Is God everywhere? What does it mean to take God's name in vain? Is it okay to kill animals for food? Where did all the different languages and nationalities come from? How are the dinosaurs explained? Are we suffering just because Adam and Eve sinned? This page will answer all these questions, along with a few others. If you have questions about the Bible that are not answered here, please e-mail Shirley via
www.shirleycheng.com and she'll be more than glad to do her best to answer them using the Bible!
Question 1: Is Jehovah male or female?
Answer: In the Bible, God, whose personal name is Jehovah (Yahweh from YHWH), always referred to Himself as a husband or father figure. Jesus Christ calls Him "Father," and told us to call Him "our Father" in our prayers. And God does have a masculine personality. So the best pronoun to use for Jehovah is "He" in the English language. (The Chinese language actually has a pronoun used especially for God.) But remember, God is a Spirit (He is invisible to our eyes but can appear in whatever form He wishes—like fire), so His form is very different than human form, and we don't know what genders, if any, spirits are in. We can't say God is male for this reason, but I guess we can say He is masculine.
Question 2: Why doesn't God appear to humans?
Answer: People often want Jehovah to appear, but don't realize the significance of the request or its outcome. Jehovah is an absolutely holy God who cannot live among sinful people. When He stayed with the Israelites during the wilderness journey, people had to be consecrated (set apart as holy) in order to go near Him. People doing sinful acts in His presence were immediately punished. If it weren't for Moses' intercession, the entire Israelites might have been wiped out. So in order to have God with us, we must make ourselves clean first by obeying His commands, which aren't hard to follow at all. All of His principles are to benefit us.
However, I believe Jehovah does still personally communicate to a select few, just He has since Biblical times. He speaks with those whose hearts are after His own heart, just like King David of Israel. As for the rest of us, if we want to have a relationship with Him—if we so desire and yearn for His nearness—we must follow the ways He has set out for us in His Word.
Jehovah's purpose for creating humans is to have fellowship with us. God wants to be near us. He offers His love to us abundantly. The problem is us: we have been pulling away from His embrace. We are the ones who are refusing His love, and turning our backs from Him. We are refusing to return His love. Jehovah is full of grace—He will not force Himself on us when we don't want Him. True love cannot be forced. Jehovah is patiently waiting for us to turn to Him. When will we ever return His love?
Question 3: Is God everywhere?
Answer: Contrary to popular belief, Jehovah is not everywhere. God is a Spirit, not an impersonal force permeating every object. Yes, He is the greatest Spirit, but He is a Spirit nevertheless. He has a spiritual body, and He has His own specific home in the spiritual realm we call heaven, some place we cannot possibly fathom.
However, God is all-knowing, so He knows everything without being present at all places. Because of this, in a way, He is present everywhere because He knows everything. This is why no one can hide anything from Him. He doesn't need to be with you to know exactly where you are, what you're doing, or what you're thinking.
We must keep in mind that Jehovah is an absolute holy God, who cannot live among sinners. He cannot be present with a sinful world.
God doesn't need to physically travel place to place; He uses His Holy Spirit to perform signs and carry out tasks anywhere He wishes. His Holy Spirit is like the sunrays of the sun. Like the rays, His Holy Spirit can reach far places without His own self traveling. Like we often say, "My heart is with you," God is with us, but not physically with us in every corner of the world.
Question 4: I have many questions for God. How can I get the answers?
Answer: People ask Jehovah questions without realizing that all that we need to know is found in the Bible. Jehovah wrote this book for this purpose—to answer our FAQs, to tell us exactly what we need to do and exactly what He desires. God doesn't need to personally instruct each individual when the answers and instructions are right there in His holy book for everyone to read and study.
For example, the Bible tells us that salvation (the gift of God's grace) is for all people, regardless of age, gender, race, or background. The only requirement to accept this gift is the willingness to accept it. But without reading His Bible, how could we know this fact? So we must find the answers to our questions on our own in the resource He so graciously provided us. (To learn more about salvation, for example, why did Jesus have to die to save us, from what we are saved, and how to accept the gift, read my article: tinyurl.com/ylaafno )
Of course, not every question is answered in the Bible. The holy book provides the necessary information we need to know. It is need-oriented, not desire-oriented. Remember, "the secret things belong unto Jehovah our God; but the things that are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law." (Deuteronomy 29:29, American Standard Version) To know every "why" and "how" would make us God.
Question 5: What does taking God's name in vain mean? Exodus 20:7 says: "Thou shalt not take the name of Jehovah thy God in vain; for Jehovah will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain." (American Standard Version)
Answer: We take Jehovah's name in vain when we use His name or "God" in meaningless ways, such as saying, "God bless you" when people sneeze, exclaiming "Oh, my God!" as an interjection, and cursing, "God d*** it." We also take His name in vain when 1) we do something bad and say God told us to do it, 2) blame Him for our problems, 3) do anything sinful in His name, 4) joke about Him, His name, His nature, and His plans and purposes; and 5) when we do not honor Him for who He is.
