Miracle Births in the Bible

The world's oldest bird with the wildlife band is prepping to be a mom again at age 63. US Fish and Wildlife Service officials confirm this week that the Laysan Albatross named Wisdom has laid an egg in a nesting site at the Midway Atoll. That's a national wildlife refuge in the North Pacific, about 1,200 miles northwest of Honolulu. It's no small feat.

Laysan Albatross are monogamous and they mate for life. A breeding albatross only lays one egg per year. No one has an exact figure, but this would be about the 36th chick raised by Wisdom and her mate since Wisdom was banded in 1956. That's before I was born. There she was estimated to be about five years old.

Until recently, these long-lived birds were thought to only live about 50 years of age. Friends, the Bible says that there are many other miracle births. Stay with us. We're going to learn more as Amazing Facts brings you this edition of "Bible Answers Live."

[PROGRAM INTRODUCTION]

Pastor Doug: Welcome, welcome, friends, to Bible Answers Live. This is the program where if you have a Bible question or some question about living the Christian life, we'll do our best to search the Word together and find answers.

If you would like to call in, we have lots of lines open right now. That number is 800-GOD-SAYS. That's 800-463-7297. In case you weren't ready, one more time. You ready? 800-463-7297 brings you into the studio with your Bible question. My name is Doug Batchelor.

Pastor Jean: My name is Jean Ross. Good evening, friends. Welcome again to our time of study together. Pastor Doug, before we begin, let's have a word of prayer.

Dear Father in Heaven, we thank you for the opportunity once again to take a few moments, open up the Bible, and to study your Word together. Father, we invite the Holy Spirit to come and guide our minds and our hearts and, as we always ask, lead us into a deeper and fuller understanding of Bible truth. For we ask this in Jesus name, Amen.

Pastor Doug: Amen.

Pastor Jean: Pastor Doug, you opened the program by talking about a remarkably old bird [laughs] that's what? 63 years of age and...

Pastor Doug: Yes, isn't that amazing?

Pastor Jean: That's amazing for a bird to live that...There are parrots that live close to 80-90, but this one just laid another egg.

Pastor Doug: Yeah and they say that these birds, these Alaskan albatross they mate for life which means her mate has the...

[laughter]

Pastor Jean: That's long.

Pastor Doug: They just don't band the mate so they don't know how old he is but, he's obviously lived a long time too. Yeah, 63 is something, and so folks just say wow, it's a miracle to have a chick.

Jéan: Yeah, it is.

Pastor Doug: It shows a picture. If you go online, they've actually got a picture of Wisdom sitting on her egg there at the midway atoll.

When you think about miracle births, there's several in the Bible. I don't know if our friends ever thought about it. Of course this time of year, everyone is remembering the ultimate miracle birth, of when a virgin would conceive and bring forth a son and that's Jesus. Jesus was really the last miracle birth in the Bible. There are about seven miracle births prior to Christ in scripture.

Let me go through them for you real quick. All three of the patriarchs -- Abraham, Isaac, Jacob -- their wives have problems conceiving. They were barren. As a result of prayer or a miracle, they conceived and they had children.

Sarah, she was over 90 when she had Isaac. Each one of these miracle children are also a type of Christ. Isaac went up the mountain. He was a willing sacrifice like Jesus, he had the wood on his back as Christ had the cross.

Rebecca, Jacobs wife, she couldn't have children. He prayed and Rebecca did have a miracle birth with Isaac and she had Jacob and Esau, who had the 12 sons just like Jesus had the 12 apostles that became the church. He had the 12 tribes that became the nation of Israel.

Rachel couldn't get pregnant, she kept badgering Jacob and as a result, miracle she got pregnant. She had Joseph who was a type of Christ. He was betrayed by his brothers and he forgave them, and he fed them and kept them alive.

You have Hannah in the Bible -- the mother of Samuel -- she had a miracle birth. It was a result of prayer. She had Samuel who became a prophet, a priest and a judge in Israel.

Then, it doesn't tell her name, but the wife of Manoah, the mother of Samson, she was barren. An angel appeared. She had this miraculous baby boy, who was the strongest man who ever lived.

Believe it or not, Samson is a type of Christ too. Last act of his life, he stretches out his arms, sacrifices himself to defeat the enemies of God's people.

Then there is a woman called the Shunammite woman. She has a son as a result of answered prayer, and that baby boy dies and is resurrected, like Christ.

Of course, the last is in the New Testament, that's Zechariah and Elizabeth having John the Baptist, who is the forerunner of Christ. These seven miracle births are all boys. They all sort of are types of Christ in the Bible.

They all lead up to a story you find in Revelation, of a dragon, trying to devour this miracle baby who is going to be brought forth of this woman. This is Revelation 12.

If you would like to understand why is the dragon out to get this baby, and who is that other woman in Revelation 17, we have a free offer that explains these prophesies, just call and we can send it to you. I think you can read it for free online.

Jéan: All you'll have to do is give us a call on our resource line which is 800-835-6747. You can ask for our free offer. It's a book entitled, "The Beast and the Dragon and the Woman" all about this prophesy. Revelation 12.

