- Mar 5, 2024
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Raising Up Children In The Fear Of God, And Faith In His Written Word
Proverbs 22:6 says “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it," and Psalms 34 reveals that this "way" was teaching them the fear of God. Solomon referred to it as the beginning of wisdom, and King David made it abundantly clear that such teaching was the basis for living a godly life.
11 Come, you children, listen to me. I will teach you the fear of the Lord. 12 Who is the man who desires life and loves many days, that he may see good? 13 Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit. 14 Depart from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it. 15 For the eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and His ears are open to their cry. 16 But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth. (Psalm 34:11-16)
The reason children must be taught the fear of God is because if they are not walking in it by the time they reach young adulthood, Satan will use the lusts of the flesh and the pride of life to lure them away into sin and licentiousness, and there will be nothing holding them back.
Unfortunately, during the last few centuries in particular, Satan has now succeeded at convinced much of the Western world to cast aside their fear of God. He has done this by undermining faith in the written word, especially where things like Hell and God's divine judgments are concerned, telling them that much of Bible's stories are just "myths." Where did these lies originate from? They had their origins with the Gnostics, who back in Peter's day were belittling the God of the Old Testament as a liar and a tyrant, and "scoffing " at the notion He could somehow bring destruction upon the entire earth.
1 Beloved, I now write to you this second epistle (in both of which I stir up your pure minds by way of reminder), 2 that you may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us, the apostles of the Lord and Savior, 3 knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, 4 and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.” 5 For this they willfully forget, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water, 6 by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water. 7 But the Heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are being reserved for fire unto the Day of Judgment and the perdition of ungodly men. (2 Peter 3:1-7)
According to the Gnostics, the real "Day of the Lord" had already come spiritually, (see 2 Thessalonians 2:1-4), and the Old Testament God was just a blowhard trying to scare humanity into obedience through promises He couldn't keep. But Peter was now reiterating that God's wrath was indeed still coming, and they were conveniently forgetting the fact that He had already brought destruction upon the entire earth once and eventually would again.
The church accepted this teaching back in New Testament times and believed the Genesis account, but where are we today? Unfortunately during the last 100 years, Satan has promoted a theory that the Biblical accounts of creation and the flood are little more than "myths," and by extension that the prophecies of the Day of the Lord as well. Much like he did back in the garden when he first deceived Eve, Satan has deluded most of humanity by again asking, "Did God really say?"
"Local" Flood Theory
Did a flood that covered the entire earth really happen? Some believers today teach that the Biblical deluge was just a local flood, but if Noah's flood was merely local and not global, what Peter is arguing for in this passage makes absolutely no sense. He was tying the earth's future judgment by fire to its past judgment by water. If Noah's flood was only a localized event then the argument he's making is based on an entirely false premise.
Was Peter wrong? The Biblical account and legends from around the globe suggest nothing could be farther from the truth. Genesis 6:15 describes the ark as being 300 cubits long, 50 cubits wide, and 30 cubits high, and using the common measurement of a "royal cubit" as 20.4 inches, this means the ship was 510 feet long, 85 feet wide, and 51 feet tall. How would a ship the size of a football field stay afloat for 150 days in a local flood? And how would it come to rest on a mountain top (Mt Ararat), unless waters covered the entire earth? Moreover, a careful reading of Genesis Chapters 7 and 8 reveals that Noah, his family, and all the animals they brought with them stayed in the ark for a full year until the waters finally subsided. Why would they stay cooped up on a ship for that long if the flood did not cover the entire earth just as the word of God states?
Legends from across the planet all tell the same story, as the following summaries of various flood accounts explain.
Form Southwest Tanzania:
Once upon a time the rivers began to flood. The god told two people to get into a ship. He told them to take lots of seed and to take lots of animals. The water of the flood eventually covered the mountains. Finally the flood stopped. Then one of the men, wanting to know if the water had dried up let a dove loose. The dove returned. Later he let loose a hawk which did not return. Then the men left the boat and took the animals and the seeds with them.
From China
The Chinese classic called the Hihking tells about "the family of Fuhi," that was saved from a great flood. This ancient story tells that the entire land was flooded; the mountains and everything, however one family survived in a boat. The Chinese consider this man the father of their civilization. This record indicates that Fuhi, his wife, three sons, and three daughters were the only people that escaped the great flood. It is claimed, that he and his family were the only people alive on earth, and repopulated the world.
From Babylon:
Gilgamesh met an old man named Utnapishtim, who told him the following story. The gods came to Utnapishtim to warn him about a terrible flood that was coming. They instructed Utnapishtim to destroy his house and build a large ship. The ship was to be 10 dozen cubits high, wide and long. Utnapishtim was to cover the ship with pitch. He was supposed to take male and female animals of all kinds, his wife and family, provisions, etc. into the ship. Once ship was completed the rain began falling intensely. The rain fell for six days and nights. Finally things calmed and the ship settled on the top of Mount Nisir. After the ship had rested for seven days Utnapishtim let loose a dove. Since the land had not dried the dove returned. Next he sent a swallow which also returned. Later he let loose a raven which never returned since the ground had dried. Utnapishtim then left the ship.
