Doug Batchelor: Would you like to hear an amazing fact friends? Spiders are known for making some of the strongest fibers in the world. Spider silk in general is widely regarded as the strongest natural fabric known. It's at least as half as strong as steel thread of the same thickness and much more elastic. In fact, when you consider its weight, spider silk is actually five times as strong as steel pound for pound. More specifically, scientists have found the toughest material on earth made by a living creature, is a silk produced by the Darwin's bark spider.
After testing its tensile strength, they discovered it was more than twice as tough as any other spider silk, and more than 10 times stronger than Kevlar. You might be surprised to learn, there are now some companies making super strong clothing from synthetic spider silk. Even more bulletproof than that or Kevlar, is a protective clothing spoken of in the Bible. Stay with us friends, we're going to learn more as we bring you this edition of the Bible Answers Live.
[PROGRAM INTRODUCTION]
Doug Batchelor: Welcome listening friends to Bible Answers Live. This is a live international interactive Bible study. We invite you to participate. We have phone lines wide open. You have a Bible question, give us a call. Here is the phone number, 800-463-7297, 800-GOD-SAYS, you ready one more time, 800-463-7297. Call us with your Bible questions and you've got an excellent chance of getting your question on tonight's program. My name is Doug Batchelor and my regular co-host Pastor Jean Ross is on vacation tonight. With God's help, we're going to move forward.
Let's ask him now. Father in heaven, we thank you so much for your blessings especially this time of year, when we think of all we have to be grateful for. We thank you for the Word of God, Lord that changes hearts. These words are indeed spirit and they are life. Be with this program, Lord. I pray that the Word goes forth, that hearts are touched and that you’re glorified in Jesus’ name. Amen. I'm always fascinated with creatures. I was talking to a friend, I did a TV program where I was holding a snake, and she told me today that kind of wigged her out. I was always amazed by snakes and spiders, maybe a typical boy. I remember being with Karen in Belize. We went to a zoo there. They let you hold a great big tarantula. I thought that was the coolest thing in the world, because it almost looked like a puppy dog you could talk to. A creepy puppy dog but they're big. I've been fascinated by spiders and just how God designed them, where their spinnerets are able to produce silk, different kinds of silk for different functions from one spider. As some is more rigid, some dries quickly, some is elastic.
It seems like man is always trying to copy the design of God. When the Air Force wanted to understand better gliding planes, they started looking at the Albatross and looking at the Seagull. When they were designing their jets, they looked at the back-angling wings of the Swift. I've heard that they studied the head of the woodpecker when they were trying to design football helmets that wouldn’t allow you to get brain damage. Well, we knew that they'd be looking at the strength of the spider silk. Several companies have been launched with millions of dollars backing them, to try to produce an artificial spider silk because it is the strongest substance in the natural world that's biologically produced. Yes, they've already got some companies that are making jackets and clothes out of this artificial or synthetic spider silk, that's supposed to be even stronger than Kevlar.
If you can think of a thousands of uses for it, I'm sure fishermen would love to have fishing line 10 times stronger. A lot of people could find very interesting practical uses. I read one time that the orb spider in New Guinea, that there are some spiders, their webs are so strong that the natives there, in Papua New Guinea, use them as hand fishing nets. They can hold a fish. The Bible tells us that there is a fabric, there is a clothing, there is an armor, a Kevlar, that God makes for you, to keep us safe from the enemy.
You read about this in the book of Ephesians, 6:13. It says, “Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that you might be able to stand in the evil day having done all to stand. Stand therefore, having girding your loins with truth and having the breastplate of righteousness and your feet shod with the preparation of the Gospel. And above all taking the shield of faith wherewith you're able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one, and the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit that is the Word of God.”
Paul describes there in Ephesians 6, the Armor of God that we put on to protect us in our daily battles with the enemy. It's a supernatural power that God gives you in His Word to resist temptation. That's what Jesus used every time He was tempted. He quoted scripture, the promises of God to the devil. He said it is written, it is written, it is written, every time He was tempted. And we’d like you to know how to put on that armor of God.
Friends do you struggle with temptation? You find sometimes you are easily overcome? Are you falling in the same area again and again and you would like to be free from your misguided thoughts and bad habits? Learn about the Armor of God. We will send you a free book. It's not just a metaphor. It’s something real that you can do and it’s got some practical tips in this book. Easy reading called, The Armor of God. The price is great, it's called free. Here's the number for the free resource, 800-835-6747. Now we're giving you two numbers so be careful not to get it mixed up. The number for the free resource, The Armor of God, just call and ask for it, nobody is going to harass you or bother you. It's a gift and it will bless you. 800-835-6747. We only ask if you do call and we send you the book, please read it. Then share it with somebody. Now if you have a question, we do have several lines open. I think people are out traveling for Thanksgiving right now. But if you want to call in your Bible question, we've got a lot of friends and truckers listening on satellite radio.
You have a Bible question, I don't claim to have all the answers, but I'll share what I've learned in the last 40 years. Number is, 800-GOD-SAYS, here it is in regular numbers, 800-463-7297 will bring your question into our studio headquarters. With that, we're going to go to our first caller who is Ken, calling from Arkansas, listening on the internet. Ken, welcome to the program.
