. .The FOOL Hath Said in His Heart, THERE IS NO GOD. They Are Corrupt, They Have Done

FOOLS!

. . .The FOOL hath said in his heart, THERE IS NO GOD. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good. -- Psa. 14:1

Then he said unto them (disciples), O fools, and slow of heart to believe ALL that the prophets have spoken: -- Luke 24:25

Someone passed a note with one word, "Fool," to D.L. Moody, while he was preaching. Moody exclaimed, "I have received letters without signatures before, but this is the first time I have ever received a signature without a letter. Still, both atheist and disciple fools reside in this world. This reminds us of the story of a young boy, who came upon W.C. Fields reading a Bible. The boy queried, "Why are you reading the Bible?" The late W.C. Fields replied, "Looking for loopholes, my boy, looking for loopholes!" Mark Twain admitted that it was not the things in the Bible, which he did "not" understand, which bothered him, but it was the things, which he "did" understand, which bothered him. Only fools occupy their time seeking out errors in the Bible rather than absorbing its timeless wisdom. Such are hell bent on finding mistakes, errors, loopholes, and contradictions in God's word. God lets them find a few supposed discrepancies. Still, their zeal to find errors and contradictions ultimately results in fooling only themselves (the contradictions being only in their own minds). But who are these that dare that reply against God(Rom. 9:19-21)?

Bible correcting activists of all types (from atheists to popular preachers and teachers) do not really want their supposed error "finds" resolved, for their stock in trade is to find such errors in order to sensationalize and titillate their audiences. The mistake is always the same. Bible Correctors avoid/ignore the context and related passages of the text in question (except where it appears to make their own case). When "purported" errors, contradictions, or questions are resolved, they silently move onto other supposed errors, contradictions, and questions without the slightest bit of guilt or shame, never once realizing that God and believers see through their sordid schemes. God was reading anti--God/Bible "mail" long before petty "nit--pickers" were born.

Atheists, unbelievers, freethinkers, infidels, apostates, and all Bible Correctors do not really mind God being God or the Bible being the word of God. But they do mind them being "Lord" and "Master" and "final authority" over their lives. Such fault--finders try to find mistakes, errors, contradictions, faults, and loopholes in the Bible in order to excuse and exempt themselves from God's authority, demands, and penalties. Atheists reject God and "ALL" of His word. Bible Correctors (of the professing disciple variety) pick and choose and only "partially" reject God and His word. Both are "fools!"

Infidel Bible Correctors

. . . say unto David, Thus saith the LORD, I offer thee three things; choose thee one of them, that I may do it unto thee . . . Shall seven years of famine come unto thee in thy land? or wilt thou flee three months before thine enemies, while they pursue thee? or that there be three days' pestilence in thy land? . . . And David said unto Gad, I am in a great strait: let us fall now into the hand of the LORD; for his mercies are great: and let me not fall into the hand of man. So the LORD sent a pestilence upon Israel from the morning even to the time appointed: and there died of the people . . . seventy thousand men . . . And David spake unto the LORD when he saw the angel that smote the people, and said, Lo, I have sinned, and I have done wickedly: but these sheep, what have they done? let thine hand, I pray thee, be against me, and against my father's house. -- 2 Sam. 24:12-17

The argument and objection are that David sinned, but God unjustly punished seventy thousand innocent Israelites with pestilence. Such an objection overlooks or ignores the fact that David had three choices. It was David, who chose one of the two judgments, which involved God, so that he could avoid the only judgment, which involved man (inferring that God's judgment is softer than man's judgment, confusing or confounding God's mercy and justice). David refused the judgment of man, for the brunt of that judgment would have focused mainly upon himself, if it were chosen (2 Sam 24:14). He stood to lose face, if he were to flee from human enemies or fall into the hands of a lesser or an equal.

David did finally admit that numbering Israel was his fault (Satan provoked him - 1 Chron. 21:1). He did come around to a slightly belated "damage control," requesting judgment upon himself instead of Israel (2 Samuel 24:17), but God ignored his late concern (vss. 17, 18).

You see, David would not take the "full blame," consequences, and responsibility for his own action, when he chose "pestilence." Yet, David questioned the Lord regarding the destruction of innocent Israelites, but it was David, who chose that "pestilence" -- the judgment of the Lord's sword on them. The Lord had already told him that the angel of the Lord would destroy throughout all the coasts of Israel (1 Chron. 21:12), suggesting a wholesale loss of Israelite life, for "pestilence" does not merely kill or make sick one or two people.

When believers foul up, use bad judgment, blame, or question God - there is an atheist or an unbeliever ready and willing to take up the devil's cause. Such is the case with the fault--finder, who is foolish enough to use David's sins to reply against God and His standards of justice and mercy (Rom. 9:20).

Rationalist Bible Correctors

. . .Thus saith the LORD, Choose thee Either three years' famine; or three months to be destroyed before thy foes, while that the sword of thine enemies overtaketh thee; or else three days the sword of the LORD, even the pestilence, in the land -- 1 Chr. 21:11-12

Then there was a famine in the days of David THREE YEARS, year after year; and David inquired of the LORD . . . -- 2 Sam. 21:1

So when they had gone through all the land, they came to Jerusalem at the end of nine months and twenty days. -- 2 Sam. 24:8

. . .Shall SEVEN YEARS of famine come unto thee in thy land? or wilt thou flee three months before thine enemies, while they pursue thee? or that there be three days' pestilence in thy land? -- 2 Sam. 24:13

Another argument, objection, and correction of both the English and the Hebrew regarding these same passages by the more intellectual Bible Correctors, who know how to use a concordance, is, "Was David offered 'three' or 'seven' years of famine?" The simple answers are both! For since David and Israel had just undergone three years of famine (2 Sam. 21:1) and since David and Israel were still experiencing that famine "year after year" (when he ordered the numbering of Israel - 2 Sam. 24:1) and since it took nine months and twenty days to number Israel (2 Sam. 24:8), we need only account for two months and ten days from 2 Sam. 21:1 to 2 Sam. 24:8, which would bring the total to four years. Four years of past famine plus three years of future famine equals seven years total famine, if chosen by David. Samuel, a contemporary of David and the famine, wrote from the perspective that David was offered a total of seven years of famine, which included the four years of famine that they had just gone through. The historical record (First Chronicles) records David's offer of "three" more years of famine from a historical perspective. What shall we say regarding 2 Samuel 24:1-17? Bible Correctors have set their traps for Bible believers, but God has broken their snares allowing Bible believers to escape as birds (Psa. 119:110; 124:7). But Bible Correctors are ensnared in God's snare for fools (Jer. 50:24)! But they cannot and will not escape.

--by Herb Evans,Flaming Torch - Jan/Feb/March/2001, p. 11; July/Aug/Sept, 2001 p. 13