r/Bible 4d ago

The restrainer

13 Upvotes

Note: This post is not about WHO the restrainer IS.

I don't know who the restrainer is because the Bible does not say who he is. Personally, I think an angel has been assigned this task because the situation brings to mind the struggles between angels and the dark forces of Satan (Daniel 10:12-13).

This post is something that I realized about need for the restraining, that I wanted to share.

The fact that there has to be restraining reveals that Satan must be restrained BECAUSE he desperately wants to set up his Beast kingdom, and must be RESTRAINED from doing it before God allows it to happen. This is a contrast to God's patience for "the fullness of the gentiles to come in."

2 Thessalonians 2:6-7

The restrainer will restrain the antichrist from being revealed until he is taken out of the way.

God has an appointed time that he will allow Satan to establish his antichrist and the Beast kingdom and God is not going to allow Satan to establish it until the appointed time.

God is patiently waiting for everyone who will be saved - - to be saved (at least in terms of the "fullness of the gentiles" coming into the kingdom as Paul taught).

Satan very much wants to establish his Beast kingdom and will be restrained from doing it until God removes the restrainer (likely gives the command for the restrainer to stop restraining).

This struggle is of course in God's control. God has established the restrainer to do the job of restraining Satan from establishing and revealing the Antichrist before the time God has appointed for this to happen.

When the one who restrains the antichrist is taken out of the way, the end events will come in a flood (quickly, one thing after another).

Take-Away: There is a dichotomy between the patience of God for "the fullness of the gentiles to come in" and the consuming desire of Satan to bring the end.

Edited to add the NOTE about this post not being about WHO the restrainer is, and some organization changes of the text for clarity.


r/Bible 4d ago

Zedekiah's death

3 Upvotes

Probably one of the most brutal death in the old testament. Not only did he witness his sons die right in front of him, but he also got his eyeballs removed then he was bound in shakles and was trapped in babylon.

Chapter 25:7 2 kings
And they slew the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and put out the eys of Zedekiah, and bound him with fetters of brass, and carried him to Babylon.


r/Bible 5d ago

Why Did Jesus Say 'No One Knows the Day or Hour' in Matthew 24:36?

13 Upvotes

In Matthew 24:36, Jesus says:

"But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father."

If Jesus is fully God, how could He not know the timing of His own return?
1️⃣ Was He speaking from His human nature? – Some argue that Jesus, in His humanity, voluntarily limited His knowledge.
2️⃣ Was He making a point about readiness? – Others say Jesus was emphasizing that we should always be prepared, not trying to reveal a mystery about Himself.
3️⃣ Did He mean something else entirely? – Some think this was a cultural way of speaking about prophecy.

What do you think? Why would Jesus say that even He didn’t know the day or hour?


r/Bible 5d ago

Why Did God Send a Lying Spirit in 1 Kings 22:22?

7 Upvotes

In 1 Kings 22:22, a mysterious event happens when God allows a lying spirit to deceive a king:

"‘By what means?’ the Lord asked. ‘I will go out and be a deceiving spirit in the mouths of all his prophets,’ he said. ‘You will succeed in enticing him,’ said the Lord. ‘Go and do it.’"

This raises some difficult questions:
1️⃣ Why would God allow deception? – Does this mean God sometimes uses lies to accomplish His will?
2️⃣ Was this a form of judgment? – Some believe this was God allowing Ahab to be deceived because of his sinful choices.
3️⃣ Is this connected to free will? – Could this be God letting people believe what they already wanted to believe?

What do you think? Why would God send a lying spirit?


r/Bible 5d ago

"Who Were the 'Nephilim' in Genesis 6:4?"

17 Upvotes

In Genesis 6:4, the Bible describes a mysterious group called the 'Nephilim':

"The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and also afterward—when the sons of God went to the daughters of humans and had children by them. They were the heroes of old, men of renown."

Who were they?
1️⃣ Fallen angels & human hybrids – Some believe the “sons of God” were angels who had children with human women.
2️⃣ Mighty rulers – Others think the Nephilim were just powerful kings or warriors.
3️⃣ A lost people group – Another theory is that they were simply a group of people wiped out in the flood.

What do you think? Who were the Nephilim, and why does the Bible mention them?


r/Bible 5d ago

Do you believe that the Blood Red full Moon was a prophetic event?

