Consider that: God's purpose is for our eternal benefit, and the purpose of life is joy.
I have learned for myself that the above is true, that mercy and justice are real, and our choices matter, and life, while legitimately full of hard things, does have purpose and can lead to peace, and eternal life. This mortality is not the beginning or the end, for sure.
There is so much more, and I have found (amid divorce/remarriage, long-term health issues, mistakes, sweet grandchildren now, and a variety of learning experiences) that it really, really helps, and life is good.
Stopwatch going 400Mhz. I pressed it and it read 55157:
18:16 A man's gift maketh room for him, and bringeth him before great
men.
18:17 He that is first in his own cause seemeth just; but his
neighbour cometh and searcheth him.
18:18 The lot causeth contentions to cease, and parteth between the
mighty.
18:19 A brother offended is harder to be won than a strong city: and
their contentions are like the bars of a castle.
18:20 A man's belly shall be satisfied with the fruit of his mouth;
and with the increase of his lips shall he be filled.
18:21 Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that
love it shall eat the fruit thereof.
----
Cain and Abel is the most important story in the Bible. Genesis 4. If I please God, He talks, otherwise I'm supposed to try again. What do you think God wants. Put a lot of thought into that question because it's the most important.
God likes bears and elephants. Honey is funny.
God says...
8:39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to
separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
9:1 I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing
me witness in the Holy Ghost, 9:2 That I have great heaviness and
continual sorrow in my heart.
9:3 For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my
brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh: 9:4 Who are Israelites;
to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and
the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises; 9:5
Whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ
came, who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen.
9:6 Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are
not all Israel, which are of Israel: 9:7 Neither, because they are the
seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed
be called.
Your summary of the Bible is off base. If you're summarizing the book of Ecclesiastes, you're almost there. Solomon provides a succinct description of the point of the book.
Ecc 8:15 15So I commended pleasure, for there is nothing good for a man under the sun except to eat and to drink and to be merry, and this will stand by him in his fntoils throughout the days of his life which God has given him under the sun.
But also
Ecc 11:8-9 8Indeed, if a man should live many years, let him rejoice in them all, and let him remember the days of darkness, for they will be many. Everything that is to come will be futility.
9¶Rejoice, young man, during your childhood, and let your heart be pleasant during the days of young manhood. And follow the fnimpulses of your heart and the fndesires of your eyes. Yet know that God will bring you to judgment for all these things.
As for the Bible, I'll direct you to the late theologian Chuck Missler.
> half the Old Testament is one tribe murdering another
That hasn't changed, it's only gotten worse. A huge percentage of this world kills, riots, and is violent. Is God supposed to handcuff everyone?
God's primary purpose isn't to keep everyone safe in a little sealed box where they can't hurt anything. However, one day he will put an end to to sin and evil once and for all. The reason he doesn't is that he continues to extend mercy to as many people as he knows will take it before that time comes.
(Also, tribe is the wrong word. Many of these countries/civilizations had millions of people in them with wars being fought between armies of hundreds of thousands of soldiers.)
An impossible task. One I also am tempted to try and do.
“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace. What gain has the worker from his toil? I have seen the business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with. He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man's heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. I perceived that there is nothing better for them than to be joyful and to do good as long as they live; also that everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil—this is God's gift to man. I perceived that whatever God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it. God has done it, so that people fear before him. That which is, already has been; that which is to be, already has been; and God seeks what has been driven away. Moreover, I saw under the sun that in the place of justice, even there was wickedness, and in the place of righteousness, even there was wickedness. I said in my heart, God will judge the righteous and the wicked, for there is a time for every matter and for every work. I said in my heart with regard to the children of man that God is testing them that they may see that they themselves are but beasts. For what happens to the children of man and what happens to the beasts is the same; as one dies, so dies the other. They all have the same breath, and man has no advantage over the beasts, for all is vanity. All go to one place. All are from the dust, and to dust all return. Who knows whether the spirit of man goes upward and the spirit of the beast goes down into the earth? So I saw that there is nothing better than that a man should rejoice in his work, for that is his lot. Who can bring him to see what will be after him?”
??Ecclesiastes? ?3:1-22? ?ESV??
https://bible.com/bible/59/ecc.3.1-22.ESV
> "He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more" [Revelation 21:4].
Let's setup a hypothetical scenario. On the day of resurrection, God resurrect 4 people. First one was a slave holding cruel asshole who plundered, raped, and killed all his life. But he believed in Christ. Second was a just man who didn't hurt even an ant knowingly. He too believed in Christ. Third is a man who lived a just and righteous life but refused to believed in Christ. Fourth man is cruel bastard who also doesn't believe in Christ.
