What happened to Paul on the road to Damascus?

Wootah · Post by **Wootah** » Sun Feb 16, 2020 2:34 pm

Acts 9 English Standard Version (ESV)
The Conversion of Saul
9 But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest 2 and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. 3 Now as he went on his way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven shone around him. 4 And falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? 5 And he said, Who are you, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. 6 But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do. 7 The men who were traveling with him stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one. 8 Saul rose from the ground, and although his eyes were opened, he saw nothing. So they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. 9 And for three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank.

pleinmont · Post by **pleinmont** » Mon Feb 17, 2020 11:53 am

Yehwahismywitness wrote:
How many witnesses did Moses have at the burning bush in Exodus 3?
He had two stone tablets written with the finger of Yahweh Deuteronomy 9:10 Powerful witness

Not its not! Nothing in the Bible should be believed unless there is independent evidence to support it, the Bible is definitely not evidence.

Yahwehismywitness · Post by **Yahwehismywitness** » Mon Feb 17, 2020 12:13 pm

Not its not! Nothing in the Bible should be believed unless there is independent evidence to support it, the Bible is definitely not evidence.

http://www.aloha.net/~mikesch/peters-jerusalem-tomb.htm
The charcoal inscription reads: "Shimon Bar Yonah" which means "Simon [Peter] son of Jonah".

Mat 16:17 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.

Yahwehismywitness · Post by **Yahwehismywitness** » Mon Feb 17, 2020 1:12 pm

To my mind Saul knew who he was speaking to from the beginning.

Baalam encounter similar
https://jesuswordsonly.com/recommendedr ... rsary.html
And the evidence supports believing that the "bright light" appearance of someone in the Damascus Wilderness who appeared to Paul was indeed Lucifer (light bearer) aka the Adversary, and not Jesus. (For Lucifer meaning an angel of bright shining light, see our "Satan as the Angel of Blinding Light.") For Jesus told the apostles that when He Himself returns all eyes on earth would see Him, so don't believe anyone who appears privately in the wilderness and comes in His name ("I am Jesus"). 'It won't truly be me," Jesus in effect said. (Matt 24:4-5; 24-27). That warning specifically matches Paul's experience. (For complete discussion, see our "Who Did Paul Meet in the Wilderness?")

So it is interesting to then go back and examine whether Balaam was stopped by Satan - the Hebrew word for the Adversary -- who then was still serving God. The Bible says Balaam was stopped by SATAN on that road. Are commentators truly correct that this is not the Angel we know as Satan merely because he was serving God in stopping Balaam on the road? If it was indeed Satan -- a young and not fallen Satan, then the parallel between the experiences of both Paul and Balaam on a wilderness road increases.

pleinmont · Post by **pleinmont** » Mon Feb 17, 2020 1:24 pm

Yehwahismywitness wrote:
Not its not! Nothing in the Bible should be believed unless there is independent evidence to support it, the Bible is definitely not evidence.
http://www.aloha.net/~mikesch/peters-jerusalem-tomb.htm
The charcoal inscription reads: "Shimon Bar Yonah" which means "Simon [Peter] son of Jonah".

Mat 16:17 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.

Hmmmmm! The gospels were written long after Jesus was dead, so it is unlikely he was quoted accurately.

tam · Post by **tam** » Mon Feb 17, 2020 1:39 pm

Peace to you,

Since you were addressing me in this post after all, I will respond here.

Wootah wrote: There is no way Saul is going to violate the Shema but you think he could.
I am again going to suggest that you re-read my post that you are responding to, and then perhaps respond to the specific points that I raised. Because I don't see how this discussion can progress if you ignore those points. I also do not understand how you can suggest that I think Paul could violate the Shema. There was nothing in my post to suggest that I think that.

The trinity violates the Shema; worshiping other beings as YHWH violates the Shema.

Here is the Shema:

Hear, O Israel: [YHWH] our God, [YHWH] is one!"

YHWH is one.

Not one in three. Not three in one.

