Personally, we believe that there is no need to omit any of this pas sage. It really is required for the whole context. Q. Garden Grove, Calif. "Did Jesus, as a Man on earth, know that the world was round?" A. Yes, we believe that He certainly did. While He may not have lec tured on geography or other areas of science, this was not the pur pose of His ministry on earth. He was well acquainted with the Old Testament writings. He knew Isaiah 40:22 which is a clear reference to sphericity of the earth. "It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth." As a matter of fact, in the time of our Lord, there were a number of scientists who believed that the earth was round, although perhaps the official and accepted theory in those days was that it was flat. The reason why the Lord knew that the earth was round, of course, was because He created it. It is interesting to note that such men as Columbus did not really discover that the earth was round. Colum bus, we believe from other evi dence, simply based his exploration upon what he thought was the cor rect interpretation. How strange it is that some people still today re ject the Bible when it has been so clearly correct in every area of un derstanding on which it touches. How foolish men are to doubt God, relying upon their own limited sense and fallible perfection. When the Bible speaks, we must speak too. And where the Bible is silent, we must continue to be submissive to God's direction for our lives. Q. Lynwood, Calif. "Exactly what constitutes a marriage from God's
the Lord has some things to say to us but we are so busy that He may have to put us on our backs so that we will look up in His face. Of course, there is some sickness that is caused by our own foolishness or sinfulness. We should ask Him to forgive us for such involve ments. But, just try praising the Lord. Get enthusiastic about thank ing Him for who He is and for what He has done for you. You will find that you forget all about asking Him for anything. Try praying that way, too. This is the kind of inter cession that must fill the heart of the Lord with great joy. Q. Portland, Ore. " Can you tell me the ministries of angels, particu larly as they relate to John 5:4? I have been told that the word 'angel' here is a mistranslation." A. In the original an angel was known as "a messenger." They are super-human servants of the Lord and Spirit-created beings. They do the bidding of God. Of course, there were unholy angels who fell with Satan. Some are able to be about, while others are bound for the time of judgment, to be con signed for an eternity of woe and misery. The ministries of angels are particularly on behalf of the godly. As to the verse in John 5:4, someone has given you erroneous information. It may be what they had in mind was that the later part of verse three and the whole of verse four has been left out of the oldest and some of the best man uscripts. They omit "waiting for the moving of the water" as well as all of verse four. The word 'angel' is not a mistranslation, however.
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