It's Worth It for Now

Doug Batchelor: Hello, listening friends. Would you like to hear an amazing fact about cloves? Cloves are a basic spice that you can buy in any supermarket for about $3, and they're used to spice up cookies, cakes, and even flavor Worcestershire sauce. But these dried flower buds have, quite literally, altered the course of history. Cloves are more than just a flavoring. They contain a good mix of vitamins and minerals and have some medicinal properties as a natural painkiller or to settle a stomach. But in the 16th century, cloves were thought to be the cure for almost everything and used to treat a wide range of ailments, including intestinal distress, impotence, diarrhea, vomiting, and cholera. In fact, cloves were so precious, they were literally worth more than their weight in gold. At one time, the only place in the world that you could get cloves was in the Maluku Islands off of Indonesia. Wars were fought, nations were formed, and thousands perished in an effort to control the spice trade. It was in pursuit of a shorter route to these spice islands that the fleet of Ferdinand Magellan became the first expedition to circumnavigate the Earth. In 1519, Magellan set out with 5 ships, carrying about 270 men, heading for the Malukus. Three years later, only one leaking ship came limping home with 18 starving crew members. Incredibly, the voyage still made money because of the fantastic value of the few cloves they brought with them. It's hard to imagine people willing to die for an herb in your spice cabinet.

You might be surprised to know the Bible says that a few words of scripture are worth much more than cloves or gold. Pastor Ross, makes me think about those verses in the Bible and this is just a sampling of a few: Psalms 119: "The law of Your mouth is better to me than thousands of coins of gold and silver." Or you look in Proverbs 8, verse 8 through 10: "Receive My instruction, and not silver, And knowledge rather that choice gold; For wisdom is better than rubies, And all the things that one might desire cannot be compared with her." And then, of course, you get the, what is it, Psalm 19: "The law of the Lord is sweeter than honey in the honeycomb, more desired are they than gold, much fine gold." And so, yeah, it's kind of incredible. I've been reading history and I think you and I have been sharing some of these history books of how people would fight and die for these herbs that we just kind of sprinkle on our food. And in fact, during the Roman era, they paid people with salt. That's where we get the word "salary." But the Word of God is worth more than silver, gold, or any of those things.

Jëan Ross: Absolutely, you know, the--talking about these herbs and cloves and how they felt that it preserved, you know, your physical life, but the Word of God preserves your spiritual life. So it is more valuable. It lasts not just for this life, but in eternity. We have a study guide talking about the Bible: How do you understand the Bible? Can you trust the Bible? It's one of our Amazing Facts Study Guides. It's called, "Is There Anything Left You Can Trust?" And this is our free gift to anyone who calls and asks. The number is 800-835-6747. You can ask for "Offer Number 103," or ask for it by name. It's called, "Is There Anything Left You Can Trust?" You can also order this by dialing #250 on your smartphone and just say, "Bible Answers Live," and then ask for it. It's called "Anything Left You Can Trust?" and we'll be happy to send it to anyone in North America. If you're outside of the US, or outside of North America, just go to the website, AmazingFacts.org. Well, we're ready to go to the phone lines but, before we take our first caller, let's start with prayer.

Dear Father, we are grateful that we have this time to be able to open up Your Word and, indeed, that is precious, it is powerful. It's more valuable than anything that we have here on this earth for it is the word of life. And so we ask Your blessing as we study together. Be with those who are listening. Lead us into a clearer understanding of Your Word, for we ask this in Jesus's name, amen.

Doug: Amen.

Jëan: Our first caller this evening, we've got Sharon in Oregon; Sharon, welcome to "Bible Answers Live."

Sharon: Good morning, or good evening.

Doug: Evening.

Sharon: I have a question on Revelation chapter 11, and I understand that the two witnesses are the Old and New Testament but, when it gets to verse 11 through 14, it doesn't sound like it's talking about the same thing, when they stand on their feet and then God calls them to heaven, they ascend in a cloud. Can you explain that part?

Doug: Yeah, the whole passage here about the two witnesses, and I think it is a united passage, when it says they finished their testimony, now some have described it as the New and the Old Testament or you might say the law and the prophets because you have these two witnesses that appear to Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration, Moses and Elijah. They represent the Word of God. Moses, the great law-giver, Elijah, the great prophet. Last words of the Old Testament are: "Remember the law of Moses. Behold I send you Elijah the prophet." And this is an attack on the Word of God, which is dual in nature. New and Old Testament, Ten Commandments have two tables of stone. And so, it's a sword with two edges. And so, then it says that when they finished their testimony, the beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit will make war on them. But you're wondering about, in verse 11, where it says: "After three-and-a-half days the breath of life enters them, and they stood on their feet." The Word of God, well, it's talking about, kind of, resurrected, stands back up again. They've been dead, and it says 3 1/2 days. A day is like a year. This is talking about an attack on the Word of God and the religion of Christ during the French Revolution where they basically--they even went from a 7-day week to a 10-day week because they said that the only place you can trace a 7-day week to is the Bible. And Bibles were burned and there was a big outcry. France, basically, became the first atheist nation. And--but after the reign of terror, 3 1/2 years later, things had just so imploded that they sheepishly re-allowed the Bible to come back into the country. And Napoleon, kind of the good and bad of Napoleon, one of the things is he did then allow freedom of religion, where before, the Christians were terribly persecuted.

