The Bright and Morning Star

Scripture:
Lesson: 1
Every true believer will catch the beams from Christ and transmit light to those in darkness, and as a church we will shine forth to regions beyond. Those who tell the sinner of Christ's pardoning love are Christ's witnesses (SJ, 166), diffusing the beams of His light which is His life (TDG, 327). Come study with us, for as we enter the very last days our duty is to teach the Bible, to tell of God's love and emotions, of the true gifts of the spirit and of God's sweet mercy for our ignorance.

The Scarlet Woman

The Scarlet Woman
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- [Announcer] It is the best selling book in history. No volume ever written has been more loved and quoted, and its words, sometimes simple and sometimes mysterious, should always be studied carefully. It is the Bible, the Word of God. Welcome to "Bible Answers Live," providing accurate and practical answers to all your Bible questions. This broadcast is a previously recorded episode. To receive any of the Bible resources mentioned in this broadcast, call 800-835-6747. Once again, that's 800-835-6747. Now here's your host from Amazing Facts International, Pastor Doug Batchelor.

- Hello friends. Would you like to hear an amazing fact? I don't know if you're aware of the Starlink company founded by Elon Musk? He's begun the process of launching a network of as many as 42,000 satellites to provide low-cost internet to even the most remote locations on Earth. Each solar powered satellite weighs around 570 pounds, and it's about the same size as a small dining table. This mega constellation of Starlink satellites circling the planet, 340 miles up, is meant to carry large amounts of information rapidly to any point on Earth. It appears that soon the whole world will be connected to the internet superhighway. This developing picture of international communication fits perfectly in the scheme of Bible prophecy, Pastor Ross.

- That's interesting, Pastor Doug, mentioning how that the world is connected through these satellites that are being launched and placed in space. I think at the end of the day, not only are people able to log on with their computers, but I think ultimately the goal would be is to have a cell phone that is dependent not upon land-based towers, but you can be anywhere and you can connect directly to a satellite with your phone.

- Yeah.

- And you can talk to somebody on the other side of the world.

- I actually know somebody now who has already signed up for this service and they're already receiving it, but there's pretty long line.

- I'm sure.

- They just managed to get to the head of the line. And they said, "It works."

- [Jean] Huh.

- Which is, you've been to our place in The Hills, it'll be really helpful where you're off the grid and you can still be connected to the world. Just think about that. But you know, that also fits in with Bible prophecy because there's some prophecies that talk about international communication, if you will.

- Mm-hmm. You know, in the Book of Revelation we have in chapter 13, a description of two powers, it's called beast. The first beast that comes from the sea, another beast that comes from the earth. And the Bible, when talking about these political, and the one is a political religious power, it says in Revelation 13:8, it says: All who dwell upon the Earth shall worship him whose names have not been written in the Lamb's Book of Life. And then in verse 16 of chapter 13, it says: He calls us all, both small and great, rich and free, slave, to receive a mark in his right hand, on his forehead. So the time's gonna come where through mass communication, the world will be united in worshiping this beast power, except for those whose names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life. Well, I think it's pretty important for us to know what is that beast power? What is the mark of the beast? And even more importantly to know, what is the seal of God? Because at the end, there's just two groups. Those who have the mark of the beast, those who have the seal of God. And it seems as though communication is gonna be key in getting the whole world together. After all, the devil's gonna try and deceive people. I think it's gonna be broadcast over the airwaves and around the world through satellite. But not only is mass communication used by the devil in the last days, but there's actually some good news.

- Yeah, that's right. You can read where Jesus says in Matthew 24:14: "And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached "in all the world for a witness to the nations "and then the end will come." And so it tells us there'll be a day when the gospel is going to the whole world. And so it's rather exciting. Even this broadcast right now, we're streaming around the world through the internet and there's still some remote locations that don't get reception, but it looks like Mr. Musk is gonna help resolve that.

- That's right.

- And we encourage you to call in with your questions tonight. We are live on "Bible Answers Live." We're back in our saddles again and we have an offer that has something to do with how do we know what the beast is up to and what they're gonna be communicating in the last days?

- Oh, we have a book that's called, "The Scarlet Woman" and it ties in with Revelation 17 where you have a woman representing a church that is controlling a political power, represented by a beast. And this book tells you all about it, tells you what that political power is, what that religious power is, and what's gonna happen. According to the Book of Revelation, what's gonna happen as we near the end of time. We will send this for free to anyone who calls and asks. It's called, "The Scarlet Woman" and the number to call for that is 800-835-6747. And again, you can just ask for the book. It's called, "The Scarlet Woman." We'll be happy to get it in the mail to you, if you're in North America. If you're outside of North America, just go to the "Amazing Facts" website. It's just amazingfacts.org or.com, and you can read the book there online. Again, if you have a Bible question, our phone lines are open. The number to call is 800-463-7297. That's 800-463-7297. You might also wanna text your friend and say, "'Bible Answers Live' is live this evening, "so tune in right away." You can also watch us on "Amazing Facts" TV, and of course on the Doug Batchelor Facebook page, the "Amazing Facts" YouTube channel. So take advantage of that. In addition to just listening on the radio, you can actually participate with us online.

- Absolutely. Well with that, maybe you can have a word of prayer and we'll go to the phones and see what the questions are.

- Let's do. Dear Father in Heaven, again, we are so grateful that we have this opportunity to open up your Word and study. It's been a few weeks that we've had a chance to do this live, and, Lord, we are looking forward to just allowing your Spirit to lead us as we search the scriptures. Be with those who are listening, wherever they might be, and guide us, Lord, as we open the Bible. In Jesus' name, amen.

- Amen.

