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? The holy grail of global energy is the heat beneath our feet, geothermal energy. All over the planet, between 5 and 20 miles below our feet, there is molten rock, well over 1,000 degrees. That heat can produce enough steam-generated electricity to power the planet. The problem has been the drilling technology to get down there. The deepest hole ever bored into the earth was the Kola Superdeep Borehole in Russia. In 1992, it reached over 40,000 feet--that's 7 1/2 miles--before it had to stop because the heat was melting the drill bits. Now there's a company with new technology that does not rely on traditional drilling methods. Quaise Energy, working with MIT, has developed new drill bits with a millimeter wave energy that are designed to melt and vaporize rock to create deeper holes to reach and harness the heat in the earth's core. Quaise Energy says there's enough energy in the earth's magma to power every city on earth for thousands of years. Clearly, Pastor Ross, it's a question of going deeper.
Jëan Ross: That's right. The deeper you go, the more energy you get.
Doug: Get power.
Jëan: I think there's a spiritual application there, Pastor Doug. If we want to have the power of the Holy Spirit, we need to seek for a deeper experience in the things of God, a deeper understanding of His Word, a deeper commitment of our lives to Him. There is power in the Spirit.
Doug: That's right. Makes me think of the passage where Jesus says, in Luke chapter 6, verse 48, "A wise man is like a man building a house, who dug deep, and he laid the foundation on the rock. And when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently against that house, and it could not shake it, for it was founded on the rock." And, of course, Jesus said to the woman at the well that He was offering her this artesian water, and she said, "But the well is deep." And, well, of course, that Jacob's well was deep, but you also have to go deep if you want the living water, and going deeper into our relationship with the Lord in our prayers, in our study, you get more by going deeper, and we try to go a little deeper sometimes on this program, but if you'd like to know how you can have a deeper relationship with God in His Spirit, how do we do that?
Jëan: We've got a book, and it's free. We'll send it to anyone who calls and asks. The book is called "Life in the Spirit," and it's all about the Holy Spirit. That is our free offer today, and if you'd like to call for it, the number is 800-835-6747, and you can ask for Offer Number 155, or just call, ask for it by name, "Life in the Spirit," or there's another way you can get the book. Just simply dial "#250" on your smartphone and say, "Bible Answers Live!" and then ask for the book "Life in the Spirit," and we'll be happy to send that to anyone who gives us a call or gets in touch with us. If you're outside of North America, outside of the U.S. and Canada, you can access this by just going to our website, just, AmazingFacts.org. You'll be able to read the book for free there.
And, Pastor Doug, we want to greet all of those who are joining us. I know we have people who are watching on AFTV and, of course, listening on the radio across the country, but we also have others who are participating in this program online, outside of the U.S., folks all around the world and Europe and down in Australia and likewise. We want to welcome all of you to this special, in-depth Bible study where we try to go a little deeper in the Word.
Doug: Amen, and so, yeah, we're also streaming on, as you mentioned, Facebook. It's the Amazing Facts Facebook page, the Doug Batchelor Facebook page, and you can text your friends right now and say, "Bible Answers Live" is live. So call in with your questions. We're on TV, we're on radio, and we're going to go before the Lord and then go on to the phones.
Jëan: Let's start with a word of prayer. Dear Father, we thank You, once again, that we have this opportunity to open up Your Word and study. Lord, we know there's power in the Word. Jesus said, "You shall know the truth, and the truth will set you free," so we pray, Lord, that our minds will be clear to receive the Word of truth. So bless those who are listening and those who call in. And we pray for guidance, Lord, as we search here, in the studio, the Scriptures. We ask this in Jesus's name, amen.
Doug: Amen.
Jëan: Well, we're ready to go to our first caller this evening. We've got a caller from London, England. Dawn, welcome to the program. You are on the air.
Dawn: Good morning, Pastor Doug and Pastor Jëan Ross. My question is God commands us to worship on the seventh day, Sabbath. Of all the calendar and timeline changes over the years, how do we know with great certainty that the Saturday that we observe today is still the Sabbath?
Doug: You know, when I get that question, I would--I always am tempted to say to those that worship on the first day of the week, "How do you know that's the day that it is?" People usually have no trouble remembering what the days of the week are until they learn the Sabbath truth and say, "Well, we really don't know." But, first of all, you can just look at--there's a whole nation of Jews all over the world, and they have been keeping the seventh day Sabbath in continuity from long before the Christian era. Somebody wrote a letter, Pastor Ross, to the U.S. Naval Observatory, where they're, you know, they're very particular about keeping time down to the millionth of a second, and I'm not exaggerating. They really do keep it to a millionth of a second. And they said, "Has there been any change, any change in the calendar that has affected the days of the week?" And they said there have been, you know, several changes in the calendar, but that never affects the days of the week.
You know, we had the Julian calendar, named for Julius Caesar, and then we went to the Gregorian calendar, named after Pope Gregory, and it was a change they needed to make to adjust the seasons where because, you know, we've got 365 one-quarter days to the year, and they needed to make that adjustment. So they made the appropriate adjustment, and what happened was--I think it was 1582, Thursday, 1582, October 5 was followed by Friday, October 15. They added ten days, but Friday followed Thursday as it always does. So the days of the week have not been affected by any calendar change, and so, yeah, the U.S. Naval Observatory said there has been no change in the calendar, to their knowledge, that has ever affected the continuity of the weekly cycle.
Jëan: You know, Pastor Doug, you already addressed the Jewish nation as a whole. If you think back 2,000 years ago, Jesus was on the earth. He knew which day was the Sabbath. He kept the Sabbath the same day that the Jews kept as the Sabbath, and then for 2,000 years for an entire nation to get mixed up within the period of seven days as to which day of the week they're on is impossible.
