East and West

Sapphires | Jonathan Cahn

[WhatNot]

It is written in Psalms, "As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us." This is amazing, because it was written before it was shown that the earth is round. It says, "as far as the east is from west," not "as far as the north is from the south." Because the earth is a sphere that spins on its axis, with an end at the North pole and an end at the South Pole, you can measure the distance between north and south. So if scripture had said, "He removed our transgressions from us as far as north from south," we could have measured the distance - a few thousand miles.

But Scripture said, "as far as the east is from the west." If you go east or west around the world, you just keep going, without end. The directions of east and west are infinte - and so is the separation God puts between us and our transgressions. So don't be hindered by sin, or by past failures. Rejoice, you are totally free. He has removed your sins, your past failures from you - as far as the east is from the west.

TODAY'S MISSION
Make an envelope marked "Removed, as far as East from West" Write on a slip of paper the one thing that is nagging at you today, a past sin or bad habit you need to get away from. Place it in the envelope and send it on its way, to the trash.

[WhatNot]

Isaiah 44:21-22
21) "Remember these, O Jacob, And Israel, for you are My servant; I have formed you, you are My servant; O Israel, you will not be forgotten by Me! 22) I have blotted out, like a thick cloud, your transgressions, And like a cloud, your sins. Return to Me, for I have redeemed you."

[WhatNot]

"ping" -n-a- Remembrance - Space Shuttle Columbia Crew -

NASA, SPACEHAB, and members of the STARS Academy have been preparing for the STS-107 mission for over two years. With the debut of SPACEHAB’s Research Double Module on this flight, over 100 experiments are expected to take place onboard the U.S. Space Shuttle Columbia.

Seven talented astronauts will be flying this critical research mission. They include Mission Commander Rick Husband, Pilot William "Willie" McCool, Payload Commander Michael Anderson, Mission Specialist 1 Kalpana Chawla, Mission Specialist 2 David Brown, Mission Specialist 3 Laurel Clark, and Payload Specialist 1 Ilan Ramon. For the STARS Academy locker, Anderson, Chawla, and Ramon are the assigned crew.

As the 113th shuttle mission and Columbia’s 28th flight, this shuttle just celebrated the 20th anniversary of its maiden voyage. Columbia returned to service, fresh from a year and a half of maintenance and upgrades that have made it better than ever. More than 100 modifications and improvements have been made to make Columbia ready for flight on STS-107. Highlights include a “glass cockpit” with nine full-color, flat-panel displays, reduced power needs, old wire removal, and a user-friendly interface.

May God's Holy Spirit bring Fullness, Wellness, Wholeness & Comfort to all the family & friends left behind.

[malakhi]

A beautiful psalm.

[0] A Psalm of David.
[1] Bless the LORD, O my soul;
and all that is within me, bless his holy name!
[2] Bless the LORD, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits,
[3] who forgives all your iniquity,
who heals all your diseases,
[4] who redeems your life from the Pit,
who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,
[5] who satisfies you with good as long as you live
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.
[6] The LORD works vindication
and justice for all who are oppressed.
[7] He made known his ways to Moses,
his acts to the people of Israel.
[8] The LORD is merciful and gracious,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
[9] He will not always chide,
nor will he keep his anger for ever.
[10] He does not deal with us according to our sins,
nor requite us according to our iniquities.
[11] For as the heavens are high above the earth,
so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;
[12] as far as the east is from the west,
so far does he remove our transgressions from us.
[13] As a father pities his children,
so the LORD pities those who fear him.
[14] For he knows our frame;
he remembers that we are dust.
[15] As for man, his days are like grass;
he flourishes like a flower of the field;
[16] for the wind passes over it, and it is gone,
and its place knows it no more.
[17] But the steadfast love of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting
upon those who fear him,
and his righteousness to children's children,
[18] to those who keep his covenant
and remember to do his commandments.
[19] The LORD has established his throne in the heavens,
and his kingdom rules over all.
[20] Bless the LORD, O you his angels,
you mighty ones who do his word,
hearkening to the voice of his word!
[21] Bless the LORD, all his hosts,
his ministers that do his will!
[22] Bless the LORD, all his works,
in all places of his dominion.
Bless the LORD, O my soul!

What do you, as a Christian, make of this being in the present tense (or, in the translation of the verse you provide, the past tense)?

[CCWoody]

Isaiah certainly has a way of expressing the doctrines of Calvinism, don't you think?

[malakhi]

I think rather that he has a way of expressing the doctrines of Judaism. But that's just me. ;o)

[Pahuanui]

But Scripture said, "as far as the east is from the west." If you go east or west around the world, you just keep going, without end. The directions of east and west are infinte - and so is the separation God puts between us and our transgressions.

Since you already noted that the earth is a sphere, has it not also occured to you that if one goes north around the world, one could just keep going, without end?

[WhatNot]

I'm not sure I understand what you are asking, what is the "this" you are referring to. Do you mean the whole Psalm, the concept of Sin being removed, or do you mean something else?

