(upbeat music) - [Narrator] 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? One of the most incredible survival stories from World War II involves a B-17 ball turret gunner, Alan McGee. The young airman survived a 22,000 foot fall without a parachute from his damaged flying fortress. While on a mission, January 3, 1943, over Lorraine France, McGee was wounded by anti-aircraft flak. And he discovered that his parachute had a large hole in the middle. He removed his parachute and was looking for another one when his aircraft was hit again, and he was knocked unconscious and blown out of the plane. The next thing he knew, McGee awoke terrified to find himself falling free fall helplessly through the sky. He prayed and he asked God to save his life. He said, "I don't wish to die because I know nothing of life." Then he lost consciousness again. Moments later, his body crashed through the glass roof of the Saint-Nazaire railroad station. And he was tangled in the steel girders and cables. The German soldiers that came to the scene were astonished to find him badly injured, but still alive. His arm was nearly torn off. He had badly damaged teeth, legs, knees, and ankles. He was treated well by skilled German doctors and made a near full recovery at his POW camp. McGee went on to live to 84 years of age. He said, "I don't know how I got here, but I'm here. Thanks to God." Now that's an amazing story, Pastor Ross. I've heard of some people falling long distances. And I think the record is 23,000 feet by a Russian soldier who landed on a hillside in the snow, but for this man to land in France and go through the roof of a building and live is pretty astonishing.
- That is, that would seem to be definitely an answer to prayer. Here he prays he's falling through the air. Next thing he knows he's still alive and just remarkable to fall through glass and cable and wiring and everything else that was used in that roof or that train station and still to survive and have a full recovery. But the sample out of the story is he survives, but he gets taken to prisoner-of-war camp where he is there for the rest of the war, but he does recover.
- Yes. And it seems like his faith in God really was revealed there in trusting in God through that experience. We do have a book Pastor Dough that talks about faith in difficult circumstances. It's the story of another POW experience where somebody was in a prisoner-of-war camp, but who had incredible faith in God and how God answered this person's prayer. It's called "Deathwatch in Siberia." And this is our free offer to anyone who would like to get it. All you have to do is just call and ask. It's our free gift today, "Deathwatch in Siberia." If you're outside of North America and you are watching this program, just go to the Amazing Facts websites, amazingfacts.org or .com, and you'll be able to read the book right there online. Well, Pastor Doug before we go to the phone lines, as we always do, let's start with prayer.
- Amen.
- Dear Father, we thank you that we have this opportunity to once again, open up Your Word and study. We thank you for the many who are listening and those who are going to be calling in with their Bible questions. Lord, as we study, we pray that Your Spirit would lead us into a fuller and deeper understanding of the Bible. We ask this in Jesus name. Amen.
- Amen.
- If you have a Bible question, our phone lines are open. This is a good time to pick up your phone and give us a call. The number is 800-463-7297. And that'll bring you right here into the studios. - And they can also watch on the Amazing Facts Facebook page. If you go to Facebook, which is the Amazing Facts Facebook page or the Doug Batchelor Facebook page, you can see what's happening here in the studio, as well as Amazing Facts Television, better known as AFTV. So we invite you to tune in, tell your friends we are live tonight, and I think we're going to do our best to answer some Bible questions.
- Okay, we're ready to go to the phone lines. Our first call of this evening is Chad listening in Canada, Chad you on the air.
- [Chad] Hey pastors, how are you doing?
- Doing great, thank for calling.
- [Chad] Yes, thank you for making this available. It's a great thing that you guys are doing.
- And your question tonight.
- [Chad] Yes, so some Christian denominations believe that the prophecy of the mark of the beast was fulfilled by Emperor Nero. What proof from the Bible or from history do we have to prove that that prophecy has not been fulfilled and Nero did not fulfill it?
- Okay, good question. There are three principle views when it comes to interpreting prophecy and revelation in particular, they've got the preterist view, and preterist you can see in the title there is the word pre. They believe that virtually all of revelation was fulfilled by 100 AD. And they think Nero was the anti-Christ. And they talk about that the woman wearing the purple and the scarlet, those were also the Roman Caesars wore those colors. And so there's that group. Then you've got what you call the historicist view. And that's probably where Pastor Ross and I fall. That means revelation and prophecies covering a panorama of history. Revelation in particular tells us that these prophecies begin with John getting the revelation. He said, "The time is at hand." And it continues on the second coming.
Well, second coming doesn't happen yet. And so it's covering the history of God's people, not just for the first 100 years, but it's talking about the history of God's people all the way from the time of John, Jesus first coming to His second. I mean, indeed, beyond that to heaven. And then you've got the futurist view and they typically take Revelation 4, and they say everything from chapter four on where they hear the voice of a trumpet. They say, that's the resurrection trumpet. And that's dealing with events that are after this secret rupture. So those are the three views. There's very few people actually. I mean, when you look at percentages, very few Christians believe the preterist view because it just doesn't match up with Revelation 12, 13, 17, so many other prophecies. You can't squash them in and say the Caesars of Rome fulfilled all of that.
