{"id":1852,"date":"2016-04-25T05:25:42","date_gmt":"2016-04-25T10:25:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/?page_id=1852"},"modified":"2023-12-14T14:44:42","modified_gmt":"2023-12-14T20:44:42","slug":"literal-or-symbolic-interpretation-part-2","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/gods-written-word-and-gods-spoken-voice\/literal-or-symbolic-interpretation-part-2","title":{"rendered":"Literal or Symbolic Interpretation Part 2 of 3"},"content":{"rendered":"<table>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td><\/td>\n<td><\/td>\n<td colspan=\"2\">STUDY NOTE: This series of pages must be considered along with these pages:<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><\/td>\n<td><\/td>\n<td><\/td>\n<td>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\">Mystery<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/gods-written-word-and-gods-spoken-voice\">God\u2019s Written Word and God\u2019s Spoken Voice<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/gods-written-word-and-gods-spoken-voice\/literal-or-symbolic-interpretation-part-1\">Literal or Symbolic Interpretation Part 1<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/gods-written-word-and-gods-spoken-voice\/literal-or-symbolic-interpretation-part-3\">Literal or Symbolic Interpretation Part 3<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>RELIGION<\/strong><strong> ALWAYS INTERPRETS SCRIPTURE LITERALLY<\/strong><br \/>\nIt does not require a lot of humility to admit that there is much about God that we do not understand.\u00a0That same humility should also lead us to admit that there is much in the Bible that we do not understand. It might even be fairly said that the ratio of what we do know about God and the\u00a0Bible is very small compared to what we do not know. Therefore, those who are serious about\u00a0 knowing God should also\u00a0want to know the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\">Mystery<\/a> of the Bible because it speaks of the deep things of God.<\/p>\n<p>Just as it would be a discredit to God to say that he is a God of stories, history and religious activity, it is wrong to think of the Bible as stories and history and religious stuff. If we say that the Bible in its literal content is an accurate representation of God, then we admit that we have a very small view of God.<\/p>\n<p>If we have a big view of God, however, we will accept that the Bible is a<a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/rsv\/deuteronomy\/passage\/?q=deuteronomy+30:14-20\"> book of life in finely articulated laws and commandments<\/a> while also being a book of literary techniques, <a href=\"https:\/\/bible.org\/seriespage\/poetical-books\">poetry,<\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/dictionary\/allegory\/\">allegories,<\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/gods-written-word-and-gods-spoken-voice\/the-law\/two-covenantspart1\/faith-grace-mercy-peace-love-heart-glory-blessing-spirit-and-truth\/oil-water-face-hands\"> multiple meanings, <\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\">mysteries<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/dictionaries\/bakers-evangelical-dictionary\/parable.html\">parables<\/a> that all tell us about him and how we should relate to him and to one another.<\/p>\n<p>The legal\/religious\/historical writings found in the literal Bible are relatively easy to understand because we are trained to be logical and rational. These are the writings out of which religion is crafted, but they do not contain the ultimate, spiritual messages that God wants to convey. Those spiritual messages come by <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/gods-written-word-and-gods-spoken-voice\">listening to God&#8217;s voice &#8212; not by written words or words spoken by a false prophet<\/a>. If we do not listen to God&#8217;s voice and only read and listen to words written and spoken by human mediators, we create an image of God that says that he is logical and rational. That is a wrong interpretation that leads us into religion. We tend to do this even though God tells us that <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/nas\/isaiah\/passage\/?q=isaiah+55:6-11\">his ways are not our ways<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The literary writings, however, are not easy to grasp because they require deep thought, inquiry and patience. More to the point, understanding comes only when we hear God&#8217;s voice explaining them to us.<\/p>\n<p>Another big reason these literary meanings do not come to us easily is that most of us are not trained or experienced in such mindful investigation. Instead, we are trained at home, in school and in our churches and synagogues to interpret everything we read literally. Sadly, we are not trained to listen for God&#8217;s voice to teach us about the symbolic meanings of scripture.<\/p>\n<p>This kind of training is a great handicap for those who want to know God and understand his ways. If we think it too great a handicap, we might even quit trying and settle for whatever bits of truth we might glean from our feeble, literal interpretations or from the teachings of religious leaders. And if we <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/nas\/passage\/?q=ecclesiastes+11:5;+ecclesiastes+1:13;+ecclesiastes+3:10-11;+ecclesiastes+8:16-17;+isaiah+45:15;+romans+11:33;+job+5:9\">take some parts of the Bible literally, we might conclude that knowing him is impossible. <\/a>That would be a mistake, however, in view of other scriptures that tell us that <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/nas\/passage\/?q=jeremiah+31:31-34;+1-thessalonians+4:9;+1-john+2:27;+john+14:11-17;+john+14:26;+1-corinthians+2:12;+hebrews+8:10-11\">we can know him<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>These challenges are too great for most people. The literary stuff is hard to understand because it lacks the kind of detail that we require in order to do a good job of fulfilling our compulsion to act out our religious beliefs. The stories, especially those in the Old Testament, that are not literary are so unbelievable and without apparent application or relevance for contemporary culture that we accept them only for their historical value without a thought for their spiritual meaning. And the books of the prophets are also regarded as irrelevant for modern times because we do not understand the literary symbolism.<\/p>\n<p>For all these and other difficulties we have in reading and understanding the Bible, we discount what we do not understand and look to religious leaders to fill in the blanks for us with their interpretations. And anything they might offer that sounds plausible is accepted as valid because there is no one who offers another view or interpretation.<\/p>\n<p>What we are left with, therefore, is religion based on the literal interpretations of the Bible based on the reports of generations of articulate and convincing <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/nas\/passage\/?q=isaiah+29:13-14;+matthew+15:1-6;+mark+7:1-13;+colossians+2:1-8;+colossians+2:20-23;+matthew+15:9;+titus+1:14;+1-corinthians+2:1-5;+psalm+118:8;+psalm+34:9-10;+psalm+146:3;+psalm+108:12;+isaiah+2:22;+micah+7:1-7;+psalm+40:4;+isaiah+31:1;+isaiah+31:3;+isaiah+57:13;+jeremiah+17:5\">religious leaders whom people have trusted for generations to create doctrines out of those literal interpretations<\/a>. This practice has led to religion of the people, by the people and for the people. It is not, however, what God wants. It is all man-made. It is all flesh and no spirit.<\/p>\n<p>Religionists like to say that <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/dictionaries\/bakers-evangelical-dictionary\/parable.html\">t<\/a>he Bible is the essence of who God is, how he thinks and how he operates. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org\/jsource\/Judaism\/kissing.html\">Jews carry their Torahs through the congregation so that people can affectionately touch it and kiss it.<\/a> Christians hold up their Bibles in church and claim to believe every word in it. They are sincere, but they err in their failure to listen to God&#8217;s voice.\u00a0 They struggle and stumble trying to find God in the literary techniques, <a href=\"https:\/\/bible.org\/seriespage\/poetical-books\">poetry,<\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/dictionary\/allegory\/\">allegories,<\/a> multiple meanings, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\">mysteries<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/dictionaries\/bakers-evangelical-dictionary\/parable.html\">parables. <\/a>But lacking success in understanding God in symbolic scriptures, they concentrate on the literal commandments which they think they understand. Jews have it a bit easier because they don&#8217;t bother with the New Testament. But they also struggle and stumble trying to obey the multitude of laws, commands and ordinances that God has laid out for them.<\/p>\n<p>The result is that, those who take the Bible only literally, have a small, incomplete, and even distorted view of God and how they should relate to him. They live small, busy, religious lives that do not well represent God&#8217;s character to the world. They are hypocrites who work hard at practicing the religion they find in the literal Bible. They are <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/2-timothy\/passage\/?q=2-timothy+3:1-7\">always learning but never knowing the deeper, finer truths <\/a>about God. They are <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/hebrews\/passage\/?q=hebrews+5:11-14;hebrews+6:1\">spiritual infants who do not know good from evil and never mature into New Covenant disciples.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>That is the bad news. The good news is that <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/passage\/?q=jeremiah+31:34;isaiah+11:9;jeremiah+24:7\">it is possible to know God<\/a> and it is possible to hear his voice. When these qualities are present in us, God says we are <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/rsv\/hebrews\/6-1.html\">mature<\/a>. And if it is possible to know God it must also be possible to understand the Bible because it appears that the Bible is the only source of reliable information about God. It is not easy to grasp, and our understanding will never be complete, but there is always a greater measure of knowing that is possible for those who are willing to rise above their literal interpretations and abandon their religious ways and their chosen teachers in favor of learning about God directly from his mouth as provided in the New Covenant.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 150px;\">AUTHORS&#8217; NOTE: See <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/gods-written-word-and-gods-spoken-voice\">God&#8217;s written word and God&#8217;s voice <\/a>for more about hearing God&#8217;s voice.<\/p>\n<p>Judaism and Christianity says: &#8220;the Bible is the only source of information about God.&#8221; Nevertheless, both religions find it necessary to interpret the Bible for others and amend the literal Bible by adding to it and subtracting from it. Jews have added to it with their &#8220;oral Torah.&#8221; Christians have added to it with the<a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Christian_theology\"> theology<\/a> of a multitude of<a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/List_of_Christian_theologians\"> theologians<\/a> who claim to interpret the Bible&#8217;s deep teachings with wisdom and understanding. Jews subtract from the Bible by ignoring many<a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/search\/?q=other+gods&amp;c=ot&amp;t=kjv&amp;ps=100&amp;s=Bibles\"> warnings by God and the prophets about serving other gods. <\/a>Christians subtract by ignoring difficult New Testament scriptures and most of the Old Testament.<\/p>\n<p>Since religious leaders down through the ages have unashamedly <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/rsv\/passage\/?q=deuteronomy+4:2;deuteronomy+12:32;joshua+1:7\">added to and subtracted from God&#8217;s word<\/a>, the rest of us should be careful that we are not led astray by their teachings. We should recognize that by accepting Biblical interpretations of the Bible we have placed the authors of those interpretations as idols ahead of God&#8217;s spoken word. That effectively makes them &#8220;other gods&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>Instead of listening to and following these other gods, we should assume that<a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/rsv\/passage\/?q=jeremiah+31:31-34;isaiah+11:9;john+6:45;isaiah+54:13;1+corinthians+2:13;1+thessalonians+4:9;hebrews+8:10-11;hebrews+10:16;1+john+2:27\"> God is able to teach us directly by his spirit without the aide of an intermediary teacher. <\/a>When we continuously go to human teachers to learn about God, we show that we do not trust that he can and will teach us directly. We will learn something, of course, but it in God&#8217;s eyes, we will be following other gods.<\/p>\n<p>We must be careful, therefore,\u00a0that we do not underestimate God by taking a casual approach to knowing him and settling for something less than his fullness. We underestimate and devalue God when we depend on religious leaders to teach us everything they know about him instead of trusting him to teach us about himself directly &#8212; without the help of a human mediator. Thus we are limited by what these human teachers know. It is not a good strategy to trust men and women to teach us more than we trust God. That makes those men and women gods.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 150px;\">COMMENTARY: See <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/religion\/religion-is-sin\/religion-is-idolatry\">Religion is Idolatry<\/a> for more about identifying other gods that we serve.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/rsv\/passage\/?q=colossians+2:13-23;hebrews+9:1-10\">Religion is good at creating, teaching and enforcing regulations<\/a> and various <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/2-timothy\/passage\/?q=2-timothy+3:1-5\">forms of Godliness, but it lacks spiritual power. <\/a>But religion cannot do as good a job teaching us about God as God can do himself. Religion places real limits on knowing God. Select doctrines, rituals, music and teachers all create a box for God. These <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/2-timothy\/passage\/?q=2-timothy+3:1-5\">religious forms<\/a> effectively limit God from doing anything outside the box because\u00a0religious institutions\u00a0work hard to keep religious adherents inside their respective boxes. God calls this <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/religion\/religion-is-not-faith\/religion-is-injustice-and-slavery\">Injustice, Slavery, Oppression and Affliction<\/a>. Moreover, dependence on human teachers violates the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/nas\/passage\/?q=exodus+20:1-5;+exodus+34:10-15;+deuteronomy+4:23-26;+deuteronomy+5:1-9;+deuteronomy+6:10-19;+joshua+24:19\">first commandment<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 150px;\">STUDY TIP: See <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/religion\/religion-is-sin\/religion-is-idolatry\">Religion is Idolatry<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The reason we say we should interpret the Bible symbolically all the time is that this is what we are told to do:<\/p>\n<table style=\"table-layout: fixed; width: 700px;\" border=\"0\">\n<colgroup>\n<col width=\"50\" \/>\n<col width=\"650\" \/>\n<col width=\"0\" \/><\/colgroup>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td><\/td>\n<td>\n<ul>\n<li>\u00a0<a title=\"Go to 2 Corinthians 4:18 (Standard View)\" href=\"https:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/nas\/2-corinthians\/4-18.html\">2 Corinthians 4:18<\/a> while we\u00a0<span class=\"strongs\" title=\"Strong's Number: 4648\" data-strongs-number=\"4648\">look<\/span>\u00a0not at the things which are\u00a0<span class=\"strongs\" title=\"Strong's Number: 991\" data-strongs-number=\"991\">seen<\/span>, but at the things which are not\u00a0<span class=\"strongs\" title=\"Strong's Number: 991\" data-strongs-number=\"991\">seen<\/span>; for the things which are\u00a0<span class=\"strongs\" title=\"Strong's Number: 991\" data-strongs-number=\"991\">seen<\/span>\u00a0are\u00a0<span class=\"strongs\" title=\"Strong's Number: 4340\" data-strongs-number=\"4340\">temporal<\/span>, but the things which are not\u00a0<span class=\"strongs\" title=\"Strong's Number: 991\" data-strongs-number=\"991\">seen<\/span>\u00a0are\u00a0<span class=\"strongs\" title=\"Strong's Number: 166\" data-strongs-number=\"166\">eternal<\/span>.<\/li>\n<li><a title=\"Go to 2 Corinthians 5:7 (Standard View)\" href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/2-corinthians\/5-7.html\">2 Corinthians 5:7<\/a> We live by faith, not by sight.