For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.. (Matthew 5:18)
Someone wrote to me with the following question: “Just wondering if you have done any research into the first civilization, according to science, known to man the Sumaritans [sic]. Their writings contain the original creation story that Moses and many others passed down?”
This is a common question that stems from the study of early world history that is based on evolutionary thinking. The inquirer is assuming that because the Sumerians wrote on clay tablets which have been preserved for thousands of years, that theirs is the oldest known written language, and that other cultures were incapable of writing.
The people before the Flood where highly intelligent people (Genesis 4:22-24) and probably had other methods of writing. It is quite possible that Noah had written records handed down from Adam, who died only a few hundred years before Noah was born. Noah’s grandfather, Methuselah, was alive around 250 years before Adam died. It is very possible that pre-Flood people wrote on papyrus or something like it so the genealogical record could be passed on. We might also consider the fact that God only gave Noah some general instructions for constructing the Ark (Genesis 6:14-16). I am sure you would agree that drawing out floor plans on clay tablets would have been rather cumbersome. So it seems reasonable that Noah had something more functional on which to draw his plans for the Ark.
The inquirer’s suggestion is based mostly on assumptions made by secular archeologists. Archeology is not an exact “science;” it is a “forensic” science that is highly subjective. Most secular archeologists are biased on the side of evolution, which influences their perception of what they discover. They assume that man “evolved” 100,000 years ago, and did not become “civilized” until sometime around 10,000 B.C. to 8000 B.C.
Since these “scientists” make assumptions based on evolutionary thinking, it is only fair that I be allowed to make some assumptions based on the biblical record. I am going to assume that Noah carried some sort of “paper” records on the Ark and continued to copy those records using the same medium. Paper records would not last thousands of years like those written on clay tablets, therefore, from our perspective, it “appears” that the Sumerian clay tablets are the oldest written record when in fact they are not, and they were actually pretty crude methods of writing even for their time. I will further assume that Noah and his descendants through Shem had more advanced methods of writing, albeit less durable than clay tablets. Writing on paper (papyrus) would require continual copying in order for the records to be preserved. Now, since no one can really corroborate either assumption, I will suggest that my assumption is just as valid as that of the evolutionary archeologists.
Having said that let me also suggest that the Sumerians, by the time they recorded their origins account and Flood story, had a distorted memory of those events. It is often suggested that Moses borrowed the Flood account from the Epic of Gilgamesh. But when one compares the Ark of Gilgamesh with the Ark of Noah, the two are completely different vessels. In fact, Gilgamesh’s Ark is built in the shape of a cube which would render the vessel extremely unseaworthy, while Noah’s Ark (or a model of it) has been laboratory tested and shown to be incredibly stable. What this shows is the Sumerians got it wrong and the Bible got it right.
The nature of such questions is the result of Satan’s unchanged tactic revealed in Genesis 3:1-5: (1) Create doubt in God’s Word: “Yea, hath God said …?” (2) Deny the veracity of God’s Word: “Ye shall not surely die,” and (3) Accuse God of keeping one from something better: “For God doth know that … ye shall be as gods.” His methods have not changed in over 6000 years, and sadly, even Christians fall for his lies. But the Author of the Bible says, “Till heaven and earth pass, one jot [the smallest letter in the Hebrew alphabet] or one tittle [the smallest distinguishing mark of a Hebrew letter] shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled” (Matthew 5:18). So, who got it right? Would you rather believe the words of men, or the Word of God?
The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith the LORD of hosts. (Haggai 2:8)
We have all experienced watching toddlers at play before they learn to share. One will grab a toy that does not belong to him, but he likes it and assumes possession. Another child sees the same toy, wants to take possession of it, and the fight is on. “Mine!” They both cry. Eventually, a grown-up has to step in and attempt to teach the youngsters how to share.
We grown-ups can sometimes behave the same way with the things God has blessed us with. We assume that because we worked to earn the money to buy those things, they belong to us. We think, “Mine!” Then, there are those who do not work and covet the things of those who do, and they think, “Those should be mine!”
