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00:12 ♪♪♪ 00:22 ♪♪♪ 00:36 Jean Ross: Good morning, friends, we'd like to welcome 00:37 all of you again to "Sabbath School Study Hour," 00:40 coming to you here from the Amazing Facts offices 00:42 in Sacramento, California. 00:43 We'd like to welcome our online members and our other church 00:46 members that are joining us that can't actually meet with us 00:49 in person because of this virus. 00:51 We'd also like to welcome those joining us across the country 00:54 and around the world on social media. 00:57 Well, before we get to our lesson, 00:59 Pastor Doug, let's start with a word of prayer. 01:01 Dear Father, we thank You again that we have this opportunity 01:03 to open up Your Word and study a very important subject, 01:07 talking about Genesis and the beginning, creation. 01:10 Father, we ask Your blessing. 01:11 Be with us here, also those who are joining us 01:13 around the country in Jesus's name, amen. 01:17 Doug Batchelor: Amen. 01:18 Jean: Our lesson today continues in our study of, 01:20 "How to Interpret the Scripture." 01:22 Today, we're on lesson number nine, 01:24 which is entitled, "Creation: Genesis as Foundation Part Two." 01:28 Last week, we did part one, and this is sort of a build on that. 01:31 And Pastor Doug, I like our free offer that we have, 01:34 it's entitled "How Evolution Flunked the Science Test." 01:37 And this, of course, is for anyone who would call and ask. 01:40 The number is 866-788-3966, and you can ask 01:44 for offer number 169. 01:47 Or if you like, we can send you a digital copy of the book 01:50 if you would text the code SH037 to the number 40544. 01:57 You'll be able to read the book, 01:59 "How Science Flunked the Science--" 02:01 Sorry, "How Evolution Flunked the Science Test." 02:04 Well, Pastor Doug, an important lesson today. 02:07 Doug: Yes sir, we're going to be talking again 02:09 about the evidence you see in the Bible in Genesis 02:13 in particular that the world was created. 02:17 And actually, we've got Scriptures going 02:19 all through the Bible. 02:20 And we have a memory verse, and the memory verse 02:22 is Psalm 19, verse 1, "The heavens declare 02:25 the glory of God and the firmament shows His handiwork." 02:30 So, we can see the glory of God in the things that He's made. 02:33 Now, sometimes when you tell a person that you're a Christian 02:39 and that you believe the Bible is literally, 02:42 it seems like there's almost an attitude of pity that comes 02:48 from people in the world. 02:50 And I used to be this way 'cause I used to be an evolutionist. 02:53 I was not always a Christian, I was either agnostic or atheist, 02:57 and I thought to myself, "Who in the world could believe 03:00 these stories of Noah and the ark, and Adam and Eve, 03:05 and the tower of Babel?" 03:07 And I said, "These are obviously fairytales." 03:10 And it wasn't until I started reading the Bible for myself 03:12 that I realized that it really is a cohesive truth. 03:17 And then I started to evaluate the teaching of evolution, 03:22 and I started realizing evolution takes a lot more faith 03:26 to believe in than biblical creation. 03:29 The idea that you could get all of this organization and design 03:32 and interworking systems and symbiotic relationships 03:36 by accident. 03:38 And even as you listen to the evolutionists do their nature 03:41 programs on television, when they talk about 03:43 the millions and the billions of years, 03:45 they talk about the magic of mother nature. 03:48 So, they're ascribing supernatural to nature because 03:52 they say, "You know, there is some kind of magical force. 03:55 And isn't mother nature wonderful how she does 03:57 these things?" 03:58 And so, they clearly know there's some intelligence 04:01 behind creation, but they refuse to believe the biblical account. 04:05 Jean: You know, I'm reminded of watching one of those nature 04:07 programs, Pastor Doug, and the commentator was talking 04:09 about how miraculous it is that you can have life 04:13 and how you have the DNA that is so central to life, 04:17 and how the cells split and just the marvel of this, 04:19 and all of the complex design involved in nature. 04:23 And at the end of talking about this, he says, 04:26 "And how amazing, it's almost impossible 04:28 to believe that we are here, but here we are, 04:32 so it must've happened." 04:34 So, the whole idea of God is just pushed out of the minds 04:37 because people are unwilling to acknowledge God. 04:41 Because if you acknowledge God as the Creator, 04:43 well, then also there is a responsibility 04:45 that we have towards Him as our Creator. 04:48 Doug: Yeah, there really is an all out effort in much 04:53 of modern science today to expunge anything that smacks 04:59 of the religious or the supernatural in creation, 05:04 even though it is so obvious all around us that something 05:08 like that happened. 05:10 But you know, it notes in the lesson that many 05:14 of the greatest scientists in history were believers in God. 05:19 And you got Gregor Mendel, who of course developed 05:23 the theory of genetics. 05:25 Arthur Compton, Isaac Newton, George Washington Carver, 05:30 Blaise Pascal, Samuel Morse, the Wright Brothers, 05:34 Michael Faraday, and I could go on and on talking 05:36 about the great scientists and inventors, and they said, 05:39 "Oh, absolutely there has to be a God." 05:41 And so, it's really not fair that much of the educational 05:45 world today, they alienate or they push the outside 05:50 or the fringe. 05:52 Any scientist, they say, "We're not going to let you 05:54 in our circle. 05:56 You can't teach at our universities." 05:57 If you say you believe in biblical creation, 06:00 you're blackballed. 06:02 And it's--there's an obvious effort on the part. 06:07 And the sad thing is some of these institutions 06:09 like Oxford and Yale and Harvard, 06:12 they began as Christian institutions, 06:16 but something happened along the way. 06:18 With Darwin and "The Origin of Species," there was a shift. 06:22 And with the French Revolution, they said, 06:24 "We're in the age of reason now." 06:26 Even though the French Revolution sort of turned 06:28 into bloodshed and imploded, the idea age of reason now 06:33 sort of took over. 06:34 Jean: Right. 06:36 Well, we do have questions that are coming in, 06:37 and we want to remind you if you have a question related 06:39 to creation or maybe what does the Bible say about origins, 06:43 we'd be happy to take a look at that. 06:45 And if you have a question, just type it there on Facebook 06:47 in the comment section. 06:49 Pastor Doug, we have Franklin, who's asking, 06:51 "Was Eve created on the same day that Adam was created?" 06:56 Doug: Yes. 06:57 Sometimes it confuses people 'cause it talks about Adam 06:59 being made in chapter 1. 07:02 And then later, it goes back and it talks about 07:04 the details of Eve's creation. 07:07 God made all of His creatures in the first six days 07:10 male and female. 07:12 It talks about the Sabbath in Genesis chapter 2, 07:15 but then it backs up and it explains in detail 07:18 how God created Eve. 07:20 Keep in mind that in much of the Bible, 07:22 God begins with headlines, then He backs up 07:25 and He gives the fine print. 07:27 We do this in newspapers all the time. 07:29 You give the big headline story, sometimes the headline will 07:31 contain some of the main story, but then they back up 07:35 and give you the details in the fine print. 07:37 Headline, in the beginning God created the heavens 07:40 and the earth. 07:41 Details, you go through the first six days. 07:44 Then it gives you more details of the sixth day, when God-- 07:48 why God came about to make Eve. 07:52 Says, you know, Adam named the animals. 07:53 And someone thinks, "How can he name all the millions of species 07:56 and categories of animals in one day? 07:58 That would take more than a day." 08:00 I'm sure he just named the main categories of them. 08:03 And he noticed that the bull had the cow 08:06 and the goose had the-- is it the gander? 