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.
Doug Batchelor: Hello, friends. Would you like to hear an amazing fact? He is being called the polygamist of the century. In 2022, Arabic papers and TV reported on a Saudi man who married 53 times in 43 years, in an effort to find peace in his life, ostensibly. The 63-year-old man, called Abu Abdullah, confirmed on Saudi television that he did not look for personal pleasure in his multiple marriages, but for stability and emotional comfort. Abdullah got married for the first time at the age of 20. His wife was six years older than him. He thought a more mature woman would offer stability, but when they fought, he married a second wife. He pointed out that when a problem arose between his first and his second wife, he thought the solution would be to marry a third and a fourth wife. And after some time, he divorced the first, and the second, and the third wife to satisfy the fourth wife, and so the soap opera continued for 43 years. You know, in recent decades, the number of men married to more than one woman has decreased in the Arab world, but it is still legal in 58 countries, mostly because the Qur'an specifically allows for up to four wives. Abu Abdullah emphasized to the media that he's now married to only one woman and does not plan to marry again. Yes, we'll wait and see. You know, it makes me think, Pastor Crews, about Solomon. It tells us in the Bible, Solomon, I don't know that he's been beat by too many, but 1 Kings 11 verse 3, it says he had 700 wives and princesses, and 300 concubines. But all of that marrying and divorcing is obviously not God's plan.
And I should maybe say for our friends that are watching right now, I'd like to welcome Pastor Aron Crews who is here, and he is one of our associates at the Granite Bay Church where we pastor. Pastor Ross is on his way overseas right now on a mission project, and this is Pastor Aron's second time, first time with me.
Aron Crews: Yeah, the first time. Probably a few months ago I was with Pastor Jean, we had a blast. I was helping him out, fielding a few questions, so I'm happy to be here with you, Pastor Doug, and happy to answer your questions.
Doug: You know, and if his last name sounds familiar, it's because we've been giving away his grandfather's books on this program for 25 years now. That's right, Pastor Aron, I think your real name is technically Joseph, is that right?
Aron: Yes, it's now legally my middle name. So, I am Joe Crews. For all of you Joe Crews fans, I am the grandson and inherited his name to an extent.
Doug: So, I think that's really neat the way the Lord worked all that out, and we are still giving away Joe Crews books. But back to our subject about marriage, and by the way, I was telling Pastor Crews, I said I'm not picking on you, because he's getting married in a few weeks.
Aron: Amen, one month, just one month away. My fiancé is actually here in the studio. She won't be making an appearance, but she is here to support me, and I'm really excited about that. And I do not plan, K’Dee, if you can hear me over there, I do not plan on having more than you as my wife. So, yes, I'll try to follow the biblical model on that.
Doug: That's right, and we've got a Scripture that talks about that, because I think we all know that some countries, not only do they have multiple marriages, but some people do it by they get married and divorced, and they remarry and then they divorce, and then they remarry, and I was sharing with our crew before the program, my dad was married five times, and my mother was married four times, and that happens quite a bit in North America. But what did Jesus say? Matthew 19 verse 4, "And He answered and said to them, 'Have you not read that He that made them at the beginning, male and female, and He said, 'For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, let not man separate.'" And we get a lot of questions during our broadcasts that have to do with marriage, and divorce, and does a person have a right to remarry, and what are grounds for divorce, and we have a special offer today. We don't offer this often, but it's a book called "What the Bible Says About Marriage, Divorce, and Remarriage." And we're going to give that away free tonight for those who would like to get a copy of that. How do they do it?
Aron: Yeah, well, you can simply go to your— if you have a cellphone, you can simply dial #250, and then say to your mobile device, "Bible Answers Live." That is #250, and they say, "Bible Answers Live." But if you don't have a cellphone and you have just a regular phone, some of us still have those, you can call 1-800-835-6747.
Doug: Amen, well, before we get to the phones and our questions for tonight, Pastor Aron, you want to go ahead and have prayer for us?
Aron: I would love to. Let's bow our heads. Dear heavenly Father, thank you for this day of life that you have given to us. Lord, I pray that you may speak through us this evening as we answer Bible questions with your answers by God's grace. Fill us with your Spirit, we pray in Jesus's name, amen.
Doug: Amen, alright, are you ready? Let's go to the phones, see what's coming up.
Aron: Alright, well, our first caller for this evening is Jo calling in from Washington. Hello, Jo, are you here? What is your question this evening?
Jo: I am, thank you, what a pleasure. Can you hear me?
Doug: Loud and clear.
Aron: Yes, loud and clear.
Jo: Okay, I have a friend and she's a new friend, and I'm white, and she is a person of color, and we talk about race a lot because I'm married to a black man, so it opens the door about the mystery of racism. And she told me that her people believe that God struck them with a curse because of a sin. She didn't know what sin, and that is why they have spent centuries being abused and, you know?
Doug: Yes, I know exactly what you're talking about.
Jo: I don't believe that, but I do not know where to go in the Bible to combat that, and I don't know where it came from.
