Bible Questions

Leave your bible questions below in the comments and I and others can respond to them!

Rules for responding:

  1. The Bible can be hard to understand. Do not make it seem like the question that was asked (or the person that asked it) was stupid.
  2. This is not a chat page. There is a discussion page if you want to talk.
  3. If you respond to a comment and state your opinion, you must back it up with scripture!

~SonofYHWH

62 thoughts on “Bible Questions”

    1. Good question…
      Christ, being the Son of God, taught what His Father taught and did as His Father requested. The Bible also says that Christ is God.
      If Christ is God, and Christ followed God’s commands, then Christ followed His own commands; which means that Christ was a Christ follower…making Him a Christian.
      Lol! Does that answer your question?

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      5. You know what, Andro? I’d argue, using the same logic to make Christ a Christian, that the Patriarch’s (Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, etc) were also Christians. In fact, even Adam and Eve could be seen as Christians. So really, if the Bible is true, then Christianity is not a new religion; it is 6, 000 years old (yet many Christians call people who lived in the early ADs “church founders.”). Funny isn’t it?

        Liked by 1 person

  5. Since there are no more major signs and wonders today, (other than charlatans on TV,) Does the Holy Spirit do anything (other than assure our salvation and credit all we do to God, legitimizing it as not-sinful-flesh) supernatural? As-in, that isn’t outwardly reproduced by fleshly means?
    All our fruits of the spirit are just personal virtues we credit to and legitimize from God, so God doesn’t see them as ‘filthy rags’ like all non-christians’ virtues in our eyes.
    All our faith is just human belief (that one can lose, to which we say they never had it in the first place), which we credit to and legitimize from God giving us believe through the Spirit.
    All our prayers we credit the Spirit to relay to the Father.
    All our teaching is just biblical interpretation that we say the spirit gives us (despite contradicting each other and fighting wars over it.)
    All our unity in Christ we call the ‘invisible church’ because the visible church has no unity whatsoever.
    The comfort we’re supposed to have looks just like old-fashioned psychology, but with credit to and legitimacy from God.
    And the council— well, there is no council. The Holy Spirit is doctrinally contained by the Bible, so if your question to God isn’t Biblical, the Spirit has no final authority, inerrancy, power, or inspiration.
    Come to think of it, isn’t the Bible in practice above the Spirit now that revelation has ceased?
    Is the Spirit even here on earth anymore?
    What do we really have to show that the HS didn’t die with the apostles? Will the promise that we will to greater things “than these” ever be fulfilled?

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Hey Oron61,
      I can see you have a lot of questions. I can also see where you are coming from. I have had questions myself about why God doesn’t show Himself more.
      One thing to realize is that there are millions of other people on Earth besides yourself and I. Perhaps God is showing Himself through His Holy Spirit, but we just don’t see it because:
      a. We are blind.
      b. It has not been revealed to us.
      I think another aspect to this question is that everything that happens is all in His times and His seasons.
      That might sound classic and cliché, but there’s a reason everyone says that. Let me elaborate on what I mean, though:
      Why should God need to show Himself to us? Because we want Him to? To strengthen our belief?
      The latter is more legitimate, the former is not-so-much. It is not for us to demand that God show Himself before the time has come.
      One day every eye will see Him, and every knee will bow. The promise will be fulfilled. God has never failed to keep even one of His promises.
      Does that make sense? What are your thoughts?

