Roz Savage

Hello friends, this is Doug Batchelor, how about an amazing fact? Roz Savage is an intrepid ocean rower and environmental advocate, but the 1^st half of Ross’s life is anything but adventurous. In 2001, the 34 year old Brit was a management consultant and investment banker working every day in an office cubicle. That’s the year that she took a train trip and thoughtfully wrote out two possible obituaries for her life, the one she was currently living and the one she really wanted to live. So Ross made a gutsy decision to give up her steady income and big house in the suburbs. In 2003, she took part in an expedition that discovered eco-ruins in the Indian Cloud forest near Machu Picchu.

Next, she ran into London and New York marathons, finishing in the top 2 percent. Ross had done some rowing while attending Oxford in 1988, so one day, she decided to row across the Atlantic Ocean, solo, in a 23 foot row boat, without a support vessel. Along the way, all 4 of her oars broke, forcing her to row more than half of the trip with patched up oars, I think she used “duct tape”. Her cooking stove failed after only 20 days, then her navigation equipment and her music player. Still she pressed on. She managed to maintain her daily web log, right up until “day 80”, when her satellite phone failed, leaving only her position transponder to indicate by her movement that she was still alive.

On March 14, 2006, after a hundred and three days, she completed the Atlantic crossing. But then, in 2008, she became the 1^st woman to row solo, from California to Hawaii. In 2009, she continued her pacific odyssey, by rowing from Hawaii to Tarawa, in the Kiribati Islands. Then, in June 2010, Ross Savage, at that point 42, rowed her boat from Kiribati to Madang Papua New Guinea, becoming the 1^st woman to row solo across the pacific. So far, she’s rowed over 11 thousand miles, taking 3.5 million oar strokes, and spent nearly a year of her life at sea in a 23 foot row boat. In 2011, she hopes to row solo, from Perth Australia, across the Indian Ocean. The Bible says, “Whatever you do, you do it with all your might”. 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 friends, we are so thankful that you’ve tuned in to Bible Answers Live, and if you have a Bible question, we have lines opened, call in, toll free number, “1-800-GOD-SAYS”, “1-800-463-7297” with your Bible questions. 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 once again with prayer. Dear Father, we thank you that we have this opportunity to study your word, and we ask for your blessing upon this program. We ask that you be with those who are listening, wherever they might be, in their car or at home or perhaps, even at work. We ask Lord, that you would guide us into a clearer and fuller understanding of truth. For we ask this in Jesus name, amen.

Pastor Doug: Amen.

Pastor Jëan Ross: Pastor Doug that was an amazing fact, that you opened the program with this evening. To row solo across the Atlantic is one thing, but then to row all the way across the pacific, and then to plan, to continue to row all the way to India, that’s remarkable!

Pastor Doug: Yeah, there’s really no woman that has ever rowed the 3 primary oceans of the world like that, and she just, what impressed me. As 1^st of all, she made up her mind, “I really don’t think this is how I want to spend the rest of my life, and if I’m going to make a change, I’ve got to just take that step, and take the risk of saying, I’m going to go for it!” and then there were, you know, she said, “she never felt more alive, then when she was out in the middle of the pacific ocean, soar, tired, sunburned, hungry, but she felt like she was alive”, whereas she was, you know, in a cubicle staring at her monitor, and she was just feeling like her life was passing her by. And some people never really take the step of saying, “You know, I’d like to experience the adventure, of going all the way with God”, instead of just, sort of, you know, going around the issue of surrender to Christ, really doing it, taking that courageous step and saying, “I’m not going to just use the Bible, sprinkle it here and there in my life, call myself a Christian. I’m going to live by every word that

Pastor Jëan Ross: Amen.

Pastor Doug: perceives from the mouth of God, I’m going to, you know, get involved in that adventure of real Christianity”. And, you know, the Bible tells us in “Ecclesiastic 9:10”, “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might, for there is no work or device, or knowledge, or wisdom in the grave where you’re going”. The Lord wants us to live full, and Jesus said, “Abundant lives”, and if we’re going to make up our mind, to be a Christian, some people kind of do it (inaudible 5:54), 1 step forward, 2 steps back, 3 steps forward, 1 step back, maybe your life’s that way. Then there’s that verse, Jesus talked about ploughing.

Pastor Jëan Ross: That’s right, in “Luke chapter 9, verse 62”, Jesus said, “One having put his hand to the plough, and looking back is not fit for the kingdom of heaven”.

Pastor Doug: So we’re offering a special lesson today friends that we’ve not offered before. For those that want to know, “How can I be a Christian and make the commitment and not waffle or keep looking back, or keep, or be afraid to make a total commitment”. And we have a special lesson, for those of you who are brave souls that want to go all the way with God.

Pastor Jëan Ross: It is an Amazing Facts study guide entitled, “No Turning Back”, “No Turning Back”. I like the picture on the cover Pastor Doug, it’s of a skydiver that has just jumped out of a plane, and the words “No turning back”.

Pastor Doug: Have you ever done that?

Pastor Jëan Ross: I’ve never done sky diving, no.

Pastor Doug: I bet you’re not afraid; you’d probably try it, wouldn’t you?

Pastor Jëan Ross: I’ve jumped of a mountain with a parachute, but not out of a plane.

Pastor Doug: Well that’s impressing me.

Pastor Jëan Ross: (Laughing)

Pastor Doug: I jumped out of a plane and you can’t, you know, after you jump, you can say, “I’ve changed my mind”

Pastor Jëan Ross: That’s right. That’s a total commitment right there. We’d like to give this to anyone who is listening and would like to learn more, more specifically, how do you make that full commitment to Christ? Call our resource line, its “1-800-835-6747”, that’s 1-800-835-6747, you can ask for the study guide, “No Turning Back”. We’re going to go to the phone lines. We’ve got Darren who is listening in South Carolina. Darren, welcome to the program.

Darren: Thank you. Hello.

Pastor Doug: Hi, how can we help you?

Darren: Yes.

Pastor Doug: Get real close to your phone, we can barely hear you.

Darren: I’m sorry, is that better?

Pastor Doug: Much better.

Pastor Jëan Ross: It’s great.

