Pastor Doug: Hello, friends, would you like to hear an amazing fact? For those of you who love new tech gadgets, there's one in eastern Tennessee now that should really impress you. Summit, a new supercomputer unveiled at Oak Ridge National Lab, is now believed to be the most powerful calculating machine on the planet. Built by IBM, it was designed to enhance the artificial intelligence features in your smartphone. China's held the official title for the fastest computers since 2013, but now it's estimated that the Summit is 60% faster than China's TaihuLight supercomputer.
The new Summit supercomputer occupies floorspace equivalent to two tennis courts, and it requires 4,000 gallons of water a minute to circulate around and cool its 37,000 processors. Oakridge says its new baby can deliver a peak performance of 200 quadrillion calculations per second. That's 200 followed by 15 zeros or 200 petaFLOPS for those of you who speak computerese. That's about a million times faster than the typical laptop. During early testing, researchers at Oak Ridge used summit to perform more than quintillion calculations per second in a project analyzing human genome sequences. They claim that's the first time a scientific calculation has reached that computational scale.
Did you know the Bible prophecy tells us that one of the signs in the last days is going to be an increase in knowledge. Stay tuned, friends, we're going to learn more on this edition of Bible Answers Live.
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Advertiser: You're listening to Bible Answers Live, honest answers to your Bible questions. This broadcast is a previously recorded episode. To receive any of the Bible resources mentioned in this evening's program, call 800-835-6747. Once again, that's 800-835-6747. Now let's join our host pastor Doug Batchelor.
Pastor Doug: Hello, listening friends. Welcome to Bible Answers Live. If you have a Bible question, then you can call in with your question. This is a live program, and that number is 800-GOD-SAYS that's 800-463-7297. Giving a call at the beginning of the program, good chance to get your question on the air. If someone doesn't pick up right away, it's because our volunteers who are manning the phones, they're just going to let it ring for a minute while they put other callers on hold. We'd love to hear from you. We want to welcome those who may be watching as- who are viewing on our Facebook account.
I am pastor Doug Batchelor. Pastor Ross is out of town this evening, and we're going to begin this program with a word of prayer. Loving Lord, again, we always thank you for the opportunity to gather as a radio family and to study your word. We pray that you'll just take charge of every aspect of this program, that in the questions that are asked, and especially the answers given, that the truth will be learned and Jesus will be glorified. We pray in his name. Amen.
Friends, one of the interesting prophecies you read in the end of the book of Daniel, you find it in Daniel 12:4, it says, "But you, Daniel, shut up the words and seal the book until the time of the end. Many will run to and fro and knowledge will increase." Well, just in my short lifetime, knowledge has increased more than in all the known history of man. You think about it, and people were riding horses for 6,000 years, until the invention of the car by Henry Ford. Now, of course, people are traveling supersonic speeds and the knowledge that transmits via the internet is just mind-boggling.
Daniel said one of the signs the end is going to be knowledge will increase. Even as I speak right now, this message is being bounced from Earth 23,000 miles up in space, ricochets off a satellite up there, comes down to many people who are listening now on satellite radio, driving in your car, your truck across the country. The matter of fact, you might want to give us a call if you have a Bible question. The Bible foretells that this is going to be a sign we're living in the last days.
My grandfather, just one generation ago, they rode horses in New York City where he was born. They were born at home back then. A radio was a new invention. There was no TV. There were no airplanes, and cars were novelty, and just in one lifetime look at how the world has changed. Jesus said if He doesn't come soon, the problem is in the last days are going to be so serious that no flesh would survive. Now, we have a special offer we'd like to make available if you have an interest in Bible prophecy.
This one doesn't deal specifically with a prophecy about knowledge. It's the USA in Bible Prophecy, the United States in Bible Prophecy. If you would like a free copy of that, two ways to get it, one, call the number. If you're at the place where you can do this, just call, free phone call, 800-835-6747. That's 800-835-6747, ask for the study guide, the USA and Bible Prophecy, tell them you're listening to Bible Answers Live. If you want to get it via computer, then all you need to do is go to amazingfacts.org. You go to our Bible Study Guide lesson there, you can download a PDF of this and read all that fascinating information there. There is also pictures. I like the pictures, you can look at too, they help illustrate the points in the prophecy. With that lengthy introduction, we're going to get to the phones and take our first caller. Talking to Rose calling from New York in Huntington station. Rose, you're on the air with Bible Answers Live.
Rose: Thank you, Pastor Doug.
Pastor Doug: Thank you for your patience.
Rose: This question has been bothering me for a long time. I love God so much, but I have to admit that I get a little upset with Him as well, if that's okay. The devil turned one side of the angels against Him. He kicked him out of heaven and sent him down here to bother us. It's because of that we are dealing with so much pain and suffering. My question is, why would God send him down here knowing what trouble he would cause for us?