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      1. Divine hiddenness is all well for pagans and unbelievers, but never should have been a problem for believers since the exodus. Starting with the burning bush, God’s glory has continuously been with the sons of Abraham: He had a collumn of cloud and fire in the middle of a desert, an earth-shattering presence in the holy place of the tabernacule, especially on Yom Kippur, and by the time his glory left the first temple, he was most strongly present in the prophets. Then in Ezra’s day, his glory returned to the new temple except when the Abomination of Desolation was set up and then later removed by the Maccabee clan.
        Then came Jesus Christ, and when he died, the curtain to the holiest was torn, Jesus arose and left, then the temple lost its holiness and was destroyed, but the Holy Spirit came onto the Apostles.
        That’s 2000 years of God’s continuous, powerful presence, not counting the lost knowledge from Noah and then Shem (who was alive in Methuselah’s day, and still alive in Abraham’s) all the way to Egypt.
        Then the apostles died.
        What happened?
        But regarding promises, assuming our current doctrine on the HS, they are unfulfilled! Jesus promised that He would be a councillor, a comforter, a spirit of truth, healing with hands, making oils holy, giving us the words we need to say when challenged, abiding with us forever and doing all these things.
        But we have no truth; we have 32,000 truths. We have no councillor; we have programs and Bible Studies and “search the scriptures” for eternal life within them. Our comforter is at the voting booth, our healing is in old wives’ tales and false-positive biopsies with the occasional random miracle.

        All we’re left with for council and comfort is a dusty old book which we hold with more authority than even if the Holy Spirit ever spoke again.
        Preachers outright say (in nicer words, of course) that if God the Holy Spirit Himself says something that isn’t just quoting scripture, it would be “new revelation,” which cannot be, meaning therefore He has no authority today.

        Were only the apostles promised these things? None of the things listed above are coming true. Was the promise supposed to be continuous for later believers?
        Did God leave us when we signed our canon of scripture and declared the case closed?
        Or perhaps… Anne Hutchinson was right, along with the Quakers, Shakers, and other Anabaptists, that there is authority alongside the Bible’s raw text?

        Like

      2. Can you reference the verses of promises you are speaking of? Thanks!
        What are you alluding to? What other authority is there that would be “alongside the Bible’s text?”

        Like

      3. I guess what I’m asking, is whether the Holy Spirit ever works in the preternatural instead of just the supernatural, whether he can be prompted, interacted with, responsive, proactive, or if He even works independently of our holy books or with any self-will today.

        Liked by 2 people

      4. John 14:15-27:
        “If you love me, keep my commands.
        16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.”

        Then Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, “But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?”

        Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.

        “All this I have spoken while still with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”

        So that answers one of your questions. You asked if the HS died with the apostles, well, verse 16 says that the HS will be with us forever. Thus, if you believe that what Jesus say’s is truth, He is still living and active
        as was promised.
        I don’t know how the Holy Spirit chooses to act all the time, I don’t think many of us do. But we can use scripture and reason to deduce plausible ideas on how he acts.
        I guess the questions to ask before we go further is, Who is the Holy Spirit? Was He with God in the Beginning? Was the Giving of the Holy Spirit in the NT the first time, or was He with man in the OT?

        Liked by 1 person

      5. v.16, “that He may abide with you forever…”
        v.26: “teach you all things”
        v.19: “but you will -SEE- me”
        Who is “you?” The Apostles, or Believers? If it’s to the Apostles only, that’s well enough. If it’s the church, then this promise has miserably failed: the Bible doesn’t do the Spirit’s job and teach us the same thing to all Christians, otherwise the Church would be unified. We don’t see Jesus either. In fact we don’t just walk “by faith and not sight” (somewhere in Paul’s letters I’m not bothering to look up verse number), but we walk in faith having never seen at all (blind faith)!

        But most embarrassing is v.12: “He who believes in me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater than these he will do…”
        Either this promise has expired (probable), it has failed (apparent, but shouldn’t be), or the promise is a [THEN]-outcome, and the [IF]-condition has not been fulfilled (meaning that nobody believes in him enough, and we’re all in trouble).
        But even so, something is wrong. Our faith has to have something other than the Bible and a secret spirit hiding behind it convincing some of us to be correct.
        The Holy Spirit is apparently vanished, we’re left with a book, and all our preachers say (implicitly, but never directly) that a purely cerebral faith is much better than a mystical one, because mysticism, in their eyes, is automatically demonic. I have heard it outright said that there’s no such thing as mystical christianity, that you shouldn’t pursue experiencing God. If I ask for a biblical form of meditation, they say there’s none. Possibly for fear of God speaking to us again. “Never seek the Holy Spirit,” they are really saying. “He’s dangerous and unreliable!”
        (If not all sins are damnable and defaming of the spirit like this is unforgivable, then they’re gonna have a lot of work to do to pay off this debt they owe Him in full!)

