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| #Post#: 2331-------------------------------------------------- | |
| Judas | |
| By: Kerry Date: September 27, 2025, 12:02 am | |
| --------------------------------------------------------- | |
| One of Mike's comments sparked this question about Judas. | |
| [quote author=Mike Waters link=topic=2.msg2330#msg2330 | |
| date=1758897482] | |
| Adding to my thoughts. | |
| "The phrase "before the foundation of the world" appears in | |
| several New Testament scriptures, notably Ephesians 1:4, which | |
| states that God chose believers in Christ before the world was | |
| created to be holy and blameless. This concept also appears in | |
| John 17:24 where Jesus refers to the glory given to Him by the | |
| Father, which existed "before the foundation of the world," and | |
| in 1 Peter 1:20, where Christ was known "before the foundation | |
| of the world". | |
| [/quote] | |
| I believe Judas was was one of those chosen by God "before the | |
| foundation" to help Jesus redeem the world. I cannot believe | |
| Jesus erred in picking Judas to be one of his disciples. Thus I | |
| believe Judas will eventually returned to the "holy and | |
| blameless" state he was in "before the foundation." | |
| I have heard suicide called an "unforgivable sin" -- and that is | |
| based on the belief that when our physical body dies, our fate | |
| is sealed eternally. If that is so, we have a problem since he | |
| died in a rather unholy and blameworthy state. | |
| Let us not believe that these chosen ones can never sin. No, | |
| they were going to be sent into a perilous world; and I think it | |
| fair to say all of them sinned (except one) when they took on | |
| human bodies. It is like health care workers volunteering to | |
| go to an area with highly contagious disease. I believe that | |
| such generous beings who had already achieved salvation before | |
| would be left stranded for making mistakes here on earth. No | |
| matter what happens, God will not permit any one of them to | |
| perish. | |
| Since I believe in reincarnation, I believe Judas was given | |
| another chance in another lifetime. Could he not be forgiven if | |
| in another lifetime he chose to lay down his own life? | |
| #Post#: 2332-------------------------------------------------- | |
| Re: Judas | |
| By: Kerry Date: September 27, 2025, 1:14 am | |
| --------------------------------------------------------- | |
| Another perplexing problem is that John tells us in Revelation | |
| that this group of those who were chosen from the foundation of | |
| the earth had 144,000; and he says that there were twelve | |
| sub-groups which corresponded the twelve tribes of Israel. | |
| Revelation 7:13 And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, | |
| What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came | |
| they? | |
| 14 And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, | |
| These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have | |
| washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the | |
| Lamb. | |
| 15 Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him | |
| day and night in his temple: and he that sitteth on the throne | |
| shall dwell among them. | |
| 16 They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither | |
| shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. | |
| 17 For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed | |
| them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and | |
| God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes. | |
| If they had to wash their robes in the blood of the Lamb, they | |
| had fallen into some sin themselves. No problem for Heaven's | |
| plan. Jesus carried that burden temporarily for them until they | |
| could repay it themselves; and many of those original 144,000 | |
| did repay the debt for their errors by laying down their own | |
| lives. | |
| How do we reconcile this number with the 600,000 given for | |
| Israel when they left Egypt? Quite simple really, and we see | |
| how well God's plan worked even back then. Only 70 souls sent | |
| down into Israel (70 of the 144,000) and so many "Gentiles" got | |
| added that the number swelled to 600,000. Some of that was | |
| through intermarriage and some by conversion. We humans may not | |
| be able to discern which was which; but God knew which souls | |
| were members of the original Israel and which got added. | |
| It would be impossible for anyone who had belonged to the | |
| original group to be lost. Thus Paul wrote: | |
| Romans 11:26 And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, | |
| There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away | |
| ungodliness from Jacob: | |
| That same guarantee did not apply to the added souls. Again, I | |
| refer to Paul who refers to this kind of soul as being "after | |
| the flesh." Just because someone can trace his physical | |
| ancestry back to Abraham doe not mean he was a member of Israel | |
| from before the foundation. | |
| Romans 9:6 Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. | |
| For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel: | |
| Nor should we assume that just because someone was born in a | |
| Gentile body, it is impossible for him to have been part of the | |
| group "foreknown" by God from before the foundation. If God has | |
| a plan which requires someone in a position to do what His plan | |
| calls for, one of his servants may be born as a Gentile to it. | |
| Surely, Cyrus was one of the original Israel, but born as a | |
| Gentile. | |
| Isaiah 45:Thus saith the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose | |
| right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him; and I | |
| will loose the loins of kings, to open before him the two leaved | |
| gates; and the gates shall not be shut; | |
| #Post#: 2333-------------------------------------------------- | |
| Re: Judas | |
| By: Kerry Date: September 27, 2025, 2:13 am | |
| --------------------------------------------------------- | |
| I do not understand fully how some numbers are calculated for | |
| the spiritual significance of words; but I was amazed that the | |
| number 288 has significance in Genesis 1. | |
| https://www.gematrix.org/?word=creation | |
| A famous Jewish mystic saw the same number in the word "moved | |
| upon" and concluded that there were 288,000 holy sparks to begin | |
| with. I'd say multiply by a thousand to get 288,000, double the | |
| 144,000. That number of 288,000 is counting each saint twice, | |
| since the saints in perfection are neither male nor female are | |
| divided so they can become male and female in human incarnation. | |
| Thus in a somewhat obscure way, I see Genesis and Revelation | |
| agreeing. Now note what John wrote about these saints. | |
| Revelation 14:4 These are they which were not defiled with | |
| women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the | |
| Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, | |
| being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb. | |
| The word in Greek for "virgins" in that verse means either an | |
| unmarried woman or a woman who has never had sex. That is what | |
| it means; and that is how it is used elsewhere in the New | |
| Testament. | |
| https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g3933/kjv/tr/0-1/ | |
| So John is saying first that they're male, but then he uses a | |
| word used for women! What is the answer? They are both male | |
| and female. They have returned to their original undivided | |
| state before they incarnated as male and female. | |
| Thus in human incarnations, there would be 288,000 of this | |
| original group foreknown by God before they were born. Half | |
| would be male, half female. I think this explains how Esther | |
| and other women could be considered to belong to this group. If | |
| you clicked on the link above, you saw how "Esther" also has the | |
| number 288. I say, "How appropriate!" | |
| #Post#: 2334-------------------------------------------------- | |
| Re: Judas | |
| By: Mike Waters Date: September 27, 2025, 6:08 am | |
| --------------------------------------------------------- | |
| Kerry, your powerfully and heavily derived thoughts are either | |
| so commendable, or so beyond our allotted 'need to know' | |
| parameters. that I know not how to respond. | |
| I retreat to | |
| "I am not skilled to understand | |
| What God hath Willed, what God hath Planned | |
| I only know at His right hand, Stands one who is My Saviour" | |
| Maybe 'Judas' is but a typification of similar carnations | |
| throughout the ions of time. | |
| For me 'Scripture' is but the product of the fallible followers | |
| of one particular 'Religion' which Christ completely repitched | |
| at the moment of his 'Glorification'. | |
| From where do I derive that inclination? | |
| Paradoxically from 'Scripture'... or was it from stuff implanted | |
| into the fleshy tablets of my heart (albeit that scripture was | |
| merely the tool the God used in that particular instance). | |
| #Post#: 2335-------------------------------------------------- | |
| Re: Judas | |
| By: Kerry Date: September 27, 2025, 6:28 am | |
| --------------------------------------------------------- | |
| [quote author=Mike Waters link=topic=77.msg2334#msg2334 | |
| date=1758971291] | |
| Kerry, your powerfully and heavily derived thoughts are either | |
| so commendable, or so beyond our allotted 'need to know' | |
| parameters. that I know not how to respond. | |
| I retreat to | |
| "I am not skilled to understand | |
| What God hath Willed, what God hath Planned | |
| I only know at His right hand, Stands one who is My Saviour" | |
| Maybe 'Judas' is but a typification of similar carnations | |
| throughout the ions of time. | |
| [/quote]I agree it's largely beyond our need to know; but I | |
| think if we want to delve more into things, or if we begin to | |
| lose faith without certain answers, those answers can be found. | |
| Judas reminds me of Saul. Saul was also tempted by greed. | |
| I believe, by the way, that when God has a plan that needs a | |
| servant on earth, He sends at least two. Then if the first one | |
| strays, the second can step up to do the job. | |
| #Post#: 2336-------------------------------------------------- | |
| Re: Judas | |
| By: Mike Waters Date: September 27, 2025, 8:34 am | |
| --------------------------------------------------------- | |
| Kerry, For my part I would welcome a friendly thread regarding | |
| Reincarnation. | |
| Would you be 'up for it'.? | |
| I would have many questions and, like so many of us, would be | |
| burdened by a lifetime of our particular 'indoctrinations'. | |
| But hopefully all of us would remain reasonably 'open minded'. | |
| I know what it's like to be out of kilter with 'mainstream', | |
| having been indoctrinated by the difference between the 'Gift' | |
| of Eternal life in God's ultimate New Jerusalem, sitting | |
| comfortably alongside the interim 'Prize' of being "accounted | |
| worthy" to reign with Christ for a metaphoric 'thousand' years | |
| via a selective 'Rapture'. | |
| Being mindful of this Forum's URL | |
| https://unitedindiversity.createaforum.com/ | |
| #Post#: 2337-------------------------------------------------- | |
| Re: Judas | |
| By: Kerry Date: September 27, 2025, 10:56 am | |
| --------------------------------------------------------- | |
