- [Announcer] It is the best-selling book in history, no volume ever written has been more loved and quoted, and its words, sometimes simple and sometimes mysterious, should always be studied carefully, it is the Bible, the Word of God. Welcome to Bible Answers Live, providing accurate and practical answers to all your Bible questions. This broadcast is a previously recorded episode. To receive any of the Bible resources mentioned in this broadcast, call 800-835-6747. Once again, that's 800-835-6747. Now here's your host from Amazing Facts International, Pastor Doug Bachelor.
- Hello, friends, would you like to hear an amazing fact? On November 17th, 2012, two fishermen took their modest boat out on the Pacific Ocean from a small Mexican port for a day trip. It was the first time that Salvador Alvarenga and Ezekiel Cordoba had worked together. Overtaken by a violent storm, they were able to send out one distress signal before their radio, GPS, and outboard motor died. Driven into the open sea, they drifted for weeks, tormented by thirst, eating fish, turtles, and sea birds they caught with their bare hands. From time to time a thunderstorm would provide a little fresh water that they caught in plastic bottles and in an oil drum they had retrieved from the sea. In this small open boat with no protection from the sun or cold, they spent a great deal of time huddled together in the insulated fish box that was about the size of a refrigerator.
Gradually sickened by the diet, Cordoba stopped eating, and he died after 10 weeks, though desperately lonely, Alvarenga refused to give up, he often prayed and said that if God would spare him, he'd be a better man and more dedicated as a father. Then on January 30th, 2014, Alvarenga's tattered boat washed up on the Ebon Atoll in the southernmost tip of the Marshall Islands, 6,000 miles from where he had started. Adrift for 438 days, Jose Salvador Alvarenga holds the record for the longest solo survival at sea. Can you imagine that?
There's a picture of him there, a few days after he had been rescued, and they had actually gotten him where he could get up on his feet again, when he first washed ashore on that island, and I've been to the Marshall Islands, have been to Majuro, and that's when he's landing there, he just started walking again. When he first landed he had to crawl because he hadn't stood, and barely stood, I should say, in a year, and an incredible story of someone surviving by themselves, catching rain water, turtles, he'd grab sharks out of the water, he'd grab the little fish, he'd eat the barnacles off the bottom of the boat, it's just an amazing, amazing story.
But one thing that I didn't share that was in the, it's not in the amazing fact I just read, is that his friend Ezekiel Cordoba was a born-again Christian, Alvarenga was not, he was kind of against church, he believed in God, but, and before he died, Alvarenga, Cordoba, rather, worked on his friend's heart and softened his heart, he ended up turning to God and redeemed his life, he went back home and became a good father, and gave up his wild partying ways, and it really was a conversion experience for him. So, he was rescued in more than one way, and I think we've got an offer that. There's a verse, friends, I always like to put in a Bible verse that goes along with our fact. Psalm 107:23-24, "Those who go down to the sea in the ships, who do business on the great waters, they see the works of the Lord and His wonders in the deep."
- Well, he sure got to see the wonders of the deep quite a period of time. It is amazing story of just determination, doubtless, his prayers made a difference, because he was praying near the end, he realized that his only help was God, and yet for him to survive that long, not only just living on whatever he could find, the fish and drinking the rain water, but just being by himself in the middle of the ocean for so long, you would think somebody would give up, but he just refused to give up-
- Yeah, I could go on and on, it's quite a story, but there were about 20 times that tankers went by and he would wave and they'd wave back, they just thought he was out fishing, he was trying to get rescued, and he'd see planes fly over and tankers go by, and they just didn't stop, and so then he'd get real discouraged for a while.
- Sure, absolutely. Well, we do have a free offer, Pastor Doug, that talks about a much more important rescue, and that is called "Rescue From Certain Death," "Saved From Certain Death," that is the free offer, it talks about salvation. I mean, whatever happens here on this earth, if we are saved from eternal destruction, we have hope, we have peace, and so that's the free offer. How can we have the assurance of salvation, it's called "Saved From Certain Death," to receive it, all you need to do is call the resource number, that's 800-835-6747 and ask for offer number 109. Again, the number to call is 800-835-6747, and you can ask for the gift, it's called "Saved From Certain Death," we'll be happy to send it to anyone in North America, if you're outside of North America, we encourage you to go to the Amazing Facts website, just amazingfacts.org, and you can actually read the lesson there for free. You can enroll in the free Amazing Facts online course, and I know many folks have been blessed by going through those series of lessons, and that's all available at amazingfacts.org.
Well, Pastor Doug, we've got some folks who have called in with their Bible questions, if you have a Bible-related question, the number to call, again, is 800-463-7297. Again, that's 800-463-7297, that is the phone line to our studio with your Bible question. Our first call of this evening is Diane, listening in British Columbia. Diane, welcome to the program.
- [Diane] Thank you, yes. I have a question, I have a friend who's just picking up the Bible and she's reading through the Old Testament, and she's really struggling with all of God's violence that's talked about in the Old Testament, and it's making her question how God can be love, and I'm just wondering where do I start by helping her to see the love of God when she's reading this?
- Well, one really important place to direct her is the teachings of Jesus. He said, "If you've seen Me, you've seen the Father, so she wants to understand something about what God is like, the God in the Old Testament is the same God that you see in Jesus, and God is love, this is what the apostles saw, the love and the compassion of Jesus. Now, in the Old Testament, you're often reading about God leading a nation and those nations were often warring, and so God, not wanting His people to be annihilated, they had to defend themselves. God, He does not want anyone to die, the Bible tells us the Lord does not want anyone to perish, and in the Book of Ezekiel it says, "Turn ye, turn ye, why will you die?" God has no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but because of sin in the world, and because there was sinful people, sometimes there was war and sometimes there was violence, and I know some people, Pastor, will struggle with just the idea of the sacrificial system, why would these innocent animals die? And it tells us something about the deadly nature of sin.
