Hello friends, this is Doug Batchelor. How about an amazing fact? A 29-year old engineer from Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Tsutomo Yamaguchi, was on a business trip in Hiroshima, Japan when the US dropped the 1
st atomic bomb. On the morning of August 6th 1945, Yamaguchi was stepping off a street car when the atomic device nicknamed “Little Boy” detonated above Hiroshima. Yamaguchi said “he was less than two miles away from ground zero when he saw the blinding flash of light, then his eardrums ruptured and his upper torso was burned by the blast that followed”.
The explosion destroyed most of the city’s buildings and killed 80,000 people. Yamaguchi spent a painful night in a bomb shelter and the following day he returned to his hometown of Nagasaki 200 miles away. By August 9th, Yamaguchi made his way to the Nagasaki office where he was telling his boss about the terrible Hiroshima blast. This was precisely when the 2nd bomb, known as “Fat man” was dropped on Nagasaki, killing 70,000 people there. Yamaguchi said, “Suddenly the same white light filled the room, I thought the mushroom cloud had followed me from Hiroshima, I could easily have died on either of those days.” Yamaguchi said.
He became the only official survivor of both atomic blasts to hit Japan in World War II. Six days after the Nagasaki attack, Japan surrendered. Yamaguchi recovered from his wounds and he went to work for the American occupation forces. He became a teacher and eventually returned to work at Mitsubishi. “He was in good health for most of his life” said his daughter, despite double radiation exposure. He lived to be 93 years old. Yamaguchi saw two cities obliterated by atomic blasts, within a week and lived through it.
You know the Bible talks about some other cities that were destroyed by fire from heaven but the witnesses were not so fortunate. Stay with us friends, we’re going to learn more as Amazing Facts brings you this edition of Bible Answers Live.
[PROGRAM INTRODUCTION]
Pastor Doug: Welcome listening friends to a fresh installment of Bible Answers Live. For the next 55 minutes or so, we’re going to take sort of a rodeo ride through the Bible. We never know exactly what questions are going to come in, and that depends somewhat on you. If you have a Bible question, we’d invite you to give us a call right now it is a free phone call. That’s 1-800-GODSAYS, lines open right now. Also a good time to pick up your phone, one more time, that’s 1-800-463-7297. And my name is Doug Batchelor.
Pastor Jëan Ross: My name is Jëan Ross. Good evening listening friends and Pastor Doug. Let’s begin the program with a prayer. Dear Father, we thank you again for this opportunity to study your word, and we ask your blessing upon our time. Be with those who are listening, wherever they might be and also those who call in. Father we pray for wisdom as we search the Bible, in Jesus name. Amen.
Pastor Doug: Amen.
Pastor Jëan Ross: Pastor Doug that was a remarkable fact that opened up the program, a man who survived both atomic blasts, Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The only recorded individual that apparently lived through both.
Pastor Doug: It is amazing and, you know, unfortunately he just passed away this last week. But still, you can’t really complain when you make it 93 having gone through two cataclysmic explosions like that, exposed to the nuclear radiation in within 1 week. And he must have thought that he was being followed by bad luck when he fled from Hiroshima and at another bomb in Nagasaki. But, really he, for the rest of his life, his family said he considered himself very fortunate, because he felt like he had a 2nd chance, double. And so went through his life for the good attitude, but, you know, in the Bible, I think about a couple of other cities that suffered fire from heaven. And it talks about Sodom and Gomorrah, and you could read about this in Genesis 19, and I’ll just read verses 24 to 28.
Of course His angels came and told a lot of his family to flee, less they be consumed. And is says “then the Lord rain brimstone and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah, from the Lord out of the heavens, so he overthrew those cities of the plain, all the inhabitants of the cities and what grew on the ground. But his wife looked back behind him, this Lot’s wife and she became a pillar of salt and Abraham went early in the morning to the place where he had stood before the Lord and he looked down towards the valley of Sodom and Gomorrah and towards all the land of the plain and he saw and behold the smoke of the land went up like the smoke of the furnace, now that’s probably how they would describe a mushroom cloud back then. I actually saw forest fire in Northern California a few years ago, where because of the prevailing winds coming from the ocean it looked exactly like, an atomic blast. There was just coming off the top of this mountain, the heat was so intense that it was a big mushroom cloud. And, you wonder exactly how the Lord did this to Sodom and Gomorrah, but the Bible tells us that the fate of Sodom and Gomorrah are something like the fate that the wicked are going to experience.
You can read in the book of Jude verse 7, there’s only one chapter. “Even if Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities about them in like manner gave themselves over to fornication and going after strange flesh, they’re set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire. Now what is that eternal fire mean? And our friends tonight might have some questions on that. What is God going to do with the wicked? How are they rewarded? And if you’ve got some questions, give us a call. We also have a free offer that’s related to tonight’s study. Pastor Ross.
Pastor Jëan Ross: Well we have 2 free offers Pastor Doug dealing with the subject. The one is entitled “Remember Lot’s Wife”, which speaks a little bit about commitment and not looking back, and we get that from the experience of Lot’s wife. Then we have another Amazing Facts study guide dealing with the subject of the destruction of the wicked, called “Is the Devil in charge of Hell?” I think those who are listening would appreciate both of those free offers. Maybe there is one particular subject that you have a particular interest in, give us a call 1-800-835-6747, you can ask for the study guide, dealing with the subject of hell or ask for “Remember Lot’s Wife”. We’ll be happy to send that out. Let’s go to our phone lines. Our next caller is, our first caller this evening is Robert and he is calling from Indiana, listening on the internet. Robert, welcome to the program.
Robert: Good evening.
Pastor Doug: Evening. How can we help you tonight?
Robert: Yes, I have a question. I’ll try to bring this around the question. I’m not from New York so I can’t talk really fast.
Pastor Doug: That’s alright. Well, we’re in California but we can do it either way.
Robert: It has to do with the will or testament that’s mentioned in Hebrews 9 verse 15 through 17.
