Am I the only Christian who's finding it difficult to understand God ,I don't think like this before But of recent am beginning to think wether the bible Is telling us the whole truth about God or was it written out of peoples opinion about who the almighty God is .

1John 4:16
God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them.


If he does, why are the Israelites considered as choosen people?

Malachi 1v2-3

2 “I have loved you,” says the Lord. But you say, “How have you loved us?” “Is not Esau Jacob’s brother?” declares the Lord. “Yet I have loved Jacob 3 but Esau I have hated. I have laid waste his hill country and left his heritage to jackals of the

People say one of the best thing God did to his Creation is giving dem freedom of choice? Is that true?

I don't really understand; the same freedom of choice Satan used against Eve/ Adam

The Same freedom of choice that kidnappers/Thieves uses against Their victims


Same freedom of Choice Adolf Hitler used Against the Jews .

Same freedom of choice Politicians uses against the people that vote for them.



I don't understand.

Am beginning to think wether people that wrote the bible truely know God.

People call him Omnipresence / Omniscience God , what if he's not.

I don't understand,



Rev 12 vs 7-9


7 And war broke out in heaven; Michael and his angels fought against the dragon. The dragon and his angels fought back, 8but they were defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. 9The great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.

. If the above incidents happened before the creation of Man why would the [b]OMNISCIENCE God create man knowing already how he would be deceived. [/b]


I need help here.

Daniel058:
Am I the only Christian who's finding it difficult to understand God ,I don't think like this before But of recent am beginning to think wether the bible Is telling us the whole truth about God or was it written out of peoples opinion about who the almighty God is .
1John 4:16
God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them.

If he does, why are the Israelites considered as choosen people?

You're right to have asked this thought provoking question and it really gladdens my heart that you love reading your Bible to find out sacred secrets for yourself.

Well God's word implore you to dig deep into His words, lift up your voice for understanding (pray to him) and keep on searching for it as hidden treasures (discussing with people about what you're reading) {Malachi 3:16} and while you keep on doing this God's Holy Spirit will lead you {Matthew 7:7-8} until you come in contact with His people who will help you to have the accurate knowledge about God's LOVE! Proverbs 2:1-5

The Israelites weren't just chosen for no just course, there is a reason why God NEED to choose one nation out of all the inhabitants of the earth for a special purpose.

If you'll like to know the reason i'll be glad to share what i've learned from God's people with you.

My name is Maximus, formally i was a Muslim but presently i'm one of Jehovah's Witnesses!

MaxInDHouse:


You're right to have asked this thought provoking question and it really gladdens my heart that you love reading your Bible to find out sacred secrets for yourself.

Well God's word implore you to dig deep into His words, lift up your voice for understanding (pray to him) and keep on searching for it as hidden treasures (discussing with people about what you're reading) {Malachi 3:16} and while you keep on doing this God's Holy Spirit will lead you {Matthew 7:7-8} until you come in contact with His people who will help you to have the accurate knowledge about God's LOVE! Proverbs 2:1-5

The Israelites weren't just chosen for no just course, there is a reason why God NEED to choose one nation out of all the inhabitants of the earth for a special purpose.

If you'll like to know the reason i'll be glad to share what i've learned from God's people with you.

My name is Maximus, formally i was a Muslim but presently i'm one of Jehovah's Witnesses!

I want to know the reason.

Mattew 7:7-8
7 Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye. shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: 8 For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh. findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.

.I asked it was not given to me, I seek and found nothing, I knocked and it wasn't opened to me

it depends on how you look at it. God actually dispose to every man according to his purpose but he has given everyman equal amount of time and grace. God's definition of love might not be man's definition of love that is why His Son can suffer and die at the age of 33 while others can be taken into heaven in heavenly's chariot but of whom did He say "this is my beloved Son, in whom i am well pleased"?.

The most important for man to discover quite deeply is himself and his God. If i know my God very well i may know the amount of His anointing, purpose and grace in me. If i know myself very well i may know how to always obtain the blessings of my creator.

Felimax:
it depends on how you look at it. God actually dispose to every man according to his purpose but he has given everyman equal amount of time and grace. God's definition of love might not be man's definition of love that is why His Son can suffer and die at the age of 33 while others can be taken into heaven in heavenly's chariot but of whom did He say "this is my beloved Son, in whom i am well pleased"?.

