Doug Batchelor: Hello friends. This is Doug Batchelor. How about an amazing fact? Each winter in Alaska, the common wood frog freezes solid. It quits breathing, and its heart completely stops beating. If you pick them up, they would not move. If you bend one of their legs, it would break off. But when the warm weather returns its tissues thaw, and it miraculously comes back to life.
The Alaskan wood frog has even been revived after being frozen for seven months with temperatures dipping as low as three degrees Fahrenheit. These "frogsicles" can endure multiple freeze and thaw cycles in the season, because the fluid in their cells contains high levels of glucose, a natural antifreeze also known as cryoprotectants that lower the freezing temperature of tissue.
Scientists are interested in learning from these frogs in order to cryopreserve human organs to increase their shelf life for transplants. Reviving organs after freezing them for a short period will enable them to be shipped around the world and save many more lives. Did you know the Bible teaches that God is actually an expert at organ transplants? Stay with us friends. We're going to learn more as Amazing Facts brings you this edition of Bible Answers Live.
[PROGRAM INTRODUCTION]
Pastor Doug: Welcome any listening friends to a new year of Bible questions. You found your way to Bible Answers Live and if you have a Bible question, we do have some lines open. That number is 800-463-7297. Picking up the phone now with your Bible question is a good opportunity to make sure that it's covered in tonight's Bible study together. One more time, that's 800-463-7297. Are you ready? 800 GOD SAYS, 463-7297 brings your Bible question into the studio. My name is Doug Batchelor.
Pastor Ross: My name is Jëan Ross. Good evening friends and Pastor Doug. Happy new year to all of our listeners and Pastor Doug let's start with a word of prayer.
Pastor Doug: Yes.
Pastor Ross: Dear father once again we thank you for the opportunity to take a few moments here at the start of a new year and spend time in your words. So we invite your presence to be with those who are listening wherever they might be and lead us Lord together into a deeper and fuller understanding of scripture, for we ask this in Jesus' name, amen.
Pastor Doug: Amen.
Pastor Ross: Pastor Doug you opened the program by talking about the Alaskan wood frog, and it's rather remarkable that this little creature can practically freeze and then unfreeze. And the point that really stuck out in my mind is that its heart even stops beating during this time period when it's sort of frozen and then comes back to life [cross talk] like a resurrection.
Pastor Doug: It is miraculous, and you can actually look online on YouTube, and they show you one of these things covered in ice, you know, ice and it thaws and all of a sudden it gives a little quiver [laughs] and starts to move again. You know, many animals when they hibernate, their hearts slow dramatically, but they still beat. But this thing, its blood stops flowing. Its heart stops beating. It stops breathing. It looks as dead as a rock, and yet that spark of life is in there. And I don't know if they've ever tested how long they can go in this suspended state, but this would never evolve by accident.
Pastor Ross: Right.
Pastor Doug: And then you know naturally the scientists were thinking one of the big challenges they have with transplanting human organs is that they have a very short shelf life. They can cool them, and then they ship them very quickly. But they've got just a very small window to get those organs into people once they have been taken out of a body. If they can figure out what the secret is and put glucose or something in these organs, it would save a lot of people.
And then I started thinking about heart transplants, and that's in the Bible. That's right, friends, God does organ transplant. It says in Ezekiel 36 verse 26 and 27, "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you. I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes, and you will do my judgments and keep them." Of course, this is the new covenant, when God really writes His law in our hearts.
These are metaphors that God uses. Of course, he could give us a new heart physically, He is the one who makes the first heart. But it's really talking about an even bigger miracle, where the Lord can give you a new heart. Have you ever wished, friend, that you can get a new beginning and be a new person? That all the past mistakes and sins could be forgiven, and that your desires would even be changed? God would give you a new heart that you would love what is right and hate what is wrong, and he can do that. That's what you call conversion. And we have a special free offer we'd like to make available that will help you in the new year experience a new heart.
Pastor Ross: We have a book called Three Steps to Heaven talks about this change of heart. The miracle of conversion, and friends we'd be happy to send this to anyone who calls and asks. All you'll have to do is just call our resource line, and the number is 800-835-6747, and you can ask for the book Three Steps to Heaven. Again that number is 800-835-6747. You can also read the book online at the Amazing Facts website.
Just go to amazingfacts.com and click on the free library link. Type in Three Steps to Heaven, and it's all there in a pdf format. You can read the book, so again you can give us a call if you like the hard copy or you can read it online. Pastor Doug, I think we're ready to go to the phone line. Our first caller is Nikain listening from Jamaica. Nikain welcome to the program.
Nikain: Hello?
Pastor Doug: Hi, welcome. You are on the air.
Nikain: Yes, good evening.
Pastor Doug: Good evening. Before we go to your question, you know Pastor Ross and I are going to be in Jamaica in what? About three weeks.
Pastor Ross: Yes, the end of this month.
Nikain: Yes, I'm aware.
Pastor Doug: Okay, good. Yes, spread the word.
[laughter]
Pastor Doug: And your question?
Nikain: Yes. I'm curious, is sexual intimacy appropriate on the Sabbath?
