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Series Code: AFBA
Program Code: AFBA022209S
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00:00 (inspiring music)
00:03 - [Announcer] It is the best-selling book in history, 00:05 no volume ever written has been more loved and quoted, 00:09 and its words, sometimes simple and sometimes mysterious, 00:13 should always be studied carefully, it is the Bible, 00:17 the Word of God. 00:19 Welcome to Bible Answers Live, 00:22 providing accurate and practical answers 00:25 to all your Bible questions. 00:28 This broadcast is a previously recorded episode. 00:31 To receive any of the Bible resources 00:33 mentioned in this broadcast, call 800-835-6747. 00:39 Once again, that's 800-835-6747. 00:45 Now here's your host from Amazing Facts International, 00:48 Pastor Doug Bachelor. 00:50 - Hello, friends, would you like to hear an amazing fact? 00:54 On November 17th, 2012, 00:57 two fishermen took their modest boat 00:59 out on the Pacific Ocean from a small Mexican port 01:02 for a day trip. 01:03 It was the first time that Salvador Alvarenga 01:06 and Ezekiel Cordoba had worked together, 01:09 overtaken by a violent storm, 01:12 they were able to send out one distress signal 01:14 before their radio, GPS, and outboard motor died. 01:18 Driven into the open sea, they drifted for weeks, 01:22 tormented by thirst, eating fish, turtles, and sea birds 01:25 they caught with their bare hands. 01:28 From time to time a thunderstorm would provide 01:30 a little fresh water that they caught in plastic bottles 01:32 and in an oil drum they had retrieved from the sea. 01:36 In this small open boat with no protection 01:39 from the sun or cold, they spent a great deal of time 01:42 huddled together in the insulated fish box 01:45 that was about the size of a refrigerator. 01:47 Gradually sickened by the diet, Cordoba stopped eating, 01:51 and he died after 10 weeks, 01:53 though desperately lonely, Alvarenga refused to give up, 01:58 he often prayed and said that if God would spare him, 02:01 he'd be a better man and more dedicated as a father. 02:05 Then on January 30th, 2014, Alvarenga's tattered boat 02:11 washed up on the Ebon Atoll in the southernmost tip 02:13 of the Marshall Islands, 02:15 6,000 miles from where he had started. 02:18 Adrift for 438 days, Jose Salvador Alvarenga holds 02:25 the record for the longest solo survival at sea. 02:28 Can you imagine that, there's a picture of him there, 02:31 a few days after he had been rescued, 02:34 and they had actually gotten him where he could get up 02:37 on his feet again, when he first washed ashore 02:39 on that island, and I've been to the Marshall Islands, 02:42 have been to Majuro, and that's when he's landing there, 02:48 he just started walking again. 02:50 When he first landed he had to crawl 'cause he hadn't stood, 02:52 and barely stood, I should say, in a year, 02:56 and an incredible story of someone surviving by themselves, 03:00 catching rain water, turtles, 03:02 he'd grab sharks outta the water, 03:04 he'd grab the little fish, he'd eat the barnacles 03:06 off the bottom of the boat, 03:07 it's just an amazing, amazing story. 03:10 But one thing that I didn't share that was in the, 03:12 it's not in the amazing fact I just read, 03:15 is that his friend Ezekiel Cordoba was 03:18 a born-again Christian, Alvarenga was not, 03:21 he was kind of against church, he believed in God, but, 03:25 and before he died, Alvarenga, Cordoba, rather, 03:32 worked on his friend's heart and softened his heart, 03:35 he ended up turning to God and redeemed his life, 03:41 he went back home and became a good father, 03:42 and gave up his wild partying ways, 03:45 and it really was a conversion experience for him. 03:48 So, he was rescued in more than one way, 03:53 and I think we've got an offer that. 03:55 There's a verse, friends, 03:56 I always like to put in a Bible verse 03:58 that goes along with our fact. 03:59 Psalm 107:23-24, "Those who go down to the sea in the ships, 04:05 who do business on the great waters, 04:07 they see the works of the Lord 04:09 and His wonders in the deep." 04:11 - Well, he sure got to see the wonders of the deep 04:14 quite a period of time. 04:16 It is amazing story of just determination, 04:19 doubtless, his prayers made a difference, 04:22 'cause he was praying near the end, 04:23 he realized that his only help was God, 04:26 and yet for him to survive that long, 04:29 not only just living on whatever he could find, 04:31 the fish and drinking the rain water, 04:33 but just being by himself in the middle of the ocean 04:35 for so long, you would think somebody would give up, 04:38 but he just refused to give up- 04:40 - Yeah, I could go on and on, it's quite a story, 04:42 but there were about 20 times that tankers went by 04:46 and he would wave and they'd wave back, 04:48 they just thought he was out fishing, 04:49 he was trying to get rescued, and he'd see planes fly over 04:53 and tankers go by, and they just didn't stop, 04:55 and so then he'd get real discouraged for a while. 04:57 - Sure, absolutely. 04:59 Well, we do have a free offer, Pastor Doug, 05:01 that talks about a much more important rescue, 05:04 and that is called "Rescue From Certain Death," 05:06 "Saved From Certain Death," that is the free offer, 05:09 it talks about salvation. 05:10 I mean, whatever happens here on this earth, 05:12 if we are saved from eternal destruction, 05:16 we have hope, we have peace, and so that's the free offer. 05:18 How can we have the assurance of salvation, 05:20 it's called "Saved From Certain Death," to receive it, 05:23 all you need to do is call the resource number, 05:25 that's 800-835-6747 and ask for offer number 109. 05:31 Again, the number to call is 800-835-6747, 05:36 and you can ask for the gift, 05:37 it's called "Saved From Certain Death," 05:39 we'll be happy to send it to anyone in North America, 05:41 if you're outside of North America, 05:43 we encourage you to go to the Amazing Facts website, 05:45 just amazingfacts.org, 05:47 and you can actually read the lesson there for free. 05:50 You can enroll in the free Amazing Facts online course, 05:53 and I know many folks have been blessed 05:55 by going through those series of lessons, 05:57 and that's all available at amazingfacts.org. 06:00 Well, Pastor Doug, We've got some folks who have called in 06:02 with their Bible questions, 06:03 if you have a Bible-related question, 06:05 the number to call, again, is 800-463-7297. 06:10 Again, that's 800-463-7297, that is the phone line 06:13 to our studio with your Bible question. 06:16 Our first call of this evening is Diane, 06:18 listening in British Columbia. 06:20 Diane, welcome to the program. 06:22 - [Diane] Thank you, yes. 06:23 I have a question, I have a friend 06:25 who's just picking up the Bible 06:27 and she's reading through the Old Testament, 06:29 and she's really struggling with all of God's violence 06:33 that's talked about in the Old Testament, 06:35 and it's making her question how God can be love, 06:39 and I'm just wondering where do I start by helping her 06:41 to see the love of God when she's reading this? 06:45 - Well, one really important place to direct her 06:47 is the teachings of Jesus. 06:49 He said, "If you've seen Me, you've seen the Father, 06:52 so she wants to understand something 06:54 about what God is like, the God in the Old Testament 06:57 is the same God that you see in Jesus, and God is love, 07:01 this is what the apostles saw, 07:03 the love and the compassion of Jesus. 07:05 Now, in the Old Testament, you're often reading 07:08 about God leading a nation 07:09 and those nations were often warring, 07:12 and so God, not wanting His people to be annihilated, 07:15 they had to defend themselves. 