The Bible - interesting secrets (Red letters do not record)

While God has given ample evidence for faith, He will never remove all excuse for unbelief. All who look for hooks to hang their doubts upon will find them. And those who refuse to accept and obey God's Word until every objection has been removed, and there is no longer an opportunity for doubt, will never reach the light. Distrust of God is the natural outgrowth of the unrenewed heart, which is at enmity with Him. But faith is inspired by the Holy Spirit, and it will flourish only as it is cherished. No man can become strong in faith without a determined effort. Unbelief strengthens as it is encouraged; and if men, instead of dwelling upon the evidences which God has given to sustain their faith, permit themselves to question and waver, they will find their doubts constantly becoming more confirmed (*1) How to Understand It These are the books of the Bible. Many specialists supported the notion that the books of Kings, Chronicles, Psalms, Ecclesiastes and Song of Solomon were late literary inventions. That is, literary registries not necessarily related to historic events, but to an imaginary and fantastic collection of stories. Since there was no mention of its characters outside of the Bible, and there was no archaeological evidence that showed the existence of King David, or of King Solomon, his son, nor of the other kings who came thereafter, the argument was irrefutable. Stories like David and Goliath simply were not real. That notion was popular until 1993, when an archaeological discovery as significant as that of the Dead Sea Scrolls was made known to public. In Teldan, Israel, the first mention of an important character from the Bible, from the house of David, who was defeated in battle, was discovered. The notion of literary invention was never mentioned again. Also, there was Joseph, the foreign slave, who came to be Pharaoh of Egypt. This story was also considered to be a myth among the Hebrews until the year 1970, when the ruins of the cities built by the Semites were discovered with abundant findings that confirmed the existence of yet another historical figure mentioned in the Bible. The existence of a Pharaoh who was not an Egyptian. The existence of Joseph! Again, the derisive comments from critics ceased. The same thing happened with Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, related to Daniel the prophet. There werent any findings which proved his existence until the discovery of a library of thousands of boards in Cuneiform writing with numerous descriptions of the time of Nebuchadnezzar. Science, from one moment to another, saw the appearance of these supposed late literary inventions of the Bible become real. Todays man despises what stems from the Bible. Our purpose for emphasizing these examples is so that you remember the apostle who said: Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe. John 20:24-25 Science unmistakably reflects the type of person this apostle represents. Neither archaeology nor science should be the means for finding evidence of God. The only means of understanding the existence of God is through the Bible and with the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Science in itself is contaminated by carnal mans limited appreciation because he is deprived of the Spirit of God. This is why concepts such as in the archaeological cases of King David, Joseph, and Nebuchadnezzar, among many others, have been rewritten. The problem lies not in archaeology, but in mans limited vision, in scholars with narrow and partial vision when it comes to interpreting discoveries. It seems that God likes the idea of testing our faith often. Science in many cases has wanted to ridicule the Bible, especially in the dispute of Creation vs. Evolution. In many cases, science should have kept silent in surprise by all the evidence history has left. Many are the men and women who can be compared to Thomas the apostle, who would not believe until seeing and touching. What did Jesus say about incredulity? John 20:29 Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed. These words tell us two things. 1) God is going to permit some events to happen so that some of us may see and therefore, believe. 2) He is not going to permit many of us any means of verification thus testing our faith. Hebrews 11:6 (**) But without faith it is impossible to please

him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him Ponder on that verse! And analyze it! (**Pause) This does not mean that you should have blind and irrational faith. This is not what we wish to accomplish! We want to lead you to have faith while you are listening to this narration. Happy are they who have not seen and yet believed! Who revealed it? Man is devoid of the presence of God. Sin has made man an enemy of God. The paradox is that the one offended is God, but we are the ones who feel offended! We are the ones who should seek God, but it has been God who has been seeking us. The separation of man and his Creator demands a mediator who will insist on reconciliation. That mediator is precisely the Holy Ghost! His job consists of softening our hardened hearts. When man feels touched by the Spirit of God, he then discerns God and becomes His friend. Celestial things are not visible to man through his mere intellect. The intelligence that we possess does not permit us to discern spiritual things, even in small measure! Lets look at I Corinthians 2:10 But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. 