Valuable Treasure Discarded

A recycling center in the Silicon Valley is looking for a woman who dropped off an old Apple computer that turned out to be a rare collectible item worth $200,000. "The vintage computer was inside some boxes of old electronics that had been cleaned out from her garage after her husband died," says Victor Gichun the vice president of Clean Bay Area, "she didn't want a tax receipt or leave her contact information. Later when workers opened the boxes, they discovered an Apple one computer inside, it was one of only 200 first generation desktop computers personally assembled by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ron Wayne back in 1976. We really couldn't believe our eyes, we thought it was a fake," Gichun told the local news.

The recycling firm sold the Apple one for $200,000 to a private collection, and they're wanting to split the proceeds with a mystery donor. Gichun said he remembers what the lady looks like and is asking her to come back and claim her $100,000 check. My friends, the Bible says this is not the first time a historical treasure was cast aside, stay with us we're going to learn more as AmazingFacts brings you this edition of Bible Answers Live.

Speaker 1: Welcome to Bible Answers Live with author and evangelist pastor Doug Batchelor, is understanding God's word a challenge, are there passages of 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 AmazingFacts ministries, dedicated to spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ to the entire world. Our lines are open, call us now at 800-GOD-SAYS, that's 800-463-7297. Now here is your host; Pastor Doug Batchelor.

Pastor Doug: Welcome listening friends to Bible Answers Live and we have lines open if you want to call in with your Bible question. To call in, the number is, free phone call, 800-GOD-SAYS, that’s 800-463-7297, one more time, 800-463-7297, we’ll bring your call into our studio tonight, and I am Doug Batchelor.

Pastor Ross: My name is John Ross, good evening friends and Pastor Doug, let's begin the program with prayer. Dear Father, we thank you once again that we have this opportunity to study your word together and we ask your blessing upon this program, be with those who are listening, Father, and lead us all into a clearer and fuller understanding of your word, for we ask this in Jesus name, amen.

Pastor Doug: Amen.

Pastor Ross: Pastor Doug, you opened the program by telling about one of those remarkable discovery stories where somebody got rid of something that actually was very valuable. Every now and again, you hear about stories of people finding something in grandma's attic that is worth thousands of dollars, whatever the case might be, but here is somebody that actually threw something away that was very valuable.

Pastor Doug: Yes and it's happened many times. As you said, people have found that they own priceless works of art that they bought in a garage sale or they had a copy of the declaration of independence or something like that, and this lady had one of the original computers built by Apple, by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak. And well, she didn't know it was in her husband's garage, he tossed it out. And they still, last I heard, had not located her yet, she may not be watching the news because they've made quite a spiel about it in the news.

But it reminds me of a time in the history of Israel, where they basically misplaced their most valuable treasure and you can read about this in the book of 2 Chronicles: 34, they were cleaning out the temple and they found in this heap, they found a book and they looked at the book and it was signed by Moses. They realized this was the original copy of Deuteronomy that had been in the temple and carried through the wilderness, carried during the time of the judges and David and Saul, and now years later during the time of Josiah, they discovered this book that had been misplaced.

And it's hard to believe that the Jewish nation could misplace their national treasure, the scriptures written by the hand of Moses and says it was probably the original back then. Sometimes we misplace the word of God in our lives, Jesus said, “For the believer, the real power comes from the word.” When Christ was tempted, he met the temptation with, “It is written.”

It's the power of the word that transforms our lives, it helps us to experience conversion and then new birth, gives us an understanding of the purpose of our lives and God's will for us. Friends, maybe you have misplaced or you have not recognized the value of a book that you probably have somewhere in your house, a lot of people have Bibles that are gathering dust, might be a family heirloom when someone dies, they'll put a flower in its pages or a leaf that they press down, or they'll record a birth in there and otherwise it gathers dust and they don't really read it.

It's like that little girl that was helping her mother dust one day, and she saw the big family bible on the coffee table, she said, “Mama, whose book is this?” She said, “Honey, that's God's book.” She said, “Mama, maybe we ought to give it back to Him, we're not using it [laughs].” That's how it is in some families.

Friends, perhaps, we need to rediscover the Bible and it is the most valuable precious resource that God has given us. If you'd like to know more about that and read a book that we can send you to better understand the value of the Bible or where it should be in the Christians life and how to study it, it's a free book, we'll send to anyone that asks right now.

Pastor Ross: The book is called The Ultimate Resource and if you'd like to receive a free copy of this book, all you'll have to do is just give us a call on our resource line, the number is 800-835-6747, you can ask for the book called The Ultimate Resource. Again that number is 800-835-6747 and our free offer this evening is The Ultimate Resource; a book dealing with the Bible. Well, Pastor Doug, we're ready to go to the phone lines and we'll actually open up the Bible here in just a minute and take a look at it together, our first call is Tom and he's listening from North Carolina. Tom, welcome to the program.

Tom: Hi Pastor Doug, Pastor Ross, thanks for taking my call.

Pastor Doug: Thank you.

Tom: Something I've always wondered about in Luke 17, the Bible speaks about people were eating, drinking, marrying and getting in marriage, pretty much things that [unintelligible 00:07:05] in the last days before Jesus comes. But also, he talks about the distress of nations and plagues and pretty much everything falling apart, I'm just wondering that things happen so quickly fast that these tie in together or what your scores might be on that?

Pastor Doug: In Luke where it talks about that men's hearts will be failing for fear and looking after those things that are coming upon the earth, nation will rise against nation. Of course, the material that you find in Luke 17, you'll find much of the same statements of Jesus recorded in Matthew 24 and in Mark 13, these are some of the great passages that talk about the second coming and conditions of the world.

