Did you know there's a prayer for Trump? "May his days be few; may another take his office!" (Psa 109:8) Plain as day, right? Okay, not Trump in particular. It is a prayer of David regarding the wicked, so ...?
How about this one?
"There is no God." (Psa 14:1)That's in there. It really is. Of course, although it's a complete sentence, it is not the complete thought. The complete thought is "The fool says in his heart, 'There is no God.'" Which, of course, changes the entire sense of the verse. It is not an avowal of atheism, but a complete denial. "You're a fool if you say, 'There is no God.'"
Here's one that might be disturbing. Jesus talking says, "But as for these enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, bring them here and slaughter them before me." (Luke 19:27) Wait ... what?? As always, context, context, context. Jesus said it, but He said it as part of a parable. It's the story of a king who left one of his lieutenants in charge ... well, you remember the middle part. He gave one 10 and another 5 and another 1 piece of money and they did what they could with it and he came back and rewarded them based on their effort, all except the one with 1 who did nothing. Then the king asked to have those who wouldn't submit to him executed. Not Jesus, the king in the story. Context, context, context.
There is one passage that has become Internet-famous where, I might think, God made a mistake. Oh, not in what was written, but in including it in the Bible because today's readers are so childish. They're like junior high boys who are amused when someone mentions "the boob tube" and they think, "Heh, heh, he said 'boob'." You can't tell these people anything with a sexual reference because they will completely miss the point. The text is in Ezekiel, where God is describing the "whoredoms" of Israel and Judah. Of course, by "whoredom" He means their seeking other gods. He uses "whoredom" to express the evil of it. And He says, "Yet she increased her whoring, remembering the days of her youth, when she played the whore in the land of Egypt and lusted after her lovers there, whose members were like those of donkeys, and whose issue was like that of horses." (Ezek 23:19-20) The minute God lapses into language about "members ... like those of donkeys" and "issue ... like that of horses," these puerile readers can no longer focus. The intent was clear. The lust of God's chosen people for other gods was relentless, insatiable, and over the top -- beyond anything real. But, hey, now we're supposed to be embarrassed because the skeptics can't grasp meaning when words like "issue" or "breasts" (Song 7:3) are used because they're too easily distracted by sex.
Number 1 on today's "hit list" -- the list issued by the god of this world (2 Cor 4:4) and passed around to coordinate assaults on God -- seems to be the Bible. Undercut that and you undercut God, Christianity, and all that goes with it. Lots of people, even self-proclaimed Christians, are happy to step up and agree with the attacks. "No, don't overdo your Bible stuff. It's a good book, inspirational even, but God's Word? Come on. Be real." Leaving themselves, like the emperor with the "new clothes", without a place to stand without being exposed as false teachers. It is dangerous to underestimate the value and importance of God's Word ... even if it does not include, "So Jesus told John, 'Come forth and receive eternal life,' but John came in fifth and only won a toaster."
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