BAL 2024, Ep31 - Is It Okay To Clean Up After a Meal on Sabbath ?

Doug Batchelor: Hello friends. You want to hear an amazing fact? The human eye is one of the most incredible organs in all of creation. There are over one million nerves connecting each eye to the brain, which is why 80% of all learning comes through the eyes. Yes, nearly half of the brain's cortex is dedicated to processing visual information. The eye is the fastest contracting muscle in the body with the ability to focus on fifty different objects every second and to distinguish over ten million colors and up to five hundred shades of gray. In fact, according to new research, the human eye is so sensitive it is able to detect a single photon of light, which is the smallest measurable unit of light. Babies are born color blind but develop color perception within a week. Eyes stay the same size from birth, unlike the ears and the nose that continue to grow through life. No one in the world has an eye exactly like yours. Though only one sixth of the eyeball is visible, the human iris has 256 distinct features, while the fingerprints only have 40.

Think about it Pastor Ross. That would mean that if someone wanted to call you and get the right number with 256 digits, the chances of that are just totally outrageous. That's why they now do iris scans instead of fingerprints because it's so much more unique. Charles Darwin said in his book on the "Origin of Species" that the idea of natural selection producing an eye was absurd in the highest possible degree. He said, "Even my theory doesn't explain how you could get a human eye, how complex it would be, and how that would ever develop." But you know, according to the Bible, we haven't seen anything yet. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 2, verse 9, "But it is written, 'The eye has not seen, nor the ear heard, nor has it entered into the heart of man the things that God has prepared for those that love Him.'" The Bible has a lot to say about the eye.

Jëan Ross: That's right. As a matter of fact, I'm looking at a verse in Matthew chapter 6, verse 22. The words of Jesus says, "Therefore if your eye is good, the whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, the whole body will be full of darkness." So, what you look at influences what you become.

Doug: Absolutely. You know, probably of the Gospel writers, John is the most visual. I went through John chapter 1 once and I found, I believe it was 27 times he makes a reference to sight or light. And everything from behold, and he saw, and the light, and just he was a very visual apostle. And you know when Paul tells us we haven't seen anything yet compared to what we're going to see in heaven, we're going to have to have special eyes because we read in the Bible that, "The light of the moon will be like the light of the sun now, and the light of the sun will be sevenfold brighter." And people who have gone into heavenly vision, they say things are so bright. So, you've got a bright future friends if you've got Jesus. And if you'd like to know more about that, I think we've got a free book available.

Jëan: We do. Our book this evening is called "Heaven: Is It For Real." It's a free offer. We'll be happy to send it to anyone who calls and asks. The number is 800-835-6747. You can ask for offer number 189, or you can dial #250 with your smartphone and say Bible answers live and then ask for that book, "Heaven: Is It For Real?" It's important for us to remember that heaven is a real place. Right now, there are angels, Jesus is interceding for us there before the Father, and He is preparing our home for those that love Him.

Doug: Amen.

Jëan: Well, with that, we're going to go to the phone lines, but before we take your Bible questions, we want to start with prayer. So let's do that. Dear Father, we are grateful once again that we do have this time to do this Bible study. Lord, we ask for your blessing as we open the scriptures. Be with those who are listening wherever they might be and guide us, Lord, into a clearer understanding of the Bible. For we ask this in Jesus's name, amen.

Doug: Amen.

Jëan: All right, if you have a Bible question, let me mention that number one more time. It's 800-4637-297. That's 800--God says 800-463-7297. Our resource phone line is 800-835-6747. We're going to be giving out a number of free resources that'll help you in your study of God's Word. So, you want to write down that number as well. First caller tonight is Robert, listening in Washington. Robert, welcome to "Bible Answers Live."

Robert: Good evening.

Doug: Evening, Thank you for calling.

Robert: You're welcome. I guess I called so early that I'm number one.

Doug: You are. You got lined up early. And your question tonight.

Robert: I maybe should have asked it differently. It's regarding Malachi chapter 3, verse 1. It talks about the Lord suddenly coming to His temple. Is that referring to the temple in Jerusalem or a different temple?

Doug: Well, I think that this prophecy is talking about, well, you might say it's a dual prophecy. When Jesus cleansed the sanctuary, it says that that was a fulfillment of a prophecy about, "The zeal of Thine house has eaten Me up." And also in the Old Testament, they wept when Nehemiah's temple, the temple of Ezra and Nehemiah, when it was rebuilt, because it was so much smaller than Solomon's. King Herod refurbished that temple, and it was much nicer, but they said the glory of that temple would be even greater than the glory of Solomon's because the Lord Himself would come, and Jesus actually ministered in that temple. But then the second fulfillment would be, you know, God's church's body is a temple, and He came in person to His people. He came to enter into them, so to speak. But yeah, Jesus did literally enter the temple as a baby who was brought in, and He was named and presented to the Lord. And then of course He was teaching there several times during His ministry up until a few days before His death.

Jëan: And this also got this application for the heavenly sanctuary, you know, the earthly shadow of the heavenly sanctuary and Jesus is ministering as a high priest. And at the end of the 2300 days in Daniel 8:14, Christ began His final work as high priest in the most holy place of the heavenly sanctuary. And at the time, in the early 1800s, there were believers who were looking for the coming of Christ, and they didn't understand fully that Christ wasn't coming back to the earth as they had expected but was to move into this final high priestly ministry in the heavenly sanctuary. And I think this verse also alludes to that. The Lord whom you seek will suddenly appear in His temple and it's referring to connected with, "'Behold He's coming,' saith the Lord of hosts." So, sort of a prophetic aspect to that as well, both historical and prophetic.

Doug: All right, hey, thank you so much, Robert. And we do have a study guide that talks about the temple, "God Drew the Plans."