Doug: Well, we're going to share with you. If you look in the Book of Genesis, when it's talking about Noah, and I think you might find this in Genesis 9 where it says in verse 20, "Noah became a farmer, and he planted a vineyard. Then he drank the wine and was drunk, and he became uncovered in his tent." He was kind of stumbling around drunk and unclothed. "And him, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father," and instead of, you know, just covering his father up, he went out and I think he and his son Canaan kind of laughed at their father who was stumbling around drunk in the tent and was uncovered. But Shem and Japheth went and they backed into the tent with a robe and they covered him up. And then Noah, when he sobers up, he pronounced a curse on Ham. And there are those who have said that the three sons of Noah created the three races, and that Ham was black, and Japheth was Asian, and Shem was Caucasian, and there's no Bible truth to that. I think some people used that years ago to try and endorse slavery, and they, you know, made a case that Ham was the father of all the African people, but you don't really have the nations dividing until you get to Genesis chapter 11, and they basically got together based on what languages they could understand. It had nothing to do with the color of skin. So, the races didn't really grow their distinctions until the people did separate, and though the way genetics works is through intermarriage over many generations, certain traits become dominant. So, that was a myth that has been perpetrated, and some people, I guess, still repeat it, but it's absurd and it's not biblical.
Aron: Yeah, good answer, Pastor Doug. And another verse that kind of comes to my mind is actually the second commandment. In Exodus 20 verse 5, it talks about, "I, the Lord Your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me." Ham certainly committed a bad sin against his father, but there's no evidence that that sin carried on the consequences for hundreds and hundreds of generations, right? That's just not something there. But hey, thanks, Jo, so much for asking that question. Next, we have Ronald calling in from Massachusetts. Hello, Ronald, are you there? What is your question?
Ronald: Hello, pastors, thank you for taking my call. Can you hear me?
Doug: Yes, loud and clear.
Ronald: Awesome, so I have a few questions, but I told you I'd ask just one, and the most important for right now is about the Sabbath. So, I've been impressed on by the Holy Spirit to start keeping the Sabbath, and in doing my research about the Sabbath, I found that, like, I have family in different countries where they are many hours ahead of us, so they're already in Sabbath and we're behind, but then I also found that there is countries that are a whole day ahead of us, and other countries that don't even have sunsets certain times of the year. So, they say that keeping Sabbath was just for the nation of Israel back then. Just wondering how is the best way, with all of this evidence, to explain that we still have to keep the Sabbath, and that the Bible actually supports all of us as mankind to keep the Sabbath?
Doug: Yeah, well, of course the Sabbath begins and ends with sunset, according to the Bible, on the seventh day of the week, or as the seventh day begins. You keep the Sabbath when it gets to you. You know, if you're taking a plane around the world, when do you get on the plane? Well, when it lands and it's at your destination. It's interesting you would mention that, because as I speak right now, I'm here in California, my wife has gone ahead of me to Australia, and she was enjoying the Sabbath over there before the Sabbath had come to me, because they're about a day ahead. But I don't find any complication with that, and I always think it's interesting this question comes up when people learn the Sabbath truth, because folks don't have any problem getting to church on Sunday, even though they're in different time zones. They go to church when the day gets there. And so, we keep the Sabbath when it comes to us based on the sun, and the time, and the days. Everybody in the world, even the North Pole, they've got a seven-day week, so yeah, it's not a problem.
Aron: Yeah, hey, Ronald, thank you so much for your question.
Doug: You know, I might mention to Ronald just one more thing. You know, we have a website, Ronald, and it's called SabbathTruth.com. It's one of the most popular websites on the subject, just reams of information on the Sabbath. If you just go to SabbathTruth.com, and for our friends that are listening that are bilingual, speak Spanish, it's also in Spanish, it's SabadoBiblico.com. And just has a whole encyclopedia of questions and answers, including this one. Thanks so much for your question.
Aron: Yes, alright, our next caller is calling in from Ohio, and his name is Glen. Hello, Glen, are you there with us?
Glen: Yes, I am, thank you very much for taking my call. My question concerns the feasts of Leviticus 23. People tell me I'm fussy about it, but you know, those are not Jewish feasts. God says tell the children of Israel these are My feasts, and it's a capital M, so we're talking about feasts of God. And the question I have about this is there seems to be an aloofness among people about the keeping of the feasts, whether they should be or should not be, or they're not for Christians, and a lot of different say so about whether they should be kept or not. And my question is, is should we be keeping the feasts in lieu of the Scripture in Zechariah chapter 14 verses 16 through 19. Does that have any bearing on whether we should keep the Feast of Tabernacles in this case or not?
Doug: Well, I tell you what. Let me do something, Glen, for the benefit of our friends that are listening, I'm going to read that in Zechariah 14. "Judah also will fight at Jerusalem, and the wealth of all the surrounding nations shall be gathered together. Gold, silver, and apparel in great abundance. Such shall be the plague on the horse and on the mule, and on the camel in that day," and I think you want to especially go to verse 16. "And it will come to pass everyone who is left of all the nations which have come against Jerusalem shall go out from year to year and worship the King, the Lord of Hosts, and keep the Feast of Tabernacles." Now, the Feast of Tabernacles was their memorial of their deliverance from slavery. And we will be remembering that God has saved us from the slavery of sin, so I think this is just a symbol.
