 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
"Quickly see 6000 years of Bible and World History together!"
Did God Not Know? Can God Forget?
Email Bible question and answer:God said that he had heard of all the wickedness in Soddom and Gomorrah and he would go there to see if it was true and if so he would destroy it. As in "if you find 50 good people will you spare the city?" God said 'If I find 50 I will spare the city"
Also, why would God need a rainbow to remind himself of his promise to never flood the world again? God can forget?
Thanks, Tom
Tom:
Better Biblical scholars than I have commented on the story of Sodom and Gomorrah that occurred around 1900 BC on the Biblical Timeline. It is found in Genesis 18:20-33
This is from Wesley on Genesis 18:21
"Not as if there were any thing concerning which God is in doubt; but he is pleased thus to express himself after the manner of men."
Or this from Jamison, Fausset Brown Commentary
"language used after the manner of men. These cities were to be made examples to all future ages of God's severity; and therefore ample proof given that the judgment was neither rash nor excessive"
As the saying goes "actions speak louder than words." Did God actually go see? No. He already knew. God was assuring Abraham that his protecting hand would be over the city for the sake of even a few righteous. Or he would remove the righteous. He removed Lot and those of his family who would come.
This also happened just before the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD. The Christians were given a sign of the coming destruction and when it happened they fled the city so that they were not there when the city was destroyed. (see the very end of the article on The Signs of the Last Days)
As to the Bow: This is found in Genesis 9:13-15 God initally refers to the bow as a token in verse 13. In verse 15 he uses the words "I will remember" Or the original Hebrew has been interpreted "I will remember" but the original Hebrew could also have been written "In remembrance" In other words it marks the covenant not to remind God but as a token or signifier of the covenant. Like a wedding band. Do you need a wedding band to remember the marriage (Oh wait! I forgot. I'm married.) Or is it a token of the covenant of marriage that was made? The bow is a token of the covenant in remembrance of God's promise.
Both of these incidents remind us of God's love for and willingness to communicate with us that we might be prepared or take actions to be protected as did Lot, the Israelites on the night of the Passover just before the Exodus and the ancient Christians who fled Jerusalem before it was sacked by Rome.
|
|
|
|
|
|