Beauty For Ashes

Biblical minimalists challenge the credibility of God's word in various ways, but no matter how eloquent or diverse their attacks, all have the identical common denominator of rebellious unbelief. Whether they're challenging the Biblical existence of God, six 24-hour days of creation, the global flood, the parting of the Red Sea, David and Goliath, the virgin birth of Christ, resurrection, ascension, etc., they all have one Satanic bond – rebellious unbelief.

One common strategy of attack of those who pretend to believe the word of God is that the Bible cannot be taken literally. GodSaidManSaid challenges this premise over and over again and proves that God's word is to be taken literally – literally spiritually and literally physically. In all cases, the toggle switch between spiritual and physical is abundantly clear.

The all-important doctrine of the born-again experience is pivotal to salvation and to the understanding of God's word. It is truly literal spiritually with abundant literal physical manifestations. If you don't understand the concept of the new birth, click on to "Further With Jesus" on this website for easy how-to information. Now for today's subject.

GOD SAID, Revelation 6:14:

And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.

GOD SAID, Revelation 1:16:

And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp twoedged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength.

GOD SAID, Isaiah 24:23:

Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the LORD of hosts shall reign in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients gloriously.

GOD SAID, Malachi 4:3:

And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, saith the LORD of hosts.

MAN SAID: the Bible is a book of fables, allegories, and parables that should not be taken literally.

Now THE RECORD. How could such a concept be? The sky rolling back like a scroll? Again, Revelation 6:14:

And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.

Could this be literal? Just recently (I believe it was in Discover magazine), a scientific theorist postulated that space could be torn. The word of God states that the sky will split and roll back like a scroll.

Science writer Tim Folger, in the August '04 edition of Discovermagazine, reviewed the new book by Brian Greene titled, "The Fabric of the Cosmos." The headline of Folger's review is, "The Improbable Weirdness of Being." The first paragraph reads,

Is the universe a hologram and three-dimensional space nothing more than a compelling illusion? Of the myriad fascinating ideas Brian Greene presents in his new book, he singles out this as the one most likely to play a dominant role in the ongoing quest to understand the cosmos. It's an outlandish proposal, one that Greene dwells on only briefly. But it's also a benchmark of sorts, a measure of the sheer strangeness of reality as revealed by the discoveries of modern physics, discoveries that Greene chronicles with brilliant clarity.

[End of quote]

The word of God reads in Hebrews 1:10-12:

10

And, Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands:

11

They shall perish; but thou remainest; and they all shall wax old as doth a garment;

12

And as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and they shall be changed: but thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail.

Could such an idea be actually literal? The Bible says that the heavens and the earth will grow old and one day perish. Science agrees with this and calls it the Second Law of Thermodynamics, which states that all things go from order to disorder, from life to death. Now imagine that God will fold it all up like a vesture or a garment. Then the word of God says, "they shall be changed," which Bible students know as the new heaven and new Earth that God creates after he destroys the old. God will fold it up like a vesture. Mr. Folger asks, "Is the universe a hologram and three-dimensional space nothing more that a compelling illusion?"

Again Revelation 1:16:

And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp twoedged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength.

Isaiah 24:23:

Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the LORD of hosts shall reign in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients gloriously.

Does Jesus Christ, in His glorified state, outshine the sun? Could this be literal? Consider these truths:

1.

Genesis 1:3-5

: And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.

There was light upon the earth before the sun, moon, and stars were created, for they were created on the fourth day. Evolutionary scientists have come to the conclusion that there was radiant light before the sun. See "

In the Volume of the Book

" and "

The Light of the World

" on this website. Jesus Christ is known as the bright and morning star. The apostle John speaks of the Lord in

John 1:6-9

: "There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world."

Jesus Christ is the alpha and the omega – the first and the last. In eternity, the scriptures speak of the glorious New Jerusalem.

Revelation 21:23

: "And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof."

2. When God came down upon Mount Sinai to deliver the law to Moses, the mount was smoking because God descended upon it in fire (

Exodus 19:18

).

Moses stood in the presence of God and saw only God's back. When he came again to the children of Israel, the glory of God that reflected in his face was greater than they could look upon. They put a veil over the face of Moses.

Does Jesus Christ, the "express image of the Godhead bodily," literally outshine the sun?

The word of God teaches that Jesus Christ will destroy the wicked with the brightness of his coming.

II Thessalonians 2:8

: "And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:"

3.

Malachi 4:1

reads, "For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch." The day of God's judgment will burn as an oven. Literal? Yes!

The final global battle known as Armageddon takes place just before the glorious 1,000-year reign of Christ. See the following subjects on this website for clarification:

"

Twenty-One Signs of Doomsday – Part Four

"

"

The Chronology From Here To Eternity

"

"

The Root of Terrorism

"

"

Is There Life In Outer Space

"

"

One Long Missing Day and the Cry of the Skeptics

"

The Old Testament prophet Malachi speaks of the condition of the enemies of the cross of Christ in Malachi 4:3:

And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, saith the LORD of hosts.

Could this be literal? Zechariah 14:12:

And this shall be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth.

The wicked shall be consumed with the brightness of His coming, and the flesh of His enemies "shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth," They shall be converted to literal ashes.

Isaiah 61:1-3:

1

The spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;

2

To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn;

3

To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified.

God gives beauty for ashes in many ways in a believer's life, but at the final destruction of the wicked, they'll be converted to literal ashes, and the beauty of God's unity and oneness will rule for all eternity. Is God's word literal? Yes!

GOD SAID, Revelation 6:14:

And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.

GOD SAID, Revelation 1:16:

And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp twoedged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength.

GOD SAID, Isaiah 24:23:

Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the LORD of hosts shall reign in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients gloriously.

GOD SAID, Malachi 4:3:

And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, saith the LORD of hosts.

MAN SAID: the Bible is a book of fables, allegories, and parables that should not be taken literally.

Now you have THE RECORD.




References:

King James Bible

Folger, T., "The Improbable Weirdness of Being," Discover magazine, Aug., '04

• Go Further With Christ
• Email To a Friend
• Comments or Questions?