Again, the number is 800-835-6747 and the book tonight that we are offering for free is, The Beast, the Dragon and the Woman.

You can even read this book, I believe you can even download a PDF of the book at the Amazing Facts website. We want to encourage you to take a look at that. You'll find it very informative and also important. Some very important truths are dealt with there in Revelation 12.

Pastor Doug, I think we are ready to go to the phone lines. Our first caller this evening is Ruben, listening from Pennsylvania.

Ruben, welcome to the program.

Ruben: Thank you.

Pastor Doug: Hi, Ruben. Welcome. And your question tonight?

Ruben: Yes, sir. It's regarding Luke 23:43. "Jesus said unto him, 'Verily I say unto thee, today shalt thou be with me in paradise.'" I've heard you explain this verse in the past to indicate that the King James translators might have misplaced a comma.

Pastor Doug: You're going to have to get close to your phone because we honestly are having trouble hearing you. Sorry.

Ruben: Sorry. Is this better?

Pastor Doug: Maybe a little. [laughs] Go ahead. About the King James translation of that verse.

Ruben: In the past you have said they may have made a mistake and misplaced a comma. That the verse should read, "Today, thou shalt be with me in paradise."

Pastor Doug: Yes.

Ruben: If the King James translators erred in this verse, is it possible that the entire King James translation is suspect?

Pastor Doug: I think the King James is among the best translations but translations are not inspired. The Bible is inspired. An example would be, in the King James version, when you read in Revelation 20, there is a word "Abusos." They translate that, "bottomless pit" but the very same word is in Luke 8 and they translate it, "the deep."

There were several King James translators, it wasn't one person. There was a whole team of people and some of them had preferences. Now there was no punctuation in the original Greek. The Holy Word of God is inspired.

I can do a translation. Anyone can do a translation. It's not the translators that are inspired. It's the writers of the Word that are inspired. Does that make sense?

Ruben: It does. I'm wondering then...can you say that we have an equivalent of the Bible that the early church had today?

Pastor Doug: I'm not sure what you're asking. What do you mean, "if we have an equivalent of the Bible"?

We have more. Most of the early church didn't have the scriptures as readily accessible as we have them today. What we have in our Bibles is...very few pastors in churches in Bible times had all the scriptures at their fingertips.

What I mean by that, to have the collection the way we have them in the Bible is such a gift. Back then they had handwritten scrolls. They didn't have printing presses until the 1500.

Ruben: The reason I asked is because oftentimes I'm asked, "What do I believe?" I say, "I believe the Bible." If a clever person is asking me they'll ask, "Then, which Bible?" Which I then reply, "I like the King James." If they're really clever they'll say, "OK. Which King James?

Pastor Doug: Yeah.

Pastor Jean: You know what I like to do is. The question comes up frequently. What you can recognize is that the language is originally in which the Bible was written in the Old Testament. Of course, there was Hebrew with a little bit of Aramaic in Daniel. New Testament is Greek. When it comes to Bible study, what I like to do and I know Pastor Doug does this as well.

If we want to study a passage or scripture, right now we have so many great resources available where we can actually take a closer look at the original Greek words that were used in that passage. We can look at how the various translations, translate that Greek word. That gives us the opportunity to really explore what the original language is trying to convey.

I think, King James, I agree. New King James does an excellent job but there's also some other translations out there that have done a good job in translating the original languages. Fortunately, we can go back and really dig a lot deeper just because of the concordances and the various lexicons that's available for us.

Pastor Doug: When people listening, they might think there's big differences between these Bibles and so Christians don't really know what they believe. Really, if you take the King James, New King James, New American Standard, you take these translations and line them up, you're going to find they virtually all say identically the same thing.

They use slightly different words. You're going to find in all these translations when it says don't kill, it's going to say don't kill. [laughs] Those things don't commit adultery, that's the same...It's the message in all the translations.

The messages of the Bible are all the same, it's unique. It's consistent but that there are sometimes little nuances and words that were chosen. Some are Old English, some are more modern. But, hey, appreciate your call, Ruben.

Pastor Jean: We got a book called "The Ultimate Resource." It's all about the Bible. Talks a little bit about the various translations as well. We would be happy to send that to you, just give us a call on our resource line. Or you can read for free at the Amazing Facts website. The resource line is 800-835-6747.

As for the book called The Ultimate Resource or read it at Amazing Facts website. If you have a Bible question, the number to call is 800-463-7297. That'll get you here to the studio. Again, the number's 800-463-7297. That is our studio line.

Next caller is Jim and he's listening from Ohio. Jim, welcome to the program.

Jim: Good evening, gentlemen. I really, really deeply enjoy your show and I hope my question doesn't confuse you. A friend of mine that I work with. She's a big believer in gay marriage. They're not hurting anybody...and she asked me this question which I discuss with a friend of mine. The question was, where in the 10 Commandments does it say thou shalt not be gay?

My friend at church and it makes a lot of sense to me. She says, it's spiritual adultery against God. I was wondering if you could elaborate on that.