- Pastor Doug, also interesting the history of the preterist view and the futurist view prior to those different views, they weren't something that was believed in the early days of the Christian Church, but during the time of the reformation, a number of the reformers were using the historicist interpretation of Bible prophecy, and they were identifying different political powers and religious powers. Of course, the papacy was also being identified based on a historicist interpretation of Revelation. And in response to the reformation, we have what we call the counter reformation that had the full support of the papacy at the time. And they promoted a different interpretation of Revelation, moved the spotlight away from them. And there were actually two views that was officially endorsed by the church, the preterist and the future review, which are directly opposite in the interpretation. But they were both adopted in different areas again, just to move the focus away from the historicist interpretation, but most Protestant churches held to the historicist view until, oh, about 150 years ago, or even less where we began to see some futuristic interpretations creep into main Protestant churches.
- And really the futurist view really became popular in the '70s and the '80s with some books by Hal Lindsey that used the skill field Bible. But yeah, you're absolutely right. Those views are actually were... what's the word? They were manufactured. Those prophetic views were manufactured by Roman Catholic scholars, Jesuit scholars. And even though they're opposite views. - Right, well, we do have a study guide. Somebody might be wondering a little bit more about what does the Bible mean when it talks about the mark of the beast there in Revelation 13? We have a study guide that's actually called the "Mark of the Beast." We'll be happy to send this to anyone who's wanting to know, incidentally, this is an important truth. Because the Bible tells us in the last days, there's going to be two groups. Those who have the seal of God, those who have the mark of the beast. So we want to know what the seal is, we want to know what the mark is, call and ask for it. The number to call is 800-835-6747. And again, you can ask for the Amazing Facts study guide, it's called "The Mark of the Beast," and we'll be happy to get in the mail and send it to you. If you're in North America, otherwise just visit the Amazing Facts website, amazingfacts.org. Next caller that we have, we've got Refugio listening in Texas. Refugio, welcome to the program.
- [Refugio] Hi, yes, sir. How's it going? And God bless you all.
- Thank you, good. How are you doing?
- [Refugio] I'm doing all right. My question is... [inaudible]
Can you repeat that a little bit? That was hard to hear your question.
- [Refugio] One of them is the vaccinations. vaccinations. Is it right to take it if you believe in God and Jesus?
- Mhmm, well yeah, let's talk about that for just a second. Now you're not going to find any reference to vaccines in the Bible. The Bible does talk about medicine, and there are some good things about medicine. I think it's both in Revelation and Ezekiel, it talks about the trees by the river, their fruit was good and their leaves were from medicine. And then Bible tells us that happy heart does good like a medicine. So there were some medicines that had good outcomes that they weren't using vaccination in the Bible. I don't think that there's any moral problem with vaccination that's been in the news a lot lately, but up until last year, people got smallpox and polio and all different kinds of vaccinations, and they didn't have any problem with that. I can understand why a lot of people might have issues with the government forcing you to do something that you take something in your body, at least in America, that's kind of atypical. Usually your person's health issues are very personal and private and you're not really compelled or penalized for not taking some medicine. And so there's a lot of views on that, but you're not going to find the word vaccination or vaccine in the Bible, but there's no sin against medicine. The right kind, you don't want to be addicted to any drug though.
- We do have a study guide that talks about "God's Free Health Plan." And if ever there's the time for us to be healthy, it seems it would be now, there's all kinds of diseases out there. Now of course, some of it like we just talking about this virus passed decades, it's not always dependent upon how healthy you are. Healthy people get sick and they can get very sick with this virus. And so there is something that one needs to carefully consider their situation, talk to the healthcare provider and that kind of thing. But there are some biblical principles that if we follow, it's going to help us strengthen our immune system, and generally make us healthier people. And the Bible has quite a bit to say about health. It's called "God's Free Health Plan." It's one of our Amazing Fact study guides. And we'll be happy to send this to anyone who calls and asks. The number to call for that is 800-835-6747. And again, just ask for the Amazing Facts study guide, it's called "God's Free Health Plan," and we'll get that
- Amen. in the mail and send it to you. Some good Bible principles dealing with health. Thanks for your call. We've got Terry listening from Maryland. Terry welcome to the program.
- [Terry] Hi, good evening to Pastor Ross and Pastor Batchelor. I had a question, I was married before and we were divorced because my husband had committed adultery. And that was back in 1999. And since then, the last, I'd say few years I've been dating someone and we were talking about getting married, and pastor refused to marry us because he said, "Because I was married before that I was never to get married again that that was biblical." And so I'm kind of at a loss. So I just can never marry again?
- Well, let's find out what the Bible says. And before I even get to the scriptures here in front of me, we have a book, this is "Marriage, Divorce, and Remarriage" is a book I wrote because, well, for one thing, I lived through it in that my mother and father were both married. My mom four times, my dad five times. And I grew up with a lot of the baggage surrounding that. And I just see in pastoring, a lot of people struggle with these issues. And sometimes, the answers are not cut and dry, but let's find out what does Jesus say? If you look in Matthew 5:31, He says, "Furthermore, it has been said, whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce. But I say to you that whoever divorces his wife for any reason, except sexual immorality causes her to commit adultery. And whoever marries a woman whose divorced commits adultery."