Jëan: And to receive that, the number to call is 800-835-6747. That is our resource phone line. You can answer the study guide. It's called "God Drew the Plans." It's about the sanctuary of the earthly, as well as its heavenly application. You'll be blessed by reading that. Next caller that we have is Glenn in Ohio. Glenn, welcome to "Bible Answers Live."

Glenn: Thank you pastors, for taking my call and good evening from Bethel, Ohio.

Doug: Evening.

Glenn: My call in question this evening has to do with Calvary. When Paul wrote his letter to the Hebrews, he put in there that, "Without the shedding of blood, there's no remission for sin." And we know that the Messiah shed His precious blood and met that criteria once and for all. But my question is, is there any Bible support for such brutality as took place at Calvary?

Doug: Well, if you're talking about support that it happened, yeah. And prophetically, you can read Isaiah 53, where it says, "We're healed with his stripes. He was bruised for our iniquities." And the stripes mean whips. So, of course, He was whipped. And then, you know, you can read where it says they crucified Him and we know plenty about crucifixion from history, what was involved in that. You can read where it says, "They broke the legs of the thieves on the right and the left of Jesus," and the Christ was dead at this point, but of course, they pierced His side with a spear. So, it was, yeah, it was excruciating. Matter of fact, that's where the word comes from. Excruse means the cross. It's like it's connected with the word "crucifixion," excruciating pain, so, because they couldn't find a word to describe how painful crucifixion was, and it basically defined its own word.

Jëan: And you can also read in Psalms 22, verse 16, where it's a messianic prophecy talking about Christ. It says, "They pierced My hands and My feet." That's a reference to Gentiles gathering around Christ as it says there in Psalms 26. You know, something else interesting about crucifixion, they found some archaeological evidence to support the idea that the Romans, when it came to crucifying people, they did some research to try to make it as painful as they can. They often drive nails right at the base of the hand into the wrist. And there was a series of nerves in particular that was running right in that area. They would drive those nails into bringing terrible pain to the people that would be crucified. So, it was a horrible way to die. Probably the worst that the Romans could come up with and yet Jesus died bearing the sins of the whole world. And of course, we do have a study guide that talks about that sacrifice, "The High Cost of the Cross." And of course, that's good news for salvation for those who believe. To receive that, just call and ask. The number is 800-835-6747. You can ask for that book. It's called "The High Cost of the Cross," and we'll be happy to send it to anyone who calls and asks. You can dial #250 with your smartphone and ask for the book that way as well. Thank you, Glenn. Next caller that we have is Uni from California. Uni, welcome to the program.

Uni: Hello, Pastor Doug Batchelor and Jëan Ross.

Doug: Evening.

Uni: My question is about revelation about the three uncleaned frogs coming out of the mouth of the dragon and so forth. I was just wanting more of an explanation, and I was also wondering if you guys could do a prayer request real quick, please.

Doug: Well, I'll tell you what, why don't we do the question and then you can tell us who you want us to pray for, okay?

Uni: Okay. Well, my question is about like three uncleaned frogs, just like more explanation on what that is.

Doug: Yes, and that's from, I believe, Revelation 16. This is the sixth plague. And you find that in Revelation chapter 16, and you can start with verse 12, "And the sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and the water was dried up, so that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared. And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs coming out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. For they are the spirits of demons, performing signs, that go out to the kings of the earth and the whole world, that gather them to the battle of the great day of God Almighty." It's one of the few places here where you then see red letter in the text and Jesus speaks saying, "Behold, I'm coming as a thief." So, what are these frogs? Well, a lot of the plagues that you see in Revelation are similar to plagues that you saw on Ancient Egypt. One of the plagues in ancient Egypt was a plague of frogs. Egyptians actually worship the frogs. Frogs are unclean animals. A frog doesn't bite, and it doesn't claw, but it has a tongue. And so, it says that they're deceiving the kings of the earth before a battle and their spirits performing miracles. Before a great battle in the days of King Saul, he went, and it was a battle between Israel and the Philistines, he went to see a witch and these unclean spirits conjured up the image of Samuel the prophet and it deceived him. And so, it's telling us in the last days that evil spirits are going to manipulate world leaders and tell them--you can read also where Ahab, his prophets, gave him lying information before he was killed in battle just like Saul. So, it's telling us about these stories in the Old Testament and saying evil spirits are going to manipulate world leaders before this final battle against God's people. That's a--that's kind of a quick overview. Pastor Ross might have more detail on that.

Jëan: Just maybe something about the number three. It says, "Three unclean spirits." It's interesting you have almost a counterfeit trinity in this verse. You have the dragon, the beast, and the false prophet. Just like you have the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, here you have a counterfeit. The dragon symbolizing Satan, the beast's power and apostate religious power, and the false prophet through spiritualism and working science. So, the whole world is galvanized or are united, preparing for this final showdown between good and evil through these counterfeit miracles that are taking place in these powers. So, yeah. It's describing the event that's yet to take place in the future, but we can see the stage being set even today, I think which is interesting. Spiritualism and a lot of discussion about yeah, signs and wonders and things happening in the world around us, yeah.

Doug: Uni, you said that there was a prayer request. I prefer you don't mention any particular name of a person, but if you have a prayer request, you want us to pray about.

Uni: Could I say her first name?

Doug: Sure.

Uni: Okay, well this prayer request is for someone that I used to know all the way back to the elementary, I believe. And you know, there's always a certain way to do things. And if you do something that you can make a person not want to, you know, receive Christ or anything of that nature. So, I just wanted to come and call and ask you two if you guys could do a prayer request because I feel like it's my fault that she potentially missed out on eternity. So--but I believe that with God, all things are possible, and that God has the power to change realities. So, I would just like to pray, or I would like to tell you guys to pray for this specific somebody which is her name is Anahi.