11For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. Its that simple. Only through the spirit of God can we be brought to light and be able to know Who God is. If we do not use this means, man will simply continue seeking a theorem so as to try and prove the existence or nonexistence of God. Now lets apply this to the scientists we mentioned, who before 1993 needed to touch a stone to know that King David existed, compared to the illiterate scientist believer, who accepted the existence of King David with faith, even before the discovery, simply because the Bible stated it. Years pass by, and an archaeological discovery is made which silences the unbeliever and which confirms the faith of the believer. This goes to show how God leaves things around for us to discover and verify our faith in the Bible. Although many discoveries found have left no evidence for verification. This is where, without any scientific evidence provided, faith is exercised, in cases such as: the raising up of the dead by Jesus; the multiplying of the bread and of the fish by Jesus; When Jesus healed the sick; the existence of the devil, Gods enemy; and even the existence of God Himself, Whom science has not yet put in a test tube. The Spirit of God is the only Being Who can reach into the heart of man and make him believe what God wishes. John 16:8 And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment The Holy Ghost is God or the third person of the divinity. He is the only one who can bestow wisdom, and give us the answer. From where did we originate and where are we headed? Fill the void in man Only the Spirit of God can break the most hardened man down and convert him into a whole, new, happy being by leading him to discover Salvation through Jesus and convincing him that the Bible is Gods true revelation. The Holy Ghost was not given nor can it be offered to contradict the teachings of the Bible. It should inspire you to get closer to it and not keep distant from it. (Please note: To learn more about the Holy Ghost, the Spirit of God, look through the file explorer or Windows Explorer in the folder: compiled from the Bible passages of this CDROM, from the file Who is God?). How to study the Bible? There are two ways for studying the Bible: The deductive way and the inductive way. In the deductive way, the reader has an idea, he studies what is written and confirms that idea. The deductive way is wrong, because it is a way to justify with the Bible whatever preconceived ideas you may have had. Unfortunately, it is the most common way that people study. In this manner, the reader is not ready to learn from the Bible but is ready to force his opinions on its teachings. On the other hand, with the inductive way, the reader puts aside all his opinions and permits himself to absorb what the Bible teaches. He studies and observes what the Bible says

or means and lets himself be taught. Then he asks himself, What should I do? or How can I apply this to my way of living?. Thats the correct way. Sciences for interpreting the Bible exist. These are logical and necessary norms for the studying of any text. Sciences and grammar rules for simple interpretation, such as the fact that you cannot say that Little Red Riding Hood was the one who ate Granny by taking out a sentence from one part of the story and joining it with another in a different part which has no contextual relation. This example may be a little childish, but it reflects a mistake commonly made in churches for the purpose of fabricating doctrines which the Bible does not teach. They remove a bit from here and a bit from there and leave out the important facts and thus teach heresies. If you take these facts into consideration, you may be able to tell who is teaching the truth and who is not. Unmask the truth the way the Bible has taught you. Remember Jesus when he said, many will be deceived for not knowing the teachings of the Bible. Teachings that are learned if studied sincerely and minutely. One example of manipulation and deceit is the one we already mentioned in the topic in this presentation called The Two Pacts, about the passages Romans 3:28 and James 2:24. These passages are apparently in direct contradiction: one says that man is justified by faith without deeds and the other by faith plus deeds. It is for this reason that Church W- will teach you one truth with one biblical passage (Romans 3:28) and Church Y- will teach another truth with the other biblical passage (James 2:24). Here lies a problem. One passage alone is not the whole truth; the entire Bible as a whole is necessary to shed light on its teachings on any one specific topic. All passages taken in their context can convey the Bible's teachings even to the least learned of people. However, confusion results when some passages are taken in isolation from others. All churches claim to preach the truth. But not all churches preach solid biblical doctrines. The Church agrees that the Bible teaches the Truth, but it does not use the whole Bible to teach that truth. Instead, it teaches truth with clear contradictions, such as in the deductive way of studying. Therefore, church W- and church Y- criticize each other and do not agree concerning their doctrines. Then, church X- appears, identifies the interdependence between Romans and James, and clears the apparent contradiction that W- and Y- were fighting over for basing their doctrines on just one portion of the Bible. Thus church X- has a different opinion from churches W- and Y-. An observer who does not belong to any of the churches would have no trouble distinguishing between who is teaching the error and who the truth if he is willing and sincere about studying the Bible as a whole. This is the present-day situation of the churches of the world and why they all claim to preach the truth. Lets look at two examples: Bad Management, Example 1- Jesus is not God There are those who teach that Jesus is not God. That.He is only the Son of God, and not God Himself. They will show various Biblical passages (Matthew 26:39, Matthew 20:20-23, Mark 13:32, John 8:17-18, I Corinthians 15:27-28) If Jesus were not God Himself, Satan would have been the first to deny Him in the desert when trying to tempt Him, and Jesus responded, You shall not tempt the Lord thy God Matthew 4:7 Satan knew that Jesus was