Pastor Doug: Okay. Why don’t I read a little bit of this so our listening friends can…
Robert: Okay.
Pastor Doug: Our friends can… they’ll know the context. A lot of our friends are driving in cars. Hebrews 9:15 “And for this cause, he is the mediator of the New Testament, that by means of death for the redemption of transgressions that were unto the 1st testament. They which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance. For where a testament is, there must also have a necessity be the death of the testator. For testament is a force after men are dead, otherwise it’s of no strength at all while the testator liveth.” Now if there’s a will, you don’t activate it until someone dies.
Robert: And this validated as covered in Galatians 3:15 as well, “brothers let me take an example for everyday life, just as no one can set aside or add to a human covenant, our will and our society that has been doely established so it is in this case. So there could be no changes to the law, unless Christ has done it before His death”. That’s correct, isn’t it?
Pastor Doug: Well there is no change to the, when you say “the law”, we’re speaking of a very broad comprehensive word, the law involves everything from the 5 books of Moses to the 10 Commandments.
Robert: Decalogue
Pastor Doug: Well, in the Decalogue, there is no change in the Decalogue.
Robert: There would be no change, unless He had to have changed it Himself. He instituted His supper, the Lord’s Supper. The foot washing
Pastor Doug: Right.
Robert: Before His death, there could be no change of the law afterwards.
Pastor Doug: Yeah, that’s correct. There’s no change to the 10 Commandments.
Robert: And no man, the church cannot change any law of that work, it’s His will. Would have been ratified what is, what is death.
Pastor Doug: I see what you’re saying. Yeah, well you’ve got our support on that one, the 10 Commandments have not been changed, that’s why God wrote them with His own finger, and spoke them with His own voice. And that’s why He used stone, I suppose to an Etch-a sketch.
Robert: Why this season is example of a tester and a will. Man or the church cannot change, so they cannot change the worship day from Saturday to Sunday. Can they lawfully?
Pastor Doug: Well, no man has the right to change any of God’s law. Now, it says in Daniel chapter 9, no I’m sorry, Daniel chapter 7, verse 25. That “the anti-Christ power would think to change times and laws, and men might think to”, but man can’t change the law of God. It’s a, Jesus said “heaven and earth have to pass away but for my law will pass away” and that’s a good point. Appreciate that Robert. You know, we do have that study “Written in Stone” that reinforces that principle, we’ll be happy to send Robert, it sounds like he understands this but anyone else that might have a question on the immutability of the 10 Commandment law, will send you “Written in Stone”.
Pastor Jëan Ross: The number is 1-800-835-6747, that’s our free resource line. Ask for the study guide “Written in Stone” and we’d be happy to send that to you in the mail. And next caller is Sandra and she is calling from Queens, New York. Sandra, welcome to the program.
Sandra: Yes. Hi.
Pastor Doug: Hi! How can we help you?
Sandra: Yeah, I have a question yesterday at church we just got a good discussion about abomination. Basically like from Proverbs 6 verse 16 to 19.
Pastor Doug: okay
Sandra: And we, some folks were asking if there’s a, if God has, like, I guess a different degree in terms of hell, and I’ll stand across the board, God, you know, doesn’t like them across the board but there’s like certain sins that God holds, like really (inaudible 11:27). And so we were, you know, based on proverbs 6:16-19 and then also in Ezra, Ezra 9 verse 1-14, were it mentions abominations.
Pastor Doug: Well, let me read this for our friends who are listening, real quick Sandra. Proverbs 6:16, “These 6 things the Lord hates, yet 7 are an abomination to Him. A proud look, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood and a heart that devises weak and imaginations, feet that run swiftly to mischief, or falls witness that separate, that speak of likes, and he that discord among brethren.” So we probably don’t even need to jump around to the other verses. I can tell you right here the Bible is pretty clear, there are variant in degrees of sin. I mean sin is all, you know, terrible in God’s sight. But sometimes God says this person or that person committed a grievous or a great sin before the Lord. And some cases God treated some sin very severely because it was so offensive. So, you know, sin is a disease, it’s all a disease. But there are variant degrees. Now probably, a hundred percent of the people that are born are going to die. But there are a lot of different ways to die, I’d much rather die in my sleep than burn inch by inch. So, you know what I’m saying?
Sandra: Yes
Pastor Doug: Yeah, so sin is all offensive to God. And it all springs from selfishness. But God says there are variant in degrees of sin. Jesus said, you know, “if someone leads a little child away from eternal life, it be better for them not to be born and that a millstone be tide around they’re neck and they’re thrown in the midst of the sea.” So all through the Bible, you’ll find examples where He is, He speaks for the very strong language against certain sins.
Pastor Jëan Ross: There also seems to be a, a limit to God’s forbearance, we find that in scripture where, for example we open talking about Sodom and Gomorrah, there was a point of inequity that reached, they reached their full and judgment came upon them, so there are these degrees that that we see in scriptures.
Pastor Doug: Yeah, their cup ran over, so to speak.
Pastor Jëan Ross: Yeah
Pastor Doug: And you know, in the Bible the word sin has got about 3 or 4 definitions. Sometimes sin simply means that you’re in capable of hitting the target and another definition of sin, a person is capable of hitting the target, but they deliberately miss it. And so there’s presumptuous sin that’s kind of the highly delivered sin, which is different from when some people sin just through the weakness of their natures. See what I’m saying?
Sandra: Yes
Pastor Doug: So, I’m trying to think if we’ve got a book Pastor Ross that talks about that subject in particular. I bet we do, I just can’t think of it right now.
Pastor Jëan Ross: Well I do think…
Pastor Doug: You know what? I know what exactly, Sandra we have a book on the unpardonable sin. That talks about “the variant degrees of sin as well as what the unpardonable is”. So if you’d like to call the resource line number, we’d be happy to send you a free copy of the book on the unpardonable sin.
Pastor Jëan Ross: The number again is 1-800-835-6747 ask for the book on the unpardonable sin. George is listening on WMCA, from Bronx New York. George, welcome to the program.
George: Hello
Pastor Doug: Hey George. Welcome, you’re on the air.
George: You could hear me?
Pastor Doug: Loud and clear
George: Pastor, I have a question right. I had a friend right, I went to church with him for a couple of years, as a matter a fact, we’ve been friends for a long time, I even went to high school with him. Recently he told me that “he’s an atheist now”. I had a conversation with him, like 2 weeks ago and he told me that he’s an atheist now. So I wonder, what’s your opinion on that? When a Christian converts to atheism, are they’re going to heaven or hell?
Pastor Doug: Well, first of all, if a person is denying the existence of God, it’s not very likely that they’re going to find themselves in the kingdom of Grace. You know, without faith, it is impossible to please God, the Bible says. And so if a person has denied their faith in God, it doesn’t matter what they may have done early in their life. God’s not going to save people against their will when they deny Him. We’re saved by faith in Christ and if the person is abandoning their faith, then, you know, that doesn’t vote very well. Now, you asked 2 questions one, what do I think about atheism? Well you’re wondering about that as well?
George: I’m just wondering like, I mean, you know, the crazy thing is that he’s a Christian, well he was a Christian that converted to atheism, so I’m wondering when he prayed to get saved, was that a done deal, like when you pray to get saved are you always saved?
Pastor Doug: No, there are some people that believe in a doctrine sometimes titled, “Once Saved Always Saved”, and it’s really a myth. And even those who believe it will admit there are some people who outwardly say, “Yes, I’ve accepted Jesus”, but they in really weren’t sincere enough and when they go off and become atheist or whatever, they say, “Well there never really were saved”. So I’ve often heard people who claimed to believe once saved always saved, point to people that have totally turned from the faith. They say, “Well they probably never really were saved”. So I don’t know how a person gets assurance from that teaching, when you could always 2nd guess whether you’re really saved anyway. In the Bible, salvation is a gift that needs to be nurtured. Now Jesus promises, “Never to let go of us” but we don’t lose our freedom to turn from Him. He works desperately to save us sometimes even when we’re resisting Him, but God doesn’t force His grace on anyone, if He could force us to be saved, well then He’d probably force everybody to be saved.
George: Hello?
Pastor Doug: Yes, and George?
George: Yes?
Pastor Doug: You know we have a book… tell you what, we’ve got a book we’ll send you on that subject, that will answer your question, it’s called, “Can a Saved Man be Lost?”, “Can a Saved Man be Lost?” We’ll be happy to send that to you so just call the resource number, anyone who has a question about once saved always saved, that’s a great study resource.
Pastor Jëan Ross: The number to call George is 1-800-835-6747 and ask for the book “Can a Saved Man Choose to be Lost?” again in 1-800-835-6747. Robert is listening from New Jersey. Robert welcome to Bible Answers Live.
Pastor Doug: Hi Robert
Robert: Hi. Good evening Pastor Doug, Pastor Ross.
Pastor Doug: Evening
Robert: Hi, my question is concerning Jesus and His financial status. I’ve had many debates over with a friend, who believes that His financial status was great because He says that “The wise men came from the east and travelled a very long way to give Him very precious gifts (Inaudible 18:14)” and they recognize Him as a king, He had status as of wealth and He referred to Proverbs (inaudible 18:23) paraphrasing, (inaudible 18:25), nobody follows a rich man. Now I would believe that, I mean, it might be not quite what He was saying but He let His father, His earthly father, Joseph was a carpenter, he himself was a carpenter. He probably had some finances. What I’m saying is, I’m wondering is there any validity what he’s saying that Jesus was financially wealth off, or was He more or less, was He more (inaudible 18:55)
Pastor Doug: No, Well let me read you a verse, Matthew chapter 8 verses 20, as Scribe was going to follow Jesus and maybe he was hoping for some earthly gain. Some commentators think, this was even Judas that asked that question. And Jesus said to him, “the foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests, but the son of man doesn’t even have a place to lay his head”. Jesus, when he became an itinerant preacher. You remember, He said to the disciples “do you have any food” and, like, they’re eating sushi right out of the net, practically. Actually he cooked it, so it wasn’t sushi. But, you know, they had very little and Christ slept on the ground in the garden of Gethsemane. So anyone who’s saying “Jesus went around with a lot of money on His ATM card” I don’t know where they’re getting that. The money that the wise men brought when He was an infant, 33 years earlier, that was used by Joseph and Mary to flee to Egypt and sustain them there while they’re in Egypt. And I’m sure that was all exhausted when they came back because, you know, they also had other children in the house and he was a carpenter and nothing in the Bible, when they gambled for his possessions at the cross, all that they had was he’s robe. So if somebody is saying that Jesus was wealthy, then maybe it’s just that they got this pet doctrine.
Robert: the fact that when they gambled for His clothes, they were very expensive clothes and…
Pastor Doug: Well they tore most of them up. The only thing that was of worth was His robe.
Robert: Okay
Pastor Doug: And then they just basically said it was a seamless robe, they had a loom you could weave a, kind of a robe in a unibody form where it didn’t have a seam. And He had seamless robe, they weren’t had heard of, but they, it was of some value, otherwise they were going to tear it up, like they did in His other clothes and just, you know, cast lots or just divide them.
Robert: Okay, one other thing is that somebody else brought to my attention, of the fact that when He was born, He’s parents offered doves in the temple, which would indicate of their of their low finances, would that be true also?
Pastor Doug: Right on target. There was a descending value to the offerings, wealthy people would bring ox and middle people would bring sheep and goats, the poor people brought doves. And the fact that Mary and Joseph brought doves when they had Him circumcised and named is evidence that they were of the lower income. So yeah, your friend did, is trying to make a case that Jesus had financial resources. Judas was the treasure and he was stealing what was in the bag. So (laughs) I think they were depending on the offerings of people to keep going from day to day. He also, one more thing popped into my mind, it says in Luke chapter 8, that “Mary Magdalene and the other women that followed Him, they ministered unto Him of their substance”, cause He was so destitute.
Pastor Jëan Ross: One other thought on that also on Nathaniel, when he heard that, when he was told that Jesus could be the Messiah, the one from Nazareth. He say “Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?” so Nazareth wasn’t known as a place of wealth and.
Pastor Doug: It was the slums of the hills.
Pastor Jëan Ross: That’s right, it was a pre-village.
Pastor Doug: All right. Hey, I appreciate your question Robert we haven’t had that in a while. Thank you.
Pastor Jëan Ross: Our next caller is Helga and she is calling from Bronx, New York. Helga, welcome to the program.
Helga: Hello Pastors, It’s a privilege.
Pastor Doug: Likewise, and your question?
Helga: Yes, I have someone that believes in God but feels that there’s no need to attend church or congregate and, you know, my loved ones, they believe in God and they have the faith, you know, that Jesus died in the cross and resurrected. But it’s not going to grow unless they are able to get that nurtured. So, what approach can I take them closer to the Lord?
Pastor Doug: Well, you know, before I forget it, we have a study guide, we’ll offering you at the end of our answering this question, that deals with the bride of Christ, the church and the importance of church. There’s that verse in Hebrews chapter 10 that said, “Let us not forsake the assembling of ourselves together and all the more as you see the day approaching”. Meaning the day of the Lord is approaching and so you know, if we don’t have enough faith to get us to church, ones a week, then how are we going to get enough to get us to heaven.
Pastor Jëan Ross: That’s Hebrews chapter 10 verses 25.
Pastor Doug: Thank you very much. And so when a person believes and they’re baptized, they become part of the body of Christ. And the body of Christ is another term for the church. We collectively make up His body. And you know, all through the scriptures, it talks about the importance of believers gathering together, that’s what a congregation is and that’s what an assembly is. And even the Sabbath was called the “Holy Assembly” and so the people were to come together, and to worship God, and to gain strength. And by the way, you know, a lamb, when it’s born, if it’s not around other sheep it’s an easy target for the wolves. And so we need to stay not only close to the shepherd but close to the flock as well. So there’s a lot of, can a bee cannot be produced any honey if it’s not part of a hive.
Helga: No, it cannot.
Pastor Doug: I mean, how can you be a politician without voters? How can you be a writer without readers? Can one person be a football team? The whole idea of being a Christian without a church it just doesn’t make sense.
Helga: Okay.
Pastor Doug: So well send you that study guide, “the Bride of Christ”. Just call the resource number.
Pastor Jëan Ross: The number is 1-800-835-6747, you can ask for the study guide “The Bride of Christ”. Our next caller is Jim and he is calling from Ohio. Jim welcome to the program.
Jim: Thank you, did you say 8747?
Pastor Jëan Ross: 6747
Jim: The last number, 800-835
Pastor Jëan Ross: 6747.
Jim: Thank you very much. One question for you, the issue with the Sabbath, is that highly and possibly with the mark of the beast?
Pastor Doug: Yes, now let me tell you why. Or maybe you want to expand on your question or do you want me to dive right in?
Jim: Well, you know, I did some kind of (inaudible 25:18) that I shouldn’t really have done. I go to these Christian chat rooms and, you know, sometimes I just listen. But there was a guy before he left, he said “happy Sabbath to everybody”, and I comment, “Well Sabbath was yesterday”. And anyways, I ended up getting blocked from the chat room. But, you know, I was just thinking that, it’s got to tie in.
Pastor Doug: Well its very simple
Jim: obedience
Pastor Doug: It’s very simple and I’m going to rush your answer because we’re coming up on a break. So please forgive me.
Jim: Okay
Pastor Doug: But the whole controversy between Christ and Satan begins in the Garden of Eden, over worship. And that’s why Cain killed his brother, is God told them how to worship, Cain wanted to invent his own way of worshiping, the worship of man, I suppose to the worship God. In the last days, in the battle between the beast and those who have the mark of the beast and those who have the seal of God is going to revolve around worship. Those who don’t worship the beast will be killed and so, it’s pretty obvious that, you know, somewhere in connection with this, that the Sabbath is going to fit in there, because it’s one of the commandments and it revolves around worship. And so the time and day and the way, that God says we should worship Him, I think it’s going to become a point of conflict.
Pastor Jëan Ross: Absolutely, you know Pastor Doug it talks about the mark in the hand and forehead. The children of Israel on the plain of Doro, when the commandment was given, that everyone was to bow down and worship the golden image. They placed their hands in the ground and they would bow down with their foreheads towards the ground. The hand and the forehead, a symbol of worship, obedience and belief.
Pastor Doug: That’s right. And in addition to that, it tells us in the great Shimah that Moses uttered, when he gave the 10 commandments, “hear oh Israel, the Lord our God is one. Love the Lord your heart, mind, soul and strength” he goes on to say, “And these words I command you this day shall be in your heart, you shall bind them as frontlets between your eyes and they shall be upon your hands”. So, He talks about it being in the heart and the hands and between the eyes, which is the Jewish way of saying the forehead. And so if we don’t have the law of God in our hearts and in our hands and in our heads, we will have the mark of the beast. Now there’s only one of the 10 commandments that uses the word “holy” and that is the Sabbath commandment. And so, you know, the whole issue is about challenging the holiness of God. Now I don’t think we have time for another question Pastor Ross. But we’d like to tell our friends just before we go to the break that a lot of what we talk about during this broadcast and a lot of the study guides, they can read for free by simply going to the Amazing Facts website, it’s “Amazingfacts.org” or if you type in “Amazingfacts.com” or if you just Google amazing facts, I think we’re there at the top of the list and you’ll see there’s a lot of free resources, videos you can watch, there are sermons you can listen to. And we talk at the top of this broadcast about the subject of the lake of fire and a lot of misunderstandings on that. There’s a whole website dedicated to that, it’s pretty popular, it’s simply called “Helltruth.com, H elltruth.com”, it’s got a lot of answers on what the Bible does say about this subject and what it does not say. We’re not finished friends we’re going to be coming back in just a couple of moments with more Bible questions. Still have lines open, give us a call 1-800-GODSAYS. Be right back.