Pastor Doug: Well, God did not say, "I think I want to just send the devil to Earth to harass the humans." What happened is, there was no place on the world that the devil could tempt or speak to Adam and Eve, except the knowledge of the tree of good and evil. The devil claimed he could do a better job governing the universe than God. God could have just destroyed him, but then the other creatures would listen to God out of fear instead of love. The Lord allowed the devil to share his point of view to communicate with unfallen worlds like ours, in a limited way.
When Adam and Eve chose to listen to the word of the devil, when God said, "Do not eat the tree," the devil said, "Eat it," and when they chose to listen to the devil instead of God, they basically surrendered the dominion of the world. God gave Adam and Eve dominion of the planet to the enemy. Satan was restricted to this planet. Really, the first humans invited the devil in the door when they chose to listen to the Word of God instead of the word of Satan. Romans chapter 6 said, "Whoever you obey, that's whose servant you are."
When they chose to obey the devil, even Jesus said, "The prince of this world," he talked about the devil. He said, "The prince of this world comes and he has nothing in me." The devil claimed dominion of this planet. Jesus came to ransom the planet with his own life and blood. He doesn't want anybody to perish. He doesn't want anyone to suffer. That's why God sent his son. There's a big cosmic battle going on between good and evil. God did not just decide to dream of a devil one day. A beautiful perfect angel chose to rebel because he had freedom, and God had to allow all of this to play out so it'll never happen again. That's a long explanation, but can I give you a study guide that explains that for free, Rose? Would that be all right?
Rose: Yes, please.
Pastor Doug: It's called Did God Create a Devil. That will answer your questions on this subject. Did God Create a Devil, and if you call then, we'll be happy to send that to you. We thank you for your patience and your call.
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Pastor Doug: Talking next to Roger in Arvada, Colorado. Roger, if you've got your radio on, you're going to want to turn it off or you're going to get a delay and it'll be confusing. Roger, are you there?
Rodger: Yes, I am.
Pastor Doug: Your question tonight.
Roger: I've been told many times by people that Revelation only is important in the first century. It has nothing to do with our time. Myself knowing that I've been reading Revelation a few times froze me different. Somebody says the Lake of Fire, you are going to be able to see when you're living with God.
Doug: You got several questions here. First question, how relevant is Revelation? Is it all mostly fulfilled? I'd say that a lot of revelation is not fulfilled. One group of people when they look at Revelation, they're called preterists. That word preterists means pre. They think that most of Revelation was fulfilled in the first 100 years after Jesus. They think Nero was the Antichrist and all those prophecies are just talking about the battle between the Christians Jews in Rome. Then you've got people who are called historicists. That's what I am. The most of the Protestant reformers were historians like Martin Luther, John Wesley, Spurgeon. They're all historians.
We believe that Revelation covers a panorama of Christian history from the first coming to the second coming. A lot of it is still happening. Then you've got futurists, that would be like how Lindsay and Tim Lahaye and the people, the left-behind group. They believe that from Revelation 4, everything is in the future. They're called futurists. When you look at Revelation, you can see that the vision of the seven churches covers a panorama of church history from the first coming to the second coming. Then there's a separate vision called The Seven Seals. It covers the political history from the first coming to the second coming.
Then you've got one called the Seven Trumpets. It covers a military history of the world and the church from the first coming to the second coming. You can point out all these and see them dramatically fulfilled. Now, your second question was about the Lake of Fire. There will be a time when the righteous will be in the city and God will rain fire down out of Heaven on the wicked. We won't watch that through eternity, but there'll be a period of judgment at the end of 1,000 years. You read about that in Revelation 20, and that's probably what you're referring to. Am I right, Roger?
Roger: Yes. Yes, it is.
Doug: There's a brief period, but don't forget you're not going to hear that all the time because God said He'll wipe away all tears from their eyes. There'll be no more pain, no more suffering. The former things will not come into mind, or will they be remembered. It says the righteous will go forth from the New Jerusalem. They will build houses and inhabit them. They'll plant vineyards and eat the fruit of them. God creates a new Heaven and a new Earth. I'm quoting the Bible in all these statements. We're not going to be staring at people burning through eternity. That would be pretty morbid. I do have a lesson on that. I'll send you for free, if you like it.
Roger: Yes.
Doug: All you've got to do is call the number. It's 1-800-835-6747. Ask for the study guide on 1,000 years of peace. They'll send that to you for free. Anybody out there, if you want to understand this subject, they'll do that for you. I want to remind our friends, if you've got the internet or you can log on to Facebook, we are broadcasting the video live such as it is. People think they're going to tune in to the Bible Answer program and I'll be sitting here in a tuxedo or something, but it's all pretty casual. You can at least get the visual of what's happening here. All right, all systems go. Going to talk next to Eliezer in Longmont, Colorado. Eliezer, you're on the air with Bible Answers Live.
Eliezer: Hello, pastor. How are you?
Doug: Good. Thank you for calling. Your question.
Eliezer: The question was--
Doug: Get real close to your phone. You sound like you're in Colorado.