God, and for this reason, he kept quiet; he would have not hesitated to say, Liar! You are not God! Why do you say, you shall not tempt the Lord thy God, for you are not God! I am tempting you, Jesus, and not God! Satan wouldnt have missed the opportunity to trample the one he would later murder. However, Satan agreed with Jesus' command not to tempt God and continued with another unsuccessful attempt. It doesnt matter how many Biblical passages with an apparent truth you are shown. The entire Bible should be in harmony with the Divine Light being shown to you. The example of the tempting in the desert does not mean it contradicts any Biblical passages that Jesus is the Son of God or Jesus orientation with reference to His Father. On the contrary, by declaring that Jesus is not God, we are contradicting the example of the tempting, where Jesus Himself said that He is Lord and God, together with other passages that say that Jesus is that same God. Philippians 2:6 Remember that Jesus warned: many will be deceived, and if it is possible, even the chosen ones. Are you familiar with a counterfeit bill? Without a background knowledge, one who looks only upon the surface can not distinguish a lie from the truth! Bad Management, Example 2- The End of the Law

This passage is used: Romans 10:4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth. We use this passage, mixing it with other passages, thereby fortifying the target idea which, in this case is The end of the Law. It does not specify which law; nevertheless, in the instruction, the believer, who attends the church that is teaching this end of the Law, will not have the opportunity to learn about the profoundness of the Law and its various applications and uses. The believer, therefore is taught that the O.T. Law was just for the Jews, and hence, since you are not one, you are not obligated to keep that Law as Romans 10:4 states: For Christ is the end of the law. This is the sophism, a false argument seemingly correct, but actually misleading. Now lets look at this: There are various laws in the O.T. which say or teach that, the end of the Law is in Christ, which implies a general application of all law. Consequently, this lesson, taught in conjunction with the statement such as: Thou shalt not kill, which is a law from the O.T. which ended at Christs coming, gives us to understand that it is now permitted to kill, rob, commit adultery, lust, and worship other gods and images, according to what these churches emphasize. When asked about these commandments, they have no answer, since it is obvious that all law has not ended; the biblical laws are still in force which command us not to kill, rob, have other gods or images to worship, or any of the other specified commandments. Jesus would be the first to protest against the teaching that since He came, the old law is no longer valid. When they feel trapped in their own theories, they then apply this end of the law to the 4th commandment: the Sabbath. The problem remains because Romans does not state that Christ is the end of the Sabbath; it says that Christ is the end of the law. The error lies in that the word end in Greek or in its context does not mean termination or eradication of the Law, as they try to assert in order to rid themselves of Gods Law. On the contrary, the Greek and the adequate context should be correctly understood as the purpose of the Law is in Christ, that is, the Laws objective or purpose is to lead the sinner to salvation from being condemned by the Law that says, thou shalt not commit adultery, or thou shalt not worship other Gods. Christ is the purpose of the Law. May the sinner see his condition and seek a solution. Different Translations Why is it that words which appear in one Bible appear as other words in other Bibles? It is because each word has a different use when translated. For example, in Habakkuk 2: 19: Woe unto him that saith to the wood, Awake; to the dumb stone, Arise, it shall teach! Behold, it is laid over with gold and silver, and there is no breath at all in the midst of it The Hebrew word is pronounced Etz. It is translated as: beam, stick, wood, log. And the word is pronounced Ru-a-j and is translated as: puff, spirit, breath of life. In some versions, one or the other of the definitions of the Hebrew root of the word will appear. This is why one Bible will appear to be stating some different meaning, however, its lesson and pedagogical aim will be just the same. This change of words from some versions to others should not lead the reader to think that all Bibles are different, or that each church makes its own adjustments. This is not true. Except for the Bible: New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures. This sole version is called paraphrase, which means that it appears the same but contains word aggregates not in the original. The Bible is unified in all its concepts, such as the Trinity, the Sabbath, death, or any other topic. By having a sincere knowledge of the Bible, there wont be room for any doubts. The Bible is a coherent whole that could be compared to a spiders web, where if you choose a concept and follow it through thematically, you will find it coherently connected and balanced in the middle, on the other side, or in whatever part where you may find a definition of the topic chosen. If you choose Sunday as the day of rest and you compare it to the day of rest which the Bible states, you will notice that the Bible does not teach us to sanctify another day other than Saturday. In this same manner, you may evaluate every concept that has been taught to you and see if all the concepts are complementary; if they broaden the knowledge of God concerning the topic; if they possess coherent support with their context and are subject to the sciences of interpretation. If you study the Bible, you will notice that man has changed only what he has wanted to; the Bible possesses only one teaching.