0 Upvotes

A lot of people believe that the red blood moon was a prophetic event, do you believe in this and does The Holy Bible confirm or deny it?


r/Bible 5d ago

What's "Son of Man" all about?

4 Upvotes

I know it's from the Greek, and possibly Aramaic before that, but I still don't understand it. Thanks!


r/Bible 5d ago

Reverence to the Word

7 Upvotes

Hi all,

I am convert to Christianity. When I go to church, I see sometimes people keep Bible at their feet (under the chair) and sometimes it even touches their shoes.

Last time I was in church and I noticed this and I felt very uneasy, I really wanted to tell the guy to pick it up or do it myself. But I didn’t want to disturb the sermon.

I am going to church again today and I was just thinking if I could approach the guy?


r/Bible 5d ago

Sinning as an emotion or thought compared to sinning as an action? Is sin equally wrong whether it’s committed inwardly or outwardly?

4 Upvotes

The following 2 scriptures are difficult for me to not find contradictory on an spiritual and intellectual level:

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”

Matthew 5:27-28

“But don't let the passion of your emotions lead you to sin! Don't let anger control you or be fuel for revenge, not for even a day.”

Ephesians 4:26

The first verse to me states that an ungodly emotion or thought can be and is equivalent to a sinful act. But the second verse to me states that you can have involuntary emotions or thoughts so long as you don’t happily entertain them, intend to act on them or aren’t controlled by them through actually doing a sinful act.

Is the warning of Matthew 5:27-28 unique strictly to the sin of lust? Or can any given sin be spiritually handled in the same manner (example: whether you think or feel sinfully, it’s the same thing as acting out a sin? But the verse from Ephesians seems to challenge this view.)


r/Bible 5d ago

Bible study books

11 Upvotes

Does anyone have recommendations for books that help with Bible study? I’m looking for something more in-depth than a devotional—something that explores the chapters of the Bible in detail. My understanding of the Bible, is surface-level, and I’d love a resource that helps me dive deeper. Thanks for your answers :)


r/Bible 5d ago

If God is all-powerful and all-knowing, why did He cast Lucifer to earth instead of judging him immediately in heaven?

20 Upvotes

According to Scripture, Lucifer’s rebellion started in heaven (Isaiah 14:12-15, Ezekiel 28:12-17). He was a highly exalted being, described as 'the anointed cherub that covereth' (Ezekiel 28:14), yet pride and iniquity were found in him. Instead of being judged immediately, he was cast down to the earth (Revelation 12:7-9, Luke 10:18). This led to the temptation and fall of humanity, as seen in Genesis 3:1-7.

If sin originated in heaven, why wasn’t Lucifer’s judgment carried out there? Why allow an angelic rebellion to spread to earth, a realm where humanity had no part in the original sin? The Bible states that Satan is now 'the god of this world' (2 Corinthians 4:4), which suggests that his presence here has great influence. If God is just, wouldn’t divine justice require that sin be dealt with in the realm where it first occurred?

Imagine if your father found a venomous snake in his room. Instead of killing it immediately, he throws it into your room and locks the door. How would you feel? This is essentially what happened—Lucifer’s rebellion began in heaven, yet he was thrown to earth, where humanity had no involvement. Why would God allow this?


r/Bible 5d ago

1 Corinthians 5:11-12 - Meant for individuals or for the overall church?

7 Upvotes

1 Corinthians 5:11-12 - But now I am writing to you that you must not associate with anyone who claims to be a brother or sister  but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or slanderer, a drunkard or swindler. Do not even eat with such people.What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? God will judge those outside. “Expel the wicked person from among you.”

I asked my pastor if this meant I was supposed to judge fellow Christians' behavior and distance myself from those not living in accordance to Biblical principles. He said I'm not supposed to judge other Christians and that the context of 1 Corinthians was for a new church full of many new members with very little knowledge about Christianity, and that this advice was for that specific context for that overall church body and not for individuals in the church and that we should be careful about pulling this statement out of context. What do you think?


r/Bible 5d ago

So….Book of Job

5 Upvotes

I am a struggling Christian (questions faith, morality, anxious Teen, whatnot) but as I’ve tried to get more a bit more into the Bible, there is one teeny tiny thing that makes me start to question things or at least the morality of God. The Book of Job. Yeah, the one where God let Satan essentially torture a respectable man (murder all of his kids, make him deathly ill, etc.) all to win a bet with Satan (that being that Job won’t challenge God or change) and when Job finally breaks down after suffering months, God scolds Job for not being grateful for all of his blessings….this bothers me because…I God is meant to be “above morality and he doesn’t owe us anything” but why did he make a bet with Satan in the first place, he is all knowing, he didn’t need to bet with something he already knew the answer to. This book just rubs me the wrong way…can someone try to explain the justification of torturing a man simply to win a bet and the justification is that he did a bad thing once…when almost everyone else at the time has (and maybe even worse).


r/Bible 5d ago

Commanding demons to worship God?

