Doug Batchelor: Hello friends. This is Doug Batchelor. How about an amazing fact? Kiyoshi Kimura, a businessman who owns a chain of sushi restaurants in Japan has once again set the record for purchasing the most expensive fish ever. According to the New York Times, Kimura paid $1.76 million for one 489-pound Pacific Bluefin tuna. Bluefin tuna is normally expensive due to overfishing, but this time the price was even more inflated, because restaurant owners have a tradition of competing for the prestige of buying the year's first tuna at Tokyo's famous fish market.
Kimura apparently got into a bidding war with another restaurant owner which is why the tuna cost three times as much as last year. This record fish ended up costing about $3,600 per pound and it's going to be carved up into 10,000 little pieces of sushi. You know the Bible says Jesus has a much more economical way of feeding people a fish dinner. Stay with us friends, we're going to learn more as Amazing Facts brings you this edition of Bible Answers Live.
Advert: Welcome to Bible Answers Live with author and evangelist Pastor Doug Batchelor. Is understanding God's word a challenge? Are there passages or scripture that are a mystery to you? Maybe it's difficult to reconcile what you've read in the Bible to what you've always believed. If you have Bible-related questions, stay tuned to get honest, practical answers straight from the Word of God on Bible Answers Live.
Bible Answers Live is a production of Amazing Facts Ministries dedicated to spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ to the entire world. Our lines are open, so call us now at 800-GOD-SAYS. That's 800 463 7297. Now here's your host, Pastor Doug Batchelor.
Doug: Another adventure in Bible study. Friends, welcome to Bible Answers Live. If you're tuning in for the first time, this is a live international interactive Bible study. We do have lines open if you'd like to call in with your Bible question. That number, free phone call 800-GOD-SAYS -- 800 463 7297.
My name is Doug Batchelor. My regular co-host Pastor John Ross is on a mission training project in South Africa right now. He'll be joining us again next week. But before we begin our program, we're going to start with a word of prayer.
Father in Heaven, we just thank you for the power of the Word, the supernatural inherent power that changes lives. We pray Lord that Word's power will be felt tonight. We pray that you be with each listener and just help the truth to come alive and work its wonder in each of our hearts. We thank you and pray this in Jesus name, Amen.
It's mind-boggling that one fish -- I've been out in the oceans of Hawaii and gone fishing and caught some of the Pacific bluefin tuna, and they're quite a fighting fish. You go down deep and you catch them. They don't call them tuna Hawaii, they call them gorillas because they get pretty big. But this one fish even though it is 489-pound fish, it's just one tuna fish, $1,760,000.
That's just mind-boggling and made me think about, "Would you want one fish you got to carve up into so many little pieces?" or "What if you had a couple little fish and you had the power of God to multiply them into thousands?” The Bible says that's what Jesus did. You can read it in Matthew 14:14~21.
When Jesus went out, he saw this great multitude. He was moved with compassion for them and he healed their sick. When it was evening, the disciples came to him saying, "This is a deserted place and it's late. Send the multitudes away. They can go into the villages and buy themselves food." But Jesus said to them, "They don't need to go away. You give them something to eat." They said to Jesus, "We only have here five loaves and two fish." He said, "Bring them here to me."
Then he commanded the multitudes to sit down on the grass. He took the five loaves and the two little fish. Looking up to heaven, he blessed them and broke them and gave the loaves to his disciples and his disciples to the multitude, so they all ate and were filled. They took up twelve baskets full of leftovers that remained. Those who had eaten were about 5,000 men besides women and children.
So, here Jesus took two fish. The fish they caught in the Sea of Galilee were definitely not 500-pounders. Two little fish, not much bigger than sardines that were probably salted and dried. Once they were brought into the hands of Jesus, he multiplied them so that it fed thousands. I'd like to have seen that miracle, exactly how it worked. He blessed it and handed it back to his disciples. Then as they broke it up among themselves, it must have just kept multiplying in their hands.
As they dispensed it to the people, it must have just kept stretching out and spreading. As they reached into the basket, they found more and more and more. I look forward to seeing the heavenly video of that replay, but it makes me think friends, the Bible is like the Word of God. They brought their bread and their fish to Jesus. The little they had, He blessed it and gave it back and many were fed.
This is really the story of the gospel. If we say, "Lord, I don't understand very much about truth or fishing for men." But if we take what little we do know and we bring it to Jesus, He will bless it and multiply it. In the process of the disciples giving the fish to everybody else, not only were all these people filled till the full -- because there was leftovers, everyone had all they wanted, the disciples were fed as they gave it away. They also ended up getting fed that day.
If you work for Jesus and you share your resources with him, he will work a miracle and multiply it. In the process, you'll be blessed. I hope you experience that. We've got a book that we've not offered that we'll make available for free. If you'd like to experience that new beginning and new life in your life, we have a book called 12 Steps to Revival.
12 Steps to Revival, I wrote this a couple of years ago but we've never made it available on this program. If you'd like a free copy, just call the resource number. Now, this is a different number than the studio line for questions. This number is 800 835 6747. Ask for the free offer, 12 Steps to Revival, free. There's no obligation, no one's going to knock on your door, bother you, there's no gimmick or trick.