Apocryphal versions Some old versions of the Bible, Catholic as well as Protestant, contain some extra books which we call Apocryphal, or falsely inspired, or second canon. They vary between 9 and 15 books and are included in the Old Testament. Only the Catholic versions continue including apocryphal books currently (the Jerusalem version). The following is a list of some of the apocryphal books: 1 Maccabees 2 Maccabees Wisdom Tobit 3 Maccabees 4 Maccabees Bel and the Dragon Susannah Letter from Jeremiah Prayer of Manasseh The Song of three youths Additions to Esther and Daniel Others are: *The Gospel of Phillip *The Gospel of St. Peter *The Gospel of Mary, beginning of the XIII century. *Books of the Nak Janabi written in Coptic, an old Egyptian language. Why are these books considered to be a separate canon or uninspired works? Protestants are those who will not accept these for the following reasons: 1.) They are not in the Hebrew versions available, but in the LXX, or Septuagint version, which is the first translation to Greek for the time being, of all the scrolls composed of all the writings conserved by the Hebrews. At Ptolomeus request (Philadelphus), the copy of the 70 (perhaps 72) is done in Greek and here we find that the books of the second inspiration or apocryphal have been added, generally in the Catholic versions. Ptolomeus was interested in acquiring literature, and not in preserving the Word of God, so this is how the Deuterocanonics, which were not inspired works of Gods servants, were added. 2.) Its authors were not acknowledged as prophets by the apostles or by Jesus in any part of the New Testament. We may say that in no case whatsoever is any of the apocryphals cited as a Scripture, nor is it attributed as a work of the Holy Spirit. Critical texts of today place these as historical books. It should be emphasized that the apocryphals teach doctrines which Gods prophets condemned, such as: Justification by works (Tobit 12:9); prayer interceded by the dead (II Maccabees 12:43-46); the preexistence of the soul and the incarnation of it in the body in the case of birth (Wisdom 8:19-20); The use of magic for defense and for the chasing away of evil spirits (Tobit 6:4-8); and the use of deceit and of female seduction with the aim of accomplishing divine purposes (Judith 9:10,13; 10:4. 11:5, 12:16, 13:6-8; 13:16; 15:10). Important historical errors, such as the affirmation that Nebuchadnezzar was king of the Assyrians or that Arphaxad was king of the Medos (Judith1:1) also exist. Worst of all is that for 1500 years, the Catholic church acknowledged that these books did not come from Divine Wisdom until the celebrated council of Trenton, on the 8 th of April, 1546, canonized them to justify some of its doctrines, which were being judged by the Reformation. The author of the book of Maccabees acknowledges clearly that he was not inspired by God but spoke of his own account. (II Maccabees 15:38-40) The Bible Compared to the Koran Many people of the world heard about Islam on September 11 th, thanks to the extremists. However, today, they are still unknown to many. In this brief review, you will get to know a little more about them. Islam means submission: the believer submits himself to Allah, who according to this vision, is the only God, creator and restorer of the world. Allahs will is manifest in the Koran (The Recitation) written by Revelations directly from the angel Gabriel to Muhammad over a period of close to twenty years which ended in the year 632 BC. Analysts say that without the interpretative tradition, most of the Koran is difficult to understand. Moreover, some revelations made to Muhammad depend on how the tradition has been passed Ecclesiasticus Baruch 2 Esdras Judith 1 Esdras

