the other hand many Christians are spiritually weak because they only spend a few minutes a day reading the Bible.

We must eat a variety of foods so we can get all the different vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients we need. A person who ate one kind of food exclusively would soon become unhealthy even if the quantity was sufficient. The same thing is true when it comes to reading the Bible. Some parts are hard to understand and it is easy neglect them and just spend time on the easier parts but the hard parts contain things we need to know and the effort we put into studying them will pay off. We must read all of the Bible if we want to be healthy spiritually.

Food must be digested before it is of any use and the digestion process is easier if we chew it up well. We will get more nourishment from the Bible if we chew it up mentally by reading it carefully and thinking about what it says.

Obesity is a common health problem. It is the result of eating food but not doing enough work to use all the energy we get from it. We are commanded to be doers of the word and not hearers only and many Christians suffer from spiritual obesity because they do not obey this command.

When a doctor is trying to diagnose a patient’s problems his examination will include questions about his diet. If your relationship with God isn’t what it should be you should examine your spiritual diet by answering these questions.

Are you spending enough time reading and studying the Bible?
Do you get a balanced diet by reading all parts of the Bible?
Do you spend time thinking about what you read so you can understand it?
Do you put into practice the things you learn from the Bible?

[theophilus]

California is experiencing one of the worst droughts in its history. Israel once suffered a severe drought. Perhaps a study of that drought will give some ideas about how to cope with the one in California.

Here is what caused it the drought.

In the thirty-eighth year of Asa king of Judah, Ahab the son of Omri began to reign over Israel, and Ahab the son of Omri reigned over Israel in Samaria twenty-two years. And Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the LORD, more than all who were before him.

And as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, he took for his wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and went and served Baal and worshiped him. He erected an altar for Baal in the house of Baal, which he built in Samaria. And Ahab made an Asherah. Ahab did more to provoke the LORD, the God of Israel, to anger than all the kings of Israel who were before him.

In his days Hiel of Bethel built Jericho. He laid its foundation at the cost of Abiram his firstborn, and set up its gates at the cost of his youngest son Segub, according to the word of the LORD, which he spoke by Joshua the son of Nun.

Now Elijah the Tishbite, of Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, before whom I stand, there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word.”
1 Kings 16:29-17:1 ESV

The drought began when the people of Israel turned from God and began to worship Baal. It ended when they repented of their Baal worship and returned to God.

And at the time of the offering of the oblation, Elijah the prophet came near and said, “O LORD, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that you are God in Israel, and that I am your servant, and that I have done all these things at your word. Answer me, O LORD, answer me, that this people may know that you, O LORD, are God, and that you have turned their hearts back.”

Then the fire of the LORD fell and consumed the burnt offering and the wood and the stones and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and said, “The LORD, he is God; the LORD, he is God.”

And Elijah said to them, “Seize the prophets of Baal; let not one of them escape.” And they seized them. And Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon and slaughtered them there.

And Elijah said to Ahab, “Go up, eat and drink, for there is a sound of the rushing of rain.” So Ahab went up to eat and to drink.

And Elijah went up to the top of Mount Carmel. And he bowed himself down on the earth and put his face between his knees. And he said to his servant, “Go up now, look toward the sea.” And he went up and looked and said, “There is nothing.” And he said, “Go again,” seven times.

And at the seventh time he said, “Behold, a little cloud like a man’s hand is rising from the sea.” And he said, “Go up, say to Ahab, ‘Prepare your chariot and go down, lest the rain stop you.’”

And in a little while the heavens grew black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain. And Ahab rode and went to Jezreel.
1 Kings 18:36-45 ESV

Israel’s drought took place because the people rejected God. Could California’s drought have the same cause? The people of the United States are rejecting God and his standards of right and wrong so we have given God plenty of reasons for punishing us. The drought may be confined to California but it affects the whole country.

If the cause is the same, the solution is the same. The people of America need to repent of their sins and begin obeying God.

Israel’s drought wasn’t the first time God used the weather as a means of punishing sin.

Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight, and the earth was filled with violence. And God saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth.

And God said to Noah, “I have determined to make an end of all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence through them. Behold, I will destroy them with the earth.

Make yourself an ark of gopher wood. Make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and out with pitch. This is how you are to make it: the length of the ark 300 cubits, its breadth 50 cubits, and its height 30 cubits. Make a roof for the ark, and finish it to a cubit above, and set the door of the ark in its side. Make it with lower, second, and third decks.

For behold, I will bring a flood of waters upon the earth to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life under heaven. Everything that is on the earth shall die.”
Genesis 6:11-17 ESV

And it won’t be the last.

The fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and it was allowed to scorch people with fire. They were scorched by the fierce heat, and they cursed the name of God who had power over these plagues. They did not repent and give him glory.
Revelation 16:8-9 ESV

The earth is going to experience a time of global warming that will make today’s climate seem like an ice age by comparison.

Scientists debate the question of whether climate change is caused by human activity. The Bible shows that it is, but not in the way most people think. God controls our physical climate and he sometimes alters it in response to the moral climate.

It is impossible to understand our weather and climate by looking only at natural causes. Climate changes often have supernatural causes.

[theophilus]

Jeremiah prophesied during the final years of Judah’s independence and lived through its final conquest by Babylon. He suffered many hardships, one of which was being denied the pleasures of having a family.

The word of the LORD came to me: “You shall not take a wife, nor shall you have sons or daughters in this place. For thus says the LORD concerning the sons and daughters who are born in this place, and concerning the mothers who bore them and the fathers who fathered them in this land: They shall die of deadly diseases. They shall not be lamented, nor shall they be buried. They shall be as dung on the surface of the ground. They shall perish by the sword and by famine, and their dead bodies shall be food for the birds of the air and for the beasts of the earth.”
Jeremiah 16:1-4 ESV

The things that happened to him would have made it hard for him to fulfill his family responsibilities. His preaching was so unpopular that he sometimes spent time in prison or in hiding from the authorities and after the Babylonian victory he was forced to accompany some people who fled to Egypt for refuge. But even if the circumstance of his life had been different he would have been childless because of a curse placed on one of his ancestors.

When the prophet Samuel was born his mother dedicated him to God and a priest named Eli raised him. Eli did a good job bringing up Samuel but he had two sons and he failed miserably with them.

Now the sons of Eli were worthless men. They did not know the LORD.

The custom of the priests with the people was that when any man offered sacrifice, the priest’s servant would come, while the meat was boiling, with a three-pronged fork in his hand, and he would thrust it into the pan or kettle or cauldron or pot. All that the fork brought up the priest would take for himself. This is what they did at Shiloh to all the Israelites who came there.

Moreover, before the fat was burned, the priest’s servant would come and say to the man who was sacrificing, “Give meat for the priest to roast, for he will not accept boiled meat from you but only raw.”

And if the man said to him, “Let them burn the fat first, and then take as much as you wish,” he would say, “No, you must give it now, and if not, I will take it by force.”

Thus the sin of the young men was very great in the sight of the LORD, for the men treated the offering of the LORD with contempt.
1 Samuel 2:12-17 ESV

God sent a man of God to announce God’s judgment on Eli for his failure to discipline his sons.

“I gave to the house of your father all my offerings by fire from the people of Israel. Why then do you scorn my sacrifices and my offerings that I commanded for my dwelling, and honor your sons above me by fattening yourselves on the choicest parts of every offering of my people Israel?”

Therefore the LORD, the God of Israel, declares: “I promised that your house and the house of your father should go in and out before me forever,” but now the LORD declares: “Far be it from me, for those who honor me I will honor, and those who despise me shall be lightly esteemed. Behold, the days are coming when I will cut off your strength and the strength of your father’s house, so that there will not be an old man in your house. Then in distress you will look with envious eye on all the prosperity that shall be bestowed on Israel, and there shall not be an old man in your house forever. The only one of you whom I shall not cut off from my altar shall be spared to weep his eyes out to grieve his heart.”
1 Samuel 2:28-33 ESV

Many years later Abiathar, a descendant of Eli, supported David when he was being persecuted by Saul and served him as priest after he became king. When David was old his son Adonijah tried to take over as king and Abiathar supported him. When Solomon became king he punished Abiathar for this act.

To Abiathar the priest the king said, “Go to Anathoth, to your estate, for you deserve death. But I will not at this time put you to death, because you carried the ark of the Lord GOD before David my father, and because you shared in all my father’s affliction.” So Solomon expelled Abiathar from being priest to the LORD, thus fulfilling the word of the LORD that he had spoken concerning the house of Eli in Shiloh.
1 Kings 2:26-27 ESV

Abiathar’s home was in Anathoth. This was also the home of Jeremiah.

The words of Jeremiah, the son of Hilkiah, one of the priests who were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin.
Jeremiah 1:1 ESV

The man of God said this when he was speaking to Eli, “The only one of you whom I shall not cut off from my altar shall be spared to weep his eyes out to grieve his heart.” This description fits Jeremiah. He is sometimes called the Weeping Prophet.

