Abraham grew up in Ur approximately 3,800 years ago. Idolatry was widespread there at that time.
Legend tells that Abraham's father Terah was an idol maker. But after some time, Abraham realised that there must be a God that is far greater than all the deities being worshipped. Abraham discovered God.
At that time, most people napped during the afternoon heat. One afternoon, while his father Terah was asleep, Abraham took a hammer and smashed all te idols, except the largest of idols, in his father's workshop. He then placed a hammer at the base of the remaining idol. When his father awoke, he was appalled. Abraham explained that the big idol, in a fit of jealousy had smashed all the others. "Don't be a fool," said his father, "These are merely carved stones." "If they are only stone, father," counter Abraham, "then why do you worship them?"
Terah realised Abraham was correct. Later, Terah brought Abraham to Canaan and Haran, the place where monotheism was to be nurtured.
So you see, it was Abraham who chose God first. After that, God chose Abraham to be the father of nations.
This story is from the book "The Science of God". The author attributed the story to Talmudic legend.
Interesting?
Thursday 21 February 2008
Humans Before Adam and Eve
The following is postulated from the book "The Science of God" by Gerald Schroeder.
10 - 18 Billion years ago: Creation / Big Bang
4.5 billion years ago: Solar System / Earth
150,000 yrs ago: Neanderthal Hominids existed
50,000 yrs ago: Cro-Magnon Hominids existed
10,000 yrs ago: Farming and agriculture existed
8,000 yrs ago: Pottery existed
6,000 yrs ago: Adam and Eve (Neshama-Human) created
5,000 yrs ago: Bronze Age
4,000 yrs ago: Noah Flood
3,800 yrs ago: Abraham lived
While 'Hominid-Human' existed since the Neanderthal period, 'Neshama-Human' came into existence when God breathed His spirit into Adam and Eve. (Note: Neshama is the spirit of God)
Please read the book if you are interested to find out more.
10 - 18 Billion years ago: Creation / Big Bang
4.5 billion years ago: Solar System / Earth
150,000 yrs ago: Neanderthal Hominids existed
50,000 yrs ago: Cro-Magnon Hominids existed
10,000 yrs ago: Farming and agriculture existed
8,000 yrs ago: Pottery existed
6,000 yrs ago: Adam and Eve (Neshama-Human) created
5,000 yrs ago: Bronze Age
4,000 yrs ago: Noah Flood
3,800 yrs ago: Abraham lived
While 'Hominid-Human' existed since the Neanderthal period, 'Neshama-Human' came into existence when God breathed His spirit into Adam and Eve. (Note: Neshama is the spirit of God)
Please read the book if you are interested to find out more.
Adam and Eve made a mistake
We are all familiar with Gen 2:
"And Lord God planted a garden..and there he put Adam...And the Lord God made grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food; the tree of life within the garden and also the tree of the knowledge of good and evil...And the Lord God commanded Adam saying of every tree of the garden you may certainly eat but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you may not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die...When the woman saw that the tree was good for food and that it was tempting to the eyes and suited to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate and gave to her man with her and he ate..."
Now, there are all kinds of wonderful trees in the Garden, even one that gave eternal life. Only the fruit of one tree cannot be eaten, else the punishment for eating from this tree was death. Luckily there was a LOOPHOLE ! If they eat from the tree of life FIRST, and then from the tree of knowledge LATER, they could not be punished by death ! But Adam and Eve did not do that.
In basic terms, the choice was between life and death, not between knowledge of good and evil.
Adam and Eve acted out their free will -- they chose death. They did not even use the loophole (to eat from the tree of knowledge without the punishment of death).
In the first 5 books in the bible, there is ONLY ONE place that we must make a choice:
"I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse; therefore choose life that you may live, you and your progeny." Deut 30:19.
Dear readers, if you have yet to accept and believe in the Lord God, make the choice now. Choose God. Choose Life.
God Bless.
"And Lord God planted a garden..and there he put Adam...And the Lord God made grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food; the tree of life within the garden and also the tree of the knowledge of good and evil...And the Lord God commanded Adam saying of every tree of the garden you may certainly eat but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you may not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die...When the woman saw that the tree was good for food and that it was tempting to the eyes and suited to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate and gave to her man with her and he ate..."