Pastor Doug: Your friend that said that's pretty close. The 10 Commandments, of course, are a summary of God's law. They don't go into all the nuances. You're not going to find in the 10 Commandments, don't smoke cigarettes. But there is one that says don't kill. That would include kill yourself little by little.

There's principles in the 10 Commandments that cover everything. In the seventh commandment, when it talks about not committing adultery. That commandment really encompasses moral purity which certainly covers homosexuality.

If you read in a little later in the laws of Moses, he's extremely clear that a man should not lie with a man as with a woman and a woman shouldn't lie with a woman. He speaks in that just strongest language in the Bible that this is moral perversion. I know it's totally, politically incorrect to say that these days.

But the Bible doesn't change. That's what God says about it.

Jim: The other...I hope I have this right. I believe its Romans 1 that talks about how they...God gave them over to a probate mind and they worship one another. What about one of the commandment that says, "Thou shall not worship any other gods but me"? Would that fall into that or am I reading into that a little bit too much?

Pastor Doug: I never thought of it that way but now that you mention it, it would encompass that. In Romans 1, it just tells about them worshiping the creature instead of the Creator. In other words, they're worshiping themselves. It's all about me and my pleasure and my happiness and my desires as opposed to what is God's Word say.

A Christian surrenders his desires to what does the word of God say. The gay movement is all about just everyone doing what feels right in their own eyes. It's not what the Bible teaches.

Jim: This is a pretty good friend of mine. But she likes to try to get me to debate with her. I'm all for sharing. I believe we're all apostles and we ought to minister to each other. But I think it gets to a point sometimes where people want to debate.

My answer to her when she want to get into it kind of deep. I said listen, the bottom line is...the truth is the truth whether you accept it or not or whether you believe it. Because she's in the middle. Believes in the spirit or spiritual power but she doesn't necessarily want to turn her mind and her life over to God.

I said the bottom line is the truth is the truth and what's going to happen is going to happen. All knees will bow.

Pastor Doug: You know what I recommend you do, Jim, is when you get a chance, talk to your friend. You might even want to print it off the computer or something and just take her the verses and say, "Here's my problem is I believe the Bible, I'm a Christian and this is what the Bible says about it. Read for yourself and you tell me how...what would you do?"

People believe that the Word of the Lord is true and if they don't, then arguing with them won't get you anywhere. You're coming from two different world views. But hey, we thank you very much for your call, Jim. Don't really have a book specifically on that. We do have one on the 10 Commandments. You can read for free at the website. That's amazingfacts.org.

Pastor Jean: I believe we also have a study guide called "Written in Stone." It's also about the 10 Commandments.

Our next caller is Diane. She's listening from New York. Diane, welcome to the program.

Diane: Good evening. I'm just having a problem with people talking about what you should eat and that you shouldn't be eating pork. I can't remember the verse that I was reading where I thought God said we could eat anything. Everything was OK to eat.

Pastor Doug: You're probably thinking about the passage in Leviticus 11. When God says, "And the pork or the pig, the swine, though it has a cloven hoof, it doesn't chew the cud. He is unclean to you. Of their flesh you shall not eat their carcass, you will not touch. They are unclean."

The Scripture you're talking about in the New Testament that says, "Everything is clean for you," is talking about whether things sacrificed to idols could be eaten or not. That's saying that a person can eat anything. Are you a parent or have you been a parent?

Diane: I am a parent, yes.

Pastor Doug: When your children were young, did you care what they ate?

Diane: Oh yes.

Pastor Doug: You knew that what they ate, you wouldn't just let them just say, "I'm going to pray over my banana split ice cream sundae before school today and that's what I'm eating for breakfast. I'm just gonna eat ice cream for breakfast." You'd say, "No, that's not good," but you say I'll pray over it.

You would know that no, there is a cause and effect. You cannot mock God. The idea that whatever we eat doesn't have an effect on our health is not biblical. Even though it's very popular, one of the foods that is forbidden in several religions is pork.

Including Christianity, Judaism, Islam because pigs are basically garbage cans, and that's why they say that if you are going to eat pork, you have to cook it really good because you'll get trichina larvae, and pig is also full of sodium and fat. They're scavengers. God never intended for us to eat pigs any more than dogs or cockroaches, [laughs] or anything else like buzzards or skunks.

Even though it's popular and people might say it tastes good, it is really not good for people and the Bible forbids it. Those verses are still there. We have a lesson that deals with that. We can send you a free copy or you can read it for free online, Diane.

Diane: I'm not so good with my computer that's why I was waiting for you...

[crosstalk]

Pastor Doug: We'll give you a free copy.

Diane: ...send it for me to read.

Pastor Doug: We're going to give you a number. You're just going to call this other number, they'll take your address and send it to you. No charge, no obligation, you won't get a bill or anything, just a gift.

Diane: I appreciate it because I don't want to haggle with anybody about things. People want to say, "You shouldn't be doing that. You're a person. You shouldn't be eating that food." I needed to know that for myself.

Pastor Doug: You just read the verses in the Bible and you read this lesson. It will be really clear. It's called "God's Free Health Plan." The lesson is free. Pastor Roll will give you the number.