Ken: Hey, Doug Batchelor, how you doing today?
Doug Batchelor: Doing well, how are you?
Ken: Great. I got a question. I want to know what the Bible says about changing your mind once you say something. You give a verbal promise, not a promise to someone. Here is the scenario, I have rental property, and I told someone they could have the property for such and such price. I got so many phone calls, I decided to go up $25. The lady refused and I didn't let her have it. What does the Bible say about that? Changing your mind in an agreement?
Doug Batchelor: Well, yes. It tells us in the Book of Proverbs, the Bible says, "It’s better not to vow than to vow and not to keep it."
Ken: Yes, I know better now. [chuckles]
Doug Batchelor: Well, it may not be too late and then you'll read in Psalms, and I'm trying to remember it, maybe Psalms 15, where it says – yes, I think it is Psalms 15, where, a believer will swear to his own heart but he does not change. In other words, you make a vow and when you realize, “Wow, I'm going to lose money on this deal, but I made a promise I have to keep it.” Proverbs 7:14, “Today, I have paid my vows.” Yes, when you make a vow to God do not delay to pay it. That's Ecclesiastes 5:4, says, there’s actually two ways, that is, pay what you have vowed. Ecclesiastes 5:5, “Better not to vow than to vow and not to pay.” Jesus said, "Let your ‘yay’ be ‘yay’ and your ‘nay be nay." Now, somebody called me once and they said, “Well, when I was lost, I sold my soul to the devil. Do I need to keep that promise?" [laughs] I said, “No. Please don't.” Because that's a one-way road, it doesn't end well. The devil is a liar. But if you advertise something for a certain price, and then someone says, "I'll take it," you can't really change the price on them later. If you post it at a certain price and then you re-consider before you promised it to anybody, well then, you've got the freedom to raise the price or lower the price. If someone has agreed to what you promised, you need to stick to your word.
Ken: I got you.
Doug Batchelor: That makes sense? [crosstalk]
Ken: Yes, thank you so much, Pastor.
Doug Batchelor: All right, Ken. We appreciate your call. I've actually got a sermon that deals with what is truth? I talk a little bit there about vows. You can listen to that at the Amazing Facts website which is simply amazingfacts.org. I appreciate Ken's call. That does free up another line. If you got a phone call, Bible question rather, here's a phone number. 800-463-7297. Several lines open, we just got two operators help on the screen your calls so if it rings, just let it ring for a minute. Going to talk next to AJ, who's calling from El Cajon, California. AJ, you're on the air with Bible Answers Live.
AJ: Hi, how you doing, Pastor? Thank you for taking my call.
Doug Batchelor: Yes.
AJ: My question, and I'll ask you and then I’ll hang up and go ahead let you answer. In the Bible, there's a lot of -- As a man, I'm trying to [inaudible 00:11:36] the idea of the bride of Christ. "Christ as a lover of my soul," which I get that but there are songs that are more end up feminine. I kind of understand the idea but I'm looking more for like, as men, how do we reconcile that? I'll hang up and I'll go ahead and listen to your answer.
Doug Batchelor: All right. Hey, thank you very much, AJ. I'll do my best.
AJ: Thank you very much.
Doug Batchelor: The love of God in the Bible, you can't really make it gender-exclusive for men or women. Sometimes God compares His love to the love of a mother. He talks about a mother hen, guarding her chicks and He compares to His love. He says, "Can a woman forget her nursing child? They may forget but I will not forget you." Even the name God Almighty in the Bible is I think is more literally translated "the many-breasted one," meaning, the one who can provide, nurse for her children. Sometimes God figures his love that way. Jesus is also -- He says, this is in Ephesians, "Husbands, love your wives as Christ loves the church." You've got the male model. God, of course, His call our Father in heaven. "God, the Father so loved the world He gave His son," again, there you got two more masculine ideas.
When we think about our love for Jesus, and I realized that the love we would have is something like the love of David and Jonathan. They were two men that have a pure love that was not at all sensual in the Bible. They just loved who the other person was. In our society today, that's sort of saturated with sex. When you talk about love, or deep love, people automatically try to include the sexual dimension of that. But biblically, the greatest love is a love that is free from that, and in heaven, it says, "They will neither marry nor given in marriage and we'll just be overflowing with love for God." Yes, sometimes it's pictured as "God loves us as his bride," but there's really no conflict with the idea that the love of God sometimes, it appears as the love of a woman or a mother. Sometimes, it's a love of a man so we can all relate. Thank you very much for your call, AJ. Going to talk next to Tony. Tony is calling, listening on a satellite radio from, is that DuBois, Pennsylvania?
Tony: DuBois, yes.
Doug Batchelor: Yes, welcome to the program.
Tony: [laughs] Thank you. My question is, in Jude, it refers to Book of Enoch, you know?
Doug Batchelor: Yes.
Tony: If it refers to it, you think it should've been included in the scriptures? Other books, too like 2 Esdras or [unintelligible 00:14:41] or something like that. There's miracles involved in the book.
