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ANSWER

Isaiah 14 is a biting and vivid prophecy against the king of Babylon. In Isaiah 14:9–21, the prophet Isaiah imagines the king’s death and his subsequent entrance into the realm of the dead. The dead mock the king of Babylon as he enters his new abode: in contrast to his great aspirations, the king is now equal to everyone who came before him (Isaiah 14:10–11). Weak, dethroned, and powerless, he finds that all his great ambitions have come to nothing (Isaiah 14:19–21). In the center of their sobering taunt, the dead recount the king of Babylon’s enormous pride: “You said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to the heavens; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of Mount Zaphon. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.’ But you are brought down to the realm of the dead, to the depths of the pit” (Isaiah 14:13–15).

While these verses are talking about the king of Babylon, many interpreters, including some early church fathers, saw a secondary reference to Satan’s fall from heaven (Luke 10:18; this view is the basis for John Milton’s famous confrontation between Satan and God in Paradise Lost). In this interpretation, “I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High” also represents Satan’s ambition to overthrow God. Assuming a secondary reference to Satan in Isaiah 14:14, why was it a sin for Satan to want to be like God?

In the context of Isaiah 14, being “like the Most High” does not mean “being like God in character or attitude.” Isaiah 14:12–15 is talking about an attempted coup, a desire to surpass God. Verses 13–14 are laden with ancient Near Eastern images of divine dominance and power, including stars, mountains, and clouds. The speaker wants to be like God in power and authority. He wants to wield ultimate cosmic power, even over God Himself. Simply put, he would like to be God, ruling the universe with unopposed might.

A desire to be like the Most High in holiness and righteousness is not evil but is encouraged by the Scriptures (Ephesians 5:1–2). But a craving to have God’s power and authority is evil, stemming from the depths of depravity (Proverbs 16:5). God is incomparably great (Psalm 145:3), so it is irrational to attempt to surpass Him. He alone is God, so it is irrational to attempt to be God. The only reason a creature would want to become its Creator is due to a warped, prideful sense of self-importance. Selfishness, envy, and pride drive rebellion against the perfect Creator. It is a sin for Satan to attempt to be “like the Most High” in glory and power because it is a pointless attempt fueled by selfish ambition and pride.

Thankfully, Satan’s rebellion against God is futile. God remains enthroned over the cosmos (Isaiah 40:12-31). Satan is in no way comparable to God because God is incomparably awesome (1 Chronicles 29:11; 2 Timothy 1:7; Colossians 1:16; 1 John 5:18–19). God’s power has no match, and He has no equal. He is the perfect King and governs the universe with righteousness and love (Mark 10:18; Isaiah 28:28; Romans 11:33; Psalm 100:5; 1 John 4:8). Satan’s plans have already been defeated, and he will be subject to eternal torment for his sins (John 12:31; 16:11; Colossians 2:15; Hebrews 2:14; Revelation 20:10). “This is what the Lord says—Israel’s King and Redeemer, the Lord Almighty: I am the first and I am the last; apart from me there is no God” (Isaiah 44:6).

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What is your take on 1 Corinthians 7:40, where Paul says, ‘I think also that I have the Spirit of God’?”

The vast majority of things Paul taught in his epistles were things he himself had been taught by direct revelation of the Lord. However, he occasionally wrote things that the Lord had notrevealed to him, such as:

“Now concerning virgins I have no commandment of the Lord: yet I give my judgment…” (1 Cor. 7:25).

The Corinthians had evidently asked Paul about something concerning which he had received no revelations, so he gave his own personal opinion. Of course, his opinion was molded by his understanding of all that God hadrevealed to him, so it would have been a very sound opinion. But when he then wrote it in an epistle that became part of God’s Word, that removed all doubt that his personal conviction expressed God’s will.

You see, it was the job of the prophets to identify which epistles were canonical (1 Cor. 14:37). Paul mentions some epistles that they did not include in the Scriptures (1 Cor. 5:9; Col. 4:16), but when they did include 1 Corinthians, that tells us Paul did have the Spirit when he wrote it, and that his own personal “judgment” was also the judgment of God.

ANSWER

Ecclesiastes 7:16 says, “Do not be overrighteous, / neither be overwise— / why destroy yourself?” Given the Bible’s standard of righteousness and the premium it sets on wisdom, it seems strange that Solomon would say not to be overly righteous or too wise.

