Understanding God's Overall Plan: Bible Handbook For The Novice To The Senior Pastor

By David Murdoch

How many Christians do you know that are fluent in ancient Hebrew and Greek? I'm talking about Pastors, Evangelists, Sunday School Teachers, College Professors and all those who produce the quarterlies, lesson plans and study guides for the hierarchy of your church. A follow-up question would be: Do you know for sure that the people preparing a

• Language: English
• Publisher: ReadersMagnet LLC
• Release date: Sep 30, 2020
• ISBN: 9781952896125

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Understanding God’s Overall Plan: Bible Handbook For The Novice To The Senior Pastor

Copyright © 2020 by David Murdoch

Published in the United States of America

ISBN Paperback: 978-1-952896-11-8

ISBN Hardback: 978-1-953616-32-6

ISBN eBook: 978-1-952896-12-5

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bibe, King James Version (KJV)

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any way by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording or otherwise without the prior permission of the author except as provided by USA copyright law.

While the author has made every effort to ensure the accuracy of the information presented in this book, it is sold without warranty, either expressed or implied. The author or publisher cannot be liable for any damages caused or alleged to be caused directly, incidentally or consequentially by the information in this book. The views expressed in this book are solely of the author and not necessarily those of the publisher.

The opinions expressed by the author are not necessarily those of ReadersMagnet, LLC.

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Dedicated

To Those Who Have Always

Known There Is More.

Special Thanks Goes To

MELISSA ENNIS

For the many hours of doing the final edit on this book. The organization of the book was done by Melissa. The way in which she became involved with this project is another example of God being involved in the lives of men and women.

ED GOSSETT, JR.

Whose expertise and knowledge of computers made this project much timelier.

—David Murdoch

I love them that love me;

And those that seek me

early shall find me.

—Proverbs 8:17

Contents

Foreword

Preface

1The Importance of the Original Languages

The Pledge of Allegiance

2The Three Heaven and Earth Ages

The First Earth Age

The Second Earth Age

The Third Age

3The Creation of Man and the Legacy of Cain

The Creation of Man

The Legacy of Cain

4Noah, the Ark and the Flood

5Satan’s Destiny

6The End Times

7The Eight Dispensations

8God’s Eternal Plan

9Historical References

10Unexplained Mysteries and Phenomena

11Man’s Free Will

12Man’s Salvation

13Bearing Good Witness

14Today’s Churches and Pastors

15God’s Provisions For Man

16God’s View of Perversions

17God’s Justice

18God’s Words About Prayer and Traditions

19God’s Food Laws

The Purpose of the Law

Your Responsibility

God’s Instructions

The Influence of Medical Science

Simple Solutions

Getting to the Root of the Problem

Religious Confusionists

Postscript

End Notes

Suggested Reading and Viewing

Bibliography

About the Author

Understanding God’s Overall Plan

Foreword

To pick up Understanding God’s Overall Plan by David Murdoch and open to the beginning pages is to begin an educational journey that you will never forget for the rest of your days on the Earth. As a Christian Educator for some 25 years I have never witnessed a writing effort quite like this. I was captivated from chapter one. The facts that David shared in this book did not let go of me until I turned the last page. You need to be ready for this to happen to you too.

In the classroom, I used to tell my students that the hardest thing for anyone to do is to tell another person’s story. When that person is from the religious western culture like we have here in the western world and the story they are trying to tell is that of Israel and their historical relationship with God, it should give the diligent Bible Student more than pause. It is in the silence of that pause where David Murdoch begins to ring the bell of accuracy in the account of the relationship of not just God and Israel, but God and man.