The most important for man to discover quite deeply is himself and his God. If i know my God very well i may know the amount of His anointing, purpose and grace in me. If i know myself very well i may know how to always obtain the blessings of my creator.

Mattew 7:7-8
7 Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye. shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: 8 For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh. findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.

.I asked it was not given to me, I seek and found nothing, I knocked and it wasn't opened to me

Daniel058:
I want to know the reason.

Mattew 7:7-8
7 Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye. shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: 8 For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh. findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.

.I asked it was not given to me, I seek and found nothing, I knocked and it wasn't opened to me

Please don't say that!
When Jesus said:

go continually to the lost sheep of the house of Israel! Matthew 10:6

He was talking about individuals like you who truly appreciate God's word but can't figure out what they're reading as something worthwhile so it's the duty of Jesus' true disciples to find you. Thank God we're together now even though on faceless social media but let's get to work. You need the spirit to re-candle your faith in God's word!

I will not tell you what to believe but i will only guide you to where you will find the answer yourself!

First let me ask you:

Before God created Adam did He had any of us as His friend?

MaxInDHouse:

Please don't say that!
When Jesus said:

go continually to the lost sheep of the house of Israel! Matthew 10:6

He was talking about individuals like you who truly appreciate God's word but can't figure out what they're reading as something worthwhile so it's the duty of Jesus' true disciples to find you. Thank God we're together now even though on faceless social media but let's get to work. You need the spirit to re-candle your faith in God's word!

I will not tell you what to believe but i will only guide you to where you will find the answer yourself!

First let me ask you:

Before God created Adam did He had any of us as His friend? .

But Adam was the First man created according to the bible

Daniel058:

But Adam was the First man created according to the bible

Good!
That means God had no friends anywhere before creation so there must be a reason why He chose a race.

Let's go again.

Why did God called Abraham out of Ur?

MaxInDHouse:

Good!
That means God had no friends anywhere before creation so there must be a reason why He chose a race.

Let's go again.

Why did God called Abraham out of Ur?

According to Genesis 12 vs 1-3

The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.

2 “I will make you into a great nation,
and I will bless you;
I will make your name great,
and you will be a blessing.[a]
3 I will bless those who bless you,
and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth
will be blessed through you.”[b]


My question here is , why didn't he love other people enough to

. make them a great nation and do All that is written above for them?

And

John 3 vs 16 say
For God so loved the world ...........................

I know exactly what you're asking but for you to be fully competent and completely equipped in handling questions like this when next you come in contact with interested persons like you, you don't need to be hasty.
You must be patient before you can fully grasp what you're asking for!

God didn't just picked Abraham, there is a quality God is searching for and it's only those having that quality He engages to work with Him.

This has to do with the Salvation of the entire human race so do not focus on the riches Abraham got in the process because there were thousands of people living at that same time who are 100 times richer than Abraham.

So let's concentrate on the purpose why God called him out from among his people:

And Jehovah said to Aʹbram: “Go out from your land and away from your relatives and from the house of your father to the land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you, and I will make your name great, and you will become a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who calls down evil on you, and all the families of the ground will certainly be blessed by means of you” Genesis 13:1-3

Note that God wants to bless all the families of the earth by means of Abraham, so Abraham have to prove himself worthy of such honour:

When Aʹbram was 99 years old, Jehovah appeared to Aʹbram and said to him: “I am God Almighty. Walk before me and prove yourself faultless! Genesis 17:1

So it wasn't an automatic ticket, Abraham has something to pay as price for the favour he is about to get!

Can we continue?

Daniel058:
According to Genesis 12 vs 1-3

The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.

2 “I will make you into a great nation,
and I will bless you;
I will make your name great,
and you will be a blessing.[a]
3 I will bless those who bless you,
and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth
will be blessed through you.”[b]


My question here is , why didn't he love other people enough to

. make them a great nation and do All that is written above for them?

And

John 3 vs 16 say
For God so loved the world ...........................

Daniel058:

1John 4:16
God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them.

Hello Daniel. Yes, God is love and His love is of no respecter of persons.

Daniel058:

If he does, why are the Israelites considered as choosen people?

The Israelites may have been God's chosen people then, but not anymore. Actually, the nation of Israel was to serve a purpose, a model of what God was to eventually do with all nations of the earth. See Israelites as the pioneers.