Doug: We will. I tell you what, let me have a prayer right now, okay? Loving Lord, we just want to lift before You, Anahi, that Uni was talking about. That he's afraid that through his influence that she may have been turned away from You. We pray that through the influence of others that You will speak to her heart through circumstances and that she can be brought back again. And we thank You and pray this in Jesus's name, amen.

Jëan: Amen.

Doug: Well, thank you for your question, Uni.

Jëan: Jorge in Virginia is calling. Welcome to the program, Jorge. You're on the air.

Jorge: Hey, how are you Pastor Doug and Pastor Ross? How's everything going with you guys?

Doug: Great. Thank you for calling and your question.

Jorge: I'm a huge fan of "Pinnacle of Prophecy" and you know, all the shows that you've had recently regarding, you know, the prophecy of that time.

Doug: Praise the Lord, yeah. You saw our meetings from New York recently, Prophecy Odyssey?

Jorge: Yes, I'm actually rewatching it as we speak all over again. So, I'm glad that, you know, that's a resource that you and Amazing Facts make that possible through YouTube and obviously your website. So, thank you for that.

Doug: Well, thank you, praise the Lord. And your question tonight.

Jorge: My question is, what does the Bible say about women's ordination, and how do we reconcile that with how that's coming to fruition in a lot of the churches nowadays.

Doug: Yeah, yeah, and you know, it's like Esther said, "If I perish, I perish." But you know, the Bible truth is a Bible truth. You're asking, what does the Bible say? And someone came up to me once and said, "Doug, what do I have to do to get you to change your opinion on women's ordination." I said, "Well, you have to change the Bible," because I'd be happy to believe either way, except there's just no example. Now, what we're talking about friends, is women being ordained as pastors. And there's just no precedent in the Bible. Some people say, "Well, that was cultural," but I think you have to be very careful about just saying that, you know, everything in the Bible is cultural. It's--I think it's pretty clear by the example going all the way back to the Garden of Eden to--through New Testament history, that men were called to be the servant leaders in families, the husband and the church is an extension of that. The Bible says that there's no example of a woman being ordained as a pastor, priest, elder. No woman offered sacrifice. It was only the men that are recorded as doing this. Jesus, there's a reason that he chose twelve men. A lot of women were disciples, but only the men were apostles. So, I would think there's a distinction of roles. Clearly, the physiology of men and women and even the way their brains work is different. And for whatever reason, you know, God has designed that that way and I just figured well we safer sticking with the Word. Now we have a book, I think, that talks about women in ministry.

Jëan: Yeah, as you mentioned, Pastor Doug, all are called to be disciple makers. That's the part of the Great Commission. If you're a believing in Christ, then you have a work to do. And so, yes, there is an important work for both men and women to do in the church, as Pastor Doug mentioned. But there are also roles given in scripture. And we do have a book. It's called "Women in Ministry." And it goes a lot more detail, talking about how we as individuals can be involved in ministry and sharing our faith. To receive that, the number to call is 800-835-6747. That is our resource phone line. Just call and ask for the book. It's called "Women in Ministry." You can dial #250 on your smartphone. Say, "Bible Answers Live," and then ask for the book by name. Next caller that we have is Rebeka in Ohio. Rebeka, welcome to "Bible Answers Live."

Rebeka: Hello, thank you, yes. My question is, so I know that in order to be saved, you have to have faith in Jesus and by His grace. But I also know that if you're not living in the Lord or if you are sinning, you're not saved because you--because yeah. Just--but I've been kind of struggling recently because sometimes I'm not really sure if I'm actually having faith in Jesus or if I'm having faith in my works because I find myself wondering if I'm really saved, if I'm following with the Lord because I find myself sinning. And does that make sense?

Doug: Yes, it's a big question that everyone asks every day. So, yeah. I actually was talking about this yesterday, and the--there's a, you know, there's sort of an international debate that's gone on for about two thousand years between--among Christians about assurance of salvation. How can you have assurance of salvation without being perfectionistic? How can you believe in grace without presuming on grace and avoid being a legalist, but yet still believe in obedience? And there's that balance. So, once you come to Jesus and you accept him, Rebeka, and you say, "Lord, I'm surrendering my life to you. I'm weak, but I want to learn to follow you." As soon as you come to Him, He will forgive all your past sins. It's called justification. You come just like you are. Then He says, "I'm going to give you power to learn to live a new life." That learning process, you're going to color outside the lines and make a lot of mistakes like every kid in school when they're learning. Don't get discouraged. Jesus does not let go of you. Don't worry that after you make a mistake, God is going to wait for you to make a mistake, and then He's going to take your life, and you'll die lost. Know that He's going to finish the work He began in you, if you continue to walk with Him. So, if you make a mistake, repent and ask God to give you strength to turn away from whatever that is. A believer should not have--they should not be addicted to sin. In other words, there should be no sin that has dominion over your life. The Lord wants to save you from your sins. And so, you want to surrender your heart to Him, ask for victory. If you stumble and fall, don't get discouraged, get back up and know that He loves you. He's adopted you as His child. And that He is the author and the finisher of your faith. He'll complete what he's begun. So, you know, I've got a book that we can send you. I forget sometimes that I wrote a book. It's called "Assurance" and how you can have assurance. And so, if you call the amazing facts number, ask for Pastor Doug's booklet on assurance, I think it will encourage you.

Jëan: The number to call is 800-835-6747. The book is called "Assurance: Justification Made Simple." So, call and ask. You can dial #250 on your smartphone, say, "Bible answers live," and you'll be able to receive a digital download that way as well. Just again, the book is called "Assurance: Justification Made Simple," and I hope anyone listening, you're all welcome to call and get more information. Next caller that we have is Mary in Oregon. Mary, welcome to "Bible Answers Live."

