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1. Why are we forbidden to mix different fabrics in our clothing? This has me puzzled...
Yahweh created things the way that He wanted them. Man, through the influence of satan, has polluted the things that the Creator of all things placed here in the form and shape that He wanted them to remain in. Yahweh was pleased when He saw all that He had created. Yahweh wanted to keep the different strains of plant and animal life separate, that is the way that He created them.
Genesis 1:11
11 Then God said, "Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the fruit tree that yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself, on the earth"; and it was so. 12 And the earth brought forth grass, the herb that yields seed according to its kind, and the tree that yields fruit, whose seed is in itself according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 13 So the evening and the morning were the third day.
From the beginning, Yahweh set the different species in place and they were to produce after their kind. Apparently, before the world was destroyed by the flood, the animal species had become polluted. It also appears that man himself had also polluted his gene pool and this was the reason that Yahweh was so displeased. Notice that Yahweh Himself is the one that sent the animals to Noah that He wanted to repopulate the world with after the flood.
Genesis 6:18
18 But I will establish My covenant with you; and you shall go into the ark--you, your sons, your wife, and you sons' wives with you. 19 And of every living thing of all flesh you shall bring two of every sort into the ark, to keep them alive with you; they shall be male and female. 20 Of the birds after their kind, of animals after their kind, and of every creeping thing of the earth after its kind, two of every kind will come to you to keep them alive.
Yahweh sent the animals to Noah, because He was the only one that could choose the pure strains, He did not entrust the selection to Noah. Noah and his family were also of a pure strain and had kept themselves from being corrupted like the rest of the people in the world at that time.
Genesis 6:9
9 This the genealogy of Noah. Noah was a just man, perfect in his generations. Noah walked with God.
Noah was righteous, but beyond that, being perfect in his generations meant that he was from a pure strain as originally created by Yahweh.
This passage in Leviticus 19:19 points out that Yahweh wants the animal strains to be kept pure.
Leviticus 19:19
19 ‘You shall keep My statutes. You shall not let your livestock breed with another kind. You shall not sow your field with mixed seed. Nor shall a garment of mixed linen and wool come upon you.
The Creator also wants the seed strains to be kept pure and He gives Israel the instruction to not mix the wool and linen together in their garments, to always keep them in remembrance of keeping the strains pure. Linen comes from plants and wool comes from an animal. Yahweh is being consistent in His instruction to Israel and illustrating to them the importance of keeping things pure.
Man is once again repeating the sins of the past, with all of the hybridized plant, food stuffs and animal species that have been created through cross-breeding and also genetically modified through gene splicing and manipulation of genetic codes.
2. The bible says that Jesus sweat blood. Was this a miracle, or a natural phenomenon due to the stress he was under? If it was a miracle, what was the point of the miracle? Was it to "fake" the intensity of his suffering? That hardly seems likely. If it was a natural phenomenon, why don't other people ever seem to experience this? Do people on death row or under torture sweat blood? I've never head of that happening.
The scripture that you are referring to is found in Luke 22:44:
Luke 22:44
44 And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly. Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.
This scripture does not say, that Christ literally sweat blood. It is interesting, because it is only the gospel of Luke that has this account. Most of the major events in Christ's ministry are corroborated between the three gospels of Matthew Mark and Luke, but not this event. God's word is consistent in telling us that it is by the mouths of two or three witnesses that a thing is established.
Deuteronomy 19:15
15 “One witness shall not rise against a man concerning any iniquity or any sin that he commits; by the mouth of two or three witnesses the matter shall be established.
Matthew 18:16
16 Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you will have gained your brother. 16 But if he will not hear, take with you one or two more, that ‘by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established’.
1 Timothy 5:19
19 Do not receive an accusation against an elder except from two or three witnesses.
So why is this event only recorded in Luke? There is some dispute as to whether these verses were part of the original text or not and some translations note that these verses were not part of the original text. The original greek does not say that Christ actually sweated blood, but that His sweat was as blood. The Greek word used here is “hoosei” it means about, as and like. The meaning is that His sweat was thick and had a consistency like blood, not that it was actually blood. This passage is trying to convey the great agony and anguish that Christ was under as He contemplated what was ahead of Him. There was a great turmoil within Him and He prayed with a great intensity for the strength to do what was before Him.
