[P-Marlowe]

You have to invent and then jump through literalist hoops to make this language speak of actual cosmic phenomenon.

Just to see where you are coming from, please read the following passage and then answer the question that follows:

Thus saith the LORD, In this thou shalt know that I am the LORD: behold, I will smite with the rod that is in mine hand upon the waters which are in the river, and they shall be turned to blood. And the fish that is in the river shall die, and the river shall stink; and the Egyptians shall loathe to drink of the water of the river. And the LORD spoke unto Moses, Say unto Aaron, Take thy rod, and stretch out thine hand upon the waters of Egypt, upon their streams, upon their rivers, and upon their ponds, and upon all their pools of water, that they may become blood; and that there may be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, both in vessels of wood, and in vessels of stone. And Moses and Aaron did so, as the LORD commanded; and he lifted up the rod, and smote the waters that were in the river, in the sight of Pharaoh, and in the sight of his servants; and all the waters that were in the river were turned to blood. (Exodus 7:17-20 KJV)

.

Question: What kind of liquid flowed in the river after Aaron smote the water with his rod?

(a) Regular old river water?
(b) Red-colored river water?
(c) Water with a lot of plankton?
(d) Blood?
(e) Refuse to answer because it conflicts with my theology?

[topcat54]

What does the historical account in Exodus 7 have to do with prophetical passages such as Isaiah 13 and Matthew 24 with a high imagry content?

Is your thinking that just because God spoke it beforehand it has to fit into one form or another, all the time in every case, using some cookie cutter approach?

You're not trying to deny that God uses symbols and images when He speaks through the prophets, now are you?

"I have also spoken by the prophets, And have multiplied visions; I have given symbols through the witness of the prophets." (Hos. 12:10)

Aren't you one of the same guys that say "context is important"? We learn from the context exactly what God meant in Exodus 7. It's not rocket science cuz its in the very same chapter. God did not choose to use prophetic symols and images to predict what would happen in Egypt.

Just for the record, do you claim to follow the grammatical-historical method or do you have some other method for interpreting the Bible that I'm missing?

[P-Marlowe]

Hey guys, any of you dispensationists and other non-preterists want to take a stab at this question?

[xzins]

d. blood