The overall plan of God in not just about Israel. From the very beginning it is clear that God had a World Plan. David set the record straight on that issue very early in this book. When you were a child, did you ever play the game telephone? You build a long line and the first person in the line whispers something in the ear of the person next to them and they in turn do the same thing until the message gets to the end of the line. If you have ever played this game, you remember that most of the time the message at the end of the line was most often completely different from what it was when it started at the beginning of the line. It was a fun game and we all laughed and had fun with it. But our spiritual heritage is no game and getting it wrong is no laughing matter. Understanding God’s Overall Plan removes all the distortion and returns the reader to the original message of the way things were and the plan God has for us.

David serves up industrial strength spiritual concepts that stand in the face of our western culture’s idea of what we think the Bible is telling us. Like most things western man tries to figure out, he does not always get it right. This is not a book with just an opinion for you to consider as you read. David takes you back in time and language to give you the clear meaning of the events and plans that God has always had for His children.

Learning is not comfortable by nature. It is God’s way of unsettling the comfort zone of our nest.

Did you know that a mother eagle plucks up the pointy sticks and twigs in the bottom of her nest to make the nest less comfortable for her young, so they will leave the nest and learn to fly? Understanding God’s Overall Plan pokes at our comfortable concepts of God and His relationship with man and causes the reader to leave the nest and interact with the turbulent winds of truth.

Not every young eagle masters the turbulent winds and learns to fly in the first effort. The mother eagle spends time flying in front of her young making the wind smoother so the young bird can master flight.

This is exactly what this book did for me. I had come up through traditional channels of education and I was quite comfortable with them. Some of the truths that David shared unsettled me like those pointy sticks at the bottom of my comfortable nest. I found myself praying to the Lord for guidance. What seemed to rise up strong in my spirit was this phrase, Tim, when you seek the truth you must not really care which way it falls, If it is the truth, then it is what you need. Suddenly I was at perfect peace with those pointy concepts David was sharing. I was no longer trying to make them agree with my traditional ideas.

David will openly tell you not to take his word for what he shares with you in this book. He will also tell you that should you find anything that he shares to be wrong he will immediately change it. That is a strong for any author to make. As you continue to read Understanding God’s Overall Plan you begin to understand why and how this author makes such a bold and deliberate statement. David Murdoch is not standing alone on this rock of truth discoveries. Men like Strong who’s exhaustive concordance, the King James Version of the Bible and Webster’s Dictionary which Bible teachers and preachers have used for generations, stand with this author. In my case, David used books in my own library to prove his case of being on solid ground. I strongly recommend that you make this book part of your library and study its concepts.

Finally, let me say that I have come to know David Murdoch as a serious Bible student who would rather have the truth no matter how unsettling it is. His heartfelt desire is to leave the nest and confront the turbulent winds of life, letting his Heavenly Father teach him how to fly.

David has learned that in those turbulent winds there are updrafts that will lift you to greater heights of understanding and a closer relationship with God.

Thanks for the lift, David.

Tim Shook

Tim Shook has a Master of Arts Degree in Christian Education from George Fox University

Preface

This writing is dedicated to those who believe the Bible is the Word of God, yet sometimes have trouble understanding what it is really saying.

Before you begin reading chapter one, sincerely ask God to remove any scales from your eyes that may have kept you from understanding His Word as originally written. James 1:5 tells us what to do if we lack wisdom. If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. The next verses give us the conditions we must meet in order for God to grant our petition. Verse 6: But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. ⁷For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. This is where many people mess up. They forget the conditions they must meet before God will honor his Word. Let me make it very clear, if you don’t fulfill the condition for the promise anywhere in the Bible, God is under no obligation to fulfill His promise. By the same token, when you do your part, God will always do His part. Accepting Christ as our Savior is the first step in understanding the Bible. Did you know that there are people teaching, writing sermons and Sunday school lessons that are not saved? That is the reason that many of these lessons are out of harmony with what the Bible really says. John 3:16 has the salvation message in this one verse. For God so loved the world, that He gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life. When you think about it, salvation is what Christ did for you and me. It is a gift that can be received by repenting of our sins, believing on and accepting Him into our lives. After that we should find out what we can do for God in order to please Him. I believe the most important next step is to get into His Word, the Bible, and learn about God and His ways. As we do this, we begin to find what is required of us to do our part so that our Father can use us.