Pastor Jean: The number to call is 800-835-6747. Again, 800-835-6747 and you can ask for the study guide called God's Free Health Plan. We'll be happy to send that to you, Diane, or anyone who calls and asks for it. You can also read it for free online at Amazing Facts.

For instance, if you have a Bible question, the number to call here to the studio this evening is 800-463-7297. We have a few lines open. This is a good time to give us a call 800-463-7297. We'd love to hear from you this evening.

Pastor Doug: Thank you, Diane.

Pastor Jean: We have David listening from Leesburg, Florida. David, welcome to the program.

David: Good evening, it's a pleasure to speak with you.

Pastor Doug: Likewise. How are you doing?

David: I am doing great. I just had a question for you guys here with my wife. Psalms 37:29, it's a scripture that bothered me from my younger days and I just needed some help putting it in context.

Pastor Doug: Is that where it says, "The righteous will inherit the land and dwell therein forever?"

David: Yes, sir. The religion that I was a part of before always thought that majority of us was going to live on earth forever, as opposed to just 144,000 going to heaven, with that number being a definite going to heaven. With that Scripture, I was born and raised and in part to think that everybody was going to live on earth in a paradise condition in the way that it normally was.

I just wanted if you could help me to try and put it in context or to just help me just get past my hang-up with that.

Pastor Doug: Do you have a Bible in front of you?

David: No, sir, I do not.

Pastor Doug: Let me read it for you. In the same Psalm, Psalm 37 if you go to verse nine it says, "For evil doers will be cut off but those that wait upon the Lord they will inherit the earth." Do you remember where Jesus said, "Blessed are the meek, they will inherit the earth," and God says He's going to create a new heaven and a new earth?

When the Lord comes we're caught up, we meet Him in the air, we go to be with Him in heaven in the mansions He's prepared. We'll live and reign with Him for a thousand years and then Revelation 20 says after the thousand years the New Jerusalem comes down, and all the redeemed come down and there is this final judgment and battle, and that God creates a new heaven and a new earth.

And we will ultimately live on an earth made new. This will be heaven at that point. The paradise, the heaven of God, is going to be...He's going to complete His plan He had for Adam and Eve. The Bible says, "The lion will lay down with the lamb, the wolf and the ox will feed together, a little child will lead them."

"We'll build houses and inhabit them, we'll plant vineyards and eat the fruit of them." Ultimately, heaven will be down here on earth.

David: Right. That's what I had prophesied to the people that I was speaking to. Also, I guess my thought was, "Is it this physical earth?"

[crosstalk]

Pastor Doug: Yeah, it's a recreated...It is this earth but He's going to recreate it.

David: To be in the paradise condition that was originally made, right?

Pastor Doug: Or even better. God will probably upgrade things. We have a lesson that has all the verses on this and if you like, we'll be happy to send you a free copy of that.

David: That would be fantastic.

Pastor Jean: Yes, just call and ask for the study guide called "A Colossal Settee in Space." It talks about heaven, it also talks about the new earth. We'll be happy to send it to anyone who calls and asks. The number to call is 800-835-6747. You can ask for the study guide called A Colossal Settee in Space.

We also have another study guide that goes along with that, one called" A Thousand Years of Peace." It talks about that 1,000 year period, Revelation 20.

Pastor Doug: Thank you, David.

Pastor Jean: Our next caller is Barry and he's listening from Montana. Barry, welcome to the program.

Barry: Hello, thank you for taking my call. How are you?

Pastor Doug: Doing well. Thanks for calling.

Barry: I have a friend in need who recently became friends with, I admire her very much. She is very much a believer in Jesus Christ and trying to encourage me to listen to your station. I'm from a different religion but not even into my own religion, and I just wondered if you have any words of wisdom to inspire me regarding the Bible.

Pastor Doug: We're getting ready at Amazing Facts. We're going to do a DVD this coming year because we were amazed at how many prophesies in the Bible that we know were written before the fact, literally came true. Jesus was born 2,000 years ago but there are prophesies in the Bible written 1,000 years before He was born.

We know David lived and the Psalms were written a thousand years before he was born. We know that they were written in the Dead Sea scrolls and they foretell the town Jesus would be born in, Bethlehem. They foretell that He would be betrayed by a friend, Judas. That He would be betrayed for 30 pieces of silver.

That when He died, His hands and feet would be pierced even though crucifixion was not practiced when David wrote that.

That they would gamble for His clothing and help me, Pastor Ross, what they would do with the money. That they would buy a potter's field with the money.

Pastor Jean: That they would give Him sour wine on the cross. At least try to get Him to drink it to dim the pain. That was prophesied.

Pastor Doug: Yeah, these are just a few prophesies about Christ and His life in ministry, that He would heal the sick and open the eyes of the blind. All this was foretold and a number of the Psalms of David about the Messiah before He came.

Then you can read in Isaiah 53 where it talks about that He was wounded for our transgressions, and that when He goes to trial He would not open His mouth to defend Himself.

Pastor Jean: Of course not only that but the Bible even tells us in the book of Daniel, when Christ would be baptized and when Christ would be crucified. Just remarkable time prophesies in Scripture.