08:11 And the rooster had his chicken, and something was 08:14 missing in his life. 08:16 And God wanted him to notice that vacuum so that 08:19 he would be especially excited when He filled it. 08:21 But that was still all on the sixth day. 08:24 Jean: All right, well, then one of the question 08:25 that people raise when they talk about creationists, 08:28 they say, "Well, you know, they believe myths as far as origin." 08:32 And they quote, for example and say, 08:34 'Don't you believe the earth is flat? 08:37 Doesn't the Bible teach flat earth?'" 08:39 And then they might even quote a verse 08:41 in Revelation chapter 1, verse-- 08:43 or Revelation chapter 7, verse 1 that talks about 08:46 the four angels holding the four winds of the earth. 08:49 They say, "There you go, four corners of the earth. 08:51 Would the earth be flat?" 08:53 Doug: Well, we even use this kind of phraseology today. 08:55 I think Jesus used the same wording in Matthew 24 talking 08:59 about the Second Coming, how his angels would go 09:02 to collect the redeemed. 09:04 Says, "He'll send his angels with the sound of a trumpet. 09:06 They will gather together His elect from the four winds, 09:10 from one end of heaven to the other." 09:11 The four winds being-- and it mentions 09:13 the four winds also in Revelation 7. 09:15 It's just talking about four corners of the earth. 09:19 We use that language today. 09:21 We'll say, you know, 09:23 "Somebody went to the four corners of the earth." 09:24 Well, we don't believe earth has corners. 09:26 We use a lot of metaphors when we talk about the world, 09:29 that doesn't mean that we take them literally. 09:32 In the Bible, it says, "When the sun went down," 09:35 and you got an example here. 09:37 Oh, I forget where I put it. 09:41 It talks about the sun going down, 09:43 but we don't believe that the sun goes down or the sun rises, 09:48 we know the earth is turning. 09:50 We might say that, you know, we feel something in our heart. 09:54 Well, we may not really feel it in the pump, 09:57 you're feeling it in your mind, but we use these metaphors. 09:59 God says, "Write My Word in your heart." 10:01 David said, "What have these sheep done? 10:04 Don't punish these sheep." 10:05 He's talking about the people. 10:07 Well, David knew it's a metaphor for people. 10:08 Everyone reading it knows it, so yeah, 10:10 the Bible used common metaphors, it doesn't mean that 10:12 they scientifically believed that the earth had four square, 10:16 you know, big flat piece of land with four squares on it. 10:19 Jean: Well, of course, when it talks about 10:21 the four winds of heaven, 10:22 we're not talking about four corners of a flat earth. 10:26 Rather we're talking about the four points of the compass. 10:28 And of course, they were aware of that, 10:29 north, south, east, and west. 10:31 And that's four divisions of the earth. 10:33 You can say, "I'm going to the east, or the west, 10:35 the north, or the south." 10:36 And so, when the Bible speaks of the four winds 10:38 or the four corners, it's really just talking about 10:40 the four points of the compass, and it's talking about it 10:42 being universal. 10:44 You know, it's interesting in Daniel, 10:46 you read about a wind that strove upon the great sea, 10:49 and these four creatures came up. 10:51 Well, these creatures, these beasts represent nations, 10:53 the winds striving on the great sea. 10:55 These four winds represent the four points of the compass. 10:57 So, there are some symbolism that we find in the Bible, 11:01 and we need to study it and understand it 11:04 as to what it means, this symbolic application. 11:07 Doug: Even when you talk about the four winds, 11:08 there's supernatural wisdom there. 11:10 The Bible says, "God will separate us 11:13 from our sins as far as the east is from the west." 11:17 Well, they must've known that the earth revolves east to west, 11:21 and there is no end to east and west. 11:22 And the Bible talks about the king of the north 11:24 and the king of the south. 11:25 There is a place where they have their thrones. 11:27 There's an end to the North Pole, 11:29 there's an end to the South Pole. 11:30 God did not say, "I'm going to separate your sins 11:32 as far as the north is from the south," 11:34 because that would've had a limit. 11:36 But God said, "I'm separating your sins as far as 11:39 the east is to the west." 11:40 You can go east forever and ever and never get to east. 11:43 But if you go north, you will eventually get 11:44 to the North Pole. 11:46 And if you take another step, you start hitting south. 11:48 So, even in the Bible, it makes a distinction 11:51 between north and south and east and west that we recognize 11:54 in the rotation of the earth. 11:56 Jean: Now, if you ask a Bible scholar, 11:58 "What was the oldest book that we have in the Bible?" 12:01 you know, we think Genesis, but there could be a book 12:04 that was written by Moses, we believe, but was actually 12:07 older than the book of Genesis, possibly the book of Job. 12:11 And it is interesting in the book of Job, 12:13 we do find some statements that is made that show us that there 12:18 is far more to an understanding of the earth than is credited 12:23 to people living back in those days. 12:26 Doug: Yeah, you've got a couple of examples. 12:28 You can look, for instance, in Job chapter 26, verse 10, 12:32 "He drew a circle on the horizon on the face of the waters." 12:36 I've been to sea many times, I've been way out in the middle 12:39 of the ocean, and you can see, especially if you have 12:42 a high crow's nest, you can see the circle of the earth. 12:47 And they noticed that when tall ships were sailing away, 12:51 it seemed like they were shrinking as they went 12:54 around the curvature. 12:56 If you had good eyes, you could spot that on a clear day, 12:58 on a flat sea. 13:00 And now there are people, and I don't want to be unkind, 13:04 but there are people who you would normally think are normal, 13:06 educated people, amazingly enough even today 13:08 that believe the earth is flat. 13:11 And I don't want to be unkind, but it is not, it is round. 13:17 And I've been up in my dad's Learjet years ago. 13:22 The Learjet flies higher than a typical commercial jet. 13:25 And when you're at 45,000 feet, you can see, 13:28 clearly see the curve of the earth. 13:30 It is not a big conspiracy of NASA and all the governments 13:33 and pilots of the world to try to keep people in darkness 13:36 about the earth being flat. 13:37 I don't know what the advantage would be. 13:39 But the earth is round. 13:40 You can also read in Job 26:7, 13:45 "He stretches out the earth over empty space. 13:48 He hangs it upon nothing." 13:50 Well, all of the ancient myths said, 13:52 "Well, the earth is on the back of the tortoise 13:55 or it's on the shoulders of Atlas." 13:57 And they had all these myths that the earth was sitting 14:00 on something, but the Bible says, 14:02 "The earth is hung upon nothing." 14:04 It's out in space, and they looked up 14:05 just as they saw the planets hanging upon nothing. 14:08 And then you can also read in Isaiah chapter 40, verse 22, 14:12 "Who sits above the circle of the earth," speaking of God. 14:16 "And its inhabitants are like grasshoppers who stretches out 14:19 the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them out 14:22 like a tent to dwell in." 14:23 There's some more metaphors. 14:25 But they did use the metaphor of a circle. 14:26 Jean: You know, I find that verse interesting. 14:28 Isaiah 40, verse 22 specifically says, 14:30 "The circle of the earth." 14:32 You know, I had an experience, Pastor Doug. 14:34 There is a gentleman that we played racquetball with, 14:36 and he's a Muslim. 14:38 And I was talking to him, I asked him 14:40 if he's ever studied the Bible before. 