Now, Christians irrespective of race or nation are collectively a "chosen nation" or people:

But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light (1 Peter 2:9)

So God's love and justice is opened to ALL, even to the wicked (Matthew 5:45).

Daniel058:


Mattew 7:7-8
7 Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye. shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: 8 For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh. findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.

.I asked it was not given to me, I seek and found nothing, I knocked and it wasn't opened to me

Dear brother, read and understand my last paragraph very well. If what you are asking for does not fit God's purpose for you your desire may not be accomplished. In your quiet time ask God for answers He will give you. If i may ask you have you discovered your purpose on earth?

Daniel058:


Mattew 7:7-8
7 Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye. shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: 8 For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh. findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.

.I asked it was not given to me, I seek and found nothing, I knocked and it wasn't opened to me

In reality, it's not everything you ask that you'll be given. It's not all those who work hard get to have money!
Some are meant to be rich!
Some are meant to be poor!
Some are meant to be average!
And some will keep alternating between these positions!

I believe in predestination!

Calamity and prosperity comes from God. (Isaiah 45:7)

MaxInDHouse:
I know exactly what you're asking but for you to be fully competent and completely equipped in handling questions like this when next you come in contact with interested persons like you, you don't need to be hasty.
You must be patient before you can fully grasp what you're asking for!

God didn't just picked Abraham, there is a quality God is searching for and it's only those having that quality He engages to work with Him.

This has to do with the Salvation of the entire human race so do not focus on the riches Abraham got in the process because there were thousands of people living at that same time who are 100 times richer than Abraham.

So let's concentrate on the purpose why God called him out from among his people:

And Jehovah said to Aʹbram: “Go out from your land and away from your relatives and from the house of your father to the land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you, and I will make your name great, and you will become a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who calls down evil on you, and all the families of the ground will certainly be blessed by means of you” Genesis 13:1-3

Note that God wants to bless all the families of the earth by means of Abraham, so Abraham have to prove himself worthy of such honour:

When Aʹbram was 99 years old, Jehovah appeared to Aʹbram and said to him: “I am God Almighty. Walk before me and prove yourself faultless! Genesis 17:1

So it wasn't an automatic ticket, Abraham has something to pay as price for the favour he is about to get!

Can we continue?

yes


What did Abraham do to prove himself Faultless ?

Felimax:


Dear brother, read and understand my last paragraph very well. If what you are asking for does not fit God's purpose for you your desire may not be accomplished. In your quiet time ask God for answers He will give you.

If i may ask you have you discovered your purpose on earth? May you explain this please.

Splinz:



So God's love and justice is opened to ALL, even to the wicked (Matthew 5:45).

Am not sure if the above is true

Daniel058:


Am not sure if the above is true

Why?

Splinz:


Why?

Romans 8:29-30
New International Version
29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. 30 And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.



Ephesians 1vs 5-6 & 11

5 he[a] predestined(A) us for adoption to sonship[b](B) through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure(C) and will— 6 to the praise of his glorious grace,(D) which he has freely given us in the One he loves.(E)

Vs 11 In him we were also chosen,[d] having been predestined(M) according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose(N) of his will,

AntiChristian:


In reality, it's not everything you ask that you'll be given. It's not all those who work hard get to have money!
Some are meant to be rich!
Some are meant to be poor!
Some are meant to be average!
And some will keep alternating between these positions!

I believe in predestination!

Calamity and prosperity comes from God. (Isaiah 45:7)

You May not be far from the truth

Because the bible say in

Romans 8:29-30
New International Version
29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. 30 And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.



Ephesians 1vs 5-6 & 11

5 he[a] predestined(A) us for adoption to sonship[b](B) through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure(C) and will— 6 to the praise of his glorious grace,(D) which he has freely given us in the One he loves.(E)

Vs 11 In him we were also chosen,[d] having been predestined(M) according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose(N) of his will,

Daniel058:


If i may ask you have you discovered your purpose on earth? May you explain this please.