Doug: Yeah, it's their holy day. And then, furthermore, in the Bible, it tells us very specifically Jesus died on what we would call the preparation day or Friday, the sixth day of the week. That's why many call it Good Friday. And then He rested in the tomb on the Sabbath. He even kept the Sabbath in His death. And then He rose the first day of the week, which people all agree is Sunday morning. So the Bible is clear. Calendar is clear. History is clear. You get the, you know, the Jewish nation. There's really no question about that.
Jëan: You know, we have a study guide. It's called "The Lost Day of History." That talks about the Sabbath. Is it binding on Christians today? What is its significance? We'll be happy to send it to anyone who calls and asks. Again, the study guide is called "The Lost Day of History," and the phone number to call is 800-835-6747, or dial "#250" on your phone. Ask for the study guide. It's called "The Lost Day of History."
Doug: Thank you, Dawn. Good question.
Jëan: We've got Gary listening in Illinois. Gary, welcome to the program.
Gary: Thank you. I was hoping you can help me understand a biblical contradiction. In Ephesians 2:8-9, it says, "We're saved by grace through faith, and not of ourselves. It is a gift from God, and not of works." But now I found a--and everybody seems to quote that one, but in Philippians 2:12, it says, "Work out your salvation with fear and trembling." And so that contradicts it, and same with Revelation 22, "I come quickly, and My reward is with Me for what you have done." So there seems to be a contradiction. I was hoping you could clarify that for me.
Doug: Oh, I'm so glad you asked that question because it's a common misunderstanding, and it is very important. Let's go back to what you read to begin with in Ephesians chapter 2: "For by grace--" this is verse 8. "For by grace you've been saved through faith, that not of yourselves. It is a gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast." And then many people stop. Read the next verse: "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works." So, when we are born again, we're re-created. We are re-created for good works. So, a Christian definitely does works, but we're not doing the works to be saved. We're doing the works, because we are saved. And that is, I think, a fundamental difference. It's so important to understand that. God saves us by His grace. We're not saved because we earn it by doing good works. When we accept His salvation, which is free, then we want to do good works because we love Him. Jesus said, "If you love Me, keep my commandments."
Now, an example would be the thief on the cross who--well, there are two thieves, but one turned to Jesus. He asked for mercy, said, "Lord, remember me." Jesus said, "You will be with Me in Paradise." He didn't do any good works. All he did, shortly after that, was die. So he would--definitely was not saved by his works. He was saved by grace. Now, if he had come down from the cross somehow and survived, he would have lived differently out of love for the Lord and gratitude. So there are definitely works in the Christian life. Even Martin Luther said that, you know, we are not saved by works, but we will not be saved without them. So the saved will have works in their life. So, hopefully, that helps. It's a great question, Gary, and we do have a book called "Does God's Grace Blot Out the Law?"
Jëan: And we'll be happy to send that to you, Gary, or anyone wanting to learn more about the subject. The book is called "Does God's Grace Blot Out the Law?" The number is 800-835-6747. That is our resource phone line. You can also just dial "#250" on your smartphone and ask for "Does God's Grace Blot Out the Law?" You know, Pastor Doug, James, in the book of James, says, "Someone says, 'I have faith,'" and then he goes on to say, "Show me your faith by your works." So the kind of faith that saves is a working faith, a faith that is demonstrated in the life. We've got Jerry listening in Texas. Jerry, welcome to the program.
Jerry: Hey, pastors. I just wanted to get your take on this. I had a discussion with a good friend of mine, and I told her that there was no marriage in heaven, and she was disappointed by it, you know? She loves children. Of course, in Zechariah 8:5, it says the children, the boys and girls, will play in heaven, but what about after 1,000 years or 1,500 years?
Doug: That's a good question. Well, you know, God told Adam and Eve to be fruitful, and the word He used is "to fill the earth." I think some versions say "replenish" it. Just, it really means "to fill the earth." God intended to populate the world with the redeemed. I don't think God intended for people to continue to multiply so that the resources of the planet would be crowded out, and everybody'd be falling off the planet into empty space. You know, at some point, God was going to think, "Okay, we've got the optimum number of people to enjoy this paradise I've made, and there'd be no more procreation," unless He kept making new worlds.
So, we understand now that the new earth, through the plan of salvation, will be repopulated with the redeemed, and Jesus said the saved do not marry nor are they given in marriage, meaning that, you know, we don't procreate. Will there be children in heaven? The children of all those who were saved will be resurrected or caught up into the air as children, but they will eventually grow up, and you read about that in Malachi chapter 4. It says: "They will go forth and grow up as calves of the stall." So, and I think there's that passage in Isaiah, Pastor Ross, where it says, "And the child will die 100 years old," and that simply means they don't even cease to be a child until they're 100 years old, so they grow more slowly. But you're right, after 1,000 years, you probably won't see any new children in the kingdom. Kind of sad to think about, but I promise, nobody's going to ask for a refund. I promise. Everyone will be happy in heaven. Thanks so much, Jerry. Appreciate that.
Jëan: Okay, very good. Thanks, Jerry. We've got Brittany listening in California. Brittany, welcome to the program.
Brittany: Hey--hah-hah-hah.
Doug: Hi, thanks for calling.
Brittany: Well, my question is why does Matthew 22:16, Mark 12:14, and Luke 20:21, say the exact same thing in the beginning but different wording at the end?
Doug: In Matthew 22, verse 16--I can only go there real quick. I'm starting with--you've given me several verses here. I want to start with them, one by one. Says, "And they sent to Him their disciples with the Herodians, saying, 'Teacher, we know that You're true, and teach the way of God, and You don't care about anyone. You regard no person of men. Tell us, therefore, what do You think? Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar?" Is that the one you're talking about?
Brittany: Yeah, that's—
Doug: Yeah, keep in mind that Jesus had a number of--and you might find the wording a little different in other gospels. Is that what you're saying?
