- [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 1-800-835-6747. Once again, that's 1-800-835-6747. Now here's your host, from Amazing Facts International, Pastor Doug Batchelor.
- Hello friends. Would you like to hear an amazing fact? An English fisherman from Worcestershire traveling through France, caught a fish he will not soon forget. 20 years ago, someone introduced a goldfish to the blue water lakes in Champagne, France. Little fish tend to get big, and grow much longer in a big lake, but no one was prepared when Andy Hackett landed the monster goldfish that had grown to 67 pounds. The bright orange goldfish had been spotted many times and was nicknamed the Giant Carrot. After a 25 minute battle, it was all over. A friend teased Andy, you're going to need a bigger fishbowl. It's not very often you see a man using two hands to lift a goldfish nearly as big as a sheep. Mr. Hackett posed with the orange leviathan for a few memorable pictures, before releasing it back into the lake. The fishery now has a waiting list of five years for anyone else who wants a chance at catching the world's biggest goldfish. You know, pastor Ross, I remember once I came home from some school fair and I don't know how I ended up weaning a goldfish for one of our kids. And we put it in a little plastic goldfish bowl, and set it on the kitchen counter. And I honestly thought it would die in about two or three days and that would be the end of that. We had that thing for years, and I mean just, you know, we took, we fed it and took care of it, but I was once we actually thought it was dead, and I put it in the toilet, it came back to life, and then I had to fish it out. Those things are amazing, but I've never seen one get that big.
- That is a big goldfish. You can just imagine the kid coming home and having one of those in its big bowl on his desk. It's just.
- Let those go in the swimming pool.
- That's right. It's a big fish.
- But then, yeah, if you put that in your pool, you'd be afraid it might catch you. And it makes us think about a man that instead of going fishing, he got caught by the fish.
- That's right. Also a really big fish, and we're talking about Jonah, and the story that we find in the Old Testament of the prophet, the reluctant prophet, but God prepared a fish and the fish actually brought Jonah underwater to where he needed to go. But what else is interesting, pastor Doug, is that story of Jonah, being in the belly of the great fish for three days is actually referenced by Jesus.
- Yeah, some people say, well, it didn't really happen. Well, Jesus states it as though it did happen. And you can read that Friends, if you look in your Bibles in the book of Matthew chapter 12, and in verse 39, Jesus said, "An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except for the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish. So will the son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth." And you know, there are many ways when you read the story of Jonah, it is really a, it's a type of Jesus. We learn about Jesus. Sort of allegorically from the story of Jonah. Jesus was asleep in a boat during a storm. They said to Jesus, Lord, do you not care we're perishing? And they woke him up. The captain says to Jonah, do you not care that we're perishing? Then they go up on deck and they cast lots and they cast lots for Jesus and says the sailors did not want to be charged with innocent blood. And Pilate said, "I don't want to be guilty of this man's innocent blood." And you can go through the story of Jonah of course, and then Jonah, looks like he's dead. And after three days and three nights he comes back. And then there's a great revival after his resurrection, which after Jesus' resurrection, the Christian Church goes to the Gentiles. So there's just so many parallels in the story of Jonah and maybe our friends would like to know what some of those lessons are. I didn't even give half of them right now.
- We have a book and the book is called The Sign of Jonah, written by Pastor Doug. And it's just a great read. We'd like to make this available to anyone who is watching. If you are in the US or in Canada and you'd like to receive the book, all you have to do is call the number 1-800-835-6747 and you can ask for offer number 149, or ask for it by name. It's called The Sign of Jonah. Or if you like, you can dial #250 on your cell phone, just #250 and say, "Bible Answers Live, and you'll be able to request the book right there on the phone. Now, if you're outside of North America, and you'd like to read the book, we want to encourage you to go to our website, just amazingfacts.org or.com, and you'll be able to read the book there on our free library. The book again is called The Sign of Jonah. And of course, if you have a Bible question, our phone line here to the studio is 800-463-7297. That's 800-463-7297 or 800. God says, that'll bring you here into the studio with your Bible questions. We also want to greet Pastor Doug, those who are watching on the internet. We are live streaming this program on Facebook on the Doug Batchelor Facebook page on Amazing Facts on YouTube. And also, we have folks who are watching live on Amazing Facts TV, and then of course, listening on the many land-based radio stations as well as satellite radio. So welcome to all of our listeners. Before we get to your questions, we want to start with a word of prayer. Dear Father in heaven, we thank You that we have this time where we can open up the Bible and study together the most important book that contains the most important story, the most important subject, and that centers around Christ. Thank You for the opportunity to study together, be with those who are listening and guide us here in the studio. We ask us in Jesus' name, Amen.
- Amen.
- While we're ready to go to the phone lines, our first caller this evening, we've got David listening in Arizona. David, welcome to the program.
- [David] Hello, good evening, pastor Basher, pastor Ross.
- Evening.
- Praise the Lord for using you both and the ministry Amazing Facts. Bless all you and your families.
- Well, thank you.
- [David] I work here as a volunteer missionary on the Navajo reservation and you know, there's a lot of people in need and Lord's using me quite a bit, helping people. And one day it impressed me, I asked the Lord, I said, Lord, I says, "You've used me to do this, and I know that you provide blessings for helping people. So if there is any blessings that you have for me, would you please give it to this person?" Or you know, who I was helping at the time. And since then I've done that several times and I was just curious what your thoughts were about that.