Then i will tell you a story because i may not have the right grammer composition to pieces my point. I once had a very painful relationship situation, totally devastated and heart broken. I kept indoors for weeks begging God to touch my girl's heart and come back as i solely desires her and she alone. Everything around me speaks her name, i could see 1000 girls in a day and they all seem to look so much like her but God refused to grant my desires, refuse to open the door for me.
When He told me He was going to get me a brand new woman i will cherish i never understood and surely i refuse to listen because for me it has to be "what He hear me say He will do". Ok, there is a very young lady that loves me quite much and of course as at this moment she was still a minor and i couldn't see anything futuristic in her, quite small and tiny, often times she will accompany me to go and plead with my ex but suddenly someday as she was doing her normal consolation, things started turning around but i will not dare do a minor, to make matters worst she was still a virgin, all my life i have never been with one, i told my friends i am having feelings for this young girl but she is just too young, again one of my mentor said if truly you want a woman who will be wired with you this young lady can be my best bet for if i loose her i may not see such an opportunity again.
Quickly, i went back to God and inquire if this is His will, to cut a long story short, by God's grace, this young lady and i will be five years in marriage this year, blessed with heavenly wealth.
Now, when i looked back at my ex, i glorify God for not listening to my desires of having her(my ex) for the rest of my life. The foolishness of God is wiser than the wisest of men. Does this resonate with any part of your life? Think deeply! For your information i am not a pastor far from it. I am a Eucharistic christian.

Felimax:

Then i will tell you a story because i may not have the right grammer composition to pieces my point. I once had a very painful relationship situation, totally devastated and heart broken. I kept indoors for weeks begging God to touch my girl's heart and come back as i solely desires her and she alone. Everything around me speaks her name, i could see 1000 girls in a day and they all seem to look so much like her but God refused to grant my desires, refuse to open the door for me.
When He told me He was going to get me a brand new woman i will cherish i never understood and surely i refuse to listen because for me it has to be "what He hear me say He will do". Ok, there is a very young lady that loves me quite much and of course as at this moment she was still a minor and i couldn't see anything futuristic in her, quite small and tiny, often times she will accompany me to go and plead with my ex but suddenly someday as she was doing her normal consolation, things started turning around but i will not dare do a minor, to make matters worst she was still a virgin, all my life i have never been with one, i told my friends i am having feelings for this young girl but she is just too young, again one of my mentor said if truly you want a woman who will be wired with you this young lady can be my best bet for if i loose her i may not see such an opportunity again.
Quickly, i went back to God and inquire if this is His will, to cut a long story short, by God's grace, this young lady and i will be five years in marriage this year, blessed with heavenly wealth.
Now, when i looked back at my ex, i glorify God for not listening to my desires of having her(my ex) for the rest of my life. The foolishness of God is wiser than the wisest of men. Does this resonate with any part of your life? Think deeply! For your information i am not a pastor far from it. I am a Eucharistic christian.

This one is about Marital purposes ,good story though

Daniel058:


This one is about Marital purposes ,good story though

There is no aspect of my life i have not resigned to God's purpose, presently, i work in Port Harcourt but before i took this job, i have been begging God for an offer that will take me close to prospective client and of course Port harcourt was one of my desired place as i was completely done with the hectic life style of Lagos.
Ok, now, when this Job came they asked me if i will do it i said no, i was believing God for something in my imagination and quickly told them i will get them somebody quite good also, several attempts i tried to reach my guys but for one thing or another they were not just disposed for the offer because all of us were thinking the pay will not be good enough. When they finally reached me about the pay i saw every reason why i should bit all odds to secure the job + this job equally gave me leverage to reach more clients as i initially desire. The truth is, regardless of what you think, say or do God is absolute in virtually all ramifications of life. Goodluck!

Daniel058:

yes

What did Abraham do to prove himself Faultless ?

The Bible revealed that God has been searching for a person with the attribute to fulfil that need. But He (God) couldn't find any until He began noticing Abraham's moves.
So i think we're together after Abraham left Ur, but please let's go back a bit and see the qualities JEHOVAH found in this man before calling him out of Ur!

The city Ur was the world's most commercial center in the far Eastern part back then, civilization is fast growing and everyone wants to establish their business in Ur.

Please imagine a very wealthy young man with his beautiful wife having to pack all what they had (that's movable) then started a journey to a place he never knew nor heard of all because a voice from the spirit realms called him!
Think of what could have happened when his friends, families and business associates ask him "Abraham, to which business center are you moving?"
It's like someone whose business is fast growing in a city like Dubai today just woke up one day and start moving away with all his family to an unknown destination. And don't forget that there must be priests of some sort around that place that Abraham could consult perhaps to hear something different from what this strange voice told him.
Well Abraham chose to OBEY the voice of that spirit who ordered him to leave the world's most comfortable zone of that time!

