{"id":1854,"date":"2016-04-25T05:29:23","date_gmt":"2016-04-25T10:29:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/?page_id=1854"},"modified":"2025-07-26T14:25:37","modified_gmt":"2025-07-26T19:25:37","slug":"mystery","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery","title":{"rendered":"MYSTERY"},"content":{"rendered":"

GOD DIDN’T MAKE KNOWING HIM EASY<\/strong><\/a>
\nWhat God has to say\u00a0regarding symbolic meanings of the Bible may be summarized in two words: mystery and secrets<\/a>. We know this because God has told us that it is a mystery in his many references to dark sayings<\/a>, proverbs and riddles<\/a>, figures of speech, words of the wise and riddles, <\/a>dreams and visions<\/a>, enigmas, <\/a>difficult problems<\/a>, <\/a><\/span>shadows, <\/a>types and patterns<\/a>, parables\/taunts\/proverbs<\/a>, and symbols, signs and allegories.<\/a> These symbolic meanings remain mysteries and secrets for Old\/First Covenant religionists, but are available for discovery by New Covenant disciples.<\/a><\/p>\n

Religion provides a useful service to people who are unwilling to seek out the mysteries of God themselves. Religious leaders convince lazy religionists that they (i.e. the religious leaders) know everything worth knowing about God. Religious leaders) convince their followers that they will learn everything they need to know about God if they will come to their religious services, listen to sermons, read their books, buy their music, and pay a price called a tithe or offering. It is a commercial transaction in which knowledge of God is dispensed in exchanged for money.<\/p>\n

The ones who teach are false prophets, and the ones who listen to their teachings are deceived because they listen to the voices of false prophets — not to God’s spoken voice. When false prophets reduce God to simple sermons, books or songs, they totally miss the mystery and depth of God that is available only to people who listen to his voice.<\/p>\n

STUDY TIP: Only\u00a0New Covenant<\/a> disciples are able to interpret<\/a> the mysteries<\/a> and secrets<\/a> hidden in the symbolic language of the Bible. They are able to interpret the many\u00a0Symbols, Signs, Types, Parables, Copies, and Shadows <\/a>found in\u00a0the Bible because\u00a0God has written his laws on their hearts.<\/a><\/p>\n

The ability to hear God’s spoken voice<\/a> is the sign that\u00a0 indicates when God has written his laws on the hearts<\/a> of someone. It can be said, therefore, that people who deny the ability to hear God’s voice also deny that God’s laws are written on their hearts. That denial confirms that those people are Old\/First Covenant<\/a> religionists who interpret the Bible literally — not symbolically<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The ability to hear God’s spoken voice is evidence that someone has been born again. Only people who have been born by the spirit<\/a> are able to hear the words of the spirit of God<\/a> spoken to the heart. All others are born of the flesh. They only understand human wisdom and are unable to understand spiritual words<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Religious leaders try to explain Bible mysteries with\u00a0 intellectual explanations embellished with clever human knowledge<\/a> and no small amount of imaginative speculation<\/a>. Religious people who are hungry to know more about God, but unable to hear his voice, eat up this unclean food<\/a> thinking that their leaders are anointed with special knowledge and insights that are not available to them. Religious people consume the words (i.e. teachings and writings) of false prophets<\/a> thinking that doing so makes them righteous. They wrongly believe that taking human words into the human mind is the same as hearing God’s spoken voice in the heart. Therefore, they do not realize that they are actually sinning by eating the unclean food served to them by trees of knowledge of good and evil.<\/a><\/p>\n

Religious leaders tend to ignore most mysteries because they don’t understand them and can’t explain them. All religious people think that if they understand a few basic doctrines and practice their religion more or less faithfully they will be right with God. For them, understanding mysteries is optional and not all that important. It may not be important to them, but we know that understanding is important to God because he has made all scripture available for training in righteousness.<\/a><\/p>\n

Failure to seek understanding about mysteries is an indicator of the way people feel about God. They are content with knowledge that God is love and that he loves them, but anything beyond that is optional. Failure to seek understanding also says much about the desire to be righteous.<\/p>\n