One key to understanding this warning against being overrighteous and overwise is found in Ecclesiastes 7:15: “In this meaningless life of mine I have seen both of these: / the righteous perishing in their righteousness, / and the wicked living long in their wickedness.” Solomon had witnessed both situations: those who had died doing righteous deeds and those who had died while sinning—and, what’s worse, sinning for a long time while seeming to get away with it. Solomon here is contemplating the fact that sometimes the good die young while evil men live long, iniquitous lives. This is a mystery to him and one of the things that add to the “vanity” of a life lived “under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 1:2–3).

We must also keep Ecclesiastes 7:17 in mind, because Solomon continues the thought begun with the warning against being overrighteous and overwise: “Do not be overwicked, / and do not be a fool— / why die before your time?” And then verse 18 summarizes the lesson: “Whoever fears God will avoid all extremes.”

Putting it all together, Solomon is teaching moderation in the fear of God. Don’t be overly righteous, overly wise, overly wicked, or overly foolish. Chasing after extremes will not prolong one’s life or provide the satisfaction one desires.

Still, what does it mean to be overrighteous and overwise? Solomon obviously means something different from being truly righteous and trulywise. To be “overrighteous” is to strive for a self-made righteousness based on an outward adherence to rules. “Overrighteousness” is an extreme religiosity, perhaps marked by asceticism, excessive strictness, and zealous observance of the minutiae of man-made religion. The Pharisees in Jesus’ day were “overrighteous” in this way; in their fanatical self-righteousness, they would “strain out a gnat but swallow a camel” (Matthew 23:24).

To be “overwise” is to think of oneself as self-sufficient in matters of knowledge, especially when it concerns the things of God. “Overwisdom” will call God’s character and wisdom into question, speculate about His actions, and judge them according to one’s own “superior” wisdom. Job, righteous man that he was, was “overwise” when he began to question God, and God had to ask him, “Who is this that obscures my plans / with words without knowledge? / Brace yourself like a man; / I will question you, / and you shall answer me” (Job 38:2–3). Job’s reply showed that he had regained true wisdom: “I am unworthy—how can I reply to you? / I put my hand over my mouth” (Job 40:4).

Self-righteousness has the potential to lead to much harm. Matthew 23:5 offers an excellent summary of the behavior of the “overrighteous”: “Everything they do is done for people to see.” This type of lifestyle is condemned by God as attempting to be righteous in the wrong way.

In Joel 2:12–13, the Lord calls His people to move beyond external religion and righteousness and to truly return to Him: “Return to me with all your heart, / with fasting and weeping and mourning. / Rend your heart / and not your garments.” The Lord was less concerned with their sacrifices and external adherence to the Law than He was the condition of their hearts.

Solomon knew better than most people the outcome of righteousness that did not arise from a heart that truly loves God. As king, he would have been familiar with the religious leaders of the temple he commissioned to have built in Jerusalem. Thousands of Levites served within its walls. Some certainly did so with a true heart of love for God, while others served with improper motives. Solomon’s words in Ecclesiastes 7:16 reflect the voice of one calling all of God’s people to live for Him with true righteousness and true wisdom. And the next verses (Ecclesiastes 7:17–18) keep it all in balance.

Though these themes are only mentioned briefly in Ecclesiastes, Solomon and others speak at length regarding true righteousness and wisdom in the book of Proverbs. Its opening words say that proverbs are “for gaining wisdom and instruction; / for understanding words of insight; / for receiving instruction in prudent behavior, / doing what is right and just and fair” (Proverbs 1:2–3). Proverbs 1:7 adds, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, / but fools despise wisdom and instruction.”

