Just some observations from my daily Scripture reading today:
1. Elijah being taken to heaven in a whirlwind. Now, I don't want to get too theologically confused or confusing here, but it appears that Elijah never faced death. Yet, at some point he had to experience something like death. His flesh cannot inherit the Kingdom. Maybe in that whirlwind, God worked a miraculous transformation.
2. Elisha was baldheaded. He was walking along the road one day, and some kids came out and started making fun of his bald head. Elisha cursed them. Then, two bears came out of the woods and mauled 42 of them. Lesson? Don't mess with bald-headed people!
3. Elisha fixed some stew. There was a famine, and he told the people to put on a large pot of water. A man brought a wild vine and some herbs and added them to the stew. Apparently the vine was poisonous. The people cry out, "O man of God, there is death in the pot!" I relate this story only because of something that happened a few years ago. It is a prime example of twisting Scripture to our own needs. A preacher had been asked to speak during National Drug Awareness Week. He read this passage, and then said to those gathered, "See, there is death in pot!" Yeah, buddy. I'm impressed by the exegesis that preacher performed on his text.
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Talking about twisting Scripture to meet our needs, that reminds me of a story-- which I will greatly abbreviate.
A preacher was doing his visits one day and went to visit an elderly lady of the congregation who was quite shy and reclusive. Her front yard was a beautiful flower garden, which anyone coming up to her front door had to walk through quite a ways. As the preacher finally made his way to the front door after some effort just to reach the porch, he knocked and knocked. No answer. So... as was his custom, he would leave a note on the door. This time he just left a book, chapter, and verse on the note. So the note simply read, "Revelation 3:20."
The lady read that note and she looked up in her Bible what Revelation 3:20 says. It reads, "Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me."
She promptly replied to his note by mailing him a letter which simply was written, "Genesis 3:10."
Genesis 3:10 reads, "I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid."
We twist scripture to fit our preconceived notions applying logic or principle selectively. I'm becoming increasingly convinced that the world realizes this and tunes us out because of it.
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