Jëan: Mm-hmm, that 3 1/2-year period has been described as November 10, 1793, that's when they passed the decree in the French Assembly, outlawing the Bible, and the Bibles were piled up and burnt in the street. But exactly 3 1/2 years later, June 17, 1798, they overturned that decree. They reversed the decree, allowing the Word of God and freedom in the Word of God. You know, it's also interesting, Pastor Doug, that Voltaire, one of these famous atheistic authors who scoffed at the Bible, he made a statement and said, you know, within this generation, the Bible would be an extinct book, nobody would even pay any attention to it. And you know, he published his writings and he had a printing press. The amazing thing is that just, you know, decades later, not very long later, the Bible Society ended up being set up, and they used the very printing press that Voltaire used to propagate his atheistic views. His same printing press was used to print the Bible. So, indeed the Word of God was lifted up and magnified. And of course, this brings you into the early 1800s where there was a great revival, and Bible truth missionaries were sent around the world. The Bible was being translated in all kinds of languages. Thus, it was lifted up and—

Doug: Glorified, caught up to heaven.

Jëan: You know, we have a book called, "The Ultimate Resource," and it's all about the Bible. And you might enjoy this, Sharon, or anyone who is watching or listening. Just, again, the number to call is 800-835-6747. You can ask for that book. It's called, "The Ultimate Resource." You can also dial #250 on your smartphone, say "Bible Answers Live," and then ask for the book by name, "The Ultimate Resource." Let's go to Ryan in New Mexico. Ryan, you're on the air.

Ryan: Oh, it's so nice to actually hear you guys. You're awesome. My question is: Did Jesus use two different calendars, the Julian calendar and the moon--you know, I just--I see a lot, you know, from the scriptures, I see more evidence as far as it being the New Moon Day, you know, as far as, you know, when they started their 6 working days, but then there was a New Moon Day, you know, does that make sense? I guess, did Jesus use the two calendar--different calendars? I'm sorry.

Doug: No, I think I understand what you're saying. Is--and just for our friends who are listening, the Jews did use a lunar calendar. Their months were controlled by the moon. But the weekly Sabbath, which came every 7 days, was a completely distinct cycle of time. Sometimes, we look at a calendar which registers both the month and the week and we think that they're conjoined. They're not, it's just one piece of paper that's showing us two distinct cycles of time. The 7-day week dates back to Adam, you know, and God rested on the 7th day and He blessed the 7th day. And every 7th day those that follow God, they kept honoring that as a Sabbath. God reinstituted that for the children of Israel when they came back out of Egypt. Even before they got to Mount Sinai, God told them, "I'm going to give you bread from heaven 6 days a week. Seventh day, there'll be none. Gather twice as much on," what we would call Friday, "the 6th day." And so, that cycle has been in continuity from the time of Creation to the present day. It is true the Jews had a calendar with 360 days, but the New Moon would fall on different days of the week, all throughout the year. It had nothing to do with a weekly cycle. So, just keep the two separate in your mind, there's no problem.

Jëan: And of course, the lunar month, as you mentioned, that was used for some of the ceremonial days because they'd start counting and then there were certain ceremonial days that fell on certain times of the week, could be on different days. That was considered a Sabbath. In other words, they would often keep those ceremonial days as the Sabbath, but that was always distinct from the 7th day Sabbath.

Doug: Right, and every now and then when you had a lunar Sabbath land on the weekly Sabbath, they called it a high Sabbath. Or if you had a--an annual feast Sabbath, like the Passover, tells us in the Bible when it fell on the Sabbath Day, they called it a high Sabbath. But they're two distinct cycles of time. Just like your birthday might be on a different day of the week every year.

Jëan: Right, all right, well, thanks for your call, Ryan. We've got James in Texas. James, welcome to "Bible Answers Live."

James: Yes, good evening, Pastors.

Doug: Hi, evening.

James: Yes, my question for the night will be: "Has the latter rain happened because of so many predictions by pastors, because I've been--I've watched them on YouTube and stuff like that, and everybody's all talking about them on--they've already seen visions and stuff like that."

Doug: Yeah, no, I don't think the latter rain--and let me just explain for those listening what we're talking about. The Jews in their agriculture, their farming language, they would have one rain that would come to sprout the seed. They called that the former or the first rain. Then before the harvest they would have a latter or last rain. That would then ripen the crop for harvest. Those terms are used for the outpouring of the Spirit. When Christ came, He told the disciples to wait in Jerusalem and He said, "You'll receive that refreshing," and the power of the Holy Spirit fell on them during Pentecost, that is the former rain. Before Christ comes, there's promises that you read, both in the book of Joel and in the book of Acts, that God is going to pour out His Spirit on all flesh. And so, the question is, has that happened yet? I do not think so because we've not seen the evidence of the Spirit and the power and the gospel spreading-- and mostly the holiness. I think that's one of the real signs you'll have is there'll be just a real love and a holiness among God's people, and the power of miracles, I mean, real miracles, that we just have not seen. So a lot of people are saying, "Oh, I had a vision," and a lot of pastors are saying, "Oh, this is the outpouring of the Spirit." I don't think we've seen anything like Pentecost yet. I think it's going to be evident when it happens.

Jëan: You know, we have a verse, Zechariah chapter 10, verse 1, that says: "Ask the LORD for rain In the time of the latter rain, and the LORD will make flashing clouds; and give them showers of rain, Grass in the field for everyone." So, here we have a special prayer for the latter rain, a special outpouring of the Holy Spirit. And as you said, Pastor Doug, the former rain that took place at Pentecost, was the seed that helped sprout the gospel throughout the world, but there is a final ripening that has to take place before Jesus comes.

Doug: Before the harvest.