Doug Batchelor: Are you wondering if there's some books missing from the Bible?
Tony: Yes. Do you think that they missed some of them, that they should have added or--
Doug Batchelor: All right. Well, let me talk about there for just a minute. It is true Jude quotes from a book called the Book of Enoch. Most of the scholars dealt that this was a book written by Enoch and then it would have been taken on the ark by Noah as Enoch lived before the flood. Somehow was passed down from Noah to Lamech and Terah and Abraham and on, so forth. Most believe that the Book of Enoch is a book that was written during the Jewish captivity in Babylon. That's the first time it really appears. It does still exist today. Jude does quote from the book. He's not endorsing the whole book. He's endorsing a line in the book that talks about the Lord coming. It is possible that you could read a book that has some inspired lines in it. I think Mark Luther said some things that were inspired of God like when he said, "Here I stand. God help me," during the Diet of Worms. That was an inspired statement, and then Mark Luther, he's a little anti-Semitic and he would say some things about Jews that I don't think were inspired.
Paul refers to even some Greek poets and you can read about this in Acts 17:28. Paul was quoting some of the Greek poets. Well, it doesn't mean those poets, all of their poetry was inspired and needed to be part of the Bible. But there may have been some inspired lines in the poetry. The book Pilgrim's Progress had some wonderful inspiring statements in there written by John Bunyan. Even in the Bible, it talks about the Books of Gad the Seer and the Book of Japheth.
What God shows to preserve in the Bible the cannon that we have now is 100% inspired. Some of the authors quote from inspired selections outside the Bible. But it doesn't mean everything in that book or everything those authors said was inspired. I don't know, does that make sense?
Tony: Yes, I'm just wondering -- they were put together by men. I just wanted to prove that there may have been mistakenly leaving something out or something like that. [laughs]
Doug Batchelor: Yes. I think that the Bible was not put together really by men. I believe that a supernatural providence and a guiding hand directed the people. Because it does say, "God spoke through holy men who are inspired by the Holy Spirit." I think God guided those men to assemble the unquestioned books that were authentic. It doesn't mean that there's nothing else in the world that God has spoken through. I think that there's a lot of time that God may inspire a person with a line, with a passage, with a book. Doesn't mean it becomes a part of the sacred canon. But God did something supernatural to preserve the Bible and what we call the Sacred Scriptures. As they've said, the Bible is an anvil that has worn out many hammers. I do have something that deals with that, Tony. I'll be happy to send you a free copy. It's The Amazing Facts Study Guide called Is There Anything Left You Can Trust? You call the resource number, here's that number. 800-835-6747 and tell them, you'd like that study guide on the Bible called, Is There Anything Left You Can Trust? We'll be happy to send that to you.
Appreciate your call. With that, we're going to go and talk to Tom, who's calling from Canyonville, Oregon. I've been there before. Welcome, Tom. You're on the air with Bible Answers Live.
Tom: Yes, hello. I have a question for you. I got quite a few different pastors on line, on this radio but they are from Maryland. But they seem to think that after you die, [inaudible 00:19:06] when you go to hell, you're incinerated, in a way, you kind of go back to where you were before you were born, I guess, awareness [inaudible 00:19:14]
Doug Batchelor: Now, Tom, do you know John 3:16?
Tom: "For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only son."
Doug Batchelor: Keep going.
Tom: "That whoever believes in him should -- everlasting life and not perish."
Doug Batchelor: Right, okay. Not perish but you're close enough. Not perish but "have everlasting life." We're faced with two options, right? Believe, everlasting life, not believe, perish. The Bible tells us that Jesus came and died to take our penalty. The penalty for sin, Paul says, “The wages of sin” is what?
Tom: Death.
Doug Batchelor: Death. It doesn't say the wages for sin is eternal torment for gazillions of years unending in flames. Now, I believe the Bible does teach there's a lake of fire that wicked are cast into lake of fire and Jesus says, every man is punished according to what he deserves. But then, you read in Malachi, the days coming that all the wicked will be burned up, it'll leave them neither root nor branch. See, in the very beginning, God told Adam, in the day you sin, you’ll die. The penalty for sin is death. The devil though has taken some medieval teachings that people have an immortal soul. I asked pastors all the time, show me the verse, Bible is a big book, it must be there somewhere, show me the verse that says we have an immortal soul and it's not there, but there is a verse that says, “God and God only has immortality,” and I believe Jesus is immortal and there are maybe unfallen angels that are immortal but meaning the people on this earth, we don't have immortality. Immortality is given when Christ comes.
It says, when Jesus comes then this mortal will put on immortality. God, of course, our bodies get old and die, now we all know that. Immortality is a gift to those who believe the wicked will be raised and they will be judged and the Bible says in Revelation 20, “They are cast into the lake of fire.” It says, “This is the second death. It's the death from which there is no resurrection. Everyone is punished according to what they deserve. Sorry, go ahead.
Tom: What about Luke 16, The Rich Man and Lazarus, they both die and the rich man wakes up in torment pieces?
Doug Batchelor: Well I'm glad you mentioned that, let's talk about it for a moment. In the parable, and this is my point, is it's a parable, only mentioned in the Gospel of Luke, and he talks about this man, a rich man, he doesn't care much about, he feasts every day and then this poor beggar, named Lazarus is at his gate who just is starving and the dogs lick his sores. They both die, except there's a great reversal. Lazarus who represents the Gentiles, he's an Abraham's bosom where every Jew wanted to be. The rich man who was a symbol for the Jewish nation that had the treasure of truth they were feasting on, he is suddenly in the Greek place of torment. Jesus is using some irony here, He's got this -- that the poor Gentiles who are starving for the crumbs are truth, they're in Abraham's bosom, which is a metaphor for the saved of the Jews. The rich Jewish man who didn't share the gospel with the hungry, he suddenly in the Greek place of torment which is called Hades, that's the word that's used.
It's clearly a parable because the rich man is talking to Abraham, and I don't think anyone believes that the people in heaven are going to be able to talk to the people burning in hell, that be terrible. Furthermore, he says, “Send him with one drop of water to cool my tongue.” Do we really believe everybody that dies goes to Abraham's bosom or is that a symbol? This is a parable, really does nothing to do with the state of man and death, it's talking about if we don't share the truth with those who are hungering for the crumbs that fall from our table, we may discover in the judgment, there in the place of salvation and we're on the outside.
Tom: Okay. But I was talking about this [inaudible 00:23:24] chaplain here not too long ago. He said, it is not a parable because every other parable in the Bible, it precedes that this is a parable. In this particular occasion, that doesn’t precede the story that Jesus is telling. All the other parables, nobody is named but in this particular parable, Lazarus is named, and he said, “This is not a parable.”
Doug Batchelor: I've heard that point made before and I would just respectfully disagree. Lazarus was as common a name as you could have in the Greek countries back then. It was the equivalent of John. I’ve told many illustrations where I say, “Little Johnny told his mother.” It's not uncommon to take a general name like that, it was a very common name, is several Lazaruses in the Bible. But please, let me send you something, Tom, I hope you'll let me do it. There is a study guide I’d like to send you, it's got all the scriptures on it and it's called The Rich Man and Lazarus. It'll explain that parable, it'll explain what the Bible teaches about that. What I'm teaching is not anything new this is what Christians used to believe before there's sort of this medieval concept that the soul is going to burn forever and ever and ever and ever, you just think about that.
Think about some teenager who dies last, he's only lived 13 years but he dies beyond the age of accountability. He's going to burn as long as Adolf Hitler, in some cases longer, the way that it's taught -- can we comprehend eternity, a person writhing in flames. A billion zillion years go by, no relief, and they've only begun for the sins of one brief lifetime inconceivable, it's just not what the Bible teaches either. The Bible says in the new earth that there is no more pain, sorrow, death, no more crying, old things are passed away, all things are made new. Please take a look at that Tom if you get a chance, it's called The Rich Man and Lazarus, anybody out there, if you like to study the subject and understand it better, go there. Line is open and want to thank you for your call, Tom. I'm going to talk next to Jerry, we've got about two minutes before the break, Jerry, you're on the air.
Jerry: What does the Bible say about people that refuse to pay money back and they’ve stolen it from an estate?
Doug Batchelor: Just restrict that to people maybe who had stolen money from an estate but if someone steals, whenever a person steals, it's a sin. Don't bear false witness. Now, if a person is convicted, if they've been stealing and they're convicted by the Holy Spirit, shouldn’t have done that. As far as possible, they need to right the wrongs they can.
The Book of Ezekiel talks about that if the sinner repents of his way and turns and restores the pledge, and if you are a pagan and you borrow your neighbor's lawn mower or weed eater and you just never return it. After you come to the Lord, you can't just say, “Lord, forgive me for stealing my neighbor's shovel.” You need to take the shovel back. Bible says, we're going to give an account to God for every idle word that we've spoken, and so we're going to be giving an account for every unfaithful thing that we've done. If we walk away from the cash register and we take more change than we're due, and we don't turn around go back and say, “Hey, look, I'm a Christian and you gave me a little too much, here it is.”
God will always bless us for our honesty. Now, I used to be a thief before I was a Christian and I broke into houses and stole at night. I was doing burglaries, stealing cars, and there's no way I can go back and pay that back. I don’t even know who the people are, I could never find them again. In cases like that where you can't turn around and right those wrongs, you just have to say, “Lord, please forgive me.” But in the cases where we can right the wrongs that we've done to another through apology or through recompense, that's part of what it means to be converted, is try to set things right.
Thank you very much for your question, Jerry, and you would enjoy our study guide dealing with the law of God, if you want that, call 800-835-6747. I’ve got a whole sermon on stealing, and that commandment at the amazing facts website, amazingfacts.org coming back.
[COMMERCIAL BREAK]
Doug Batchelor: Welcome back, listening friends. This is Bible Answers Live. As you can tell, it's a live program. We do have phones open. If you'd like to call in with your Bible question, the number to the studio is 800-GOD-SAYS, 800-463-7297. I am Doug Batchelor. Pastor Jean Ross is on vacation tonight, but with the help of our studio team, we're going to do our best to man the phones. Let's see, we don't want to waste any more time. We're going to go right back to the phones and Dee is next. Dee calling from Sacramento, California. You're on the air with Bible Answers Live.
Dee: Hi, Pastor Doug.
Doug Batchelor: Hi.
Dee: Can you hear me?
Doug Batchelor: Sure. Loud and clear.
Dee: Okay. Good. I am calling because I have been reading in Mathew-- I'm just going to give you the scriptures, then ask the question real quick. Mathew 24:9-13, and then 20-23, and then Revelation 13:15-17. It talks about the last days and the times of trouble and what will happen to God's people. Based on those scriptures, I'm not seeing how God will actually take care of us. I'm wondering if you can point me to some scripture references that show that God will provide for his people during the last days in the time of trouble, and that he'll take care of us because it looks to me what I read that that's not going to happen. [chuckles]
Doug Batchelor: Well, I need to give you a balanced answer on this. There is a time in the future when Jesus said, "There's a great time of trouble such as there never has been." Christ is actually quoting from Daniel 12, when it says that, "That time, Michael will stand up," this is verse 1. "The great Prince that stands for the children of thy people and there will be a time of trouble such as there never has been since there was a nation even until the same time." Then again, Christ repeats that in Mathew 24, that there was a time of great trouble.
That doesn't mean that he doesn't protect his people. He's not going to allow his people to be annihilated but I've got to be careful not to say that Christians don't ever suffer. There are Christians suffering in the world today. In the Middle East and North Africa, there's still terrible prosecutions. Some are losing their lives for their faith. I don't think we need to worry because Christ says, "Be anxious for nothing." He doesn't want us to fear. During the greatest time of trouble, time of trouble seems to be divided in two parts. First, there's going to make a law, you can't buy or sell, then ultimately, there'll be a death decree. When the plagues begin to fall, God is going to then supernaturally protect all of his people.
You find that when the children of Israel were in Egypt, they were in Egypt, but even when the plagues were falling, 10 plagues fell, they were preserved during the time of the plagues and delivered out of it. We will be preserved in the last days when the great time of trouble comes and delivered out of it. Just as He preserved Noah through the flood and He preserved Daniel in the lion’s den, and Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the fiery furnace, he's going to preserve his people in the last days. You don't need to live in fear.
Paul says, "All that lived Godly will suffer persecution." That's not just true of the last days, but from the time when Abel killed his brother back in the Garden of Eden, all the way through history, believers have experienced variant forms of trials and prosecution, Job. Job suffered terribly, but it didn't last long. God blessed him 99% of his life and there was that 1% where for several weeks, maybe a month, he suffered terribly. Don't despair. Don't be concerned, Dee, that about the time of trouble ahead, are you worried about it?
Dee: Yes, I am. [chuckles]
Doug Batchelor: All right. Let me tell you, Jesus said, "Fear not." A matter of fact, Dwight Moody went through the Bible once and he counted all the times that God said, “Don't be afraid.” I've not done it to check, but I believe him. He said there's 365 fear nots in the Bible. That's one for every day of the year. Bible said, "Perfect peace God is offering us. Great peace have they that love thy law, nothing will offend them." Jesus said, "Peace, be still." There's so much in the Bible where God is saying, "Don't worry. Freight not." He doesn't want you to fear. Even in Psalm 91, when he talks about the time of trouble or the plagues, it says, “A thousand may fall at your side, 10,000 at your right hand, but it will not come near you. Only with your eyes will you see and behold the destruction of the wicked.” Don't be afraid dear.
I do have a book on the Second Coming. Saint Jude's talking about the tribulation as well as the Second Coming. I think you'll find some comfort there. Call 800-835-6747, ask for the book called Anything But Secret. It's explaining that when the Lord comes, it will not be a secret. We'll send that to you for free. Thank you for your call, Dee.
With that, we're going to be talking next to Jason, who's calling from Albuquerque, New Mexico. Welcome Jason, you're on the air.
Jason: My Bible question is [inaudible 00:35:55]
Doug Batchelor: Jason, I can barely hear you. I don't know if there's anything you can do to get closer to your phone or maybe you're on speaker.
Jason: Is that better?
Doug Batchelor: That is better.
Jason: Okay. In the Bible, it talks about how women are supposed to be [unintelligible 00:36:12] I'm a firm believer that [inaudible 00:36:14] anybody of [inaudible 00:36:17] I was just wondering what the Bible says on that.
Doug Batchelor: All right. What does the Bible say about? It talks about women speaking. Paul says, "I suffer not a woman to speak or to teach." Does that mean a woman should never speak or teach in a church? First of all, I think we all know that God has inspired both men and women in ministry to teach to do various forms of ministry. The place where I see the Bible making a clear line of distinction is, it's clear to me from the Old and the New Testament, that men were called to be “The Servant Leaders in their family.” They were to be the protectors.
It's not as common today because we live in such a technological age, but for the other 5,900 years of human history, people often lived in an agricultural society and the advantage of the strength of men, they were depended upon for helping to sustain, supply, protect, provide for their families, and they were to be their spiritual leaders. You do find examples of women in the Bible teaching and preaching the word. Bible says that, "He'll pull out his spirit on men and women." At the Pentecost, in the Old Testament, men and women served in the capacity of prophet. Miriam was a prophetess, you have Huldah and others. Where you don't see any change is only the men served in the capacity of priest, pastor, apostle in the Bible. I don't see a woman ever being ordained as a king by God. He only had the men offer sacrifice, only the men served as priests, apostles, pastors.
I think that as men were to be the priest leaders in the family, men were to be the priest leaders in the church because the church is really a collection of families. It's an extension of that same principle. Does that make sense, Jason? Can you still hear me?
Jason: Yes, it sort of.
Doug Batchelor: I have a book I wrote on that because we get that question frequently, and it's called Women in Ministry. I think everyone will find it, it's balanced and biblical. Women in Ministry, call that resource number. It's 800-835-6747. If you have a Bible question, call us at 800-463-7297. A couple of lines still open. I appreciate your call.
Talking next to Rose, who's calling from San Francisco, California. Rose, you're on the air with Bible Answers Live.
Rose: Hello, thank you.
Doug Batchelor: I appreciate your call.
Rose: Could you please explain the parable, “Don't draw pearls before it swines.”
Doug Batchelor: Yes, Jesus says, "Do not give that which is holy to the dogs and do not cast your pearls before swine." He says that a couple of ways in the Gospel. The Bible talks about the pig that was washed, returns to wallowing in the mire. You've probably heard someone use the expression before, "You can't make a silk purse from a sow’s ear." [laughs]
Rose: Yes.
Doug Batchelor: You've heard the expression, "You can put lipstick on a pig, but it's still a pig." [chuckles] There's all kinds of expressions about that. There's one in the Bible that says, "A beautiful woman without discretion is like a jewel of gold in a pig's snout." Pigs were unclean animals. Jesus is talking about, when you give your time to a person who does not have any incline towards following God or the Holy Spirit in their life, but they want your attention all the time. Your life is made of time. That is your pearl, that is your goal. That's what's Holy. When you're constantly giving your time and attention to people who are like a black hole that they want lots of time and attention, but they really are never going to give their heart to Jesus. They just like the attention. You are casting your pearls before swine.
I know it sounds terrible to ever say you would put anybody in that category. It even makes me feel bad to say it, but Jesus is clearly talking about when he was talking to the Scribes and the Pharisees, he kept asking questions, not because they wanted to know the truth, but most of them were asking questions to try to trick him. He said, "You spend a lot of time arguing with people that don't have an appreciation for the truth. They're just arguing because they want a debate. You are giving that which is holy to the dogs. You are casting your pearls before those who want to remain unclean."
Christ was saying, don't waste your time with people that just want to argue and debate or they don't want to follow God and they're just soaking up your time. Time is precious. Give your time to people that are really hungry. Put your seed in soil that is going to grow. Don't cast it on the thorny ground or on the stones. Does that make sense Rose?
Rose: It absolutely does. I almost had it half right. [laughs]
Doug Batchelor: You probably were closer than you think.
Rose: I think so, and I appreciate it. Thank you.
Doug Batchelor: All right. Thanks so much. I appreciate your call. With that, we're going to talk next to Robert, who's calling from College Place, Washington. Thank you for your patience, Robert. You're on the air?
Robert: Yes. I was calling to ask you, and I understand that the law of God and the law of Moses are different, but I was wondering about Malachi 4:4 that poses a question to me, which is, "Remember the Law of Moses my servant, which I commanded him in Horeb for all Israel." It's sounding like the Law of Moses is the Ten Commandments here.
Doug Batchelor: It certainly includes that, but when he says the Law of Moses, he gave the Law of Moses, he gave the law, the Ten Commandments, to Moses, but if you read there, in Exodus, it says, "God spoke all these words saying." God wrote the commandments of the Ten Commandments with His own hand. Moses didn't think up or dream up any of the law. All the law that Moses wrote was inspired. Now, they were different categories of law, they were civil laws, he gave them because they were a new nation. They needed civil laws and judicial laws. Much of the judicial law in America is based on the principles of what we call the Mosaic law, but the Law of Moses came from God.
You've got health laws. These are practical sanitation laws and even dietary restriction laws that are still good today. There were certain law that were meant for a theocracy when God was among the people. We obviously don't stone someone now for adultery, we don't pluck out a person's eye if they poke out someone else's eye. When they lived under a theocracy with God in their presence, they had some pretty strict laws for those violations. The Ten Commandments, of course, written in stone, is eternal. The health laws are eternal. Civil laws are very practical, but they're carried out by the governments, so you need to go by that. Even the church law comes from the Law of Moses about delegating and spreading out responsibility among representatives. That was given by Jethro to Moses and passed on. Now, I don’t know, is that making sense so far? You there, Robert?
Robert: It's sort of, but it's saying that, "Remember the Law of Moses to remember." It's sounding like the Ten Commandments, of Law of Moses like they're the same thing.
