- [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 Batchelor.
- Hello, friends! Would you like to hear an amazing fact? In 2019, contractors in North Yorkshire, England were renovating someone's kitchen. After prying up the old wooden floorboards and breaking through six inches of concrete, they unearthed a glazed cup similar in size to a soda can. In and around the cup, they found 260 gold coins, dating between 1610 and 1727. The coins were likely hidden there by Joseph and Sarah Fernley-Maisters, a wealthy merchant couple that once lived in the house and evidently didn't have much faith in the local banks of their day. The estimated value of the treasure is more than $290,000, which would help pay for the remodeled kitchen. I don't know what you think, Pastor Ross. Maybe they'll have some left over to bury under the floor.
- That's right, maybe for the next person who buys the house. But you think of all of the hard work that they put into trying to gather this treasure, and then they bury it, and evidently, they didn't pass it on to their children, or they died tragically, they forgot about it. And here many years later, somebody uncovers it while they're remodeling the kitchen. It almost seems a waste. They could have used it for the benefit of others at their time. Wouldn't that have been better than just burying it?
- Yeah, it's sad when people, they hoard money. I mean, they could at least pass it onto their heirs or something, give it to a foundation, but this got buried and discovered centuries later by strangers. I think there's actually a proverb that talks about that. Jesus tells us in Luke chapter 12 verse 16, "He spoke this parable to them, saying, "The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully, "and he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, "since I have no room to store all my crops?" He thought a little bit, and then he said, "This is what I'll do. "I'll pull down my barns and I'll build greater, "and there I'll store all my crops and my goods. "I'll say to my soul, Soul, you have many goods "laid up for many years; take your ease. "Eat, drink, and be merry. "But God said to him, Fool, this night your soul "will be required of you; then whose will those things be "for which you have provided? "So is he who lays up treasure for himself "and is not rich towards God."
- Yeah, it's an amazing parable. Here you have this person who's been blessed, and they think, "Well, I'm going to hoard all of these blessings to myself," but in reality, it would have been better if he used it to build up the kingdom of heaven. I'm reminded of the other verse, Pastor Doug, that says, "Lay up for yourselves not treasure on earth, "but rather in heaven, and where your treasure is, "that's where your heart will be also." So the principle that we find in the Bible is that there is an investment that believers can be involved in that actually earns dividends throughout eternity. We can lay up treasure in heaven.
- And you know, it is true, and I don't want to sound like a prosperity preacher, but there is some truth to the scripture, the principle that with what measure you mete, it'll be measured to you. Jesus tells us that if we're generous, that men will heap into your bosom. People will be generous with you. God says if you prove Him, test Him when it comes to tithe and offering, He says "See if I don't open for you the windows of heaven." So even in this life, it's more blessed to give than receive, because it seems like blessings ricochet. They come back.
- Absolutely. You know, a lot of people are wondering, what are the biblical principles for money? As you mentioned, Pastor Doug, there's some confusion, even in the Christian world, as to how we ought to use our resources. Amazing Facts has a study guide. It's called In God We Trust, and it deals with the subject of money. You'll be surprised, Jesus said quite a bit about finances and how we ought to use money. We'll be happy to send this to anyone who calls and asks. The number is 800-835-6747. That is our resource phone line. You can ask for offer number 135, or you can ask for the study guide by name. It's called In God We Trust. We'll send that to anyone in North America. If you're listening outside of North America, we encourage you to go to our Amazing Facts website, just amazingfacts.org, and you'll be able to read the study guide right there online. Of course, maybe that's a good time, Pastor Doug, for us to welcome those who are listening across the country and around the world. For those of you who might not know, this is a radio program. We're broadcasting on a number of land-based stations, also on satellite radio. But we're also a TV program now, and we are broadcasting live at Amazing Facts TV. We're also streaming this live on the internet, the Doug Batchelor Facebook page, the Amazing Facts Facebook page, so we want to welcome all of those who are tuned in and part of our program. If you have a Bible-related question, the phone line to call is 800-463-7297. That's 800-463-7297. And if you're watching this on the internet or you're watching it on one of the networks, I think we're re-broadcasting, Pastor Doug, on some other networks, 3BM and Hope TV, so we want to greet those.
- I saw the re-broadcast from last week this week on AFTV, so they're keeping up with it.
- It's also going out.
- And out here, it's going out on Hope Channel as well, so we're excited.
- Yeah, absolutely. All right, if you have a question again, 800-463-7297. Before we go to the phone lines, let's start with a word of prayer. Dear Father, once again, we are grateful for this opportunity to be able to open Your Word and study. Lord, there is power in Your Word. So we're going to ask Your blessing upon the program this evening. Be with us here in the studio, and we ask a special blessing also on those who are listening, wherever they might be. We ask this in Jesus's name, amen.
- Amen.
- All right, I think we're ready for our first caller this evening! We've got Patrick, and he's calling from Canada. Patrick, you're on the air.
- [Patrick] Good evening, pastors.
- Evening!
- [Patrick] Thank you, I have a question in regards to Ezekiel chapter four verse nine. I'd like to find out if that has any relation to the Ezekiel bread that is sold today, and verse 12, if that has any relationship to do with verse nine.