Brittany: Yeah, I'm doing a topic study on the Christian truth, and then I found these passages, and it's saying the same thing. I'm like, "What on earth is that about?" So—
Doug: Yeah, well, keep in mind that, first of all, Jesus had a number of encounters with the scribes and the Pharisees and the Herodians, and this, to me, I think, is evidence that the wording is slightly different, then Matthew, Mark, and Luke are not just copying each other. They're telling the story the way they remember it, and they're really all telling the same story, aren't they, about Him holding up the coin and saying, "Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's," right?
Brittany: Yeah.
Doug: So the essence of the story and the answer and the teaching of Christ is the same in all the stories. The wording leading up to it may be a little different. Another thing to keep in mind is that, as Jesus went from town to town, some of His experiences had been repeated by others, and so His confrontation with the scribes and the Pharisees and Herodians may have been retold by the apostles to others, and so you're getting them telling it from their perspectives, and that's normal. They're putting in their own words what happened. They may have been very long conversations, but they're making it very succinct.
Jëan: And, again, as you mentioned, Pastor Doug, if you look at what's actually being said, the content is the same. The wording might be a little different, but the principle or the point that Christ is making is clear in all three gospel accounts.
Doug: Yeah, one more thing to remember is--and it was brought to my attention that Jesus, He taught in Aramaic. The scribes spoke, you know, Aramaic and pure Hebrew, and they lived in a country that had been occupied by Greece, so many of them understood Greek, and they were occupied by the Romans, who spoke Latin, and so as these stories are told and retold, the gospels are written in Greek, but Jesus didn't say these things in Greek. So they're translating what was said in Aramaic into Greek, and you can choose a few different words to translate. So that's one more reason sometimes you'll see a little difference.
Jëan: All right, that's a good point. Next caller that we have is Tim listening in Wisconsin. Tim, welcome to the program.
Tim: Good evening, pastors. How are you?
Doug: I'm doing great. Thank you for calling.
Tim: Excellent. No, thank you for taking my call. My question--I don't want it to be confusing. In prophecy, we believe that the 70-week prophecy, the 490-year prophecy, that was all in order from 457 B.C. to 34 A.D., when the stoning of Stephen happened, and there's no breaks in there, and some people believe that the last week of the 60--or the 70-week prophecy is going to be in the future, and we already know it's not because it's-- it ended in 34 A.D.
Doug: Mm-hmm.
Tim: Now, my question has to do--and don't want to be confusing, but my question has to do with Revelation chapter 16, verse 12, when the angel pours out the sixth bowl, I believe, and the river Euphrates dries up, now, in prophecy, I'm just having a little trouble because I want to go in order. My mind works in order, one, two, three, four, five.
Doug: Sequentially, yeah.
Tim: Thank you. Kind of nervous. I apologize.
Doug: No, you're doing fine.
Tim: When the river Euphrates dried up when the Medo-Persians attacked and conquered Babylon, is the river Euphrates still going to dry up again in prophecy, according to Revelation, or has that already happened? And why, if we believe things, you know, in order, why would we go back to believe that one? I'm trying not to be confusing. I'm just trying to figure it out.
Doug: Yeah, well, for one thing, Revelation has several examples of history repeating itself. You've got the plagues in the Old Testament that were literal plagues, the blood and the frogs and the sun going dark, so forth, the hail. You see some of those same plagues repeated in Revelation, so you do have history repeating itself. The sequence isn't always the same, and the prophecies in Revelation--I'm going to let Pastor Ross also address this because it's, sort of, his special study. The prophecies in Revelation are not all taking place in sequential order. The prophecies of Daniel and Revelation and Isaiah and Ezekiel, they basically give a picture, then they come back, and they show the same picture from a different angle, using different symbols, and the time lapse may overlap a little bit and then progress, but sometimes they back up to re-cover something, and when it talks about the Euphrates drying up, well, I think there's a spiritual application to that. The Euphrates was the principal source for the water of Babylon, and Ancient Babylon, we know, has a spiritual meaning too, and it's going to dry up, but it is interesting the literal Euphrates seems to be drying up also.
Jëan: That's right, of course, if you look at the context, Revelation 16, verse 12, we're talking about one of the plagues, actually, talking about the sixth plague, and the sixth plague sort of leads into the seventh, which is the Second Coming of Christ. There's some other things connected with it, but the sixth plague prepares the way for the Second Coming of Christ. So it's got a literal application, as you mentioned, Pastor Doug, but there's also definitely a spiritual application in that you have the water Euphrates. In -- Bible prophecy, it represents people, multitudes and nations and kins and tongues, and giving their support to this spiritual power, called Babylon, but during the plagues, they realized they've been deceived, and they withdraw that support, and the drying up the river Euphrates is a withdrawal of the support that the people gave or give to this religious, political power at the end, and that is preparing the way for the Second Coming of Christ. There's also a counterfeit that takes place around that time. It talks about three unclean spirits, like frogs, coming out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the beast, out of the false prophet. This is the devil that is performing miracles just before the Second Coming of Christ. So there's a lot happening in this verse.
Doug: Yeah, and you actually see the drying up of the Euphrates happening in Revelation 18, where it talks about Babylon, and it says, "I sit as a queen, and 'No more I'll see no sorrow,' she said. Therefore her plagues will come in one day-- death and mourning and famine. And she will be utterly burned with fire, for strong is the Lord who judges her." And it goes through that whole chapter and talks about how she is drying up with--economically and socially and politically, and, just, it shows the--basically, the decimation of Babylon happening there.
Jëan: All right, very good. Thank you, Tim. We've got Angela listening in Illinois. Angela, welcome to the program.
Angela: Oh, hi, Pastor Ross, and hi, Pastor Doug.
Doug: Hi.
