The Bible

 

Matthew 7:9

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9 Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone?

Commentary

 

Heaven

  
The Plains of Heaven, by John Martin

Heaven" and "heavens" are used many times in the Bible, with a couple of variations of meaning. Sometimes it is relatively literal, including times when the Lord is identified with it (“Our Father, who art in the heavens,” for instance), meaning heaven as the eternal home for people who chose to do what is good in this life and let the Lord lead them to a love of being good. In other references, particularly when it is paired with “earth” or other lesser ideas (“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth,” for instance), “heaven” or “heavens” means our internal life as opposed to our external life. In a way, these two meanings are really the same. If you think about the importance of your deepest thoughts and feelings, you can see that they are the “real” you, much more so than your body is. The relationship between the spiritual world and the natural world is similar; the spiritual world is the “real” one, and controls the natural world the same way our thoughts and feeling control our actions. So in both cases, “heaven” describes a deeper reality that we will enter fully after we die.

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This video is a product of the New Christian Bible Study Corporation. Follow this link for more information and more explanations - text, pictures, audio files, and videos: www.newchristianbiblestudy.org

Commentary

 

Feet

  
by Jenny Stein
baby feet and adult hands

Our feet are the lowest parts of our bodies, and they're very useful! In the Bible, feet represent the lowest and most utilitarian part of our spiritual selves -- the “natural” level. This everyday aspect of life is involved with routine tasks and demands and the thoughts associated with them. It's not terribly deep or introspective, but it is useful -- just like feet. This correspondence is true of the Lord and of church communities, too. The Lord's Divine Natural leads us through relatively simple obedience (think of the Ten Commandments). Churches, too, have a natural level on which they serve their communities in simple but tangible ways.