Jëan: That's right, and the Bible speaks of this special outpouring of the Holy Spirit. We want to be ready when that time comes, that we might be ones who receive the latter rain. We have a book. I just thought of it. It's called, "Life in the Spirit." It's about the Holy Spirit and living--preparing for that latter rain. If you'd like to receive it, the number to call is 800-835-6747. You can ask for the book. It's called, "Life in the Spirit." You can also dial #250 on your smartphone, say "Bible Answers Live," and ask for the book, "Life in the Spirit." We've got Oliver in St. Louis, Missouri. Oliver, welcome to the program.

Oliver: Good evening, Pastors, and thank you for the call. My question is about the passage in Revelation that talks about how at Jesus's Second Coming, every eye will see Him, and addressing, specifically, the part where, since the world is round, how exactly does that happen physically? It doesn't say, "Every eye will see Him at the same time," that He could be doing a sweep of the world as He enters, and that could be--people could see Him, I guess, in sequence as He goes around. Am I understanding correctly?

Doug: Yeah, and by the way, the verse is in Revelation 1:7 and it's also in Matthew 24. It says: "They all--" in Matthew 24, it says: "All the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming." And then here in Revelation 1, it says: "Behold, He's coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him." And so, some have wondered, "Well, if the world's round, how does everybody see Him at the same time?" Well, I don't think the verse is saying everybody sees Him simultaneously. I think it's saying the Day of the Lord, when He does come, and it says, you know, "He sends forth His angels to the four corners of the Earth," and Christ is going to, I believe, make a circuit around the Earth and we are caught up to meet Him in the air. As He does that, everybody in the world will see Him. But it doesn't mean at the same moment.

Jëan: Mm-hmm, absolutely. We've got a study guide, talking about the Second Coming. It's called, "The Ultimate Deliverance," and we'll be happy to send it to anyone who calls and asks. Very exciting and important study. It's all about the Second Coming, "The Ultimate Deliverance." The number is 800-835-6747 or you can dial #250, ask for the study guide by name, "Ultimate Deliverance." Thank you. We've got Henry in New York. Henry, welcome to the program.

Henry: Yes, Pastor, good evening. My question is: People who are born mentally sick, mentally--if they die at the age of 90 years old and they're still mentally sick, if they do certain things, will God hold it against them?"

Doug: Yeah, well, God is a loving God, Henry, and so if a person has some kind of mental handicap, you know, He may judge many of them as you would a child before the age of accountability, and they would be saved. The Bible says that to whom much is given, much is required. If a person is given little, little is required. And some people, they just don't understand. And Jesus said people are judged because they do understand and they ignore the truth. He said if you were blind you would have no sin, but now you say, "We see, or we understand," He says your sin remains. So, people who, they're handicapped in some way and they just can't understand, God is a merciful God. And so, we never have to worry about will God be fair. God, He's the very epitome of justice.

Jëan: All right, very good. Oscar, listening in New York. Oscar, welcome to the program.

Oscar: Yes, sir. The Bible says that "God is a consuming fire." So my question is this: Is the lake of fire in the book of Revelation, God?

Doug: That's talking about, you know, He's got a Shekinah glory, a presence, and it says a fire devours before Him, and the Bible tells us that the wicked--when Christ comes, the wicked are destroyed by the brightness, the glory, of His Coming. It's almost like when I was a kid, we would sometimes play with a magnifying glass on a summer day and it wasn't very nice, but we'd burn ants, and just the magnification of just that light was enough to burn up the ants. Well, the glory of God is going to be bright, but it will not hurt the righteous, but it will destroy the wicked. Now, that's separate from the lake of fire because the Bible says: "These are separated from God. It's--they are cast away, they are cast into the lake of fire. So the lake of fire where the wicked are consumed and devoured, that is not the--God's glory. It is--by lake of fire, like the fire and brimstone burn up Sodom and Gomorrah.

Jëan: And in Revelation chapter 20 we read about what's called the Great White Throne Judgment. Describes the wicked outside of the New Jerusalem, the righteous are inside the city, and there is a final judgment and they can actually see God, so He must veil His glory somehow during that judgment time. And then the wicked mount their attack upon the New Jerusalem. And then fire comes down from heaven and devours them and it talks here in Revelation chapter 20, verse 15: "Anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire." So, again, you've got God the Father or the glory of God, somehow veiled because the wicked are not destroyed, and yet there is the lake of fire in which they are cast at the end of that judgment.

Doug: Yeah, and that final judgment is not God's light or glory because it says they're cast into outer darkness where there's weeping and gnashing of teeth. So it's a different punishment that you see there. But, good question. Thank you, Henry.

Jëan: We've got Christiana in Florida. Christina, rather, sorry. Christine--Christina, welcome to the--to "Bible Answers Live."

Christina: Hi, good evening.

Doug: Evening. And your question?

Christina: Yeah, I have a question: Will we be able to see God when we go to heaven, because there is a lot of different conflicting things in the Bible. For example, 1 Timothy chapter 6, verse 16 says that, you know, no one will ever see God and we'll never be able to see Him, but Moses saw God's back and then there's another verse that says: "Blessed are those that are righteous for they'll see God," and then there's another verse that says we would be consumed if we saw God because we're so sinful. So when we get to heaven, will we actually be able to see God?

Doug: Well, the simple answer is yes, and my verse is Revelation 22:4, last chapter in the Bible. Says: "They will see His face," speaking of the saved. Now, right now, we cannot see God the Father because the glory, as I mentioned, would just--it would consume us. And even God told Moses who is holy, "No man can see My face," His unveiled glory, "in their present condition." Now, Moses is in the presence of God with a glorified body. Now I'm sure he does see God's face. And in heaven, you know, God used to walk in the garden with Adam and Eve. They saw God. The times in the Old Testament where it says they saw God, they probably saw what we call a Christophany which is--it's Christ before the incarnation. They saw God the Son. So anytime it says--and even Jesus said, "No man can see the Father," and that's probably one of the verses you're referring to, Christina. So when it says that they can't see the Father, it's talking about man in his fallen condition cannot see the face of God the Father, we do see Jesus. Christ said, "If you've seen Me, you've seen the Father." It's, you know, veiled in humanity. But in heaven, it's as clear as it can be. We will see His face. God Himself will dwell with us.