- Okay, well, our first caller this evening is calling from New York. We have Anthony. Anthony, welcome to the program. You're on the air.

- [Anthony] Hello. Good evening, Pastors. Glad to have you back.

- Thank you. It's good to be back. And your question?

- [Anthony] Yes. So my question has to do with the Commandments. I've heard it said, I've even heard you say different times that there will be people, sincere people, who did not know the truth about the Sabbath, who didn't have a chance to keep the Sabbath on Earth before they died or before Jesus comes and that they will be in Heaven. There will be plenty of people in Heaven that did not keep the Sabbath on Earth. But I wondered does that same principle apply to the other sins? Something like, people who worship other gods, other idols or pagans, or people who are liars, thieves, murderers, things like that? Does the same principle apply to those other Commandments?

- Yeah, I think that you can find examples for God judges us largely about what we know. And Jesus says that, and Pastor Ross might look up the reference for me, at the times of this ignorance God winked at is one. That's Acts 17:30, I'm pretty sure. And the other one is where Jesus said, "If you did not know, you would have no sin. "But since you see, your sin remains." And another place Christ tells us, He said, "God allowed divorce because of the hardness of your hearts, "but from the beginning, it was not so." So there you can see that God sometimes has tolerated some misguided behavior, 'cause people just didn't understand. It is not God's will for someone to have more than one wife. If I were to take more than one wife at a time, I mean, if you become a widow, you can remarry, but that would be polygamy or bigamy if it's two, and that would be a sin and I'd be lost. But you'll have people in Heaven that didn't know that, like Abraham and Jacob and David and many others, 'cause it was just rife during the times in which they lived. So God always wants us to obey and to follow the Holy Spirit, but there are areas, I think there'll be people in Heaven that maybe did not understand the commandment about idolatry. Very devoted, love the Lord, but they were growing up in an age where they were surrounded by idols in church. And I think you've gotta be careful not to say that everybody that attended a church that had idols in it or statues of Mary, that they're all lost. Maybe they just didn't understand or they were misled by a Priest. So I think God judges everybody on a case by case basis. But sin is sin and the blood of Jesus covers those sins where a person sins in ignorance.

- Just the verse your refer to, Pastor Doug, John 9:41. It says: Jesus said to them, "If you are blind, you'd have no sin. "But now you say, 'We see,' therefore your sin remains." I'm also thinking of another area that we mentioned. Those who know the will of the Master and they don't do it, they're beaten with many stripes. Those who did not know the will of the Master and did that worthy of stripes will be beaten with few stripes. So people are held accountable for what they know.

- Exactly.

- Especially as it comes to this.

- Too whom much is given, much is required.

- We do have a study guide called, "Written in Stone" and it's all about the 10 Commandments and we'll be happy to send this out to anyone who calls and asks. The number again for our free offer is 800-835-6747. You can ask for the study guide. It's called, "Written in Stone." And if you have a Bible question, the number here in the studio is 800-463-7297.

- [Doug] Amen.

- Now we've got Jerry listening in Texas. Jerry, welcome to the program.

- [Jerry] Hey guys, enjoyed your programs. My question is tonight is that Adam and Eve, they suppose they lost their covering of light 'cause they were naked and they had to have fig leaves. Does Lucifer still have, wear that covering of light when God created him as an archangel?

- Yeah. Well, I don't know the Bible ever tells us Lucifer was the archangel. That's a title you only see connected with Michael. But to his robe, the Bible, if he's still clothed with light, the Bible tells us in, I think it's 2 Corinthians 11, that Satan himself can be transformed into an angel of light. So angels are ministering spirits. They're different from people like Adam and Eve. And so, when Adam and Eve sinned, they had these robes of light or glory or something that went out that helped them to realize that, "Oh, something's gone. We're naked." But angels are really kind of a different category of creature. They are ministering spirits. And so I think the devil can emanate light if he wants.

- The verse you're referring to is 2 Corinthians 11:14. It says: No wonder, for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Now you mentioned Lucifer's never referred to as the archangel, but he is referred to as the angel that covereth or the covering cherub.

- [Doug] Right. Correct.

- Which is a little different than the archangel. Okay, thanks for your call, Jerry. We got Rodney listening from Texas as well. Rodney, welcome to the program.

- [Rodney] Yeah. I'm a truck driver and my work sent out a memo saying that we have to take the vaccine to stay working here.

- Mm.

- [Rodney] I was just wondering if there was any scriptures, because what I understand is they're not giving anyone religious excuses not to take the vaccine.

- [Doug] Right.

- [Rodney] But is there any scripture that would help to combat that?

- Yeah. Well, that's a good question. And of course, it's a very relevant question in our world today. I'll tell you what. There's no scripture that's gonna mention vaccine or virus. There are scriptures that say that medicine, there is good medicine. In Ezekiel it talks about the leaves of the tree, trees will be for medicine and a happy heart doeth good like a medicine. And so there are. The Bible does speak favorably that there are some good medicines. You have Paul who says, "Luke, the beloved physician, is with me." And sometimes physicians would administer herbs or medicines to help relieve people's suffering. But so there's no moral problem with taking a vaccine and we just wanna be clear about that. Now there's another issue that you're alluding to in this and that's at what point it's almost like a political question with patriotism. At what point is the government overstepping its bounds in requiring people to take something? And I've thought a lot about this 'cause we get a lot of questions. And by the way, there are some companies that are providing, in some states, it varies from state to state, are providing religious exemptions. And Pastor Ross and I, we support people's decisions if they want to take the vaccine, if they don't. We believe in freedom. I think we're not doctors, so we don't issue medical advice and we're not experts in the constitution or politicians. We're pastors. But so that may vary from state to state. We have written a few letters to people explaining that we've got a member of the church and for some health reason, they're asking if they might get an exemption for religious conviction or a health reason, and some have been accepted, some have not. I think it varies from company to company. But for me, I've thought a lot about this. And in our culture today, there's an element of risk in life. And every culture decides how much risk they're willing to accept to have freedom. And for example, I don't drink. Pastor Ross, I think it's safe to say, doesn't drink alcohol. People have a right to drink alcohol in our country even though we know that a certain number of those people are going to get sick or make other people sick or have accidents. And we say, "Look, we're going to respect their right, "even though we know there's a risk involved." I think smoking is a very bad idea, but it's still legal to smoke and the government of course accepts tax money from that. And so the culture has accepted a certain amount of risk to allow that freedom. And so I think one of the questions that some people are grappling with is not whether the Bible forbids it, but they're wondering about at what point are we, for the illusion of security, are we taking away freedoms? And so that's, I think, another very important issue. But we can't really give you a scripture on vaccines.