We just want to bless you spiritually. 12 Steps to Revival. One more time the number, 800 835 6747. Not to be confused with the studio number which is 800-GOD-SAYS. That's 800-463-7297. We have a line or two still open but we're going to go to the phones now with your Bible questions starting with Chantel, calling from Salem, Oregon. Welcome to the program, Chantel. You're on the air.
Chantel: Thank you, good evening.
Doug: Evening.
Chantel: My question is related to Psalms 55:22 and Proverbs 3:5 and 6.
Doug: Okay. Do you want me to read that?
Chantel: If you want.
Doug: I've got to Psalms 55:22 and it says, "Cast your burden on the Lord and He will sustain you, and He shall never permit the righteous to be moved." So, what was your question? Let's start with that first. What was your question about that?
Chantel: Each day when I give the Lord my plans and I try to apply these verses, I still sometimes worry too often about my problems during the day. Can you help me with that?
Doug: It's not something you necessarily need to do one time. There's another verse, it says in Psalms 37:5 "Commit your way to the Lord. Trust also in Him, and He'll bring it to pass." And then in first Peter, and Peter actually is quoting King David when he says in 1 Peter 5:7, "Cast in on your care upon Him because He cares for you."
Now, you may have a habit Chantel of trying to take control of things and you feel like things are spinning out of control, and you get worried and fret. Psalms 37 says, "Don't fret." Whenever you see yourself starting to do that, you might even do something tangible. Make a note on your hands or something and carry it around with you. But just to remind you that God cares for you.
You don't have to live in fear and be worried. He wants you to just experience that peace and the relief. Jesus says, "Come unto me and I'll give you rest," and so when you see yourself getting stressed and when you see yourself getting agitated, pray. I have to do it all the time. Just give it to the Lord. Say, "Lord, I can't do that."
You've probably heard before of that famous serenity prayer. It's very simple, but I'll probably mess it up right now, that says something to the effect, "God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference."
Do what you can about praying for things to get better or working for things to get better, accept things you may not be able to change. You might just need to wait on the Lord and then ask the Lord to give you the wisdom to know the difference. That really does bring a peace when you can do that. Does that make sense?
Chantel: Sure, yes. I know that everybody is going to worry to some degree. I just wish I would worry less and maybe it's also related to just having greater faith, something like that. Would that be true?
Doug: Yes. The more you read the Word, there are many promises in the Word that give us peace and rest. There's actually -- you can look online, there's a number of books available that talk, they offer a list of promises that give you peace. There's a number of Biblical promises like the ones we just read. You got Luke 12:22 and Matthew 6:25, if He cares for the sparrows, He'll feed you.
Look at some of these, line them up, and remind yourself of them. You'll find it starts giving you rest and it releases God's power of peace in your life. Try that Chantel. Let us know if you experience some rest and peace and blessing in that area. Thank you very much for your call. With that, we're going to go to George who's calling from Freeport, Louisiana. Nope. I'm sorry, I missed George. I'm on with Daryl. Daryl from Florida, you're on the air with Bible Answers Live.
Daryl: Hey, Pastor Doug. My question is when Nebuchadnezzar looked into the fiery furnace, and he said he saw three individuals and then one that looked like the Son of God, I was curious to why he would say the Son of God instead of God himself.
Doug: It's very possible, keep in mind, when he builds this furnace in Daniel 3, Daniel 2, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego are recognized by the King. Of course, he tests them in Daniel 1. He knows them. Daniel 2, Daniel interprets his dream. He says, "Your God is a God of gods." Daniel taught Nebuchadnezzar then about the God of heaven and the Messiah, his son that would come.
By the time you get to Daniel 3, Nebuchadnezzar is acquainted very much with the God of the Jews, and he recognizes that that God had come to deliver Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He knew who they were. He calls them by first name in that chapter. He said, "Oh man, this is their God, His son." I think that's why he said that. He recognized who had come to deliver them was their God.
Daryl: Okay. Yes, I was thinking, suppose it was because it was Jesus in a younger-- we often think of one let's say 33, but maybe he looked like he was-
Doug: A younger form or something?
Daryl: -or something that's why he said God's son or the son of God instead of God himself anyway. Have you ever heard of, Pastor Doug, that I heard this one guy talk about that the Magi who brought the gifts to Jesus as a toddler was -- those gifts that they brought was actually part of Daniel's estate that he passed down or had made sure that through time some of his wealth was passed down to give to Jesus-
Doug: To the Messiah when he came. I vaguely remember hearing a legend or a rumor about that, I think one time. There's nothing in the Bible that says that. I don't know that there's any real authentic history. There may be some ancient writer that alluded to it. Sometimes over time, some of the Rabbi's would come up with some fanciful ideas or even the early Church. I don't know that, but nothing in scripture or the histories that I've read, but I have heard that legend.