Jëan: Okay, thank you.

Doug: Thanks, good question.

Jëan: We've got Justin in Wisconsin. Justin, welcome to "Bible Answers Live."

Justin: Hi, my question is: How do you keep the commandments?

Doug: How do you keep them? Well, Jesus says: "If you love Me." The best way to keep the commandments is because you love God. I was just reading today, Pastor Ross, you know, I'm starting a new Bible-reading program and I'm in Genesis where Jacob is working for Rachel. He's got to work 7 years. The Bible says he loved her so much, it seemed like days. The work seemed like nothing because of the love that he had for Rachel. And the more we love the Lord, any good works or obedience is just--it's an act of love. We want to do the things that please Him. So, if we're struggling to obey, the question is how do we love God more? The Bible tells us that we love Him because He first loved us. So when we see and we behold Christ's love for us in His life and on the cross, it moves our hearts and we love Him and want to serve Him.

Jëan: That verse you're referring to is John chapter 14, verse 15, where Jesus says: "If you love Me, keep My commandments." And we love Him because He first loved us. We need to behold Him. We behold Him through His Word. Pastor, like you mentioned, you started a new Bible-reading plan. Well, I read the very same passage of scripture because we're probably on the same plan. And we just want to encourage people, what a great opportunity. If you're not on a Bible-reading plan, you need to get on one. I mean, it doesn't take long, actually, it's--if you read the Bible over a year, it's divided up, you could probably read your daily portion within 10, 15 minutes. So it doesn't take long. There's even apps that will read the Bible to you and help you stay on track so—

Doug: And they'd appreciate the lesson we offer to everybody about the Bible: "Is There Anything Left You Can Trust?"

Jëan: Mm-hmm, the number for that is 800-835-6747. You can ask for the study guide, "Anything Left You Can Trust?" or dial #250 on your smartphone, say "Bible Answers Live," and Amazing Facts does actually have, I just thought of it now, a Bible-reading plan. If you don't have one, of course, you can get one for free online or you can just simply go to Amazing Facts and find out about the free Bible-reading plan that we have. Okay, next caller that we have is Cedric in Florida. Cedric, welcome to the program.

Cedric: Thank you, Pastors, Pastor Doug and Pastor Ross. This is a question for Pastor Doug: What is your opinion on people who are cremated and still buried?"

Doug: Cremated and still buried? I'm not sure what you mean: "cremated and buried." So you mean if they're cremated and then they're buried, does that affect the Resurrection, or—

Cedric: No, what I'm--all I'm saying is that some people are cremated and they're not scattered. Their ashes is being buried in the cemetery.

Doug: Yeah, well, yeah, and matter of fact, that's what happened with my grandparents is they were cremated and then they have a cemetery. They've got a wall that's full of urns, and they have people do that economically because it saves space compared to a whole coffin. But, you know, I don't think there's really any difference. The Bible tells us: "Ashes to ashes, and dust to dust," so it's not a problem for God to resurrect. Now, technically, if you say, "What is the Bible method for disposing of dead or how do you treat the dead?" almost 99% of the time it's burial. You know, Abraham was buried, Isaac was buried, Joseph was buried. They were embalmed, but then they were buried. Only one or two examples in the Bible of a believer that was cremated. Now, many of the martyrs who died for their faith, they were burned at the stake. Well, they're certainly going to be resurrected, so cremation does not prevent God from resurrecting you. Then folks have argued, you know, now with so many people in the world, all the space taken up by cemeteries, how can we keep doing this, you know, I don't know that there--it's a--what's the word for it? I don't know that it's a saved/lost question, but biblically, if you want to know what they did, it was typically burial.

Jëan: That's right, you know, the Bible does talk about a couple of examples where a believer, as far as we know, was burnt, and you have 1 Samuel chapter 31, verse 12, talks about the bones of Jonathan after his death were gathered and they were burnt and, of course, we believe that Jonathan will be saved. He was a good man and he'll be in heaven.

Doug: And you know, during the Reformation, some of the martyrs like Whitefield or Wycliffe, they scattered their ashes in the river and they thought that'll prevent this. Friend, you hear the music. We're just taking a break. We're going to come back with more Bible answers. Don't go anywhere.

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Announcer: Doug Batchelor was the teenaged son of a millionaire father and show business mother, yet he was living in a cave. He had everything money could buy, everything but happiness. But all of the fun and excitement he enjoyed left his life out of control. His search eventually led him to a cave above Palm Springs that became his home. While Doug scavenged for food in garbage bins, his father owned a yacht, a Lear jet, and an airline. But in his cave home, he discovered a dust-covered Bible. As he began to read, he soon learned of his true purpose in life. "The Richest Caveman" is the extraordinary true story of Doug Batchelor that tells how a rebellious teenager who once lived in a cave became a tremendous soul-winner for Jesus Christ. It's a thrilling testimony of the transforming power of God's Word. To order your copy of "The Richest Caveman," call 800-538-7275 or visit AFBOOKSTORE.COM.

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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 p.m. and 8 p.m. Pacific time. To receive any of the Bible resources mentioned in this evening's program, call 800-835-6747. Once again, that's 800-835-6747. Now, let's rejoin our hosts for more "Bible Answers Live."

