Words of the Bible

I’ve learned that God is described as “Elohim,” a plural noun, in the original text of the Hebrew Bible. Then, does it mean that there is not only one God?

Just as you said, God is described as Elohim (אֱלֹהִים) in many places in the Hebrew Bible. It is common knowledge that God is one, but the term "Elohim" completely defies this common sense, because Elohim has a plural meaning. Some people insist that the word "Elohim" is used in the Bible to express the fullness of God's divinity and power or to depict the Triune God, but it is a mere guess that comes from a misunderstanding of the Bible. Now, let's find out what the exact meaning of the word "Elohim" is and why the Bible describes God as "Elohim." "Elohim," the mystery of the Bible The term "Elohim" has caused a lot of controversy among the Biblicists…

Obedience and Faith

This year marks the 100th anniversary of Father Ahnsahnghong’s coming to this earth. The number 100 symbolizes perfection. There is just one number difference between 99 percent and 100 percent, but it makes a great difference between the two—the former is imperfect, and the latter is perfect. In order to have 100 percent perfect faith, we must learn obedience. Here, obedience refers to compliance with God’s word. Most people today regard it as a virtue to be self-assertive and insistent rather than be complaisant and obedient. However, we must always obey God’s words, even though we may not obey somebody else’s words. Without faith it is impossible to obey God. When we have obedience and faith, we can enter the…

The Order of Aaron and the Order of Melchizedek

In the Bible there are two divisions [orders] of priesthood: the order of Aaron and the order of Melchizedek. 1. The order of Aaron The order of Aaron is a priestly division in which the priests conducted sacrifices according to the laws and regulations of the old covenant. Aaron was a Levite, so the order of Aaron is also called the Levitical priesthood [the order of Levites]. Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, Jacob the father of 12 sons including Levi, who was the third son of Jacob and his wife Leah. Jacob and his family moved to Egypt when his son Joseph became a ruler of Egypt, and they left Egypt after 430 years.…

Why does the Church of God keep services on Saturday?

Sister, God bless you on the Sabbath day! You’ve come early. We still have much time before the service. I heard I’d better come earlier than the service time to keep it with a godly mind. I’m a sleepyhead, so getting up this morning was a struggle for me. I’m happy to see you make efforts to do as you’ve learned! But you know what? Some people say it’s weird when I tell them I go to church on Saturday. Tilting their heads, they ask me, “Isn’t Sunday the day of worship?” They did? Yes. So, I’m asking you, “Why does our church keep services on Saturday unlike other churches?” The day we’re promised to meet God is the Sabbath…

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Rescue Instinct

A truck caught on fire in a tunnel. The driver made a quick move to put out the fire with the fire extinguisher that he had in his truck, but it wasn’t strong enough. Right then, three people in suits came out of a car that was passing by, evacuated the driver, pulled a fire hose that was installed in the tunnel, and started putting out the fire. The fire was put out completely in thirty minutes by the efforts they made, confronting the red flames and fog that filled the tunnel and by the help from the fire truck that got called and came. These people, who prevented the accident from getting worse by taking a quick action, were…

The Most Accurate Clock in the World

In order to make the best perfume, people pick roses from midnight to two o’clock in the morning before the morning dew dries up; because roses have the best fragrance at dawn when is dark and cold. Then why are roses more fragrant at dawn? How do they know what time it is and emit fragrance? It is not only roses that do so. Around noon every day, your stomach growls as if it knew what time it is. You have lunch, come back, and start working again. But then around 3 in the afternoon, you feel drowsy as if it was already planned to. When the sun rises, you wake up, and when the night comes, you feel sleepy.…

This Man, Too, Is a Son of Abraham

In the town of Jericho, there was a large clamoring crowd who poured out onto the street after hearing that Jesus was passing by, and among the crowd was hidden a very short man, who was a chief tax collector named Zacchaeus. With a strong desire to see Jesus at least once, he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree since Jesus was coming that way. When Jesus reached the spot, Zacchaeus got a look at Jesus from the tree and his heart was overflowed with emotion. Then he was surprised because Jesus stopped beneath the sycamore-fig tree and looked up at him. Jesus said to him: “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” So Zacchaeus…