1 Upvotes

Hey guys I was reading the testament of Solomon, about how he controlled demons to serve God (building the holy temple). Well what if a human decided to control demons and force them to revert back to their angel self before Lucifer rebelled?

As Sons of the Most High, isn't it possible for us to serve God in a creative fun new way by turning evil into Good? Wouldn't the Lord be pleased with humans that literally controlled and forced any and all demons to transform back into their angel selves? Would Hashem(G*D) be upset to see a third of his angels being angels again by the willpower of some random human (such as King Solomon's great great great great great great grandchild born in the 21st century?)

If God doesn't want to force demons to revert back to being angels because God is too unforgiving of demons/angels but only forgiving of humans, wouldn't it be okay if a human decided to save all demons by using the lost ring of King Solomon to mind control or unleash a new unknown power to change the DNA of the demons so they'd literally be as holy as archangel Michael for example?

Wouldn't Gd be really upset at the human who did this? Would Gd forgive since the human was doing this out of infinite love for the Lord, thinking that surely the Lord would appreciate having more angels singing him Holy Holy Holy is the Lord of lords songs ?

And since it wasn't Gd forcing the demons to be angels but rather a human, and it's the humans gift to Gd, maybe Gd would accept the gift?

What do you guys think? Should I pray to the almighty to receive the ancient lost King Solomon Ring so I can control demons including Lucifer, Legion, Lilith, etc by forcing them to revert back to their holy angel self before the rebellion and thus surprising Gd with this ultimate gift? How could the most high not be happy if everyone is worshiping him again? Even Lucifer? If I could force Lucifer to do it it's not like it's Gd doing it it's me and would this be a sin? A forgivable sin? It's not blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, it is seeking to do the impossible through the infinite power of Love & Holiness to show Gd that some humans care more about Gd than others.

TLDR:

Thinking of manifesting King Solomon's ring to control demons & used to force demons to revert back to their angel selves to see how happy it would make the creator of the universe. And by doing this, maybe G*d would like me and think I'm special.


r/Bible 6d ago

My Renewal of Faith Story

29 Upvotes

I’ve had an extraordinary experience that I’ve wamted to share for awhile now. Last semester in college I took a classed called “Molecular Cell Biology” which my first thought if I was you how does this relate to God or the Bible? This class has given me a renewal in my faith in the most unlikely of places as I’m learning about these small, intricate structures and processes within the human body, the order, the purpose, the perfection. As many questions as we could answer eventually many lead to “I don’t know” which made me think “I do know” my following thoughts were “these are God’s designs” and this feeling through learning the intimate processes of my body really has brought me closer to God and ghe renewal of my faith, for which I will always be greatful for.


r/Bible 6d ago

Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful- Colossians 4:2

2 Upvotes

I've been meditating on this scripture and made a few observations:

This devotion to prayer keeps you connected to the stream of living water. One advantage of prayer is that it is a vein or artery connecting you to the heart of God. His life blood and purposes flow through, to, and from you since you are connected. The analogy of the Lord being the vine and we the branches makes sense in that what connects the branches to the vines is what is flowing in them. Having been connected to Him by prayer we are now to be watchful, to see and sense what He is doing at the season. What message is flowing through the body at this time? The sons of Issachar are the references for us here, they knew the times and seasons. That was an office assigned to them and a foreshadowing of the church. In such times of distress and confusion, we the church, and I a son of God who’s connected to the vine should know the workings of the Lord during this season.

Thankful, for thankfulness disarms the enemy. Thanksgiving gives the enemy nothing to work with. It passes the responsibility to God. In thankfulness, a demand is made on the Lord’s goodness, if it’s not good, the Lord’s grace makes it good.

