The word “god” is the term used to indicate that to which we are devoted. Many people have gods that are mere ideas that they have created. Many of these ideas are given a sculptured form and then bowed down before. Many sculptured forms are considered representations of the ones to whom people are directing their thoughts. This is called idolatry in the Bible, because people direct their thoughts towards another being other than the Omniscient, Infinite, Immortal God, who alone brings forth life.
We perceive the perceiver, because we are gods created in the image of God.
- Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your law, ‘I said, you are gods’? (John 10:34)
- I say, “You are gods, sons of the Most High, all of you; nevertheless, you shall die like men, and fall like any prince. (Psalm 82:6-7)
Humans are such clowns. Little children cover their eyes with their hands and think that no one can see them, because they cannot see themselves. Adults go into a room and think nobody can see them, but overlook that the Creator sees everything they do.
In the Bible, Ezekiel was in Babylon. He records what He was shown that God could see happening in Jerusalem.
- He put forth the form of a hand, and took me by a lock of my head; and the Spirit lifted me up between earth and heaven, and brought me in visions of God to Jerusalem, to the entrance of the gateway of the inner court that faces north, where was the seat of the image of jealousy, which provokes to jealousy. And behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there, like the vision that I saw in the plain. Then he said to me, “Son of man, lift up your eyes now in the direction of the north.” So I lifted up my eyes toward the north, and behold, north of the altar gate, in the entrance, was this image of jealousy. And he said to me, “Son of man, do you see what they are doing, the great abominations that the house of Israel are committing here, to drive me far from my sanctuary? But you will see still greater abominations.” And he brought me to the door of the court; and when I looked, behold, there was a hole in the wall. Then said he to me, “Son of man, dig in the wall”; and when I dug in the wall, lo, there was a door. And he said to me, “Go in, and see the vile abominations that they are committing here.” (Ezekiel 8:3-9)
Judah existed as a nation after Israel was overrun by the Assyrians in 722 BC , even managing to stake its claim as a state within the Roman Empire until 70 AD, when Jerusalem was sacked. But now Israel is back on the map after both Israel and Judah were obliterated from the atlas, as nations among the nations of the Earth.
We were not born one hundred and twenty years ago. But before the twentieth century there were people saying that Israel would once more become a nation and fulfill the prophecies of the Bible. John Gill wrote his commentary on the New Testament between 1746–1748 and he made comment concerning the nation Israel as “being born again at once”—as in become a nation in one day (Romans 11 Commentary - John Gill's Exposition on the Whole Bible).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown published in the 1870s a commentary wherein they stated Israel was meant to be considered a nation that would be restored, not a mere undefined remnant. This was in keeping with the view of the church fathers.
Clearly the meaning here is, The Israelite nation at large. It can only mean the ultimate, ingathering of Israel as a nation, in contrast with the present "remnant." (So most of the fathers-Beza, Fritzsche, Tholuck, Reiche, Meyer, DeWette, Alford, Philippi, Hodge, Lange.) Some of these critics would seem to advocate the inbringing of every individual Israelite; others, only of 'the mass' or 'majority;' but if they mean simply, 'the nation at large…. — Romans 11 Commentary - Jamieson, Fausset and Brown's Unabridged Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole BibleWhen it comes to perceiving the one who perceives the intentions of our hearts, this depends on how much we are willing to humble ourselves, so they we can be enlightened. Or whether we are prepared to go it alone to see what lies behind the curtain that awaits us all, as eternity beckons.
The Day Comes When What We Perceive To Be Real Leaves Us With No Doubt
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