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/isaiah\/passage\/?q=isaiah+11:1-3\">Isaiah 11:1-3<\/a>\u00a0 There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots. 2 And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD. 3 And his delight shall be in the fear of the LORD. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide by what his ears hear;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<td><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>We assume that most religious people who read these scriptures would discount their application with respect to Bible study. The thinking goes like this: &#8220;The Bible is God&#8217;s holy word and I must take it at face value. It would be blasphemous to look for more than what is printed on the pages.&#8221; That is a fine-sounding religious argument, but it is a totally erroneous argument in God&#8217;s eyes.<\/p>\n<p>When God says we should not walk by sight, he expects his people to apply that commandment to everything &#8212; even Bible study. The part that is unseen in <a title=\"Go to 2 Corinthians 4:18 (Standard View)\" href=\"https:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/nas\/2-corinthians\/4-18.html\">2 Corinthians 4:18<\/a> that we should look for with our spiritual eyes and ears is God&#8217;s spoken word. It is easier to come to this deeper understanding when we look at the Greek word <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/lexicons\/greek\/nas\/blepo.html\">Blepo<\/a> which is translated as &#8221;seen&#8221; in English.<\/p>\n<p>God has said in many ways that we should always allow that there is a deeper spiritual meaning to scripture than the literal meaning. In doing this, we exhibit faith that he will speak to us directly by his Spirit. If we did not allow for symbolic meanings to scripture, we would effectively call him a liar. Moreover, if we took the Bible only literally, we would be forced to conclude that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/rsv\/passage\/?q=exodus+16:10;exodus+19:9;exodus+24:16;exodus+33:9;exodus+34:5;leviticus+16:2\">God lives in a cloud<\/a>. Or we would allow our <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/isaiah\/passage\/?q=isaiah+11:1-8\">children to play with venomous snakes.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>These are silly propositions, of course, but it is\u00a0just as silly to say that the\u00a0Bible should be\u00a0taken only literally.\u00a0Followers of Jesus should know this well because <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/isaiah\/passage\/?q=isaiah+11:1-3\">Isaiah 11:1-3<\/a> (see above) is a prophecy about Jesus that says that he does not judge by natural sight or\u00a0hearing. Rather, he <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/lexicons\/hebrew\/nas\/shaphat.html\">judges<\/a> (i.e. understands, sees, etc.) with spiritual eyes and spiritual ears. Not only did he speak in parables, he understood the spiritual meaning behind parables. It is the spiritual meaning that is important to God.<\/p>\n<p>The spiritual meaning should be the most important meaning to us. Therefore, we should read by faith (i.e. spiritual\/symbolic understanding) and not by sight (i.e. what we interpret literally).<br \/>\n<!--nextpage--><br \/>\n<strong>DIG DEEP FOR DEEP TRUTHS<\/strong><br \/>\nIt is no great admission to say that the\u00a0Bible is\u00a0too deep for us. But the good news is that deeper meanings may be revealed if we dig for them.\u00a0If we dig for\u00a0them through serious study and inquiry (i.e. asking God what that deeper meaning might be), God may be gracious to us and reveal those deeper meanings. But the entire process begins with a belief that deeper, spiritual meanings actually\u00a0exist. That is a matter of faith.<\/p>\n<p>If we do not dig and do not inquire, however, God is not likely to reveal to us something that we do not believe exists. In other words, God gives you what you expect. If you expect to learn deep spiritual things, he will be faithful to teach you. If you expect to feed only your natural mind with literal, natural facts about natural events, however, that is all you will receive. You either release God or limit Him by what you expect to receive from Him. Here are a three scriptural justifications for this opinion:<\/p>\n<table style=\"table-layout: fixed; width: 700px;\" border=\"0\">\n<colgroup>\n<col width=\"50\" \/>\n<col width=\"650\" \/>\n<col width=\"0\" \/><\/colgroup>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td><\/td>\n<td>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/nrs\/proverbs\/8-17.html\">Proverbs\u00a0<\/a><span style=\"color: #3161b3;\">8:17 I<\/span>\u00a0love those who love me, and those who seek me diligently find me.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 50px;\">COMMENTARY: Because God is spirit, the only way he makes himself known is through his spoken voice. He does not make himself known through anything that can be seen, heard, smelled or touched. Nor does he make himself known through miracles that can be observed with natural senses.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 120px;\">STUDY TIP: See <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/gods-written-word-and-gods-spoken-voice\/the-law\/the-law-is-a-stumbling-block\/signs-wonders-and-miracles\">this link for God&#8217;s attitudes about signs, wonders and miracles and the people who seek them.<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 50px;\">The only way to know God is by hearing his spoken voice. We <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/nas\/passage\/?q=deuteronomy+4:23-30;+deuteronomy+4:39;+deuteronomy+5:29;+deuteronomy+6:1-6;+deuteronomy+8:1-2;+deuteronomy+11:18;+deuteronomy+10:12;+deuteronomy+11:13;+deuteronomy+26:16;+deuteronomy+29:1-4;+psalm+37:31;+jeremiah+31:31-34;+jeremiah+32:40;+1-thessalonians+4:9;+1-john+2:27;+john+14:11-17;+john+14:26;+1-corinthians+2:12;+hebrews+8:10-11\">know God when his words\/laws are written on our hearts.<\/a> He writes his laws on our hearts when we hear his spoken voice.Therefore, we must seek God in our hearts &#8212; not intellectually and not through physical experiences like <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/gods-written-word-and-gods-spoken-voice\/the-law\/the-law-is-a-stumbling-block\/signs-wonders-and-miracles\">signs and wonders<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/symbols-signs-types-copies-shadows-and-patterns\/music-singing-and-dancing\">music, singing<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/symbols-signs-types-copies-shadows-and-patterns\/circumcision\">religious rituals and traditions.<\/a> And what we are seeking is the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/gods-written-word-and-gods-spoken-voice\/how-to-hear-gods-spoken-voice\">sound of his voice.<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 50px;\">See <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/gods-written-word-and-gods-spoken-voice\/the-law\/two-covenantspart1\/faith-grace-mercy-peace-love-heart-glory-blessing-spirit-and-truth\/oil-water-face-hands\/love\">this link for understanding of love.<\/a> God reveals his love through his spoken voice. In fact, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/gods-written-word-and-gods-spoken-voice\/the-law\/two-covenantspart1\/faith-grace-mercy-peace-love-heart-glory-blessing-spirit-and-truth\/oil-water-face-hands\">God,his love and his voice are all the same.<\/a><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/rsv\/jeremiah\/passage\/?q=jeremiah+29:11-14\">Jeremiah 29:11-14<\/a> \u00a0 11 For I know the plans I have for you, says the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. 12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. 13 You will seek me and find me; when you seek me with all your heart, 14 I will be found by you, says the LORD, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, says the LORD, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 50px;\">COMMENTARY: Many religious people like to quote this verse to give comfort about getting through difficult circumstances. God does not make himself known by resolving difficult circumstances. If he did, he would violate his policy regarding signs, wonders and miracles. Therefore, it must be said that this verse is not a promise that God has plans for resolving difficult circumstances.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 50px;\">Rather, this verse reflects God&#8217;s plan that people would hear his spoken voice. He would not give his many commands to &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/rsv\/passage\/?q=exodus+15:22-26;+exodus+23:20-25;+exodus+19:1-5;+jeremiah+7:23-26;+numbers+12:5-6;+jeremiah+44:26;+isaiah+66:5;+deuteronomy+4:10;+psalm+141:6;+jeremiah+6:19;+jeremiah+11:10;+jeremiah+11:1-4;+matthew+4:1-4;+deuteronomy+8:1-3;+job+22:21-23;+psalm+119:9-13;+psalm+138:4;+isaiah+28:23;+jeremiah+11:1-7;+jeremiah+22:21;+psalm+106:25;+nehemiah+9:29;+jeremiah+13:11;+zechariah+7:11;+isaiah+46:12;+matthew+13:15;+genesis+22:18;+exodus+23:21-22;+numbers+7:89;+numbers+14:22;+deuteronomy+4:12;+deuteronomy+4:30;+deuteronomy+4:36;+deuteronomy+5:22-26;+deuteronomy+8:20;+deuteronomy+9:23;+deuteronomy+13:4;+deuteronomy+13:18;+deuteronomy+15:5;+deuteronomy+26:14;+deuteronomy+26:17;+deuteronomy+30:20;+joshua+5:6;+joshua+10:14;+joshua+22:2;+joshua+24:24;+psalm+81:11;+psalm+95:7;+jeremiah+3:13;+jeremiah+3:25;+jeremiah+7:23;+jeremiah+7:28;+jeremiah+9:13;+jeremiah+11:4;+jeremiah+11:7;+jeremiah+18:10;+jeremiah+22:20-21;+jeremiah+26:13;+jeremiah+32:23;+jeremiah+40:3;+jeremiah+42:6;+jeremiah+42:13-14;+jeremiah+43:1-7;+jeremiah+44:23;+isaiah+32:9;+isaiah+55:1-3;+daniel+9:9-11\">listen to his voice and hear his spoken words&#8221;<\/a> unless he planned that it would actually happen sometime.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/nrs\/matthew\/passage\/?q=matthew+7:7-8\">Matthew 7:7-8<\/a>\u00a0 7 &#8220;Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 50px;\">COMMENTARY: The task of seeking with all your heart is not a passive activity. It involves effort and time. It also involves asking questions to get to the truth.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 50px;\">For example, if, when reading an especially difficult scripture, you are stumped as to the spiritual meaning, stop and wait. Begin asking questions (this works best when in a small group) about what it might mean.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 50px;\">Do not be afraid to speculate and explore possibilities. Don&#8217;t be in a hurry. You might even pray for understanding, and when it comes, be sure to give thanks for it. When you think you might have an understanding of a spiritual truth, test it out with others. Also be sure to try to verify that truth with other truths in the Bible.<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>And here is another scripture that says in a different way that interpretation of scripture only literally without looking for the spiritual understanding is not what God wants or expects from New Covenant disciples.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/rsv\/hebrews\/8.html\">Hebrews 8<\/a>\u00a01 Now the point in what we are saying is this: we have such a high priest, one who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, 2 a minister in the sanctuary and the true tent which is set up not by man but by the Lord. 3 For every high priest is appointed to offer gifts and sacrifices; hence it is necessary for this priest also to have something to offer. 4 Now if he were on earth, he would not be a priest at all, since there are priests who offer gifts according to the law. 5 They serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly sanctuary; for when Moses was about to erect the tent, he was instructed by God, saying, &#8220;See that you make everything according to the pattern which was shown you on the mountain.&#8221; 6 But as it is, Christ has obtained a ministry which is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises. 7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion for a second. 8 For he finds fault with them when he says: &#8220;The days will come, says the Lord, when I will establish a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah; 9 not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; for they did not continue in my covenant, and so I paid no heed to them, says the Lord. 10 This is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my laws into their minds, and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 11 And they shall not teach every one his fellow or every one his brother, saying, &#8216;Know the Lord,&#8217; for all shall know me, from the least of them to the greatest. 12 For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more.&#8221; 13 In speaking of a new covenant he treats the first as obsolete. And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 150px;\">COMMENTARY: This important scripture says that the priests, their sacrifices and offerings are all copies and shadows of the heavenly sanctuary. Since <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/passage\/?q=1+corinthians+3:16-17;1+corinthians+6:19;john+2:16-21\">we are heavenly temples<\/a> (i.e tabernacles) and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/rsv\/passage\/?q=exodus+19:5-6;isaiah+61:6;isaiah+66:19-21;1+peter+2:4-5\">spiritual priests<\/a>, we\u00a0should learn from this scripture that the priestly, religious rituals prescribed in the law are not\u00a0to be\u00a0executed according to the letter of the law. The letter of the law in the Old\/First Covenant was given as a picture, shadow or copy to represent to us what God expects his New Covenant priests to do. The fulfillment happens when people become New Covenant disciples (i.e. the law is written on their hearts.)<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 240px;\">STUDY TIP: See <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/symbols-signs-types-copies-shadows-and-patterns\" aria-haspopup=\"true\">Symbols, Signs, Types, Copies, Shadows and Patterns <\/a>for more about shadows and copies.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 150px;\">Because <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/rsv\/passage\/?q=romans+12:1-2;colossians+3:12-17;1+corinthians+10:31;1+peter+4:11\">all\u00a0those priestly activities\u00a0should be present in every aspect of our life,<\/a>\u00a0we should avoid doing the literal prescriptions of the law for our priestly service in ritualistic form\u00a0at specified times in specified locations. When\u00a0these priestly activities are conducted in formalized religious services\u00a0that are determined by religious leaders, they are nothing more than rules and regulations established by men to\u00a0fit into schedules that are convenient and predictable.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 150px;\">Such convenience and predictability proves that religious events designed by and controlled by men are<a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/rsv\/john\/passage\/?q=john+3:1-8\"> born of flesh and not of the\u00a0Holy Spirit which is totally unpredictable<\/a>. No spiritual discernment is required to follow rules and regulations that prescribe what to do and when to do as is the case in religion. Being totally free and available at any time to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/1-corinthians\/2-14.html\">respond to the Spirit of God does require spiritual discernment <\/a>that is only available to New Covenant disciples who have God&#8217;s laws written on their hearts.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 150px;\">The pattern of religious things given to Moses in the law is only a pattern. It is spiritual things represented as natural things. It is not the real thing. Knowing that, we should strive to listen to God&#8217;s voice so that we can understand the spiritual application of those activities\u00a0in our everyday lives.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 150px;\">Jews try to perform all the legal prescriptions contained in the first five books of the Bible. Christians focus on the Ten Commandments and the New Testament. If Jews and Christians were honest, however, they would admit that it is impossible to obey all of God&#8217;s commandments &#8212; no matter how hard they try. Anyone who doubts this assessment should think about what would be necessary to perform all the blood, drink and meal offerings and sacrifices. They could not realistically\u00a0do even a small portion of all the natural things the law requires. Nor should they even try to do them because Jesus came to\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/nas\/matthew\/5-17.html\">fulfill all the requirements of the law<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 150px;\">New Covenant believers, trust that<a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/rsv\/passage\/?q=ephesians+2:8-10;romans+8:28;hebrews+13:20-21;philippians+2:12-13\"> God is working out his purposes in and through their good works. <\/a>But they know that the good works are<a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/nas\/romans\/passage\/?q=romans+12:1-2\"> spiritual works of the attitudes of the heart<\/a> &#8212; not physical, religious works done with the body.