Now, there are all kinds of wonderful trees in the Garden, even one that gave eternal life. Only the fruit of one tree cannot be eaten, else the punishment for eating from this tree was death. Luckily there was a LOOPHOLE ! If they eat from the tree of life FIRST, and then from the tree of knowledge LATER, they could not be punished by death ! But Adam and Eve did not do that.
In basic terms, the choice was between life and death, not between knowledge of good and evil.
Adam and Eve acted out their free will -- they chose death. They did not even use the loophole (to eat from the tree of knowledge without the punishment of death).
In the first 5 books in the bible, there is ONLY ONE place that we must make a choice:
"I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse; therefore choose life that you may live, you and your progeny." Deut 30:19.
Dear readers, if you have yet to accept and believe in the Lord God, make the choice now. Choose God. Choose Life.
God Bless.
We are not decendants of Adam and Eve
In this blog entry, I continue to share some contents of the book 'The Science Of God' by Gerald Schroeder.
The author explained that when God created within '6 days' in Genesis 1, the '6 days' are in fact 6 different periods, each of millions of years. I will share more about this in future blog entries.
By summing the generations in the Hebrew Bible, Adam and Eve were estimated to be created around 23 October 4004 BC. Now it is really not possible for Adam and Eve to multiply and multiply and produce 15 billion human beings within 6000 years till today.
The author gave an interesting explanation on page 141 of his book.
Adam and Eve first had Cain and Abel. Cain murdered Abel, and Cain was punished. The Bible mentioned that "Adam 'had relations with his wife again' and she gave birth to a son Seth...' after another 130 years (Gen 4:25, 5:3).
The author wrote " ...the answer the Talmud supplies is that during those 130 yeaars of separation, Adam had sexual relations with other beings (the nature of those beings is not clear). From these unions came children that 'were not human in the true sense as they did not have the spirit of God...) ( I just refer them as human-without-spirit.)
Here we have ancient accepted sources (the Talmud) that describe human-without-spirit. Suddenly, cave paintings that pre-date Adam by 20,000 years...become understandable. There are human tribes on earth all along. What these humans lacked was human spirituality.
This explains that the human race did not come from Adam and Eve. The human race is there all along. Most of us belong to this human race that existed long before Adam and Eve were created.
Follow my future blog entries for more logical explanations.
The author explained that when God created within '6 days' in Genesis 1, the '6 days' are in fact 6 different periods, each of millions of years. I will share more about this in future blog entries.
By summing the generations in the Hebrew Bible, Adam and Eve were estimated to be created around 23 October 4004 BC. Now it is really not possible for Adam and Eve to multiply and multiply and produce 15 billion human beings within 6000 years till today.
The author gave an interesting explanation on page 141 of his book.
Adam and Eve first had Cain and Abel. Cain murdered Abel, and Cain was punished. The Bible mentioned that "Adam 'had relations with his wife again' and she gave birth to a son Seth...' after another 130 years (Gen 4:25, 5:3).
The author wrote " ...the answer the Talmud supplies is that during those 130 yeaars of separation, Adam had sexual relations with other beings (the nature of those beings is not clear). From these unions came children that 'were not human in the true sense as they did not have the spirit of God...) ( I just refer them as human-without-spirit.)
Here we have ancient accepted sources (the Talmud) that describe human-without-spirit. Suddenly, cave paintings that pre-date Adam by 20,000 years...become understandable. There are human tribes on earth all along. What these humans lacked was human spirituality.
This explains that the human race did not come from Adam and Eve. The human race is there all along. Most of us belong to this human race that existed long before Adam and Eve were created.
Follow my future blog entries for more logical explanations.
Noah's Flood (Revisit)
I am now reading a book "The Science of God" by Gerald L Schroeder and will be discussing some of its contents in the next few blog entries.
Please refer to entry "Noah's Flood" dated 13 January 2008 in the Archive.
It was revealed in Gen 6-8 that during Noah's Flood about 4,100 years ago, only Noah's family survived.
The author Gerald Schroeder had observed that native civilizations in America did not show a break in lineage about 4,100 years ago.
The Ark had supposedly rested on a mountain in Ararat (Armenia ) when the flood water subsided. But there were many other mountains in the world higher than those in Armenia! Hence there may be persons/tribes, other than Noah and his family, who had survived the Flood.