Eliezer: My question was, I had a family member that asked me, if I was filled by the Holy Spirit when I got baptized, when I accepted Jesus, why do I need to be sealed again? It's red and Revelation?
Doug: Well, that's a good question. If you received the Holy Spirit at baptism, then why do you need to receive the seal of God as it's mentioned in Revelation? Well, there are two different dimensions of filling with the spirit and sealing with the spirit. An example, the apostles had the Holy Spirit when they went out teaching for Jesus while Jesus was still alive. Christ would never send them out to teach without a measure of the spirit, but they received a special filling of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost on Acts chapter 2. They received a filling again. It's like the Holy Spirit can come in waves. You read in Acts chapter 4.
They prayed and they were again filled with the Holy Spirit. You look at the life of Samson and several times he was filled with the spirit when there was a special need and he'd go fight a Philistine or a lion or whatever it was. The filling of the spirit and the sealing of the spirit, they can happen in different degrees. You are sealed with the Holy Spirit, you can read about, if you've got your Bible there and you look in Ephesians chapter 2. You read in verse 13. You were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise.
There's a promise that God seals to us when we're married to Him through the Holy Spirit. You can read in Ephesians 4:30. "Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption." The Holy Spirit is an internal seal. God is leading and guiding and convicting when you follow him. Then there's a seal that is in the law of God. You read in Isaiah 8:16. "Bind the testimony, seal the law among my disciples." Within the law of God, you find the name of God and the Seal of God.
Many people believe that that's found in the fourth Commandment. It's going to be a special test in the last days. Hopefully, that answers your question. Eliezer, I got a free lesson I'll be happy to send you on that subject, if you like it. I think you'd find it very encouraging. Are you interested in that?
Eliezer: Yes.
Doug: Absolutely. I think that you'll be blessed. I want to send you a special lesson. It's called-- Let me see which one is it I want to send. I think I'm going to send you the lesson called The Mark of the Beast. The mark of the beast is the opposite of the Seal of God. If you call the number 800-835-6747-- That’s 800-835-6747. Tell them you're listening to Bible Answers Live and you'd like the free lesson on the mark of the beast. They'll send it to you and thank you for your call. Talking next with Stacy in Atlanta, Georgia. Hi, Stacy, it's live. You're real on the air. Turn your radio down.
Stacy: Hello.
Doug: Hi, and your question tonight.
Stacy: Is this Pastor Doug?
Doug: This is him in the flesh. Well, on the radio, anyway.
Stacy: I was just watching you, so I guess there must be a little bit of a delay here. Isaiah 11:6-9, is that the millennial period?
Doug: Let me read this for our friends that are driving down the road. The wolf will also dwell with the lamb and the leopard will lie down with the young goat. Of course, he's talking about the new Heaven and new Earth. The calf and the young lion and the fatling together and a little child will lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze. Their young ones shall lie down together. He's talking about a peaceful world. None of the animals kill each other anymore. The lion will eat straw like the ox. A nursing child will play by the cobra's whole. The weaned child shall put his hand on the viper's den. They will not hurt or destroy in all the Holy Mountain.
I think this is talking more about after the millennium when God creates the new Heaven and the new Earth. When you get into the Garden of Eden during the millennium, the garden will be in the city because the tree of life is in the city. God may have some beasts and creatures there. I think Isaiah here is looking at the long picture of what life will be like in the new world after everything is restored to its Edenic beauty.
Stacy: That's not the Millennium, so there's going to be reproduction in heaven.
Doug: Well, there'll be no children. Jesus said, "We do not marry nor are we given in marriage." When God first makes or recreates the animals, everyone wants to know where my pet will be in heaven. He might surprise some people there.
Some of the animals may procreate until they fill the Earth. What God told Adam and Eve, he said, "Be fruitful, multiply, and fill the Earth," another word is "populated," but he didn't want them to overpopulate it. Now, in the resurrection, God is going to have millions, if not billions, of people. He's not going to want us to forever be marrying and reproducing. The pleasures in heaven are going to be far beyond anything we can think of here on Earth. There's really no comparison, but we won't need to forever procreate. That's what I think Jesus is saying. Does that make sense?
Stacy: Yes. I was just wondering because if that's not in the millennium period-- They were talking about our children playing with--
Doug: Well, there are children in the resurrection. You might be thinking, "Well, how can those children be a thousand years old and still be children?" There's a verse in Isaiah 65. It says, "The child won't even cease to be a child until it's 100. Their children will grow up very slowly in the new Earth. I think we're going to enjoy everything a lot longer.
Stacy: Thank you very much.
Doug: Speaking of Heaven, it says, "And children will play in the streets of the New Jerusalem." That's another passage, "and they'll be singing." It's going to be beautiful. Hey, thank you. If you'd like, Stacy, we do have a lesson that talks about heaven, and it's called
God's City in Space, and you can get that free. Call 800-835-6747 or go to amazingfacts.org, and you can just download that lesson about God's amazing city in space. Appreciate your call. Let me see here, I'm going to talk to Emma calling from Dallas, Texas. Emma, you're on the air with Bible Answers Live.