Then the Lord said, “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, because he also is flesh; nevertheless his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.” -Genesis 6:3
2 That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.
3 And the Lord said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.
4 There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.
5 And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
6 And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.
7 And the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.
116:1 I love the LORD, because he hath heard my voice and my
supplications.
116:2 Because he hath inclined his ear unto me, therefore will I call
upon him as long as I live.
116:3 The sorrows of death compassed me, and the pains of hell gat
hold upon me: I found trouble and sorrow.
116:4 Then called I upon the name of the LORD; O LORD, I beseech thee,
deliver my soul.
116:5 Gracious is the LORD, and righteous; yea, our God is merciful.
116:6 The LORD preserveth the simple: I was brought low, and he helped
me.
----
Karate kid loses and goes home happy. Winner marries beautiful wicked witch. Actually, all women are wicked, ugly or beautiful.
In the words of Jesus, "Only God is good."
God says... stipend denotes retard nilled members drewest
Wouldn't happen without stipend. Got sterilized and impotent, too.
Women really are wicked, though.
God says...
discussed chastenedst nourish knocks cross effaces Angel
operations Zzzzzzzz comprehended contemplation unskilfulness
like treble access shine
How about a vulgar display of power, God? Bust-out some time travel, fer giggles!!
God says...
5:12 And Cainan lived seventy years and begat Mahalaleel: 5:13 And
Cainan lived after he begat Mahalaleel eight hundred and forty years,
and begat sons and daughters: 5:14 And all the days of Cainan were
nine hundred and ten years: and he died.
5:15 And Mahalaleel lived sixty and five years, and begat Jared: 5:16
And Mahalaleel lived after he begat Jared eight hundred and thirty
years, and begat sons and daughters: 5:17 And all the days of
Mahalaleel were eight hundred ninety and five years: and he died.
5:18 And Jared lived an hundred sixty and two years, and he begat
Enoch: 5:19 And Jared lived after he begat Enoch eight hundred years,
and begat sons and daughters: 5:20 And all the days of Jared were nine
hundred sixty and two years: and he died.
5:21 And Enoch lived sixty and five years, and begat Methuselah: 5:22
And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred
years, and begat sons and daughters: 5:23 And all the days of Enoch
were three hundred sixty and five years: 5:24 And Enoch walked with
God: and he was not; for God took him.
19:3 Nevertheless there are good things found in thee, in that thou
hast taken away the groves out of the land, and hast prepared thine
heart to seek God.
19:4 And Jehoshaphat dwelt at Jerusalem: and he went out again through
the people from Beersheba to mount Ephraim, and brought them back unto
the LORD God of their fathers.
19:5 And he set judges in the land throughout all the fenced cities of
Judah, city by city, 19:6 And said to the judges, Take heed what ye
do: for ye judge not for man, but for the LORD, who is with you in the
judgment.
19:7 Wherefore now let the fear of the LORD be upon you; take heed and
do it: for there is no iniquity with the LORD our God, nor respect of
persons, nor taking of gifts.
----
Yer no fun, God.
God says...
What_I_want sky like_like be_happy population quit_it peace
desert strongholds exhausted crash_and_burn buildings
sceptre hears tamed Me deceivers sparedst subduing fasting
therefore Ofttimes compassionate subsists esteem They
interior break appetite hedged beholder lovingly thirtieth
pricked residest sorrowed receiving varied hasten bottomless
phasors_on_stun joined seated swoon sharpen add Innocency
observance teach seeketh clouds pretend slain Release
lizard replenish ulcerous enforcement appointment expecteth
provided ruleth plucked philosophers relaxedly unreasoning
interest tune prudent spider snow tcosa deprived fettered
vast ranged miss entire banner compare desiring listening
actor dragging number bought HolySpirit bespoken appeared
solving befalls consulter you're_fired teachest goads
When but_of_course accomplish women holding inspire genius
occurred glorifies drunken Wisdom's conjecturing Image
guardianship conceived impudently arrived Special ridiculous
seated own suggested despised natures useful Ambition
html Court DISCLAIMER uncultivated vain notion cease vocally
confusions readable bloody raged congregations spider's
three tear attested magistrates whose sentiment educate
credit nut_job reasonable drove uncultivated anyone shake
predestination SUCH cultivated cases considereth manifest
Life passengers Excellent tones Psalter kind ardent Ver
And He also said: "For behold, this is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man." (https://abn.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/pgp/mos... verse 39.)
Consider that: God's purpose is for our eternal benefit, and the purpose of life is joy.
I have learned for myself that the above is true, that mercy and justice are real, and our choices matter, and life, while legitimately full of hard things, does have purpose and can lead to peace, and eternal life. This mortality is not the beginning or the end, for sure.
There is so much more, and I have found (amid divorce/remarriage, long-term health issues, mistakes, sweet grandchildren now, and a variety of learning experiences) that it really, really helps, and life is good.
Edit: minor wording clarifications.
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