Fascinating Facts About Turkeys

Unlike chickens, wild turkeys can see in color and have excellent eyesight. Without even turning their heads, their field of vision is about 270 degrees; makes it very difficult for a hunter to sneak up on them. They also have good hearing but their night vision is not so good which is why they roost in trees after dark.

A spooked turkey can run at speeds of 25 miles per hour and in a matter of seconds they can burst into flight, approaching speeds of nearly 55 miles an hour. Commercially-raised turkeys cannot fly. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the largest domestic turkey ever raised was 86 pounds.

Wild turkeys can be found in every state except Alaska. But back in the 1930s, due to habitat destruction and unregulated shooting, wild turkey populations had dwindled to fewer than 30,000. Today with more careful hunting management, there are now roughly 6,500,000 wild turkeys in North America.

Male turkeys are sometimes called “gobblers,” which make sense because they’re the only ones that really gobble. The distinctive gobbling sounds can be heard up to a mile away; hence instead, making a clicking noise. Benjamin Franklin was disappointed when bald eagles were selected as our national bird. He called it “a bird of bad moral character.” He much preferred the wild turkey, saying, “For the truth, the turkey is in comparison a much more respectable bird and a true native American. He is, besides, a bird of courage.”

Franklin may not have known that turkeys' heads change colors when they become excited and they can have an abrupt heart attack if they’re scared. During U.S. Air Force tests breaking the sound barrier, many nearby turkeys dropped dead from sudden cardiac arrest when they heard the sonic boom.

Did you know, friends, the Bible says that there’s a coming great sonic boom that will signal the doom for the lost and glory for the saved. Stay with us. We’re going to talk more about it as Amazing Facts brings you this edition of Bible Answers Live.

[PROGRAM INTRODUCTION]

Pastor Doug Batchelor: Welcome listening friends to Bible Answers Live. For anyone who’s tuning in for the first time, you've found your way to a live, international, interactive Bible study and you can participate. You can listen. You can pray for us as we do our best to give these answers to the livequestions, or you can call in with your Bible question and we do have lines open. The number once again is 1-800-GOD-SAYS. That’s 1-800-463-7297 to get your questions in for tonight’s Bible answer program. 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 tonight with prayer. Dear Father, we thank You that we do have this opportunity to study Your Word. We ask Your blessing. We recognize that the Bible is Your Book. We need the Holy Spirit in order to correctly understand it. Be with those who are listening wherever they might be and we pray for wisdom as we search the Scriptures tonight. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Pastor Doug Batchelor: Amen.

Pastor Jëan Ross: Pastor Doug, you opened the program talking about turkeys, and then you kind of segue way a little bit into how quickly they can have a heart attack if there’s a loud noise, and you spoke about the sonic boom. But what is this big bang that you said is yet to come?

Pastor Doug Batchelor: I think probably all of us have jumped before when somebody dropped a book or when we were relaxed and all of a sudden you heard this big clap of thunder or something. And that, I guess, scares turkeys sometimes to death. But that’s nothing compared to the big bang in the Bible is foretelling for the future.

Now a lot of people believe the world came from a big bang. We don’t ascribe to that. We think that the Lord created the world through the power of His Word in six literal days, but the world is going to end with a big sonic boom, a big bang. You can read about this is 2nd Peter chapter 3, verse 10, "But the day of the Lord," and I think all through the Bible people have heard reference to “the day of the Lord.” It's the Lord’s Day of Judgment.

“The day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat, and the earth also and the works that are in it shall be burned up. Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought we to be in all holy conversation and godliness, looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire will be dissolved, and the elements will melt with fervent heat?”

So, the Bible is pretty clear. There is going to be a big bang and it’s going to spell doom for those that aren’t ready; but it’s going to be, actually, a signal of rejoicing and thanksgiving for the saved because that means that the Lord is coming. We have a special gift that’s going to help prepare people for that day, the day of the Lord, sometimes known as the last night on earth, and how they can know they’ll be ready.

Pastor Jëan Ross: We have a book, Pastor Doug, entitled, The Last Night on Earth. It deals with the subject of the second coming and more importantly, how you can be ready to meet Jesus in peace. In order to receive your free book, The Last Night on Earth, give us a call at 1-800-835-6747. That is our resource line and you can ask for our free offer, The Last Night on Earth.

Pastor Doug Batchelor: In addition, if people want to read it right now they can go to the Amazing Facts' website. Just go to AmazingFacts.com or AmazingFacts.org. If you click under, “Free Stuff,” it’ll have our online reading library. This is one of the books that you can read right now by going to the Amazing Facts' website; and you’ll find a lot of other amazing facts regarding the Bible and the Word of God at that website.

Pastor Jëan Ross: Well Pastor Doug, let’s go to the phone lines. We have a caller from Indiana. Robert is calling from Indiana, listening on the internet. Robert, welcome to the program.

Robert: Good evening.

Pastor Doug Batchelor: Good evening.

Robert: Yeah, my question is in Revelation 17, verse 11.

Pastor Doug Batchelor: Okay, alright. Let me read this for our friends that are listening. And speaking of this, there’s a woman that is seen in Revelation chapter 17 and this angel is giving the interpretation and John is relating what he has seen. Revelation 17:10 says, “There are seven kings," it speaks of the seven heads on this beast on which the woman sits. “There are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other has not yet come; and when he comes, he must continue a short space. And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goes into perdition.”

Well it’s giving us a clue here, in that it says that "there are seven," but says "he is also the eighth." The only way you can really reconcile that is, sometimes you’ll have a president who leaves office, for instance. Another president maybe will come in the interim, and then he’s re-elected again later, and so he might be the thirty eighth president and the 40th president. You see what I’m saying?

Robert: Yes.

Pastor Doug Batchelor: But it's the same person. So we’re seeing that dynamic here in this passage. The seventh power, it says, “It receives a deadly wound, but the deadly wound is healed and it comes back into power,” and that’s why it also becomes the eighth. Now we have a study that deals with this subject, or you can even just go to the...