Pastor Doug: Yeah, and you could count that back because we know He began ministry at 30 until when He would be born. Barry, I used to be an atheist. I mentioned it every now and then. I think that everyone just automatically knows that, so probably helps to repeat it.

I thought the Bible and anyone who believed it was absolute foolish. It was foolishness, it was fables but when I finally started reading it for myself, I was thunderstruck, mystified, flabbergasted, that where had I been, that I had not known that such a supernatural book existed, that was written over a period of 1,500 years by about 40 different authors.

For everything from kings and priests, to shepherds and farmers and yet everything they wrote is in perfect agreement. I recommend that take a look at the Bible and when you read it for yourself, you'll find out it is not written by ordinary people but holy men moved by the Holy Spirit wrote these words.

That they really do transform people's lives. Friends, you're listening to Bible Answers Live.

Pastor Jean: Pastor Doug, we do have a book that also talks about the Bible called The Ultimate Resource and that anyone can read that for free online at the Amazing Facts website. Talking about the Amazing Facts website, we like to remind all of our listening friends of this great resource that we have online, just amazingfacts.com.

Pastor Doug: Yeah, absolutely. This time of year if you go there right now you're going to see that there's a special appeal talking about a project that Amazing Facts has. In case you don't know, we do this program Sunday night. This represents a fraction of what Amazing Facts has done and we are entering the 50th year in 2015. 50 years since inception of Amazing Facts.

If you've been blessed by the program, then we certainly need your help, we're entirely self-supporting. You can just go to our website, find out about some of these evangelism missionary projects. We got missionary schools around the world, television programs, witnessing material.

You can donate right there to show your appreciation. We'd be very grateful. We're going to take a brief break and come back with more Bible questions.

[COMMERCIAL BREAK]

Pastor Doug: Welcome back, listening friends, to Bible Answers Live. If you're standing by with a Bible question, please stay on the line. We're going to get to you in just a moment. Take more calls, do have a couple lines open. One more time number 800-GOD-SAYS, 800-463-7297.

We'll bring your Bible question into the studio here in Sacramento. We're going around the world. My name is Doug Batchelor.

Pastor Jéan: My name is Jéan Ross. We have Charlie listening in Arkansas. Charlie, welcome to the program.

Charlie: Yes, thank you. I would like to preface my question by saying I've been married twice. Unfortunately, they both ended in a divorce. I was curious. I'd like to get married again. I was wanting to do that before God, in the eyes of God, with a preacher and say my vows, but I did not want to record it with the state. I was just wondering what your thoughts would be on that.

Pastor Doug: Why would you not want to record it with the state? In other words, why would you not want it to be a legally-recorded marriage?

Charlie: Does that take precedence over the covenant of the marriage? When I went through the divorces, they didn't care about anything scriptural, spiritual about the marriage.

Pastor Doug: Right. We have two different kinds of questions here. One is you're asking actually about the marriage license and legality of a marriage.

Charlie: Right.

Pastor Doug: The other question might be about are you free to remarry?

Charlie: Yeah.

Pastor Doug: When you went through your former marriages and divorces, were you a practicing Christian?

Charlie: I was, yes.

Pastor Doug: Do you know there's only a couple reasons given where you have biblical grounds for divorce and remarriage?

Charlie: I understand that, yes.

Pastor Doug: Do you believe that you have biblical grounds?

Charlie: On the first one, yes. On the second one, it was her implementing the divorce.

Pastor Doug: Maybe on that part of it then, you probably ought to have a local pastor, wherever you attend church, counsel you on that. On the other question on marriage, "Does it need to be registered by the state?" I always want to know why wouldn't a person want it to be legal.

If a person asks you if you are legally married, you want to be able to say yes as a Christian. If you're not legally married, the only other option is you are illegally married [laughs] and why you wouldn't want to have it registered. I know that the state gets involved in divorces. That may have left you a little sour to the idea, but if you get married again, you don't even want to think divorce is an option, do you?

Charlie: No. Divorce happened whether it was recorded with the state or not, anyway.

Pastor Doug: Right, but why would you not want to have a marriage that is registered with a justice of the peace or the court?

Charlie: I don't want the state having control over biblical, spiritual covenant issue that they have no...Either an atheist, or a secularist, or agnostic that doesn't care a bit about the spiritual aspect of the marriage.

Pastor Doug: The state, first of all, when you get married, marriage is not just a personal decision. Marriage is a social decision. What I mean by that, it's a community thing. When people get married, they do it publicly because they're telling everybody in the community, "We have made a covenant before God and even before the government that we are committing ourselves."

The reason governments used to get involved in marriage is because if there is an issue and there were children involved, sometimes the government needed to decide who gets the children, who gets the estate if the parents should die. If you are or are not legally married, it makes a big difference. There are reasons, believe it or not, where the state overlapping into marriage does make sense.

Charlie: I understand that, but, personally, I believe the church there has relegated its authority in that area to the government.

Pastor Doug: Yeah, we shouldn't do that. Ultimately, the first marriages were where you had...God gave Eve to Adam and said, "I declare you man and wife." I think that was pretty simple.