- Yeah, well of course, people cannot of their own transfer a blessing except as God does that now, you know, when the Lord instructed Isaac and Jacob, they placed their hands on their sons and they kind of conveyed a promise and a blessing. Jesus put his hands on the children and bless them. But the most important way that we transfer blessing is simply by praying that God will bless somebody. And which sounds like what you're doing, it's, but this, it's not really a ritual. We just ask God to, you know, bless this person, and it's okay to ask God to bless you too. There's a story of Jabez in the Bible and he says, "Lord bless me." And it says, God blessed him and answered his prayer. So just praying that God will bless the people that are working in your wake, and I'll send you Navajo greetings to you and any of your friends that are there around the four corners area. Keep up the good work and thank you for your call. David.
- We've got Anthony listening in New York. Anthony, welcome to the program.
- [Anthony] Hello, good evening, pastors.
- Evening.
- [Anthony] My question is based on Daniel chapter four, verse 15, And it says, "Nevertheless." And this is the dream of Nebuchadnezzar where he jumped up the big tree and it says, "Nevertheless, leave the stump of his roots in the earth, even with a band of iron and brass in the tender grass of the field and let it be wet with the dew of heaven and let his portion be with the beasts and the grass of the earth." My question is, is there any prophetic significance to the types of metals mentioned there? Mentioned in there with the iron and the brass, similar to the one of his first string with the metal man.
- Right, yeah. And I think that you also find the iron in the brass in Daniel, is it Daniel Seven? The fourth beast that got teeth of iron and claws of brass. So, you know, every word of God is valid and means something. And I've looked at this before, because typically, when you look at the story in Daniel chapter four, it's not a problem. Well, this Daniel gives a prophecy of what's going to happen to Nebuchadnezzar, but we usually don't apply that with the day for the year, because it tells us the fulfillment of that prophecy when the seven times pass is the seven years of Nebuchadnezzar's insanity, and that his kingdom would be preserved. Now I've done a lot of wood cutting and falling of trees. I was doing some last week and some trees, when you cut it, if you cut it above the ball root, they will come back. A man's in need and many other trees or on a drone. They'll come back even an oak, they might put a band of iron or bronze around it to protect that, the tree, the stump, from being, you know, beaten up by people or something that might go by. And I think that maybe that's put there for that reason. I've had some people say, "Well if the iron represents Rome, and the bronze represents Greece, and that maybe this prophecy as a dual application and the seven times we're talking about the people of God, and that they would be preserved as a nation and Israel would come back." I've heard people apply it that way. But I think we need to stick with the regular interpretation that's given by Daniel, that Nebuchadnezzar was the fulfillment.
- All right, very good. Thank you for your call. Anthony. We've got Terrence listening in North Carolina. Terrence, welcome to the program.
- [Terrence] Hey pastors, how are you tonight?
- Good.
- Yeah.
- [Terrence] Good. I got a quick question here. Did Enoch and Elijah go boldly to heaven or were they taken up and buried like Moses was in reference to John 3:13?
- Yeah. Well, I don't believe that flesh and blood can inherit the kingdom of God, meaning these Colonel corruptible bodies, where is it in 1 Corinthians 15, I think Pastor Ross where Paul says this corruption will put on incorruption in the moment, in the twinkle an eye we are transformed. That doesn't mean that one body has to get buried and then God creates another one. I think that with Enoch, when he walked with God and he went through that portal, that cosmic portal where he went from our world into heaven, I think God transformed him and gave him a glorified body. And the same thing with Elijah, when he went to heaven in the fiery chariot, I think he experienced a transformation and got a glorified body. His body is not the regular one we are in now, that gets sick and old and has aches and pains.
- You also mentioned Terrace, John chapter three, verse 13, and maybe this is part of the question, pastor Doug, Jesus said, "No one has ascended up to heaven, but he has come down from heaven that is the son of man." So are you wondering, Terrence, how could they ascend to heaven if Jesus says no one has ascended to heaven?
- [Terrence] Also in reference to 2 Kings 2, one through 11, it says Elijah was taken up into heaven by a whirlwind afterwards, Philippines men searched for three days but cannot find them for the word heaven often refers to the, you know, the sky and whirlwinds can't take anyone into God's heaven. So that's my question. Were they taken into heaven? I mean.
- Yes.
- [Terrence] Or were they buried, yes?
- Yeah. Well, because, it's says Enoch walk with God and it was not for God took him, well, God took him to himself. And one reason we know Elijah went to heaven is if you go to the New Testament, Mark chapter nine, Elijah, along with Moses, appear in real glorified bodies, talking with Jesus. And Peter, James and John saw that. So no reason to doubt that Enoch's not there too.
- Just a comment real quick on the verse you mentioned in John chapter 3:13, people wonder what did Jesus mean when he said no one has ascended up heaven, but He has come down. The context that Jesus talking about, no one has ascended up heaven to have truth, to find truth, and then come back down to the earth from heaven with truth to share it other than Christ. So the statement is not saying no one has ever ascended to heaven. Because of course, Enoch and Elijah dead and Moses was resurrected taken to heaven, but no one has gone from earth to heaven and then come back down to the earth to share truth. Jesus, the one that has come down from heaven. So that's the context there in John chapter three.
- Yep. Next call that we have is Lori, listening from Illinois. Lori, welcome to the program.