[COMMERCIAL BREAK]
Pastor Doug: I’m just guessing that some of you have joined us along the way, and you’re wondering, what is this program. This is Bible Answers Live friends it is a live international interactive Bible study. Sometimes we get calls from the Caribbean, and from Guam, and Australia, and the people listening on the internet. As well as, what, 400 stations across North America. And so, we’d love to hear from you, if you have a question and the line ones again is 800-GODSAYS. But without further delay, I think we ought to go back to the phones.
Pastor Jëan Ross: (inaudible) next caller is going to be Dorian and he is calling from Castro Valley, California. Dorian, welcome to the program.
Dorian: My question is about the pre-tribulation rapture, I used to believe in it but after, you know, wanting to find out for myself, like, you know, found out that it’s not true. But I want to understand why some people believe, I mean it’s some genuinely do but what about the pastors and ministers that are in TV, that are peaching it, I mean, do they not see it or am I wrong? I just don’t understand why…
Pastor Doug: Okay Dorian, let me give you just a quick history. Probably for the 1st 18 hundred years of the Christian church, pastors all thought, preached, believed, as well as the members, that the tribulation happens first, then the coming of the Lord. Sometimes referred to as “the rapture”, and that’s because we’re caught up to meet him in the air, that’s where we get the word “rapture”. We don’t believe in a secret rapture, some people teach the rapture’s a secret. The Bible says, anything but secret. It’s, you got a trumpet blowing, you got the Lord roaring like a lion, you’ve got the earthquake, you’ve got the resurrection, you’ve got the, you know, just every one of our senses will be assaulted with islands melting away, lightning from one of the sky to the other, there’s nothing secret about the Lord’s coming. So the question then is, is there seven years of tribulation after the Lord comes like a thief? Well when the Bible says the Bible says “He comes like a thief”, it doesn’t mean that it’s a secret it means it’s a surprise when He comes. And those who’ve listened to broadcast for a while, know before I was a Christian, I was a thief, I mean I burglarized homes. And I never sent advance notice when I was coming, it was always a surprise. But they knew when I came you see what I’m saying? Now if you look in 2nd Peter chapter 3, there, the apostles says “for the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens pass away with the great noise and the elements melt with fervent heat, and the earth and the things that are in it are burned up”. So when the Lord comes like a thief, there’s a great noise, the elements melt, the earth is burned up, does it sound like life goes on here on earth for seven more years after the Lord comes to rapture up the, the saved.
Dorian: Not at all
Pastor Doug: No, it’s just, the doctrine actually originated with a Catholic Jesuit named Francisco Ribera, back in the 15 hundreds. And it was a gradually adapted by some protestant writers, and it was made popular by the Cyrus Scofield Bible, you probably heard of Scofield Bible,
Dorian: Yeah, I’ve heard of it ones
Pastor Doug: And Scofield’s Bible was so popular because it had some great cross references that a lot of laymen and read it, didn’t understand prophecy. They adopted this Jesuit interpretation of revelation and then how Lindsey wrote a book, he adopted it and it became very popular among Protestants. But if you really analyse the scriptures, God doesn’t save us from tribulation, He saves His church through tribulation.
Dorian: Okay
Pastor Doug: And God, now for instance a few more verses, it’s a big subject. The 10 plagues that fell on Egypt are very much like the 7 last plagues in Revelation, just before the Lord comes. The 7 last plagues in revelation chapter 15 and 16 are the great tribulation, they are the time of trouble, I mean obviously, when men are being scorch with great heat and the waters turn into blood and they’ve got noise and sores that is the tribulation. Well did God save the Israelites out of Egypt before the plagues hit Egypt? Or did He save them through those plagues?
Dorian: They were in
Pastor Doug: They were in Egypt when the plagues came and God protected them. Well, we’re going to be in the world when these last plagues come and God’s going to show His power to protect us and we’re saved through tribulation. Paul said “it is through tribulation we enter the kingdom of God in the book of Acts. So, you know, we have a book, we’ll be happy to send you, that’s called “Anything but Secret” and it talks specifically about the tribulation and the millennium and how the Lord’s coming. We’ll send you that.
Pastor Jëan Ross: The number is 1-800-835-6747, you can ask for the book “Anything but Secret”, 1-800-8235-6747. And our next caller is Philip and he is calling from California. Philip, welcome to the program.
Philip: Hi, my question was on Revelation chapter 14 verse 1 through 5,
Pastor Doug: Okay.
Philip: About a hundred and 44 thousand
Pastor Doug: All right.
Philip: I have a problem with the discerning, whether it’s a literal number or symbolic number?
Pastor Doug: All right, well I’ll do my best and this is a difficult passage, it’s a difficult subject, not a difficult passage. My belief is that it is a literal number. Now some people choke on that because they think telling me that only a hundred and 44 thousand people are going to be saved when Jesus comes. No, nowhere in the Bible does it say they’re the only ones saved, matter of fact when you read about the hundred and 44 thousand in chapter 7, it’s real easy to remember, 2 times 7 is 14, you find a hundred and 44 thousand in chapter 7 and chapter 14. In chapter 7 it says “There’s also a great multitude clothed in white that came out of tribulation that John sees, along with the hundred and 44 thousand”. The key to understanding who the hundred and 44 thousand are, it’s 12 times 12 thousand. What throws people, it says, and it names the tribes of Israel.