Mary: Thank you for taking my call. Good evening. And I want to also thank you for all that you do for Jesus.

Doug: Oh, it's a privilege. Thank you.

Mary: Yeah, thank you. My question is, Mary Magdalene, is she the same Mary as Mary of Bethany?

Doug: I think so. And there's Bible reasons for that. Now, I wrote a book, one of my favorite Bible characters is Mary Magdalene, and I just see her always at Jesus's feet. She seems to be among his most devoted followers. And you see, she's the first one he reveals himself to following the resurrection. Why do I believe that they're same person? Well, you see Mary of Bethany and Mary Magdalene frequently at Jesus's feet. It tells us that both of them have reputations for being, you know, women that were sinners. It never specifically says that Mary Magdalene or Mary of Bethany were prostitutes, but it does imply that they had that kind of reputation. And they had means. You know, they give this very expensive gift to Jesus, Mary of Bethany does. Evidently, Mary of Bethany, she worked in Magdala, which is like the Las Vegas of Galilee. That's where the Roman soldiers would have their recreation. And--but she had a brother and sister in Bethany. So, she sometimes called Mary of Magdala or Mary Magdalene. I think she may have also been the woman that was caught in adultery in John chapter 8, that's thrown down at Jesus's feet. So--and of course they have the same name. And the other thing is their names are never mentioned together. Now, there's one place where it tells about the woman who anointed Jesus's feet, and it says it's Mary of Bethany. Another Gospel says a certain woman, and it could be she was still alive then and they didn't want to identify her because it was an embarrassing situation. So, I think there's a lot of evidence that it's the same person.

Jëan: All right, do we have a book on that Pastor Doug?

Doug: We do. It's not one we typically give away. It's called, "At Jesus' Feet," and it's a full-size book that you can get through Amazing Facts. We do have a book on Mary the mother of Jesus if you want a Mary book, but the book on Mary Magdalene is called "At Jesus' Feet," the Gospel according to Mary Magdalene. That's a full size.

Jëan: Yeah, go to the Amazing Facts website for more information. All right, thank you. Next one we have is Grace in California. Grace, welcome to "Bible Answers Live."

Grace: Hi, good evening.

Doug: Hi, how are you doing?

Grace: My question is about, like, after you eat your lunch or dinner during the Sabbath, is it a sin to wash your plate?

Doug: Okay, good question. Not a practical question. You know, in Sabbath keeping, it says that we should try to get all of our practical work out of the way and enjoy that day as a day of rest. What about doing dishes after the meal? Well, you know, I think that you should try and leave undone what you can leave undone. That there are--I became a Christian studying under some people that were missionaries in Burma. And they said that, and these were very dedicated missionary Sabbath keepers, and they said after on Sabbath after meals, they said, we had to clean up because it's just ants everywhere, monkeys would come through the windows and take your food. And he said, "You know, just gotta understand. You gotta clean up or it's going to be a mess." Sometimes I'll straighten things out. You've got company in the house, angels are there, and you want things to look right and be sanitary. So, but, you know, there may be cases where you've got a stack of dishes and you think, "Okay, it's not a problem. I'm going to go to another room. We'll take care of it after Sabbath." So, it just, you know, it depends on the practical circumstances, I think.

Jëan: All right, thank you.

Doug: Thanks for your question. And we do have a book on keeping the Sabbath holy. It's a book we can share and if you call Amazing Facts, give some practical tips on how do you keep the Sabbath.

Jëan: The number for that is 800-835-6747. You can ask for the book on "How to Keep the Sabbath Holy." Just some practical information. You can also dial #250 on your smartphone and just ask for the book by name.

Doug: Yeah. So, listening friends, in just a few minutes, we're going to be taking our halftime break that gives you a chance to check out our website. Now, let me tell you, Amazing Facts has a very busy website. You won't find you have to wait when you go. It's busy because we have 8000 pages of information. I just found out this week. We get millions of people visiting the website. There are videos, free books, radio programs, all kinds of sermon material, and a great way for you to witness and share things. Go through the Bible study course, it's free. AmazingFacts.org. Now, don't go away, we'll be back.

Announcer: Stay tuned. "Bible Answers Live" will return shortly.

Lindsay: I was raised in Christian schools. My grandparents were missionaries in Africa and the Middle East. I got baptized by my grandfather in the church. That's all I knew. That's what I grew up with. When I was older and I was in high school, we moved to California. I became an age where I didn't have to go to church if I didn't want to go to church, and so I didn't. I started hanging out with the wrong people and would go drinking and would go partying and would go to the clubs and you have to surround yourself with like-minded people, otherwise you don't have people to keep you in check and you will drift away and I a hundred percent did.

I was probably around 21. I met my husband. I had always held religion in my heart, but I wasn't practicing it. I'd always told him that if we had kids, I wanted to be able to raise them in the church, but we had moved to Nevada when our first son was a year old and living outside of Sin City, there's not a ton of options. And then COVID hit, and I just knew something was calling me to come back. A couple months later, my parents told me about Pastor Doug. I connected with Pastor Doug because he had a past similar to mine. He was raised in the church loosely, but he had a spot in between where he lived a life that was not within the church. So, I thought, "Well, I want to hear what he has to say."

During the summer, I think is when "Revelation Now" came out. I made sure that I tuned in every night. Pastor Doug just helped me understand that Revelation is not as scary if you have a connection with God because he's going to make sure that you're not scared and that you're taking care of. My husband would come in and out of the room and check in and see what was going on, and I remember one night we got in an argument about why I was watching "Revelation Now" and I needed to give him some scientific proof that God was real. And I was like, "I can't show you proof, it's just in my heart. Why don't you watch some of these with me and just see?" So, he finally started sitting down watching with me. Then we went on Amazing Facts and we found the 27 study guides and then after we were done, I was like, "I want to get baptized again." And I remember him saying, "Me too."