Of course, when it's talking about going up to Jerusalem, it's talking about the new Jerusalem we believe is in heaven. You can read in Isaiah chapter 66 where it says, "And from one new moon to another, and from one Sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before the Lord." So, among those 52 Sabbaths in a year, one will be a special way of remembering our redemption. Now, I would say to a person that if you want to keep the feasts, enjoy yourself. Paul says in Romans chapter 14, "One man regards one day above another, another man regards every day alike." He says if you're going to regard a day, regard it for the Lord. If you're not going to regard the day to the Lord, you do not regard it. He's speaking specifically about the feasts there and not the Sabbath of the Ten Commandments, which was part of God's perfect plan. The feasts all came as a result of sin. The Sabbath of the Ten Commandments was in the Garden of Eden. It goes back to the beginning. But we do have a book we can offer you a free copy, Glen, and it talks about the feasts. And if you call Amazing Facts, call that resource number and ask for the booklet "Dealing with the Feasts."
Aron: Yeah, that's a great resource. Just a few extra verses I want to kind of throw in there. So, there's a prophecy in Daniel chapter 9 foretelling the arrival of the Messiah, and there in Daniel chapter 9 verse 27, it says that the Messiah, He, "Shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering," right? Foretelling that the various cultic rituals that God himself had established that were shadows pointing to Himself would no longer be kept in the same way that his people did in the old covenant, Old Testament era, right? So, nowadays, it would be impossible to fulfill to the letter of the law all of the various feasts. You'd have to go, number one, to the temple in Jerusalem, which isn't there, right? You'd have to bring an animal sacrifice, which New Testament makes quite clear those were just shadows of the sacrifice of Jesus. So, if you're going to insist on keeping some of these in the exact same way of the Old Testament, it's going to be quite difficult, and I don't think it's something that the Scripture commands us to do explicitly any longer.
Doug: Yeah, when Jesus died on the cross, it says the veil in the temple was torn from top to bottom, and this indicated that the whole ceremonial system of sacrifices and feasts, and that's what it's talking about also in Colossians. You know, that's all nailed in Colossians chapter 2.
Aron: Yeah, that's another good one. Well, thanks so much for your question, Glen. Our next caller is Junith, calling in from Nevada, hello, Junith.
Junith: Hello, Pastor Aron and Pastor Doug, can you hear me?
Doug: Yes, very well.
Junith: Okay, good, very well. Thank you for taking my call. Anyway, my question is about the deception of Eve around the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. I am not so convinced that Eve got deceived because of her curiosity. So, can you please give us an answer as to the biblical perspective? Was it because of the presence of the one third of the angels that was deceived by the devil, or Satan was around the tree as well? That because the devil got Eve into a conversation, they had the chance of devouring kind of-- Eve there, that they put her in a cloudy state of mind where the instruction of God was very, very crystal clear not to even touch, not to eat of the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.
Doug: Okay, well, for one thing, how was Eve deceived so easily? You mentioned that, well, we know the devil was there possessing the serpent. Could he have other fallen angels that were there that were whispering in her ear? Possibly, the Bible doesn't say, but I would also think that God's got good angels that may have been trying to encourage her to make the right decision, and His Spirit within her. But there's a few things that play here, one is the devil played upon the very things that attracted him. He said, "You will be like God," he was saying to Eve, you know. You'll have special powers. Look, I was just a serpent and now I can talk. Look what eating the fruit did for me and you can have this power and God's trying to keep something from you, So, that of course, got her curiosity. The desire for more power was attractive. And also, Eve had never heard a lie before. I know it's hard for us to imagine living in a world of innocence where everyone tells the truth, and she had to grapple with the fact that she was being deceived. Someone was stating an outright lie, or at least a partial lie. He said, "Has God said you shouldn't eat from any of the trees?" Well, he exaggerated that. So, all those things were at play, Junith, I think, and yeah.
Aron: Yeah, a telling verse is found about the deception that Paul writes in 2 Corinthians chapter 11 in verse 3. We get a little insight into the deception of Eve. It reads, Paul writes, he says, "But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ." And then he says what the deception was. "For if he who comes preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached," et cetera, et cetera, he says, "You may well put up with it!" So, what Satan did to Eve is, he presented to Eve another version of who God is. He made God to look like an overbearing, overly restrictive God, a liar, someone who can't be trusted and selfish.
Doug: He was afraid to share power and he was hiding it.
Aron: Exactly, so when a picture is presented of our loving God to be this tyrannical view, well, then Eve was presented with these two pictures, and she chose the wrong picture, and that caused her to rebel.
Doug: That's right, so Junith, we do have a booklet that talks about temptation, and we'll be happy to send you or anybody that wants to have a free copy of that. It's called "Tips for Resisting Temptation." And Pastor Aron, how do they get that?
Aron: Well, you can dial in, if you have a cellphone, to #250, that's #250, and simply say, "Bible Answers Live," and there you will ask the person that you'll speak to for the offer. What was it again?