Question 6: If God created the first and only human beings, how did future generations procreate?
Answer: The Bible says that Adam "begat sons and daughters" with Eve. (Genesis 5:4, American Standard Version) Family trees in the Holy Scriptures often list only names of sons, not daughters, so we are only told of the names of Adam's sons, yet we know he also had daughters.
The first generations had sexual relations with close family members; they often married their siblings. For example, Abraham's wife, Sarah, was his half-sister. After the Earth had enough human population, God forbade people to continue with incest. So we are all a huge family. This was how the human line extended to this day.
Question 7: How are the many nationalities, and different looks of people in skin tone/hair texture/eye color and shape, explained if we are all sons/daughters of Adam?
Answer: Originally, the entire human population spoke one language. God told them to spread throughout the Earth to fill it. But instead of listening to Him, they decided to congregate in one city. Seeing that they were disobeying His command, He Himself scattered the people throughout the world and changed their language into many languages, so they could not communicate freely with one another. (Genesis 11)
After people were scattered throughout the world, those with the same language congregated to form their own nation. Each nation grew, with the people interbreeding within their own people.
Humans have a very complex building block system. Each block—gene—determines your feature. It appears that Jehovah created Adam and Eve with genes that included blue, green, brown eyes; black, brown, red, blonde hair; curly, wavy, straight hair; etc. Therefore, each of their descendants could be born with any of these combinations. When people of each nation interbred, their dominate genes became predominant. This is how the nations came to be with their own languages. This is how all the various kinds of dogs came to be, too.
Question 8: Are we all suffering just because our first two ancestors Adam and Eve sinned?
Answer: No, we are not suffering only because Adam and Eve sinned. Genesis 8:21 says: "...the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth..."
Romans 3:23 says "...all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God." So "death passed unto all men, for that all sinned." (Romans 5:12)
Therefore, we are really suffering for our own sins, not just because Adam and Eve sinned. We reap what we sow. If we sow sin, we will reap its penalty. However, Jehovah has graciously offered His gift of grace: salvation through Jesus Christ.
Salvation is for all people, regardless of age, race, gender, background, etc. Since we can't possibly be saved on our own because we are all sinners, Jehovah can save us from the penalty of sin through His Son. Then and only then will God's purpose be fulfilled: that people will live in fellowship with Him for eternity. However, it is up to each individual to accept the gift of salvation. Read my article for the basic facts of salvation and how we can accept it: tinyurl.com/ylaafno
But not all suffering each individual experiences is caused by their own sins. For example, people can contract illness through blood transfusions. We can suffer when we are in the wrong place at the wrong time, like being struck by a bolt of lightning during a storm. So we must be careful not to accuse someone of sinning just because they are suffering.
Question 9: What happened to the dinosaurs? Does the existence of dinosaurs contradict the account of Jehovah's creation?
To answer this question, I would like to first give you a few facts about the process of creation as presented by the Bible:
• In the beginning, Jehovah God created the heavens (our skies and atmosphere) and Earth. This "beginning" is not the very beginning of everything, as there is no beginning for God. This beginning also does not refer to the beginning of God's creation process. This beginning deals with the beginning of the world to which we belong.
• God created every form of earthly life in a span of six days. Sometimes, a "day" in the Bible simply refers to an unspecified period of time, so each day in this stage of creation might have lasted thousands or millions of years in our human time.
• God first established plant life on our planet, followed by animals (organisms in the waters came first, and then land animals) and, lastly, humans. Science agrees with this fact.
According to science, the last dinosaurs died 65 million years ago, and humans did not exist until a very long time had passed. Does this information contradict the Bible? No, it does not; rather, it harmonizes with it. We know that the animals came first, so I believe that God destroyed the dinosaurs before He created us—for good reasons, I might add! Exactly how He destroyed the dinosaurs, well, that remains a secret only God and His heavenly hosts know (scientists are still debating about how the dinosaurs came to their end).
Question 10: Is it okay to kill animals for food since we are told "thou shall not kill"?
Answer: It is definitely fine to kill animals for food. After the great flood in Noah's days, Jehovah began permitting people to eat meat: "Every moving thing that liveth shall be food for you; As the green herb have I given you all." (Genesis 9:3, ASV)
However, there's only one condition: do not eat the blood. "But you must not eat meat that has its lifeblood still in it. And for your lifeblood I will surely demand an accounting. I will demand an accounting from every animal. And from each man, too, I will demand an accounting for the life of his fellow man." (Genesis 9:4-5, NIV)
This is because Jehovah said that the life is in the blood. It is only through shedding of blood will we receive forgiveness for our sins. This is why Israelites practiced animal sacrifice to wash away their sins. But they had to perform sacrifices daily. This was actually the shadow of what was to come later on: Jesus' own sacrifice. His blood was shed once and for all to cleanse us of our sins. (To understand why the shedding of blood is necessary, read tinyurl.com/ylaafno )
So before we eat any meat, we need to make sure we won't eat any blood—pour it out on the ground like water as God instructed. The blood is sacred.
