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Tackling Tradition 61: When Did Sin Enter The World?

According to Traci Coston … One detail in the Genesis story that many people miss is this: Sin did not enter the world the moment Eve ate the fruit. It entered when Adam did. By the time the serpent appeared in the garden, sin was already present in creation—in Satan himself, who had rebelled against God and was now deceiving humanity. But it had not yet entered the human race or corrupted the world under Adam’s authority. When the serpent spoke to Eve, she was deceived. She actually believed what the serpent was telling her. We can even see confusion about God’s command in the way she repeats it: “God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’” — Genesis 3:3 But God never said anything about touching the tree. The original command was simply not to eat it: “Of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat.” — Genesis 2:17 That command had been given directly to Adam before Eve was even...
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Psalm 35

Great Is the  Lord Of David. 35  Contend, O  Lord , with those who contend with me;      fight against those who fight against me! 2  Take hold of shield and buckler      and rise for my help! 3  Draw the spear and javelin [ a ]      against my pursuers! Say to my soul,      “I am your salvation!” 4  Let them be put to shame and dishonor      who seek after my life! Let them be turned back and disappointed      who devise evil against me! 5  Let them be like chaff before the wind,      with the angel of the  Lord  driving them away! 6  Let their way be dark and slippery,      with the angel of the  Lord  pursuing them! 7  For without cause they hid their net for me;      without cause they dug a pit fo...
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Psalm 91

  My Refuge and My Fortress 91  He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High      will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. 2  I will say [ a ]  to the  Lord , “My refuge and my fortress,      my God, in whom I trust.” 3  For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler      and from the deadly pestilence. 4  He will cover you with his pinions,      and under his wings you will find refuge;      his faithfulness is a shield and buckler. 5  You will not fear the terror of the night,      nor the arrow that flies by day, 6  nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness,      nor the destruction that wastes at noonday. 7  A thousand may fall at your side,      ten thousand at your right hand,      but i...
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Psalm 54

    O God, save me by your name,      and vindicate me by your might. 2  O God, hear my prayer;      give ear to the words of my mouth. 3  For strangers [ b ]  have risen against me;      ruthless men seek my life;      they do not set God before themselves.  Selah 4  Behold, God is my helper;      the Lord is the upholder of my life. 5  He will return the evil to my enemies;      in your faithfulness put an end to them. 6  With a freewill offering I will sacrifice to you;      I will give thanks to your name, O  Lord , for it is good. 7  For he has delivered me from every trouble,      and my eye has looked in triumph on my enemies.
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Psalm 2

  The Reign Of THE LORD’s Anointed  2  Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? 2  The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and against his Anointed, saying, 3  “Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us.” 4  He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision. 5  Then he will speak to them in his wrath, and terrify them in his fury, saying, 6  “As for me, I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill.” 7  I will tell of the decree: The Lord said to me, “You are my Son; today I have begotten you. 8  Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession. 9  You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.” 10  Now therefore, O kings, be wise; be warned, O rulers of the earth. 11  Serve the Lord with fear, and rejo...
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The Bible Vs. Little Girl

Little Girl writes , What Does the Bible Define as Witchcraft? "What does the Christian Bible define as witchcraft?" —Anonymous Honestly? Not many scholars can really pinpoint a lot of the definitions of some words. Jewitches has a fantastic blog about being a Jewish witch that goes over many of these terms, such as  qasam qesem,  a term used for forbidding divination. It literally means "distributing distributions." What the hell is that supposed to mean? It's unfortunately lost to time, given that back in the day, these cultural issues that were clear to the writers never made their way to us. However, other terms, as that blog and as  Discovering Christian Witchcraft  go into, make it clear that  all  of these religions and cultures in southwest Asia—be it Israelite, Akkadian, Assyrian, or even Greek and Roman later on as those empires expanded—really did not like a thing commonly translated into  witchcraft  in modern sources. As those things ...
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