- Well, you know, Pastor Doug, you do mention something that's maybe worth just referencing. As far as the Bible goes, if you look at end time events, Book of Revelation talks about a time where, it's not a vaccine that's forced, but it is a form of worship that's forced. And eventually, people can't buy and sell if they refuse to go along with this law dealing with worship. It is interesting that when people are afraid, they're willing to, 9/11 and onwards, when people are afraid, they're willing to surrender their rights very quickly for security.

- For the illusion of security.

- For at least the illusion of that. But at some point, it seems as though when things go from bad to worse, the only thing that you end up gaining is just a loss of freedoms at the end. You don't really gain that security or that safety that people are looking for. So it is an interesting question. And of course, it's playing out today. But I think individually we need to make decisions based on health reasons. If a person is a high-risk category, they need to talk to their doctors, they need to figure out what's the best thing for them to do. And it's not, as you mentioned, Pastor Doug, it's not a... The Bible doesn't speak against it and the Bible doesn't speak for it.

- Yeah.

- The Bible does say that your body's the temple of the Holy Spirit, so you wanna take care of yourself the best you can.

- Yeah. There's no moral dilemma with taking a vaccine. There's been a lot of plagues and things that have been stayed by, like smallpox or polio or other things, that have been eradicated by health measures. And the Bible talks about sanitation. The Bible even talks about if there's something contagious, how to deal with that.

- [Jean] Mm-hmm.

- Well, we can go on and on. This is a very relevant question, but we have some other people lined up. Thanks so much. Appreciate that, Rodney.

- Thanks Rodney. We've got Randy listening in Indiana. Randy, welcome to the program.

- [Randy] My question is, if a person survives or endures to the end, the Bible says he who endures to the end, he will be saved, can that person still, even though he endures to the end, be lost?

- Okay. Thank you. I think you're quoting from Matthew 24, where Jesus is describing the persecution of God's people in the last days. And Jesus talks about a great tribulation such as there never has been. And He says that, "But he that endures to the end will be saved." Those people, who are God's elect, that are faithful enduring to the end, they are saved. And so when you talk about enduring to the end, He's not talking about enduring trial or torture, He's talking about their faith endures to the end. They are obviously saved.

- And we have a group described in Revelation 7, talks about those who have the seal of God in their foreheads. Well, if you have the seal of God, it means you surrender to Him and He's gonna take care of you. During the tribulation, you need not fear. So if we surrender our life to Christ every day, we're gonna receive that seal and we need not fear when the time of trouble comes.

- [Doug] That's right.

- Thanks for your call.

- [Doug] Thank you, Randy.

- We're gonna go to E. Frank now in New York. E. Frank, you're on the air.

- [E. Frank] Good evening, Pastor Doug and Pastor Ross.

- Evening.

- [E. Frank] My question for you gentleman this evening is as follows: Did Jesus resurrect on the third day in His full glory? And were there any eyewitnesses, according to scripture, that saw Jesus going to Heaven directly after the third day or was it a 40 day period of ascension? Because I'm a little bit confused how Jesus rose on the third day and then He stood on Earth for 40 days, and then He went into Heaven 40 days later. And scripture never stated if they actually saw Jesus go into Heaven directly.

- All right. I think that if you look in the Gospel of John 20, it tells us that after the angel came and threw away the stone, the Roman guard that was there guarding the tomb, they saw the angels and they fled in fear. First they fell down as though they were dead and then they fled. And when the women came, they saw two angels, the stone was rolled away, they left to go tell the others and Mary was there by herself, weeping. She stayed. That's where you pick up the story in John 20:11. Mary stood outside the tomb weeping, Jesus appears to her, she goes to grab His feet and worship Him. And He says, "Do not cling to me," this is verse 17, "For I've not yet ascended to My Father, "but go to My brethren and say "I am ascending to My Father and to your Father, "to My God and your God." Later that day, when He sees them, they worship Him. So between the time He saw Mary, He waited for Mary, He revealed Himself, said, "Go tell the disciples and Peter I'm alive." And that evening meeting, when He says, "All hail," He invites their worship, He ascended to Heaven and came back again to have His sacrifice declared successful and victorious. And time in Heaven can be different than time on Earth. It may have been 20 hours up there and seemed like four hours here, I don't know. Nothing's too hard for the Lord when you study the theory of relatively and time travel. But so then Jesus continued to go to and from Heaven and appeared to the disciples on Earth over a period of 40 days. When He made His final ascent, the way I understand it, 10 days before Pentecost, and He ascended somewhere by Bethany with many witnesses, at least the 12 Apostles were witnessing that.

- In Acts 1.

- [Doug] Yeah.

- Verse 12. Actually, verse nine.