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 200px;\">STUDY TIP: See <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/symbols-signs-types-copies-shadows-and-patterns\/place-where-god-will-place-his-name\/4#goodworks\">this link for understanding of good works and deeds.<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 150px;\">Spiritual good works are the essence and purpose of what it means to be a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/gods-written-word-and-gods-spoken-voice\/the-law\/two-covenantspart1\/2#newcovenant\">New Covenant<\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/gods-written-word-and-gods-spoken-voice\/the-law\/two-covenantspart1\/#disciple\">disciple<\/a>. Because we should all want to be in that New Covenant relationship with God, we should never look to the copy (i.e. the literal, religious interpretation) for our instruction. Rather, we should look to understand what the copy represents (i.e. the symbolism) and then<a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/passage\/?q=jeremiah+31:31-34;+1-thessalonians+4:9;+1-john+2:27;+john+14:11-17;+john+14:26;+1-corinthians+2:12;+hebrews+8:10-11;+john+16:13;+psalm+25:4-5;+1-john+2:20\"> let the Spirit of God guide us to understanding the spiritual application of it to\u00a0our lives.<\/a><\/p>\n<p><!--nextpage--><\/p>\n<p><strong>FIRST THE NATURAL, THEN THE SPIRITUAL, PRINCIPLE<\/strong><br \/>\nThere is a principle of Bible interpretation that exists throughout the Bible. It is present in <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\">mystery<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/symbols-signs-types-copies-shadows-and-patterns\" aria-haspopup=\"true\">Symbols, Signs, Types, Parables, Copies, and Shadows.<\/a> If this principle is not understood, Bible readers will default to reading the Bible <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/gods-written-word-and-gods-spoken-voice\/literal-or-symbolic-interpretation-part-1\">literally instead of symbolically<\/a>. When they do this, they will not hear God&#8217;s voice explain to them the mystery of the Bible. And if they do not hear God&#8217;s voice, they will always interpret the Bible in ways that lead them down the path to religion. This is not good.<\/p>\n<p>The &#8220;first the natural and then the spiritual&#8221; principle is best represented in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/nas\/1-corinthians\/passage\/?q=1-corinthians+15:41-49\">1 Corinthians 15:41-49<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">41 The sun has one kind of splendor, the moon another and the stars another; and star differs from star in splendor. 42 So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; 43 it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; 44 it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. 45 So it is written: &#8220;The first man Adam became a living being&#8221; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit. 46 The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual. 47 The first man was of the dust of the earth,\u00a0 the second man from heaven. 48 As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the man from heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. 49 And just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so shall we bear the likeness of the man from heaven.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 150px;\">COMMENTARY: When God said the natural came first and the spiritual followed, he was not talking only about the examples cited in the passage. Rather, he was also telling us how he represents Biblical truth in general: He first tells the story in natural terms to which people can relate easily because they live in the natural world. Then he later explains the spiritual meaning of the story in many different places in scripture.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 150px;\">Since the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/study\/assemble-the-puzzle\">explanations are distributed widely, and we might even say randomly, throughout the Bible<\/a>, it is not easy to connect the spiritual meanings with the natural representations. Man&#8217;s way would be to provide the explanation immediately in the context of a topic, but that is not God&#8217;s way.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 150px;\">God will typically provide the explanation, or explanations, in places we might not expect to find them. This pattern is both challenging and rewarding. It challenges us because we do not find answers where we hope to find them. But it is rewarding when we <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/nas\/matthew\/passage\/?q=matthew+13:44-46#\">discover them in places we would not expect to find them<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 150px;\">If we do not keep searching to find answers, we run the risk of accepting the literal story as the ultimate truth. Doing that is an easy solution but it is a big mistake that has caused problems for Jews and Christians since the law was first given. It is a big piece of the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/gods-written-word-and-gods-spoken-voice\/the-law\/the-law-is-a-stumbling-block\">Law as a Stumbling Block<\/a>\u00a0 problem.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 150px;\">It is important, therefore, to always apply the &#8220;first the natural and then the spiritual&#8221; principle when studying the Bible. And the way we do that is by reading the natural (i.e. literal) word after asking God to reveal the spiritual understanding, and then <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/gods-written-word-and-gods-spoken-voice\/how-to-hear-gods-spoken-voice\">listening for God&#8217;s voice<\/a> to explain those scriptures we do not understand. It is imperative to listen to God&#8217;s voice because the<a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/gods-written-word-and-gods-spoken-voice\"> literal law (i.e. the Bible) and God&#8217;s spoken word are not always the same<\/a>. God&#8217;s voice is the final authority.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 150px;\">Since most scriptures are impossible to understand and apply in their literal meaning, readers will continuously need to stop and ask God to explain how they should be interpreted in ways that contribute to teaching, reproof, correction, and\u00a0training\u00a0in\u00a0righteousness. These are <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/nas\/2-timothy\/passage\/?q=2-timothy+3:16-17\">God&#8217;s purposes in making scripture available to us.<\/a> If we do not read with the same objectives, we are reading for the wrong reasons.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 150px;\">See <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/study\">STUDY<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/study\/study-tips\">Study Tips <\/a>for more about this process.<\/p>\n<p>So what is the pattern?\u00a0 We think it is found most clearly in these two statements in verses 44 and 46:<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left; padding-left: 90px;\">&#8220;&#8230; if there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.&#8221; &#8220;The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The fact of this pattern exists throughout the Bible, but it will be noticed only by readers who look for it. It begins with a report of the natural creation of things and then moves to a report of the spiritual order of things. Consider <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/parallel-bible\/passage\/?q=genesis+1:1-2&amp;t=nas&amp;t2=niv\">Genesis 1:1-2<\/a>:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">In the beginning\u00a0 God created the heavens and the earth. 2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was <a style=\"outline: 1px dotted; outline-offset: 0px;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/lexicons\/hebrew\/kjv\/rachaph.html\">moving\/hovering<\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/lexicons\/hebrew\/kjv\/al-3.html\">over<\/a> the waters.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 150px;\">COMMENTARY: Most of the words (beginning, created, heaven, earth, formless, empty, darkness surface, deep, hovering, waters) in this sentence are words that people in all cultures would understand. But the word &#8220;spirit&#8221; is not easily understood. More to the point, spirit is represented as being over\/above the other words. We interpret this to mean that spiritual things supersede natural things. Specifically, it means that spiritual understanding from God supersedes man&#8217;s natural understanding. No one would argue with this.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 150px;\">Once readers recognize this pattern they will see it repeated continuously throughout the Bible.<\/p>\n<p>The Bible says that <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/nas\/passage\/?q=colossians+1:15-16;+john+4:24;+romans+1:20;+malachi+3:6;+james+1:17;+john+3:1-12;+2-corinthians+4:18;+hebrews+11:1-8;+2-corinthians+5:1-7;+romans+8:24;+hebrews+11:7;+hebrews+11:23-27\">God is spirit<\/a> and that we are <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/symbols-signs-types-copies-shadows-and-patterns\/place-where-god-will-place-his-name\/5\">created in His image<\/a> which is a spiritual body. But we know also that we are fleshly beings who live in a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/search?q=temporal&amp;ie=utf-8&amp;oe=utf-8\">temporal<\/a>, natural environment. That is the natural body.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/kjv\/1-corinthians\/passage\/?q=1-corinthians+15:41-49\">1 Corinthians 15:41-49 <\/a>says, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/lexicons\/greek\/kjv\/psuchikos.html\">natural<\/a> body comes first and is followed by the spiritual body. The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/lexicons\/greek\/kjv\/psuchikos.html\">Greek word Psuchikos is translated as both natural and sensual.<\/a> This means that man is naturally sensual. Sensuality is the hallmark of religion. Everything about religion appeals to the physical senses (e.g. eyes, ears, taste, touch, smell) and human emotions (e.g. love, acceptance, etc.) Each of these senses is able to arouse <a href=\"https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/visceral\">visceral<\/a>, emotional responses in the physical body. Religion would not exist if it did not appeal to and satisfy man&#8217;s desire for sensual fulfillment or for acceptance by a religious community.<\/p>\n<p>We will not understand the full scope of how God feels about sensuality until we consider<a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/kjv\/1-corinthians\/2-14.html\"> 1 Corinthians 2:14:<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><span class=\"verse\"> <span id=\"verse-14\">But a natural (i.e. sensual) man does not <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/lexicons\/greek\/kjv\/dechomai.html\">accept (i.e. receive)<\/a> the things of the Spirit of God, for they are <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/lexicons\/greek\/kjv\/moria.html\">foolishness<\/a> to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/lexicons\/greek\/kjv\/pneumatikos-2.html\">spiritually<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/lexicons\/greek\/kjv\/anakrino.html\">appraised (i.e. discerned, judged<\/a>).<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p>What this verse says is that sensual, fleshly, religious people cannot accept or understand God because God is spirit. This truth is presented in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/passage\/?q=john+6:63;+romans+7:5;+romans+8:1-14;+1-corinthians+5:1-5;+1-corinthians+15:50;+galatians+3:1-3;+galatians+4:23;+galatians+4:29;+galatians+5:13-24;+galatians+6:8-13;+ephesians+2:1-3;+ephesians+2:14-15;+ephesians+6:12;+philippians+3:2;+philippians+3:1-4;+colossians+2:11-13;+2-peter+2:10;+2-peter+2:18;+1-john+2:16;+mark+14:38;+matthew+26:41\">many scriptures that tell us that spirit and flesh are not compatible. <\/a><\/p>\n<p>Religious people interpret Bible references to flesh much too narrowly. Their interpretation of flesh is limited to behaviors like sex, greed, power, and similar attitudes that are not acceptable in most cultures. These are not God&#8217;s ideas of flesh. For God, flesh is nothing more than or less than religion. Flesh is a code word for religion because religion demands use of the body (i.e. muscles, bones, eyes, ears, taste, mouth, and mind). One or more of these body parts are always activated in religious activity. This contrasts with spiritual activity which happens in the quiet, hidden place of the heart. Here is the simple way to understand the difference between flesh and spirit:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul>\n<li>Religion (i.e. flesh) involves the body and its various senses.<\/li>\n<li>Spirit only involves the heart.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 160px;\">STUDY TIP: See <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/religion\/flesh\">Religion is Flesh in Motion<\/a> for understanding of flesh.<\/p>\n<p>With this understanding of the difference between flesh and spirit, we can also understand why God feels the way he does about flesh. Flesh and sensuality is everything that God is not.<\/p>\n<p>This truth is bad news for all religious people. They go to church, go to synagogue, sing religious songs, and hear religious messages all with the hope of connecting with God, but, because they are trying to connect with God through the use of their fleshly, human senses (e.g. eyes, ears, etc.), it is impossible for them to know God.<\/p>\n<p>God, who is spirit, cannot be understood by using physical, human, fleshly senses. God can only be understood spiritually (i.e. without using human senses.) God cannot change who he is or how he functions. The way he functions is through his spirit. It is not in his nature to function through physical, natural means. People must change if they are to connect with God. But people don&#8217;t want to stop being religious because religion satisfies their fleshly, human senses. It is a stalemate situation unless people stop seeking to know God through religion. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/nas\/passage\/?q=malachi+3:6;+james+1:17;+hebrews+7:20-21;+hebrews+6:17;+numbers+23:19;+psalm+102:27;+1-samuel+15:29;+ezekiel+24:14;+titus+1:1-2;+psalm+89:34\">God will not and cannot change<\/a>, so it is people who must change.<\/p>\n<p><a id=\"summaryofbible\"><\/a>It is instructive to understand how God sees the situation.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul>\n<li>The world is full of religious people.<\/li>\n<li>God desires <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/religion\/religion-is-the-enemy\/2#jealousanger\">intimacy<\/a> with all religious people but they <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/passage\/?q=leviticus+26:26-28;+leviticus+26:14-18;+jeremiah+7:1-13;+jeremiah+7:24-28;+jeremiah+11:1-10;+jeremiah+26:2-6;+jeremiah+17:23-27;+jeremiah+35:15;+jeremiah+44:1-5;+malachi+2:2;+ezekiel+3:4-8;+ezekiel+5:1-6;+ezekiel+20:8;+exodus+6:9;+2-kings+17:40;+zechariah+1:1-4;+zechariah+7:11-14;+proverbs+1:24-28;+2-kings+17:13-15;+jeremiah+5:21\">do not listen to his spoken voice.<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Religious people cannot hear God&#8217;s voice because he speaks a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/gods-written-word-and-gods-spoken-voice#whatgodsvoiceislike\">unique spiritual language<\/a> that only <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/gods-written-word-and-gods-spoken-voice\/the-law\/two-covenantspart1\/2#newcovenant\">New Covenant<\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/gods-written-word-and-gods-spoken-voice\/the-law\/two-covenantspart1\/#disciple\">disciples<\/a> can hear and religious people cannot hear.<\/li>\n<li>He needs a human mediator who understands his spiritual language and who can communicate with religious people through their human language.<\/li>\n<li>People want so desperately to know God that they are willing to spend time and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/religion\/religion-is-not-faith\/religion-is-commerce\">money<\/a> to connect with him.<\/li>\n<li>They have been taught by people whom they trust that religion is the way to connect with God.<\/li>\n<li>Religion <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/symbols-signs-types-copies-shadows-and-patterns\/music-singing-and-dancing\/6\">activates their senses in pleasing ways<\/a> that people interpret as being touched by God.