Go Ahead & Ask!

Part 1

Wednesday, June 10, 2020

Q: Is it wrong to pray for God’s enemies to be taken out of the way? I’ve been praying that. 

A: In the OT it was common for God’s people to pray what we call “imprecatory” prayers. Imprecatory comes from the word “imprecation” which means “to pray a curse on.” So an imprecatory prayer is one where a prayer is made for God’s judgment to fall on one’s enemies.

Some examples would be some of David’s imprecatory prayers:

Psalm 55:15 Wickwire

“Let death take my enemies by surprise;
let them go down alive to the grave, …”

Psalm 58:6 ESV

“O God, break the teeth in their mouths; …”

Psalm 69:28 NIV

“May they be blotted out of the book of life
and not be listed with the righteous.”

Psalm 109:9 NIV

“May his children be fatherless
and his wife a widow.”

Leviticus 24:19-22 NCV

“And whoever causes an injury to a neighbor must receive the same kind of injury in return: ²⁰ Broken bone for broken bone, eye for eye, tooth for tooth. …”

Matthew 5:38-39 NLT

“You have heard the law that says the punishment must match the injury: ‘An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.’ ³⁹ But I say, do not resist an evil person! If someone slaps you on the right cheek, offer the other cheek also.”

Matthew 5:43-45 NLT

“You have heard the law that says, ‘Love your neighbor’ and hate your enemy. ⁴⁴ But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! ⁴⁵ In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven.”

Luke 6:28 Wickwire

“Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you. Pray for those who hurt you.”

Romans 12:14-19 NLT

“Bless those who persecute you. Don’t curse them; pray that God will bless them … ¹⁷ Never pay back evil with more evil … ¹⁹ Dear friends, never take revenge. Leave that to the righteous anger of God.”

Notes

Q: Here’s a question that bothers me often, although my faith is very strong—Why are bad things and suffering allowed to happen to innocent children?

A: The general argument people like atheists and agnostics bring up is that, if God is good and benevolent, He would not permit innocent people to endure suffering and pain. But the Bible reveals that God is good and that He allows suffering.

John 5:14 NIV

“… ‘Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.’”

Romans 8:22 ESV

“.. a. the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now.”

2 Corinthians 5:21 NRSV

“For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

Hebrews 12:2-3 RSV

“… for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. ³ Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted.”

Notes

Q: God created man, but how was God created?

A: God was never created. He is, and always has been, and always will be. It was an uncreated God that created all things!

Deuteronomy 33:27 NASB

“The eternal God is a dwelling place,
And underneath are the everlasting arms; …”

Isaiah 40:28 NASB

“Do you not know? Have you not heard?
The Everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth
Does not become weary or tired.
His understanding is inscrutable.”

Daniel 7:14 NASB

“And to Him was given dominion, Glory and a kingdom, That all the peoples, nations and men of every language Might serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion Which will not pass away; And His kingdom is one Which will not be destroyed.”

Isaiah 57:15 NLT

“… ‘I live in the high and holy place …’”

Notes

Q: The dead in Christ rise 1st to meet the Lord in the clouds. Is this our physical body only? I always thought to be absent from the body was to be present with the Lord?

A: In the church, there is a significant amount of confusion regarding what happens to a Christian after death. Some believe in “soul sleep,” that when a Christian dies they simply sleep in death until the return of Christ when they are resurrected.

2 Corinthians 5:6-8 NLT

“So we are always confident, even though we know that as long as we live in these bodies we are not at home with the Lord. ⁷ For we live by believing and not by seeing. ⁸ Yes, we are fully confident, and we would rather be away from these earthly bodies, for then we will be at home with the Lord.”

Notes

Q: Why doesn’t the bible mention dinosaurs? There’s evidence but the bible doesn’t say it…why not or where does it mention it?

A: The Bible does mention dinosaurs. It doesn’t use the word “dinosaur” because that name was not created until the 1800’s. The word “dragon” seems to be what was used to describe them in ancient times.

Genesis 1:21 NKJV

“So God created great sea creatures and every living thing that moves, with which the waters abounded, according to their kind, and every winged bird according to its kind. …”

Genesis 1:24 NKJV

“Then God said, ‘Let the earth bring forth the living creature according to its kind: cattle and creeping thing and beast of the earth, each according to its kind,’ and it was so.”

Job 40:15-24 HCSB

“Look at Behemoth,
which I made along with you.
He eats grass like an ox.
¹⁶ Look at the strength of his loins
and the power in the muscles of his belly.
¹⁷ He stiffens his tail like a cedar tree;
the tendons of his thighs are woven firmly together.
¹⁸ His bones are bronze tubes;
his limbs are like iron rods.
¹⁹ He is the foremost of God’s works;
only his Maker can draw the sword against him.”

Job 41:1-11 ESV

“Can you draw out Leviathan with a fishhook
or press down his tongue with a cord?
² Can you put a rope in his nose
or pierce his jaw with a hook? …
⁷ Can you fill his skin with harpoons
or his head with fishing spears?
⁸ Lay your hands on him;
remember the battle you will not do it again!
⁹ Behold, the hope of a man is false;
he is laid low even at the sight of him.
¹⁰ No one is so fierce that he dares to stir him up.
Who then is he who can stand before me?”

Ezekiel 32:1-2 NLV

“² … ‘You compared yourself to a young lion among the nations, yet you are like the big dragon in the seas. You go through your rivers, troubling the water with your feet and making the rivers muddy.’”

We don’t know what the dragon represented. Maybe again the Leviathan. In the Hebrew it means “sea monster.”

Notes