Angela: I have a question in regards to 2 Chronicles 33. I was reading about Manasseh, and I was just wondering, you know, although Manasseh humbled himself, basically, reading all of the despicable things that he did, you know, when Assyria took him and he humbled himself and the Lord restored him, do you think that Manasseh would be saved?
Doug: You know, it says he turned back to the Lord God, and so assuming that that's the Holy Spirit working in his life, that "since he repaired the altar of the Lord, he sacrificed peace offerings and thank offerings on it," so he's claiming the mercy of God and the blood of the lamb, "and he commanded Judah to serve the Lord God of Israel," and this is in 2 Chronicles 33:16. So, and it talks about his prayer that he prayed. There's a record of it that we don't have in the Bible, but it mentions his prayer of repentance. I think Hezekiah, his father, who is a good king, he's praying for his son, before he dies, and I think God ultimately is answering Hezekiah's prayer that Manasseh would be saved. So I know it's despicable what he did, but God's mercy is so great, I think He even forgave Manasseh.
Angela: Okay, thank you.
Doug: You're welcome. Thanks so much.
Jëan: Next caller that we have is Lee listening in Texas. Lee, welcome to the program.
Lee: Yes, sir, Pastor, thank you. Can you hear me?
Doug: Yes.
Lee: Okay, my question is "Can a person still repent during the enforcement of the mark of the beast?"
Doug: Okay, possibly. Now, when you say, "enforcement," once a person receives the mark of the beast, I believe that they've grieved away the Holy Spirit because it says that the wrath of God abides upon them, those who receive the mark of the beast, and you read that in Revelation 14, and, I think, a couple of other places, but there'll be a time when the mark of the beast is being issued, and people can still make choices, but, at some point, the sealed are sealed, and the lost are lost, and there's no forgiveness or repentance. Is that your understanding?
Jëan: Yeah, absolutely. Of course, the mark of the beast issue is going to bring--it's going to be brought before everyone, so everyone gets to make a choice: Are they going to go along with man-made traditions, or are they going to be obedient to the Word of God? It's at that point, that critical point, where people are either sealed with the seal, or they receive the mark of the beast. And then the Bible says probation closes, and Jesus says, "He that is holy, let him be holy still. He that is filthy, let him be filthy still." Probation closes, the seven last plagues fall, and then Jesus comes, so it's a pretty important time.
Doug: Says in Revelation 14:11, "They have no rest day or night, who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name." So once they receive the mark, it seems like they settled their decision, and they're lost for eternity. Can we squeeze in one more before the break?
Jëan: Yeah, let's try Edna in Canada. Edna, welcome to the program.
Edna: Good evening, gentlemen. I have a question in regards to Daniel 12:11 and 12, about the 1,290 days and the 1,335. Where do they fit in, in this--in the prophecy?
Doug: Okay, good question. You're asking one of the big questions on--you get more time prophecies in Daniel 12, than anywhere else in the Bible, and so it talks about 1,260 days, 1,335, and 1,290, not in that order. Daniel is dealing with a great apostasy that happens in the church and a great persecution of God's people in a time of trouble, and he, sort of, is summarizing what he has said regarding these times, earlier in the book. And do we have a study written? I'm just wondering if we have something we can send because it's sometimes a challenge to go through Clovis, the king of the Franks, and the 1,335, and I don't know if you want to take a stab at it?
Jëan: Yeah, I'm just wondering, Pastor Doug, you bring up a good point. Maybe we do need to get a little book together because we do get this question -- time.
Doug: We get that question a lot.
Jëan: You know, historically, the conservative Bible theologians, many of the early reformers, understood the principle for a day equals a year, understood that these time periods represent 1,290 years, or 1,335 years, and they've identified a rather important date for the starting of that has been 508, 508 A.D., when France or the Franks at the time, the King of which was Clovis, when he converted to Christianity and accepted Papal authority, that really opened up for the establishment of the Papal power-- Doug: The religious, political power. Jëan: --but throughout western Europe. So using that as the starting date, you end up in 1798. If you use the 1,290, and if you use the 1,335, it goes from 508 all the way up to 1843, which, if you study church history, you realize that was a very significant time, a time of revival, especially North America, and that was preparing for entering into the time of judgment at the end of the –
Doug: Church of Laodicea, which were entered into during that time. Well, and there's more to that. We really need to do a study on Daniel 12, so, when people ask, we can map it out for them because it's one of the deepest Bible-study prophecies that's there. Hey, friends, you hear the music. This is halftime. Don't go away. We have some important announcements I think you'll be blessed by, and we're going to come back and do more Bible questions. It's not too late to call in with your question. We'll talk and study in a minute.
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Doug: Welcome back, listening friends, to "Bible Answers Live," and if you have a Bible question, you can still give us a call. The number is 800-GOD-SAYS. That's 800-463-7297. We're also streaming on Facebook right now on the Amazing Facts Facebook page or the Doug Batchelor Facebook page or the Amazing Facts YouTube channel, and you can text your friends and tell them listen in or call in with a question. My name is Doug Batchelor.
Jëan: My name is Jëan Ross, and we've got a number of folks who are waiting, holding on for a line. We've got Bradley listening in Arizona. Bradley, welcome to the program.
Bradley: Hey, how are you guys doing tonight? I'm glad you took my call, and my question is--I've been doing some studying, and I've heard some pastors on some other satellite stations that made it sound like Jesus would've come the second time already if we would've, as His people, had our act together and gotten a good word out, and I'm wondering if there's any Scripture that backs that up?