Doug: Welcome back, listening friends, to "Bible Answers Live." You may not only be listening friends, you might be watching friends. You could be watching us on AFTV or on 3ABN. We do the replays there or one of the other broadcasts, Good News Network, and we welcome you. You can also watch on Facebook Live. We're broadcasting live on YouTube, Amazing Facts YouTube, Doug Batchelor Facebook page, and for those who are tuning in, this is a live international interactive Bible study, and we take your phone calls and, with very little warning, we do our best to answer your questions. So, sometimes, our screeners will put up a little note here and says they've got a question on the Trinity or whatever it is, and then we just pray for wisdom and look at the Word of God and answer your question. So, if you have a question, you can call us, 800-GOD SAYS. That's 800-463-7297. I am Doug Batchelor.

Jëan: And my name is Jëan Ross, and we've got Jason standing by in Washington. Jason, welcome to "Bible Answers Live."

Jason: Hi, thank you, and thank you for your program. My question is--well, first, I'm an atheist, and my question is a lot of times when I talk with Christians and I sort of back them into a corner because we can't understand why God does something, and a lot of times they'll say, "Well, you know, we're just human, and we can't understand God." So I was calling to ask, specifically, What is it about the human brain that doesn't allow us to understand God," because I think there isn't anything missing in the human brain that would allow us to understand God.

Doug: Well, I think, first of all, I'm delighted to talk to you, I used to be an atheist too. And I got to where I just didn't have enough faith to be an atheist because, to me, there is--I can't find any evidence in the observable universe where you get inner working systems, organization, and design by chance. There's always intelligence invested in those things. Now, I think we can understand something about the mind of God and, in the Bible, God says, "Come, now let us reason together." And there's a lot of evidence we see in the world of, you know, just the symbiotic relationship between creatures and plants and animals, a just incredible cycle of, you know, we exhale what the plants inhale, so to speak. And so there's a lot we understand from God, both in His Word and in the observable universe. You know, I'd love to see you read my book. You can actually listen to the testimony for free online. It's called, "The Richest Caveman," and it tells you why I went from being an atheist or at least an agnostic to believing in the Bible. And I thought that would never happen. But yeah, it's--I don't know if I'm answering your question, though.

Jason: No, you're not.

Doug: Okay, you want to know what in our human minds would prevent us from understanding the will of God?

Jason: Yeah.

Doug: Well, see, I think we can understand the will of God. So, I'm having a problem with the question. I think His Word—

Jason: Well, I guess it doesn't apply to you.

Doug: Sorry, go ahead.

Jason: Well, I guess it doesn't apply to you. Maybe it just applies to Christians who think they can't because this is the problem I run up a lot when I talk with Christians.

Doug: Well, no, in fairness, there's a lot of things that happen we don't understand. I mean, we see a tragedy where some innocent person suffers and we think if God is good, why does that happen? Now, to some extent, we do understand those things and a lot of Christians don't--they don't explain it very well, but there's a battle that is going on between good and evil. Not only is there a good, loving God, but the highest of His creation was a creature called Lucifer that rebelled and came to this world and said, "I can run things better." And our first parents, they listened to Lucifer instead of God and, basically, he hijacked the planet. Now, there's a lot of forces at play here that are in the Bible, people don't talk about. So, a lot of the evil that we see in the world is not God's will. That's why Jesus said we should pray, "Thy will be done," because a lot of things God doesn't want to happen. So when we see things we don't understand, you know, we can't see into the spiritual realm, just like we can't see radio waves, but they're very real.

Jëan: And of course, we mentioned earlier, we do have a study guide that talks about the Bible. And if you believe the Bible, and there's plenty of evidence to support the Bible, that it is a trustworthy book, and is a revelation, and if you read the Bible, you understand more of this great controversy, you understand what God is like and you understand the plan of redemption and what God did to save mankind. So, again, that is a great resource for anyone wanting to learn more. It's called, "The Ultimate Resource," and you can just call and ask. The number is 800-835-6747, ask for that study guide called "The Ultimate Resource." You can also dial #250. Just say, "Bible Answers Live," and then "The Ultimate Resource." Thank you, Jason. We've got Grace in California. Grace, welcome to the program.

Grace: Yes, thank you. Good evening, Pastor Doug and Pastor Ross.

Doug: Evening.

Grace: My question is: "Is it okay for a student to take yoga classes in college?"

Doug: Yeah, well, yoga--yeah, I used to be involved in Eastern religions, and yoga was sort of a combination of, you know, body exercises, procedures, cleansing, and it was sort of combining the body and the spirit. But it was woven into the mysticism of the religion. So, for me, I would not be comfortable doing that. I stop short of condemning people that are doing yoga exercises for purely physical reasons but, in its beginning, yoga is very much tied to a religious belief, and there's other great exercises besides yoga classes. Don't know if that helps a little. Hope that makes sense, Grace. Thank you.

Jëan: We've got Christian in Texas. Christian, welcome to the program.

Christian: Okay, so my question is Job chapter 1: "How did Satan get into the presence of God and the angels if he was kicked out of heaven?"

Doug: Well, first of all, the Bible doesn't say this meeting was in heaven. It says: "There was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and the devil came among them." And this is in Job chapter 1. So, you know, God left heaven every now and then, for instance when He walked with Adam and Eve in the garden, He went other places to visit His creatures and His creation. And so, wherever this meeting is, it doesn't say in the Bible, Satan is able to access this meeting. And I don't know that the devil was completely confined to the earth until after the time of the cross. I think Jesus said, "I beheld Satan fall like lightning from heaven." I think that up to that point he was able to still accuse. You see him in the book of Zechariah, he's standing before the Lord accusing the high priest.