Darren: Okay, good. Yeah, I have a question regarding the unforgivable sin. Okay, and I know, in my church, what it’s taught, for the most part, is pretty much, you know, “grieve not the Holy Spirit, resist not the Holy Spirit, whereabouts we were sealed until the day of redemption” , things like this matter, but I’m having a problem relating that with the other accounts, and I see of blasphemy, you know, Jesus was accused of blasphemy, He was the Son of God but He was, you know, of course claiming to be that, and they were falsely accusing Him, but they were accusing Him of blasphemy. So, and also, in Revelation, one of the letters to the church, the Lord tells the church, “I know the blasphemy of them who say they are Jews and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan”. So

Pastor Doug: Let’s coalesce this into a question, I’m not sure what the precise question is.

Darren: Okay, that’s what I mean, isn’t blasphemy, wouldn’t blasphemy of the Holy Ghost be more something or, you know, an entity saying, “this is the Holy Ghost, this is taking the place of the Holy Ghost”, instead of actually just waiting in your life and not accepting the moving of the Holy Ghost. Isn’t it more

Pastor Doug: More something specific.

Pastor Doug: you know, like the churches? Christian organizations, actually putting something forth, that this is the Holy Ghost or, you know, some acts of whatever worship, or whatever, and they say, you know, “we’re making like, this is the Holy Ghost, these are acts of the Holy Ghost”, and so they take the place of the Holy Ghost in people’s lives.

Pastor Doug: Alright, let us take a stab at that. You have a thought?

Pastor Jëan Ross: Yes. If you look at the word blasphemy and you let the Bible define what the word is. You mentioned that the Jewish leaders accused Jesus of Blasphemy. There were 2 occasions when they did that. The one was when Jesus forgave sin, the other was when Jesus claimed the titles of God or claimed to be the Son of God. So blasphemy against the Holy Spirit would be an individual who is claiming to take the place of the Holy Spirit. We know the work of the Holy Spirit is “to convict of sin”. So when somebody excuses sin in their life, and says, “This doesn’t really matter”, they decide that they know better than God, they don’t have to obey God’s word; they can choose their own course. In essence, they’re trying to usurp the position and the role of the Holy Spirit, and to some degree, that would be blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. That results in the hardening of the heart, to the point where a person can’t ever hear the Holy Spirit, he has walked so far away from God. So in that sense, you’ve committed the unpardonable sin, there is nothing more that God can do to reach you.

Pastor Doug: And just. In connection with Darren’s question, it says there in “Matthew 12:31”, “Therefor I say to you, all manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto man”. So in your question, you made it sound like, “Well maybe its churches or groups that are rejecting God, and that’s the blasphemy”, but he’s really talking about an individual who would grieve away the Holy Spirit, because he’s talking about men. Now, the people who are accusing Jesus, this whole question about blasphemy, comes in Matthew, where the pheresis were attributing the work of Jesus to devils or the prince of devils, and He was warning them, “Be careful, not to dismiss the Holy Spirit speaking to your heart”, and say, “Oh, it’s not God”, because, you know, that’s when we grieve away the Spirit, if we reject it’s (inaudible 11:41). You know, we do have a book, talking about the unpardonable sin and we’ll be happy to send Darren a copy that goes into much more detail, just for asking.

Pastor Jëan Ross: Darren, if you’d call our resource line, 1-800-835-6747, you can ask for the book, “Dealing with the Unpardonable Sin”, I forget exactly the title Pastor Doug, is it, “What is the Unpardonable Sin”?

Pastor Doug: Well if they.

Pastor Jëan Ross: If they just ask for the book on the unpardonable sin.

Pastor Doug: They’ll know what it is.

Pastor Jëan Ross: They’ll know what it is. I’m looking, we’ve got a whole, just a tremendous amount of books here that I’m trying to see which one it is, but ask for the book on the Holy Spirit, the number is 1-800-835-6747 and we’ll send that out to you. We’ve got Roger, who is listening from Arkansas, listening on the internet. Roger, welcome to the program.

Roger: Hello. The question is, “Matthew 4”, where Jesus talks about Him fasting 40 days and nights. By fasting, I’m assuming that He had no food and possible water to drink. Now, on “Deuteronomy chapter 9, verses 9 and 18”, Moses went the same 40 days without food nor water. Do you concur, there’s significance in the parallel on the same time frama, 40 days for both? And why would it be possible for Jesus too went with or without water, yet Moses clearly had no water. I’m having a hard time believing that anybody could go 40 days without water, sort of. You know, Jesus Himself were an act of God.

Pastor Doug: Well if you’re struggling.

Roger: I’m having a hard time with that.

Pastor Doug: Okay, well I wouldn’t let that concern you. 1^st of all, Jesus probably did have water, because when Jesus fasted, it said, “After not eating 40 days, He was hungry, and the devil tempted His hunger, the devil didn’t say”. 1^st of all, you can live a long time without water, without food, I’m sorry.

Roger: Yes.

Pastor Doug: I know a man from Ireland, I just remembered, in the news, that he protested, he went on an 80 day hunger strike and he died eventually, but he went beyond 80 days, I believe. Can’t remember the name of hand. You can only go a few days without water, depending on the humidity and how, you know, how hot the temperature is, but Jesus probably had water with Him, the thing that was the problem, was the food, He was weak. Moses on, keep in mind, Moses, you’re struggled with believing on the 40 days and 40 nights with Moses. I would think, “That’s an easy miracle for someone, he comes down the mountain, he’s glowing, God’s given him the 10 commandments, God has, He’s giving water to the whole nation of Israel, and bread from heaven. Whether or not, Moses can go without artificial nourishment while he’s talking to God” to me is, that’s not a problem. Jesus going without

Roger: Have faith.

Pastor Doug: food for 40 days, people do that today, because a lot of people, just in our generation have gone 40 days without food, you won’t die. But, you know, if you’re in good hands

Roger: It was the water I had issue with.

Pastor Doug: Yeah, He probably had water, it doesn’t say, “He had no water”, so we must assume that he did. Now there was a severe fast in the Bible, where someone might say, “No food or water. Ester, 3 days, no food or water, and the people of Israel, Paul no food or water when he went”, it’s a severe fast but they never went more than 3 days like that. And then Elijah went 40 days.

Pastor Jëan Ross: That’s right.

Pastor Doug: Did I steal your thunder, or you can say that?

Pastor Jëan Ross: Well that’s the verse I’m looking at.