- And despite the violence and the war that you do read about in the Old Testament, because it's talking about different kingdoms, you also get amazing revelations of God's love, His mercy, His long suffering with Israel, and His protection. I'm just thinking the children of Israel, as they wandered through the wilderness, how God fed them with the special food from heaven, how He gave them water from the rock, how that God forgave them time and time again from their rebelliousness and throughout the history of Israel, you can see how God's mercy was there and how He forgave them.
- Yep, amen.
- All right, well, thanks for your call, Diane. We've got Lee listening in North Carolina. Lee, welcome to the program.
- [Lee] Oh, hi, pastors, thank you so much for taking my call.
- Yeah.
- My question is about Genesis, and actually the Sabbath. Chapter 2 in Genesis, right? "And God sanctified the day," and then in Exodus you have the Ten Commandments where, of course, the Sabbath is the Fourth. My question is how did God communicate to the Jews about the Sabbath? Because Noah wasn't a Jew, did he know about the Sabbath? Did he keep the Sabbath? How did God communicate that before the actual laws?
- Yeah, you can find where, and Pastor Ross might find the reference, where it talks about Abraham. Now, Abraham's not a Jew, Abraham lived before they ever went through the Exodus and came to Mount Sinai, and the Bible says, "Abraham kept my laws, my statutes, and my judgements," and I don't remember if that's Genesis 20.
- Genesis 26:25.
- 26, okay. You want to read the whole verse there?
- Yeah, it says, speaking of Abraham, "He obeyed my voice, kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws."
- So God had a law, the Bible tells us that God told Cain that sin was at the door when he murdered his brother, that was clearly a sin, and God told Joseph that adultery would be a sin when Potiphar's wife tempted him, and before the children of Israel got to Mount Sinai, the bread from heaven would rain down six days a week, but there'd be none on the seventh day of the week, and God said, "This is the Sabbath." So I do believe when Noah was building the ark, he took off every Sabbath day, I don't think he worked seven days a week, and that they knew about that day of rest. Man has always needed that rest physically, and as our quality time with God, that's why Jesus said the Sabbath was made for man and the word there, man, is, it's not Jew, it's anthropos, it means humanity. So God gave Adam and Eve the Sabbath back in the garden and they passed it on, faithful, kept it, those unfaithful did not keep it, as with the other commandments.
- You know, we do have a study guide that talks about that, it's called "The Lost Day of History," and it goes back into the history of the Sabbath and how that was established at creation. If you'd like to learn more about that, the number to call is 800-835-6747, and again, you can ask for that free offer, it's called "The Lost Day of History," we'll be happy to send that to anyone who calls and asks, it's 800-835-6747. Thanks for your call, Lee. We've got Maya listening from North Dakota. Maya, welcome to the program.
- [Maya] Okay, so my question is, I've been studying Ezekiel, and at the end of Ezekiel, God takes him in a vision and the angels measuring the sanctuary on earth, the heaven sanctuary, or the new Jerusalem? I'm confused on what's going on at the end of Ezekiel.
- All right, Ezekiel is one of the four apocalyptic prophets in the Bible, meaning that God spoke to them in these visions that were full of symbols, and not always to be taken literally. It's like when you get to Revelation, it talks about a woman riding a beast with seven heads, well, that's not real, those symbols, the woman represents a church, there it's a fallen church. In Ezekiel, the temple of God, the Bible says, what? "Don't you know that you are the temple of God?" Is what Paul tells us. And so when a Ezekiel is measuring the temple, it's also, there's a measuring of the temple in Revelation that is referring back to Ezekiel, and it's talking about, really, a judgment of God's people. So all these things, it's talking about that beautiful temple in Ezekiel, I think are in symbolic language. Yeah, because there's no time in history, in Jewish history, or to the present time, when that temple was physically built. First of all, it was huge, it's much bigger than when they rebuilt the temple, and then you read about the river and he says, he goes into this river that's a mile long and a mile wide, I should say, and halfway in, he's only up to his thighs, it's this huge river, and then he talks about the trees by the river continually bear fruit, and their leaves are for healing, or for medicine. Well, that's taken from Revelation, where it says the leaves of the tree of life are for the healing of the nation. So a lot of parallels between Ezekiel, especially to the last chapters there, and Revelation, they should probably be studied together.
- That's right, so one might even understand that is to be a symbolic representation of the sanctuary in the new earth, in the new Jerusalem that we read about, where the river is flowing forth, the river of life that flows out. So there's some parallels there in that study with Revelation. Thanks for your call. We've got Caleb listening in New York. Caleb, welcome to the program.
- [Caleb] Hello, Pastor Ross and Pastor Doug, thank you so much for everything.
- Thank you for calling.
- [Caleb] Thank you for picking up. Two questions, I want to know if Daniel 11 has any correlation with Russia, and my other question is, is that I live with one of my friends, I have a lot of friends that aren't Christians and one time, not too long ago, I had a discussion with my friends, I didn't want to get to, he was very passionate about what he believes, but I felt like I didn't say enough to defend God. Do you think God's going to punish me for that? Because I was just, I said, told him the truth, but I wasn't very forward about it.
- Yeah.
- I think I was trying to avoid an argument. Do you think God's going to punish me for that?