Most Christians experience obstacles when they get serious about trying to find out more about God. My experience as a pastor of a small church, and having counseled with people for almost 50 years, taught me that religion is one of mankind’s biggest hang ups (two others being money and sex). Many people become frustrated when searching for deeper truth about God. I personally had to overcome a barrier that caused me to think there were no solutions to finding out about God’s overall plan. I now recognize that the better we understand the Bible, the better we can deal with any of life’s problems.

Let’s face it, the most important book in the world is not always easy to follow. This is especially true when you consider all the different religions and beliefs that exist. Listen to us, we will get you there, seems to be the message that each group has to offer. Yet each has a different way to achieve that goal. The idea that all these different interpretations are correct may be unrealistic. The main reason for putting the information in this book together is to help those who want to understand the Bible but are having problems because of all the different opinions about what the Bible has to say. Most people have been raised with the notion of, It does not matter how each group interprets the Bible. Your belief is personal and up to you. It does not seem to matter that some of these beliefs are so far apart, they could not possibly all be correct. What this book does is tell you it is not a matter of interpretation, but rather of definition. You simply go to the original language in which the text was written and define the words for the culture and period of the people living at that time. In other words, you cannot understand God’s Overall Plan unless you understand the Bible. You cannot understand the Bible without going to the original languages. You cannot go to the original languages without the proper tools needed to do the job. Most Christian groups accept a Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible. A Smiths Bible Dictionary and a good College Dictionary will be helpful also. With these valuable tools, you can probe the manuscripts with much clearer definition. Once you have the proper tools and are willing to put forth the effort to use those tools, the Bible will interpret itself just as going to a good college dictionary will define any word today. If you go through the entire dictionary, you will have the history and culture of the civilization of man upon the Earth. Doing the same thing with the Bible will not only give you all needed information for this Earth Age, but for The Heaven and Earth Age that Was and The Heaven and Earth Age That is to Come which the Bible clearly talks about once you understand what is being said.

Remember, the possessor is greater than the proclaimer unless the proclaimer is also the possessor. Only God knows your heart and what you possess.

This book discusses Myths and Facts to try to provide answers for some of the Biblical questions people have been stymied by over the years. You may ask why this work should be believed. What makes this writing any more than just my opinion? Those questions are reasonable and will be answered. My opinion is not worth much if it cannot be backed up with scripture taken from the original manuscripts. Therefore, for each topic, you are given the subject and then the scripture. Secondly, you are provided the references necessary to perform your own research and prove it for yourself. There are over 1200 verses of scripture quoted or referred to in this book from thirty-one Old Testament books and twenty-two New Testament books.

Let me make it clear from the start: you do not have to be a Greek or Hebrew scholar to be able to learn from the manuscripts. A Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, a King James Version of the Bible and a good Webster’s Dictionary are all you need.

We must also beware of man’s greed and vanity slanting information in the Bible for personal benefit. I believe these greed and ego factors are some of the reasons we have so many different religions and beliefs today. After all, if there is only one God, why do we have so much confusion about Him? These negative forces are allowed by God, so it is up to each of us to search out the truth for ourselves. We must learn to eat the grapes and spit out the seeds.

If your understanding of the Bible is based strictly on English translations, you will probably disagree initially with many of the topics discussed in this work. Many good people thought they found areas of this work that were not correct. However, when they researched the manuscripts themselves, they changed their mind. I have a friend who is always telling me, That’s not in my Bible. When I show him where it is, he then says, I never saw that before. If you have a disagreement with our Father’s Word, go to the manuscripts. Search and dig until you find the answer. If it appears on the surface that the Bible is contradicting itself, keep looking and sooner or later you will find it is in perfect harmony in the manuscripts. Then you will know that He is always right. All I ask is that you keep an open mind. Once you get into the manuscripts and learn how they have been protected through the years, your opposition will melt with the light of truth. It is up to each of us to study for ourselves to prove what is true and acceptable to God by rightly dividing His Word. Jesus said it best when asked about some of His teachings. His reply was, It is written, have ye not read?