Pastor Doug: Oh, that's a fair enough question about the Sabbath, of course, is called a holy day and it's a special time for communion with God. And there is a verse that says not doing your own words or seeking your own pleasure, but that's not really saying that things that God has honored and blessed would be wrong. Let's think through this for a second. What day of the week did God make man?
Nikain: The sixth day.
Pastor Doug: That's right, and woman was made what day?
Nikain: Sixth day.
Pastor Doug: Sixth day also. Okay, and so what day would be their honeymoon?
Nikain: Well, actually I suppose you could say that it's the--
Pastor Doug: Day after anyway. It would be really hard for God to say to Adam and Eve on the sixth day-- He blessed them said, "Be fruitful and multiply." And then on the seventh day now say, "Don't touch each other." I think that the-- The typical concept that has come from our culture that there is something dirty about sex and marriage. The Bible actually says the marriage bed is honorable and undefiled.
And God created eating, and eating is pleasurable and God made every good thing for people to eat and there is nothing wrong with eating. Now you don't want gluttony on the Sabbath or any day in the same way you don't want to abuse any of the gifts that God has given. But I don't see anything in the Bible that teaches that sex within marriage would be something that would be forbidden on any day of the week. There is a passage where Paul says, "If a husband and wife agree"-- I'm not sure, I think that maybe first Corinthians chapter seven, Pastor Ross might look that up for me.
That if a husband and wife agree to abstain while they're fasting same way they are abstaining from physical food and pleasure they are abstaining from sensual or sexual intimacy. That they agree, "Hey, let's leave this aside. We are going to seek God to fast and pray." That's fine. That's appropriate. But nowhere does it say that the Sabbath is a day of fasting. For the Jewish people it was a day of feasting. And so I don't see anything in the Bible that would forbid it, and you know I say that by permission and not by command. That's the way I understand the verses.
Nikain: Okay, okay.
Pastor Doug: All right--
Nikain: All right.
Pastor Doug: I appreciate your call and tell all your friends that we look forward to seeing you in about three weeks. We'll be in Mandeville for a week of prayer at the University. That starts at the 21st I think and then on the twenty-- Or maybe the 24th we're in--
Pastor Ross: Yes, the weekend or beginning the 23rd of January we will be at the college over there in Mandeville, and then the weekend of the 31st, it's actually Friday evening, the 30th, and then a special full day on the 31st, we're going to be in Jamaica.
Pastor Doug: Kingston.
Pastor Ross: Kingston. The capital over there.
Pastor Doug: Yes, we look forward to seeing you. God bless. Spread the word. Who's next in the line up?
Pastor Ross: We have Shem listening from Nairobi. Shem, welcome to the program.
Shem: Hi. How are you?
Pastor Doug: Doing great. Thank you for calling all the way in from Africa.
Shem: Yes. Thank you for all you guys do.
Pastor Doug: Your question tonight.
Shem: Yes, my question is with regards to the Sabbath. A lot of people here rely on public transportation to get to places of worship. I'm wondering, what your take is, because there are people who work to get a lot of the Sabbath goers to church. What happens to them? I mean, would it be considered one of the occupations that are necessary?
Pastor Doug: It's a good question. In Bible times-- well, let me back up. In New York City, I grew up in New York City. I've done meetings there. I think Pastor Ross has probably done meetings there. Very few people can actually afford to own a car, because it's so hard to park there. Virtually, especially when the weather is bad, the way to get around is everyone uses the subway or they use the bus. Some people have a bus pass or subway pass. That's how I got to school growing up.
I'd say, if you have to do that to get to church, that's what it takes. Even in Bible times, suppose that you had-- they would gather together to worship. Suppose you had a grandma or grandpa that had trouble walking, would you carry them or put them on a donkey and bring them? Yes. It says let the animals rest, but if the only way that they're going to get there is to be carried or to be brought, then you do what it takes to get people to the presence of God.
It's not perfect. It's not ideal, but yes, I think you just have to do that. Best thing is if you can buy a bus pass or a subway pass ahead of time so you just wave it and walk on. People use electricity on the Sabbath, and someone's working at the power plant. People use their telephone service, and someone's working there. I would just do what Jesus said, "Let the dead bury the dead." What I mean by that is you don't have to do the work. But if it's the only way, that's the way to do it. What do you think, Pastor Ross? It makes sense?
Pastor Ross: I agree. The same question sometimes comes up with having to pay a toll on the Sabbath to get to church. Again, if it's possible to buy a pass in advance, great. But there are those occasions where you're unable to do that or that's not available, I think it's important on the Sabbath not to neglect the gathering of yourselves together as the Bible says.
Pastor Doug: The Lord's reasonable, and things happen sometimes. You might be traveling overseas and a flight's delayed, you just got to do what you got to do. Thanks Shem, appreciate your call. Don't get too many calls from Kenya.
Pastor Ross: We have Rose listening from New York, on Long Island. Rose, welcome to the program.
Rose: Hello?
Pastor Doug: Hi. Thanks for calling.
Rose: I have been thinking about this question for a while. The Bible has a long list of sins that it says will prevent us from going to heaven. If Jesus died before our sins, why are we still responsible for those sins?