Announcer: Thank you for changing Lindsay and Brian's lives.

Announcer: Would you like to know God's plan for our troubled world and solutions for your life's challenges? Beautifully redesigned and updated, Amazing Facts' 27 Bible study guides provide straightforward Bible-based answers that are enlightening, encouraging, and easy to understand, giving you real relevant Bible answers to questions like, "How can I have healthier relationships? When will Jesus come?" and much more. Order yours today by visiting afbookstore.com or by calling 800-538-7275.

Announcer: Would you like to start your day with an inspiring spiritual boost? You can get a daily devotional from your friends at Amazing Facts each day right to your inbox. These five-minute nuggets of faith provide an amazing fact that's tied to a deeper spiritual insight, and it's designed to kickstart your day or to help you wind down before bedtime. Sign up by visiting amazingfacts.org, click on the Bible study tab and choose daily devotions.

Announcer: You're listening to "Bible Answers Live" where every question answered provides a clearer picture of God and His plan to save you. So, what are you waiting for? Get practical answers about the good book for a better life today. This broadcast is a previously recorded episode. If you'd like answers to your Bible-related questions on the air, please call us next Sunday between 7 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." We know some have tuned in enroute, and this is a live international interactive Bible study. You are invited to call in with your questions, and we will answer your questions live on the air, do our best anyway. We don't have all the answers. The number is 800--God says that's 800-463-7297. My name is Doug Batchelor.

Jëan: My name is Jëan Ross and we've got Brittany standing by. Brittany from California. Welcome to the program.

Brittany: Yeah, my question is, how is a Christian supposed to defend their faith when the world seems like it's attacking them?

Doug: Prayerfully and boldly. You know, it's easy to be intimidated, and I think we've all felt that before, when you're surrounded by people that are laughing at or mocking that you're a Christian, that you would believe that God created the world as opposed to evolution. Then they think that you're, you know, you're uneducated, you're unsophisticated, and the media tends to mock Christians. But Jesus said, "Look, they mocked me," and Paul said, "The cross is foolishness to the world." Don't be discouraged. Paul often said that Christians should pray for boldness. You can read in Acts chapter 4, the disciples prayed that God would give them boldness. And it says, "They were filled with the Spirit, and they spoke the Word with boldness." And in the armor of God, you find in Ephesians chapter 6, Paul said, "And pray for me that I might be bold." He was, you know, in prison for his faith, but he did not want to be intimidated to be silent. And so, you'd be surprised that sometimes we think that the devil wants us to think people don't want to hear. There are people that do want to hear. Jesus said, "The harvest is great, the laborers are few." Hidden out there in the field, there's a lot of people that want to know the truth. They want to know the Lord, they're looking for purpose. So, don't be discouraged.

Jëan: That's right. We want to be faithful in every area that we have, beginning with those closest to us and then as that circle gets wider, we want to be the biggest influence that we can for good.

Doug: Amen.

Jëan: Alright, thank you, Brittany. We've got James in Oregon. James, welcome to Bible Answers Live.

James: Okay, thank you. Nice to be talking with you Doug Batchelor, pastor.

Doug: Pleasure.

James: My question is, it's about burial in the Bible and creation in today's time. Cremation in today's time, is it acceptable for someone to be cremated rather than buried?

Doug: Yeah, good question. By the way, I have, you know, whenever we answer these questions, I usually take two or three minutes, we do our best to get as many as we can, so you can't be comprehensive. I do have a YouTube and it's on cremation. If you just type in Doug Batchelor, or you go to YouTube, you type in Doug Bachelor Cremation. I do a little longer study on it there. But I'll give you a quick answer. First of all, this is not a salvation issue, so there may be people who have been cremated as opposed to burial, and that doesn't mean they're going to lose their salvation, because most of the people in the Bible were buried. The patriarchs like David, Abraham, Moses, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph says they were buried. But a lot of Christians were martyred. They were burnt at the stake, or they were, you know, burnt for their faith, or they were thrown to the overboard and eaten by fish or whatever. And so, the idea that God can't resurrect you if you're cremated is absurd and it's not a problem for the Lord. He can make man from the dust, and He can resurrect him from his bones. So, it's not a salvation issue, but if you want to say, "What does the Bible say?" Typically, they were buried. There are a couple of cases, like Jonathan was cremated and Bible tells us he was a righteous man, and he will no doubt be in heaven. But just about everyone else in the Bible was--they were buried. So, yeah. You can check out the YouTube on that and I know that today, burial, especially with, you know, world population exploding, burial places are becoming more and more rare or are restricted. And some cemeteries are actually putting two in a grave now because it's--they're so crowded like Jerusalem. But... yeah, I probably said enough on that.

Jëan: Okay.

Doug: So, yeah. The example in the Bible would be burial, but some people are choosing cremation because it's so much more affordable.

Jëan: All right, next caller that we have is Mark and Sarah from Missouri. Mark, Sarrah, welcome to the program.

Sarrah: Hello. Thank you for your ministry and what you do. We pray for you guys often and thank God for all the work that you're doing.

Doug: Thanks so much.

Sarrah: Our question is, with so many denominations in the world, how do we study the Bible to know that we're understanding it accurately and correctly?