Then as he was moving from one place to another this wealthy man began living in tents all just to prove himself a worthy friend of the spirit that called him.

Then himself and his wife were childless for long yet this spirit kept promising Abraham that he will become a father of multitude.

Abraham and his wife were growing older by the day yet Abraham remained faithful to his wife.

It got to a time the woman felt maybe it's this man's sperm that's not fertile enough to get her pregnant so she asked him to sleep with her maid only to see that the maid got pregnant at a go.

Yet Abraham remained faithful to his wife, when the pregnant girl carrying Abraham's child misbehaved towards his wife Abraham never shield her from been punished. He proved himself a faithful man to the core.

Then God told Abraham that He has not forgotten the promise He made to Abraham, well Abraham thought once he's gotten a child through Haggai his wife's maid God's promise will be fulfilled through that child but God told Abraham "NO! My promise will be established with a legitimate child born to you by your wife" {Genesis 17:18-21} well he still trusted in this spirit who claimed to be the Almighty God!

Then Sarah at last became pregnant in her oldage and bore her husband a son, as the child was growing Sarah became jealous and asked Abraham to send the first child away with his mother so that the child will not share in the inheritance Sarah built with her husband. Abraham did just so!

And just as the boy kept growing God asked Abraham to sacrifice this child, when Abraham don't even know the whereabout of the other child. Of course you know what this faithful man did all just because he's hearing the voice of a spirit being who claimed He is the Almighty God.

Do you still need more EVIDENCE pointing to the the fact that Abraham truly proved to be faultless? Well because of his unwavering faith JEHOVAH awarded Abraham with a title no human has ever bear before him nor any after him. God called Abraham "the father of all those having faith" {Romans 4:11} and he (Abraham) began to be called God's friend! James 2:23

God bless you and may you have PEACE!

Daniel058:
Am I the only Christian who's finding it difficult to understand God ,I don't think like this before But of recent am beginning to think wether the bible Is telling us the whole truth about God or was it written out of peoples opinion about who the almighty God is .

1John 4:16
God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them.


If he does, why are the Israelites considered as choosen people?

Daniel058:
Malachi 1v2-3

2 “I have loved you,” says the Lord. But you say, “How have you loved us?” “Is not Esau Jacob’s brother?” declares the Lord. “Yet I have loved Jacob 3 but Esau I have hated. I have laid waste his hill country and left his heritage to jackals of the

Daniel058:
People say one of the best thing God did to his Creation is giving dem freedom of choice? Is that true?

I don't really understand; the same freedom of choice Satan used against Eve/ Adam

The Same freedom of choice that kidnappers/Thieves uses against Their victims


Same freedom of Choice Adolf Hitler used Against the Jews .

Same freedom of choice Politicians uses against the people that vote for them.



I don't understand.

Daniel058:
Am beginning to think wether people that wrote the bible truely know God.

People call him Omnipresence / Omniscience God , what if he's not.

I don't understand,



Rev 12 vs 7-9


7 And war broke out in heaven; Michael and his angels fought against the dragon. The dragon and his angels fought back, 8but they were defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. 9The great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.

. If the above incidents happened before the creation of Man why would the [b]OMNISCIENCE God create man knowing already how he would be deceived. [/b]


I need help here.

Hi there.

Before I start, I must warn you that faith is a free will choice. That is, no one can make you believe anything that you don't want to believe or doubt or disbelieve anything that you don't want to doubt or disbelieve. I recognize that free will is one of the things you have issues with in your challenges above, but this is still a necessary warning. I will give you the best answers that I have and discuss them with you to any extent that you are willing to go within reason, but I cannot guarantee to you that you will believe me. That is your own choice to make.

To begin, there is really no way to help anyone who won't believe the Bible. Please, understand that that does not mean that you should not ask questions. It only means that since every truly Christian answer about God comes from the Bible, a rejection of the reliability and authority of the Bible will only lead to a rejection of all answers that are based on that authority.