07:17 God, He does not want anyone to die, 07:21 the Bible tells us the Lord does not want anyone to perish, 07:24 and in the Book of Ezekiel it says, 07:26 "Turn ye, turn ye, why will you die?" 07:29 God has no pleasure in the death of the wicked, 07:32 but because of sin in the world, 07:33 and because there was sinful people, 07:34 sometimes there was war and sometimes there was violence, 07:38 and I know some people, Pastor, 07:40 will struggle with just the idea of the sacrificial system, 07:43 why would these innocent animals die? 07:46 And it tells us something about the deadly nature of sin. 07:49 - And despite the violence and the war 07:51 that you do read about in the Old Testament, 07:54 'cause it's talking about different kingdoms, 07:55 you also get amazing revelations of God's love, 07:58 His mercy, His long suffering with Israel, 08:01 and His protection. 08:02 I'm just thinking the children of Israel, 08:03 as they wandered through the wilderness, 08:05 how God fed them with the special food from heaven, 08:08 how He gave them water from the rock, 08:10 how that God forgave them time and time again 08:12 from their rebelliousness 08:14 and throughout the history of Israel, 08:16 you can see how God's mercy was there 08:18 and how He forgave them. 08:20 - Yep, amen. 08:21 - All right, well, thanks for your call, Diane. 08:23 We've got Lee listening in North Carolina. 08:26 Lee, welcome to the program. 08:28 - [Lee] Oh, hi, pastors, thank you so much 08:30 for taking my call. 08:30 - Yeah. - My question is 08:32 about Genesis, and actually the Sabbath. 08:36 Chapter 2 in Genesis, right? 08:38 "And God sanctified the day," and then in Exodus you have 08:42 the Ten Commandments where, of course, 08:44 the Sabbath is the Fourth. 08:47 My question is how did God communicate to the Jews 08:52 about the Sabbath? 08:54 Because Noah wasn't a Jew, did he know about the Sabbath? 08:57 Did he keep the Sabbath? 08:59 How did God communicate that before the actual laws? 09:02 - Yeah, you can find where, 09:03 and Pastor Ross might find the reference, 09:06 where it talks about Abraham. 09:07 Now, Abraham's not a Jew, 09:10 Abraham lived before they ever went through the Exodus 09:12 and came to Mount Sinai, 09:13 and the Bible says, "Abraham kept my laws, my statutes, 09:16 and my judgements," 09:18 and I don't remember if that's Genesis 20. 09:20 - Genesis 26:25. - 26, okay. 09:22 You wanna read the whole verse there? 09:24 - Yeah, it says, speaking of Abraham, "He obeyed my voice, 09:26 kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws." 09:29 - So God had a law, the Bible tells us 09:32 that God told Cain that sin was at the door 09:36 when he murdered his brother, that was clearly a sin, 09:39 and God told Joseph that adultery would be a sin 09:43 when Potiphar's wife tempted him, 09:45 and before the children of Israel got to Mount Sinai, 09:49 the bread from heaven would rain down six days a week, 09:52 but there'd be none on the seventh day of the week, 09:54 and God said, "This is the Sabbath." 09:56 So I do believe when Noah was building the ark, 09:59 he took off every Sabbath day, 10:01 I don't think he worked seven days a week, 10:03 and that they knew about that day of rest. 10:06 Man has always needed that rest physically, 10:09 and as our quality time with God, 10:11 that's why Jesus said the Sabbath was made for man 10:14 and the word there, man, is, it's not Jew, 10:16 it's anthropos, it means humanity. 10:19 So God gave Adam and Eve the Sabbath back in the garden 10:22 and they passed it on, faithful, kept it, 10:24 those unfaithful did not keep it, 10:26 as with the other commandments. 10:28 - You know, we do have a study guide that talks about that, 10:30 it's called "The Lost Day of History," 10:32 and it goes back into the history of the Sabbath 10:34 and how that was established at creation. 10:37 If you'd like to learn more about that, 10:38 the number to call is 800-835-6747, 10:41 and again, you can ask for that free offer, 10:43 it's called "The Lost Day of History," 10:45 we'll be happy to send that to anyone who calls and asks, 10:48 it's 800-835-6747. 10:51 Thanks for your call, Lee. 10:52 We've got Maya listening from North Dakota. 10:56 Maya, welcome to the program. 10:59 - [Maya] Okay, so my question is, 11:01 I've been studying Ezekiel, 11:03 and at the end of Ezekiel, 11:05 God takes him in a vision 11:08 and the angels measuring the sanctuary on earth, 11:14 the heaven sanctuary, or the new Jerusalem? 11:17 I'm confused on what's going on at the end of Ezekiel. 11:21 - All right, Ezekiel is one of the four apocalyptic prophets 11:26 in the Bible, meaning that God spoke to them 11:29 in these visions that were full of symbols, 11:31 and not always to be taken literally. 11:34 It's like when you get to Revelation, 11:35 it talks about a woman riding a beast with seven heads, 11:38 well, that's not real, those symbols, 11:41 the woman represents a church, there it's a fallen church. 11:45 In Ezekiel, the temple of God, the Bible says, what? 11:48 "Don't you know that you are the temple of God?" 11:51 Is what Paul tells us. 11:52 And so when a Ezekiel is measuring the temple, it's also, 11:55 there's a measuring of the temple in Revelation 11:58 that is referring back to Ezekiel, 12:00 and it's talking about, really, a judgment of God's people. 12:04 So all these things, it's talking about 12:06 that beautiful temple in Ezekiel, 12:08 I think are in symbolic language. 12:11 Yeah, 'cause there's no time in history, 12:13 in Jewish history, or to the present time, 12:16 when that temple was physically built. 12:18 First of all, it was huge, 12:19 it's much bigger than when they rebuilt the temple, 12:21 and then you read about the river and he says, 12:25 he goes into this river that's a mile long 12:28 and a mile wide, I should say, and halfway in, 12:35 he's only up to his thighs, it's this huge river, 12:37 and then he talks about the trees by the river 12:41 continually bear fruit, and their leaves are for healing, 12:44 or for medicine. 12:45 Well, that's taken from Revelation, 12:47 where it says the leaves of the tree of life 12:50 are for the healing of the nation. 12:51 So a lot of parallels between Ezekiel, 12:54 especially to the last chapters there, and Revelation, 12:57 they should probably be studied together. 12:59 - That's right, so one might even understand 13:00 that is to be a symbolic representation of the sanctuary 13:05 in the new earth, in the new Jerusalem that we read about, 13:08 where the river is flowing forth, the river of life 13:10 that flows out. 13:11 So there's some parallels there 13:13 in that study with Revelation. 13:14 Thanks for your call. 13:15 We've got Caleb listening in New York. 13:17 Caleb, welcome to the program. 13:20 - [Caleb] Hello, Pastor Ross and Pastor Doug, 13:22 thank you so much for everything. 13:24 - Thank you for calling. 13:25 - [Caleb] Thank you for picking up. 13:26 Two questions, I wanna know if Daniel 11 13:29 has any correlation with Russia, and my other question is, 13:32 is that I live with one of my friends, 13:34 I have a lot of friends that aren't Christians and one time, 13:39 not too long ago, I had a discussion with my friends, 13:42 I didn't wanna get to, 13:44 he was very passionate about what he believes, 13:46 but I felt like I didn't say enough to defend God. 13:50 Do you think God's gonna punish me for that? 13:52 'Cause I was just, I said, told him the truth, 13:56 but I wasn't very forward about it. 14:02 - Yeah. - I think I was trying 14:03 to avoid an argument. 14:04 Do you think God's gonna punish me for that? 14:06 - I know exactly how you feel, it's often true, 14:09 and don't be discouraged. 14:10 I think Pastor Ross will say that there's probably times 14:13 that he also has thought, after talking to someone 14:15 about the Lord, "Did I say the right thing? 14:17 Did I say enough? 14:17 Did I miss an opportunity?" 14:19 That happens every day, and if we do miss an opportunity 14:23 or say something wrong, or don't say enough, 14:26 and sometimes I've been ashamed at being ashamed, 14:30 sharing my faith. 