- Yeah, well, some people have taken the verses here in Ezekiel four, and lemme read it for our friends that are listening. We just want to remember that 90% of the people listening to the program, they can't maybe look it up right at the moment. But it says here in Ezekiel verse nine, this is a prophecy that came to the prophet Ezekiel from the Lord. "Also take for yourself wheat, barley, "beans, lentils, millet, and spelt. "Put them in one vessel and make bread of them for yourself. "During the number of days that you lie on your side, "390 days, you shall eat it, and it shall be your food. "You shall eat by weight 20 shekels a day "from the time that you shall eat it. "You shall also drink water by measure, 1/6 of a hin, "from the time you shall drink. "And you'll eat it as barley cakes "and bake it using the fuel of human waste in their sight." Now, that certainly would not be a good recipe for health-conscious people to follow. I think God is telling Ezekiel, by living out this parable, he was describing the period of time that the people in Israel and Judea that remained behind were going to be experiencing some famine. And they were taking everything they could find and putting it in their bread. Now, people have made, I've eaten Ezekiel bread before. They made some good-tasting bread by combining these different elements. When Ezekiel protests, he says, "Lord, "I can't bake this over human waste, that's unclean! "I'm a priest! "I've never done anything unclean!" God says, "Well, I'm going to let you use cow dung instead." And for ages, people have actually cooked on buffalo chips and animal dung. You've probably seen it in Africa. So that was not that uncommon. But this is a parable that Ezekiel was living out talking about the hardship that God's people were going to go through. It's not necessarily a recipe for health bread.
- That's right, and the context that you mentioned there, Pastor Doug, they were making bread out of whatever they could find. Typically in the Bible, the best kind of bread was bread made from wheat, but here in this situation, wheat was hard to come by, and so they were using some wheat, but they were mixing whatever they could find.
- Barley was usually for the animals. That's a prophecy in Revelation that says, what is it, a measure of barley for a penny? It's talking about a time of famine.
- That's right, yeah, shortness. Well, thank you for your call, Patrick! We hope that helped, and there is, as mentioned, there is a bread that's called Ezekiel bread, and I don't know if they use every single one of these items listed here, but it is pretty good. Thomas listening in Minnesota. Thomas, welcome to the program, you're on the air.
- [Thomas] Yeah, I'm having trouble explaining myself. Let me explain. Basically speaking, I ran across something, let's see. We have something in my Roku network called Special Projects: Prophecy Alert. Let me explain. They explain some activity on Pope Francis, one of which was of course trying to unify all the Christians together and have a one-world religion. Secondly, we had him go to the Temple Mount and try to negotiate peace with the Palestinians. Now, according to this thing, now, the reference I'm making here, the Prophecy Alert is called Special Projects: Prophecy Alert Three of Eight. So, at least the article said that was very significant, and in fact, the events that were occurring were actually, they cited II Thessalonians chapter four, one to four. So any significance to that?
- Oh, okay, thank you. Let's go to the verse that you mentioned, II Thessalonians chapter two, verses one through four, yeah, yeah. "Now brethren, concerning the coming "of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to him, "we ask you not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, "either by spirit or by word or by letter from us, "as though the day of the Lord had come." Paul is telling the Thessalonians, he says, there was a lot of excitement that the day of the Lord had already come, and he said, "Let no one deceive you "by any means, for that day will not come "unless there is a falling away that comes first, "and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, "who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God "or worshiped so that he sits as God "in the temple of God showing himself that he is God." So let's talk about that verse. It's hard for me to comment on what you may have seen at a website somewhere, but most Protestants, I mean, like Luther and Spurgeon and Wesley and many others, Calvin and John Knox, they identified this verse, the man of sin they believed was the pope. They believed it was a religious leader that was putting himself in a place to be worshiped, putting himself over the temple of God. Now, keep in mind, one of the terms for the church as the body of Christ, Jesus said we are living stones. Christ said, "Destroy this temple made with hands. "In three days, I will make one without hands." He's talking about His body, which is the Church. So Paul says, "What, don't you know that ye are the temple "of God," meaning collectively, we are the temple. So they understood that for the pope to say, "I am in charge of the Church," where Jesus really never assigned any one pastor or apostle to be over everything; you see it bouncing between Paul and Peter and James in the New Testament; they said that was Antichrist behavior. And it's interesting to know that the first person who called the office of pope "Antichrist" was a pope.
- That's right.
- It's Pope Gregory.
- There was quite a fight that went on between, well, two individuals claimed to be pope, and they went back and forth, accusing one another of being the Antichrist.
- That's right. That was during the time of Marco Polo.
- Yes, absolutely.
- He was trying to get missionaries, and they were fighting among themselves, calling each other antichrists.
- That's right, and then it occurred later on during the time of the Reformation, where the Reformers even pointed that out. So it's happened more than once, where there was different individuals vying for power.
- So what's happening now, and based on the question that Josiah, or Thomas, rather, is asking, is that, since the Protestant churches all came out of the Catholic church, in succeeding generations, that animosity has dissipated, and the Pope is calling Protestants to reunite again, and we are seeing a big movement towards that. Pope Francis has reached out to the Russian Orthodox and the Greek Orthodox and the Coptic Church leaders, and Charismatics in North America have gone to meet with the Pope. He's saying, "Look, the most important thing is, "let's just be one," and that sounds beautiful, but it doesn't mean you sacrifice doctrinal truth for the sake of unity. And so, that's the thing we need to be careful about.
- All right, thanks for your call, Thomas. We've got Josiah listening as well. Josiah listening from New York, welcome to the program.
- [Josiah] Good evening. Just to add to what you just said with the previous caller, so aren't you guys all Protestant? Don't you all go back to the Catholic Church, like you say?
- Yeah, well, most Protestants, most Protestant denominations, were kind of drawn out of the Catholic Church, and they retained maybe even some of the theology in their doctrines.
- Some of the traditions of the church, too.