Pastor Doug: Well, once you confess and forsake your sins, the Bible says, "They're forgiven and they're cast in the depths of the sea." Those sins that you've confessed and forsaken, the Bible tells us they're all covered by the blood of Jesus. Now, if we continue to sin willfully, and that's Hebrews chapter 10 verse 26, "If we continue to sin willfully after we've received the knowledge of the truth, well then there's no sacrifice for sins."
In other words, we can't say, "I accept Jesus. Thank you for your mercy," and then just continue to deliberately defy God's word. I don't know, am I answering what you're asking?
Rose: I'm wondering though, are we able to stop sinning or we-
Pastor Doug: Let's talk about that, that's a good question. The closer you get to God, the more aware you become of your sinfulness, and you begin to wonder, even in thought you can sin. Can a person who drinks through the power of God stop drinking? What do you think, Rose?
Rose: Yes, I think so.
Pastor Doug: All right. Can a man that maybe beats his wife, through the power of Christ, get the victory over that?
Rose: Yes.
Pastor Doug: The Lord can give a person victory over their diet, and maybe bad eating habits?
Rose: Yes.
Pastor Doug: Can you name a sin that God cannot forgive you and save you from?
Rose: No.
Pastor Doug: Then, I think our goal is to be as much like Jesus as we can. I don't think in this life any true believer will ever get to the place where they feel like they're perfect, but I think our goal is to be Christ-like, and He was perfect. We should seek after that Christian perfection. When Jesus saved the woman who was caught in adultery in the temple, He forgave her. Many think that may have been Mary Magdalene.
He said, "Go and sin no more." He didn't say go and try and cut down on your sin, or try and sin a little less. Several times when Jesus healed a person, another man, He said, "Go and sin no more, less the worst thing come upon you." The Lord wants us in every way to turn from sin, and turn to Him. But the Bible says if we sin, he doesn't ever make excuse for it, he says if. If we sin, we have an advocate with the Father.
We should do all we can to live godly lives and keep our eyes fixed on Jesus.
Rose: Okay. Thank you.
Pastor Doug: Thank you. Okay. By the way, we have a book. You'll really enjoy this. I totally forgot. We've got a book that is perfect. I read this book once when I was flying by myself. I put the plane on auto pilot, read this book, and it was just really inspiring. It's called Is It Possible To Live Without Sinning? The title scares people, but it's really a great book. We'll send it to you for free. Anyone who wants it, we'll send you one.
Pastor Ross: The number to call is 800-835-6747. That is the resource line and the book Is It Possible To Live Without Sinning? We'll send it to anyone who calls and asks. Also, you can read that for free online at the Amazing Facts website. It's amazingfacts.com. We have Montgomery who's listening from Columbia, South Carolina on XM131. Montgomery, welcome to the program.
Montgomery: Hello. How are you doing, sir? Thanks for having me. Appreciate all you all do.
Pastor Ross: Thanks for calling.
Montgomery: My question is actually about, I was told recently about the 17 points of the true church. I'm thinking about joining a church. I have some Mormon sisters that came by. They come by a lot actually. They are very nice. They're very genuine, genuine people. I love what they preach. They come by, sometimes I feel like they're God-sent because they come by in times-- like for instance for example, one day I was having trouble with my faith.
They came by and gave me the book of Mormons. They just told me to just pick a chapter to read out of the book. I just happened to pick Ether. The book of Ether just happened to be dealing with people having problems with their faith. I think it was just much more of a coincidence.
Pastor Doug: Well, what's the question though? Do you have a Bible question? Are you wondering about the points of joining the church?
Montgomery: The 17 points of the true church, could you, in your eyes, what is the true church? How do I know if I'm going to the right church?
Pastor Doug: I'm glad you asked. All right, well Steve-- sorry, Montgomery, there are several points. Now, I suppose if you're studying with the Mormons, they're telling you there are 17 points. There are a number of points. Some people might have different numbers in their list of how would you identify the true church. One was you would compare everything that they teach, and it would match up with the Bible. It doesn't say in the Bible it's going to match up with the book of Mormon.
The book of Mormon I believe is of a suspicious origin. I know a lot of lovely Mormon people, I'm not trying to be critical, but I don't believe the book of Mormon is inspired. We actually have a lesson that goes through the points of how would you identify God's church. We'll send you a free copy of that lesson. Quickly, some of the points talk about-- and you find these in Revelation chapter 12-- it identifies this woman clothed with the sun standing on the moon, stars above her head, and there's a number of prophesy keys that help us identify when this church would arise and what are the characteristics. To go through all those right now in a 3-minute answer is not going to be practical, so let me send that to you. It's free. Please take a look at it and let me know what you think.
Pastor Ross: The lesson dealing with this, I believe, is called The Bride of Christ. That's the one that talks about signs for a church, and we'll send it to you Montgomery. If you just call our resource line 800-835-6747, you can ask for the study guide called The Bride of Christ. You can also read this online at Amazing Facts. Very important study. Good question. We appreciate your call. Next caller is Kevin, and he's listening from the Bronx, New York. Kevin, welcome to the program.
Kevin: Hey. Hi.
Pastor Doug: Hi. Appreciate your call.
Kevin: Yes, good evening gentlemen. God bless you both. Thank you for the work you do. I was in Sunday school early this morning. I asked my instructor a question, and he couldn't answer it, so I immediately thought about you guys, so I couldn't wait to call.
Pastor Doug: Pressure is on.