- I know exactly how you feel, it's often true, and don't be discouraged. I think Pastor Ross will say that there's probably times that he also has thought, after talking to someone about the Lord, "Did I say the right thing? Did I say enough? Did I miss an opportunity?" That happens every day, and if we do miss an opportunity or say something wrong, or don't say enough, and sometimes I've been ashamed at being ashamed, sharing my faith. You ask God to forgive you and you move on. I mean, even Peter, he boldly denied Christ and Jesus forgave him. So, it's wrong, we should pray that God helps us to be faithful, and courageous, and accurate, and bold, even Paul says pray for boldness because sometimes we're intimidated to be timid, but don't be discouraged if that happens, because I think every believer has times where you think, "Oh, I wish I'd done a better job."
- Does that help, Caleb?
- Oh, now you asked about, we never did answer your question about Daniel 11. Daniel 11 does cover the panorama of history from the time of, I guess it's from Persia to, because Babylon's already fallen. So it covers the time of history from Persia to the second coming, and so, yeah, it's got Michael standing up in the great final time of trouble in the resurrection, so it covers that time span. I don't think there's any verses that particularly mention the battle that's going on in Russia with Ukraine right now. It does talk about a number of wars, but I don't know of anything that would allude to that in Daniel 11.
- Mm-hm, yeah, I think Daniel, especially Daniel 9, 11, you've got some time periods, well, Daniel 11 too. It's covering a lot, much larger time period than just a few years, talking about hundreds of years, thousands of years, that's been reviewed within that chapter.
- Kind of sweeping overview, very quick.
- Mm-hm. All right, well, thanks for your call, Caleb. We've got Aaron listening in New York. Aaron, welcome to the program.
- [Aaron] Hello pastors, Thank you for taking my call.
- Thank you for calling.
- [Aaron] My question is, was Noah and his three sons alive when the Tower of Babel was being built?
- Good question, as far as Noah, let me think. I think after the flood he still lives about 300 years, so there's a good chance, definitely his sons were still alive because Shem lived all the way through the time of Abraham, and the Tower of Babel had been considerably before that. So, you go from, it's not long after Shem that you end up with Terah and Aaron, the parents and brother of Abraham, so it doesn't necessarily mean that Noah had moved to the Mesopotamian valley where they built the tower, so Noah may have been alive. A lot of people went down there and they congregated in the land of Shinar, and that's where they built the Tower of Babel, not everybody went, Noah may have stayed somewhere in the foothills of Ararat, where the ark settled.
- Mm-hm, we do have an interesting timeline that's available online, it's a website that Amazing Facts has, Bible Timeline and if you were to look that up, you could actually page through it and you can see the time of Noah, and then see who was alive at the time, and after that, and when Noah died, and what was happening, it's just very informative, so you might want to take a look at that. Just go to the Amazing Facts website.
- I think it's biblehistory.com
- Bible History, is that what it is?
- Yeah, I'm looking it up and I think so.
- Okay, yes, we have a number of websites, friends, if you're wondering about that, but this is one that Amazing Facts put together that is a great resource for people wanting to study the Bible, get an idea of the timelines, biblehistory.com or.org, and take a look at that, got a lot of good information. We've got Lance listening from Texas. Lance, welcome to the program.
- [Lance] Yeah, I know that Ellen White, she wrote a prophecy, and it pretty much says that there's going to be people alive from her time for the second coming of Christ, and if that's the case, I guess then it must be really close because what's the longest living person ever for this modern era? It's like 122 years, so I would like to know what's your take on that.
- Yeah, well, I think I know what you're talking about. She made there's one statement in the book "Prophets and Kings," where she talks about in the days of Queen Esther, there was a law that all of God's people had to worship a certain way or they were going to be killed, and she said, "There's some living on the earth today that will see those words fulfilled." Well, there already have been some people that have lived to see the words fulfilled, that if you didn't worship a certain way, you'd be killed. There are people who are killed for their faith all the time. If she was talking specifically about the second coming there and the final events, she could have been talking in what you call hyperbole, and what I mean by that is, Paul, for instance, said, "The gospel's been preached in all the world," well, he meant in the Roman empire. And so when she made a statement like that, if she's speaking in hyperbole, she means we're really near the end.
- Something else to bear in mind, whenever you read the New Testament and you read, for example, Paul, he speaks of being alive at the second coming of Christ, it says, "We who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will be caught up to meet them, and the dead in Christ will rise first." The prophet in vision never saw himself coming up amongst those who are resurrected, they always see themself amongst those who are alive at the second coming of Christ, that doesn't mean, of course, that Paul was wrong in saying that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, but in vision, he always saw himself amongst those who were saved.
- And they called it the blessed hope.
- Mm-hm. So you want to also bear that in mind as you study through these different prophetic passages of the Bible. All right, well, thanks for your call, Lance. We've got Jerry listening in Arizona. Jerry, welcome to the program.
- [Jerry] Thank you, pastors, for taking my call. So, my question is in the gospels, when it refers to Jesus's resurrection, they all say on the first day of the week, well, I kind of discovered that the we word week is actually plural in Greek, and it's the word for Sabbath, which some people talk about referring the beginning of the seven weeks to Pentecost, so, I'm just wondering how people can tie this to worship.
- Yeah, well, there's no question that Jesus rose on what would be called the first day of the week or Sunday, because it says after the Sabbath was passed. Well, what do you have after the Sabbath? If the Sabbath is the seventh day, and there's only seven days in the week, after the Sabbath is past, all you've got left is the first day, and so Jesus clearly rose very early in the morning in what you would call the first day of the week. Now, I don't think that initiates Sunday as a new day of worship. There's no command in the Bible anywhere that we are to remember the first day or Sunday as the new Sabbath or the Lord's day.