I appreciate your call Daryl. Thank you for your question. All right. With that now, I missed George earlier. We're going to go back to him. George, you're on the air with Bible Answers Live.
George: All right. Thank you, Pastor.
Doug: I don't have Pastor Ross here. He usually runs the phones, and so I'm just fumbling through it all.
George: That's all right. My question is about Exodus 8. The first three plagues that hit Egypt, the Lord doesn’t say anything about separating His people from the Egyptians until the fourth plague. Did plagues one through three hit all of Egypt and that includes the Israelites?
Doug: You're very observant. That's correct. What's interesting is there's a total of 10 plagues that fall on Egypt. The last [unintelligible 00:14:44] of God later gives Ten Commandments. There's 10 plagues. The first three, everyone experiences. The last seven, God protects His people from those. Then you get to Revelation -- and how many plagues are there in Revelation, do you remember?
George: There's only seven.
Doug: That's right, and God's people are protected through those plagues. Something that is also interesting is you've got the Ten Commandments and in the Lord's Prayer, you have seven petitions. In Egypt, they got the Ten Commandments, the New Testament you got Jesus has seven petitions in the Lord's Prayer, and there's seven plagues. It's like He protects us through those. It's like a prayer that covers each one.
Someone once said that the plagues were almost like creation in reverse. You look at the seven last plagues and it affects the sun, and it affects the waters, and it affects the atmosphere, and everything is-- creation is like being wound backwards.
George: I never thought about that one.
Doug: Yes, I appreciate that. That's a great question, and I hope you'll send for the free book we're offering tonight Daryl. All you've got to do is call the resource line. That's 800-835-6747. Ask for the book 12 Steps to Revival and we'll send that to you for free. By the way friends, you can read it online. We don't want to keep it from you. Just go to amazingfacts.org, and you can find that under our free library.
If you have a question, we have one more line open now. That's 800-463-7297 with your Bible question. Okay, we're going to be talking with Deborah. Calling from O'Brien, Florida. Deborah, you're on the air with Bible Answers Live.
Deborah: Hi, Pastor Doug. How are you doing this evening?
Doug: I'm always doing better than I deserve. How are you?
Deborah: [laughs] Same here. Thank you. The question that I have, basically is a statement first. Could you please offer clarification on the teaching of lunisolar calendation and our modern day Christians obligated to keep New Moons?
Doug: All right. We've got a couple of questions there. One on the New Moons. Now, let me just explain for everybody quickly. The moons were used for seasons, the Bible says. That by the way is where we get the word month. Originally, most early calendars of the world, the month was divided by the moon. They were like 28 days or whatever the lunar cycle is. Every lunar cycle was a month.
That would mean sometimes that the months would fall different times of the year because there's like a 13 day gap. The lunar calendar does not match the solar calendar. There's always the months for shifting a little during the seasons every year. You know what I'm saying?
Deborah: Right.
Doug: The Jews would compensate by adding an additional month every few years to keep the solar and the lunar lined up. The Sabbath is part of the Ten Commandments and it exists before sin. The weekly Sabbath is not affected by the months, and it's not affected by the years. It is a cycle of the week 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. Sometimes people think a change in the calendar affects the weekly cycle. They don't really touch each other.
They appear on the same piece of paper, but they're two completely independent measurements of time. That's why your birthday might appear on a different day of the week every year. The lunar calendar is something that was really introduced following the Exodus. They began to celebrate the new moon, and it was because the feasts, the annual feasts, were governed by the months. See what I'm saying?
Deborah: I do, but-
Doug: But it does say in Isaiah, that from one new moon to another and from one Sabbath to another, all flesh will come and worship before the Lord. That is almost like it's saying that from month to month and week to week, everyone is going to come and worship before the Lord. Now, I've gotten -- by the way friends, that verse is in Isaiah 66, so you can start with verse 22, 23. I've got a theory. I have a theory that when we get to heaven, that the months are going to perfectly line up with the days of the week.
Every 28 days, it will be precise. For now it's off a little bit and so that every fourth Sabbath in the new earth will be a new moon.
Deborah: Okay.
Doug: See what I'm saying?
Deborah: There's a lot of people that think that the new moon is the dark days of the moon. Some people think it's a full moon. There's a lot of controversy with respect to this issue. Obviously we don't have all the answers because of the flood and all these different things, but you've helped a lot Pastor Doug. Thank you.
Doug: Well, thank you. Now, we do have a book I'll send you for free. It's called Feast Days and Sabbaths, Deborah. You can get it by calling that resource number, 800-835-6747. I also want to remind our friends that if you call that number, we do have chaplains standing by that will be happy to pray with you about some issue. Let me give it to you again, 800- 835-6747. For your questions, that's 800-GOD-SAYS, or 800-463-7297. Thank you Deborah. We're going to go then and talk with Michael who's calling from Queens, New York. Michael, you're on the air with Bible Answers Live.
Michael: Hi, Doug. First time calling.
Doug: Thank you for calling.
Michael: I just have a question about 1 Corinthians 3, I think starting from verse 10-15, that talks about being on the foundation which is Jesus Christ, and [unintelligible 00:20:35] but he himself will be saved. What does that mean?