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/nas\/passage\/?q=2-timothy+4:2-4;+isaiah+5:20;+isaiah+30:1-10;+1-kings+22:1-8;+1-kings+22:13;+jeremiah+6:8-14;+jeremiah+23:9-40;+ezekiel+13;+micah+2:1-11;+romans+16:17-18;+2-samuel+15:1-6;+psalm+12:1-2;+colossians+2:1-4\">Religious teachers tell them what they like to hear about God and religion<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>Because they are reinforced by the pleasing ways their bodies react to religious activity, they become <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/forum-descriptions\/toxicity\/4#listofquestions\">addicted to religion<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/religion\/religion-is-not-faith\/religion-is-injustice-and-slavery\">enslaved<\/a> by it. They keep going back to religion so they can restore the feelings that convince them that religion connects them to God.<\/li>\n<li>Whenever they sense that their connection to God is diminishing, they go back to the religious environment that inspires the pleasing feelings. Here they experience the feelings again and receive instruction from people whom they trust that reinforces the belief that religion is the way to connect to God.<\/li>\n<li>God tries to connect with people but they are so busy trying to connect with him through religious activity that they cannot hear his voice.<\/li>\n<li>God&#8217;s solution is to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/nas\/passage\/?q=john+3:34;+jeremiah+26:1-5;+ezekiel+2:1-7;+ezekiel+3:4-11;+2-chronicles+36:15;+acts+3:26;+revelation+1:1;+deuteronomy+18:18;+isaiah+51:15-16;+john+17:1-8;+isaiah+59:21;+deuteronomy+32:1;+job+22:22;+psalm+19:14;+proverbs+12:6;+jeremiah+1:9;+jeremiah+5:14;+hosea+6:5;+daniel+9:9-11;+2-peter+1:19-21\">send true prophets,<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/nas\/passage\/?q=matthew+7:24-26;+john+14:10;+john+3:34;+john+5:19;+john+7:14-18;+john+14:24;+matthew+24:35;+mark+13:31;+luke+4:32-36;+luke+6:47;+luke+6:46-49;+luke+9:26;+luke+21:15;+john+4:41;+john+6:63;+john+6:68;+john+7:38-39;+john+12:47-50;+john+15:7;+john+17:8;+1-peter+4:11;+exodus+3;+exodus+4:1-12;+isaiah+59:21;+exodus+4:10-12;+matthew+10:19-20;+mark+13:11;+luke+12:11-12;+luke+21:14-15;+john+7:16;+john+12:49-50;+john+14:24-31;+john+16:13;+1-corinthians+2;+psalm+143:10;+matthew+10:17-20;+1-thessalonians+2:13;+exodus+4:12;+deuteronomy+18:18;+matthew+26:39;+john+5:30;+john+6:38;+john+8:28;+acts+4:29-31;+1-peter+4:10-11\">angels,\u00a0messiahs, high priests, witnesses and warriors<\/a> to be his voice to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/nas\/passage\/?q=matthew+7:24-26;+john+14:10;+john+3:34;+john+5:19;+john+7:14-18;+john+14:24;+matthew+24:35;+mark+13:31;+luke+4:32-36;+luke+6:47;+luke+6:46-49;+luke+9:26;+luke+21:15;+john+4:41;+john+6:63;+john+6:68;+john+7:38-39;+john+12:47-50;+john+15:7;+john+17:8;+1-peter+4:11;+exodus+3;+exodus+4:1-12;+isaiah+59:21;+exodus+4:10-12;+matthew+10:19-20;+mark+13:11;+luke+12:11-12;+luke+21:14-15;+john+7:16;+john+12:49-50;+john+14:24-31;+john+16:13;+1-corinthians+2;+psalm+143:10;+matthew+10:17-20;+1-thessalonians+2:13;+exodus+4:12;+deuteronomy+18:18;+matthew+26:39;+john+5:30;+john+6:38;+john+8:28;+acts+4:29-31;+1-peter+4:10-11\">speak for him.<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Religious people <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/symbols-signs-types-copies-shadows-and-patterns\/time-hours-days-weeks-and-ages\/end-times-rapture-and-tribulation\/4\">persecute God&#8217;s messengers<\/a> because they don&#8217;t like being told that <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/religion\/religion-is-sin\">religion is sin<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>But a few will listen to God&#8217;s messengers and receive <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/symbols-signs-types-copies-shadows-and-patterns\/time-hours-days-weeks-and-ages\/eternity\">eternal life.<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>This is a brief overview of the story of the Bible. It is the same story told in different ways with different characters.<\/p>\n<p>Religion always works to elicit pleasing, fleshly, responses that make people feel good in their flesh. Because they feel good while singing in a beautiful building with friends, religious people will return often to capture those feelings. They are also intellectually excited when finely presented sermons from polished preachers arouse minds in ways that cause them to believe they have received special knowledge from God. This also keeps them returning for more religious teaching. The choreographed display of sights, sounds and teaching is all bait that entices religious people to come often and bring money to pay for the entertainment they receive from professional religious performers (i.e. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/forum-descriptions\/hypocrisy\">hypocrites<\/a>.)<\/p>\n<p>Beginning with Genesis, the Bible is a collection of parables that report when and how natural people with <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/symbols-signs-types-copies-shadows-and-patterns\/place-where-god-will-place-his-name\/4#evilimpureheart\">evil, impure hearts<\/a> are transformed into spiritual people with <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/symbols-signs-types-copies-shadows-and-patterns\/place-where-god-will-place-his-name\/4#goodpureheart\">clean, pure hearts<\/a>. This is what the Bible means when it says that we are <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/symbols-signs-types-copies-shadows-and-patterns\/place-where-god-will-place-his-name\/5\">created in God&#8217;s image.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Jews and Christians like to think that all natural-born people are created in God&#8217;s image. That is wrong thinking. God is spirit and humans are flesh. God&#8217;s image is spiritual and unseen because <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/nas\/passage\/?q=colossians+1:15-16;+john+4:24;+romans+1:20;+malachi+3:6;+james+1:17;+john+3:1-12;+2-corinthians+4:18;+hebrews+11:1-8;+2-corinthians+5:1-7;+romans+8:24;+hebrews+11:7;+hebrews+11:23-27\">God is spirit, unchanging and unseen<\/a>. That is the opposite of the image of man which can be seen and does change. It is foolishness to say, therefore, that all humans are created in God&#8217;s image.<\/p>\n<p>Being created in God&#8217;s image happens later in life at a different, unique time for each individual. It happens when God changes a heart from <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/symbols-signs-types-copies-shadows-and-patterns\/place-where-god-will-place-his-name\/4#evilimpureheart\">evil and impure<\/a> to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/symbols-signs-types-copies-shadows-and-patterns\/place-where-god-will-place-his-name\/4#goodpureheart\">clean and pure<\/a>. That is the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/gods-written-word-and-gods-spoken-voice\/the-law\/the-law-is-a-stumbling-block\/signs-wonders-and-miracles\/4\">miracle of creation<\/a>, or recreation, that represented in the parable of creation in Genesis 1.<\/p>\n<p>When they are created in God&#8217;s image, they do not stop being natural, physical people. What happens is that God does a creative miracle in their hearts &#8212; not in their physical bodies.<\/p>\n<p>Symbolically speaking, the natural body is an <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/symbols-signs-types-copies-shadows-and-patterns\/place-where-god-will-place-his-name\/4#evilimpureheart\">evil, impure heart<\/a> that is <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/forum-descriptions\/toxicity\/4#listofquestions\">obsessed with, and controlled by, religion<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The natural body is represented in <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/gods-written-word-and-gods-spoken-voice\/the-law\/two-covenantspart1\/2#oldcovenant\">Old\/First Covenant<\/a> religionists who have <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/symbols-signs-types-copies-shadows-and-patterns\/place-where-god-will-place-his-name\/4#evilimpureheart\">evil, impure hearts<\/a>. They always interpret the Bible literally.<\/p>\n<p>The spiritual body is represented in\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/gods-written-word-and-gods-spoken-voice\/the-law\/two-covenantspart1\/2#newcovenant\">New Covenant <\/a>disciples who have <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/symbols-signs-types-copies-shadows-and-patterns\/place-where-god-will-place-his-name\/4#goodpureheart\">good, pure hearts<\/a>. They know <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/gods-written-word-and-gods-spoken-voice\/how-to-hear-gods-spoken-voice\">how to hear God&#8217;s spoken voice <\/a>and always expect God to interpret the spiritual meanings of the Bible for them. And when that meaning is not revealed to them immediately, they will continue to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/nas\/passage\/?q=deuteronomy+4:29;+1-chronicles+16:10;+1-chronicles+22:19;+2-chronicles+12:14;+2-chronicles+15:12;+psalm+105:3;+psalm+119:2;+jeremiah+29:13\">search with their whole hearts<\/a> until understanding does come. The understanding, when it comes, it is the fulfillment of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/nas\/passage\/?q=jeremiah+31:31-34;+jeremiah+32:40;+1-thessalonians+4:9;+1-john+2:27;+john+14:11-17;+john+14:26;+1-corinthians+2:12;+hebrews+8:10-11;+psalm+143:10;+luke+12:11-12\">God&#8217;s promise to write his laws on the heart according to the terms of the New Covenant<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The process goes like this: Everyone begins as an Old\/First Covenant religionist. After they respond to God&#8217;s call to quit religion, they are transformed (i.e. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/gods-written-word-and-gods-spoken-voice\/the-law\/the-law-is-a-stumbling-block\/signs-wonders-and-miracles\/5\">born again<\/a>) into a New Covenant disciple. This transformation is a spiritual miracle &#8212; not a natural miracle &#8212; that only God can perform.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 150px;\">STUDY TIP: See\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/gods-written-word-and-gods-spoken-voice\/the-law\/the-law-is-a-stumbling-block\/signs-wonders-and-miracles\/4\">GOD DOES ONLY ONE KIND OF MIRACLE,\u00a0<\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/gods-written-word-and-gods-spoken-voice\/the-law\/the-law-is-a-stumbling-block\/signs-wonders-and-miracles\/5\">THE MIRACLE OF CREATION: BORN AGAIN,\u00a0<\/a>and\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/symbols-signs-types-copies-shadows-and-patterns\/place-where-god-will-place-his-name\/5\">CREATED IN GODS IMAGE <\/a>These links all explain the spiritual meaning of the Genesis creation story.<\/p>\n<p>God knows that there is a tension between the spiritual and natural environment and that we are limited in our spiritual understanding. Therefore, He first introduces what he has to say in natural terms that Old\/First Covenant religionists are able to understand. That is the easy part. The harder part, and the one over which there is the most confusion and disagreement, is God&#8217;s expectations that his people study and listen to understand the spiritual meanings of the written words. This understanding is only available to New Covenant disciples who have <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/nas\/passage\/?q=jeremiah+31:31-34;+jeremiah+32:40;+1-thessalonians+4:9;+1-john+2:27;+john+14:11-17;+john+14:26;+1-corinthians+2:12;+hebrews+8:10-11\">God&#8217;s laws written on their hearts<\/a> because they listen to his <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/gods-written-word-and-gods-spoken-voice\">spoken voice<\/a>. When this understanding comes to those who listen, it is so amazingly incredible that the New Covenant disciples who hear and understand will consider it a miracle. It is not a public miracle that can be observed with natural senses. It is the very private miracle of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/nas\/passage\/?q=ezekiel+11:14-21;+jeremiah+24:7;+jeremiah+32:38-39;+ezekiel+18:31;+ezekiel+36:24-27;+psalm+51:10;+ezekiel+11:19;+john+3:3;+john+3:5;+2-corinthians+5:17\">creation (i.e. recreation) that occurs in the hearts<\/a> of New Covenant disciples.<\/p>\n<p>God does not make the transition from Old\/First Covenant to New Covenant understanding easy. It begins by reading the literal words of the Bible and ends when people hear God&#8217;s spoken voice. We see the principle in the following scriptures:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/rsv\/psalms\/passage\/?q=psalms+78:1-8\">Psalm 78:1-4:<\/a> 1 A Maskil of Asaph. Give ear, O my people, to my teaching; incline your ears to the words of my mouth! 2 I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings from of old, 3 things that we have heard and known, that our fathers have told us. 4 We will not hide them from their children, but tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the LORD, and his might, and the wonders which he has wrought.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 150px;\">COMMENTARY: This Psalm reports the purpose for understanding the ancient mysteries (i.e. parables and dark sayings) of God. It is so that we might teach our spiritual children about God and the things he does for his people. In other words, we do not seek understanding for spiritual titillation that feeds our soulish needs to be\u00a0spiritual and be seen as spiritual. The knowledge is for teaching others about God so that they might be drawn to him. This is the job of a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/symbols-signs-types-copies-shadows-and-patterns\/people\/true-prophets\">True Prophet<\/a> who is <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/symbols-signs-types-copies-shadows-and-patterns\/people\/true-prophets\/messiah\">anointed to speak for God<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/kjv\/proverbs\/25-2.html\">Proverbs 25:2<\/a>\u00a0 <span class=\"verse-2\">It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, But the glory of kings is to search out a matter.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 150px;\">COMMENTARY: The <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/lexicons\/hebrew\/nas\/kabowd.html\">glory\/honor<\/a> extends to those who <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/lexicons\/hebrew\/nas\/chaqar.html\">search<\/a> for the hidden, spiritual meanings of scripture. But <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/nas\/ezekiel\/passage\/?q=ezekiel+14:1-11\">inquiring of religious leaders (e.g. rabbis, preachers, teachers, authors, etc.) for answers does not qualify as searching in God&#8217;s eyes.<\/a> The only searching that he recognizes is when people listen to his spoken voice.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 150px;\">This kind of searching is the habit of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/nas\/passage\/?q=jeremiah+31:31-34;+1-thessalonians+4:9;+1-john+2:27;+john+14:11-17;+john+14:26;+1-corinthians+2:12;+hebrews+8:10-11\">New Covenant disciples who choose to receive their learning only from God&#8217;s voice\/spirit<\/a>. When God reveals a concealed truth to New Covenant disciples, they feel like kings because they are rich with understanding of spiritual truth. Before that understanding comes, they are spiritually poor.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/kjv\/deuteronomy\/29-29.html\">Deuteronomy 29:29<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0<span class=\"verse-29\">The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law. <\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 150px;\">COMMENTARY: Secrets hidden in the literal words of the Bible are revealed so that we may follow all the words of the Law. The emphasis here is on &#8220;<span class=\"verse-29\">words<\/span>&#8221; which are the spoken words of God &#8212; not the literal words of the Bible.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 150px;\">It is not the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/gods-written-word-and-gods-spoken-voice\/the-law\/6#religiouslaws\">literal law<\/a> that God wants people to obey. He wants them to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/nas\/passage\/?q=exodus+19:5;+joshua+24:24;+judges+2:20;+1-samuel+15:19-22;+2-kings+18:11-12;+psalm+81:11;+exodus+15:26;+deuteronomy+33:9;+1-chronicles+16:15;+jeremiah+7:23-28;+jeremiah+26:13;+jeremiah+32:23;+jeremiah+43:1-7\">obey his voice<\/a> which communicates his <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/gods-written-word-and-gods-spoken-voice\/the-law\/6#spirituallaws\">spiritual laws<\/a> which are written on their hearts according to the promise of the <a title=\"New Covenant\" href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/gods-written-word-and-gods-spoken-voice\/the-law\/two-covenantspart1\/2#newcovenant\">New Covenant.