- Well, if you use that argument, Pastor, again, there are some folks who say we got on a Sunday because that's the day of the resurrection. Well, what is more important? His death on Calvary, which happened on a Friday, or His resurrection on Sunday? Both are equally important, without His substitutionary death there'd be no hope for resurrection, so, just because those are historical facts and those are the days that those things occurred, it doesn't now somehow make it a new day of worship.
- Yeah, yeah, there's no reason to change the old day, God didn't make a mistake-
- Right.
- Ten Commandments are written in stone and they're not multiple choice.
- You know, we did mention a free offer a little while ago, it's called "The Lost Day of History," and again, we want to encourage those, if you've never read what the Bible has to say about the Sabbath and the blessings of the Sabbath, call and ask for that, we'll be happy to send it to you. The number to call is 800-835-6747, and again, you can ask for that free offer, it's called "The Lost Day in History," and if you have a Bible question, we have a few lines open, the number to call is 800-463-7297, that's 800-463-7297. Next call that we have is Israel listening from Washington. Israel, welcome to the program.
- [Israel] How you doing? How you doing, Doug?
- Doing good, thanks for calling.
- [Israel] So my question is, when God delivered the Israelites from slavery in Egypt, from my understanding, He basically took 'em on a crusade, wiping out every ungodly people by killing every man, woman, and child that was ungodly until they got to the promised land, so if I choose to fight for my country, and let's say I go to war and I'm going to have to kill, if these people are ungodly, am I sinning by choosing to take that route?
- Yeah, I think it would be wrong, Jesus talks about Christians not killing, He came, He said, "I did not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them," and just to be clear, the children of Israel, first of all, in the wilderness, the only ones that they fought against and annihilated were the Amalekites or they fought against, they didn't even annihilate them, then there were some pagan nations that were bent on destroying Israel, and so they were told to fight against them. The interpersonal laws of the Christian are different from civil laws, God's laws, or even national laws, God's laws regarding civil things was under what they call a theocracy, we are not under a theocracy that is led by God, we're under a democracy that's led by faulty humans, and so I think that a person needs to think long and hard about going to war and taking up arms to shoot a person. Now, don't misunderstand, I have tremendous respect for young men and women, two of them being, I've got a son and daughter that were in the service, I'm so thankful the freedoms that they defend, but I think as a Christian you need to be very careful about saying that I'm going to take up arms. I think if you're going to defend your country, try and find some area where you can do it, where maybe you could help save a life or do it in a medical field or something.
- Well, pastor, like, there are examples, you mentioned that Israel at the time, they were being led by a cloud, the cloud led them, the pillar fire by night, prior to them going into war, God would communicate to Moses and give them instructions. In some cases it was a very decisive battle where the purpose was to remove an ungodly group of people, but there were other times where God would actually say, "No, leave them alone," or, "Save the woman and children," so God was actually leading and directing Israel. Part of the reason why Israel went into captivity for the 400 years, God said to Abraham, "Because the iniquity is not yet full of the land," so God had given them a 400 years of probationary time before Israel returned to the promised land, before the judgements came upon them, and they knew about Abraham and they were witnesses for the truth during that time period, but God was giving them time to make a decision, so it was unique situation.
- Yeah, yeah, it was.
- It was a judgment, different from today. All right, well, thank you for your call, Israel. You know, and Pastor Doug, I'm looking at the clock, we've got about a minute before we take our break, and probably wouldn't be fair to take another call, but friends, if you have a Bible question, we got another 30 minutes, that's going to be following our break here, taking your Bible questions, the number to call is 800-463-7297, and if you don't get through right away, just stay on the line, one of our call screeners will contact or talk to you again, the number is 800-463-7297, and it's a good time now to call, we'll get your call on the program.
- We're coming back with more Bible questions in just a moment, so don't go away.
- [Announcer] Stay tuned, Bible Answers Live will return shortly.
- [Narrator] The U.S. Government is drowning in debt, to the tune of $22 trillion, but before you wag your finger at the government spending, the Federal Reserve says the average American household carries over $137,000 in debt. While it was never God's plan that we live with the burden of debt, Proverbs 22:7 warns us the rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender. Living with debt is a stressful burden that actually hurts your relationship with God. In my new pocketbook, "Deliverance From Debt," I outline the Bible principles on how to properly manage your money with some practical suggestions on how you can get out and stay out of debt. If you or someone you love is drowning in debt, order a copy of "Deliverance From Debt" today, it can be a lifesaver to keep you from going under. Please call 800-538-7275 or visit afbookstore.com.
- [Announcer] Did you know that Noah was present at the birth of Abraham? Okay, maybe he wasn't in the room, but he was alive and probably telling stories about his floating zoo. From the creation of the world to the last-day events of Revelation, biblehistory.com is a free resource where you can explore major Bible events and characters. Enhance your knowledge of the Bible and draw closer to God's Word. Go deeper, visit the Amazing Bible Timeline at biblehistory.com.
- [Announcer] Amazing facts began in 1965 with a God-inspired concept.
- [Joe] Hello, this is Joe Cruz on the Amazing Facts broadcast, facts which affect you.
- [Announcer] Each radio broadcast would begin with an amazing fact from science, nature, or history followed by a Bible message that touched the hearts of listeners from every walk of life. The program was an instant success and the ministry soon began expanding to include Bible lessons. In 1986, Amazing Facts added the medium of television to its growing outreach efforts, offering soul-winning evangelistic messages for viewers around the world. In 1994, Pastor Doug Bachelor assumed leadership of the ministry, adding the Bible Answers Live call-in radio program and new ministry TV programs began airing on multiple networks around the world. For 50 years, the driving vision of Amazing Facts has been the bold proclamation of the everlasting gospel, and with a team of evangelists circling the globe and thousands of men and women being trained through the Amazing Facts Center of evangelism Program, AFCO, the ministry is helping God's church see a rich harvest of souls. Amazing Facts, God's message, our mission.