Doug: Well, everybody in their life -- Jesus says the wise man builds on the rock, the fool builds on the sand. And then He says, "When the storm comes, when there's this flood--", you notice that the flood comes to both the wise man and the fool. He doesn't say anybody is exempt from the flood. What you're building your foundation on, it will be tested. If you're building on the wrong foundation, and you trust in God, but you might be building on the wrong foundation, you can suffer a loss and possibly still be saved.
An example in the Bible would be, the nephew of Abraham. His name was Lot. Lot worshiped God. He tried to be an example of what a believer was in a terribly wicked city, but he never should have gone to Sodom. He never should've taken his family there. He did it for business reasons, because it was like the garden of God, bad environment, good economy. When the city was destroyed, he lost everything, but he was saved. You know what I'm saying?
Michael: Right.
Doug: There's examples in the Bible of people that made some bad choices, and they lost a lot, but they were saved. King David, made some terrible choices. He was a good king, but he didn't spend much time training his boys and he lost four children during his life. He lost the respect of his people for a while because of the scandal with he and Bathsheba, and Uriah, but David will be in heaven.
There's a number of examples where a person when a test comes -- the Prophet Eli is another example. He may be in the kingdom because he served God, he believed in God, but he sure didn't manage his house very well, and his foundation was bad. There are believers that have made bad choices that may still be saved.
Michael: Right, so that's what that means?
Doug: I think that's what he's trying-- Paul is writing to the church.
Michael: Does this mean there's different rewards too in heaven?
Doug: Yes. Jesus makes it clear that there are varying rewards in heaven. For one, He said great as your reward in heaven, and this person will be great, and every man is rewarded according to his works. Since there are varying works, there are varying rewards. We're saved by grace, but the Bible is clear we're rewarded according to our works, because our works are evidence of what's happened in our hearts.
Yes, there are varying rewards, and there's varying punishment. Jesus talks about the man who knew his master's will and did not do it. He's beaten with many stripes. He that did not know and disobeyed, is beaten with few stripes. There are varying degrees of reward and punishment. You would enjoy a book that we've got Michael. We will send you for free. It's called Facing the Judge. Talks about the judgment, some of these issues. Facing the Judge.
Call that number, 800-835-6747, and tell them that I promised to send you a copy of Facing the Judge. We'll do that for you. For your phone calls friends, that's 800-463-7297, brings your question to the studio. Going to talk next to Manny, calling from Yonkers, New York. Manny, you're on the air with Bible Answers Live.
Manny: Good evening Doug.
Doug: Evening, how can we help you tonight?
Manny: It's [unintelligible 00:23:53] the Book of Job, it's a very interesting book, very interesting. It's not a concern, but I've been studying that book and I think a little bit too much. I just really want to know in the part where-- because I know that God is not tempted by evil, nor God tempts us by evil. Then it says that, "Have you considered--?" He's talking to Satan he said, "Have you considered my servant Job?" Ain't that almost tempting Job?
Is God allowing Satan to go and punish Job? Ain't that almost setting him up? I'm not sure, that's why I'm calling, because I respect you, and I know that you're a very blessed man by God, and you can explain it much better than -
Doug: Thank you. That's a good question. It sounds like-- well, first of all, the devil comes to a meeting uninvited in heaven. You find that in Job 1. It's not like God said, "Come on Satan over here, I want to tell you about Job." The devil comes, and the devil comes saying, "The earth is mine. I have come representing the earth. Even Jesus called the devil the 'Prince of this world', because the devil kidnapped the planet.
In the same way, then God said, "Know the world is not completely yours Lucifer, because there's at least one man down there by the name of Job, he worships me. Have you considered that?" The devil says, "Well, the only reason he worships you is because you've guarded him with a hedge of angels. You just take that hedge away, and he'll curse you to your face." God isn't wanting to tempt the devil. God is basically saying, "Satan, your claims that no man can obey me, or trust me, are false and Job is a living testimony."
Job, his life becomes a battleground between good and evil. God actually says to the devil, "Look, I'm going to withdraw my protection from Job, just long enough for you to realize that he is faithful, and that he will continue to serve me."
Then of course, first Job loses his health, and then Job loses all of his-- first, I'm sorry, he loses his possessions, then he loses his health. Through it all, it says Job does not charge God foolishly and neither does he curse.
I don't think God tempted, because of course the Bible is really clear, Jesus would never say, "Don't tempt the Lord, and then tempt us." It says in James, "God does not tempt any man." Does that help a little bit?
Manny: It absolutely does. There's one more thing. Also, it says that Satan used the winds and stuff. Does he have the power to control the weather?
Doug: Good question. I do think that there's examples in the Bible, where you can see Satan seems to manipulate weather. He did bring some-- it says, "The four corners of Job's son's house were brought down." Satan brought this whirlwind. Satan was the most powerful of God's angels. You can read in the bible where it says, "The angel of the Lord, one of God's angels, he went through the Syrian army, and he destroyed 180,000 people in one night."