Knowledge about God exists in Biblical mysteries and symbolism — not in simplified doctrines deduced<\/a> from literal interpretations of the Bible. People who seek to understand mysteries show that they hunger and thirst for righteousness<\/a>. People who vigorously ask, seek and knock<\/a> for understanding of mysteries show that they love God with their heart, mind soul and strength.<\/a> All the rest are just religious.<\/p>\n

We may rightly conclude from all the mysterious, symbolic language of the Bible and the mysteries that surround God are puzzles<\/a> to be solved. And from the fact that there are so many religions, we may rightly conclude that none of these religions have solved the puzzle and that their love for God is lukewarm<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Religious people who depend on religious leaders to explain mysteries will never come to understanding of God and his ways. As long as they trust false prophets to teach them<\/a> about God, God\u00a0 denies understanding<\/a> because they willfully and ignorantly insert an idol (i.e. teacher) between themselves and God instead of listening to God’s voice.<\/a> In God’s eyes these religious leaders are idols and the people who listen to them are idolaters.<\/p>\n

STUDY TIP: See Religion is Idolatry, <\/a>Religion is the Kingdom of False Prophets<\/a> and this link about adultery and prostitution<\/a> for more about how God sees the relationship between religious leaders and followers.<\/p>\n

Also see\u00a0 Literal or Symbolic Interpretation Part 1.<\/a><\/p>\n

One of the first indications of God’s mysterious character is found in his revelation of himself to Moses and the Israelites in a pillar of cloud <\/a>and a pillar of fire<\/a>. These images symbolize his mysterious, spiritual qualities which are only observable with spiritual eyes and are not observable with natural eyes or available through human understanding. <\/a><\/p>\n

Because we are able to gain some limited understanding of the Bible through literal interpretation, we think we understand God and the Bible. But, because God works in mysterious ways, it is not well understood that this level of understanding is based exclusively on human wisdom of natural words written by men and spoken by men. It is not based on spiritual understanding that is available only to New Covenant disciples (i.e. people taught by the spirit of God). <\/a><\/p>\n

As further evidence that the Bible is mysterious and hard to understand, we observe the fact of many religious denominations that all claim to worship the same God. If the Bible were simple and universally understandable, there would be no need for so many denominations to establish different\u00a0doctrines and create distinctive worship practices. Moreover, there would not be two religions (i.e. Jews and Christians) that claim to love and serve the same God.<\/p>\n

What happens, it seems, is that in their literal interpretations of the Bible,\u00a0people find a unique scripture or two that they think they understand and that logically seems to represent God. Then they teach and preach that doctrine and find others who agree that it seems true. Before you know it, a movement, a denomination and church is formed. What they have created, however, is only a golden calf<\/a>, a\u00a0religion made by man. It is not God. It is man’s limited conception of God based on a few select scriptures which have been literally interpreted — but not spiritually discerned<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Once the teaching of those select doctrines catches on, other churches are formed around a common belief regarding those select doctrines. If many churches subscribe to that teaching,\u00a0\u00a0there is eventually enough critical mass for a denomination.<\/p>\n

While this movement is gaining momentum, preaching and programs tend to affirm the select scriptures that support the doctrines on which the denomination is based. Other scriptures that do not support those doctrines are ignored at best, and rejected at worst.<\/p>\n

The scriptures that are ignored or rejected remain in the category of “mystery” because no one in the denomination bothers to study them to gain understanding about the mystery. They are content with the religion they have created and have no motivation to ask, seek and knock<\/a> so they might understand the wisdom of God that is hidden in the mysteries<\/a>. Furthermore, denominational leaders do not encourage denominational adherents to study those scriptures either. As a result, everyone in the movement remains ignorant about the mysteries.<\/p>\n

STUDY TIP: Human wisdom is found in the literal interpretation of the Bible. Spiritual wisdom is found in the symbolic meanings behind\u00a0 the literal words. See the following links for more about literal and symbolic interpretation of the Bible:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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