The Unsolved Mysteries of the Bible

By Yohane

We are currently living in an interesting, exciting, wonderful, and ominous time in the history of the world. Technology and the Informational Age make it possible to know instantly about world eventsand some of these events appear to be extremely worrisome.

In response to this situation, The Unsolved Mysteries of the Bible gathers topical treatments of the Bibles key messages, supplementing them with insights from the writings of the worlds varied ancient traditions. Author Yohane has assembled this diverse array of sources into a sequence of thirty-eight chapters addressing questions about the Bible and God, moving through the accounts of creation and salvation, and turning, finally, to the mysteries of Gods planned ending of the world.

If you listen to the news and wonder what sense to make of a confusing world, if you ask yourself whether life has any purpose or worthy end, or if you have always intended to dig into the Bible to find out its witness to God and his design for the whole creation from beginning to end, then The Unsolved Mysteries of the Bible can serve as your guide to asking the hard questions, listening for the truthful answers, equipping yourself to live in this world, and knowing Gods plans for the world to come.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Oct 13, 2013
• ISBN: 9781491709429

Book preview

The Unsolved

Mysteries

of the Bible

Yohane

iUniverse LLC

Bloomington

THE UNSOLVED MYSTERIES OF THE BIBLE

Copyright © 2013 Yohane.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

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Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

ISBN: 978-1-4917-0941-2 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4917-0943-6 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4917-0942-9 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2013917750

iUniverse rev. date: 10/03/2013

Contents

Introduction

Chapter 1

What Is the Bible?

Chapter 2

The Origin of the Bible

Chapter 3

Is the Bible the Word of God?

Chapter 4

Is There Only One God?

Chapter 5

Is God a Jealous and Vengeful God?

Chapter 6

What Is God?

Chapter 7

The Divine Science of Creation

Chapter 8

Evolution

Chapter 9

God and Nature

Chapter 10

Reincarnation

Chapter 11

Angels

Chapter 12

Demons

Chapter 13

Ghosts

Chapter 14

Satan

Chapter 15

Heaven and Hell

Chapter 16

Sex and the Bible

Chapter 17

Forgiveness

Chapter 18

Thou Shalt Not Judge

Chapter 19

The Creation of Adam and Eve

Chapter 20

Cain and Abel

Chapter 21

The Garden of Eden

Chapter 22

The Sons of God and the Daughters of Man

Chapter 23

Noah’s Flood

Chapter 24

God and Religion

Chapter 25

The Chosen People

Chapter 26

Jesus

Chapter 27

The Promised Messiah

Chapter 28

The Second Coming

Chapter 29

Baptism by Fire and Holy Spirit

Chapter 30

The Holy Place

Chapter 31

The Holy Spirit

Chapter 32

The Beast 666

Chapter 33

The Antichrist

Chapter 34

The Lost Tribes of Israel

Chapter 35

The Fifth World Age

Chapter 36

The End of the World

Chapter 37

Prophecy

Chapter 38

What to Do

References

To the faithful

Introduction

Who am I?

Why am I here?

Who’s in charge?

How can I be happy?

These questions may be considered the eternal wonders of mankind—the answers to which may be found in the Bible.

The Bible is a mysterious and oddly curious book. Given a different name, the Bible would be hard-pressed to find a publisher willing to overcome its many anomalies. For example:

1. Its lackluster title. Translated: The Book.

2. No foreword or introduction.

3. No author biography (unknown).

4. No cited references to support its revelations.

5. No premise.

6. No bibliography.

7. Grammar and spelling—a challenge.

8. Organization and continuity issues.

9. Its content is often mysterious and confusing.

10. Faith is a prerequisite.

Despite these technical challenges, the Bible remains the most read book in the world according to Lit Couture: 3.9 billion (!) copies have been published and sold within the past fifty years. In a distant second place is The Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-Tung, at 820 million copies.

The Bible’s immense popularity could be due to faith—faith that God may be found in the Bible. Or, perhaps it is mankind’s abiding wonder about his place in the Cosmos and the Bible’s promise to provide the answers. However, because of its curious style, the Bible’s answers appear cryptic rather than forthright. This may be one of the greater mysteries: the Bible does not attempt to persuade, convince, or prove—it simply bestows—suggesting a responsibility of the individual to awaken spiritually to receive the words of God.

An important aspect of The Unsolved Mysteries of the Bible is to establish a spiritual foundation from which the words of God may be perceived. Topics such as the nature and workings of God, evolution, reincarnation, angels, demons, the spiritual world, etc., are examined in relation to scripture and the laws of God. Therefore, combining intellectual knowledge with spiritual knowledge is encouraged. As an example, the creation of heaven and earth may be viewed as having occurred only once. It then follows that everything shares a common origin; that is, the origin of the world and of mankind is one. Thus, everything that is committed is done unto itself. Ergo, scripture’s As ye sow, so shall ye reap and Do unto others as you would have others do unto you.

The knowledge of the creation of heaven and earth served as the foundation for man’s understanding of whom he is, why he is here, and the purpose for his being. This precious knowledge, along with its recorded history, was taken with man as he traveled and populated the earth, and it served as the cornerstone for the world’s great civilizations.

Man, a child of God, preserved these precious records in his own languages on stone, clay tablets, scrolls, and metal plates. Because they documented man’s relationship with his Creator, they were considered sacred; therefore, they were jealously guarded and preserved for posterity. Secreted away in temples, mosques, shrines, monasteries, and churches throughout the world may be found the ancient records of man in the form of religious texts, prophecies, world histories, mythologies, and oral traditions.