Robert: My question...

Pastor Doug Batchelor: I’m sorry, go ahead.

Robert: My question is if you identify the eighth, then you’ve identified that, sometime during his reign, Christ will return...

Pastor Doug Batchelor: Well, I believe...

Robert: ...because he goes in perdition.

Pastor Doug Batchelor: Yeah.

Robert: He goes into perdition. That’s not a natural destruction or death for a man or a system.

Pastor Doug Batchelor: No, I think you’re right; and when you get to the end of those kingdoms, those are the kingdoms that persecute God’s people. It says, “This woman," that starts out the chapter, "is drunken with the blood of the saints.”

Robert: Yes.

Pastor Doug Batchelor: This is the primary counterfeit religion, persecuting power known as Babylon. And yeah, when you get to the last power that power meets its threshold with the second coming.

Robert: Yes.

Pastor Doug Batchelor: So you’re right on target there.

Robert: Thank you.

Pastor Doug Batchelor: Now we have a website, that’s Bible Prophecy Truth. We have a study there, matter of fact, we can offer to people tonight. It’s called, “The Beast, The Dragon and The Woman,” and it deals with this woman in Revelation 17, “The Beast, The Dragon and The Woman.” It’s one of our classic books that a lot of people ask for regarding prophecy.

Pastor Jëan Ross: The number is 1-800-835-6747. The book is “The Beast, The Dragon and The Woman.” Again, Pastor Doug, let me remind our listening friends about that website, one of the most popular prophecy websites out there. It’s BibleProphecyTruth.com. If you’d go to that website, you’ll be able to read a lot of resources.

Also those of you listening, we have a few lines still open. If you'd like to get your Bible question in this evening, the number to call is 1-800-GOD-SAYS. That's 1-800-463-7297. We have Larry who is listening from Louisiana, listening on WHRZ. Larry, welcome to the program.

Pastor Doug Batchelor: Larry, are you there?

Larry: Good evening, Pastor Ross.

Pastor Doug Batchelor: Hi.

Larry: God bless.

Pastor Doug Batchelor: Yeah, you’re on the air.

Larry: My question is, the signs of the end time. I know one for sure is when one people will come a nation again, which I believe is Israel in 1947, 1948. Now, is there any other signs that are showing as of now, and what are they?

Pastor Doug Batchelor: Alright. Good question. What are some of the other prominent signs of the second coming of Jesus? Well I’ll give you a couple real quick. If you go to Matthew chapter 24 where Jesus specifically is telling us what are some of the signs of His coming; for me, one of the most powerful is Matthew 24:14, “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world for a witness to all nations; and then the end will come.”

So one of the signs--I think we’re living in the last generation--is the Gospel is going to the world now through modern communications more rapidly than it has in any other generation of the world’s history. Even as I speak right now this is going out on the internet and people all over the world. We had calls last week from Guam. We get calls from all over the place.

We have TV programs that bounce off satellite all over the world and they’re translated into several languages, through DVDs. This is just the Amazing Facts' Ministry and it’s not even touching on what many other Christian ministries are doing. Through DVDs and through television and radio programs, the Gospel--printed page--it's going all over the world.

So, this is the generation. It doesn’t say that everyone is going to believe. Notice Jesus said, “The gospel will go into all the world for a witness.” That means they have an opportunity. Not all will believe because Christ said, “Few find it,” "Broad is the way to destruction," but they're having an opportunity. So that’s one.

Another one you find in Daniel chapter 12 where it tells us that just before this great time of trouble, it says, “…many run to and fro, and knowledge increases.” Well, I don’t think anyone is going to question that knowledge and technology, and communications and travel have increased more in this last generation than any other part of man’s history. Just last night, Larry, I was at the 100th birthday party for my wife’s grandfather, and I thought about what he’s seen in one lifetime.

There is no other generation in the history of the world that has seen the human race go from horse and buggy and kerosene, to the high-powered automobiles, the computers, the space station that we have now. So knowledge has increased, people are running to and fro more rapidly and more frequently than any other time. So, those are just a few prominent signs. There are many others. Now by the way Larry, can you get on the internet?

Larry: Sure can.

Pastor Doug Batchelor: Bible Prophecy Truth. You want to make sure and include the word “truth” there, BibleProphecyTruth.com. There are some lessons that specifically deal with signs of the end.

Pastor Jëan Ross: You know, we also have a study guide talking about the second coming of Christ and also talking about signs of His coming. It’s entitled, The Ultimate Deliverance, talking about the second coming of Jesus. If you’d call our resource line, 1-800-835-6747, and ask for the study guide The Ultimate Deliverance on the second coming, we’ll be happy to send that out. That’s also available at the Amazing Facts' website, AmazingFacts.org. Our next caller is Sharon and she is calling from Canada. Sharon, welcome to the program.

Sharon: Hi, Pastor Doug. Thank you so much for taking my call.

Pastor Doug Batchelor: Good evening.

Sharon: Hi. What I wanted to ask was, my son and I are new to the faith, and we wanted to really, you know, empty all the old stuff and just soak in Jesus. And we wanted to know, how is it that we can be humble as Christians? How is it that we can be humble? And I also wanted to thank Amazing Facts for the great work that they do because I always hear of people almost every day who are impacted by the wonderful sermons you have on the internet. And you have changed--well not just you but the whole team--has changed so many lives and brought so many people to God. It’s just amazing.

Pastor Doug Batchelor: Well, we praise the Lord.

Sharon: And I hope people will donate even if it’s a dollar to Amazing Facts because the work is just phenomenal. You guys are great.

Pastor Doug Batchelor: Well thank you, Sharon. Folks are going to think I paid you to call in.

Sharon: No, no, no. You didn’t. No. I was thinking that. But no, you didn’t.

Pastor Doug Batchelor: Well bless you heart. We appreciate the commercial.

Sharon: Yeah.

Pastor Doug Batchelor: You know, I wish I had more questions like these. Not because of the nice things you said about the ministry, but I like your question. You’re asking about, not a doctrine, but you’re asking about a heart-change.

