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| The lion shall lay down with the lamb - Does it? |
Here are the answers! Some may surprise you.
Spare the rod and spoil the child
- This saying is not in the bible!
Yes - 0
No - 1
The verse is a misquote from Proverbs 13:24 "Whoever withholds his rod hates his Son." The issue with the word "spoils" today is that it can also refer to loving as well, as in, "I really spoil my daughter because she is the most precious gift that we have in our house."
You can find similar references in Prov 22:15, Prov 23:13-14 and Prov 29:15. All deal with the importance of discipline. So even though the saying is not in the bible, it is a quick and valid way of saying, a child that is loved is disciplined and corrected for their sake, while a child left undisciplined will soon fall into sin.
Oh, and there is a world of difference between smacking as discipline and beating out of anger. It is just that some politicians cannot distinguish.
Give yourself a bonus mark if you found a verse above but only if you answered NO.
Do unto others as you would have them do unto you
This is called "the Golden Rule." Technically speaking, also not in the bible, except the NIV!Score:
Yes -1 (if you have an NIV and found it in Luke 6:31)
No - 1 (if you have another version)
The verse that may have found that ties closely with this statement is Mattew 7:12
In a literal translation, you will read this
(12) In everything, treat others as you would want them to treat you, for this fulfills the law and the prophets. (NET)
Why is the NIV different? It is because unlike the versions above, the NIV uses a dynamic equivalency framework which is fancy talk for translating the thinking (thought for thought) behind the text rather than the literal word translation. At the time of the NIV writing, the phrase, 'Do unto others as you would have them do unto you," was in common usage and is believed to have had its source in the Roman Catechism of 1583.
However, regardless, the saying itself is a close approximation of the original meaning as demonstrated by the NIV's adoption of the phrase. The point is that it all comes down to the principles of God's commandments in relating to other people, first commanded in the Laws of Moses then through the prophets (the Law and the prophets being two sections of what we would call the bible). And summarised by Jesus as the second greatest commandment, "love your neighbour as yourself," which comes a close second to, "love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and mind," because, "all of the law and the prophets depend on these two commandments" (Matt 22:34-40)
Bonus mark if you quoted Luke 6:31 from the NIV or recognised the variation from Luke 6:31 or Matthew 7:12 in another bible.
God helps those who help themselves
Sorry, not in the bible either.Score
Yes: 0
No:1
This statement occurs in many historical literatures, with the earliest known being from Aesops Fables. We are familiar with, "the Tortoise and the Hare," but in the little known fable (at least to me), "Hercules and the Wagoneer," we read, "the gods help those that help themselves." Obesrvant readers will notice that it says "the gods help" and not "God helps," so then I will add here that Benjamin Franklin in Poor Richard's Almanac (1736) stated the above quote word for word.
The first two statements are close approximations that we might get away with, but this statement actually does not reflect scripture at all. Read Romans 5:6, 8; Proverbs 28:26 and Jeremiah 17:5. You should notice that we cannot help ourselves. We need God to help us. Anyone who thinks that they can help themselves and then God will help them is elevating themselves above God - a thinking that is becoming more prevalent in society. By the way, Benjamin Franklin was a deist - someone who only comes to know God through reason and nature and not by revelation or conviction.
Bonus mark: proving the statement wrong using scripture, like the verses above.
Money is the root of all evil
Incorrect!Score:
Yes: 0
No: 1
Admit it! You have used this saying at least once this year right? This is what happens when people quote half of what is there and end up messing up the meaning completely.
Money is not evil, it is necessary unless you happen to live in a Kastom village or something, even then, something else becomes the currency, be it pigs, mats, kava or shells ( as in TORBA province.)
The thing that is the root of all evil is the love of it. It is emphasised futher in the job descriptions for church overseers (pastors and elders) and deacons.(1 Tim 3:3) that they should not be lovers of money (have you seen the preachers on TBN lately?) Paul warned Timothy (and by implication, us, as we are living in the last days) that times will get difficult because people will become lovers of money.
Just look at government corruption, work of con artists, drug cartels, cults, even some churches today, and you will see that the root cause is love of money.
BONUS: 1 mark if you found 1Tim 6:10 and noticed the subtle difference.
Cleanliness is next to godliness
No it isnt! This is not in scripture.Score:
Yes: 0
No: 1
While much of the commandments given to Israel during the Exodus regarded cleanliness both in day to day living and ceremonially (and by implication, spiritually), being clean is not the same as being godly.
What makes us clean is not how often we shower (or swim), or whether we put on fresh clothes each day and have a tidy house (i fail there!) Being clean means to have our sins washed away by the blood of Jesus (1Jn 1:7, 9) being sanctified by the Word of God (Eph 5:25-27) and aiming to be Holy by keeping ourselves from being unstained by the world (2Cor 7:1). In other words - righteousness is next to godliness.