Kevin: Certainly. This is-- my question is based on the Lord's prayer, taken from Luke 11:2-4, or Matthew 6:9-13. I'll just go to the last verse in Luke 11:4. It ends in, "But deliver us from evil." Now, I know since I was a child, and many people when we do a proper prayer, we add on, "For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory, forever and ever, amen." I was wondering, where those last 10 or 12 words-- how apropos they are? Where did they do derive from? [unintelligible 00:21:11]
Pastor Doug: Well, when you see it in Matthew, and he gives the Lord's prayer, it says, "For yours is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever, amen." That doesn't appear in Luke. But there are ancient manuscripts where that phrase does appear, and it is part of the sacred text.
Kevin: Where would you say it is now?
Pastor Ross: Matthew 6, verse 13.
Pastor Doug: Yes.
Pastor Ross: The rendition of the Lord's prayer in Matthew chapter 6 includes the line, "For yours is the kingdom, the power, and the glory, forever, and amen." It's somewhat summarized over in Luke, and it doesn't include that final part.
Kevin: That's what I had in front of me, Luke, all day, and [unintelligible 00:21:58] get to Matthew. So it is in Mathew.
Pastor Ross: It is.
Kevin: [unintelligible 00:22:03]
Pastor Doug: There's slight differences. Matthew says, "Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors." And I think Luke says, "Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive everyone who trespasses against us. Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who are indebted to us." The wording, a little different between Luke and Matthew, but Luke is getting the-- he's getting the Lord's prayer through Paul. There was a couple of variations.
Keep in mind, Jesus does not say, "Repeat this prayer verbatim." He says, "When you pray, pray in this manner." The Lord's prayer, is an outline for prayer, and so you see variations of it.
Pastor Ross: We have a book dealing with the subject of prayer. Pastor you wrote it, it's called Teach Us to Pray, and I'm sure that if you take a look at this very important passage-- Yes, dealing with the principles in the Lord's prayer. Kevin we'll be happy to send this to you. All you'll have to do is just give us a call on our resource line. You can ask for the book, Teach Us to Pray. The number is 800-835-6747, that is the resource line, and ask for the book Teach us to Pray.
You can also read it for free online by just going to the Amazing Facts website. If you have a Bible question friends, the number to call here at the studio is 800-463-7297, 800-463-7297. Our next caller is Kyle, listening from Indiana. Kyle, welcome to the program.
Kyle: Hi.
Pastor Doug: Hi, Kyle. Thanks for calling. Your question tonight?
Kyle: Is God real?
Pastor Doug: Well, do you believe that air is real?
Kyle: Yes.
Pastor Doug: You can't see it, but you can see what it does when the trees blow, and when you breathe. We see evidence for God, all around us. Now, an example-- and I used to be an Atheist, and so I'm just telling you what I thought. You don't ever find organization coming from nothing. If you walk through the desert-- let's suppose you're out in the desert by yourself-- and you see five rocks one stacked on top of another, you're going to say, "Huh, someone came by here and marked their trail, because this doesn't happen by itself."
If you're walking through the desert, and you see a motorcycle resting on its kickstand out in the middle of the desert, you would not think that that motorcycle somehow over millions of years through wind and rain, oozed up out of the sand. You'd know somewhere there was intelligence that engineered this vehicle to be able to ride. When you look at a human, they're infinitely more complex than three rocks and a motorcycle.
All the interworking systems, the organization, the design that is in life, there has to be an intelligence behind it. You don't get all of this interworking systems and design without intelligence. There's nothing in science that shows that happening anywhere else. The Great Designer, we believe, is who we call God, and plus, we just see His power in the miracles and things that happen.
This week, my son lost his wallet. He lost it for a week. We said, "Let's get down and pray." We prayed he'd find his wallet, then he got the impression to go check his suit pants, and he had already checked it before and there it was. We see lots of answers to prayer. That's another reason I believe in God. I've just seen too many miracles happen.
Pastor Ross: You know, one of the greatest evidences for the existence of God, is the Bible. The Bible predicted events that were fulfilled exactly the way the Bible predicted it. Of course, the Bible reveals to us the Creator, who God is, what is He like, and what has He done to save us. We have a book we'll be happy to send you Kyle, talking about the Bible, and it's called the Ultimate Resource.
We'll send that to you for free if you'd call our resource line. The number is 800-835-6747. You can ask for the book, The Ultimate Resource. It's about the Bible. You can read it for free online, at the Amazing Facts website, just amazingfacts.org. You know Pastor Doug, maybe it would good just to mention a project that Amazing Facts is working on, it's something that we're hoping to have done the first part of next year, but it's looking at some of the prophecies in the scripture that point to Christ and how that helps to validate the inspiration of the Bible.
Pastor Doug: Absolutely. We're looking at this project that's going to be taking approximately 50 of the most amazing prophecies in the Bible, and then show how we know scientifically, historically, they were fulfilled. We know they were written-- and very specific prophecies. Not the squirrely Nostradamus utterances that you never know what exactly it's saying. Very specific prophecies.
I was reading one today where it talked about King Josiah was going to be born, and exactly what he was going to do, and that he would dig up the bones of these false priests and burn them on the altar.
Pastor Ross: Mentions him by name.