Sharon: Yes.

Pastor Doug Batchelor: How can we humble ourselves before the Lord?

Sharon: Yes.

Pastor Doug Batchelor: And you know, that it’s interesting the way that’s worded because, really, nowhere in the Bible do we pray that God will humble us. God says that we should choose to humble ourselves because He does not force our hearts. And it’s really a change of heart. We are naturally selfish. We are naturally proud. That was the sin of the devil. And it’s by having the Spirit and the mind of Christ that we developed that humility.

So one thing is through reading the Word and realizing everything comes from God, and we really can't take credit for anything and so we need to have a humble attitude, and that every breath we breathe is a gift from God. So, we can’t be boasting about what we’re going to do tomorrow. We have no idea that we’ll have that gift of life. And then that we’ve all sinned.

So it’s hard for us to be proud when we see how much Jesus suffered to forgive us. It’s hard for us to brag and act like we’re better than others. So in prayer, in considering the Word of God, the life of Christ, asking for the Spirit of God, it helps grow and cultivate humility in our hearts.

Pastor Jëan Ross: You know, I’m just looking up here what the Bible has to say about being humble or humbling yourself. There are many references, 123 references in all, that talk about the importance of being humble. Let me just give you two verses. Jesus said in Matthew 18, verse 4, “Therefore whoever humbles himself as a little child, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” And then again in Luke 14, verse 11, Jesus said, “For whosoever exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.

Sharon: So it’s just a process then.

Pastor Doug Batchelor: You know, it is, but, people sometimes say to me, not many say it, but once or twice, people have said to me, “Pastor Doug, you seem so humble.” And I say, “Well I’m not. I’m glad that you think I am.” We’re all naturally proud and we’re all naturally selfish and every day I have to pray, “Lord, give me the Holy Spirit. When I start to speak or think selfishly or proud, help me to realize that that’s just not Your Spirit,” and He does.

Pastor Jëan Ross: The more time we spend in communion with Christ, the more we recognize our need of Him...

Sharon: Yes.

Pastor Jëan Ross: ...and our unworthiness, and that brings about humility or humbles us. So, we can’t just perhaps force ourselves to be humble. But by spending time with Christ, we become humble.

Sharon: No, no, but we’re realizing that the more we spend time reading the Word and actually immersing ourselves in anything that has to do with Christ, like programs and all that, we find that it’s really changed so much in us and we’ve given up so much secular habits that we had. There are a lot of things that we stopped doing.

Pastor Doug Batchelor: Well you know, the key is you turn your eyes on Jesus and you become like Him. That’s it. You’re on the right track Sharon. Thank you again for your great phone call and comments.

Pastor Jëan Ross: We have Norman who is listening in California on KADV. Norman, welcome to the program.

Norman: Yeah, good evening gentlemen.

Pastor Doug Batchelor: Good evening.

Norman: I listened to you several weeks ago and last week was an encore so I didn’t get to call you back. A gentleman asked you--and I don’t remember what the question was about--you mentioned the rapture, and I just suggest maybe you better clarify what the Bible says when the rapture will be. And my second question is, John was writing a letter to the seven churches in Asia Minor. Are those churches still active? Now I’ll hang up on that. Okay?

Pastor Doug Batchelor: Alright, Norman, thank you. Good question.

Norman: Yeah, alright.

Pastor Doug Batchelor: Let me answer your second question as well as I can.

Norman: Yup.

Pastor Doug Batchelor: In the seven churches that John addresses in Revelation chapter 2 and 3, are they still active? Well I’ve actually not been to those churches, but I think some of them were just ruins now, that there’s really not anybody in these ancient cities. It’s largely an Islamic region because most of it’s in Turkey, but I do know that there are some Christian churches in some of those places.

I’ve not been there but I’ve heard they do have--they’re not, maybe, the exact location but in the proximity of Ephesus or some of the seaports--Pergamos, there may be some small churches that are still practicing.

The other question is about when does the secret rapture take place? Well, we don’t believe the rapture is a secret. The word “rapture” means “caught up” and we think when the Lord does catch the saints up, everyone is going to know. We read that verse tonight, “When the day of the Lord comes as a thief in the night,” 2nd Peter chapter 3, verse 10, “the heavens will dissolve with a great noise.” So there’s nothing secret about when the Lord comes as a thief. Everyone is going to know when that happens and we’ll be caught up to meet Him.

I should preface this by saying there are many dear Christians that believe one of three views: the saints are caught up after the tribulation, before the tribulation, or in the middle of it; and some are called “post-trib," "mid-trib," "pre-trib.” Those are the words connected with the tribulation. All Christians agree there’s a tribulation in the future. In relation to that, when are we caught up with the Lord?

Pastor Ross and I are of the old group of Protestants that believe that the church is in the world during this tribulation, but we don’t have to be afraid of it. God protects His people through those seven plagues just like He protected the children of Israel. Then at the end of that, when you read the seven plagues in Revelation, the last plague, great earthquake, Christ comes, and we’re caught up to meet Him in the air.

We do have a book on that. We’ve got the book called Anything But Secret. It deals with the rapture, Anything But Secret.

Pastor Jëan Ross: Anything But Secret, yes. If you’d like to know more about the second coming of Christ, the rapture, give us a call on our resource line. It’s 1-800-835-6747 and you can ask for the book, Anything But Secret. Let’s see, our next caller is Gregory and Gregory is calling from New York, listening on WMCA. Gregory, welcome to the program.

Gregory: Yes. Good evening gentlemen.

Pastor Doug Batchelor: Good evening.

Gregory: Thank you for taking my call. The question I have is concerning--well I’ll put it this way--does the Bible at all give any reference to other intelligences? I mean, we know that there are guardians. He’s created many galaxies and billions of stars and billions of galaxies, and somewhere up in the Bible the word “worlds.” I can’t exactly remember where this reference is but the word “worlds” is used. So succinctly, the question I want to know is does the Bible give reference to any other intelligences that God has created, aside from mankind?