If the question, however, is why we Christians do (or why anyone else should) trust the Bible, the answer is that it is the only literature on earth that perfectly accommodates the witness of creation about God and goes beyond that witness to give us a perfectly reasonable introduction to this same God. That is, when anyone reasonably considers the world around him or her, their common sense deductions will ultimately lead them to the Bible, and when they come to the Bible, what they learn there will make perfect sense about not only the world around them but also the God that creation seems to be pointing to. This is all on the intellectual level. But beyond that, any honest reading of the Bible will tell the reader that they are reading at least an unusual book and potentially the very word of the true God. This is a test that anyone can use for themselves without having to rely on anybody else's opinion.

Did men write the Bible? Yes indeed. Were they writing their opinions? No, they were not. How can we be sure? By reading the book itself. Although there are many things that one can present as proof that the writers were not presenting their own opinions including the Bible's own claim to that effect (2 Peter 1:20-21)--and we can get into these proofs at another time--the very "taste" of the book when you read it would tell you that it is not a human production even if human beings were used to produce it.

Did these men know the God that they were writing about? I think that the Bible itself is perfect proof that they did. If they didn't, they would have been unable to write as they did. Additionally, the Bible itself attests to the close relationship that some of them had with God (Numbers 12:8; Daniel 10:11). But you asked what if they were wrong about God since He may not be omniscient given that God created man knowing that he would be deceived by the devil.

The answer to that question lies in the power of God. In fact, the creation of man was specifically in order to show Satan how wrong he was about God. God created a creature that was considerably weaker than Satan and gave that creature the same free will and the same responsibility that Satan and the other angels had. That creature made the same mistake of rebelling against God that Satan and a third of the angels made before man was created. The point was not whether God knew that man was going to rebel. The point was that many of the race of mankind would repent of their rebellion and (here's the clincher!) God would forgive them! That was what Satan told his fellow rebels could not happen: God could not forgive sin and remain just nor could He punish sinners and remain a loving God. God did both in Jesus Christ and proved Satan a liar by doing so. So, God absolutely knew that man would be deceived and sin against Him, but He had already planned for man's redemption before the fact. Therefore, this is not proof that the writers of the Bible did not know what they were talking about. They obviously did.

Why are the Israelites a chosen people? Because their ancestors--Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob--loved God in a way that very few others in their generation did. They loved Him enough to make His promises the exclusive point of their lives. How many people would be willing to leave the comfort of home and kindred to wander among lawless nations following a promise that would not be realized in their lifetime especially in a world overflowing with haters of God? But that was what Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob did. They gave up their own native home and the security of their native community to live as strangers among people that could kill you just because they wanted your wife or a well that you dug for yourself.

Because they chose to be so different, God chose to uniquely preserve their lineage so that the Messiah could be born into a community that would be His means of redeeming the whole world. Without this unique country, there would have been no Messiah. In other words, God chose Israel because He loved the whole world to want to save it.

You also provide Malachi 1:2-3 as a challenge. Maybe this is because of your question about God loving everyone but choosing only one nation. If I'm wrong, please don't hesitate to correct me.

Does that passage in Malachi (repeated also in Romans 9:13) mean that God loves some people and hates others? No, it does not. To be clear, God does hate the wicked (Psalm 11:5), but that does not mean that He wants any of them to perish (Ezekiel 18:23). If you stop to think about it, wickedness is repulsive and wicked people are impossible to love. That is the plain truth. But even though we are wicked, God still sent Jesus Christ to die on the Cross so that all of us can be saved. If that is not love, I have no idea what is. The sense in which God hates the wicked is the exact same sense in which we hate them too. Nobody would be happy to have a wicked person living with them forever. That is why God gave Jesus Christ for us. That way, we can be changed from wicked people into righteous people that He can spend eternity with.

But what about Esau specifically? What the Bible teaches there is that Esau was given the natural right to inherit God's amazing promises and he unilaterally rejected them as being worthless preferring instead the lifestyle of the wicked Canaanites among whom he and his parents lived. What is there to love about someone like that? His descendants were not different. They hated their brother Israel so much that when Israel was invaded and deported by Assyria, they were more than happy to join in the slaughter of those Israelites that might have escaped. What is there to love about people like that? God loves Israel because of their fathers and because even when the nation became so wicked, there were still Israelites who chose to love God no matter what.

About free will, it is certainly tragic that the majority of us prefer to use it to do wickedness, but that is kind of the point, isn't it? If we don't have a choice, how can we love God? We would just robotically do whatever He wants. Because we have a choice, we can freely choose to love God if we want. We can do what He wants because that is what we want not just what He wants. We can also freely choose to ignore Him and do whatever we want. There will be rewards and consequences for either choice, but we get to choose. That is amazing.