God looks down on His children (by that I mean all of His creation, not just “His Children,” i.e., Christians) and says, “No. Mine!” He is Creator of everything – the earth, all the creatures that dwell on the earth, the plants, the seas, all of the mineral wealth of the earth, all of the heavenly bodies and all the wealth they contain, and every human being that has ever walked or will ever walk on the earth. Since He is Creator of all, that makes Him owner of all. We do not own anything. As Klaus Schwab might say, “You own nothing; now be happy.”[1]
Thankfully, God is not Klaus Schwab, nor does He share the attitude of the elitist World Economic Forum (WEF).[2] God does indeed own it all. “For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills. I know all the fowls of the mountains: and the wild beasts of the field are mine. If I were hungry, I would not tell thee: for the world is mine, and the fulness thereof” (Psalm 50:10-12, emphasis mine). “Thy silver and thy gold is mine; thy wives also and thy children, even the goodliest, are mine” (1 Kings 20:3). “Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die” (Ezekiel 18:4, emphasis mine).
Unlike the WEF, God wants to share His wealth with His creation. “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and [fill] the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. (Genesis 1:26-28, emphasis mine).
God made the earth and everything in it and outside of it before He created man. He made all of this for us. “For thus saith the LORD that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the LORD; and there is none else” (Isaiah 45:18, emphasis mine). He made it all. He owns it all, and He put man in charge. Then man blew it, but that is another story.[3]
So, what about all of “my labor” to get all of “my stuff”? As Barack Obama once said, “If you’ve got a business, you didn’t build that. Somebody else made that happen.”[4] BHO had the right idea, but the wrong conclusion. The “somebody” to whom he referred is the government. However, the fact is that the “somebody” is God, and He does that for all of mankind. Jesus said that God “maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust” (Matthew 5:45).
God created mankind in His image.[5] Therefore, we have life, abilities, talents, skills, creativity, ambition, motivation, etc. All of these come from God. Also, because He gave us dominion over the earth’s resources, we benefit from the “gifts” of others. For example, “my pickup” was designed by an engineer. The materials to construct it came from the earth and were fabricated and assembled by those having those kinds of skills and talents. It was delivered to the dealership by those who operate trains and drive trucks. It was sold to me by a person talented in filling out detailed paperwork. I earned the money to purchase it by using the skills God gave me to serve my employer, and so on. It all belongs to God, and He has shared what belongs to Him to bless me and you.
So, you can recognize that you actually own nothing, and you can be happy knowing that all that you have comes from a generous heavenly Father. Our part is to be good stewards (i.e., managers) of the blessings God has placed in our care. They all belong to Him. They are not ours.
Dear reader, if you do not know this generous God, please read my page on “Securing Eternal Life.”
And I will establish my covenant with you; neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth. (Genesis 9:11)
Twenty-one years ago, the world gazed in shock as they watched endless replays of passenger jets flying into the Twin Towers in New York City. If that was not horrific enough, not much later another passenger jet flew into the Pentagon in Washington, DC. A fourth plane, destined either to the White House or the US Capitol building, crashed in a field near Shanksville, PA as a brave group of passengers fought to wrest control of the airplane from hijackers. The actions of those brave passengers cost them their lives and the lives of the others onboard, but it prevented a much worse outcome if the terrorists had succeeded.
Today we remember the events of that fateful day we have come to call 9-11. For a very brief time following those events, our nation was united as never before since at least World War II. For a while, Americans filled the pews of churches and for a moment, there was a feeling of revival. However, the revival was short-lived, and our nation quickly followed the path of the rest of the world into the depths of sin and depravity as this nation has never seen.