Emma: Hi.
Doug: Hi, thank you for calling, and your question.
Emma: My question is, if eating [unintelligible 00:21:07] a abomination to God, even if we know that we're eating it?
Doug: Well, I don't make up the Bible. I'll just tell you that God said that you should not eat pig. If you just back up a little bit and think about it. When God first made the animals, did he intend for Adam and Eve to butcher and eat them? Are you still there? Emma, did we lose you? Emma, are you there?
Emma: Yes, I'm listening.
Doug: Okay. Did God intend for Adam and Eve to butcher and eat animals?
Emma: No.
Doug: No? Not in Paradise, nothing died. First of all, he never intended for us to kill and eat any animals, but then after the sin, he said, "All right, you can eat the clean animals." Because during the flood all the vegetation was destroyed. God specified some animals would be cleaned for sacrificing and clean for food. Those things have to have a cloven hoof and they've got to chew the cud. He said, a deer, a goat, lamb, those were clean animals, then some animals are scavengers. They're never to be eaten. God says, "You'll get sick, they're an abomination."
That would be, you don't need a skunk, you don't need a buzzard, you don't eat cockroaches, and you don't eat pigs. Pigs are scavengers, they're filthy animals. The Jewish world knows that, they will not eat pigs. The Muslim world even knows that, they will not eat pigs, and Christians should not eat them, but some pastors say it doesn't matter what you eat, as long as you pray over it, which I think that's irresponsible. No parent will tell their child that. People shouldn't be eating pigs, they're unclaimed. Can I give you a Bible study on that for free? It's got New and Old Testament Scriptures on the subject. You still there, Emma?
Emma: Yes, I'm still here.
Doug: Okay. Let me tell you, if you call and you ask for God's free health plan, here's the number 800-835-6747. Ask for God's free health plan. They will send that to you. For anyone listening, you can also read that if you just type in "God's pre health plan, amazing facts," I found that Google is so efficient these days, it'll just pop up and you can look at it right there. Just type in "God's free health plan." It'll tell you about what the Bible says about health, not just the meat and unclean thing, it tells you principles to have a longer, stronger abundant life from the Bible. I've tried to follow those for 40 years, and I'm in pretty good shape for a grandfather with eight grandkids. Going to talk next to Nancy, we'll get another call in before our break. Nancy in Orlando, Florida, you're going to be hearing a delay until you turn your radio down.
Nancy: I did.
Doug: Hi, okay. Your question tonight?
Nancy: My question is from the book of Daniel when he had the dream about the tree, and the birds around [inaudible 00:24:07].
Doug: Yes, you're cutting out a little bit. The dream about the tree and the tree is cut down and all the creatures are in the shade.
Nancy: Yes, Nebuchadnezzar basically was like an animal. His nails grew and he had lost contact with people. When that happened, was he basically in the garden area, he wasn't out in the wild of Babylon. Wouldn't he have been basically watched over by people of the palace?
Doug: Yes. I don't think that Nebuchadnezzar was sent out when he lost his mind for seven years. I think his advisors and wise men in the palace as far as possible tried to keep that a secret. There were beautiful hanging gardens in Babylon. There were fields and the king had royal territories and farmlands. Nebuchadnezzar was probably out there somewhere. When his mind came back, his advisors right away restored him to his office. That has happened in history before, there was the king of England actually lost his mind. I think it was King George. He lost his mind for several years, and the cabinet kept it secret. It's not the first time that's happened. It says his fingernails grew and they were unkept and his hair was long and matted, like birds, feathers, and he just was out of his mind. Because he had been so proud of his wisdom.
Nancy: He was, I presume, and you're reassuring me that he would have been kept in the palace more or less?
Doug: Yes, I think somebody had him in some areas or some grounds [unintelligible 00:25:54] grass, like the oxen. Somebody had him in some protected area. It may have been a royal pasture or forest or something, not a lot of forests around Babylon. I want to be careful not to say that, it's a lot of plains and farmland there.
Nancy: Yes, grass would have been if they said he ate grass.
Doug: Yes, he was out of his mind during that time. Yes, that's a fascinating vision that you read about in Daniel 4, and I think there's a lot to that. It tells us about pride and what happens if we're proud, we can lose our reason and suffer for that, as well. Let me see if we-- I'm looking at-- I don't think we're going to have time to do another question justice before the break. Well, maybe we'll get started on one. Hi, Linda, you're on the air with Bible Answers Live. Can you go ahead and state your question, and maybe we'll get to the bigger answer after our break. Okay?
Linda: Okay, thank you.
Doug: What is your question?
Linda: It's regarding Colossians 14:17, and then I want to jump down to 21.