- [Announcer] You're listening to Bible Answers Live, where every question answered provides a clearer picture of God and His plan to save you, so, what are you waiting for? Get practical answers about the good book for a better life today. 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 rejoin our host for more Bible Answers Live.
- Welcome back, listening friends, to Bible Answers Live, and those who have joined us along the way, this is a live, international, interactive Bible study, and you're invited to call in with your Bible questions, and we're going to go back to the phones right away. My name is Doug Bachelor.
- My name is Jean Ross, and Pastor Doug, we like to just remind folks that you might be listening to this program on the radio, because we broadcast both on land based as well as satellite radio, but we also livestreaming on Amazing Facts' Facebook page, on the Doug Bachelor Facebook page, I believe it's also on the YouTube channel, Amazing Facts YouTube channel, as well as on Amazing Facts TV and Good News TV, so there's all kinds of ways that you can stay in contact with us and yeah, let us know that you're out there, and if you have a Bible question, we'd love to hear from you. Next caller that we have is Christine, listening in Florida. Christine, welcome to the program.
- [Christine] Hi, pastors, thank you for taking the call. It's just one question, how do we submit our will to God? How do we know that we are actually doing, submitting our will to God?
- Well, that is the big question, the biggest battle that Jesus fought was there in the garden of Gethsemane, where He said, you know, "Father, if there's any way for this cup to pass from Me, but not in My will, Thy will be done," and that battle was so intense, He prayed that prayer three times and He was perspiring blood, the Bible describes it as an agony. So the biggest battle that any of us wage, and it's on a day-to-day basis, is saying, "Not what I want Lord, but what You want." So, how do you know if you're doing that? Well, you, day by day ask yourself, "Am I doing my will or God's will?" God's will is revealed in God's law and in the teachings of Jesus, and I think we do have a book that talks about how can we know the will of God, and in there is a section on how do we do the will of God.
- Mm-hmm, absolutely, and we'll be happy to send that to anyone wanting to learn more about knowing and doing the will of God. It's called "How to Determine The Will of God," and the number to call for that is 800-835-6747, and we'll be happy to send you this free book anywhere in North America. Again, the number is 800-835-6747, "How to Determine the Will of God" is the name of the book, so just ask for it. Thanks for your call, Christine. We got Theresa listening in Washington DC. Theresa, welcome to the program.
- [Theresa] Hi, good evening, pastors.
- Evening!
- [Theresa] Great, I have a question regarding Revelation 16:1-2, where it says that the first vial is poured out upon the earth, and the men which had the mark of the beast, and them which worship his image, is that the close of probation and the people that receive this mark, the grievous sore, will they have a chance to repent at that time?
- No, when the seven last plagues begin to fall and they're in Revelation 16, you have the first plagues and you get first, second, third plagues in the first four verses there, once the plagues begin to fall, probation is closed, and Pastor Ross, that verse in Revelation 22, where it says, "He that is just, let him be just still, and he that is filthy, let him be filthy still." It kind of indicates that once you reach the close of probation, the saved are saved, the lost are lost, and the door of mercy closed.
- Yeah, you have Revelation 22:11, where you have Jesus saying, "He that is unjust, let him be unjust still, he that he is filthy, let him be filthy still, he that is righteous, let him be righteous still, he that is holy, let him be holy still," and in the very next verse, Jesus says, "Behold, I'm coming quickly, and My reward is with Me to give to every man according to his work." So, the close of probation precedes the second coming of Christ, and once probation closes, then you have what the Bible calls the wrath of God, which is the seven last plagues that are poured out, but God's people are protected during that time of plagues. Some people ask, "Well, why does God send the plagues if it's too late for people to change sides?" Well, the plagues help to reveal the heart of every person. If you read a little further in the plagues, instead of the wicked repenting, when they realize that these plagues are coming because of their sins, they harden their hearts and they curse God for sending the plagues, so it reveals to the whole universe that there's nothing more God can do to try and save these people, their hearts are fully set towards evil.
- Yeah, it says when you come to the fourth plague and men are scorched with great heat in verse nine, this is Revelation 16:9, and it says, "They were scorched with great heat and they blasphemed the name of God, who has power over the plagues, and they did not repent and give Him glory." They didn't humble themselves, they blasphemed God, they hardened their hearts like Pharaoh when the plagues fell, and yeah, probation's closed for them at this time.
- All right, well, thanks for your call, Theresa. We've got Bonita listening from North Carolina. Bonita, welcome to the program.
- [Bonita] Thank you very much, good evening-
- Evening.
- Pastor Doug, and evening, Pastor Jean. My question, I've been trying to determine what is the chronological order of when Lucifer got kicked out of heaven? Why was he kicked out specifically, and when was he cast to earth? Was it before or after the creation of the world?
- All right, well, I think you're going to find in, I think it's in Ezekiel 28 where it says, "You have sinned and therefore you were cast out," so he was cast out because of his rebellion and his sin, he wanted God's position. So, if you read in Ezekiel 28 and read in Isaiah 14, I think you'll find there it describes what Lucifer's goals were and what his sins were, why he was cast out.
