“A CAMEL THROUGH A NEEDLE’S EYE”
“A CAMEL
THROUGH A NEEDLE’S EYE”
1.
“Dun’no mate!”
2.
“I don’t go to church”
3.
“I gave to the Salvos last time!”
4.
“Man!
That would be something! Maybe David Copperfield could do it!”
5.
“Make
sure you give most of your money to the church before you die?”
“If
you don’t eat wafer Jesus … you’ll go to hell!”
and
“If
you don’t say your ‘Hail Mary’s’ … you’ll burn in perdition!”
and
“Do
your best, put your money in the plate, and we’ll pray to Mary in
heaven to see
if she has any more prevenient grace left over for you. If not, I’m
pretty sure
we can get Uncle Bob out of purgatory by next month … if you can see
your way
clear, to give Mother Church another … let’s say … $5,000?”
“Now
boys and girls, the question is ‘How would you explain the camel and
the eye of
the needle verse’? Yes Belinda?”
“Miss,
there’s no need to explain it away by saying the eye of the needle was
a very
small gate in the wall, and the only way for a camel to squeeze through
it, was
on its knees.
This
would mean it was possible, however, the plain reading of the verse, a
camel
going through a needle’s eye, says it is impossible.
Furthermore,
why just change one aspect, the needle’s eye … why not make the camel
represent
something else … like a horse or a very large gorilla?
But
there’s no need to, because the biggest animal a Jew would know, would
be a
camel, and the smallest hole they knew, would have been the eye of a
needle.
In
addition, there is no evidence at all, of any opening or gate in the
wall,
being called The Camel Gate at the time of Jesus … as this is just a
modern
interpretation to explain away the miraculous of the Bible.
“Excellent
Belinda! Anyone else? Yes Alfonso?”
“I
suspect Miss Johnson, that doing away with the literal meaning of the
absolute
impossibility of a money-loving rich man getting into the kingdom of
God,
allows rich people to think that they can, with a lot of effort, get
into the
kingdom of God … you know … like the owner of the camel with handful of
hay on
one side of the wall, who could entice the animal through a very small
gate or
opening, while his brother on the other side of the wall, could whack
the camel
on its backside … with both at the same time … like using the carrot
and stick
method?”
‘Very
good Alfonso. Anyone else? Yes Akeem?”
“Miss,
and probably I still don’t fully understand this, but could it be, that
for a
Jew to get into the kingdom of God, he first had to go through the
kingdom of
heaven here on earth, before he could enter the kingdom of God in
heaven?”
“Very
good Akeem, this is getting onto it, but just before you go on, let’s
all go
over what you know about the three basic dispensations in the
Bible, as
this will give us better understanding … yes Johnny?”
“Well
Miss, in the first dispensation, there’s God the Father in the
Old
Testament; which is followed by the second dispensation of God
the Son,
Jesus Christ, on earth preaching the kingdom of heaven; and the
third
dispensation of Paul’s gospel of the kingdom of God.”
“Very
good Johnny. Now Akeem, what else were you going to say?”
“Well,
the impossible works salvation, that Christ gave in the Sermon
on the
Mount (Matthew 5-7), really alarmed the Jews.
You
know, when Christ said to the young man “Sell all you have and come a
follow me
(Matthew 19:21)” … he couldn’t … as a rich man’s idol was his love of
riches
(Matthew 6:21). His love of riches, and refusal to give them up,
stopped him
passing though the kingdom of heaven on earth.
His
idol was the love of money, and so he walked away. If he didn’t change
his mind
before he died, he would have gone to hell instead of Abraham’s bosom.
This is
why a rich man could not enter the kingdom of God in heaven.
But
here’s the thing Miss, Christ would keep all the impossible
kingdom of
heaven requirements perfectly on their behalf … if they would keep on
believing
in him as God (John 3:16; Matthew 19:26; 1 Timothy 3:16). Indeed, the
kingdom
of heaven dispensation here on earth, was even more strict then the Ten
Commandments, as Christ came and placed heavy emphasis on the issues of
the
heart .. that is, the secret sins inside … and in this case the rich
man’s idol
of his love of money.
“Good
explanation Akeem. Anyone else … yes Tiara?”
“And
here’s another meaning Miss, rich people today can, and do, go
directly
into the kingdom of God, as the entry rules for the kingdom of heaven
no longer
apply.”
“Very
good Tiara. So is there a contradiction … can rich people get into the
kingdom
of God or not? Anyone else? Yes Freddy?”
“Miss,
there is no contradiction … only an ignorance of the dispensations.
Furthermore,
money hungry Priests and Pastors trade on peoples’ fear, and bleed
their
congregations.”
“That’s
very good boys and girls, but I hear the bell … let’s go over what
we’ve learnt
today.”
The
verse says …
“And again
I say unto you (Jesus has
already explained this to them), It is easier for a camel
(a real camel) to go through the eye of a needle (the
actual eye of an actual needle … and this is impossible),
than for a rich
man (with his love of money Matthew 6:21) to enter into
the
kingdom of God (although the rich man was able to
satisfy the
external works needed for salvation (Matthew 19:20), Christ pointed out
the
secret issue of the man’s heart … his idol of money (Matthew 19:22,24).”
To get
into the kingdom of God, there were two
standards to be met … external works, and issues of the
heart
here on earth. The Ten Commandments addressed both internal and
external issues,
but the Sermon on the mount really concentrates on the idols and sins
of the
heart. In this episode, Christ puts his finger on the rich man’s love
of money
… which is an idol.
What
Christ was saying to his Jewish audience on
the Mount was this …
“My Dear
Jewish listeners, yes, your ultimate goal
will be getting into the kingdom of God, which is in heaven, but first
you have
to 100% successfully complete the works for salvation here on earth ….
both
internal and external, which you will never be able to do, so
I’ll do it
on your behalf … then you will go to Abraham’s bosom (Luke 16:22) … and
wait
there till I come and take you into heaven.
Now, just
as it is impossible for a camel to
get through the eye of a needle … it is impossible
for a rich man to get into the kingdom of God … not because of his
riches, but
because of his love of riches (Matthew 6:21).
But I,
Jesus Christ, God manifest in the flesh (1Timothy3:16), will keep all the Mount commandments, including the
issues of
the heart, perfectly on your behalf.
The main
points are:
1.
There’s no need for anyone to explain away what the Bible says.
2.
If the eye of a needle is an actual gate, people can work their way to
heaven …
like … do your best and God will do the rest … and this is wrong.
3.
Dispensational
ignorance allows Pastors to get more money from people through fear.
4.
All heresies are Bible truths taken from another dispensation
Harley
Hitchcock
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