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Mapping the Flat Earth |
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https://rumble.com/v6wjx3k-maps-prove-earths-shape.html
https://rumble.com/v1cd8kn-flat-earth-and-fake-satellites.html
A great many Christians believe it is necessary to call God a liar to make the gospel more acceptable. We claim to believe every word of the Bible, while at the same time refusing to accept the biblical cosmology stated in Genesis Chapter One. Why do we reject so many errors that are commonly accepted by the world, such as biological evolution and transgenderism, but cling to heliocentrism, when Genesis Chapter One eliminates that as a possibility?
One criticism that has been leveled against me for embracing a biblical cosmology is that it undermines our efforts to win the lost by making us look foolish in the world’s eyes. Is this a valid criticism or an accommodation the world? Can we make the gospel more palatable by calling God a liar?
What would Jesus do? Would he lie to make us believe in him?
It is evident that Jesus believed in the literal truth of Genesis. It was not an issue in his day. Today, however, what is called “science” claims to have disproved the Bible. Now we “know” that the earth revolves around the sun, not the other way around as the Bible teaches. Most Christians believe that such “science” is unassailable and reinterpret Genesis accordingly. This is in spite of the admission that geocentrism provides an accurate way to account for the movement of the heavenly bodies.
“So which is real, the Ptolemaic or Copernican system? Although it is not uncommon for people to say that Copernicus proved Ptolemy wrong, that is not true…one can use either picture as a model of the universe, for our observations of the heavens can be explained by assuming either the earth or the sun to be at rest.”- Physicist, Stephen Hawking
Does mixing in a cosmological lie make the gospel more believable, or does it undermine its message at the core?
Blending a lie with the truth is comparable to putting a little bit of poop in an otherwise delicious dessert. It may not ruin its taste, but, to those who understand, it is disgusting. Below is a scene in the movie, The Help, that gives us an example of this. (If a bit of vulgar language offends you, you might not want to watch.)
The devil doesn’t seem to mind if we take a stand against other lies as long as we bow the knee to heliocentrism. He knows that this little bit of poop disgusts God and undermines the entire Bible. We do not understand that it is a form of idolatry and blasphemy because it calls God a liar and elevates the false god, Helios, to center stage. This little bit of poop should disgust us, too.
If Genesis Chapter One cannot be taken literally, when does the Bible become factually true? Chapter 2, 3,4, 5, 6… or maybe 12 when Abraham’s story becomes the focus? Or perhaps we need to wait until Exodus? Joshua? No, that is where he commands the sun to stand still! Judges? Samuel? Kings? No that is where God gave Hezekiah the sign of the shadow on the sundial going backward ten degrees! (2 Kings 20:9-11)
Exactly what parts of the Bible do we have to throw out to make the gospel more acceptable?
Are Jesus’ resurrection and ascension into heaven more believable than Genesis Chapter One? How foolish we are to think we have to lie to get people to accept the truth!
Would it not rather make our gospel message more attractive if we boldly declare that we believe every single word of the Bible is true, not just the parts we think are acceptable?
Does not the world laugh at our duplicity when we proclaim the resurrection is literally true, but not Genesis?
If Jesus wrote a letter to the church today, might not it say something like the following?
I applaud your stand against evolution and sexual perversion, but I have this against you. You tolerate heliocentrism, which teaches people not to take my words seriously. Repent, therefore, and cease to be ashamed of my words. Don’t be afraid of looking foolish to the world. Be afraid of calling me a liar! Be strong and proclaim the whole truth!
According to Webster, blasphemy is the act of insulting or showing contempt or lack of reverence for God or something sacred. Jesus was accused of blasphemy for identifying himself as the divine Son of Man prophesied by Daniel. (Matthew 26:63-65) Paul said that the Jews cause Gentiles to blaspheme by failing to keep God’s law. (Romans 2:23-24) Another important occasion of blasphemy was when Jesus called out the Jewish leaders for ascribing the work of the Holy Spirit to the devil. (Matthew 12:31-32)
From these verses, we understand that blasphemy is connected to being a false witness regarding God whether in word or action.
In the first instance, Jesus was accused of insulting God by identifying himself as a divine being. In the second case, the failure of the Jews to keep God’s laws indicated that they did not take God seriously. Their behavior undermined their claims about God, giving unbelievers a reason for disregarding God and his Word. The blasphemy of the Spirit is saying that something God did was done by the devil. The reverse could also be true in cases when we say that something the devil did was done by God. Blasphemy, therefore, occurs when we defame God by bearing false witness against him, his Word, or his actions. We can personally blaspheme or cause others to do so.
Heliocentrism can be called blasphemy on three counts.
Christians who claim to believe the Bible as God’s inerrant and true Word cannot at the same time insist that something that contradicts his Word is true.
The term Christian heliocentrist, therefore, is an oxymoron.
