Tuesday 28 February 2012

Why aren't the women and children mentioned in the feeding of the 5000 miracle?

In the Bible it says that children are important. In the story of Jesus feeding the 5000, it says there were 5000 men, not including the number of women and children. Why is that?

That is an awesome question and you’re probably not going to like my answer! The fact is the Holy Bible was written in a time when the society was patriarchal, which means a society where men were considered more important. BTW, this was common in our world and still exists in many places today. Most references referring to men and women or even groups of people are referred to in the masculine form. You’ll see the pronoun “he” used a lot and the pronoun “she” used infrequently unless it relates to a specific woman.

We have to remember that the Bible was written during a time when men were considered more important and women were seen as not as significant. The same applies to children.

The truth of the matter is that Jesus probably fed closer to 10,000 people that day but only the 5000 men were acknowledged in number. Now, that’s not to say that that Matthew, a Jewish tax collector, didn’t, at least, acknowledge the women and the children. In Matthew 14:21, it reads, “The number of those who ate was about five thousand men, besides women and children.”

Friday 24 February 2012

If Adam and Eve ate the fruit in the garden, why did they cover their bodies and not their mouths?

Another great question! So, prior to them taking a bite from fruit that was from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, Adam and Eve were in the Garden of Eden and they were naked. But, because sin hadn’t entered into the world, they had no reservations about being naked because there was nothing unnatural or wrong with it. Think about it, no other creature or animal was clothed, there were no other people and there was no evil associated with it.

I am often reminded of very little children who are about 2-years old who insist on taking off their diapers and running around naked! They do it out of innocence and aren’t embarrassed at all and don’t care because they are oblivious to their nakedness. They just don’t see the difference between their face, their knees or the part of their body that we parents insist they cover. Adam and Eve were similar in that type of thinking.

BUT, once they ate the fruit, the Bible says “their eyes were opened and they realized they were naked.” Sin had entered into mankind and the evil associated with nakedness, primarily lust, made them embarrassed and so they covered the parts of their bodies that affected lustful thoughts.

The covering of their bodies wasn’t meant as punishment, it was a way to hide their sin. Of course, these days, I sometimes wish we could cover some people’s mouths with fig leaves because of all the unwholesome and sinful speech coming out of it!!!

Monday 20 February 2012

I heard a preacher say that when Jesus comes back, dead Christian's bodies would have life again. But this isn't true.

Great question you raise! That preacher was not confused or mixed up. He was actually quoting 1 Thessalonians 4:16-16, which reads, “For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.”

When Jesus returns, all who died prior to Jesus’ Second Coming, who have accepted Him as their Lord and Savior, their physical bodies will be resurrected. Remember, we have a spiritual body (our souls) and a physical body. When we die, our spiritual bodies instantly go to Heaven but our physical bodies are still here. Anytime the Bible speaks of a resurrection, it is a physical event involving a physical body. So, those who area dead in Christ will receive resurrected bodies.

Don’t ask me how this works because it is one of the mysteries God chose not to reveal. However, we can be assured that those who died before Christ’s return will be first to ascend then those who are alive will go up to meet them. All of the believers will receive resurrected, “glorified” bodies.