Doug: "Tips for Resisting Temptation."
Aron: "Tips for Resisting Temptation."
Doug: Very good, okay, I think we're ready for the next call.
Aron: Alright, our next caller is calling in from Illinois, and it is Gary. Hello, Gary, are you there?
Gary: Yes, in 2 Thessalonians 2, it says Satan will appear and perform signs, powers, and miracles that will deceive all those who love not the truth. Are those people who love not the truth the same people who bring believers before kings, authorities, and principalities in Mark 13 where we're not to worry about what we should say or premeditate, but words will be given to us? Are those the same people who deliver us to kings and authorities, and is the Antichrist giving all those who love not the truth a new philosophy, a new doctrine, that Christians will have to answer to?
Doug: Okay, well, anybody who's rejecting the truth, when God brings it through the Holy Spirit, and they're convicted, and they stifle that, they would fall under the category that they can come to the place where they sincerely believe a lie because they've rejected the truth. When you take away light, the only thing left is darkness, so it's nothing God is trying to trick them with a lie. It's just when you reject truth, the only thing left is a lie. And that would be the same group that will bring us before kings and councils, and God says in that hour the Holy Spirit will tell you what you ought to say in defense of the truth, and we're hoping that at those occasions, there are people listening who are still open. When Paul was being tried on a number of occasions, when Paul was being persecuted and tried in front of different groups, there were people in the crowd listening to him give a faithful witness that were convicted and later became believers. I'm thinking about Sergius Paulus who ended up believing, even though Bar-Jesus was resisting, the sorcerer was resisting Paul's words. So, yeah, I think anybody rejecting the truth falls in that category.
Aron: Yeah, if those who reject the truth, it's all throughout biblical history, that they have a tendency to persecute God's people and bring us before trials.
Doug: And some will be sincere. I mean, Paul, when he was persecuting Christians, he thought he was helping God out, and he just was wrong.
Aron: Yeah, yeah.
Doug: Alright, we got maybe time for one more before our break, let's see.
Aron: Alright, our next caller is calling in from Texas, and it's Jerry. Hello, Jerry, are you there? What is your question?
Jerry: Hi, Aron, just a side note. I first saw you on TV two weeks ago and I called your father, Larry. He's been my friend for a few years. Anyway, my question is that there's many verses in the Bible that refer to this. The verse I'm thinking now is 1 Samuel 4:4, and it says, "So the people sent to Shiloh and from there they carried the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord of Hosts, who sits above the cherubim," and of course it says two sons of Samuel. But it is possible that Jesus Christ was the other guarding angel above the throne of God?
Doug: I don't think so, and part of the reason is you have a more vivid picture. The Ark itself was just a miniature depiction of God's throne in heaven with the two angels. When you look in Isaiah chapter 6, he's in the presence of God and it says there's these two cherubim that are saying, "Holy, holy, holy." Jesus is the one to be worshiped, and so Jesus wouldn't be the angel on the right or the left, He's not an angel, Jesus is God the Son, and it says in Hebrews, "The angels worship him." So, if you think the two angels that directed both Solomon and Moses, that those angels would be faced towards each other inward, with their faces down, kind of like the picture in Isaiah. It says they're covering their faces in Isaiah because the presence of God is there. And their attention is focused on the one who's on the throne, which would be Christ, and you know, you could also say the Father, because Jesus, He sits down it says at the right hand of the Father. But that's a picture of God in the middle.
Aron: Yeah, Jesus, I mean, Revelation chapter 3, He's seated on the throne with God the Father, right? He overcame and was seated at the right hand of the throne of God, so Jesus is definitely there on the throne. We don't know who the other angel is. Maybe some people speculate to a degree, maybe it's Gabriel, right? But the ultimate thing is the Bible is not clear exactly who the other fallen angel, excuse me, the other unfallen angel was.
Doug: Yeah, it would be— I think that one at least is Gabriel. Some of my Catholic friends say one of them is a guy named Raphael, but I don't know where they get that. Hey, friends, you can hear the music. We're going to take a break and be back with more Bible questions.
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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 p.m. and 8:00 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."
Doug: Welcome back, listening friends, to "Bible Answers Live," and for any of you that tuned in along the way, as you can tell, this is a live, international, interactive Bible study. We are not only playing on radio, about 300 radio stations around the country, on satellite radio, SiriusXM, we're on Amazing Facts Television right now, and we're rebroadcast on several other television stations. I want to say hi to friends that are watching on Lifestyle TV in Sweden, Hope Channel, and others, and Better Life, Good News, and thank you so much for tuning in. We're streaming on Amazing Facts Facebook page, the Doug Batchelor Facebook page, and you can send a text to your friends right now if they want to take in the second half of the program. My name is Doug Batchelor.
Aron: And I'm Pastor Crews, and we're glad that you have joined us for this evening's show, and we've got another caller with another question. We have Brittany here calling in from our very own state, California. Welcome, Brittany, what is your question?
Brittany: Yeah, my question is with all the problems of the world we have today, does all this involve the sign of the times mentioned in Matthew 24 and Revelation 13?