Philip: Yeah
Pastor Doug: This, Revelation uses a lot symbolic imagery I think anyone reading the book knows that. These are not literal Jews, because most of those tribes don’t even exist anymore, they were, basically they evaporated even before Jesus was born. If you know your Jewish history, 10 of the tribes were conquered by the Assyrians and sort of got absorbed and intermarried and largely disappeared. The tribes that came back were Judah, that’s where we get the word Jew. Benjamin and Levi, and so when in Revelation it says 12 thousand, exact numbers from, you know, Issachar and Zebulon and Naphtalia and so forth. These represent the church, these represent the spiritual Israel. Bible says “anyone who is in Christ, he is Abraham’s seed”. And so in the last days, the hundred and 44 thousand are to the church when Jesus comes, what the 12 apostles were to the Israelites when Christ came the 1st time. They’re basically like the last day apostles do I think it’s a literal number? Yeah, because every other number in Revelation is literal. The names in Revelation are symbolic, the numbers are literal. For instance, when it says the New Jerusalem has 12 gates, do we believe that it really has 12 gates? Sure, why not? When it says that it’s got 12 foundations, I really believe that, and all these different stones are listed very specifically and when it says the tree of life’s got 12 different kinds of fruit, and the time periods that are given in Revelation. These numbers have a real meaning into them, a real value to them. So I don’t have a problem with it being a literal number, that doesn’t mean, in the last days that we’re going to see a hundred and 44 thousand saints going around the world like they got marathon racing numbers in their back and on their front, saying, you know, “I’m one of the hundred and 42 thousand”. But God knows who they are, and they’re sort of like the last day apostles. I’ve got a book on this I can send you a free copy, if you’d like it, sermon book.
Philip: Yeah
Pastor Doug: The number Pastor Ross.
Pastor Jëan Ross: The number is 1-800-835-6747, and Philip the book is entitled “Who will Sing the Song” understanding the hundred and 44 thousand. 1-800-835-6747, ask for the book on the hundred and 44 thousand. Our nest caller is Jason and he is calling from Queens, New York. Jason, welcome to the program.
Jason: Good evening Pastor Doug
Pastor Doug: Evening Jason, how can we help you?
Jason: My dad and I are kind of confused about a verse in 1st Corinthians chapter 2, in verse 11. It talks about the spirit of man and the spirit of God. And my dad and I know that, and some parts of the Bible, I think it’s John 19 where Jesus said “Into your hands Father I command my spirit”. And also, I think Steven said something somewhere too. So we’re wondering if the spirit in man, is it, is there difference between the spirit of men and the Spirit of God, or is the spirit of man tightens with a mental knowledge because God wants us to go spiritually, right? So I’m thinking, how are we going to grow spiritually? Unless we read the Bible, I’m kind of confused.
Pastor Doug: Well, probably the hardest subject to understand in the God head, is God the spirit. But, you know, there’s an interesting dynamic. Have you ever seen rain drops on a window? Where water seems to, one drop seems to attract itself to the other drop, as soon as it connects, it becomes one drop, two drops connect and become one, all the rivers sort of run to the ocean. Well there’s something in man that God communicates with, the spiritual side of our natures. Paul talks about that we all have this battle inside, between the spirit and the flesh. So man has a spiritual dimension of his nature where we crave the eternal realities, spiritual realities. That is all attracted to God the Spirit, who is the ocean, so to speak. And so that part of us that is spiritual is attracted to the Holy Spirit, God the Spirit. And so in that sense they’re separated and unique. But we need to choose to seek after Him. Does that sound a little bit theorial or did it make sense?
Jason: It made sense, so also to tie in with the growing spiritually? So it’s like, as we read the Bible and get closer to God by praying and things like that. We connect our spirit with His.
Pastor Doug: Yes.
Jason: Okay
Pastor Doug: Yeah, and you know, even John talks about how, you know, the spirit teaches us, and certain things resonate. And then even Christ, it says “He knew in His Spirit certain things”. And so yeah, God does speak tour hearts and He gives us impressions through the inner man, the spiritual side. You know, you got to be careful because it’s so hard to peg down on what that is. But I’m pretty sure it’s somewhere between our ears, I suppose to our knees and elbows. But there’s a spiritual aspect to the way God communicates with our minds. All right?
Jason: Okay
Pastor Doug: Now we do have a sermon book that deals with the spirit. And we’ll be happy to send that to you right now. I’m drawing a mental blank, what is that book called? “Life in the Spirit”.
Pastor Jëan Ross: “Life in the Spirit”,
Pastor Doug: That’s right.
Pastor Jëan Ross: The number again Jason is 1-800-835-6747, that’s the resource line. Ask for the book “Life in Spirit”, dealing with the subject of the Holy Spirit. Josiah is listening in the internet, calling from Glendale, California. Josiah welcome to the program.
Josiah: Hello
Pastor Doug: Hi Josiah, you’re on the air.
Josiah: Hello
Pastor Doug: Hi and you’re question tonight?
Josiah: Did God really knew that, (inaudible) Adam and Eve, why did He put the tree in the middle of the Garden?
Pastor Doug: That’s a good question. How old are you Josiah?
Josiah: I’m 7
Pastor Doug: well we appreciate you taking these deep thoughts. That’s a good question. Is your mom and dad somewhere around?
Josiah: My mom
Pastor Doug: That’s okay
Josiah: My mom’s with me.
Pastor Doug: That’s okay, well that’s good. Well let me ask you, do you always obey your mom?
Josiah: Sometimes
Pastor Doug: Okay, you mean sometimes you don’t obey, you’re being honest. I appreciate that. You know, you’re mom decided to have you even though she knew you might not always obey cause she wanted to love and she wants you to love her. God decided to make His creatures including Adam and Eve. And, God even made an angel named Lucifer, who later became the devil. Even though God knew Lucifer might someday disobey Him. And so God makes His creatures free, because He loves all His creatures and some choose to obey and some choose not to, they have a free choice, just like you do. Now Josiah, we, Amazing Facts just made a DVD about Adam and Eve, and the devil, and the Garden of Eden, and How that all happened. It’s called “Cosmic Conflict” and maybe your mom can show you the trailer on the internet. It’s a, you’ll enjoy that. You can get it, you can buy it at Amazing Facts too. So, did that answer your question a little bit?
Josiah: Okay, Yeah.
Pastor Doug: Okay, thank you very much, we’re glad you called in and keep listening.
Pastor Jëan Ross: And by the way Pastor Doug, anyone who’s listening, who wants more information on that. You mentioned the brand new DVD release “Cosmic Conflict”. Where do they go to get more information about that?