- [Lori] Thank you for taking my call. I really, really appreciate it. I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around Matthew 18:18. I've looked at the commentary and everything and I spoke, I'm having a hard time understanding that, and I was wondering if you could explain that to me.
- All right, let's read it to our friends. "Assuredly I say to you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven and whatever you lose on earth will be loose in heaven." And I think for one thing, Jesus is affirming that He was giving the church authority for church discipline. And He's, you know, saying a lot of Matthew 18 is talking about when there's conflict in the church and how to resolve conflict in the church. And some people might have behavior that means that they would be put out of the fellowship of the church. Paul addressed that same thing in 1 Corinthians I think in chapter seven. He was talking about somebody that was sleeping with his father's wife, ostensibly his stepmother, and he said, you should put such a one out. I think that the Lord was saying that He would support and respect that, but even beyond that, it's saying that when we preach the gospel, our failure to do it, it makes a difference in heaven. Sharing the gospel with others and they find Christ what's happening on earth affects the results in heaven.
- All right, thank you for your call Lori, we've got Janet listening in Nevada. Janet, welcome to the program.
- [Janet] Hello, Pastor Doug and Pastor Ross. It's really a wonderful blessing to talk with you guys. I've been waiting for this phone call. Thank you so much for taking my phone call. My question is this, in the context of John chapter 10:10, we see Satan here as the architect of death, right? Jesus told Satan, "You Satan, the thief came to steal." And I'm going to emphasize a radical truth here about killing. I'd rather change it to murder, right?
- Okay.
- [Janet] Because right from the mouth of Jesus, He told in Judges 8:44, he told the pharisees, you're like your, your father the devil, who in the beginning was a murderer. So Satan is a murderer. So in my evangelism I used murder instead of killed. Satan is up to killing for no reason. So the I see here Satan as the architect of death. Now my question is the, you know, the, the dead loved ones, that usually visit the beloved family of the dead. I would like to confirm this with you. It could be your up to Jesus or your eye to Jesus. I would say it that way in that context, I'd like you to affirm if this is the demonic spirit sent by Satan to murder somebody in a stage four cancer, like say died of stage four cancer. Because as we see too, I heard about this cancer being healed in the power of prayer. So.
- Yeah.
- [Janet] I would say that, correct me if I'm wrong, if this is right or wrong, you can say you are critical biblical interpretation or your eye to Jesus. I will appreciate your answer to this question. Thank you.
- Okay, Janet. Yes. And first let me read for our friends that are listening, you quoted John chapter 10:10, "The thief does not come except to steal, to kill and to destroy. I've come that they might have life and that they might have it more abundantly." Now, certainly, Jesus heals, and you can read about that woman in the gospel that says, she was bent over for 18 years. I'm trying to remember the passage. And Jesus said, you know, it's if you would lead your Ox or donkey to water on the Sabbath, then what's wrong with releasing this woman from her bondage? She was doubled over physically in pain and whom Satan has bound. And so Jesus does confirm, at least in this case, that Satan does bring sickness and death. You know, God's plan is an abundance of life. Jesus came to heal people, He was often healing. Now that doesn't mean that everybody with cancer, any kind of disease is healed. Christ can go beyond even healing stage four cancer. He can raise the dead. And I do know people with stage four cancer that have been healed. So he certainly can do that. He doesn't in every case. We know that in the resurrection, all believers are healed, so they will be healed. But yeah, the devil was the one who ultimately brought sin and death and disease into our world.
- The verse you're referring to pastor Doug is Luke chapter 13:16.
- The woman who has doubled over.
- Yeah, the Satan is bounder these 18 years.
- Yeah.
- So that's the reference there.
- So yes, the devil does because that's sickness.
- Next call that we have is Frank listening from the Netherlands. Frank, welcome to the program.
- [Frank] Hello.
- Hi.
- [Frank] So I have a question, from Leviticus I think. It's about the unclean laws, when a woman has loss of blood loss or when a man does a sin, they are unclean for a certain amount of time. What is the spiritual meaning today?
- Yeah, how would you apply some of these laws? Well, you would divide up the laws in the Old Testament in a few different categories. Some of them of course are you're just moral law. That's the 10 Commandments. God treats it differently because he delivered it and wrote it differently. And the Bible calls that the covenant that God made, then you had certain civil laws, and Moses was given a number of civil laws about how people were to be governed and judged and what the various punishments would be for various crimes. Then there were some ceremonial laws and that had to do with the sanctuary and its services and the sacrificial system. Even circumcision is part of the ceremonial law. And then you had some health laws and so depending on which one you're citing, the Bible says that the nation of Israel, they believe that and you know it's actually very modern, very good modern science. They thought any unnatural issue from the body, could make a person unclean. And so they were to be set aside, whether they had a sore running or whatever, it might be emission from the body was considered unclean. And so they would wash and they'd be unclean for a designated period of time. Now, it was a little different for a woman during the monthly cycle and that's actually true in many cultures of the world. Yeah, blood is considered unclean and they were to, you know, wash if they were exposed to it. So that would be probably on the kind of a combination of a health and a ceremonial law. because some of it had to do with natural cleanliness and then some of it had to do with blood and the sanctuary. I thought, you know, one reason I say that is the time that a woman would stay away from the sanctuary when she had a man child was about half of that for when she had a woman baby, a female baby. So obviously, there's some spiritual significance to that, that health wise there would be no difference.