- Now, there have been people since then, since the Protestant Reformation, that came from total paganism; I'm one of them. I didn't really come from a Christian church. I read the Bible, and just said, I'm going to go by the Bible. So there's a lot of people that have just kind of come into the truth or come to the Lord directly from the Word. But several denominations either broke away from the Catholic church, or they broke away from break-always, which is why you've got so many divisions of Methodists and Presbyterians and Baptists and Christians in the world today. But am I answering your question, Jerry?
- [Josiah] Oh, that's not the question. I just wanted to add to what he was asking. But I'm dealing with the same chapter though in II Thessalonians. You read one through four. Can you continue reading to eight, please?
- All right, let me start with verse five. "Do you not remember that when I was still with you, "I told you these things? "And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time. "For the mystery of lawlessness," called in the King James "the mystery of iniquity," "is already at work. "Only he who now restrains "will do so until he is taken out of the way. "Then that lawless one will be revealed "whom the Lord will consume with the breath of his mouth "and destroy with the brightness of his coming." So that's the verse I think you're talking about, right?
- [Josiah] Yeah, it's what I'm talking about. It's verse eight and verse three. Verse three says, "Let no man deceive you by any means, "for that day shall not come "except there come a falling away first and that man of sin "be revealed, the son of perdition," but when you go to verse eight, then it says, "And then shall the wicked be revealed, "whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth." So who is that wicked? Where can you go in the Bible, because I've done some research. Who does the Bible say is "the wicked"?
- Well, first of all, the ultimate wicked one is the devil. I mean, you don't find anybody that is supervising the devil in wickedness. So he would be the supreme power behind the other powers. But the devil has been manipulating what is called "the beast power" through history. It receives a deadly wound, and the deadly wound is healed, and like I said, the Protestants understand that that was the papacy that became a persecuting power during the time of the Inquisition, and it's kind of coming back in on the stage now. They've got a seat in the United Nations. No other church does.
- That's right. And different named are used. Here in the New King James that I have, it refers to "the lawless one," and then it goes on and it talks about "the son of perdition." It's talking about this one who is doing "with all unrighteous deception amongst those who perish." So it's the same power that's being referred to, and we're not talking specifically about one individual. We're talking about a position and an office.
- An office.
- because the papal position has lasted for almost 2,000 years. So it's talking about that system or that power, and it's got different names. Lawless is interesting, that he's setting aside the law of God for manmade law or human tradition.
- Exactly.
- So it's one of the identifying marks.
- You know, for the last two people who've called in, we have a study guide that's called Who Is the Antichrist, and we encourage them to request that. We'll send it to them or anyone listening for free.
- The free offer numbers is 800-835-6747, and you can ask for that study guide. It's simply called Who Is the Antichrist. It'll get into all of the various Bible verses, both here in II Thessalonians, but also some of the prophecies in Revelation and Daniel. The number again is 800-835-6747. You can ask for the study guide Who Is the Antichrist. Next caller that we have is Liola listening from Massachusetts. Liola, welcome to the program!
- [Liola] Good evening, how are you?
- Fine, thanks for calling, and your question?
- [Liola] My question is more for my son. What does the Bible say about attending prom or school dances? Is it allowed?
- Yeah, well, that would of course depend upon the nature of that particular school and what they're doing. There are some Christian schools that will have graduation galas that are probably innocent enough, and a lot of young people revel in the idea of dressing up a little bit and getting together with classmates, and I think the social interaction's important for kids during that time in their life. Then you could have some schools that are pretty pagan where those things turn into a pretty serious rock concert where things get out of hand, and the folks are spiking the punch, and the dancing is pretty sexually suggestive. So it would really depend, Liola. You would have to evaluate the school on what their standards are and how well things are chaperoned. The typical worldly dancing is not something I picture Jesus doing. But I've actually seen some Christian socials where they had these galas where the kids got together, and they dressed up, and it was all well-supervised, and they had a special meal, and it was a memorable occasion for the kids. They all took pictures, and they look at them for years and see how funny they dressed back then.
- That's right. All right, well, thanks for your call. We've got Jerry listening in Texas. Jerry, welcome to the program!
- [Jerry] Hey, pastors, hi. I had just one additional note, I've been to Doug's church in Shiprock.
- Oh, good!
- [Jerry] Anyway, my question, it was good. We remember them. My question, I want to refer to Revelation 8:17, where it says there is silence in heaven for one-half hour.
- Now, there is no verse 17 in Revelation eight.
- [Jerry] 8:17, I thought. I thought it was 8:17.
- Eight, verse one, "silence in heaven about the space of," yep.
- [Jerry] Oh, eight verse one, okay.
- All right, so that's what you want to know about?
- [Jerry] The Holy Spirit and our guardian angels don't leave us until they appear in the Second Coming and they join Jesus, because the guardian angels are still with us during the time of probation.
- Right, well, it is true that God has angels on the earth watching over His people; there's no doubt about that. If they left us for a minute, we'd be in a lot of trouble. But Revelation's talking about things going quiet in heaven, and we believe that's because heaven has been vacated. Michael has stood up, judgment is over, probation is closed, and Christ and his angels come to the earth. The Bible says when Jesus comes, all the holy angels are with Him, and that would include our guardian angels. But that's here on earth. Heaven is now quiet because it's been vacated as they come to resurrect and to retrieve the redeemed.
- And anyone who might remain in heaven, God the Father, or any of the other angelic beings, their focus is going to be what's happening here on the earth, because Christ is coming. All the angels are coming with Him. So when we read about this half an hour, it's interesting, Pastor Doug, what is the half an hour? I know we're talking about prophetic time here.