Pastor Doug: We’ve got a website called “Cosmicconflict.com”. And they can go there and a matter of fact. I don’t know if it’s premature to tell people this, but since it’s released a couple of months ago, I believe it was first released in August. All, there’ve been 16, 17 thousand that have already gone out. There’s been some very interesting visual upgrades and enhancements, so this next 2.0 or whatever you to call it, it’s really exciting folks are going to like it.
Pastor Jëan Ross: Our next caller is Maria and she is calling from Orlando, Florida. Maria welcome to the program.
Maria: Hi, thank you for taking my call, good evening.
Pastor Doug: Evening and how can we help you Maria?
Maria: Yes, I was wondering on the issue of polygamy, like what does the Bible have to say in regard of that. What did God had to say specifically, whether it was allowed or if it was not allowed?
Pastor Doug: Well God’s original plan, of course is in the Garden of Eden. God made 1 man and he didn’t take 2 ribs or 3 ribs from Adam. He took 1 rib for 1 wife. And that’s God’s plan. Now there are examples in the Bible where God, winked at some of His patriarchs that committed polygamy, probably ought to give the background a little bit. There was no social security back in the Bible times and in the early days, not everybody had an army. The patriarch and the sons were the soldiers. And sometimes there are so much war going on and the men did not join the military like they do today. That one family might have 10 girls or town, you know, you might have 10 women to 1 man. And sometimes the only way that a woman could have children, that would then support her in her old age, was if 1 man would take more than 1 wife. So because of the brutality of the age, God winked at their ignorance. And He even made laws to protect the wives, so nobody was being mistreated. But it was never part of his plan for man to have more than 1 wife. When you get to the New Testament, Paul makes it pretty clear. If someone wants to be elder of the church he needs to be a husband of 1 wife. And so polygamy is not part of God’s will, any more than slavery and a lot of things that happened, some of the brutality of the world, God noticed but He didn’t approve of.
Pastor Jëan Ross: You know we a cross-reference for that Pastor Doug. Where Jesus is speaking about this very issue, Mathew chapter 19 verse 8 and 9, where Jesus said to the Jewish leaders “Moses because of the hardness of your heart, suffered you to put away wives, but from the beginning was not so” and then he goes on to talk about how that, “in the beginning He created 1 man and 1 woman”
Pastor Doug: that’s right
Pastor Jëan Ross: So the passage to look at there, would be around Mathew 19:8 and onwards.
Pastor Doug: Good point. And then of course someone ask Benjamin Franklin one time, if he could provide one scripture that says “a man can’t have more than 1 wife” and Ben Franklin quotes, “No man can serve 2 masters”. That was always good enough for me. So hope that helps a little bit Maria.
Maria: Thank you.
Pastor Doug: By the way, you know, I do think it’s interesting when you look at the examples in the Bible of those like Jacob, who had, he had 4 wives, 2 that were like primary wives and 2 secondary wives and the you, Abraham had more than 1 wife. And they had all kinds of problems. Isaac had one wife, and he lived longer than Abraham or Jacob. So I think its God’s plan, 1 man, 1 woman.
Maria: Is it okay if I could ask 1 quick question? Just 1 more
Pastor Doug: all right, real quick 1.
Maria: Okay, what about, on wars in the Bible, like there’s a commandment that says, “you shall not kill”, not kill but however there’s just a lot of bloodshed in the Old Testament and I don’t know, like if why God allowed His people, humans to kill other humans.
Pastor Doug: All right, that’s a good question. You know what confuses people is when we read most of the translations of the Bible and the Ten Commandments, when it says “thou shall not kill”. The original word there is not actually kill, it’s thou shall not murder. Now Jesus quotes it that way, if you go to the New Testament, when Jesus quotes the Ten Commandments, he specifically says “thou shall commit no murder”. Murder is different from killing, killing is a very general term, if you step on a weed, you can kill it, you can swat a mosquito you kill. And so God wasn’t making a commandment saying, you know, you’re not supposed to swat mosquito, or pull up a weed, or step on an ant. God was talking about murder, because God also have laws that if somebody was guilty of murder, they were to be executed, they were to be killed. See what I’m saying? But if a person, if a policeman shoots somebody in the line of duty, nobody ever tries him as a murderer. Cause murder is the premeditated taking of the innocent life. When soldiers go to battle and they come home, nobody calls them murderers at least they shouldn’t, if they’re enjoying the freedom that they defend. So it’s a really different word and so when God sent His soldiers out, or like David killed Goliath, he wasn’t breaking the 10 commandments, he was defending the nation as a soldier. But when David killed another man to take his wife, God called him a “murderer”, it was a different thing. So hopefully that helps a little bit. I’ve actually got a sermon on “does God believe in the war?” that you can listen to for free at the Amazing Facts website. If anybody wants to hear that, it’s called “Does God believe in the War?”
Pastor Jëan Ross: The website is “Amazingfacts.org”. Gina is calling from Queens, New York. Gina welcome to the program.
Gina: God bless you, I have 2 questions in 1, 1 question is about the Last Supper that Jesus did with the disciples.
Pastor Doug: Yes
Gina: He parted the bread, gave the disciples, then He gave them the wine. Now are pastors allowed to, or can they change that from the way that Jesus did it? Or…
Pastor Doug: What kind of change are you talking about?
Gina: Like, for instance, put in the bread inside the wine and then drinking it.
Pastor Doug: Well, you know, it doesn’t say that Jesus did that. During the dinner, they would dip their bread in a sauce at the Passover meal, but that was not the wine. You know, it’s very clear that He said, “Take this bread, this is my body, eat it in remembrance of me”, then He separately took the cup and He said, “Take this cup, it represents His blood”. It was unlamented bread and unfermented grape juice, unfermented wine. And so, you know, pastors are to preserve the symbols, because if we change those symbols, we change the meaning. And so, you know, does that mean we need to, you know, drink the grape juice out of stone cups or pottery like Jesus probably did, or can we do it out of plastic cup? Well that doesn’t matter, the symbol’s still the same. So when you said, “Change things”, you know, obviously there’s some things we do. They might have used various kinds of flower back then the idea is it was bread, unlamented bread. So, hope that helps a little bit Gina, we need to stick to the symbols that God gives us, and because there’s lessons in there.