down, as the original writings of the Koran are loaded with complex ambiguities. Muhammads role as a prophet clearly shows Biblical influences, such as The Proclamation of Monotheism and the clear role carried out by Moses and Jesus, who were simulated by Muhammad. The Koran possesses Jewish (from the Torah) and Christian messages (The Gospel). What many do not know is that Islam that Muhammad left behind has its roots in the pagan cults which preceded it and were practiced in the Arabic peninsula at the time of his birth. It is quite interesting that the Coraxi tribe, of which the prophet and apostle of Islam was a member, would worship the Moon God and that this divinity would be called Allah. The Koran does not make clear the significance of the Kaaba, the black stone which is found in Mecca, and which was an object of worship before the Muslim movement and its prophet, Muhammad, arose. It is known that from that time (600 BC) until now, pilgrimages have been made to Mecca, where the place where the black stone is found is circled seven times, and then stones are thrown at the devil. So all these practices were based on concepts which preceded Islam and were known to the pagan tribes, because their names and meaning were established in popular ideology of preIslamic paganism. Also, it should be noted that Muhammad was called by two titles, which occupy a high position in the Old and New Testament vocabulary, specifically, the titles of Prophet, from the Old Testament, and Apostle, of Christianity. This fact suggests that Muhammad intended to convince both Jewish and Christian sects of the supposed veracity of his calling. Regarding these lofty titles, we ask: if the message were dictated by Gabriel, why did he not continue with the same coherence as in his previous appearances noted in the Bible? The Koran borrows several biblical fundamentals such as: God the Creator, Satan in his rebellion, Gabriel the angel, and frequent passages taken from different parts of the Bible, with ambiguities such as the criticism of Jesus as the Son of God and the call to not worship Him (sura XIX:91-93 and XVIII:81) but rather to worship Adam (sura VII:11), and it states that the reason Satan was cast out of heaven was for not worshiping Adam. It is contradictory to say that the old prophets such as Elijah, Moses, and the rest of the prophets had the real message which Jesus confirmed (sura V:50), the message which was altered by the Jews who were attacked in the book. Also, Jesus is disdained in the Koran, supposedly inspired by the angel Gabriel, the same angel who announced Jesus status as the Son of God. Matthew 1:23 and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which interpreted means, God with us. (*3) Let us put on the table all the information we have talked about. A religion that we could say arose very late for it to be a fundamental religion; that uses a mixture of concepts borrowed from the nations around it. With adaptations so dissimilar that, although resembling other beliefs, also contradicts them, so that it ends up as a religion woven together by years of trial and error, adjusted by tradition, and not founded on the original writings, since the direct source, the Koran, is ambiguous. You may see the difference here from the Hebrew Bible, in relation to coherence and continuity of the Bible which God, for 1500 years, had wanted to write. A Bible which, in each of its passages, carries the seal of a superior being. Nevertheless, God gives you the freedom to choose, without obligating you. Remember that there is a conflict between right and wrong, between Jesus and Satan. There are only two roads: The truth and error. The truth only has one door. Error has many doors. Soon these doors will be closed and each one of us will be left behind the door that we chose. Revelation 14:6-9: And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth Saying Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come. Bibliographic References: *1- The Great Controversy, chapter 32 Snares of Satan. Hellen G White. APIA. Fundamenals of Hope Electronic Library CD-ROM (BEFE) FolioVIP Electronic Publishing, Folio Corp. 1992-1993. *2- Adapted by Luis Antonio Palomino2003. *3- Adapted from the Centinnel Magazine; Pacific Press Publishing Association; August 2002; Vol. 106; No. 8; pgs. 3,4,6 and 7

Bible passages taken from King James version. David Obando Cano CD-ROM Project The Greatest Biblical Lessons IASD InterAmerican Division 2006