- Right. So I think the Lord, He was not restricted to Heaven or Earth, He was going to and from Heaven from the time of His resurrection until His final ascension in Acts 1. Like I said, 40 days after. So hopefully that made sense, E. Frank.

- All right, thanks for your call, E. Frank. We got Tony listening in Indiana. Tony, welcome to the program.

- [Tony] Hello. Thank you. I have a question about the Queen of Sheba giving King Solomon 666 talents of gold. And legend is that he committed adultery with her and had a child. And is there a literal connection to prostitution and the mark of the beast beyond just selfishness and the 10 Commandments?

- All right. Well, when you talk about the Queen of Sheba, the notion, you'll find this in 1 Kings 10. And Sheba was a country that was probably somewhere in the vicinity of Saudi Arabia or could have been Ethiopia. They're not sure. But they calls her, Jesus refers to her as the Queen of the South. And it says the Queen of the South will stand in judgment of this generation. She came a great distance to hear the wisdom of Solomon. And Jesus said, "Now a greater than Solomon is here." And so Jesus speaks of her in a very positive way. The idea that she had an affair with Solomon, there's not a shred, a thread, of anything in the Bible that hints of that. She came with purely altruistic motives of seeking wisdom, and Solomon answered her questions and she gave a gift. It was customary that when you go visit a King, you give a gift. And if royalty visits royalty, it's a big gift. I do think the number 666 is interesting because, when you read the account of Solomon, everything continues to go from glory to glory until you get to chapter 10. And right after it says he received 666 talents, you then read in the next chapter, "But Solomon loved many foreign women." Now it mentions the women, but it never mentions the Queen of Sheba. This was the daughter of Pharaoh and the Moabites and Edomites and Hittites. These are local women he ended up intermarrying with. Never says anything about having a marriage or an affair. I mean, he had 300 wives and what was it? 600 wives, 300 concubines. He didn't need one more. And we don't know, she might have been 70 years old. The Bible doesn't tell us anything about that. It seems, Pastor, that this was an official state visit.

- [Doug] Yes.

- I think the point it's even mentioned is that Solomon's fame not only reached to the area close to Israel, but his fame had reached all the way down to quite possibly Ethiopia to the Queen of Sheba, and she said, "I've gotta come see for myself."

- [Doug] Yeah.

- "I've gotta see if these things are so." So it was an official state visit and she was amazed, not so much by the majesty of Jerusalem and Solomon and the wealth, but just the wisdom and the God that he worshiped.

- Mm-hmm. And everything looked really good in the story of Israel until you hear that number 666, and then it says: But he loved many foreign. And the kingdom starts going south, pardon me for the pun. Starts going bad direction after that number. So that I always thought was interesting and probably not a coincidence.

- Hey, thank you, Eric. I hope that made some sense.

- Alright. We've got Jill listening from Florida. Jill, welcome to the program. You're on the air.

- [Jill] Yes, hi Pastors. How are you tonight?

- Fine. Thank you, Jill. I appreciate your calling.

- [Jill] I have a question. I don't know if I'm wording this right, but when God created Adam and Eve, what color were they? Because I'm trying to find out how did all these races come to be if they were just a certain color?

- You know, a good answer for that question is the same answer when people say, "Where did all the languages come from? "There's so many different languages, "what language did Adam and Eve speak?" Well, Adam and Eve probably spoke an original tongue, and everything we talk, we use now as sort of like fragments of that original language of Canaan and Eden. So at the Tower of Babel, when everybody was scattered, different groups stayed together and through intermarriage within a smaller pool, a smaller gene pool, different genetic traits became predominant. And so some have said, "Well, the three children of Noah "formed the three major races of the world." I've heard people say that before and it's really, it's not true at all that Noah had three kids and one was black and one was white and one was Asian, or something like that. I've actually heard that. But the division didn't really happen until the Tower of Babel, the same time the languages were divided. And you even see this with animals around the world. You're gonna see a difference in the canines that you find in America than the ones you're gonna find like the African wolves, they're spotted black and white dog.

- [Jean] Hyenas. Yeah.

- And then you got hyenas and then you come to America, you get the coyotes, and you go, "Well, because they're kinda isolated, "they breed and certain genetic traits become prominent." What color were Adam and Eve? Probably like a melding of all, I don't know, that would be tan or something. I'm not sure. I think the word Adam is like the word edum, it means ruddy or reddish is what I've heard. But I know that's what the word means, but I can't picture Adam being red.

- You know the interesting thing is that God gave, in creating Adam and Eve, He gave incredible diversity within the gene pool so that there is a certain degree of adaptation to the environment where they went.

- [Doug] Yeah.

- Those who went to hotter areas, their skin color began to change to help with the heat. Those who went to cold areas, their skin became lighter to absorb more sunlight. And so all of that was built into the genes of Adam and Eve for all of the different groups and all of the different races that we see today. It's amazing.

- Yeah. And the people who were native to the areas around the Equator are a lot less susceptible to skin cancer from the sun.

- [Jean] Mm-hmm.

- God gave them some mechanisms to resist that. All right, I hope that helps a little bit. We appreciate your question, Jill.

- So friends, don't go away. We're gonna be right back. If you have a Bible question, the number to call is 800-463-7297. And right after the break, we will take more of your Bible questions. We'll be right back.

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- [Announcer] What if you could know the future? What would you do? What would you change? To see the future, you must understand the past.

- [Instructor] Alexander the Great becomes King when he's only 18, but he's a military prodigy.