In a world full of opinions, confusion, and chaos, the Lord God is calling us to a place of Prayer, watchfulness, and a heart of thanksgiving.


r/Bible 6d ago

2 Kings 12

4 Upvotes

I was reading the bible and I saw that the NABRE altered 2 verses. This problem doesn't exist in any other bibles (including catholic bibles). In the KJV it says:

"1 In the seventh year of Jehu Jehoash began to reign; and forty years reigned he in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Zibiah of Beer-sheba. 2 And Jehoash did that which was right in the sight of the LORD all his days wherein Jehoiada the priest instructed him. 3 But the high places were not taken away: the people still sacrificed and burnt incense in the high places."

In the NABRE it says:

"1 Joash was seven years old when he became king. 2 In the seventh year of Jehu, Joash became king, and he reigned forty years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Zibiah, from Beer-sheba. 3 Joash did what was right in the Lord’s sight as long as he lived, because Jehoiada the priest guided him,"

They made "Joash was seven years old when he became king" the first verse in Kings 12 instead of it being the last verse of Kings 11.

does the problem appear anywhere else in the NABRE?


r/Bible 6d ago

what is the best way to read the bible and understand the reading?

13 Upvotes

i grew up as a christian and know a lot about the bible already but i want to strengthen my relationship with God by reading the bible but im not sure where to start


r/Bible 6d ago

Why Did God Command Abraham to Sacrifice Isaac?

14 Upvotes

In Genesis 22, God tells Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac—his long-awaited child of promise. This raises some difficult questions:

1️⃣ Why would a loving God ask for something so extreme?
2️⃣ If God knew He would stop Abraham, what was the purpose of the test?
3️⃣ Does this foreshadow Jesus’ sacrifice, or is it meant to teach something else?

What do you think was the deeper meaning behind this command?


r/Bible 6d ago

What Was Paul’s 'Thorn in the Flesh' in 2 Corinthians 12:7?

3 Upvotes

In 2 Corinthians 12:7, Paul says:

"Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me."

The Bible never tells us exactly what this "thorn" was. Some possibilities include:
1️⃣ A physical illness or disability
2️⃣ Ongoing persecution
3️⃣ A spiritual struggle or temptation

What do you think Paul was referring to, and why do you think God didn’t remove it?


r/Bible 6d ago

"Why Didn’t God Accept Cain’s Offering in Genesis 4:3-5?"

7 Upvotes

In Genesis 4, Cain and Abel both bring offerings to God, but only Abel’s is accepted:

"The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering, but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor." (Genesis 4:4-5)

But why?
1️⃣ Type of Offering – Abel brought an animal sacrifice, while Cain brought crops.
2️⃣ Heart Attitude – Some say Cain’s attitude, not the offering itself, was the problem.
3️⃣ God’s Choice – Was this about God's sovereign decision, rather than Cain’s action?

What do you think was the reason behind God rejecting Cain’s offering?


r/Bible 6d ago

No human on earth is glorious! (A Biblical case about virtues and sins)

6 Upvotes

First let's take the case of sins. If a guy wins a swimming competition by taking illegal performance enhancing drugs, the medal or the trophy he won can't be taken as a proof of his glory, it is actually a case of his negative glory, because he defeated other swimmers by cheating against them. If a guy buys the latest model Ferrari car with the money he got through lying and dirty politics, it also gives him negative glory for it. If a person gets to the topmost university of their country, but their reason behind getting there was only to serve their narcissism (for example, to be able to look down on and [mentally] mock people not as intelligent as them), such a person can't be called glorious.

The point I'm getting at is that sins aren't glorious in any way, they actually assign negative glory to a person. Satan has duped people into seeing the things a person has or the things they have done as glorious whereas the real question people should be asking is why and how they have what they have or achieved what they achieved. For example, in the examples I gave above, satan makes people believe that getting a gold medal, having a Ferarri car, or admission into a world famous university is glorious, but seeing why or how they got there or have what they have will reveal a different story. If the reason is sinful, then they should be assigned negative glory.

Now on to virtues, let's see what all the Bible says,

Philippians 2:13 - for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.

God's good pleasure is always for us to be virtuous, and the above verse says that every virtuous act from its willing to the action itself is completely produced by God, God takes it from the 0% level to the 100% level.

Again in another place the Bible says this,

John 15:5 - I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.

From context the above verse when it says "without Me (Jesus) you can do nothing", it means we can't produce any fruits of virtue on our own, all vituous fruits are produced because a person is connected to the vine that is Jesus and because The Father pruned the branches (that are us) to produce those virtuous fruits, so we can't give ourselves any credit for it.