- All right, very good. Well, thank you Frank. We've got, let's see, Maggie listening from Washington. Maggie, welcome to the program.
- [Maggie] Oh, thank you for taking my call. I appreciate it. I want to let you gentlemen know that I pray for you daily that the Lord would put a hedge about you. And.
- Oh, thank you.
- [Maggie] My question is, could you explain Hanukkah, where it came from, what the history is? Is it a biblical practice or just where does it come from? And thank you so much for your answer.
- Yeah, well, in the typical Protestant Bible, you're not going to find the history of Hanukkah. You would find it in the story of the Maccabees. That's a period of time between, it's called the inter testament period of time between Malachi and Matthew. During the time of the Maccabees, they ran out of oil in the temple and God miraculously kept the lamp burning for seven days. And that's why you'll often see Hanukkah is symbolized by a Menorah, the Jewish seven pointed candlestick, and they light the candles, and it's based on this miracle. And I don't have any reason to doubt the miracle, but there's no command in the typical Bible about Hanukkah. You will have a reference in the Bible to the Feast of Purum, which is in the book of Esther. And of course Passover, and the others are going to be there.
- All right, thank you for your call.
- Thank you Meg.
- We've got Lee listening in Texas. Lee, welcome to the program.
- [Lee] Yes sir. Thank you Pastors. I apologize for calling so many times.
- I don't, we haven't made a note of it, so don't worry.
- [Lee] Okay. My question is that, is the death decree the end of probation? Or is the mark of the beast the end of probation? I've been trying to find out that for quite a number of time.
- All right, well let's see if we can help you now. First of all, for our friends that are listening, Lee is talking about in Revelation 13, in the final conflict with the beast power. It comes in two phases. Phase one, is the beast Power is going to try to manipulate the world to a certain form of worship. And obviously it'll happen in degrees. First they'll say, well, you know, we're going to control your buying and selling and unless you cooperate, you cannot buy or sell. And when that's finally not effective for God's people, they're going to say, all right, we're going to the phase two, which is there'll be a death decree in a certain date and you'll be killed. You see in the book of Daniel, there was a death decree, if they did not worship the image of Nebuchadnezzar. So it's interesting Pastor Ross that even now in the world, when the United Nations get together, and certain countries that are behaving badly, they have international monetary sanctions that control the buying and selling. So on an international level, that's already happening. But as far as I know, United Nations is not compelling people to worship certain way yet. I mean it could happen, but, so I don't think probation closes until you get to the death decree phase, because during that first phase, when you can't buy or sell, I think the Christians are going to be preaching and practicing and there'll be many people converted maybe during that time, but certainly by the time they issue a death decree, I think probation will have closed and the seven last plagues begin to fall. By the way, when the seven last plagues begin to fall, if you look out your window, you live by the ocean, it's turned to blood, probation's closed, or if you live by a river and it's turned to blood, probation's closed. So any other thoughts on that?
- Yeah, just to add to that, so you know, we have different phases. In Revelation 13, as you mentioned, the first is those who refuse to acknowledge the beast power or worship the bee’s power, they can't buy on sale. And then at some point in time, there is the close of probation, you got the seven last plagues. And it seems as though the death decree comes about, because at that point in time you have a false prophets arising, and false Christ, and they're doing miracles, and they're galvanizing the world and they're pointing to this group of people are refuse to come along with the rest of the world in this particular form of worship. And the reason all these bad things are happening, they're going to point to this group of people and say, well that's the reason. And that's really going to help motivate this universal death decree. The good news is, that before this death decree can be carried out, Jesus comes, He comes to delivery His people, so that death decrees never enact. And of course we have parallels in the Bible. We have the story of Esther, when there was a death decree against the Jews, but that death decree was never carried out. So we do see some parallels in history as well.
- Yep. The Lord will deliver His people, just like He did to Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the fiery furnace. And Daniel from the lions den, I think that, and Joseph from his trials, and Job from his trials, God is going to save us through that time of tribulation. Well listening friends, we're going to take a break in just a moment and keep in mind, you can also learn a lot more about amazing facts and what we do by going to our website. It's simply amazingfacts.org. Now, just yesterday, I was meeting some people and they're looking for Bible studies in different languages. We have a website that's dedicated to Bible studies and it's called bibleuniverse.com, bibleuniverse.com. And we've got bible study guides there that you can go through for free and Romanian and Hungarian and German and French, and a number of different languages. So Amazing Facts is offering these materials to the world in as many major languages as we can find. So don't go anywhere friends, check out both bible universe.com and amazing facts.org. We'll be back in just a few moments, be taking more Bible questions from you.
- [Announcer] Stay tuned. Bible Answers Live will return shortly.
- [Announcer] Life can be overwhelming. Where can an on-the-go woman find quality time with God? The new amazing Treasures of Faith box set from Amazing Facts empowers your devotional life with inspiring resources that will bring lasting peace into your busy life. This beautifully designed box set by Women for Women comes with a 31 day devotional recipe and scripture cards and special messages from Pastor Doug and Karen Batchelor. Get your amazing treasures of faith box set today. Just call 538-7275 or visit afbookstore.com.
- [Announcer] Do you feel as though your world is spiraling out of control 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.
- 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, 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] Send a gift of any amount to receive your copy of Pastor Doug's new book, Finding Peace In a World of Worry, call 877-232-2871 today.
- [Announcer] You are 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.