Doug: Great question. You know, most Christians, if you look at, you know, all the things to believe from the Bible, you'd probably find that most Christians agree and overlap on 80 or 90% of the teachings, you know, the basic morals of Christianity and the salvation through faith in Christ sacrifice. Then there are areas where they diverge in, you know, some pretty radical differences. How do you know? Well, one thing, allow the Bible to interpret itself. Look for other Bible examples. look at the example, of course, of Jesus and His life, you know, when you're wondering about something. So, well, what did Jesus do? What would He--what did He teach? And rightly dividing the Word, comparing scripture with scripture is, I think the safest way. God's truth really hasn't changed through history. Some people think there's a different religion in the New Testament than there was in the Old Testament. No, they're all saved by faith. We are saved by faith looking back to the cross. They sacrificed the lambs because they were saved by looking forward to the cross. But there's one truth. The Bible says one Lord, one faith, one baptism. Makes sense that there should be one truth and it may not be the most popular church. If I was the devil, if Jesus had a true church in the world, I would do everything I could to malign and misrepresent them, to, you know, make it people turn away. So, go by what the Bible says. And we have a book called "Search for the True Church." You can tell from prophecy how to identify God's church in the last days.

Jëan: The number to call for that is 800-835-6747. That is the resource phone line. You can ask for the study guide. It's called the "Search for the True Church." We'll be happy to send it to anyone who calls and asks. Maybe we'll just add a couple of verses to what you said, Pastor Doug. You got 2 Timothy chapter 3, verse 16. It says, "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, it's profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, the man of God might be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work." So, we want to study the scriptures to find truth. And then we have in Acts chapter 17:11, a group of people from Thessalonica who search the scriptures daily. So, these are people in the Word. That's how we can find truth by spending time in the Word.

Doug: Amen.

Jëan: Thank you, Mark, Sarrah. Alex in Florida, welcome to "Bible Answers Live."

Alex: Good evening, pastors.

Doug: Evening.

Alex: Also wanted to thank you for your ministry. It's just a great blessing.

Doug: Well, thank you.

Alex: Yeah, so, I had a question of Genesis 32 in verse 30, where Jacob, after wrestling with God, says, "For I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved." How do I understand this? Seeing God face to face and, yeah, life is preserved, yeah.

Doug: Yeah, the ancient Hebrews rightly believe that no man could endure looking into the face of God the Father and survive. And they didn't realize that sometimes they would look into the face of what we call a Christophany, Jesus, God the Son, before the incarnation. He would sometimes veil His glory. You know, He spoke to Abraham. The Bible says, "As a man speaks to his friend." Yet God said to Moses, "No man can see My face and live." But then Jacob wrestled with this angel, evidently must have seen his face at some point, wrestled all night. And he says, "I've seen God face to face." He probably saw God the Son. Now, if you look in John 6:46, Christ said, "Not that any man has seen the Father." That's John 6:46. But when we are perfectly purged from sin, it says in Revelation, we will see His face. That's going be--that's pretty awesome to think about. But even the angels veil their faces from the face of God on His throne in Isaiah 6. I mean, the glory for humans just would destroy us in our sinful condition. But some day, we will see Him face to face, God the Father.

Jëan: All right, thank you, Alex. Next caller that we have is Billy in Texas. Billy, welcome to "Bible Answers Live."

Billy: Good evening.

Doug: Evening.

Billy: I had a question. I'm just kind of wondering about the parable of the rich man and Lazarus. I think how you say, when people die, that they don't know anything, that they're under the altar, and their next conscious thought is Jesus and the rapture, the awakening. How do I fit that parable in to be true when all the others I can see reverence in.

Doug: There first of all, I think the key is your phrase right there, the parable. A parable is a story that obviously some parts of the parable are not to be taken literally. Jesus compares the lost to sheep. Well, we're not sheep. He compares the lost to coins. Well, we're not coins. He compares the Word of God to seed. Well, it's not, you know, sunflower seeds. It's--so there's a lot of analogies. And the story in the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, you know that there are symbols being used here because first of all, there's nowhere else in the Bible where it says that all the saved go to the bosom of Abraham. It's the only place. The reason he says the bosom of Abraham is because Abraham, the sacred father of the Jewish nation, they all wanted to be with Abraham. And so, Jesus says that, and then he's got this--the rich man, the poor Lazarus goes to Abraham's bosom. The rich man, he goes to Hades, which is a Greek place of torment. So, he chooses a word from Greek mythology of a place of torment. It's funny, he uses a paradox here. He's saying Lazarus, who represents the Jews, the Gentiles rather, they were starving for the truth. They're at the rich man's gate. Lazarus goes to be in the Jewish place of reward, and the rich man who represents the Jewish nation that had all this knowledge and truth they were feasting on while the Gentiles died starving for the truth at their gate. The rich man goes to the Greek place of torment. So, Christ is using a little irony and humor in here. No one believes that people in heaven and hell are going to be able to talk to each other. How could you enjoy heaven and be having a conversation with somebody burning in the flame? But in this parable, they are. Abraham's talking to somebody burning in hell or in Hades. And the whole purpose of the story is what you call the punchline. They said--the rich man says, "Oh, if he would send somebody back to my father's house, warn my brothers lest they come to this place of torment." And Abraham says, "Well, they've got Moses and the prophets." He said, "Oh, no. But if someone would rise from the dead, then they'd believe." And Jesus said, "If they do not believe Moses and the prophets," meaning the Word of God, "neither will they be persuaded though one should rise from the dead." So, the whole purpose of the parable is to say that it's not signs and wonders and miracles. That if you don't believe the Word of God, even a resurrection, and of course, Jesus did resurrect someone named Lazarus and they wanted to kill Lazarus. It didn't change them.

Jëan: Absolutely. All right, well, thank you, great question.

Doug: Joe Cruz, I think, has a sermon book called "The Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus" that we can offer.