Now what Jesus is saying there, Paul also addresses this in 1 Corinthians 7. What Jesus is saying here is that a person who has been divorced with biblical grounds, they can remarry. But if you marry someone who is divorced without biblical grounds, you're encouraging adultery. So from your scenario that you shared, it sounds like your husband was unfaithful. He violated the marriage vows. Then you are free to remarry. There's one other example where Paul talks about marriage and divorce. And that's in the event that there's two pagans out there. They don't believe in God. They don't know about Jesus. One of them converts and becomes a Christian. The unbeliever says, I'm leaving you. Maybe she's a young mother, does that mean she can never marry again? Paul said, no, in such cases, she's free. Do all you can to save your marriage. But if it can't be saved, if they're bound and determined to leave you because of your faith, well, then you're free. Meaning free to remarry. Uh, so.....
Marriage and divorce, it's not the unpardonable sin. You look at Abraham, God, actually at one point said, you need to put away Hagar. He said, oh, you need to divorce her. Now God hates it because it causes all kinds of heartache, but God doesn't hate people. He hates sin and He hates the consequences of sin. So you should talk to a pastor, if a pastor is saying that if you were divorced and you have biblical grounds, you can't remarry, I'd get another pastor's opinion. They say sometimes get another doctor's opinion. I think it might be good to take your Bible and show these verses to the pastor and say, now how do I understand this?
- Terry, I think you'd really enjoy their book. It's called "Marriage, Divorce and Remarriage." And it's got all the scriptures in there and explains the teachings from the Bible on that. We'll be happy to send that to you or anyone who calls and asks the number is 800-835-6747. And again, you can ask for the book, it's called Marriage, Divorce and Remarriage." If you're outside of North America, you can go to the Amazing Facts website and read the book. I think you can just type it in the search bar there and it should come up. Thank you for your call. We've got Anthony listening in New York. Anthony, welcome to the program.
- [Anthony] My question, as I read through the Bible from the Old Testament to the New Testament, I noticed that whenever Jesus and whatever, even in His pre-incarnate form, when He was here on earth, He was accompanied by two angels, it seems like almost every time. So when He visited Abraham, there were two angels with Him. At the resurrection, there were two angels sitting on His grave besides the one that was outside, but there were two angels, one at the foot and one at the head. And then at His Ascension, there were two angels there as well. So I just wanted to know, do you think there's any biblical or spiritual significance to that? Just like how there's the cherubim on either side of the ark, on the mercy seat of the ark. Do you think that's maybe that could represent something like that or do you see any significance
- Yeah, I think you're always there? - onto something.
- Yeah, in the Bible it tells us in the mouth of two or three witnesses, let everything be established. And when Jesus ascended to heaven, those two angels were there to testify of not only His ascension, but that He would come again. And they said this same Jesus will come again. At the resurrection, there were two angels there to testify to the women that He was alive. Don't look for the living among the dead, He's alive. And as you said, there were two angels that went into Sodom to testify that they had gone too far in their wickedness. They had firsthand experience. And so sometimes the Lord sent the disciples out two by two because they could support each other. And also there was the testimony of at least two or three witnesses. There are times where there may have been one angel. I think it says one angel came to Him in the Garden of Gethsemane. I wouldn't build a doctrine over there was always two angels that were with Jesus. But yeah, I think that there's something to be said for the number two representing a stronger testimony.
- And of course in the Book of Revelation, we have a passage in Revelation 11 that talks about the two witnesses, and we understand that to be the law and the prophets, all of the Word of God. And that's also referred to as the two witnesses.
- And that's the two angels are right above the two tables of the testimony
- Yeah, that's right. in heaven. So you got there's another example.
- It's parallel. Good question, thanks.
- Thanks, Anthony.
- We've got Grace calling from Texas. Grace, welcome to the program.
- [Grace] Hi, how are you?
- Doing good. Thank you, and your called in, your question tonight.
- [Grace] Yes, my question is could there be another prophet, prophetess like Ellen White that would write books and be utilized by God, even though they're weak and ill like Ellen White was?
- Yeah, the Bible tells us in the last days that in the Book of Joel 2, it says, "I'll pour out My Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters will prophesy." Prophecy is one of the gifts of the church. And now I don't think anything should be added to scripture, but the gifts of the Spirit have not stopped with the death of the Apostle John. God still has the gifts of the Spirit, you find in first Corinthians 12, 13 and 14, and prophecy is one of those gifts. And it tells us that I'll pour out My Spirit on your sons and your daughter. So you have in the Bible, both men and women that have the gift of prophecy.
- And Pastor Doug, it's interesting. If you look in scripture, we find different types, you might say of prophets, they're all inspired and they have a message from God, but you have some prophets who you might consider almost career prophets like Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel and others, Moses that God's used or spoke through over the length of their life for a very long time. But then we also have examples where the Spirit of the Lord will come upon an individual and they will give a specific message for a situation at a specific time. And that's the last to hear of them as being doing the work of a prophet, even in the New Testament, we have examples of people who were prophesying for specific situations, but you wouldn't consider them as sort of a career prophet. So as we near the end of time, it's quite possible based on verse that there will be the manifestation of the gift of professor to help guide the church and individuals in different situations. But I don't know if we have enough time left here on the earth for a so-called career prophet, you might say. Somebody like of the caliber that is being used as a prophet over many, many years.