It is important to keep in mind that we are not robots. We obviously are self-aware. We have experiences that we contemplate and can enjoy or hate. This is the gift of God. It is our responsibility to use this gift the right way and submit to God's will, but by virtue of this gift, not even God will force us to do the right thing. Whatever we do is strictly what we want to do and that is what God will judge: our choices.

What is our hope if so many use their God-given free will to do so much wickedness? That God will judge everyone and reward each one according to their deeds. This world is only a testing ground. Granted that our experiences can hurt real bad in this world, they too will come to an end. But eternity will not. If we use our opportunity to make the right choices with respect to God in this world poorly, then we will have an infinitely unpleasant eternity left for us. If we use the same opportunity right, then we have an infinitely pleasant one to look forward to. There will be justice for all that we go through in this life. That is the Christian hope.

Taking away free will will not change the nature of this world, if even that were possible, and it is not possible at all to do so. We have a responsibility from God to make choices and we cannot get away from that.

Finally, the passage from Revelation 12 was not describing something that has already happened. That is a common misconception. It is yet to happen in the middle of the coming Tribulation that all the world will experience very soon. We Christians look forward to that time because shortly after then, the Lord Jesus will return to destroy Satan's rule over this world and establish His kingdom in its place. That will be an extremely delightful time, the very thing that we have been hoping for: a perfectly just world. And after His thousand-year rule, we are promised a perfect universe where we will be forever with the Trinity and the elect angels and all Millennial believers forever. This world will not even require justice because there will be no wickedness in it at all. This is our ultimate hope, a confident hope that cannot be shaken.

You are not the only Christian who has had trouble understanding God. I was one too. I know very many personally who still don't understand God. In fact, right on this platform, quite a few atheists were once Christians who didn't understand God and got tired of trying to. This very generation of Christians in fact (beginning from the 1880s) are a generation of Christians who could even be argued to not even know God at all. The Bible calls this generation the Laodicean church. It is a spiritually lazy generation so that it is extremely difficult to find believers who either know the truth or are willing to work at finding it and growing in it.

It is a situation that is both heartbreaking and annoying. Many of us pastor-teachers go to quite a bit of trouble to learn the truth and prepare ourselves to teach the truth fully and correctly to our fellow believers out of a strong desire to help one another grow spiritually and become truly fruitful believers in Jesus Christ, but when we come out and start to help, many of those we meet slap our hands away preferring the obvious lies of those who want their money and control of their lives. This is so common that you will find that such pastor-teachers are not at all particularly visible unless something causes them to come out of "hiding." And, no, we are not hiding. We just don't waste a great deal of effort on anyone who is really not interested in the truth. We don't do what we do for money of for power over you. We do it because if we do our jobs right, the Lord Himself will give us the three eternal crowns that all believers are called to win.

If my answers have been helpful to you, I would be more than happy to help you even further. If not, it is just as well. Let me know if there is any other way I can be of help.

Cheers.

MaxInDHouse:


The Bible revealed that God has been searching for a person with the attribute to fulfil that need. But He (God) couldn't find any until He began noticing Abraham's moves.
So i think we're together after Abraham left Ur, but please let's go back a bit and see the qualities JEHOVAH found in this man before calling him out of Ur!

The city Ur was the world's most commercial center in the far Eastern part back then, civilization is fast growing and everyone wants to establish their business in Ur.

Please imagine a very wealthy young man with his beautiful wife having to pack all what they had (that's movable) then started a journey to a place he never knew nor heard of all because a voice from the spirit realms called him!
Think of what could have happened when his friends, families and business associates ask him "Abraham, to which business center are you moving?"
It's like someone whose business is fast growing in a city like Dubai today just woke up one day and start moving away with all his family to an unknown destination. And don't forget that there must be priests of some sort around that place that Abraham could consult perhaps to hear something different from what this strange voice told him.
Well Abraham chose to OBEY the voice of that spirit who ordered him to leave the world's most comfortable zone of that time!

Then as he was moving from one place to another this wealthy man began living in tents all just to prove himself a worthy friend of the spirit that called him.

Then himself and his wife were childless for long yet this spirit kept promising Abraham that he will become a father of multitude.

Abraham and his wife were growing older by the day yet Abraham remained faithful to his wife.