Jëan: Yeah, the number to call 800-835-6747. You can ask for the book called "The Rich Man and Lazarus" that explains this parable in more detail. You can dial #250 on your smartphone. You can ask for it as well, called "The Rich Man and Lazarus." We've got Alice in New York. Alice, welcome to "Bible Answers Live."

Alice: Yes, hi. My question is, oh, by the way, I love what you do for us.

Doug: Thank you.

Alice: So, my question is, why do people tell me that they follow the nine commandments, but they don't follow the Sabbath commandment? What excuse are they using?

Doug: Yeah. Well, there are some churches that only follow eight commandments. They not only neglect the Sabbath commandment, but they have no problem with idols in their churches. So--but yeah, a lot of churches will be perfectly fine if you were to come and preach a sermon on honoring your parents, or don't steal or don't lie, and they'd all say amen. But when you get to the fourth commandment, this is, "And remember the Sabbath day," they say, "Oh no, no, no. We're not under the law now, we're under grace." So, I hear, you know, there's not even agreement among Christians that ignore the fourth commandment. There is not consensus. Some say Jesus changed the seventh day to the first day with a resurrection, which sounds beautifully poetic, but there's no command anywhere that says from now on because of the resurrection, keep the first day as the Sabbath. Nothing like that in the Bible. There is no command to keep the first day holy anywhere in the Bible. They say, well, "There's a tradition," but, you know, Jesus said, "Why do you neglect the commandments of God to follow your tradition?"

Another example is they say, "Well, we're not under the law. We don't need to keep any day. It doesn't matter if you go Saturday or Sunday or no day, that now we're under grace, that the law's been nailed to the cross." But basically what they say is that God nailed all Ten Commandments of the cross, but He reinstated nine of them. It's like saying if you've got one finger that hurts, you cut off all ten and sew nine of them back on. It doesn't make any sense. Then I heard one creed of man say that back in the days of Joshua, the sun stood still Saturday turned to Sunday. But they kept still the seventh day for another thousand years. So, that's a silly analogy. So, there's not even agreement about why you would want to get rid of a commandment, except that it's just been such a long tradition. A lot of churches and pastors know to try to change that and do what Jesus did, it would be very difficult. But if you go by what the Bible says, Christ kept the seventh day of the week. God's people kept the seventh day of the week. The early Christians kept the seventh day of the week. God's law does not change. It's written in stone, and He's the same yesterday, today, and forever. The Saturday is what we call--the Sabbath is what we call Saturday today. So, there is no good reason.

Jëan: Pastor Doug, even early Protestant reformers, for example, the pilgrims that came to the United States, they believed in the Sabbath commandment. Now, of course, they thought it was on the first day of the week. They thought it was Sunday, but they still encouraged people to observe what they considered the Sabbath. They even called Sunday Sabbath, right? And they were to observe it. They were to keep it. And now, of course, today, even amongst churches that do worship on Sunday, there's not much keeping of the day.

Doug: No.

Jëan: It's all been set aside.

Doug: Yeah, in the last 50 years it has been sort of a distancing from the whole Sabbath truth about resting that in seventh.

Jëan: We have a study guide. It's called "The Lost Day of History" that explains the subject in more detail. We'll be happy to send this to anyone who calls and asks. Just ask for it. It's called "The Lost Day of History." The number to call is 800-835-6747. You can dial #250 on your smartphone and say, "I like the study guide called 'The Lost Day of History."' Next caller that we have is Nathaniel in Kentucky. Nathanael, welcome to "Bible Answers Live."

Nathanael: Thank you very much.

Doug: Thanks for calling.

Nathanael: Appreciate for what you do. I've been following you for several years from Africa. I've been watching you. So, I really appreciate. I've--this has changed me a lot.

Doug: Well, praise the Lord. Thank you so much. We are glad to hear that, Nathanael.

Nathanael: So, my question is, I've been reading Revelation chapter 11. So, the two witnesses, but I failed to understand who are those two witnesses.

Doug: Yes, in Revelation 11, and we probably can't go through the whole passage because it's a lengthy study, but in a nutshell, the two witnesses are the Word of God. You know, they're symbolized by Moses and Elijah, Moses being the law, Elijah the prophets, you could say they're the New and the Old Testament. The Word of God is often given in a dual nature in the Bible. The Ten Commandments are on two tables of stone. The law of God is like a two-edged sword. The Word of God is a double-edged sword. So, these two witnesses, you find them also mentioned in Zechariah. It says, "They're like the two olive trees." And then it gives characteristics about them. It says they can shut up the heavens. Well, you know, there's places in the Bible where Elijah and Moses, they say the heavens would be shut up. And then it says they can call down plagues and you see that in the Bible. And then it's also telling something that would happen to the Word of God. That just near the end of this papal persecution that ended in 1798, there was a period where there was a war against the Word of God and a first atheistic country was France. And they for three and a half years, they burnt Bibles and destroyed them, and it looked like the two witnesses laid in the street. Symbolically, the Word of God was desecrated. But then it came back to life. They--the nation suffered terribly from that. They suffered spiritually. They restored the Word of God, and it was exalted back to heaven. And so, that's a longer study. Do we have a--.

Jëan: We do, we got a book, it's called "The Two Witnesses."

Doug: Oh, there we go.

Jëan: Moses and Elijah, you wrote it Pastor Doug. That's a good one.

Doug: It doesn't go into France, I don't think.

Jëan: But it does talk about the two witnesses. So yes, if you'd like to get that book, just call and ask. It's 800-835-6747. It's called "The Two Witnesses," written by Pastor Doug. We'll be happy to send it to anyone who calls and asks. You can dial #250 on your smartphone and ask for that. A lot of great information. Next one that we have is Pamela in Washington. Pamela, welcome to "Bible Answers Live."

Pamela: Hi, how are you doing tonight?

Doug: Doing great, thank you for calling.