And one thing in particular that Jesus said in I believe Matthew and Luke is "It will be as it was in the days of Lot and the days of Noah." One thing that was peculiar to the days of Lot is you think about the sins of Sodom and Gomorrah, well you pretty much see that happening in the world today, where immorality and the gender confusion problems of our culture are just becoming the norm. And the days of Noah, it says, "Thoughts of men's hearts were only evil continually and violence filled the land."

It seems like so much of the entertainment is built around violence and selfishness. Christ said it would be as it was in those days, of course, great judgment came in the days of Noah, in the days of Lot, and we think we're on the verge of that again with the time of trouble, sometimes referred to as a great tribulation in the second coming. Now, I don't know if I'm answering your question.

Tom: I think so, yes, I appreciate it. One quick one, do you think we're really close to the small time of trouble coming upon the earth?

Pastor Doug: Yes now and for our friends that are listening, the time of trouble is typically understood to be in a couple of categories. One is referred to as the large time of trouble; that's when the seven last plagues fall and that's about as bad as it can get. And then there's a smaller time of trouble where we first cannot buy or sell if we don't have the image of the beast. Ultimately, there's a death decree on those that do not worship the beast and his image.

But I think things are happening very quickly and we've got to be careful not to set a date, but if God grants me health and strength, I'm going to live to see it, I believe this is the generation.

Pastor Ross: We have a book talking about the second coming and it's called Anything But Secret. And it deals with some of the signs of soon coming of Christ, also the way in which Jesus is going to come, there's a lot of confusion today in the world especially in the Christian world, as to the manner of Christ's coming. So we'd like to offer this to anybody who would like to learn more about what the Bible says concerning the coming of Jesus. The number to call is 800-835- 6747. That is our resource line and you can ask for the book Anything But Secret, again that's 800-835-6747.

Pastor Doug: I'm not mistaken, you're going to be in the Carolina somewhere, what is that, a week or so?

Pastor Ross: That’s right. Yes, I'll actually be there on Tuesday, Wednesday in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Pastor Doug: Yes, Tom it looks like AmazingFacts is setting up to come to North Carolina to do some meeting so just stay tuned in and we'll give the details on that.

Tom: Thank you so much.

Pastor Doug: Thank you for your call.

Pastor Ross: We have Dennis listening in Minnesota, Dennis welcome to the program.

Dennis: Hello Pastor Doug and Pastor Ross.

Pastor Doug: Hi, thank you for calling.

Dennis: My question is about marriages. lately I've been hearing of different denominations that which I won't mention of course, about covenant marriages and they proclaim that once you are married by say a pastor of a church, you are definitely husband and wife. In the eyes of God, are they really married under the-- obviously, aren’t using the marriage licenses to the State?

Pastor Doug: Well, there are a few States but it is very few that recognize what you call common law marriage. Jesus says that we should obey the laws of the land, and marriage is not only a covenant between a man and a woman, marriage is a covenant in a sense with your culture, your society around you that they respect that these two people have made pledges to each other that should not be invaded or disrespected by others.

The marriage should be recognized by the society as a legal and valid. Sometimes there are children that come into the marriage, and if something should happen to one of the parents, then the town and the people often pull together and do what they can to try to sustain and help. But yes, I don't know why people wouldn't want their marriage to be recognized by the government.

Now conversely, I might also add that people may get married by a Justice of the Peace, I've heard some folks say, "Well, we got married by a Justice of the Peace then five years later we came to Christ, does that mean our marriage is not valid?" It doesn't say you have to be married in the church, the ideas of the marriage being valid are you say your vows in front of witnesses before God and it's registered by the society that these people have made this covenant. Does that answer what you're asking?

Dennis: Yes, I think so. I just wanted to know what your take on it was with the covenant marriage as it seems to be pretty popular now--

Pastor Doug: Well, every--

Dennis: --especially with the [crosstalk] people.

Pastor Doug: Every marriage should be a covenant, but that doesn't mean that the State can't be involved in issuing a license. I've met people before that say, "We made a covenant for each other before God and we don't need a license from the State." I used to feel like that back when I was a hippie, I don't feel like that anymore. I think that there's no good reason not to do it.

One of the things that helped me realize that, I've met people that say "Yes, we got married before God and things didn’t work out later." And I said, "Now are you going to get a divorce?" Well, we don't need to get a divorce because we weren't really married [laughs]. So all over a sudden, they admit that they weren't really married because they don't really need a divorce. Yes, I think if you do it right--

Dennis: Yes, I won’t think about divorce when I want to get married [laughs].

Pastor Doug: No, all right, yes, you don’t want to. I appreciate your question Dennis, we do have a book that talks about marriage, divorce and remarriage we'll send you or anyone there like a free copy.

Pastor Ross: The number to call is 800-835-6747 and the book is called Marriage Divorce and Remarriage, and if you have a Bible question, to reach us here in the studio the number is 800-463-7297 that's our phone line here to the studio it's 800-463-7297 with your Bible question. We've got your Ukiah listening from Atlanta Georgia, Ukiah, welcome into the program.

Ukiah: Hi, good evening.

Pastor Doug: Evening.

Ukiah: Hi, my question was coming from Revelation 19:10. I wanted to know what was the application when it says the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy?