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- This is where we have the most fun. "Bible Answers Live," friends, we are here to do our best to answer any Bible question you might have or questions about living the Christian life. We're broadcasting, not only on radio, we're on "Amazing Facts" Television and we're adding TV stations as time goes by. We're on satellite radio across the country and the internet where you can listen on the Doug Batchelor Facebook page, the "Amazing Facts" Facebook page, the "Amazing Facts" YouTube channel. And my name is Doug Batchelor.

- My name is Jean Ross and, friends, we're ready to go to the phone lines again. If you have a Bible question, you might be wondering what's the number? It's 800-463-7297. That'll get you right in here to our studio. We have Shawanda listening from Mississippi. Shawanda, welcome to the program.

- [Shawanda] Thank you.

- Yeah?

- [Shawanda] My question is according to the Parable of the sower in Mark 4, Luke 8 and Matthew 13, where it talks about the seed was on four or three ground, the stony, the thorny, and there was one ground that produces good fruit, 30, 60, and a hundredfold. So my question is, what happens to those who produce, who don't produce? The stony and the thorny ground? Is it either loss of reward or are they literally banished out of the Kingdom?

- Well, the first one is the seed that falls on the pathway. It's not the stony ground or the shallow ground. And the ravens snatch it away and Jesus later explains that when some people hear the Word, the devil then comes and takes it out of their heart so that they become unproductive. But what's your understanding of that, Pastor Ross?

- Yeah, absolutely. We got the seed is the Word and the grounds represent the hearts that receive the Word. So we wanna be the fruitful ground that produces a harvest. Those that have stony ground, it means their hearts are not right for the gospel. Unfortunately, some have rejected the gospel because they've held into the things of this world. And ultimately, it is costing their salvation. Is that answering your question a little bit, Shawanda?

- [Shawanda] Well, the thorny ground is my question. Like, they're producing. I mean, they receive the Word, but then if cares of this life and things come in to choke the Word, that it's unfruitful, is that just a loss of reward or are these literally not entering to the Kingdom? Those people who the Word was received, but the cares, everything in life just choked out the Word that where they were unfruitful? Are they just not entering into the Kingdom of God? Or-

- Yeah, I think that in the parable, there's only one out of the four that is described as saved. The other ones become distracted with the world or they spring up and then they wither soon because they have no root. The only one that really thrives and is alive is the fourth category.

- You know, Jesus said, "He that endures to the end shall be saved." So there needs to be an endurance. It's not good enough just to receive Christ as your personal Savior and then allow the world to crowd Him out, we wanna receive Christ and hold onto Him. That's why the Apostle Paul said, "I die daily." So it's a day by day experience where we come to Christ and we ask for forgiveness and we receive His grace and we trust in Him. So it's not a one time thing. If it's a one time experience, then that experience could very well be over-choked or overcome by the cares of this world.

- That's right.

- So we wanna be that fruitful soil. All right, thanks for your call, Shawanda. Appreciate that. We have Ellen listening in New Mexico. Ellen, welcome to the program.

- [Ellen] Hi. I wondered if you could explain to me what the references in the Bible to the towers falling. Did that have anything to do with the Twin Towers?

- No, I don't think so. And there is a passage in, I don't know if it's talking- In the question I think you mentioned Judges, but in the Book of Isaiah, it talks about, I think it's Isaiah, where it says, "The towers fall." But they had watch towers in all of the capitals and Isaiah often, a lot of his prophecies have to do with the fall of Jerusalem to the Babylonians because of their unfaithfulness. And the walls were destroyed and the towers fell. There is a time where it talks about, Jesus refers to a tower that fell on those of Siloam and 18 men were killed. But I don't think those are talking about 9/11.

- Not specifically, but I think the principles that we find that as we near the end of time, judgment will increase just like judgment that came upon Sodom and Gomorrah and these other sinful cities. I think as we near the end of time, the cities are gonna become judged to some degree and the wickedness that is so ripe in the cities. And God in His mercy is still allowing a certain degree of protection and freedom, but just in the last year, Pastor Doug, we've seen an increase of violence in the cities. I think that is to some degree, a warning for believers.

- Yeah. And the verse I think she's talking about is Isaiah 30:25. It says: There will be on every high mountain, on every high hill, rivers and streams of waters in the day of great slaughter when the towers fall. And so some have looked at that passage, that verse there, and they said, "Oh, that's talking about the Twin Towers." Well, in World War I, with the bombing, a lot of towers fell. In World War II, a lot of towers fell. And this was another example of a judgment or certainly a trial when the towers fell. I don't think Isaiah was specifically talking about 9/11 here.

- But I think the tower in that context is a military tower. It's part of a stronghold or a city, not a financial building.

- Yep. There you go. Good. Good answer.

- All right. Well, thank you for your call, Ellen. We've got Marquis listening from Indiana. Marquis, welcome to the program.

- [Marquis] Hey, how are you guys doing today?

- Doing well. Thanks for calling.

- [Marquis] Alrighty, my question- Thank you. My question comes from John 21:15, when Jesus asked Simon, He said, "Son." He said, "Simon, son of Jonah, "do you love me more than these?" Was that the same Jonah that was mentioned in the Old Testament?

- No. In the New Testament, there are a number of people that were named after Old Testament heroes. And Jonah was, of course, a very popular Old Testament character and Peter's father was evidently named Jonah. And so Jesus referred to him as Peter, the son of Jonah, or Peter bar Jonah, bar means son of. Jesus was called Jesus, the son of Joseph. And so it's not the Jonah from the Old Testament, this is Peter's father. Jonah was a very common name. It means dove. And so, yeah. Same name, different people. You got several people in the Bible that have similar names. There's more than one person named Moses. There's several people named John. There's even two or three named Jesus.

- That's interesting. You got Saul who converts and becomes Paul. But if you look at the Old Testament character of Saul, it's probably not somebody you wanna name your son after.