Doug: Okay, good question. Now, Matthew 24, while there are three or four places in the New Testament where Jesus kind of highlights signs of His return, you've got Matthew 24, Mark 13, Luke 17, and Luke 21. There's nothing specifically in John, but twice in Luke. And then when you say Revelation 13, that's a little more specific when you're talking about the beast and the mark of the beast, though some of that has already been fulfilled in history. And I tell people if you want, at the end of the response here, you can also request the lesson on, you know, who is the Antichrist, and you'll see how that prophecy is already being fulfilled. But as far as signs, you know, Pastor Crews, I did an online Bible study last week that was translated in Chinese. It was a live study, and there was about over 200,000 people tuned into the stream. And the subject was seven signs of Christ's return. In fact, I'll be in Australia next week, and I'll be also presenting that study. And I was going through just things like conditions in the world today with everything from overpopulation to, you know, the threat of wars and rumors of wars, and Jesus said in Matthew 24 there will be plagues. I think, you know, most people would agree the pandemic was in that category, though not as bad as the Spanish flu, it was still a deadly plague.
But there's always been wars, there's always been plagues, the things that make it different today, in my mind, a couple of things. One is in Daniel chapter 12, Jesus said many will run to and fro and knowledge will increase. Well, you look at the explosive increase in knowledge in the last 100 years in technology. Wisdom has not increased, but knowledge has certainly increased. And just everything is kind of going robotic with artificial intelligence, and all my life people have accused me of having artificial intelligence. This is a new meaning now. And then you also have something different. It says the gospel will be preached, this is Matthew 24:14, "The gospel will be preached in all the world for a witness unto the nations, and then the end will come." And now, through things like this program that's going out on the internet around the world, and radio, and television, and the printed page, and missionaries, and there's so many means right now to rapidly communicate with the world. It doesn't say everyone would believe and be converted, it says as a witness. And the gospel is going around the world, I think in this generation.
So, I don't worry about the Second Coming, I'm actually very excited about it, because if you're ready, then it's a glorious appearing, you're looking forward to it. But yes, I do think we are living in the last days. No man knows the day and the hour. I mean, during World War II they thought this is the end of the world with the nuclear bomb, and here we are 70 years later. But you look at the explosion of the population around the world, and the resources that are being consumed exponentially quicker, I guess that says the same thing. You wonder how much longer can it last?
Aron: Yeah, and a key verse is Matthew 24 verse 8. Jesus says all of these signs that you're seeing in the world are like birth pains. Some translations will say sorrows. In the original Greek it's birth pains, and the thing about birth pains is, is that birth pains get more frequent and more intense the closer you get to the delivery of the child, right? So, wars, rumors of wars, pestilence, right, COVID-19, global pandemic, all of these various signs are going to get more frequent and more intense the closer we're getting. And that's exactly what we're seeing around the world today.
Doug: Yeah, even with the natural disasters. Insurance companies say that it seems like their intensity and frequency is increasing. And Jesus mentions earthquakes in Matthew 24. Thank you, Brittany. We do have a study guide that talks about the Second Coming of Jesus, and we'll be happy to send you a free copy of that. It's called "The Ultimate Deliverance."
Aron: Alright, our next caller is Abigail who's calling in from Florida. Welcome to "Bible Answers Live," Abigail. What is your question?
Abigail: Hi, how are you, pastors?
Doug: Doing great.
Aron: Doing well.
Abigail: My question is about 1 Corinthians 11:2-12 which discusses head coverings. I am wondering what this portion means exactly, and if women are still supposed to wear something that covers the head while praying or prophesying today?
Doug: Yeah, well, this is a difficult verse in that when you read it, it would seem like it's saying, well, I guess that women are not supposed to pray or teach in public unless they have their head covered. And the question is, since there's no command anywhere in the Old Testament specifically saying this, and because Paul uses the word later in the chapter, he says we have no other custom, and so many have thought, well, this was a custom of respect. By the way, that's verse 16. "If anyone seems to be contentious, we have no such custom, nor do the churches of God." Is this a Bible mandate? It's understood that as a term of respect and/or submission to their husbands, women were to cover their heads in public. I know, Pastor Crews, when I travel to Europe and even some places in India, the women always cover their heads. I remember here in North America, I went to give a Bible study to an apostolic Pentecostal lady, and at the end when we knelt to pray, she looked very nervous because she had nothing on her head, and she grabbed the curtains. She was by a curtain, she grabbed the curtains and put it over her head, because she was very sensitive about praying in public not having her head covered. And that always struck me, and I thought, well, you know, I have no problem, you see, the Mennonites, the ladies often have their heads covered, if someone wants to do this, but I don't think we can make a command out of it, because the Bible says in the mouth of two or three witnesses, you've got this one verse, we're wondering is this a custom? If it was a command, you'd see some other corroborating evidence somewhere else, I think.
Aron: Our next caller is calling in from New York. We have Frank on the line, hello, Frank.