Pastor Doug: Let me read this for friends that might be driving down the road, John is being shown multiple things in vision in Revelation 19 it says after he sees all this, "And I fell at the feet to worship him, it's an angel, but he said to me "See that you do not do that, I'm your fellow servant and I’m your brother and that I have the testimony of Jesus worship God for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy." Now, if you look in-- Pastor Ross, it's Isaiah 8:20 where it says "bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples."

All through the Bible, you're going to find, Ukiah, that there's a combination of two words that appear; the law and the prophets. Sometimes the prophets is called The Spirit of Prophecy, sometimes it'll say the commandments of God in the testimony of Jesus, there are just different ways of saying the law and the prophets which represents the Word of God.

Pastor Ross: Isaiah 8:16, "bind up the testimony and seal the law amongst my disciples."

Pastor Doug: Take a look at verse 20 same chapter.

Pastor Ross: Isaiah 8:20 says, "to the law and to the testimony, if they speak not according to this word it's because there is no light in them."

Pastor Doug: There you have it again. And by the way, you find the last passage in the Old Testament says "remember the Law of Moses, behold I send you Elijah the prophet," the law and the prophets. Jesus rises from the dead, he talks to the two disciples on the road, and he opens to them the law and the prophets. And that was another way of saying the word of God.

Pastor Ross: It's also interesting the Bible says in the mouth of two or three witnesses, every word should be established. And the Bible itself is dividing to two parts, you have the law which is sometimes referred to as the first five books of Moses, not just the 10 Commandments; that's definitely included as well but typically, the writings of Moses, the first five books is referred to as the law, and then the prophets or the testimony would be everything else. So you have two witnesses, you have the law and you have the prophets. And that helps to establish something as being true.

Pastor Doug: That's the testimony of Jesus. Now, we have a book we can send you, Ukiah, for free that talks about this it’s called The Glorious Mount, and it explains who the two witnesses of Revelation 11 are. And I guess we've already given you a clue of what the answer is, but we'll send you that book for free.

Pastor Ross: The number to call is 800-835-6747, that is the resource line. And again, the book is called The Glorious Mount, who are the two witnesses talking about Revelation: 11? Again, 800-835-6747, you can ask for the book, The Glorious Mount, and if you have a Bible question, the number here to the studio is 800-463-7297, again that’s 800-GOD-SAYS-463-7297. We have Glenn who is listening from Stockton California, Glenn you're on the air.

Glenn: Good evening Pastor Doug, Pastor Ross.

Pastor Doug: Good evening, how are you doing?

Glenn: Yes, evening. I have an interesting thing here it's in regards to either Michael the archangel or Michael the cheap Prince or whatever in regards to Jesus, I have looked and looked from Genesis to Revelations, and all the names that Jesus carries through those books, and I cannot find where it’s Michael is referred to as Jesus only the chief Prince or high ranking angel that sits in the presence of God Himself. Because if we did, I can't find it. I know that Jesus is the Word that became flesh, and he's been called everything from Lord of Lords to King of Kings but not Michael, because we associate Michael with Jesus. I don’t know, we’re getting off into something that I don't think is a good thing [laughs]--

Pastor Doug: Well--

Glenn: --what do you think about that?

Pastor Doug: It is something of an enigma, but the way that many scholars have come to the conclusion that Michael is one of the Old Testament names for Jesus, of course, you're not going to find it say anywhere Michael is Jesus because it's mostly an Old Testament example, is you look at the different places where Michael appears, first of all, you can go to Revelation:12, "I saw there was a war in heaven and the dragon fought and Michael and his angels fought." Now, the dragon, it tells us in that same chapter is a symbolic name for the devil.

Well, it's safe to assume then Michael is a symbolic name for somebody. And if you look in Daniel:12, it says "at that time, Michael will stand up, the great prince that stands for the children of your people there will be time of trouble such as there never was," who is the great prince that stands in behalf? Well, that's Jesus. Then you go to the book of Jude one chapter, I think it's verse nine and it says, "that when disputing with the devil over the body of Moses, Michael did not bring a railing accusation but simply said The Lord rebuke thee," which is what Jesus said to the devil.

And probably one of the real censures is in 1 Thessalonians 4, when it says "the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout and the voice of the archangel." The Lord, Jesus, will descend from heaven with a shout in the voice of the archangel. Archangel means not an angel like a chair, but means the greatest messenger. So when you add these up, and then there's that the time when Joshua kneels down to the commander of the Lord's army and he sees this glorious being with a sword drawn.

Pastor Ross: Yes, the point that we want to emphasize even though Michael is referred to as the archangel, we're not saying that Jesus is an angel or that he is created--

Pastor Doug: He's the Son of God.

Pastor Ross: Yes, the word arc means ruler of, or one who is above. That's why in Revelation 12, it talks about Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon. The word Michael means who is like God, the actual meaning of the word. Many folks feel that Michael is the prophetic name or the pre-incarnate name that the Bible uses for Jesus.

Pastor Doug: Yes, so and then you also find, I think it's Daniel:10, that Michael is contending with the King of Persia to let God's people go. That would be Jesus interceding through providence. We have a book on this, because we get this question quite a bit, we'll send you a free copy, Glenn. By the way, Glenn, you've got a good voice from radio. It's very clear on radio.

Glenn: Yes, I went to school of broadcasting years ago, but I never followed through with it. Can I follow up--

Pastor Doug: Well, you're on the radio now. What are you saying?

Glenn: Okay. Thank you very much. The fact that Christ comes with a voice or cry of command like an archangel, doesn't mean that he is the one, it just means that the voice he uses would be like or that of an archangel. In other words a powerful voice. One of the Chief Princes, in addition, Michael is called one of the Chief Princes, but Jesus is never called one of the Chief Princes. I can't find anywhere in that at all.