The list of sins is long and putrid, but the one that captured my mind was spot-lighted by 9-1-1; it is the sin of nature or earth worship. By earth-worship, I am referring to the Globalists’ agenda to “save the planet” from man-made climate change. The plan to save the planet is Satanic. From the beginning of creation, Satan has wanted to destroy the human race who was created in the image of God. Satan hates God, and he hates God’s most prized creation – the human race.
Globalists are not so much interested in saving the planet as they are in eliminating the majority of the human race and controlling those who remain. If they were serious about their concern for the planet, they would set the example by riding their bicycles rather than flying in private jets, and they would build their carbon-hogging mansions as far away from the sea coasts as possible in case the ocean levels really rise as they claim. However, climate change or global warming is not really their concern. They fancy themselves as the ruling elites, and they desire to lord it over a few peasants that they can control. They no longer hide their intentions. If anyone is interested in knowing their plans, they have published it freely on the website of the World Economic Forum.
For the child of God, this should not cause fear; rather it should cause us to watch and give us hope in the promises of God.
Genesis 9 records the end of the Global Flood where God destroyed all air-breathing land-dwelling creatures on earth, animals and humans. The flood waters receded from the land surface of the earth and Noah and his family and all the animals onboard the Ark came out to walk on dry land for the first time in over a year (371 days). The first thing Noah did when he came out was to build an altar and offer burnt sacrifices to the Lord.[1] “And the LORD smelled a sweet savour; and the LORD said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man’s sake; for the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done. While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease” (Genesis 8:21-22, emphasis mine).
The Globalists seek to stoke the flames of fear with their predictions of global catastrophe (which, by the way, they are causing by their draconian measures) due to climate change – increased carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere causing global warming, drastic weather changes bringing about crop failures, famines, and disease. However, note the promise of God – while the earth remains the weather will not change. God, not man, controls the weather.
Globalists also predict that rising global temperatures will cause the ice caps to melt. As a result, the ocean levels will rise and flood all the coastlands. Skeptics often ask, “If there was really a global flood, where did all the water go?” “We now know, of course, that the earth has plenty of water to launch a global flood. It has been calculated that if the earth’s surface were completely flat, with no high mountains and no deep ocean basins, that water would cover the earth to a depth of about 8,000 feet.”[2]
The Globalists’ problem is that they do not know the Creator God who controls the elements and keeps His promises. “And I will establish my covenant with you; neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth” (Genesis 9:11). Granted, the earth has experienced many devastating floods but never has there been a planet-covering, earth-destroying flood like the one recorded in Scripture.[3]
The destruction of this planet is yet future, but it will not be from ocean levels rising or by warming or cooling temperatures. There will be famines and pandemics, and people will die as a result of wars.[4] However, the world will end according to God’s plan, not by human mismanagement of the environment. “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up … Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?” (2 Peter 3:10, 12).
Once again, those who have placed their trust in Christ need not worry. “Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness” (2 Peter 3:13). That time is nearer today than ever before. We have God’s Word on it.
Reader, Jesus is coming soon. Are you prepared to meet Him? If you are not a member of His body, you will miss Him when He comes. Don’t do that! Please read my page on “Securing Eternal Life.”
Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding. (Job 38:4)
“Yea, hath God said” (Genesis 3:1) remains Satan’s first line of attack on the Word of God, so it is not surprising when I get questions like the following:
I know that you believe in a young earth, but it seems to me God was around before He did His creation of earth and us. The Bible says He framed the worlds! So my question is: how old is the universe, and how long ago before creation was it when the devil and his fallen angels were kicked out of heaven? I’m confused because it seems that the devil was in the Garden of Eden, so when did he arrive on earth?
The question stems from a very superficial understanding of Scripture. Note that the appeal to Scripture was taken out of context, quoted only in part, and then misapplied in much the same way as Satan did when he tempted Eve in the Garden of Eden.
So what does the Scripture really say? “Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear” (Hebrews 11:3). The Greek word translated “worlds” is aiōn, and it properly means “ages;” so this is not speaking of other planets, stars or galaxies, which were not created until Day Four of Creation (Genesis 1:14-19). The writer of the book of Hebrews referred to the predetermined “ages” in God’s plan from the beginning of Creation to the culmination in the New Heavens and the New Earth (Revelation 21:1).