"Thou shall not kill" refers mainly to "don't murder." This does not include killing animals for food or for necessities. What is definitely not allowed is any killing/abuse of animals for fun, etc. "Thou shall not kill" also does not include the death penalty, which God instituted for certain crimes, like murder.
Question 11: Is it a sin to be cremated?
Answer: No, cremation is not a sin. When the Bible does not say something is a sin, we shouldn't think it's a sin. If it's something that is said to be a sin, then we should avoid it and its "branches." For example, greed is a sin, so gambling would be a sin since it stems from the love of money. But money itself is not a sin, nor is having it in abundance. It is only when we love money more than we love Jehovah and people. Wrong priorities in life, therefore, can make good things into sins.
In the Old Testament, priests of the high places were killed on their own altars in order to defile the altars because of the evil things they committed during worship, and bones were burned on the altars. This was what King Josiah, the great reformer, did in order to fulfill God's will and prophecy: "And as Josiah turned himself, he spied the sepulchres that were there in the mount; and he sent, and took the bones out of the sepulchres, and burned them upon the altar, and defiled it, according to the word of Jehovah which the man of God proclaimed, who proclaimed these things." (2 Kings 23:16, ASV)
This was foretold in 1 Kings 13:2: "And he cried against the altar by the word of Jehovah, and said, O altar, altar, thus saith Jehovah: Behold, a son shall be born unto the house of David, Josiah by name; and upon thee shall he sacrifice the priests of the high places that burn incense upon thee, and men's bones shall they burn upon thee."
The ancient Jewish culture took proper burial of their people seriously, so when evil people were killed and scattered on the altars—it signified how worthless those people were; they didn't deserve the respect that was normally required for dead bodies.
Other than this, Jehovah didn't indicate cremation itself was a sin; it was, at that time, punishment for evil people, and it was done in order to defile the altars.
How evil did the high place activities get? Well, they burned children alive in fire to sacrifice to false gods. They also had temple prostitutes to have sex with worshippers of their false gods.
After we die, we will no longer need our bodies—so whether we choose cremation won't matter. When we are resurrected at God's appointed time, we will be raised up in a different kind of body, a spiritual body, instead of the physical, earthly body we have now.
The Bible says: "…in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. But when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory." (I Corinthians 15:52-54, ASV)
For more frequently asked questions about the Bible, such as "Why do we suffer?" and "Why does God permit evil on Earth?" visit www.shirleycheng.com All resources are listed under the "Bible FAQs" section.
About the Author:
Shirley Cheng (b. 1983), a blind and physically disabled award-winning author (with 21 book awards, including nine Parent to Parent Adding Wisdom Awards), motivational speaker, self-empowerment expert, poet, author of nine books (including "Do You Love Jehovah? God Almighty's Infinite Love & Wisdom to Propel You to Greatness"), contributor to nineteen, and a parental rights advocate, has had severe juvenile rheumatoid arthritis since infancy. Owing to years of hospitalization, she received no education until age eleven. Back then, she knew only her ABCs and very simple English; other than that, her book knowledge was non-existent. However, after only about 180 days of special education in elementary school, she mastered grade level in all areas and entered a regular sixth grade class in middle school. Unfortunately, Shirley lost her eyesight at the age of seventeen. After a successful eye surgery, she hopes to earn multiple science doctorates from Harvard University. Visit www.shirleycheng.com for more inspiration.
Do you have questions about the Bible? Something you don't understand? Do you need a bit of guidance in developing a relationship with Jehovah? Then Shirley would like to help you! Please contact her via her site at www.shirleycheng.com and she would be more than glad to do her best to answer your questions! Never hesitate to ask questions, for no question about the Bible is ever too small or stupid.
(Question credits:
Questions 6 and 7 were submitted by Fran Young, who is the foster child of a Christian radio broadcaster and lecturer in Science and the Scriptures. For 2.5 years she attended a Bible college in north Indiana. She never could accept the disconnect taught to her from the church's standpoint, but never rebelled. Now, as an adult, she no longer believes in any form of religion, although she did discover that she is the daughter of a Jew and is proud of her Jewish racial heritage.
Question 10 was submitted by www.StukOnU.net Patent-pending baby sleep-n-playwear that opens and closes with the softest to the touch Velcro. No more time consuming snap buttons to deal with or painful zipper pinching. Not only are these rompers a much safer alternative but are more convenient making life for all much easier. Created by a mom , all rompers are tagless for added comfort for a baby. Now diaper changes and changing a baby are breeze.
Question 11 was posed by Sherri A. Stanczak, who is a 45 year old mother and grandmother. She's a freelance writer for several magazines, newsletters, newspapers and online publications. She's also a published author of two books.)