Pastor Doug: No, he's not. In Daniel:10, the verse you were just referring to, when it says one of, the word one of there means highest of the Chief Princes. Pastor Ross?

Pastor Ross: Yes, just a quick follow up in that. 1 Thessalonians 4:16 it says, "For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout with the voice of the archangel, and the trumpet of God," and then it says, "And the dead in Christ will rise first." The voice that raises the dead according to verse 16, is the voice of the archangel. Now, Jesus says the time is coming when all of those who are in their graves will hear the voice of the Son of Man and they shall come forth. The voice that raises the dead is the voice of Christ. Here in 1 Thessalonians 4:16, the voice that raises the dead is the voice of the archangel. Just putting the pieces together leads a person to the conclusion that yes, Jesus is Michael.

Pastor Doug: We're not the only ones who believe this, there's a lot of Bible commentaries--

Pastor Ross: That book might be a great resource.

Pastor Doug: Yes, please take a look at that one.

Pastor Ross: Take a look at that and see what you think Glenn. To receive that, just call our resource line. It's 800-835-6747. You can ask for the book Who Is Michael the Archangel? Again 800-835-6747. We'll be happy to send you that book. Also, you can read it for free online at amazingfacts.org. Our next caller that we have is Hazel listening from New York, New York or Queens I should say. Queens, New York. Hazel, welcome to the program.

Hazel: Good afternoon, thank you so much for taking my call. My question is, my Pastor asked a question that is somewhat disturbing and odd to me. He said-- he asked was Christ born Jesus Christ?

Pastor Doug: Well, the word Christ means The Anointed. In Hebrew, the word Messiah means anointed, and in Greek the word Christos means anointed. Jesus, when Mary and Joseph looked at him in his manger and later probably some form of crib, they called him Yeshua which is the Hebrew way of saying his name. I mean that would be the word they would have said. The Greek translation is Jesus. If you're in Spanish it's Hesus.

When you say Jesus Christ, Christ is not his last name. Christ is a description that he is Jesus The Anointed One that we are waiting for. That's what the word Christ means, Jesus the Anointed, Jesus the Christ.

Pastor Ross: The controversy at the time of Christ when Jesus is here in the earth, it wasn't so much his first or the name Jesus, people referred to him as Jesus. Jesus was also a common name, Yeshua, that several other people also had. The angel announced to Joseph that his name was to be Jesus. The point of controversy especially amongst the Jewish leadership was whether or not he was the Christ or the Anointed One. Of course, those who knew Christ believed that he was. The religious leaders refuse to accept the evidence and accept Jesus as the Messiah or the Christ.

Pastor Doug: Hope that helps a little bit Hazel.

Hazel: Thank you so very much. Thank you.

Pastor Doug: All right. God bless. Thank you for calling.

Pastor Ross: We have Greg listening on Sirius XM radio from North Carolina. Greg, welcome to the program.

Greg: Yes, I just want to ask this question in reference to the beginning. I can't get past it yet. In the beginning, when the battle took place with Lucifer and God and His angels, God defeated Lucifer, he became Satan. He kicked Lucifer out of heaven and onto earth. Now, they're on earth. Now Adam and Eve was created. Did they know about this evil spirit on earth? Because they seemed like they held a conversation with something.

Pastor Doug: Yes, well I think that it tells us that when the Lord God came walking in the cool of the day in the garden, he called for Adam, the Lord walked and talked with them back then. There was nothing separating them from God. They were made in God's image. They were the highest of God's creation on earth. I think that when God established that look there's a test here, there are two trees, do not go near or eat from that forbidden tree. Then of course, there's a tree of life eat freely.

They had been warned that there was a rogue, rebellious angel that was going through the universe and was going to probably try to recruit them. That's why the devil needed to disguise himself as a serpent so that they wouldn't recognize him. Because I think that they were warned by God to be on their guard.

Pastor Ross: Probably if Lucifer appeared as this glorious angel standing by the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and telling them to eat the fruit, they might have been a little more weary and said "Wait a minute, this doesn't make sense." But here he came in disguise of this beautiful creature. Pastor Doug, we think of snakes today and we're like-- I know there are snake enthusiast out there, but most folks aren't that excited about snakes. But back in Bible times, it appears as though these were beautiful creatures. The devil came in the form of one of the most dazzling of all of the creatures that God had made.

Pastor Doug: Yes, the snakes we already know, they can move in a hypnotic way. The Bible says that the serpent was cruiser, it had to go on the ground. That means evidently before the serpent was cursed to go on the ground, it did not go on the ground. Now, we know that from fossils there are a lot of flying reptiles. They were flying paradactyls and pterodactyls and other dactyls I can't name.

These massive flying reptiles, we don't know what they look like as far as their skin color and stuff. The serpent could have been this very large winged creature. We hear about dragons in all the ancient lore around the world, we don't know exactly. It's interesting that it uses the name serpent and dragon interchangeably in Revelation 12 when describing the devil. That curse between the woman and the serpent, it goes on.

You see it appearing all through the Bible until you get to Revelation where the serpent wanted to devour the seed of the woman. Yes, I think, yes sorry we're going to be taking a break here in just a minute, Greg. Hopefully we answered the bulk of your question. We do have a book called The Sign of the Serpent, we'll send you for free, or The Savior and the Serpent and it'll bring you some courage on this subject too. Don't go away friends. You're listening to Bible Answers Live.