Jëan: And when it says that the devil or Satan was cast out of heaven, it's not necessarily meaning that he can never go back for a meeting or something like that, but it means that was no longer his home. He was cast out of heaven, the dwelling place of God. So, wherever the meeting took place, if it was in heaven, well, the devil came for a specific reason. He claimed the earth was his and he was representing the earth. That's why God said, "Where did you come from?" and he said, "Oh, from walking up and down on the earth." So he claimed the earth is his. Quite possibly, the sons of God that we read about there in Job are representatives of other intelligent worlds of unfallen beings. The devil claims the earth is his, so you have the story there, recorded in Job. And, just to add to that, Revelation chapter 12 talks about the devil being cast out of heaven and that took place before Creation, but then it also says at the cross the devil was cast down. And, as you mentioned, at the cross. Now, Jesus is the representative of the earth because the devil is now bound to this earth.

Doug: Yeah, and you know, one more thing occurred to me while you were talking is that, you know, here in our world, I can talk to people, I did it today on the other side of the planet. And what makes us think that the devil had to actually be standing in front of God to talk to God? If we've got cell phones and internet, then the devil can communicate with God no matter where he is. But I think this one, it does imply in the book of Job he came into the presence. He showed up. But thank you. Jëan: All right, next caller that we have is Natasha in New York; Natasha, welcome to the program.

Natasha: Thank you so much. Okay, so my question is--it's based on Mark 9:5. I saw that--well, I read that Moses and Elijah, they made a cameo appearance in the New Testament, and I was wondering about Enoch, because I never--since God took Enoch, I never saw--I never read about him again. I just wanted to hear your thoughts on that. Thank you, I listen often.

Doug: Yeah, good question. You know, the Bible tells us not only did Elijah go to heaven without dying, but "Enoch walked with God and he was not for God took him." Why was it only Moses and Elijah that appeared on the Mount of Transfiguration that you find in Mark chapter 9? And by the way, that's also in Luke and in Matthew. I think it's because that, for that particular experience, Moses and Elijah had a relationship with Jesus different from Enoch's. Both Moses and Elijah fasted 40 days and 40 nights, as Jesus did. Moses represents the law, Elijah represents the prophets. Enoch might have been beholding from the front row. We don't know. But just Moses and Elijah came to appear. This basically symbolizing the law and the prophets that endorsed that Jesus was the Messiah.

Jëan: And also, we have a miniature of the Second Coming there. Jesus said, you know, just 6 days after he said to his disciples: "You shall see the Son of Man in His glory."

Doug: Or 6 days before.

Jëan: Six days before that, yes. And then, of course, Elijah represents those who are alive when Jesus comes and are translated to heaven without seeing death. And Moses, who died and was resurrected, could represent those who are resurrected at the Second Coming of Christ. So, it's rather significant that you have those two appearing with Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration.

Doug: It's a miniature picture of the Second Coming.

Jëan: We actually have a book called—

Doug: It's called, "The Two Witnesses."

Jëan: "The Two Witnesses," that's right. And it's free, we'll send it to anyone who calls and asks. The number is 800-835-6747. Ask for the book called, "The Two Witnesses." Also you can dial #250 and ask for that. Say "Bible Answers Live," and then ask for "The Two Witnesses." We've got John listening in Arizona. John, welcome to the program.

John: Yeah, well, I listened to Pastor Doug's response to the return of the Lord in Revelations 1:7, but then in Matthew 24:27 it says that "Lightning Cometh out of the east and flashes even unto the west." I'm of the opinion, I'm asking for a comment on this, that because I know lightning will travel around the earth seven times in a second, to see the light, and He says from east to west as the lightning flashes. And it would seem logical that every eye would see Him in a--within that second.

Doug: Yeah, well, I think that when Jesus talks about His Second Coming being as lightning, He's not emphasizing the speed of light, He's emphasizing that everyone will see and it will not be a secret because when lightning flashes across the sky, you don't have to elbow the person next to you and say, "Did you see that?" So He's actually addressing the idea that His Coming would be a secret and He's saying, "It's not a secret. It'll be like lightning that covers the heavens." He's not saying that His Coming would sweep around the heaven in the blink of an eye and He'd be done with it. So, at least, that's my understanding. But you make a good point. He says: "It'll go from the east to the west." He's talking about it traveling from point A to point B. Jesus is coming from the east and He's going to sweep around the world for the--you know, going west and head back to heaven.

Jëan: And not only that, Pastor Doug, but Joel said the earth that is still turning when Jesus is coming, so as Christ approaches the earth and the earth keeps turning, well, in 24 hours the earth has made a full rotation. Everybody has seen Jesus coming. Even before He sweeps around the earth. As He's approaching the earth, everyone will see Him.

Doug: That's true, yeah. Even if He stood still, everyone would eventually see Him in 24 hours.

Jëan: That's right, because the earth, yeah, the earth turns. We've got Ryan in New Mexico. Ryan, welcome to the program.

Ryan: Hello, again. I have a different question this time. Basically, whenever I'm talking about the Bible and, you know, basically the difference between the law of Moses and the Ten Commandments, is--were the two tablets were made out of--were they made out of blue sapphire? You know, because Yahweh, you know, wrote on them with His finger, do you know what I mean? And they kept them on the inside of the ark of the covenant and then they had the law of Moses, you know, written on paper by Moses. D'you know what I'm saying? And kept on the outside of the ark. You know, and then you can go on from there, but yeah, blue sapphire. Were they made out of blue sapphire?

