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[First posted in 2012. This is part of
DIVINE REVELATION on Mount Sinai
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Here’s a re-posting a portion of Revelation in a Nutshell in shorter digestible dosage. It explains the most basic knowledge that man could possibly know, simply from mindful observance and close study of the world experienced by the senses, MINUS divine revelation as in TORAH.—Admin1]
NATURAL REVELATION
Upon reaching the age of self-consciousness and rationalization of the world man perceives, man can go two ways:
One way is to deduce—-
- that man is the highest on the chain of beings,
- and that there is no one higher than man to whom he will be held accountable;
- the atheist, agnostic, skeptic, evolutionist—all decide that no one made this world, it simply exists, no further questions asked;
- this person therefore does not seek,
- is content with living his existence to the end of this life;
- lives his life according to what he thinks is best for him;
- because if this is all there is to his existence, then he is accountable to no one but himself;
- for there is no higher authority;
- he is on the top of the chain of beings,
- the only one with brains!
The second way is just the opposite—man concludes that SOMEONE ELSE other than man—a Creator, a higher authority—-is responsible for this world.
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NATURAL REVELATION is the extent of what man can mentally and experientially determine about the Maker/Creator of the visible world he lives in.
- On this level, man can perceive that there is indeed a Maker/Creator.
- What this Being is like, man could only conclude from observable phenomena.
- Man could “guess-timate” that this Other Being creates with magnificence, grandeur, harmony, beauty, variety, balance, ingenuity, coordination, perfection, logic, purpose, creativity, immense power, with intricate designs from barest simplicity to utmost complexity.
The courses offered in schools are results of man’s study of this world and the vast universe; knowledge that is obvious, predictable, dependable; courses such the natural sciences, physical sciences, mathematical sciences, etc. are exact, quantifiable and provable. Other studies such as social sciences, humanities, psychology, behavioral sciences, are observable but inexact, unpredictable, and just not conclusive.
Man knows there is a Maker but he doesn’t know what to do about this Maker—how to relate to Him—because he has no idea what this Maker is like. He is fearful of this UNKNOWN BEING—-
- and therefore devises ways and means of dealing with HIM
- by devising RELIGION
- which we define as man’s recourse to reach/relate to an unknown being he acknowledges as superior to man.
This unknown superior being, this Other-ness has been assigned different names in different cultures; the generic word is “god”.
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Man could only imagine what this Other is like, so he resorts to all kinds of religious expressions, attempts to worship, all based on man’s imagination of what this god might require.
IF man on this level of natural revelation is not further illuminated or enlightened by Divine Revelation, then man remains a worshipper in his ignorant/limited ways, and this results in mythology, legends, superstition, occult, fengshui, known world religions.
Man’s concept of god is usually based in natural phenomena —god of the sea, sun god, god of thunder and lightning, or figments of man’s own imagination.
As long as man is—
- seeking GOD—
- and worships according to his limited knowledge and left to his own devices—
- as long as he remains unenlightened by the TRUE GOD but is acknowledging there is SOMEONE bigger and more powerful and on a higher level of being than man himself,
- then . . . in GOD’s perfect justice, mercy, wisdom, and love for mankind, GOD understands and honors true seekers and leads them on to paths that ultimately lead to HIM, even if they go through man-made religions, as long as they continue seeking until they meet HIM in the Hebrew Scriptures.
Psalm 103:14
He knew our nature; He is mindful that we are dust.
An interesting passage is Malachi 1:11
For from the rising of the sun to its setting, My Name is great among the nations, and in every place [where offerings] are presented to My Name, and pure meal-offerings, My Name is great among the nations, says YHWH, Master of Legions.
The context of this verse is post-Sinai in the biblical timeline. Through HIS mouthpiece Malachi, the last of Israel’s prophets, the LORD YHWH tells Israel that—-their imperfect sacrifices are not acceptable to HIM, because— they have beenTorah educated, forewarned, and knew better than to continue violating HIS commandments particularly with regards the Temple sacrificial system which, in the first place, is simply an accommodation to the Israelites’ exposure to the nations’ sacrificial systems.
Strangely enough, GOD then mentions worship and sacrifices being offered by the gentile nations— which were never reached by divine revelation, and thereby not illuminated by Torah guidelines, presumably these would be the rest of the inhabited world not within the vicinity of the Biblical nations, “those ‘who have not heard”. To GOD, those sacrifices are acceptable to HIM only because—-these were offered in ignorance, because these worshippers did not have the benefit of Divine Revelation. [Jonah was sent to Nineveh to teach them about True God]. In seeking to please the UNKNOWN GOD. these UN-enlightened worshippers were in effect worshipping the TRUE GOD, they just didn’t know HIM.
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Psalm 53:3
From heaven God gazed down upon mankind, to see if there exists a reflective person who seeks out God.
Ezra 8:21-22
. . . the hand of our God is benevolent to all who seek Him, and His might and anger befall all who forsake Him.
Question: What about the nation-groups in Exodus which Israel’s GOD commanded the Israelites to annihilate, they too were ignorantly worshipping gods of their making, why were they so harshly judged?
Answer: The nations during the time of the Sinai Revelation were well aware of what the GOD of Israel had done in Egypt—news travelled around by word of mouth in those days; what happened in Egypt reached the nations/peoples in the area.
Rahab in Jericho said to the men:
“I know that YHWH has given you the land, and that fear of you has fallen upon us and all the inhabitants of the land have melted because of you, for we have heard how YHWH dried up the waters of the sea of Reeds for you when you went forth from Egypt and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were across the Jordan –to Sihon and to Og –whom you utterly destroyed. We heard and our hearts melted — no spirit remained in any man because of you–for YHWH, your God, He is God in the heavens above and on the earth below.” [Joshua 2:10-11]
Many were in awe of that newly-revealed GOD; they knew HIS NAME, as announced to the Pharaoh. Those nations were judged according to whether or not they took Israel’s GOD seriously. The Amalekites heard but did not heed, and so they were judged [Exodus 17:8-15/Numbers 24:20].
“Amalek is the first among nations, but its end will be eternal destruction.”
Other nations likewise heard but waged war with Israel [Numbers 21:21-35/22:5/24:18-24/31:1-11]
GOD cannot blame man for his ignorance at this level, if GOD has not taken the step to reveal HIMSELF to man. But thank GOD, HE did not leave man ignorant; HE spoke on SINAI and what HE said is recorded in the TORAH.
In behalf of the Sinai 6000 community,
