Posted on 06/10/2003 2:31:07 PM PDT by Salvation
"Then the LORD appeared to him by the terebinth trees of Mamre, as he was sitting in the tent door in the heat of the day. So he lifted his eyes and looked, and behold, three men were standing by him; and when he saw [them,] he ran from the tent door to meet them, and bowed himself to the ground, and said, "My Lord, if I have now found favor in Your sight, do not pass on by Your servant. "Please let a little water be brought, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree. "And I will bring a morsel of bread, that you may refresh your hearts. After that you may pass by, inasmuch as you have come to your servant." They said, "Do as you have said." So Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah and said, "Quickly, make ready three measures of fine meal; knead [it] and make cakes." And Abraham ran to the herd, took a tender and good calf, gave [it] to a young man, and he hastened to prepare it. So he took butter and milk and the calf which he had prepared, and set [it] before them; and he stood by them under the tree as they ate. Then they said to him, "Where [is] Sarah your wife?" So he said, "Here, in the tent." And He said, "I will certainly return to you according to the time of life, and behold, Sarah your wife shall have a son." (Sarah was listening in the tent door which [was] behind him.) Now Abraham and Sarah were old, well advanced in age; [and] Sarah had passed the age of childbearing. Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, "After I have grown old, shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?" And the LORD said to Abraham, "Why did Sarah laugh, saying, 'Shall I surely bear [a child,] since I am old?' "Is anything too hard for the LORD? At the appointed time I will return to you, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son." But Sarah denied [it,] saying, "I did not laugh," for she was afraid. And He said, "No, but you did laugh!" Then the men rose from there and looked toward Sodom, and Abraham went with them to send them on the way. And the LORD said, "Shall I hide from Abraham what I am doing, "since Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? "For I have known him, in order that he may command his children and his household after him, that they keep the way of the LORD, to do righteousness and justice, that the LORD may bring to Abraham what He has spoken to him." And the LORD said, "Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grave, "I will go down now and see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry against it that has come to Me; and if not, I will know." Then the men turned away from there and went toward Sodom, but Abraham still stood before the LORD. And Abraham came near and said, "Would You also destroy the righteous with the wicked? "Suppose there were fifty righteous within the city; would You also destroy the place and not spare [it] for the fifty righteous that were in it? "Far be it from You to do such a thing as this, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous should be as the wicked; far be it from You! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?" So the LORD said, "If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes." Then Abraham answered and said, "Indeed now, I who [am but] dust and ashes have taken it upon myself to speak to the Lord: "Suppose there were five less than the fifty righteous; would You destroy all of the city for [lack of] five?" So He said, "If I find there forty-five, I will not destroy [it."] And he spoke to Him yet again and said, "Suppose there should be forty found there?" So He said, "I will not do [it] for the sake of forty." Then he said, "Let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak: Suppose thirty shoul be found there?" So He said, "I will not do [it] if I find thirty there." And he said, "Indeed now, I have taken it upon myself to speak to the Lord: Suppose twenty should be found there?" So He said, "I will not destroy [it] for the sake of twenty." 32 Then he said, "Let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak but once more: Suppose ten should be found there?" And He said, "I will not destroy [it] for the sake of ten." So the LORD went His way as soon as He had finished speaking with Abraham; and Abraham returned to his place."
This article is riddled with so many errors it is hard to even know where to begin. The arguments presented here are not new. On the contrary, they are circulated almost verbatim among various trinitarian sites. They betray an appalling dearth of understanding of Judaism, the Hebrew scriptures, and the Hebrew language. This is the sort of stuff that could only be persuasive to those who are already convinced.
I frankly am weary of pointing out the same errors over and over again. For those who are interested in the truth, I recommend Jews for Judaism, Outreach Judaism, and the numerous other counter-missionary websites which have sprung up to refute this sort of thing.
Might be worth your read, Steven.
The disciples did expect Christ to return "soon". It was St. Peter who reminded them:
"But do not ignore this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slow about his promise as some count slowness, but is forbearing toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. . . . Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of persons ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be kindled and dissolved, and the elements will melt with fire! But according to his promise we wait for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. Therefore, beloved, since you wait for these, be zealous to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace"
(2 Pet. 3:8–14).
Would you believe me if I posted the same arguments that I've posted many times before?
Don't take my word for it. You could send this article to an orthodox rabbi and ask for his opinion.
From the New American Bible ... perhaps this will explain it.
11 [23] Before the Son of Man comes: since the coming of the Son of Man at the end of the age had not taken place when this gospel was written, much less during the mission of the Twelve during Jesus' ministry, Matthew cannot have meant the coming to refer to the parousia. It is difficult to know what he understood it to be: perhaps the "proleptic parousia" of Matthew 28:16-20, or the destruction of the temple in A.D. 70, viewed as a coming of Jesus in judgment on unbelieving Israel.
You're on the right track, FReeper. However, reading the Bible and translating from the actual Greek and Hebrew will tend to isolate one from other, uh, Christians. To get along, ya gotta go along...
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