- [Announcer] This broadcast is a previously recorded episode. If you'd like answers to your Bible related questions on the air, please call us next Sunday between 7:00 PM and 8:00 PM Pacific Time to receive any of the Bible resources mentioned in this evening's program, call 1-800-835-6747. Once again, that's 1-800-835-6747. Now let's rejoin our hosts for more Bible Answers Live.
- Welcome back listening friends to Bible Answers Live. And if you have any Bible questions, we invite you to give us a call. It is a free phone call and it's simply 800, God says that's 800-463-7297 with your Bible questions. My name is Doug Batchelor.
- My name is Jean Ross. You're going to go back to Sean, who he is listening in Oklahoma. Sean and welcome to Bible Answers Live. You on the air.
- [Sean] Hey guys, can you hear me?
- Loud and clear.
- [Sean] All right, cool. Okay, so about a couple years ago, oh, I wanted to thank you guys for doing this. It's so cool.
- Oh, we enjoy it.
- [Sean] Especially with today's technology and stuff. It's the best idea.
- Thank you.
- [Sean] Okay, so years ago I was mowing lawns and a really nice customer of ours gave me, I think it was way before I woke up to the truth and everything. Sorry I get a little nervous.
- That's all right.
- [Sean] It always happens. I was so calm before I got on here. But then your heart rate starts to pound and you get on. I'm so sorry.
- Oh, don't worry.
- [Sean] Anyways, okay, so the customer lady, she was so nice and she helped, I helped her with a moving some stuff and as a gift she gave me this huge wood carved elephant, like three foot tall, beautiful thing. She said it was like original from Thailand, like it was over 70 years old or something.
- Wow.
- [Sean] And yeah, and it's beautiful and it's been sitting around and we had a move about four or five months ago and I remember moving it and like on the move I was like, wow, there's a lot of like carved animals and carved, you know, stone stuff that looks like animals and that, and you know, you can hear, you can kind of hear the spirit and kind of, you know, the back of your head being like this, this isn't cool, you know, or something like that. And.
- Sorry, are you wondering if it's a conflict biblically for a Christian to own something carved like that?
- [Sean] Yeah, and I was, I just kind of like, and it, the thing is like I don't want to give it to a friend because I don't want to just, do I burn it up, what do I do with it, you know?
- Yeah. All right, well let me, first of all, if the Holy Spirit is telling me something, I don't want to, you know, advise you against that. But in the word, having something that is carved is not necessarily a sin because the Lord told the, even when they were right after God gave the 10 Commandments, they were told to build the sanctuary and God had them carve angels and put them on top of the ark and they overlaid them with gold. Now they weren't to worship the angels, they were to worship God. And then when Solomon built this temple, they made 12 oxen that were just an artistic function, but they held up this giant labor and you know, they had bells and pomegranates and angels and different things that were carved that were in the temple. God told Moses to make a go, make a bronze serpent once and that people would look at the serpent on a pole. And he did. But by the time Hezekiah, the people had idolized the serpent and they were praying to it and his like, I crushed it to powder and I think he said , which means a thing of brass. It was this piece of brass and people were praying to it. So if you've got, you know, a flamingo on your lawn, it doesn't mean you're praying to flamingos. It may just be something artistic. If you've got, I can't speak for Pastor Ross, but you know, when we've been to Israel and Indian, some of the different places people have given me like, you know, soapstone carvings of camels or olive wood of camels and stuff, we've got them around our window or whatever. I've never felt convicted. It's a form of idolatry, it's just a piece of artwork. If I was ever attempted to burn a candle in front of it and say a prayer, well then that's worship, you know? So if you've got a photograph in your wallet, it would be a representation. Technically it's an image, an image is a likeness. You couldn't have photographs of your kids or anything. But God doesn't say the commandment means you cannot own a likeness or representation. He said don't make these things and bow down to them. Now, because some people are tempted to pray to Mary and Jesus. I think you got to be very careful about having a statue of Jesus or Mary or these things around because you don't want tempt other people to pray to those things.
- Absolutely. All right, well hopefully that helps Sean. Next call the behalf is Ricardo in California. Ricardo, welcome to the program.
- [Ricardo] Yeah, hi, how are you.
- Doing Great. How can we help you?
- Yeah, okay. So I have a question Nehemiah 9:14, and it has to do with the Sabbath, because I do speak with some people group, I'm not going to mention it just in group, but they say that the Sabbath started in Genesis, but I haven't seen any commandments in Genesis.
- So are you wondering if the Sabbath predates the 10 Commandments? Did Israel have the Sabbath before the 10 Commandments?
- [Ricardo] Yeah, so my question is, okay, when you look at the the Sabbath, it seems to appear at the, with Moses at Mount Sinai from that point on. But there's no record, I don't see anything in Genesis.