Pastor Jean: He was also the state at that time.

Pastor Doug: That's right. He was everything. Whenever I talk to young couples, they say, "Well, I know we're not legally married, but we believe we're married in God's eyes." That's usually a cop out for something else.

Pastor Jean: We do have a book that...

Pastor Doug: Oh, yeah.

Pastor Jean: ...deals with the subject of marriage, divorce, and remarriage. We'll be happy to send that to Charlie or anyone wanting to learn more about this. The number to call is 800-835-6747. That is our resource line. You can ask for the book called "Marriage, Divorce, and Remarriage." We'll be happy to send that to you.

800-835-6747, that is the resource line. The phone line here to the studio, if you have a Bible question, is 800-463-7297. Next caller is Manuel listening from Los Angeles. Manuel, welcome to the program.

Manuel: Hello?

Pastor Doug: Hi, how are you doing?

Pastor Jean: You are on the air.

Manuel: Hey, pastors Ross and Batchelor. Thank you very much for taking my call. God Bless your ministry.

Pastor Doug: Get real close to your phone.

Manuel: Oh, hello? Hello?

Pastor Jean: We can hear you.

Pastor Doug: Yeah, we can hear you. Just you sound like you're in Los Angeles or something.

Manuel: [laughs]

Pastor Doug: Anyway, your question tonight?

Manuel: Yes, my question had to deal with the terms "everlasting ordinance" and "perpetual statute" that are used in the Old Testament. For example, for the Passover in Exodus 12:14, it uses the term everlasting ordinance.

Let's see another time that...

Pastor Doug: Can I start with that first one?

Manuel: Oh, yeah. Sure.

Pastor Doug: Then if you find the other one, we'll talk about that. When the Lord talks about the Passover being an everlasting ordinance, of course, that would be, first of all, as long as they lasted as a nation. Technically, the ordinance of Passover is still practiced by Christians, but it went through a modification.

Jesus is now the lamb. When Jesus instituted the Lord's Supper, it was a Passover dinner. He said, "This is my blood." Then the bread, He said, "This is my body." The grape juice was a symbol for His blood, and Christ, Himself, was the lamb.

Really, whenever a church celebrates the Lord's Supper or communion service, it is a fulfilled version of what happened during the Passover. That angel of judgment passes over because we apply the blood of the lamb to our lives.

Pastor Jean: We also need to recognize that, for example, just the Passover. There are elements in the Passover that met their fulfillment in Christ. Today, it wouldn't be wise to sacrifice a lamb or to journey to Jerusalem for the Passover. As Christians, we clearly recognize that these various symbols were fulfilled in Jesus. Paul says, "Christ is our Passover."

Pastor Doug: Right

Manuel: One part of the Passover says that, "You shall break no bone of the sacrifice."

Pastor Doug: Yeah. That's in Exodus where it talks about the sacrificed lamb. Obviously, we don't do that. We don't sacrifice lambs because it's going backwards now. If the whole Passover service pointed to Christ to, now, keep it the old way would be a denial of God's lamb.

Most of the feast days also pointed to Christ in some way.

Manuel: I found a verse here, Leviticus 17 says, "He shall eat neither fat nor blood." It refers to it as a perpetual statute.

Pastor Doug: Yeah. That's true.

Manuel: Also, the Leviticus 10:8 says, "Do not drink wine or intoxicating drink." It's talking about the conduct of priest so that they can distinguish between holy and unholy, and clean and unclean. It calls it a forever statute. I see those forever statute or perpetual statute. I just wonder how that applies today.

Pastor Doug: I don't eat blood. I don't eat fat. I don't drink wine. They're a good idea right now. By the way, you also find that not only in the Old Testament. If you look in Acts 15:20, the early church wrote through Paul -- and I think it was Barnabas -- to go and tell the disciples that they abstain from fornication from things strangled and blood.

Those laws, those Levitical laws, that they not eat blood and fat, they were not just Old Testament. They're clearly repeated in the New Testament.

If we're going to be God's messengers...Alcohol is obviously addicting. It's a drug that destroys many lives. Christians should not drink alcohol. I still think that those things are good practice for Christian.

Manuel, you would enjoy that lesson that we offered earlier, talking about God's health plan. It goes through some of these principles as well.

Pastor Jean: You can read it online at the Amazing Facts website or you can call our resource line 800-835-6747 and ask for the study guide God's Free Health Plan.

We have Robert who is listening in Arkansas. Robert, welcome to the program.

Robert: Hey, thanks for taking my call.

Pastor Doug: Yes, sir, and your question tonight?

Robert: I heard a few minutes ago, when you all said something about Daniel. In the book of Daniel, it talks about Christ's baptism and His crucifixion. I was wanting to ask if you all could elaborate on that?

Pastor Doug: Yeah, we'll give you a summarized version. Pastor Ross was teaching on that this weekend.

Pastor Jean: Yeah, it is a fascinating prophecy. You'll find it in Daniel 9 where there is a decree sent forth by Artaxerxes. The Israelites were captives in Babylon at the time. That began a 70-week or 490-year time prophecy. We know that decree went into effect in 457 BC, Before Christ.