Pamela: My question tonight is, Daniel 8:14 of the cleansing of the sanctuary, and I'm assuming that sanctuary is in heaven, and I was wondering what is being cleansed in that sanctuary?

Doug: Yeah, well, there's--this is very important to understand. There are two things that are happening there. You've got a sanctuary in heaven and a sanctuary on earth. In the earthly sanctuary in the Old Testament, they had once a year a special cleansing of the sanctuary. It was called the Day of Atonement. We call it Yom Kippur, when the high priests would enter into the holy of holies and go through a ceremony where the people were separated from the sins that had been stored symbolically. You can't store, you know, sin like you do data on a hard drive, but the sins had symbolically been stored because of the shedding of blood in the sanctuary. The priests would go through this ritual where they had the two goats. One was slain, one was carried off and abandoned in the wilderness. And it basically gave them a fresh start with the new year. Now this happens for God's people spiritually when Jesus, our high priests, entered into heaven. And we've entered that last phase of His heavenly ministry as our high priests. You can read about this in Hebrews several chapters. Hebrews 9, Hebrews 8. And now there's a sanctuary on earth too, which is His church. The Bible says, "You are the body of Christ."

So, this time prophecy, if you go 2300 years from the going forth of the commandment to restore and build Jerusalem, the date to start the prophecy is in the next chapter. And if you go from that, which is 457, is when Artaxerxes gave the decree, you find that in Ezra chapter 7. He gave the decree to restore and build Jerusalem. And if you go 2300 years, because in a prophecy like this a day is a year, it reaches 1844. Well, what happened there? Well, you enter the last age of the church called Laodicea, which means a judging of the people. God--Christ enters His final work as our heavenly high priest. And He also began a movement cleansing His church on earth. Now, if you look in Daniel chapter 8 to understand, you go to verse 12. And it says, "Because of transgression, an army was given over to the horn," this little horn power, "to oppose the daily sacrifice; and he cast truth down to the ground." So, when truth is cast down to the ground, God's church is defiled by error. God began a movement in 1844 on Earth that he restored these truths that had been lost during the Dark Ages. And He was cleansing the sanctuary on earth as He's cleansing the sanctuary in heaven. And when Michael stands up and he's done, then a time of trouble comes. So, we're living in this last stage and age of the church. Now that was a very quick answer, but it's a big question.

Jëan: You know, we do have a study guide, actually two, that might be helpful. The one is called "Right On Time." And it talks about that time prophecy, Daniel 8:14. And then there's another one called "Case Closed." Talks about a heavenly judgment that takes place just before Jesus comes. You can call and ask for both of those studies. They kind of go together. The one is called "Right On Time" and the other is called "Case Closed." The number to call is 800-835-6747. You can ask for that. You can dial #250 on your smartphone. And again, the study guide is called "Right On Time" and "Case Closed." Those are the two that go along with that question. We got Erica in Canada. Erica, welcome to "Bible Answers Live."

Erica: Thank you for answering my call. I have a question. So, does God--like, does God understand the pains that we feel? Does He like come down to our level to like understand that we are going through the trials and tribulations because He's very powerful and He's just up in heaven. And then I have another one. Is God--I know God doesn't have like limitations to what He can answer, but at the same time, does God--are there things that God cannot do because of the circumstances surrounding?

Doug: Yeah, yeah, great questions. Two big questions in just a minute or two. God feels everything we feel because He's all knowing. He knows what you're feeling better than you do. And Jesus came into the world not so God could figure out what we're feeling, but so we would also know that He knows because He really did experience what--He was tempted, it says in Hebrews, in all points as we are. And yeah, God does--He does care. What was the second part of that question?

Jëan: Is there stuff that He doesn't do or can't do?

Doug: Oh yeah. There things that God can't do, yeah. God can't lie. And the Bible says that, you know, God, He can't stop loving you. There's nothing that can separate God from His love for you there in Romans chapter 8. Jëan: And God won't force the will. We have freedom to choose. Doug: And yeah. So, in that sense, you might say God doesn't tempt anybody. He can't be tempted by evil, and neither does He tempt anyone. So, I've actually got a study. I don't have it in front of me now, and it's like eight things God can't do. But it's talking about He can't go against His own nature because God is omnipotent. And He can save you, friends. That's the good news. So, no matter what you've been through or what your trials might be, He knows, He understands, and He feels your tears, He feels your pain, and He wants you to have a new life that comes from a relationship with Him. Surrender your life to Jesus. It's the best decision you can ever make, and you'll never regret it. Check out the Bible studies that are free, amazingfacts.org, and we're going to study His Word with you again soon.

Jëan: We got time maybe for one more caller pastor Doug. We've got Tabitha listening in Nevada. Tabitha, we got about a minute. Welcome to the program.

Tabitha: Thank you. My question is in Matthew chapter 27, verses 52 and 53. It says, "And the graves were open; and many bodies of the saints which slept and arose, and they came out of their graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many." Where exactly did they go? Explain the holy city, is that heaven or can you explain, please? Thank you.

Doug: Well, the Holy City was another name for Jerusalem, and this is a very special resurrection of few people that had--some of the saints that had died around Jerusalem. They came out of their graves. They appeared after the resurrection of Jesus to some people in Jerusalem. They identified who they were. And then when Christ ascended to heaven, when He told Mary, "I've not yet ascended to my Father," but then He ascended, they ascended with Him. They were like His firstfruits. There's a verse is it in Ephesians, Pastor Ross. He led captivity captive.

Jëan: Ephesians 4, verse 8.

Doug: And they were the trophies that He led to heaven. Well, thank you very much for your questions, friends. And please keep in mind Amazing Facts is supported entirely by our listeners. God bless you and thank you so much for what you might do.

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.