Doug: Yeah, actually, I think there is. I think you'll agree, Bradley, that the children of Israel, God wanted to bring them into the Promised Land sooner than He did, but because of their lack of faith, they wandered for 40 years. You know, Jesus says in Matthew 24:14, he said, "The Gospel of the kingdom will go into all the world." I think, if Christians had been more inspired and diligent to share their faith and get the gospel out, He would've come, and there's a verse, if you look--and this is one of several I could probably show you. If you look in 2 Peter chapter 3, verse 12, it says, "Looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat?" And he says that we should be "looking for and hastening." So how do we hasten? Well, it said everyone needs to hear the gospel even though they may not all believe. It goes out as a witness to all nations. So, I think--and there's a lot of other verses, I think, that imply that--I mean, God knows--He knows everything. He knows when He's going to come. He knew the children of Israel were going to wander longer than they needed to. So it's not like God's been surprised, but as far as our responsibility, things could've happened sooner if we had been more diligent.
Jëan: All right, very good. Well, thank you, Bradley. Good question. We've got Ann listening in Minnesota. Ann, welcome to the program.
Ann: Hi, Pastor, thanks for taking my call.
Doug: Thank you.
Ann: My question today is "Can the Bible be an idol?"
Doug: Well, I think so. You know, I think some people take a big family Bible, and they put it on the coffee table in the living room, and they'll put flowers in it, and they'll tell everyone to, you know, dust it, and they don't ever read it. So it's like they've got--they say, "We've got this Holy Book," and they might kneel in front of it and pray to it, and you could make a Bible an idol. Not too many people do that, but, technically, I suppose you could. They're not reading it and following its teaching. It's like they're revering just the book for being a Holy Book.
Jëan: Now, there is something to treating the Bible with reverence.
Doug: Yeah, we should.
Jëan: You don't just treat it like any other book. It is the Word of God.
Doug: But we don't pray to the Bible.
Jëan: No, there's no--I mean, it's the words in the book that have the power-- --not the book, in and of itself.
Doug: True.
Jëan: Does that help, Anna--or Ann?
Ann: Yes, it does. Thank you.
Jëan: All right, you're welcome. Thanks. We've got Grace listening in California. Grace, welcome to the program.
Grace: Hi, Pastor Doug and Pastor Ross. Good evening.
Doug: Evening. Grace: My question is about is it good for a Christian to take a student loan?
Doug: Well, the principle in the Bible, as far as possible, we should avoid debt. You've got examples, where it says, you know, the borrower is servant to the lender. There's a story in the Bible in 2 Kings chapter 4, where this wife, she was married to one of the sons of the prophets. Her husband takes out a loan for some land or something, and he dies, leaving the family in debt, and the children are about to be sold off, and she's terribly anxious and suffering because of this debt, so, but maybe he had no choice. Some people will never get through school or buy a home unless they take out loans, but you don't want to borrow more than you can really handle.
I think we saw, a few years ago, this terrible home-loan crisis in North America. The banks were giving away loans to people that really weren't qualified, and then, when the market imploded, thousands, millions of people lost their homes because they took on too much debt, and it was very tragic. So, you know, sometimes the only way that you're going to get through school or get a home is to make-- take on a responsible debt. Just make sure you don't get in over your head or what you can reasonably pay. And so you need to pray about that, but it's not a sin.
Jëan: You know, Pastor Doug, we also have the book written about what the Bible has to say about debt, and we actually advertise that book during our break with the program here, and we'll be happy to send that to—
Doug: Yeah, "Freedom From Debt."
Jëan: --yeah, we'll be happy to send it to anyone who calls and asks. The number is 800-835-6747, and the book, again, Pastor Doug, I'm looking for—
Doug: "Freedom from Debt."
Jëan: "Freedom from Debt."
Doug: It may not be in our list here. Jëan: It's a newer book. We'll be happy to send it to anyone who calls. In Canada and the U.S., just ask for the book by name, "Freedom from Debt." Also, you could get the book by pressing "#250," on your smartphone. Say, "Bible Answers Live," and ask for the book. Next caller that we have is Dennis listening in Oregon. Dennis, welcome to the program.
Dennis: Hello, pastors, good evening. Yeah, my question is--go back to the beginning here, Genesis 1, verse 28, talks about "Go forth and multiply." Well, my understanding is Adam and Eve only had three sons. I wonder how this is supposed to be possible?
Doug: Well, you have to go to chapter 5. You got your Bible in front of you?
Dennis: Yes, I do.
Doug: Okay, go to chapter 5, and it tells about the first three sons, but there were many others. You look in verse 4, and it says, "After he begot Seth, the days of Adam were 800 years, and he had sons and daughters." So, Adam and Eve, living all those years--and I'm sure they were fertile for many years. God told them, "Be fruitful and multiply," and she may have had several sets of twins. I heard, I think, the record is one woman had 69 children. That's the record as far as I know. It's been years ago, but I think on Mother's Day, years ago, I did that. One woman had 69 children, several sets of twins, I think, one or two sets of triplets. And Eve was probably perfectly fertile, and they had lots of children. It says they had sons and daughters, so it just mentions the first three because they were the oldest boys, and they sort of played into the story.
Jëan: All right, very good. Thank you. Next caller that we have, let's see, Ruth from Missouri. Ruth, welcome to the program.
Ruth: Hi, good evening, pastors.
Doug: Yeah.
Ruth: According to Revelation 1:7, there is special resurrection for the wicked. Is there a special resurrection of the righteous, and would it be at the same time as the special resurrection of the wicked?
Doug: Well, there have been some righteous that have already been specially resurrected. Of course, the Lord performed a special resurrection for Moses. And Moses was buried, and it says that he evidently is in heaven. He appears in Mark chapter 9, with Elijah. We know Elijah wasn't raised. He was translated as was Enoch. And then, at the death of Christ, in Matthew 27, says, "Many graves were opened following the earthquake when Jesus died, and those people came out of the grave, many of the saved around Jerusalem. They appeared to people in the city, and they ascended to heaven when Jesus ascended. So that was a special resurrection for the righteous. The rest of the righteous rise when the Lord comes. I don't believe there's any special resurrection prior to the Second Coming. Some may get out of the graves a little bit prior so they can see Him coming, but it's basically the day of His coming.