14:32 You ask God to forgive you and you move on. 14:34 I mean, even Peter, he boldly denied Christ 14:37 and Jesus forgave him. 14:38 So, it's wrong, we should pray that God helps us 14:41 to be faithful, and courageous, and accurate, and bold, 14:45 even Paul says pray for boldness 14:47 because sometimes we're intimidated to be timid, 14:51 but don't be discouraged if that happens, 14:53 'cause I think every believer has times where you think, 14:56 "Oh, I wish I'd done a better job." 15:00 - Does that help, Caleb? 15:01 - Oh, now you asked about, 15:03 we never did answer your question about Daniel 11. 15:06 Daniel 11 does cover the panorama of history 15:10 from the time of, I guess it's from Persia to, 15:14 'cause Babylon's already fallen. 15:17 So it covers the time of history from Persia 15:20 to the second coming, 15:22 and so, yeah, it's got Michael standing up 15:24 in the great final time of trouble in the resurrection, 15:26 so it covers that time span. 15:28 I don't think there's any verses 15:29 that particularly mention the battle 15:33 that's going on in Russia with Ukraine right now. 15:37 It does talk about a number of wars, 15:38 but I don't know of anything 15:39 that would allude to that in Daniel 11. 15:40 - Mm-hm, yeah, I think Daniel, especially Daniel 9, 11, 15:44 you've got some time periods, well, Daniel 11 too. 15:49 It's covering a lot, 15:50 much larger time period than just a few years, 15:52 talking about hundreds of years, 15:53 thousands of years, 15:54 that's been reviewed within that chapter. 15:56 - Kinda sweeping overview, very quick. 15:58 - Mm-hm. 16:00 All right, well, thanks for your call, Caleb. 16:01 We've got Aaron listening in New York. 16:02 Aaron, welcome to the program. 16:04 - [Aaron] Hello pastors, Thank you for taking my call. 16:07 - Thank you for calling. 16:08 - [Aaron] My question is, 16:10 was Noah and his three sons alive 16:12 when the Tower of Babel was being built? 16:17 - Good question, as far as Noah, let me think. 16:20 I think after the flood he still lives about 300 years, 16:24 so there's a good chance, 16:26 definitely his sons were still alive 16:29 because Shem lived all the way through the time of Abraham, 16:35 and the Tower of Babel had been considerably before that. 16:39 So, you go from, it's not long after Shem 16:42 that you end up with Terah and Aaron, 16:44 the parents and brother of Abraham, 16:49 so it doesn't necessarily mean that Noah had moved 16:54 to the Mesopotamian valley where they built the tower, 16:57 so Noah may have been alive. 16:58 A lot of people went down there 17:00 and they congregated in the land of Sinar, 17:06 and that's where they built the Tower of Babel, 17:07 not everybody went, Noah may have stayed somewhere 17:09 in the foothills of Ararat, 17:11 where the ark settled. 17:12 - Mm-hm, we do have a interesting timeline 17:15 that's available online, 17:17 it's a website that Amazing Facts has, Bible Timeline 17:20 and if you were to look that up, 17:22 you could actually page through it 17:23 and you can see the time of Noah, 17:25 and then see who was alive at the time, 17:28 and after that, and when Noah died, and what was happening, 17:30 it's just very informative, 17:32 so you might wanna take a look at that. 17:33 Just go to the Amazing Facts website. 17:36 - I think it's biblehistory.com 17:37 - Bible History, is that what it is? 17:39 - Yeah, I'm looking it up and I think so. 17:41 - Okay, yes, we have a number of websites, friends, 17:44 if you're wondering about that, 17:45 but this is one that Amazing Facts put together 17:47 that is a great resource 17:48 for people wanting to study the Bible, 17:50 get an idea of the timelines, biblehistory.com or.org, 17:55 and take a look at that, got a lot of good information. 17:59 We've got Lance listening from Texas. 18:00 Lance, welcome to the program. 18:02 - [Lance] Yeah, I know that Ellen White, 18:06 she wrote a prophecy, and it pretty much says 18:09 that there's going to be people alive from her time 18:16 for the second coming of Christ, and if that's the case, 18:20 I guess then it must be really close 18:22 'cause what's the longest living person ever 18:26 for this modern era? 18:27 It's like 122 years, 18:29 so I would like to know what's your take on that. 18:33 - Yeah, well, I think I know what you're talking about. 18:35 She made there's one statement 18:37 in the book "Prophets and Kings," 18:38 where she talks about in the days of Queen Esther, 18:41 there was a law that all of God's people 18:45 had to worship a certain way or they were gonna be killed, 18:47 and she said, "There's some living on the earth today 18:50 that will see those words fulfilled." 18:53 Well, there already have been some people 18:54 that have lived to see the words fulfilled, 18:57 that if you didn't worship a certain way, you'd be killed. 18:59 There are people who are killed for their faith 19:01 all the time. 19:02 If she was talking specifically 19:04 about the second coming there and the final events, 19:11 she could have been talking in what you call hyperbole, 19:13 and what I mean by that is, Paul, for instance, said, 19:17 "The gospel's been preached in all the world," 19:20 well, he meant in the Roman empire. 19:25 And so when she made a statement like that, 19:27 if she's speaking in hyperbole, 19:29 she means we're really near the end. 19:31 - Something else to bear in mind, 19:32 whenever you read the New Testament and you read, 19:34 for example, Paul, 19:35 he speaks of being alive at the second coming of Christ, 19:38 it says, "We who are alive and remain 19:40 until the coming of the Lord will be caught up to meet them, 19:42 and the dead in Christ will rise first." 19:44 The prophet in vision never saw himself 19:47 coming up amongst those who are resurrected, 19:49 they always see themself amongst those who are alive 19:51 at the second coming of Christ, 19:52 that doesn't mean, of course, that Paul was wrong 19:55 in saying that we who are alive and remain 19:58 until the coming of the Lord, but in vision, 19:59 he always saw himself amongst those who were saved. 20:02 - And they called it the blessed hope. 20:03 - Mm-hm. 20:05 So you wanna also bear that in mind 20:06 as you study through these different prophetic passages 20:09 of the Bible. 20:10 All right, well, thanks for your call, Lance. 20:11 We've got Jerry listening in Arizona. 20:13 Jerry, welcome to the program. 20:16 - [Jerry] Thank you, pastors, for taking my call. 20:20 So, my question is in the gospels, 20:23 when it refers to Jesus's resurrection, 20:25 they all say on the first day of the week, 20:28 well, I kinda discovered that the we word week 20:31 is actually plural in Greek, and it's the word for Sabbath, 20:36 which some people talk about referring 20:38 the beginning of the seven weeks to Pentecost, 20:41 so, I'm just wondering how people can tie this to worship. 20:48 - Yeah, well, there's no question that Jesus rose 20:52 on what would be called the first day of the week or Sunday, 20:55 because it says after the Sabbath was passed. 20:59 Well, what do you have after the Sabbath? 21:01 If the Sabbath is the seventh day, 21:03 and there's only seven days in the week, 21:04 after the Sabbath is past, 21:05 all you've got left is the first day, 21:08 and so Jesus clearly rose very early in the morning 21:13 in what you would call the first day of the week. 21:15 Now, I don't think that initiates Sunday 21:18 as a new day of worship. 21:20 There's no command in the Bible anywhere 21:22 that we are to remember the first day or Sunday 21:24 as the new Sabbath or the Lord's day. 21:27 - Well, if you use that argument, Pastor, again, 21:29 there are some folks who say we got on a Sunday 21:32 because that's the day of the resurrection. 21:33 Well, what is more important? 21:35 His death on Calvary, 21:36 which happened on a Friday, or His resurrection on Sunday? 