The Bible

I had the Bible taught to me since I was young and I still don't understand it.  

I'm torn between the idea of "are we living in revelation times"  

Or does God exist?

Yes I know God said he would give man the ability to choose for themselves.  But God created man. God knows how flawed man is.  God knows how greedy and thoughtless and our ability to exploit molest steal from each other etc. 

So my thoughts are why doesn't God intervene when he clearly knows how flawed man is and as he watches us carelessly destroy his beautiful creations.  I.e. earth.

And thats not to say I don't believe I'm God. Despite everything I lived through I still do.  But I can't help but wonder if God is laughing at us for his amusement. 

No, we weren’t created to be flawed. Adam and Eve were made in God’s image and were holy.

God prepared a rescue plan, Jesus Christ because He didn’t want ritualistic worshipers. He wanted people who freely choose to worship Him out of love and gratitude after redemption (Ephesians 1:7,12; Revelation 5:9–10; John 4:23; Deuteronomy 30:19–20).

IG, the quality of chosen love feels very different. I think of my childhood. I had my mother, father, and my oldest sister as caretakers.

But I deliberately chose my sister as “the one.” Instead of obeying her simply because she was family, I loved her more than anyone else in the world.

So anything she asked me to do, I did gladly even if it meant taking a beating from my parents. Everything I had, I gave to her.

Whenever I was hurt or in trouble whether it was a severe burn injury or almost losing my eyesight, she was the first person I turned to. 

One day, we were separated. She left my dad’s house to live with my mom. The pain was unbearable, I cried and screamed all night as if someone had stabbed my chest.

By morning, I packed my things, left a letter to my dad saying I wanted to be with her, and left behind a life of comfort. From having three servants, I went to living in a house without a bathroom, filled with rats. But none of that mattered as long as I could be with her.

For many years, she held the key to my free will. Whatever neglect, abuse, or abandonment I suffered, I forgave her. I would have let her walk over me if that’s what she wanted, because she was my chosen one.

It wasn’t until adulthood, when she betrayed me, that I finally broke the bond. She apologized and worked to repair the relationship.

When I asked her why, she said, “Because you chose me. You even wrote it in that letter to Dad. Losing you would feel different than losing anyone else.”

That’s how I understand redemption worship. It’s not empty obedience. It’s not automatic. It’s love that chooses God, even after pain, even after loss, because He first redeemed us. That chosen love is deeper and more enduring than ritual.

I was the oldest one. Both of my parents had to work a lot. I wont say I raised my brother & sister, but I definitely had a role in their parenting & caretaking.. & Ive always been the protector.. Even today, im the first one either of them will call when it's an "oh shit" moment.. 

Then you understand why God chose that narrow path. That look your siblings give you, the one that tells you they trust you more than anyone else in this world. That is what “surrender to God” means.

Genesis 29:20

Which then translated into Matthew 22:37

And Matthew 16:24

That is the kind of love we should offer to God. The kind that will endure everything no matter how long it takes. The angels already give the ritualistic love and worship.

It makes me think of Job, God let the devil take everything from him, to show the devil that he will always choose God and always worship him, no matter what. After everything was taken from him, God gave everything back sevenfold, which is amazing. The bad in your life is the devil trying to break you, God testing your faith to ensure that you'll still choose him. He will always provide, you just need to believe. It's scary yet beautiful. 

Yup :)

Genesis 5

1) This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made he him;

2) Male and female created he them; and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created.

3) And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, after his image; and called his name Seth:

4) And the days of Adam after he had begotten Seth were eight hundred years: and he begat sons and daughters:

5) And all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years: and he died.

6) And Seth lived an hundred and five years, and begat Enos:

7) And Seth lived after he begat Enos eight hundred and seven years, and begat sons and daughters:

8) And all the days of Seth were nine hundred and twelve years: and he died.

9) And Enos lived ninety years, and begat Cainan:

10) And Enos lived after he begat Cainan eight hundred and fifteen years, and begat sons and daughters:

11) And all the days of Enos were nine hundred and five years: and he died.

12) And Cainan lived seventy years, and begat Mahalaleel:

13) And Cainan lived after he begat Mahalaleel eight hundred and forty years, and begat sons and daughters:

14) And all the days of Cainan were nine hundred and ten years: and he died.

15) And Mahalaleel lived sixty and five years, and begat Jared:

16) And Mahalaleel lived after he begat Jared eight hundred and thirty years, and begat sons and daughters:

17) And all the days of Mahalaleel were eight hundred ninety and five years: and he died.