Pastor Doug: (laughing)

Pastor Jëan Ross: “1^st King, chapter 19, verse 8”. He ate though. Of course this was the food that the angel had given him. “He ate and drank and then he went in the strength of that food, 40 days and 40 nights”. So it would seem that Elijah didn’t even drink, in the strength of the drink, he went 40 days and 40 nights.

Pastor Doug: Yeah, he got something super natural there.

Pastor Jëan Ross: That’s right, it was a miracle.

Pastor Doug: Probably bought it from the health website on the internet.

Pastor Jëan Ross: (Laughing). Special place.

Roger: I believe that, you know, assumed God, anything is possible. (Inaudible 15:21) I guess, but I just, I was wanting some clarification on the, look me on the like of water.

Pastor Doug: Yeah, just, I think the clue there, is that it says, “He was hunger”, and that’s, by the way, “Matthew 4, verse 2”, “And when he fasted 40 days and 40 nights, he was afterward hungry”. 1^st thing it would say, if he hadn’t had water, is “he was thirsty”. On the cross, Jesus said, “I thirst, and He hadn’t had water in 24 hours”. So I’m sure, if Jesus didn’t have water, the devil would have said, “You can turn this sand into liquid”, but instead, it was hunger that he dealt with. Good question, appreciate that Roger.

Pastor Jëan Ross: We’ve got Denise, who is listening in the internet, listening on the internet, calling from Oregon. Denise, welcome to the program.

Denise: Yes, hi Pastor Doug. And my wife Christy and I, listened to you regularly. My question would be in “Revelation number 13:17”, “And that no one may buy or sell, except the one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name”. And also, like hear his wisdom, let him who has understanding, calculate the number of the beast, or is the number of the man, his number 666.

Pastor Doug: Right.

Denise: I know that here is enough information out there that identifies, you know, who does this. My question would be, how this is going to play out, as far as like, the mark being the worship on the 1^st day of the week, or the true Sabbath day, what the Lord commands in the 4^th commandment? How will this authority come about, to prevent someone from buying or selling?

Pastor Doug: Alright. In the issue of the mark of the beast. And 1^st of all, we do have a lesson on that, for you or anybody who’d like to request it. This is easy to remember, it’s just called, “The ark of the Beast”, just want to mention that up front. In Revelation, you’ve got 2 marks. One is found in “Revelation 7”, I believe, it’s the 1^st place that appears where it talks about, “The seal of God, in the forehead of the saved”. Then you go to “Revelation 17”, it says, “That this woman, this counter fit church, she’s got a paragraph in her forehead” that says, “Babylon the great, the mother of Harlots”. The people who are saved have their fathers name written in the forehead. 1^st of all, those who are saved are sealed with the Holy Spirit, that’s the 1^st thing. Those who are lost have the spirit of the devil or selfishness. So I think everyone agrees on that, obviously, those who are saved don’t have the spirit of the devil, and those who are lost, don’t have the Spirit of God.

Denise: Yes.

Pastor Doug: So the Holy Spirit is the 1^st part of the seal of God, but then there’s something more in that. The big issue in the Bible is over worship, you find this in the Garden of Eden, 2 brothers killed, one brother killed the other because he worshipped the way God said, Cain killed Abel because he didn’t worship the way God said, and there’s big battle over worship. In Revelation, what’s the battle? Those who don’t worship the beast should be killed. Those who worship God the way they should are spared. And in the 10 commandments, there’s one commandment that specifically deals with a day and a law for worship, or time and a law for worship. “Daniel chapter 7:25” says, “The beasts power will think to change times and laws”. And so, many Christians believe there’s going to be a big issue over the commandments, 10 commandments. Now keep in mind, there’s president for this in the Bible. In “Daniel chapter 3”, “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, had to decide, do we obey the commandment about idolatry?” that’s commandment number 2.

Denise: Yes.

Pastor Doug: Or bow down and worship the image. They choose to obey the commandment, they go through a fiery trial, they survive. In “Daniel chapter 6”, “The government commands everybody to bow down and break commandment 1” yes, to decide, “do I pray to the king or do I pray to God?” Daniel decides, “To stand up for the 1^st commandment”, and God honours him. There’s going to be a test in the last days, over the 4^th commandment, “Remember the Sabbath day”, and people are going to be compelled to break that day in preference for another form of worship. Now your question’s really about the buying and selling and how that’s going to be implemented, is that right?

Denise: Yes.

Pastor Doug: Well now there are 2 things that are happening when it comes to that. 1 is, I think it’s interesting, the way the nations of the world are working Pastor Ross, right now. If the nations don’t cooperate, we’re doing this in Libya, as of this broadcast, with what they call “sanctions”, “economic sanctions”. And on the scale, Revelation’s often dealing with nations and when, you know, the United Nations levels economic sanctions against other nations that don’t comply. So that’s 1 aspect, we already see that. Secondly, with the digital money today, and everybody doing their buying and selling with credit cards, it’s very easy to control right now, they’re getting, working on the “super card”, where you just have one card, you can choose what your miles goes to, what your driver’s licence will be on there, it’ll be picture I.D, national I.D, it says, “one card, have all you financial records on there, you got a secret pin. And, you know, if you go to the store and you’re not cooperating with whatever the government religious laws might be at that time, you can’t buy and you can’t engage in business selling. So it’s really easy to see how that can be controlled.

Pastor Jëan Ross: Well, you know, that’s something they can implement know and they do.

Pastor Doug: Yeah.

Pastor Jëan Ross: At times, they’ll free somebodies assets, and well, they can access their money.

Pastor Doug: That’s right, absolutely. So Denise, please ask for the study guide, “Mark of the Beast”, we’ll send that to you. We’re going to try and get in a couple more calls before the break.

Pastor Jëan Ross: The number again, 1-800-835-6747, that is the resource line, you can ask for the study guide, “The Mark of the Beast”, and we’ll be happy to send that out. We’ve got Pete, who is listening from Ohio. Pete, welcome to the program.

Pete: Good to be on the air.

Pastor Doug: We’re glad to have you

Pete: I saw this telephone number in your magazine; I thought I gave you a call. And my question has to do with the resurrection, in “Ezekiel 37^th chapter”

Pastor Doug: Okay.

Pete: you know, “Valley of the dry bones”?