        And so I’m deeply troubled:
        If the Bible is the only revelation, then God has stopped talking to us, end-of-story. The Bible doesn’t “keep speaking to us today.” It only says what is says. “No new revelation, no authority outside of revelation.” It implies that God is trapped and contained by the Bible.
        But even without “new revelation,” there could still be prophesies. Has anyone come to a church, filled with the Holy Spirit, spoken to the congragation and said, “Jeremiah chapter # verses ## to ## is repeating itself right here and right now to this congregation, to each and every one of you, thus said the Lord to me last night” and been received with authority?

        Everything seems so empty and soulless. The Bible is not cutting it anymore for me. I need at least for an angel to be sent to move my eyes or poke my side to tell me that God isn’t just my faulty memory and a textbook.

        Like

      6. You and I are in similar boats, if not the same boat.
        I think that your question is not directly about the Holy Spirit, but about why God doesn’t show Himself (through whatever means; i.e. angel). If so, then you and I are both struggling through the same thing.
        Here’s my story. You don’t have to read it if you don’t want to. But if you want to, here it is:
        Not to long ago, I had a realization that “to believe without seeing” is blind faith. And, in my opinion, blind faith = stupid faith. Why would someone believe in something that they cannot see or see working?
        I realized that I had blind faith. I was believing in something that I did not think that I had adequate physical proof for (in my life). I decided that I would be a Gideon/Moses and ask God to show Himself to me by whatever means. If He would come and His glory would strike me dead, well, then I would be dead but have belief. And if He would not come and answer my “challenge” then there would be no real reason to live, because that would mean that God didn’t exist. So I didn’t mind the possibility of dying in the first situation (whether or not this was logical, I don’t know. But that was my though process).
        But then I realized that there was something in the Bible about “not testing the Lord your God.” I didn’t want my last decision to be a sin, but I didn’t want to live the rest of my life in doubt either.
        So I went to a good friend of mine and expressed my trouble. I got out a sheet of paper and we started to try to prove every belief I had from the ground up. Then, after proving it with logic, I would see if it matched the Bible. I didn’t do all my beliefs that night, and it would take me my whole life to prove all of them. But I realized that there was a God and that the morality of the Bible was certainly logically sound. But what I most needed, was proof that the Bible was true, and not, as you say, a textbook or ingenious fictional novel.
        But I was doubting everything, history books and all. This matters because people prove the Bible’s truth by matching it with our records of history. I had been told too many lies in my life and I didn’t know if I could believe something was true anymore. All my life I had grown up in a stable Christian family, but now I felt like the ground had been swept from under me. I cried and I felt lost. If I was going to believe something, I was going to have to find the answer myself so that I could truly believe it.
        But the next day, my friend game me some wise words: “At the end of the day, you have to believe something.” I knew that there was a God. That was the one thing I knew that I knew. I had proven that logically. So I just had to find the one religion that supported the true God (and I knew that it was what I believed then and still do now, I just needed to prove it). My friend then pulled out his phone and opened up a video by a Christian teacher on why the Bible was true. The one thing that really hit me there was that the Bible has been and is being rigorously tested and tried and torn apart skeptics and those who want to prove the Bible false. Nobody in 2000+ years has been able to prove that it is anything but true. No other religious manuscript has offered itself up to that kind of testing.
        The man also said, “People say, ‘Prove to me that the Bible is true.’ But one could just as easily reply, ‘Prove to me that the Bible is false.'”
        That was enough for me to believe. I still want to see God work physically, in fact, I wrote a song about it this morning (I am a song author). But I will believe this until I am either shown otherwise or until God comes to me, which I dearly hope He does. I pray regularly that though I believe, help my unbelief. I pray also that I would see Him.
        So that’s my story. That’s where I am now. I am watching a video right now that addresses the topic of the proof of the Bible, and I can send it to you if you like.
        If the Bible is true, then its promises still stand. If it is proven false, then nothing in it means anything – but it has never been proven false.