The time is arriving when all in the grave will arise and come out of their graves or tombs at sound of the voice of the son of God , some to everlasting life and the rest to everlasting condemnation . All regenerated are even now while walking the present earth are in reality citizens of heaven and those who have already passed into heaven are now part of the heavenly host from the book of Hebrews looking down on our race and cheering us on ontil we unite ourselves with them in heaven. As Jesus said to one of the church’s in the book of revelation “Hold Fast your profession in Him and when He returns He will give onto them His crown of life” sadly I fear many who today call Him Lord and do not do as He has commanded will hear him say onto them Depart from Him because He never knew them they really only gave Him lip service and never truely trusted Him for their Salvation, they may have wanted him but loved their sins as well perhaps even more than their willingness to give up all and love Him more than their sins, a time is arriving when the Spirit says let the righteous continue in their righteousness, let the thief remain a thief, let the impure remain impure etc why because they will be in the midst of the Great Tribulation period of 3.5 years when God’s judgments are falling upon the whole earth, I don’t think God is saying salvation is past because we know many will come to faith during that time and arrive in heaven out of the Great Tribulation even though it costs them their physical lives at the hands of the anti christ or the devil who in dwells the anti christ at that time frame but we are not their yet and the Spirit says that today is still the day of salvation, let all now call upon the name of the Lord and be saved now, as Jesus says that the will of the father is that all believe upon the Son for salvation that He sent into the world to accomplish the will of His Father. Why does Jesus say to depart from Him on the day of judgment? Because they did not do the will of the father to believe upon the son for salvation. Jesus has warned us that many in pulpits will be wolves dressed in sheep clothing seeking only to destroy the people with lies and false teachings about Gods word telling them they can believe anything except upon the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation. Entertainment is not salvation and getting caught with emotion singing God knows what as passing for worship music to God. We already have fallen short of God’s standard for righteousness, don’t let ourselves be foolish and miss Jesus the only standard now available to us to meet the standard that God now requires of every person to receive salvation provided in Christ alone. Again – The nations raged, but your wrath came, and the time for the dead to be judged, and for rewarding your servants, the prophets and saints, and those who fear your name, both small and great, and for destroying the destroyers of the earth.” Interesting- they that destroy the earth, possibly with their wars and exploding bombs possibly nuclear etc we do know that when Jesus returns that it was critical because if he did not then no flesh would be left alive upon the earth, again possibly the whole world is again at war only this time they are using their nuclear weapons of destruction, who knows really but we do know this world is on a collision path with Christ Himself that will lead to Armageddon. I know their is teachers saying that the church will eventually take over the world and hand to God on a platter the earth fully conquered obviously that is false teaching, because the truth is that this world of ours will be on the brink of annihilation of not just human life but all life as we now know it.

The Pharisee said to the lord that the blind man Jesus restored sight to was born and shaped in sin but they themselves were born from Abraham and therefore somehow in their own eyes without sin but Jesus told them that because they said to him that they could see that their sin remained upon them because they thought themselves righteous and already right with God but Jesus more or less told them that they were mistaken and really living sinful , no wonder the Lord was frustrated with them and their self righteous attitude, wasn’t the first time that He groaned in his spirit at their failure to recognise Him as the Messiah promised and was even then in their midst and they should have known the signs of times instead of just knowing the signs of the weather. How compassionate Jesus is towards all who will yet believe on Him but how bad it will be for all who reject him.

Thank God for His compassion towards and upon us sinners. The God of the Old Testament I remember thinking was severe and impatient with the Jews and on reflection rightly so at times when they turned away from Him and worshipped idols and performed all kinds of hideous acts in worship of their idols like child sacrifice etc but in my mind I thought God The father of the Old Testament somehow was different from Jesus of the New Testament but in reality they are one and the same in everything, to my mind God The father is the same in both old and new while Jesus appears more gentle in dealing with the people especially the ones who believed he was who he claimed to be then we see the role of God The Holy Spirit in dealing with Ananias and sapharia his wife, to me the Holy Spirit stance was He was taking no nonsense from any human being and made an example of the pair of them seeing they both lied to the Holy Spirit even though we naturally think they lied to Peter . All in all they are clearly individual and one all at the same time, one God 3 persons, I know people reading this already know that Truth. So I often wonder that in heaven will we see Jesus only or see all 3 persons of God – a mystery yet to be revealed I’m thinking. But we can see their roles on earth during this gospel time period, think about what Jesus said him in the father the father in him , I and my father will take up residence in the believer along with the Holy Spirit who regenerates us before us and dwells in us as one with ourselves, so we see father, son and spirit dwell in us ontil God creates all things new as in new heaven and earth when Jesus gives up all to God The father and The father finally being over everything then we must remember also that Jesus said that when we look at him we also see the father because the father is In Jesus and vice Versa so I would conclude on that evidence that we surely will see the 3 persons of God in heaven if we can wrap our minds around that thinking, we do yet see things through a clouded glass window and not yet fully clear but we will one day know everything even as God already knows us already. We should perhaps also remember what Paul said that if only in this life we have hope then he was to be considered the most miserable man ever to exist but No rather our hope is an eternal hope yet to come into full focus only when we arrive in heaven were Jesus is even now awaiting our home arriving.