And yes, Israel DID need that reminder (that JAH is one), because Israel was constantly committing adultery and idolatry (worshiping the gods of the surrounding nations, bringing those gods into Israel and worshiping them there also). And the gods of the surrounding nations were in multiples, including in three's. The modern trinity is just another version of those previous trinities. Despite the clear reminder in the Shema (which Christ repeated) that YHWH is one.

One does not equal three, Wootah, and three does not equal one.

Simple basic math that even children can understand. But many people seem to prefer "mysteries" that cannot be fully understood, over the truth which is simple. My Lord reminds me that many people do not trust simple. Why is that though? Is it because the rulers in this world (religious leaders, etc) have beaten people down so that they do not believe they even can understand the truth?

**

In any case, Paul addressing another being as "Lord" in no way violates the Shema. Because in no way does that mean that Paul is calling that being YHWH.

Does it at least give you pause? Did it challenge your beliefs for a moment?

No, Wootah, it did not. My faith is built upon my Lord (the Rock), and He does not teach the trinity.

Peace again to you,
your servant and a slave of Christ,
tammy

Yahwehismywitness · Post by **Yahwehismywitness** » Mon Feb 17, 2020 1:56 pm

Hmmmmm! The gospels were written long after Jesus was dead, so it is unlikely he was quoted accurately.

You wanted proof of outside investigation so you have Peter, one of the twelve apostles of Jesus burial site.

Another:

Noahs Ark and the Flood: Science Confirms the Bible - August 8, 2019

Zzyzx · Post by **Zzyzx** » Mon Feb 17, 2020 4:23 pm

.

Yehwahismywitness wrote:
How many witnesses did Moses have at the burning bush in Exodus 3?
He had two stone tablets written with the finger of Yahweh Deuteronomy 9:10 Powerful witness

Where are those stone tablets?

All that can be presented is a TALE of unknown authorship and origin -- and unknown truth or accuracy -- that CLAIMS there were tablets.

Joseph Smith CLAIMED there were golden tablets too -- and had named / identified people who wrote statements swearing they existed. That tale seems better supported than the Moses tale.

The Three Witnesses were a group of three early leaders of the Latter Day Saint movement who wrote in a statement of 1829 that an angel had shown them the golden plates from which Joseph Smith translated the Book of Mormon and that they had heard God's voice testifying that the book had been translated by the power of God.

The Eight Witnesses were the second of the two groups of "special witnesses" to the Book of Mormon's golden plates. They were all members of the Whitmer or Smith families: Christian Whitmer, Jacob Whitmer, Peter Whitmer, Jr., John Whitmer, Hiram Page, Joseph Smith, Sr., Hyrum Smith, and Samuel Harrison Smith. Joseph Smith Sr. was Joseph's father, and Hyrum and Samuel H. Smith were his brothers. Christian, Jacob, Peter Jr. and John were David Whitmer's brothers, and Hiram Page was his brother-in-law.

Unlike the Three Witnesses, the Eight testified that they both saw and handled the plates. Another difference is that the Eight testified they were shown the plates by Joseph Smith rather than by an angel as had the Three.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_Mormon_witnesses

Yahwehismywitness · Post by **Yahwehismywitness** » Mon Feb 17, 2020 8:48 pm

Where are the stone tablets

https://www.cnn.com/style/article/10-co ... index.html

Yahwehismywitness · Post by **Yahwehismywitness** » Mon Feb 17, 2020 8:55 pm

Where are the stone tablets

https://www.thevintagenews.com/2017/03/ ... ew-search/

The Ark of the Covenant, which supposedly has contained the tablets with the Ten Commandments, is the subject of a new search

Zzyzx · Post by **Zzyzx** » Mon Feb 17, 2020 9:02 pm

.

Yehwahismywitness wrote:
Where are the stone tablets
https://www.cnn.com/style/article/10-co ... index.html

Ten Commandments tablets can be purchased on eBay
https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=st ... gLV4vD_BwE

Do you (generic term) suppose that NONE of the tablets currently known or available are the ones referred to in Exodus 20?

A bit of research on 'The ark of the covenant' might shed some light https://www.google.com/search?client=fi ... e+covenant