        Like

  6. I had a long, thoughtful response about mental vs mystical faith, modern intra-biblical revelation and the Holy Spirit being less authoritative than the Bible, for us, but it vanished upon posting it…

    Look at Verse 12, though. That verse is not coming true today. Then read the rest of the chapter, really slow, and scrutinize it like you’re reading a gnostic pseudepigraph. In fact, read one of them, and then read the chapter in the same way. Pick through the sentences for their meanings, without skimming them for comfort like I tend to do.
    It’s not really Who the Holy Spirit is that I’m asking, but To Whom, When, and Where the Holy Spirit is. You say He’s living and active. “Living,” I believe. “Active?” Look around you! Look within you! Have you ever spoken with Him? Has He spoken to you? other than with words on a page written long ago? Why can’t se ask Him things? Or even angels, without being “extrabiblical” and “dangerous?” Why are we blind, as you said above? Where is our teacher? Something is terribly wrong. It truly shows by all means today we really are left orphans.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Yes, I found it. It was in my spam. I replied to it with another long thoughtful response. 🙂
      I can see your frustration and, to an extent, I feel it myself.
      There is one time when I used to think that he may have spoken to me. But it was a while ago and my doubting tendencies make me feel that perhaps it is not so. But here is the story:
      I was a child and I did what most children do: steal. I stole mostly Lego from my friends, but I stole a lot of it. At that age, that’s a lot of money worth of Lego.
      One night, I was hot. I grew hotter and hotter until I was unbearably hot. I got down to the tile floor in hopes of cooling myself, but I remained hot. I don’t remember what happened after that, but I do know that this situation was extremely influential in making me return all that I had stolen.
      Perhaps this doesn’t mean anything to you, but it used to mean a lot to me. I thought I was feeling the heat of God.
      So yes, I did use to think that He had contacted me.
      But as I said in the my reply to your comment that went to my spam folder, I still wonder why He doesn’t show Himself. He showed Himself all the time leading up to the early ADs…and then it seems so have stopped. I don’t know why, but the miraculous signs that where so prominent in the Bible aren’t necessarily showing up today.
      It reminds me of Thomas. “Blessed are you, Thomas, for you have seen and believed. But blessed are those who do not see and believe.”
      I feel like Thomas. I think you do too.
      What do you think has changed? Why don’t we see Him as we want to?
      I was just reminded of the verse that says, “A wicked and perverse generation seeks for a sign.” Mathew 16:4
      I know that it relates specifically to the proof of Jesus’ diety, but I thought I might bring it up because it appears to relate somewhat.

      Like

      Reply

      1. Perhaps. He also said that seeing a resurrection is no more helpful that reading scripture (parable of Lazarus).
        I think I’m going to try and meditate on God using scripture for mystical conversation with God and perhaps prompt, invite, or open myself to the Spirit for real prayer, no matter how much Johns MacArthur, Calvin, Owen, and Edwards tell me to just believe and act like a machine.

        Liked by 1 person

      2. Can you please reference the part about seeing that a resurrection is more no more helpful than reading scripture? I can’t seem to find it.
        Okay. Through what means do you plan to do that?
        I hope this doesn’t come off as disrespectful. Text seems to have a way of twisting words to mean certain things, but I mean absolutely no disrespect when I say: Did you come on here to change my mind? Or did you come to see if there was an alternative? Or for some other reason?
        Just curious.

        Like

      3. Luke 16:31. ‘[Abraham in the restful parts of hell to the rich man in the hellish parts of hell]: If [your brothers] don’t listen to Moses and the prophets, then they won’t be persuaded [to change their ways] even if you rose from the dead [to warn them].

        I’m here to change MY mind or find some advice or bounce my ideas off you to see if I’m not alone or crazy.

        If God’s not here on earth except ‘in my heart’ or some other nebulous saying, I want to prove it to myself.
        If he is here, I want to find him.
        If he’s hiding or not here, I want to know why.
        If I can’t know why, I want to find comfort in trusting him despite.