With the advent of modern science and technology, many of these records—such as the Dead Sea scrolls, Egyptian hieroglyphs, Mayan codices, Sumerian text, oral traditions, etc.—have been brought to light and translated. Researchers and scholars have found them to be strikingly similar (being of one origin), and they appear to support one another as parts of a grand mosaic that testify of the Fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man.

Therefore, the Bible’s greatness goes beyond the confines of religions. Being a part of the ancient record of man, it was transported from the Garden of Eden and protected and promulgated by many civilizations—the civilizations of the West bringing it forth into our modern era. Not being lost or hidden, the Bible is readily accessible to anyone who desires it, and—regarded as the most published book in the world—it offers the best opportunity for enlightenment and salvation for the greater good.

To solve the mysteries of the Bible will require accessing various sources of supporting data as well as information that may be considered divinely inspired; therefore, it is helpful to temporarily set aside preconceptions and view things with an open mind. In many instances, The Unsolved Mysteries of the Bible will be providing new information in an organized fashion that will allow resolving the many mysteries of the Bible at one’s own comfort level.

Biblical references will be from the King James Version of the Bible (the Catholic Bible has been consulted as a cross-reference). Scientific data will be from many disciplines, especially the fields of physics, astrophysics, quantum mechanics, paleontology, parapsychology, archaeology, and the study of ancient religions and records.

The Unsolved Mysteries of the Bible has been organized by various topics, which allow immediate access to subjects of interest; however, most topics prepare a foundation for the subjects that follow. Therefore, it is helpful to start at the beginning.

It is hoped that all will have a joyful and enlightening experience in their journey discovering the many mysteries of God and the Bible. In doing so, one may finally begin to see, feel, understand, and draw nigh to the God that has been longed for, deep within his or her heart.

Chapter 1

What Is the Bible?

The word bible is derived from the Greek biblio, which simply means book. The Bible is indeed a collection of individual books such as the book of Genesis, the book of Psalms, the books of the New Testament, etc.

The Bible may be viewed as the ancient records of man that reveal the existence of a Creator God and a divine realm, how life and the universe came into being, the law by which all life flourishes, the relationship between God and humans, the purpose for the creation of humankind, records of the Earth’s history, and information concerning God’s divine plan. Such vital information has served as the foundation for all of the world’s great civilizations and religions.

The ancient records were accorded various names as the ancient Hebrew, Israelite, Egyptian, Jewish, Greek, Roman, Eastern, and Western civilizations preserved them. Bible is the name used in our modern era, and it serves as the holy book for the Christian religion.

The Bible consists of two main divisions referred to as the old and new testaments. These terms were established by the Christian religion to designate the ancient records covering the period before the appearance of Jesus (the Old Testament) and the records relating to the period after Jesus’s appearance (the New Testament). The Old Testament is also known as the Tanach of the Jewish religion. Hence, the Bible encompasses two world religions and is often referred to as being Judeo-Christian. A key point of difference between Judaism and Christianity is that Christianity professes Jesus to be the promised Messiah prophesied in the Old Testament—therefore, the Bible consists of the Old and New Testaments. Judaism professes that the promised Messiah is yet to come—hence, its holy book does not include the New Testament.

However, the Bible is more than a collection of antiquated books of religion. The information contained within the Bible is universal in scope and is a heritage for all humankind, and if it may be received, the Bible is a record of one’s own ancestors dating back hundreds of thousands of years. It truly is a rare gift.

Chapter 2

The Origin of the Bible

The Words of God

God bestowed The Way of the Tree of Life to humankind.

The Cherubim

God’s first representatives on Earth—the cherubim of the Garden of Eden—served as keepers and disseminators of the Words of God (the ancient records).

The Ancient Hebrews

The Hebrews brought forth the ancient records

(the Old Testament).

The Egyptians

In the third century BC, the Greek Egyptian king, Ptolemy II, commissioned seventy-two Jewish scholars to translate the ancient records from Hebrew into Greek. Scholars refer to this Greek translation as the Septuagint.

The Greeks

The Greeks translated and propagated the original Hebrew text of the ancient records—today referred to as the Old Testament of the Bible.

The Jews

The Jews created a Jewish version of the ancient records. This version did not include some of the text found in the original Greek Septuagint translation.

The Romans

Circa 325 AD, the Christian religion was formed with the pope serving as titular head in Rome. Catholicism used the original text of the Septuagint (Old Testament) and added the records of Jesus (New Testament) to form the Christian Bible.

The Europeans

In 1517 AD, Martin Luther and others protested against the excesses of Catholicism, resulting in the formation of the Protestant religion. This new religion adopted the Jewish version of the Old Testament and combined it with the New Testament to create a Protestant version of the Bible.

Many versions of the Bible are in use today, the essential difference being in the amount of Old Testament text each version contains. Some of these differing texts have been referred to as apocryphal (not part of doctrine), anagignoskomena (things that are read) and pseudepigrapha (apocryphal writings that do not appear in printed editions of the Bible). Also, new archaeological discoveries of the ancient records of man—such as the Dead Sea scrolls—are not part of the Bible, but they continue to expand man’s knowledge of the Bible and ancient history.

The Bible’s origin may be one of the true mysteries of the Bible itself. Scholars hold varying opinions concerning this issue. Moses is generally credited with authoring the first five books—Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy—of the Old Testament. It is probable that these and the other books of the Old Testament were derived from the ancient records maintained by the Cherubim of the Garden of Eden.

This thumbnail sketch represents an oversimplification of the Bible’s complex and involved genesis. However, it serves to provide a sense of chronology and appreciation for the effort of the many civilizations that have made it possible to receive the Bible of today.

Chapter 3

Is the Bible the Word