| [quote author=Mike Waters link=topic=77.msg2336#msg2336 | |
| date=1758980040] | |
| Kerry, For my part I would welcome a friendly thread regarding | |
| Reincarnation. | |
| Would you be 'up for it'.? | |
| I would have many questions and, like so many of us, would be | |
| burdened by a lifetime of our particular 'indoctrinations'. | |
| But hopefully all of us would remain reasonably 'open minded'. | |
| I know what it's like to be out of kilter with 'mainstream', | |
| having been indoctrinated by the difference between the 'Gift' | |
| of Eternal life in God's ultimate New Jerusalem, sitting | |
| comfortably alongside the interim 'Prize' of being "accounted | |
| worthy" to reign with Christ for a metaphoric 'thousand' years | |
| via a selective 'Rapture'. | |
| Being mindful of this Forum's URL | |
| https://unitedindiversity.createaforum.com/ | |
| [/quote] | |
| I hope I can collect my thoughts enough to be able to present my | |
| beliefs on reincarnation. At the moment, I don't know where to | |
| start. Perhaps a good starting point is why it seems so few | |
| people achieve the perfection of a Moses, an Enoch, or an Elijah | |
| or even of John. Their cases are different, of course; but they | |
| also share some things in common. | |
| #Post#: 2338-------------------------------------------------- | |
| Re: Judas | |
| By: Mike Waters Date: September 27, 2025, 12:43 pm | |
| --------------------------------------------------------- | |
| First response by me would be to ask whether reincarnation | |
| happens for everybody or is it by Divine selective intervention? | |
| Second would be "do the reincarnated ever get re-reincarnated"? | |
| Does that help you to "Know where to get started"? | |
| #Post#: 2339-------------------------------------------------- | |
| Re: Judas | |
| By: Mike Waters Date: September 27, 2025, 12:51 pm | |
| --------------------------------------------------------- | |
| Here's the AI overview. | |
| While there is no scientific evidence for reincarnation, | |
| different religious and spiritual traditions offer varying | |
| perspectives on who is reincarnated and if it is an ongoing | |
| process. | |
| Reincarnation for everybody vs. selective intervention | |
| Hinduism: | |
| All souls are in a cycle of rebirth (samsara) | |
| For everybody: | |
| All living things possess an eternal atman (soul) that is | |
| repeatedly born in different bodies until it achieves liberation | |
| (moksha). | |
| Divine selective intervention: | |
| Rebirth is determined by the law of karma, the cause-and-effect | |
| relationship between a soul's actions and its future life. The | |
| circumstances of one's new life�whether in a higher or lower | |
| form, or a different realm�are the direct consequence of the | |
| accumulated karma from past lives. This process is not a random | |
| or divine selection but rather an automatic moral law of the | |
| universe. | |
| Not a permanent cycle: | |
| The ultimate goal is to reach moksha, a state of spiritual | |
| realization where the soul is freed from the cycle of rebirth | |
| and reunited with the ultimate reality, Brahman. | |
| Buddhism: | |
| All beings are caught in a cycle of rebirth (samsara) | |
| For everybody: | |
| Like Hinduism, Buddhism teaches that all sentient beings are | |
| caught in an endless cycle of birth, death, and rebirth. | |
| Dependent on karma: | |
| The specific realm one is reborn into�including heavens, the | |
| human world, or animal and hell realms�is determined by their | |
| kamma (karma), or intentional actions, in their previous life. | |
| Good actions lead to better rebirths, while bad actions lead to | |
| worse ones. | |
| "Rebirth," not "reincarnation": | |
| While many use the term "reincarnation," Buddhists prefer | |
| "rebirth" to emphasize that nothing permanent, like a soul or | |
| atman, transmigrates. Instead, a stream of consciousness or a | |
| bundle of karmic traces is passed to the next life, similar to | |
| how one flame lights another. | |
| Not a permanent cycle: | |
| The cycle of rebirth is viewed as something to be escaped. The | |
| ultimate goal is to achieve enlightenment and reach nirvana, | |
| thereby ending the cycle of suffering and rebirth. | |
| Do the reincarnated ever get re-reincarnated? | |
| Yes, in the cyclical view of reincarnation, a soul is born again | |
| and again in a continuous chain of existences, unless it | |
| achieves liberation. | |
| The cycle continues until liberation: | |
| In traditions like Hinduism and Buddhism, the cycle of rebirth | |
| (samsara) is the default state of existence. A soul or | |
| consciousness will continue to be reborn into different forms | |
| across many lifetimes. | |
| The cycle is not eternal: | |
| The process is not infinite for any one soul. The cycle ends | |
| only when the being achieves a state of spiritual realization | |
| (moksha or nirvana) and is liberated from the need for further | |
| reincarnation. | |
| No predetermined number of lives: | |
| There is no strict rule on the number of lifetimes a soul will | |
| experience. The journey continues until spiritual maturity or | |
| enlightenment is reached. One may be reborn only a handful of | |
| times or for thousands of lifetimes. | |
| #Post#: 2340-------------------------------------------------- | |
| Re: Judas | |
| By: Dave Date: September 27, 2025, 2:30 pm | |
| --------------------------------------------------------- | |
| As one who has been indoctrinated with the belief of 'For as in | |
| Adam all died even so in Christ shall all be made alive.' | |
| I'll have to leave you to your re-incarnation indoctrinations | |
| lol. | |
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