Frank: Yes, hi, Pastor Crews and Pastor Doug. I have a question that, you know, I've gotten in a little bit of trouble with this, but nevertheless, I've managed to tackle it to the best of my abilities. I read in the Bible that it's an abomination to look into the occult and to do things that are against the will of God in the sense of godliness, and my question is, is it a sin in itself to research devil worship and sorcery? Is there a Scripture in the Bible that says that it's better to just be a Christian and follow God's principles and God's laws rather than, you know, indwell and ponder upon what devil worship is?
Doug: Well, that's a great question. You know, suppose you want to research what devil worship is so that you can expose it and preach against it. If you're researching it because you're intrigued and interested, that would be very dangerous. I think I would recommend that most people, unless they have a special calling from God, because they're encountering something that they do a deeper study, but I heard about a pastor once that he was on a commission on pornography in Washington, and he thought to better understand what he's going to be addressing in the commission, he needed to research pornography. And in the process of researching it, he became addicted to pornography. So, I would say stay away from the unfruitful works of darkness, as Paul says in Ephesians, and just avoid these things. You know, God says there shall not be found among you anyone that consults the dead, or a soothsayer, or a wizard, or a witch, and you become like what you look at, so I'd say keep your eyes fixed on Jesus.
Aron: Yeah, and the verse you just referenced is Deuteronomy chapter 18 verses 10 through 12. And then maybe this is a verse that will find itself to be helpful. It's in the New Testament, Ephesians chapter 5 verses 11 through 13 says, "Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them." But the question is, how do we expose them? Well, Paul says, "For it is shameful even to speak of those things which are done by them in secret. But all things that are exposed are made manifest by the light, for whatever makes manifest is light." So, the way in which we should expose the darkness isn't by joining the darkness, isn't by, you know, digging ourselves deep into all the things that Satan is doing, but rather proclaiming the light from God's Word, right?
Doug: Amen, that's the answer. Thank you, Frank, I hope that helps a little bit. And you know, Amazing Facts has a lesson called "Does God Inspire Astrologers and Psychics?" "Does God Inspire Astrologers and Psychics?" If you'd like a free copy of that, you can either call 800-835-6747. Or what else can they do?
Aron: If you have a cellphone, you can dial #250, #250, and ask for that resource.
Doug: Yeah, I think you just say, "Bible Answers Live," and it'll direct you. Alright, who's next?
Aron: Alright, our next caller is Steve, calling in from Texas, and it looks like you're a first-time caller, Steve. Welcome to our program.
Steve: Well, thank you. Greetings from Texas. I was curious about who was running the store in heaven when Jesus was down here on earth? Was there any priestly duties going on, and who was doing that?
Doug: Okay, that's a good question. So, when you think about Christ as our High Priest, the Bible tells us that in Hebrews, and what a priest typically does is, he is offering blood and sacrifice. He's, you know, pleading the blood of the sacrifice, and he's a mediator for the people. Well, Christ has always been our mediator, but it wasn't until the sacrifice of Jesus that He went before the Father pleading His blood. Up until then, there was the ceremonial system, and the temple on earth, and the sacrifices on earth that prefigured what Jesus would ultimately do. So, when we talk about the temple of heaven, you keep two things in mind. You've got the dwelling place of God where you've got the throne of God in heaven, and God's always been on his throne, but then as far as the priestly ministry, which is unique to sin, Jesus did not really activate that until after His sacrifice. So, we have a study guide, Steve, that talks about the temple in heaven, and it's called "God Drew the Plan," and we will send you a free copy if you'd like. It's called "God Drew the Plan." How do they get that?
Aron: They can get that by calling in to 1-800-835-6747 and saying, "Bible Answers Live," or if you have a cellphone, just dial #250 and say, "Bible Answers Live." Alright, our next caller we have here calling in from Illinois, and his name is Larry. Larry, my father's name is Larry, so it's a great name to have. Welcome to the show.
Larry: Welcome, thank you. Okay, so here it is. I got a friend, 30 years ago my friend and I were baptized together in the Remnant Church, and we keep the Ten Commandments, the seven-day Sabbath, and the faith of Jesus, so my question is now for my friend, because I'm concerned about him. For five years, he has no worship in a church, in a denomination, he gives no tithe, and I see him now and then. Did he lose the salvation in the Remnant Church? And that's sort of my question, and how do I help him?
Doug: Okay, well, the important part of that question is, can a person who once fellowshipped, can they slip away? And the answer is clearly yes. You know, Paul makes it very clear. He says I could preach to others and myself be cast away. You've got examples in the Bible of people who—Hebrews chapter 6, you know, they walked with the Lord, but they turned away and it says it's impossible to renew them to repentance. Now, that would be a unique case, but clearly they've turned away. In Revelation it says repent or I'll take your candlestick out of its place, and he's speaking to the churches. So, how do you reach a friend or a loved one that is drifting? There's typically four things you can do. One is, be a good witness to them. Two, pray for them. Three, if they're open, and this is where it gets a little delicate, share information. You can't, you know, force a person to listen. If you're preaching to your kids and others all the time, you're just going to drive them away, but if they're open, give them a DVD or magazine, or share with them, or a Bible study. Give them a website to look at, and so they can read on their own. And then the fourth thing is do the first three patiently. Don't give up. Keep doing the first three. There's really nothing else you can do. Be a good witness, pray, and pray very powerful, and share information, and continue, persist.