- Yeah, well, you know, in Bible prophecy, most scholars agree that you apply a principle where a day equals a year. For instance, when God told the children of Israel, for every day that the spies looked at the Promised Land, they will wander a year for each day, and it turned from 40 days to 40 years. It also says that in Ezekiel 4:6. Jesus said, "Tell Herod that I will teach and do cures "and cast out devils today, tomorrow, "and the third day, I will be perfected." Jesus did not minister for three more days; He ministered for three more years. So even Jesus used that principle in a prophecy. So if a day equals a year in prophecy, and an hour is 1/24 of a day, then one hour, using a day for a year, is 15 days, and half an hour would be half of 15, which is seven, because it says about the space of half an hour. So of course, that's a great Bible number you find all through Revelation. There's more sevens than any other number. This is the period of time that passes when there's silence when Christ comes. We don't know how much time He spends coming and how much time He spends going back, but at least they're gone during that procession.
- Okay, you know, we do have a study guide that talks about the Second Coming of Christ, and it's called Ultimate Deliverance. We'll by happy to send this to anyone who calls and asks. The number to call is 800-835-6747. Just ask for the study guide. It's all about the Second Coming. It's called Ultimate Deliverance, and we'll be happy to send that to anyone here in North America. We have Masine listening in California. Masine, welcome to the program.
- [Masine] Hello!
- Hi, thanks for calling.
- [Masine] Hi, I'm a new Christian. My question is, how do I devote myself every morning, put on the whole armor of God, and ask for the Holy Spirit to be with me throughout my day? How do I do that?
- Great question, one of the most important. It's one thing when we come to the Lord, and anybody can do that by turning to God and asking Him to come into their lives, repenting of their sins and saying, "Lord, I'm willing to follow You. "I'll take up my cross and I'll follow You." But what does it mean when it says to die daily, to deny yourself? Basically in your devotions, there's three things you do to stay healthy as a Christian. You breathe, you eat, and you exercise, and then of course, you do those things consistently. In the holy place of the temple, there were three articles of furniture. You've got the Holy of holies. There's one thing in there; that's the Ark of the Covenant. The holy place had the light, it had the table of bread, it had the altar of incense. The incense represents prayer. The Bible says that in Revelation, the incense is the prayers of the saints. The bread represented the Word of God. "Man doesn't live by bread alone," Jesus said, "but by every word." Then the light represents witnessing. Jesus said, "Let your light so shine "that men may see your good works and glorify God." We want to let our light shine. And so, every day, we should spend time, I do every morning, I read my Bible, I get on my knees, I pray. Of course you pray all through the day, but formally, talk to the Lord, commit your way to the Lord, and then look for opportunities to be His witness. Through the ups and downs of live every day, you have opportunities to witness for the Lord. If you ask Him, the Holy Spirit will give you those opportunities. You'll be tempted. You'll have lots of opportunity to deny yourself. The Holy Spirit'll say, "Don't say that," or "You should say this," or "Don't look at that," or "You should look at this." All through the day, you've got, "Don't eat that," or "Don't eat it yet." So you've always got the Holy Spirit guiding you. And as you listen to that and you're controlled by the Spirit and not by the flesh, you become more like Christ, and that's what it means to walk with God. So that's a quick overview, Masine. I hope that helps a little bit. You know, we have a study guide I think you'd enjoy. It's the first in the series of the Amazing Facts Bible study guides, Is There Anything Left You Can Trust? I think you'd appreciate that.
- I also thought of another offer that Masine might enjoy. It's called The Armor of God. It's a little book talking about the armor of God. How do we put on the armor of God? So two free offers for anyone who calls and asks. You can ask for the book called The Armor of God, and then also ask for Anything Left You Can Trust. It's number one in our Bible study series. We'll be happy to send that to anyone who calls and asks. The number again is 800-835-6747.
- Now, friends, you hear the music. We're not done; we're just taking a break. Going to get a drink of water, and you can then text your friends, tell 'em to tune in for the second half of Bible Answers Live. We'll be back.
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- [Announcer] Do you feel as though your world is spiraling out of control? Are economic uncertainty and an unknown future leaving you with unsettled feelings about the future? Or perhaps new life challenges are frightening you more than they should. Are you sinking while you're thinking? Excessive worry can consume you, eating you from the inside out, resulting in sickness, insomnia, and paralyzing fear. It can also damage relationships, ruin opportunities, and yes, diminish your witness for the Gospel. But problems are an everyday part of life. So how can we better manage the worry that comes with them?
- Worry affects everybody differently, but it's all driven by fear. So how can you overcome a world full of reasons to be anxious? I'd like to recommend for you my new book, Finding Peace in a World of Worry. It's packed with inspiring information and useful solutions to not only liberate you from stress, but also to prevent stress from building up in the first place. Best of all, these principles all come directly from the Word of God. You'll discover a lifeline to victory, a place where you can cast your cares upon Christ and experience a serenity that isn't subject to your circumstances.
- [Announcer] Get your copy of Pastor Doug's Finding Peace in a World of Worry today. Call 800-538-7275, or visit afbookstore.com.
- [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 seven p.m. and eight p.m. 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 hosts for more Bible Answers Live.
- Welcome back, listening friends, to Bible Answers Live. Some have been with us along the way, and others are joining us. This is a live international Bible study program. You can join us by calling in with your Bible questions, and the numbers is 800-463-7297. That's 800-GOD-SAYS. We're streaming on Facebook, it's on the Amazing Facts Facebook page, it's on the Doug Batchelor Facebook page, I think it's on YouTube, and a number of outlets. We'd love to hear your Bible questions. My name is Doug Batchelor.
- My name is Jean Ross, and we're got Rita listening from Indiana. Rita, welcome to the program.