[malakhi]

Do you mean the whole Psalm, the concept of Sin being removed

Both, but the removal of sin in particular. In what manner do you believe that their transgressions were removed, considering that this was 1,000 years before the birth of Jesus?

[Ff--150]

Whatnot, I just missed seeing the shuttle go by, as from my front porch I would have seen it break up; I was outside with my back to it and came inside to work on the switch to the front porch light when the explosion hit rattling the windows and shaking the wall. Since I was on a live electrical curcuit, I backed off for a second and resumed tightening the loose wire when the rumbling began. Again, the walls and windows shook. I finished the job and called the Mrs. and she hadn't heard anything.

This was just after 8:00 am local. I got on the internet and went to FR about twenty to nine and read a listing of the shuttle exploding over texas, thinking this was a nut at first, but when I read it and saw the time and location I knew that's what the explosion had been and I turned on tv and our local station here had caught it on video, which is what you have seen no doubt

Prayers for the families and friends. N

[WhatNot]

Transgressions were transferred to animals, the innocent animals took on the guilt of our sins, but the sin nature could not be dealt with once and for all untill Christ came.

[ShadowAce]

Since you already noted that the earth is a sphere, has it not also occured to you that if one goes north around the world, one could just keep going, without end?

BUT--you are not always traveling north. Once you hit the pole, you will begin to travel south. Hence--north DOES meet south.

Now, if you travel east, there is never a point on this earth at which you will start to go west (without changing direction).

[malakhi]

Transgressions were transferred to animals, the innocent animals took on the guilt of our sins, but the sin nature could not be dealt with once and for all untill Christ came.

So their sins were forgiven, but their sin nature remained? And then after Jesus, those who believed in him had their sin nature removed? If so, then why do born-again Christians continue to sin?

[CCWoody]

angelo, whatnot's post #10 does not represent Christianity. Perhaps that is the silliness that Rome teaches, but it in no way reflects what the Bible actually teaches.

[WhatNot]

If so, then why do born-again Christians continue to sin?

Cause pobody's nerfect.

[malakhi]

angelo, whatnot's post #10 does not represent Christianity. Perhaps that is the silliness that Rome teaches, but it in no way reflects what the Bible actually teaches.

I don't think that WhatNot is Catholic.

How would you answer the same question (my #8)?

[Pahuanui]

BUT--you are not always traveling north. Once you hit the pole, you will begin to travel south. Hence--north DOES meet south.

Now, if you travel east, there is never a point on this earth at which you will start to go west (without changing direction).

Distinction without a difference, I'm afraid. One could still just as easily keep heading north (or south) without changing directions. Travel in a static vector is not in any way dependent on the poles.

[malakhi]

If so, then why do born-again Christians continue to sin?

Cause pobody's nerfect.

Then how is this any different than what Jews at the time of David (or now, for that matter) believed? What does it mean to say that the "sin nature" has been removed, if we continue to sin?

Jews do not believe in the doctrine of "original sin" per se. We believe that we are born with good impulses and selfish or sinful impulses, and that we have a free will choice to choose between them. In this context, even a righteous man does not cease being capable of sin. He still has the impulses, he just doesn't follow them. A righteous man is (generally speaking) not someone who has never sinned, but rather someone who has repented and has been forgiven.

[CCWoody]

In what manner do you believe that their transgressions were removed, considering that this was 1,000 years before the birth of Jesus? ~ angelo

There is only one way to to be clean and that is if the Lord Himself washes you:


• Psa 51:7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
• Jhn 13:8 Peter saith unto him, Thou shalt never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me.

Remember, I have the whole Book. I know the Person who is doing the washing, you don't. It doesn't matter that the Lord came into this world centuries after David died. The Lord still washed David.

Woody.

[WhatNot]

Look, if you expect me to take you seriously at all and not just as another religion forum thug, then I suggest you stop changing the words I write, especially when those words are written on the very same thread we are posting on RIGHT NOW, and therefore can easily be checked. What I said was with the coming of Jesus Christ the sin nature could now be dealt with, I did NOT say Christ removed it.

[SoothingDave]

This is amazing, because it was written before it was shown that the earth is round. It says, "as far as the east is from west," not "as far as the north is from the south." Because the earth is a sphere that spins on its axis, with an end at the North pole and an end at the South Pole, you can measure the distance between north and south. So if scripture had said, "He removed our transgressions from us as far as north from south," we could have measured the distance - a few thousand miles. But Scripture said, "as far as the east is from the west." If you go east or west around the world, you just keep going, without end. The directions of east and west are infinte

Um. The demarcations on our planet are entirely arbitrary. The fact that it spins on its axis the way it does, by no means requries us to arbitrarily seperate north from south, and not east from west.

We just as easily could have designed a lattitude and longitude system that had a line where east turned into west, but where north and south continued on in infinity.

So I wouldn't put too much stock into that.

On the other hand, using our current system, saying removing something "as far as east is from the west" can mean that the sin is returned to us. If we continue east, we eventually return to our original position.

Let us, instead, regard this Psalm using the conception of the earth then, where East and West were literally the ends of the world.

SD