Oh that my head were waters,
and my eyes a fountain of tears,
that I might weep day and night
for the slain of the daughter of my people!
Jeremiah 9:1 ESV

Jeremiah was a descendant of Eli and when he died the line of Eli ended and the curse was fulfilled. Yet Jeremiah himself was not cursed. He was chosen by God to be a prophet and he faithfully carried out the task God gave him. His weeping was not for his own suffering but for the sins of the people and the judgment they were bringing on themselves. He never had any biological children but God made his prophecies part of the Bible and through them has given him many spiritual offspring.

[theophilus]

Is there intelligent life on other planets? That is a question people have been asking as long as we have known that there are other planets. When the telescope was invented astronomers discovered that some of the “stars” we see are actually worlds like our own and this led to speculation about whether or not there were people living on them. We now know that there is no other life in our solar system but the possibility remains that planets revolving around other stars might have intelligent inhabitants.

Christians are faced with another question. If humans ever do contact aliens will we have a responsibility to tell them about God and preach the gospel to them?

We already have the answer to this question because humans are already in contact with two alien lifeforms, angels and demons.

Angels have never sinned so they have no need of the gospel. If we encounter flesh and blood aliens who have never sinned they won’t need to hear the gospel either. Because they are sinless they will have experienced a closer relationship with God and will know more about him than we do. We will have nothing to teach them; it is likely that there will be much that they can teach us.

Demons have sinned but we have no message of salvation for them because Jesus Christ did not die for their sins.

Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. For surely it is not angels that he helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham.
Hebrews 2:14-16 ESV

If God has provided a way that they can be forgiven it is not through Jesus Christ and he has not told us what it is. If we encounter aliens who have sinned the same thing will be true of them. Jesus said something to Peter that applies to that situation.

Peter turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them, the one who also had leaned back against him during the supper and had said, “Lord, who is it that is going to betray you?”

When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, “Lord, what about this man?”

Jesus said to him, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow me!”
John 21:20-22 ESV

If we could ask him about the salvation of alien races perhaps he would say to us, “What is that to you? You follow me!” We know nothing of the spiritual conditions of inhabitants of other planets or even whether such beings exist but we do know about the human race. We have all sinned but God has made a way we can be forgiven by faith in Christ. If you have not received this forgiveness you need to do so. If you have, you have a responsibility to tell others about it so they can be saved too.

It is unlikely that we will ever encounter extraterrestrial beings. We can learn from studying the Bible what the final destiny of the earth is. A time of tribulation is coming during which the Antichrist will rise to power. Christ will return to earth to destroy the Antichrist and reign for a thousand years. His reign will end with Satan’s final rebellion, the destruction of the earth, and the creation of a new heaven and a new earth. There is no hint of any alien involvement in any of these events.

If there is any contact with extraterrestrials in our future it will be after the new heavens and earth have been created and all sin has been purged from creation. Any aliens we meet will be worshippers of God just as we are. Neither side will have anything to fear from such meetings; instead they will be opportunities to praise God and have fellowship with each other.

***

If you enjoy speculating about what contact with aliens could be like you might enjoy reading a trilogy by C. S. Lewis: Out of the Silent Planet, Perelandra, and That Hideous Strength.

[theophilus]

The Bible tells us that God made Eve out of one of Adam’s ribs.

The LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. And the rib that the LORD God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man.
Genesis 2:21-22 ESV

This account is so clear that there can be no doubt about what happened. God removed a bone from Adam’s side and replaced it with flesh. He then transformed that bone into Eve, the first woman.

But there may be more to the story than that. I have seen Bibles in which there is a footnote to the word “rib” saying that it can also mean “part of a side”. And here is something I found on the site gotquestions.org.

Why did God use Adam’s rib? A closer examination of the Hebrew also reveals another surprising element of the story. The Hebrew word translated “rib” in Genesis 2 is tsela. The only other instance of the English word rib in the Bible occurs in Daniel 7:5, but the Hebrew word used there is different. In other passages where tselaor its variants are used, the word is translated “side.” For example, in Exodus 25, 27, and 35, the words tselo(variant) and tselot (plural) are used to refer to the “sides” of the Ark of the Covenant or the “sides” of the altar. In 2 Samuel 16:13, David encounters a cursing Shimei moving along the side (tsela) of a hill. In these contexts, translating the word tsela as “rib” would not fit.

This raises the possibility that Eve could have been fashioned of more than just Adam’s rib. In the Genesis 2 passage, tsela could actually be translated as Adam’s “side,” rather than Adam’s “rib.” If the appropriate translation is that God removed Adam’s side, how much of his side did God remove? It is possible that Eve was constructed literally from half of Adam. This would bring added meaning to Adam’s declaration that Eve was “bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh” (Genesis 2:23).

http://www.gotquestions.org/Adams-rib.html

If Eve was made from Adam’s side rather than just his rib, what did that side consist of? We can find a possible answer by examining the details of how Adam and Eve were created.