- Yeah.

- And yet, Saul was a popular name, at least as far as we know back in Bible times.

- Well, he was good for a while.

- Yeah, he was.

- He was. All right. Thanks for your call, Marquis. We got Barbara listening in Sacramento, California. Barbara, welcome to the program.

- [Barbara] Oh, thank you, Pastor. My question is I'm thinking when God sent His beloved Son to Earth to suffer and die for us, and I cannot visualize a loving Father sending His Son to suffer. And I'm wondering why God Himself didn't just come down to suffer for us. Why did He send someone He loved?

- Well, it's not that God the Father ordered His Son. The Father and the Son seen the dilemma of mankind and they knew the only way to redeem mankind was if one of them paid. And by the way, all three of them suffered. God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit all suffered equally. In some ways you'd think the Father suffered more. Any parent, when you see your children suffering seriously, you'd often say, "I would trade places with them "rather than see them suffer." So this was done. It was a cooperative decision. And keep in mind, we broke the law of the Creator. The Bible tells us that all things that were created were created by Jesus the Son. And so here, you've got the Creator dying for His creation and the Father allowing that. He so loved the world, He gave His Son.

- You know Pastor Doug, that was the point I was just gonna mention is that famous verse: For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. It wasn't a requirement. The Father didn't say, "All right, Son, you need to go." But out of love for us-

- [Doug] He allowed it.

- He gave His Son, and what a sacrifice.

- [Doug] Yeah.

- So the Father suffered and the Son. And just speaking from a parent's perspective, how hard it must have been for God the Father to witness what they did to His Son and to go through all of that. It's just without a doubt, the Father suffered greatly because of man's sin.

- Yeah, absolutely.

- Does that help, Barbara?

- [Barbara] Yes, it does. But now you just brought up another question. I thought God didn't have any emotions, so how could He suffer?

- Now, why would you think God has no emotions?

- [Barbara] Well, how could He? I mean, He is God. He just exists.

- Well, the Bible says we're made in God's image and we are fraught with emotions. And God, the Bible says, has joy. The Bible says God sings. We get our emotions from Him. We're made in His image. The Bible tells us that God has anger, He has wrath, He has jealousy. He says, "I'm a jealous God." So every spectrum of emotion people have. But now God's emotions are only going to be in harmony with good. Sometimes we'll have misplaced jealousy or misplaced emotions. God's are always coming from love and love can be an emotion.

- Love's an emotion. Yeah, absolutely.

- So, yes, God does, definitely does, have feelings and Jesus loves us desperately. There's a verse in the Bible in Deuteronomy 5 where God says, "Oh." And just that phrase. He says, "Oh." And even when it says in John 3:16: God so loved the world. You know, that phrase kind of denotes passion. And He says, "Oh, that there was such a heart in them "that they would fear me and keep my Commandments always." And in Genesis, God says, "It broke God's heart that He made man." And He said, "I'm gonna clean the Earth from them "except for Noah."

- Yeah.

- Yeah. You see the passion of God many places in the Bible.

- Even in the Old Testament, Pastor Doug, you got God saying, "Oh, turn, turn. Why will you perish?"

- [Doug] Yeah. Pleading.

- And He's crying out, saying, "Please stop." Without a doubt, some beautiful emotion displayed in the Bible. All right. Well, thank you for your call, Barbara. We're gonna go to Kathy in Tennessee. Kathy, welcome to the program.

- [Kathy] Well, thanks to Facebook, I'm calling you guys this evening, surprisingly, but I don't think by accident. So my question is around receiving the gifts of the Spirit. I don't have scripture to offer you, only a question and hoping that you can provide me perhaps with some living guidance, scripturally-based, as this actually happened to me, about a year ago, very unexpectedly. I found myself praying one day and I wound up speaking in tongues and it was utterly overwhelming. Not something I've ever aspired to do, not something I've ever known anyone to do. I didn't even know what it sounded like or it looked like, and then there I was doing it. And what's the best way to process that, receive that and shepherd it? And then beyond that, what is going on? In the world today, is there a abundant outpouring of the Spirit going on? Because the same thing happened to my aunt about the same time it happened to me.

- Well, now you attend church?

- [Barbara] I do. I'm not going as regularly as I used to. I've been slow to get back in.

- Okay.

- [Barbara] Since COVID. But I do.

- All right. So the church that you go to, do the people there believe in and practice praying in tongues?

- No. No.

- So this is a little unusual for your church, even?

- [Barbara] Very.

- Yeah.

- [Barbara] It's unusual for any. This has never happened to anyone in my family, that I know of, and really no one else that I know.

- All right. Well, let's talk about that for just a minute. Now, if you're wanting to process if what I'm doing is right or wrong or what to do with it, first place you wanna look is in the Word. So in the Word, Jesus is our example. Do you find an example where Jesus prays in tongues in the Bible?

- [Barbara] Um, well, I guess I need to look.

- Well I guess I'll give you the answer. The answer's no.

- [Barbara] Okay.

- There's three examples of speaking in tongues in the Bible. It's Acts 2, Acts 10, and Acts 19. Now, when I first became a Christian, I'm just, you asked, I'm telling you honestly. I first became a Christian. I worshiped with charismatic Christians and all of my friends spoke in tongues and they wanted to encourage me to speak in tongues and pray in tongues.

- [Barbara] Yeah.

- And I kept thinking, "Well, am I missing something?" So I spent a lot of time studying this because I certainly wanted the baptism of the Holy Spirit. It's not uncommon that some people have been praying and they're so overcome with emotions that they're at a loss of words and they may break out in some unintelligible speech, and it sounds like what you're saying has happened. Sometimes.