21:39 Both are equally important, 21:41 without His substitutionary death 21:43 there'd be no hope for resurrection, 21:44 so, just because those are historical facts 21:47 and those are the days that those things occurred, 21:49 it doesn't now somehow make it a new day of worship. 21:53 - Yeah, yeah, there's no reason to change the old day, 21:55 God didn't make a mistake- 21:56 - Right. 21:58 - Ten Commandments are written in stone 22:00 and they're not multiple choice. 22:02 - You know, we did mention a free offer a little while ago, 22:04 it's called "The Lost Day of History," 22:06 and again, we wanna encourage those, 22:07 if you've never read what the Bible has to say 22:09 about the Sabbath and the blessings of the Sabbath, 22:12 call and ask for that, we'll be happy to send it to you. 22:14 The number to call is 800-835-6747, and again, 22:18 you can ask for that free offer, 22:20 it's called "The Lost Day in History," 22:23 and if you have a Bible question, we have a few lines open, 22:25 the number to call is 800-463-7297, 22:29 that's 800-463-7297. 22:34 Next call that we have is Israel listening from Washington. 22:37 Israel, welcome to the program. 22:40 - [Israel] How you doing? 22:41 How you doing, Doug? 22:42 - Doing good, thanks for calling. 22:45 - [Israel] So my question is, 22:47 when God delivered the Israelites from slavery in Egypt, 22:53 from my understanding, He basically took 'em on a crusade, 22:57 wiping out every ungodly people 23:01 by killing every man, woman, and child that was ungodly 23:04 until they got to the promised land, 23:07 so if I choose to fight for my country, 23:11 and let's say I go to war and I'm gonna have to kill, 23:14 if these people are ungodly, 23:18 am I sinning by choosing to take that route? 23:24 - Yeah, I think it would be wrong, 23:27 Jesus talks about Christians not killing, 23:33 He came, He said, "I did not come to destroy men's lives, 23:34 but to save them," and just to be clear, 23:37 the children of Israel, first of all, in the wilderness, 23:39 the only ones that they fought against and annihilated 23:41 were the Amalekites or they fought against, 23:44 they didn't even annihilate them, 23:45 then there were some pagan nations 23:47 that were bent on destroying Israel, 23:51 and so they were told to fight against them. 23:55 The interpersonal laws of the Christian 23:58 are different from civil laws, 24:01 God's laws, or even national laws, 24:03 God's laws regarding civil things 24:06 was under what they call a theocracy, 24:10 we are not under a theocracy that is led by God, 24:13 we're under a democracy that's led by faulty humans, 24:18 and so I think that a person needs to think long and hard 24:22 about going to war and taking up arms to shoot a person. 24:25 Now, don't misunderstand, 24:27 I have tremendous respect for young men and women, 24:32 two of them being, 24:34 I've got a son and daughter that were in the service, 24:37 I'm so thankful the freedoms that they defend, 24:39 but I think as a Christian you need to be very careful 24:42 about saying that I'm gonna take up arms. 24:45 I think if you're gonna defend your country, 24:47 try and find some area where you can do it, 24:49 where maybe you could help save a life 24:52 or do it in a medical field or something. 24:55 - Well, pastor, like, there are examples, 24:56 you mentioned that Israel at the time, 24:58 they were being led by a cloud, 25:00 the cloud led them, the pillar fire by night, 25:02 prior to them going into war, 25:04 God would communicate to Moses and give them instructions. 25:07 In some cases it was a very decisive battle 25:14 where the purpose was to remove an ungodly group of people, 25:16 but there were other times where God would actually say, 25:18 "No, leave them alone," or, "Save the woman and children," 25:22 so God was actually leading and directing Israel. 25:24 Part of the reason why Israel went into captivity 25:27 for the 400 years, 25:28 God said to Abraham, "Because the iniquity 25:30 is not yet full of the land," 25:32 so God had given them a 400 years of probationary time 25:35 before Israel returned to the promised land, 25:38 before the judgements came upon them, 25:40 and they knew about Abraham and they were witnesses 25:43 for the truth during that time period, 25:46 but God was giving them time to make a decision, 25:49 so it was unique situation. 25:50 - Yeah, yeah, it was. - It was a judgment, 25:51 different from today. 25:53 All right, well, thank you for your call, Israel. 25:54 You know, and Pastor Doug, I'm looking at the clock, 25:56 we've got about a minute before we take our break, 25:58 and probably wouldn't be fair to take another call, 26:00 but friends, if you have a Bible question, 26:02 we got another 30 minutes, 26:04 that's gonna be following our break here, 26:07 taking your Bible questions, 26:08 the number to call is 800-463-7297, 26:12 and if you don't get through right away, 26:14 just stay on the line, 26:15 one of our call screeners will contact or talk to you again, 26:19 the number is 800-463-7297, 26:22 and it's a good time now to call, 26:25 we'll get your call on the program. 26:26 (inspiring music) 26:28 - We're coming back with more Bible questions 26:29 in just a moment, so don't go away. 26:30 (inspiring music) 26:34 - [Announcer] Stay tuned, 26:35 Bible Answers Live will return shortly. 26:38 (inspiring music) 26:41 - [Narrator] The U.S. Government is drowning in debt, 26:44 to the tune of $22 trillion, 26:48 but before you wag your finger at the government spending, 26:50 the Federal Reserve says the average American household 26:53 carries over $137,000 in debt. 26:57 While it was never God's plan 26:59 that we live with the burden of debt, 27:00 Proverbs 22:7 warns us the rich rules over the poor, 27:05 and the borrower is servant to the lender. 27:07 Living with debt is a stressful burden 27:09 that actually hurts your relationship with God. 27:12 In my new pocketbook, "Deliverance From Debt," 27:15 I outline the Bible principles 27:17 on how to properly manage your money 27:19 with some practical suggestions 27:20 on how you can get out and stay out of debt. 27:24 If you or someone you love is drowning in debt, 27:27 order a copy of "Deliverance From Debt" today, 27:30 it can be a lifesaver to keep you from going under. 27:32 Please call 800-538-7275 or visit afbookstore.com. 27:39 (gentle music) 27:42 - [Announcer] Did you know that Noah was present 27:44 at the birth of Abraham? 27:45 Okay, maybe he wasn't in the room, 27:48 but he was alive and probably telling stories 27:50 about his floating zoo. 27:52 From the creation of the world 27:54 to the last-day events of Revelation, 27:56 biblehistory.com is a free resource 27:59 where you can explore major Bible events and characters. 28:02 Enhance your knowledge of the Bible 28:04 and draw closer to God's Word. 28:07 Go deeper, visit the Amazing Bible Timeline 28:10 at biblehistory.com. 28:13 (joyful music) 28:18 - [Announcer] Amazing facts began in 1965 28:22 with a God-inspired concept. 28:25 - [Joe] Hello, this is Joe Cruz 28:26 on the Amazing Facts broadcast, facts which affect you. 28:30 - [Announcer] Each radio broadcast would begin 28:32 with an amazing fact from science, nature, or history 28:36 followed by a Bible message 28:37 that touched the hearts of listeners 28:39 from every walk of life. 28:41 The program was an instant success 28:44 and the ministry soon began expanding 28:46 to include Bible lessons. 28:48 In 1986, Amazing Facts added the medium of television 28:52 to its growing outreach efforts, 28:54 offering soul-winning evangelistic messages 28:57 for viewers around the world. 29:00 In 1994, Pastor Doug Bachelor assumed leadership 29:03 of the ministry, adding the Bible Answers Live 29:06 call-in radio program and new ministry TV programs began 29:11 airing on multiple networks around the world. 