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.

And 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.”
Genesis 1:26-28 ESV

God created man as both male and female on the sixth day. The second chapter of Genesis describes this creation in more detail. First God created Adam.

The LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.
Genesis 2:7 ESV

After this God made a garden and put Adam in charge of it. He then had Adam give names to all of the animals and birds. It was only after this that he made Eve. It seems unlikely that all of this could have been accomplished in a single day. If Eve was not created on the sixth day the only way man could be created male and female would be for Adam to have been androgynous, both male and female. The “side” or “rib” that was used to make Eve was the female part of him.

[theophilus]

In the parable of the sower part of the seed fell on rocky ground.

Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, but when the sun rose they were scorched. And since they had no root, they withered away.
Matthew 13:5-6 ESV

Jesus explained the meaning to his disciples.

As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away.
Matthew 13:20-21 ESV

Judah had a king, Amaziah, who was an example of this kind of seed.

Amaziah was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jehoaddan of Jerusalem. And he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, yet not with a whole heart.
2 Chronicles 25:1-2 ESV

He started out well. His father, Joash, had been murdered, but he followed God’s commands in dealing with the murderers.

And as soon as the royal power was firmly his, he killed his servants who had struck down the king his father. But he did not put their children to death, according to what is written in the Law, in the Book of Moses, where the LORD commanded, “Fathers shall not die because of their children, nor children die because of their fathers, but each one shall die for his own sin.”
2 Chronicles 25:3-4 ESV

Someone whose father had been murdered might be tempted to take the maximum possible vengeance on the killers by destroying their entire families; if Amaziah experienced this temptation he didn’t give in to it.

He prepared to go to war against Edom. He raised an army of 300,000 men of Judah and also hired 100,000 soldiers from Israel for 100 talents of silver. A prophet told him God did not want the men from Israel to go with him and he should send them home. Amaziah was concerned about the money he had paid them.

And Amaziah said to the man of God, “But what shall we do about the hundred talents that I have given to the army of Israel?” The man of God answered, “The LORD is able to give you much more than this.”
2 Chronicles 25:9 ESV

Once again Amaziah obeyed even though this time it cost him a lot of money. He led his army against the Edomites and defeated them. But then he did something that was completely unlike his former behavior.

After Amaziah came from striking down the Edomites, he brought the gods of the men of Seir and set them up as his gods and worshiped them, making offerings to them.
2 Chronicles 25:14 ESV

Why would someone who had lived a life of obedience suddenly turn away from God and worship false gods? Perhaps it was a response to what the Israelite soldiers did after he had sent them home.

But the men of the army whom Amaziah sent back, not letting them go with him to battle, raided the cities of Judah, from Samaria to Beth-horon, and struck down 3,000 people in them and took much spoil.
2 Chronicles 25:13 ESV

Of course we have no idea what Amaziah’s thoughts were but one possibility is that he expected to be rewarded for his obedience in sending away the Israelites and felt that God had betrayed him when he allowed them to attack Judah. His worship of the Edomite gods was a way of expressing his resentment.

Sometimes obedience to God will make things worse instead of better. These times are a test of the genuineness of our faith and Amaziah failed the test.

[theophilus]

Jesus is perceived by many as being a pacifist who never practiced or advocated violence of any kind. He commanded us to turn the other cheek when someone hits us and to love everyone, including our enemies. On the basis of these commands some Christians have concluded that a Christian must never engage in any kind of violence. They believe it is wrong for a Christian to serve in the military, even if his country is at war.

If we consider only these teachings of Jesus this seems to be a logical conclusion. But Jesus also did and said some things that are inconsistent with pacifism.


His reaction when he saw what was going on in the temple wasn’t that of a pacifist.

And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who sold and bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you make it a den of robbers.”
Matthew 21:12-13 ESV

When he was arrested Peter tried to defend him.

Then Simon Peter, having a sword, drew it and struck the high priest’s servant and cut off his right ear. (The servant’s name was Malchus.) So Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword into its sheath; shall I not drink the cup that the Father has given me?”
John 18:10-11 ESV

At first this seems to confirm the belief that Jesus advocated pacifism. He said that Peter was wrong in attacking. But then Jesus told Peter to put his sword back in its sheath. Wouldn’t a true pacifist have told Peter to throw his sword away because he would never need it again?

Earlier he had given his disciples a command that was even more inconsistent with pacifism.