Pastor Doug: Yeah.

Pete: And this resurrection seems to be, not a glorified resurrection but the people are giving, given physical bodies, but they don’t seem to be condemned.

Pastor Doug: Well, keep.

Pete: It’s not a resurrection, a condemnation. It says here in 27^th verse, “My tabernacle also shall be with them, indeed I will be there God and they shall be my people”. So these people don’t seem to be condemned, but given a 2^nd chance.

Pastor Doug: Alright, good question.

Pete: How does this resurrection fit into the scheme of things?

Pastor Doug: I’ll do my best. It’s interesting you would ask that question, because 2 weeks ago, I preached in my church, where pastor, and I brought a full skeleton up onto the platform, and I preached about “Ezekiel 47”. So it’s still somewhat fresh in my decaying mind right now. Ezekiel and Revelation, Zachariah, have Daniel, they’ve got apocalyptic visions. There’s symbolic imagery, of course, Ezekiel talks about, you know, “The 4 horsemen don’t 1^st appear in Revelation, they 1^st appear in Ezekiel”. And so, Israel had been carried away by the northern tribes of Assyria, the tribe of Judah and Jerusalem, they had been destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar; they had been carried off to Babylon. Israel believe, “That as a nation, they were dead, that they were never going to fulfil their great destiny that God had for them”. Ezekiel is given this vision, “that their bones, of this valley of bones”, bones in a valley were very common sight in Bible times, it usually was because, there was a battle and there’s really no one to bury the dead, they didn’t have Red Cross back then. And the fact that these bones are reassembled, and that God puts muscle and life back into them and then He says, “My people will come back to life and they’ll be a great army”, is really a message to Israel, it has nothing to do with the final resurrection, symbolically, of course it does, that God can breathe life into His people, but it’s really saying, “God was going to breathe life back into the nation of Israel, and that they would, once again, com to their place and, be a nation again, which they did 3 times, there is no other nation like Israel, carried away, captive. Well once they were, you know, went off to Egypt, they were slaves there, came back to their land. Carried off by Babylon, came back to their land. Then they were dispersed by the Romans, came back to their land in this generation, or the last hundred years anyway. So I think you, it’s a good question but it’s not talking about the final resurrection, it’s an apocalyptic vision, full of symbols that were really meant for Israel. Hope that helps a little bit Pete and

Pastor Jëan Ross: Pastor Doug, you may ask

Pastor Doug: by the way, you’ll find my sermon on that

Pastor Jëan Ross: That’s what I was going to ask.

Pastor Doug: it’s on the Amazing Facts website. If it’s not there yet, it’ll be there in a week or 2, there’s usually a 2 or 3 week delay to edit them and to post it at our website, it might be there now, I don’t know.

Pastor Jëan Ross: What was the title of the sermon?

Pastor Doug: It’s called, “Valley of Boned”.

Pastor Jëan Ross: “Valley of Bones” and you can get it at, “Amazingfacts.org”. Our next caller is Roger and he’s listening from Brooklyn, New York, listening on WMCA. Roger, welcome to the program.

Roger: Well thanks for picking me on the air. My question’s a very simple one. The, you know, Paul has written the whole chapter on “guessing prophecies and tongues”. Was that for the early church or is it still considered, is it proper or improper now, to be speaking in tongues, in church?

Pastor Doug: Well.

Roger: What’s your take on that?

Pastor Doug: 1^st of all, among the gifts of the Spirit that are given, tongues is enlisted as 1 of the gifts. God’s people need all the gifts of the Spirit. What, I think it’s important to explain at this point, is different churches, when they say, “Tongues”, they understand it differently. When you read, Jesus’ definition in “Mark chapter 16”, He just say

Roger: In mark?

Pastor Doug: Yeah, in “Mark chapter 16”, Pastor Ross, you might find that verse, where He says, “You will speak with new tongues”? I don’t remember, I know its Mark chapter 16, I can’t remember the verse of hand, right now. He said, “You will speak with other tongues”, Jesus knew, He was going to send the disciples to preach the gospel to the world, after they had done a good job of preaching it there in Israel, and that they were going to give, be given the ability, supernaturally, to speak in other languages.

Pastor Jëan Ross: That’s “Mark, chapter 16, verse 17”

Pastor Doug: Verse 17. Then on Pentecost, you can see, they’re now speaking with new languages, and those languages are languages of the world. it says that, “Jew devote men from every nation under heaven”, “Acts chapter 2”, “Came together, the disciples are supernaturally given by the Holy Spirit, the ability to speak the gospel, the wonderful works of God in the languages of these visiting Jews, there are languages of the world”, do we still need the gifts of tongues in the world today? Yes, I’ve met people, we had a lady came to our church the other day, and she said, “She was from Italy”, and she said, “She also spoke Romanian, Spanish, Swedish, French, German. And I just thought, “Man, what a gift”, she could fluently speak in all those different languages. And some people have a gift to preach or to translate, and is it appropriate to do it in the church today? Well, I’ve preached in many churches, where I had someone translate, you probably done that Pastor Ross. I did it a few weeks ago in, with Spanish, even though I speak a little Spanish, because it talks about having interpreters in the Corinthian church. You’d say something in 1 language, translator, interpreter would then repeat it. So is it appropriate to speak in tongues church like that? Absolutely! When some people say tongues, they’re talking about, “the ecstatic utterances, and it sounds like babblings sometimes to people”, that I think is not the biblical definition of what tongues is. You know, Jesus, when He was filled with the Spirit, and others did not do that, when the apostles spoke in tongues, those present, always could understand what was being said, at least some of the language groups there understood them. We have a book on that.

Pastor Jëan Ross: We do, “Understanding Tongues”. And if you’d like to receive that book, give us a call Roger, it’s 1-800-835-6747, and you can ask for the book, “Understanding tongues”, and we’ll be happy to send that to you.

Pastor Doug: Don’t want to cut anyone’s question short, we’re coming back with more Bible answers in a moment. We do have line opened, just taking a quick break. By the way, its toll free phone call, got your pencil? It’s 1-800-463-7297. Used to be, when you said toll free, you never had to say, “800”, but there’s a few different toll free numbers now, 1-800-463-7297, will bring your question into our studio right now, if you have a Bible question, we’d love to hear from you. We don’t really specialize in talking about your finance or your romance, but we’ll try and give you Bible answers for your spiritual questions. And also, there’s a lot more at the Amazing Facts website, that is, “Amazingfacts.org”. The study guides and many other things we’re offering are there. Don’t go away; we’ll be back with questions in a moment.