Pastor Ross: Bible Answers Live returning just a moment. If you're looking for Bible-based materials for further study, sign up for AmazingFacts's free correspondence Bible study course. Or check out our sale catalog featuring hundreds of inspiring books and tapes. To order, call our resource line at 800-835-6747. That's 800-835-6747. AmazingFacts is a faith-based, listener-supported ministry operating exclusively through the generosity of your prayers and financial gifts.

We would love to hear from you. Write to us at P.O. Box 909 Roseville, California 95678, or online at amazingfacts.org. You're listening to Bible Answers Live with Pastor Doug Batchelor. If you have a Bible related question, call us now to receive clear honest answers directly from scripture. We have a few lines open so please give us a call. The phone number to the studio is 800-GOD-SAYS. That's 800-463-7297.

Speaker 1: If you've enjoyed Bible Answers Live, you'll love Pastor Doug's Book of Bible Answers straight from the broadcast. The very best questions and answers have been compiled as an awesome resource for Bible study and personal evangelism. Each answer has been expanded with more Bible verses and insightful commentary. The Book of Bible Answers can be yours today for just $12. Call now 1-800-835-6747 and request offer 257. That's 1-800-835-6747.

Pastor Doug: We are back and you are listening to Bible Answers Live. We do have lines open if you have a Bible question. That number, 800-GOD-SAYS 463-7297. We'll bring your Bible question into the studio here in Sacramento, California and we're going up via satellite and through the internet all over the world. My name is Doug Batchelor.

Pastor Ross: My name is John Ross. Pastor Doug,we're ready for our next caller this evening, we have Rick who's listening from Fort Lauderdale in Florida. Rick, welcome to the program.

Rick: Hey, Pastors,good evening. Thing I wanted to ask you, Jehovah's the name of God in Greek, Yahweh in Hebrew. Is that God the Father or is that the Son like Jesus? I understood at one time, he was the burning bush.

Pastor Doug: It's a good question.

Rick: Can you tell me about that?

Pastor Doug: Yes, it's interchangeable and periodically, I've studied with my friends of Jehovah Witnesses and I try to show them from the Bible that, because they don't believe Jesus is God. That Jesus, the same definitions for Jesus and for God are all through the Bible. For instance, the Bible says you should worship Jehovah only, but you're told in the New Testament to worship Jesus. The Bible says in the beginning, Jehovah created the heavens and the earth. Well, the Bible says in the New Testament, all things that were made were made by Jesus and God the Father made the world's through Jesus.

The Bible says that only Jehovah is our Savior in the Old Testament. Well, Jesus is called our Savoir in the new testament. So that's just a small sample of a number of places where you find the same titles and descriptions of Jehovah also match up with Jesus.

Bible says Jehovah is our Judge, New Testament says Jesus is our judge. So Jehovah is a comprehensive term for the one God; Father, Son and Holy Spirit and that you find in the Old Testament. God the Father, Son and spirit did not divvy up their names in the Old Testament, they were just united and it gets more specific after the incarnation in the New Testament, when Jesus comes on earth.

Because here you've got the Son he's in the water getting baptized, you got God the Father saying this is my Son. You have God the Spirit coming down like a dove and you can start seeing there's three distinct persons there in the Godhead. Now that was a long rambling answer, I don't know if that made sense, Rick?

Rick: [laughs] It does though, it does. Thank you.

John: Thank you and by the way, we'll send you a book if you'd like on the subject and it's called-- well I got two books, one is called The Name of God that talks about Jehovah and Yahweh, and the other book is on the Trinity, is it Biblical? And some of my answer I just gave comes from two different books.

Pastor Ross: The number to call for that free resource is 800-835-6747, you can ask for the book The Name of God, you can also ask the Trinity is it Biblical? We'd be happy to send you both of those books for free, you can also read them online at amazingfacts.org. And if you have a bible question, our phone line here to the studio is 800-463-7297. We have a couple of lines open, good time to pick up your phone and give us a call. That's 800-463-7297. The next call is Harmin listening from New York. Harmin, welcome to the program.

Harmin: Good evening gentlemen. What I want to say is that I'm talking about where the mark of the beast. Now God created everything in six days and hHe magnified and glorified the seventh day which is the Sabbath. Now, with this new song the law coming, that they are going to invoke on us. They're going to take away our liberty and our free will and free choices if we call Sunday the Sabbath and despise what God says. Isn't that the mark of the beast?

Pastor Doug: Well, in the Bible it tells us that worship is going to be the final big issue. It's interesting, Harmin, that you look in the Old Testament, and Adam and Eve had two sons. They both claim to worship the same God and they both made altars to the same God. One did it the way he wanted and the other one did it the way God prescribed. And Cain; who did it the way he wanted, got upset because God had received the obedient worship of Abel, and Cain killed his brother.

Then you go to the end of the Bible and again, you get the same thing. You got these two sides that are battling over worship. And one who worships God's way receives the seal of God, the other gets the mark of the beast and the one that's doing it the world's way, persecutes the one that is worshiping God's way. You find this battle all through the Bible when Mordecai would not worship Haman. He tried to annihilate God's people.

When Daniel would not worship King Darius, he was thrown in the lion's den. And when Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego would not break God's commandments and worship the golden image of Nebuchadnezzar, they were thrown in the fiery furnace. In the last days, there's going to be a similar when those who do not worship the way that God is telling them to worship and the day God is telling them to worship, they're going to be persecuted for that. And so you're on track about that?