But in any case, living clean, having a tidy home and dressing well is not to be frowned upon. In fact it should be encouraged!
BONUS MARK: It's hard to give a bonus here, but if you made some link like the above, give yourself one mark.
The eye is the window of the soul
No!Score:
Yes: 0
No: 1
The eye is a lamp of the body. (Matt 6:22, Luke 11:34). Let's look closely at this verse.
The confusion that may have developed along the lines that the eye sees things. So when you look at something, that image goes inside, like light passing through a window. This makes the light outside shining in. However, the description of the eye as a lamp, means that if the lamp is dirty, the light coming from the candle will be more dim. It is not the candle that is dim but the glass wrapped around it. Furthermore, this "lamp" is inside the body. Just as Jesus (the light of the world) does not grow dim, we can make it grow dim by dirtying the eye. In other words, be careful what your eyes take in. Take in the Word!
BONUS MARK: proving wrong by using a verse above.
God works in mysterious ways
Let's face it. This is an all-time favourite for everyone. I even used it myself the other day. But is it in the bible - No!Score:
Yes: 0
No: 1
The mystery is the origin of this statement, but a candidate would be a hymn by William Cowper titled "God moved in a Mysterious Way."
God does not move in a mysterious way. He is a God of order and Laws. Only we find that in quite a few cases that we think he moves mysteriously because we do not fully understand (can cannot understand) his ways. This is because God's thoughts and ways are not our thoughts and ways (Isa 55:8-9)- So when God acts we sometimes don't follow why He did it that way.
When Jesus was speaking in parables, the disciples asked him why. he explained that they could know the mysteries (or secrets) of the Kingdom but others could not. This is because the closer the disciples are to Christ, the more they know these mysteries and so God and the Kingdom therefore become less mysterious.
There are some things that are deliberately kept as a mystery. For example, what will the New Heaven and New Earth look like? (Rev 21:1) Who will the Antichrist be? How will the rapture happen and when? What will we do in the Millennial Kingdom? What did the angel say that John was prevented from writing in Revelation? (Rev 10:4) even things like why does God allow Satan to still roam and destroy? Eventually these will be unravelled, but only to those who move closer to God and closer to his thoughts and ways, but even then I beleive some things God will still keep a mystery - because He can (Deut 29:29)- and I am content with that!
Throughout history God has revealled mysteries. A very big one was the mystery that Daniel had to seal up. (Dan 8:26). That was revealled in part in Revelation. Another one was Jeremiah 33:3 where God talks about the mystery of a united Israel/Judah nation. Today Israel is a nation again - who would have thought, happenning so close after their near extinction during the holocaust!
To an outsider - God moves in mysterious ways. To beleivers, he fulfulls his promises how He sees fit, because he is true and just.
The lion shall lay down with the lamb
You have probably seen a picture like this at some stage |
| The lion shall lay down with the lamb? |
Yes: 0
No: 1
Indirectly speaking: 1
The lion/lamb reference is taken from Isaiah 11:6 and 65:25. Both speak of the future millennial kingdom where the description is similar then to the Edenic state (or at the very least, a pre-Flood state) where Adam and Eve coexisted with the animals much like this. Let's look at the two verses.
So the wolf and lamb are together, not a lion and a lamb. Does this necessarily mean the quote is wrong? No it doesn't. This is simply because the illustration shows a predator living with a prey. Recall that prior to Noah, the population were possibly largely vegetarian. But after the flood, the human population was permitted to eat meat. (compare Gen 1:29-30 with Gen 9:3-4). So humans became predatory hunters at this time. Furthermore in the preceding verse (Genesis 9:2), God tells Noah that the animals will be terrified of them.
However, note too that in the second passage, the snake's food will be dirt. Recall that God placed a curse on the snake after the temptation of Adam and Eve - that snakes will eat dirt all the days of its life. (Gen 3:14). In the millennial kingdom, they still will.
No jump to Revelation 5:5-6. Here we see Jesus being described as a lion and as a lamb. While this is not exactly a lion lying down with a lamb, it does illustrate how the imagery in Isaiah's prophecies could be related. Throw in the snake still eating dirt. Now add the wolves in sheeps clothing metaphor that Jesus made in Matthew 7:15, plus that the disciples would be sent out as sheep amongst wolves (Matt 10:16) and you can reasonably conclude that in addition to the physical predator/prey relationships changing, we also have a spiritual change - the false prophets and the like will not feature as destroyers any more.
For these reasons, I allowed you to score one mark if you said "indirectly, yes." If a lion lies with a lamb, a leopard with a goat and a lion with an ox, does not necessarily mean that this is all they lie with. For example, if I go to the market with Jimmy, and John and Tony also go to the market together; while not stated it can be deduced that all three of us may be at the market together. It could be that I meet up and chat with John. So while the lamb is with the wolf, and the lion is with the ox, it could be that later on, the lion is with the lamb.