God is eternal; He has no beginning and no end. God is not confined to time; He “created” time: “In the beginning” (Genesis 1:1), God started time; therefore He is not constrained by time. God says, “I AM THAT I AM” (Exodus 3:14) – the Self-existing One. God’s eternal nature is a difficult concept for us, who are bound by time, to fathom. Nothing existed before time except God. God existed before time in the measureless realm of “eternity,” and He will exist when time ends in eternity. God is present in the past, present and future all at once, but He has revealed Himself to us in time through His Creation, through His Word (the Holy Bible), and through The Word (Logos), Jesus Christ – God incarnate. These things, as Hebrews 11:3 says, must be accepted “through faith,” “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him” (Hebrews 11:6).
We should not worry, if we cannot understand everything about God. Some things we cannot possibly know, because they are beyond our ability to comprehend. “The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law” (Deuteronomy 29:29). Through His Creation, His Word, and The WORD, God has revealed all that we need to know to have an effective relationship with Him.
God created time “In the beginning” around 6000 years ago. The Bible does not explain exactly at what point in Creation God created Satan and the other angels, but we can infer from other passages in Scripture that it was early enough in the six-day creation week that they witnessed Creation. For example, in God’s response to Job we read, “Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? … When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?” (Job 38:4, 7). “Morning stars” and “sons of God” are metonyms often used in the Old Testament to refer to angels. From that, we can infer that Satan was created before Day Six on which day man was created, and he had free access to the Garden of Eden.
For other articles about God’s eternal nature and the creation of Satan see the following:
People march down 5th Avenue in Manhattan during the 2019 World Pride NYC and Stonewall 50th LGBTQ Pride parade in New York, U.S., June 30, 2019. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson
The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts. (Psalm 10:4)
In case you have not noticed (and it is understandable. The important things of life – like finding gas under $5 a gallon or collecting enough coupons to keep a meager grocery trip under $100 and hoping you will find all your needed items on the shelves.), June is “Pride Month” in America.
Not so many years ago “Pride Month” in America would probably conjure up visions of rows and rows of the Stars and Stripes fluttering in the breeze and parades with bands blaring out John Philip Sousa marches. However, that dream is far removed from the celebration of perversion the American people are being compelled to acknowledge. “Pride Month” celebrates homosexuality and a multiplicity of other sexual perversions. Considering that only about 7.1% of the population identify as “gay,”[1] it seems a bit contrived and strained to dedicate an entire month to the observation of a lifestyle that is foreign to the majority of the population. Why not set apart a month to extol the virtues of heterosexual unions in which the majority of the population participate?
At the time when I achieved adulthood, tolerance meant that you allowed for differences of others even though you disagreed with their ideas or lifestyles. The idea of “live and let live” or “whatever floats your boat” ruled the day. “Queers” existed back then, but they kept their lifestyle to themselves. In those days, “queer” was a pejorative, but these days it is a badge of “pride.” Back then, if I discovered a guy was queer (“gay”), I treated him with common courtesy even though I avoided getting too chummy with him. I am pretty much the same in my advanced years. It is just difficult to talk “guy stuff” with a gay guy. I would not want to send up any false flags.
Today, tolerance not only means allowing for differences, but it includes accepting and advocating for every form of deviance. Many churches accept “Alphabets” (LGBTQ+) into their pulpits and on their church staff. Schools allow adult males dressed in “drag” to read to elementary school children in order to train children to accept this kind of behavior as “normal” or “natural.” Some schools introduce “gender confusion” into the curriculum of children even as early as kindergarten and encourage children to reject the gender given to them at conception. (Yes! From the moment of fertilization, the baby in the womb is either male or female.) Even more outrageous and enraging is their deliberate effort to hide these activities from the children’s parents. Now, young men who cannot compete athletically against their own male peers, declare themselves as “transitioning” so they can compete and win against young women who are obviously not as strong. Where are the women’s rights groups advocating on behalf of these young women athletes? Our society has degenerated to the point that a candidate for the Supreme Court cannot provide the proper definition of what a “woman” is. Seriously?
