29 June - 05 July 09: Creation 4 - The Flood

Gen 7:17

“And the flood was forty days upon the earth; and the waters increased, and bare up the ark, and it was lift up above the earth.”

– English KJV

^” ויהי המבול ארבעים יום על הארץ וירבו המים וישׂאו את התבה ותרם מעל הארץ׃"

– Hebrew Text

“Hayah mabbul 'arba‛ı̂ym yom ‛al 'erets rabah mayim nasa' 'eth tebah rum ‛al 'erets”

– Hebrew Pronunciation

We have seen that the Bible indicates a literal 6 day creation. We have also seen that modern science, especially the field of genetics, does not actually support the evolution theory.

This creates a lot of questions that the evolution theory has already tried to answer.

How did the canyons form?

Why are there huge oceanic trenches?

How do we explain reversed magnetism in the ocean bed?

Why does Mars have canyons that seems to have been made by water?

How do we explain the layers of strata?

How do we explain frozen mammoths still in the standing position?

Where does the ice-age fit into the Bible?

Where is/was the Garden of Eden?

Where did the flood waters come from?

Where did the water go?

These are fair questions that Atheists (as well as Christians who believe in Evolution) ask and it is very important that Christians have good answers to these questions, just like it is important for a Christian to be able to answer many spiritual questions (such as how to become born again; the purpose of baptism; etc). I believe that the Bible gives a perfectly acceptable explanation that systematically answers all of these questions: The Flood.

The Flood:

Genesis speaks of a catastrophic flood that destroyed the pre-flood world. Only Noah, his family and 2 of every sort of animal (and 7 of some) were spared. The flood was the judgement of God on the great sin that infested the pre-flood civilizations. The Bible indicates that the Earth was created approximately 6000 years ago and that the flood happened about 4400 years ago.

Why A Flood?

A question that often comes up when talking to people about the flood is “Why did God use a flood?”. The animals didn’t sin, why do they have to be punished? Why didn’t God just kill the evil people, just as the firstborn was killed in Egypt a few centuries later?

I think that there are at least two good reasons why God used the flood. Firstly, God did it because a world-wide flood would leave behind evidence, where a supernatural miracle would not. We have evidence all over the world for a world-wide flood, but no evidence (other than the Bible) of the death of all the firstborn in Egypt during the tenth plague…

The second reason why God would use a flood is because Noah would take time to build a boat... The Bible does not specifically say how long it took Noah to build the ark. We know that in Gen 5:32 Noah is 500 years old. We know that he was 600 years old when the flood came. How long it took to build the ark would depend on how much time passed between Gen 5:32 and when God commanded Noah to build the ark. Whatever the time period, we know that it would have taken a long time and that time period would have given the rest of the world an opportunity to repent.

Did you know that it probably never rained before the flood? Scripture seems to indicate that the first rain drops was during the flood. This is interesting because that would mean that Noah would have been trying to warn the people of something that has never happened before. People did not take him seriously because he was telling them about things they have never seen before. They must have through that he was going crazy! Today we face the same problem. We are trying to warn the world of a coming judgement that has never been seen before. People don’t always take us seriously because we are preaching about something that has never happened before and, like Noah, many people think that Christian evangelists are just plain crazy.

How Does A Flood Answer The Questions?

There is no doubt that there was a very large body of ice covering large parts of the Northern and Southern landmasses. There are Mammoths that have been found frozen in a standing position with undigested food in their mouth. There is no doubt that these things happened, the question is “when?”…

We also have evidence of large landscapes that have been eroded away. The question is “when did this happen?” Slowly over millions of years, or quickly over a short period of time?

There are two theories about the flood. They are very similar; however, the major difference comes in with the “Ice Age”. The one theory is that the Ice-Age caused the flood; the second theory is that the flood caused the Ice-Age. As with evolution, it is not possible to prove either of these theories, however, it does offer us something other than the farfetched evolution baloney.

First we need to look at the pre-flood world.

The pre-flood world was probably one super continent, containing lush vegetation, rivers, small oceans and minor mountain ranges. The Bible is clear that the earth was created upon the waters (Ps 24:1-2 / Ps 33:7 / Ps 136:6). There were large bodies of water trapped underneath the surface of the Earth, remaining there under extreme pressure from the rocks above.

The Bible states that the fountains of the deep burst open (Gen 7:11-12). The pockets of water burst through the surface of the earth, flooding the whole world.

A) The Hydroplate Theory: (Dr Walt Brown)

The first theory is that the flood caused the Ice Age…

A small, microscopic crack formed in the crust of the Earth, which rapidly grew in size. The crack, following the path of least resistance, could have encircled the entire world in only a few hours.

The subterranean water was under extreme pressure from the kilometers of rock above it pushing down. Due to this pressure, the water exploded through the crack in the crust. Dr. Walt Brown’s calculations show that the water could have shot up to 30km into the atmosphere, causing torrential rains such as the world has never experienced (before or after).

The Bible states that the fountains of the deep burst open on one day. Some of the water shot up so high into the atmosphere, beyond the cold stratosphere, that it froze into super cold ice crystals, creating large landscapes covered in ice on the North and South. Since water crystals can easily be magnetized they would naturally be pulled to the north and the south poles, creating the ice caps still visible today and, in some places, burying, suffocating and instantly freezing many animals. Explaining the signs of the Ice-Age(s) we have today.

The high pressure of the fountains eroded the rocks at both sides of the crack in the crust.

This created huge quantities of sediments that flooded the face of the earth, trapping and burying plants and animals, creating the fossil record. Many forests and animals were swept away and accumulated in areas where they were then buried, creating pockets of coal (plants) and oil (animals) through processes we can duplicate in laboratories today.

When the erosion on the sides of the crack became great enough, the basalt underneath the crust lifted up, due to the high pressure it was under. This gave birth to the Mid-Atlantic ridge, visible as cracks and around the earth today. The continental plates (still with lubricating water pockets underneath) slid downhill, away from the rising Mid-Atlantic ridge.

These plates eventually ran into resistance where they then compressed, crushed, thickened and buckled. The portions that buckled up formed our mountain ranges, the portions that buckled down formed the ocean trenches.

As the hydroplates slid away, it opened deep oceanic basins, into which the floodwater retreated. This is where our oceans are today. Many of these trenches filled with water was trapped inland, creating the giant inland lakes we find today. As the rain continued to come down these filled with more water. Some of these lakes filled to the brim spilled over, creating a notch in the lowest part of the dam wall. As the water flowed through the notch it would increase in size and more water would flow through. This process would continue and speed up until the water flowed freely and cut through the soft sedimentary rock, creating many of the canyons we have today. Grand Canyon could have been formed in a matter of weeks.

An interesting fact is that cold rock holds a magnetic field, where hot rocks will lose it much quicker. As the new seabed buckled, trenches formed. The rock on top of these trenches cooled at a different rate from the rock inside the trenches. This would have caused the stronger and weaker magnetic fields found within the rocks today, which evolutionists use to give evidence for the theoretical magnetic reversal process.

A) The Hovind Theory: (Dr Kent Hovind)

The second theory is that the Ice-Age caused the flood.

The two theories are very similar, however here is where they differ:

Many creationists believe that an ice meteor came from space and broke up before it neared earth. Much of the ice was caught by the gravity of planets and formed many of the ice rings we see today. Many of these items crashed into the planets and moons (explaining why there are so many craters on the moon, yet we see so few impacts), a large quantity hit Mars in a liquid form, explaining the large canyons on the face of Mars, some of which are bigger than the Grand Canyon (scientists believe that many of these canyons formed in a short time – much shorter than a year, perhaps even a few weeks)

A lot of the remains entered Earth’s atmosphere, breaking through and destroying a canopy of ice or water held suspended through the earth’s magnetic field. These particles were magnitized and were naturally attracted to the north and south poles, forming the icecaps we see today, as well as creating large ice covered landscapes. This new added weight caused the ground to crack and caused the waters of the deep to burst out. From here the theory continues in much the same way as the first theory.

Both of the above mentioned theories have much more detail, however, we do not have the time or space to explain it them in full. There are also other theories, however, these two are the most popular and explain most of questions about land formations etc.

Remains Of The Flood:

There are hundreds of mountain ranges that looks as though a flood could have formed them. The delta’s we have (such as the Nile Delta), could have been formed in a matter of days by water trapped inland that flushed out to sea just after the flood.

There are over 60 flood legends from around the world.

There are also a lot of evidence that the remains of Noah’s ark have been found. This cannot be proven beyond doubt, however, the evidence strongly suggests that a formation found in the mountain range of Ararat is Noah’s Ark. I highly recommend the Kent Hovind Creation Seminar DVD’s as they reveal much more insight on this topic. (Specifically the 2007 Seminar Edition).

Problems in the Evolutionary Timeline:

I cannot end this study without pointing out a few problems with the evolution timeline.

Pangaea:

Pangaea is the theory of a super continent that drifted apart over millions of years. Here are a few arguments evolutionists use to prove it:

- The continents seem to fit

First of all, just because they seem to fit, does not mean that they ever did. There are many things that “seem to fit” but never did. Houses seem to fit together, but that does not mean that they split apart over millions of years and the road formed between them… My finger and an electric outlet also seem to fit well together, but they were just not made for each other…

Secondly, they only seem to fit due to the water level of the ocean. Once the water level is dropped their shapes quickly changes and the “perfect fit” theory falls away.

- Similar fossils are found on opposite ends of the ocean.

This may be true, but what they fail to mention is that the same fossils are found almost all over the world! Secondly, many of these fossils are of creatures that supposedly evolved long after the continents split apart! This is actually evidence of a world-wide flood! How far could a catastrophic flood carry the body of that animal?

Here are a few more problems…

They shrunk Africa by 35-45% to make it fit.

The entire Mexico & Central America is gone.

They rotated Europe and South America clockwise, but Africa was rotated anti-clockwise just to make it fit.

There are many more problems, but we just do not have the time.

Erosion of the mountain ranges:

With the current rate of erosion, the entire earth will be flat in about 14 million years. If the earth is billions of years old, why are there still high mountain ranges?

With erosion of the land, sediments are continually flowing into the oceans. Why are there only a few thousand years worth of mud in the oceans? Shouldn’t there be more?

Coral Reefs:

The great barrier reef near Australia is the oldest reef on the planet. During World War 2, parts of the reef was damaged. Scientists watched it grow for over 20 years and concluded that it is only about 4500 years old. If the earth is millions of years old, why isn’t there an older reef somewhere?

Deserts:

The Sahara desert is the largest desert in the world. It grows larger by about 5 to 10km every year (the process is called desertification). Calculations show that the Sahara desert is under 5000 years old. If the earth is millions of years old, why isn’t there an older desert somewhere?

Fossilized Clams on Everest:

Fossilized Clams on Everest is used as evidence for the theory that India slowly, over millions of years, slammed into Asia and formed the Himalayas. I agree that the Himalayas were formed because India slammed into Asia, however, I believe that happened during the flood. The evidence is that huge quantities of the clams found on Everest is still in the closed position. The formation of the mountains using plate tectonics cannot explain why they are petrified in the closed position. If it was plate tectonics, they would be open. No, these clams were buried quickly and alive, which can best be explained by a flood.

Conclusion:

This has been a long study and we have hardly scratched the surface of this subject. What we do know is that there are major problems with the evolutionary explanation of how things happened and that many things are far better explained by a flood.

There are over 60 flood legends from around the world which describe a family surviving a catastrophic flood very early on in their history. Perhaps the flood legend is so prominent in human history because it actually happened…

22 - 28 June 09: Creation 3 - According To Their Kinds

Gen 1:24

“And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so.”

– English KJV

^” ויאמר אלהים תוצא הארץ נפשׁ חיה למינה בהמ ורמשׂ וחיתו ארץ למינה ויהי כן׃ "

– Hebrew Text

“'amar 'elohıym yatsa' 'erets nephesh chay miyn behemah remes chay 'erets miyn hayah ken”

– Hebrew Pronunciation

Today we will be looking at the most important link in the evolutionary chain: Macro Evolution

Macro Evolution is the theoretical process where one “kind” of animal becomes another “kind”.

According to evolution, we gradually evolved from some form of ape, which gradually evolved from another form of ape and so they trace our roots back to single celled organisms that “must have emerged from a primeval lake or another body of water”… From this body of water single celled organisms evolved, which split into various forms (“species”) along the evolutionary timeline. According to this theory the species are still evolving (and apparently have been for millions of years) and continue to grow stronger (the strongest survive…).

This theory has a few serious flaws and assumptions in it. We will start by looking at the assumption that species are improving:

Are We Continually Improving Through Evolution?

Evolution requires us to improve in order for the theory to be viable; therefore, they will answer “yes” to the above question without hesitation. Unfortunately (for them), the opposite has already been proven in the early 1940’s when advances were made in genetic research.

Species around the world (including us) are weakening with every generation. We are not growing stronger, we are actually degrading as time goes on. During the 40’s and 50’s the Darwinian Evolutionary theory was mostly abandoned and replaced by Neo-Darwinism. Neo-Darwinism was concocted by a large group of scientists that realized that genetic research was disproving some of the most crucial foundations of the evolution theory and that natural selection alone (as Darwin theorized) was not sufficient to explain the vast diversity of life on this planet.

Darwinism and Neo-Darwinism:

The old theory was based on fossils and a very badly thought-up fossil record. Those pictures in science books that show the various fossils buried in the ground, depicting the “newest evolved life” on top and older species the deeper you go down, are nothing more than myths. There is no place on earth where a complete (or even remotely complete) fossil record has ever been found. In fact, there are places where dinosaurs bones have been found along with human bones (modern-day humans – “homo sapiens”, as the scientists have classified us), as well as various other anomalies that completely contradict the standardized fossil record (such as fossilized trees that intersect through these layers that apparently took millions of years to form – known as Polystrate Fossil Tree’s.), however, these findings are not allowed to be published in scientific journals (unless you are trying to explain it away) as they contradict the foundation of the current evolution theory.

Neo-Darwinism or “modern evolutionary synthesis”, regarded by most evolutionary scientists as one and the same, is based not on any proof, but rather on far-fetched assumptions made specifically to fill the growing holes and errors within the evolution theory. For those interested in a more in-depth study I would recommend looking at some of the literature and seminars listed at the end of this study.

Some interesting facts:

- In America, only 14% of the population believes in the current evolution theory. 33% of the population firmly rejected it. The remaining 53% either does not know whether it took place or disagree with the current theory, but cannot replace it with another theory they are completely happy with.

- 45% of American scientists reject the theory of evolution

- Most of the Eastern scientists believe that evolution happened, however, they firmly reject the current theory and rather suggest that we are just unable to explain it. Due to the lack of Christian influence in the East, most do not know about the creation possibility and are often amazed when evidence for this is shown to them.

(Research done by National Geographic and is available on their website)

A quick look at DNA:

We looked at DNA last week, so you should all remember the ladder of DNA called genes. This ladder is far more complex than most can imagine. It consists of 4 different nucleotide subunits (Adenine, Cytosine, Guanine and Thymine), in the double helix (the ladder structure) each one of these can only merge with one other (Adenine can ONLY link up with Thymine and Cytosine can only link up with Guanine) – I know, who cares, right?

Well here is the interesting bit: The links created by these nucleotides create an amazing code that can be described as God’s Morse code… They usually consist of three “steps” on the ladder that forms one “codon”. A series of these codons will explain something like “blue eyes” or “brown hair” etc. What is more amazing is that after each one of these short sequences of codons there is a specific structure that indicates “stop”…

Ex:

The DNA structure is extremely complex (Not to mention the incredible duplication system…). It is the most complex coded system we have ever seen! It is like a million page book with no grammatical mistakes…and they want us to believe that this came together by chance. It would be like flying in a plane with millions of letters and emptying the bags from a few kilometers in the air and on the ground they find 1) all the letters the right way around, 2) the letters forming actual words and 3) these words creating coherent sentences… Simply put: It is impossible that DNA formed by chance in some primeval body of water…

We will now move on to one of the biggest stumbling blocks of evolution and the number one reason why so many scientists do not agree with the modern day evolution theory: Deteriorating DNA.

The Deterioration of DNA

The biggest problem with evolving from one “kind” of animal to another “kind” is that it isn’t genetically possible…

Information in the gene code can only be (1) copied, (2) lost or (3) mutated/scrambled.

In normal cell division we have genetic codes copied over. Sometimes some of the codes are lost and a part of the DNA structure is completely missing. Mutations are when the data is scrambled up – that part of the DNA structure then becomes a useless string (it does not improve or add information).

Evolutionists added a fourth option: Addition. Some claim that data can be added, however, this is impossible. We have never seen it happen. Also, as I explained in the previous section, DNA is far too complex for any coherent strings to form by chance.

Last week we saw that mutations in DNA occur. Since mutations and loss of DNA happens all the time the DNA becomes more and more deteriorated with every generation. Evolution requires the DNA to improve (since species are improving from the primeval single celled organisms – apparently).

The problem with going from “kind” to “kind” is that all the genetic information about a “kind” (a dog for example) is in the cells already. Nothing new can be added to that genetic code. We cannot get a cat from a dog because the dog simply does not have the DNA to EVER become a cat (even if we add millions of years – we will have funny looking dogs – based on the DNA in them already - but they will all be dogs)...

If you have the DNA to form an arm, your body will form an arm. If you have the DNA to form a leg, your body will form a leg. A single celled organism does not have the DNA to form anything other than a single-celled organism. It cannot become a dog because it does not have the DNA required to form anything that is in a dog. All that a single-celled organism can do is become weaker with each generation as the DNA becomes more and more corrupt…

Everything you need to become what you are is within your DNA already. Nothing more and nothing less.

Conclusion:

DNA is unimaginably complex; in fact, it is a miracle that it even works the way it does. DNA shows us that our genetic structure is deteriorating, not improving.

Evolution is not a viable option because it requires the DNA to improve. The Bible, on the other hand, clearly shows that man has been going downhill since the fall in the Garden of Eden.

DNA supports only the Biblical account. We cannot prove Creation, but we can disprove most of the pillars that the theory of evolution rests on. If the pillars supporting a theory are kicked out it will fall.

Since so much of our understanding of the world often comes from evolution (or rather from scientists who believe in evolution), we encounter many questions that need to be answered from a Creationist’s point of view. The next few weeks will focus on some of these questions.

Further Study:

There is much more on the subject of Macro Evolution, however, it is simply impossible to cram everything in. It would take me a few weeks just to go through this subject alone.

For those who are interested in learning more about Creation, I recommend the following resources:

DVD’s / Video’s:

- Creation Seminar Set (Lecture series by Dr. Kent Hovind)

- Creation Science Evangelism College Courses 101 – 104 (In depth lecture series by Dr. Kent Hovind)

- Incredible Creatures that Defy Evolution Part 1 – 3

- The Evolution of a Creationist DVD set (lecture series by Dr. Jobe Martin)

- Life’s Story

Literature:

- The Assumptions Behind the Theory of Evolution (Dave A. Schoch)

- The Evolution Handbook (Vance Ferrell)

- Thousands… not Billions (Dr. Don DeYoung)

- Creation’s Tiny Mysteries (Robert Gentry)

- Bones of Contention (Marvin Lubenow)

- Vestigial Organs Are Fully Functional (Jerry Bergman and George Howe)

- The Truth About Creation and Evolution (Robert Knopf)

- In Six Days (Dr. John Ashton)

- In The Beginning (Dr. Walt Brown)

- Darwin’s Black Box (Michael Behe)

- Icons of Evolution (Jonathan Wells)

Websites:

- www.drdino.com – Creation Science Evangelism’s Official website (All above mentioned DVD’s and literature is available through this site)

- www.answersingenesis.org – The official website of the Creation magazine “Answers” – a very detailed site (Dr Kent Hovind – and myself – disagrees with one or two of their Creation theories, however, he highly recommends them as a Creation resource.)

15 - 21 June 09: Creation 2 - Sons And Daughters

Gen 5:4

“And the days of Adam after he had begotten Seth were eight hundred years: and he begat sons and daughters:”

– English KJV

^” ויהיו ימי אדם אחרי הולידו את שׁת שׁמנה מאת שׁנה ויולד בנים ובנות׃ "

– Hebrew Text

“hayah yom 'adam 'achar yalad 'eth sheth shemoneh me'yah shaneh yalad ben bath”

– Hebrew Pronunciation

Last week we saw that the Bible indicates a literal 6 day creation. This obviously creates a lot of questions, especially for those whose world view is based on evolution.

If the Bible is to be taken seriously when it talks about a 6 day creation, then we have to look at the tale of Adam and Eve as more than just a “story”. The biggest question that pops up when we get to this part of history is “Where did the rest of us come from?”

The answer to this question is very simple. Gen 5:4 reveals that Adam and Eve had many sons and daughters. So the answer to “Where do the other people come from?” is easy: Adam and Eve had many children – all of us came from these sons and daughters…

However, the question is never asked alone. It is always followed by something like this: “So did the brothers and sisters have kids with each other?”

These questions have one purpose: to set you up for their real question… “If the brothers and sisters had kids together, wouldn’t they be born deformed?”

Some people ask this because they want to try and corner the Creationist, believing that he or she won’t be able to explain how this could be possible. Many Creationists are stumped by this question, but we do not need to be. This supposed dilemma has a perfectly normal, scientific explanation.

The real question is not “Why weren’t the kids born with deformities?”, but rather, “Why do babies born to siblings have deformities?”

Answering the real question:

Why do children born to siblings have deformities?

This question is actually based on a false assumption. The assumption is that kids born to siblings will definitely be deformed or disfigured. This is actually not true. It is true that they have a greater risk of being deformed, disfigured, mentally challenged or have a weak immune system, but these defects have very little to do with their parents being siblings…

Many people will say that it is due to genetic similarity, but genetic similarity is a very misleading term and does not actually have anything to do with it.

So why are people born with defects? To properly explain this we need to look at DNA. I am going to try and keep it as simple as possible so that we can all understand. (For those who do not like science, I apologize; however, since the Evolution theory is supposedly “science”, we need to look at real science to combat it)

DNA is the blueprint of a living organism. In the DNA we find a detailed map explaining everything about you, the colour of your eyes, hair and skin, how many fingers you will have, how many legs, where the muscles will form, the specifics of your bone structure and pretty much every little detail about you, including some of your personality traits.

DNA is found in every cell in your body. DNA is bundled together in long strings called Genes (That look like a twisted ladder). Two strings of Genes are linked together in the shape of an “X” and called a Chromosome. The picture below is a very basic structure of a Chromosome.

Humans have 46 Chromosomes lined up in 23 pairs.

Sometimes these genes have errors in them. These errors are known as mutations. Mutations are always a loss of genetic information. Fortunately, most of the errors are harmless. There are many reasons why errors occur in the Gene structure. To imagine the extreme complexity of it all think about it this way: There are 23 Chromosomes in one cell. If you stretch all the DNA in ONE CELL out, it will be approximately 90cm long and it consists of approximately 6 billion subunits (individual steps in the DNA ladder), all of this must be duplicated every time a cell divides – and your cells will divide approximately 10 000 trillion times in your lifetime (10,000,000,000,000,000 cell divisions in your lifetime). Sometimes, due to the incredible complexity of this copying process, the cells do not copy perfectly. Therefore errors within the gene code occur. Errors or mutations can also occur due to damage from the environment – harmful ultraviolet light and x-rays from the sun and space etc.

In rare occasions these mutations can lead to deformities.

We all have these mutations in our genes. When a baby is born it receives half of his genes from his father and the other half from his mother. The reason why babies are not usually deformed is because the normal gene is dominant and the mutated gene is recessive (The dominant genetic blueprint is always followed – the recessive gene is only followed when no dominant gene is present), so when the baby forms, it will follow the correct gene blueprint.

The problem comes in when the mother and father both have the same mutated genes and the baby therefore receives two incorrect genes. Since there is no dominant “correct” gene, the mutated gene blueprint will be followed.

Siblings (and closely related family members) have a very high chance of having the same mutated genes, which means that there is a much higher chance of deformity in their children – however, the risk is often not physically visible. Most of the time it will be the immune system that will be negatively affected and no visible deformity will be evident. It is therefore not genetic similarity in the broad sense that causes deformities; it is similarity in the mutated genes that causes defects.

Looking back in time:

3000 years ago it was still very safe to marry your cousin (genetically speaking). In the past 3000 years the gene pool has become more and more corrupt and such a close blood-relationship now carries a much greater degree of risk.

Adam and Eve were made perfect. God declared it to be good. So when they had children, the gene pool was without mutations. Their kids would have very little to no defective genes. In fact, two complete strangers today have a far greater chance to have deformed babies than the children of Adam and Eve would have had.

To Answer The Question:

So, how could the children of Adam and Eve marry one another?

1) They had no choice; there was no one else around.

2) The law that states that brothers and sisters cannot marry only came into affect a few hundred years later when Moses and the Israelites were in the desert.

3) The genetic pool was not yet corrupted, so they could have perfectly formed children.

Scientific Adam:

When a paternity test is done, the scientists look at the errors in the genes to prove who the father is.

A project called “the Genome project” was done and hundreds of thousands of people had DNA samples taken. One of the side projects was “Super Ancestors”, which was a search for a common ancestor to all the people on the planet. Using the same methods as those used in paternity and maternity tests, scientists started to map the genes of all these people. Men were traced back through their male lineage and women were traced through their maternal lineage, all in the hope of finding a common ancestor.

To their surprise they found one…

There is a specific genetic mutation that is present in every single male on this planet. Every man alive is somehow related to this one “super ancestor”.

The scientists called this common ancestor “Scientific Adam” (Or Y-Chromosomal Adam – since the Y-Chromosome in men is used in the tests). Of course, they refuse to believe that this could be the Adam from the Bible… They add their own theories as to who he was and date him to about 60 000 years ago. There is no way to tell how long ago this mutation took place; it is nothing more than guesswork. However, even the 60 000 year date is a problem with some evolutionists because this date is much later (in their timescale) than they believe a single human male could have existed…

This is a truly remarkable discovery; however, I do not believe that this super ancestor is Adam. I believe that Adam’s DNA was perfect and without mutation. Therefore, this super ancestor is one of the following people:

Seth, Enosh, Cainan, Mahalel, Jared, Enoch, Methuselah, Lamech or Noah (Luke 3:36-38). (Since Noah and his sons are the only male survivors of the great flood)

They have also found a female ancestor that seems to be present in every woman alive! (Which was named “Scientific Eve” – or Mitochondrial Eve – since mitochondrial DNA is used in maternity tests)

Conclusion:

DNA shows that we all have a common ancestor, just as the Bible indicates, which goes against the evolution theory; even though scientists try to cover it up with elaborate (yet ultimately impossible) theories. We have also seen that everyone alive could have come from Adam and Eve, which makes the Genesis story a viable historical account.

Again we see that we do not need to reconcile the Bible with “Modern Science”. It is scientifically viable on its own. It is easier to have faith in what the Bible says, than to have faith in the theories conjured up by men.

Next week we will look at more DNA, focusing specifically on Macro-Evolution.

8 - 14 June 09: Creation 1 - In Six Days

Ex 20:11

“For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.”

– English KJV

^” כי שׁשׁת ימים עשׂה יהוה את השׁמים ואת הארץ את הים ואת כל אשׁר בם וינח ביום השׁביעי על כן ברך יהוה את יום השׁבת ויקדשׁהו"

– Hebrew Text

“kıy shishshah yom asah yehovah 'eth shameh 'eth 'erets 'eth yam 'eth kol 'asher nuach yom shebi‛ıy ‛al ken barak yehovah 'eth yom shabbath qadash”

– Hebrew Pronunciation

Those that know me well should not be surprised that this verse came up… Nor should they be surprised that I am going to spread the creation series over a week or two… In this short series of Creation we will run through some Scriptures that explain Creation, specifically, a young-universe.

We will start this series at the beginning, when the Bible tells us that God created everything in six days.

Two groups:

There are two groups within Christianity when looking at this verse (and creationism in general).

Group 1: The first group believes that there is a strict 24-hour time period associated with the word “days”. This group is the young-universe creationists.

Group 2: The second group believes that evolution was far too complex to explain to an uneducated people; therefore God simplified it by explaining it a metaphorical 6 days. These people believe in Theistic evolution – i.e. God created the universe and used evolution to do it.

To what group do you belong? I belong to group 1 and to everyone in group 2: You are wrong… How can I say group 2 is wrong? Well, that is what the next few weeks are all about.

When the Theory of Evolution was introduced by evolutionary scientists, the Christians made one of the biggest mistakes ever. They (or at least the majority) accepted this theory and then tried to force the Bible into confirming the new popular belief inspired by Darwin. They forced the Bible to fit their own belief (eisegesis), rather than conforming their belief to fit with the Bible.

Many people are shocked when they hear that there are people who do not believe in evolution. These statistics are a good eye-opener:

In America only 14% of the population firmly believes in the evolution theory. 40% believe in a young universe. The remaining 46% is unsure/undecided.

Between 55-60% of scientists believe in evolution, and 40-45% actually reject the evolution theory

There are highly intelligent people on both sides of the scale, so no person needs to feel “uneducated” just because they believe in a young universe!

Evidence, Proof, Science:

We must start by stating that there is no proof for evolution, nor is there proof for creation... There is, however, plenty of evidence that can, depending on the interpretation, support either of the two theories. There is a lot of evidence that makes the evolution theory (at least in its current form) impossible – we will look at some of this at a later stage.

The Oxford dictionary describes “science”:

The intellectual and practical activity encompassing the systematic study of the structure and behaviour of the physical and natural world through observation and experiment

No one has ever been able to observe or experiment with evolution – other than micro-evolution, which is small variations within a kind of animal. Micro-evolution does not, in any way, prove that macro-evolution (where one kind of animal becomes another kind of animal) ever took place – which we will be looking at in more detail in another study. For something to be SCIENCE, we need proof; evidence is not enough.

Therefore, Evolution is not science. It is a belief system, just like Creation. The Bible supports only one of these belief systems. It is our choice which one we believe in.

How long were the 6 days?

A popular theory among theistic evolutionists is the day-age theory. The argument usually refers to 2 Peter 3:8 that speaks about 1 day being the same as a 1000 years to the Lord and vice versa. They go on to say that each day represents a period of time, since the word “day” in Hebrew can mean “a period of time” – often suggesting that the word “day” does not indicate a 24-hour day.

The word “Day” in Hebrew is “ימים”, pronounced “yom / yome”. In the Hebrew it has three different meanings.

1) 24-hours: That is from sunrise to sunrise

2) +/- 12-hours: That is the “sunny” hours (sunrise to sunset)

3) A period of time: the length of which is usually indicated by the surrounding text.

It is true that the word “day” in Hebrew could mean a period of time, however, the context of the verse, as well as the rest of the Bible does not agree with this interpretation, as we will see:

The day-age theory explains that each day was actually millions of years and therefore fits with the evolution theory. However, there are a few problems with this theory:

a) Plants were created on day 3. The sun was created on day 4. Plants need sunlight in order to live. If these days are millions of years apart, then the plants would have died… This is also completely different from the evolution theory, where the sun formed billions of years before plant life started growing.

b) Sea and birdlife was created on day 5. Plants were created on day 3. There are hundreds of plant species that require birds in order to spread their seeds. If these days were millions of years long, then those plant species would have died out in the first generation. Evolution also teaches that birds developed last, therefore, the day-age theory does not fit with evolution.

c) Land animals were only created on the sixth day (along with man). Evolution has sea animals turning into land animals, which then turn into flying animals. The day-age theory and the evolution theory contradicts each other.

d) The phrase “and there was an evening and a morning” in Genesis indicates that each day was a 24-hour day. (If the day represents millions of years, what would the night represent?)

e) Hebrew scholars agree that the context of the verse does not allow for any interpretation other than a 24-hour day.

f) Jesus references the creation of man as the beginning, which means that He took these verses as historical, not poetic.

There are plenty more reasons why the day-age theory is stupid, however, these will do for now. The biggest problem with the day-age theory is that (ironically) it completely contradicts the evolution theory – and the reason it was created was to make the Biblical points agree with “modern science” (aka: modern fairy tales). So those who cling to the day-age theory to agree with evolution actually disagree with evolution and their entire theory is based on impossibilities.

6 Literal Days:

The Bible clearly indicates 6 literal days.

Those who believe the Bible must therefore believe in 6 literal days of creation.

As we have seen, the Bible does not indicate anything other than six 24-hour days, so those Christians who do not believe in 6 literal days are actually saying that the Bible is either in error or simply lying to us. I would hate to be in the shoes of somebody that, in the Day of Judgment, has to give God a reason why they thought God’s word was lying or was wrong… Don’t compromise the Word of God.

Now that we understand that the Bible indicates 6 literal days we need to try and understand how this is possible. This cannot be explained in one study, therefore it must be spread over a few weeks. Hopefully you will find this subject as interesting as I do and that you will be blessed through it!

1 - 7 June 09: Faith And Works

James 2:14

“What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? Can faith save him?”

– English KJV

“Τί τὸ ὄφελος, ἀδελφοί μου, ἐὰν πίστιν λέγῃ τις ἔχειν, ἔργα δὲ μὴ ἔχῃ; μὴ δύναται ἡ πίστις σῶσαι αὐτόν.”

– Greek Text

“Ti to ophelos, adelphoi mou, ean pistin lege tis echein, erga de me eche? Me dunatai e pistis sosai auton?”

– Greek Pronunciation

The reformer Martin Luther never felt good about the Epistle of James and this section is one of the primary reasons for his discomfort. In fact, in his 1522 edition of the New Testament he called it “an epistle full of straw” and actually put it in the appendix of the Bible!

Martin preferred the writings of Paul that states “a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of law”. The theme of faith-alone was his primary focus. One can understand why he felt the way he did, especially when this section was used against him in a debate by his Roman Catholic opponent, Johann Maier (Specifically James 2:17 – Faith without works is dead). However, Martin went too far when he put the book of James in the appendix!

This is a scripture that shows us how important it is to read a verse in context of the chapter as well as the book. We cannot look at only one verse and create a doctrine based on it. We must look at the verse in context of the chapter and the rest of the book, while taking into account who wrote it and who it was written to (and also keeping in mind the circumstances that it was written in...)

Before we go on, it would be a good idea to read James 2:14-26. If you read it carefully you should immediately notice what James is talking about.

14 What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? 17 Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. 18 But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. 19 You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble! 20 But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead? 21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? 22 Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect? 23 And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” And he was called the friend of God. 24 You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only. 25 Likewise, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way? 26 For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also. - James 2:14-26 (NKJV)

You will notice that in this section (James 2:14-26) James’ major theme is faith, not salvation. Paul focuses on salvation, but James tells us what real “saving faith” is.

The Big Debate:

Martin was a key figure in a debate between the Catholic Church and the Reformers.

The Catholic Church believed that one is justified through faith and works. This means that one must have faith and perform works in order to be saved. This means that a person cannot be saved on his deathbed because he does not have the ability to go and do good works…

The Reformers believed that one is saved through faith alone, as we believe today

The intended audience:

To understand the difference between Paul and James’ teaching we must understand the intended audience:

Paul wrote his letters to people who believed that they could be saved through their own obedience to the law. Therefore, Paul focused on the “salvation through faith” theme. Paul explained that we cannot possibly uphold the law and remain sinless. We are all sinners and have fallen short of God’s requirements.

New-Age poses a question that many Christians seem to be unable to answer: Why would a loving God punish people? Why does God not just let everyone into Heaven? This is exactly what Paul addresses:

It is not that God wants to be nasty; it is just that He is so perfect, so righteous and so unimaginably glorious that an impure spirit cannot stand in His presence… Just as darkness cannot be in the presence of light. It is simply impossible. However, since God loves us so much, He gave His only son so that we do not have to die! God is giving us the opportunity to shed the darkness and become part of the light – which means that we can enter His presence! This opportunity is through the sacrifice of Jesus, who faced our world, yet remained sinless. To obtain the grace of Christ we must have faith; our deeds cannot earn us anything other than a one-way journey to the lake of fire!

Paul targets those who trust in their own good works to save them, rather than in God.

James addresses a different issue. He confronts the freeloaders. Those who claim that they have no need for good works because they have faith!

These people were present in the time of James, just as they are present now. Where are these people? They are everywhere and they are easy to spot if you know what to look for.

There are millions of people who claim to be Christian; however, people around them don’t even know that they are “Christian”! These people are sometimes referred to as “Sunday Christians” – they are Christians on Sunday and will go to church, but the rest of the week they are completely conformed to the world.

James says it very well in verse 19: “Even the demons believe – and tremble!” Even Satan believes in Jesus, but that does not mean he is going to heaven on the Day of Judgment! A basic form of “believing” is not good enough, even Satan believes…

The evidence of Faith:

Paul preached that Works without Faith is dead.

James taught that Faith without Works is dead.

Keeping in mind that the Bible is the inspired Word of God, we know that there are no contradictions. Therefore, both these statements are true.

As we have seen before: Paul talks about salvation – which can only be obtained through faith. James is not contesting this belief at all. James is merely pointing out that if one claims to be a new creation in Christ through faith, then our actions should reflect that! Paul agrees with James in Ephesians 2:10 (For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.)

Faith and works are not enemies. Works are the outward display of our inward faith. We cannot have true faith in Christ inside without showing evidence thereof outside! Works are the result of the faith within us. Faith is the cause and Works are the effect. Faith leads to salvation, Works lead to faithfulness. James believed it, and so did Paul.

25 - 31 May 09: Be Valuable Salt

Matt 5:13

“Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.”

– English KJV

“῾Υμεῖς ἐστε τὸ ἅλας τῆς γῆς· ἐὰν δὲ τὸ ἅλας μωρανθῇ, ἐν τίνι ἁλισθήσεται; εἰς οὐδὲν ἰσχύει ἔτι εἰ μὴ βληθῆναι ἔξω καὶ καταπατεῖσθαι ὑπὸ τῶν ἀνθρώπων.”

– Greek Text

“Humeis este to halas tes ges; ean de to halas moranthe, en tini alisethesetai? eis ouden ischuei eti ei me blethen exo katapateisthai hupo twn anthropon”

– Greek Pronunciation

In this section of Matthew, Jesus uses two metaphors to describe his followers, salt and light. Today we will be looking at salt.

It is important not to miss the key principle in the metaphor Jesus uses here. Members of the body of Christ must impact society around them, as salt impacts the food (as well as other things) around it. The people of God must impact society because we are different from the people of the world. Being different does not mean being weird or bizarre, but rather: distinct.

The question therefore is: In what way must we be distinct?

To answer this question we will look at some of the properties of salt.

· Salt is valuable (because of what it can do)

Until fairly recently salt was very important, especially in the ancient world. Before refrigeration was a possibility people used salt to preserve food. Salt was so important that wars were fought over it. The economies of entire kingdoms were based on it!

In fact, our English word “Salary” comes from the Latin word “salarium”. Roman soldiers were paid salarium, which was money paid specifically to buy salt. Salarium was also sometimes in the form of salt. Eventually salt became synonymous with wages. Some believe that this is why the saying that a person is “not worth their salt” means the person did not give value for money.

Each of us must be of value to God. God gave each of us talents and gifts. He did not give it to us just for fun, God gave us talents and gifts because we are going to need them in order to accomplish His will
Salt was valuable because of the things it could be used for. God has a will for each of us. God has a purpose and use for each one of us. If we use the talents and gifts given to us we become valuable to God, just as salt is valuable to us.

· Salt stops corruption and decay

The main reason why salt was so extremely valuable was due to its ability to preserve food.

We must focus on stopping all forms of corruption within our lives. We can look at the following as an example:

Our speech must not be corrupt. We must think before we speak. A thoughtless word of criticism, rude remarks, lies, negative speaking and profanity (to mention a few examples) are all forms of corruptive speech. This type of speech does not edify anyone, rather, it corrupts and destroys. We must keep in mind how our speech influences our testimony. If on Saturday we use profanity but on Sunday we grace our lips with nothing but righteous utterances we are fooling ourselves. People who notice this will not listen to your testimony and the purpose God may have had for you in that situation is lost.

This counts for every aspect of our lives. Speech, actions and beliefs. We must continuously focus on fighting corruption.

We must also influence the world around us in a similar fashion. People around us should be ashamed if they use profanity, they should feel so convicted that they would not even dare to tell a lie when a Christian is in the room. People must be so positively influenced by Christians that fights should stop when we enter a room; people should put away alcohol long before we even get there!

The impact of “salty” Christians has affected entire countries. Consider impact of the First Great Awakening (revival) on England at a time when the rest of Europe was embroiled in political upheavals. Even secular writers acknowledge that it was because of the impact of Christians such as John Wesley and George Whitefield that England was spared the effects of the bloody revolution that swept through France in the late 1700's. “Salty” believers really do prevent corruption and decay!

· Salt gives flavour

There are two aspects of salt that go hand in hand. Salt stops corruption and adds flavour. There are many things that can preserve food, however, some will make the food so unsavory that it might as well have rotted.

We must be careful when stopping corruption that we do not lose our flavour. People who are too strict often display a life that no one wants to live. We all know that Christianity is not always easy and people go through very difficult times, especially in countries where Christians are prosecuted due to their faith. However, Christianity is not some severe punishment that we have to plow through suffering every day!

There are awesome things about being a Christian! Seeing God move amongst the people and experiencing His presence. Experiencing God’s love and care when He delivers us from a situation or when He blesses us with His mercy. Knowing the feeling that no matter what happens, God is in control and He will take care of us, so there is no need to fear anything. The list can go on forever…

We must also be able to portray this to the unsaved world. People should look at Christians and think ‘that is what I want’ or ‘I want to be like that!’ and ‘Now that person serves a God worthy of worship!’…

I am not saying that we should lie by saying that Christianity is all slow-motion in the corn fields; I am only saying that we have to display the good side of Christianity as well.

· Salt is easily pulverized

No one is perfect and God is always busy perfecting us. We must seek to be changed by God so that we can fulfill His will and purpose for our lives. Most of the time, we must be broken down before we can be rebuilt into the new person God wants us to be. We can be rebellious and try to avoid this, or we can be like salt and allow God to form us into something new, which enables us to do God’s will.

Salt represents a covenant:

Aristotle wrote that lasting alliances between kingdoms were often made by eating bread and salt, or sometimes only salt.

Salt represents a covenant, even in modern times. In the Arab world, if a man offers another man salt (in the sense of sharing a meal), the guest is considered to be under his protection and care. They could be worst enemies, but as long as the salt covenant remains the one will be under the protection of the other.

God also commanded that the Israelites had to put salt on every meat sacrifice that they offer (Lev 2:13). Without salt, their sacrifice was unacceptable.

Tasteless salt:

This verse also tells us that if the salt loses its flavour it must be destroyed.

Here we come to a very important point… Salt can lose its flavour…

This verse firmly rejects the belief of “Once saved – always saved”. Salt can lose its flavour, just as believers can fall away and become useless to the Lord. Once we are saved we give our lives over to God. This means that we are now going to do what He asks of us. As long as we position ourselves in such a way that this can be accomplished, we will remain valuable salt.

We are saved through faith, however, we remain saved through works – This is merely a continuation of our faith. Our faith produces good works for God. If we do not display “good works”, then it speaks volumes about our faith. Good works is the outward display of our faith (however, this is a message for another week…).

The point is that we must continue to be useful to the Lord. We must continue to do His will and influence the world around us. If we don’t do this we are useless to the Lord and is good for nothing except destruction.

So the question is:

What have you done today (or what are you planning to do today), that will influence the world around you? How will you be the salt of the earth?

18 - 24 May 09: Ready To Do The Will Of God

Gen 22:10-11

“¹⁰ Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. ¹¹ But the angel of the LORD called out to him from heaven, "Abraham! Abraham!". "Here I am," he replied.”

– English KJV

^10” וישׁלח אברהם את ידו ויקח את המאכלת לשׁחט את בנו

¹¹ ׃ ויקרא אליו מלאך יהוה מן השׁמים ויאמר אברהם אברהם ויאמר הנני׃"

– Hebrew Text

“¹⁰Shalach 'abraham 'eth yad laqach 'eth ma'akeleth shachaṭ 'eth ben. ¹¹ qara' 'el male' yehovah min shamayim 'a mar 'abraham, 'abraham 'amar hinneh”

– Hebrew Pronunciation

The story around this verse reveals four things we need to focus on if we want to effectively do the will of God.

Before we continue we have to understand the context of this verse. We have to try and put ourselves in Abraham’s shoes. This might be difficult for those of us who do not have children, but we need to try and imagine the following:

God promised Abraham over and over that he will have thousands of descendants. Their number is likened to the sands on the seashore or the stars in the sky. However, Abraham reaches the age of fifty and he has no son. He reaches the age of eighty, but there is still no sign of children. Eventually he turns ninety, but he remains childless.

Imagine the hope that he must have had based on the promise of God. He must have imagined all the things he was going to teach his children; all the things he wanted to show them, the memories he wanted to share with them… Yet at ninety five he was still childless…

Finally nearing a century, he gets a child from Hagar, one of Sarah’s maids. Soon after, at the age of 100, Isaac is born to Sarah. Abraham waited a century; one hundred years before he had a son with Sarah! Imagine the absolute joy he must have experienced!

Now, skip a few years ahead: Ishmael has been cast out and now God asks Abraham to sacrifice Isaac…

Imagine waiting one hundred years for something awesome God promised you, then, after having it for only a few years, God asks that you sacrifice this child to him…

Now, let us look at four things Abraham had that we need to effectively do the will of God:

1) The Obedience to do God’s will:

Put yourself in Abraham’s shoes…

If God asked you to sacrifice your son, the son you have waited a hundred years for, giving you no reason as to why this must happen and no explanation as to how this sacrifice would accomplish anything… Would you do what God asks?

Most people will find this a very difficult order to follow. No sane person would easily be able to say yes. It is due to the difficulty in following this order that God chose it. God could have asked him to sacrifice a few cattle (and Abraham would rather give a 1000 cattle in place of his son), he could have asked anything, including one of his hundreds of slaves, but God does not ask for any of those things. God asks for his son, his one and only son… God asks Abraham for his laughter (Isaac means laughter), the one thing he holds so dear and so close to his heart…

God sometimes asks us to sacrifice the things that are most important to us in order to follow Him. Each of us has our own valuable possession. This could be something physical that has great value (either monetary or sentimental), or it could be a habit. The question is: If God asked you to sacrifice that item, would you do it?

Abraham does what very few people would be able to do. He takes his son, preparing to sacrifice him.

2) The Faith to trust God’s will:

Abraham knows that Isaac was the child through which God promised him so many descendents. If he kills this child the great number of descendants will be forfeited. Yet, despite all of this, Abraham takes his only son anyway…

On the way there his son asks him where the lamb is that they are going to sacrifice. Abraham replies by saying that God will provide one.

Abraham absolutely believed that he will not lose his son that day. He believed that God will either provide a lamb or otherwise raise Isaac from the dead. Abraham had absolute faith, fully prepared to sacrifice his only son that day.

Abraham trusted God and His promises. He knew that God made a covenant with Isaac and nothing would change that. That is why Abraham believed that even if he sacrifices Isaac, God would raise him from the dead to fulfill the promises He made.

We are all called to have this kind of trust every day of our lives. God promises us that He will take care of us. He promises us that He will protect us. Abraham understood that God does not break promises, so why do so many Christians? The Lord will never leave or abandon us. When we are born again, we enter into a covenant with God. God will keep all the promises He makes in His Word. There is no question as to whether He can or will! It is already a done deal. All we have to do is have faith – the faith that Abraham had that day.

3) The Ears to hear God’s will:

“But the angel of the LORD called out to him from heaven ‘Abraham! Abraham!’ ‘Here I am’ he replied.”

What good is it to have faith and obedience to do God’s will, if we cannot hear what God’s will is?

Looking at this verse we see that Abraham was only moments away from sacrificing his only son. Imagine the emotions he must have been experiencing. This must have been one of the most difficult times, if not the most difficult, in his entire life. This was a dark and terrible time for him.

We all go through dark and terrible times. We all face circumstances that are so difficult that we don’t know how we are going to get through them. The good news is that God will always be with us, no matter where we are.

Now we need to learn a lesson from Abraham. He was going through this very dark time, yet he remained close to the Lord and was able to hear the angel’s call… Imagine how history would have changed if Abraham did not hear the angel…

As we go through dark times, we have to stay close to God in order to hear Him. It is in those times that we need His leadership most! Abraham was in such a situation, however, he was expecting the Lord to intervene, so he was desperately seeking God’s voice. In our tough times we must faithfully expect God to bring us through safely as well, so instead of relying on ourselves, we must open our ears and desperately seek guidance from God. If Abraham didn’t listen, history would have been totally different; if we don’t listen history can also change drastically.

4) The Time to listen to God’s will:

Imagine if Abraham decided to tell the angel to wait because he was just in the middle of something…

God can and will speak to us at random times; He is not confined to our quiet times! We must make sure that we have time for God!

As we see in this example, Abraham was in the middle of doing something God commanded him to do. Sometimes we might be in the middle of something that we think cannot be rescheduled, however, what we think and what God knows can be two very different things… Sometimes God needs us to listen, even when we think we are suppose to be doing something else. That is why, in the middle of worship, people suddenly get revelations and prophesies from the Lord. This is not the only time God speaks to us, however, this is one of the few times that people actually listen! During worship people are tuned in to God and can hear His voice much clearer.

We have to focus on spending more time tuned in to God. The more time we spend listening to God, the more He will reveal to us.

Remember that prayer is a form of communication and communication is a two-way road. We must give ourselves time to speak to God and we must give ourselves time to listen to God. Try the following exercise during your next quiet time (if you are not already doing it). Take at least five minutes where you just sit quietly, waiting on the Lord. Give God time to have a conversation with you! God uses more than just the Bible to communicate!

When we combine these four elements we greatly increase the effectiveness with which we accomplish God’s will.

Here is an example: Imagine if people ignored the voice of God and did not take the time to tell Joyce Meyer about the Lord… Imagine if people ignored the voice of God and no one ever told T.D. Jakes about the Lord… Millions of lives would be drastically different today because of it!

Even the smallest thing, like telling someone about the Lord, can change the lives of millions! We must never underestimate God’s plan!

Therefore we must use enough time to build our relationship with God, have the ears to hear God’s will, the faith to believe in it and the obedience to carry it out.