Pastor Doug: Yes, a couple of hundred years later, he does it. A king comes along named Josiah and does those things. We're going to take 50 of the most amazing prophecies in the Bible, and put them in a DVD that will show everybody that they can trust the Bible as a supernatural book, that's real, and it will never let them down. Kyle, make sure-- and send for that free offer Pastor Ross mentioned. It will really encourage your faith. Be watching for that new project on the Amazing Prophecies of the Bible. You're listening to Bible Answers Live.
Pastor Ross: As we mentioned earlier, this is the beginning of a brand new year, and one of my new year's resolutions is to read through the Bible once again for 2015. You know what's a great idea, friends? If you've never done the Amazing Facts Bible school course, it is a great experience. And we have that for free, online, at a website called Bible Universe. You can actually go and take a look at that, sign up for free, and go through the Amazing Facts' 27 lessons.
Pastor Doug: This would be the best New Year's resolution you've ever made. Well, I can't say that, but it will be one of the best. It will change your life, I promise you. It's free, so if you're not happy, we'll give you your money back. All you've got to do is go to bibleuniverse.com. Not only do we have the lessons in English, they're illustrated, they're very interesting, but they're in Spanish and they're in about a dozen different languages.
Take a look, and do these Bible studies. It'll really be a blessing to you. It's easy. You do them one at a time, it goes through prophecy, you'll know more than many pastors if you can complete the series. Stay tuned friends, there are more Bible questions on the way.
[COMMERCIAL BREAK]
Pastor Doug: Welcome back listening friends, and happy New Year. If you just joined us this is Bible Answers Live and we're in our 18th year of sharing Bible studies with people around the world. It was fun to have a call tonight from Kenya, Africa and Jamaica. You can call in in North America by going to 800 GOD SAYS, that's 800-463-7297, we’ll bring your Bible question into our studio, believe it or not we still have a couple of lines open. My name is Doug Batchelor.
Pastor Ross: My name is Jëan Ross. Pastor Doug, I think we're going to go straight to our next caller here, we have Juan listening from Columbus Ohio. Juan welcome to the program.
Juan: Hey guys, hey Ross, hey Batchelor, how are you guys doing?
Pastor Doug: Good, thanks.
Juan: This is my second time calling. I called one time about Revelations 12 and you gave me a good answer, thank you for that. My question tonight is about music. The church that I go to, they don’t play a lot of music with big instruments like the ones I used to go to before. I’m half Dominican, half Puerto Rican, we grew up with very tropical music, with Salsa and Merengue. But now there is Christian music, there is Salsa Christian music, [unintelligible 00:32:12] the hottest thing now. Even though I listen to that church, is it okay to listen to that on my ears when I'm working out in the gym or when I'm driving in my car? If they're singing about God is it okay even though it's got those big Latin instruments, you know what I’m saying?
Pastor Doug: Yes I think I do. Some people will probably say, "Well Pastor Doug this is your opinion," but I'm of the opinion that music-- forget about the words for a moment-- that different kinds of music affect our bodies differently. Some are soothing, some are inspiring, some appeal to the more sensual side, because your body has certain natural rhythms in it, everything from your breathing to your heart. Just because you have Christian words, doesn't automatically baptize any particular music. And so I think you have to just really ask yourself is this godly music? Is it Biblically inspiring music that God can bless?
I know all different cultures including America have unique music, some is good, some would be Biblical, and some falls in the other category that is diabolical. Really it's a question of understanding the principles of what kind of music would Jesus listen to, that's the bottom line. When you get to know Him-- I don't see Jesus doing rap to the Psalms of David.
Juan: Yes, I don't see Him doing that.
Pastor Doug: So there's a line, everyone draws the line somewhere different, because music seems to be such a subjective issue. I did a series that you can listen to for free. Just go to YouTube and type in Doug Batchelor music, I think it'll show up. There's two parts, The Christian in Music part one and part two. I do my best, I'm not an expert, but I do my best to try to explain what I think the principles are. I've seen some other really good programs that preachers have done on music, where they do a good job explaining what the principles are and how you can know how to-- how do you make guidelines as a Christian for the right kind of music to listen to.
So you know we do have a book at Amazing Facts that talks about Christianity in rock music. I think it's something that we can't give away because it's written by someone else, we sell it at our website. Or you can watch the YouTube for free. Hope that helps a little bit Juan, I appreciate your calling back.
Pastor Ross: We have Stephen who is listening from South Dakota, listening on KPGN. Steve welcome to the program.
Steven: Hello.
Pastor Doug: Hi Steve.
Steven: This is my third or fourth time calling you guys.
Pastor Doug: We're glad you called.
Steven: I really get a kick out of you guys. This is kind of complicated, but it's something I've been obsessed with for the last few months is these blood moons or they call it the tetrad. They've been landing on these Jewish feast days, you know Passover, then the Jewish feast day of Tabernacle, now we got another one coming up on the next Passover and then we got another one coming up on Tabernacle's [sic] again in September I think on the 28th. In the meantime we got the solar eclipse where this moon or the sun is going to go dark on Nisan which is the first day of I think the Hebrew calendar I think they call it.
Pastor Doug: Right. Is your question do these blood moons-- I understand the blood moons and the feast days-- do they have any bearing on prophecy or history?