- [Rita] Thank you, thank you for taking my call. What I want to know is, it seems like, I think it's in John eight, there's a couple of times where Jesus was going to be stoned, and He managed to slip away from the crowd. Then when He walked on water to see the disciples, they didn't recognize Him at first. They didn't recognize Him until He told Peter to come out and come to Him. And then when He was at Gethsemane, Judas had arranged a signal with the people that were coming to arrest Jesus so they would know who Jesus was. Now, I don't understand why no one could figure out who He was or where He was. If there was a crowd of people that were going to stone Him, wouldn't you think several of them would see Him and say, "There He is, let's get Him," or wouldn't you think the disciples would know Him on the water? Wouldn't the people that were going to arrest Him, I mean, everybody knew who Jesus was by then. But they had to have a signal from Judas. So I'm wondering, do we all see Jesus in a different way? Are you seeing a blonde, blue-eyed Jesus, and I'm seeing a brown-haired, brown-eyed Jesus, and we don't all recognize Him, and that's why He can slip away?
- All right, lemme jump in there. That's an interesting assortment of stories you have there. Now, when they were going to stone Jesus and he passed through their midst, there's times in the Bible where Elisha blinded an army so they could not see him. So I think that God's angels blinded the ones who were going to stone Him. So that's what happened, I believe, in that case, is that God just protected Him. When the disciples did not recognize Him on the water, when He's walking on the water, that's at night during a storm, and maybe in the flash of lightning, they see this figure walking towards them. They didn't know who it was at first. Then He calls out through the rain and the waves and says, "It's Me," and Peter says, "Lord, if it's you, let me come to You." That was just the obscurity of the rain and the storm and the darkness, I think. When He rose, or when Judas went to arrest Him, you're talking about deep into the night. They're in this garden. They're coming with torches. It is true, they had no photographs back then, and so, when they said Jesus, wanted dead or alive, they didn't have His picture on telephone poles, on a poster anywhere. He looked like a normal person, and that's why they said, "Judas, you do recognize Him. "You know what He looks like. "You go up and kiss Him on the cheek "so we'll know which one to arrest," because Christ often traveled with His apostles, and sometimes additional disciples. It says there was the apostles and the women that followed Him, so Judas clearly knew who He was. So I think that Jesus did have a real form, and everybody knew what He looked like, the ones who knew Him, but not having photographs, so much of what they knew about Jesus was through the stories others were hearing. Even Herod heard about Him, and he said, "I want to see Him." So they didn't know what He looked like.
- Perhaps another reason why they had Judas lead them to Jesus is Judas knew where Jesus liked to go. Of course, it was night. Judas knew that Jesus would go to the Garden of Gethsemane up on the Mount of Olives, and so he directed them to where Jesus was.
- Yeah, and he said, "It's the one that I kiss," because it's dark.
- There were other disciples around.
- Yeah, and they had beards.
- That too.
- They all start looking alike after a while.
- All right, well, thanks for your call, Rita. We've never heard that question before. Isabel, listening from Arkansas. Isabel, welcome to the program!
- [Isabel] My name is Isabel, and my question is, how do you know when Jesus is speaking to you?
- Good question, Isabel! Thank you for calling. Well, Jesus does speak to us when we read the Bible, and some Bibles have got red letters wherever Jesus speaks. They call them red-letter editions. When you read the words of Jesus, that's the words of Jesus speaking to you. Sometimes God speaks to you through His Holy Spirit. You might be tempted to say something you shouldn't say or get angry or to disobey your parents. Well, that's the devil telling you to do the wrong thing, and then Jesus and the Holy Spirit will say, "No, I want you to do the good thing. "I want you to do the right thing." That would be the Lord speaking to you through His Spirit. Sometimes God even speaks to you through pastors. When you go to church and they're preaching a sermon, you'll hear the Holy Spirit speak to you through the words that they share. And so, very rarely, Jesus does talk to a person audibly, personally, like He did with Moses and Abraham and Jacob.
- Samuel.
- Samuel, that's right. So yeah, when Samuel was just a little boy, He said, "Samuel, Samuel," He spoke to him. But God's voice will always follow the Bible. That's one thing you can be sure of. Thank you, Isabel, good question.
- The next caller that we have is Henry listening from New York. Henry, you're on the air.
- Henry, are you there? You might have your phone muted.
- [Henry] Hello?
- Hi, and your question?
- [Henry] Yeah, my question is, Moses and Abraham, is there anybody living today who is related to them?
- Is there anyone living today related to Moses or Abraham? Good question. You know, the genealogy of Moses is not as clear as the genealogy of Abraham, who of course is an ancestor of Moses. Moses had two sons. They don't ever seem to rise to prominence. They were from the tribe of Levi. It was not Moses's sons, but the sons of Aaron, his brother, that ended up being the high priest. So the sons of Moses, some of them worked in the temple with the other Levites, but they're not mentioned, and it's hard to track the family tree of Moses. Abraham, on the other hand, you can see the descendants of Abraham around the world, not only in the nation of Jews, but you can see in the children of Ishmael. Many of them became what you call your Semitic peoples and Arabs. Of course, not all Muslims are Arabs. I think the largest group of Muslims in the world are Indonesia, because Islam is a religion. But most Arabs can trace their genealogy back to Abraham also. Thank you, appreciate your question, Henry!
- We've got Thomas listening in Oklahoma. Thomas, you're on the air! Welcome to Bible Answers Live.
- [Thomas] Yeah, I got a question for Revelation 14:12, and specifically in the last sentence of the verse, "and the faith of Jesus." So what's it mean, those?