<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/nrs\/matthew\/11-25.html\">Matthew 11:25<\/a>\u00a0 At that time Jesus said, &#8220;I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants;<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 150px;\">COMMENTARY: God hides revelation from those who think they are wise and intelligent. He makes revelation known to infants who know that they know nothing and live to learn with excitement like an infant. Being open minded and ready for discovery about God is especially difficult for people who have been religious for a long time.<\/p>\n<p><!--nextpage--><br \/>\n<strong>SET ASIDE WHAT YOU THINK YOU KNOW TO LEARN WHAT YOU DO NOT YET KNOW<\/strong><br \/>\nAfter hearing and reading Biblical stories and interpretations for many years, we come to think that we know them inside and out. What we know, however, is only the literal story, or the technical facts about what happened. Religionists take pride in their knowledge of the stories and their ability to recite them from memory. This kind of experience and knowledge, however, while maybe impressive to others, is only<a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/gods-written-word-and-gods-spoken-voice\/literal-or-symbolic-interpretation-part-1\/5\"> human knowledge &#8212; not spiritual knowledge<\/a>. Human knowledge actually works to our disadvantage when it comes to understanding the mysteries (i.e. spiritual truth) behind and within the literal stories. That is why it must be set aside.<\/p>\n<p>In our pride we will tend to think &#8220;I know this story. There is nothing left for me to learn&#8221;. This is a killer attitude that forecloses on God&#8217;s ability to break through and teach us something new. The best way to get around this attitude is to first confess as sin our <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/religion\/religion-is-not-faith\/pride\/4\">arrogance<\/a> and presumption that we know everything that God knows about that story. Then, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/nas\/passage\/?q=1-corinthians+13:9-12;+matthew+18:1-5;+mark+10:15;+luke+1:76-79;+luke+2:40;+luke+9:48;+luke+18:17;+galatians+4:1-3\">take on the attitude of a child who knows nothing but is a disciple who is eager to learn<\/a>. Do this once, and then do it again and again every time you find yourself saying &#8220;I know this story&#8221;. Then maybe God will be gracious to you and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/nas\/passage\/?q=psalm+78:1-4;+proverbs+25:2;+deuteronomy+29:29;+matthew+11:25;+matthew+13:34;+matthew+13:10-13;+numbers+12:8;+proverbs+1:1-9;+daniel+5:11-12;+john+16:17-31;+job+33:9-19;+deuteronomy+29:1-4;+matthew+13:13;+acts+28:26-27;+romans+11:1-9;+isaiah+6:1-10;+ezekiel+12:1-2\">open up your mind to understanding of deep, spiritual truths that He wants <\/a>to reveal to you at that time. The following are a small sample of scriptures about such revelations:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/rsv\/matthew\/passage\/?q=matthew+13:6-16\">Matthew 13:6-16:\u00a0<\/a> but when the sun rose they were scorched; and since they had no root they withered away. 7 Other seeds fell upon thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. 8 Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. 9 He who has ears, let him hear.&#8221; 10 Then the disciples came and said to him, &#8220;Why do you speak to them in parables?&#8221; 11 And he answered them, &#8220;To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. 12 For to him who has will more be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who has not, even what he has will be taken away. 13 This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. 14 With them indeed is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah which says: &#8216;You shall indeed hear but never understand, and you shall indeed see but never perceive. 15 For this people&#8217;s heart has grown dull, and their ears are heavy of hearing, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should perceive with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and turn for me to heal them.&#8217; 16 But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 150px;\">COMMENTARY: This scripture warns about what happens when people think they know what they read\/hear. Their hearts grow dull and their ears are heavy because they are using only their eyes and ears. They do not understand with their hearts.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 150px;\">It is to people who understand with their hearts that God speaks through parables. They will have understanding. Those who use only their natural abilities will receive only natural\/literal understanding that leads them to religion. Those who <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/study\/2\">listen with their hearts while reading<\/a> will have deep, spiritual understanding of the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\">mystery of God.<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/kjv\/matthew\/13-34.html\">Matthew 13:34<\/a> All these things Jesus spoke to the crowds in parables, and He did not speak to them without a parable.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 150px;\">COMMENTARY: A cursory review of red letter verses confirms that this is true. And what was not a new parable, was often an explanation of First Covenant scriptures that were misunderstood and misapplied. That Jesus did not speak without a parable confirms scriptures in First Covenant books about <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/rsv\/psalms\/passage\/?q=psalms+78:1-8\">God speaking secrets in parables and dark sayings.<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/kjv\/matthew\/passage\/?q=matthew+13:10-13\">Matthew 13:10-13<\/a> His disciples came and asked him, &#8220;Why do you speak to them in parables?&#8221; 11 He answered, &#8220;To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. 12 For to those who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance; but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away. 13 The reason I speak to them in parables is that &#8220;seeing they do not perceive, and hearing they do not listen, nor do they understand.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 150px;\">COMMENTARY: From these scriptures we learn that secrets will be revealed to some some people (i.e. true disciples) but not to others. New Covenant disciples received the revelations because they asked questions and listened to hear God&#8217;s voice for answers. Old\/First Covenant religionists do not receive because they <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/nas\/ezekiel\/passage\/?q=ezekiel+14:1-11\">accept what someone else has told them and do not go directly to God for the answers.<\/a> They are not curious like little children.<\/p>\n<p><!--nextpage--><\/p>\n<p><strong>TRUE DISCIPLES AND FAKE DISCIPLES<\/strong><br \/>\nWhen we look at the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/lexicons\/greek\/kjv\/mathetes.html\">definition of disciple,<\/a> we see that a disciple is a learner or a pupil. Jews and Christians need to understand what kinds of disciples\/learners they are: True disciples or fake disciples.<\/p>\n<p>Here are some clues that will help readers understand which kind of disciple they are:<\/p>\n<table style=\"width: 100%; border-collapse: collapse; border-style: solid; border-color: #000000;\" border=\"1\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"width: 50%; text-align: center; border-style: solid; border-color: #000000;\"><strong>TRUE DISCIPLES<\/strong><\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 50%; text-align: center; border-style: solid; border-color: #000000;\"><strong>FAKE DISCIPLES<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"width: 50%; border-style: solid; border-color: #000000;\">\n<ul>\n<li>True disciples <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/gods-written-word-and-gods-spoken-voice\/literal-or-symbolic-interpretation-part-1\">interpret the entire Bible symbolically.<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 50%; border-style: solid; border-color: #000000;\">\n<ul>\n<li>Fake disciples interpret some parts of the Bible literally and ignore the parts they don&#8217;t understand. They do not understand\u00a0 that <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/gods-written-word-and-gods-spoken-voice\">God&#8217;s spoken word and the literal Bible are not the same thing<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"width: 50%; border-style: solid; border-color: #000000;\">\n<ul>\n<li>True disciples are <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/gods-written-word-and-gods-spoken-voice\/the-law\/two-covenantspart1\/2#newcovenant\">New Covenant<\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/gods-written-word-and-gods-spoken-voice\/the-law\/two-covenantspart1\/#disciple\">disciples.<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 50%; border-style: solid; border-color: #000000;\">\n<ul>\n<li>Fake disciples are <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/gods-written-word-and-gods-spoken-voice\/the-law\/two-covenantspart1\/2#oldcovenant\">Old\/First Covenant<\/a> religious <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/forum-descriptions\/hypocrisy\">hypocrites<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"width: 50%; border-style: solid; border-color: #000000;\">\n<ul>\n<li>True disciples are always <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/gods-written-word-and-gods-spoken-voice\/how-to-hear-gods-spoken-voice\/4\">curious to learn more about God and are always asking God<\/a>\u00a0 to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/6\">reveal<\/a> the deep <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\">mysteries<\/a> of scripture to them. They understand that reading scripture is not just a matter of using eyes and mind for true disciples. They understand that study is a matter of using <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/nas\/passage\/?q=isaiah+11:1-3;+isaiah+32:1-3;+ezekiel+12:1-2;+jeremiah+5:21;+ezekiel+40:1-4;+deuteronomy+29:1-4;+isaiah+6:8-10;+ezekiel+12:2;+matthew+13:14;+acts+28:23-28;+romans+11:8;+mark+8:18\">eyes to see the written words while using the ears of their hearts to hear God&#8217;s spoken voice<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 50%; border-style: solid; border-color: #000000;\">\n<ul>\n<li>Fake disciples use their natural intellect to understand the Bible. They never <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/study\/2\">listen to hear God&#8217;s voice while reading scripture.<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Fake disciples are satisfied with the teachings they receive from <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/symbols-signs-types-copies-shadows-and-patterns\/people\/religion-is-the-kingdom-of-false-prophets\">false prophets<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"width: 50%; border-style: solid; border-color: #000000;\">\n<ul>\n<li>True disciples know <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/gods-written-word-and-gods-spoken-voice\/how-to-hear-gods-spoken-voice\">how to hear God&#8217;s voice<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 50%; border-style: solid; border-color: #000000;\">\n<ul>\n<li>Fake disciples have <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/passage\/?q=hebrews+3:7-19;+hebrews+4:1-7;+john+12:36-40;+isaiah+6:9-10;+jeremiah+5:21;+jeremiah+6:10;+jeremiah+25:4;+isaiah+42:20;+isaiah+48:8;+romans+11:8;+acts+28:27;+ezekiel+12:2;+psalm+115:6;+psalm+135:17;+matthew+13:10-15;+deuteronomy+29:4;+acts+19:9;+2-chronicles+30:8;+nehemiah+9:25-26;+ezekiel+2:1-6;+mark+6:45-52;+job+22:22;+deuteronomy+6:6;+deuteronomy+11:18;+psalm+37:31;+deuteronomy+32:46;+ezekiel+3:1-10\">hard hearts that prevent them from hearing God&#8217;s voice.<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"width: 50%; border-style: solid; border-color: #000000;\">\n<ul>\n<li>True disciples are able to interpret the deep, spiritual meanings of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/symbols-signs-types-copies-shadows-and-patterns\">Symbols, Signs, Types, Parables, Copies, and Shadows <\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 50%; border-style: solid; border-color: #000000;\">\n<ul>\n<li>Fake disciples do not understand Bible <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\">mysteries.<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"width: 50%; border-style: solid; border-color: #000000;\">\n<ul>\n<li>True disciples learn from <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/symbols-signs-types-copies-shadows-and-patterns\/breadfood-and-wine\/3#treeoflife\">Trees of Life<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 50%; border-style: solid; border-color: #000000;\">\n<ul>\n<li>Fake disciples learn from <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/symbols-signs-types-copies-shadows-and-patterns\/breadfood-and-wine\/3#treeofknowledgeofgoodandevil\">Trees of Knowledge of Good and Evil.<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"width: 50%; border-style: solid; border-color: #000000;\">\n<ul>\n<li>True disciples have <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/religion\/religion-is-not-faith\/pride\/20\">humbled themselves<\/a> about the truth that the religion they believed in and practiced is sin.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 50%; border-style: solid; border-color: #000000;\">\n<ul>\n<li>Fake disciples are <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/religion\/religion-is-not-faith\/pride\/2\">proud of their religion<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/fakefaith\/2018\/05\/20\/disconnects\/\">practice it publicly.<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"width: 50%; border-style: solid; border-color: #000000;\">\n<ul>\n<li>True disciples seek the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/symbols-signs-types-copies-shadows-and-patterns\/#rewards\">reward of hearing God&#8217;s spoken voice.<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 50%; border-style: solid; border-color: #000000;\">\n<ul>\n<li>Fake disciples seek the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/religion\/religion-is-not-faith\/pride\/2\">rewards of practicing religion<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"width: 50%; border-style: solid; border-color: #000000;\">\n<ul>\n<li>True disciples know how to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/symbols-signs-types-copies-shadows-and-patterns\/people\/true-prophets\/11\">identify true prophets<\/a> and listen to them.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 50%; border-style: solid; border-color: #000000;\">\n<ul>\n<li>Fake disciples don&#8217;t know how to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/symbols-signs-types-copies-shadows-and-patterns\/people\/religion-is-the-kingdom-of-false-prophets\/3\">identify false prophets<\/a> so they willingly listen to them.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"width: 50%; border-style: solid; border-color: #000000;\">\n<ul>\n<li>True disciples know the<a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/study\/relevancy-of-all-scriptures\"> relevancy of all scriptures<\/a> and are able to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/nas\/2-timothy\/passage\/?q=2-timothy+3:16-17\">interpret and apply the meanings of all scripture to their personal lives<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 50%; border-style: solid; border-color: #000000;\">\n<ul>\n<li>Fake disciples are selective about the scriptures they believe.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"width: 50%; border-style: solid; border-color: #000000;\">\n<ul>\n<li>True disciples have <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/symbols-signs-types-copies-shadows-and-patterns\/people\/true-prophets\/jesus\/12\">Jesus&#8217; character and fulfill Jesus&#8217; ministry functions<\/a> in their own lives.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 50%; border-style: solid; border-color: #000000;\">\n<ul>\n<li>Fake disciples model their beliefs and behaviors after religious leaders and their teachings.