Pastor Ross: It's interesting interesting the Bible also Revelation more specifically, talks about God's people at the end of time. And it gives a couple of characteristics, one is that they keep God's commandments and they have the faith of Jesus. The devil wants worship, he's not so much concerned about our banking account or a car or a house, but he wants worship. He wanted that in heaven. That's why we have the whole rebellion that took place and that's what he wants an earth.

At the end of time, according to the Bible, he's able to get the whole world to worship him except for those whose names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life. Again, the key issue is worship do we worship according to God's commandments, or do we worship according to the traditions of men? That was the issue back in the time of Christ, it's also going to be the issue at the end of time:

Pastor Doug: And we have a lesson, I think, that talks about the mark of the beast.

Pastor Ross: We do, it's a book, actually a study guide called The Mark of the Beast and we'll be happy to send that to you Harmin or anybody wanting to study this important subject. All you will have to do is call our resource line, that's 800-835-6747. You can ask for the study guide called The Mark of the Beast. Again that number is 800-835-6747. We'll be happy to send that to you. You can also sign up, if you wish, for free online for our Bible course, and you'll actually study through this lesson along with a number of other outstanding Bible study guides dealing with different Bible topics. Our next caller is Athneil listening from Brooklyn New York. Athneil, welcome to the program.

Athneil: Hello.

Pastor Doug: Evening and your question tonight?

Athneil: I wanted to find out if one wins the lottery and they decide to donate 10% of the winnings if it would be accepted by your ministry?

Pastor Doug: Did you win the lottery, Athneil?

Athneil: No.

[laughter]

Pastor Doug: I just wondered is this a hypothetical question you're asking?

Athneil: It is, yes.

Pastor Doug: It's the same principle here in Sacramento, we're not very far away from Reno matter of fact, not too far away from the amazing facts office, probably one of the biggest bingo parlors in North America. And we've had people ask that question before if someone wins at the casino or they win a lottery, they win bingo, is it okay, will a church accept that money?

If a person legally comes by funds that are legally theirs, then there's no moral dilemma in their donating those funds. If someone robbed a bank and they said can I give tithe, that's my take. Well, no that'd be stolen money, you don't want to take that. Some churches might argue and say "Well, but this money was gained in an immoral way." What do you do when a stockbroker invests in a liquor company and it makes money? Do you not take the stock income that he's got from that?

You can go crazy starting to think about, do churches and charities how are they supposed to screen the funds that are being donated. And most have come to the conclusion, if it is gained honestly, then there's no moral dilemma taking the money.

Pastor Ross: I think a big solution to the dilemma is on the front end, before a person goes to gamble or has a chance of winning, the Bible does speak about the dangers of seeking wealth rapidly and in a using chance. As a christian and as a ministry as well, we discourage people. I mean how much money has been lost, Pastor, over the years and how many families have suffered because of gambling? It's just a real curse on society.

Pastor Doug: Even the lottery pretty much exploits the lower income people who are hoping to have a payday and most are actually getting poorer in the process. I haven't run into many charities or denominations that say if someone is bringing honest income, that at least the law allows that you're going to turn it away. I think that's what Athneil was asking. But we don't recommend gambling or doing anything dubious to raise money. Thank you. I don't have a lesson on that, but we do have a study guide called In God We Trust.

Pastor Ross: That's right. Talking about finances and how we can use our money. We'll probably send it to anybody who calls and asks. The number is 800-835-6747 and you're going to ask for the study guide In God We Trust. We'll be happy to send that to you. You can also read it for free online, friends, just go to amazingfacts.org. We have Keith who's listening from California on KTIE. Keith, welcome to the program.

Keith: Hello. I was calling for regarding a question on Job 14, actually 21 and 22. It said that his son's, was talking about dead person or a father and his sins come to honor and he knoweth [sic] did not and they are brought low but he receiveth did not, of them but his flesh upon him shall have pain and his soul within him shall mourn. I believe the way you are and I just wanted to see how can I answer any question that someone might have regarding verse 22?

Pastor Doug: Yes, it's a good question. The way I understand it is, first of all, the language in Job is some of the richest and it is also some of the complicated is not the word I'm looking, it's a very deep poetry. Job is probably the oldest book in the Bible and you're reading the conversation of people that lived back in the days of Terah, that would be the father of Abraham and they lived an average of 200 years.

It was just an amazing way that they spoke back then. He's describing someone-- now let me see, you almost have to go back a little bit. But as of now I'm in verse 18, "But as a mountain falls and crumbles away, and as a rock is moved from its place, as water wears away stone and it's torrents wash away the soil of the earth, so you destroy the hope of man. You prevail forever against them," and he passes on, "you changed his countenance and send him away, his sons come to honor and he does not know it, they are brought low and he does not perceive it. But his flesh will have pain over it and his soul will mourn over it." I think he's flashing back in verse 22 to when a person is dying and not so much as though as once he's died, he's in that situation.

Pastor Ross: The whole passage is written in a poetic form, it's not uncommon to ascribe certain feelings to different attributes of nature. I'm just looking in Judges 9:8, we have trees talking back and forth and they're experiencing pain and so on. And again, in a poetic form, it's trying to emphasize the point that here is somebody who is in the grave and their flesh passes away and they don't know about what's happening in the world outside around them.

Pastor Doug: Yes, I still think that the whole passage there, he's describing that even the righteous suffer. And in verse 21, he's talking about when he dies, he has no knowledge of what's happening to his son, in verse 22 he's going back and he's talking about the futility of life that there's going be struggles in life that man wears away just like the stones. So it's a deep book, what I want to do is I want to go to commentary, but we're not going to have time, he's made me wonder a bit more about what that verse means. Hey, did we ever mention we don't know all the answers? I think we lost--

Pastor Ross: Wait, here is, there he is.