- Okay, well let's look at that. First of all, when you look in Genesis chapter two, after God makes the world in six days and he rests the seventh day, you could read in chapter two of Genesis that thus the heavens and the earth were finished and all the hosts of them. And God rested the seventh day from all the works that he had created and made. And God blessed the Sabbath day and three times it mentions the seventh day, God rest. He blessed it, He set it aside, He sanctifies it. And then Jesus. Now in the New Testament He says the Sabbath was made for man. And the word that Jesus used is the word Anthropos and it means humanity, mankind. It's where we get the word anthropology. Yeah, it's study of, of mankind. So clearly, when God made the Sabbath and he rested, and man is made in God's image, man was resting back in the garden of Eden. And if that's not adequate, then you have in Exodus chapter 16, before they get to Mount Sinai, and God gives the 10 commandments. God says, look, you got hungry, I'm going to give you bread from heaven six days a week. I'll give you twice as much on Friday so you don't have to gather it on the Sabbath day. And he said, this is the Sabbath of the Lord. And then if you get to the commandment itself in Exodus 20, it says, it is the Sabbath of the Lord. It doesn't say the Sabbath of the Jews. So the Sabbath Day, man has always needed a a day of rest and worship. It didn't just begin there in Exodus 20, you find it even in Exodus 16. In fact, when Moses and Aaron went to meet with the Pharaoh, first they met with the elders of Israel and they said, you need to return to the Lord and start obeying him again. It's understood they started keeping the Sabbath because Pharaoh says you're to Moses, you're making the people Shabbat and that word is Sabbath. You are making them Sabbath. I'm not going to give you straw for your bricks anymore. So even they're in Exodus, I think it's five, that's Exodus three Anyway, but when Moses comes back, you see the Sabbath as an issue there. And it says in Isaiah, it says, even in heaven from one Sabbath to another will all flesh come and worship before. So certainly between creation and the nation of Israel, God's people were keeping a day of rest in worship.
- The commandment itself says, 'Remember the Sabbath to keep it holy." So if it begins with remember, it would imply that there is something that existed that they need to remember or consider. And of course the Sabbath, As you mentioned Pastor Doug, dates all the way back to Genesis chapter two where we find the creation of the Sabbath.
- Yeah. And then you look in Genesis 26:5, speaking of Abraham says, "Because Abraham obeyed my voice, kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes and my laws, what were the laws of God? 10 commandments were not given in Genesis, they're not given until you get to Exodus. But Abraham knew about the commandments and the laws of God in Genesis 26.
- All right, very good. We do have a study guide, it's called the Lost Day of History. And we'll be happy to send this to anyone who calls and ask. The number to call for that is 835-6747. That is the resource phone line, that's 835-6747. Or if you're North America, just dial #250, and say, "Bible Answers Live." And you'll be able to get the free offer that way. It's called the Lost Day in History. It's got all the verses and it talks about the Sabbath. Next call that we have is Jean listening in Sweden. Jean, welcome to the program.
- [Jean] Hello. Thank you for taking my call.
- Thank you for calling.
- [Jean] Say hey, I just want to say I love both of your work and so your blessing. So I've been studying in the Bible especially to understand the doctrine of the Godhead, who is the partisan Holy Spirit. And I've been also reading like from the old ear books of the C church. And I noticed that right now when the website says we believe in one God who is as three beings, whereas like in the previous years, like the pioneers times like year 10, year 1915, they said, we believe in one God who is the Father as one. So my question is from the Bible especially, yeah, like verses like 1 Corinthians 8:6, "We have one God, the father of whom all things, and one Lord Jesus through whom are all things." How can we combine that understanding, and the pioneers with what is right now being shown in the state church?
- Okay, I appreciate your question. Well first of all, when you say the pioneers, you know there are different church fathers through history that have had in a variety of beliefs on different issues. Ultimately we need to go to the Bible. It doesn't matter whether the pioneer or Protestant pioneers like Luther and Calvin who didn't agree on some things, or as Wing Lee or Huss, you know, there's some, they were some great godly people, but they maybe didn't have everything right. But as time goes by, and we continue to study the scriptures, it I think makes it very clear that God is composed of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit. Now if I understand correctly, you're saying the one God is just God, what we would call God the Father. But if you look at the definitions for God in the Bible, you'll find that Jesus fulfills all those definitions. The Bible says that there's only one savior God, Jehovah. While the Bible tells us that Jesus is savior, the Bible tells us in one Corinthians, I'm sorry, said 1 Kings chapter eight, God and God only knows the thoughts of men's hearts, yet it says Jesus knew what was in man. Jesus knew what was in their hearts. And you can find that God and God only can forgive sin. The Bible tells us, speaking of Jehovah, which I believe you would think would be the principle of God the Father. Well the Bible tells us, Jesus said that you might know the son of man has power on earth to forgive sin. The Bible says, "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth." Well then you read in the gospel of John, Jesus created all things. So wherever you find the different attributes of God in the Old Testament, you see in the New Testament that Jesus mirrors all those things. He is God the Son. Of course, He was limited when He became a man on earth, laid aside His divinity as it says in Philippians. But I think the church fathers agree that Jesus is, He's all knowing now, He knows everything, that He's all powerful, that He has all the characteristics of God.
- You know, we have a book that's called the Trinity. Is it biblical? And we'll be happy to send that to anyone who calls and asks. The number is 1-800-835-6747. And you can ask for the book, it's called The Trinity, and we'll be happy to get it in the mail if you're in North America or in Canada and we'll send it to you. Of course Canada is in North America. I'm talking about the US and Canada.
- Right. They're a little further north.
- That is, they're a little further north. We got Brenda listening in Maryland. Brenda, welcome to Bible Answers Live.
- [Brenda] Hi.
- Hi. Thanks for waiting. And your question?
- [Brenda] Okay, my question is, is it wrong to take money from your sibling for your own gain, knowing that she is a non-believer and has decided to continue in her sin because it is her lifestyle? Where is that in the Bible? Is it talked about?