29:14 For 50 years, the driving vision of Amazing Facts 29:18 has been the bold proclamation of the everlasting gospel, 29:22 and with a team of evangelists circling the globe 29:25 and thousands of men and women being trained 29:27 through the Amazing Facts Center of evangelism Program, 29:30 AFCO, the ministry is helping God's church 29:34 see a rich harvest of souls. 29:37 Amazing Facts, God's message, our mission. 29:41 (inspiring music) 29:45 (adventurous music) 29:48 - [Announcer] You're listening to Bible Answers Live, 29:51 where every question answered 29:52 provides a clearer picture of God and His plan to save you, 29:57 so, what are you waiting for? 29:58 Get practical answers about the good book 30:01 for a better life today. 30:03 (adventurous music) 30:05 This broadcast is a previously recorded episode, 30:08 if you'd like answers to your Bible-related questions 30:11 on the air, please call us next Sunday between 7:00 pm 30:15 and 8:00 pm, Pacific time, 30:17 to receive any of the Bible resources mentioned 30:20 in this evening's program, call 800-835-6747, 30:25 once again, that's 800-835-6747. 30:31 Now, let's rejoin our host for more Bible Answers Live. 30:35 (inspiring music) 30:37 - Welcome back, listening friends, to Bible Answers Live, 30:39 and those who have joined us along the way, 30:41 this is a live, international, interactive Bible study, 30:45 and you're invited to call in with your Bible questions, 30:47 and we're gonna go back to the phones right away. 30:49 My name is Doug Bachelor. 30:50 - My name is Jean Ross, and Pastor Doug, 30:52 we like to just remind folks that you might be listening 30:54 to this program on the radio, 30:57 'cause we broadcast both on land base 30:58 as well as satellite radio, but we also livestreaming 31:01 on Amazing Facts' Facebook page, 31:03 on the Doug Bachelor Facebook page, 31:05 I believe it's also on the YouTube channel, 31:08 Amazing Facts YouTube channel, 31:09 as well as on Amazing Facts TV and Good News TV, 31:12 so there's all kinds of ways 31:13 that you can stay in contact with us and yeah, 31:16 let us know that you're out there, 31:18 and if you have a Bible question, 31:19 we'd love to hear from you. 31:21 Next caller that we have is Christine, listening in Florida. 31:23 Christine, welcome to the program. 31:25 - [Christine] Hi, pastors, thank you for taking the call. 31:28 It's just one question, how do we submit our will to God? 31:34 How do we know that we are actually doing, 31:37 submitting our will to God? 31:39 - Well, that is the big question, 31:41 the biggest battle that Jesus fought was there 31:44 in the garden of Gethsemane, 31:45 where He said, you know, 31:46 "Father, if there's any way for this cup to pass from Me, 31:50 but not in My will, Thy will be done," 31:53 and that battle was so intense, 31:55 He prayed that prayer three times 31:56 and He was perspiring blood, 31:59 the Bible describes it as an agony. 32:00 So the biggest battle that any of us wage, 32:03 and it's on a day-to-day basis, 32:04 is saying, "Not what I want Lord, but what You want." 32:08 So, how do you know if you're doing that? 32:10 Well, you, day by day ask yourself, 32:13 "Am I doing my will or God's will?" 32:15 God's will is revealed in God's law 32:17 and in the teachings of Jesus, 32:20 and I think we do have a book that talks about 32:22 how can we know the will of God, 32:23 and in there is a section on how do we do the will of God. 32:26 - Mm-hmm, absolutely, and we'll be happy 32:28 to send that to anyone wanting to learn more 32:30 about knowing and doing the will of God. 32:32 It's called "How to Determine The Will of God," 32:34 and the number to call for that is 800-835-6747, 32:39 and we'll be happy to send you 32:40 this free book anywhere in North America. 32:42 Again, the number is 800-835-6747, 32:45 "How to Determine the Will of God" is the name of the book, 32:48 so just ask for it. 32:49 Thanks for your call, Christine. 32:51 We got Theresa listening in Washington DC. 32:53 Theresa, welcome to the program. 32:56 - [Theresa] Hi, good evening, pastors. 32:58 - Evening! 33:00 - [Theresa] Great, I have a question 33:01 regarding Revelation 16:1-2, where it says 33:09 that the first vial is poured out upon the earth, 33:13 and the men which had the mark of the beast, 33:16 and them which worship his image, 33:21 is that the close of probation 33:26 and the people that receive this mark, 33:33 the grievous sore, will they have a chance to repent 33:37 at that time? 33:40 - No, when the seven last plagues begin to fall 33:44 and they're in Revelation 16, 33:46 you have the first plagues 33:48 and you get first, second, third plagues 33:50 in the first four verses there, 33:53 once the plagues begin to fall, probation is closed, 33:55 and Pastor Ross, that verse in Revelation 22, 33:58 where it says, "He that is just, let him be just still, 34:01 and he that is filthy, let him be filthy still." 34:03 It kind of indicates 34:05 that once you reach the close of probation, 34:08 the saved are saved, the lost are lost, 34:10 and the door of mercy closed. 34:12 - Yeah, you have Revelation 22:11, 34:14 where you have Jesus saying, "He that is unjust, 34:16 let him be unjust still, he that he is filthy, 34:19 let him be filthy still, 34:20 he that is righteous, let him be righteous still, 34:22 he that is holy, let him be holy still," 34:25 and in the very next verse, Jesus says, 34:27 "Behold, I'm coming quickly, and My reward is with Me 34:30 to give to every man according to his work." 34:32 So, the close of probation 34:33 precedes the second coming of Christ, 34:35 and once probation closes, 34:37 then you have what the Bible calls the wrath of God, 34:39 which is the seven last plagues that are poured out, 34:42 but God's people are protected during that time of plagues. 34:46 Some people ask, "Well, why does God send the plagues 34:48 if it's too late for people to change sides?" 34:51 Well, the plagues help to reveal the heart of every person. 34:54 If you read a little further in the plagues, 34:56 instead of the wicked repenting, 34:58 when they realize that these plagues are coming 35:01 because of their sins, 35:02 they harden their hearts and they curse God 35:05 for sending the plagues, 35:07 so it reveals to the whole universe 35:10 that there's nothing more God can do 35:12 to try and save these people, 35:13 their hearts are fully set towards evil. 35:15 - Yeah, it says when you come to the fourth plague 35:17 and men are scorched with great heat in verse nine, 35:20 this is Revelation 16:9, 35:22 and it says, "They were scorched with great heat 35:24 and they blasphemed the name of God, 35:26 who has power over the plagues, 35:28 and they did not repent and give Him glory." 35:31 They didn't humble themselves, they blasphemed God, 35:33 they hardened their hearts like Pharaoh 35:35 when the plagues fell, and yeah, probation's closed for them 35:39 at this time. 35:40 - All right, well, thanks for your call, Theresa. 35:42 We've got Bonita listening from North Carolina. 35:44 Bonita, welcome to the program. 35:47 - [Bonita] Thank you very much, good evening- 35:50 - Evening. 35:51 - Pastor Doug, and evening, Pastor Jean. 35:55 My question, I've been trying to determine 35:59 what is the chronological order 36:01 of when Lucifer got kicked out of heaven? 36:05 Why was he kicked out specifically, 36:08 and when was he cast to earth? 36:12 Was it before or after the creation of the world? 36:18 - All right, well, I think you're gonna find in, 36:21 I think it's in Ezekiel 28 where it says, 36:23 "You have sinned and therefore you were cast out," 36:26 so he was cast out because of his rebellion and his sin, 36:29 he wanted God's position. 36:31 So, if you read in Ezekiel 28 and read in Isaiah 14, 36:38 I think you'll find there it describes 36:40 what Lucifer's goals were and what his sins were, 36:43 why he was cast out. 36:44 - Yeah, and with reference to the sequence 36:46 that you mentioned, 36:46 you find in Revelation 12, 36:48 it says there was war in heaven, and the devil lost, 36:51 and he was cast out, he and his angels. 