Steven: The big scare that I've seen is they're talking about our dollar collapsing, our economy collapsing during these times. It has something to do with the Shemitah years, and we're in the seventh Shemitah, and then the year of Jubilee comes in after that.
Pastor Doug: If you've been studying this and obsessed with it, you may not like my answer Steve. But I personally-- and you know I come from a Jewish background-- I personally don't think that when the Passover and Jubilee dates line up with a calendar, that you're going to see something political or history or economic, that it always marks some kind of disaster. Because God said that the sun and the moon and the solar signs, they mark off seasons, they're not marking off history.
They use these things to just mark off years and times. I don't see anything in the Bible where it tells us that when there was a ceremonial new moon or blood moon, that something terrible was going to happen to the nation. They did keep the new moons-- at the second coming when it talks about the moon turning to blood, and the Sun going dark and the moon turning to blood, when the sun went dark and the moon turned to blood it usually indicated that the sky was filled with smoke and it was some kind of judgment or fire or war. I don’t know if you ever seen a terrible forest fire where the sun is dark and the moon turns bright red when it comes up, that's really talking about that, it's not talking about the cycles of the calendar.
Steven: Well, I’m seeing timelines where these tetrads, these four blood moons in a cycle, where Israel became a nation in '48-
Pastor Doug: '48. Yes.
Steven: -and then they had the Six Day War in '67 and the same cycle happened then. It could be a good thing or a bad thing is what you're saying but I don't know, I just wanted your opinion on it. I'm driving my [unintelligible 00:38:00] crazy--
Pastor Doug: How would this information affect our relationship with Jesus?
Steven: It draws me closer to Him.
Pastor Doug: Why?
Steven: Well, because I feel like the time is short and it's pressing that-- I don’t know.
Pastor Doug: Well, I agree time is short and prophecy does that for me, but I've never seen where the big prophecies in the Bible are lining up with the Jewish ceremonial year. Anyway I appreciate your call Steven.
Pastor Ross: I don't know if we have a specific book on that, although there are certain signs that the Bible speaks of that point to the soon coming of Jesus. I will be happy to send a lesson that actually deals with some of the signs that are to take place not only in nature, but even amongst various kingdoms, nations.
Pastor Doug: There was a day of falling stars and when the sun went dark.
Pastor Ross: That's right. We have a study guide called The Ultimate Deliverance and it talks about the Second Coming of Christ and gives certain signs related to His coming, we’ll send it to anyone who calls and asks. Our resource line is 800-835-6747, you can call and ask for the study guide called The Ultimate Deliverance or read that for free online or you can sign up for the Amazing Facts Bible school and you can go through the lessons there as well. We have Gary who is listening from Washington. Gary, welcome to the program.
Gary: Hello.
Pastor Ross: You're on the air Gary.
Gary: Okay thank you for taking my call. My question is on Daniel 12:12, and it's speaking of the 1335 days, what is-- I know in Daniel it speaks of 2300 days and other prophecies-- but what is the 1335 days?
Pastor Doug: There are more time prophecies in Daniel 12 than any other chapter in the Bible, and you've got three time prophecies. You've got a 1260, a 1290 and a 1335.
1260, let me just start there real quick,very interesting number. 1260 days in the Jewish calendar, adds up to three and a half years. In Revelation it talks about that time period, it calls it 42 months. Because in the Jewish calendar their month had 42-- 30 days.
So 42 months is exactly 1260 days. A day in prophecy equaled a year. Jesus taught 1260 days, the Days of Elijah there was a famine 3 and 1/2 years, 1260 days. And you can just see that time period in the first chapter of Esther. It says in the third year of the reign of Artaxerxes he had a feast lasting 180 days, that's 1260 days. So, that is half of seven, seven is a perfect Bible number. You probably knew that, right?
Gary: Yes.
Pastor Doug: Half of seven years is 1260 days. Now that is a time period that began prophetically from 538 AD to 7098 BC, when there was a great persecution of God's people in Europe. Being persecuted actually by the church, Pastor Ross might want to dive in here and-- the 508, go ahead.
Pastor Ross: Yes, a lot of these time prophecies we’re looking at here, 1219 and also the 1335, a number Bible scholars recognize the starting point for both of these time prophecies to be 508. And the reason being is there was a pagan king--
Pastor Doug: AD.
Pastor Ross: AD, yes-- who was converted, his name was Clovis and he was King of the Franks. And that marked a significant event in the Papal power establishing supremacy a little later in 538. So, the date 508 is often used as sort of a starting point for these time periods.
And the 1335 then will end in 1843, which is a rather significant time period when the gospel was being preached and the prophecies of Daniel were being studied, and there was a great revival that took place in North America and some other places around the globe that were studying the scriptures. So that's one explanation for these time periods.
Pastor Doug: We have a study that talks about-- Right on Time-- that covers-- I think it also covers the 490 year prophecy.
Pastor Ross: That’s right, yes.
Pastor Doug: We have a study that covers this and some other time prophecies, that is fascinating. We’ll send you for free, it's got a chart, makes it easy to understand. Hard to do visual on the radio.
Gary: Yes, but the 1335 then is the same as the what?