- [Barbara] Yeah.

- Yeah. You can't find words and... But now there's no meaning to what you're saying. In other words, if you say, "Well, what exactly did I just say?" You probably couldn't interpret that. Is that right?

- [Barbara] No.

- Yeah.

- [Barbara] No. I had no idea of what I was saying at all.

- So the Bible says we should pray in the Spirit, but we should pray with the understanding. So if you're praying a prayer, you would wanna know, what am I asking? And how do you know if you get an answer? We have a book that we'd like to send you. I think that would- Free. And it'll help answer that.

- [Barbara] Okay.

- And any of your friends that are listening that have the similar question.

- Yeah, all you need to do, Kathy, is call 800-835-6747. That is our free resource phone line. Again, you'll see it if you're watching on Facebook, it's on the screen. 800-835-6747. Ask for the book, it's called, "Understanding Tongues." That'll give you a lot of scriptures and I think you'll find this book to be enlightening as you compare with what the Bible says, and it'll kind of bring into perspective your experience. So take a look at that. Call again, 800-835-6747. Ask for the book, "Understanding Tongues," and we'll be happy to send it to you right away. Again, thank you for calling.

- Thank you.

- We've got, let's see, we'll go to Bridget. Actually, we go to Julia next in Michigan. Julia, welcome to the program.

- [Julia] I have a question. I'm reading through the Bible.

- Okay.

- [Julia] And I'm doing "Walk Through the Bible," by HMS Richards.

- Yeah. My wife's done the same study. It's a good one.

- [Julia] Yeah. Okay. So, all right. And I'm into Ezekiel 40 and 41, and it talks about another temple that was going to be built while it was described by Ezekiel. And it was described in a lot of detail that he talked about, but that it was never built. So my question is, approximately about what time would that have been built if it had been? And then because HMS puts in there that he says that it would've been a fourth temple. But there would've been Solomon's and then Zerubbabel's. But Zerubbabel's temple was added on by Herod, so really that was a third temple, or a second temple, so it would've been a third temple?

- Yeah, well, no. It would've been a fourth if it had been built. But let me just- This is a serious chapter. Matter of fact, it's not only in chapter 40, he references this temple all the way through the end of his book. You've got the first temple being the one in the wilderness. It was a portable tabernacle, but it was considered a temple. So you got that one. Then you have Solomon's temple. Then you have Zerubbabel's temple, that was modified by Herod. And so I think HMS Richards was saying this, if it had been built when they came back from the Babylonian captivity, its dimensions were bigger, it would've been a fourth. There are two theories, two principle theories, about what is Ezekiel's temple. He goes to great length to give detail about it, the rooms and the size, and it's all measured, and an angel's showing him all this. Some have said, "Well, if they had been obedient, "God would've given them independence again "and this would've been the international temple "for the nation." So that's one theory. The other theory is since the New Testament tells us that Jesus said, "Destroy this temple made with hands "and I'll make one without hands," and He's talking about His body, the Church, and the Bible says the Church, we are living stones, that we are a temple of God, that Ezekiel is using symbolic language to talk about God's Church. And which adds another layer of questions. What do all those measurements and things mean? So we actually have a study that "Amazing Facts" has done on "Secrets of the Sanctuary" that you might enjoy looking at, where we talk about some of the symbolism in the sanctuary services that teaches us about the plan of salvation.

- And you're thinking about the magazine that we have dealing magazine dealing with the sanctuary.

- And the magazine, yep.

- Yep. If you'd like to learn more about that, for this one, you'll probably need to go to the "Amazing Facts" website, just amazingfacts.com or.org. Type in there-

- Divine design.

- Yep. "Divine Design" is the name of the magazine. And you'll be able to find out more information about that. We've got Marvins who is listening from Canada. Marvins, welcome to the program.

- [Marvins] Hello, both of you.

- Evening.

- [Marvins] Yeah. How you are? I'm good. My name is Marvins and I'm from Montreal, Canada, okay?

- Mm-hmm.

- [Marvins] I have a question for you. And first of all, I'm not very good. I speak in English, so I hope you will understand my question.

- So far so good.

- [Marvins] So thank you. Praise the Lord. According to Matthew 27:52, 53, I will read for you. And the graves were opened and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised. And 53. And coming out of the grave after His resurrection, about Jesus, they went into the holy city and appeared to many. So my question is, why some other people, the people, why some other people, rise up after the resurrection of Him while He said that people will only rise up at the end of the world?

- Okay. So good question. We understand there's a special resurrection that happens at the time of Christ's death. During the earthquake, during the time of His crucifixion, the graves were split open. And then it tells us that when He rose, there's a small group, it's not thousands, but there were many of the saints who had slept that were brought out of their graves and taken as a first fruit to Heaven.

- Mm-hmm. And the Bible says when He ascended on high, He led captivity captive and gave gifts unto men. And that is a reference to Christ's ascension when He ascended to Heaven. Those who were resurrected at the time of Christ's resurrection, ascended as first fruits of a much bigger resurrection that would occur at the second coming of Christ. So who's in Heaven now? Well, Pastor Doug, you've got Enoch, you got Elijah, you got Moses who was resurrected and taken to Heaven, and then you have this group. We don't know how many are in the group, but there is a group that was resurrected and they're in Heaven now. And then the rest will, of course, be resurrected at the second coming.

- Yeah. In the Hebrew economy, whenever they had a harvest, they would take a handful, they called it the sheaf. They would harvest the grain and kinda bind up a sheaf that could be carried, like we have bales of hay, and they would present that to the Lord. It's like Jesus took a trophy, a sheaf, a first fruit to Heaven of those who will be redeemed at the final resurrection. But thank you. We appreciate that, Marvins. I hope that helps a little bit.

- We've got Alancio from California. Alancio, welcome to the program.

- [Alancio] Yes, hi. Welcome.

- Hi. Thank you.

- [Alancio] I just have one question and it's kind of a filled question, and I've heard both sides. Whether the Calvinistic Reformed biblical interpretation is more biblical than the Arminian side? Whether it's solely on predestination or solely based on the free will? And I have questions in my own reference to like Romans 9, Ephesians 1 and Ezekiel, it talks about how God takes the heart of stone and makes a heart of flesh. So I don't know if that happens before and if that is necessary for someone to have faith, or is it solely, from my understanding what Arminians are saying, it's just solely your faith. If you just have faith in what the gospel says, then that's what it is. Or did Christ die for His people alone and only His sheep hear His voice?

- All right. Well, you have opened the big box of Christian questions right there. And for our friends that are listening, one of the great debates among Christians, you might call it predestination and free will, you've got John Wesley on one side and George Whitfield on the other, or Calvin and Arminius, is where you get Arminianism, Calvinism. And the idea is did Jesus only die for the ones that are saved or did He die for everybody? We believe that Bible says Christ died for all and that means all. Not all took advantage of that great sacrifice. And then the other question that's in that question is that, does the Lord just appoint from Heaven who's gonna be saved and then they really have no will or choice in the matter? And Arminian Christians believe, well, or you might even have Baptists that are called Free Will Baptists, they believe in people do have a choice. To say that humans have no choice and the majority of people will be lost, Jesus says, "Broad is the way that leads to destruction," that implies that God made a lot of creatures that have no choice but to sin, and then He's gonna punish them for sinning. So that almost would make God sound like an accomplice in the sin. And that He makes creatures and said, "I'm not gonna give you an opportunity to be saved "or have a change of heart. "Or you don't even have a choice, "but I'm gonna punish you for sinning."

- You know Pastor Doug, I think where some of the confusion is, when you look at some of those passage in New Testament, it talks about God predestinating some, people think, "Well, is that has to do with salvation?" No, it's not a predestination for salvation, but it is God who chose, who predestined Israel to be the people through whom the Messiah would come. And that was a choice that God made. So there is a distinction between individual predestination versus a nation being chosen by God for a specific purpose.

- Right.

- And that's where the confusion comes in. Of course, individually, God wants each of us to choose to serve Him and it's the goodness of God that leads us to repentance. We can't repent without the Spirit of God.

- Yeah.

- But that Spirit is available to all because He's not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to salvation.

- Exactly. People do have the freedom to make decisions, and to process. You know, the longer I've spent time studying this, the more I've come to believe that the truth actually lies somewhere in the middle. In that, there's no doubt that God is involved in drawing us. So He's expressing His sovereignty in drawing the heart, but we must respond to that drawing. And He does give us freedom, 'cause you can't love if you're pre-programmed to love. It's forced. Well, friends. Thank you. I hope that helps a little bit. We do have a free offer that talks about, "Can A Saved Man Be Lost?" If you'd like that, the gentleman who just called.

- Alicia.

- Alicio.

- Yep.

- Yeah. You will just go to the "Amazing Facts" website.

- Or you can just call, 800-835-6747, and ask for the book. It's called, "Can A Saved Man Choose To Be Lost?" And it's filled with great scripture.

- Yeah. Now for our friends that are listening, we sign off actually on our satellite time a little sooner, but then we stay on "Amazing Facts" Television and most of our land-based stations, and we kind of go through some rapid fire Bible questions for about two minutes. We'll be back in a moment for those who stand by.

- [Announcer] Thank you for listening to today's broadcast. We hope you understand your Bible even better than before. "Bible Answers Live" is produced by Amazing Facts International, a faith-based ministry located in Granite Bay, California.

- Hello friends. We wanna welcome you back to our special question section. We look forward to this. We've got two minutes, Pastor Doug, and we're gonna try and answer as many questions as we can. These are questions that folks have emailed to "Amazing Facts." And if you wanna email us a question, just simply BALquestions@amazingfacts.org. All right, question number one. When Lucifer was cast out of Heaven, was this before or after Earth was created?

- That's Revelation 12. And we believe that was before. That war in Heaven was before the creation of the world, and as Satan went roaming through the universe trying to recruit support, he then came to our planet shortly after we've been created. But he was cast out first.

- Okay. Question number two. Is it possible to hasten God's second coming?

- Peter tells us that as we share the gospel, it says we look forward to and hasten the coming of the Lord. So Christ said that after the gospel goes to all the world, then the end will come. We can participate in taking the gospel to all the world and so, in a secondary sense, we're helping to hasten that.

- Okay, next question that we have. Luke 17, Matthew 24 says: Two men will be in one bed, the one taken, the other left. Two women grinding at the mill, one taken, the other left. Is this talking about a secret rapture?

- Well, he is talking about when the Lord comes, but he's not talking about a secret rapture, 'cause the disciples ask in the same passage, "Where?" Meaning, where are they taken? And Jesus says, "Wherever the eagles, the vultures are, "or wherever the body is, "that's where the vultures gather together." And so it sounds like the ones who are taken are taken away in judgment. Talks about the wicked, who the flood came and took them away. Children of Israel would disobey and they were carried away to Babylon or Assyria. So some folks have totally misunderstood this passage and I don't think it's talking about the secret rapture. Talk about two classes, the saved and the lost.

- All right. Well thank you, friends, again for your questions. We look forward to seeing you next week on another live "Bible Answer Live." Until then, God bless.

- [Announcer] "Bible Answers Live." Honest and accurate answers to your Bible questions.

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