- Well, let's just talk through this together. Is there any moral dilemma in receiving or borrowing money from a believer or believer? I don't know of any place. I mean, if you go to the bank, and even borrow money from the bank, they're certainly not a believer. And there's no moral dilemma. If you've got a transaction, if someone's giving you a gift, they don't have to be a believer. If someone gives you a gift of, and they say, well, you know, I don't really believe in God, but I believe in the church's mission program, well say, praise the Lord and take it and continue your mission program. So what is your concern? Is your concern that you'll somehow endorsing your sister's unbelief by receiving financial aid?
- [Brenda] Yeah.
- No. And hopefully, she won't think that, you know, they're two separate matters, needing some financial help is you're not endorsing what her theological beliefs are. It's a completely different level. It's, you know, you're talking about, you know, practical financial matters. So can you think, I can't think of a reason that that would be a conflict? Yeah. So, you know, continue to be a good witness for your sister. You said sibling, but then you said she, so I'm assuming it's a sister. So yeah, just three things you can do to reach her is, well, four things. Be a good witness. Share information if she will listen, pray for her. And the fourth thing is continue to do the first three things. Be patient.
- All right, next, Carice, listening in Washington. Carice, welcome to the program.
- [Carice] Hello, good night.
- Evening.
- [Carice] Thank you for taking my call. I just got a question from Matthew 12:3-5. Was God saying it was okay for David action and the priest action? Because he said David ate the shewbread.
- Yes. Jesus is, first of all, Jesus apostles are being criticized because they're, you know, eating grain out of the fields on the Sabbath day. And Jesus is defending them and saying, you know, it's silly for you to accuse the apostles of gleaning or harvesting or doing work on the Sabbath. All they were doing was picking heads off the grain. They'd rub them in their hands, they'd blow the chaff away and pop them in their mouths. They're just walking along and grabbing, it's perfectly legal to glean according to the Bible stuff that you could reach from the road. And they weren't laboring, it wasn't labor intensive. And then Jesus pointed back to how David, when he was running from Saul, he went to the priest and said, you know, I, and I guess a couple men with him are very hungry and they used to replace the holy bread in from the holy place and they had some what you would call day old bread. And the priest said, well the only bread that we have we can give you is the bread we took out of the temple. And if you know, you and the young men have been living holy lives, you can have it. And David took it. Now that was no sin for David to take that bread. The priest said that they could and he told them what the criteria were. The sin was. David lied and said he was on business for the king, but there was nothing wrong with David on the Sabbath. They getting this bread from the priest. Is that your understanding Pastor Ross?
- Yeah. And I think the point of the whole, the reason Jesus even brings that up is because in verse seven he makes the point. He says, "But if you would've known what this means, I desire mercy not sacrifices, you would not have condemned the guiltless." So I think Jesus is saying that when it comes to showing mercy and helping those in need, that is a very high priority when it comes to God. And here you have David and his man and they are suffering hunger. They've been running for many days. They are faint. They need food. And it was an act of mercy to allow them to eat of the used shewbread Dale shewbread. So I think the point Christ is emphasizing is the most important thing is mercy. And that's what you're neglecting when it comes to your dealing with their traditions and their laws.
- Yes.
- For example, just a quick example of that Pastor I give, you know, the Bible speaks about remembering the Sabbath to keep it holy. And you don't want to be involved in secular labor on that day. But let's say you have a friend who is in desperate need, let's say they sick and they need medical attention. You don't want them to suffer during the hours of the Sabbath. You want to do everything you can to help them and leave that pain and that suffering that is showing mercy.
- Yeah. And that's really the principle that Christ is emphasizing. Or if someone's hungry, give them something to eat.
- Absolutely.
- Alright, thank you for your call. Next call that we have is Raylene in Texas. Raylene, welcome to the program.
- [Raylene] Hello Mr. Batchelor.
- Hi, how are you Raylene?
- [Raylene] Hi, I'm fine. It's good to talk to you.
- Well likewise. What's your question tonight?
- [Raylene] I know someone, that I guess would say is a minister and they're preaching the gospel to the Israelites and a lot of things that he's saying I, I disagree with, especially when it comes to the 10 commandment law of God. He is trying to get the Israelites to come to Christ that I agree with. Because a lot of them don't believe in Christ. But the thing of it is that I disagree with because a lot of them keep the Sabbath. They not going to want to, they can't, you can't get them to let go of that teaching when the Sabbath is for all means. And then it's a lot of, you know, us on the other side that need to let go of Sunday and learn about God's day, the Sabbath. So you know, it is like that's what he's doing is dividing still the people. Because the only way you going, you can't get them. Like the both need to come together, in other words.
- Right.
- [Raylene] Those that keep Sunday need to really learn the true day. And those that already keep themselves need to come to Christ. And then keep saying that it is almost like he's saying we need to come to Christ house because Christ has his own house. Okay. The house of steal the house of God to me.
- Yeah.
- [Raylene] You know, it's not God, Christ's not going to teach separate from the Father.
- Yeah. You know, the good news is that, Jesus really says that there's, you know, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, God is not calling us into different truths. There's one truth. The Bible says, "God says I am the Lord." I do not change Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. And if you read in Galatians chapter two, it says that in Christ there is neither male or female, bond or free Jew or Gentile. Now that means that we are all called together to worship together in one truth. And so, now I can understand, you might tailor your message a little bit for different people because to try and reach them, but the goal is to bring them into one truth. Paul said, you know, to the Jews, I become a Jew to reach the Jews and to the Gentiles like a Gentiles reach the Gentiles. So you got to be sensitive to where people are and make sure you're preaching to them and what their needs are. But ultimately he wants us to come together and be in one body.