Pastor Jëan Ross: Absolutely. Next caller is Jane, calling from Idaho. Jane, welcome to the program.
Jane: Hi, thank you. My question is, can you share a Bible promise in regards to our children’s salvation, something that we can claim or promise over our children?
Pastor Doug: Well, I’m trying to remember that there’s a… I think its Isaiah 49:25, here it says, “Thus says the Lord, even the captives of the mighty will be taken, and the pray of the terrible delivered, for I will contend with him who contends with you, and I will save you children”. And so He’s speaking to those who consecrate themselves to the Lord that He’ll deliver them.
Pastor Jëan Ross: And of course, we also have the promise in Proverbs 22:6, that say, “Train up a child in the way that he should go, and when he’s old, he shall not depart from it”.
Pastor Doug: So there are probably multiple promises in the Bible, these are 2 that just pop into our minds, about promises that God will save our children. And pray, you know, whenever we pray, God is storing our prayers in heaven, He may not answer them all at once and I’ve seen some parents, they’ve prayed for their kids for years and the parents actually died, and then after their death, their kids come to the Lord and they’re baptized.
Jane: Okay.
Pastor Doug: And so just store up plenty of prayer in their behalf.
Jane: Okay.
Pastor Doug: God hears that. And be a good example.
Jane: I’m trying to be.
Pastor Doug: That’s the hard part for me I want to be a good example.
Jane: Okay, thank you.
Pastor Doug: Alright. God bless, thank you Jane.
Pastor Jëan Ross: Travis is calling from Dearborn Michigan. Travis, you’re on the air.
Travis: Thank you, I have a question for you about, you know, the difference between Sunday worship and the Saturday worship, I know that’s probably a common question you guys have, I haven’t listened for a while. Just as far as a theological view point, do you believe that, you know, a person who believes in Christ, if they’re worshipping on Saturday as supposed to Sunday, what is your thoughts on that?
Pastor Doug: Well 1st of all, nobody is saved by keeping anyone of the 10 commandment, the Sabbath is one of the 10 commandments, but we’re not saved by keeping the Sabbath, any more than we’re saved by keeping the commandment that says, don’t bare false witness.
Travis: Sure.
Pastor Doug: The idea is that, when we love the Lord, because we love Him, and because we are saved, we want to obey His law. And there are going to be people in heaven, we had a question a few minutes ago about too many wives. There’ll be people in heaven that had too many wives, well I believe that’s against the commandment of God about adultery.
Travis: Okay.
Pastor Doug: They didn’t know better. Paul says in Acts 17, “If the times of this ignorance, God winks at”. God looks on the heart, there’s some people that just don’t know, they live in ignorance, but we know better today. There’ll be people who went to church and kept the wrong day as the Sabbath, because they didn’t know, or they were just, you know, were taught wrong, or whatever. If they’re going to go by the Bible, there’s no question, the 7th day of the week is the Sabbath, and that’s the day that God blessed and sanctified. So I don’t know if I’m answering what you’re asking.
Travis: Well my question, as far as the I guess, the creation of the calendar, is there, how do we calculate what the 7th day is, you know, Sunday versus Saturday.
Pastor Doug: Okay, that’s a good question. There’s really a big misunderstanding about the calendar affecting the weekly cycle. It’s a very popular illusion because the week is also on the calendar. People think that a change to the calendar affects the week. No change in history of the calendar, Julian calendar, Gregorian calendar, has ever affected the weekly cycle, because the calendar is based on the year, and the seasons, and the moons, the weekly cycle is 1,2,3,4,5,6,7, 1,2,3,4,5,6,7, it’s never been affected by calendar changes.
Pastor Jëan Ross: Of course we have an example of that Pastor Doug. Every 4 years, we have a leap year and we have an added day to February, but that still hasn’t changed a Monday being followed by Tuesday, or the regular days of the week.
Pastor Doug: Exactly! Yeah, ever since creation, as far as we can tell, and you can ask astronomers, you can write a letter to the observatories, naval observatory, or Grenache, and they’ll tell you, that there’s been no change in the calendar through recorded history that has ever affected the weekly cycle.
Travis: Okay, that was sort of just a point of interest to me because, you do have churches across America that are Bible based churches, you know, that some would say, however you want to put it, but you know, they have Wednesday services, or Tuesday night prayers, and things like that, and I’m just curious, as far as, you know, somebody who is a committed Christian, but maybe their work schedule doesn’t allow them to attend church on the weekend. What if they’re going to Wednesday services or Tuesday services and they’re trying to worship God through those… Are those people, you know, disobeying the word?
Pastor Doug: That’s another question. Now if a person knows what the Sabbath truth is, and they say, “Well it’s going to be inconvenient for me to keep this commandment because I might lose my Job”, well then the argument starts to break down. I mean, there’s nothing wrong with going to church 7 days a week, we’re talking about, which day do you keep as the Sabbath? So if a person says, “Lord I know you tell me not to work on the 7th day, but you know, my boss wants me to come in”. Well if it’s a commandment, it’s not a recommendation.
Travis: Sure, sure.
Pastor Doug: I mean, the reason that Shadrick, Nishek, and Abendego, are heroes, is because, when Nebuchadnezzar told them to break the commandment of Idolatry and everybody was supposed to bow down, they stood up at the peril of their lives. And so God is looking for the people in the last days, who are also going to stand up for His commandment, all of them, not just the 4th commandment, at the peril of their lives. That’s what the whole mark of the beast issue is about in the last days. Well listening friends, we really appreciate your tuning into Bible Answers Live. As you can tell, we’re out of time again, but we sure enjoy the time we’ve had with you. Go to “Amazingfacts.org”, more information there. God willing, back next week.
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