He said to them, “But now let the one who has a moneybag take it, and likewise a knapsack. And let the one who has no sword sell his cloak and buy one.”
Luke 22:36 ESV

He not only told Peter to keep his sword but he also said the the disciples who didn’t already have swords should buy them. But what is the point of having a sword if you are commanded to respond to an attacker by turning the other cheek? This appears to be a problem because we misunderstand what Jesus meant by the command.

Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.
Matthew 5:39 ESV

Jesus said that if someone slaps us on the right cheek we are to turn the other cheek. Most people are right handed. If you are facing someone and hit him on the right cheek with your right hand you will hit him with the back of your hand. You might cause some pain but you can’t do any real physical harm.

The purpose in striking someone this way is to insult him and express contempt for him. There have been cultures in which this act would be considered a challenge to a duel. Today it is possible that the person being slapped will try to kill the other without bothering with the formalities of a duel. Jesus has forbidden us to respond in this way. This command does not prohibit us from defending ourselves if someone attacks with the intention of hurting or killing us.

Swords can be used for other reasons beside self defense. Jesus said that one of the two great commandments was to love our neighbor as ourselves. If a neighbor is being attacked love demands that we defend him if possible even if it means hurting or killing the attacker. (I have heard objections to this on the grounds that it isn’t showing love for the attacker, but this is a situation that calls for justice as well as love.)

The things Jesus taught while on earth were only the beginning of his teaching. After he was taken up into Heaven he continued to teach and direct his disciples through the Holy Spirit.

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.
Acts 1:8 ESV

Acts chapter 10 tells how the Spirit led Peter to preach the gospel to a Gentile named Cornelius.

And while Peter was pondering the vision, the Spirit said to him, “Behold, three men are looking for you. Rise and go down and accompany them without hesitation, for I have sent them.”
Acts 10:19-20 ESV

Peter obeyed and the Holy Spirit came on Cornelius and the people who were with him just at he had come on the Jews earlier.

While Peter was still saying these things, the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word. And the believers from among the circumcised who had come with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out even on the Gentiles. For they were hearing them speaking in tongues and extolling God.

Then Peter declared, “Can anyone withhold water for baptizing these people, who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?” And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to remain for some days.
Acts 10:44-48 ESV

Cornelius was not only a Gentile but he was also an officer in the Roman army.

At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion of what was known as the Italian Cohort, a devout man who feared God with all his household, gave alms generously to the people, and prayed continually to God.
Acts 10:1-2 ESV

If Jesus taught pacifism surely Cornelius would have quit his job and found a new occupation when he became a believer but there is no indication that he did anything like this. Chapter 11 of Acts describes the opposition of some believers to the conversion of Cornelius, but their objections were based on the fact that Cornelius was an uncircumcised Gentile, not that he was a Roman soldier.

Jesus acknowledged the authority of human government. When asked whether it was right to pay taxes to Caesar his response was, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” We are not only required to pay our taxes, but the choice of Cornelius as the first Gentile convert shows that we may also serve as soldiers in Caesar’s army. Jesus never taught pacifism so there is no reason a person cannot be both a professional soldier and a Christian.

[theophilus]

The Bible teaches that marriage is between a man and a woman and that in God’s eyes a same sex “marriage” is not a marriage at all. This is simple and is something that anyone can easily understand. At least it would be simple if it weren’t for the current transgender movement. A transgender person is one who perceives himself to be of the opposite to his biological sex. Some transgenders go far as to have sex change surgery which makes them appear to be of the opposite sex. When one of these people decides to marry the question of what is a same sex marriage becomes unclear.

Suppose a man and a woman decide to marry. If one of them was born as a member of the opposite sex and had a sex change operation is their marriage legitimate or is it a same sex union?

Suppose two members of the same sex want to marry but one of them was born as a member of the opposite sex. Is their marriage a same sex marriage or do they have a right to get married according to God’s laws?

Each cell in the human body contains 23 pairs of chromosomes. One pair determines the sex of the individual. Each chromosome is either an x or a y chromosome. A person with two x chromosomes is female, while one with an x and a y is male. Sex change operations have no effect on a person’s chromosomes. If a same sex couple marries and one of them is transgender, they are technically of different genders, so the marriage is permissible, but the cisgender member of the marriage is engaging in sexual activity with a person who is outwardly of the same gender, so he is violating the prohibition against sexual involvement between members of the same sex.

The transgender movement has raised a lot of questions about sex and marriage that we didn’t need to think about in the past. I don’t know the answers to these questions but I believe Christians should be aware of them so we can find answers and be prepared when we encounter these situations in real life.

[dream jo]

my yuths lng gon bt nt rlegr lk sum of songs coz of menins i do
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4M-zwE33zHA