Lucifer, who used to be the highest of God's angels, he's probably got some power that he can whip up a storm. He doesn't have unlimited power, he couldn't stop the flood, but it does seem that the devil has a degree of power. Yes, I don't think there's any question about that. I appreciate your question Manny. For those that are listening, we're going to take a brief break and we'll be back with more Bible questions. You're listening to Bible Answers Live.
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Doug: We're back with Bible Answers Live friends. If you've joined us somewhere along the way, this is a live international interactive Bible study that you can participate in. You can listen and we'll do our best to try and disseminate truth. You can call in with a question, 800-463-7297 and you can pray for us. Both those calling in and the one answering questions, that God's truth will be shared with others.
We're going to go back to the phones but before we do, I want to just mention one of the Amazing Facts websites. Now, if I told you, I don't know some of you have been listening to this program for 19 years, some just started, but if you believe me. Believe me when I say, that if you have never been through the Amazing Facts Bible study course, it will change your life in positive ways and it's free. It will give you an education of the Bible in a very simple direct way that is transformational. It's one of the most popular Bible study courses that you can take online out there.
It's easy to remember the name, just go to bibleuniverse.com, bibleuniverse.com, click words says Bible school and it will take you through the Bible lessons. They're there in many different languages. They're very illustrated and I think you'll find it a real blessing. Bibleuniverse.com and check out the Amazing Facts Bible study course. To tell you the truth, I don't mean to be unkind, but it is true. You finish this course and you will know your Bible better than many pastors that are pastoring churches. It's exciting and yet it's a very thorough course.
All right, with that, we're going to get back to the phones talking next to David. What line are you on? You're on line 6. David, you're on the air with Bible Answers Live.
David: Hi, Doug, can you hear me?
Doug: Yes, loud and clear. You got to turn the radio down in the background or you’re going to get-
David: I don't have a radio. Hang on.
Doug: Okay, you get some feedback.
David: Can you hear me?
Doug: I do. I hear you and your question?
David: Okay. I'm confused about something here. I've been studying the book of Luke here. In Luke 8:19-21, it says, "Then his mother and brothers came to him and could approach him because of the crowd. And was told by Him by or it was told Him by some who said, “Your mother and brothers are standing outside desiring to see you.” But He answered and said it out, "My mother and brothers are these who share my Word of God and do it."” I'm confused here because this can-- to me it sounds like He's really upset with His mom. I know a couple of places He was-- He scolded His brothers and sisters, His father or sister, or His family and He really rebuked them.
Doug: Well a couple of things happen. In John 2 at the wedding feast, His mother’s saying, "Jesus, they're out of wine, can you do something?" And He said, "Woman it's not quite my time." But then He does a miracle and He multiplies or He turns water to wine. Then you can read at the cross, one of the last acts of Jesus life was to submit the care of His mother to the Apostle John to make sure someone would be there to watch over her. Because Mary at this point is-- she must be close to 50 and Jesus is 33, if she was 17 when He was born. That's older for a woman back in Bible times, they had a higher mortality then.
He puts the care of His mother in John's hands and says, "Woman, behold your son." And Jesus is evidently nodding towards John and He says, "Son, behold your mother." It says, “From that point on John took Mary into his home and cared for her.” Jesus was not disowning His mother, He loved His mother. When she came to Him with the brethren and said, "Look we're out here, we need to talk to you." Jesus was saying basically, "Look, the priority is God's work. I am not going to drop everything because my family says we need to have a family intervention because the crowds are getting too big." He says, "No, my family’s is ones who hear the Word of God and do it." Now. Mary did hear the Word of God and do it.
Then you’ve got even when He was 12-years-old, similar message. His parents lose track of Him while they visit in in Jerusalem. Jesus is pre-occupied in asking -- in answering questions in the temples with the Rabbis and elders. Then Mary and Joseph say, "Why did you not stay with us? We've been searching for you sorrowing." He said, "Did you not know I'd be about my father's business?" Christ several times during His life told His mother, His father, His brethren, "My primary mission is not just to be a family member but to build a family of God."
I can understand that when you first read it you say, "Well, that sounds like it’s almost a little disrespectful. What's He doing there?" But He was just letting His family know that His primary mission was to teach the truth. I appreciate your question, David. By the way, we do have a website, it talks about Mary the mother of Jesus. We got an article, a video, and a book. It's called Mary truth, marytruth.com. You'll find more there.
With that, we're going to talk with next Scott from Toronto, Canada. Scott, you're on air with Bible Answers Live.
Scott: Hey, Pastor Doug, how are you?
Doug: Good. Thank you for your patience.
Scott: Just a quick question. I was just inquiring about in the book of 2 Kings, you actually told your screener that it was 1 Kings, but in 2 Kings where Elijah were they believed being translated to heaven. Elisha asked Elijah for a double portion of the spirit. I wanted to know, why is it that Elisha was not-- if he had a double portion of the spirit, why wasn't he as well translated to heaven?