From Chaldea:
There was a man by the name of Xisuthrus. The god Chronos warned Xisuthrus of a coming flood and told him to build a boat. The boat was to be 5 stadia by 2 stadia. In this boat Xisuthrus was to put his family, friends and two of each animal (male and female). The flood came. When the waters started to recede he let some birds loose. They came back and he noticed they had mud on their feet. He tried again with the same results. When he tried the third time the birds did not return. Assuming the water had dried up the people got out of the boat and offered sacrifices to the gods.
From Australia:
There is a legend of a flood called the Dreamtime flood. Riding on this flood was the woramba, or the Ark Gumana. In this ark was Noah, Aborigines, and various animals. This ark eventually came to rest in the plain of Djilinbadu where it can still be found. They claim that the white mans story about the ark landing in the middle east is a lie that was started to keep the aborigines in subservience. This legend is undoubtedly the product of aboriginal legends merging with those of visiting missionaries, and there does not appear to be any native flood stories from Australia.
From Greece:
A long time ago, perhaps before the golden age was over, humans became proud. This bothered Zeus as they kept getting worse. Finally Zeus decided that he would destroy all humans. Before he did this Prometheus, the creator of humans, warned his human son Deucalion and his wife Pyrrha. Prometheus then placed this couple in a large wooden chest. The rains started and lasted nine days and nights until the whole world was flooded. The only thing that was not flooded was the peaks of Mount Parnassus and Mount Olympus. Mount Olympus is the home of the gods. The wooden chest came to rest on Mount Parnassus. Deucalion and his wife Pyrrha got out and saw that everything was flooded. They lived on provisions from the chest until the waters subsided. At Zeus' instruction they re-populated the earth.
From Central America:
A man named Tapi lived a long time ago. Tapi was a very pious man. The creator told Tapi to build a boat that he would live in. He was told that he should take his wife, a pair of every animal that was alive into this boat. Naturally everyone thought he was crazy. Then the rain started and the flood came. The men and animals tried to climb the mountains but the mountains became flooded as well. Finally the rain ended. Tapi decided that the water had dried up when he let a dove loose that did not return.
Proverbs 22:6 says “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it," and Psalms 34 reveals that this "way" was teaching them the fear of God. Solomon referred to it as the beginning of wisdom, and King David made it abundantly clear that such teaching was the basis for living a godly life.
11 Come, you children, listen to me. I will teach you the fear of the Lord. 12 Who is the man who desires life and loves many days, that he may see good? 13 Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit. 14 Depart from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it. 15 For the eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and His ears are open to their cry. 16 But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth. (Psalm 34:11-16)
The reason children must be taught the fear of God is because if they are not walking in it by the time they reach young adulthood, Satan will use the lusts of the flesh and the pride of life to lure them away into sin and licentiousness, and there will be nothing holding them back.
Unfortunately, during the last few centuries in particular, Satan has now succeeded at convinced much of the Western world to cast aside their fear of God. He has done this by undermining faith in the written word, especially where things like Hell and God's divine judgments are concerned, telling them that much of Bible's stories are just "myths." Where did these lies originate from? They had their origins with the Gnostics, who back in Peter's day were belittling the God of the Old Testament as a liar and a tyrant, and "scoffing " at the notion He could somehow bring destruction upon the entire earth.
1 Beloved, I now write to you this second epistle (in both of which I stir up your pure minds by way of reminder), 2 that you may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us, the apostles of the Lord and Savior, 3 knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, 4 and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.” 5 For this they willfully forget, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water, 6 by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water. 7 But the Heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are being reserved for fire unto the Day of Judgment and the perdition of ungodly men. (2 Peter 3:1-7)
According to the Gnostics, the real "Day of the Lord" had already come spiritually, (see 2 Thessalonians 2:1-4), and the Old Testament God was just a blowhard trying to scare humanity into obedience through promises He couldn't keep. But Peter was now reiterating that God's wrath was indeed still coming, and they were conveniently forgetting the fact that He had already brought destruction upon the entire earth once and eventually would again.
The church accepted this teaching back in New Testament times and believed the Genesis account, but where are we today? Unfortunately during the last 100 years, Satan has promoted a theory that the Biblical accounts of creation and the flood are little more than "myths," and by extension that the prophecies of the Day of the Lord as well. Much like he did back in the garden when he first deceived Eve, Satan has deluded most of humanity by again asking, "Did God really say?"