The Bible teaches that the sun runs a “circuit” or circular path above the earth (Psalm 19:6), rather than the earth describing an elliptical orbit around the sun. The Bible says that Joshua commanded the sun to stop for about a day, which God did on his behalf. The earth did not stop rotating, or everyone would have been killed. The sun stopped in its circuit, as did the moon.
Then Joshua spoke to the LORD in the day when the LORD delivered up the Amorites before the sons of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel, “O sun, stand still at Gibeon, And O moon in the valley of Aijalon.” 13 So the sun stood still, and the moon stopped, Until the nation avenged themselves of their enemies. Is it not written in the book of Jashar? And the sun stopped in the middle of the sky and did not hasten to go down for about a whole day. Joshua 10:12–13 (NASB95) —
Martin Luther considered this passage alone refuted Copernicus’ theory of heliocentrism because 
he believed the Bible is 100% true, unlike the majority of modern Christians. People like to claim that “God can do anything” to explain away the discrepancy between the biblical account and the heliocentric model, but that is dishonest. The question that must be answered is, “What does the text of the Bible say?”
When we claim that Genesis Chapter One, Psalm 19:6, Joshua 10:12-13, and other relevant passages do not mean what they say, we commit blasphemy by calling God a liar and insisting that the Bible cannot be trusted in matters of so-called science. We thus undermine the gospel’s credibility by revealing that we do not really believe that the Bible is true, except in “spiritual” matters. It is either all true or should be rejected as untrustworthy. In so doing, we bow down before the idols of science and reason and reject any part of Scripture that we deem to be unreasonable or unscientific, reinterpreting and twisting God’s words to mean something they do not say.
It is time for the church to repent this blasphemy and begin to once again hold God’s Word in the highest esteem. It is time we stand against the lies of men instead of calling God a liar.
May it never be! Rather, let God be found true, though every man be found a liar, as it is written, “THAT YOU MAY BE JUSTIFIED IN YOUR WORDS, AND PREVAIL WHEN YOU ARE JUDGED.” Romans 3:4 (NASB95)
The New Covenant tabernacle is dramatically and fundamentally different from all that preceded it. The old covenant of law was rendered obsolete due to its inherent flaw: it depended on our ability to keep God’s commandments.
Since we are fatally flawed by sin, God provided a brand new way to relate to him that depends on the performance of his only begotten Son, not ours.
But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, by as much as He is also the mediator of a better covenant, which has been enacted on better promises. 7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion sought for a second. 8 For finding fault with them, He says, “BEHOLD, DAYS ARE COMING, SAYS THE LORD, WHEN I WILL EFFECT A NEW COVENANT WITH THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL AND WITH THE HOUSE OF JUDAH; 9 NOT LIKE THE COVENANT WHICH I MADE WITH THEIR FATHERS ON THE DAY WHEN I TOOK THEM BY THE HAND TO LEAD THEM OUT OF THE LAND OF EGYPT; FOR THEY DID NOT CONTINUE IN MY COVENANT, AND I DID NOT CARE FOR THEM, SAYS THE LORD. 10 “FOR THIS IS THE COVENANT THAT I WILL MAKE WITH THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL AFTER THOSE DAYS, SAYS THE LORD: I WILL PUT MY LAWS INTO THEIR MINDS, AND I WILL WRITE THEM ON THEIR HEARTS. AND I WILL BE THEIR GOD, AND THEY SHALL BE MY PEOPLE. 11 “AND THEY SHALL NOT TEACH EVERYONE HIS FELLOW CITIZEN, AND EVERYONE HIS BROTHER, SAYING, ‘KNOW THE LORD,’ FOR ALL WILL KNOW ME, FROM THE LEAST TO THE GREATEST OF THEM. 12 “FOR I WILL BE MERCIFUL TO THEIR INIQUITIES, AND I WILL REMEMBER THEIR SINS NO MORE.” Hebrews 8:6–12 (NASB95)
The eternal Word of God, the Logos who became a human (John 1:14), offered himself as a perfect sacrifice for our sins as the Lamb of God. He rose again as the Lord of Lords and now sits in heaven ruling at the Father’s right hand, waiting for his enemies to be completely destroyed. (Acts 2:35)
I have written numerous articles on the amazing New Covenant, which you can access by clicking here.
Just as the old covenant had to be replaced, all that pertained to the old covenant, including the physical temple, became obsolete and no longer necessary. (Hebrews 8:13) Jesus prophesied the destruction of the earthly temple (Matthew 24:2), which took place in 70 AD at the hands of the Roman army. With that event, the sacrificial system officially ended, signifying the termination of all that pertained to the old covenant. The new covenant, which was inaugurated by our Lord’s death, resurrection, ascension, and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost, was now in full effect, which was plain for all to see. God officially judged the Jewish nation that rejected and murdered its Messiah and turned the kingdom over to a new generation of humanity, a people who would bear its fruit as born-again children of God.
Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people, producing the fruit of it. Matthew 21:43 (NASB95)
From that time to this, physical descent is of no significance, only the new birth.
And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to promise. Galatians 3:29 (NASB95)
Jesus told the Samaritan woman at the well that a time was coming when people would no longer worship at the temple in Jerusalem but would instead worship in “spirit and in truth.” (John 4:24) Of all the people in the world with whom to share this important truth, it is instructive that he chose a Samaritan and a woman, both of whom were held in relatively poor esteem in that day. This was another sign of how radically different the New Covenant would be. The apostle Paul later wrote that in God’s New Covenant kingdom…
There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to promise. Galatians 3:28–29 (NASB95)
The old covenant temple, like the temple of the earth, had been defiled. The new covenant came with the advent of the Messiah, whom the Bible says came to earth and “tabernacled” among us.
And the Word became flesh, and dwelt (Greek: fixed one's tent or tabernacle) among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:14 (NASB95)
Our Father’s desire has always been to dwell with his people. That is why he made his first tabernacle, the earth. Satan, however, successfully deceived and seduced Adam and Eve to betray the Creator, thus defiling and corrupting the earth.
God’s ingenious plan was to send his own son to be his living tabernacle on the earth.
Jesus carried about God’s Spirit wherever he went.
“THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS UPON ME, BECAUSE HE ANOINTED ME TO PREACH THE GOSPEL TO THE POOR. HE HAS SENT ME TO PROCLAIM RELEASE TO THE CAPTIVES, AND RECOVERY OF SIGHT TO THE BLIND, TO SET FREE THOSE WHO ARE OPPRESSED, 19 TO PROCLAIM THE FAVORABLE YEAR OF THE LORD.” Luke 4:18–19 (NASB95)
When Jesus crucifixion was near, he told his disciples that it was good for them that he would soon return to his Father in heaven. They could not comprehend how that could be a good thing, but our Lord’s plan was for every born-again child of God to carry about in his or her person the same Holy Spirit who fills us.
I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; 17 that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you. John 14:16–17 (NASB95)
Part of the genius of the New Covenant is the presence of God’s Spirit within each child of God. Each of us becomes a miniature temple of the Holy Spirit when we are born again.
But the one who joins himself to the Lord is one spirit with Him. 18 Flee immorality. Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body, but the immoral man sins against his own body. 19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? 20 For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body. 1 Corinthians 6:17–20 (NASB95)
The church as a whole forms the New Covenant temple made with what the apostle Peter called “living stones.”
And coming to Him as to a living stone which has been rejected by men, but is choice and precious in the sight of God, 5 you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 2:4–5 (NASB95)
The New Covenant accomplishes God’s purpose to inhabit his people. All who have the Holy Spirit within experience what God wanted all along – for us to experience fullness of life by being connected to and dependent upon him.
The New Covenant tabernacle is God’s church, a building made without hands, a proper dwelling for God’s Spirit, a fulfillment of God’s plan to restore and tabernacle with his people.
But this did not complete God’s plan. He will eventually restore the first tabernacle, the earth. That is the topic of the final article in this series, The New Heaven and Earth.
The Bible begins with God’s creation of the heavens and earth and ends with the creation of a new heaven and earth.
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. 2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, 4 and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.” 5 And He who sits on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” And He said, “Write, for these words are faithful and true.” Revelation 21:1–5 (NASB95)
The latter version is far superior to the first, just the New Covenant is far better than the old. Adam and Eve followed the Deceiver into sin and corruption, thus defiling God’s creation. Foreseeing all this, God constructed the initial heavens and earth with a solid firmament, which separates God’s 
domain from ours. This amazing structure restricts access to the third heaven, the location of God’s throne. It is only via the New Covenant that we gain access to God’s heavenly throne and presence (Hebrews 4:16), where one day we will go bodily after the resurrection.
The new heavens and earth does not seem to have a firmament or separator. The Bible says it will not even have a sun because God’s light and glory, now concealed by the firmament, will provide all the illumination we need. The New Jerusalem will be part of this new creation, but it will not be part of the old order of things. It is not going to be a restoration of the physical Jewish kingdom. That has long since ceased to be significant. The New Jerusalem will be made up of born-again believers, the true Israel of God.
I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. 23 And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb. Revelation 21:22–23 (NASB95)
The purpose of the new heaven and earth will be to provide a perfect habitation for God’s people, one in which God manifestly dwells with us continually.
God’s purpose from the beginning will be finally fulfilled. He will dwell among his people.
The temple constructed by Solomon was made of stone, a departure from God’s heaven-earth complex that was fashioned like a tent. If Andy Hoy is correct, the tabernacle in the wilderness was a very good likeness of what God made in the beginning. He believes it was a dome-type tent, similar to a yurt. According to his research, it is the only model that works without making adjustments to the exact materials spelled out in the biblical text.