[COMMERCIAL BREAK]

Pastor Doug: We’re back friends. And if you’ve joined us along the way, this is Bible Answers Live. You have a Bible question? You’ve heard the number, 1-800-463-7297, and it’s a live international, interactive Bible study, delighted to have you on board. My name is Doug Batchelor.

Pastor Jëan Ross: My name is Jëan Ross. And Pastor Doug, before we go to the phone lines, our goal at Amazing Facts and on this radio program, is to provide people with resources, so that they can dig into God’s word with for themselves.

Pastor Doug: Amen.

Pastor Jëan Ross: There is a website that we’ve mentioned before, on this program, we’d like to mention it again, it deals with Bible prophecy. The website is, “Bibleprophecytruth.com”, and on there, is a whole, every type of topic, dealing with Bible prophecy that you could probably imagine is on there, I’m just looking at the list. They’ve got the 7 year tribulation on there, Babylon, talks about Israel and the middle east. You’ve got different subjects, the Anti-Christ, 666, and so on, “Bibleprophecytruth.com”.

Pastor Doug: And especially today, when, you know, you turn on the news and it seems like there’s a major earthquake every other day, and or, you know, people are concerned about war, the turmoil among nations, the, everything from, you know, radiation fall out. This website gives clear practical; it’s not sensational crazy stuff. This is taken scripture, given clear practical, analytical, reasonable answers to show, 1^st of all, the inspiration of the Bible, and on the different topics. And so, if you’ve got questions friends, or anything from, what the Bible says about the eminence of the 2^nd coming, the U.S in prophecy, signs of the end, all of that can be found at this website, and you know what? If you want to do a little evangelism, once you look at the website, send the link to your friends, “Bibleprophecytruth”, it’s just, you’ll have to spend about a year at this website to get all the information that’s there. Did I say enough about that? One more time Bibleprophecytruth.com.

Pastor Jëan Ross: Alright! We’ve got Robert, who is listening from New Jersey on WMCA. Robert, you’re on the air.

Robert: Good evening Pastor Doug, Pastor Ross.

Pastor Doug: Hi.

Robert: Now, my question’s concerning what’s stated in the Bible, I’m not sure if it’s in Psalms or it’s in the New Testament, it says, “God’s the same now, and He is as always”.

Pastor Doug: I think its Hebrews, “God, Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today, and forever”? And I think, in “Malachi”, He says, “I’m the Lore, I change not. You get the

Robert: Okay.

Pastor Doug: verse in “Hebrews” Pastor Ross?

Pastor Jëan Ross: “Herbrews 13, verse 8”

Pastor Doug: Okay.

Robert: My question is this. Is He the same then, now? He’s attitude has changed for anything, why is it that in the Old Testament, the focus was to help, like the patriarchs and people who were faithful to Him, what’s actual material riches, where it seem, not to be the case in the New Testament. And, well also, other things that allowed, like the polygamy, non-marital sex, and many other things, like (inaudible 33:38). Many of those things are condemned in the New Testament. If He’s the same then, now, why would He change His mind on those things?

Pastor Doug: Well, I hear what you’re saying but let me make 1 little correction; I don’t think He meant to say. God, in the Ole Testament and the New Testament, in both, He speaks against pre-marital sex

Roger: Well, how about Samson?

Pastor Doug: God spoke against it; there in the Law of Moses, before Samson, it’s condemned. Samson did all kinds of things he wasn’t supposed to do, I mean, he went to a harlot, God doesn’t condone that. No, I know, because people did things in the Bible, the Bible records history, it doesn’t mean, everything that some of these leaders did, God condoned. God did not condone, “Lot sleeping with his daughters”. God did not condone, “David stealing his friends’ wife and then having him murdered. God did not condone, “Samson getting drunk and going out with the, you know, Delilah and some of the ladies of the night in, where is it? Gath or Echron, I forget”. Anyway, He doesn’t condone those things, it’s just reporting what He did.

Roger: Yeah, but how about. How about in the case, I’m not sure if it was Judah (inaudible 34:41) there was a woman, yeah.

Pastor Doug: Judah? Yeah, his, Tamar dressed up like a prostitute and he slept with her.

Roger: Yes.

Pastor Doug: He didn’t condone her, Judah actually confessed, he said, “She’s more righteous than me”, he got caught red handed. And Tamar was not an Israelite, she was a Canaanite. So it’s telling us what they did

Roger: Okay.

Pastor Doug: God didn’t condone that because He made it really clear. Let me give you an example. When Joseph was tempted with Potiphar’s for his wife, according to, you know, your idea, “that that’s okay”, why didn’t he sleep with her? Joseph said, “How can I do this great evil and sin against God?”, they knew adultery is a sin.

Roger: No, I’m not talking about adultery; I’m talking about non-marital sex.

Pastor Doug: Yeah, it even says in the Mosaic Law, “that people had had to be married”.

Roger: Okay.

Pastor Jëan Ross: You know, there is a verse in “Acts chapter 17, verse 30”, there may be, you know kind of shed some light on this. It says, “Truly those times of ignorance got overlooked, but now, He commands all men, everywhere to repent”. So there were things in the Old Testament, for example, “David having a whole slew of wives, and Solomon”. That was never God’s idea, and Jesus builds on that, where he says, “in the beginning, God created them, male and female”, but because of the culture, because of some of the things that were taking place, God, the Bible puts it, “Wing tapped, or perhaps over looked some of these things”, but God’s attitude towards sin has never changed, it’s always been the same.

Roger: What happened to material wealth? I mean the focus on material wealth, for the patriarchs

Pastor Doug: Well material wealth, even in the New Testament, is not a sin. When Jesus told the apostles “to walk away from their nets, and to be itinerant preachers”, He knew that they had to be un- encumbered, but even in the New Testament, you’ve got people like, you know, ever one from Ezekias, to, I meant to say, “Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea”. And in the letters of Paul, he says, “Those of you who are rich in this worlds goods, you know, be willing to give and distribute, but he doesn’t condemn people earning money, or having material wealth anymore in the New Testament, that the Old Testament. They ought to be willing to, you know, I like the way Wesley put it, “any Christian should be, earn all he can, save all he can, and give all he can”. Christians ought to have that methodous ethic of, you know, doing all they can to be productive and be generous. There’s no biblical virtue in poverty. In other words, there just saying, you know, “I’m going to go around in dirty sandals and a robe, and that makes me spiritual”. I think that Christian wants, God wants Christians to work, to be generous, sacrificial in their giving, and

Roger: I agree.