Pastor Doug Batchelor: I believe the answer is yes. And I think the reference you’re talking about might be Hebrews 1, verse 2. It says, “God hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he has appointed heir of all things, by whom he made the worlds,”--plural.

Gregory: Okay.

Pastor Doug Batchelor: And then you, of course, have the story in Job where it says there's a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord and the devil shows up and God says to Lucifer, "Where did you come from?" He says, "I came from earth.” So here’s this heavenly meeting where God is surrounded by these sons of God. I’ve heard some commentators say, “Well Adam was called the son of God in Luke chapter 3 because he was given dominion of this world." And these other sons of God in this heavenly meeting, they’re not called angels or cherubim there. They are the leaders of, maybe, other worlds that the Lord has.

Gregory: Wow, that's interesting.

Pastor Doug Batchelor: It doesn't mean that they're humans, but just representatives. Then, of course, you read in Revelation God does have, we know He has ten thousand times ten thousand angels, and cherubim, and seraphim and many other creatures. By the way, if you don't mind my plugging a message, I did preach a sermon called, "Is There Life on Other Worlds?" that you can listen to. I think it’s edited and you can watch it for free at the Amazing Facts' website, "Is There Life on Other Worlds?"

Gregory: Oh okay. I didn't know that.

Pastor Doug Batchelor: And that’s just AmazingFacts.com. Yeah, click under where it says “TV.” I take a number of references in the Bible and go through that study. Hey, we do have some lines open. I don’t know what it is Pastor Ross. Maybe some people have started their vacation for Thanksgiving and they’re out of their regular routine, but if you’ve ever sat around listening to the program and thought, “Oh, I enjoy listening but I’d never call in with a question,” hey, here’s your chance.

We've got some lines open. Pick up the phone. That number one more time, 1-800-835--oh wait a second, I’m giving the wrong number--1-800-463-7297. The other number is our resource number.

Pastor Jëan Ross: Alright. The next caller is Mike and Mike is calling from Staten Island, New York. Mike, welcome to the program.

Mike: Yes, hi.

Pastor Doug Batchelor: Hi.

Mike: You were speaking of Revelation chapter 17 about the beast and scarlet?

Pastor Doug Batchelor: Yes, the scarlet harlot she’s called, the woman in Revelation 17.

Mike: Right. I was wondering what that refers to? Is it specifically a false religious system, or a particular church or, could you specify more of what you believe that is please?

Pastor Doug Batchelor: Yeah, I’ll do my best. You find, first of all, in Revelation 12--you've got two women in Revelation. In Revelation 12 you have a woman who represents the true church. She is standing on the moon, clothed with the sun, 12 stars above her head. That represents light. The light God made—the sun, moon, and stars—God's light. God said to the church, “You are the light of the world.” This is the Bride of Christ that you find in Revelation 12.

The woman you see in Revelation 17 is the antithesis of the other woman. She is called the "harlot.” She is unfaithful. Through the Old Testament God talked to His people and said they were like a harlot when they went after the other pagan gods and followed the other religions. So the woman in Revelation 17, she represents the epitome of unfaithfulness.

Now, there are some clues given about where this woman resides. It says, for one thing, that she has been in correspondence or committed fornication with the other kings of the earth. It says that "she sits among seven hills." Well there’s one prominent church in the world that is found seated among seven hills, and the city of Rome is known as "the city of seven hills." And at the end of that chapter, chapter 17, it says, “The woman which you saw is that great city that reigns over the kings of the earth.”

Well, when John wrote his letter there was only one great city that was ruling over the kings of the earth and that was Rome. He had been imprisoned by Rome. Third grade history will tell most people what is the prominent world church based in Rome that has also been a persecuting power over the course of time and that narrows it down; and a lot of lovely people are mixed up in that religion, but they’ve departed in many ways from the Bible. And by the way, we do have that lesson.

Pastor Jëan Ross: We have a study dealing with Revelation chapter 17. It’s called, The Other Woman, Revelation 17. Matter of fact, I recommend two studies. The one is, The Bride of Christ. That deals with Revelation chapter 12, and then Revelation 17 entitled, The Other Woman. So if you’d like to receive these study guides, give us a call on our resource line. That’s 1-800-835-6747, ask for The Bride of Christ and The Other Woman. We’ll be happy to send that out.

Pastor Doug Batchelor: I hope that helps a little bit Mike. We’re going to take a break right now. Don’t go away friends. That music is just for us to catch our breath, stations can identify themselves. You can also grab your pencil and write down the best website out there, it’s Amazing Facts, the amazing facts about eternal life and no facts are more important, simply AmazingFacts.org. We’ll be back in just a moment.

[COMMERCIAL BREAK]

Pastor Doug Batchelor: We are back friends. This is Bible Answers Live and we're so thankful that you have tuned in. If you have a Bible question give us a call. That number is 1-800-463-7297. My name is Doug Batchelor.

Pastor Jëan Ross: My name is Jëan Ross and friends, once again, welcome. We do have a few lines open, not too many now. But if you'd like to get your question in, give us a call. Pastor Doug, we're going to go straight to the phones. Our next caller is John and John is calling from the Bronx, New York. John, welcome to the program. John, are you there?

John: Yeah, God bless you.

Pastor Doug Batchelor: Good evening, and your question tonight?

John: Yeah, can we go to the Bible?

Pastor Doug Batchelor: Which verse do you want to go to?

John: Okay, verse 30 of, hold on, hold on, verse 30...

Pastor Doug Batchelor: You've got to give me a book first.

John: Okay. Exodus chapter 31, verse 12.

Pastor Doug Batchelor: Exodus 31, verse 12?

John: Yes Exodus, 31st chapter, verse 12.

Pastor Doug Batchelor: Alright, and would you like me to read that?

John: Yes.