36:53 Well, this appears to have happened 36:55 before the creation of the earth, this rebellion 36:57 or this war in heaven, once the earth was created, then, 37:00 of course, Lucifer had already been cast out of heaven, 37:02 he was able to tempt Adam and Eve, 37:05 and then he claimed the earth as his, 37:06 because the loyalty that Adam was to give to God, 37:09 he now gave to the devil. 37:11 So the devil claimed to be the representative of the earth, 37:13 but we do find another verse in Revelation 12:12 37:17 it says, "Therefore rejoice, O heavens, 37:19 and you that dwell in them, 37:20 woe to the inhabitants of the earth, 37:22 for the devil has come down to you, 37:23 having great wrath, because he knows he has a short time," 37:27 and verse 11 says, "They overcame them 37:28 by the blood of the Lamb." 37:30 So at the cross, the devil is cast down again, 37:33 so he's cast out of heaven before creation, 37:36 but at the cross he's cast down in a sense, 37:38 meaning that he is isolated to the earth, 37:41 because now Jesus is the rightful representative 37:44 of those who put their faith and trust in Him, 37:47 so the devil is cast out before creation, 37:49 he's cast down in a sense at the cross, 37:52 and that's Revelation 12:10, 37:55 that talks about salvation has come 37:57 and the devil has been cast down. 37:59 - Yes, thank you, Bonita. 38:01 - Next call that we have is Carol listening in New Jersey. 38:04 Carol, welcome to the program. 38:06 - [Carol] Hi, good evening, 38:07 thank you so much for taking my call, 38:09 Pastor Ross and Pastor Jean. 38:10 So my quick question is, in Hebrews 11:6, 38:17 "But without faith it's impossible to please him, 38:19 for he that commeth to God must believe that he is 38:23 and that he is a rewarder of them 38:25 that diligently seek him." 38:26 So my question is, what is the difference between this faith 38:31 and presumptuous faith? 38:33 Because if you're moving according to believing, 38:40 how can it reach to the point where it becomes presumptuous? 38:45 - Well, that is really a good question. 38:47 There is a difference between having faith, 38:50 moving forward in faith, and having a presumptuous faith, 38:54 I'll give you just a quick example. 38:57 Some pastors, when they feel impressed 38:59 they're supposed to build a church, some will say, 39:02 "Let's start building before we have the money," 39:05 and other pastors will say, "That's presumption, 39:08 you should be raising some of the money, 39:11 and so that you're not starting a tower 39:13 and you don't finish," and then there are other pastors 39:15 who say, "You ought have all the money 39:17 before you start building," and so it's interesting to see 39:21 these different perspectives. 39:24 I think sometimes, if you find yourself in dire straits, 39:27 you can believe that God will save you, 39:28 but you don't wanna jump off a cliff 39:30 or cast yourself from the temple and say, "I've got faith 39:32 that angels are gonna catch me," that's called presumption, 39:35 so that's where you start tempting the Lord 39:37 and saying that it's faith, so, I don't know, 39:41 does that make sense, Carol? 39:45 - [Carol] So if you move, is it that, 39:47 I'm understanding that if you put yourself in a position 39:51 out of the reach of the expectation 39:54 of what you might do in opposing to what God will do 39:59 according to His will, I'm a little bit confused 40:03 at that?" - Well, you know, yeah, 40:04 if you're spirit-led, let me just say this, 40:07 when you're baptized in the Holy Spirit, 40:08 sometimes the Holy Spirit's gonna ask you 40:10 to do really strange things, 40:13 like He's gonna ask you to march around a city 40:15 and blow a trumpet and expect the walls to fall, 40:18 or He is gonna ask you to step off in the Jordan river 40:20 when it's flooding and the river will stop. 40:23 So, I think I wanna be clear that if you look in the Bible, 40:26 you're gonna see that people of faith 40:27 are led by the Holy Spirit to do things 40:29 that may not make any sense at all, and God bless us. 40:34 When Elijah prays and fire comes down, 40:36 that took faith, and he prayed again, it didn't rain, 40:39 then he prayed it did rain, so, 40:42 but I think living day to day, 40:45 we may not always feel the Holy Spirit urging or guiding. 40:48 If you see something in the Word of God, step out in faith 40:51 on what the Word says, 40:52 regardless of what you might see or feel, 40:55 and God will bless your faith when it's based on the Word. 40:58 - I've heard one person put it this way, they said, 41:00 "Do what you know God wants you to do, 41:03 and then leave the results with Him." 41:05 So every day, try and do everything we can in our power 41:09 to accomplish what we believe God is wanting us to do, 41:12 and then leave the results with Him. 41:13 For example, when Jesus fed the 5,000, He asked, 41:16 "Well, how much food do you have?" 41:18 Well, they had few loaves and fish, and Jesus took that 41:20 and then He multiplied it and He fed more than 5,000 people. 41:23 So we are to do what we can from a human perspective 41:27 and trust God, have faith in God 41:29 that He will bring about to pass what He has promised. 41:32 - That's right, good point. - In other words, 41:33 somebody says, "Oh, I want God to gimme a job." 41:36 Well, if they're just gonna be sitting at home, 41:38 waiting for somebody to knock on their door 41:40 and offer them a job, that's maybe presumption, 41:42 but if they're out there doing the best they can 41:45 and they're looking for a job, 41:46 well, then they can trust that God will open 41:48 and direct them to the right place. 41:49 - Yeah, it's not in the Bible, 41:51 but it is true that God helps those that help themselves. 41:53 - Yeah, that's true, yeah, it's practical, yeah. 41:55 Well, thanks for your call, Carol. 41:57 Rachel is listening in Kansas. 42:00 Rachel, welcome to the program. 42:02 - [Rachel] I am reading the Bible from front to back, 42:05 and so I'm only in the Old Testament, 42:08 and God speaks words to Moses and Joshua, and He says, 42:14 "Fear not, do not be afraid- 42:17 - I'm with you, 42:18 be courageous." - And yes, 42:20 and in today's time, people like to share scripture with you 42:25 whenever you're having hardship or something. 42:28 Is there a scripture in the Bible that allows us 42:31 to take those words that God said to either Moses or Joshua 42:35 or whoever, 42:36 and actually use them in our time for us? 42:39 Because they were spoken to someone for a certain situation 42:45 in the Bible. 42:46 - Good question. 42:48 Where is it, Pastor Ross, where Peter says, 42:50 "For given unto us are exceeding great and precious promises 42:54 that by these we might become partakers 42:56 of the divine nature, 42:58 having escaped the corruption 42:59 that is in the world through lust"? 43:02 - 2 Peter 1:4. 43:03 - See, friends, I'm dyslexic, I remember the verse, 43:05 I don't remember the verse, but I remember the words. 43:09 So he says there are promises given to us in scripture 43:12 "That by these we might become partakers 43:14 of the divine nature." 43:15 So when I read God and Moses saying to Joshua, 43:20 "Be courageous, be courageous, be very courageous," 43:22 and that's in, I think, chapter one of Joshua, 43:25 I think I can apply that to me, 43:26 and that God is saying that if I'm willing to do His will, 43:29 I can be courageous and know that He's with me. 43:32 So, God hasn't changed, 43:33 and so the same promises and assurances 43:36 that God gives His prophets through history, 43:38 they apply to me. 43:39 He also gave them conditions, 43:41 so if we're following the conditions that He gives them, 43:44 we can claim the same promises that He gives them. 43:47 - And of course, not only do we have the examples 43:48 in the Old Testament where God says, 43:50 "Do not be afraid, do not fear," 43:52 but we find that repeated by Jesus in the New Testament, 43:55 where He says, "Don't be afraid, 43:57 don't worry about what you're gonna eat 43:58 and what you're gonna wear, God will take care of you. 44:00 If you seek first the kingdom, 44:02 all these things shall be added." 