- All right. Thank you for your call Raylene. We've got Patrick listening in Kentucky. Patrick, welcome to the program.
- [Patrick] Hi there. How y'all doing?
- Doing great. Thanks for calling.
- [Patrick] So my question is, I'm sure you've answered this before, but I just, I've never heard it, but so I've always heard, I don't know if you guys heard this or not, but when Jesus died, when he I guess was in the tomb, but his spirit was walking around, I'm not really sure how it works, but I've heard that he went down to hell to preach. Well I've always have known and that whenever we die, that we don't know nothing until Jesus comes back, then the dead, then Christ will rise. Well if he did go preach to people in Hell, who were they or how were they in hell?
- Yeah.
- [Patrick] That makes sense.
- Yeah, I think now what's that verse again pastor?
- Yeah. I think I've got it here 1 Peter chapter 3.
- There you go.
- And the reason we know the verse, because we do get this question quite often, let me read it. It says, "For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust that he might bring us to God being put to death in the flesh, but made alive by the Spirit by whom all say went and preached to the spirits in prison who formally were disobedience once the divine long suffering waited in the days of Noah while the arc was being prepared, in which a few, that his eight souls was saved through water."
- Yeah, so when people hear that Jesus preached to the spirits in prison, they think, and then they hear about the days of Noah. They say, oh, when Jesus died on the cross, He didn't really die, but he went down to hell and he preached another whole evangelistic series for all the people that died in the days of Noah in the flood. That's really a bizarre teaching, because the people in the days of Noah, they had 120 years to hear Christ preach through Noah. And this is what Peter's actually saying, he's referring us back to, if you go in your Bible, the Genesis chapter 6:3, God said, "My spirit will not strive with man forever for ye indeed flesh. Yet his days will be 120 years. Now that didn't mean they're going to live 120 years. It meant that God was giving them back then 120 years until the flood came, that they could hear Noah preach through the Spirit. God spoke to those imprisoned by sin. They weren't dead or in a dungeon somewhere. But Christ was preaching even back in the days of Noah through the same spirit that arose him from the dead. That's all it's saying. When Christ died on the cross, He died. He was not alive in a, He wasn't disembodied and roaming around and then suddenly, you know, returned back to the tomb. He was dead until he was raised Sunday morning and he wasn't on any journeys or doing any, any deeds anywhere. So this is a verse that has often been misunderstood and we have a lesson called "Are the Dead really dead?" And we'll be happy to share that with you if that would be of help. The number to call is 835-6747 and you can ask for that study guide it's called "Are the Dead Rarely Dead?" We'll be happy to send it to you. Also, you can just dial #250 on your cell phone and say "Bible Answers Live." And you'll be able to get the book that way.
- All right, listening Friends, just so you understand Amazing Facts broadcast both to land-based stations and satellite networks. We sign off in two stages. We're going to say goodbye to our friends listening on satellite. The rest of you stand by. We're going to be going through a number of internet questions that you have sent in. Don't go anywhere and we'll be back for the others, we'll see you next week.
- [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 could stay by, we've got a number of questions, pastor Doug that have been sent to Amazing Facts. If you'd like to send us an email question, the email address is just simply BAL at, well, BALquestions@amazingfacts.org. I've got to make it straight here. BALquestions@amazingfacts.org and you can send us your Bible questions. Alright, pastor Doug, the first question for today, what does it mean when Jesus said the first shall be last and the last shall be first in Matthew 20:16?
- Yeah, it means if you follow me to the grocery line, you'll probably be last, because I always pick the longest line. No, actually Jesus is saying that even though the Jewish nation had been chosen back in the days of Abraham, that they might be surprised that there would be Gentiles that would accept and embrace the gospel with even more enthusiasm. They could be in the kingdom first. And so he was trying to explain to the Jewish nation, just because you were first called doesn't mean that you know, the others are precluded. He wants everyone to be saved.
- Okay, the next question that we have. Does God expect us to forgive a person straight away if they hurt us or is forgiving someone a process of time?
- You know, I think God understands that if you've been deeply hurt, that while a Christian knows we are commanded to forgive, and you may choose in your heart to forgive right away, there may be a little bit of a healing process where you lick your wounds, and I think God understands that. But you know, he wants us to make that decision. To follow His word and to ultimately forgive everybody doesn't mean you need to trust them again or be involved with him again. But we need to forgive otherwise it hurts us.
- Okay, another question that we have, what did Jesus mean when he said the night is coming when no one can work?
- Well, the work that Jesus is talking about is sharing the gospel of the kingdom. And in the time of Christ, they had a certain amount of freedom. They were actually protected by the Romans at first to preach the gospel. But a great persecution came that made it very difficult. It was a night, a spiritual night. You can also see that prophetically in Revelation during the time when that the Dark horse came and the Red Horse persecution. And now for us living in the last days, we've got great freedom for preaching the gospel in many countries, not all, but the time is coming where persecution from the beast power is going to make it very difficult. So we got to work now. While it is day, the night is coming when no man can work. And that's why we do this program, friends is to share the good news and do the work. Thank you for your prayers and helping us to keep up the good news. We'll study together again next week.
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