Chapter 1  

    The first thing one should understand about the Bible is that it is perfectly sensible.  It is a large  book with deep and profound meanings which people can spend a lifetime analyzing, but in our enthusiasm for discerning mysteries, we tend to overlook the simple and basic principles upon which everything is based.

    Jesus demonstrated that the basic meaning of scripture was reasonable and understandable,  simply by asking people for their own judgment.  He asked one for his judgment when He told the  story of the good Samaritan; who was the good neighbor?  He asked another for his judgment when  He told the story of the two sons who were sent to work in the vineyard; which obeyed his father?

 Many times He answered questions by pointing out that the basic ideas were simple enough for  people to answer themselves.

    When the religious leaders added their imaginations to the scriptures and overlooked the true  meaning, Jesus frequently pointed out their error by asking questions: Who doesn't lead his ox to  water on the Sabbath?  Who wouldn't pull his ox out of a pit?  And He admonished them to judge  right judgment.

    The basics of the Bible are simple enough for children to understand; these things are revealed to  babes.  It is the proud and the wise who twist the Word out of proportion while failing to grasp the simplicity of Christ.  And whoever is as humble as a child is greatest in the kingdom.  

    Anyone should be able to understand these things:

    Don't take a gift?  Our own profit creates a conflict of interest which makes our judgment biased and self-serving.  

    "Who knows His will and doesn't do it, for him it is sin."  If we know, we should obey; if we don't know, how are we held accountable?

    Paul received mercy because he was ignorant.  Any child can tell you, they aren't guilty if they didn't know they weren't supposed to do "that."  Sin is not imputed without law.  

    Paul spoke about eating meat in the idol's temple.  If you know idols are nothing, then that meat is no more than a  hunk of beef.  If you are hungry, why shouldn't you eat?  

    How will you judge angels if you can't judge the smallest matters?  If we judge rightly, our  judgment should be sufficient to discern between right and wrong and we should be able to  understand the basics of the Word of God.  But that is the basics.  Once we understand the  elementary things, we should start to see that there are further implications: 

   Jesus asked who wouldn't lead his ox to water on the Sabbath, or who wouldn't pull his ox out  of the pit on the Sabbath.  His questions demonstrated simple principles of right and wrong, but if we consider the Sabbath to be the seventh millennia and His ox to be Israel, the meaning becomes much more profound.

    In the story of the good Samaritan, if we consider Christ to be the one who binds our wounds, the story takes on much more meaning.  

    All things worldly or heavenly are based on simple principles of right and wrong which we should all be able to understand.  But, once we grasp the principles, much more understanding can be built on that foundation.

    Here are a couple of questions for examples, and I chose two questions which are related: First, why can't God lie?  Second, where did the devil get the gall to oppose God?  If God is all powerful, then to rebel against Him must seem irrational to anyone with a sense of self preservation. In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.  He did this simply by saying the words.

 He said, let there be this and let there be that, and it was so; He simply uttered the words.  The heavens were made by the Word of God; He spoke and it was, (Psalms 33:6-11).  The Word of God is eternal for all things obey Him.

    This is a fair definition of what it means to be God: He is the one who has power and authority over all things, such that all things must obey Him.  If God said, "The moon is made of green cheese," the moon would obey Him and it would be "green cheese."  So the principle then is very basic.  If all things are under the authority of God, then all things  must obey Him and anything He says is automatically true for it will surely come to pass.  Therefore,  without question, God can't lie.

    But there is a distinction.  We know this because, in one place, God told Moses He was going to destroy the people for their sin; but, after Moses pleaded for them, God relented.  Of course we don't call this sort of thing a lie.  If one says, "I'm going to the movies," and ten minutes later he says, "No, I won't go after all," no one is going to say he lied.  He simply changed his mind and we don't have a problem with that. However, in another place, it says the Lord has sworn and will not repent.  The, "has sworn," is  the distinction that makes the difference.  If God swears an oath, He cannot lie, (Hebrews 6:15-19).

 You will not find any circumstance where God violates His oath.  As anyone can swear an oath and is  bound to keep it, how much more the Word of God?

    We find the figure of this principle demonstrated in the law of the Meads and Persians.  My favorite example is in the book of Esther:  King Ahasuerus ruled over 127 provinces.  The Persian kings set up rulers to govern, or  removed them, as they saw fit. But these provinces were kingdoms in their own right, which had  become subject to the empire.  So one could say that Ahasuerus was literally a king of kings.  If you want to make an analogy to draw a comparison, you might compare him with the King of kings.

    There is a prideful, crafty character named Haaman in this story, and he manages to get all the Lord's people condemned to death.  It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out who you might  want to compare him to.  And the reason he is able to accomplish this is because of that peculiarity of  the law of the Meads and Persians; once the law is written and sealed with the king's signet, it can  never be changed and not even the king can violate the law.  It's the same with the Word of God except, where the Persians sealed their law with a signet, God seals His Word with an oath.

    Consider this: If the law of God says the wages of sin is death, and God can't lie; and if, knowing the love of God, that God is positively not willing to destroy us, Satan has tricked us all into sin; then what we have is the ultimate hostage situation.  Is this not where the devil got the gall, that he thought he could trap the Lord in His words and use the very power of God against Him. Notice how His enemies tried to oppose Him, when Jesus taught on earth. We see expressions like: "They tried to catch Him in His words."  "They tried to find something in His words they could take hold of."  "They tried to tangle Him in His words."  Because telling a lie is the only thing God can't do, the very power of God is the point where the opposing thought to be a vulnerability.

    So it must be that Satan was thinking something along these lines: The only way God can save His people is if His Word fails and His Word can't fail as long as He has power and authority over all things. Therefore He can only save His people by giving up His authority which makes His Word automatically come to pass.  And, if that were the case, guess who was standing by, waiting to take over.

    Of course, after the crucifixion, we know that God had a plan all along and the devil was duped  from the beginning.  God always keeps His oath but He cannot be trapped in His words. 

    This reasoning is based upon elementary principles; likewise are all the deep and profound things of the Bible understood.  The Bible interprets the Bible and, with nothing but the reasonings which we are born with, we should see that the Word of God is sensible (even on our level of understanding)--simply believe what He says.

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