Pastor Ross: The starting point is the same for both--
Gary: Oh, the starting point is the same?
Pastor Ross: Right, which is 508--
Gary: Right.
Pastor Ross: The 1335 then brings you up to 1843-
Gary: Oh okay.
Pastor Ross: -when you have the great revival and the proclamation that was taking place.
Pastor Doug: So yes, just call us. We’ll be happy to send you that study, Right on Time, I think you can read it for free right now online.
Pastor Ross: The number to call again 800-835-6747, you can ask for the study guide called Right on Time. We’ll be happy to send that to you, Gary, or anyone listening. Friends if you have a Bible question, the number here to the studio is 800-463-7297.
It’s a good time to give us a call. Our next called is Tajim, listening from Brooklyn, NY. Tajim, welcome to the program.
Tajim: Hello, how are you doing?
Pastor Doug: Good, well, evening.
Tajim: My question is-- when I was a baby in faith, right? There was a group of young men in the church who were influencing me in evil. I left the church and unfortunately, I left Jesus as well. So you know through the years, I felt the need to get back to Jesus because that was the one thing that I missed. All the peace and everything and the fire that I had, how do I get that back is my question.
Pastor Doug: The holy spirit is probably working on you right now, which is why you called. The promise is-- God made a promise, He said if we draw near to Him, He will draw near to us. And if you're reaching out for the Lord and you pray, and you say Lord I’d like to come back to you right now, He promises to answer that. You probably remember the story or the parable of the Prodigal Son Tajim?
Tajim: Yes.
Pastor Doug: When that boy just made up his mind to come home and kind of walk away from the pig pen, as soon as his father saw him coming, he ran to meet him and embraced him. And unconditionally received him, covered him with his own robe. Christ receives us and covers us with his robe of righteousness and you just have to say Lord I repent of my sins. That boy came home and he said, "Father I have sinned against Heaven and in your sight." And confess to the Lord, the Bible says confess and repent. Tell him you're sorry that you've wasted time and years-
Tajim: I did but it’s like, I don’t have that-- I had a clean conscience. My whole past, the first time I came, it was completely washed away. But now it’s like I don’t have that clean conscience anymore.
Pastor Doug: Well you get it by faith, and don't be discouraged. The Bible tells us that when Jesus was 12 years old He went to the temple, Mary and Joseph lost track of Him. And because they lost sight of Him, it says they spent three days sorrowing and searching. So, sometimes we take our eyes off Jesus and you can spend a few days sorrowing and searching, don't be discouraged.
Pastor Ross: And then of course also remember the key to having that peace is faith. Sometimes we want to feel a certain way before we claim the promise that God accepts us and He forgives us if we confess our sins. But whether we feel warm or whether we feel peace or not, we want to claim the promises of God. Claim the scriptures, because they’re solid, you can hold onto it.
Pastor Doug: Tajim, would it be all right if we pray with you right now?
Tajim: Yes.
Pastor Doug: And my guess is there's other people listening to your question, they’re asking the same thing in their heart. They’ve drifted from the Lord, here we are in 2015. Certainly everyone's life is a little shorter at this point, and the Lord's coming is a little closer. And you know every day that we put off repenting of our sin is one more day to repent of and it's one less day to repent in. And so Jesus says today if you hear my voice, don't harden your heart. It's the best time to come to the Lord.
So let me just pray with you and any others that may be also seeking to return to the Lord. Father in Heaven, we're just so thankful that you are a loving god and a patient god. Your mercies are Everlasting Lord, and their new every morning. And I just pray that you'll be with Tajim and others that have said I've squandered some years, I've lost that first love and I want to return. Help them find their way back, I pray you'll reveal yourself to them. Help them to believe that you are God, that when we repent and confess our sins, you are faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. I pray that you'll just give him that peace once again that passes understanding. And that he will cling to that new relationship and guard it with all his heart. So please bless him and others, we thank you and ask this in Jesus' name, amen.
Pastor Ross: Amen.
Gary: Amen.
Pastor Doug: We do have a study guide that talks about Three Steps to Heaven we're offering tonight. And that would be perfect for you, Tajim, I hope you'll ask for it and just call 800-835-6747 or you can read it for free online.
Pastor Ross: The number to call is 800-835-6747, that is the resource line. Again you can ask for the book Three Steps to Heaven we'll be happy to send that to you, Tajim, or anyone who calls and asks. We have Danny listening from Missouri listening on XM131, Danny welcome to the program.
Danny: Good evening fellas.
Pastor Ross: Evening.
Danny: I’m kind of confused about something, so I’m just going to put it on you.
Pastor Doug: All right.
Danny: I’ve heard there’s three theories about the rapture. You’ve got a pre, midterm, and a post. And I've even heard another talk show like this say that there wasn’t going to be a rapture. That the Bible doesn’t speak of a rapture; only thing they say of is when Jesus comes back, you know, at the Battle of Armageddon. So, I’m kind of confused. I’d like to know what does the Bible say, what is this going to be?
Pastor Doug: I'm glad you asked. Well Pastor Ross and I and most Protestants and actually the church for 2000 years believe pretty much the same thing. It's only in the last 100 years these other two theories cropped up. What they believed was, that when the Lord comes, the dead in Christ will rise and be caught up to meet Him in the air. That's based on First Thessalonians chapter 4.