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"width: 50%; border-style: solid; border-color: #000000;\">\n<ul>\n<li>True disciples listen to God who <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/gods-written-word-and-gods-spoken-voice\/how-to-hear-gods-spoken-voice\">speaks to them directly<\/a> or through <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/symbols-signs-types-copies-shadows-and-patterns\/people\/true-prophets\">true prophets\u00a0<\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/symbols-signs-types-copies-shadows-and-patterns\/people\/angels\">angels\u00a0<\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/symbols-signs-types-copies-shadows-and-patterns\/people\/true-prophets\/messiah\">messiahs\u00a0<\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/symbols-signs-types-copies-shadows-and-patterns\/people\/true-prophets\/the-high-priest\">high priests\u00a0<\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/gods-written-word-and-gods-spoken-voice\/the-law\/two-covenants-part-2\/7#godspeaksfromcloud\">witnesses<\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/symbols-signs-types-copies-shadows-and-patterns\/people\/true-prophets\/model-warriors\">warriors<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/lexicons\/greek\/nas\/apostolos.html\">apostles<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 50%; border-style: solid; border-color: #000000;\">\n<ul>\n<li>Fake disciples listen to, follow and obey the\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/gods-written-word-and-gods-spoken-voice\/the-law\/6#religiouslaws\">religious rules<\/a> taught by <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/symbols-signs-types-copies-shadows-and-patterns\/people\/religion-is-the-kingdom-of-false-prophets\/apostles\">Pastors, Priests, Rabbis, Apostles, Bishops, Elders, Deacons, Overseers, Rabbis, Priests, Pastors, Popes, Missionaries and Evangelists.<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"width: 50%; border-style: solid; border-color: #000000;\">\n<ul>\n<li>True disciples believe and preach the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/gods-written-word-and-gods-spoken-voice\/the-law\/two-covenantspart1\/faith-grace-mercy-peace-love-heart-glory-blessing-spirit-and-truth\/oil-water-face-hands\/the-gospel\/8#differencesfalsetruegospels\">true gospel<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 50%; border-style: solid; border-color: #000000;\">\n<ul>\n<li>Fake disciples believe in and preach a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/gods-written-word-and-gods-spoken-voice\/the-law\/two-covenantspart1\/faith-grace-mercy-peace-love-heart-glory-blessing-spirit-and-truth\/oil-water-face-hands\/the-gospel\/8\">false gospel<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"width: 50%; border-style: solid; border-color: #000000;\">\n<ul>\n<li>True disciples <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/religion\/religion-is-not-faith\/religion-is-commerce\/commercial-religion-in-the-end-times\">do not buy or sell religious products or services.<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 50%; border-style: solid; border-color: #000000;\">Fake disciples participate in commercial religion as either a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/religion\/religion-is-not-faith\/religion-is-commerce\/examples-of-business-and-commerce-in-religion\">buyer or seller of religious products or services or as both buyer and seller.<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"width: 50%; border-style: solid; border-color: #000000;\">\n<ul>\n<li>True disciples have <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/gods-written-word-and-gods-spoken-voice\/the-law\/6#spirituallaws\">God&#8217;s spiritual laws<\/a> written on their hearts.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 50%; border-style: solid; border-color: #000000;\">\n<ul>\n<li>Fake disciples follow <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/gods-written-word-and-gods-spoken-voice\/the-law\/6#religiouslaws\">religious laws created by men<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"width: 50%; border-style: solid; border-color: #000000;\">\n<ul>\n<li>True disciples <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/religion\/religion-is-sin\/religion-is-idolatry\/4#spiritandtruth\">worship in spirit and truth.<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 50%; border-style: solid; border-color: #000000;\">\n<ul>\n<li>Fake disciples worship in <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/symbols-signs-types-copies-shadows-and-patterns\/tabernacles-temples-altars-high-places-and-pilgrimages\">buildings<\/a> with <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/symbols-signs-types-copies-shadows-and-patterns\/music-singing-and-dancing\">music<\/a> and observe <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/symbols-signs-types-copies-shadows-and-patterns\/circumcision\">religious rituals and traditions<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"width: 50%; border-style: solid; border-color: #000000;\">\n<ul>\n<li>True disciples pay <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/symbols-signs-types-copies-shadows-and-patterns\/sacrifices-tithes-and-offerings\/2593-2\">spiritual tithes.<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 50%; border-style: solid; border-color: #000000;\">\n<ul>\n<li>Fake disciples pay <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/symbols-signs-types-copies-shadows-and-patterns\/sacrifices-tithes-and-offerings\">financial tithes and offerings<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"width: 50%; border-style: solid; border-color: #000000;\">\n<ul>\n<li>True disciples have <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/symbols-signs-types-copies-shadows-and-patterns\/place-where-god-will-place-his-name\/4#goodpureheart\">clean, pure hearts.<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 50%; border-style: solid; border-color: #000000;\">\n<ul>\n<li>Fake disciples have <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/symbols-signs-types-copies-shadows-and-patterns\/place-where-god-will-place-his-name\/4#evilimpureheart\">evil, impure hearts.<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"width: 50%; border-style: solid; border-color: #000000;\">\n<ul>\n<li>True disciples practice<a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/gods-written-word-and-gods-spoken-voice\/the-law\/two-covenantspart1\/5\"> pure religion.<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 50%; border-style: solid; border-color: #000000;\">\n<ul>\n<li>Fake disciples practice <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/gods-written-word-and-gods-spoken-voice\/the-law\/two-covenantspart1\/5\">defiled religion.<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/matthew\/passage\/?q=matthew+28:19-20\">Jesus told his disciples to go make disciples of all nations and teach them to observe everything he told them to do.<\/a> This was a command to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/lexicons\/greek\/nas\/matheteuo.html\">teach and instruct<\/a> fake disciples <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/gods-written-word-and-gods-spoken-voice\/how-to-hear-gods-spoken-voice\">how to hear God&#8217;s spoken voice<\/a> so that they would <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/religion\/god-is-calling-people-out-of-religion\">come out of religion<\/a> and become true disciples.\u00a0 Christians interpret this command wrongly. They think it means to go teach people who practice one kind of religion to change their religion and become Christians. Changing religions is not what God wants. He wants them to simply stop being religious and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/religion\/religion-is-sin\/religion-is-idolatry\/4#spiritandtruth\">worship him in spirit and truth<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Changes in religious beliefs and habits happens all the time, but only five things change.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul>\n<li>The <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/gods-written-word-and-gods-spoken-voice\/the-law\/6#religiouslaws\">religious laws<\/a> that people follow.<\/li>\n<li>The <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/symbols-signs-types-copies-shadows-and-patterns\/circumcision\">religious rituals and traditions<\/a> they follow.<\/li>\n<li>The <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/symbols-signs-types-copies-shadows-and-patterns\/people\/religion-is-the-kingdom-of-false-prophets\">religious leaders<\/a> they from whom they get their teaching.<\/li>\n<li>The <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/symbols-signs-types-copies-shadows-and-patterns\/tabernacles-temples-altars-high-places-and-pilgrimages\">religious buildings<\/a> to which they go to get their teaching.<\/li>\n<li>Their religious friends change.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>When someone changes religion, their heart does not change. Only <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/gods-written-word-and-gods-spoken-voice\/the-law\/the-law-is-a-stumbling-block\/signs-wonders-and-miracles\/4\">God can change hearts.<\/a> True disciples have had their hearts changed from <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/symbols-signs-types-copies-shadows-and-patterns\/place-where-god-will-place-his-name\/4#evilimpureheart\">evil and impure<\/a> to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/symbols-signs-types-copies-shadows-and-patterns\/place-where-god-will-place-his-name\/4#goodpureheart\">clean and pure<\/a>. True disciples understand that Jesus&#8217; command is to go and make disciples with clean, pure hearts. And they understand that it is <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/gods-written-word-and-gods-spoken-voice\/the-law\/two-covenantspart1\/faith-grace-mercy-peace-love-heart-glory-blessing-spirit-and-truth\/oil-water-face-hands\/3\">God&#8217;s word spoken through them that will change hearts.<\/a><br \/>\n<!--nextpage--><br \/>\n<strong>THE VEIL THAT OBSTRUCTS UNDERSTANDING<\/strong><br \/>\nIt is not surprising that some people are able to understand the deep things of God. Many claim to know the Bible well and can quote from it and teach from it for hours on end. If they were honest, however, they would be forced to admit that they only know what they know. They don&#8217;t know what they don&#8217;t know because they don&#8217;t spend any time trying to learn the difficult parts of the Bible. It is too hard for them, they don&#8217;t care about what they don&#8217;t know and no one else cares either. So why bother?<\/p>\n<p>God knows that such people exist. He is not surprised that they exist because he has put a veil over them that limits their understanding. Consider this scripture:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/rsv\/2-corinthians\/3.html\">2 Corinthians 3<\/a>: <span id=\"2co3-1\" class=\"versetext\" style=\"display: inline;\">Are we beginning to commend ourselves<a name=\"1\"><\/a> again? Or do we need, like some people, letters of recommendation<a name=\"2\"><\/a> to you or from you? <\/span> <span id=\"2co3-2\" class=\"versetext\" style=\"display: inline;\"><span class=\"versenum\">2<\/span> You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everybody.<a name=\"3\"><\/a> <\/span> <span id=\"2co3-3\" class=\"versetext\" style=\"display: inline;\"><span class=\"versenum\">3<\/span> You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God,<a name=\"4\"><\/a> not on tablets of stone<a name=\"5\"><\/a> but on tablets of human hearts.<a name=\"6\"><\/a> <\/span> <span id=\"2co3-4\" class=\"versetext\" style=\"display: inline;\"><span class=\"versenum\">4<\/span> Such confidence<a name=\"7\"><\/a> as this is ours through Christ before God. <\/span> <span id=\"2co3-5\" class=\"versetext\" style=\"display: inline;\"><span class=\"versenum\">5<\/span> Not that we are competent in ourselves<a name=\"8\"><\/a> to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God.<a name=\"9\"><\/a> <\/span> <span id=\"2co3-6\" class=\"versetext\" style=\"display: inline;\"><span class=\"versenum\">6<\/span> He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant<a name=\"10\"><\/a>&#8211;not of the letter<a name=\"11\"><\/a> but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.<a name=\"12\"><\/a><\/span> <span id=\"2co3-7\" class=\"versetext\" style=\"display: inline;\"><span class=\"versenum\">7<\/span> Now if the ministry that brought death,<a name=\"13\"><\/a> which was engraved in letters on stone, came with glory, so that the Israelites could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of its glory,<a name=\"14\"><\/a> fading though it was, <\/span> <span id=\"2co3-8\" class=\"versetext\" style=\"display: inline;\"><span class=\"versenum\">8<\/span> will not the ministry of the Spirit be even more glorious? <\/span> <span id=\"2co3-9\" class=\"versetext\" style=\"display: inline;\"><span class=\"versenum\">9<\/span> If the ministry that condemns men<a name=\"15\"><\/a> is glorious, how much more glorious is the ministry that brings righteousness!<a name=\"16\"><\/a> <\/span> <span id=\"2co3-10\" class=\"versetext\" style=\"display: inline;\"><span class=\"versenum\">10<\/span> For what was glorious has no glory now in comparison with the surpassing glory. <\/span> <span id=\"2co3-11\" class=\"versetext\" style=\"display: inline;\"><span class=\"versenum\">11<\/span> And if what was fading away came with glory, how much greater is the glory of that which lasts! <\/span> <span id=\"2co3-12\" class=\"versetext\" style=\"display: inline;\"><span class=\"versenum\">12<\/span> Therefore, since we have such a hope,<a name=\"17\"><\/a> we are very bold.<a name=\"18\"><\/a> <\/span> <span id=\"2co3-13\" class=\"versetext\" style=\"display: inline;\"><span class=\"versenum\">13<\/span> We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face<a name=\"19\"><\/a> to keep the Israelites from gazing at it while the radiance was fading away. <\/span> <span id=\"2co3-14\" class=\"versetext\" style=\"display: inline;\"><span class=\"versenum\">14<\/span> But their minds were made dull,<a name=\"20\"><\/a> for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant<a name=\"21\"><\/a> is read.<a name=\"22\"><\/a> It has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken away. <\/span> <span id=\"2co3-15\" class=\"versetext\" style=\"display: inline;\"><span class=\"versenum\">15<\/span> Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. <\/span> <span id=\"2co3-16\" class=\"versetext\" style=\"display: inline;\"><span class=\"versenum\">16<\/span> But whenever anyone turns to the Lord,<a name=\"23\"><\/a> the veil is taken away.<a name=\"24\"><\/a> <\/span> <span id=\"2co3-17\" class=\"versetext\" style=\"display: inline;\"><span class=\"versenum\">17<\/span> Now the Lord is the Spirit,<a name=\"25\"><\/a> and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.<a name=\"26\"><\/a> <\/span> <span id=\"2co3-18\" class=\"versetext\" style=\"display: inline;\"><span class=\"versenum\">18<\/span> And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect<a name=\"a\"><\/a><a name=\"27\"><\/a> the Lord&#8217;s glory,<a name=\"28\"><\/a> are being transformed into his likeness<a name=\"29\"><\/a> with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. <\/span><\/p>\n<p>We read here that the written code kills. That refers first to the tablets on which God wrote his commandments, but it also refers to whatever was written after that by men to represent what God originally said. There is no way that mortal men can rewrite or preach the literal words of what God has said so that it can give life instead of death. This is shocking, to say the least, but we must conclude that what God wrote with his own fingers on stone is called a ministry of death. Paul\u00a0 confirms this by saying that his own ministry is not based on the written letter which kills, but on the Spirit which gives life. This is a hard word for pastors, rabbis, writers and teachers who base their truths on the Bible. They must be very careful that they do not preach or write words that only repeat or rephrase what God has said.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 150px;\">AUTHORS&#8217; NOTE: See <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/gods-written-word-and-gods-spoken-voice\/the-law\/two-covenantspart1\/5\">this\u00a0 link<\/a> for more about the differences between the Old Covenant and the New Covenant.<\/p>\n<p>It would appear from these scriptures that it is important, if not critical, for anyone who writes or teaches using the Bible as a source of truth must be very careful to know if they are using the letter or the Spirit as their source. It is a life or death issue. No wonder God said that teachers should be careful.<\/p>\n<p><!