Pastor Doug Batchelor: "And the Lord spoke to Moses"--

John: "And the Lord said to Moses, Say to the Israelites, You must observe my Sabbaths. This will be a sign between me and you for the generations to come; so you may know that I am the Lord who makes you holy.” Why--if He was giving to the Jews just the Sabbath day, why didn’t He mention anything about the Gentiles? That’s my question.

Pastor Doug Batchelor: Alright. Well first of all, everybody that needs to be saved becomes a spiritual Jew for one thing. The only covenant that God ever made to save anybody, the new covenant, is made with the house of Israel. If you read in Jeremiah 31 and in Hebrews chapter 8 it says, “A new covenant I will make after those days with the house of Israel.”

So when God gave Adam and Eve the Sabbath back in the Garden of Eden naturally the Jewish nation, being God’s representatives to the world at that time, they were also Sabbath keepers. Everybody that comes to the Lord is either part of literal Israel, being physical Jews, or spiritual Israel, being Gentiles. We all come to Jesus, who was of course, a Jew, through salvation that Christ delivered in the sacred Book He gave the Jewish people, the Bible.

When Jesus spoke to the Samaritan woman at the well she began to argue and say, “Well we should worship on Mount Gerizim," or, "The Jews say its Mount Zion,” and Jesus told her point blank, “Salvation is of the Jews.” So every Christian is grafted in. Paul says--what is that, Romans chapter 9?--“Every Christian is grafted into the olive tree of Israel.”

So yeah, when it makes a statement about the covenant God made with Israel, that’s something that we buy into, along with all the other promises that He gave Abraham and the 12 apostles, by the way, we’re all Jewish.

Pastor Jëan Ross: The verse you mentioned there is Romans 11, verses 17, 19, 23, and 24; all talk about being grafted in speaking of the Gentiles who received faith in Jesus.

Pastor Doug Batchelor: So I appreciate your question John and I hope that answers a little bit. We do have a book that we'll be happy to send you and it's called, Spiritual Israel. It explains the relationship between modern Gentile Christians and how they relate with the Jewish heritage that we received from the Bible and the apostles, and we’ll send that to you. It’s called, Spiritual Israel

Pastor Jëan Ross: The number is 1-800-835-6747 and the book again is, Spiritual Israel. We have another John who is calling from Bakersfield, California. John, welcome to the program.

John: Hi. First of all, I want to say I really enjoy your program. I listen to it, you know, all the time. I have a question regarding--I heard a reference. A lot of times people use statements, or what they call quotes, in the Bible that aren't actually in there. The one that I heard today was the “sea of the forgotten sin.” Pastor Doug, do you know if in the Bible there is a reference or a place where it talks about “the sea of the forgotten sin?”

Pastor Doug Batchelor: Well I’m not sure what you heard, but probably what they’re referring to is in Micah 7:19. It says, “He will turn again, he will have compassion on us; he will subdue our iniquities; thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.” That’s the only verse I know of that some of us are probably putting a little more romantic verbiage on that promise in the Bible, that God will cast our sins into the depths of the sea.

John: The way I understand it is like this. You know when we pray and ask for forgiveness, first of all, when we pray, we should be specific about what we’re praying for so we know that it’s not a coincidence or luck, that we know that it’s God-given. But when we’re asking for forgiveness of sins we can ask to be forgiven, and the Lord will forgive us. I look at this as kind of like a throwing-up-a-blanket prayer, you know, for forgiveness to cover all my sins. But if, in fact, there is asea of forgotten sins and when we stand before God, we have to say, you know, “Lord, forgive me for this one, and for that one, and for this one, and for that one,” if we’re specific about the sins that we’re asking, you know, forgiveness for, first of all, it’s thoughtful that we do that to God. But, second of all, we already have to see that ugly sin or have to deal with that sin before God because He’s throwing it in the sea of the forgotten sin. So am I right in assuming that, or is that something I picked up along the way that isn’t right?

Pastor Doug Batchelor: Well it's true--of course, the blood of Christ is so potent and powerful that it can cover the sins of the whole world; so in that sense, it is a sea that will dissolve all sins cast there. Someone once said, “He takes our sins and casts them into the depths of this sea and puts up a ‘No Fishing’ sign.”

And one other point that, while we’re talking about this sea, Jesus said, “If you've got faith as a grain of mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Be plucked up and cast into the sea.’” Well Jesus is speaking there of the mountain of sin we all are burdened under. That’s what’s cast into the depths of the sea. But as far as specifically confessing sin, that is a good thing.

Now we may not remember every sin we’ve committed, but when we first come to the Lord it talks about us making confession as far as possible. If we’ve been guilty of the Ten Commandments we could list, “Lord, I have been a liar. I have thought murderous thoughts in my mind.” Jesus said murder and adultery even happen in the heart.

So these things should be confessed and we should try and be specific because as we specifically confess, we’re acknowledging to ourselves this is where we need victory; these are the areas we need to repent and turn. So I hesitate to tell people to be too broad in general when they’re confessing because I think we need to know, “Where do I need to change?” Now, I don’t know, am I firing where the target is John?

John: Well, yeah, because I think that if you really--I mean, if you really love the Lord, you want to be thoughtful and you don’t want to just throw up a bunch of words. You don’t want to have words that are just repetitious. You really want to pray earnestly and from your heart. So I think--this is my thinking--is that I really want to remember the things that I’ve done and ask God specifically for, you know, forgiveness of those things. And then, when I run out of things that I remember, then I say, “Lord, put those other ones on my mind or my heart so that I can specifically ask for forgiveness of those too.” So that way I don’t have to face that when I (unintelligible) forgot. But you know, I mean maybe I won’t have to do it, I’m not really sure. But I think I’m covering my basis.

Pastor Doug Batchelor: John, I want to make sure that you don’t spend your Christian life fretting that you have forgotten to confess something because I don’t think there’s anybody old enough to talk that’s listening to this broadcast that can remember every violation. So the main thing is that we remember to confess anything specific that the Holy Spirit gives us. But I don‘t go through my day saying, “Lord, have I forgotten a sin? Help me know,” because you don’t want to just be robbed of your joy with the Lord.