Pastor Doug: Yeah, to also save.

Roger: Alright.

Pastor Doug: Yeah, I appreciate that, it’s a very (inaudible) question

Roger: Thank you very much pastor.

Pastor Jëan Ross: Let’s go to Stephany, who is listening on the internet, from North Carolina. Stephany welcome to the program.

Stephany: Hi pastors, how you doing?

Pastor Doug: Good, how are you?

Stephany: I’m good. My question is in “Genesis”, where it talks about spilling semen on the ground. Why was that considered wrong?

Pastor Doug: Well, in the case you’re talking of, someone just referred to Judah. Judah’s sons, and I can’t remember the name of this 1^stson. That he was supposed to raise up seed, his brother had died. According to the law back then, they was often many more men, than women. He was to then take his, the widow into his home and treat her like a wife, and because there was no social services, there was no, you know, welfare, medical, or anything. And he was into raise up seed for his brother, she hadn’t had any children, but he wanted the benefits of the sexual intimacy, but when it came to actually allowing her to get pregnant, he said, “No, I’m not going to do that”, he was doing the, “No deposit, no return method”.

Pastor Jëan Ross: The verse that you’re referring to is “Genesis 38, verse 8 and 9”. Really, the Bible, it stipulated, that “if a woman was left a widow and she did not have children. The brother of the man who had died was to marry her, and to take care of her, and”

Pastor Doug: And he could refuse to do that

Pastor Jëan Ross: if he chose to do that.

Pastor Doug: But this brother, (inaudible 38:49) agreed to do it because he slept with her, but he said, “But I don’t want you to have any children”.

Pastor Jëan Ross: That’s right; “Onan” was his name.

Pastor Doug: Yeah, and so, what he did was sort of despicable. He could have refused, just like, when Boas offered “the right of redemption to one of his kinsmen in the gate, in the story of Ruth”, and he said, “I can’t do that”, and so he refused.

Pastor Jëan Ross: But it also had to do with the inheritance, because if she had a son, her inheritance, or the inheritance of her husband would then be transferred to the son. And here is this guy Onan, well he really wants his brothers’ inheritance, he doesn’t want his brother to have at least, an inheritance through the mother, to have the lands. So it really was (inaudible 39:38).

Pastor Doug: Yeah, he was wanting the sensual benefits of sex but he wasn’t wanting to raise up children for her.

Stephany: Oh okay.

Pastor Doug: That’s why it says, “God, he was evil, so God slew him”.

Stephany: Oh okay.

Pastor Doug: That’s one of those delicate Bible questions we don’t get very often, but it’s there, and I’m glad you asked it.

Stephany: Okay, thank you.

Pastor Doug: Thank you.

Pastor Jëan Ross: Thanks Stephany. Our next caller is Richard, and he is listening in Modesto, on KADV. Richard welcome to the program.

Richard: I’m here.

Pastor Doug: Hey Richard, your, we got a little break up on your phone. So you might want to ask the question, and we’ll then bring your volume down.

Richard: Sorry, I’m washing dishes (laughing).

Pastor Doug: That’s what it is, okay.

Richard: Anyways, good evening, thank you for taking my call pastors, appreciate the ministry. And also all the calls, all the questions, very enlighten. My question has to do with “Romans 5”, when it talks about, “because of one man, it says, many became sinners”. We were discussing that during (inaudible 40:27), couple of the brethren. Some word, putting the (inaudible 40:33) I knew, will become sinners when we acknowledge that we did wrong and commit sin. Other, like myself, which they know, I believe that she would say, “We were born sinners because of Adam”. So it went back and forth, everybody was giving their piece. So as I went back and did a little more research, I was getting that, the sin that Adam committed, caused the offspring of Adam, and which includes all of us now, to become sinners. And are we, and if that’s so, are we under the combination of death when we are born?

Pastor Doug: Alright, that’s a good question, thank you very much Richard, we’ll do our best. The verse, I think you’re referring to, is “Romans 5, 19”, “For as by one man’s disobedience, many were made sinners. So by the obedience of one man, meaning Jesus, many can be made righteous”. When Adam sinned, something actually happened, he died spiritually, and his DNA or whatever, you know, that’s the only analogy I can think of. So that every child of Adam is born with a “selfish nature”, where before, Adam was naturally loving and giving, we become selfish and grasping. And everyone is born with that disease. Know, it doesn’t mean, a baby is born with a guilty record, babies are innocent, they haven’t done anything yet, for which they are guilty, Bible says, “The son is not guilty for the sins of the father, and the fathers not guilty for the sins of the son, but the unrighteousness of the unrighteous will be on them”, people are rewarded according to their works, babies are born with no works, though they are not born with a record of guilt, but every baby is born with a selfish nature. And so, if that baby continues to grow up, he’s got the disease.

Pastor Jëan Ross: And, you know, we seen in our world today, that children, they have, to some degree, bear the consequences of the parents behavior, and even some of the character traits of the parents are carried through to the children. Now, the child is not guilty for those, unless he acts upon it, as the child grows, but yet, there is that seed towards sin, that is in the heart, and that’s what we inherit from Adam.

Pastor Doug: Yeah, my mother and father, bless their hearts, they both smoked and drinked and cursed, and I was surrounded with that when I grew up, but through the Lord, I was able to say,

Pastor Jëan Ross: That’s right.

Pastor Doug: “I’m not going to do that anymore”, and you can be a new preacher, and that’s why they call it, “being born again”. And so everybody has that option, of having that 2^nd birth, that new birth. Appreciate your question Richard, and what can we offer him that talks about that new birth, don’t we have that lesson Pastor Ross?

Pastor Jëan Ross: We have a study guide that speaks about that experience called, “Rescue From Above”,

Pastor Doug: Yep.