- All right, let me read this for our friends. It says here, speaking in Revelation 14:12, "Here is the patience of the saints; "here are those that keep "the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus." Now, it's not saying "faith in Jesus" here. It's saying the "faith of Jesus." And so, they are modeling in their lives the faith that Jesus demonstrated when he was on earth. So Jesus said, "I live by the Father." Well, we follow His example, and we live by faith in Christ as He lived by faith in the Father. So they have the same kind of faith as Jesus. Is that your understanding?
- Yeah, absolutely. You know, I heard somebody once put it this way. They said, "Faith in Jesus saves you, "but the faith of Jesus sustains you. "It gives you strength to overcome, "to live a victorious life." And of course, the context here in Revelation chapter 14, it's talking about God's people in the last days. They need to have the faith of Jesus.
- And they're being contrasted with counterfeit Christians. So the faith of Jesus not only sustains; it identifies. You got the kind of faith Jesus had.
- Yeah, very good. All right, thank you for your call, Thomas. We've got Alex listening in Georgia. Alex, welcome to the program.
- [Alex] Hey, how are you? Thank you, pastors, for taking my call.
- Yes, thanks for calling.
- [Alex] My question is, when Adam and Eve were in the garden, which commandments did they break?
- Yeah, well, the Lord gave a specific commandment earlier in Genesis chapter two. He told them that they were free to eat from any of the trees, any and all of the trees in the garden, with one exception. There was one tree that would be a test of loyalty. He said, "Do not eat from the tree "in the middle of the garden of good and evil. "I don't want you to experience evil." They were to eat from the tree of life and every other pleasant thing in the garden. And so, when the serpent, the devil kind of took possession of the serpent, and the devil said through the serpent, "Oh, you can't really trust God. "He's trying to keep something from you. "If you'd eat from this forbidden tree, "you'd have special powers. "You'd be like gods. "Look at me! "I was a serpent, and now I can talk." I'm paraphrasing. And he cast doubt on God, and they chose to listen to the devil instead of God. They broke the commandment where God said, "Do not eat from the forbidden tree." They did; God said the penalty was death for disobedience.
- And even if you want to get a little more specific, looking at the Ten Commandments, the 10th commandment says "Thou shall not covet." The Bible says, "Eve looked at the tree. "She desired the fruit to make one wise. "She took of it." So the first commandment that she broke was the coveting one. She wanted something that God had said, "It's not yours." She took something that was not hers.
- That's stealing, too.
- Thou shall not steal. She gave it to her husband, thou shall not kill. You could probably, you know, you don't want any other gods ahead of you, and she chose to put what the serpent was saying ahead of what God was saying. So if you look at it like the Bible says, if you break one commandment, you're guilty of breaking all of them, at least the spirit of all the commandments, so yes, the Ten Commandments were broken in the garden.
- Yep, good question, Alex. Hey, thank you so much for your call, and we hope you call back.
- We've got Michael listening in Michigan. Michael, welcome to the program.
- [Michael] Good evening, pastors.
- Evening.
- [Michael] I got a question. My wife and I are studying Revelations 12:1. It's the woman clothed with the sun, and the moon is under her feet. What is the garland of 12 stars?
- Great, I like that. We've had several Revelation questions tonight, and we love it. In Revelation 12, you've got a picture. First, let's figure out, who is this woman, and then it helps everything else become clear. The Bible tells us in Bible symbols that a woman represents a church. Revelation has two women. One is clothed with light. The sun, moon, and stars are lights that God made. The other is clothed with kind of artificial adornment, gold and pearls and purple and scarlet and costly array. But one is a true, faithful bride of Christ. The Bible says, "Husbands, "love your wives as Christ loved the church." God says, "I've likened the daughter of Zion "to a delicate and comely woman." Zion was a word for God's Church. "I've likened the Church to a woman." In Hosea, He says the Church is like His bride. So this is a picture of God's pure, true church standing on the sun, and Jesus is the sun of righteousness that arises with healing in His wings, you find in Malachi chapter four. Clothed with the moon. She's standing on the promises and prophecies of the Old Testament as the foundation for the New Testament, but she's clothed, shining, with the light of Christ's righteousness in the New Testament. 12 stars above the head: above the head represents authority, and you've got the 12 tribes and 12 judges in the Old Testament, 12 apostles. That's talking about the leadership. Revelation chapter, is it one, he talked about, the stars represent the angels.
- Of the seven churches.
- Yeah, they're the spokesmen, the leaders. And so, you've got the 12 above her head represents the leadership of the church. But more than anything, it's the light of truth. The sun, the moon, and the stars, you know, the Word is a lamp to my feet and a light. It's saying this woman is clothed with light. So yeah, it's just a picture of the glory of God's Church.
- You know, we've got a study guide that's called The Bride of Christ.
- Oh, perfect.
- And I think it actually deals with Revelation chapter 12. We'll be happy to send this to anyone who calls and asks. The number again is 800-835-6747. That is our free resource line, and just ask for the study guide. It's called The Bride of Christ, and we'll be happy to send that to anyone who calls and asks. Next caller that we have is Kereace listening from Washington. Kereace, welcome to the program.
- [Kereace] Hello, good night, thank you for taking my call. I just got a with from I John chapter five verse 16. Could you please explain that passage for me?
- Yeah, well, let me read it for everybody. It says, and this is I John five verse 16, "If anyone sees his brother sinning a sin "that does not lead to death, he will ask, "and he will this verse him life for those "who commit sin not leading to death." Right there, it's telling us of course that we can intercede and pray for people. But then he goes on and he says, "There is a sin leading "to death, and I do not say he should pray about that." Now, you would think, well, shouldn't we pray for everybody? Well, you know, intercessory prayer in this respect is more effective for people that are willing. You've got a sin that leads to death that prayer won't even help, and that would be the sin against the Holy Spirit, an unpardonable sin.