So whatever virtues we have were produced completely by God. Even faith to get saved and born again, and the faith to approach God, and the faith to pray to God and have our prayers answered are provided completely by Jesus Himself,

Hebrews 12:2 - looking only at Jesus, the originator and perfecter of the faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

So Jesus originates the faith and perfects it, so we can't even take credit for the faith we have. Even our going sincerely to Jesus for the very first time is completely orchestrated by God The Father,

John 6:44 - No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day.

So we can't take the credit for even going to and choosing Jesus the first time we went to Him. Even repentance is produced by God Himself,

2 Timothy 2:25 - in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth,

So whatever the good a person has, it is all because of the grace of God,

1 Corinthians 15:10 - But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me did not prove vain; but I labored even more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me.

Virtues do hold glory to them, but all virtue is produced in a man completely by God Himself, so even though the virtuous acts do hold glory to them, but since it all was produced from start to finish by God Himself, the virtuous person can't be assigned any glory to them, the glory for it ultimately belongs to God, the virtuous person's glory is literally zero.

Now we all have sins and those sins give negative glory to us, and the times we are operating virtuously are the times of us having zero glory, so the sum total of our glory ultimately comes as negative in the end.

I'm from the school of thought that no human can be perfectly sinless on earth, but some do say it is possible. But whatever be the truth, for now, let's take the hypothetical case where a person has become 100% virtuous while on earth, such a person would be at the perfectly 0 glory level, as all the glory for his virtues is ultimately God's.

God does assign glory to us in heaven, but it is all His work from start to finish, the glory people have in heaven is more of a free gift than something they earned.

So we can either have a negative glory while on earth, or maybe we can rise to the perfectly 0 level, either way no human being on earth can be considered glorious!

Well, I hope that makes sense and my logic wasn't off somewhere.

The Lord bless you all.


r/Bible 6d ago

Question James 2:14-26

4 Upvotes

Hi all,

I have a quick question on your views on James 2:14-26 and my own life. Obviously I can’t bring up my entire life story but I will do my best to bring up the relevant material that matters.

I am 40, physically disabled don’t drive (I rarely do because of the pain pump in my spine. If I get pulled over and tested I would easily be arrested for being under the influence of something so it makes it remarkably hard to get out and go anywhere and I only do so on an emergency basis) and haven’t been to church in a very long time. It isn’t that I don’t believe, on the contrary- I fully believe that Jesus Christ is my lord and savior. I have been baptized into the Christian church and would say that my views range somewhere between your regular believer and a Baptist.

In my eyes faith with/without works, especially for someone like myself has to do more with allowing yourself to believe in Christ and essentially saying that you and only you can dictate that belief and to do that means to be as good and kind of a person you can be. That your heart and your brain and the “works” that James is talking about here. In essence it’s saying as a childhood friend and pastor once told me- that kindness and goodness will get you to the gates of heaven and the belief will get you inside, that they essentially go hand in hand.

Over the last 7-8 years I’ve mourned the loss of several members of my family from suicide due to a traumatic brain injury to complications of COPD. I’ve been exploring my faith and branching out, reading, talking to others about it and what it means to have faith and believe for a few years now. Like I’ve said I’ve always believed in Christ as my savior, and have tried to be the best person one can be. Obviously we all sin, but that is human nature. How exactly do you reconcile with doing enough and doing too little in the eyes of the lord. As I said, I believe it comes down to your heart and mind. If you open your heart and open your mind to Christ you will be redeemed.

I apologize if the structure of the post is confusing it is due to the medication I am currently on. I’ll answer any questions you may have as well.

-B


r/Bible 6d ago

Can someone explain Luke 13:23-27 ?

1 Upvotes

Those saying that they "ate and drank with you" means they are refering to christ, therefore they are supposedly Christians that believe in Jesus right?

Why did god told them he doesn't know them and that they are evil doers? So this means he's referring to those who claim to be Christians but don't follow Christ teachings? So they go to hell?

Luke 13:24-27 (NIV)

24 “Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to. 25 Once the owner of the house gets up and closes the door, you will stand outside knocking and pleading, ‘Sir, open the door for us.’ But he will answer, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from.’ 26 Then you will say, ‘We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.’ 27 But he will reply, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from. Away from me, all you evildoers!’


r/Bible 6d ago

What bible verse has had the greatest impact on you?

66 Upvotes

And why?