14:42 He said no. 14:43 He asked me if I ever studied the Koran, 14:44 I said no. 14:46 He said, "Well, I'll tell you what. 14:47 If you study the Koran with me for half an hour, 14:49 then we'll study the Bible together for half an hour." 14:52 I said, "Okay, that's fair." 14:53 So, in our Bible study, we'd get together, 14:55 and we'd take a look at different passages in the Koran, 14:57 and then we look at passage in the Bible. 14:59 And I said, "Well, one of the things we need to do 15:00 is establish the trustworthiness of the Scriptures. 15:04 Is there enough internal evidence in the Koran 15:08 to prove that it is trustworthy?" 15:10 And I spoke about prophecy in the Bible, and so on. 15:12 He said, "Oh yeah, you can trust the Koran." 15:14 I said, "Why is that?" 15:15 He says, "Well, here it is." 15:17 And he found a verse that says in the Koran that the earth 15:19 is shaped like an egg. 15:21 And he says, "Well, back when the Koran was written, 15:23 people didn't know that the earth was round." 15:25 Well, I couldn't help but turn to this verse 15:27 in Isaiah chapter 40, verse 22, where it says, 15:30 "He sits above the circle of the earth." 15:32 And I asked him, "Does the earth look more like an egg 15:34 or does it look more like a circle?" 15:37 He smiled and said, "Well, I guess it is more of a circle." 15:40 And I said, "Well, you find this verse in Isaiah long 15:42 before the Koran was ever written." 15:45 So, if you look at the evidence in the Word of God, 15:48 it helps to establish its inspiration. 15:50 Something very practical, another one that we have 15:53 in Job chapter 28, verse 25, he talks about 15:56 the wind having weight. 15:58 And of course, that's something that it's new to science 16:01 relatively speaking. 16:03 People back 1,000, 2,000 years ago 16:05 didn't understand the significance 16:07 of the weight of the air. 16:10 Doug: I don't think it was until the 18th or 19th century 16:12 that they discovered that, you know, air pressure, 16:16 that weight actually-- wind actually has 16:19 or air has weight to it. 16:21 And yet it says here that way back in the book of Job, 16:24 probably the oldest book in the Bible, 16:26 the winds had weight. 16:28 So, throughout the Bible, you can see 16:30 that there are metaphors. 16:31 Jesus says, for instance, in Matthew 15, 16:34 "For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, 16:36 adulteries, fornications, theft out of the heart." 16:40 He's talking about the mind, doesn't come out of the pump. 16:43 And they knew that in the Bible because they knew if he got hit 16:45 on the head, you didn't think clearly, 16:47 you didn't think with your pump, you thought with your brain. 16:51 But it still says, "Hide thy Word in your heart." 16:54 And then it says, "As a man thinketh in his heart." 16:56 And so, just because the Bible uses metaphors, 16:58 it's a very scientific book. 17:02 Look at all the sanitation laws. 17:05 You know, the way they brought many of the plagues, 17:07 ancient pandemics to a halt is by following 17:10 the sanitation laws. 17:12 And I don't think we talked about this last week, 17:14 but when they had the 1918 and 1919 Spanish Flu 17:19 during the part of the time that it went through Europe, 17:22 they discovered a lot of the Jewish communities 17:24 were not infected because they were practicing the laws 17:27 of sanitation and contagion that are found in Leviticus. 17:31 So, it's still a good scientific book. 17:34 Jean: All right, Pastor Doug, we're getting a lot of questions 17:36 coming in from Facebook, and this is a good question. 17:38 It says, "How did people spread all across the world 17:42 after the tower of Babel?" 17:47 Doug: Well, when you read in Genesis chapter 11, 17:49 it tells us that all the world was of one language 17:52 and one people, and they were defying the command of God 17:57 to go and scatter, and be fruitful, and fill the earth. 18:00 They thought, "Well, we need to stick together." 18:02 And probably some of the leaders thought, 18:04 "We'll have more power if we have more people 18:06 who can serve us." 18:07 And so, they were defying the command of God. 18:09 They also did not trust God would not destroy 18:11 the world with a flood. 18:13 So, they were building this tower, 18:15 Tower of Babel for the glory of man. 18:17 And God confused their languages, 18:19 they could not communicate, and the work descended 18:22 in strife and bloodshed. 18:24 And those that could communicate kind of broke off in different 18:27 bands, and they began to scatter and spread out 18:29 as God has told them. 18:31 And they went to the different corners of the earth. 18:34 You know, one of the reasons we believe the Bible is true 18:37 is actually linguistics. 18:39 Because those who study the languages of the world can track 18:42 the migration of man around the planet through languages. 18:48 There are clearly similarities between the languages 18:50 of the Native American Indians with one another, 18:53 and the DNA connects them with Mongolia, 18:57 and they find links in the language 18:59 with the people of Mongolia. 19:00 And you just wrap around the world and this is true 19:03 in Africa, the different African tribes maybe with the exception 19:06 of the bushmen, they have their similarities 19:08 in their pronunciation and their languages. 19:11 And the same thing, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, 19:13 they can sort of understand each other. 19:15 So, they track the migration of languages around the world 19:18 and they can also prove that we all came from common ancestors. 19:21 Jean: Another question that we have, 19:23 "When were the dinosaurs on the earth, 19:26 and what about the ice age?" 19:29 Doug: All right, well, dinosaurs is a word, 19:32 "thunder lizards" that we talk about. 19:35 They were large reptiles and that are extinct, 19:38 and we have large reptiles today. 19:40 You know, there's certain iguanas and there's Komodo 19:43 dragons and--but everything was much bigger before the flood. 19:49 They not only had reptiles that were enormous 19:51 and things probably lived longer. 19:53 Humans lived longer, why would we not think the animals lived 19:56 much longer back then? 19:57 The oxygen levels in the environment was much better 20:01 and everything lived longer. 20:03 They had--they got skeletons of beaver that are 13 feet tall. 20:08 How would you like to run into a 13-foot tall beaver? 20:10 They got these giant sloth skeletons. 20:13 Again, they're like 9 or 13 feet tall. 20:15 The mastodons and the wooly mammoths, 20:18 much bigger than the elephants today. 20:20 And so mammals, reptiles, they were all much bigger. 20:24 After the environment changed, many of them just did not grow. 20:28 Many of them were rendered extinct. 20:31 You can read there, it says, "Nimrod was a mighty hunter." 20:34 Mighty hunters don't hunt mice. 20:37 He probably went after some of these big creatures, 20:39 and they rendered them extinct through hunting them all done, 20:42 making a reputation. 20:44 So, after the flood, some of the bigger dinosaurs 20:47 or those who would be a threat, they didn't have a chance 20:51 to live as long and get as big, and they died, 20:53 and the big ones died off in the flood. 20:56 Jean: What about the ice age? When did that occur? 20:58 Doug: Well, there's a lot of changes in the environment 21:00 shortly after the flood. 21:02 I mean, you can even read where it says, 21:03 "God made a mighty wind to blow." 21:06 And then the Bible talks about in the days of Peleg, 21:08 the earth was divided. 21:10 We don't know if that means the earth was separated 21:12 by the tribes or there was still tectonic shifting happening 21:16 at that time and volcanoes. 21:18 And I think that a lot of changes were happening 21:22 after the flood. 21:24 Probably the ice age came shortly after that. 21:27 And it did not last thousands of years, 21:30 it all happened rather quickly. 21:32 Jean: Okay, now something else interesting is, 21:34 you can study different cultures around the world. 