Doug Batchelor: If you look in Deuteronomy 4, where it talks about God giving his covenant, the Ten Commandments, that he wrote. Then it says, "And at that time, I gave unto Moses other statutes and judgments." God does make a distinction between the Ten Commandments and some of the other statutes and judgments because he gave everything to Moses on Mount Sinai. That's where he communed with him during that nearly a year that they were camped there. Just because it mentions Mount Sinai, it doesn't mean that it's all the Ten Commandments, but God spoke the Ten Commandments with his voice, he wrote them with his finger, he wrote them on different materials. He spoke them differently, wrote them differently, wrote them on something different, put it in a different place. It was in the middle of the Ark, in the middle of the Temple. It was the holiest part of the nation. It was in the holy of holies, the inner sanctum of the sanctuary, Ten Commandments.
The ceremonial laws and the other laws were written on paper by the hand of Moses, not spoken by God's voice and they were put in the pocket on the outside of the Ark. God made a pretty big distinction between the value of these two laws. In one point, Jesus, someone says, "Good master, what shall I do that I might have eternal life?" Christ said, "Thou knowest the commandments." He said, "Which ones?" Jesus began to recite the Ten Commandments. There's a distinction there. Hey Robert, I've got a book called Written in Stone. It's a study guide. I'll send you a free copy. 800-835-6747. You or anyone listening, and friends, we did this by faith and Amazing Facts, we send out these lessons and by the grace of God, people like you listen and say, "I just appreciate that program. They're just sending out Bible material." If you want to send something to keep us doing it, we are grateful, but we'll send that out to you free. It's called Written in Stone and we appreciate your question Robert. I'm going to go to another call though and talk to Larry who is calling from Weldon, North Carolina. Larry, you're on the air with Bible Answers Live. Are you there?
Larry: Yes. It's Valdese, North Carolina?
Doug Batchelor: Yes, that's you.
Larry: This is comment question, I guess. In Daniel 6, about the wise men, the astrologers, about them and their families being thrown into the lion’s den. You might have mentioned this. Since this [unintelligible 00:46:36] those are the ones that made eunuch out Daniel and as it destroyed his posterity and their posterity was destroyed. I just didn’t heard anybody mentioning that in long, long time and I didn't know who I heard it from. I don’t even know if I actually [unintelligible 00:46:48]. [laughs]
Doug Batchelor: I've never thought of that. It is an interesting thought. Let me just add something. When Daniel was made a eunuch, he was probably 17 years old and you're right, they took away his posterity. That had been foretold by Isaiah the prophet to Hezekiah. He said, "The king of Babylon will take of your seed and will make them eunuchs in the palace." That exactly happened with Daniel and his friends, but Daniel in the lion’s den, happens after the Babylonian kingdom fell to the Persians. Nearly 70 years have gone by, Daniel is 87 years old. When their posterity is taken away, he probably had outlived most of the people that made him eunuchs, but still, it's an interesting symbol that at the beginning of the Book of Daniel, they take away his posterity, but near the end of the Book of Daniel, the king's advisers lose their posterity. Very interesting.
Larry: I had missed that, I have to make a note of it.
Doug Batchelor: Yes, I had never thought of that before. I appreciate that insight, Larry. God bless. I'm going next to talk to Christian, listening from Ann Arbor, Michigan. Christian, you're on the air with Bible Answers Live.
Christian: Thank you for taking my call. I have a two-part question because I need to make sure my understanding is correct before I can ask my question. I read when Satan would take Jesus up on the mountain and offered him essentially the world if he would bow down to him when he showed him all the kingdoms. I read that Satan is the prince of the power of the air of God, the [unintelligible 00:48:30] god of this earth and that we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities. Is Satan's work in this world, does he have that power that he offered Jesus? Does he have that power to give command? Does Satan produce himself to men and offer men--
Doug Batchelor: Treasures and fame?
Christian: Right. For power and wealthy stuff. The reason I asked this is because I noticed a lot of--
Doug Batchelor: Did I lose you? Are you still there?
Christian: Was I cutting out?
Doug Batchelor: You cut out for just a second, you said, I notice a lot, go ahead.
Christian: When I go to movies and just in media and stuff, I hear a lot and I see a lot of Bible stuff just taken is such an evil way and movies that shouldn't have be in like Marvel movies and even some animated movies. Most people don't even notice this because there's a lot of people who don't really study the Bible. [chuckles] Just the mass people, but I see so much evil inside movies. I mean watch X-Men and it's just like a Marvel movie, but it’s still the such--
Doug Batchelor: They're often making fun of the scriptures and biblical principles, right?
Christian: Right, but it's said in such a way that most people don't even pick up on it like that--
Doug: Are you wondering if Satan is somehow -- people have sold their souls to Him in exchange for them being his agents or is that what you’re thinking?
Christian: What I’m asking is that true, is it like an evil power at work in people who work in--
Doug: Yes, absolutely. You can see it very vividly in the media, it doesn't mean everybody in the media does this, there’s probably still some good and godly people out there but most of the media scoffs at the Bible, they say these evil innuendos, they misquote things, they mock the teachings of Jesus, they'll exalt almost everything but it's almost like they're always exalting this darker power. Yes, I think that as a practice, I don't go to movies, you still manage to see enough of that stuff just even on news commercials but yes, there's a lot of evil out there and some people have maybe not consciously sold their souls to the devil but a lot of folks in the music industry, listen to the lyrics of their songs and they're diabolical. Yes, you're not missing it, Christian, would you let me send you a book, I've got a book that talks about -- I’ll send you a free copy, the origin of evil and it's called Did God Create A Devil? If you call our resource number 800-835-6747, we'll be happy to send you a free copy of that. Appreciate that. Then, we're going to talk next to Christopher who's calling from Bronx, New York. Thank you for waiting, Christopher, you're on the air.
Christopher: Yes, I’ve got a verse about the soul being immortal, Matthew 10:28.
Doug: Yes, where it says, “Fear not them that destroy the body but they can't destroy the soul, rather fear Him who can destroy soul and body.”
Christopher: It just says kills the body, I’m reading from the King James version, but not able to kill the soul.
Doug: Yes, well that means a person, Jesus said, “Don't be afraid of him who can kill your body but he can't kill your soul,” and I agree with that. There's all kinds of people out there, they might torture a believer but they can't take away their salvation, can they?
Christopher: The soul, what about the soul of a wicked person? What’s the difference between the soul and a soul of the righteous?
Doug: Notice what Jesus says, your verse actually agrees with me. The second part of it says, fear him, that's God, who is able to destroy soul and body in hell, so what happens to the soul in hell?
Christopher: That’s not an alienation because if this is an alienation what’s the whole purpose of Christ dying [unintelligible 00:52:56]?-
Doug: I’m asking you to help me out with this first here when it says fear him that's God right, who is able to destroy soul and body in hell, the Bible says in Ezekiel-
Christopher: It’s not an annihilation because if this annihilation, what’s the whole purpose of Christ dying? [crosstalk]
Doug: I'm asking you to help me out with this verse here, when it says, “Fear Him,” that’s God, right? Who is able to destroy soul and body in hell.
Christopher: Right. I answer that, it’s not an annihilation.
Doug: Do you mean annihilation?
Christopher: It's not annihilation.
Doug Batchelor: Do you believe that people burn through endless ages for the sins of one lifetime?
Christopher: God is eternal, their sins against God, so God is infinite. When you sin against God, your sin is infinite. Just one sin destroys you, just one sin -- the Bible says that whoever [unintelligible 00:53:40] and sin at one point is guilty of all. [crosstalk]
Doug: The 13-year-old, just stay with me here, the 13-year-old Aborigine in Australia been out there in the outback and worked with some the original Aborigine, 13-year-old boy he dies from a suicide. You believe that he will burn a million years go by, constant fire, a billion years go by, constant fire, for the sins of 13 years? He was made by God, he never learned about Jesus and that, if the Bible says, Christ said, I'm going to reward everyone according to what he deserves, and there are varying rewards, Jesus said, He that knew his master's will and didn't do it, is beaten with many stripes. He that did not know is beaten with few, there are varying degrees of rewards. I find that the Bible says that the penalty for sin is death. The everlasting punishment that it talks about in the Bible means the punishment that the sentence is eternal, there is no second chance, it is a second death, there is no relief, it will last forever, they are gone forever. It doesn't mean they burn forever and ever and ever, that is the creepiest thing in the world that used to make me hate God before I learned what the Bible really said.
Christopher: What’s the whole purpose of Jesus dying, if you commit sin all your life and when they judge, you’re just going to burn out, what’s the whole process of--
Doug: Wait a second now, Jesus died to save us from perishing, right?
Christopher: Right.
Doug: You and I agree that praise the Lord, He's giving the sinners a chance to live and not die. I don't even want to go to the lake of fire and suffer however long it is, see, we believe there's a lake of fire but it's not going to burn forever and ever. People are cast in the Lake of Fire, Revelation 20, this is the second death and the Bible says, all the wicked will be consumed, it will leave them neither root nor branch, that's Malachi 4. Please, if this makes any sense to you at all, Christopher, don't go with what people have been telling you all your life, read it for yourself, lots of verses, I'll send you a study guide, Is The Devil In Charge Of Hell?
Anyone out there, if you want to understand this subject better and people say, Pastor Doug, you don't believe in hell? Yes, I do. Actually, my hell is hotter than some people’s hell because my hell burns them up. The Bible says, they will be burnt up, they will be consumed, it says, they'll be devoured, never will thou be any more. The language is so clear, there's a few verses that are difficult but the whole scale seems to get tipped in favor of a few difficult verses and they ignore all the other verses that make it very clear, two choices, life and death, believe, live, do not believe, perish.
All right, friends, we are out of time and by the way that book is called Is The Devil In Charge Of Hell? The phone number 800-835-6747, and please keep us on the air during Thanksgiving, I hope you're thankful for this program, you've heard us ask, I'd love to have you go to the phone, do something or go to the internet amazingfacts.org and click donate. God bless you, appreciate. Those who call in, didn't get your call, we'll do it again next week. Thank you.
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