James 1:17

[Be with God]

James 1:17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming from the father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. I would like to know what this verse means. I'm in a college group at church and im just starting to learn what bible verse mean and im just started reading the bible so I hope you dont mind helping me with this verse and many others along on my journey with Jesus Christ our lord our savior.

 

[parsley]

It comes right after a verse on not blaming God for temptations that come along -- that these lures are human tendencies, not hoops for us to jump through or punishment from God.

Sorry to make this look heavy, but I like to look at the Greek words.

The word for light in English has many implications, and it seems similar here -- illumination can mean knowledge or insight, as well as brightness or the more tangible lamp or stars.

1:17 Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.


pasa dosiv agaqh kai pan dwrhma teleion anwqen estin, (5748) katabainon (5723) apo tou patrov twn fwtwn, par' w ouk eni (5748) parallagh h trophv aposkiasma.

The word shifting is defined as [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Geneva]"a turning.. [/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Geneva]of the heavenly bodies"[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Geneva] -- the movements of planets, which was familiar study in those days.
[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Geneva]While the planets move and change, God remains the same. God is the source of light and creator of all that's in the universe. He is above ethically, physically, and in pureness of the light/dark value scale. (Like a brightness slider in a graphics program.)

There is no darkness in Him, so He is not the one causing darkness. Darkness is the absence of light, the absence of God.[/FONT]

Is that what you're asking?

​

 

[Peripatetic]

Here is what the ESV Study Bible has to say about it:

James moves from evil temptations (which God never gives) to the observation that every good gift and every perfect gift comes from God (cf. Matt. 7:11). As in James 1:5, James reminds the readers of God’s goodness. In their trials, God is not tempting them to sin, but the difficulties in life are intended to strengthen and perfect them and make them more like God. God’s intentions for them are always for good (cf. Rom. 8:28). There is nothing in this world that is truly good that has any other origin than from above, namely heaven, descending from the Father of lights, which refers to God as creator of the heavenly “lights” (Ps. 74:16; 136:7–9)—a prime example of his good gifts. God is unchanging in his character and therefore in his giving of good, unlike the variation of the night changing to day or the shifting shadow caused by the sun or moon.

 

[Be with God]

To Parsley This is what i am guessing what this verse is telling me but i dont know. it still doesnt make any sense to me. every gift is given to us by god. coming from the lights shown in heaven like the sun rays or sunshine beaming from heaven. and saying that god doesn't shape shift into different things.

I want a clear understand of what this verse means in english translation/ commentary.

 

[insurchoftruth]

Everything good comes from God, because he is Love and he is good. Therefore we need to thank him and praise him for anything good in our lives, because it comes from him. Psalm 136

 

[asiyreh]

To Parsley This is what i am guessing what this verse is telling me but i dont know. it still doesnt make any sense to me. every gift is given to us by god. coming from the lights shown in heaven like the sun rays or sunshine beaming from heaven. and saying that god doesn't shape shift into different things.

I want a clear understand of what this verse means in english translation/ commentary.

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. Hew 13:8

Some people think the "old testament" God was full of wrath and judgement. While Christ is some type of all forgiving nice God. As you begin to study the word in depth you will begin to realise the character of God in both testaments is identical. He is therefore unchanging. Not that he's a shapeshifter.

Also there's three types of heavens, the sky, space and actual heaven.

 

[parsley]

it still doesnt make any sense to me.

Can you tell us if there is a part of it that isn't making sense?

Picture God as creator and inventor of the Universe. All things came from Him, and He has authority over all. Our lives came from him, our families ultimately came from Him because He set up the system that generates growth.

God also interacts in our lives, so we need to give Him credit for help and provision -- but there are also forces working against us.

- There are greedy people who oppress and vandalize.
- There are natural changes like weather events, that are large enough to cause damage in our lives
- According to scriptures, there are spirits and supernatural beings who are at least as greedy and oppressive as any human.
- Our own self-protective nature generates all sorts of trouble through jealousies, deception, addictions, mistrust, fear, and pride.

Even though God created everything, it is not His desire that bad things happen -- He set up creatures with freedom of expression and choice, and He set up the natural world to change and refresh itself. Bad things happen as a result of the creation playing out under a free will system. God made the choice to allow His creations bold voices, creating hands, idea-generating minds... it is up to us to monitor the way we use them.

 

[Be with God]

Here is what the ESV Study Bible has to say about it:

James moves from evil temptations (which God never gives) to the observation that every good gift and every perfect gift comes from God (cf. Matt. 7:11). As in James 1:5, James reminds the readers of God’s goodness. In their trials, God is not tempting them to sin, but the difficulties in life are intended to strengthen and perfect them and make them more like God. God’s intentions for them are always for good (cf. Rom. 8:28). There is nothing in this world that is truly good that has any other origin than from above, namely heaven, descending from the Father of lights, which refers to God as creator of the heavenly “lights” (Ps. 74:16; 136:7–9)—a prime example of his good gifts. God is unchanging in his character and therefore in his giving of good, unlike the variation of the night changing to day or the shifting shadow caused by the sun or moon.

Everything good comes from God, because he is Love and he is good. Therefore we need to thank him and praise him for anything good in our lives, because it comes from him. Psalm 136

these two made more sense to me because of how it is worded simple and to the point thank you