Pastor Jëan Ross: And to receive that study guide Richard, give us a call 1-800-835-6747, or anyone that is listening, ask for the study guide, “Rescue from above”, it talks about, how we can have that new birth experience.

Pastor Doug: Who’s next?

Pastor Jëan Ross: We’ve got Nancy, who is listening from the Bronx, New York. Nancy, welcome to the program.

Nancy: God bless you, praise that Lord. My question is, is it possible for me to have an experience of speaking in tongue, or the Holy Spirit, while not quite awake?

Pastor Doug: Well now, we had a question on tongues, just a few minutes earlier, were you able to hear that?

Nancy: I’m not sure.

Pastor Doug: Well, it’s okay. The gift of tongues biblically, has to do with the supernatural ability that God gives, to speak in other languages. Now, you know, some people are naturally gifted linguistically. And, but to be able to speak in other languages, if the Holy Spirit gives you the ability, He doesn’t give you the ability to speak in another language if you’re just going to talk into a mere or talk to a wall, there’s really no purpose. The purpose of giving us this ability, to speak in another language, is to communicate the gospel to other people that speak that language, so they’ll understand it. And some people believe that part of the reason for the gift of tongues, is just so you can pray in what, to you might seem like, a language you don’t even understand.

Nancy: Exactly, that’s what I’m experiencing, and then I’m like worshipping at the same time.

Pastor Doug: Well, can you find

Nancy: But I’m not awake though.

Pastor Doug: You have a Bible?

Nancy: Yes.

Pastor Doug: Can you find an example in the Bible of anybody praying in tongues?

Nancy: I don’t know, I think its being done in the church.

Pastor Doug: It is being done in the church. But what I’m saying is, there’s really no example in the Bible, of Paul, or Pete, or any of the apostles praying and breaking off into a language they didn’t understand or the people around them didn’t understand. Whenever they spoke in tongues, in the Bible, they were communicating the gospel to other people. When Paul talks about someone praying in a tongue, there’s no example of it happening. Paul does address, praying in a tongue, in “1^st Corinthians 14”, and there he’s talking about

Nancy: Maybe that’s what it is.

Pastor Doug: “If I should stand up in a church for example, and if I should start, let’s suppose I know one Greek Hebrew prayer that’s, (inaudible 45:53-45:57), that’s a Passover prayer, prayer over the wine. If I should say that in the average Christian church, I’m praying in an unknown tongue, nobody knows what I’m saying, it’s not benefiting anybody. And so, there’s really no purpose in that. Paul is saying, “If you’re going to pray in another language, make sure that someone can translate your prayer, otherwise speak quietly to God, because no sense praying out loud, and no one knows what you’re saying but God anyway.

Pastor Jëan Ross: You know, in “1^st Corinthians chapter 14, verse 19”, Paul puts it this ways, he says, “Yet in the church, I would rather speak 5 words with my understanding, that I might teach others, then 10 thousand words in a tongue, or a language that nobody understands”.

Pastor Doug: Yup.

Pastor Jëan Ross: So the gift of tongues is for the communicating of the gospel.

Pastor Doug: So you might appreciate that book we offered earlier Nancy, it’s called “Understanding Tongues”, it explains all about the biblical gift of tongues, it is a gift, we believe in it, but it’s misunderstood. So if you’d like the book, “Understanding Tongues”, we’ll send it to you free.

Pastor Jëan Ross: The number is 1-800-835-6747. And again the book, “Understanding Tongues”. We have Ashua, who is listening from New York, New York. Ashua welcome to the program.

Ashua: Hello, how are you?

Pastor Doug: Doing well, and your question tonight?

Ashua: Okay, there’s a chapter Genesis 18, verse one and two says “The Lord appeared to Abraham and there were three men”

Pastor Doug: Yes

Ashua: Can you tell me if (inaudible) Jesus on that?

Pastor Doug: I believe that one of these three men is Jesus because a little later it says “two of them go on to Solomon” Gomorra and the 3rd one stops and Abraham addresses him as Lord. So, when we say it was Jesus, there were times in the Bible that I think the scholars call it “Christophany”, when Christ appears prior to the incarnation in the Old Testament. This would be one of those occasions where Christ took on some form, so he could appear to one of the Patriarchs.

Pastor Jëan Ross: Matter of fact, if you look at that chapter 18 and then if you look in verse 9 it’s referring to this 3^rd person. That’s says he asked the question, “where is Sarah your wife?” and then it tells about how that they were old and so on. And then in verse 13 referring to this person “and the Lord said to Abraham, why did Sarah laugh?” So there the Bible clearly says that is the Lord talking to Abraham.

Pastor Doug: Moses, who wrote Genesis, is making it clear who this was. God appeared to him, and then later, he pleads over Sodom, and he’s really thinking of Lot, and he addresses this individual as the Lord. So does that help you a little bit Ashua?

Ashua: Yes sir. And is this the only time that all 3 appeared to (inaudible 48:40)?

Pastor Doug: I think this is the only time I can think of, in Genesis, when 3 individuals appear, 3 divine individuals appear, there were 2 angels, of course, that appeared in Sodom, and then numerous occasions were at least one angel appeared, I guess in the New Testament, there are a couple of angels that appeared to some of the women. But good question, appreciate that. And we do have a book we can offer you, it’s dealing with, “The name of God”, that talks about, “some of the times that God appeared in the Old Testament also”.

Pastor Jëan Ross: The number is 1-800-835-6747, that is the resource line, and the book is entitled, “The Name of God”. We have Danny, who is listening from Minnesota. Danny, welcome to the program.

Danny: Thank you. I’ve got “Leviticus 19, 19”, there is 3 laws, and what do they mean back then, and what do they mean now? Do we have to obey them now? And then, why did Jesus cry when Lazarus died? I’ll just hang up and listen.

Pastor Doug: Well, thank you, good questions, we’ll try and get through them as well as we can. Alright, 1^st part, in Leviticus 19, 19, it says, “You shall keep my stat sheets; you shall not let your cattle gender with a diverse kind. You shall not sow your field with mingled seed, neither shall it garment of linen and woolen come upon me”. Well, very quickly they, could take quite a while on this, but when you have linen, linen is made from a fabric, woolen is animal, it made from fur. If you were to cross waive those, they shrink and wear differently, and it just become all distorted. And it’s also God’s way of saying, “That they were to keep things pure”. It didn’t make sense to co-waive those 2 things. And seed, if you mingled seed, it becomes hybrid and loses its strength.