"Local" Flood Theory
Did a flood that covered the entire earth really happen? Some believers today teach that the Biblical deluge was just a local flood, but if Noah's flood was merely local and not global, what Peter is arguing for in this passage makes absolutely no sense. He was tying the earth's future judgment by fire to its past judgment by water. If Noah's flood was only a localized event then the argument he's making is based on an entirely false premise.
Was Peter wrong? The Biblical account and legends from around the globe suggest nothing could be farther from the truth. Genesis 6:15 describes the ark as being 300 cubits long, 50 cubits wide, and 30 cubits high, and using the common measurement of a "royal cubit" as 20.4 inches, this means the ship was 510 feet long, 85 feet wide, and 51 feet tall. How would a ship the size of a football field stay afloat for 150 days in a local flood? And how would it come to rest on a mountain top (Mt Ararat), unless waters covered the entire earth? Moreover, a careful reading of Genesis Chapters 7 and 8 reveals that Noah, his family, and all the animals they brought with them stayed in the ark for a full year until the waters finally subsided. Why would they stay cooped up on a ship for that long if the flood did not cover the entire earth just as the word of God states?
Legends from across the planet all tell the same story, as the following summaries of various flood accounts explain.
Form Southwest Tanzania:
Once upon a time the rivers began to flood. The god told two people to get into a ship. He told them to take lots of seed and to take lots of animals. The water of the flood eventually covered the mountains. Finally the flood stopped. Then one of the men, wanting to know if the water had dried up let a dove loose. The dove returned. Later he let loose a hawk which did not return. Then the men left the boat and took the animals and the seeds with them.
From China
The Chinese classic called the Hihking tells about "the family of Fuhi," that was saved from a great flood. This ancient story tells that the entire land was flooded; the mountains and everything, however one family survived in a boat. The Chinese consider this man the father of their civilization. This record indicates that Fuhi, his wife, three sons, and three daughters were the only people that escaped the great flood. It is claimed, that he and his family were the only people alive on earth, and repopulated the world.
From Babylon:
Gilgamesh met an old man named Utnapishtim, who told him the following story. The gods came to Utnapishtim to warn him about a terrible flood that was coming. They instructed Utnapishtim to destroy his house and build a large ship. The ship was to be 10 dozen cubits high, wide and long. Utnapishtim was to cover the ship with pitch. He was supposed to take male and female animals of all kinds, his wife and family, provisions, etc. into the ship. Once ship was completed the rain began falling intensely. The rain fell for six days and nights. Finally things calmed and the ship settled on the top of Mount Nisir. After the ship had rested for seven days Utnapishtim let loose a dove. Since the land had not dried the dove returned. Next he sent a swallow which also returned. Later he let loose a raven which never returned since the ground had dried. Utnapishtim then left the ship.
From Chaldea:
There was a man by the name of Xisuthrus. The god Chronos warned Xisuthrus of a coming flood and told him to build a boat. The boat was to be 5 stadia by 2 stadia. In this boat Xisuthrus was to put his family, friends and two of each animal (male and female). The flood came. When the waters started to recede he let some birds loose. They came back and he noticed they had mud on their feet. He tried again with the same results. When he tried the third time the birds did not return. Assuming the water had dried up the people got out of the boat and offered sacrifices to the gods.
From Australia:
There is a legend of a flood called the Dreamtime flood. Riding on this flood was the woramba, or the Ark Gumana. In this ark was Noah, Aborigines, and various animals. This ark eventually came to rest in the plain of Djilinbadu where it can still be found. They claim that the white mans story about the ark landing in the middle east is a lie that was started to keep the aborigines in subservience. This legend is undoubtedly the product of aboriginal legends merging with those of visiting missionaries, and there does not appear to be any native flood stories from Australia.
From Greece:
A long time ago, perhaps before the golden age was over, humans became proud. This bothered Zeus as they kept getting worse. Finally Zeus decided that he would destroy all humans. Before he did this Prometheus, the creator of humans, warned his human son Deucalion and his wife Pyrrha. Prometheus then placed this couple in a large wooden chest. The rains started and lasted nine days and nights until the whole world was flooded. The only thing that was not flooded was the peaks of Mount Parnassus and Mount Olympus. Mount Olympus is the home of the gods. The wooden chest came to rest on Mount Parnassus. Deucalion and his wife Pyrrha got out and saw that everything was flooded. They lived on provisions from the chest until the waters subsided. At Zeus' instruction they re-populated the earth.
From Central America:
A man named Tapi lived a long time ago. Tapi was a very pious man. The creator told Tapi to build a boat that he would live in. He was told that he should take his wife, a pair of every animal that was alive into this boat. Naturally everyone thought he was crazy. Then the rain started and the flood came. The men and animals tried to climb the mountains but the mountains became flooded as well. Finally the rain ended. Tapi decided that the water had dried up when he let a dove loose that did not return.
Flood Legends From Around the World
Native global flood stories are documented as history or legend in almost every region on earth.
nwcreation.net