More Beautiful Together: The Forest

A canopy of branches shades the forest, where the breeze carries refreshing energy and the soft rustle of wildlife gently stirs the quiet. This calm, green world often becomes a canvas for vivid imagination. It is no surprise that so many fairy tales—Snow White, Hansel and Gretel, Little Red Riding Hood—begin their stories in the woods. Yet even without imagination, the forest holds countless fascinating tales of its own. Every plant and animal depends on one another, each life woven with unique meaning. Among them, the trees—unquestioned pillars of the ecosystem—tell stories we can never overlook. The Harmony of Trees in the Forest It takes hundreds of years for a dense, natural forest to form. Seeds carried by the wind…

Repent and Return to God

As we walk the path of faith, we always hear God’s teaching on repentance. If we do not understand the true meaning of repentance, we will easily fall into the trap of thinking: “I have nothing to repent of. What shall I repent for?” Remembering the love of our Heavenly Father and Mother, who sacrificed Themselves to open the way to the forgiveness of sins for Their children, let us see what the Bible teaches about repentance, which God’s people must practice until the day they go to heaven. “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near” The Bible describes repentance as the act of confessing our genuine regret over all our past sins and turning back to God.…

What is the reason why every church erects the cross?

There was no cross in the early Church The reason why the churches today set up the cross is because they regard it as the symbol of Christ. Even those who do not believe in God take it for granted. However, the cross can never be a symbol of Christ. The cross, which was an object of shame and the"accursed tree" to the apostles in the early Church (Gal 3:13), was introduced into the church as Christianity became paganized. The leaders of the Church of Rome accepted pagan ideas and symbols under the pretext of evangelizing pagans, and one of them was the cross. Paying attention to the fact that Jesus was crucified on the cross, the Church of Rome…

The Heavenly Wedding Banquet

The Bible tells us that everything on this earth is a copy and shadow of what is in heaven (Heb 8:5). As we have a physical body, so we also have a spiritual body—a newly reborn body—which we, God’s children, will be clothed with when we go back to heaven. As we have our physical father and mother, so we have our spiritual Father and Mother who give birth to us and will change our physical body into a spiritual, heavenly body. We can find this fact in God’s providence over the creation. Eternal life given in accordance with nature Our ancestors would say that it’s natural that people should realize the will of Heaven and follow it, and that…

The Sacrifices in the Old Testament

The sacrifice ceremonies, which were conducted in the sanctuary in the Old Testament times, were so difficult and complicated that nobody really knew them in detail except the priests who took charge of them. Not only that, but since the types, ways and names of the sacrifices were similar or overlapped, it was not easy to tell the difference. Since it is hard to accurately classify or explain the sacrifice ceremonies of the Old Testament, let us take a look at some sacrifice ceremonies which appear several times in the Bible or can help our life of faith. 1. Sort by the purpose of sacrifice: sin offering, guilt offering, fellowship offering 1) Sin offering It was a sacrifice offered to…

Everyone’s Hope

When a human foot finally touched the gray, shadowed surface of the Moon, people watching on television erupted in cheers. It was July 20, 1969—the historic day when Apollo 11 became the first spacecraft to land on a celestial body beyond Earth’s atmosphere. NASA’s ambitious Apollo Program, designed to send humans to the Moon and bring them back safely, had succeeded spectacularly. The achievement required more than 25 billion dollars and the combined knowledge and skill of some 400,000 scientists and engineers. The astronauts’ space suits also drew great attention. Designed not only to ensure the astronauts’ survival and safety but also to allow them to move comfortably on the Moon, the suits embodied the very peak of twentieth-century science…