Aron: Amen, yeah, King Solomon was clearly with the Lord for much of his life, but then, it was mentioned a little bite earlier in our show at the beginning, is this brother definitely backslid, and he, in the Book of Ecclesiastes, he describes his life where he just went full-on worldly, but he still came back to the Lord, right? So, you can be with the Lord, leave him, but then still come back, so continue to pray for your friend, your brother in Christ, and yeah, just persevere in those prayers. Well, Larry, thanks so much for calling. Our next caller is Lee, calling in from Texas. Lee, welcome to "Bible Answers Live." What's your question?
Lee: Yes, thank you. Yes, my question is, after the seven last plagues, will people still remain on earth until Christ appears, or does he appear immediately after the seven last plagues, or is there maybe, like, a few days after the seven last plagues and then he appears?
Doug: Well, Pastor Crews may look this up for me, but the seventh plague is synonymous, and I think this is going to be in Revelation 16, yeah. The seventh plague is synonymous with the Second Coming. So, that great earthquake and the hail that falls from heaven, this is the coming of the Lord. And so, at the conclusion of the seventh plague, it's a plague for the lost, but it's really salvation for the saved. Keep in mind when the tenth plague fell upon the Egyptians, that tenth plague was the harbinger that Israel was going to begin its journey the next day. And so, it's interesting there were ten plagues on Egypt, the last seven plagues, God of protected the children of Israel. And it was at the end of the last seven plagues for the Israelites that they were delivered, and it's the last seven that they were protected from, and it's at the end of the seven plagues in Revelation.
Aron: Yeah, and that seventh plague that you're referring to is at the end of Revelation chapter 16. The last few verses, you can read that, and it's clearly the Second Coming of Jesus, is strongly, you know, described there.
Doug: Yeah, thank you, appreciate your question, Lee.
Aron: Alright, our next caller is calling in from North Dakota, and his name is Tom. Hey, Tom, welcome to the show. What's your question?
Tom: Thank you, yeah, I was calling regarding a conversation with a friend regarding the manner in which Jesus is coming the second time. And I shared with him 1 Thessalonians 16 to 17, ascending to meet him in the clouds of heaven. They had the question then, how do we reconcile Zechariah 14:1-5, where he is standing on the Mount of Olives, it splits in two, the day of the Lord?
Doug: So, I'm still not sure. When it says in Zechariah that the feet of the Lord touch the Mount of Olives, this is happening at the end of the one thousand years. The Second Coming, let me explain it, and then I think it'll become clear. Jesus went to heaven, John 14, he said, "I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto Myself, that where I am, you might be." He comes, he takes us up, we are caught up to meet Him in the air, 1 Thessalonians 4. He doesn't touch the ground at that point. We live and reign with Christ for a thousand years, but then you read in Revelation chapter 21, he sees the new Jerusalem coming down from God out of heaven, the redeemed of course are with Him in the city, that's when His feet touch the Mount of Olives, He creates a great valley, the new Jerusalem settles down into this incredible valley that's been created by the Lord touching the earth again. And that also fits in with Zechariah chapter 14 where His feet touch. At that point, His feet touch the earth. It's interesting, Pastor Aron, that Jesus, He said I'm going to come as I left, and it says He ascended from Bethany on the Mount of Olives, an area right between the two, and He's coming back to the Mount of Olives. So, He's literally coming back where He ascended, and His feet are going to touch where they left it off, probably.
Aron: Yeah, yeah, so to just summarize what you just said, Pastor Doug, is that at the Second Coming, we know that He's not going to touch earth again, but a thousand years, right, after His Second Coming, He'll come a third time, along with all of the redeemed, and that's when the new Jerusalem and His feet will touch the earth, and that's when that prophecy of Zechariah 14 will reach a full fulfillment.
Doug: Yeah, the person may want to get our lesson on the millennium to really study that, and it's called "1,000 Years of Peace." If you'd like a free copy, you can ask for it right now.
Aron: Yeah, dial in #250 into your cellphone, and say, "Bible Answers Live." Alright, our next caller is calling in from Florida, and we have Carlos. Hi, Carlos, welcome to the show.
Carlos: Good evening, pastors. So, my question is why were the Ten Commandments put into the Ark of the Covenant and the rest of the law put out beside it? What did this mean? What was the purpose of that?
Doug: Well, there's a distinction made between the two. The most holy object on the planet was the Ten Commandments. What I mean by that is, it was the Word of God, and Jesus is the Word of God, and it was written on rock, and Jesus is the Rock. And in the holy city you've got the holy mountain, and in the holy temple on the holy mountain you've got the holy sanctuary, you got the holy place, you got the Holy of Holies, and the only thing in the Holy of Holies was the holy ark, and in the holy ark you've got the holy law. But the law of God was written with God's finger. The ceremonial laws were written by the hand of Moses, and it mentions those again in Colossians chapter 2. And Moses said they're going to be there to be a witness against you. He's talking again about the ceremonial laws. They were put in a pocked on the outside, because they were of a passing nature, where the ark, written by the hand of God, was of an unchanging nature. One was the hand of man, one was the finger of God, one was written on stone, one was written on parchment, or we'd say paper. So, there was a distinction between the two, one is permanent, eternal, and one is passing. But it was still a sacred record for 2,000 years. Thank you, Carlos, appreciate that and hope that—we do have a lesson called "God Drew the Plans," and it talks about the temple and the ark in that lesson.