21:36 And just like you mentioned, there's a similarity 21:38 in language. 21:39 A lot of the cultures have a similarity 21:41 in origins or creation. 21:44 So, you look at some of the stories that are out there, 21:46 there are some similarities even with the biblical account 21:49 that we read in Genesis with some of these legends 21:52 or these pagan ideas as to how we got to the earth. 21:55 Doug: Yeah, and what the skeptics like to say is Moses 21:59 was just picking up some of the local legends and modified them, 22:03 or they changed for Hebrews and they put them in there. 22:06 But while there are similarities, for example, 22:08 you got Adam and Eve, and Eve eats the forbidden tree, 22:12 and all this evil comes into the world. 22:14 Well, the Greeks had the story of Pandora's box. 22:17 I think I got some different excerpts of these. 22:20 In Pandora's box, you've got the first woman made from clay, 22:23 that's not quite right according to the Bible. 22:26 The gods gave her a box or jar, told her not to open it. 22:29 Well, it was the fruit. 22:31 And the tree you should not eat from. 22:33 Pandora was trying to tame her curiosity, but in the end, 22:36 she could not hold herself anymore. 22:38 She opened the box and all of the illness, 22:40 hardship that the gods had hidden in the box 22:42 started coming out. 22:44 Well, when we disobeyed, the devil moved into the world. 22:46 It's a very different story. 22:48 The sophistication and the spirituality 22:50 and the reality of God's version makes a lot more sense. 22:54 The Greeks had a flood story. 22:57 And when Zeus, the king of the gods, 22:59 resolved to destroy all humanity by a flood, 23:01 Deucalion constructed an ark, which according to one version 23:06 he and his wife rode out the flood and landed 23:08 on Mount Parnassus according to the flood story found first 23:14 in the Roman poet Ovid's "Metamorphoses" book one. 23:17 And then they offered a sacrifice. 23:19 You've got man and woman survive, 23:21 the gods are angry, they offer sacrifice. 23:24 Well, it's similar to the story of Noah. 23:27 Then you got Plato writing about Atlantis, 23:30 where you've got these super people. 23:32 Well, before the flood, they were bigger, stronger, 23:33 they live longer, they had probably more they could do. 23:37 They lived in a paradise, but--and they were once noble 23:40 and moral people, as Adam and Eve and the children of Seth. 23:45 But when they began to intermarry with Cain, 23:47 the whole world became corrupt. 23:49 This is similar to the story of Plato. 23:51 And the gods became angry because the people 23:54 were morally bankrupt. 23:55 And as a punishment, there was a great cataclysm 23:59 and they were swallowed up in the ocean. 24:02 You get your flood story there. 24:03 One of the more interesting ancient myths that sounds 24:06 very biblical is the Hawaiian's version, 24:08 it stayed pretty close to the true. 24:11 There was this man named Nui instead of Noah, 24:14 who built an ark, he built a big boat, 24:17 and he escaped the great flood. 24:20 And he landed his vessel on top of Mauna Kea on the Big Island. 24:24 Nui mistakenly thought that he had-- 24:27 was on the moon and he made sacrifices to it. 24:29 Kane the creator god descended on the earth in a rainbow 24:33 and explained Nui's mistake. 24:36 So, you got the sacrifice, the rainbow, the boat, 24:39 the flood, the name. 24:41 Jean: The mountain. 24:42 Doug: And the mountain, yeah. 24:44 It's all very interesting that many of these-- 24:46 and the American Indians, I used to work on the reservation, 24:48 very similar story about the gods were angry 24:51 with the wickedness of man, washed the world with the flood, 24:53 and so--and then, even the Mesopotamians, 24:57 they had the epic of Gilgamesh, their version of it. 25:01 But you know, it's a lot more bizarre, 25:05 less believable than the Bible version. 25:08 Jean: All right, so we do find a number of stories in different 25:10 cultures, myths, but the more accurate or the most accurate 25:14 description of what happened is found in Genesis. 25:17 Doug: Yeah. 25:19 Jean: It is inspired counsel. 25:20 It is clear, it is biblical, it makes sense, it fits in. 25:23 A question that's coming, Pastor Doug, 25:25 is does the Bible mention anything about dinosaurs? 25:28 And if so, where? 25:30 Doug: Well, the closest thing I think we can get to is, 25:33 you've got--well, there's verses about the behemoth. 25:37 And then you've got the leviathan. 25:39 And leviathan seems like a great dragon. 25:42 And some believe it's a metaphor for the devil. 25:45 I'm inclined to believe that in Job, 25:46 I think leviathan's a metaphor for the devil. 25:48 But they probably did recognize they were great dragons. 25:52 Something else that's interesting, 25:54 Pastor Ross, is we know from the fossil record there were 25:56 some of these enormous flying reptiles. 25:59 And one of them, and I can't remember the name of this, 26:02 a pterodactyl or paradactyl, but it was as big as a Cessna 182. 26:08 It was huge, I mean its wingspan. 26:10 And it was a flying dragon. 26:13 They had like tails and all in-- around the world in all 26:18 the cultures, they've got these histories of flying dragons. 26:21 And so, it's probably 'cause some of the people did live 26:25 contemporaneously with flying reptiles. 26:29 Jean: You know, we do have a verse that you mention here 26:31 about behemoth, and I found it in Job, 26:33 Job chapter 40, verse 15. 26:35 It says, "Look now at behemoth, which I made along with you. 26:39 He eats grass like an ox. 26:41 See now his strength is in his hips 26:43 and his power is his stomach muscles." 26:45 Verse 17 is interesting, it says, 26:47 "He moves his tail like a cedar. 26:49 The sinew of his thighs are tightly knit, 26:52 his bones are like beams of bronze." 26:55 He talks about how that he lives amongst the reeds down 27:00 by the marshy area. 27:02 Here we have a description of this massive animal, 27:05 some might think, well, maybe this is a description 27:08 of an elephant. 27:09 But of course, the elephant doesn't have a tale 27:12 like a cedar. 27:13 Doug: This sounds like a brontosaurus or something 27:15 that would-- vegetarian in the swamp. 27:17 Jean: That's right. 27:18 So, it is interesting, we do have that reference 27:20 in Job chapter 40, verse 15. 27:22 And as we mentioned before, Job's probably one 27:24 of the oldest books written by Moses, 27:26 but the story took place a long time even before Moses. 27:30 Doug: And we got to keep in mind that Job, 27:34 he may have lived at the time when Shem was still alive, 27:36 who had lived before the flood. 27:38 And so, or at least one generation away, 27:40 they had firsthand accounts of what some of these 27:42 great prehistoric creatures looked like. 27:45 Jean: Now, the next section in the lesson talks about 27:47 Genesis versus paganism. 27:49 And it is interesting in Genesis chapter 1, verse 14, 27:52 where it talks about God creating the sun and the moon. 27:55 It doesn't specifically say the sun and the moon. 27:58 Could there be a reason for that? 28:00 Was that something that was worshipped by the Egyptians? 28:03 Doug: Well, that's interesting, yeah, absolutely. 28:06 It tells us that God made the lights in the heaven, 28:09 a greater light and a lesser light. 28:11 And God was very clear, He said, "When you're tempted to look 28:15 to the sun and the moon and say, 'You are our gods,'" that 28:20 that would be a sin. 28:23 Matter of fact, even Job said that it would be a sin 28:26 to look to the celestial elements and pray to them. 28:30 And then he goes on to say that if I should kiss my own hand 28:34 and worship myself, we should be worshipping God and not-- 28:37 it's worshipping the creation instead of the Creator 28:41 is idolatry. 28:43 And so, God avoids that in Genesis deliberately. 