That happens though at the end of a time of trouble. So I guess you would call us the post, meaning post or following this great time of trouble, the Lord comes, we are caught up to meet Him in the air, the resurrection takes place, the wicked are destroyed by the brightness of His coming.
We go and live and reign with Christ for 1000 years in the mansions that He's prepared. At the end of the 1000 Years, Revelation says the New Jerusalem comes down to earth, the Lord creates a new Heaven and a new earth. That’s why Jesus said blessed are the meek, they will inherit the earth. They don’t inherit the old earth, they inherit the new one, recreated.
So yes we will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air. Is the rapture secret? No absolutely not. The Lord is coming with a shout, matter of fact, the people say it’s a secret because He's coming like a thief. Let me read that verse to you in Second Peter chapter 3 verse 10, it says, "The day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night in the which the heavens will pass away with a great noise and the elements melt with fervent heat and the Earth and the things that are in it are burned up."
So, Peter says, "When the Lord comes like a thief, the whole world, it's going to be a meltdown." So that's why we're caught up out of this world at that point. And the dead-in-Christ rise. They're caught out of this world because there's going to be devastation and destruction behind. Now, we do have a study guide that talks about the Second Coming, we'll be happy to send you. And in particular about--
Danny: Excuse me. Let me ask you something else. Well, you know these movies come out about left behind so to speak. So that means, if I'm understanding this right, that when the trumpet blows and the seals start being opened and-
Pastor Doug: Seven last plagues.
Danny: -things of that nature, we're going to be here?
Pastor Doug: We are here. Let me ask you a question. You know the story of the Exodus?
Danny: Yes.
Pastor Doug: When God brought the children of Israel out of Egypt and 10 plagues fell on Egypt during that time. Were the Israelites in Egypt when those plagues fell?
Danny: Yes. But were they affected by the plagues as the Egyptians?
Pastor Doug: They were protected. We will be protected. It says in Psalm 91, "Neither will any plague come nigh your dwelling." But it goes on to say, "1000 will fall at your side, 10000 at your right hand. But only with your eyes will you see the destruction of the wicked." So, we are here but He protects us during that time.
Pastor Ross: You know something interesting about those 10 plagues. The first three of the plagues affected not only the Egyptians but to some degree, also the Israelites, but the seven last plagues that fell upon Egypt didn't affect any of the Israelites. And Revelation speaks of the seven last plagues, meaning they fall upon the wicked and they won't fall upon the righteous. They'll be protected during that time.
Pastor Doug: That's right. Jesus said, "He that endures to the end," endures what? The trouble, "He will be saved."
Pastor Ross: We have a book dealing with this. Great resource. It's called Anything But Secret and we'll send this to you Danny, or anyone who calls and asks. Again, you can read it for free online at Amazing Facts. But the number to call, if you'd like to get your own copy, is 800-835-6747 and you can ask for the book called Anything But Secret. We're going to try and get one more call in here before we take the end of the program here. We have Davine, listening from England. Davine, welcome to the program.
Davine: Yes. Hello. My question is quick. Two questions. Number one is, there's a couple in my church who divorced their first marriage on unbiblical grounds, and then the person remarried and was accepted back in the church without getting baptized again. Two questions. Number one, should they divorce or should they break up the current marriage to make it right? Number two, should they be re-baptized to make it right with God? They have repented. They never moved away from the church. They kept on coming to church.
Pastor Doug: All right. Good question. If a person gets divorced and remarried without biblical grounds, I don't believe they should immediately-- It is a serious sin if all they have to do is say is, "Look, we're sorry." Just running off to get re-baptized sort of minimizes how devastating that is to the culture in the church. There ought to be an appropriate time of repentance where they are separated from church membership.
Should they divorce and remarry or should they divorce one another? That doesn't always work either, because sometimes there's new children. You can find in the Bible where-- if someone is married to two people at once, they should get divorced. But God told David-- I mean he killed Bathsheba's wife and took her as his wife, he didn't tell David, "This is a sin. I want you to divorce right now." Well, you can't unscramble scrambled eggs and so, God said he accepted them as husband and wife and he even gave them another son that became a king and the ancestor of Jesus. But we do have a study that's called Marriage, Divorce, and Remarriage. We'll send you a free copy. I don't think it's online yet, but you can go to The Amazing Facts website and order that. Oh, Pastor Ross, we've got one minute, I don't think we're going to be able to fit--
John: Well, let me give you that phone number again. The book is called Marriage, Divorce, and Remarriage. It deals with the subject. Pastor, you wrote the book not too long ago. It's for free, if you like to read it online at The Amazing Facts website or you can call our resource line, 800-835-6747 and ask for the book and we'll be happy to send it to you.
Pastor Doug: Well, listening friends, I don't want to insult our next caller by just giving you 50 seconds. So if you don't mind, give us a call again next week. God willing, we'll be together to study His word and we want to thank you, for those of you who were kind enough to send something to help keep Amazing Facts on the air this last year. I don't need to remind you it's a new year and we still live week by week, by faith and whatever our supporters might send. Entirely listener supported. God bless you. Don't forget a lot more information at the website. You can study with us all week long at amazingfacts.org. God bless you. Lord be with you.
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