Doug: Yeah, some people conjecture that the Ten Commandments were written on blue sapphire because sapphire's one of the stones that's mentioned as a pavement around God's throne. But there's no scripture, so all I would do is speculate and, you know, I got to tell you, if it's--if I don't have a command that says: "And this law was written on sapphire," I can't tell you it was. It just says, "two tables of stone." Now, evidently, whatever that stone was, it must have been available in the desert there because when Moses broke the first tables of stone, God told him to hew two more tables of stone like the first and bring them up. So, nothing is said about the value of the stone. It could have been plain granite or some stone that was abundant, probably hard, that was found there in the desert, but not so hard that you, you know, couldn't--I guess God could chisel on anything. But, anyway, it never says it was sapphire. We've got a member of our church that cuts stone, and he made us a beautiful set of Ten Commandments on a bluish granite because he thinks it's sapphire also. Might be, we don't know. So there's no command, no specific scripture.

Jëan: Yeah, and it's a good question. Was there sapphire in that region, in the Sinai, in the desert, and it must have been a large piece of sapphire. Can you--you know, do you find that big of a sapphire stone? I don't know. Maybe.

Doug: Yeah, well, I can't wait to find out, Ryan.

Jëan: Yeah, all right, we got Donna in Canada. Donna, welcome to the program.

Donna: Thank you so much. Okay, I'm trying to study the Bible, and I have to tell you I've never been interested in history, I've never been interested in politics. I don't have a clue about either of those things and, as I'm reading Daniel, I think it's Daniel 11, it's talking about the king of the North and the king of the South, and he's talking about all these different countries, and I don't--it sounds like a foreign language to me. So I just wondered if you had any books or whatever or literature that might explain these things.

Doug: Great question. You know, I think I should mention that Pastor Ross right now is doing a class every week or almost every week, going through Daniel, and he's just getting ready to dive into Daniel 11. Do not be discouraged, Donna, that you don't understand all of the political intrigue that is happening in Daniel 11. It is a challenge--it's one of the most challenging prophetic chapters in the Bible, but very simply you've got a battle between, it says, "the king of the North and the king of the South," that starts out with the southern powers of the Greek empire and the northern powers of the Greek empire and then that kind of transitions over history. How those transitions play out is quite a bit of discussion on it--I don't know, Pastor Ross, you got lessons coming out eventually.

Jëan: Yeah, we do, we're actually going to be talking about that in a couple of weeks. So, you know, if you want to tune in, I think it's on YouTube, you can go take a look at that. Yeah, it is interesting, you've got, as you mentioned, Pastor Doug, the king of the North begins with the Assyrian powers, part of the Grecian empire, and you have the king of the South, Ptolemy, would be the lineage. And the king of Egypt. Eventually, the king of Egypt is subdued by the king of the North which would be the Grecian power. There's different kings that come and go but they all fall under the king of the North. But then, Rome conquers the Greeks, and Rome becomes the king of the North. And very interesting, because it plays even to both Rome in its pagan form and also in its papal form. Then you get to around verse 40, it brings you right up to our time so, yeah, there's a lot there.

Doug: Yeah, great question, Donna. Keep studying. You'll get clear.

Jëan: All right, we got Lloyd in Arkansas. Lloyd, welcome to the program.

Lloyd: Thank you very much for listening to me.

Doug: Yes.

Lloyd: My question is: "Can you explain to me Psalms chapter 2, verse 7, and Hebrews chapter 5, verse 5?" What is taking place there and who's doing the talking and whom?

Doug: Great, all right, let me read it for our friends. If you go to Psalms, this is 2nd Psalm in verse 7, it says: "I will declare the decree: The LORD has said to Me, 'You are My Son, Today I have begotten You. Ask of Me,'" and I want to read verse 8 also. "Ask of Me, and I will give You The nations for Your inheritance, And the ends of the earth for Your possession." So when you get to the New Testament, we see that this is--this is a prophecy of Jesus, and if you look in Hebrews 1, verse 5, it says: "For to which of the angels did he ever say: 'You are my Son?'" Paul, assuming Paul wrote Hebrews, Paul is saying this is a prophecy about Jesus. He's not talking about angels being His Son, and David, when it says: "My Lord--the Lord said to my Lord, 'Sit at My right hand,'" so you've got the Lord talking to the Lord. So, clearly, it's God the Father talking to God the Son. It's the same God the Son you see in Daniel 7 who comes before the Ancient of Days. So, when it says: "This day I have begotten You," there it's really talking about the incarnation of Jesus.

Jëan: And of course, you have--well, you've already read verse 8, but verse 9 says: "You shall break them with a rod of iron; and You shall dash them into pieces." Now, that's a messianic phrase when it talks about a rod of iron. It's also refer to Jesus when He comes and He smites the wicked, it says, with a rod of iron that represents judgment. So, clearly, this passage is talking about Jesus, the messianic phrase.

Doug: Yeah, and that's in Revelation where it says: "He will smash them as a rock." Well, it actually says in Revelation 12, "A child rules all nations with a rod of iron," man-child. So, yup, I hope that helps a little, Lloyd. And appreciate your question. Thank you.

Jëan: Okay, we've got Adrian in California. Adrian, welcome to the program.

Adrian: Thank you so much. How are you guys doing?

Doug: Always better than we deserve.

Adrian: Thank you, thank you, and God bless. As a Christian, if someone asks you the question, "Are you saved," what should be your answer? And should we know or be assured that we are saved now?

Doug: Yeah, great question. Well, first of all, I always want to know who's asking me the question, because there's a context. If one of my Baptist friends says, "Are you saved?" I'd say, "Yes," because what they're asking is, "Do you know the Lord?" If you've got an Armenian friend and he says, "Are you saved?" they're wanting to know, "Do you believe that once saved, always saved," I'd explain to them that, you know, I have confidence I know the Lord, that I am a Christian, but it doesn't mean that I can't be lost. And so, some of it just has to do with who's asking you the question and what's inferred by that. Can we know we have eternal life? Can a Christian have some confidence? Well, John says: "By this we may know that way we have eternal life. Whoever has the Son has life. So, you know, I'm hoping that that's answering what you're asking, Adrian. But we're going to try and take one or two more calls. We're running--the clock's running up on us here and we see people waiting.