And I always say, “Lord, if there’s something that I’m forgetting.…” It’s like King David says in that prayer--I forget where it is in Psalms--“Search me...and try me...see if there be any wicked way in me and lead me in the way everlasting.” So we can pray that prayer and ask the Lord to search us and try us and reveal to us something we may need to make right. But I don’t think God wants us to be preoccupied through our whole experience. Once you repent and confess, you need to enjoy the good news.

Pastor Jëan Ross: The verse you’re referring to is Psalm 193, verse 24.

Pastor Doug Batchelor: Thank you very much. Hey we appreciate that, good question. We’re getting some good questions on the Christian life tonight Jëan.

Pastor Jëan Ross: We’ve got Max who is calling from Hawaii. Max, welcome to the program.

Max: Hi.

Pastor Doug Batchelor: Good evening Max, and we’re glad you called in. Your question tonight?

Max: I would like to know if it’s true that in Revelation that Gog and Magog--that Russia and China--are going to attack Israel and surround it, and that they will have an army of two hundred million in these last days?

Pastor Doug Batchelor: I’m glad you asked that question. You know, some people read about "Gog and Magog" that you find in Revelation chapter 20. And I believe they're referring back to some prophecies that are found in--is it Ezekiel 37?

Pastor Jëan Ross: Ezekiel 38:1 and 2.

Pastor Doug Batchelor: Ezekiel 38:1 and 2. "Gog and Magog" are generic terms. They were enemies of God’s people in the Old Testament. They are used in Revelation in a symbolic nature. All the names in Revelation are symbolic to identify the enemies of God’s people that will surround the city of God after it descends from heaven and Satan is loosed from his prison.

They don’t represent a country. Some have tried to make a connection between Mesech and Magog and Moscow. And I think, to me, that’s just like a rhyming dictionary. It’s a real stretch because they say they're the "people of the North," or they try and make "Gog" out to be China. Quite honestly, "Magog" means "from the matrix of Gog" or "Gog and its children." "Gog and Magog" means "Gog and the children of Gog."

In the Bible you’ll find that you’ve got "Babylon," and "the daughters of Babylon." The children become a persecuting power so it’s often a people and their descendants, their seed. That’s all that "Magog" means, "from the matrix" or "coming out of Gog." It’s not talking about Moscow. It’s not talking about China.

Will there be some future conflict with China and Russia? Well I don’t know. I mean, we’ve already had two world wars in the last hundred years so there could be some conflict where, where--and it’s frightful to even think about that--if we had a war with China. I mean, there would be nothing left at Walmart. What would we do?

So, yeah, that’s pretty serious business. But that’s not what that prophecy is referring to. I’m glad you asked that question because I think a lot of people have been confused about that.

Pastor Jëan Ross: Thanks for your call Max. Again, if anybody wants to learn more about these various Bible symbols, go to the website, BibleProhecyTruth.com.

Pastor Doug Batchelor: Absolutely.

Pastor Jëan Ross: There’s a lot of information there. Our next caller is, let’s see, we’ve got Michael who is calling from Manhattan, New York. Michael, welcome to the program.

Michael: Yes, hi.

Pastor Doug Batchelor: Thanks for calling.

Michael: Could you turn to Psalms 148, verses 5 and 6?

Pastor Doug Batchelor: We’ll do our best, and...

Michael: And one more verse after that.

Pastor Doug Batchelor: You wanted Psalm 148 you said?

Michael: 148 verses 5 and 6.

Pastor Doug Batchelor: Okay.

Michael: Read that very happily.

Pastor Doug Batchelor: I’ll read it, Psalm 148:5. “Let them praise the name of the LORD: for he commanded, and they were created. He hath also established them for ever and ever: he hath made a decree which shall not pass. Praise the LORD from the earth, ye dragons, and all deeps.” Is that the part you wanted?

Michael: “…and for ever and ever.”

Pastor Doug Batchelor: Yeah.

Michael: It’s a covenant that will not change. If you turn to Psalms--turn to Psalms 21, 21st chapter.

Pastor Doug Batchelor: What’s your question? I appreciate the Bible study, but I’m curious where you’re heading.

Michael: Okay, okay, okay. In Psalms 21 it mentions how that God will consume the wicked like a fiery furnace. He will consume them...

Pastor Doug Batchelor: Right.

Michael: ...and how that there will be those who will remain. The wicked will be gone and there will be those who will remain. The fire is symbolic. The fire that comes upon the earth is not a literal fire. Even the covenant that the earth will--is established forever and ever, it's not going anywhere. The fire is symbolic. If you read Psalms 21, verses 9 and 10, you will see what the fire...

Pastor Doug Batchelor: Well let me read it...

Michael: ...the fire really is. It's God's wrath upon the earth that consumes the wicked upon the earth. It's not a literal fire.

Pastor Doug Batchelor: I'm with you. Let me read that for our friends listening. “Thou shalt make them as a fiery oven in the time of thine anger: the LORD shall swallow them up in his wrath, and the fire shall devour them. Their fruit shalt thou destroy from the earth, and their seed from among the children of men.” [KJV]

Well you know, because God says He’s going to preserve His people doesn’t mean there’s no fire. You’ve got the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. They were thrown in a very real fiery furnace that destroyed the men, the soldiers that threw them in, but it did not hurt them. They were preserved.

In like manner, God preserved Lot. He brought him out of Sodom, but He literally rained fire down upon the city and it was devoured. Now the earth will abide. God’s going to recreate the heavens and the earth. The planet, I’m sure, will still be here so it will abide forever. But many times, many places in the world, there has been fire, there have been disasters. Peter makes it really clear: next time He’s going to destroy the world, once it was a flood, next time it’s going to be fire.

Pastor Jëan Ross: You know, Jesus also set forth Sodom and Gomorrah as examples of the destruction of the wicked at the end of time, and we know what happened to Sodom and Gomorrah. Fire came down and devoured them. So that is, ultimately, the fate of the wicked. They will be consumed with the fires of hell.