18) And Jared lived an hundred sixty and two years, and he begat Enoch:

19) And Jared lived after he begat Enoch eight hundred years, and begat sons and daughters:

20) And all the days of Jared were nine hundred sixty and two years, and he died.

21) And Enoch lived sixty and five years, and begat Methuselah:

22) And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters:

23) And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years:

24) And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.

25) And Methuselah lived an hundred eighty and seven years, and begat Lamech:

26) And Methuselah lived after he begat Lamech seven hundred eighty and two years, and begat sons and daughters:

27) And all the days of Methuselah were nine hundred sixty and nine years: and he died.

28) And Lamech lived an hundred eighty and two years, and begat a son:

29) And he called his name Noah, saying, This same shall comfort us concerning our work and toil of our hands, because of the ground which the Lord hath cursed.

30) And Lamech lived after he begat Noah five hundred ninety and five years, and begat sons and daughters:

31) And all the days of Lamech were seven hundred seventy and seven years: and he died.

32) And Noah was five hundred years old: and Noah begat Shem, Ham and Japheth.

Genesis 5: 3 is explained in Romans 5: 12

Hereditary sin

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Genesis 6

1) And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them,

2) That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.

3) And the Lord said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.

4) There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.

5) And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

6) And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.

7) And the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.

8) But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.

9) These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God.

10) And Noah begat three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

11) The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.

12) And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.

13) And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.

14) Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch.

15) And this is the fashion which thou shalt make it of: The lenght of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits.

16) A window shalt thou make to the ark, and in a cubit shalt thou finish it above; and the door of the ark shalt thou set in the side thereof; with lower, second, and third stories shalt thou make it.

17) And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; and every thing that is in the earth shall die.

18) But with thee will I establish my covenant; and thou shalt come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons' wives with thee.

19) And of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort shalt thou bring into the ark, to keep them alive with thee; they shall be male and female.

20) Of fowls after their kind, and of cattle after their kind, of every creeping thing of the earth after his kind, two of every sort shall come unto thee, to keep them alive.

21) And take thou unto thee of all food that is eaten, and thou shalt gather it to thee; and it shall be for food for thee, and for them.

22) Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he.

Thy neck is like the tower of David builded for an armoury, whereon there hang a thousand bucklers, all shields of mighty men.

Thy two breasts are like two young roes that are twins, which feed among the lilies.

Until the day break, and the shadows flee away, I will get me to the mountain of myrrh.

Songs of Solomon 4:4

No man, this shit is saucy... 🍆💦

Did you skip cain and abel?

Seek and ye shall find , knock and a door will be openes, ask and thou shalt receive. 

Also , their is more to the good word , books the council of nicoa circa 300 ad , books they thought should not be, like the gospel of Thomas, the gospel Mary , the gospel of juda himself, 

Their are more gospels, I would encourage exploring them too.

I tried reading the bible as a kid but my mom took it away because of all of the murder incest and sodomy.

It's earlier on in the book, Genesis 4 is where they show up :)

Genesis 7

1) And the Lord said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation.

2) Of every clean beast thou shalt take to thee by sevens, the male and his female: and of beasts that are not clean by two, the male and his female.

3) Of fowls also of the air by sevens, the male and the female; to keep seed alive upon the face of all the earth.

4) For yet seven days, and I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights; and every living substance that I have made will I destroy from off the face of the earth.

5) And Noah did according unto alll that the Lord commmanded him.

6) And Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters was upon the earth.

7) And Noah went in, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons' wives with him, into the ark, because of the waters of the flood.

8) Of clean beasts, and of beasts that are not clean, and of fowls, and of every thing that creepeth upon the earth,

9) There went in two and two unto Noah into the ark, the male and the female, as God had commanded Noah.

10) And it came to pass after seven days, that the waters of the flood were upon the earth.

11) In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened.

12) And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights.

13) In the selfsame day entered Noah, and Shem, and Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah's wife, and the three wives of his sons with tthem, into the ark;

14) They, and every beast after his kind, and all the cattle after their kind, and every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind, and every fowl after his kind, every bird of every sort.

15) And they went in unto Noah into the ark, two and two of all flesh, wherein is the breatth of life.

16) And they that went in, went in male and female of all flesh, as God had commanded him: and the Lord shut him in.

17) And the flood was forty days upon the earth; and the waters increased, and bare up the ark, and it was lift up above the earth.

