Doug: Hello listening friends. Would you like to hear an amazing fact? The volcanic eruption of Mount Tambora in Indonesia April 10, 1815, became the largest explosion in recorded history. The extraordinary blast spewed an estimated 36 cubic miles of material way up into the atmosphere. By comparison, Mount St. Helens was only one quarter of a cubic mile. So much debris and ash were blown up into the atmosphere with Mount Tambora, that it obscured the sun in 1816, causing a volcanic winter in the Northern Hemisphere and worldwide harvest failures.
The climate was so dramatically affected by the eruption, that 1816 became known as the year without a summer. During the year following the volcanic explosion, the sun was often darkened by ash during the day, and the moon sometimes appeared blood red at night. Did you know the Bible says similar events will occur in the last days? Stay with us friends, we're going to learn more as Amazing Facts brings you this edition of Bible Answers Live?
Speaker 2: You're listening to Bible Answers Live, honest answers to your Bible questions. This broadcast is a previously recorded episode. To receive any of the Bible resources mentioned in this evening's program, call 800-835-6747. Once again, that's 800-835-6747. Now, let's join our host, Pastor Doug Batchelor and our co-host, Pastor John Ross.
Doug: Welcome listening friends to Bible Answers Live. We're so thankful that you are tuning in. If you like to call in with a Bible question, that's why we're here, it is of course a free phone call. If you call the number 800-GOD-SAYS, that translates to, 800-463-7297. Maybe you weren't ready, so let me give it to you again. 800-GOD-SAYS, 800-463-7297, we'll bring your question into our studio. We have several lines open. Pick up the phone now. Give us a call. We don't claim to have all the answers, but we'll do our best, search the Word together, and answer your Bible questions. My name is Doug Batchelor.
John: My name is John Ross. Good evening listening friends. Pastor Doug, before we get to our Bible questions, let's start with prayer. Dear Father, we thank you that we have this opportunity once again to open up your Word and study together. We want to ask in a special way that you just guard our hearts and our minds, be with those who are listening Lord, and lead us into a clear understanding of the Bible. For we ask this in Jesus name, amen.
Well, Pastor Doug, you opened the program by talking about this volcano eruption back in the 1800s. The results of that, it's interesting, you should mention that, I'm actually looking at a news website, I have it pulled up here on my computer and the headline is a Bali volcano highest alert. They evacuated 10,000 people and they're anticipating an imminent eruption, so kind of interesting. Volcanoes and earthquakes and all kinds of weather.
Doug: Sounds a little bit like the last days. It's interesting that yesterday, there was another group that was predicting that the world was going to end on September 24th. Of course, I'm glad we're here because I have some people that aren't ready yet. It'd be wonderful to have Jesus come, but this isn't the first time people have given a false alarm. It is what's the word for it? It diminishes people's confidence in Christianity when groups come around every now and then and they say the world's ending, they've picked the date for the Second Coming even though Jesus said over and over, "Of that day and hour, no one knows."
I probably ought to say that one of these groups took an Amazing Facts video, it had millions of views, and they used our video of Revelation to promote a date for the Second Coming. Of course, we had nothing to do with that, but it was unfortunate that they just captured our video and used it, because it's a good video. By the way, if you do want to know what our video really says, it's simply called, The Bride, The Beast and Babylon. I think you can watch it on YouTube probably here.
John: Might be divided up into different parts, but, yes, you can see it right there on YouTube.
Doug: Anyway, when I mentioned that about the volcano, there's a statement that's found or maybe half a dozen times in the Bible about the sun being dark and sometimes it says the sun being dark and then the moon being dark. Sometimes it says the sun being dark and then the moon turning to blood, such as Joel 2:31, "The sun will be dark, turned to darkness and the moon into blood before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord."
You can read again in Revelation 6:12, "When He opened the sixth seal, I look and behold, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth and the full moon became like blood." Now, this was often something that was synonymous when they had terrible wars and disasters and the sky was filled with smoke. The sun was dark and at night when the moon came up, the moonlight going through the smoke gave it a blood red look. People have probably seen that in a forest fire before.
These things have kind of happened historically, but I think you're going to see them happening in quick succession before the end of time. Now, while there are groups out there that are saying Jesus is coming, and they found the day and the hour, no one knows the day and the hour. Christ did tell us we can know when the time was near. With volcanoes, and it seems like one hurricane after another and the earthquakes in Mexico, it's almost like labor pains. Paul talks about the whole planet is groaning and waiting to be delivered like a woman who's having a baby.
When the labor pains get closer together and more intense, soon a baby's coming. It's almost like as we near the last days, you see these natural disasters and the turmoil, the problems, the wars and rumors of wars. I do think the Lord's coming soon, and that's why we've got to be ready. We might have a lot of people that would like to know more about, "How do I get ready for the Lord's coming, and do you have any information on that?" We have a special book that I think will pique your interest.
John: The book is titled,The Last Night on Earth. That's going to be the free offer for this evening. If you'd like to learn more about the signs related to the Second Coming of Jesus, where are we in this great line of history, we'll be happy to send this book to anybody who calls and asks. The book again is called The Last Night on Earth. The number to call is 800-835-6747. You can ask for the book called The Last Night on Earth. For those outside of North America, we have, Pastor Doug, some folks listening from literally around the world.
I was over in New Zealand not long ago, and there were folks saying well, "We hear your program there." Must be the middle of the night, I'm not sure. For those outside of North America, you can actually read this book also online. Just go to the Amazing Facts website, you can type in The Last Night on Earth and you can read the book right there. Friends, if you have a Bible question, our phone line here to the studio is 800-463-7297. Number again is 800-463-7297, with your Bible question. With that, I think we're ready to go to our first caller for this evening. We have E. Frank. Let's see if we can get him here.
John: How are you, Frank? Welcome to the program.
Frank: Yes, good evening, Pastor Doug and good evening, Pastor Ross. I have a question for you. It's very important that I address this issue because it has to do with angels. In my local church, there's been an icon since the 19th century, since 1841, indicating the type of angels that protect a certain confine within a town or a county. I had the three angels, one called the Angel of the Nativity, the Angel of the Visitation, and the Angel of the Descent of the Holy Spirit.
Now, I want to ask you this question, it's very important. I don't believe too much in angelic forces having complete influence over our daily lives, only in certain circumstances, but I've read through Scripture and I have never found where angels actually protect the opinions or they protect the lives of people on earth. I don't know if you can address the issue about territorial angels that protect cities, modern cities like New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago.
Because I've seen so much war and destruction in 40 or 50 years that I've come to a conclusion that there must be some sort of issue regarding Heaven and Earth and angels on earth protecting the end of time. It should be found in the book of Revelation.
Doug: Well, let me jump in here. That's a great question about angels. I realized that there are some people that they say there's certain angels and they've named the angels and they're assigning them to certain cities. It's interesting, even Southern California, you got a city called Los Angeles, and it means the angels. There
Doug: are scriptures that talk about angels protecting. You can read in Psalms 91, is that right, Pastor Ross? He'll give his angels charge over you to keep you in all your ways. As a matter of fact, the devil even quoted that once to Jesus and then it tells us the angel of the Lord encamps around about those that serve him and protect them. When the children of Israel went through the wilderness, God said "I'll send my angel before you." There are angels that you find through the Bible that guide and that protect. Jesus speaking of the children, he said "They're angels. Do behold the face of my Father which is in heaven."
I think there's a lot of scriptures that talk about that. I actually did a couple of sermons on angels in the Bible. You can probably listen to them for free-- no it's free. At Amazing Facts, you can search Doug Batchelor sermons angles and it will show you those messages on angels. Then, I can't do all the scriptures just right here at my fingertips, but there's a lot in the Bible. I don't agree when people say there's an angel assigned to this football team or the different saints and angels that are assigned to different things. We don't know. Biblically, there are angels that guard people, there are evil angels that tempt.
The Bible talks about Satan and his angels are going to go to the lake of fire. When Satan rebelled, he was the chief of the angels. At one point, he rebelled, he took about a third of the angels with him according to Revelation, and so I think Frank would really enjoy our study on actually the Devil talk about angels too, doesn't it.
John: It's called Did God Create the Devil and we'll be happy to send that to you. If Frank or anybody who calls and asks, the number is 800-835-6747. Again, you can ask for that study guide called Did God Create the Devil. It talks a little bit about the history of Lucifer, we read about it in the Bible and his fall and how that he has angels working with him, and then also talks about the good angels, so a great study. Again, that number is 800-835-6747. That's our resource phone line. If you have a Bible question, the phone line here to the studio is 800-463-7297. Our next caller then is, we have Renee, and Renee, welcome to the program.
Renee: Hi, how you doing? God bless you Pastor Doug and Pastor Ross, how you doing tonight?
Doug: Great, thanks for calling. Get real close to your phone.
Renee: Okay, do you hear me better?
Doug: A little bit, it's still fuzzy, but anyway your question.
Renee: I just wanted to say speaking of those angels, there was Elijah, wasn't it Elijah who the angels who were protecting around the mountain?
Doug: Yes, it was actually Elisha. He asked that the Lord would open the eyes of his servant and it said he saw horses and chariots of fire surrounding the little town of Dothan. That's in the Second Book of Kings. Yes, so there's no question, and angels appear to Elijah also and fed him when he was running through the wilderness. There's angels many, many times in the Bible.
Renee: Okay. My question is concerning the death and burial of Jesus and the resurrection. I've been listening to your message quite a bit and you say that he died on-- he was buried on Friday?
Doug: Yes, well the Bible tells us that it was the preparation day and the Jewish preparation day is Friday.
Renee: Okay. That's he was buried on Friday, but does that count for the three days and three nights?
Doug: The three days and three nights don't begin Friday. The three days and three nights are talking about the time not that he's in the tomb. It's talking about the time he's in the heart of the earth and that means when he began to bare the sins of the people and that was in the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus said "Now is the hour of darkness." You've got Thursday night, Friday night, Saturday night. He was paying for the sins of the world in the heart of the earth. People have often thought it meant that very time he was in the tomb.
It's not talking about that. It's talking about the time he was paying the penalty for sin and that began in the garden when he was finally arrested, the Devil tortured him just like the whale put Jonah through a lot of suffering.
John: You know the verse you're talking about there, Luke 23:54. As a matter of fact, you can read verse 53, let me read it. It says, "And they took it down," speaking of Christ's body, "wrapped it in linen and laid it in a tomb that was hewn out of a rock where no man had laid before." Then, verse 54 says, "That day was the preparation and the Sabbath drew near." It's quite clear that it was Friday and the Sabbath was coming.
Renee: Let me ask you this, there were two sides of that week though, right? Wasn't there a weekly service which is the Saturday and there was also a Passover service, right?
Doug: You're correct and the reason that they called that Sabbath a High Sabbath is whenever the ceremonial Sabbath would overlap with the weekly Sabbath, they claimed a double blessing and they called it the High Sabbath. It's very interesting that the same week that Jesus died was one of those unique years when the Passover Sabbath lined up with the weekly Sabbath.
Renee: They were lined up? They weren't on different days of the week?
Doug: No, when that happened, they didn't call it a High Sabbath. The High Sabbath was when the two lined up together.
Renee: The reason I'm asking that is because the Scripture also says that the chief priests, they went to Pilate to get a guard for the tomb. They say that they got the guard and it was a day after Sabbath. The day after Sabbath if it is the Friday that you're speaking of would seem to be the day after the preparation day, the next day after the preparation day, it was assumed that that would be a Sabbath that Pharisees and chief priests were actually in the judgment hall of Pilate doing a service. I'm trying to see--
Doug: They're not doing a very Sabbath thing are they?
Renee: Not at all [laughs].
Doug: They're gone and they're saying that they want a guard to guard the tomb and here they made a big deal about not wanting the bodies and the cross in the Sabbath and they're preoccupied with him escaping. They couldn't rest that Sabbath. They were too worried about Jesus getting away. I know where you're going with this and don't worry about that one verse in Matthew 12 where it says three days and three nights. I think you're trying to move the crucifixion day or the preparation day. I've got a book, I'll send you a free copy because we've got to go onto another call. The book is called The Sign of Jonah and in The Sign of Jonah, it talks about the three days and three nights, Renee. I think you'll appreciate that. It'll be free.
John: One other quick verse Pastor Doug, you mentioned the High Sabbath. The verse for that is John 19:31 where it talks about the Sabbath and then it says for that Sabbath was a high day. Meaning Passover and the seventh-day Sabbath fell on the same day that week, so that's John 19:31. If you want to get the book called The Sign of Jonah, the number to call is 800-835-6747. Just ask for the book called The Sign of Jonah and we'll be happy to send it to anybody who calls and asks. Our next caller is Steven. Steven, welcome to the program.
Steven: Thank you, pastors. I had two quick questions. One, give me an example of the sin against the Holy Ghost. I've heard say many times if anyone's concerned about having committed that sin, they probably haven't done it, and the other is in Proverbs 25 where it talks about heaping coals upon there. If you could give me a little expansion on that.
Doug: Alright, first of all, the sin against the Holy Spirit, there is no one particular sin that is highlighted because the sin against the Holy Spirit or blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is really a process where you grieve away of the Holy Spirit little by little. There usually will be a final straw. An example would be King Saul grieved away the Holy Spirit, God would not speak to him. He ended up taking his own life. The final straw for Saul was he went to a witch and the Bible actually, Pastor Ross remembers the verse, was it Chronicles where it says, "And he consulted a medium," but he had grieved away the Holy Spirit and he finally instead of talking to God or waiting patiently, he went to a witch which was totally forbidden.
For Judas who grieved away the Holy Spirit, it says that he rejected repenting when Jesus washed his feet. Jesus gave him an opportunity to confess when he said, "One of you tonight is going to betray me," and Judas said, "Lord, is it I?" Then he goes out and he sells Jesus. The Bible says Satan entered him, he went out and it was night. He went out into the dark without God and so Judas, he also killed himself like King Saul, he grieved away the Holy Spirit.
It was a process that led them to that last sin. Since most of us don't know when we would push the Holy Spirit too far, it's a good idea never to push him.
John: You know the verse you're talking about is First Chronicles 10:13 where it's says that Saul consulted someone who had a familiar spirit and the Lord departed from him.
Doug: Yes. Your second question was about the coals of fire?
Steven: Yes, heap coals of fire upon their heads, yes.
Doug: When Paul actually quotes that from Proverbs and it says if your enemy is hungry, feed him. If he's thirsty, give him drink and so doing, you'll heap coals of fire on his head. What Paul is really saying there is that, they'll kind of be overcome with their shame when you're their enemy and your being so kind to them that
Doug: It is not talking about you literally being there, dumping coals on their head or more coals being poured on their head in the judgment. I think it means that their conscience will torment them that you're overcoming evil with good and they'll feel bad that they're so mean.
Steven: Yes, that's what I thought it would be. Yes.
Doug: Yes, because I don't think any Christian would want to be happy about dumping hot coals on a person's head. It's kind of a metaphor that Paul is using about their conscience.
Steven: Yes, okay.
Doug: Hey, I hope that helps a little bit and we appreciate you giving us a call. Thank you so much.
John: Our next call is Philip listening from-- Let's see, Philip, can you hear us?
Philip: Yes, I can hear fine, sure.
John: Welcome to the program.
Philip: Thank you very much. Thank you so much for taking my call. My question, sir, is this. I think that there is or was a school of evangelical thought, which held that those who were living on the earth when Israel was reconstituted would live to see the Second Advent. Is there any scriptural justifications for that way of seeing things?
Doug: Yes, I've heard that before and I'll tell you what it's based on, Philip, is there's a couple of scriptures, one in Matthew 24 where I think Jesus said, "Behold the fig tree and all its trees," I don't remember the exact words, Pastor Ross can take--
Philip: No, but it's exactly what I'm referring to.
Doug: He said, "When you see its branches yet tender and it puts forth roots you know that summer is near. So likewise when you see these things come to pass, know that it is near even at the door, this generation will not pass away." Most of the time in the Bible, a generation was 40 years. The children of Israel because of their lack of belief had to wander until that generation died off and they wandered 40 years. When Israel was established as a nation in 1947-48, many people were saying, a generation after that, Christ would come. Hal Lindsey wrote a popular book on that called The Late Great Planet Earth. Unfortunately, none of it came true.
Others have picked other times and they didn't come true as far as dates. I think we need to avoid picking dates based on the restoration of Israel.
Philip: What you refer to about the fig tree was precisely what I was thinking of, but did not know. Now I recall it. Thank you so very much.
Doug: Well, don't leave me, Philip. Are you still there? Let me tell you what that does mean. Jesus not only talked-- In Matthew 24, Jesus talks about the end of the world, but he also talks about the destruction of Jerusalem. He was telling the disciples, and he says this, in 30 AD, he said, "This generation will not pass away till these things be fulfilled." Meaning not one stone would be left on another in Jerusalem.
Philip: Unfortunately, he was right.
Doug: Exactly, 40 years later, Jerusalem was destroyed and sacked by the Romans and they turned over every stone to the temple. The prophecy was perfectly fulfilled. I don't think we should be looking for a second fulfillment in the end of time on that particular prediction. Thank you very much, Philip. Great question and I appreciate your call.
John: Next call is Rosemary listening online. Rosemary, welcome to the program.
Rosemary: Pastor Doug, will you explain why we should not call Jesus, Jesus because that name is a blasphemous name.
Doug: You say Jesus is a blasphemous name?
Rosemary: That's what the Hebrew Jews are telling us. I worship every weekend with them and they do an issue [unintelligible 00:23:42] but then they can't use the name Jesus because it's a blasphemous name.
Doug: Well, I've run into-
Rosemary: Is there any reason for that?
Doug: -they probably tell you that you supposed to call Jesus Yeshua, right?
Rosemary: Yes. Any other name, Christ is okay, savior is okay, but that name is no J in the Jewish calendar so it's a blasphemous name.
Doug: There's nothing in the Bible that says that we need to speak in Hebrew in order to address God. There are a number of words. Yes, there are a number of words that God expects us to speak and I hope you don't mind, sister, I'm bringing your phone down because there's some background noise. There's nothing in the Bible that teaches us that we need to address Jesus in Hebrew. He expected us to pray in our native language. Ever since the Tower of Babel, the languages were confounded. Jesus, the New Testament, of course, was written in Greek. Jesus is a Greek pronunciation.
There's nothing wrong with calling Jesus, Yeshua, but it's not blasphemy. There's no magic in the pronunciation of God's name, like it's a special spell that we speak and it has power in the utterance, in the inflection. God expects us to speak to him in the language we speak. When the scriptures come to us, from Aramaic to Greek to English, we say Jesus, the Spanish say, Jesus, you could say Yeshua, if you want to speak Hebrew, but I think it's wrong to tell people that if they're addressing Jesus using their native tongue, that he feels it's blasphemous and he won't answer their prayer.
God always expects us to speak in the language we understand. Sister, I've got a free book, I'll send you and it's on The Name of God. All you've got to do is call a number, we'll send it to you. If anyone wants to see my study on this, you can just go to amazingfacts.org.
John: Yes, the number to call is 800-835-6747. You can ask for the book called The Name of God and we'll be happy to send that to anybody who calls and asks or take a look at our website, amazingfacts.org and you can read the book for free online. Just type in there The Name of God and we'll be happy to-- you'll be able to find it. It's there on our free library resource. If you have a Bible question, our phone line here to the studio is 800-463-7297. Pastor Doug is probably not kind of us right now to take another call because I know we have a break coming up. [crosstalk].
Doug: Well, you said we got two minutes. Why don't we start a call if we don't finish, it will ask him to pause for us.
John: Well, how much time do you-- I wanted to talk about something else.
Doug: Oh, okay. Yes, hey, by the way, you know what time it is in New Zealand? It's 3:00 o'clock. I wanted to check, in the afternoon.
John: Oh, well, that's not so bad.
Doug: In England, it's the middle of the night right now. [laughs]
John: Well, Pastor Doug, while we wait for a break to come up here, we're going to be doing something on November 4, called Foundations of Faith. It's going to be a nine-part series. It's going to be broadcast from the East Coast. We want to tell our listening friends so that they can plan to be a part of it.
Doug: Yes, I think that most of you listening know that Amazing Facts not only does radio like this during the week, we do live program. We do a lot of TV and we're going to be doing a special program that will be broadcast on three major networks. It will be on Hope Channel, 3ABN, Amazing Facts Television, probably Facebook Live and some other venues, and we'll be coming from the Washington DC area. It's called The Foundations of Faith. We're doing this especially right on the threshold of the 500-year anniversary of the Protestant Reformation.
We'll be talking about some of the great truths of the Bible that came back to us from the Reformation and there are truths that are being overlooked and neglected. You can simply go to Amazing Facts, you'll see our ad for The Foundations of Faith program. Just go to amazingfacts.org. You hear the music, we're not leaving. We're just going to get a drink of water and catch our breath, take a break. You can call in. This line is open. Call in with your Bible questions. Be right back.
[music]
Speaker 2: Stay tuned. Bible Answers Live will return in a moment.
[music]
For over 50 years, Amazing Facts has shared the wonderful news of salvation and provided millions of Bible resources to people all over the world. We've built churches in India, proclaimed God's Word in China, and have sent free Bible studies around the globe. Today's program and free resources were made possible by our ministry partners, caring individuals like you. If you've been blessed by Amazing Facts, would you please consider partnering with us to reach others with the Bible truth?
Your financial support today will help keep programs like this on the air so the blessings you've received can be shared with others. To find out more about becoming a ministry partner, please visit our website at amazingfacts.org.
Speaker 3: Journey back through a time to the center of the universe. Discover how a perfect angel transformed into Satan, the arch villain. The birth of evil, a rebellion in heaven, a [unintelligible 00:29:06] that moved to earth. The whole the creation of a beautiful new planet, and the first humans. Witness the temptation. Discover God's amazing plan to save his children. This is a story that involves every life on earth, every life. The cosmic conflict if God is good, if God is all powerful, if God is love, then what went wrong? If you've missed any of our Amazing Facts programs, visit our website at amazingfacts.org.
There you'll find an archive of all our TV and radio programs, including Amazing Facts Presents. One location, so many possibilities, amazingfacts.org
Speaker 2: Every Bible question you have answered moves you one step closer to the fullness of God's will for your life. What are you waiting for? Get the answers you need for a fuller, richer, more confident life. You're listening to Bible Answers Live. This broadcast is a previously recorded episode. If you'd like answers to your Bible-related questions on the air, please call us next Sunday between 7 p.m. and 8 p.m Pacific time. To receive any of the Bible resources mentioned in this evening's program. Call 800-835-6747. Once again, that's 800-835-6747. Now let's join pastors Doug Batchelor and John Ross for more Bible Answers Live.
Doug: I became a Christian after being an atheist or at least an agnostic most of my life. When I became a Christian, I just had so many questions about the Bible and the truth and Christianity. I questioned everything. I just searched and searched for answers and it meant so much to me to find the answers that finally made sense. That now I find my greatest joy in helping other people find the answers that changed my life. That's why we have got this program as you like to call in with your Bible question free phone call, still have lines open, 800-463-7297 with your Bible question. One more time, are you ready? 800-463-7297. My name is Doug Batchelor.
John: My name is John Ross and we're going to go straight to the phone lines. We've got James. James, welcome to the program.
James: Good afternoon, Pastor Doug and Pastor Ross. How are you doing?
Doug: Good, fine. Thank you.
James: My question tonight is can you give me an explanation on, I don't know what book or chapter it is, but the Scripture says, "He descended to the lower parts of the earth and he led captivity captive." Could you explain that to me please?
Doug: Yes. Well, when it talks about Jesus leading captivity captive, those who were captive by the grave, of course ultimately will come forth in the resurrection. There is a special group of people that Jesus saved, he raised when he rose from the dead, there in the area around Jerusalem. I think Pastor Ross, that's like in Matthew Chapter 27, I think it is 27, where it talks about there was a great earthquake and many of the graves of them that slept in Jerusalem were opened.
John: Yes. Matthew 27:52.
Doug: You want to read it?
John: It says, speaking of the resurrection of Christ, actually the death of Christ. Let me start in verse 51. It says "Then behold the veil in the Temple was torn from top to bottom," that's when Jesus died, and the earthquake then the rock split. Then it says verse 52 "and the graves were opened and many of the bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised and coming out of their graves after his resurrection. They went to the Holy City and appeared to many.’’
Doug: When he ascended, it's understood they ascended with him and so he led captivity. Those who have been captive, he reached through his death, he saved them. They came out of their graves and he led them on to glory, and they were like a trophy or first fruit of those that will come forth in the great resurrection. Jesus says in John Chapter 6, "The last day, there'll be a great resurrection and the graves will open when the Lord descends from heaven.’’ Does that help? Go ahead, Pastor Ross.
John: The verse that Paul is referring to in Ephesians 4:8 and he's referring Christ and His ascension it says, therefore it "when he ascended up on high," speaking of Jesus, "he led captivity captive and gave gifts unto men." A number of Bible scholars believe that those who were resurrected at the time of Christ's resurrection, they accompanied him to heaven. They went with him when he returned to heaven.
Doug: He poured out the gifts of the Holy Spirit right after him. You're still there.
James: Yes I'm still here. I'm listening.
Doug: Does that make sense?
James: Yes. I had a different view on in, but yes [unintelligible 00:34:04]
Doug: Well very good. We've got a booklet that talks about the subject of the resurrection. It actually is, the one on the Second Coming, ‘’Are the Dead Really Dead?’’ Which one?
John: Well it's a good one, Are the Dead Really Dead? It talks about the resurrection in there as well. I don't know if it specifically mentions this group, but it's still a great study. It's called Are the Dead Really Dead? It's one of our classic Amazing Facts study guides. We're going to send this to anybody who calls and ask. The number is 800-835-6747. While you are on the phone and you call our resource phone line, you can ask for the study called Are the Dead Really Dead?
You might also want to ask about the free Amazing Facts Bible School. If you want to learn more about these important teachings in Scripture, ask to enroll in the free Bible school.
Doug: Brand new [unintelligible 00:34:50]
John: Lessons and you're actually filling the lesson. Send it back, we'll grade it and send you the next. So, it's just a great Bible school. Next caller is Neil. Neil, welcome to the program.
Neil: All right. My question is Trinity. The way I understand the Bible, there's one God and a lot of Christians, I'll say that, that said that like a God here, God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Ghost. Trinity is not in the Bible and I don't see how it can be because there is only one God and His Son, Jesus Christ, that is different. Then the Holy Ghost is the Spirit of God. Is that correct?
Doug: Well, let's talk about it for a moment. First of all, let's talk about the phrase. There is one God. Keep in mind in the Hebrew, when they use the word one, one doesn't always mean numerical quantity. One often meant unity. Jesus said "A man will leave his father and mother, cling to his wife. They become one flesh.’’ Jesus told the 12 apostles, there are 12 individuals, he said, "Father, I pray." This is John 17, he says "Father, I pray they may be one even as you and I are one.’’ Clearly, the New Testament says that God believed you could be one and still be several people.
John: It seems to note that in the original Hebrew, there are two different words that are used for one that we translate into English as one. There is a plural form of one which means unity of purpose, united in goal. Then there is another word used for the number one, that is just speaking of an individual or one thing. That famous verse in Deuteronomy 6:4 that it says "Hear, O Israel. The Lord thy God is one." It's interesting that the word there one in the Hebrew is in the plural form.
Doug: Elohim.
John: Which is a little different than the singular form. The Bible does suggest that you look at Genesis chapter 1, God said "Let us make man in our image."
Doug: Yes, very good. We have a book, we'll send you a free copy that deals with the subject of the Trinity. It'll help you understand that you can have one God who is one in purpose that is still separate. The baptism of Jesus, you've got Christ in the water, you've got the Father in Heaven, and the Holy Spirit coming down. Bible says there are three that bear witness in heaven. Bible tells us in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth and yet you read in the Gospel of John, God made all things through Jesus. All things that were made were made by Christ. If God created everything and it says Jesus created everything, he must be at least part of God because it calls him that.
Who was it? Thomas that when he saw Jesus, he said, "My lord and my God." I think that if you study it out, read that book that we'll send you a free copy on the Trinity, you'll see it is-- The word's not in the Bible because the word Bible is not the Bible. There's nothing wrong with the word. Just the teaching is there.
John: The number to call is 800-835-6747. You can ask for the book on the Trinity called Is The Trinity Biblical? and we'll be happy to send that to anybody who calls and asks. Our next caller is, let’s see. We have Henry. Henry, welcome to the program.
Henry: How are you? Thank you for taking my call. My question is imagine you didn't sin, would we be here now too?
Doug: If Adam and Eve hadn't sinned, would we be here today? Well, I would think that the condition of the world would be a lot better. That's what you really call a hypothetical question. We certainly would not be in the same circumstances. We want to be thinking the same thoughts because the whole world and how it was populated and all the events of history would've been totally different if Adam and Eve hadn't sinned.
Would they have still had children? Yes. Would they have looked like you and me? Probably not exactly because you know God did tell them, "Go forth, be fruitful and multiply." Yes, those hypothetical questions, and then I hear a question sometimes, Henry, a person will say, "What if Adam didn't eat the apple and Eve did? Would God have made him another wife and would have just swept her away? What would have happened?" It's hard to answer those hypothetical questions. Thank you for your question, Henry
John: Our next caller is Christian. Christian, welcome to the program.
Christian: Hi. Thank you for taking my call. Some time ago, I got the tail end of you commenting on the version which Jesus declares all foods clean. I missed most of it. I would appreciate if you could repeat and elaborate on that.
Doug: Yes. Actually that is only found in the New International Version. It doesn't say in the original Hebrew, I'm sorry the Greek, that he makes all-- I think it's Mark Chapter 7, Pastor Ross. Jesus is talking with the disciples about washing hands and Jesus is telling the scribes and Pharisees, when you eat your food with unwashed hands, he said "You don't become defiled in your hearts." Because what you eat, goes in your stomach. It's purged in the digestive system and it's eliminated in the ditch. That's exactly what Jesus said. When he says purging foods, he meant your digestive system purges foods.
Some took a very liberal view of that and they said, "Well, Jesus said that all foods have been declared clean". There's nowhere in the New Testament where Jesus said all foods are declared clean. The reason you know that is you go to Acts chapter 10 and Peter has this vision of a sheet that comes down from heaven and it's full of unclean animals and God says arise and eat.
Peter says, "Not so, Lord. I have never eaten anything common and unclean." Peter protests greatly. Three times the sheet comes down. Three times, Peter says, "No, I've never eaten anything unclean." Three and a half years after the crucifixion is when Peter has this vision. He's never eaten anything unclean. They certainly did not get the idea from Jesus that he had declared that cockroaches were now clean food or that you could eat a skunk or that you could eat a vulture. God didn't ever say that. [crosstalk] Go ahead, I'm just saying that's in-- Did you find that as Mark chapter 7, Pastor Ross?
John: Yes, Mark chapter 7.
Christian: Yes, then the distinction between clean and unclean is not the same as distinction between healthy and unhealthy that we make today, right?
Doug: No, there's a distinction. You made a very important delineation there. There are some things that you might call clean food biblically. Technically, you can eat an ice-cream sundae and that's clean food, but it may not be healthy. See what I'm saying? Biblically, pork is unclean food. The unclean foods were animals that could not be offered to the Lord. The Bible says, "Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit".
All of the animals that God specified as unclean, scientifically today we know there's good reasons. Things like vultures and rats and pigs are scavengers. You're not supposed to eat dogs. They do in some countries. The big one that's a problem for people in Western culture is typically pig. Now, many Christians, Jews, and Muslims won't eat it, but some Christians say, "God said everything's clean to eat".
I don't know any Christian parents to tell their kids they can eat whatever they want without any ramifications. I mean, we all know that it takes common sense. If you like, will send you-- We have a whole lesson on that that's got all the scriptures, New and Old Testament on that subject.
John: It's actually a study guide called God's Free Health Plan. We'll be happy to send it to anybody who calls and asks, the number again is 800-835-6747. That is the resource phone line. As for the study guide called God's Free Health Plan. We have Jerry who's listening. Jerry, welcome to the program? You're on the air.
Jerry: Yes, good evening Pastors Ross and Batchelor. I'm calling to kind of following it up on that earlier call about the two Sabbaths. Now, I'd like to read two scriptures to you.
Doug: Okay.
Jerry: Starting with Luke 23:56, "Then they," referring to the women, "went home and prepared spices and perfume, but they rested on the Sabbath". It says, summarizing it says, "They prepared the spices and then rested on the Sabbath." Now, look at Mark 16:1. It says, "When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus' body." This would tend to indicate there was two Sabbaths during that period which would also explain Jesus being in the earth for three days and three nights. Could you comment on that?
Doug: Yes, great observation. Luke is telling that they obviously-- they had not finished burying him. The women went home and until the sun went down, they had a few minutes, they began to prepare the spices and oils for a burial which was quite a process in the Middle East. They wanted to not just bury Jesus. They wanted to embalm him. That's why I think it even says that, a third verse that were not reading is, "Nicodemus and Joseph bought a hundred pounds of myrhh." They bought all this ointment to anoint him. They went home and kept the Sabbath. They stopped their purchasing. They stopped the preparation.
As soon as the Sabbath was over, they probably knew some neighbors and they went and tapped on the door very early in the morning and said look, "We're not done, can you get us some spices?' and they finished gathering their spices. They weren't done with the gathering and the mixing of these things. I don't think it's telling us that it's happening on two different Sabbath's. If they did some before the Sabbath and they finished immediately after the Sabbath very early in the morning.
John: Well, Sabbath is from sundown to sundown, so the initial preparation of the spices occurred Friday afternoon before the sunset and when the sun set on Saturday evening, the Sabbath was over. Doubtless, they went and purchased some additional spices and participating early in the morning to come and embalm the body. When they came to the tomb early Sunday morning, of course the tomb was opened Jesus resurrected. That does definitely fit within that time frame, Friday afternoon and then Saturday evening.
Jerry: Okay. Your explanation is that they bought the spices over several days?
John: Well, they prepared the spices. Apparently, they gathered some that they had on Friday--
Doug: Over 24 hours, not several days
John: Then, Saturday evening, they purchased the additional ones that they needed and prepared it and then brought it on Sunday morning.
Doug: This shouldn't surprise as you're talking about four different women that are coming from different directions and they probably all contributed and then it even says as I mentioned, that men like Joseph and Nicodemus also provided spices. Everybody's working together here and to say some of them got the spices before the sun went down Friday and then after sundown Saturday night and even early Sunday, they continued preparing. We are not talking about two different Sabbaths. It's one Sabbath, two different sides of it.
John: Right. It's unlikely that they went out early Sunday morning to buy these spices, most likely it was Saturday evening. Stores will be open and they'd be able to purchase what they needed.
Doug: Well, thank you very much. I'm trying to think if there's well-- he might enjoy The Sign of Jonah too, it sounds like.
John: It would be a good book. Yes, the number to call for that is 800-835-6747. Ask for the book called The Sign of Jonah, we'll be happy to send it to anybody who calls and asks. Our next caller is Edith. Edith, welcome to the program. You're on the air.
Edith: Thank you. My question is, I'm Christian. I have learned Christ is my savior. When I arrived in heaven, do I get to see my husband and all my loved ones and friends or do I have to wait till the Second Coming?
Doug: Well, keep in mind now if you're a believer, when you die, the Bible says that you go to sleep and your next conscious thought is the presence of the Lord. Now that doesn't happen until the resurrection because the Bible says the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, voice of the archangel, trumpet of God. The dead in Christ will rise. The reunion is at the coming of the Lord. You will rise together with your loved ones that are saved. Your people aren't dragging into heaven one by one. Even though an example would be King David. He died 3,000 years ago.
The Bible says, "David slept with his fathers." In Acts chapter 2, Peter's preaching, he says, "Let me talk to you about King David. He is dead and buried and not ascended to Heaven." Well, for David, it doesn't seem like it's been 3,000 years. For David, there's no consciousness in death. To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. His next thought is the resurrection. Your next conscious thought when you go to sleep in the Lord is instantly. It is going to seem like a moment, the twinkling of an eye, you'll come out of your grave with a glorified body and you'll see your loved ones there who have also just been raised with their glorified bodies.
Edith: Then in the meantime, my spirit goes to paradise.
Doug: Yes, your spirit rests with the Lord until the resurrection.
John: Yes, the Bible talks about death and describes it as a sleep, over and over again. Jesus spoke of death as being asleep. When a person, a believer in Christ dies, it's as if they're in a sleep, an unconscious sleep, unaware of what's happening around them until Jesus comes, then you have the resurrection. When the Bible speaks of the spirit returning to God, that is the breath of life. That's the essence of life. All life comes from God. When a person dies, God knows their heart. He knows their makeup. He knows what makes them tick. He knows their character and when the resurrection occurs, we are resurrected with those glorified bodies. That's why the Bible says, "Those who are alive will not precede those who are asleep, but will be caught up together and meet them in the air with the Lord." [crosstalk] That's the great reunion day.
Edith: Another quick question, please. Jesus says in Revelation 22:14-16, he mentions that, let me see--
Doug: I've got it. "Blessed are those who do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life and enter through the gates of the city. For outside are dogs and sorcerers and the sexually immoral and the murderers and idolaters." Is that the verse you wanted?
Edith: Yes, the 15th verse what does he mean by that? I thought heaven was a beautiful place separated from sin.
Doug: Yes, great question. I think it's talking just there's going to be a brief period where you read in Revelation 20 that the wicked sometimes calls him Gog and Magog. They surround the city of God to attack it and fire rains down from heaven and devours them. On the ashes of this purified world, God creates a new heaven and a new earth. That's why it says in Malachi, the righteous will go forth from the New Jerusalem and tread on the wicked for they are ashes under the soles of their feet. Blessed are the meek for they will inherit the earth. They're not forever outside our windows burning.
John: Just to add to that, very briefly, you got to also notice in Revelation 21, it talks of the New Jerusalem coming down from God out of heaven. At the resurrection when Jesus comes the second time, the righteous are caught up, meeting is in the air, and they go to heaven for a thousand years. At the end of that thousand years, the New Jerusalem comes down from heaven. That's when the wicked are resurrected for the final Great White Throne Judgment. The righteous are inside the city, the wicked are outside the city. Then you have the final judgment, the wicked mountain attack upon the New Jerusalem and fire comes and devours them.
That's what's been referred to here in Revelation 22. It's when the New Jerusalem has come down from heaven, you actually read about in Revelation chapter 21. It's 1000 years after the resurrection that's been described here.
Edith: The 1000 years, what is that? Where do they exist?
Doug: You know what, why don't you let us send you a lesson on that because you've got several great questions and we want to put this in your hands. It talks all about everything you're asking. It's on the millennium.
John: Yes, on Revelation 20 by the way, if you want to read about that 1,000 years. Call and ask for that study guide. We'd be happy to send it to you for free, Edith. The number to call is 800-835-6747. I'm going to repeat it, so get ready to write it down. 800-835-6747 and please do ask for the study guide called A Thousand Years of Peace. You can read it online as well at amazingfacts.org. I think you'll find that very helpful.
Doug: It's a good study. It's even got a little chart in there you can see the timeline of how those things happen. I think we have time for maybe one or two more, let's-
John: Next caller is Al. Al, welcome to the program.
Al: Thank you very much, Pastor Ross and Batchelor. Thank you for taking my call.
Doug: Yes.
Al: My question is this, when Lucifer was in paradise with God and he sinned against God because he was proud and he wanted to be better than God. God didn't like that and he threw him down to earth with his followers which they were about one-third of the angels of heaven. One-third of the angels at heaven are probably billions of angels.
Doug: Could be.
Al: Okay. Now, is it logical to say that the Lucifer and his followers are here on earth right now?
Doug: Yes, it tells us that Satan and his angels are confined here. You can read about that in Revelation. [crosstalk]
John: You can find an everlasting chains. We got to hurry up with the questions because we got a couple minutes left.
Al: Being Lucifer the prince of the power at the air, isn't it logical to say that he's in the air with those. We are breathing his spirit all the time, everybody is.
Doug: Well, no. It uses the word prince of the power of the air there and is that Ephesians, we wrestle not against flesh and blood, with prince of the power of the air, that's maybe Christ.
John: Jesus mentioned that.
Doug: Yes, Jesus makes that statement. We're said to breathe the breath of life and the word air is sometimes interchangeable with the spirits. Satan just sort of infuses the world. It's talking about like the atmosphere around the planet, he's confined here. I don't think it's talking about him being in the oxygen that we breathe. We're not breathing devils.
John: It's also mentioned in Ephesians 2:1, which talks about the prince of the air, you can't see the devil, he is around the earth, he is confined to the earth, but I think somebody can be filled with an evil spirit. We know people are demon possessed, but not everyone that breathes, has the devil in them, no.
Doug: Jesus even talked about the Holy Spirit as wind.
John: It's a symbol that's used.
Doug: Acts chapter 2, it says a sound like a mighty wind. Jesus said the wind blows where it will. They often talked about the good and the evil spirits as being just in the air around us. It doesn't mean we're breathing them in and they're getting in our bloodstream. I appreciate your question, Al.
John: Next caller is William. William, welcome to the program.
William: Hi. Thanks for taking my call. Earlier in the program, the subject of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit came up. It's my understanding from reading Scripture it's in one of the Gospels, where Jesus was casting out demons and his opponents accused him by doing that using-
Doug: Using Satan to cast out Satan.
William: Correct, and Jesus said, "All manner of sins will be forgiven people, but blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven." I thought that was the big sin.
Doug: Well, that's a great point. I'm going to kind of rush through your answer. We're going to run out of time. What Christ was saying is the religious leaders were rejecting the obvious working of the spirit in and around them, and attributing the work of the Spirit to the work of the Devil, and Christ said, "You are making a very dangerous mistake if you reject the working of the Spirit," because if you grieve away the spirit, it's through the Spirit we find repentance. Hey, we got a book we'll be happy to send you for free. It's called What is the Unpardonable Sin. Just call Amazing Facts at 800-835-6747. Friends, our time has been gobbled up.
I have a few important announcements, but check out amazingfacts.org. We'll study together again next week.
Speaker 2: Thank you for listening to today's broadcast. We hope you understand your Bible even better than before. Bible Answers Live is produced by Amazing Facts, a faith-based ministry located in Sacramento, California.
Speaker 3: Does your heart burn for a better purpose. Do you yearn to do more with your faith? Do you desire to be a powerful witness ablaze for Jesus Christ? Where do you start? Make your first step at AFCOE, the Amazing Facts Center of Evangelism.
Speaker 4: Here at AFCOE, I've learned so many things and my spiritual growth has just skyrocketed.
Speaker 3: AFCOE has distilled 50 years of Amazing Facts evangelistic expertise into a dynamic, professional and educational experience that transforms the nervous Christian into a prepared and bold witness.
Speaker 5: AFCOE is really about learning while doing. It's a one of a kind experience for those who are serious about entering gospel ministry and those who simply want to make an impact in their local churches and communities.
Speaker 3: Go to afcoe.org today and explore this life-changing program. AFCOE, equipping soul winners, setting the world ablaze for God.
Speaker 6: Deep within the pages of the Bible, stories of great heroes, heroes of great deeds, great love and great sacrifice, but behind them is another hero hidden in plain sight amid the shadows. He was there from the beginning and he'll be there until the end. Discover the golden thread of a savior woven throughout the entire Bible tapestry. Shadows of light, seeing Jesus in all the Bible. Get your copy today by calling 800-538-7275 or visit afbookstore.com.
Speaker 7: Want to know God's plan for our world and solutions for your life's challenges. Beautifully redesigned Amazing Facts 27 Bible study guides provide encouraging Bible-based answers to questions on healthy relationships, when Jesus will return, and much more. Prefer to watch while you read? Our brand new Prophecy Encounters DVD series makes the perfect companion set. Order your study guides and DVDs today by visiting afbookstore.com or by calling 800-538-7275. [music]
Speaker 8: If you'd like to enhance your study of God's word, visit our website at www.amazingfacts.org and sign up for our free Bible Study Course. Make sure to check out our online bookstore at afbookstore.com which offers thousands of inspiring books, DVDs and more to help you get the most out of God's word. To take advantage of the offers you've heard on this broadcast, call us at 800-835-6747 or visit our website at amazingfacts.org