Pastor Doug Batchelor: Yeah. Obviously, none of us are fans of thinking about, pardon the pun, the flames that will destroy the wicked in the last days. It’s not a pleasant thought but we have to be faithful to the Scripture. And if there is one scripture that is clear, from Genesis to Revelation, God was grieved back in the days of Noah that He had made man because his [men's] thoughts were only evil continually, and He destroyed the world with water.

And it says that next time "a fire issues before him" when the Lord comes. The wicked are destroyed by the brightness of His coming. Jesus said, “They will be cast into a burning furnace of fire,” in the parable of the wheat and the tares. I could just go on through a long list of Scriptures that bear that out Michael. You know, I'd encourage you to take a look at a website we’ve got that is very clear. It’s called HellTruth.com.

There's a lot of misunderstandings about hell and I think you might be really happy to find out what the good news is about hell. There’s another oxymoron. We also have a lesson called, “Is the Devil in Charge of Hell?” So, the website is HellTruth.com. The lesson is, “Is the Devil in Charge of Hell?” and Pastor Ross will give you that number.

Pastor Jëan Ross: The number is 1-800-835-6747. Again, the lesson I’ve been talking about is, “Is the Devil in Charge of Hell?” I’d encourage you to take a look at that website as well, HellTruth.com. We’ve got Kevin who is listening from Oregon, listening on KBLN. Kevin, welcome to the program.

Kevin: Hi there.

Pastor Doug Batchelor: Hi.

Kevin: Hey, I got a couple of, well I guess like three questions in my belly, to answer real quickly. You know, my understanding on them, yeah, there’s a variety of different explanations to (unintelligible)

Pastor Doug Batchelor: Well let’s start right into it...

Kevin: Okay.

Pastor Doug Batchelor: ...because we’re trying to stay on our budget for the question time.

Kevin: Alright. After the rapture, you know, the people that are left behind that become righteous Christians and that are killed, you know, it’s says something about they’re going to be having their heads cut off. Is this going to be the way that they’re going to be martyrs? And also if, you know, when—if Adam was the father of all, you know, and then the world was wiped out and Noah and his sons, you know, started up the population again, you know, why are we all so different?

Pastor Doug Batchelor: Alright.

Kevin: And there’s a deal about--somebody mentioned about the sons of men, that there were other people on the planet?

Pastor Doug Batchelor: You’re talking about back before the time of Noah? I mean, before the time of Adam?

Kevin: No, not before the time of Adam but it was afterwards.

Pastor Doug Batchelor: Oh, you’re talking about when the sons of God knew the daughters of men and they had children?

Kevin: Yeah.

Pastor Doug Batchelor: Okay, alright, three quick questions. I’m going to race through them as well as I can. First of all, when it talks about the sons of God knowing the daughters of men, that is describing when the descendants of Seth, Adam’s son that believed in the Lord, intermarried with the descendants of Cain. They were called "the daughters of men." Then, mankind lost its holiness. God sent the flood.

The other question you asked about was in the last days, in the rapture, what happens to those left behind? Well, there’s no one alive when Jesus comes. After He leaves the earth, the wicked are destroyed by the brightness of His coming. Let me read this. Everyone knows the Lord is coming like a thief. They talk about the rapture, He comes like a thief. If we read the whole verse there, “The day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night,” that’s 2nd Peter 3, verse 10.

“The day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in which the heavens pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat," there’s that fire again we just talked about Pastor Ross, "the earth and the works that are in it are burned up.”

If you read in Malachichapter 4 it says the day is coming in which all the wicked, all the proud, are burned up. They’re devoured...neither root nor branch. When the Lord comes and the dead in Christ rise, 1st Thessalonians chapter 4, they’re caught up to meet the Lord in the air. The wicked are destroyed by the brightness of His coming. They’re not raised again until the end of the 1,000 years. Now, there was a third question, I forgot.

Kevin: Can I ask quickly about that again? Okay. My understanding is that...

Pastor Doug Batchelor: You had a second question I left out.

Kevin: Oh, yeah. Well you answered that with that verse there--it's together, it came together, yeah. On this, I want to know about...

Pastor Jëan Ross: Oh yeah, I remember what else. You wanted to know if all of us came from Adam and then from Noah and his sons, why are there so many differences?

Pastor Doug Batchelor: Yeah. Well you know, the way I like to answer this is by pointing people to a cover article on National Geographic that talks about the diversity of dogs in the world. There are so many different kinds of breeds of dogs, big and little, and hairless and hairy, and smooth and covered with wrinkles. You just think of all the different colors and shapes and sizes of dogs. They said they’ve done the DNA research and all the variety of dogs in the world can be traced back to two wolf-like dogs.

Same thing with humanity. God created man with an abundance of variety in his genes and you can see that reflected in the world around us. So just because everybody came from Adam or from Noah doesn’t mean that we're all going to look like we’ve been stamped out by a cookie cutter.

Through the genetics, and the intermarriage and certain dominant features, all kinds of variations come out. Hey I appreciate that. We gave you a little more question time than we normally give out Kevin. I hope that helps though.

Pastor Jëan Ross: Let’s see. We’ve got Chamile who is listening from New York, New York. Chamile, welcome to the program.

Chamile: Yes, hi. How are you tonight?

Pastor Doug Batchelor: Very good, and your question tonight?

Chamile: My question is I have a friend--well I have two different friends but they asked me the same question. They didn’t go to church and I asked them, “Well why didn’t you go to church today?” and they would--because they normally go. And they were saying, “Oh, I don’t like to deal with some of the people in church because they talk too much and they're, you know, phony," and this, that, and the third.And I was telling both of them that, “When you go to church, you go for you. You don’t go for the gossiping," and the whatnot. And I wasn’t sure where in the Bible I could look for, to give them to read when...

Pastor Doug Batchelor: Hebrews...