Regarding my research, I would like to close out the Preface by quoting from Herbert Buffington of the Institute for the Study of America.

We should use the word Credibility as our motto and we should never go out on a limb or take any position that might later be found to be false when there lacked credible evidence to substantiate the statement initially. We need the knowledge, wisdom, and evidence of all concerned for the discussion and research of the unknown and for matters of contemporary or historical significance remaining in doubt or without substantive knowledge. We should permit our members and others to openly discuss all positions that have some credibility or probability of having credibility and basis.

In other words, true researchers do not care what the answer is. They just follow the facts. Myths are believed as a direct result of churches taking positions where there has been no credible evidence to support the ideology. This is further compounded by the repetition of the position over and over as being true. It is then accepted because it comes from the church and no one has put the position under the light of research in the manuscripts.

Once we realize that our Father’s Word is complete and covers all of life’s situations, we can relax and know He is truly in charge. The Bible not only has the answers to problems, but more importantly, it has the road map for success to help you become healthy, wealthy and wise. It is this writer’s hope that this work will open up God’s truth in a deeper way for you and you will enter a new phase of understanding God’s Plan and Eternal Purpose. Ephesians 3:11: According to the eternal purpose which He proposed in Christ Jesus our Lord.

1

The Importance of the Original Languages

Many people in this country make the mistake of accepting English translations of the Bible as the only one they need to understand God and His ways. However, the Bible was not originally written in English. It was translated from Hebrew, Chaldee and Greek. Consequently, there is much content lost by honest mistakes and even more lost through deliberate changes by unholy hands and heads repeating the same mistakes over and over.

MYTH: An English Bible is all you need to understand the Bible and all of God’s plan.

FACT: Writers of the 1611 King James Bible warn the reader to check them out. The Bible admonishes us to study to show ourselves approved that we might not be ashamed. Getting to the root meaning of the words used in the manuscripts is necessary to understand The Word of God. This lack of knowledge of the manuscripts is one of the main reasons there is so much confusion about God and His ways. Fortunately, we can still dig out the truth if we study the manuscripts. For example, let’s look at something we are all familiar with to see what a difference using a dictionary makes to expound on its meaning.

The Pledge of Allegiance

I Pledge Allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, One Nation, under God, Indivisible with Liberty and Justice for All.

By taking and defining each word, we find there is much more to this pledge than meets the eye.

I: Personal pronoun meaning My presence here; the person speaking or writing; I is the ego; the self.

PLEDGE: To guarantee, with form and meaning; to bind by a promise or agreement.

ALLEGIANCE: A formal declaration; the obligation of support and loyalty to one’s government or country; refers to the duty of a citizen to his government; implies strict adherence to an obligation; suggest steadfast devotion of an unquestioning kind; suggest faithfulness that one has sworn to uphold; implies respect, or honor rendered.

TO: In the direction of; toward or into a condition of; producing, causing or resulting in.

THE: Refers to a particular person, thing, or group; as distinguished from all others.

FLAG: A piece of cloth often attached to a staff, with distinctive colors, patterns, or symbolic devices, used as a national or state symbol.

UNITED: Combined; joined; made one; in agreement or harmony.

STATES OF AMERICA: Country made up of the North American area extending from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean between Canada and Mexico, together with Alaska and Hawaii.

AND: Also, in addition, moreover; as well as.

REPUBLIC: A State or Nation in which the Supreme Power rest in all the Citizens entitled to vote and is exercised by Representatives elected directly or indirectly.

FOR: In place of; instead of.

WHICH: Who like.