Doug: Good question. With your permission, I'll make the question even deeper. Why would Jesus say John the Baptist had the spirit in the power of Elijah that John the Baptist was the greatest of the prophets, and John didn't go to heaven in a chariot but he died in a prison beheaded? What God did for Elijah was something that was unique because Elijah really stood up for God when the whole nation had forsaken God. All the prophets are hiding in caves and he boldly went up against 800 of the enemy.
There were all these 400 prophets of Baal and 450 prophets of Asherah. Elijah just-- he went up against the king, he went up against everyone because he was passionate about God. Because he honored God so much, so boldly and so publicly, God said, "I'm going to honor you." Now, Elisha did have a double portion of Elijah's spirit. When you read 2 Kings 2 and on, you can see Elisha does literally, twice as many miracles as Elijah but Elisha never really was in a situation of just a big showdown between God and the devil as Elijah was.
I think sometimes there's something to think about, what is a bigger honor for a believer? To be taken to heaven in a chariot or to die as Christ died? You know what I'm saying Scott? Jesus said, “If you're persecuted for righteousness sake, be exceedingly glad.” Elisha, he lives a long life. He dies eventually of old age and a sickness. We don't know what that was but he lived -- when you look in the 1st or 2nd book of Kings, he evidently lived through the reign of several kings.
John the Baptist lived a short life and he died an abrupt and violent death. We in heaven are going to probably ask the Lord, "Why did you let some of the martyrs that stood up for you die the way they did?" Elijah was a special case of God's honor and of course, Elijah and Moses represent the law on the prophets. Old Testament ends by saying, "Remember the law of Moses, behold, I send you Elijah." Then you go to the New Testament, Moses and Elijah appeared to Jesus.
And I've got a book I'll send you on that, Scott, if you'd like more information, it's free. I wrote this, it's called The Two Witnesses. You’d like a copy of our book called The Two Witnesses or anyone out there, we freely share these things by faith and just trust that folks are going to send resources to keep us doing it. That number is 800-835-6747, 800-835-6747 and ask for The Two Witnesses, it's a story of the glorious Mount.
Thank you for your call and we're now going to talk with Mr. Rodriguez who's calling from Vineland, New Jersey. Mr. Rodriguez, are you on the air?
Mr. Rodriguez: Yes Sir. God bless Pastor Doug.
Doug: We're glad you're there.
Mr. Rodriguez: Thank you so much. Thank you so much. My question for tonight, I think I know the answer to it but I just want to hear it from your knowledge in Christ in the Bible. When they said the third temple's going to be built, I hear that all the time, would that temple be the-- to me, that temple be the one that's coming from the New Jerusalem? Because it would make no sense building a third temple when there's no Arc of the Covenant and Jesus did the ultimate sacrifice for us already. That's my question.
Doug: All right. Well, there's a lot of confusion on the subject of the temples. Let me give you a quick overview. There has already been, technically, a third temple, follow me. First temple, was built, it was the portable one built by Moses in the wilderness and they carried it around for 40 years. You remember what I'm talking about?
Mr. Rodriguez: Yes.
Doug: Okay. Second temple is built by Solomon and it lasts several hundred years but when Nebuchadnezzar conquered Israel, he destroyed that temple, carried all the gold and the brass away, and it was levelled, basically. Third temple was then built by Nehemiah and Ezra, and the Jews during their time. It was refurbished, same temple, but it was refurbished by King Herod the Great. That’s why Jesus said, “Destroy this temple made with hands and in three days, I'll make one without hands.” John said, “He spoke about the temple of his body.”
When Christ died and rose again, you remember what happened in the temple when Jesus died on the cross? The veil of the temple was torn in two, showing that Jesus was now the Lamb of God. We don't need to sacrifice lambs for forgiveness anymore.
Mr. Rodriguez: Exactly, exactly. But I always keep hearing and I know—
Doug: Well, let me tell you where that comes from, if that's okay. If you look in the second book of Thessalonians 2, it says, “Don't let anyone deceive you that day, the day of the Lord, will not come except there comes a falling away first.” Speaking about falling away in the church, “And that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition.” Talks about this Anti-Christ power, “Who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or is worshiped so that he as God sits in the temple of God showing himself he is God.”
That verse right there has made a lot of Christians assume that the temple will be rebuilt. It's basically built on this verse. What it's talking there in this prophecy of Paul, he's not talking necessarily about a literal physical Jewish Temple, he's saying that the anti-Christ power is going to sit over the Church of God. Christ said, “You are my body,” Jesus said, Paul also says, “What don't you know that you’re the temple of God.”
Speaking not only your body but collectively, we are the temple of God. We’re living stones, Peter says, built up to a spiritual house offering spiritual sacrifices, we're living priesthood and so Jesus is the cornerstone. All through the New Testament there's this language of another spiritual temple that was built by Jesus as he prophesied. When it talks about the anti-Christ sitting in the temple of God, Paul is saying that the anti-Christ power is going to claim authority over God's church.
People have taken this to mean, “Well, I guess they're going to bring bulldozers to the Dome of the rock and they're going to bulldoze that, the Jews are going to rebuild the temple and reinstitute the sacrificial system.” I don't believe that's what's this verse is saying. I was going to say I have a book I can offer you on this if you like for free.
Mr. Rodriguez: Yes, sure. I’m always on the Amazing Facts website.
Doug: Have you read the book and you can read it at our website, it's called Spiritual Israel written by myself and Steve Walberg, to Jews, Spiritual Israel, and it talks about the temple in that book. If you just go to amazingfacts.org, we’ll send you or you can read it free. If you want a hard copy, you can call us and we'll send one. For anybody else out there, the number is 800-835-6747 and we'll send you a hard copy or go to amazing facts.org and look up the book Spiritual Israel. I think I've got a series of videos on that as well that you can watch on YouTube or a plethora of places.
Thank you for your question Mr. Rodriguez, we’re going to talk next to Trudy who's calling from-- how do you say that? Virginia?
Trudy: I enjoy you so much I just love your spirit, the way you handle the questions.
Doug: Thank you, it's my favorite thing to do.
Trudy: I can’t think of the word now, I’m so nervous. But anyway-
Doug: [laughs] Don’t be nervous.
Trudy: You know what I mean, intensive and all of that. I love that spirit. My question is, I’m a avid reader of Christian books, the future, end times and all that. I’m seeing a lot of topics where Christian writers are writing about blood moons and all of that. I don’t have a clue, I know it has something to do with end times but I don’t have a clue of what they’re talking about. Could you explain more about that if you’ve read any or heard about them?
Doug: I have. Yes and--
Trudy: What is it they're talking about?
Doug: I've got some friends I see each year at the NRB meetings, just lovely people and they've done some studies about how the cycle of the moons and a blood moon is supposed to be. A moon when it rises at a certain time in the season, it's going to be especially red. And that these are Passover moons that are going -- and I guess one just passed ostensibly -- I don't remember, but I think so. They say the great historic events always seemed to line up with these moons and they make a case for that.
I believe it's sensational reckoning that is – it works great selling books, it doesn't really make a big difference with God's people. I don't think there's a good biblical science behind it. A few years ago, there were some books that came out that said exactly 40 years after Israel is established as a nation, there'd be a rapture and a lot of ministries got excited. None of it happened. I think we've got to be careful guarding against things where we're trying to set times and some of these books are trying to predict things are going to happen with Israel. Based on these Jewish feasts and-
Trudy: It's like every writer is writing about it.
Doug: Well, it sells book but I personally don't think there's just a lot -- I don't think God is governed by the moons. In other words, God is not saying, “Well, I got to do something special now because there's a Jewish moon coming or that the Jewish moon is going to be a signal.” Because my question would be, why? What difference would that make?
Trudy: Yes, that’s freaky too.
Doug: Why would God say, “I tell you what, if you guys could just figure out when the blood moon’s happening, you'll have inside information?” Well, what are you going to do with that information? Is that going to make you surrender more to Jesus and be more holy?
Trudy: Something, [laughs] so I appreciate you telling me that.
Doug: People love to gravitate to some sensational secret information that they've got on dates and times. I just say, “Look, if you know Jesus is calling you to surrender, you surrender to Him now. We could die tomorrow from anything, so you want to be ready every day.” Anyway, I’ve said enough about that.
Trudy: Thank you so much.
Doug: All right, thank you. I appreciate your call Trudy. We're going to go next and talk with Michael who's been waiting patiently calling from Michigan. Michael, you're on the air with Bible Answers Live.
Michael: Yes, Pastor Doug, good evening.
Doug: Evening, get real close to your phone.
Michael: Okay, you have a hard time hearing me?
Doug: No, it’s okay. And your question.
Michael: I’m in a nursing home right now and I have studied in a medical field quite a bit myself. I got knowledge in anatomy, physiology and pathophysiology. I was wondering, I got curious about how did Jesus rebuke that fever. How did He rebuke--? It sounds very [unintelligible 00:47:48] that Jesus rebuked the fever and it left--
Doug: Peter’s mother-in-law. Yes, Peter's mother-in-law had a fever and Jesus rebuked the fever. That’s in Luke 4:38.
Michael: Yes.
Doug: So you wonder how He did that.
Michael: Yes, if he had any scientific insight to understanding the pathophysiology and study in medicine stuff, and how he could know the magic of chemistry and physics, and physiology, and stuff?
Doug: When you read through the New Testament, Jesus performed countless miracles of healing and I don't think that he did them by mixing remedies or herbs. I think it was simply the power of God and faith. When He saw that Peter's mother-in-law was sick and she was actually watching out from where they were staying in Peter's house in Capernaum. When it says, He rebuked a fever, of course, a fever is usually associated with some infection in the system.
She was ill, we don't know how serious it would become but Jesus, He not only healed people when they were at death's door, she just had a fever and He said, “Be gone,” or whatever He said and she was miraculously instantly healed. How God did it within her system, if He just made some special supernatural antibiotic surge through her circulatory system, I don't know. All I know is that Jesus spoke and that same word that brought the worlds into existence is that same word that healed her from a fever.
By the way, he also heals another person from a fever, if you read in John 4, there is this Centurion and he's got a servant that is sick, and Jesus speaks a word and the fever leaves. All of a sudden they begin to recover. Sometimes when a person is sick, when the fever breaks, they immediately start feeling better. It’s hard to pinpoint what happens in the system when it realizes that the white blood cells are winning out enough where the fever trigger can be withdrawn, and their body thermostat resume its normal pace. That is something of a mystery. I'm not sure Michael if-
Michael: I seem to think that I have some insight into that. There is knowledge and I have a book called the Cure for All Diseases. It talks about radio waves and frequencies, and stuff that are able to kill off different microbes, and disease-causing pathogens and stuff. I remember when Jesus would touch, and the crowd was pressing around him, and that woman was [unintelligible 00:50:50], and he felt the power virtue go out from him. I don't know if he had some-
Doug: Are you thinking that there might've been supernatural radio waves that emanated from him to heal her?
Michael: Well, some electro static, like a presence, like a magnetic, like a supercharged battery-
Doug: I'm not sure I could agree with that. I think that-- and when we get to heaven, if we want to delve into the exact science of how miraculous cure happens, I'm sure we'll find it intriguing. But I think God can just speak and the laws of nature obey him. Hey, I don't mean to rush you off Michael, but we're going to try and get one or two more calls before we're out of time. With that, Lauren has been waiting patiently on line four. Lauren, from North Carolina, welcome.
Lauren: Hi Pastor Doug. How are you?
Doug: Doing great. We only have a few minutes, so we’ll see if we can squeeze it in. I want to squeeze your question in before we run out of radio time.
Lauren: My question is in Exodus 4:10, at the very end of the verse. Moses says, "I am slow of speech and slow of tongue." I'm just wondering what he mean when he says that.
Doug: Well, that is a good question. God is sending Moses back to talk to the pharaoh. Moses has not been in Egypt speaking Egyptian for 40 years. He has been speaking the language of Aramaic among the Midianites. He had married a girl, Zipporah of the Midianites, and he's been working for his father-in-law. He says, "For me to go and talk to the pharaoh, they speak with great elegance and sophistication in the palace, and I haven't spoken that tongue in 40 years. Lord, you know I'm going to be slow of speech." In other words, he'd be stuttering and stammering to remember the words.
I know that's true. I used to speak a lot more Spanish than I do now, but you don't do it, and you start forgetting the words. I think that's what Moses was saying. After 40 years, his command of vocabulary, he's also 80 years old at this point. God said, "Hey look, I've made your tongue. I've got the Holy Spirit and I'll bring those things back to your remembrance again, so you don't need to worry about it." Good question Lauren, does that help a little?
Lauren: Yes. Thank you.
Doug: Thank you, and thank you for your patience with your question. Thank you listening friends. I'm looking at the clock and our engineer, and I don't think we could do justice to another call. If we didn't get your call tonight, please have mercy. Give us another chance, and give us a call next week, and God willing, we'll be on the air. We want to also remind you before all the time evaporates, don't change the channel yet, please hear me out.
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Speaker 3: I grew up in a church going family. I mean, we were at every meeting. I sang for the choirs there, I directed three. Very involved, very active. It almost seemed like busy work sometimes. I went to Sunday school. I knew about God, I knew about Jesus, but I didn't have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. My senior year in high school, I got the news my father had been murdered. I played it off well. No one really saw that I was struggling with it.
It just really felt like there was a hole that needed to be filled, and I tried to fill it with drugs, with alcohol, with partying. After college, I just stopped going to church altogether. One day, on a Sunday, because I didn't feel like going to church with my mom, I thought, "I should get a little bit of work." She had the satellite system hooked up, and I'm flipping through channels, and then the logo pops across, Amazing Facts presents.
I've listened to a lot of different ministries, but this was the first time that he's actually saying something where I had to grab my Bible and actually pick it up, and I've never heard this before. Let me look through and find this. I went through all the historicals, I went through all the study guides, and I just couldn't get enough. And then the Sabbath came up. He's going through the appeal when I'm just going, "Lord, I hear you. I have to go to the church."
I show up. It was funny. I didn't feel like I was going to be judged, anything judgmental, anything. I walked in the door, and I just felt at home, but there's still a problem. I'm still partying. I was still going out to the bars. At this time, I was selling cocaine to pay my rent. 16 days later, I find myself in a life or death situation. I had just came back from a liquor store and grabbed a bottle of vodka. And there I am, high off cocaine, with my Bible in hand, trying to do a Bible study.
I heard an audible voice, "Just look at yourself." And I did, I was like, "What am I doing?" I got on my knees and I said, "Lord, if you do not take this away from me now, I'm going to kill myself. I was going to continue this lifestyle and I was going to end up overdosing, having a heart attack, whatever it was. You have to take this away. All of it." And that day, He lifted it all up and away from me. It was all gone. When God does something in your life, he does it complete.
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