28:46 Jean: And then we also have accounts given in Genesis, 28:48 Genesis chapter 2, verse 7, it says, 28:50 "God formed man out of the dust of the ground," 'cause breathed 28:53 into him the breath of life, man became a living being. 28:56 It's interesting when you look at the elements that 28:59 going to a human body, it's the same elements 29:02 that we find in the earth. 29:04 Doug: Yeah, it's kind of humbling to consider 29:07 that if you boil us down to our chemical components, 29:12 we're not worth much more than a bag of fertilizer 29:14 because that's what we all turn into when we die. 29:17 And you get a little bit of water and salt and potassium 29:21 and just earth. 29:23 And so, it's really a humble beginning. 29:28 Jean: Now, Billy's asking a question that's come in, 29:30 he says, "You know, it seems as though 29:32 the Bible supports slavery." 29:34 He says he has a hard time answering this question when 29:37 people challenge him about the trustworthiness of the Bible. 29:40 "Does the Bible support slavery? 29:43 And if so, how do we explain that today?" 29:46 Doug: If you want to know what God's original plan is, 29:49 you look at the garden of Eden. 29:50 God did not have slavery in the garden of Eden. 29:52 Slavery, like divorce and like death of animals, 29:56 all came as a result of sin. 29:58 These were never part of God's perfect plan. 30:00 And it is true God made laws to protect the slaves. 30:06 God made laws to protect a family 30:09 where there were multiple wives. 30:11 It's not because it was His plan, 30:12 it's because men were often all killed off in battle, 30:15 and the only way a woman could get married and have children is 30:18 if they had polygamy. 30:19 And God had laws about if you're going to eat meat, 30:23 eat the clean meat. 30:24 It was never God's plan for man to kill animals and eat them. 30:27 So, he made these laws because of the hardness of our heart. 30:30 But clearly it's not God's plan for one person 30:34 to own another person. 30:36 Jean: And of course, we see examples of that even 30:37 in the New Testament, where Jesus mentioned it's because 30:40 of the hardness of your hearts that God allowed these things. 30:43 And of course, if you look at the rules given in 30:45 the Old Testament with reference to somebody that owns a slave, 30:48 there were opportunities for the slave to go free if he chooses, 30:52 depending upon where he's from. 30:53 And there was certain rules as to how you were 30:55 to treat the slaves. 30:56 So, it was quite different than the pagan nations 30:59 that were surrounding Israel at the time. 31:01 Doug: Yeah, absolutely. 31:02 And part of the Sabbath command, you needed 31:04 to let your slave rest. 31:05 Jean: Right, even on the Sabbath. 31:07 Well, that brings us to the subject of marriage then. 31:10 Of course, we read in Genesis chapter 2, verse 18, 31:12 talks about--it says, "God said it is not good 31:15 that man should be alone." 31:17 It's verse 18, "I'll make a helper comparable to him." 31:19 When you talk about marriage, Pastor Doug, 31:21 other than the biblical account that we find in Genesis, 31:24 how does evolution support the idea of why there is male and 31:30 female, not just men and woman, but you look at all animal life 31:35 and even plant life, you've got male and female. 31:38 Doug: You know, there are certain conundrums that 31:41 evolutionists, honest ones, will admit that they cannot solve. 31:45 They cannot find a scenario in the scheme of evolution that 31:50 would necessitate the evolution, that would explain how creatures 31:56 would evolve with two separate genders that could not procreate 32:04 without an act of cooperation and affection. 32:07 And then they say, "Well, but it's much more beneficial 32:09 for the mixture of genes to do this." 32:12 You don't need separate genders. 32:14 Why not have like, you know, snails or I forget 32:18 what they call it where you got one gender, 32:19 it could be either one. 32:21 Every snail is hermaphroditic, or whatever they call it. 32:24 Yeah, earthworm, why aren't all creatures like that? 32:26 They could still exchange their genes. 32:28 But you know, it's a mystery. 32:31 There's so many mysteries in nature when you think about it. 32:35 And what a mystery that, I mean, woman, you know, 32:40 God made His creation in order of complexity. 32:43 First He makes the basic elements, 32:45 you know, and the water and the land, 32:46 and then the vegetation, and then the more complex animals. 32:49 You've got the birds and the fish, and then He makes man. 32:52 And the most complex of all, He makes woman 32:55 as the final part of creation. 32:56 And not too many will disagree with that, 32:58 the complexity of woman. 33:01 But to think about a woman's body has got several processes 33:06 that a man's body just does not have. 33:08 You know, men do not lactate, we do not ovulate, 33:10 we do not gestate and give birth. 33:15 And it is such a miracle that these distinctions 33:18 in the body are so unique. 33:22 And God explains that they were made to be separate, 33:25 unique creatures, and they are that from birth in the garden 33:29 of Eden, that was His plan. 33:30 Jean: Now, somebody's asking a question about this, she says, 33:33 "If both marriage and the Sabbath were created 33:36 before sin, why is it in Matthew 22, verse 30, 33:40 Jesus seems to indicate that there won't be marriage 33:42 in heaven?" 33:44 Doug: Well, God tells us that-- 33:45 Well, we are ultimately married to the Lord. 33:47 In Genesis, the Bible ends with our coming to a marriage supper. 33:50 It's interesting, Jesus's ministry begins 33:52 with first miracle at a marriage feast. 33:54 Then you get to Revelation and we're all invited 33:57 to the marriage supper of the Lamb. 33:59 So, we are married to the Lord. 34:01 And the Bible says, "Husbands, love your wife 34:03 as Christ loves the church." 34:04 But one of the principle purposes for marriage, 34:07 God said, "Go forth, be fruitful." 34:09 And King James says replenish. 34:12 The more accurate word is fill the earth. 34:15 Replenish leaves people with the idea that it was filled once 34:17 and it has to be refilled. 34:20 And so, the earth is going to be populated with the redeemed. 34:23 And God did not intend for people to indefinitely 34:27 through eternity continue to. 34:29 You'd have a big old family. 34:31 And this is why the Mormons, they believe there's marriage 34:33 in heaven, and that you're going to continue needing to make 34:35 new worlds to house all the kids that you have. 34:39 But some people think, "I don't know, 34:42 how am I going to be happy in heaven if there's no marriage? 34:44 Or does that mean that my wife and I get to heaven 34:47 and we get our divorce papers from God?" 34:49 You want to live with your spouse through eternity 34:52 and you love each other, you'll be free to do that. 34:54 Jean: Well, we know that in heaven, 34:56 the Bible says we shall know, even as we are now known, 34:59 so there'll still be family relations. 35:01 And like you said, if you spend your whole life bonding 35:04 with someone here on this earth and you're married, you know, 35:08 wouldn't you be able to enjoy and both saved, 35:11 wouldn't you be able to enjoy heaven and eternity 35:13 with your spouse? 35:15 Doug: Yeah, absolutely. 35:16 I'm going to enjoy going around heaven with Karen 35:18 and looking things over. 35:20 But one of the words in Jesus's statement that people 35:22 misunderstand, it's He says, "There will be no marriage." 35:26 The word "marriage" there, it's the act, 35:27 the verb of marrying. 35:29 There'll be no new marriages. 35:31 Now, when David gets to heaven, I don't know who he'll be 35:33 married to, or Solomon even more confusing, 35:36 but Adam will probably still be married to Eve. 35:39 Jean: Right. 35:41 Well, that brings our next section in our lesson, 35:43 it's talking about creation in time. 35:44 Now, this is one of the things that people look 35:47 at Bible-believing Christians and say, 35:49 "How can you believe that the earth is only 6,000 years old? 35:54 Where do we find 6,000 year old earth in the Bible? 