There are some details given with reference to that 70-week or 490-year time prophecy. It says, "The first 69 weeks or 483 years from the starting point will bring you to the anointing of Christ or the Messiah."

Pastor Doug: The Most Holy.

Pastor Jean: The Most Holy. We recognize at Christ's baptism, He was anointed with the Holy Spirit in a special sense and then began His public ministry. Then, it says three and a half years after that, He will bring an end to sacrifices and offerings.

When Christ died on the cross, the veil was reigned from top to bottom. These are remarkable prophecies in Daniel 9. They're very deep. I'm just giving you a quick overview. It's a fascinating study. We actually have a study guide on that.

Pastor Doug: Yep. If you'd like, we'll send you a free copy, Robert. It just goes into this whole subject Pastor Ross was talking about. You read it. It will be clear. It's called "Right on Time." It's amazing facts Bible study illustrated, beautiful colored pictures. It explains this whole prophecy in Daniel 8 and 9.

Pastor Jean: You can read that online at Amazing Facts or call and ask for it. It's called Right on Time. The number to call is 800-835-6747. We'll be happy to send that to you or anyone who calls and asks for it. Our phone line here to the studio again is 800-463-7297 with your Bible question. Again, 800-463-7297. We'd love to hear from you this evening.

Our next caller is Tony. He's listening from New York. Tony, welcome to the program.

Tony: Hello, yes.

Pastor Doug: Evening.

Tony: My question is...Hello?

Pastor Doug: Yeah, you're on the air.

Tony: Can you hear me?

Pastor Doug: Loud and clear.

Tony: Oh, thank you. Anyway, my question is I just started reading the Bible. I'm skipping around. A friend of mine, upstate New York, invited me to their church. There was a woman pastor there, right?

Pastor Doug: Uh-huh.

Tony: I went to church. She was on the pulpit. She was a pastor of the church. Everything went well. When I came home, I started reading. When I got into this book of Corinthians, and I was reading something that says women are supposed to be quiet in church, not talking, especially not being a pastor.

It says they're not supposed to open their mouth in church. They're supposed to ask their husbands when they get home about anything. I'm wondering how could this woman possibly be so...When I went back upstate, I asked this pastor.

She came up with some law. She said something about the law. The new law says we can be...I said, "How can this be?" The Bible doesn't change, does it? This is what I don't understand. How can the Bible change and say, "Now, you can be a pastor, woman."

Pastor Doug: Yeah. Tony, you're in good company. There are a lot of Christians in the world, in North America, that are a little troubled by some of the cultural trends where people are reinterpreting the Bible through special glasses where they say, "Well, it doesn't really matter."

If you really believe the Bible, the roles of men and women are to be complementary, but they're very different. It's very clear that reading scripture from Genesis to Revelation, God did use women to share the Gospel and did many wonderful things, but women never served in the capacity of pastor, priest, or apostle.

You have no example of it anywhere. It's very clear from the writings of the Bible, those offices were reserved for men. I know that you're going to see churches. I won't name what denominations, but several denominations have caved in on this, giving into cultural pressure.

You got to understand, Tony. We're living in a culture where they don't know the difference between men marrying men and women marrying women.

Tony: [laughs] Right.

Pastor Doug: Why would it surprise us if they're confused about whether a man or woman should be a pastor. It's just that the lines that distinguish the genders are being blurred. We have a free book that we will send you a copy of. It's very easy to understand. It's got the scriptures in it. I wrote it.

It's called "God's Role for Women in Ministry." You can read it for free at our website. For anyone that wants to read that, it's God's Role for Women in Ministry at amazingfacts.org. Tony, we'll be happy to send you a copy. Go ahead and read it. Then, you might share it with your friend.

Pastor Jean: The number to call is 800-835-6747, that is the resource line. Just give them a call and say, "I'd like to get that book, God's Role for Women in Ministry." We'd be happy to send that to anyone who calls and asks. Thanks for your call, Tony.

Our next caller is Carl. He is listening from Texas. Carl, welcome to the program.

Pastor Doug: Hi, Carl. You're on the air. Carl, from Texas listening on satellite radio. Carl, are you there?

Carl: Yes, sir. Can you hear me?

Pastor Jean: There we go.

Pastor Doug: I can now. Welcome. Your question?

Carl: Yes, sir. I'm a born-again believer. I know that the Bible says that once a man is born again, a new creation, that no one can take you out of God's hands. I heard you mention about the thousand-year millennial reign earlier.

Pastor Doug: Yeah.

Carl: I'm just curious, it just popped into my head, I guess. You said a thousand years of peace. [clears throat] Excuse me. I'm just curious if we are in Heaven already, why would we need a new earth, a new heaven? Is there a chance that the thousand years of peace is going to end? Is that for sure?

I don't understand how you can lose your salvation. We're good as soon as we die, correct?

Pastor Doug: Yeah. During the 1,000 years of salvation, nobody is going to lose their salvation. Matter of fact, when Christ comes, which is the beginning of the 1,000 years, it tells us in Revelation 20, the resurrection of the righteous is the beginning of that 1,000-year period. It's when Satan is bound. The saved are saved at that point. The lost are lost.