The author also noted that the Hebrew text used to indicate the flooded Earth was 'Aretz', whereas the Hebrew text used to indicate the face of the Earth was 'Adamah'. It is possible that Noah's Flood was not over all the face of the Earth, but only a limited geological area only.
Hence the Earth was not re-populated on Noah's family ALONE after the Flood.
Mystery solved.
Please refer to entry "Noah's Flood" dated 13 January 2008 in the Archive.
It was revealed in Gen 6-8 that during Noah's Flood about 4,100 years ago, only Noah's family survived.
The author Gerald Schroeder had observed that native civilizations in America did not show a break in lineage about 4,100 years ago.
The Ark had supposedly rested on a mountain in Ararat (Armenia ) when the flood water subsided. But there were many other mountains in the world higher than those in Armenia! Hence there may be persons/tribes, other than Noah and his family, who had survived the Flood.
The author also noted that the Hebrew text used to indicate the flooded Earth was 'Aretz', whereas the Hebrew text used to indicate the face of the Earth was 'Adamah'. It is possible that Noah's Flood was not over all the face of the Earth, but only a limited geological area only.
Hence the Earth was not re-populated on Noah's family ALONE after the Flood.
Mystery solved.
In The Beiginning...(What Beginning?)
I am now reading a book "The Science Of God" by Gerald L Schroeder. I will be discussing some of its contents in the next few blog entries.
"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." Beginning of what? Most of us will conclude that it is 'In the beginning of time...'
In around 1917, Vesto Slipher, with data based on Einstein's Law Of Relativity, concluded that the Universe was expanding. But refusing to accept Vesto's conclusion, Einstein subjectively changed his equation so as to describe a static Universe instead.
However as more data accumulated indicating that the Universe was indeed expanding, Einstein was regretful. He wrote to fellow Nobel Laureate Max Born, saying that his denial of his own theory (that the Universe was expanding) was "the biggest blunder of my life."
Einstein realised that if the Universe was expanding, getting larger day by day, then what about yesterday, a year ago, a millenium ago, a hundred million years ago? The Universe must be smaller as we go back in time! Until billions of years ago, the Universe must be only a point - a point that marked the beginning of the Universe.
That point -- is Genesis 1:1. Someone must have created that point.
It's God the Eternal.
"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." Beginning of what? Most of us will conclude that it is 'In the beginning of time...'
In around 1917, Vesto Slipher, with data based on Einstein's Law Of Relativity, concluded that the Universe was expanding. But refusing to accept Vesto's conclusion, Einstein subjectively changed his equation so as to describe a static Universe instead.
However as more data accumulated indicating that the Universe was indeed expanding, Einstein was regretful. He wrote to fellow Nobel Laureate Max Born, saying that his denial of his own theory (that the Universe was expanding) was "the biggest blunder of my life."
Einstein realised that if the Universe was expanding, getting larger day by day, then what about yesterday, a year ago, a millenium ago, a hundred million years ago? The Universe must be smaller as we go back in time! Until billions of years ago, the Universe must be only a point - a point that marked the beginning of the Universe.
That point -- is Genesis 1:1. Someone must have created that point.
It's God the Eternal.
Thursday 14 February 2008
SundayTimes 10Feb08: Work on gambling related-projects? A matter of principle.
The Sunday Times carried an article on "Work on gambling projects? No thanks".
Several firms are turning down IR jobs because gambling goes against their business ethics.
There are also those who have no qualms about doing business in the gambling industry.
I applaud those who stand by the principle that gambling is morally wrong, and are prepared to forsake opportunities of material gains for their belief.
Personally, I have told myself not to seek employment or buy shares in companies associated with gambling or other non ethical business. Otherwise I would be abetting sinful activities knowingly.
I have also told my children not to seek employment in places associated with gambling activities.
If we profess to be Christians and truly believe in a living God, then we should live according to our conscience. The small voice within us will tell us what is right or wrong. Like Daniel in Dan 3:4-18, have faith in doing right and resist doing wrong. Trust God.
Dan 3:16-18: "O King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to give you an answer concerning this.
IF IT BE SO, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire...
BUT EVEN IF He does not, let it be known to you O king, that we are not going to serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up."