- Well, and I've wondered this myself, there's that verse there that says, "Behold, I send you Elijah the prophet before the great and terrible day of the Lord." Now Jesus tells us John the Baptist came in the spirit and the power of Elijah, but He said, John, Elijah has come and Elijah will come. And so we wonder if near the end of time that someone will come with the spirit and power of Elijah to try to get the world ready again for the second coming like John the Baptist got the world ready for the first coming. So they may. Elijah appears out of nowhere. You can't really call... I guess you could call Elijah career prophet. But from the time his first prophecy, till he goes to heaven, it's not the same amount of time as Elisha or Jeremiah
- Right, that's true. is a short time.
- Interesting.
- Yeah, don't know.
- And of course in Revelation 7 you have a whole army, you might say of people who are doing the work of proclaiming.
- 144,000.
- Yeah, proclaiming God's last message in the spirit and the power of Elijah. So some interesting parallels. Great, great question there, Grace. We've got Kevin listening from California. Kevin, welcome to the program.
- [Kevin] Good evening, pastors. So very good to talk to you. I wish you both well.
- Thank you, thanks for calling.
- [Kevin] I see you growing trend with many pastors in many different churches, teaching that the term sons of God in the Bible refers to angels. We know that is not true. I am just astounded how rapidly this teaching is growing. We know that sons of God are the line of Seth, daughters of men are the line of Cain. We know in Hebrews 1:5, God says, "To which of the angels did I ever call son, to which of the angels did I ever say, I am your Father." And then they argue with the verse, how the sons of God shouted with joy and the stars sang.
- In Job, yeah.
- [Kevin] Well, yeah, we know that the stars are the angels because Lucifer drew a third of the stars with him. Sons of God are still not angels. We probably can assume safely that sons of God were the "Adams" of the other worlds that we can no longer see, just like we can no longer.
- Kevin, you're going to put it into a question.
- [Kevin] Well, my question is, how do we combat this false teaching?
- Well, you're doing it. You combat the falsehood with the truth and you're absolutely correct. The people read in Genesis 6 and some listeners might wonder what is Kevin referring to. In Genesis 6, where it says, "The sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair and took them wives of all they chose." Some think that they're angels, some think they're aliens. Some think they're fallen angels. And then that you get these giant like creatures from that. There have been movies to that effect, but they're making something out of nothing. It's talking about the descendants of Seth, the children of God intermarrying with the descendants of Cain. And then you've got that verse in 1 John 3, where it says, "Behold, what manner of love the Father's bestowed on us, that we should be called sons of God." So you're on the right track, Kevin that, and the way you deal with it is just get the truth out there.
- Well, I think part of the reason for why there's so much confusion is there are a few paraphrases of the Bible that actually use the phrase
- That's right. instead of translating sons of God, I'm thinking of the Living Bible for one that actually says "Angels sold the daughters of men and took into them wives and giants were born into the earth." So I think that's maybe where some of this comes from where this false idea of these sons of God being angels.
- All right, we've got some more Bible questions coming and you'd like to still call in, there's time. We'll be back. (upbeat music)
- [Narrator] Stay tuned. Bible Answers Live will return shortly.
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(upbeat music) This broadcast is a previously recorded episode. If you'd like answers to your Bible related questions on the air, please call us next Sunday between 7:00 PM and 8:00 PM Pacific time. To receive any of the Bible resources mentioned in this evening's program, call 800-835-6747. Once again, that's 800-835-6747. Now let's rejoin our hosts for more Bible Answers Live.
- Welcome back listening, friends to Bible Answers Live. And if you tuned in along the way, this is a live international interactive Bible study. We invite you to call in with your questions. It is a free phone call. That number is 800 God says. That's 800-463-7297. You can also watch what's happening here in the studio on Amazing Facts Television on the Doug Batchelor Facebook page or the Amazing Facts Facebook page. And we're going to try and cover as many questions as we can. I am Doug Batchelor. - My name is Jean Ross, and we are going to go to our next caller. Tayvion is listening from Illinois. Tayvion, welcome to the program.
- [Tayvion] Hi Pastors, how are you?
- Doing good! How are you doin?
- [Tayvion] I'm doing alright. But um, my question is is that I've been watching a lot of... I've been basically following the health industry a lot lately. And essentially this is in regards to basically what it's free to eat. I know like clean and unclean meat, but umm.... I'm not saying I have an eating problem but I, you know, like to eat. But my questions is is that, is it okay for us to eat fast food even if it's being clean?
- Yeah, well, you're not going to find... there's probably no scripture that's going to forbid eating at a fast food restaurant. I guess you could call subway fast food because you can get it pretty fast. I eat there quite a bit, but you can eat a pretty healthy meal there. So I used to travel with a singing group and they sometimes were on the road. And the only thing they could do is stop at fast food to keep on going down the road. But I was pretty health conscious and I'd have to really scramble, I'd order a veggie Whopper or get a McDonald's salad. You have to struggle a little more to get stuff that's not going to kill you off, but so there's no sin to eating fast food. Just wherever you go, you want to try and eat what's good for you.
- Do the best you can, yeah. I went to Kentucky Fried Chicken and ate some mashed potatoes. I think saved me once. (both laughs) But no, we don't encourage, if you do a lot of that, that typically fast food, I guess someone did a special called "Supersize me" where they just ate at McDonald's for I forget a month or something nearly killed them. Anyway, so yeah, you don't want to do that very often because it's usually got a lot of calories and a lot of salt and not the best.