Jëan: Mm-hmm.
Doug: So, and then, there's a special resurrection for the wicked who were involved in condemning and torturing and persecuting Jesus around the scenes of the cross. That's what you referred to there in Revelation 1:7. So, yeah, good question. But the general resurrection, the dead in the Christ rise first. Thousand years later, all the rest of the dead, the wicked are raised.
Jëan: All right, next caller that we have, I believe, is Giselle from Michigan.
Giselle: Thank you for taking my call. I'm a little sick, so I hope I'm clear, but I have a question regarding the Sabbath. So is the Fourth Commandment, in Exodus chapter 20, regarding a literal seven-day week, or is the Sabbath to be kept as a Lunar Sabbath, like, on a lunar cycle, like it would--like described in, like, Leviticus 23?
Doug: Yes, okay, a good question, and there's, you know, there's some Sabbatarians out there that are convinced that the Sabbath is just to be governed by the moon, but historically, the Sabbath, it began at Creation on the seventh day of the week, and there's a seven-day cycle that's totally independent from the lunar cycle. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, the days of the week, we still follow now, today. It's interesting that the whole world follows the seven-day week, and there's nothing in astronomy that would give us that, that's, you know, reason the world has a moon was about 30 days is--a month with about 30 days is because of the moon, and we all have a year with 365 days because of the earth's orbit around the sun and a day with 24 hours because it rotates in that time on its axis. There's nothing in the sun, moon, earth, stars, that gives us a seven-day week. That purely comes from Creation, and the seventh-day Sabbath is governed by just the weekly cycle of a sequence of seven days.
Jëan: And, I think, the Fourth Commandment itself makes it very clear. Says, "For in six days, the Lord made the heavens, the earth, the sea, and He rested on the seventh day." This is not talking about a monthly Sabbath, but it's talking about a weekly Sabbath.
Doug: Yeah, and that seventh day was followed by another first day.
Jëan: That's right.
Doug: And it just kept going like that. And you've got the Jewish nation that's kept it that way for 3,000 years.
Jëan: All right, we've got Gerald listening in Montana. Gerald, welcome to the program.
Gerald: Good evening, Pastor.
Doug: Evening.
Gerald: I got a question. You know, the Bible says we can eat the clean meats. And you get into, I think, it's the 14th chapter of Samuel, and it goes-- said that eating the blood is a sin.
Doug: Yes.
Gerald: Now, my question is this: If we consider the clean meats today, most of it, I, myself, I grew up in a logging camp for years, and the blood's still in the meat.
Doug: Right.
Gerald: How do we reconcile the two thoughts?
Doug: Well, you know, I can't account for what people may do. All I can do is tell you what the Bible says, and the Bible says, all the way from the beginning-- this is not a Jewish law. God even gave it to Noah. And, everyone listening, if you didn't know this, we are all brothers and sisters because we are all related to Noah. And He said we're not to eat blood. It's not only in the Old Testament. If you look in Acts chapter 15, it says they were not, even the Gentiles, not to eat blood. And God clearly told people that, even when they eat the clean animals, they were to butcher them, so they typically cut the throat, and they would drain the blood out. Now, that doesn't mean there would be no blood cells left in the body because that's, you know, hard to do that, but they were to principally drain out the blood. Most of them, meat you buy, clean meats you buy in the market, when they're butchered, they drain the blood out. I don't know what happened in your logging camp, and I know some people eat blood sausage where they don't drain the blood out because they want it juicy but--yeah. Disease can be transferred from animal to animal, and some animals have disease in their blood, and by consuming that, we can actually pick up disease from animals, and God knew what He was saying. He not only said that. He said, "Don't eat the fat."
So, you know, so, I remember, as a kid, I ate a lot of steak, and I liked that. When people were done, I'd say, "Can I have your fat?" I mean, it kind of grosses me out to even think about it now but--because that's where all the toxins are stored, and God said you shouldn't eat that. Now people are pretty wise. They understand cholesterol, and they say, "You know, God knew what he was talking about. We shouldn't be eating animal fat." That's almost pure cholesterol. Anyway, I hope that helps a little bit, but, yeah, try it. You can buy meat that doesn't have the blood in it. Clean meats, I mean.
Jëan: You know, we have a study guide. It's called "God's Free Health Plan." Talks about what the Bible says about food and clean and unclean meats. The number to call for that is 800-835-6747. And, again, just ask for the study guide. It's called "God's Free Health Plan." You can also dial "#250." Say, "Bible Answers Live," and say, "I'd like the study guide called "God's Free Health Plan," and we'll send it to you. We've got Israel listening in California. Israel, welcome to the program.
Israel: Hi, thanks for taking my call.
Doug: Yeah.
Israel: My question is--it's concerning June 7 and, in particular, the very end of it where it talks about the punishment of eternal fire. I was raised to, you know, believe in a literal hell, and I'm trying to get over that, and I, just, I wondered if maybe you could explain the, you know, the translation here in Jude 7.
Doug: Yeah, let me read the whole verse. And Jude is calling people to repentance, and in Jude, there's only one chapter, so it's Jude, verse 7, and it says, "As Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them in similar manner to those, having given themselves over to sexual immorality and going after strange flesh--" so he's--first, he puts Sodom and Gomorrah as an example, and he says, "are an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire." Well, if you read similar verse here in Peter, it says that Sodom and Gomorrah were turned to ashes. They're not still burning. So eternal fire doesn't mean it burns eternally. Eternal fire means that what the fire did lasts forever. Sodom and Gomorrah were never rebuilt. The results of the fire are forever. The wicked are consumed with eternal fire. The result of that fire is eternal.