- I think also when it talks about a sin not leading to death, I think it's also talking about praying for those who might be sinning ignorantly. So Jesus prayed on the cross, "Father, forgive them, "for they do not know what they are doing." That's referring to the Roman soldiers. They're probably just carrying out their orders. And so, they are people that have never heard the truth, and they might not be doing what is right, but maybe they don't know. Maybe they are sinning in ignorance. But there are those who have hardened their heart, as you said, that sin that cannot be forgiven, which is the unpardonable sin, and they are sinning willfully. We want to pray for everyone, but there is a difference. There is sins of ignorance, and then there's deliberate, high-handed rebellion against God.
- That's right. So I hope that helps a little bit, Kereace, yes.
- All right, thanks for your call! We've got Anastasia listening in Canada. Anastasia, welcome to the program!
- [Anastasia] Hello!
- Hi, how can we help you tonight?
- [Anastasia] Hi Pastor Doug, hi Pastor Ross. I actually had two very quick questions, if you can answer them both. So, my first one is, in the Bible, it says that love casts out all fear, right? But if you're a person living with OCD, and let's just say, for me, I would have to wash my hands and everything like that because I'm scared of germs, am I not going with God's law by doing that?
- No, well, let me answer you with something more than just a yes or a no. I empathize with you a little bit, because I am a little OCD. Now, I don't want to trivialize what you're going through, because some people are just obsessively washing their hands. But if you ask my wife, I'm a little compulsive that way, where yeah, I go around through the day washing my hands probably 20 times a day. It's not that I'm afraid of germs. I mean, you know me, Pastor Ross. I'm not obsessed with germs.
- Pastor Doug likes clean.
- Yeah, I am a clean guy.
- If you drive in his car, it's always clean.
- I am a little that way, yes, so I get a little bit agitated if things aren't in the right place. But you're asking a bigger question about anxiety and fear, am I right, Anastasia?
- [Anastasia] Yeah.
- And you're just wondering, does it mean I have a lack of faith, that I'm worrying about these things? Well, no, because I think that you're addressing something that you can't control. You're trying not to feel that way, right?
- [Anastasia] Right, yes, yeah.
- Yeah, so you know, I expect you're trying to maybe get some Christian counsel on the subject so that you can get some relief. I wrote a book that you might find some comfort in. It's called Finding Peace in a World of Worry. I partly wrote this because I can sometimes have a tendency to worry, and I know a lot of people that are just sick with worry. And I found a lot of comfort in just writing the book and looking at all the scriptures and the promises about worry.
- We live in a world, Pastor Doug, that is just a mess. Just look at the news, and yeah, it causes alarm and worry.
- And with the news in the last two years about germs and COVID everywhere, that could make some people a little bit apprehensive.
- Absolutely.
- And just wash your hands all the time. So I wouldn't call it a sin. I'd pray that God would just give you some peace and balance. You know, I think God wants us to be clean, but He doesn't want us to be obsessive so that you just can't live your life, because you're always having to run for sanitizer. It's amazing any of us survived childhood, eating six pounds of dirt every year. But anyway, so you might enjoy that book. You can call and ask for Finding Peace in a World of Worry, and I'll bet they'll send you a copy for free.
- The number to call is 800-835-6747, and again, the book's called Finding Peace in a World of Worry. We've got Chris listening in North Carolina. Chris, welcome to the program!
- [Chris] Good evening, pastors, how are you?
- Doing great.
- Good.
- [Chris] Wonderful, I was just a real quick question. I know during creation, during the time of Adam and Eve, that there was a war that broke out in heaven between Lucifer and Michael. But how long, or what period of time was Satan on earth during that time?
- Well, we don't believe that Satan came to earth until of course after the creation of Adam and Eve, which happened after the rebellion. We believe, you're not going to find a lot of explicit scriptures on the timetable for this, but we did a lot of study on the subject before we did a special documentary called Cosmic Conflict: The Origin of Sin. And by the way, that documentary, you can just see it on YouTube now, called Cosmic Conflict. We understand that one of the reasons God made our world and humanity is to help replace the vacuum from Satan and his angels being cast out following their rebellion and that war. You read about the war there in Revelation 12. Revelation 12 of course is looking back in time to the war between Michael and Satan, the devil. So am I answering your question, Chris?
- [Chris] Yes, kind of, yes. I just was wondering how long he was, when he was cast down to earth, what period of time he was down here for, because we know after Adam and Eve were created, that the devil was cast to earth.
- Yeah, and he's still here. Yeah, he's alive and well, as they say.
- You know, just to add to that a little bit, Pastor Doug, in chapter 12 it talks about this war in heaven, Michael and his angels are cast out. So you have a casting out, no, Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels were cast out. So before the creation of the earth, there's this war in heaven. The devil and his angels rebel, and of course they are cast out of heaven. But you read a little further in Revelation chapter 12, and it says at some point, the devil was cast to the earth.
- He was cast down then.
- Yeah, so there's a casting out, and then there's a casting down. So the casting out and casting down didn't happen at the same time, but when Christ died on the cross, Satan's doom was fixed, and Jesus became the representative of the earth. He is the Second Adam. So the Bible says the devil has but a short time. He's going around like a roaring lion. So he is sort of bound to this earth. He doesn't have freedom to roam the universe. Then after the 1,000, or doing the 1,000 years, it's just him and his angels on the earth. They've got nobody to tempt, so.
- And Jesus said, "I beheld Satan cast down as lightning."
- Yeah, falling as lightning from heaven.
- So he helped effect that.