To an old codger like me, this state of confusion baffles me. I am a man. My wife is a woman. I can distinguish between a boy and a girl, a young man and a young lady. I have no problem with that at all. And when I see a man dressed up as a woman and swaying his backside more than any female “wiggle,” I have no problem identifying him as a man dressed up in woman’s clothing. Bruce may call himself Bernice and demand that he be addressed by feminine pronouns, but I am not buying it. Bruce is queer!
I am flabbergasted at how the world is celebrating, embracing, encouraging, and promoting this abnormal behavior. It is a huge mound of hot, steamy, stinky BS, and the world is eating it up.
This article is likely to get censored as “hate speech,” but there is no hate here at all. I am speaking the truth, and often, the truth hurts. I do not hate these people. I am deeply saddened for them because I know what their end will be unless they reject and come out of that lifestyle.
Speaking of “pride,” the verse I cited at the top of this article lays it out pretty clearly. The “Alphabet” (“Alphabet” because they keep adding letters to the acronym) community uses the term “pride” to promote the gay lifestyle. The Bible says, “The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts” (Psalm 10:4, emphasis mine). I do not watch gay-pride parades, but in the few glimpses I have caught on the news, I see a lot of “pride” in the faces of the participants. They show a lot of pride in exposing their deviant behavior to the public. These people obviously are not seeking after God and God is the furthest thing from their minds. Well, what does God have to say about it?
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. (Genesis 1:27, emphasis mine)
Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh. (Genesis 2:24, emphasis mine)
And [Jesus] answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female, And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh? Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder. (Matthew 19:4-6, emphasis mine) Asunder: to separate into parts or to break into pieces; to pull apart or widely separate. God’s design was for a man and a woman to be brought together, but our society wants to tear God’s design asunder.
But from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife; And they [two] shall be one flesh: so then they are no more [two], but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder. (Mark 10:6-9, emphasis mine)
Thou shalt not lie [i.e., have sex] with [men], as with [woman]: it is abomination. Neither shalt thou lie [i.e., have sex] with any beast to defile thyself therewith: neither shall any woman stand before a beast to lie down [i.e., have sex] thereto: it is confusion. (Leviticus 18:22-23)
For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet. (Romans 1:26-27, emphasis mine)
Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful: (Romans 1:29-31, emphasis mine)
Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate [i.e., “gays”], nor abusers of themselves with mankind [i.e., homosexuals] (1 Corinthians 6:9, emphasis mine)
All of the above is not “hate speech.” This is the Creator’s perspective. He designed a man to mate with a woman, not with another man or with a child or with an animal. Male and female “parts” fit together for the purpose of procreation. Two men cannot mate and procreate, neither can two women mate and procreate. That is against God’s design. It is against nature. “Hate” is withholding the truth – God’s truth” – from people so that they fail to see their error and repent and be saved. THAT is hate.
Paul’s depiction of the descent of man[2] ends like this: those listed in the previous verses, “Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of [eternal] death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them” (Romans 1:32, emphasis mine). In other words, they not only participate in their perverse acts, but they take “pride” in those that participate in perversion. They praise, promote, and protect depravity even to our youngest, most vulnerable, and innocent of our population. I see nothing to take “pride” in that. The ancient words of wise King Solomon warn, “Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall” (Proverbs 16:18, emphasis mine).
June may be “Pride Month,” but the object of celebration is nothing to be proud of. God help us!
Jesus is coming soon, and His reward is with Him. The signs for His appearing are increasing in intensity and frequency. Are you prepared to meet Him? If you do not know Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior, please read my page on “Securing Eternal Life.”
Ernie's Musings 