The temple, however, conforms to the rectangular design most people have always assumed for the tent in the wilderness. The first stone temple was indeed glorious, as no doubt heaven is. Like the tabernacle in the wilderness, it also had the dividing veil or curtain decorated with cherubim and the other furniture in the inner court. The Ark of God’s presence was in the Holy of Holies.
The Jews defiled this stone temple, just as Adam and Eve defiled God’s first temple, the earth.
The temple of Solomon started well, as did that great king. However, just as King Solomon soon became corrupt and began worshiping other gods, God’s temple eventually was corrupted as well. As Israel and Judah sank deeper into idolatry, pagan idols were brought into the temple itself.
He built altars in the house of the LORD, of which the LORD had said, “In Jerusalem I will put My name.” 5 For he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the LORD. 6 He made his son pass through the fire, practiced witchcraft and used divination, and dealt with mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in the sight of the LORD provoking Him to anger. 7 Then he set the carved image of Asherah that he had made, in the house of which the LORD said to David and to his son Solomon, “In this house and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen from all the tribes of Israel, I will put My name forever. 2 Kings 21:4–7 (NASB95)
Ezekiel saw in a vision the extent of this corruption and the impending destruction of the first temple.
Then He said to me, “Son of man, raise your eyes now toward the north.” So I raised my eyes toward the north, and behold, to the north of the altar gate was this idol of jealousy at the entrance. 6 And He said to me, “Son of man, do you see what they are doing, the great abominations which the house of Israel are committing here, so that I would be far from My sanctuary? But yet you will see still greater abominations.” 7 Then He brought me to the entrance of the court, and when I looked, behold, a hole in the wall. 8 He said to me, “Son of man, now dig through the wall.” So I dug through the wall, and behold, an entrance. 9 And He said to me, “Go in and see the wicked abominations that they are committing here.” 10 So I entered and looked, and behold, every form of creeping things and beasts and detestable things, with all the idols of the house of Israel, were carved on the wall all around. 11 Standing in front of them were seventy elders of the house of Israel, with Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan standing among them, each man with his censer in his hand and the fragrance of the cloud of incense rising. 12 Then He said to me, “Son of man, do you see what the elders of the house of Israel are committing in the dark, each man in the room of his carved images? For they say, ‘The LORD does not see us; the LORD has forsaken the land.’ ” 13 And He said to me, “Yet you will see still greater abominations which they are committing.” 14 Then He brought me to the entrance of the gate of the LORD’S house which was toward the north; and behold, women were sitting there weeping for Tammuz. 15 He said to me, “Do you see this, son of man? Yet you will see still greater abominations than these.” 16 Then He brought me into the inner court of the LORD’S house. And behold, at the entrance to the temple of the LORD, between the porch and the altar, were about twenty-five men with their backs to the temple of the LORD and their faces toward the east; and they were prostrating themselves eastward toward the sun. 17 He said to me, “Do you see this, son of man? Is it too light a thing for the house of Judah to commit the abominations which they have committed here, that they have filled the land with violence and provoked Me repeatedly? For behold, they are putting the twig to their nose. 18 “Therefore, I indeed will deal in wrath. My eye will have no pity nor will I spare; and though they cry in My ears with a loud voice, yet I will not listen to them.” Ezekiel 8:5–18 (NASB95)
Eventually God used the Babylonian army to destroy Jerusalem and the temple and take a large number of the remaining people into captivity. After seventy years, the temple was rebuilt at the command of King Cyrus of Persia.
The most detailed contemporary description of this second temple comes from the Jewish historian Flavius Josephus (a priest who knew the Temple firsthand) in The Jewish War (5.5.4 §§212–214):
“It was a Babylonian curtain [or tapestry], embroidered with blue, and fine linen, and scarlet, and purple, and of a contexture that was truly wonderful. Nor was this mixture of materials without its mystic meaning… Portrayed on it was a panorama of the heavens [or entire heavens], except for the signs of the zodiac.”
It continued to represent the firmament, but it is notable that it was a “Babylonian” curtain. The Babylonian Talmud, which made up a great deal of the teachings of the Pharisees, led to the Jewish people departing from the faith of Abraham and embracing a works-based religion which Jesus condemned.
Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you travel around on sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves. Matthew 23:15 (NASB95)
Jesus, the long-promised Messianic King, brought the reality of the kingdom of God to the earth.
He told the Samaritan woman at the well that the day was fast approaching when the temple would no longer be significant. He told his disciples that no stone would remain intact after the coming destruction. This was inconceivable to his followers, but necessary. In 70 AD, the Roman army completely destroyed that temple, which has never been rebuilt. The old order of things, including the temple and its sacrifices, were coming to an end. Something brand new was coming. That will be the subject of the next article.