- Again, we have this study guide talking about "God's Free Health Plan." What does the Bible say about our bodies and how we can take care of them? We'll be happy to send this to anyone who calls and asks. The number for that is just 800-835-6747. And you can ask for the study guide, it's called "God's Free Health Plan" and again, Bible principles for living a longer, healthier, happier life. Be blessed.
- Thank you for your question, Tayvion.
- We've got Randy listening in Indiana. Randy, welcome to the program.
- [Randy] Thank you, I appreciate it, pastors. My question centers around the 10 commandments and Moses on Mount Sinai. And the reason I'm asking this question is we know in Colossians 1:16, that all things invisible and visible were created through Jesus Christ. So my question is, was it God the Father or God the Son who wrote the 10 commandments on Mount Sinai?
- Well, you're giving the answer, not only in Colossians, but in the gospel of John 1, it says, "All things that were made were made by Him and without Him was not anything made that was made." And Jesus says in Matthew 5, "Do not think I've come to destroy the law and the prophets. I did not come to destroy, but fulfill." Well, He wouldn't destroy him because He wrote them. That finger that wrote in the temple dust when that woman was caught in adultery is the same finger I believe that wrote the 10 commandments. I believe God the Father was there with the son declaring His law. That's why no man could even go up into the glory and see what was happening.
- Yeah, and throughout scripture, even in the Old Testament, we find God being the go between between the Father and Israel. And it was Christ that would've to appear sometimes as the Angel of the Lord or the Messenger of the Lord. The Angel that appeared actually was Christ who appeared to Joshua called the Angel of the Lord, the Messenger. So yes, Jesus is the one that's communicating with God's people revealing the Father. Jesus said, "He who has seen Me has seen the Father." So we find that principle throughout the Bible.
- So you're on the right track, Randy. I think that was God the Son, Jesus, who was primarily involved in delivering the law to His people.
- All right, we've got Sarah listening from Arizona, Sarah welcome to the program.
- [Sarah] Oh, thank you! I've been listening for a little so I was surprised to, to be on the air.
We're glad you made it.
- Anyways, so my question is Is there anywhere in the Bible where it forbids wearing of jewelry, like necklaces, wedding rings and things like that? Like I grew up not wearing that stuff, but I'm having problems like showing where it says not to wear that stuff.
- All right, good question. Some of our listeners might be surprised to know that early Protestants, whether our church, Baptist, Methodist, Pentecostal, they frowned on wearing any jewelry, they felt that it was based on the scriptures. Well, a few scriptures I'll give you. One is where Peter says that the godly women of old adorned the inside, let it not be the outward adorning of the plating of the hair, wearing of gold, putting on of apparel. And Paul says that the women adorned themselves in modest apparel, not with gold and pearls and costly array. And when the children of Israel made the golden calf. Now I'm just giving you off the top of my head some of these verses that you're asking about, Sarah. When the children of Israel made the golden calf, it was made out of their jewelry and they made a god out of it. And then when Jacob came to meet with the Lord, it says that they buried their jewelry and they went to renew their covenant to the Lord. When God met with the children of Israel after the golden calf, He said, "Break off your ornaments, that I can know what to do with you."
Now I want to make it clear. There's going to be a lot of people in heaven that wear jewelry. But if you look at the Bible, I think that God is telling His people that He's not calling us to be investing in wearing money to being ostentatious. A few years ago, a lot of televangelist got into trouble, them and their wives, and someone even wrote a song and said, "Would Jesus wear a Rolex?" And a lot of these evangelists, they were just be decked with jewelry and they were asking everyone to send their money. And it just didn't send the right message.
- I think the verse you're referring to at least the ones New Testament there, 1 Peter 3:3-6, you have Peter talking about it. And then you have Paul in 1 Timothy 2:9, and he's also referring to that. You see the Bible principle when it comes to dress for the Christian is neat simplicity. We don't want to draw attention to ourselves
- Modesty. by wearing something old fashioned or something brand new in fashion, we don't want to be in the foreground or in the back when it comes to fashion, but we want to be modest and allow the character to shine through.
- And we've actually had a book that talks about what the Bible says about a modesty and I think there's one called "Jewelry: How Much Is Too Much?" That's got all these verses in there.
- That's right. If you'd like to get that book, anyone who would like it, Sarah and others just call, 800-463-7297. Actually that's the number if you have a Bible question, the one you want to call for the free offer, 800-835-6747, that's the number. Ask for the book, it's called "Jewelry: How Much Is Too Much?" We're happy to send that to anyone in North America. You can also read that online at the Amazing Facts website. We've got Robert listening in North Carolina. Robert, welcome to the program.
- [Robert] Hey, thanks for taking my call.
- Absolutely. How can we help you tonight?
- [Robert] Okay, so I got like a mark of the beast related question, I guess like, okay. So like long while back when I was younger, I'm in my 40s now, but when I was younger, youth pastor said something like the Hebrew word for hand meant the whole arm, like from fingertip to shoulder, I thought that was the strangest thing I ever heard. And that stuck with me all this time. And my question is, was he right?