--nextpage--><\/p>\n<p><strong>ACCURATELY HANDLE THE WORD OF TRUTH<\/strong><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/nas\/2-timothy\/2-15.html\">2 Timothy 2:15<\/a> challenges Bible students to b<span class=\"verse-15\">e <a class=\"strongs\" title=\"Strong's Number: 4704\" href=\"https:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/interlinear-bible\/strongs\/?t=nas&amp;ll=g&amp;sn=4704\" data-strongs-number=\"4704\">diligent<\/a> to <a class=\"strongs\" title=\"Strong's Number: 3936\" href=\"https:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/interlinear-bible\/strongs\/?t=nas&amp;ll=g&amp;sn=3936\" data-strongs-number=\"3936\">present<\/a> <a class=\"strongs\" title=\"Strong's Number: 4572\" href=\"https:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/interlinear-bible\/strongs\/?t=nas&amp;ll=g&amp;sn=4572\" data-strongs-number=\"4572\">yourself<\/a> <a class=\"strongs\" title=\"Strong's Number: 1384\" href=\"https:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/interlinear-bible\/strongs\/?t=nas&amp;ll=g&amp;sn=1384\" data-strongs-number=\"1384\">approved<\/a> to <a class=\"strongs\" title=\"Strong's Number: 2316\" href=\"https:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/interlinear-bible\/strongs\/?t=nas&amp;ll=g&amp;sn=2316\" data-strongs-number=\"2316\">God<\/a> as a <a class=\"strongs\" title=\"Strong's Number: 2040\" href=\"https:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/interlinear-bible\/strongs\/?t=nas&amp;ll=g&amp;sn=2040\" data-strongs-number=\"2040\">workman<\/a> who does not <a class=\"strongs\" title=\"Strong's Number: 422\" href=\"https:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/interlinear-bible\/strongs\/?t=nas&amp;ll=g&amp;sn=422\" data-strongs-number=\"422\">need<\/a> to be <a class=\"strongs\" title=\"Strong's Number: 422\" href=\"https:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/interlinear-bible\/strongs\/?t=nas&amp;ll=g&amp;sn=422\" data-strongs-number=\"422\">ashamed<\/a>, <a class=\"strongs\" title=\"Strong's Number: 3718\" href=\"https:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/interlinear-bible\/strongs\/?t=nas&amp;ll=g&amp;sn=3718\" data-strongs-number=\"3718\">accurately<\/a> <a class=\"strongs\" title=\"Strong's Number: 3718\" href=\"https:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/interlinear-bible\/strongs\/?t=nas&amp;ll=g&amp;sn=3718\" data-strongs-number=\"3718\">handling<\/a> the <a class=\"strongs\" title=\"Strong's Number: 3056\" href=\"https:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/interlinear-bible\/strongs\/?t=nas&amp;ll=g&amp;sn=3056\" data-strongs-number=\"3056\">word<\/a> of <a class=\"strongs\" title=\"Strong's Number: 225\" href=\"https:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/interlinear-bible\/strongs\/?t=nas&amp;ll=g&amp;sn=225\" data-strongs-number=\"225\">truth<\/a>. <\/span><\/p>\n<p>A simple understanding of this verse is that God approves of people who are faithful to read the Bible. This is a wrong interpretation because it puts the emphasis on reading the written words of the Bible and ignores <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/rsv\/passage\/?q=exodus+15:22-26;+exodus+23:20-25;+exodus+19:1-5;+jeremiah+7:23-26;+jeremiah+11:1-4;+matthew+4:1-4;+deuteronomy+8:1-3;+job+22:21-23;+psalm+119:9-13;+psalm+138:4;+isaiah+28:23;+jeremiah+11:1-7;+jeremiah+22:21;+psalm+106:25;+nehemiah+9:29;+jeremiah+11:10;+jeremiah+13:11;+zechariah+7:11;+isaiah+46:12;+matthew+13:15;genesis+22:18;+exodus+23:21-22;+numbers+7:89;+numbers+14:22;+deuteronomy+4:12;+deuteronomy+4:30;+deuteronomy+4:36;+deuteronomy+5:22-26;+deuteronomy+8:20;+deuteronomy+9:23;+deuteronomy+13:4;+deuteronomy+13:18;+deuteronomy+15:5;+deuteronomy+26:14;+deuteronomy+26:17;+deuteronomy+30:20;+joshua+5:6;+joshua+10:14;+joshua+22:2;+joshua+24:24;+psalm+81:11;+psalm+95:7;+psalm+106:25;+jeremiah+3:13;+jeremiah+3:25;+jeremiah+7:23;+jeremiah+7:28;+jeremiah+9:13;+jeremiah+11:4;+jeremiah+11:7;+jeremiah+18:10;+jeremiah+22:20-21;+jeremiah+26:13;+jeremiah+32:23;+jeremiah+40:3;+jeremiah+42:6;+jeremiah+42:13-14;+jeremiah+43:1-7;+jeremiah+44:23;+isaiah+28:23;+isaiah+32:9;+isaiah+55:1-3;daniel+9:9-11\">God&#8217;s many commands to listen to his voice<\/a>. It is a wrong interpretation because the most important meaning of the Greek word &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/lexicons\/greek\/nas\/logos.html\">logos<\/a>,&#8221; which is translated as &#8220;word&#8221; in English, is the spoken word of God &#8212; not on the literal, written words of the Bible.<\/p>\n<p>Reading the Bible for its literal content has negative value: It leads to religion. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/study\/2\">Listening to God&#8217;s voice while reading<\/a>, however, is of great value. Therefore, to accurately handle the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/lexicons\/greek\/nas\/logos.html\">word<\/a> of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/gods-written-word-and-gods-spoken-voice\/the-law\/two-covenantspart1\/faith-grace-mercy-peace-love-heart-glory-blessing-spirit-and-truth\">truth<\/a> (i.e. God&#8217;s spoken word), we must listen to God&#8217;s voice while reading. If we do not listen, God does not <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/lexicons\/greek\/nas\/dokimos.html\">approve (i.e. accept)<\/a> us, and we have reason to be <span class=\"verse-15\"><a class=\"strongs\" title=\"Strong's Number: 422\" href=\"https:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/interlinear-bible\/strongs\/?t=nas&amp;ll=g&amp;sn=422\" data-strongs-number=\"422\">ashamed.<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p>If we think of Bible study in terms of listening to God&#8217;s spoken voice, reading becomes a very weighty matter. We should want to take reading\/listening very seriously. If\u00a0 we think in terms of accurately handling God&#8217;s spoken word, instead of accurately handling the written words of the Bible, we should be motivated to use great caution and discernment while reading. Just like we should want to be careful to listen to each word of a friend or loved one in conversation so that we understand them clearly, we should want to be careful to understand each of God&#8217;s spoken word. That requires that we understand each word as God means it to be understood. And that requires that we first set aside man&#8217;s understanding. This is in keeping with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/nas\/passage\/?q=isaiah+55:8-9;+isaiah+14:24;+isaiah+53:6;+isaiah+65:2;+matthew+7:13-14;+psalm+119:176;+jeremiah+50:6;+daniel+9:1-5\">scripture that tells us that God&#8217;s ways are not man&#8217;s ways.<\/a> In other words, God&#8217;s words are not man&#8217;s words.<\/p>\n<p>God tries to make this point very clear when he says tells us to &#8220;accurately handle&#8221; his spoken word. In the original Greek text, the English words &#8220;<span class=\"verse-15\"><a class=\"strongs\" title=\"Strong's Number: 3718\" href=\"https:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/interlinear-bible\/strongs\/?t=nas&amp;ll=g&amp;sn=3718\" data-strongs-number=\"3718\">accurately<\/a><\/span>&#8221; and &#8220;<span class=\"verse-15\"><a class=\"strongs\" title=\"Strong's Number: 3718\" href=\"https:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/interlinear-bible\/strongs\/?t=nas&amp;ll=g&amp;sn=3718\" data-strongs-number=\"3718\">handling<\/a><\/span>&#8221; are the same Greek word <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/lexicons\/greek\/nas\/orthotomeo.html\">Orthotomeo which means to teach God&#8217;s spoken word clearly and correctly.<\/a> In other words, God repeats himself, saying &#8220;teach my words clearly and correctly&#8221; two times. When God repeats himself, we should always want to pay close attention. This is how we accurately handle his spoken word.<\/p>\n<p>When God puts this special emphasis on clear, correct handling of his spoken word, he is also warning against handling his words carelessly and inaccurately. People who read the Bible without listening to God&#8217;s spoken voice handle his words carelessly and inaccurately. Judaism and Christianity handle God&#8217;s words carelessly and inaccurately when they interpret the Bible literally. They interpret according to their religious\/cultural understandings of words instead of listening to God&#8217;s voice. Thus they lead themselves astray into deceitful religious doctrines based on those literal understandings. This is why it can be said that <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/religion\/religion-is-not-faith\/religion-is-deception\">religion is deception.<\/a><\/p>\n<p><span id=\"2ti2-15\" class=\"versetext\"><\/span> The only truth that matters to God are the words that he speaks with his mouth. His spoken words are <span id=\"2ti2-15\" class=\"versetext\">the only words that can be nothing but truth because <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/nas\/passage\/?q=numbers+23:19;+hebrews+6:18;+1-samuel+15:29;+psalm+89:34\">God does not lie or change his mind<\/a>. <\/span>This contrasts with anything spoken or written by someone who presumes to speak for God. Such things spoken or written always have the potential to be falsehoods and not truth. Thus it can be said that God&#8217;s <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/lexicons\/greek\/kjv\/logos.html\">spoken word<\/a> is the only <span id=\"2ti2-15\" class=\"versetext\">truth that matters to us.<br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span id=\"2ti2-15\" class=\"versetext\"> This condition applies to words written in the Bible as well as anything else written or spoken to represent God. Therefore, for <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/kjv\/2-timothy\/2-15.html\">2 Timothy 2:15 <\/a>to make any sense, we must conclude that there are parts the Bible that can be wrongly interpreted. Our challenge, therefore, is to discern which parts accurately represent God and which parts misrepresent him. This is how we show ourselves <span class=\"verse-15\">approved, unashamed Bible students.\u00a0 <\/span><br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Differentiating between truth and lies is the essence of choosing between the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/symbols-signs-types-copies-shadows-and-patterns\/breadfood-and-wine\/3#treeofknowledgeofgoodandevil\">Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil<\/a>. It is the essence of knowing the difference between <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/symbols-signs-types-copies-shadows-and-patterns\/breadfood-and-wine\/2#cleanuncleanfood\">clean and unclean food. <\/a><\/p>\n<p>The problem is that the truths represented in the Bible began as God&#8217;s voice spoken to the hearts of prophets. Interpreting and translating spiritual words is not easy because man&#8217;s flesh can spoil both the interpretation and the translation. This process has been happening ever since God&#8217;s word was first spoken to all of the prophets whose writings are included in the Bible. To make matters worse, the potential for errors in interpretation and translation were and are multiplied every time someone goes back to the original writings, whether Hebrew or Greek, and attempts to re-write what was first heard and written into his or her personal interpretation of God&#8217;s spoken voice. Anyone who has ever tried to give a verbal report of a spiritual encounter with God knows the challenge of reporting spiritual events in human terms. We may try, but the result never seems quite equal to the spiritual understanding we had when we first heard God&#8217;s voice.<\/p>\n<p>The way we see it, the potential for errors in hearing, interpreting and reporting what God has said is what God is referring to in <span id=\"2ti2-15\" class=\"versetext\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/kjv\/2-timothy\/2-15.html\">2 Timothy 2:15<\/a><\/span>. If the process of hearing, interpreting and reporting with human words, whether written or spoken, did not contain room for error, there would be no need for God to caution us about accurately handling the word of truth. In other words, God is allowing in this scripture that there is some truth in the interpreted and translated words included in the Bible. But he is not saying that it is all true. He wants his people to be able to discern the difference between what is true (i.e. his voice) and what is not true (i.e. the voice or words of men).<\/p>\n<p>God has made these issues a central feature of the New Covenant as we see in the following scriptures. Readers would do well to notice the many references to hearing God&#8217;s voice.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/jeremiah\/passage\/?q=jeremiah+31:31-34\">Jeremiah 31:31-34<\/a>\u00a0 &#8220;The time is coming,&#8221; declares the LORD, &#8220;when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. 32 It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them, &#8221; declares the LORD. 33 &#8220;This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time,&#8221; declares the LORD. &#8220;I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.34 No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, &#8216;Know the LORD,&#8217; because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,&#8221; declares the LORD. &#8220;For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><a title=\"Go to Deuteronomy 6:1-11 (Standard View)\" href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/rsv\/deuteronomy\/passage\/?q=deuteronomy+6:1-11\">Deuteronomy 6:1-11<\/a>\u00a0 &#8220;Now this is the commandment, the statutes and the ordinances which the LORD your God commanded me to teach you, that you may do them in the land to which you are going over, to possess it; 2 that you may fear the LORD your God, you and your son and your son&#8217;s son, by keeping all his statutes and his commandments, which I command you, all the days of your life; and that your days may be prolonged. 3 Hear therefore, O Israel, and be careful to do them; that it may go well with you, and that you may multiply greatly, as the LORD, the God of your fathers, has promised you, in a land flowing with milk and honey. 4 &#8220;Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD; 5 and you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. 6 And these words which I command you this day shall be upon your heart; 7 and you shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. 8 And you shall bind them as a sign upon your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. 10 &#8220;And when the LORD your God brings you into the land which he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give you, with great and goodly cities, which you did not build, 11 and houses full of all good things, which you did not fill, and cisterns hewn out, which you did not hew, and vineyards and olive trees, which you did not plant, and when you eat and are full,<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/rsv\/deuteronomy\/passage\/?q=deuteronomy+30:1-20\">Deuteronomy 30:1-20<\/a> <span id=\"de30-1\" class=\"versetext\" style=\"display: inline;\">&#8220;And when all these things come upon you, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before you, and you call them to mind among all the nations where the LORD your God has driven you, <\/span> <span id=\"de30-2\" class=\"versetext\" style=\"display: inline;\"><span class=\"versenum\">2<\/span> and return to the LORD your God, you and your children, and obey his voice in all that I command you this day, with all your heart and with all your soul; <\/span> <span id=\"de30-3\" class=\"versetext\" style=\"display: inline;\"><span class=\"versenum\">3<\/span><\/span> then the LORD your God will restore your fortunes, and have compassion upon you, and he will gather you again from all the peoples where the LORD your God has scattered you.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 150px;\">COMMENTARY: It is critical to notice that obedience to God&#8217;s voice is a key condition for these scriptures. See <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/gods-written-word-and-gods-spoken-voice\/how-to-hear-gods-spoken-voice\">this link <\/a>for more about hearing God&#8217;s voice.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 150px;\">God promised <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/rsv\/deuteronomy\/passage\/?q=deuteronomy+28:1-14\">blessings for obedience <\/a>and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/rsv\/deuteronomy\/passage\/?q=deuteronomy+28:15-68\">curses for disobedience<\/a>. Part of the curse is to exile Israel to other nations where <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/rsv\/deuteronomy\/28-64.html\">they shall serve other gods<\/a>. God&#8217;s idea is that while exiled Israel will remember the blessings it had before it fell into disobedience and then repent and return to God with all its heart and soul. This all describes a process in which Israel began in a\u00a0New Covenant relationship, fell into serving other gods (i.e. Old Covenant), was cursed for disobedience and exiled, repented, and was brought back again to obedience and New Covenant relationship.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 150px;\">We see here that the New Covenant relationship is not really new at all. Rather it is a &#8220;renewal&#8221; of the relationship that Israel had but lost through disobedience.