Pastor Jëan Ross: And, you know, God had given to Israel very clean instructions that “they were not to intermarry with the nations around them”. And that was illustrated, not only simply by God telling them not to do that, but even when it came to sowing seed in their field, that lesson was brought home. As well as when it was time to breed the animals, that lesson was brought home. So God is impressing upon them, that important principle that they weren’t to intermarry with the Pagans, because then, they would pick up the Pagan customs, and that did happen from time to time in Israel.

Pastor Doug: Yup. And then your other question about, “Why did Jesus cry at Lazarus grave, since He was about to resurrect him?” I think Jesus there was crying, 1^st of all because of, “the unbelief of the people who were there”, by the way, this is in “John, chapter 11”. And 2^nd there, really, I think Christ was crying in a much broader sense, with everybody who has experienced loss through history. He is weeping with those that weep, the Bible said. So He saw Mary weeping, He saw the people weeping, He wept with them. Jesus weeps with us, when we are grieving. Some people thing, “why did God let this happen?” the Lord hurts more than anybody. When we’re suffering from a (inaudible51:42) or loss.

Pastor Jëan Ross: And, you know, if you look at the story, you have Mary and Martha speaking to Jesus, saying “Lord, if you would have been here, my brother would not have died”, and they’re weeping, their hearts are broken, and Jesus was moved with compassion, He sympathized with them, even knowing that He was about to resurrect Lazarus, He felt their pain.

Pastor Doug: Yup!

Pastor Jëan Ross: Our next caller is Tashanda, and she’s calling from New York. Tashanda welcome to the program.

Tashanda: Hi! My question is from the, how long was it from the beginning of time, until Jesus came, His 1^st coming, and do you think that it’s going to be the same amount of time for His 2^nd coming?

Pastor Doug: Okay, good question. Well of course, creation biblically, dates back about 4 thousand years B.C, and that’s approximate, no one knows exact day, but you can add up the ages in the Bible, of Adam and all the patriarchs are given, in Luke? Where is it Pastor Ross? Luke chapter 3 I think, it traces the genealogy from Jesus, all the way back to Adam, it doesn’t miss a lick. And you have most of those ages are given there. And so within certain, you know, within a few years, you can add those up and you come to about 4 thousand B.C, which is very interesting because there is no human written history beyond that, in the world. Matter a fact, the human written history goes back to well, 3 thousand B.C and, or just after the flood, which is exactly what the Bible says. If man has been around for 10 million years, isn’t it interesting, we became so smart so quickly in the last few millennium? Secondly, if you go, for the 1^st 2 thousand years, you have the ages of the patriarchs. From Adam to Abraham is about 2 thousand years. Abraham was born about 2 thousand B.C. From Abraham to Jesus, you have 2 thousand years. And many have believed, from Jesus 1^st coming, to His 2^nd coming will be 2 thousand years. Now some have argued, “will it be from Jesus birth, which would have been 1996, 2 thousand years, or is it from His death, which is still future?” We’re living right now in a window, very interesting window of a sliding scale right, during the life of Christ 2 thousand years ago.

Pastor Jëan Ross: You know, in such thing, in “2^nd Peter, chapter 3”, Peter says, “One day with the Lord is a thousand years, and a thousand years is just a day”. And in the Bible, we see an interesting principle, “Work for 6, and then rest for 1”. The earth has been inhabited for just about 6 thousand years; we’re not exactly sure when that time comes. But it’s interesting; we know that when Jesus comes, there is a thousand year rest that the Bible speaks of, “The Millennium”.

Pastor Doug: Where we live and reign with Christ. And we do have a study guide that we’ll be happy to send you Tashinda? And it’s dealing with the, well we got one on “The Millennium”, but we’ve also got the study guide on “The Signs of Christ Coming”, seems like that would be more, what you’re looking for.

Pastor Jëan Ross: That study guide is called, “The Ultimate Deliverance”, talking about signs of the 2^nd coming of Jesus. The number is 1-800-835-6747, and you can ask for the study guide, “The Ultimate Deliverance”. Well Pastor Doug, I think we have time for at least 1 more. We got Judy, who is listening from West Sacramento. Judy welcome to the program.

Judy: Thank you for taking my call. My question is from “2^nd Chronicles 35, verse 20”, it’s regarding “King Josiah of Judah”. Why did he not consult God, when King Neco had told him, “Do not interfere with me, or you will die”?

Pastor Doug: You know, that is a good question. Josiah was such a good king, and he was such a spiritual king that he went out against Pharaoh Neco, and even the pharaoh said, “Look, I’m not fighting with you”, of course he did later come down, Neco did come back after he fought with Babylon, and they took all the shields. Oh that was with (inaudible 55:41), he went, and he eluded the temple thought, and he did subjugate them. He knew that eventually, Pharaoh Neco would come down and attack them, if he was victorious up with the, I forget, if he was going up against the Assyrians or Babylonians at that time. You know, you don’t know, we don’t know whether Josiah did consult with the Lord, sometimes even godly men die in battles they were supposed to fight. And so it’s hard to say.

Pastor Jëan Ross: And yet, there is no record of him consulting with the Lord,

Pastor Doug: No.

Pastor Jëan Ross: which is somewhat strange, maybe he just took it for granted.

Pastor Doug: Well even Joshua made that mistake, when they made a covenant with the Gibeonites

Pastor Jëan Ross: That’s right.

Pastor Doug: he didn’t consult the Lord, these were good men and they didn’t, you know, stop and pray on every occasion, they tried to use their judgment. And, but the Bible’s pretty clear, we’re going to see Josiah in heaven, it has nothing negative to say about his rule. And it just records this even, that he died in battle. But good question Judy. Hey listening friends, if we did not get to your question, then we apologize, we hope you give us another chance, there program doesn’t need to end now. There is a lot more information at the Amazing Facts website. Go to “Amazingfacts.org”, or you might try, Amazingfacts .com .net. tv, try Amazing Facts, just Google it and you’ll come to our website, a lot of Bible study resources, and then spread the good news to your friends, that’s how we get it around the world, just send them the Amazing Facts link. Radio programs, TV programs, Publishing Bible studies, everything about the Bible. God bless, until we study again together next week.

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