- Oh, well, yes and no. The Hebrew word for hand does include the wrists and the forearm. It doesn't go to the shoulder. And typically, I think people use that argument to say, when Jesus' hands were pierced, a number of Christian scholars believe that means that He actually, He could have got the nails in His wrists. It definitely doesn't include your shoulder that you're not dealing with your hands. So the hand was often thought of in the Hebrew mind of the forearm and the hands. But typically, it's talking about the hand part where your fingers are, but it might include your forearm. And there's some examples where it's translated that way. So that's why I said you're partly right and partly wrong.
- Although they are two different words, Pastor Doug. If you look in the Hebrew or in the Greek for hand and arm, we have reference to the Old Testament where talks about saved by God's righteous right arm. And it's talking about the arm,
- The whole arm. is talking about the hand. Yes, and then there's other verses that clearly refer to the hand.
- That's right. So there is a different word used there in the original languages.
- Yeah, and then Greek is a whole different story. It's a different language. So we think that Jesus got pierced in His hands. I did a whole study on this because we did a video where Jesus was showing His hands to someone after the crucifixion, we had to figure out where do you put the nails? And it's definite that in Roman history that they did have the nails actually go in the hands or the wrists. So it could be both.
- All right, well, thanks for your call, Robert. We've got Terence listening also in North Carolina. Terence, you're on the air.
- [Terence] Yeah, hey Jean, how are you?
- Good, good.
- [Terence] Good, I got a question for you. I was listening to you the other night, and somebody did ask the same question I'm asking now is if we can pray directly to Jesus, I do quite frequently. And your answer the other night was I believe correct me if I'm wrong. You said me on a couple of different verses in the Bible. You could pray directly to Jesus. But I asked for Jesus blessings all the time. I prayed to Jesus and God both. So I was looking for a little more clarity on that.
- All right, great question. Pastor Doug.
- Yeah, there's nothing wrong with praying directly to Jesus. There are a couple of verses that you find that the last prayer in the Bible says "Even so come Lord Jesus." That's a prayer directed to Jesus. When Stephen was being stoned, he said, "Lord, Jesus received my spirit." Typically Jesus encourages us to pray to the Father through Him. But if you're praying to Jesus, He's called our advocate. He's called our intercessor. And so nothing wrong with talking to your defense attorney to direct a message to the judge, so to speak. So most of the time in the Bible, Christ said, pray to the Father, pray in this manner, our Father, and we do it in the name of His Son.
- And it's not uncommon even with children when we teach our kids to pray and they little, usually we'll begin with the phrase, dear Jesus, as part of the prayer. And again, there's nothing wrong with that.
- Makes it personal, yeah.
- It does, it makes it personal. Although as Pastor Doug mentioned the example that we find in scripture for the most part is you praying to God, the Father in the name of Jesus, asking for the intercession of the Holy Spirit to help guide your mind. You're usually asking for the Holy Spirit. And then we have no example that I know of, Pastor Doug where somebody who's praying specifically to the Holy Spirit. But we do have an example of people praying as mentioned Stephen to Christ or to Jesus, and then many examples of people praying to God, to the Father.
- Yeah, that's right, amen.
- Oh, you know we do have book, it's called "Teach Us to Pray" and it deals with the subject of prayer. And we'll be happy to send that to anyone who calls and asks. The number for that is 800-835-6747. And again, just call and ask. The book is called, "Teach Us to Pray." And if you would like to have a deeper prayer life, you will be blessed by reading that book. Next call that we have is Walter listening in Alaska. Walter, welcome to the program.
- [Walter] Hi pastors, blessings to you.
- Thank you.
- [Walter] Hey, my question is about Galatians 5:19-21. And I know in the Greek it uses the word pharmacia linked in there. And how does that involve our big pharma of today in some of these medicines, such as the vaccine?
- Well, let me read this for our friends that are listening Galatians 5, I'll read oh, verse 19. "Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are these; adultery, fornication, uncleanness, ludeness, idolatry, sorcery." And I think that word sorcery is pharmacia. "Hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wraths, selfish ambition, dissensions, heresis, envies, murders, drunkenness, revellings and the like of which I tell you beforehand, just as I've told you in time passed that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God." Right so Paul is saying everything in that list is not good. And the word sorcery, pharmacia, they used to make potions and drugs that would cause hallucinations.
And supposedly, when I was a teenager, a lot of the young people back then during the Beatles era, we were taking LSD and mushrooms and hallucinogenics, we called them to give us a spiritual experience. It was our argument anyway. Well, that's not new. That was happening all the way back in the time of Paul in witchcraft, they often resorted to drugs that would put them in a trance. And when I lived on the Navajo Reservation, they would go and have a, we called them pow-wow, but they'd get together and they'd have a spiritual ceremony and they'd take peyote and they'd go into trance and hope that God would give them messages. But we know now this is just they are hallucinations and delusions. I don't think this is talking where it's pharmacia there, I don't think it's talking about using justified pharmaceuticals for some condition. And it's certainly hard to make an argument that this is talking about one particular vaccine. I think Paul is talking about just the way that sorcery was being used and they used drugs in their sorcery.
Now there may be problems. It's not really a Bible question. There may be problems in our culture with the power of big pharmaceutical companies. I think everyone knows that there are lobbyists paid in Washington and there's a lot of money that's connected with those industries. I'm thankful for a lot of the good cures that have been developed. I'm sure there's probably where there's a lot of money, there's a little bit of intrigue involved, but it's not really a Bible issue there.