Chamile: ...I was answering that question. So really, I just want to know where could I go in the Bible if I’m faced with that question again, if I want to help somebody out and say, “Look…”

Pastor Doug Batchelor: Chamile, there’s a verse. What do you do when someone says, “I don’t go to church because there are too many hypocrites”? In Hebrews 10--what is it, verse 28 Pastor Ross where it says, “Do not forsake the assembling of yourselves...”?

Pastor Jëan Ross: Verse 25.

Pastor Doug Batchelor: Verse 25. You want to read that?

Chamile: Hebrews 25.

Pastor Jëan Ross: Hebrews chapter 10, verse 25. It says, "Not forsaking the assembling of yourselves together, as is the manner of some; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as you see the day approaching.”

Pastor Doug Batchelor: Now that’s one. Another one would be in Acts chapter 2, verse 1 when God pours out the Holy Spirit. It says, “They were all in one place and of one accord.” Well in the upper room, the disciples were arguing among themselves which of them was the greatest and it wasn’t until they put aside their differences God could pour out the Spirit.

So we desperately need the latter rainof God’s Spirit in the last days. God’s people need to get together and learn to love and forgive each other. And if we’re going to be Christ-like, we’ve got to learn to worship in fellowship with other people. Isolating ourselves, it actually feeds into the devil’s plan. We don’t learn what we need to learn about love and forgiveness by being all by ourselves. We become kind of eccentric spiritually.

Pastor Jëan Ross: And we could probably learn from the experience of Jesus where there were a number of hypocrites in the church in His day. But when it came to gathering for worship, Jesus was there, even at the temple in Jerusalem.

Pastor Doug Batchelor: That’s a good point. Jesus could have called everyone a hypocrite. Matter of fact,He did, but He still went to church. So, good question. A lot of people say, “I’m not going. There are people there and there are some hypocrites there.” Who was it that said, “Don’t complain about the hypocrites in church. There’s always room for one more”? So we should always go. Alright, we appreciate your question Chamile. And who’s next, Pastor Ross?

Pastor Jëan Ross: We’ve got Adam. Adam is also listening in New York. Adam, welcome to the program.

Adam: Yes, thank you sir. My question is actually on original sin and atonement. I actually want to know that whether Abraham, Noah or Moses spoke about the original sin or the atonement for it?

Pastor Doug Batchelor: Well...

Adam: That doesn’t mean you needatonement, right?

Pastor Doug Batchelor: The earliest knowledge that we have of atonement is where God gave Adam and Eve skins to cover their fig leavesand their nakedness. It doesn’t say God made robes. I mean, God could have spoken a beautiful polyester robe into existence but He didn’t, something died. So the sacrificial system was established to cover their sins, to make atonement for sin, way back in the Garden of Eden.

I forget what verse it is, Pastor Ross, where it talks about "the Lamb slain," it’s in Revelation, "from the foundation of the world.”

Pastor Jëan Ross: Revelation chapter 4 or 5. [Revelation 13 actually.]

Pastor Doug Batchelor: Yeah, chapter 14, speaks about the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. So Abraham, Noah, they all knew about the atonement and that man had this sinful nature at the beginning.

Pastor Jëan Ross: Well the very fact that, from the time of Adam onwards, sacrifices were offered that would tell us that there was the idea of sin and the need for atonement and an exercise of faith in the coming Savior.

Pastor Doug Batchelor: Yup, Noah got off the ark, he built an altar. Abraham, just about everywhere he went, he built an altar. So they understood the ongoing atonement. It wasn’t once in their lives, meaning that we need continued sanctification. It’s not just something you do one time.

Because of our fallen natures, we are prone to selfishness and we need to continue to apply the blood of Jesus. Hope that helps. We’re going to try and squeeze in one more call, Adam. I hope you don’t mind.

Pastor Jëan Ross: We got Richard who is calling from Sacramento. Richard, welcome to the program.

Richard: Hello?

Pastor Doug Batchelor: Good evening. We've just got two minutes Richard. What’s the question?

Richard: Okay. I know of a verse in the Bible, I can’t recall which one. It goes something like this, “For those that have knowledge of the truth and still sin, there is no atonement.” Are you familiar with that?

Pastor Doug Batchelor: Hebrews 10:26 I believe. It says, “If we continue to sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of sin, there is no more sacrifice but a certain fearful looking forward to of judgment.” I probably misquoted that.

Pastor Jëan Ross: Pretty close. “For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful expectation of judgment.”

Pastor Doug Batchelor: Is that the verse you’re talking about?

Richard: Yes sir. You say Hebrews?

Pastor Doug Batchelor: Hebrews 10:26.

Richard: Okay. I’ll look that up later. Well, I guess there can’t be too much debate on what it means, but I think I’m still in this body;and, for example, something that may be us guys can to relate to, if I look at a woman and lust after her for a moment, you know, I’m sure that’s going to happen before I die...

Pastor Doug Batchelor: Well, you know, now keep... [cross talk]

Richard: ...uh, I might feel bad about it and stuff, but...

Pastor Doug Batchelor: I think I know where you’re... [cross talk]

Richard: ...it's just part of simplifying it maybe,but where does that leave me you know?

Pastor Doug Batchelor: Yeah, Richard I think I know where you’re heading, and you’re wondering, “How can I receive forgiveness? If I’ve sinned willfully, is there no more sacrifice for me?” He’s not saying there that we can’t be forgiven if we’ve deliberately committed a sin. He’s saying if we continue to sin, knowing what we know without repenting, what more is God going to do for us?

All we can look forward to, if we decide to live a life of sin and willfully live a life of sin, is destruction. But it sounds to me like you and many others, we recognize our weakness and we pray for God’s forgiveness, victory, and cleansing.

Well friends, I hate to rush through such an important question. We get great questions Pastor Ross. God willing friends, next week we’ll be back again for more Bible questions. Don’t forget, there’s a lot more you can study through the week at the Amazing Facts' website, AmazingFacts.org.

We would love to hear from you. Please go to the website. There’s a button there that says, “Contact Us.” Contact, drop us a line, and if you want to make a donation, we’re grateful. God bless! Remember, Jesus is the Truth that will set you free.

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