18) And the waters prevailed, and were increased greatly upon the earth; and the ark went upon the face of the waters.

19) And the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth; and all the high hills, that were under the whole heaven, were covered.

20) Fifteen cubits upward did the waters prevail; and the mountains were covered.

21) And all flesh died that moved upon the earth, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of beast, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth, and every man:

22) All in whose nostrils was the breath of life, of all that was in the dry land, died.

23) And every living substance was destroyed which was upon the face of the ground, both man, and cattle, and creeping things, and the fowl of the heaven; and they were destroyed from the earth: and Noah only remained alive, and they that were with him in the ark.

24) And the watres prevailed upon the earth an hundred and fifty days.

Serious question. I am agnostic, haven't been to church since I was kicked out of one at the age of four (I was an obnoxious little shit and my mom was losing her faith anyway) so I'm not sure how this is handled.

The contradictions in the bible, the parts where violence is encouraged, and other things it says that are unacceptable in modern society, how is that reconciled? I'm not being snarky or shitty in any way, I Really want to know what your religious leaders say about it. My wife's uncle is a minister, but he's also an ass and I avoid talking to him at all costs, completely unrelated to his faith.

I come from a Christian family, with a childhood split in two: one side violent and abusive, the other peaceful and religious.

So I grew up combative, not the bluffing type most people are. I’m quiet and calm in real life, but if I say I’ll fight, I will no matter the consequences.

My preacher sister and I share the same struggle: that rare but severe anger when we snap.

She changed because her sons used to hate her. I changed because my best friend/boyfriend of over a decade is gentle and sensitive. Part of my deal with him is never losing my temper with him.

In Christianity, Jesus taught us to turn the other cheek when struck and to give our cloak when asked for our robe.

Even in the Old Testament, Cain’s story is an early warning about how much God hates violence. Some teachings say his descendants became the ungodly line before the Flood (Genesis 6:4–5).

Jeremiah 13:23 shows how hard it is to change our nature, but Ezekiel 36:26 promises God can give us a new heart and spirit. Romans 12:2 calls us to be transformed by the renewing of our mind.

It’s a day-by-day, lifelong process. Oh and for me, once I snap on someone, I cut them off permanently and anyone who tries to rebuild a bridge I burned will be cut off too. It’s more practical and makes me feel less guilty.

Unfortunately I do not have the knowledge to properly answer you, but I know a guy. Cliffe Knechtle is a guy who goes around and has debates with people about Christ. I would definitely recommend watching some of his videos, he answers lots of stuff similar to your question and many many more.

Genesis 8

1) And God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the cattle that was with him in the ark: and God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters assuaged;

2) The fountains also of the deep and the windows of heaven were stopped, and the rain from heaven was restrained;

3) And the waters returned from off the earth continually: and after the end of the hundred and fifty days the waters were abated.

4) And the ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mounrains of Ararat.

5) And the waters decreased continually until the tenth month: in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, were the tops of the mountains seen.

6) And it came to pass at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made:

7) And he sent forth a raven, which went forth to and fro, until the waters were dried up from off the earth.

8) Also he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters were abated from the face of the ground;

9) But the dove found no rest for the sole of her foot, and she returned unto him into the ark, for tthe waters were on the face of the whole earth: then he put forth his hand, and took her, and pulled her in unto him into the ark.

10) And he stayed yet other seven days; and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark;

11) And the dove came in to him in the evening; and, lo, in her mouth was an olive leaf plucked off: so Noah knew that the waters were abated from off the earth.

12) And he stayed yet other seven days; and sent forth the dove; which returned not again unto him any more.

13) And it came to pass in the six hundred and first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were dried up from off the earth: and Noah removed the covering of he ark, and looked, and, behold, the face of the ground was dry.

14) And in the second month, on the seven and twentieth day of the month, was the earth dried.

15) And God spake unto Noah, saying,

16) Go forth of the ark, thou, and thy wife, and thy sons, and thy sons' wives with thee.

17) Bring forth with thee every living thing that is with thee, of all flesh, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth; that they may breed abundantly in the earth, and be fruitful, and multiply upon the earth.

18) And Noah went forth, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons' wives with him:

19) Every beast, every creeping thing, and every fowl, and whatsoever creepeth upon the earth, after their kinds, went forth out of the ark.

20) And Noah builded an altar unto the Lord; and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar.

21) 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.

22) While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.