- Yeah, and with reference to the sequence that you mentioned, you find in Revelation 12, it says there was war in heaven, and the devil lost, and he was cast out, he and his angels. Well, this appears to have happened before the creation of the earth, this rebellion or this war in heaven, once the earth was created, then, of course, Lucifer had already been cast out of heaven, he was able to tempt Adam and Eve, and then he claimed the earth as his, because the loyalty that Adam was to give to God, he now gave to the devil. So the devil claimed to be the representative of the earth, but we do find another verse in Revelation 12:12 it says, "Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you that dwell in them, woe to the inhabitants of the earth, for the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows he has a short time," and verse 11 says, "They overcame them by the blood of the Lamb." So at the cross, the devil is cast down again, so he's cast out of heaven before creation, but at the cross he's cast down in a sense, meaning that he is isolated to the earth, because now Jesus is the rightful representative of those who put their faith and trust in Him, so the devil is cast out before creation, he's cast down in a sense at the cross, and that's Revelation 12:10, that talks about salvation has come and the devil has been cast down.
- Yes, thank you, Bonita.
- Next call that we have is Carol listening in New Jersey. Carol, welcome to the program.
- [Carol] Hi, good evening, thank you so much for taking my call, Pastor Ross and Pastor Jean. So my quick question is, in Hebrews 11:6, "But without faith it's impossible to please him, for he that cometh to God must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him." So my question is, what is the difference between this faith and presumptuous faith? Because if you're moving according to believing, how can it reach to the point where it becomes presumptuous?
- Well, that is really a good question. There is a difference between having faith, moving forward in faith, and having a presumptuous faith, I'll give you just a quick example. Some pastors, when they feel impressed they're supposed to build a church, some will say, "Let's start building before we have the money," and other pastors will say, "That's presumption, you should be raising some of the money, and so that you're not starting a tower and you don't finish," and then there are other pastors who say, "You ought have all the money before you start building," and so it's interesting to see these different perspectives. I think sometimes, if you find yourself in dire straits, you can believe that God will save you, but you don't want to jump off a cliff or cast yourself from the temple and say, "I've got faith that angels are going to catch me," that's called presumption, so that's where you start tempting the Lord and saying that it's faith, so, I don't know, does that make sense, Carol?
- [Carol] So if you move, is it that, I'm understanding that if you put yourself in a position out of the reach of the expectation of what you might do in opposing to what God will do according to His will, I'm a little bit confused at that?"
- Well, you know, yeah, if you're spirit-led, let me just say this, when you're baptized in the Holy Spirit, sometimes the Holy Spirit's going to ask you to do really strange things, like He's going to ask you to march around a city and blow a trumpet and expect the walls to fall, or He is going to ask you to step off in the Jordan river when it's flooding and the river will stop. So, I think I want to be clear that if you look in the Bible, you're going to see that people of faith are led by the Holy Spirit to do things that may not make any sense at all, and God bless us. When Elijah prays and fire comes down, that took faith, and he prayed again, it didn't rain, then he prayed it did rain, so, but I think living day to day, we may not always feel the Holy Spirit urging or guiding. If you see something in the Word of God, step out in faith on what the Word says, regardless of what you might see or feel, and God will bless your faith when it's based on the Word.
- I've heard one person put it this way, they said, "Do what you know God wants you to do, and then leave the results with Him." So every day, try and do everything we can in our power to accomplish what we believe God is wanting us to do, and then leave the results with Him. For example, when Jesus fed the 5,000, He asked, "Well, how much food do you have?" Well, they had few loaves and fish, and Jesus took that and then He multiplied it and He fed more than 5,000 people. So we are to do what we can from a human perspective and trust God, have faith in God that He will bring about to pass what He has promised.
- That's right, good point.
- In other words, somebody says, "Oh, I want God to gimme a job." Well, if they're just going to be sitting at home, waiting for somebody to knock on their door and offer them a job, that's maybe presumption, but if they're out there doing the best they can and they're looking for a job, well, then they can trust that God will open and direct them to the right place.
- Yeah, it's not in the Bible, but it is true that God helps those that help themselves.
- Yeah, that's true, yeah, it's practical, yeah. Well, thanks for your call, Carol. Rachel is listening in Kansas. Rachel, welcome to the program.
- [Rachel] I am reading the Bible from front to back, and so I'm only in the Old Testament, and God speaks words to Moses and Joshua, and He says, "Fear not, do not be afraid-
- I'm with you, be courageous."
- And yes, and in today's time, people like to share scripture with you whenever you're having hardship or something. Is there a scripture in the Bible that allows us to take those words that God said to either Moses or Joshua or whoever, and actually use them in our time for us? Because they were spoken to someone for a certain situation in the Bible.
- Good question. Where is it, Pastor Ross, where Peter says, "For given unto us are exceeding great and precious promises that by these we might become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust"?
- 2 Peter 1:4.
- See, friends, I'm dyslexic, I remember the verse, I don't remember the verse, but I remember the words. So he says there are promises given to us in scripture "That by these we might become partakers of the divine nature." So when I read God and Moses saying to Joshua, "Be courageous, be courageous, be very courageous," and that's in, I think, chapter one of Joshua, I think I can apply that to me, and that God is saying that if I'm willing to do His will, I can be courageous and know that He's with me. So, God hasn't changed, and so the same promises and assurances that God gives His prophets through history, they apply to me. He also gave them conditions, so if we're following the conditions that He gives them, we can claim the same promises that He gives them.
- And of course, not only do we have the examples in the Old Testament where God says, "Do not be afraid, do not fear," but we find that repeated by Jesus in the New Testament, where He says, "Don't be afraid, don't worry about what you're going to eat and what you're going to wear, God will take care of you. If you seek first the kingdom, all these things shall be added." So those principles that we see in the Old Testament, they re repeated in the New Testament.