- Pastor Doug, I'm just thinking some of these pagan countries or pagan traditions and tribes, they would have the witch doctor who would serve both as the doctor, as well as the one who was to communicate with the gods. So there's always been some kind of connection between healing,
- And medicine, men. and sort of the priest or that type of thing. And of course that was way back, even in Greek culture and Greek mythology. And that's really what Paul is addressing here is those who claim to communicate with the God, so to speak and cast vows and give potions and those type of things. - Yep, hope that helps a little bit. We thank you, Walter, for your call.
- We've got Muriel in Florida. Muriel, welcome to the program.
- [Muriel] Hello, Pastor Ross and Pastor Batchelor, it's my first time calling in, getting on let me be quick. I was reading Exodus 9:1 about Moses going to Pharaoh and asking him to let my people go so that they may worship Me. I've been just trying to understand what is the difference, and then different versions say serve Me. And I'm just boggled by the difference between worship and praise.
- Okay, that's good. You could certainly do both at the same time, but there is probably a distinction you can make between worship and praise. Worship is something that can also be done very quietly, but praise it's hard to do praise quietly. Praise means you are articulating your appreciation for the virtues of a person or God. We're talking about praising God in this context. They say that the way that you teach children is sometimes through it can be praise or punishment. You discourage the bad behavior, you encourage by praise the good behavior. You say that was really good. I'm so proud of you. You did a wonderful job, and they just brighten up when they hear those words of encouragement and praise, but that must be articulated, whereas worship, you can get on your knees quietly and just adore God and talk to the Lord and you'd be worshiping Him. So what do you think, Pastor Ross?
- Yeah, I agree. I think worship also carries with the idea of obedience when the first angel's message says, fear God, give glory to Him, worship Him that made the heavens, the earth and the sea. It's not just praise and adoration. That's definitely part of it. But if worship is to be genuine, it needs to be accompanied with obedience. And so we worship God by obeying Him, by doing those things that are pleasing in His sight. That is an aspect of worship. Praise is, as you said, it's vocalizing. Usually we praise, we can praise individually, but usually in a group setting. A church we'll sing praises to the Lord. We'll sing hymns. So that would be part of worship for sure. But a little bit of a different emphasis. - It says to obey is better than sacrifice.
- That's right. So yeah. So worship involves obedience.
- Thank you, Muriel. We're glad you got through and we hope it's not the last time you call. - We've got Venice listening. Denise, welcome to the program.
- [Denise] Yes, it is Denise, thank you, and good evening.
- Hi!
- [Denise] Hi, my question is I received the Holy Spirit and I'm walking with God. Why do I need to ask for a refilling of the Holy Spirit every day? I thought He'd be walking with me all the time.
- That's a good question. I remember hearing about a man who was married to his wife for 35 years. And she said, "You never tell me that you love me anymore." And he said, "Well, I told you when I married you, if I changed my mind, I'll let you know." But she wanted to hear it more often. You know Jesus said, when you say the Lord's Prayer, in the Lord's Prayer, it says, "Give us this day, our daily bread." Well, that sounds like you're not asking for monthly bread. So walking with the Lord is denying yourself. Jesus said, "Whoever would come after Me, let him deny himself daily, take up his cross and follow Me." And then the Lord tells us "If you being evil give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those that ask Him?"
The word there ask is an ongoing verb, we're to continue asking Him. So as we need food every day, as we need fellowship with God every day, we are inviting for God, the Spirit to be in us all the time. And you see in the disciples experience, they prayed in Acts 2 and they were filled with the Holy Spirit. But then you, you go to Acts 4. It says the place where they were assembled, they prayed and it was shaken and they were filled with the Holy Spirit again. And look at all the times it says the spirit of the Lord came upon Samson. The spirit of the Lord came upon David. There's waves of the Holy Spirit that come into people's lives so I'd say keep praying.
- We have a book, it's called "Life in the Spirit," talks about the Holy Spirit, the need of the Holy Spirit. We'll be happy to send this to anyone who calls and asks. The number again is 800-835-6747. And again, the book is called "Life in the Spirit" talking about the Holy Spirit. And we'll be happy to send it to anyone who calls and asks. We've got Anthony listening in Pennsylvania, Anthony, welcome to the program, you're on the air.
- [Anthony] Thank you very much, pastors. Good evening, God bless you guys.
- Evening, thank you for calling.
- Okay, Revelation 21:1. It says, "Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, but the first heaven and the first earth has passed away. Also, there was no more sea." My question is what does it mean when it says there's no more sea? Does that mean there's no water in heaven?
- Okay, great question. Of course, it's not telling us there's no water because you read a little later that the river of God, this river of life flows from the throne of God. You also read about that. And Ezekiel talks about the river proceeds from the temple. And so wherever you got water running, it's going to run to something. And we just believe that in the new earth, you're not going to have the salt water that you have now. Before the flood in the days of Noah, I believe that the earth was covered with water that you could drink, and the flood broke up the earth and these great salt deposits in the earth were mixed with the water making it briny. It's interesting in the Peru, Pastor Ross, they've got in Lake Titicaca, which is, I forget, it's got to be like 14,000 feet high, they got sharks and they're fresh water sharks. And they think that when there's this great upheaval in the world that a lot of these sharks that were in this inland area got pushed up and they survived. I mean, they certainly didn't swim 14,000 feet up a creek. And the whole world at one time was covered with fresh water.