Christ says, I think in Revelation 22, "He that is just, let him be just still. He that is filthy, let him be filthy still." It's like, after we're saved, the Lord is taking us to His very presence in heaven and glory for 1,000 of R&R. God doesn't want us to just float around on clouds and ask questions. He made man to have productive lives.

Then, at the end of 1,000 years, we're going to come down to this paradise that He is going to create. We'll live here on this planet through eternity. We'll be able to travel to other planets. I think that we'll be very busy.

Pastor Jean: You know what's interesting about that, Pastor Doug? This little planet, out of God's vast creation, is the one that brought rebellion and so much sorrow and suffering into God's creation.

Yet, redeemed and cleansed, it's going to become the center of the universe, the capital, where God's dwelling is going to be amongst His people. It's a remarkable thought that our little planet will actually be exalted to be the new heaven in the universe.

Pastor Doug: That's right. You're on the right track, Carl. Can a person that is saved, can they lose their salvation in this life? The Bible tells us that God will never let go of you.

We don't lose our freedom in this life. Once the 1,000 years begin, the saved are saved, and the lost are lost. There's no changing teams. We'll be happy to send you that study guide on the 1,000 years. We'll send it to you free, or you can read it at the Amazing Facts website.

Pastor Jean: The number to call is 800-835-6747. The study guide is entitled The Thousand Years of Peace, all about that millennial period, that you read about in Revelation 20.

Our next caller is Victorine listening from Queens, New York. Victorine, welcome to the program.

Victorine: Thank you for taking my call, Pastor.

Pastor Doug: Yes.

Victorine: Pastor, is it ever OK to rebuke an elder?

Pastor Doug: You want to do something like that very carefully.

Victorine: If the elder has done something wrong.

Pastor Doug: Now, is the elder the pastor of the church or they're just one of the leaders?

Victorine: No. One of the leaders, one of the elders.

Pastor Doug: First thing I'd do -- and Pastor Ross might chime in here -- but I would think one of the first things you'd do, is go sit down to that...First of all, "Talk to them alone," Jesus said. If you have a personal problem, Mathew 18 says, "Go to that person alone." If they're misrepresenting their office, you'd need to probably go, wouldn't hurt to go with someone else.

Talk to the pastor and say, "You know, we really think you should talk to the elder. They're not fulfilling their role, or they're doing something that's bringing disgrace upon the cause of Christ," because they've got this office, important position, and yet they're misrepresenting the doctrine. What do you think, Pastor Ross?

Pastor Jean: Yeah, absolutely. If there is a concern, follow the biblical guidelines of talking to the person. If they refuse to hear you, then the next step is to bring somebody along. In this case, you want to involve somebody in the church who is in a position of leadership so that they could be there to provide guidance.

As you move forward in this, in everything you do, you want to be redemptive in the way that you approach things.

Victorine: Thank you.

Pastor Doug: All right, Victorine. Thank you for your call. We'll pray that goes well for you.

Pastor Jean: We have Larry who's listening from Columbus, Montana. Larry, welcome to the program.

Larry: Thank you. My question is about Noah and the flood. The Bible says that the water covered all the land, covered the earth. Did that cover the tallest mountains also, then?

Pastor Doug: There's actually a verse -- Pastor Ross might look it up -- but I think the Bible verses there say specifically that all the hills were covered. Keep in mind, during the flood, the hills were not as tall as they are now.

After the flood, there was a period when the world was drying up and waters were rushing down, it's probably when the Grand Canyon was formed, and the tectonic plates of the world were moving and shifting, sliding on this envelope of water, and just great mountains were pushed up, there's a lot of volcanic and seismic activity.

I think that some of the great hills actually were formed shortly after the flood, during the convulsion that happened to the planet.

Pastor Jean: The verse you're referring to is Genesis 7:19, which speaks about the hills covered with water.

Pastor Doug: Yeah, so if we believe the Bible, as it says, the hills probably were a little more rolling and gentle back then, and they were all covered, but then there was a lot of seismic, volcanic activity after the flood.

Pastor Jean: Even in the tops of high mountains, they've found fossilized shells, so at one point or another, there was water covering those mountains.

Pastor Doug: I know people have taken pictures that have been on Everest expeditions and here you are at 20,000 feet, and they've got big oyster shells, and same thing in the Andes. There's no question that those mountains used to be a lot lower [laughs] or at least the water a lot higher. But there was something that's changed.

I don't know how much time we have left. We got one minute. Listen to me, friend, if we didn't get to your call tonight, we don't want to be rude and take a call and cut you off. You can, of course, get a lot of questions by going to the Amazing Facts website and listening to some of the archives, we cover a lot of these questions.

Apologize. Give us another chance, God-willing, we'll be back next week. We hope and pray that you have a very happy holiday and a merry Christmas. Keep in mind, please, Amazing Facts is an entirely listener-supported program. If you are blessed by listening to Bible Answers Live, some have been listening for years if you're edified.

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