According to the Deeds of Faith

If, at the end of life, you are to face a harsh evaluation of how you have lived, will you be willing to change the principles and attitudes you have held onto until now? Alfred Nobel, a chemist, gained worldwide recognition for inventing dynamite. His invention brought revolutionary progress to mining, waterway, tunnel, railroad, and road construction. Yet the praise did not last. Once dynamite was used as a weapon of war, public opinion turned cold. As mass killing was carried out with his invention, fierce criticism poured down upon Nobel, who had grown immensely wealthy. One day, he read a newspaper article announcing his own death. It was actually his brother Ludvig who had died, but the paper mistakenly…

Because He Went Before Us

On May 6, 1954, at the athletic track of Oxford University in England, a 25-year-old man named Roger Bannister sprinted across the one-mile (Approx. 1,609 meters) finish line. His time: 3 minutes 59.4 seconds—a record no one had ever achieved before. His groundbreaking feat sent shockwaves through the world of athletics. At the time, sports physiologists even warned that attempting to run a mile in under four minutes could cause the lungs, heart, muscles, or ligaments to rupture, possibly resulting in death. Because of this fear, very few attempted to challenge the so-called four-minute barrier. From the moment Bannister resolved to break through that mental and societal wall, he had to fight the daily fear that he might die trying.…

With the Ability We Have Received

There is a saying: “The bird that flies high sees far.” Indeed, birds can see astonishing distances—some can even spot insects on the ground from several kilometers above. Hawks, famous for their exceptional vision, have five times more photoreceptor cells concentrated in the macula (the area of the eye where images form) than humans do. This allows them to perceive fast-moving objects almost as if they were passing slowly, frame by frame, enabling them to catch tiny insects mid-flight with their beaks. Hawks also have two maculae, enabling rapid focus adjustments much like a camera lens. When they search for prey from high above, their vision functions like a telephoto lens; when they lock onto prey and begin their descent,…

The Fragrance of Life to the Whole World

Once they take root, plants remain in the same place for life. To spread their seeds, they use various methods—some are carried by the wind, others through animals’ droppings. But the Crinum asiaticum (commonly called the spider lily), a perennial plant of the amaryllis family, uses a far bolder method. In Korea, the only natural habitat of the spider lily is Tokki Island, near Seongsan Ilchulbong on Jeju Island. How could this plant, believed to have originated from the southern seas, have taken root on such a small island, filling the air with its delicate fragrance? Spider lilies typically grow along coastlines and bloom from July to September. Each flower stalk bears around twenty long, slender white blossoms. After the…

Why is the church named the Church of God?

Sister, God bless you! I’m Pastor Clear. It’s nice to meet you! Good to see you, too. Pastor, I’ve got many questions because I’ve just started attending the Church of God. My first question is this. Why is the church named the Church of God? Isn’t every church the Church of God if they believe in God? Many people think that way. But, Sister, aren’t there many churches in your neighborhood? Among them, there are the churches established by God, and also the churches that were not established by God. Is there a church not established by God? If that’s true, I must find out which church is established by God before I go to any church. Certainly. Then, how…

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In the Age of Post-Truth, People Believe Falsehood

“Did you know spaghetti grows on trees?” This fake news was reported by BBC on April Fools’ Day 1957. At first, people made fake news for fun, but recently it has been shaking society at large. Fake news in article format are deceiving many people with false information online. In summer, 2016, when the U.S. presidential election was approaching, there were lots of fake news articles that were favorable to a certain candidate and malicious against the opponent candidate. Thinking it was suspicious, the press traced those articles and found out that the source of most of these fake articles was a small village called Veles in Macedonia, a country in Southeastern Europe; some teenagers were producing fake news referring…

The Seas, a Repository of Life

On March 26, 2012, James Cameron, the movie director of Titanic and Avatar, successfully explored the Mariana Trench. The Mariana Trench, which is known as the deepest part of the world’s oceans, reaches a maximum depth of about 11 ㎞ [36,090 ft]. It is deeper than the height of Mt. Everest (8,848 m above sea level). Why is it that the expedition to the seas that are so familiar with us draws so much attention in the age of cutting-edge science, when we have even left human traces in space? It is because it has been hard for humans to explore the deep seas due to its high pressure, cold water temperature, and complete darkness. James Cameron made a six-hour…