IT: This one.

STANDS: To be or remain in a generally upright position.

ONE: Being a single thing or unit; not two or more.

NATION: A stable, historically developed community of people with a territory, economic life, distinctive culture, and language in common; United under a single Government.

GOD: Supernatural, Immortal, and having special powers over the lives and affairs of people and the course of nature.

INDIVISIBLE: That which cannot be divided.

WITH: Alongside of; near to.

LIBERTY: Freedom or release from slavery, imprisonment, captivity, or any other form of arbitrary control.

JUSTICE: The quality of being righteous, impartiality; fairness; sound reason; reward or penalty as deserved.

ALL: Wholly, entirely, of everything; or every part.

Let’s now read the Pledge of Allegiance with full understanding. I, by my presence here, do guarantee with form and meaning, bind myself and guarantee this formal declaration as my obligation of support and loyalty which is my duty as a citizen. I respect, honor and have steadfast devotion toward this fabric of red, white and blue which is symbolic of this country made up of the North American area extending from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean, between Canada and Mexico, together with Alaska and Hawaii, which is a Nation in which the Supreme Power rests in all the citizens entitled to vote and is exercised by representatives elected directly or indirectly. This republic, distinguished from all others, remains upright and undivided as a Nation with it’s historically developed people, territory, economic life, culture, and common language, United under a single Government which is subject to the authority, power, control, limitation, direction, instruction and influence of God, who is the Supernatural Creator of the Universe and has special powers over the lives and affairs of people and the course of nature. The same God that was written about by our founding fathers and framers of our constitution. This nation is one of Liberty, which cannot be divided as long as it remains alongside of and near to freedom from slavery, imprisonment, captivity or any other form of arbitrary control, and as long as we have justice by impartiality, fairness, sound reason, reward or penalty as deserved for all citizens who make this pledge.

If we apply this same technique of taking every word in the English King James Bible back to the original languages and using a Dictionary to find the original meaning when studying the Bible, much more understanding is obtained. We must get into the manuscripts if we are to understand the Bible. It is this writer’s hope that you will read and study a little every day. By making the effort to research the Bible for yourself, you will find answers to the questions you have always wondered about. Our Father’s Word is exciting when you really get a glimpse of His Reality. We will begin illustrating the importance of going to the manuscripts by answering some questions that have come up in counseling over the years. Stating with some of the myths and questions.

MYTH: I’m not a Greek or Hebrew scholar and there is no way I can ever understand what the Bible is really saying if the English does not reveal all needed information.

FACT: Anyone can obtain a Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible. This tool, along with a King James Bible will enable you to look up any word in the Bible and trace it back to the original root (Hebrew, Chaldee or Greek) meaning as used in the manuscripts. Then and only then does the Bible begin to really make sense. With the proper translation, any verses you have wondered about will come alive with new meaning.

For instance, I could never understand growing up as a little Baptist boy why God would tell His people to go into a land and kill all the men, women and children. How could a loving God do such a thing? It did not make sense at the time. Now, after finding out what really took place in the garden and understanding Cain’s heritage, God was telling His people that if they didn’t destroy all of Cain’s descendants, they would pollute the Israelites and they would end up worshipping Satan rather than God.

QUESTION: Is I Kings 22:4-7 saying that the LORD is saying two different things at the same time?

ANSWER: The English version of this scripture is confusing. Let’s first quote the Scriptures as written in English. We will start at the beginning of the chapter to set the stage of what is going on. I Kings 22:1-7: ¹And they continued three years without war between Syria and Israel. ²and it came to pass in the third year, that Jehoshaphat the king of Judah came down to the king of Israel. ³and the king of Israel said unto his servants, Know ye that Ramoth in Gilead is ours, and we be still, and take it not out of the hand of the king of Syria? ⁴And he said unto Jehoshaphat, Wilt thou go with me to battle to Ramoth-gilead? And Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, I am as