So when it says there's no more sea in Revelation, there's no more of the brownie salty ocean that you cannot drink that burns your eyes, but there will be lakes and it's going to be a great lake probably out there, somewhere in the new earth.
- And of course, back in Bible times, sea was a terrible separation. So yeah, you have John, he's on the Island of Patmos. The ones that he love he's in Ephesus. Well, there's a sea separating him
- Good point. from the ones he loved. And of course, when somebody would bought a ship and head out to sea, well, you might not see them again. But in the earth made new, there's going to be no separation between friends and loved ones. We're not going to be separated by oceans or seas, but there's definitely going to be bodies of water as you mentioned, Pastor Doug. And I think it's going to be just, oh, well, we know it's going to be so much better than anything we have here on this earth. The Bible says "Eyes has not seen, no ear heard, no entity to the heart of man the things that God is preparing for those that love Him." So beautiful, beautiful,
- Absolutely place that God's preparing. Thanks for your call. We've got, let's see Colin in, is it New Mexico or Maine?
- Maine. I think it's Maine. Colin, Maine welcome.
- [Colin] Yes, good evening, gentlemen.
- Hi, we got about two minutes. Can we do it?
- [Colin] Yes, we can, absolutely. Thanks for taking my call. My question is in regards to the small, but interesting Book of 2 John, right in the beginning, 2 John verse one it says, "To the chosen lady and her children, whom I love in truth," which is strong language right off the bat there. I'm wondering if that's a specific individual that John is referring to or is that to be interpreted symbolically for that Book of 2 John.
- Okay, hey, thank you so much. Good question, Colin. I do believe that he's talking about when he says, "To the elect lady and her children," that's talking about the church. Church is called the bride of Christ. And you can read about the woman in Revelation. John wrote Revelation 12, that woman in chapter 12 is clothed with the sun, the moon and the stars is the bride of Christ. And so he's addressing this letter to the church in this district. And he goes on to say, "Your elect sister greets you," when he closes the letter. And so let me see here, "The children of your elect sister," and that's verse 13, "greet you." So he is writing from one church and its children to another church and its children. And he's using this symbolic language. - Absolutely, the church is described as being the bride of Christ.
- Yep, we're going to be going off the air with our satellite friends that are listening to a Bible Answers Live. We have a few more moments with everyone else will stay tuned because we come back. And what we do is we take Bible questions that have come in via the internet, and we do it as rapid fire as we can to cover as many as we can. And so God bless those who are listening on satellite. God willing we'll be back with you again next week.
(upbeat music) - [Narrator] 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.
- Okay, we're back. We've got a few Bible questions, Pastor Ross that came in online and let's see how many of them we can carry.
- Okay, here we go, question one, why do some people call Jesus Joshua?
- Well, the way you would say Jesus' name in Hebrew is Yeshuah. And so some people think, well, it's important to try and pronounce it in its original accent. There's certainly nothing wrong with speaking a name in your own language. It's always fun for me when I travel to other countries and they try to say Douglas, which is a pretty English or Scottish name. And they call me everything from duck to dog, to some people can't wrap their tongue around it. And so, if you say Jesus in Spanish, it's Jesús, when you say it in Greek, it's going to be Iesous, and English, it's Jesus. Some people feel like, well, but I want to say it the way that Mary said it to Jesus when He was in His manger. So they say Yeshuah.
- Okay, all right, next question that we have, it says, since we're judged by based upon what we know, wouldn't it be better for people just not to know anything about the Bible?
- That's right. Someone said, ignorance is bliss. Ignorance is bliss, but it's not very smart. You're not only responsible for what you know, you're responsible for what you have an opportunity to know. I believe it says in the Book of Hosea 4, and if you read verse six, he says, "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge." Well, that doesn't sound fair to destroy him for lack of knowledge. But he goes on and says, "Because you've rejected knowledge, I will reject you." So friends, if you have an opportunity to know truth, God wants us to learn. He doesn't want us to live in darkness. And yes, when you do know you're more accountable, but don't stay in the darkness.
- Jesus said, "If you know the truth, the truth will set you free."
- That's right.
- Another question it says, what do we know about Enoch apart from him being taken to heaven and not seeing death? - Well, it tells us Enoch walked with God. A matter of fact, after he had his son Methuselah, it tells us he walked with God because he understood the love of the Father and the Son. The Book of Jude tells us Enoch was a preacher of righteousness who said the Lord is coming with 10,000 of His saints to execute judgment on the ungodly. And so, yeah, I think he was a preacher of righteousness that help Noah in preparing for warning people about the coming flood.
- Absolutely, so he serves as the type of those who will be translated to heaven when Jesus comes the second time.
- That's right. It's interesting. It says that Enoch was the seventh from Adam.
- And he went up.
- And he went up.
- Yeah, His going to get the rest. Hey friends, we are out of time. We appreciate your questions. Don't forget go to amazingfacts.org. You can find out so much more about the ministry. We'll be back and study next week.
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