Jëan: "Wages of Sin," the Bible says, "is death," so the fire destroys them, and they are dead forever.
Doug: All you have to do is go to the south end of the Dead Sea, and you can see where Sodom and Gomorrah were, and they are not there anymore. They're burnt up. They're gone. Hey, thank you. Appreciate your call.
Jëan: We've got Shauna listening in Washington. Shauna, welcome to the program.
Shauna: Good evening, pastors. Thank you.
Doug: Evening.
Shauna: My question is in Joshua chapter 7, and specifically verses 24 and 25.
Doug: Aren't you--would you like me to read that for folks?
Shauna: Sure.
Doug: Okay, Joshua 7:24, "And Joshua, and all Israel with him, took Achan the son of Zerah, and the silver and the garment and the wedge of gold, his sons and his daughters, his oxen, his donkey, his sheep, and his tent, and all that he had, and brought them to the valley of Achor. And Joshua said, 'Why have you troubled us? The Lord will trouble you this day.' So all Israel stoned him with stones and burned them with fire after they had stoned him with stones." And they raise a great heap of stones on them. So are you wondering why did the whole family die for the sin of Achan?
Shauna: Yes, I am.
Doug: Okay, now, yeah, that's a good question. That's why I kind of preempted it. Well, it's understood that he hid--it says in the text he hid the stolen objects from Jericho in the tent under a carpet, presumably. Everybody in the family knew. God gave them all a chance to repent and confess what had happened. They had been strictly told don't take any bounty or booty from the city of Jericho when it was destroyed. It was all to be consecrated to the Lord. Well, they stole, and the family conspired with him, and so not only was the family destroyed but all their possessions, yes, including their livestock was destroyed. It was sort of complete annihilation of the family, and it is--it's kind of set forth as an example of what happens in the last days to those that turn against the Lord and with a covetous heart. We are lost, and we take people with us. Achan's sin affected his family. So I know it sounds pretty severe, but because of the sin of Achan, several soldiers died in battle when they went against Ai, and so he and his family had the blood of many of the other Israelites on their hands.
Jëan: All right, thank you, Shauna. We've got Bob listening in Washington. Bob, welcome to the program.
Bob: Hey, brothers, thank you very much.
Doug: Thanks for calling.
Bob: My question is "How should a Christian think about UFOs and these things people see in the sky? Could there be a connection between those UFOs and Satan?"
Doug: Could be. I've got a good friend--he's passed away now--named Joe Maniscalco, who actually wrote a book, an illustrated book, on he thought a lot of the UFO sightings were satanic to get people distracted from God and angels, and they were sort of creating a different worldview by this. And I don't know that. I know that, as a pilot, I've seen a few UFOs. Now, UFO, keep in mind, just means an "unidentified flying object," and my wife and I tracked down a UFO once, and we found out that it was a large metallic red balloon. I said, "Dear, what is that? It's a UFO." We flew towards it, which probably isn't wise if you think it's an alien. And we felt so silly. We got over there, and it was just one of these balloons. Someone had let a big balloon go from a party, and it was just hovering in space. Our government shot down a balloon not long ago. One was dangerous, and one was not, heh, so a lot of the UFOs, I'd say, 99% of the UFOs that you hear about, if they're not manufactured in people's imaginations, I think a lot of them can be explained with astronomy or with just the reflections of light. I've seen some strange things out there, flying. I've seen clouds, and the sun hit them, and there was one little cloud all by itself, and I thought, for sure, it was a UFO.
One quick story of one of my UFO stories, real quick. I lived on a sailboat in the Mediterranean. I was on night watch with three friends--two friends. Three of us. And, one night, we saw--we looked out. While we're keeping watch, we saw a UFO coming towards us. This UFO was shining in the night sky, and it was coming towards our boat, and I called them over. They looked at it. We wondered whether we should go wake up the captain. And then, pretty soon, we realized it was the sun rising, and just the way that it was coming up, it looked like a flying saucer. There was a little spot in the clouds, but it looked like it, and it kept getting bigger and bigger. We thought it was coming. So, yeah, I feel really stupid now, but you've probably all got a laugh. Anyway, so, yeah, you know, there are some things--the devil could create illusions. It's hard to know which are which.
Jëan: Right, absolutely. All right, well, thank you. Lauren, listening in Maryland. Lauren, welcome to the program.
Lauren: Hey, good afternoon, Pastor. Thanks for taking my call tonight.
Doug: Yeah.
Lauren: I've learned so much from you guys.
Doug: Thank you.
Lauren: But the question I have here is, like, Genesis 1, of 1:1-2, "In the beginning God created the heaven and earth," and, 2, "And the earth was without form," and I was wondering, I read Isaiah 45:18, I think, and it said that God creates everything to be good and everything that God creates is good, and I was wondering how the earth became void and formless and dark, if something happened between Genesis 1 and 2, and if that had to do with the fall of Lucifer that caused that to happen?
Doug: Okay, I think I understand your question. Well, you may be assuming that, because the earth was without form and void, that it was bad. Everything God does is good. So, when God created the material for the earth, it doesn't mean it was bad. It's no worse than a lump of un-shapen clay before the artist gets ahold of it. It's nothing bad about the clay. It's just not been modeled yet. And so, the world, when God made it, it didn't have the waters separated from the waters, and it didn't--it was kind of shapeless, and God, you know, He rolled up His sleeves and said, "Oh, I can't wait to get to work with my material." So it was just saying that there is this raw material He was going to create from was there. It wasn't bad. Everything God does is good and even the void, earth, was good at that point.
Jëan: There was no life on the earth, just to clarify, so it's not like God created the earth and then somehow it was destroyed, and then He had to re-create the earth. That was all part of the process.