Aron: Yeah, and just for the other listeners, the verse that Carols is referencing is Deuteronomy 31 verse 26. That's where it says, "The book of the law shall be placed beside the ark," right, while the Ten Commandments were placed inside of it. Okay, I think we've got time for one more caller, one more question. We have Barbara calling in from Florida. Welcome, Barbara, what is your question this evening for us?
Barbara: Hello, my question is in Ezekiel 16 verses 10 to 13, basically it talks about jewelry, expensive clothes, so I was wondering is it okay for us to wear jewelry and expensive clothes, since it says it's okay in Ezekiel 16 verse 10 through 13?
Doug: Okay, in a Jewish wedding, the dowery and the wedding gifts were often given, they had no paper money, they were often given in the form of the nice clothing. You'll notice that Samson paid for his debt to the Philistines with clothing. But if you read what it says, for example, you have to compare Scripture with Scripture to say, well, how does God feel about jewelry? Go to Isaiah chapter 3 and if you look here, let me see where this begins. Okay, we can say, yeah, "In that day," verse 18, "In that day, the Lord will take away the finery," the daughters of Zion, "The jingling anklets, the scarves, the crescents, the pendants, the bracelets, the veils, the headdresses, the leg ornaments, the headbands, the perfume boxes, the charms, and the rings, the nose jewels, the festal apparel, the mantles, the outer garments, the purses," so describing one is a wedding picture of God marrying the church, but you also have to look at where Paul says, "Let not the women be adorned with gold and pearls," and Peter says, "Let it not be the outward adorning, the wearing of gold," and that's in 1 Peter chapter 3.
We're running out of time. I do have a book that I've written on the subject of Christians and adornment. Now, there's nothing wrong with wearing, you know, quality clothing that won't wear out. Jesus had a nice robe that they didn't want to tear up. But as far as the external frivolous adorning, you know, someone will write a song about would Jesus wear a Rolex? You know, people made fun of evangelists and people that dressed ostentatiously. Christians should be modest in their apparel is a practical principle. So, the book is called "Jewelry, How Much is Too Much?" "Jewelry, How Much is Too Much?" Call 800-835-6747. Quickly, for our friends listening, we sign off in two stages. We're going to say farewell to our friends listening on satellite radio. For the rest of you, we're coming back in just a moment with the rapid-fire Bible questions.
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Aron: Hello, welcome back. We have a few minutes left here, and we have some questions that have been emailed to us. So, Pastor Doug, we're going to try to get through as many of these as we can, so our first question is this. This is by Ari from Norway, intercontinental here. "When Jesus was finished with his mission on earth, did he then need his own redemptive services," so to speak, "If he happened to sin in heaven, since he is still a human?" In other words, is it possible, could Jesus sin in heaven?
Doug: Well, the Bible tells us that Jesus did no sin. Peter tells us that, that He is the sinless one. And so, Christ is the only man that ever lived that never sinned, so He didn't need to have any kind of redemption. You know, when He rose from the dead, He rose with a glorified body, He's pure and perfect, and, heaven forbid, if He did need redemption, His sacrifice on the cross would have covered that, but He didn't.
Aron: Yeah, the last person to ever sin will be Jesus. Next question by Carlene. She asks, "Why wasn't Satan destroyed at the flood? And what is the difference between not destroying him at the flood, but destroying him at the Second Coming?"
Doug: Yeah, good question. Someone's thinking, well, the whole world was destroyed and Satan was outside the ark, why wasn't he destroyed? Well, Paul tells us in Ephesians 6 we don't wrestle against flesh and blood. You can't drown the devil, so to speak, in water. He's a spirit. And the reason he's destroyed is because the fire, when the Lord comes back, is not going to be a three-dimensional fire, it's going to be a fire that is going to be the kind of fire that will also devour angels. The Bible says that the presence of the Lord is a consuming fire, and I don't understand the physics of it all, but God is going to send out whatever nuclear spiritual fire it is that the devil needs, and his angels, to burn them up.
Aron: Yeah, and one more principle real quick is in Matthew 13. Jesus tells a parable about the wheat and the tares. And Jesus says, "Let both grow together until the harvest." There's something about the full maturity of both righteousness and wickedness before God brings a final end.
Doug: Yeah, and then it tells us in Matthew chapter 25:31, it says, "Like a fire prepared for the devil and his angels," Matthew 25 anyway.
Aron: Yeah, there it is.
Doug: Well, hey, friends, out of time. Send us more questions next week. God bless, we look forward to studying with you again next week. And go to AmazingFacts.org.
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