It got to a time the woman felt maybe it's this man's sperm that's not fertile enough to get her pregnant so she asked him to sleep with her maid only to see that the maid got pregnant at a go.

Yet Abraham remained faithful to his wife, when the pregnant girl carrying Abraham's child misbehaved towards his wife Abraham never shield her from been punished. He proved himself a faithful man to the core.

Then God told Abraham that He has not forgotten the promise He made to Abraham, well Abraham thought once he's gotten a child through Haggai his wife's maid God's promise will be fulfilled through that child but God told Abraham "NO! My promise will be established with a legitimate child born to you by your wife" {Genesis 17:18-21} well he still trusted in this spirit who claimed to be the Almighty God!

Then Sarah at last became pregnant in her oldage and bore her husband a son, as the child was growing Sarah became jealous and asked Abraham to send the first child away with his mother so that the child will not share in the inheritance Sarah built with her husband. Abraham did just so!

And just as the boy kept growing God asked Abraham to sacrifice this child, when Abraham don't even know the whereabout of the other child. Of course you know what this faithful man did all just because he's hearing the voice of a spirit being who claimed He is the Almighty God.

Do you still need more EVIDENCE pointing to the the fact that Abraham truly proved to be faultless? Well because of his unwavering faith JEHOVAH awarded Abraham with a title no human has ever bear before him nor any after him. God called Abraham "the father of all those having faith" {Romans 4:11} and he (Abraham) began to be called God's friend! James 2:23

God bless you and may you have PEACE!

Abraham believed because God kept on Appearing to him.

Daniel058:
Abraham believed because God kept on Appearing to him.

Do you think so?
Well back then there were demons everywhere also saying many things and people were listening to them so how do you think Abraham could have differentiate between a lying spirit and a truthful spirit?
Moreover God never appeared to him in any physical form {John 1:18} Abraham only heard the voice of God just the same way Idol worshipers also do hear voices of their gods.
The only difference is that Abraham was a faithful person who doesn't believe in cheating or inconsistency.
Take for example, when God told Abraham that He (God) heard about the evil things the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah were doing Abraham challenged his friend and said:

"I know that if truly you're the true God who created everything you can't think of destroying the good along with the wicked" {Genesis 18:25} and when God's angels were leaving Abraham began negotiating instead of telling God "my nephew is there" Abraham concentrated on the good qualities that binds him with his friend (God) asking "if you found 50, 40, 30, 20, 10, will you still destroy the cities?" Genesis 18:24-32
This shows that both friends fully understood each other based on some qualities they both shared, that's why Abraham could become a friend of the true God.
There are many spirits also claiming they're the true God till today it's each person's thinking and attributes that will lead you to the God of your choice! Micah 4:5
Abraham was faultless that's why he could walk with a faultless God, and there is no spirit that's faultless except the one and only true God. That's why Abraham could challenge God based on the attributes that binds them together as close friends. Otherwise Abraham could have thought God can do and undo as pagans do say about their unpredictable gods till today.
We are Abraham's offsprings so we can tell what our own God can and cannot do because we have come to know the qualities that binds Him and our father Abraham!

@ Daniel
You asked about Israel before i brought in the issue of Abraham the patriarch and great-grandfather if the Israelites.
Can we continue with our discussion?
I want you to know why He (God) chose Israel out of all nations and the spiritual condition of that nation at present!

Well back then there were demons everywhere also saying many things and people were listening to them so how do you think Abraham could have differentiate between a lying spirit and a truthful spirit?

well , Abraham did what every other person hearing from spirit would do , the difference is that it was God and not demon speaking .

MaxInDHouse:
@ Daniel
You asked about Israel before i brought in the issue of Abraham the patriarch and great-grandfather if the Israelites.
Can we continue with our discussion?
I want you to know why He (God) chose Israel out of all nations and the spiritual condition of that nation at present!

I have a question. Do you believe in 1.Predestination ?

2. Why did God Love Esau and hated Jacob ?

Remember the main Question/ topic is Does God love/Treat everyone equally?

MALACHI 1Vs 2-3

2 “I have loved you,” says the Lord.

“But you ask, ‘How have you loved us?’

“Was not Esau Jacob’s brother?” declares the Lord. “Yet I have loved Jacob, 3 but Esau I have hated, and I have turned his hill country into a wasteland and left his inheritance to the desert jackals.”