Jëan: We've got Diane in Washington. Diane, welcome to "Bible Answers Live." We have just a few minutes.

Diane: Yeah, thank you so much for taking my call, first of all. I have a family member that's telling me that God created sin and he's getting this from Isaiah 45:7. And he goes, "Well, it does say: "I make peace and create evil," and so just quickly, I'd like your thoughts on that because I don't believe that God created sin. I mean, He gave--when He created Satan, when He created Adam and Eve, He gave us free will, you know, to choose, so I would just like feedback on that, thank you. Doug: Well, God is good, God is just, God is perfect. And God does not create evil. God created a beautiful angel that became a devil. This verse is often misunderstood just because when you go from one language to another, it can lose some of its meaning. Here, God is simply saying, "I'm the one who allows these judgments to come." And so, the word "evil" there is the word "calamity." It means I can send calamity and, you know, when God sent a flood on the world, He sent calamity but it was really a judgment, so that's different than evil. A judgment is actually a good thing. It's bringing justice. You know, if a judge sentences, you know, a violent criminal to prison, he's sending calamity to the prisoner, but he's sending peace to the citizens. So, it's not evil, it's good for a judge to do that. So this is saying God sends judgment.

Jëan: All right, one last question, if we can get it in. We've got Richard in—

Doug: Nebraska. Richard, you're on the air.

Jëan: Richard, yup, got just a minute.

Richard: Hello.

Doug: Hi.

Richard: I always wondered, because it says in the Bible that the devil deceived a third of the angels. Do we have any idea, and it's kind of, like, a silly question, but I always wondered what was a third of the angels? Do we even have any clue, you know, how many of--a third of what? A million? A billion?

Doug: Well, you know, the Bible does tell us that he's surrounded by an innumerable company of angels, and I think it says 10,000--He comes with 10,000 times 10,000.

Jëan: Thousands of thousands.

Doug: Yeah, that's--it's basically saying that it's countless. You know, God said the descendants of Abraham would be like the stars and like the dust of the sea. So there are billions of angels, there are guardian angels for every human life. And so if you figure there are 8 billion people in the world and there's at least one guardian angel and there may be a guardian and recording angels, or maybe they work in shifts, there's billions of angels, and so, yeah, one-third of them rebelled against God. It's hard to put an exact number on that, obviously, but don't worry, God is not running short on angels like some kings run short on soldiers. He's got countless angels that minister to Him.

And for our listening friends, I always like a take a moment and explain. Those that are listening on satellite radio, satellite and Free to Air have two different clocks that they use, and it's because of that we sign off sort of in two stages. We'll say farewell and God bless to our friends that are listening on satellite. For all the others, stand by, because we are going to be taking a couple of minutes answering your internet questions. And we'll be doing as many rapid-fire questions as we can in just a couple of minutes. For the rest of our friends, God bless. We'll study together again 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, and welcome back to "Bible Answers Live." We're going to take your email questions. If you have a question, just BALquestions@amazingfacts.org. That's BALquestions@amazingfacts.org. Pastor Doug, from Trinidad, Kian is asking: "Is Michael the archangel Jesus, and if so, what are the scriptures?"

Doug: Yeah, I remember when I first learned this, I thought, "How can that be? He's called an angel." Well, it's not a regular angel. One of the titles for Jesus is "Michael the Archangel," and it doesn't mean Jesus is an angel. That word "archangel," it means the greatest messenger. And the Bible says: "The Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout and the voice of the archangel." It's the archangel that resurrects Moses. It's the angel of the Lord that Joshua worships, and we are only to worship God and that's in the book of Joshua, chapter 2, I think.

Jëan: Right, the verse talking about the archangel is 1 Thessalonians 4:16. It says: "The Lord will come with the voice--with the shout of the archangel." Okay, next question that we have, we've got Dennis asking: "Where did Melchizedek come from? It talks about him not having a father or a mother. Does this mean that he is God himself?"

Doug: Yeah, when Paul says that Melchizedek is without father and mother, beginning of days, he's simply making a comparison of Melchizedek when no genealogy is given. He appears suddenly in history and disappears, and we don't know what people he's of. He said, "Well, that's like Christ who is from eternity to eternity, has no beginning or end." But Melchizedek was a real person. There's just no citation of his people or where he went.

Jëan: "What is the delusion that God speaks about in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2, verse 11, where it says, 'They do not love the truth. God sends them a strong delusion'"?

Doug: Well, it's probably the same delusion Jesus warns about when He said that "if it were possible, even the very elect would be deceived. The devil and three unclean spirits come out of the mouth: the beast, the dragon, and the false prophet, performing signs and wonders to deceive the leaders of the world and bring them to that Battle of Armageddon." So, the nature of that delusion, Satan himself we believe is going to impersonate Christ and talks about bringing fire down from heaven. We don't know exactly what the particular miracle is but that's why it's going to be a delusion. I think it's going to surprise much of the earth.

Jëan: All right, and, you know, I'm looking at the clock, Pastor Doug, we don't have time for any more calls but we do want to remind you, you can just simply email your question to BALquestions@amazingfacts.org. We're going to try and answer as many of these at the end of each of our programs.

Doug: Amen, don't forget to check out AmazingFacts.org for a plethora of Bible study materials and videos and then share the link with your friends. God bless, friends. Until next week.

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