Now give yourself a bonus mark if you discovered an Isaiah passage.
Pride comes before a fall
Score:
Yes: 0
No: 1
The closest to this verse is Proverbs 16:18
Proverbs uses a lot of couplets such as,
- This is like that,
- Good outcome for this BUT bad outcome for that,
- Better to do this THAN that,
- This good (bad) example AND this good (bad) example.
The trouble is that most people today do not know what haughty is. Haughty means arrogant or superior, so we think this is actually pride. There is a subtle difference. Pride is unreasonable self esteem. Pride often leads to hautiness which means that pride (a strong belief in ones-self and ability) makes someone feel superior to others. This superiority or arrogance leads to a rebellion and eventually a fall.
The big difference is between the words destruction and fall. Destruction means total ruin. It means to fracture or break. While fall means to fall over. Therefore in this context, pride has a far worse result - destruction. By saying "Pride comes before a fall" softens the meaning of the damage that pride causes. Pride was the first sin that Lucifer committed. Pride lead to hautiness whihc lead to rebellion. Pride in Lucifer is the root reason he will be destroyed, but his hautiness made him fall from heaven. On the other hand, Adam and Eve were not accused of being proud, but they entered into rebellion. So perhaps there was a hint of hautiness there. Anyway mankind fell but wasn't destroyed. It took acts of pride (and it is to this day) that will result in final destruction of those who do not submit (humility is the opposite of pride) to Christ.
Bonus if you found Proverbs 16:18.
Once saved, always saved
The issue comes about over what is acutally meant by, "saved."
While most of salvation is dependent on God, salvation on our part requires repentance. Repent means to turn from one thing to another. It means to turn around completely. The problem is there are many people who are perceived to have lost salvation, but as Charles Spurgeon said on many occasions (and many others), the question is not if they lost it, but whether they had it in the first place. God will never let us go once He has us. (Rom 8:38-39), but for some, they never are truly repentant. It is these souls who are most vulnerable to poaching by cults such as mormons, SDAs and Jehovah's Witnesses.
At the other end of the, "once saved," scale is what is commonly called, "Lordship Salvation." This is where repentance from sin is not enough. What is also required is submission to Christ - that is, you must make Jesus Lord and Master before salvation is earned. This concept is actually not in scripture and is another one of those Gospel-Plus concepts - a concept that adds a layer of salvation by works. Instead, it would be hoped that a Christian who repents would desire to submit to the full authority of Christ - after all, that is what disciple means. Essentially, I desire to submit to the full authority of Christ because he saved me, rather than, if I desire to submit to the full authority of Christ he will save me I don't want to break that down further at this stage.
So are we always saved then? The short answer is yes. But how much of the blessings and rewards you get from God is pretty much determined how closely you strive to be Holy, and that requires obedience to Christ. A good sign that you are saved is that you have the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit manifests Himself in many different ways in a believer, but ultimately the believer begins to exhibit the fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5:22-23). Furthermore, and I like what Spurgeon says, if you can look back on your life 5 years ago and compare it to now. If you have noticed that you have grown spiritually in God, then you have the Holy Spirit. And the Holy Spirit is given as a seal by God for redemption. So if you have the Holy Spirit, you are a part of Christ's Church and therefore you are a member of the Bride of Christ, and therefore you are saved.
Sadly, many believers chase the wrong things and forget to build their works on Christ. Despite this, they are still saved, but nothing they make or do survives. They will be saved, but barely.
Score:
(8) The one who plants and the one who waters work as one, but each will receive his reward according to his work.
(9) We are coworkers belonging to God. You are God’s field, God’s building.
(10) According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master-builder I laid a foundation, but someone else builds on it. And each one must be careful how he builds.
(11) For no one can lay any foundation other than what is being laid, which is Jesus Christ.
(12) If anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or straw,
(13) each builder’s work will be plainly seen, for the Day will make it clear, because it will be revealed by fire. And the fire will test what kind of work each has done.
(14) If what someone has built survives, he will receive a reward.
(15) If someone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss. He himself will be saved, but only as through fire.
Yes: 0
No: 1
Because of the complex nature of this topic, but give yourself a bonus mark if you have got this far through this long post!
THE MORAL OF THE STORY:
So how did you score. The total score possible was 20. There is no pass or fail. But if you learnt something then for me that is a pass. At the very least, I have provided you with some interesting points for the next church pot-luck dinner (as we say in NZ.)I have played this quiz with you to highlight an important and serious lesson. It is becoming more and more relevant for Christians everywhere to be on guard for things that on first light appear scriptural but on investigation are not. Sometimes the meaning is the same as the biblical author intended, but at other times the meaning is altered to suit a different agenda. Be extremely careful, especially with cults. Also understand that if dealing with a cult member, and even with some evangelical charismaniacs these days, that they have heard a misquote often enough to be taken as biblical. Here are some examples.