        Any of these four options would do me well. What’s your take on the matter, or route you recommend I attempt to take? Do you think I can prompt the Holy Spirit or God’s angels to interact with me (or tune myself to hear them) without testing God or endangering myself?

        Liked by 1 person

      4. Ah, okay. 👍
        Reasonable questions. I want to say know, however, that I am like yourself: questioning and learning and growing. I hope we can be here for each other, but whatever advice I suggest you should test to Scripture.
        Here are my thoughts on those questions of yours (which are mine as well):
        1. I don’t know whether He is here in the flesh or not. In the OT, He showed up materialistically (He showed up physically with Moses too), in the NT He showed up physically. I don’t see why that would change today, except that His people are now scattered among the nations. So to this question, I don’t know.
        2. I agree. I don’t know how to find Him, though, except to follow Him with all of our heart, mind, and strength and just pray that He will show Himself.
        3. Yes, I agree that it would be very nice to know why He is or is not showing Himself.
        4. Again, I relate to this.
        What is my take on Mysticism? I don’t know about what ideology of mysticism you are thinking of pursuing, but I would be very careful. There is a spiritual realm out there and its scary how physical it is. I don’t know if you want to prompt the spiritual realm. I know people who met with a witch of sorts who did something to their family. Now the father of the family occasionally has his eyes opened and he is sees the likeness of demons. He’s freaked out about it. It’s a terribly sad situation.
        So it can be interacted with…but I would never advise you to take such measures. It is far too dangerous.
        I’m sorry, I don’t know what you can do to satisfy this longing to see…it all seems to dangerous. But I do disagree with your pastor friends that if God chooses to show Himself to you, this is not a bad or dangerous thing. God showed Himself plenty of times in the Bible and it was the people of Israel who asked God to stop speaking directly to them.
        I’m sorry my friend, I don’t know what you should do. I guess I just have 2 main questions that I need answered to better decide how to help you:
        1. Why do you want to see God/Spiritual realm (angels)?
        2. What are you thinking of doing (i.e. what form of mysticism)?

        Like

      5. I suppose the ‘mysticism’ I want is mystical or deep prayer. I want to speak to God and somehow hear Him speak back without playing Bible-verse roulette or scrying my random thoughts and surroundings for messages (omens, really.)
        I want to talk with God, in my head/heart or not,
        or I want to control my desire to do so so that I’m not constantly wondering if I’m on an efficient path to serving Him. If I’m not alone, I want a glimpse every once-in-a-while. A little feedback that isn’t just the course of events, without prompting Him to send an angel in true form or some thunderous manifestation to make my soil myself. (I’m often afraid to ask things of God for fear of him “givin’ it to me.”

        Like

      6. Yes…I think pretty much everyone wants that. I don’t know if that’s mysticism (as mysticism has a certain connotation), but it might be.
        I’m sorry my friend, I’m not sure that one can prompt God to come to him. I suppose one could prepare oneself, but I don’t know what would need to be done. It seems to me that when God showed Himself to people in the Bible, they were pretty much always scared and/or surprised. The only instance I can think of where God showed Himself in response to a request to do so was in the story of Gideon. Other than that, however, we don’t really have an example with which to replicate; and the only thing Gideon did was to ask.
        Just a quick question: Is your name Michael?

        Like

      7. My name Michael? Nope. I’m from an obscure town in northern Alabama. This is the first conversation I’ve had with you on this website.

        Like

      10. Well, no offense, but its hard to believe that what you are saying is true because your account is connected with that site and the site addresses what we are talking about.
        Thus, it appears that you are trying to advertise your site to me.
        Is this true? If it is, please tell me upfront; I won’t be mad, because you have raised some good questions, but if it is perhaps by some other means, please tell that then.

        Like

      11. christian-faith with a dash? I went on there and found that I was somehow logged in, though my wordpress account has no subscriptions to it.
        If I have joined it, it was do long ago that I don’t remember, or it’s a wordpress-based website that read a cookie I have and logged me in just now.
        My first name is Gordon, and that’s all I’m going to divulge online. Unless I recently made a passing comment there while scratching around for answers, I truly don’t know this site.