35:58 How do we know that the Bible speaks of the earth 36:00 being about 6,000 years?" 36:02 Doug: Well, when you talk about the earth being 6,000 36:04 years old, it may have been floating around in our solar 36:08 system or our corner of the Milky Way for a long time 36:13 in its chaotic void shape, you know? 36:16 That, I think that's unclear. 36:18 It is clear that He organized things in a special way. 36:21 And when God says on the fourth day He made the stars 36:23 and the greater lights and the lesser lights, 36:26 that may be the greater lights and lesser lights of our 36:29 Milky Way galaxy, which would be about 200 billion blazing suns. 36:33 Doesn't mean that all the flickering lights 36:36 that you see out there, many of them galaxies, 36:38 were created six days-- 6,000 years ago. 36:42 But when you start looking at the dates that God gives in 36:44 the Bible, and we'll get in our next section more to chronology, 36:48 but the dates that are given in the Bible, 36:50 they are six literal days, 24 hours, successive periods. 36:53 And then it tells us the ages of Adam, 36:57 and Seth, and Enos, on through Enoch, 37:01 through Noah, and Abraham. 37:03 And you've got a chronology. 37:05 And you can do some rough math, and there's some gaps here 37:08 and there like with the sons of Noah, 37:10 doesn't say how old they were. 37:13 Were all they triplets? 37:14 It just kind of gives--you know, I think it says he lived 37:16 600 years, and that's Shem, Ham, and Japheth. 37:19 Well, was it all that year? 37:21 Did he--I mean, so there's some gaps here and there, 37:24 but they're not big ones. 37:26 And so, when you just add up the chronology, 37:30 we've got an age for the earth, or at least for the time of Adam 37:33 that goes back about 6,000 years. 37:36 Jean: You know, maybe I want to just add to that, 37:37 there are people that are trying to calculate 37:40 the exact age of the earth. 37:42 And one of the things you got to bear in mind is when you start 37:44 doing that, adding up all the different ages 37:47 of the patriarchs, the Bible doesn't tell you the year 37:49 and the month or even the day that they had their son. 37:54 It'll say in the 60th year or so and so's life, he had his son. 37:58 Well, you got 12 months there, you don't have the beginning 38:01 of that 60th year or maybe it's near the end. 38:03 So, there is an area that we don't know. 38:05 And if you add up all those bits, 38:07 we don't know what that is. 38:09 Roughly 6,000 years, but we can't nail down a specific day 38:12 and say, "All right, today, the earth is 6,000 years old." 38:15 Doug: That's important this day and age 'cause some people 38:16 are trying to use that to pick a date for the Second Coming. 38:19 Jean: Right. 38:21 Doug: And you need to be careful about that. 38:23 I was going to say something else now. 38:25 Jean: Well, let me ask you this, 38:27 you mentioned about creating time, 38:28 or at least seemingly time. 38:30 When God created the garden of Eden and He created 38:33 the tree of life, one of the questions is, 38:35 did He create tiny little shrubs that it's still growing 38:38 to giant trees, or were these full-grown trees? 38:41 When He made the animals, were they tiny little, 38:44 you know, bear cubs, or did He make big grizzly bears? 38:47 Doug: Yeah, that was really what I was going to say 38:49 and I forgot about, is that when we're talking about the age 38:52 of the earth, some people say, "Well, when they date the rocks, 38:54 they come out to billions of years." 38:56 And they say, "When they date the stars," we know the speed 38:59 of light is a constant, 186,000 miles per second roughly. 39:03 And they say, "These calculus tells us these galaxies and suns 39:06 are billions of miles of lightyears away. 39:11 That means that they could never have been created 6,000 years 39:15 ago or their light would never have-- 39:17 wouldn't even be reaching us yet." 39:18 Well, we forget that the belly button factor. 39:21 And what I mean by that is that when God made Adam, 39:25 did he have a belly button? 39:27 Why would he need one? God made Adam full-grown. 39:30 He made trees. 39:32 When you cut down a tree in the garden of Eden, 39:33 did it have rings in it? 39:35 There are rings typically, dendrochronology, 39:37 you use it for dating the-- you know, 39:39 one ring roughly per year, a season. 39:41 Well, seasons were different in the garden of Eden, 39:43 but they probably had rings. 39:45 And so, man was made from the factory with prewired knowledge. 39:50 Adam knew how to walk and talk, bears were full grown. 39:52 The garden of Eden was not full of puppies and kitties. 39:56 They all came later. 39:58 And they were full-grown creatures. 40:00 God made the world with maybe some built-in age. 40:02 He made the world with the light already en route 40:06 so we'd enjoy it. 40:08 And so, people forget that God can create, He's powerful. 40:11 He can create things with some evidence of time built in. 40:14 Jean: And I think that's important to remember, 40:16 God created Adam and Eve with the ability 40:18 to communicate right away. 40:20 They didn't have to learn the language. 40:22 And God created everything they needed to have a wonderful life, 40:25 which required, like you say, creating certain things 40:28 more advanced in time. 40:30 A little baby's born now, they can't speak, 40:33 they don't understand. 40:34 So, Adam and Eve were created, I don't know, 40:36 the perfect age, whatever that might be. 40:38 Doug: Sixty-three. 40:40 Jean: Yeah, whatever that age might be. 40:43 All right, so we have a question that's coming from Benjamin, 40:45 he's 11 years old. 40:46 It's a good question, he says, 40:47 "Joseph, you know, kept God's commandments, 40:49 but when Joseph was in Egypt, how did he keep the Sabbath?" 40:54 We're not even sure if he did keep the Sabbath in Egypt. 40:56 At least, you know, that's what Benjamin's asking. 40:59 Doug: Well, you know, it seems that Joseph 41:01 was aware of the commandments. 41:03 He certainly was not willing to break the commandment 41:05 about idolatry. 41:06 Even the ancient Egyptians we believe did have a day of rest. 41:10 Whether they kept the day of the sun, the first day, some-- 41:12 I think in Hislop's book on Babylon, it says, 41:15 "The Babylonians got Sunday worship from the Egyptians. 41:19 I don't know that. 41:20 So, they still believed in giving their servants 41:25 a day of rest. 41:26 And I don't find it hard to believe that if Joseph was 41:30 a faithful servant if he said, "Can I please have this day 41:33 to worship my God?" 41:34 they may have honored that. 41:35 We don't know, so let's not assume that he disobeyed. 41:38 Jean: Right. 41:39 And you know, if you look at the account given in Genesis, 41:41 at least during the time that he was with Potiphar 41:43 before the situation occurred with Potiphar's wife, 41:45 he was a very trusted servant, even to the point where Potiphar 41:49 didn't know how much he had. 41:51 Everything was taken care of by Joseph. 41:53 So, I'm sure Potiphar recognized Joseph as being faithful. 41:57 And if Joseph had asked, "I'd like to take this day off," 42:00 quite possible he received that. 42:02 Okay, well, another reason why we have chronology in the Bible, 42:06 and this is probably one of the important reasons not only 42:08 to give us time, but it also guides us in the fulfillment 42:13 of a promise of a Messiah, of a Savior that would come. 42:17 And I think that's a big part of what chronology is, 42:19 especially if you start going into the New Testament, 42:21 and you begin to see some of the chronology found 42:24 in Matthew and in Luke chapter 3. 42:26 Doug: Yeah, I remember when I first was reading 42:28 Luke chapter 3, and it started with a chronology of Jesus. 42:32 Now in Luke, Luke is tracing in the chronology of Jesus 42:35 through Mary's father-in-law. 42:39 I should say Joseph's father-in-law through Mary. 42:42 Matthew traces it through Joseph's family. 42:46 And Luke being a physician, he knew that the genetic connection 42:53 with Jesus was through Mary, and so he wanted 42:56 to trace it that way. 42:57 But it goes all the way from Jesus back to Adam, 43:01 and it is so moving when it says Jesus, 43:04 and this is Luke 3:23, "Jesus Himself began His ministry being 43:07 about 30 years of age, being as was supposed the son of Joseph, 43:10 the son of Heli, the son of Matthat, 43:12 the son of Levi, the son of Melchi, 43:14 the son of Janna, the son of Joseph, 43:16 the son of Mattathiah, the son of Amos, 43:19 the son of Nahum, the son of Esli, 43:21 the son of Naggai, the son of Maath, 43:24 the son of Mattathiah, the son of Semei, 43:27 the son of Joseph, the son of Judah." 43:28 And I'm going to verse 38 now, "The son of Enos, 43:32 the son of Seth, the son of Adam, 43:34 the son of God." 43:35 Now, so one of the important things about the genealogy is 43:38 it's connecting Jesus all the way with God. 43:42 It connects us with God. 43:44 We did not evolve from ancestors that were dragging 43:47 their knuckles around on the ground. 43:50 We're connected directly with God. 43:51 Something else, and even the time that we keep, 43:54 Pastor Ross, you know, we can look up in the stars and 43:58 we can see there's astronomical reasons for all of the 44:01 ancient civilizations to have a calendar with roughly 365, 44:06 360 days in the year 'cause that's how long it takes 44:09 for the earth to go around the sun, cycle of the seasons. 44:12 We can see why they would have a month with approximately 44:15 27 days, 30 days. 44:19 It's a lunar cycle dictates the months, 44:21 that's where we get the word "month," from moon. 44:24 And we can see a day would have 24 hours because 44:27 that's how long it takes to rotate. 44:29 But the whole world keeps a seven day week. 44:32 Where in the sun, moon, and stars do you get 44:33 a seven day week? 44:35 Only place you can trace the seven day week is to the Bible. 44:38 And yet, the whole world recognizes the seven day week. 44:41 Jean: And I think even in some of the languages 44:42 of the world, there is a reference to the Sabbath, 44:46 for example, in Spanish, the seventh day of the week. 44:48 We call it in English Saturday, but in Spanish Sabado. 44:51 Doug: Russian, Subbota. 44:53 And about 145 languages of the world, 44:55 the word for the seventh day or Saturday is Sabbath 44:59 because we all sprang from the same origins. 45:02 Jean: Our last section that we have in our lesson is, 45:04 "How did Jesus and New Testament writers feel about the creation 45:09 account that we find in Genesis? 45:11 Did they recognize it as being trustworthy?" 45:14 Doug: Yeah, there's--and this is one of the reasons that you 45:18 really can't say, "I believe the Bible," and not believe biblical 45:21 creation because you have to continually apologize for the 45:24 New Testament writers that said that they believed in creation. 45:29 And just a couple of examples. 45:31 First of all, you can't believe Jesus. 45:33 Jesus says in Matthew chapter 19, verse 4 and 5, 45:36 "And He answered them and said, 45:38 'Have you not read that He that made them in the beginning 45:41 made them male and female?'" 45:43 So, He points back, says that man and woman 45:45 were made in the image of God, fiat creation. 45:48 "'For this reason, a man will leave his father and mother, 45:51 be joined his wife, the two become one flesh.'" 45:53 He's quoting the first two chapters of Genesis here. 45:56 And then in Luke chapter 11, verse 51, 46:01 Christ is talking about the judgement that was going to come 46:04 upon the unbelievers that were rejecting Jesus. 46:06 And He said, "From the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, 46:11 who perished between the altar and the temple, yes, 46:13 I say it shall be required of this generation." 46:16 And Jesus is referring back to Cain, 46:19 who killed Abel as not a fictitious story, 46:22 said it's a real story. 46:24 And the reason He says it's a real story, 46:26 He said that God has made a note of it, and the judgement 46:30 for that evil deed is going to come upon that generation. 46:33 So, why would God bring judgement for a fairytale 46:36 on a generation? 46:37 He looks upon what happened to Abel as real. 46:40 Jean: And then you got Paul, we have it recorded 46:42 in Acts chapter 14, verse 15 where Paul speaks about God 46:46 creating the heavens, the earth, the sea, and all things in them. 46:49 And actually, he was speaking to Pagans there, 46:51 and he's talking about God being the one who created all things. 46:54 And of course, he had the account Genesis chapter 1. 46:57 Doug: Yeah, and he's going against-- 46:58 Paul knew what the pagans believed. 47:00 Raised in Tarsus and he knew they had all kinds 47:03 of bizarre accounts. 47:05 The Pagans were also aware of the Jewish belief in one God who 47:08 spoke everything into existence, and so he's not shocking them 47:12 by that statement. 47:14 And you can read Jude verse 11, Jean. 47:16 Jean: Yes, Jude chapter-- verse 11, Jude 1, it says, 47:19 "Woe to them, for they have gone after the way 47:21 of Cain and have run greedily in the error of Balaam for profit, 47:25 and perished in rebellion of Korah.'" 47:27 So, there we have Cain, Balaam, Korah, 47:30 these are Old Testament characters that we read about. 47:33 Doug: Yeah, and of course, Cain back there 47:35 in the garden of Eden, chapter 4 of Genesis. 47:38 And then even if you jump to Revelations chapter 22, 47:40 it tells us, "In the middle of its street on either side of 47:44 the river was the tree of life that bore 12 fruits each year, 47:49 each yielding its fruit every month. 47:51 And the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations." 47:54 By the way, that's similar to the last chapters of Ezekiel, 47:58 where it says there's this tree of life or trees of life, 48:02 and their leaves are for medicine. 48:04 And--but the tree of life, the truth about that goes 48:07 all the way back to the garden of Eden. 48:10 And not only in Revelation chapter 22, 48:13 but I think Revelation 2 also, he mentions the tree of life. 48:16 Jean: Now, of course, we want to remind those who are 48:18 joining us about our free offer that we have for today, 48:20 this is just a great little book, it's called, 48:22 "How Evolution Flunked the Science Test." 48:24 And we'll be happy to send this to anyone who calls and asks. 48:27 The number is 866-788-3966 and just ask for offer number 169. 48:33 We'll get it in the mail and send it right out to you. 48:36 Or if you like, you can get a digital download of the book, 48:39 just text the code SH037 to the number 40544, 48:46 and you'll be able to get a digital download of the book, 48:49 "How Evolution Flunked the Science Test." 48:51 Doug: God bless you. 48:55 male announcer: Don't forget to request today's 48:56 life-changing free resource. 48:58 Not only can you receive this free gift in the mail, 49:00 you can download a digital copy straight to your computer 49:03 or mobile device. 49:04 To get your digital copy of today's free gift, 49:07 simply text the key word on your screen to 40544, 49:11 or visit the web address shown on your screen. 49:14 And be sure to select the digital download option 49:16 on the request page. 49:18 It's now easier than ever for you to study God's Word 49:21 with "Amazing Facts" wherever and whenever you want, 49:24 and most important, to share it with others. 49:31 announcer: Amazing Facts, changed lives. 49:41 Steve Johnson: I was heading south on Interstate 5. 49:44 This commercial came on KFBK radio about a Revelation seminar 49:49 by Amazing Facts. 49:51 I began--my chest began to tighten up, 49:53 I began sweating profusely. 49:56 I had difficulty in breathing. 49:58 There were this big rest area. 50:00 And at this time, I pulled into there, I thought, 50:02 "Well, maybe I'm having a heart attack." 50:05 I got out of my truck, walked into the men's restroom there, 50:09 and put cold water on my face, and then finally 50:11 things subsided. 50:13 A week later, again I heard this Amazing Facts 50:15 commercial come on the radio. 50:17 In fact, the meetings were going to start that very night. 50:20 And again, immediately I had these same symptoms. 50:23 I thought, "You know, this isn't my heart. 50:25 I have to go to that meeting." 50:28 And as I was going down to Sacramento, 50:29 I decided to park and go inside. 50:33 Well, I got in and walked into the furthermost rear seat 50:38 they had in the pew there. 50:40 And this particular evangelist, his name was Kim Kjaer. 50:46 It was like taking one layer off at a time of an onion. 50:50 He laid it out so perfectly that we could all understand it. 50:53 And I was really motivated, I couldn't believe it. 50:56 Well, I finished, I didn't miss a meeting. 50:58 In fact, on the fifth night, they had an altar call, 51:01 and my knees stood right up, and I walked forward, 51:05 and I gave my heart to Jesus Christ. 51:07 I've learned throughout this whole thing that when you-- 51:11 when you leave the devil's territory, 51:13 he gets pretty active in causing a lot of problems. 51:17 Well, I had the evangelist come out and they had prayer with me 51:22 about my business. 51:23 I would find a sick business and make it well and then market it. 51:28 I finally ended up with a business that I really enjoyed. 51:31 It was one that was building equestrian centers. 51:35 And they said to me, "Steve," he said, 51:37 "you know, if you're going to really keep the Sabbath, 51:39 you've got to shut your doors on the Sabbath." 51:41 Well, I did. 51:43 And so, I sold the business to my brother. 51:45 Took me 22 years to build that business, 51:48 and he lost it in 33 months. 51:51 My son, who was my business partner, 51:53 I'd been giving him 10% of the business every year. 51:56 He thought I'd just fallen off the bridge. 52:01 My son didn't talk to me for five and a half years. 52:04 And then a few other things happened. 52:06 So, I had an ex-employee living in my guesthouse, 52:09 he kind of watched after our place. 52:11 And he said, "Steve," he said, "there's an Allied moving van 52:15 backed up to your front door in your home." 52:17 I said, "You're kidding." 52:19 I said, "What do you mean?" 52:20 He said, "They're moving everything out of your house 52:23 into this truck, and your wife is out there supervising them." 52:27 And when I went home and opened the front door, 52:29 my voice echoed in that house. 52:31 There wasn't any furniture left anywhere. 52:33 There was one bed left in the house. 52:36 I knew my wife was upset because of my coming to this church, 52:40 but I had no idea that she would move out like this. 52:43 That was a total shock to me. 52:46 It was some time there I locked myself in the bedroom 52:49 and I began reading the Bible. 52:50 I spent about a half a year just every night getting home 52:54 and I would study. 52:57 It allowed me to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. 53:01 Well, to make a long story short, 53:03 I met Crystal, and she was a godly woman. 53:06 That was the Lord's doing, not mine. 53:09 And He was just there to let me know that, 53:11 "I'm with you all the way. 53:12 Even though you're going to have some trials and you're going to 53:14 have some hardships, I want you to know that I'll be with you." 53:19 Because no matter what I do now, He is my leader. 53:23 He's the leader of my marriage, He's the leader of everything 53:26 in my life today. 53:28 That one meeting with the Amazing Facts seminar 53:30 changed my entire life. 53:32 And to this day, I'm still on fire for God, 53:35 I'm still witnessing to my neighbors. 53:38 My name is Steve Johnson, and it's because of you 53:40 that Amazing Facts has changed my life. 53:43 ♪♪♪ 53:53 ♪♪♪ 54:01 Doug: Have you ever heard a mouse howl like a wolf? 54:05 Well, what would you expect would happen when a creature 54:07 changes its destiny from the hapless prey to mighty predator? 54:12 From the outside, they look very much like 54:14 just an oversized field mouse. 54:17 Cute brown fur, white on the underbelly, 54:19 nice little beady eyes. 54:21 But that's where the similarities stop. 54:23 Grasshopper mice are very unusual, 54:25 making them the objects of great interest for animal researchers. 54:30 These furry little creatures are found in the harsh deserts 54:33 of North America. 54:35 They're very territorial in nature, 54:37 and they will monopolize and fend off 25 acres. 54:40 They don't build their own homes, 54:42 but sort of confiscate the burrows and the homes 54:44 of other creatures. 54:46 They're not called grasshopper mice because they hop around, 54:48 but it's because they eat a lot of grasshoppers. 54:51 In fact, scientists have discovered grasshopper mice 54:53 are the only mice that are purely carnivorous. 54:57 They hunt much like cats or weasels, 55:00 stalking their pray in a predatory fashion. 55:03 And when they pounce, they are ferocious, 55:06 sometimes even taking on snakes and scorpions and centipedes. 55:11 When a grasshopper mouse gets into a fierce battle 55:13 with a snake or a scorpion or centipede, 55:16 they may be bit or stung several times. 55:18 But what is amazing to researchers is they've noticed 55:21 when they are bitten, they somehow shake it off 55:24 because they convert the toxin in the venom to painkiller. 55:30 I think you can understand why this information would be 55:32 of special interest to scientists that are trying 55:35 to discover new ways for people to deal with chronic pain. 55:40 One of the most intriguing characteristics of these 55:42 little creatures is when they're defending their territory 55:45 or celebrating a victory over some adversary, 55:48 they'll throw back their head and let out 55:51 this earthshaking howl. 55:54 It's a mousy howl, check it out. 55:57 [mouse howling] 56:02 Doug: The grasshopper mouse is not the only member of creation 56:05 that can survive encounters with venomous predators. 56:09 In Luke 10:19, it says, "Behold, I will give you authority 56:13 to trample on serpents and scorpions and 56:15 over all the power of the enemy. 56:18 Nothing will by any means hurt you." 56:21 We don't have to be the biggest and the strongest to defeat 56:24 our enemy and let out that victory roar. 56:26 When God called David to be king, 56:28 no human would have guessed that he had it in him. 56:30 He was young and insignificant. 56:33 From the outside, he looked like there was no greatness in him. 56:36 But when God looked at his heart, 56:38 He saw courage, humility, compassion, and love. 56:41 David wasn't perfect and he made mistakes, 56:43 but through God's power, he was able to conquer giants. 56:47 Friend, God does not intend that you live out the rest of 56:51 your life cowering and trembling like a little field mouse. 56:54 If God can take the grasshopper mouse and give him courage 56:57 so that he fights snakes and scorpions and centipedes, 57:01 if God can put in the heart of David the courage to fight 57:04 giants like Goliath, then He can give you that same courage. 57:08 The Scriptures say God has not given you the spirit of fear, 57:12 but of power, love, and a sound mind. 57:15 And you can have that peace in your heart when you invite 57:18 the Prince of Peace in your heart. 57:20 Why don't you do that right now? 57:22 ♪♪♪ 57:31 announcer: Can't get enough Amazing Facts Bible study? 57:33 You don't have to wait until next week to enjoy 57:36 more truth-filled programming. 57:38 Visit the Amazing Facts media library at aftv.org. 57:43 At aftv.org, you can enjoy video and audio presentations 57:47 as well as printed material all free of charge, 57:51 24 hours a day, 7 days a week right from your computer 57:55 or mobile device. 57:56 Visit aftv.org. 57:59 ♪♪♪ |
Revised 2020-05-21