- Next caller that we have is Dalton listening in Texas. Dalton, welcome to the program.
- [Dalton] Well, hello, and thank you all for having such a good program.
- Well, it's a pleasure, thank you.
- [Dalton] Yes, my question is, and I hate to ask it, it's about the Book of Enoch. Why don't we use it, or why don't we reference it?
- That's a fair question, because in the Book of Jude, which is in the Bible, Jude quotes from the Book of Enoch, which is not in the Bible. And because a Bible writer quotes from a book does not mean that everything in the book they quoted from is original or inspired. For example, Paul quotes from some of the Greek poets. They said some things that were true, and he quotes from those excerpts. Well, there was a book called the Book of Enoch that was probably written during the Babylonian captivity by some of the Jews, and it's what they call an apocryphal book. It had some statements in it that were inspired statements, but the whole book wasn't necessarily inspired. Many times, pastors, I do it, I'm sure you do it, I might quote Martin Luther, quote Spurgeon or Wesley or other great preachers. There's certain things they said that are very profound, maybe even inspired, but there's some things Luther said I know were not inspired. I mean, Luther said some pretty harsh things about the Jewish people, and I think most Christians disavow themselves of those things that he said. So, but that wouldn't undermine or take away from the inspired things that he did say and how God used him. And so, same thing with the Book of Enoch. Anyone can download a copy of the Book of Enoch. You can read it, and you'll see there's some stuff in there that's obviously not scriptural. But it was probably written by a Jew or a couple of Jews during the Babylonian captivity. It did not come with Noah across the flood from Enoch. It's never mentioned anywhere in history prior to the time after the Babylonian captivity.
- All right, great, I think our next caller is Hector, listening from Florida. Hector, welcome to the program!
- [Hector] Yes, thank you, good evening, everyone.
- How did you survive the hurricane? Are you in southern Florida?
- [Hector] No, I'm in a different area, so we didn't have too much.
- Okay, Praise the Lord.
- [Hector] We just had some gusty winds and that's it. I have a question on chapter 22 of Revelation, specifically in verse two and 15.
- Okay, let me read this. It says, Revelation 22 verse two, "In the middle of the street and on either side of the river "was the tree of life that had 12 different kinds of fruit, "each tree yielding its fruit every month, and the leaves "of the tree are for the healing of the nations." So you want to do that first?
- [Hector] Right, let's do that. My question specifically is in the last sentence, and it says, "The leaves of the tree "are well for the healing of the nation." And when you know the kingdom of God won't have pain and sickness and disease and stuff, okay, that, and also, everybody will be one nation, but now in this verse, it mentions nations, in plural. We'll be multiple nations, you know?
- All right, well, we're going to run out of time, so let me answer that real quick. You notice, it's not talking about the healing of diseases. It's the healing of nations. We are divided now in the world by political parties and nations and cultures and geography. In the kingdom, all those divisions will be healed. As we gather under the shimmering leaves of the tree of life, we will all be part of one people and won't have to worry. Hey, I'm sorry I can't give you more of an answer than that, Dalton. We need to let our listening friends know, we sign off from Bible Answers Live sort of in two stages. Because of the time schedules with satellite radio, first we sign off with our listeners that are listening on SiriusXM, and then our land-based stations, so we want to bid farewell to the people listening on satellite. Those of you who are on the land-based stations, you stay tuned, because this is when we take our email questions that come in. We'll be back and do some rapid-fire email.
- [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 to Bible Answers Live, for those of you who've been able to stay by, those watching on the internet, listening on land-based radio stations. If you have a Bible question and you want to email it to us, the email address is just balquestions@amazingfacts.org. Pastor Doug, we're going to see how many of these questions we can get in the next two minutes. So here's the first question: when the body dies, where does the spirit go?
- Well, the Bible tells us that what we call the spirit or sometimes refer to as the soul, it's the combination of that breath of life, which is the word spirit, and the body. The word spirit in Greek is the word pneuma. It's where you get the word pneumonia. It means a wind. So the idea that you've got a ghost that flies out of you when you die is not what the Bible teaches. You cease being a soul until the resurrection, when the breath of life is united again with the new creation, the new body.
- Okay, next question that we have, how do we know if we are walking in the Spirit? Well, Jesus said, "You will know them by their fruits." So we can examine ourselves, I believe it's in II Corinthians chapter 13. There, the apostle Paul said, "Let us examine ourselves whether we be in the faith," and we use the criteria of Christ, His example, His teachings, and say, Lord, am I walking in the Spirit? Do I have that peace that He offers? Am I living in communion with God? And you'll have the fruit of the Spirit.
- Okay, another question, Revelation chapter 21 four says that God'll wipe away every tear from their eyes. When does this occur?
- People sometimes think that as soon as you go to heaven, there could possibly be no more tears in heaven, but it really doesn't say that God wipes away all the tears until after the millennium, because at the end of the millennium, there is a great white throne judgment. Many are found lost in that judgment, and people might have friends or family that are not there. God is sad. If angels rejoice when someone's saved, then presumably, there's sadness when someone's lost. If they have those emotions, then we have those emotions. But after God makes the earth new following the 1,000 years, that's when it says he wipes away all the tears from our eyes.
- All right, Pastor Doug, a quick question here. What type of locust did John the Baptist eat?
- Yeah, was it locust bean? The same word is used for the locust pod, something like a carob pod, or was it the grasshoppers? We don't know. We're hoping it was the locust bean, because we hate to picture the prophet with grasshopper legs in his teeth. Hey, listening friends, we hope that you will tune in and join us again next week. Send us your Bible questions, keep the ministry in prayer, and support us to keep doing what we're doing.
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