"Heaven helps those who help themselves" is not in the bible from my understanding, rather its the opposite. God helps the helpless, the powerless etc. please enlighten me more on this, thank you.
It is not in the Bible. However, we should not completely discard the "possible" underlying interpretation the initial writer of the quote was trying to convey
Many Christians thought that Jacob worked seven years for Laban, realized that Laban deceived him to marry Leah, and then worked seven more years before finally getting married to Rachel. However the bible shows that he took both Leah and Rachel immediately before he began serving Laban. For clarity, I advise you to read this Jacob's story in other translations of the Bible aside King James Version (KJV). Meanwhile lets look at look at some of the facts from the Bible: (Genesis 29:21 KJV) And Jacob said unto Laban, Give me my wife, for my days are fulfilled, that I may go in unto her. Please note that the 7 years of service required of Jacob were the total dowry and not the customary waiting period before a wife was given to the groom. In other words, Jacob took Leah after the customary waiting period which was a couple of days just like we read in vs 21. Notice that he said, "Give me my wife, for my days are fulfilled" implying a certain number of d...
There is so much misunderstanding in the Church today regarding the gift of prophecy. Many people believe that prophecy only refers to telling something before it happens. However, even in the Old Testament, the messages of the prophets contained as much, if not more, about the present than they did about the future. In Hebrew, the word translated prophecy is based on the word stem nābā, which simply means “to speak by divine inspiration, either in prediction or simple discourse.” “ Prophecies ” is transliterated (i.e. brought straight over from Greek to English) from the noun prophēteia . It is made up of pro , meaning “before, in time or position” and a form of the verb phēmi , meaning “to tell.” The verb form of this word can refer EITHER : Foretelling (predicting or telling something before it happens). It seeks to predict the future. It predicts or reveals personalities, occurrences, circumstances that will hap...
Many people are often unsure what sin is in the New Testament. The lack of clarity is because there are certain life events/ actions that do not have direct examples in the Bible for which they can reference to. For instance, someone that gave to charity might be committing a sin if his sole purpose is to post the action on social media. In such circumstances, how do you determine if your actions are sinful or not. In the New Testament, there are two key parameters for judging sin. The first one is love, the second one is faith. We will begin by taking a close look at these two parameters. Firstly, let’s read Romans Chapter 13 verse 8: (Romans 13:8-10 KJV) Owe no man anything, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandments, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namel...
In the book of Revelation chapter 4, the bible made mention of twenty-four elders sitting on thrones in Heaven. Let us read the bible verses: (Revelation 4:4 KJV) And round about the throne were four and twenty seats: and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold. (Revelation 4:10 KJV) The four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created. Many Christians believe that these twenty-four elders are human beings. However, is this position absolutely accurate? Could these twenty-four elder be more likely angelic or heavenly beings than humans? Well, my further study of the bible indicates that they are not human beings but angelic elde...
Some people contend that Jesus' ministry was only for the Children of Israel and not for all mankind. To support their claim, these people are quick to cite the following verses from the New Testament: (Matthew 15:24) He (Jesus) answered, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel." (Matthew 10:5-6) These twelve (disciples) Jesus sent out with the following instructions: "Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans. Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel." It is important to realize first of all that Jesus was born of the lineage of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He was the fulfillment of the promise that God had made to Abraham many centuries earlier. Because of obedience and submission to God's will, God's promise to Abraham was two-fold. First, God promised to bless his lineage, namely Isaac, Jacob (Israel), and the Children (descendants) of Israel. Secondly, God promised that from this lineage of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob would...
The first occurrence of speaking in tongues in the New Testament is in Acts 2 on the day of Pentecost. Acts 2:1-6 "When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard them speaking in his own language." The Greek word translated tongues literally means "languages." Therefore, the gift of tongues is often speaking in a language a person does not know in order to minister to someone who does speak that language. The Jews visiting from the Diaspora that ca...
What is reincarnation? Is reincarnation a Christian belief? Does the Bible teach reincarnation? Are there evidences in the Bible to support reincarnation? Several people (including many Christians) believe in reincarnation. However, the Bible does not teach reincarnation, rather it teaches resurrection from the dead. What is the difference? In reincarnation (or transmigration), the body dies and returns (i.e comes back to life again) in a different body to live on earth again. Depending on your deeds in the previous life or lives, the new body is entirely different from that of the previous life. For instance, a man could get reincarnated as a woman or an animal or a stone. On the other hand, in resurrection of the dead, the body that dies is the exact body that is raised. For the resurrection that will occur in the last day, the body is made new in the sense that it is perfected and no longer subject to frailty and death, but it is still the same body. In reincarnation, the previous m...
Many Christians believe that the word translated “whole” in Luke 17:19 KJV refers to both physical and spiritual healing and that the nine lepers in the chapter received only physical healing because they did not return to give thanks to Jesus where as the leper that returned to give thanks to Jesus received both physical and spiritual healing. They believe all the lepers were cleansed but the one that returned to Jesus got something extra which is that he was made whole (i.e his limbs which may have been lost or deformed as a result of the leprosy were restored or that he got salvation for his soul). Though this may be true, there's however a more likely possibility that the leper did not get something more than the rest of the nine. Let's first read the story: (Luke 17:12-19 KJV) And as he entered into a certain village, there met him ten men that were lepers, which stood afar off: And they lifted up their voices, and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us. And when h...
The phrase “blasphemy against the Holy Spirit” is found in Matthew 12:31-32, Mark 3:28-29 and Luke 12:10. (Matthew 12:31-32 KJV) Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men. And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come. (Mark 3:28-29 KJV) Verily I say unto you, All sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men, and blasphemies wherewith soever they shall blaspheme: But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation: (Luke 12:10 KJV) And whosoever shall speak a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but unto him that blasphemeth against the Holy Ghost it shall not be forgiven. The word translated blasp...
In my previous post, I explained what it means to blaspheme against the Holy Spirit. You can read the post here . Jesus stated in Matthew 12:31 and Mark 3:28-29 that blasphemy against the Holy Spirit cannot be forgiven. The question is why wouldn't blasphemy against the Holy Spirit be forgiven considering that Jesus died for the sins of all mankind and is willing to forgive anyone that truly repents and believes in Him. (Matthew 12:31 KJV) Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men. (Mark 3:28-29 KJV) Verily I say unto you, All sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men, and blasphemies wherewith soever they shall blaspheme: But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation: The main reason why this sin cannot be forgiven is because the "non-forgiveness" is linked to ...
"Heaven helps those who help themselves" is not in the bible from my understanding, rather its the opposite.
ReplyDeleteGod helps the helpless, the powerless etc.
please enlighten me more on this, thank you.
Nice try Nze. Let's wait for comments from others.
ReplyDeleteNze, you are absolutely correct.
ReplyDeleteIt is not in the Bible. However, we should not completely discard the "possible" underlying interpretation the initial writer of the quote was trying to convey
ReplyDelete