Pastor Doug: Keith, you're back on the air, I think we bumped your button.

Keith: Okay, yes it makes total sense.

Pastor Doug: Yes, but I want to look at that more closely, I've got a collection, I don't mind telling anyone listening you can for free download software called East Word and we sometimes use that here in the studio. With it you can download some of the great ancient protestant commentators: Adam Clarke, John Gill, Matthew Henry and they've got some incredible insights on every verse in the Bible. And now it makes us to go and find out what they say about verse 22 of Job 14.

I appreciate your call, Keith, and for our friends that are listening, we do have a website that is called Death Truth. This is one of those verses that's used in that website and anyone can look at that for free. Matter of fact, when Christians around the world are trying to understand what the Bible teaches about death, this is, I understand, the most popular website called deathtruth.com.

Pastor Ross: Next caller is Todd, and he's listening from Redding California. Todd, welcome to the program.

Todd: Hi, thank you. How are you doing Pastor Doug and Pastor John?

Pastor Doug: Doing well.

Todd: My question today is in Genesis, we read that the Sabbath was created on the seventh day when God rested. And then I think in Isaiah we read that that we'll continue coming together from Sabbath to Sabbath throughout the ceaseless ages of eternity. But my question was, was there a Sabbath before creation or like in Job, it intimates about other worlds and other unfallen things that God has made, do they have a Sabbath? Do they have a period of special communion with God or is that just a human uniquely?

Pastor Doug: That's a good question. It is possible, when God makes the Sabbath, it says "the Sabbath was made for man" Jesus quotes. And it says, "the Lord blessed that day because He rested on the sixth day." It doesn't sound like he's referring to something else in the cosmos when he establishes the Sabbath, but that doesn't mean there isn't some other uniform time because everyone exists in this dimension of time, and when God’s unfallen creatures come together to worship Him, what is their measurement of time?

There may be something common that brings everyone together, but all we can do is speculate on that because the Bible only refers to the Sabbath in connection with the making of our world. So we would just have to guess.

Todd: All right, well, thank you very much guys.

Pastor Doug: All right, thanks. I appreciate your question.

John: We have Rick listening from Fort Lauderdale in Florida. Rick, welcome to the program.

Rick: Thank you. All over the internet, I see about September 23rd, the fourth of the blood moons on our high Jewish holiday, the Tet rock, the Pope's going to be here in America, do you see any special meaning to that?

Pastor Doug: Well, I'm running into that also. I don't put a lot of significance in the blood moons. The reason is because there have been several in the recent past and nothing happened, you can't find anything that really made the Christian headlines. I'm more interested in the idea that the Pope is coming to North America which used to be a largely protestant country, he's addressing the highest legal office or Congress. Both houses are going gather to hear basically, a pastor. I mean the Pope, when you really break it down, is a religious leader, would they do that for, pick your favorite pastor, would the congress--

Rick: Doug Batchelor.

Pastor Doug: Well thanks, I'd be honored, but I don't think it's going to happen.

Rick: [laughs] would they do that for him?

Pastor Doug: No, that's the point is what does it say about the impact of the leader of the Catholic church on political affairs. And we heard in the news recently that the Pope was instrumental in opening up the dialogue again between Cuba and the US. And so for me, I'm curious about what he's going to say in his statement for families, because all these religious leaders are going to come together, I'm curious about what he's going to say, he's going to the United Nations, he's going to be meeting with the president again.

And it's as big as an international summit gets because it's a political religious summit when the Pope comes to the US and addresses the United Nations in our Congress. As far as the blood moons, I don't know if anything significant is going to happen during the blood moon, but we just have to wait and see because there's been others in the past and nothing happened. I know it sells books though.

Rick: I just want to know if there's anything biblical there, because it's like everywhere they're like some supernatural is going to happen.

Pastor Doug: Jesus said there'll be signs in the Heavens and the sun and the moon, the star, at the sea and the waves roaring, so I've got to be careful not to summarily say there is nothing to it, but I'm kind of dubious that political events are coinciding with the Hebrew Passover blood moons.

Rick: Thank you, I appreciate that.

Pastor Doug: All right. Thanks a lot, you have a good night.

John: We have Laura listening from Albuquerque, New Mexico, Laura, welcome to the program.

Laura: Greeting pastors.

Pastor Doug: Greeting, did you come to our meetings in Albuquerque last year?

Laura: Unfortunately no, I was not able to.

Pastor Doug: All right, well next caller, please.

Laura: We used to live in California.

Pastor Doug: No, I’m kidding. We wondered if we had met when we were out there.

Laura: Possibly.

Pastor Doug: Right and your question?

Laura: I have a question, please. In reading my scriptures, I have seen a reference to unicorn like 11 and 12 times. Comes to mind today, I was reading Job and it mentioned the unicorn and also in the Psalms. I find it strange that the unicorn was mentioned in these two books of the Bible. As a child I was fascinated, I thought it was a mystical creature, I loved them, I collected them it was my hobby, and then I started reading them in the Bible and in Psalms references that they introduced the horn as the unicorn for strength. In other passages that I have read, I’m not quite sure what purpose the unicorn served in some of the passages of the Bible.

Pastor Doug: Go ahead Pastor Ross.

Pastor Ross: When you read especially in the King James, you'll find this in the King James you won't find this in some of the New King-- some of the new translations, the word the unicorn, if you look at to the original, it's referring not to what we think of commonly today as a unicorn, it actually is referring to a type of wild ox, which was back in Bible times. Yes, they did use the horns for different things. They could use it for a trumpet, they could actually use it for a cup, they could do different things with the horn. It's a little different than a horse with this one horn in its head that we think of today, with wings.

Pastor Doug: I even heard some say, when it talks about the strength of the unicorn, I heard some say it was talking about a rhinoceros, which does have--

Pastor Ross: A horn.

Pastor Doug: --a prominent horn. They did-- believe it or not, not only were there lions in Israel back then, and there were bears in Israel back then, you don't find them now, but they said that the rhinos even got that far north. I don't know, I'd more incline to agree with what it says in the New King James Version, that it was really a wild ox. Thank you very much, Laura.

Laura: [inaudible 00:51:04] doesn't makes sense.

Pastor Doug: Well the unicorns that you find in medieval mythology, are not the same unicorns in the Bible. It's a word that is translated for one of the wild ox, kind of like your Cape buffalo that you had. They were about as strong--

Pastor Ross: Very powerful.

Pastor Doug: I think two of the strongest domestic cattle are the Cape buffalo and the American bison. I wonder if what would happen if they wont to have it [laughs], that'd be something. All right, thank you, Laura, I appreciate your call.

Pastor Ross: We have Mark listening from Michigan. Mark, welcome to the program.

Mark: Thank you and thank you after a bachelor for your radio ministry and all your-- all the things you do with the question and answer. My question is, how does one receive Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior in order to obtain salvation and what scripture chapters and verses would support that?

Pastor Doug: Well, I'd go to John 3:16, you can read the dialogue between Jesus and Nicodemus, "except you are born again, you cannot see the kingdom of Heaven." Now that's not something that is an option, he's saying it's an essential. You will not even see the kingdom of heaven unless you're born again. Nicodemus is wondering, "Well, how do you get born again?" Jesus said, "Well, it's something that is like the wind."

You have to believe you're not going to be necessarily seen it, you'll see the power of it. But when we believe that God so loved the world, that He came into the world, He sent his Son. God the Son became a man to show us what God is like, to show us how to love each other. Then most importantly, to die as our substitute so that if we believe that he came to die in our place, Christ said, "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up. That whoever believes in Him, should not perish but have everlasting life." That's John 3:15.

Back then when they were bitten by the serpents, they looked at this bronze serpent Moses raised on a pole and that look of faith they were healed. When we turn to Jesus on the cross and say, God sent his Son and we believe He's dying there for my sin, and we repent of our sins and confess our sins to God, the Bible promises that whoever confesses his sins, he will be cleansed from all unrighteousness. The Lord will do that for us and that's the Gospel. We have a book that talks about three steps to Heaven, that goes through that plan.

Pastor Ross: I'll just go and recommend that book, it's a great resource Mark, for you or anybody wanting to learn more. Probably one of the most important questions that anyone can ask is, what do I have to do to be saved? We will be happy to send you this book, it's called Three Steps to Heaven and the number to call is 800-835-6747, again that's 800-835-6747. You can ask for the book Three Steps to Heaven.

Pastor Doug: Well that's a great question to end the program on, Pastor Ross what must I do to be saved? I hope everyone will send for that book, and we hope that you make a decision to accept Jesus as your Savior. That's why we do the program at AmazingFacts, not just to circulate some of the interesting facts and trivia about the Bible, but so that you might know its author; Jesus, who is the truth that will set you free. Make sure and go to the AmazingFacts website, you can be studying a plethora of other Bible materials through the week. If you appreciate the program, keep us on this station, you can donate. God bless you friends until next week.

Pastor Ross: This has been a pre-recorded broadcast of Bible Answers Live, a production of AmazingFacts ministries. If you would like to order the materials mention on this broadcast, call 800-835-6747 from 8AM to midnight Eastern Standard Time. That's 800-835-6747. If you've missed an episode of Bible Answers Live, you can find it on our website, amazingfacts.org.

You'll also find our online sale catalog of books tapes and other materials, as well as numerous free resources on nearly every Bible topic, putting the answers to your Bible questions right at your fingertips. If you've been blessed by this program, let us know. Write to us at P.O Box 909 Roseville, California 95678. Be sure to tell others about the program and join us again next time for more Bible answers live with Pastor Doug Batchelor.

Speaker 2: I grew up in a church-going family. We were at every meeting, I sang in four of the choirs there, I directed three. Very involved, very active. It almost seemed like busywork 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. I tried to fill it with drugs, alcohol, I was partying. After college, I just stopped going to church all together. 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. Then the logo pops across AmazingFacts presents, I've listened to a lot of different ministries but here this was the first time, that he's actually saying something where I had to grab my Bible and actually pick it up. I've never heard this before, let me look through and find this. I went through all the storacles, I went through all the study guides and I just couldn't get enough.

Then the Sabbath came up, he's going through the appeal and I'm just going, "Lord, I hear you. I have to go to 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 I grabbed a bottle of vodka. 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, and 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." That day, He lifted all of it away from me. It was all God, when God does something in your life, He does it complete.

Speaker 3: For more than 45 years, the Ministry of AmazingFacts has been helping people from all walks of life understand their Bibles better than ever before. Through television radio and the Internet, we impact countless lives each day around the world by sharing Bible truth that transforms lives forever. If you've been blessed by our programs, will you help share in this work with a tax-deductible gift today?

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