Saturday, December 23, 2017

God and the Pine Tree


14 comments:

Mountain Oysters said...

Happy Christmas to all the readers of this forum.

Byker Bob said...

There is an endorsement in which I can believe! Merry Christmas everyone!

BB

Anonymous said...

"For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe.

They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not." Jeremiah 10:3-4...

there is a Scripture for every pov, but few are as direct and to the point...

Anonymous said...

ummm, they were planted outside, not nailed up inside and decorated.....lol

Anonymous said...

Christmas? So, that's where they're reduced to.

Arno said...

Enjoy the festive season,Everyone, and much Joy to the World, we need it desperately! Don't withold if it's in your power to share. May all you present Goglodytes experience a double measure 🎅🔔🎄

Anonymous said...

Anon 8:01 PM is engaged in typical ACOG proof-texting without reading the verses that follow. Here are the verses 5-10 that follow Jeremiah 10:3-4:

(5) They are upright, like a palm tree,
And they cannot speak;
They must be carried,
Because they cannot go by themselves.
Do not be afraid of them,
For they cannot do evil,
Nor can they do any good.”
(6) Inasmuch as there is none like You, O Lord
(You are great, and Your name is great in might),
(7) Who would not fear You, O King of the nations?
For this is Your rightful due.
For among all the wise men of the nations,
And in all their kingdoms,
There is none like You.
(8) But they are altogether dull-hearted and foolish;
A wooden idol is a worthless doctrine.
(9) Silver is beaten into plates;
It is brought from Tarshish,
And gold from Uphaz,
The work of the craftsman
And of the hands of the metalsmith;
Blue and purple are their clothing;
They are all the work of skillful men.
(10) But the Lord is the true God;
He is the living God and the everlasting King.
At His wrath the earth will tremble,
And the nations will not be able to endure His indignation.


They are upright "like" a palm tree. This means that they are not trees. They are idols fashioned from wood and metal. Note also that "they must be carried". Nobody carries a Christmas tree, but idols must be carried, even when they are carved to include feet and legs!

Notice, however, that whatever these things are, "they cannot do evil". If this is a passage about Christmas trees, it is also a passage that teaches us to be fearless of them, quite unlike how the ACOGs recoil from them. Of course, it would be silly to assert that a dead tree can do evil. The passage is talking about human craftsmen making idols of wood and metal.

Anonymous said...

anon 8:01 Jeremiah 10 no more speaks about a Christmas tree than Bob Thiel is a prophet. Why do COG members continue to believe a lie that Herbert Armstrong proof-texted? It is talking about an idol that is worshipped by the people. UCG is still telling this lie too, even though it knows better.

RSK said...

A graven image, specifically - one carved from wood and then overlaid with metal, such as gold, to make it shiny.
Much easier and cheaper to make than trying to gather enough metal to create a molten image, such as Solomon's Temple cherubs. Gilded wood of this type is frequent in the archaeological record of Israel/Canaan.

DennisCDiehl said...

Just because Rachael "lit off on a Camel" doesn't mean she smoked. Nor does God drive a Dodge (Or was it a Plymouth?) just because he will "visit you in his Fury"

nck said...

Common Dennis,

Are you saying Moses didn't own a computer or was in any sense consulted by IBM "when he entered the cloud."

Nck

Dennis said...

Good point NCK. Even Jesus will return in the Cloud

Anonymous said...

where did i say that Scripture speaks about a christmass tree?

Anonymous said...

Hey Uncle Shan it was good talking to ya today. I never thought of this passage from this perspective, having always read and heard it from a cog view. Thanks for bringing it to my attention.