The Nugget:
Jer 4:10 Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! surely thou hast greatly deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, Ye shall have peace; whereas the sword reacheth unto the soul.
My Comment:
Many verses in the Bible are hard to understand when read by themselves. To understand what a verse means, (1) read the context, (2) recognize the Figures of Speech the writer has used, (3) compare Scripture with Scripture.
A very striking Muslim challenge:
Christianity has a false god a liar god 2 Thessalonians 2:11 and an ignorant god Genesis 18:21, Mar 13:32, and a deceiver god, Jeremiah 4:10. Clearly Christianity has Satan as god and Christians worship Satan not God. Come to Islam.
My Response to Muslim Challenge explaining these verses:
You have made reference to several interesting Bible verses.
(1) 2Th 2:11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:
In order to understand this verse correctly you must:
(a) read the verse in context
2Th 2:8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:
2Th 2:9 Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,
2Th 2:10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
2Th 2:11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:
2Th 2:12 That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
The context shows that God has given us free will. We can choose to believe the lie. We can choose not to believe the truth, even love of the truth, truth about our Lord Jesus Christ, truth which must be believed in order to be saved.
(b) Understand the presence of Figures of Speech, such as Idiom, used in 2 Thessalonians 2:8
When the Bible states “God shall send them strong delusion,” the Bible is NOT saying God is a liar. Rather, this is saying God gives permission or freely allows people to be deceived because they loved not the truth. God did not deceive them, but allowed them to be deceived.
(2) Genesis 18:21
Gen 18:21 I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come unto me; and if not, I will know.
In order to understand this verse, you must:
(a) Read the verse in context
Gen 18:20 And the LORD said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous;
Gen 18:21 I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come unto me; and if not, I will know.
The Bible does NOT state that God is ignorant. In context, God most certainly knew what was going on in Sodom and Gomorrah. God intervened in response to Abraham’s earnest prayer in behalf of Lot who lived in Sodom. Abraham prayed that Lot would be spared from the destruction God intended for those wicked cities.
(b) Understand the presence of Figures of Speech
When the Bible reports that God said “I will go down,” this is spoken figuratively; and as the Jewish writers speak, according to the language of men. So eyes, ears, hands, and other members of the body are attributed to God, for effecting those things which men cannot accomplish without these members.
When the Bible reports that God said “I will know,” this does NOT mean the Bible teaches God is ignorant! Rather, this is the Figure of Speech called Anthropomorphism, a Figure that attributes human actions to God, here in Genesis 18:21, “knowing,” or the acquiring of knowledge, as if God was before this action ignorant. Figures of Speech are used as a way to emphasize what is said and what is going on.
(3) Mark 13:32
Mar 13:32 But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father.
To understand this verse you must:
(a) Read the verse in its immediate context
Jesus is answering one of the three questions the disciples Peter, James, John, and Andrew asked about the striking prophecy Jesus made as reported in Mark 13:2,
Mar 13:1 And as he went out of the temple, one of his disciples saith unto him, Master, see what manner of stones and what buildings are here!
Mar 13:2 And Jesus answering said unto him, Seest thou these great buildings? there shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.
(b) read the verse in its related context:
The disciples then asked Jesus privately three questions:
Mat 24:3 And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, [1] when shall these things be? and [2] what shall be the sign of thy coming, [3] and of the end of the world [Greek, age]?
In answer to “When shall these things be?” Jesus states in Mark 13:32 that only the Father at that time knew the day and hour. In His humanity Jesus was not given to know the day or hour of the fulfillment of His prophecy. Rather, Jesus taught them and us that we are to “Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is.
Mar 13:34 For the Son of man is as a man taking a far journey,”–clearly indicating by “far journey” that considerable time would pass before all of the three predictions were fulfilled. In accordance with the grammar of prophecy seen throughout the Bible, some of a prophet’s predictions would be confirmed in the lifetime of those who heard them (here, the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD), to confirm that the prophet was of God. That provided the basis for believing in the fulfillment of those predictions that belonged to the distant future (here, the sign of thy coming and the end of the age).
(4) Jeremiah 4:10
Jer 4:10 Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! surely thou hast greatly deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, Ye shall have peace; whereas the sword reacheth unto the soul.
To understand this verse you must:
(a) read the verse in context
The context will reveal that the false prophets outnumbered Jeremiah. Jeremiah was a minority of one. But truth is not determined by a majority vote! The false prophets proclaimed peace and prosperity were at hand and would continue. Jeremiah, the only true prophet, said the opposite.
(b) Understand the presence of Figures of Speech
When Jeremiah wrote that God had “greatly deceived this people and Jerusalem” he prophesied that this People shall be deceived. By the figure Metonymy of the Subject, the action is put for the declaration concerning it: or where what is said to be done is put for what is declared, or permitted, or foretold as to be done: or where an action, said to be done, is put for the giving occasion for such action. This is also the figure Idiom, whereby active verbs were used by the Hebrews to express, not the doing of the thing, but the permission of the thing which the agent is said to do. Thus here, “thou hast greatly deceived this people” is an idiom for “thou hast suffered this People to be greatly deceived, by the false prophets, saying: Ye shall have peace, etc.” Jer 7:8, +**Amos 3:6.
Thank you for posting a very interesting challenge using some very good verses from the Bible.