Doug: Colossians 2:14-17. All right, and then jumping to 21. I tell you what, I'm going to go there now, but we're probably not going to have time to dig into it until we get back from the break. If you stand by your verses, and your question is going to be the first one we're going to address after the break. Don't go anywhere, Linda. Friends, we are going to take some time for station identification, and be right back.
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Speaker 2: Stay tuned, Bible Answers Live will return in a moment.
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What if you could know the future? What would you do? What would you change to see the future? You must understand the past.
?Speaker 3: Alexander the Great becomes King when he's only 18, but he's a military prodigy.
?Speaker 4: 150 years in advance, Cyrus had been named. Rome was violent. They were ruthless. They were determined.
?Speaker 5: The Gospel writers see his death as a fulfillment of salvation.
?Speaker 2: This intriguing documentary, hosted by Pastor Doug Batchelor, explores the most striking Bible prophecies that have been dramatically fulfilled throughout history. Kingdoms in Time. Get your copy today. Available now on DVD Bluray or USB. For more information, visit kingdomsintime.com.
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Speaker 2: Every Bible question you have answered moves you one step closer to the fullness of God's will for your life. What are you waiting for? Get the answers you need for a fuller, richer, more confident life. You're listening to Bible Answers Live. This broadcast is a previously recorded episode. If you'd like answers to your Bible related questions on the air, please call us next Sunday between 7:00 PM and 8:00 PM Pacific Time. To receive any of the Bible resources mentioned in this evening's program, call 800-835-6747. Once again, that's 800-835-6747. Now let's join pastor Doug Batchelor for more Bible Answers Live.
Doug: Welcome back, listening friends, to Bible Answers Live. For those who have tuned in somewhere along the way, this is a live international interactive Bible study. We are on stations around the country, about 300 stations, satellite radio across the country and even across the borders. If you have a Bible question, call in with your question, 800-GOD-SAYS, 800-463-7297. My name is Doug Batchelor. Pastor Ross is traveling on a speaking appointment this week. I'm going to go back to Linda, who had a question about Colossians 2, and I'm going to read verse 14-17. Is that right, Linda?
Linda: Yes. Thank you.
Doug: Let me read that for our friends that are driving down the road. "Having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us, and He's taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross, having disarmed principalities and powers, he made a public spectacle of them triumphing over them in it. Let no one judge you in food or in drink or regarding a festival or a new moon or Sabbaths, which are shadow of things to come. The substance is of Christ." Now your question on that.
Linda: I totally believe in the commandments, which includes 4th, because I do believe it was first instituted in-
Doug: Garden of Eden, Genesis.
Linda: I understand. It points out clearly in verse 14, blotting out the handwriting of the ordinances and nailing it to the cross. Then it goes down to or in any Holy day or as a new moon or Sabbath day.
Doug: Are you wondering, does this mean was the Sabbath day blotted out?
Linda: I'm sorry?
Doug: Are you wondering, does this mean was the Sabbath day blotted out?
Linda: I'm not quite understanding.
Doug: You're wondering what this verse means?
Linda: I want to ask more about specifically about 16, "Let no man, therefore, judge you in meat her in drink."
Doug: You're wondering what that means?
Linda: Yes.
Doug: In the time when this was written, the Jewish believers in Christ were very sensitive about whether or not they could eat the food that was bought in the pagan Roman marketplaces around the Roman empire, because before an animal was butchered, it was offered to pagan gods like Jupiter or Apollos or Diana or one of the other gods. They would do that with both the wine and with the meat. They said, "Oh, man, we shouldn't be eating this." If the Gentiles ate it, the Jews would judge them and say, "You shouldn't eat that, that was offered to a pagan god." It would be like today. I think many of us have been to a Chinese restaurant or a Thai restaurant. You'll see a little statue of Buddha sometimes when you go in, and if your Christian friend says, "You can't eat at that restaurant, there's a Buddha in there, you're worshiping Buddha."
Most Christians would say, "I'm not worshiping Buddha. They do. Just because it's in the restaurant, that doesn't mean I'm worshiping Buddha." They were having the same problem back then in the Roman empire. Paul is saying, "Don't let them judge you. If it bothers their conscience, don't take them out to eat at that restaurant, but don't let people judge you." He wasn't saying that you could eat anything you want and you don't have to worry about it anymore. He was basically saying, "Don't let people judge you that if you buy food in the marketplace that it's been offered to a pagan god, you can't eat it anymore," but he's talking about clean food. Hopefully that helps a little. You would also, I think, enjoy that study guide we offered earlier talking about God's free health plan, and to get that, call 800-835-6747. Thank you, Linda. We need to move on, and we're going to talk next to Peter calling from New Jersey. Peter, you're on the air.
Peter: Hello, pastor. I had a question about Bible translations. Two questions, actually. One is, what do you think of Young's literal translation of the Bible? Then the second one will be, why don't we have a perfect translation in our language? A lot of times you'll hear the Bible teachers say, "That word could've been translated a little better." If [unintelligible 00:34:46] if you keep hearing it enough, you might say, "Well, how would we ever know which is the word?" If one word could be translated in four or five different words, how are we going to be absolutely positive we have the literal word of God.