        Like

      12. Oh, okay. Yes, the website link has a dash.
        My apologies, though, I’m sure can understand.
        Well, do you have any more thoughts on this subject?

        Like

      13. Well, I realize that all of my scrambled and pained thoughts boil down to one question: Communication with God: how does it work? He never gave me a phone number and he doesn’t respond to subpœnas (especially not after last time!). How do I hear (or stop wanting to get) holy feedback when I’m at a crossroads?

        Like

      14. I get that.
        I don’t think that it’s wrong to want to get God’s input, and I don’t think you should want to not want God’s input.
        I think we just have to be patient. Being patient is quite hard, and being told to be patient is annoying, but I don’t know what else to tell you or to do myself.
        I have some good friends who are experience in the study of Scripture. I’ll consult some of my friends and get their input on this. Maybe they’ll have something that I don’t have right now.

        Like

  7. The answer to both questions is to know what God wants from me specifically as a unique individual in a country not mentioned in the Bible, without having to:
    -tear out contrived messages from the Bible like an English teacher, or a sorceror,
    -superstitiously scratching through every detail of my surroundings as a potential sign from God after desperately crying in his general direction for a sign that I probably wouldn’t listen to anyways even if I wanted to,
    -ask God a question, and force an answer, (whether from him or not) by sortition,
    -making a formula of guesswork to see whether a thought that passes by my head is from God, me, or the devil,
    -aimlessly wandering from poor plan to poor plan in life, making no progress in recovering from chronic mental illness, and generally being a useless servant because God won’t tell me where he wants me.

    Like

    Reply

      3. What comes to mind is some sign or conviction that is too overt to ignore as my own imagination, but subtle enough not to scar me for life.
        Now of course, I don’t really see God working with me on my own terms, and I don’t really have any leverage to dictate them to him.
        So, since God is not likely just going to address all my demands on my own terms, I want the comfort and a little strength to know that I am doing something right on his terms, or, the ability to meet him on his own terms when it comes to communicating, with someone whom I’m told only talks to us through a book.

        Like

      4. “So, since God is not likely just going to address all my demands on my own terms, I want the comfort and a little strength to know that I am doing something right on his terms, or, the ability to meet him on his own terms when it comes to communicating.”
        This is something I’m struggling with right now. Has the last month revealed anything to you?

        Like

    2. Hey Oron,
      It’s been a long time. I don’t know if you will get this message, but I’d thought I’d share something with you.
      Since we’ve last talked, I’ve continued searching for God as I’m sure you have been. There’s been a few questions answered, some more raised, some still persisting.
      But today, I had one question satisfied: Why Doesn’t God Show Himself?
      This video explains it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZZOaXkLGMY
      In truth, it’s rather obvious that God HAS shown Himself…you and I have just been asking Him to show Himself to us on OUR terms.
      Idk, I’d still like to have God show Himself to me individually, but it satisfies me somewhat for now.

      Like

      Reply

      1. That’s saying, God showed up once, but certainly not for all. 2000 hears later, and we’re supposedly given this “Holy Spirit” who has no more power than psychology today. I can’t hear the HS talk to me, and if I did, I’d listen in dread knows that whatever calling awaits me will be a miserable chore for the kingdom of God.

        Like

      1. People believe that Jesus will take away people secretly for the 2nd coming and then give a few years for those who are not ready.

        Like

      3. So no you don’t agree.

        Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left.
        Matthew 24: 40-41

        Liked by 1 person

      4. No, I don’t.
        I don’t think that the verse mentioned proves the aforementioned ideology. It simply states that there will be two, and one will be taken. No second chances.
        You?