44:04 So those principles that we see in the Old Testament, 44:06 they re repeated in the New Testament. 44:08 - That's right, yeah. 44:08 - Without a doubt. 44:10 - Very good. - All right. 44:11 Next caller that we have is Rob listening from Michigan. 44:13 Rob, welcome to the program. 44:15 - [Rob] Hi, thank you. 44:17 Yes, I need you to elaborate on Daniel's vision 44:20 where he saw this image that symbolized several kingdoms, 44:26 starting with Persia, Medo-Persia, 44:30 and it had brass, it had tin, it had iron, and it gold, 44:37 and it symbolizes the different civilizations 44:41 up to modern day. 44:42 So, can you speak to that a little bit more? 44:45 - Sure, and before I even get into it, 44:48 I won't be able to cover it all in just a few minutes, 44:50 but we'll give you a free lesson, 44:55 and it's called "The Millennial Man," 44:56 it's one of our historical lessons, 44:58 it's the first one, it's called "The Millennial Man," 45:00 it covers the prophecy of Daniel 2, 45:03 where Nebuchadnezzar, here's my quick answer, 45:05 has a dream of this large idol, 45:08 and this huge image image is made with a head of gold, 45:12 the chest and arms are of silver, 45:14 the belly is of bronze, and the thighs, 45:16 the legs are of iron, the feet are iron and clay, 45:19 and then he sees a stone cut without hands 45:21 come from the heavens, strike the image on the feet, 45:24 and it basically pulverizes it, 45:26 and it all blows away. 45:28 That idol, idolatry was forbidden by the Jewish people 45:31 in the Ten Commandments, it's forbidden for everybody, 45:35 represents the religions of the world, 45:37 and the head of gold, Daniel tells Nebuchadnezzar 45:40 that's the kingdom of Babylon, 45:42 the arms of silver were the kingdoms of Medo-Persia, 45:46 the bronze was the kingdom of Greece, 45:48 the iron was the kingdom of Rome, 45:51 the feet of iron and clay were the division 45:53 of the Roman empire 45:55 that went with a combination of religion and government, 45:58 and that's where you've got the papacy, really, 46:00 ruling the European civilization for over a thousand years, 46:05 and it says in the days of these kings, 46:07 that God is gonna establish His kingdom, 46:09 we're living in the toenails, 46:10 the very toes of that image today. 46:13 So take a look at that lesson, 46:15 anyone could ask for that lesson on "The Millennial Man," 46:18 and it covers that prophecy. 46:20 - The number to call is 800-835-6747, 46:23 and again, you can ask for the study guide, actually, 46:25 one of the lessons called "Millennial Man," 46:28 it's part of the historical set of lessons, 46:30 and we'll be happy to send that to you, 46:32 thanks for your call. 46:34 Next caller that we have is AJ, listening from Nebraska. 46:36 AJ, welcome to the program. 46:39 - [AJ] Thanks for having me. 46:42 My question is why was Michal punished 46:46 for watching David dance 46:48 when he brought the ark into Jerusalem? 46:52 - All right, now, Michal, I know it sounds 46:54 like a man's name, but Michal was the wife of King David, 46:58 she was the daughter of King Saul. 47:00 David actually had several wives, 47:02 she wasn't punished for watching him dance, 47:04 she was punished for mocking him, 47:06 and it doesn't say David punished her, 47:08 it basically says that she never had children, 47:12 she was never blessed with children, 47:13 and I think another reason that Michal never had children 47:16 is because there were some people 47:18 that wanted to see the Benjamites, the descendants of Saul, 47:21 back on the throne, and if God had given children to David 47:25 through Michal, a lot of people would say, 47:26 "Well, naturally, it should be the children 47:29 of David and Saul, 47:31 as opposed to the children of David and Bathsheba," 47:33 and it ended up being Solomon, 47:35 the daughter, or rather the son of Bathsheba. 47:38 So there were a couple of reasons, 47:39 she shouldn't have been mocking her husband 47:41 for worshiping the Lord, and she did not like 47:44 that he humbled himself, took off his robes, 47:46 and he was wearing the simple linen ephod like a priest. 47:51 Good question, thanks so much, AJ. 47:53 - We've got Patrick listening also from Nebraska. 47:56 Patrick, welcome to the program. 47:58 - [Patrick] Yes, good evening, Pastor Doug and Pastor Ross. 48:02 My question is concerning the identity of Melchizedek, 48:07 he was both a king and a priest. 48:10 I thought about this question 48:11 when someone asked the question concerning Noah 48:13 and the Tower of Babel. 48:16 The identity of Melchizedek, 48:19 Pastor Bachelor, if you could elaborate on that some, 48:22 I'd appreciate it, thank you. 48:24 - Yeah, well, we know that Melchizedek is a type of Christ 48:28 because here Abraham, coming back from the battle 48:30 with the kings of the north, Melchizedek, 48:33 who is the king and priest of Salem, 48:37 later known as Jerusalem, same place, 48:41 Abraham pays tithes to him, 48:43 so he's someone who seems to be a worshiper of the true God, 48:47 it says he's a priest of the Most High God, 48:49 and you think, "What's he doing in Canaan?" 48:51 Somebody that worships the true God, 48:54 some have speculated, and you can't really prove it, 48:56 but it is a workable theory, 48:58 that one of the sons of Noah who was still alive, Shem, 49:02 lived over 600 years, 49:03 his life overlapped with the life of Abraham 49:06 over 100 years, I think 170 years, 49:11 and so some have said, well, after Abraham moved, 49:15 because of the idolatry that was in Ur, 49:18 that Shem may have also heard that God had led Abraham 49:21 to this promised land, and he had come with his clan 49:24 and settled there, we don't know that, 49:26 and it's just one theory, 49:28 and he appears mysteriously out of nowhere, 49:32 the Bible doesn't say who his people are, 49:34 where he came from, where he went to, 49:35 so he's sort of a type of Christ 49:36 in that he's without beginning or end, biblically, 49:39 he just appears and disappears. 49:41 - Now, if you read from the Book of Hebrews, 49:43 Paul does spend quite a bit of time talking 49:45 about Melchizedek as a type of Christ, 49:47 he was both a priest and a king, 49:50 and apparently Abraham recognized this because Abraham, 49:53 the great patriarch, he gave a tithe to Melchizedek, 49:56 and that's a little different. 49:58 The Levites came through the seed of Abraham, 50:00 but here is Melchizedek of a different type of priesthood, 50:03 and Paul says that's the type of priesthood of Jesus. 50:06 All right, great question, thank you. 50:08 Carol is listening in California. 50:09 Carol, welcome to the program. 50:12 - [Carol] Hi, thank you for taking my call. 50:14 - Yes. 50:16 - [Carol] In Revelation some things are literal 50:20 and some things are symbolic, 50:22 and in regards to the 144,000 people 50:26 that will be alive when Jesus comes, 50:32 how is that interpreted? 50:35 - Well, the 144,000, you find them mentioned 50:38 in Revelation 7, and then double that, 50:40 you find them mentioned in Revelation 14. 50:43 The 144,000, they are not the only one saved, 50:47 I do believe the number is literal, 50:48 but I think this is a number that is basically describing 50:52 the last-day apostles around the world. 50:56 Jesus had 12 apostles that prepared the people of Israel 51:00 for His first coming and introduced Him at Pentecost, 51:04 and then before His second coming, 51:06 he'll have 12 times 12,000, both literal and spiritual Jews, 51:12 and so I think that calling them children of Israel, 51:16 that's symbolic, because those that are Christ's 51:19 are Abraham seed, God is not gonna be raising up 12,000 51:23 from the tribe of Gad or Manasseh, they don't exist anymore, 51:26 they intermarried before Jesus was born, and disappeared. 