Several firms are turning down IR jobs because gambling goes against their business ethics.
There are also those who have no qualms about doing business in the gambling industry.
I applaud those who stand by the principle that gambling is morally wrong, and are prepared to forsake opportunities of material gains for their belief.
Personally, I have told myself not to seek employment or buy shares in companies associated with gambling or other non ethical business. Otherwise I would be abetting sinful activities knowingly.
I have also told my children not to seek employment in places associated with gambling activities.
If we profess to be Christians and truly believe in a living God, then we should live according to our conscience. The small voice within us will tell us what is right or wrong. Like Daniel in Dan 3:4-18, have faith in doing right and resist doing wrong. Trust God.
Dan 3:16-18: "O King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to give you an answer concerning this.
IF IT BE SO, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire...
BUT EVEN IF He does not, let it be known to you O king, that we are not going to serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up."
Amazing Las Vegas !
I visited Las Vegas about 20 years ago. Till today, it was the most amazing city I have visited.
I travelled to Las Vegas by road. It was really a city in the middle of the desert. I could imagine that everything had to be 'imported' and 'transported' to this city to make it habitable.
Never before had I seen a city so beautiful. I was there on vacation, so the 24-hours entertainment and service at the hotels really impressed me. The all-u-can-eat-buffet spreads costing just US$5.99 made me feel life was happy and relax all the time.
I was amazed that here was a city that could camouflage gambling, a 'sin industry', into something so enjoyable. Here, gambling is not evil. It is honourable. It provides livelihood. It makes the world and makes life beautiful.
I guess this is another irony of life. The 'bad' can do 'good' . The 'good' can look 'bad'. The evil can be worshipped as gods. And sometimes the righteous suffers the most.
Las Vegas is amazing ! It's prosperity and success challenge our views of good and evil.
Interesting.
I travelled to Las Vegas by road. It was really a city in the middle of the desert. I could imagine that everything had to be 'imported' and 'transported' to this city to make it habitable.
Never before had I seen a city so beautiful. I was there on vacation, so the 24-hours entertainment and service at the hotels really impressed me. The all-u-can-eat-buffet spreads costing just US$5.99 made me feel life was happy and relax all the time.
I was amazed that here was a city that could camouflage gambling, a 'sin industry', into something so enjoyable. Here, gambling is not evil. It is honourable. It provides livelihood. It makes the world and makes life beautiful.
I guess this is another irony of life. The 'bad' can do 'good' . The 'good' can look 'bad'. The evil can be worshipped as gods. And sometimes the righteous suffers the most.
Las Vegas is amazing ! It's prosperity and success challenge our views of good and evil.
Interesting.
Friday 8 February 2008
Prosperity and Little Ironies
It's the second day of Lunar New Year 2008 today. I wish readers a Happy and Prosperous Lunar New Year.
Last Sunday, at the worship service at AMK Methodist Church, Rev Wee Boon Hup gave a sermon on Prosperity. God had assured us of prosperity, not necessarily material prosperity, but non-material properity.
In actual fact, God had promised us many things, but not material richness. He promised us the fruits of the Spirit, love, joy, peace, a place in His house in Heaven. He will also spare us from being tested beyond what we can bear.
The irony is, he also promised us sufferings. All the apostles suffered for their belief in Christ. They also warned us about sufferings and testings in 1 Peter 4, James 1 and the other epistles.
Like Abraham and Job, all of us have to face the ironies of God's testings and God's blessings in our own time. You will really need the help of the Holy Spirit to go through the trials in your life's journey, and emerge victorious.
Last Sunday, at the worship service at AMK Methodist Church, Rev Wee Boon Hup gave a sermon on Prosperity. God had assured us of prosperity, not necessarily material prosperity, but non-material properity.
In actual fact, God had promised us many things, but not material richness. He promised us the fruits of the Spirit, love, joy, peace, a place in His house in Heaven. He will also spare us from being tested beyond what we can bear.
The irony is, he also promised us sufferings. All the apostles suffered for their belief in Christ. They also warned us about sufferings and testings in 1 Peter 4, James 1 and the other epistles.
Like Abraham and Job, all of us have to face the ironies of God's testings and God's blessings in our own time. You will really need the help of the Holy Spirit to go through the trials in your life's journey, and emerge victorious.
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