- That's right, yeah.
- Without a doubt.
- Very good.
- All right. Next caller that we have is Rob listening from Michigan. Rob, welcome to the program.
- [Rob] Hi, thank you. Yes, I need you to elaborate on Daniel's vision where he saw this image that symbolized several kingdoms, starting with Persia, Medo-Persia, and it had brass, it had tin, it had iron, and it gold, and it symbolizes the different civilizations up to modern day. So, can you speak to that a little bit more?
- Sure, and before I even get into it, I won't be able to cover it all in just a few minutes, but we'll give you a free lesson, and it's called "The Millennial Man," it's one of our historical lessons, it's the first one, it's called "The Millennial Man," it covers the prophecy of Daniel 2, where Nebuchadnezzar, here's my quick answer, has a dream of this large idol, and this huge image is made with a head of gold, the chest and arms are of silver, the belly is of bronze, and the thighs, the legs are of iron, the feet are iron and clay, and then he sees a stone cut without hands come from the heavens, strike the image on the feet, and it basically pulverizes it, and it all blows away. That idol, idolatry was forbidden by the Jewish people in the Ten Commandments, it's forbidden for everybody, represents the religions of the world, and the head of gold, Daniel tells Nebuchadnezzar that's the kingdom of Babylon, the arms of silver were the kingdoms of Medo-Persia, the bronze was the kingdom of Greece, the iron was the kingdom of Rome, the feet of iron and clay were the division of the Roman empire that went with a combination of religion and government, and that's where you've got the papacy, really, ruling the European civilization for over a thousand years, and it says in the days of these kings, that God is going to establish His kingdom, we're living in the toenails, the very toes of that image today. So take a look at that lesson, anyone could ask for that lesson on "The Millennial Man," and it covers that prophecy.
- The number to call is 800-835-6747, and again, you can ask for the study guide, actually, one of the lessons called "Millennial Man," it's part of the historical set of lessons, and we'll be happy to send that to you, thanks for your call. Next caller that we have is AJ, listening from Nebraska. AJ, welcome to the program.
- [AJ] Thanks for having me. My question is why was Michal punished for watching David dance when he brought the ark into Jerusalem?
- All right, now, Michal, I know it sounds like a man's name, but Michal was the wife of King David, she was the daughter of King Saul. David actually had several wives, she wasn't punished for watching him dance, she was punished for mocking him, and it doesn't say David punished her, it basically says that she never had children, she was never blessed with children, and I think another reason that Michal never had children is because there were some people that wanted to see the Benjaminites, the descendants of Saul, back on the throne, and if God had given children to David through Michal, a lot of people would say, "Well, naturally, it should be the children of David and Saul, as opposed to the children of David and Bathsheba," and it ended up being Solomon, the daughter, or rather the son of Bathsheba. So there were a couple of reasons, she shouldn't have been mocking her husband for worshiping the Lord, and she did not like that he humbled himself, took off his robes, and he was wearing the simple linen ephod like a priest. Good question, thanks so much, AJ.
- We've got Patrick listening also from Nebraska. Patrick, welcome to the program.
- [Patrick] Yes, good evening, Pastor Doug and Pastor Ross. My question is concerning the identity of Melchizedek, he was both a king and a priest. I thought about this question when someone asked the question concerning Noah and the Tower of Babel. The identity of Melchizedek, Pastor Bachelor, if you could elaborate on that some, I'd appreciate it, thank you.
- Yeah, well, we know that Melchizedek is a type of Christ because here Abraham, coming back from the battle with the kings of the north, Melchizedek, who is the king and priest of Salem, later known as Jerusalem, same place, Abraham pays tithes to him, so he's someone who seems to be a worshiper of the true God, it says he's a priest of the Most High God, and you think, "What's he doing in Canaan?" Somebody that worships the true God, some have speculated, and you can't really prove it, but it is a workable theory, that one of the sons of Noah who was still alive, Shem, lived over 600 years, his life overlapped with the life of Abraham over 100 years, I think 170 years, and so some have said, well, after Abraham moved, because of the idolatry that was in Ur, that Shem may have also heard that God had led Abraham to this promised land, and he had come with his clan and settled there, we don't know that, and it's just one theory, and he appears mysteriously out of nowhere, the Bible doesn't say who his people are, where he came from, where he went to, so he's sort of a type of Christ in that he's without beginning or end, biblically, he just appears and disappears.
- Now, if you read from the Book of Hebrews, Paul does spend quite a bit of time talking about Melchizedek as a type of Christ, he was both a priest and a king, and apparently Abraham recognized this because Abraham, the great patriarch, he gave a tithe to Melchizedek, and that's a little different. The Levites came through the seed of Abraham, but here is Melchizedek of a different type of priesthood, and Paul says that's the type of priesthood of Jesus. All right, great question, thank you. Carol is listening in California. Carol, welcome to the program.
- [Carol] Hi, thank you for taking my call.
- Yes.
- [Carol] In Revelation some things are literal and some things are symbolic, and in regards to the 144,000 people that will be alive when Jesus comes, how is that interpreted?
- Well, the 144,000, you find them mentioned in Revelation 7, and then double that, you find them mentioned in Revelation 14. The 144,000, they are not the only one saved, I do believe the number is literal, but I think this is a number that is basically describing the last-day apostles around the world. Jesus had 12 apostles that prepared the people of Israel for His first coming and introduced Him at Pentecost, and then before His second coming, he'll have 12 times 12,000, both literal and spiritual Jews, and so I think that calling them children of Israel, that's symbolic, because those that are Christ's are Abraham seed, God is not going to be raising up 12,000 from the tribe of Gad or Manasseh, they don't exist anymore, they intermarried before Jesus was born, and disappeared. So it's basically saying that God's going to have these last-day people filled with the Spirit, doing a work similar to the work of the apostles, preparing a great multitude for Jesus' coming. Now, we have a book on this, we'll be happy to send you a free copy, Carol.
- Yes, the book is called, "Who Will Sing The Song? Understanding the 144,000," a book written by Pastor Doug, and we'll be happy to send this to you, Carol, anyone who calls and asks. The number is 800-835-6747, just ask for the book on the 144,000, it's called, "Who Will Sing the Song?" And we'll get that in the mail and send it to you. Next caller that we have, let's see, we've got Elisa listening from Michigan. Lisa, welcome to the program.
- [Lisa] Hi, thank you for taking my call. My question, well, I know that it's best with prophecy unfolding like it is, to be out of the cities and into the country, and my family, I have two severe autistic boys, and we do plan on moving to the country, but my question is, in the time of where we can't buy or sell, and the blue laws are there, how are we going to live? Because we may have a mortgage and probably land taxes if we don't have a mortgage, so I was just wondering how that would work, because we'll have that home in the country, but still we won't be able to buy or sell.
- Yeah.
- [Lisa] So that is what I'm wondering about.
- Good question. I think the last thing to happen would be that banks will not take your money. When you can't buy something, that's different, but if you're trying to pay, pay someone back for a property or a mortgage, they'll probably accept payment, but it's going to be hard for people to buy. Now, when it says they can't buy or sell, not only will that be happening on a personal level, that's already happening, it's in the news today on an international level, they call it economic sanctions, when one nation tells another nation, "We are not going to allow you to buy." It's been in the news a lot lately with Russia and some of those sanctions. So I think that's the bigger part of what's happening in Revelation, is that the United States and other nations are going to punish parts of the world that don't go along with the religious laws, but it's also going to happen on an individual basis, and it'll be very easy to control. I mean, even now we've seen that with COVID, there's been a lot of government involvement in personal things, travel, and purchases, can't go to certain stores. So it's very easy to see, with electronic money, how quickly this could happen. Hope that helps, Elisa. Pastor Ross, if someone wants to send us, not everyone can call in or not everyone wants to get on the radio and call in with their question, if they wanna email us questions for the Rapid Fire, what's the address for that?
- The address is just simply balquestions@amazingfacts.org. Again, that's B-A-L, Bible Answers Live, questions@amazingfacts.org. If you're watching this on social media, you can actually type your question there in the comment section, and we'll try to gather those questions together, put them down, and try and answer as many of them as we can during our special two-minute segment that's going to be coming up in like 10 seconds from now, Pastor Doug.
- That's right, and also don't forget, check out everything else that's available through the ministry at amazingfacts.org. We'll be back in just a few moments for our other audience.
- [Announcer] Thank you for listening to today's broadcast. We hope you understand your Bible even better than before. Bible Answers Live is produced by Amazing Facts International, a faith-based ministry located in Granite Bay, California.
- Hello friends, welcome back. We have about two minutes, Pastor Doug, to answer some of the questions that have been sent into the program, we've got some great questions this evening, I'm curious about the answer. So let's get started, the first question that we have is, "Is there a biblical example of when you have to love your enemy?"
- Yeah, I think there's probably several examples, you've got the example in the Bible where King David had an opportunity to get vengeance on King Saul, Saul was actually hunting David to kill him, and on two occasions David, just providentially, basically had an opportunity to pin Saul to the ground or to kill him, and he said, "I won't do it," and he let him go free, and he even told Saul, he said, "Look, I can kill you right now, but I'm going to let you go free," and he loved his enemy. Elisha forgave a whole army that was trying to capture him and said, "Feed them and send them home."
- All right, very good. Another question that we have, "What does it mean to love the Lord with all of your heart and all of your soul?"
- Well, Jesus said, "If you love me, keep my commandments," and when we love the Lord with all of our heart and all our soul, makes me think of that statement you find in Deuteronomy 5, I think it's verse 29, where you said, "Oh, that all of My people would love Me and keep all of My commandments always, that it might be well with them and their children," and so we show that we love the Lord with all of our heart by doing all that we know He wants us to do.
- Okay, another question that we have. "Can our dead family members hear us speak to them? Do they know what's happening with us here on earth?"
- Bible tells us in the Book of Isaiah that we are not to consult wizards that mutter and peep in the dark, and that's in Isaiah 8, "Should the living go to the dead for knowledge?" The Bible tells us that in the last days, the wicked will be, there are devils working miracles. You read in Revelation 16, Satan can be transformed into an angel of light, he can impersonate the spirits of the dead as happened with the witch of Endor. "The living know they will die, the dead don't know anything, they do not return to their house," Job 14 tells us, and haunt the house.
- Okay, another question that we have is, "How long does it take to be right with God after repenting of sin?"
- Now that's good news, the Bible says that as soon as we repent, He immediately forgives. You see this where the thief on the cross said, "Lord, remember me," right away Jesus promised, "You will be with Me in paradise." When Zaccheus came to Christ, Jesus declared, "This is a son of Abraham." When Isaiah said, "I am a sinful man," God cleansed him and said, "Your sin is purged," so as soon as we repent, He forgives, that's the good news.
- That is, absolutely. Again, thank you, friends, for your Bible questions, if we didn't get to your question this evening, make sure you join us next week as we try to answer more Bible questions.
- [Announcer] Bible Answers Live, honest and accurate answers to your Bible questions.