51:30 So it's basically saying that God's gonna have 51:33 these last-day people filled with the Spirit, 51:35 doing a work similar to the work of the apostles, 51:38 preparing a great multitude for Jesus' coming. 51:41 Now, we have a book on this, 51:42 we'll be happy to send you a free copy, Carol. 51:45 - Yes, the book is called, "Who Will Sing The Song? 51:47 Understanding the 144,000," a book written by Pastor Doug, 51:50 and we'll be happy to send this to you, Carol, 51:52 anyone who calls and asks. 51:54 The number is 800-835-6747, just ask for the book 51:58 on the 144,000, it's called, "Who Will Sing the Song?" 52:02 And we'll get that in the mail and send it to you. 52:04 Next caller that we have, let's see, 52:06 we've got Elisa listening from Michigan. 52:10 Lisa, welcome to the program. 52:12 - [Lisa] Hi, thank you for taking my call. 52:16 My question, well, 52:18 I know that it's best with prophecy unfolding like it is, 52:23 to be out of the cities and into the country, 52:26 and my family, I have two severe autistic boys, 52:31 and we do plan on moving to the country, 52:33 but my question is, in the time of where we can't buy 52:38 or sell, and the blue laws are there, 52:41 how are we going to live? 52:44 Because we may have a mortgage and probably land taxes 52:48 if we don't have a mortgage, so I was just wondering 52:51 how that would work, 52:52 'cause we'll have that home in the country, 52:54 but still we won't be able to buy or sell. 52:58 - Yeah. 52:59 - [Lisa] So that is what I'm wondering about. 53:00 - Good question. 53:02 I think the last thing to happen would be 53:05 that banks will not take your money. 53:08 When you can't buy something, that's different, 53:09 but if you're trying to pay, 53:12 pay someone back for a property 53:15 or a mortgage, they'll probably accept payment, 53:19 but it's gonna be hard for people to buy. 53:22 Now, when it says they can't buy or sell, 53:24 not only will that be happening on a personal level, 53:26 that's already happening, 53:28 it's in the news today on an international level, 53:30 they call it economic sanctions, 53:32 when one nation tells another nation, 53:34 "We are not gonna allow you to buy." 53:36 It's been in the news a lot lately with Russia 53:39 and some of those sanctions. 53:40 So I think that's the bigger part 53:44 of what's happening in Revelation, 53:46 is that the United States and other nations 53:48 are gonna punish parts of the world 53:51 that don't go along with the religious laws, 53:52 but it's also gonna happen on an individual basis, 53:56 and it'll be very easy to control. 53:58 I mean, even now we've seen that with COVID, 54:02 there's been a lot of government involvement 54:04 in personal things, travel, and purchases, 54:07 can't go to certain stores. 54:09 So it's very easy to see, with electronic money, 54:11 how quickly this could happen. 54:13 Hope that helps, Elisa. 54:15 Pastor Ross, if someone wants to send us, 54:17 not everyone can call in or not everyone wants to get 54:19 on the radio and call in with their question, 54:21 if they wanna email us questions for the Rapid Fire, 54:24 what's the address for that? 54:25 - The address is just simply balquestions@amazingfacts.org. 54:30 Again, that's B-A-L, Bible Answers Live, 54:33 questions@amazingfacts.org. 54:35 If you're watching this on social media, 54:37 you can actually type your question there 54:38 in the comment section, and we'll try to gather 54:41 those questions together, put them down, 54:44 and try and answer as many of them as we can 54:46 during our special two-minute segment 54:49 that's gonna be coming up 54:50 in like 10 seconds from now, Pastor Doug. 54:52 - That's right, and also don't forget, 54:55 check out everything else that's available 54:57 through the ministry at amazingfacts.org. 55:01 We'll be back in just a few moments for our other audience. 55:03 (inspiring music) 55:06 (adventurous music) 55:07 - [Announcer] Thank you for listening to today's broadcast. 55:10 We hope you understand your Bible even better than before. 55:14 Bible Answers Live is produced 55:16 by Amazing Facts International, 55:18 a faith-based ministry located in Granite Bay, California. 55:22 (adventurous music) 55:24 - Hello friends, welcome back. 55:25 We have about two minutes, Pastor Doug, 55:27 to answer some of the questions that have been sent 55:29 into the program, 55:30 we've got some great questions this evening, 55:32 I'm curious about the answer. 55:34 So let's get started, the first question that we have is, 55:36 "Is there a biblical example 55:38 of when you have to love your enemy?" 55:41 - Yeah, I think there's probably several examples, 55:43 you've got the example in the Bible 55:44 where King David had an opportunity 55:46 to get vengeance on King Saul, 55:48 Saul was actually hunting David to kill him, 55:51 and on two occasions David, just providentially, 55:56 basically had an opportunity to pin Saul to the ground 55:59 or to kill him, and he said, "I won't do it," 56:01 and he let him go free, and he even told Saul, he said, 56:03 "Look, I can kill you right now, 56:05 but I'm gonna let you go free," and he loved his enemy. 56:08 Elisha forgave a whole army that was trying to capture him 56:11 and said, "Feed them and send them home." 56:14 - All right, very good. 56:14 Another question that we have, 56:16 "What does it mean to love the Lord with all of your heart 56:18 and all of your soul?" 56:21 - Well, Jesus said, "If you love me, keep my commandments," 56:23 and when we love the Lord with all of our heart 56:26 and all our soul, makes me think of that statement you find 56:30 in Deuteronomy 5, I think it's verse 29, 56:33 where you said, "Oh, that all of My people would love Me 56:36 and keep all of My commandments always, 56:38 that it might be well with them and their children," 56:41 and so we show that we love the Lord with all of our heart 56:44 by doing all that we know He wants us to do. 56:47 - Okay, another question that we have. 56:48 "Can our dead family members hear us speak to them? 56:52 Do they know what's happening with us here on earth?" 56:55 - Bible tells us in the Book of Isaiah 56:57 that we are not to consult wizards that mutter 57:00 and peep in the dark, and that's in Isaiah 8, 57:04 "Should the living go to the dead for knowledge?" 57:06 The Bible tells us that in the last days, 57:08 the wicked will be, there are devils working miracles. 57:12 You read in Revelation 16, 57:13 Satan can be transformed into an angel of light, 57:16 he can impersonate the spirits of the dead 57:18 as happened with the witch of Endor. 57:20 "The living know they will die, 57:21 the dead don't know anything, 57:23 they do not return to their house," 57:25 Job 14 tells us, and haunt the house. 57:28 - Okay, another question that we have is, 57:29 "How long does it take to be right with God 57:32 after repenting of sin?" 57:34 - Now that's good news, 57:35 the Bible says that as soon as we repent, 57:38 He immediately forgives. 57:40 You see this where the thief on the cross said, 57:42 "Lord, remember me," right away Jesus promised, 57:44 "You will be with Me in paradise." 57:47 When Zaccheus came to Christ, Jesus declared, 57:50 "This is a son of Abraham." 57:52 When Isaiah said, "I am a sinful man," 57:55 God cleansed him and said, "Your sin is purged," 57:58 so as soon as we repent, He forgives, that's the good news. 58:01 - That is, absolutely. 58:03 Again, thank you, friends, for your Bible questions, 58:05 if we didn't get to your question this evening, 58:07 make sure you join us next week 58:09 as we try to answer more Bible questions. 58:11 (inspiring music) 58:13 - [Announcer] Bible Answers Live, 58:15 honest and accurate answers to your Bible questions. 58:19 (inspiring music ends) |
Revised 2022-09-20