Doug: That's a good question. First of all, the essence of what we read in the Bible is very accurately translated. Right now on my computer, I've got a program that anybody can download. It's free. At least the basic versions are free. It's called e-Sword. I sure appreciate them putting it out there for everybody. I can click between Young Literal Translation, New King James English standard, American standard. You read them, and as you go from verse to verse, you say, "It's really saying the same thing verse after verse after words, little words might be different and have a little different nuance, but the overall meaning is the same. You can read John 3:16 in virtually any translation, and you're going to get the same message. There are 10 different ways of a person saying a sentence that can mean the same thing.
Just different words you can choose. You know what I mean? The meaning that is given in the Bible in these-- Some translations, I'll admit, are better than others, but the overall meaning people can find the gospel and they can find God's will for their lives in translations. Now, there are more versions of the Bible in English than any other language. You go to a lot of languages. There's just one translation, maybe two. English we probably got 50 different translations or more. I've got a book I can send you on that for free, Peter. Are you still there?
Peter: Yes, I have one more question, if you don't mind.
Doug: Okay, and then I'll tell you about the book.
Peter: Then is, what Bible do you use and what Bible would you say, or is there any Bible that we could say is 100% accurately translated from the original manuscripts of Greek and Hebrew?
Doug: Well, the Hebrew is translated from virtually the same. We got a Greek version called the Septuagint, and then the others you have some of the original, but the Hebrew Bible dates back before Jesus, nobody really contests that. The New Testament, which came to us in Greek, I believe the most accurate are the ones that came from the manuscripts called the Textus Receptus or the received texts. That would be the King James version, the New King James version, which is what I typically preach from.
The New King James version, slight differences from the King James, just that you don't use some of the old, archaic English that people-- We don't say, "Wherefore thou art to shoe your servant." You say it just, "You get rid of these in the dowels" and you talk normally. The New King James is basically the same, we just modernize some of the terminology. The other one I like is the American standard version. Right now I'm reading through the English standard version. It's not bad to read through another translation sometimes. Like I said, you'll pick up little nuances that you missed the first time through. Let me send you a book that I wrote on the Bible, and it's called The Ultimate Resource, and it answers some of these questions. Would that be okay?
Peter: Yes, pastor. None of those Bibles, none of the verses changed the context in any way of the translations?
Doug: There probably are a few places where you're going to see a change in meaning, but it's very few when you consider the millions of words in the Bible. Overall the gist is the same. Now, the translations I just gave you, those are the ones I think are good. If you're working with a paraphrase, that's a little different, that's like the Good News Bible. That's where someone takes it and puts it in their own words. Well, there's some wild differences there, like you get to the Mark of the beast, they say it's a tattoo in the right hand of the forehead. Well, the original language doesn't call it a tattoo. That's a pretty big liberty he's taking there. Anyway, I hope that helps a little. Let me give you that number. If you want for the free offer, you can call 800-835-6747. The book is called The Ultimate Resource On the Bible.
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Doug: With that, we're going to go and talk to-- What do we got going here. Stacy? Is it Compton, California, Stacy? Hi. Are you calling Bible Answers Live with a question?
Speaker 2: Yes.
Doug: You're on.
Speaker 1: The question is, on Ezekiel 11:16, when it says that the kids want to have- [inaudible 00:40:52] everything. Explain it to me.
Doug: Yes. Well, it's talking about when God called his people out of Egypt and he's describing, "I made you like my bride." You can read in Ezekiel 16:10, I think is the verse you're talking about. It says, "I clothed thee also with broidered work and with badgers' skin, because those are things that were in the temple. I girded you about with fine linen and I covered you with silk. I decked you with ornaments. I put bracelets on your hands, chains on your neck. I put a jewel in your forehead and earrings in your ears and a beautiful crown on your head."
Now, these are things that a bride might wear on her wedding day because the money, the dowry, and the gifts they gave the bride were usually jewels that she kept with her through her life. It was considered great value that she could put towards her home and other things. It's talking about God said, "I married you."
When the children of Israel came out of Egypt, they spoiled the Egyptians, and the Egyptians gave them articles of gold and silver and precious cloth and jewels, and they brought that with them into the wilderness and they made a beautiful tabernacle. God here, through Ezekiel, is telling him in this poetic language, "You are my bride and I married you and I gave you all this wealth when you came out of Egypt, and you've now played the harlot with these other gods from other nations." That's really what he's talking about. I hope that helps a little bit to our caller from Compton. Talking now to Antonio. Antonio, New York, New York, you're on the air.
Antonio: Yes. You are still there?
Doug: I'm here. You can put your- you can turn your radio down and your question.
Antonio: Okay, let me turn my radio down. Can you hear me now?