        Like

      5. Yeah, I agree with you, just was curious. The bible says no where he will give a second chance when he comes. They use the verse I showed you to say they will all disappear before the final events come. It’s a very dangerous doctrine to believe. Nor does it make since. lol

        Liked by 1 person

  9. Hey, I have a question I’ve been wondering about for awhile. I don’t actually know if there is an answer, but here goes:
    In Revelation, it refers ‘the twelve apostles’ repeatedly: twelve gates, twelve stones, etc. The twelve are also going to rule over those in Heaven, right? Well, the four gospels end with eleven disciples/apostles (twelve minus Judas Iscariot). Acts adds another one: Matthias. Then, Paul claims to be another apostle. So my question is this: who is the twelfth? Also, what happens to the other one? Thanks!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Hey there!
      Neat question!
      First, I think you may have meant the twelve disciples instead of “the twelve apostles.” 🙂
      So Paul didn’t claim to be a disciple, but he was an “apostle” (“one who is sent out”).
      Nonetheless, in Acts 1: 23-26, there was a replacement for Judas Iscariot; his name was Matthias.
      So there is only 12 disciples, but there are many apostles.

      Interesting thoughts concerning the 12 disciples and the 12 gates/pearls/stones! I don’t know if I have ever heard that interpretation before.
      Hmm, I can’t recall ever reading that the 12 were going to rule over those in Heaven…could you show me a verse that supports that ideology? Thanks!

      When I read those verses about the gates in Revelation 21, I see the 12 tribes of Israel. Ezekiel prophesies this in Ezekiel 48: 30-34.
      What are your thoughts?

      Like

      Reply

  10. I probably should have studied this a bit more and given specific verses before diving into the question… sorry about that!
    Hmm, that’s interesting. I’ve actually grown up hearing that there were many disciples (followers) but only a select number of apostles (sent ones). Different upbringings, I guess! But I don’t think it makes a huge difference.
    You’re right: the twelve gates are the twelve tribes, and I don’t think it’s specified about the pearls/stones. Sorry! It’s the twelve foundations that have on them ‘the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb’. (Revelation 21:14 NIV)
    The verse I’m getting it from is Matthew 19: 27-30.
    Sorry again for just diving into this. I’ve had the question on my mind for awhile, but I should have at least looked up the references! Thanks for your patience 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. No worries!
      Hmm, well, you could be right, but since being a “disciple” means being one who is taught by Jesus, and there were only 12 who were consistently directly taught by Jesus, that’s why I have thought that there are only 12 disciples.
      Whereas, we were all sent out to preach the gospel to all nations, making there to be many apostles.
      But as I said, I could be wrong.

      Well, to answer your original question, I guess I can’t say that I know. I wouldn’t think Paul, since he wasn’t a disciple, but I can’t say it was Mathias either (since, he technically wasn’t a disciple either).
      …What are your thoughts?

      Like

      Reply

  11. https://www.diffen.com/difference/Apostle_vs_Disciple
    One article doesn’t (or usually shouldn’t) make a difference in changing one’s beliefs, but there’s something…
    Anyway, I have no idea! It’s driving me nuts. Matthias was God’s choice to fill Judas’ place, so he would probably be my first choice, but Paul was also an apostle/disciple specifically called by God, so… I don’t know! I guess we’ll know when we get to Heaven…

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  12. It hasn’t really. That’s kind of what I’ve been taught my whole life. I was just backing up my opinion with a source to prove that I’m not crazy 😉
    No, it doesn’t mean a lot to me (there is no deeply significant value in knowing as far as I can tell… although I might be wrong about that). I’m just the kind of person who likes to know things, and I’ve grown up in the age of Google where you can find any answer on the internet somewhere, so not knowing is a bit annoying. 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Huh…that’s funny…I thought the article advocated for my position, lol! Maybe I’m biased…😉
      Right, that makes sense.
      Hey, you are the one talking to me on The Debater’s Refuge, right?

      Like

      Reply

  13. Hmm, something’s going on here…. 😛 Or maybe we’re both biased, ’cause I’m pretty sure I am too.
    Yup. (I’m stalking you, mwa ha ha… no, just kidding. I’m really a nice guy:))

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

Gravatar
WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Twitter picture

You are commenting using your Twitter account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Cancel

Connecting to %s

%d bloggers like this: