queenjoseph:


Ok Sir.

Is he really angry?

I am sorry if I have hurt him.

I cannot hurt a man.

I was just trying to reason with him.

Dtruthspeaker:


When you disagree with him, he gets angry and when you put a valid point to him, he gets outright nasty.

He is only cool and happy when he sees that he has the upper hand but once you begin to defeat him, veiled insults follow!

So judge for yourself can such a person be reasoned with?

On "I cannot hurt a man." Have you not seen that it is impossible to please everyone? Eg even right now, the fact that you use the kjv is hurtful to Anti-Kjvs, the fact that you are trying to love God is hurtful to haters of God!

So, you can not truly say you hurt no man rather strive to hurt no man without good course as the Bible advices!

queenjoseph:

Ok Sir.
Is he really angry?
I am sorry if I have hurt him.
I cannot hurt a man.
I was just trying to reason with him.

Kobojunkiee:
I am not talking about the reading of the old testament....the story started there so obviously it is good to read it. What I am asking is why you sound like you are reading your bible according to some RCCG-read-bible-in-a-year subscriber?

Why you trust in translations- KJV for instance- and not in the Spirit of Truth who is the Word of God Himself.

Why you don't you seem willing to share much even though you claim to believe and know of all that I listed earlier of the Truth of God.

Kobojunkiee:
I am not angry with anyone, not even you. And I de post a response for you after your last response.

queenjoseph:
Thy bow was made quite naked, according to the oaths of the tribes, even thy words.
Thou did cleave the earth with rivers. Habbakuk 3:9

I studied the above verse in the Bible, but I cannot really understand it.

Please who can explain what that verse means.

I will be very grateful.

queenjoseph:
Another verse of the Bible that I don't know whether the answer is yes or no is Amos 3:5 which says:

Can one take up a snare from the earth and has taken nothing at all?

I would have said that the answer is yes because you can set up a snare and by the time you went to see if it has caught something,

you discovered it has not caught anything.

So you can actually take the snare from there even when it has not caught anything.

But I need matured answer.

Can you actually take a snare from the earth without taking anything at all?

Ihedinobi3:



Hi there.

For what it might be worth to you and any other reader, here is my counsel:

1. It is wise to read the Bible with different mainstream versions (that is, not the special-purpose versions like the various Roman Catholic versions, the JW version, and, in my own opinion, the Message Bible). Each translation offers a different flavor and some of them correct the errors of the others in some places.

There is no perfect translation though, so it is wise to not insist on any one reading over another unduly or to go with a popular reading just because it is popular (or with an obscure translation just because it is obscure). This is one of the places where pastor-teachers are critical to spiritual growth. A well-prepared pastor-teacher will help you through problems of translation in your study of the Scriptures.

2. Please make a point of duty to seek out and submit to a gifted and prepared pastor-teacher. This is the only way to have the Scriptures fully opened up to any believer. The Lord has ordained that we can only grow up spiritually (see the link) under the tutelage of such men (see Ephesians 4:11-16, for example). Trying to avoid this has never done anyone any good. Rather, it has resulted in a world of spiritual hurt to countless believers.

As for the specific passages that you mentioned, I'll begin with Habakkuk 3:9. Here is the full context:

3 God came from Teman,
The Holy One from Mount Paran.
Selah
His glory covered the heavens,
And the earth was full of His praise.
4 His brightness was like the light;
He had rays flashing from His hand,
And there His power was hidden.
5 Before Him went pestilence,
And fever followed at His feet.
6 He stood and measured the earth;
He looked and startled the nations.
And the everlasting mountains were scattered,
The perpetual hills bowed.
His ways are everlasting.
7 I saw the tents of Cushan in affliction;
The curtains of the land of Midian trembled.
8 O LORD, were You displeased with the rivers,
Was Your anger against the rivers,
Was Your wrath against the sea,
That You rode on Your horses,
Your chariots of salvation?
9 Your bow was made quite ready;
Oaths were sworn over Your arrows.
Selah
You divided the earth with rivers.
10 The mountains saw You and trembled;
The overflowing of the water passed by.
The deep uttered its voice,
And lifted its hands on high.
11 The sun and moon stood still in their habitation;
At the light of Your arrows they went,
At the shining of Your glittering spear.
12 You marched through the land in indignation;
You trampled the nations in anger.
13 You went forth for the salvation of Your people,
For salvation with Your Anointed.
You struck the head from the house of the wicked,
By laying bare from foundation to neck.
Selah
14 You thrust through with his own arrows
The head of his villages.
They came out like a whirlwind to scatter me;
Their rejoicing was like feasting on the poor in secret.
15 You walked through the sea with Your horses,
Through the heap of great waters.
16 When I heard, my body trembled;
My lips quivered at the voice;
Rottenness entered my bones;
And I trembled in myself,
That I might rest in the day of trouble.
When he comes up to the people,
He will invade them with his troops.
Hab 3:3 — Hab 3:16 (NKJV)

This is part of a prayer that forms the whole chapter. The verses quoted above are actually the answer to the prayer of Habakkuk in the first two verses (i.e. vv.1-2). In the last three verses (i.e. vv.17-19), Habakkuk rejoices in this answer and praises the Lord for it.

Verses 3 through 9 quoted above speak of the Lord's deliverance of Israel at the war of Armageddon. There is a great deal of detail in this section and it would be way beyond the scope of a thread on Nairaland to discuss it. Suffice to say that what you read in this section describes events that believers for millennia have been looking forward to, namely, the deliverance of the Church out of the hands of the wicked one.

In a nutshell, the section discusses the return of Jesus Christ to destroy the Antichrist and his forces at Jerusalem thus delivering the surviving Israelites at the time. In verse 9, although the second line is rendered differently in each mainstream translation that I read (NKJV, NASB, NIV, KJV), it seems apparent to me that what is being described is the terror of the nations when the Lord begins to fight against them there. This is corroborated in other passages like Revelation 6:16.

Otherwise, the verse says in the first two lines that the Lord opened His attack and it terrified His enemies to the point of uttering oaths or swearing because of their fear. The last line continues the description of the physical changes that happen to the planet because of the Lord's Return. At least, new rivers come into existence and divide the land (compare Zechariah 14:8 and Ezekiel 47:1 for example). This description continues in the succeeding verses. So does the description of His destruction of the Antichrist and his forces amassed at Jerusalem at the time.

Regarding Amos 3:5, again, it is helpful to look at the context. Here it is:

​1 Hear this word that the LORD has spoken against you, O children of Israel, against the whole family which I brought up from the land of Egypt, saying:
2 “You only have I known of all the families of the earth;
Therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.”
3 Can two walk together, unless they are agreed?
4 Will a lion roar in the forest, when he has no prey?
Will a young lion cry out of his den, if he has caught nothing?
5 Will a bird fall into a snare on the earth, where there is no trap for it?
Will a snare spring up from the earth, if it has caught nothing at all?
6 If a trumpet is blown in a city, will not the people be afraid?
If there is calamity in a city, will not the LORD have done it?
7 Surely the Lord GOD does nothing,
Unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets.
8 A lion has roared!
Who will not fear?
The Lord GOD has spoken!
Who can but prophesy?
Amo 3:1 — Amo 3:8 (NKJV)

As we see, Amos is about to declare what God has to say to Israel. In order to make clear that he is only declaring God's counsel as of necessity, he compares his terrible need to prophesy to the inevitable associations of normal earthly things.

It is common sense that there is only companionship where people are willing to agree with each other. Likewise, the roaring of a lion speaks to his lack of need to scare off prey. That is, if a lion is roaring, it must be because he has already had prey to his fill. If there is no bird trap on the ground, how can a bird fall into one? If nothing springs a trap, it will not spring up from the ground. The sounding of a trumpet is a call for alertness from the citizens of a city. So, the two things must go together. And so on.

All of these examples were to say that if God speaks, the prophet must prophesy just as surely as these natural realities that Amos spoke of exist.

Cheers.