Doug: I can. Your question.
Antonio: I'm going to see if I can put it together to you. This is about David when King David, when God promised that out of him a king would always be sitting on his throne, and of course the Lord, Jesus Christ was promised that he was going to come out of the tribe of Judah, which is the tribe of David. Now, what I'm trying to put together is that David, when he was sick, getting ready to die, when he was dying, he was very sick. He was very cold, and they looked for a virgin and--
Doug: They got a young girl by the name of Abishag to cuddle him, to keep him warm.
Antonio: Right. In other words, he slept with a virgin.
Doug: Right. Yes. It was just purely medicinal.
Antonio: Then the Lord, Jesus Christ was born out of the Virgin, which is Virgin Mary and also Joseph came out of the tribe of Judah, both of them, they were from the blood of David.
Doug: It's an interesting analogy. King David is a type of Christ. He slept with a virgin and then the next King was Solomon, who's the son of David, and he was a type of Christ
Antonio: In which he also promises in the book of Chronicles, through Solomon, which is very interesting what you read in that also. This question I wanted to ask you about two years ago and I couldn't do it because somebody that answered the phone, she couldn't understand what I was talking about. I was not able to ask her, but this has been in my mind for years and years. If there's any connection with David being the king, sleeping with a virgin before he died, and then the Lord Jesus Christ came out of David, coming from the tribe of Judah. For me, it's a blood linage, right? Am I correct?
Doug: Yes. It's true that David came- that Jesus came from the line of David. Of course he had no children with Abishag, so Jesus didn't come through Abishag. It tells us that Jesus came through Bathsheba and Solomon and on down to David. You can read the genealogy. You find it two places. Matthew traces the genealogy of Jesus through his father, Joseph. Luke chapter 3 traces that genealogy of Jesus through Joseph's father in law, Mary's father. That's where there's a slight difference.
Yes. It all goes back to David, either river that you take. Thank you, Antonio. Thank you for your patience. With that, we're going to talk to Lisa calling from Georgia. Lisa, you're on the air with Bible Answers Live.
Lisa: Hi, this is Lisa in Waycross.
Doug: Thank you for calling. Your question.
Lisa: My question is, in Isaiah it talks about the lamb will lie with the lion, does that mean that when animals do die, they will be in heaven?
Doug: Well, there's nothing in the Bible that says animals will be resurrected, but there's nothing in the Bible that says that God can't resurrect them. Once we start speculating, and a lot of people, especially with their pets, they want to know, "I just had this animal that I loved, and it was such a good, path and I'm going to miss it so much, and can't God resurrect it?"
I've got a friend, Steve Wolberg, he wrote a book called Will my Pet be in Heaven, and I think he makes an argument that God can surprise us and do that. I can't point you to a scripture where it says that God is going to resurrect animals from this life and give them new bodies in the world to come. Yes, I've got to be careful not to go where the Bible doesn't go. There will definitely be animals in heaven. It mentions bears, lions, talks about snakes, it talks about wolves, talks about lambs, talks about cows, all being in heaven.
Yes, God's going to repopulate the world with many-- We look at the fossil record today, and we can see a lot of animals have become extinct. Just imagine the variety that God will have in the new earth. It'll be a zoologist's dream. You still there, Lisa?
Lisa: Yes. So true and I always as always love listening to the word of God. God bless you. You have a good evening.
Doug: All right. Thank you so much for your question and your call.
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Doug: With that, we're going to talk to Zeke. Who's calling from Chattanooga, Tennessee. Zeke, you're on the air.
Zeke: Hey, pastor Batchelor. It's always a privilege. Also, I want to say before, my question is enjoy-- I reading your Daily Devotional World of Wonder. I highly recommend it to anybody, but my question is, I saw one of your sermons where you said that Daniel was a Eunuch. I've never heard any other pastors say that before.
Doug: Yes, well, I'm sure I'm not the only pastor that said it. It's really clear, if you look in Daniel chapter one, it tells us that Daniel and his three friends, after being carried off to Babylon, to train in the court of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar commits them into the hands of Ashpenaz, the master of the Eunuchs. That's Daniel chapter 1, verse 3. Eunuchs were men who had been castrated. If you are going to work in the King's palace and be anywhere near his harem, his wise men, many of them went through that process.
Jesus talks about there are some people who are made Eunuchs by others. There are some people who make themselves Eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake. Some men choose to be celibate, and some women choose to be celibate. One other thing is you'll read a prophecy that God gives in Isaiah, I think it's chapter 39, where Isaiah says to Hezekiah, "Your children are going to be taken captives, some of your offspring, and they're going to be Eunuchs in the palace of Babylon."
Daniel, you never read about Daniel, Hannah and I, and as Ryan never got married, never had family, no posterity's ever mentioned. Daniel was a Eunuch. It's pretty clear from the context, it mentions Eunuchs several times in the first chapter.
Zeke: Okay. Well, thank you for letting me call and share. Thank you again, brother Camping.