Doug: Yeah, it was a great big lump of clay, so to speak, something for Him to work with, and He took those elements and shaped them, and that's what He did with man. Says He took the dust, made a man out of it. The dust wasn't bad, and He created a human from the clay.
Jëan: Okay, next caller that we have, Valerie in California. Valeria, welcome to the program.
Valerie: Hi, how are you, pastors?
Doug: Doing good. Thank you for calling.
Valerie: Oh, thank you for taking my call. My question is, Pastor Doug, I've heard you preach before regarding Jesus turning water to wine, and then, as I was doing my daily devotional on Numbers, in the book of Numbers chapter 6, and I'm focusing on verse 3, because I've never really read the word "grape juice" in the Bible before, and here, on this Scripture 3, it talks about wine and other fermented drink, and it also mentions grape juice. So my question is why wouldn't the word "grape juice" be in the other verse where he turns water into wine? Because that's like one of the biggest conversations I have with people who still drink. They say, "Well, Jesus turned the water to wine." So I was really surprised when I read that "grape juice" word.
Doug: Can I ask you, what version of the Bible are you reading?
Valerie: I've read it in the New King James Version because that's my main Bible, and also, I've seen the word "grape juice" in the NIV.
Doug: I think you'll find, though, if you look at the original word in both the King James, New King James, the Old Testament word there is the word "wine." The King James translators realized that it has definitely got to be grape juice because it's anything from the grape at any stage, and so it says you're not even supposed to eat a raisin. The Nazirite was not supposed to eat anything from the vine, and so they put the word "grape juice" in there, but it's not in the original. It's the same word that you're going to find used for "wine," and in the New Testament, there's only one word for wine. I don't think you find the word "grape juice." It's "oinos," "oinos," I think, if I'm pronouncing that right. So, yeah, there's not a distinction made in the original languages. Some translators--and they did the right thing. When they know it's grape juice, they put grape juice. But, I think, if you get--is it Isaiah where it says, "As the new wine is in the cluster"?
Valerie: Yeah, I remember that Scripture too.
Doug: Yeah, well, clearly, if it's still in the cluster, it's not fermented yet so--but it uses the same word, "wine." So that's why Jesus, when he said, "You don't put new wine--" new wine is grape juice--in old wineskins," but it still uses the same word for both. So, hey, you know, I've got a book on alcohol. We'll send you a free copy, and it's called "The Christian and Alcohol."
Jëan: The number to call for that is 800-835-6747. You can ask for the book. It's called "Alcohol and the Christian." We'll be happy to send it to anyone in Canada or the U.S., or you can just dial "#250," and say, "Bible Answers Live," and ask for the book "Alcohol and the Christian." We'll be happy to send that out to anyone who calls and asks.
You know, Pastor Doug, we might want to mention, and we probably don't have enough time to take another call, but you can email your Bible questions to Amazing Facts simply by just emailing it to BALquestions@amazingfacts.org. It's BALquestions@amazingfacts.org.
Doug: You're doing pretty good. Pastor Ross was in Brazil two days ago.
Jëan: I'm having a little jet lag here, hah-hah.
Doug: But he came in, a real trooper. Hey, friends, we sign off in two stages. For those that are listening on land-based stations, everyone other than satellite, we're going to stay on and answer rapid-fire a few Bible questions. Don't go away. For the rest of you, God bless till 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.
Jëan: Hello, friends, welcome back to "Bible Answers Live." We're going to take a few moments to take your email questions that have come in. Well, here we go. First question, Pastor Doug, comes from Rapha, ten years old, from Canada. He says, "Why is the God of Genesis so mean? And he's not the God that I hear about in church."
Doug: Heh-heh, well, it's the same God, and you're going to see that there are times when He deals severely with sin, not only in the Old Testament, like Genesis, but in the New Testament were the seven last plagues. God destroys the world during the flood in the Old Testament. He destroys the world with a fire in the New Testament at the Second Coming. And God, in the Old Testament, is a God of love and mercy. Says He loves us with an everlasting love, and in the New Testament, Jesus tells us God is love. So it's the same God. You've got both sides.
Jëan: Okay, we've got another question. Manuel asks, "When somebody dies and the breath goes back to God, is this the breath of everyone or just the ones that are to be saved?"
Doug: Well, you find that in Ecclesiastes chapter 7. It says the person dies, that the body goes back to the dust, and the spirit to God, who gave it. And it's not just for when people die, but it says whether it's a man or whether it's a beast, that breath of life, that spirit--and the word "spirit" there in Hebrew is "ruach." It just means "the breath." It returns to God. And so every creature in which is the breath of life, when it dies, that breath of life goes back to God. It's not like a little ghost from all the butterflies and dogs and fish goes back to God. It's just the breath of life. It's not a conscious being because it doesn't have a body to think in anymore.
Jëan: Okay, John asks, "In Revelation chapter 1, verse 7, it says that every eye will see Jesus. Is this talking about the Second Coming, or is this the end of the 1,000 years?"
Doug: Well, at the end of the 1,000 years--I'm sorry. At the Second Coming, everybody alive on the planet will see Jesus when He comes. All the wicked who are raised will also see Him come. Some who died before the Second Coming, they're going to see Him come at the end of the 1,000 years, at that Resurrection, coming in the New Jerusalem. So everybody who has ever lived will, at some point in their life, with their eyes, see the Lord come, and if they were blind, God will give them eyes to see Him coming.
Jëan: So those who are alive see Jesus at the Second Coming, and then the wicked, well, they're resurrected at the end of the thousand years, and they'll see the New Jerusalem as you find described in Revelation 20.
Doug: Yeah, Christ is coming in glory there with the New Jerusalem. Hey, friends, that's all we have time for now. We thank you so much for your Bible questions. We look forward to hearing from you again next week. God bless, and send us your questions, or go to AmazingFacts.org, to learn more about the ministry.
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