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">4 If your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven, from there the LORD your God will gather you, and from there he will fetch you; 5 and the LORD your God will bring you into the land which your fathers possessed, that you may possess it; and he will make you more prosperous and numerous than your fathers. 6 And the LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live. 7 And the LORD your God will put all these curses upon your foes and enemies who persecuted you. 8 And you shall again obey the voice of the LORD, and keep all his commandments which I command you this day. 9 The LORD your God will make you abundantly prosperous in all the work of your hand, in the fruit of your body, and in the fruit of your cattle, and in the fruit of your ground; for the LORD will again take delight in prospering you, as he took delight in your fathers, 10 if you obey the voice of the LORD your God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which are written in this book of the law, if you turn to the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 150px;\">COMMENTARY: Here again we read about hearing God&#8217;s voice. This is\u00a0 a clue that the scripture is talking about the New Covenant. The inference in verse 8 of again obeying the voice of the Lord is that Israel had backslidden into listening to a human mediator (i.e. false prophet).<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 150px;\">Turning to the Lord (i.e. turning from listening to men) with heart and soul are also code words that refer to the New Covenant.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">11 &#8220;For this commandment which I command you this day is not too hard for you, neither is it far off. 12 It is not in heaven, that you should say, &#8216;Who will go up for us to heaven, and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?&#8217; 13 Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, &#8216;Who will go over the sea for us, and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?&#8217; 14 But the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can do it.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 150px;\">COMMENTARY: These verses say that it is not necessary to go anywhere to satisfy covenant requirements. The inference is that going to church, or synagogue or some holy shrine is an Old\/First Covenant religious rule inconsistent with the New Covenant where the<a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/rsv\/luke\/passage\/?q=luke+17:20-24\"> Kingdom of God is within &#8212; not in some worldly, physical location that is popularized by Old\/First Covenant religionists.<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">15 &#8220;See, I have set before you this day life and good, death and evil.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 150px;\">COMMENTARY: This is the same proposition that God made to Adam and Eve in the Garden regarding the Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Tree of Life is the New Covenant and the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil is the Old\/First Covenant.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">16 If you obey the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you this day, by loving the LORD your God, by walking in his ways, and by keeping his commandments and his statutes and his ordinances, then you shall live and multiply, and the LORD your God will bless you in the land which you are entering to take possession of it. 17 But if your heart turns away, and you will not hear, but are drawn away to worship other gods and serve them, 18 I declare to you this day, that you shall perish; you shall not live long in the land which you are going over the Jordan to enter and possess. 19 I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse; therefore choose life, that you and your descendants may live, 20 loving the LORD your God, obeying his voice, and cleaving to him; for that means life to you and length of days, that you may dwell in the land which the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 150px;\">COMMENTARY: The language here again parallels what God said to Adam and Eve. The basic choice is between spiritual life and death with the condition of obeying God&#8217;s voice. We also see the connection made between the Garden of Eden, obedience and the Promised Land.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 150px;\">Scriptural references to returning, restoration, gathering and fetching, confirm that the New Covenant is actually a renewed covenant to which God&#8217;s people are restored\u00a0 after a season of backsliding for which God has exiled them.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 150px;\">Life in a New Covenant relationship with God equates to eating from the Tree of Life. Death in an Old\/First Covenant relationship equates to eating from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Just as eating of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil demands the consequence of exile from the Garden, participation in Old\/First Covenant religion also results in separation from God. Returning to God, however, results in full restoration to the New Covenant relationship.<\/p>\n<p><!--nextpage--><\/p>\n<p><strong>THE LITERAL BIBLE IS IMPOSSIBLE TO UNDERSTAND<\/strong><br \/>\nReligious people who believe that they understand the Bible are deceived. They may know the words and understand those words in a human, worldly sense, but they do not know the symbolic meanings of those words. What they know leads them into religion, but does not lead them to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/symbols-signs-types-copies-shadows-and-patterns\/time-hours-days-weeks-and-ages\/eternity\">eternal life<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Here are only a few scriptures that confirm how difficult the Bible is to understand:<\/p>\n<table border=\"0\">\n<colgroup>\n<col width=\"50\" \/>\n<col width=\"650\" \/>\n<col width=\"0\" \/><\/colgroup>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td><\/td>\n<td>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/rsv\/numbers\/12-8.html\">Numbers 12:8 RSV<\/a>\u00a0 dark sayings<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/rsv\/psalms\/78-2.html\">Psalm 78:2 KJV<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/lexicons\/hebrew\/kjv\/mashal-3.html\">Proverbs<\/a> and dark sayings<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/rsv\/proverbs\/1-6.html\">Proverbs 1:6 KJV<\/a>\u00a0 Proverbs, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/lexicons\/hebrew\/nas\/meliytsah.html\">figures<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/lexicons\/hebrew\/nas\/chiydah.html\">riddles <\/a><\/li>\n<li><a title=\"Go to Daniel 5:12 (Standard View)\" href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/daniel\/5-12.html\">Daniel<\/a> <a title=\"Go to Daniel 5:12 (Standard View)\" href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/daniel\/5-12.html\">5:12<\/a>\u00a0 extraordinary spirit, knowledge and insight, interpretation of dreams,explanation of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/lexicons\/hebrew\/nas\/achiydah-aramaic.html\">enigmas<\/a> and solving of difficult <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/lexicons\/hebrew\/nas\/qetar-aramaic.html\">problems<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a title=\"Go to John 16:25 (Standard View)\" href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/john\/16-25.html\">John 16:25<\/a>\u00a0 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/lexicons\/greek\/nas\/paroimia.html\">figurative language<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/rsv\/job\/passage\/?q=job+33:9-19\">Job 33:9-19<\/a> God speaks in multiple ways including <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/lexicons\/hebrew\/kjv\/chalowm.html\">dreams<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/lexicons\/hebrew\/kjv\/chizzayown.html\">visions<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<td><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>It is not that God has intentionally made understanding of His word difficult. The problem is that he speaks with one language and humans speak another language.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 120px;\">STUDY TIP: See <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/gods-written-word-and-gods-spoken-voice#whatgodsvoiceislike\">this link for understanding of what God&#8217;s voice is like.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>God&#8217;s language makes perfect sense to him, but <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/1-corinthians\/passage\/?q=1-corinthians+2:12-14\">is foolishness to humans.<\/a> The problem is that people listen with their natural ears and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/nas\/passage\/?q=deuteronomy+29:1-4;+isaiah+6:9-10;+matthew+13:19;+mark+8:17;+ezekiel+12:2;+matthew+13:14-19;+acts+28:26-27;+ezekiel+3:10;+malachi+2:2\">God speaks to hearts<\/a>. The only way people can hear his voice, therefore, is to allow God to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/gods-written-word-and-gods-spoken-voice\/the-law\/the-law-is-a-stumbling-block\/signs-wonders-and-miracles\/4\">change their hearts<\/a>. But God does not change the hearts of religious people unless and until they do the following:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul>\n<li>Stop listening to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/symbols-signs-types-copies-shadows-and-patterns\/people\/religion-is-the-kingdom-of-false-prophets\">false prophets<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>Admit that <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/religion\/religion-is-sin\">religion is sin<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/religion\/god-is-calling-people-out-of-religion\">Cease practicing religion.<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/nas\/passage\/?q=matthew+3:1-2;+matthew+4:17;+matthew+11:20-21;+matthew+12:41;+acts+2:38;+acts+5:31;+acts+20:18-21;+acts+26:18-20;+mark+1:14-15;+luke+24:45-47;+ezekiel+18:30;+ezekiel+33:9-12;+revelation+2:16;+psalm+4:1-4;+isaiah+59:20;+ezekiel+3:19\">Repent for practicing religion.<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/religion\/religion-is-not-faith\/pride\/20\">Humble themselves.<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/study\/2\">Listen for God&#8217;s voice while studying the Bible<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>People who do these things will find that proverbs, dark sayings, figures, riddles, dreams and visions all refer to obscure spiritual truths that are no longer hidden. If they resist <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/gods-written-word-and-gods-spoken-voice\/#temptationsofjesus\">temptations<\/a> to take the Bible literally, God will soon begin <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/6#mysteriesrevealed\">revealing to them the mysteries of the Bible<\/a>. From that point on, the Bible which was impossible to understand becomes understandable &#8212; as long as they do not return to religion.<\/p>\n<p>People who do these things will find that their religious friends will\u00a0 argue with them to return to religion and Biblical literalism. The <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/symbols-signs-types-copies-shadows-and-patterns\/world\/2#parablesower\">parable of the sower<\/a> is instructive about this situation.<\/p>\n<p>People who do these things will sooner or later find that their friendships with religious people will deteriorate. This should not be surprising because <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/passage\/?q=john+15:18-21;+luke+6:22;+john+16:2;+matthew+5:10-12;+matthew+10:22-23;+matthew+24:9;+mark+13:9-13;+luke+21:12;+luke+21:16-17;+john+15:18-20;+matthew+5:44\">Jesus gave clear warnings that his followers would be persecuted<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 160px;\">STUDY TIP: See <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/symbols-signs-types-copies-shadows-and-patterns\/time-hours-days-weeks-and-ages\/end-times-rapture-and-tribulation\/4\">this link for understanding of what people who leave religion can expect from religious people who were formerly their friends.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>People who do these things will learn what Jesus meant when he said that <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/symbols-signs-types-copies-shadows-and-patterns\/people\/true-prophets\/jesus\/9\">he did not come to bring peace but that he came with a sword.<\/a> They will learn that religious people love the Bible even though it is impossible to understand.<\/p>\n<p>Religious people believe they understand the literal words that instruct them about their religion and their <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/gods-written-word-and-gods-spoken-voice\/the-law\/6#religiouslaws\">religious laws<\/a>. Fully convinced about their beliefs, they resent what anyone says that conflicts with their beliefs. The parts they don&#8217;t understand are not important to them because those parts do not fit into <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/gods-written-word-and-gods-spoken-voice\/the-law\/two-covenantspart1\/faith-grace-mercy-peace-love-heart-glory-blessing-spirit-and-truth\/oil-water-face-hands\/the-gospel\/7#differencesfalsetruegospels\">their idea of the gospel.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The pathetic irony of Judaism and Christianity is that they say they believe the words of the entire Bible are true, while also admitting that there is much of the Bible (i.e. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/symbols-signs-types-copies-shadows-and-patterns\" aria-haspopup=\"true\">Symbols, Signs, Types, Parables, Copies, and Shadows)<\/a> that they don&#8217;t understand. The <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/forum-descriptions\/hypocrisy\">hypocrisy<\/a> of this disconnect will continue to plague religious people until they respond to God&#8217;s call to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/religion\/god-is-calling-people-out-of-religion\">come out of religion<\/a> and obey his <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/rsv\/passage\/?q=exodus+15:22-26;+exodus+23:20-25;+exodus+19:1-5;+jeremiah+7:23-26;+jeremiah+11:1-4;+matthew+4:1-4;+deuteronomy+8:1-3;+job+22:21-23;+psalm+119:9-13;+psalm+138:4;+isaiah+28:23;+jeremiah+11:1-7;+jeremiah+22:21;+psalm+106:25;+nehemiah+9:29;+jeremiah+11:10;+jeremiah+13:11;+zechariah+7:11;+isaiah+46:12;+matthew+13:15;genesis+22:18;+exodus+23:21-22;+numbers+7:89;+numbers+14:22;+deuteronomy+4:12;+deuteronomy+4:30;+deuteronomy+4:36;+deuteronomy+5:22-26;+deuteronomy+8:20;+deuteronomy+9:23;+deuteronomy+13:4;+deuteronomy+13:18;+deuteronomy+15:5;+deuteronomy+26:14;+deuteronomy+26:17;+deuteronomy+30:20;+joshua+5:6;+joshua+10:14;+joshua+22:2;+joshua+24:24;+psalm+81:11;+psalm+95:7;+psalm+106:25;+jeremiah+3:13;+jeremiah+3:25;+jeremiah+7:23;+jeremiah+7:28;+jeremiah+9:13;+jeremiah+11:4;+jeremiah+11:7;+jeremiah+18:10;+jeremiah+22:20-21;+jeremiah+26:13;+jeremiah+32:23;+jeremiah+40:3;+jeremiah+42:6;+jeremiah+42:13-14;+jeremiah+43:1-7;+jeremiah+44:23;+isaiah+28:23;+isaiah+32:9;+isaiah+55:1-3;daniel+9:9-11\">commands to listen to his voice<\/a>. Then, and only then will the full Bible be understandable.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 160px;\">STUDY TIP: See\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/gods-written-word-and-gods-spoken-voice\/literal-or-symbolic-interpretation-part-1\">Literal or Symbolic Interpretation Part 1<\/a> for more discussion about difficult scriptures.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>STUDY NOTE: This series of pages must be considered along with these pages: Mystery God\u2019s Written Word and God\u2019s Spoken Voice Literal or Symbolic Interpretation Part 1 Literal or Symbolic Interpretation Part 3 RELIGION ALWAYS INTERPRETS SCRIPTURE LITERALLY It does <span class=\"excerpt-dots\">&hellip;<\/span> <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/gods-written-word-and-gods-spoken-voice\/literal-or-symbolic-interpretation-part-2\"><span class=\"more-msg\">Continue reading &rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":1863,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1852","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1852","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1852"}],"version-history":[{"count":88,"href":"https:\/\/thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1852\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12455,"href":"https:\/\/thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1852\/revisions\/12455"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1863"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1852"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}