Doug: It's actually brother Batchelor, but I appreciate the call. Thank you very much.
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Doug: We're going to talk next to Tom in Carolina. Hi, Tom, and your question. Tom, you're on the air. Can you hear me?
Tom: Yes, I'm here.
Doug: Your question tonight.
Tom: Hey, Sir. How are you doing, pastor? Good to talk to you.
Doug: I'm okay. Thank you for calling.
Tom: Got a question. Can you give me some scriptures on the promises of Jesus? I just found out I got cancer, Doug.
Doug: Oh my, I know that's troubling news, and hopefully it's a prognosis that the doctor is saying there's something they can do to treat you. We know whatever the doctors say, there's nothing too hard for the Lord, and God is able to heal. You can read many places in the Bible where Jesus, of course, heals people. You can read in Psalm 103:1, "Bless the Lord, O my soul and all that is in me. Bless his Holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul. Forget not his benefits," and notice what it says, "who forgives all your iniquities." Now, we know that God does that, "who heals all your diseases." God can heal all kinds of diseases, and so we can just thank Him for that promise. If you look online, if you just type in "Bible promises on healing," there'll be a whole list of them there, verses. You'll see that you can claim those promises. Now, there are examples. I just want to be balanced in my answer. There are examples in the Bible where you have some people that got sick and they prayed and God said, "No. My strength is made perfect in weakness." This is what God told the Apostle Paul, but I do believe that God can also miraculously heal, and we've heard that before. I hope that helps, Tom. Are you still there?
Tom: Yes, agree. I've met you several times at lake in Alaska, and I want you to remember me every morning when you pray and get your people to remember me too, please.
Doug: Well, Tom. How about I pray for you right now? Would that be okay?
Tom: Yes, sure.
Doug: That's the best thing, is to do it while we're thinking about it. Let me just pray and others listening can pray for Tom. He just got a serious diagnosis about cancer, just wherever you're driving down the road. Father in heaven, we just want to join together as your people and Tom's received a troubling report. We pray that you will work a miracle and bring about his complete healing, and even through this whole trial, I pray that you can do in him what you need to do, and you can do through him what you need to do as a witness for you and just work it together for good, Lord. We thank you and we pray this in Jesus name. Amen.
Tom: Amen. My loans are too bad to do surgery.
Doug: Oh, okay. Well, God's going to work that out. We'll just continue to pray for you, Tom.
Tom: Yes. I only use 14% lung capacity, and I'm 52 years old, and I don't want to-- I'm ready to go. I'm not worried about dying, usually I'll know it's a sleep, and I'm ready to go, but I want to stay around and see my friend, Pastor Doug, at Junaluska.
Doug: Well, bless your heart. Hey, we'll keep you in our prayers, Tom, and we thank you for calling, and a lot of others, I'm sure, they're praying for you as well. Thank you. We're going to talk next to Solomon calling from Chicago, Illinois. Solomon, you're on the air.
Solomon: Hi, Pastor.
Doug: Hi. We've got about two minutes before we're going to go to another announcement.
Solomon: Okay. My question is from II Kings 2:10. It's when Elijah and Elisha are talking, and Elijah is about to go to heaven, and Elijah asks for a double portion of Elijah's spirit, and Elijah says, "This is a hard thing." Seeing that most things are not impossible with God, I've always wondered what Elijah meant when he said, "This is a hard thing.
Doug: Well, the word "hard" there, he means, "You've asked me for a big thing," because giving the Holy Spirit is something that God does and man doesn't do it, and so Elijah is saying to Elisha is that you've asked the big thing, but then he goes on and says, "Nevertheless, even though you've asked a big thing, if you see me when I'm taken from you, if you see it, when I'm caught up, it'll be so, if not, it'll not be so." The key there is, he said, "You've got to keep your eyes on me if you want to receive the Holy Spirit."
That is really reminding us that Jesus went to heaven. He told the Apostles, "I'm going to the father, and if I go, I will send the comfort of the Holy Spirit." The Bible says, "If he is lifted up, we look at him, he's lifted up. We fix our eyes on Jesus. We behold the lamb of God, and as we look at him, we then receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit." I really think that's what that message is all about, Solomon.
Now, as we walk with Jesus, we keep our eyes fixed upon Christ, as it says in Hebrews chapter 12, that if we see him lifted up, if we know he's in heaven interceding for us, we have nothing to worry about. We can receive that gift of the Holy Spirit. Jesus said, "These things, I've done greater things than this. Will you do?" and Elisha got a double portion of Elijah's spirit. It did happen. There's no prayer in the Bible God did not answer. There's never a prayer where God says, "That's too hard. I can't do it." He even answered Joshua's prayer to make the sun stand still. Friends, I can't make the clock stand still, and it looks like we're going to be out of time for tonight. We do have a couple of important announcements following. Love to hear it from you. Go to Amazingfacts.org, help keep us on the air. God bless.