What your bible says:
New World Translation (bible as used by Jehovah's Witnesses)
[JWs believe that Jesus is not God but the exhalted created being known as Archangel Michael. Their false doctrine manifested simply by adding, 'a' into the verse.]John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was a God. (NWT)
What your bible says:
Note there is the Lord (Christ), an archangel and a trumpet
Clear Word (Bible) as used by SDAs
[Ellen G White believed that Jesus was the Archangel Michael (amazingly, the same belief as the Jehovah's Witnesses) - I can explain why that is. Perhaps I will do later.]
Note that Christ and the Archangel are one and the same.
While we are on about SDAs. I spoke to a good friend of mine the other day who is an SDA. We debated the day when Christ was resurrected. She proudly claimed that Jesus rose omn the Sabbath. It took a string of bible verses to prove that was not possible. (Matt 12:39-41; Matt 26:61; Matt 27:63, Matt 28:1; Mark 8:31; Mark 9:31; Mark 10:34; Mark 15:42; John 19:31). She was shocked because she had been told for years that Jesus rose on the Sabbath.
Book of Mormon - Another Testament of Jesus Christ
I do not have to go into how corrupt this is as a mormon declared "Standard Work" [of Scripture] is do I? Where it does perfectly match the bible is in places where Joseph Smith copied chunks out of Isaiah, including the italics that are only found in the King James Version.Benny Hinn (popular televangelist)
"He [Jesus] who is righteous by choice said, 'the only way I can stop
sin is by Me becoming it. I can't just stop it by letting it touch Me; I
and it must become one.' Hear this! He who is the nature of God became
the nature of Satan where He became sin!" (TBN, 12/1/90).If you read this verse you would think that he did become sin:
But the bible also says
He committed no sin nor was deceit found in his mouth. 1Pe 2:22
They intended to bury him with criminals, but he ended up in a rich man’s tomb, because he had committed no violent deeds, nor had he spoken deceitfully. Isa 53:9Notice the subtlety? Jesus did not become the nature of Satan for the simple reason is that He is light and in him there is no darkness. Secondly he never committed sin, whereas if he took on the nature of Satan, he would have sinned, at least, on the cross. Thirdly prophecy declares taht he committed no violent deeds nor spoke deceitfully. To claim that Jesus took on the nature of Satan is denying that the perfect lamb sacrifice required to please God as the perfect, once and of all, atonement would have been voided.
Joel Osteen
Many people in Vanuatu follow TBN televangelists. We have to always be on our guard against false statements, especially regarding scripture, otherwise they will become enshrined as "fact." Here is a recent one for you to consider. This is a recent statement by the Pastor of America's largest church congregation and famously popular preacher and author - Joel Osteen. He posted it on Facebook.
But God actually said
God stopped the Sun for Joshua after Moses was dead (Josh 10) and the three teenagers (I am guessing, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego) even happened over 1,000 years after Moses.And the LORD said to Moses, “Is the LORD’s hand shortened? Now you will see whether my word to you will come true or not!” Numbers 11:23
While this is not a direct misquote of scripture and giving Joel the benefit of the doubt by embellishing on the concept that nothing is impossible for God, it demonstrates that with over 317,000 likes over 52,000 shares that there may well be many people who believe that the Sun miracle, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were contemporaries. (Facebook figures as of a little over a month ago - I don't do Facebook but this was reported). I gave Joel the benefit of doubt, but perhaps I shouldn't. This is not the first time he has misquoted scripture.
"We Three Kings"
Here is another that is not a quotation but something that most of us assume. If I ask you how many wise men visited Jesus, you will probably shout out, "THREE!" Well...the bible never says how many.After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, in the time of King Herod, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem Matthew 2:1Why we think it is three, is because they presented three gifts - Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh, so we assume that each presented one gift. We also sing....
"We three kings from orient are
bearing Gifts we travelled afar."
Sorry folks - Not three (or maybe there were), not kings (probably astrologers) and not from the orient (probably from babylon)!
I hope you enjoyed this little quiz and learnt something. For the record, I was surprised by some when I first discovered this list about a year ago.
Special thanks to blueletterbible.org for providing the list. Blue letter Bible is a great resource that you should bookmark. Check out some others.
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Comments are moderated. Personal attacks are not permitted. If you would not say your comment directly to the person, do not write it! The Word of God (Bible) can be used for exhortation, reproving, and rebuking (unsound doctrine) (2 Tim 4:2) so when challenging a viewpoint be sure to support your reproof or rebuke with scripture.