Latest / Disciple Radio / Open Line with Dr. Michael Rydelnik - Hour 2: Bible Questions

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Open Line with Dr. Michael Rydelnik - Hour 2: Bible Questions · Disciple Radio

0:08
S1: Hello, friends. It's time for the second hour of Open
0:11
S1: Line with me, Doctor Michael Reardon, Moody Radio's Bible Study
0:15
S1: Across America. We're going to be talking about your questions
0:19
S1: about the Bible, God, and the spiritual life. I'm Michael
0:22
S1: Ray Melnick, professor of Jewish studies and Bible at Moody
0:25
S1: Bible Institute, and I'm coming to you from the studios
0:28
S1: of MBI in downtown Chicago. We are not live today,
0:32
S1: but hope you'll enjoy this Best of Open Line program.
0:35
S1: If you have a Bible question, you can send that
0:37
S1: to us through our website, Open Line radio.org. Look for
0:41
S1: the Ask Michael a question form. Fill it out and
0:44
S1: it will be added to the mailbag for a future program.
0:47
S1: I hope you have your Bible open and have a
0:49
S1: second cup of coffee, because we're ready to talk about
0:52
S1: the scriptures. I'm going right back to the phones with
0:54
S1: more of your questions. And we're going to talk with
0:56
S1: Jerry in Cleveland, Ohio, listening on w CRF. Welcome to
1:01
S1: Open Line, Jerry.
1:02
S2: Hi, doctor. Thank you for this program. I learned so much.
1:06
S2: Thank you. My question is in John John chapter one,
1:09
S2: verses 47 to 51, when Nathaniel approaches Jesus, it's really
1:14
S2: a two part question. First, the moody commentary says there's
1:17
S2: a word play in the name Israel in verse 47,
1:20
S2: if you could explain that. And then secondly, verse 51
1:23
S2: looks like a reference to Jacob's ladder and Jesus completing
1:27
S2: Jacob's dream by declaring himself to be the staircase to heaven.
1:30
S2: So if you could explain that passage to me, I'd
1:32
S2: really appreciate it.
1:34
S1: Well, starting with verse 47, the wordplay according to the
1:41
S1: moody commentary, which I edited, the moody commentary, which is
1:44
S1: why I'm guessing you ask about this, because I saw
1:48
S1: on the screen that you're asking about what the moody
1:50
S1: commentary says, but I didn't write every commentary. I kind
1:54
S1: of had my fingertips, you know, editing and doing whatever,
1:58
S1: But I did not write John the Gospel of John's commentary.
2:02
S1: I wrote others in the Old Testament. However, John Hart
2:07
S1: did a marvelous job here with a commentary on the
2:10
S1: Gospel of John, and he was a professor of Bible
2:13
S1: at Moody. He's retired now. Uh, here's what he says.
2:17
S1: Nathaniel was a regenerate man of Old Testament faith. Otherwise,
2:20
S1: Jesus could not have said of him that he was
2:23
S1: an Israelite indeed. And he links that to Romans 228,
2:26
S1: where it talks about being a true Jew is one
2:28
S1: who has genuine faith and also, uh, is of Jewish origin, uh,
2:36
S1: Jewish ethnicity. Uh, that doesn't mean that if you're Jewish
2:40
S1: and don't believe that you're not Jewish, but it means
2:43
S1: if you're going to be the truest Jew, an Israelite indeed. Uh,
2:48
S1: it requires faith. And it says. And that no deceit
2:51
S1: was found in him. This faith would soon include a
2:54
S1: belief in Jesus as the Messiah. And that's what verse
2:57
S1: 49 says. Jesus made a wordplay on the name Israel,
3:02
S1: the new name given to Jacob, the patriarch of the
3:04
S1: Jewish people. Nathaniel exemplified Jacob's faith rather than his deceit.
3:11
S1: That actually is something I, I quite like. Is that
3:15
S1: I've heard a lot of expositors talk about Jacob as
3:20
S1: being sort of this deceitful, uh, tricky cheat of a guy.
3:27
S1: And yet, uh, when you read in the New Testament and,
3:32
S1: and in Jewish literature, Jacob is always perceived not for
3:37
S1: the things that he did with Jacob, but someone that
3:40
S1: was passionate about God, that had a great deal of faith.
3:43
S1: And so in Hebrews 1121, by faith, Jacob, when he
3:46
S1: was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph and worshipped,
3:49
S1: leaning on the top of his staff. And so Jacob
3:52
S1: is depicted as depicted as a man of faith and worship.
3:57
S1: And so often that, you know, we forget that the
4:01
S1: Bible says, I have loved Jacob. Uh, that's what God
4:05
S1: says in Malachi one. And, and so I appreciate John
4:10
S1: pointing out that it's not the failures that, that are
4:15
S1: being word played. And we all have failures. We all
4:18
S1: have weaknesses, even Jacob. But it is his faith. Uh,
4:22
S1: that that's being associated there. Then in verse 51, what
4:26
S1: you're asking about is then he said, I assure you,
4:29
S1: you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God
4:32
S1: ascending and descending on the Son of Man. Uh, perhaps
4:36
S1: that's an allusion to Jacob's ladder. I don't think necessarily so,
4:42
S1: but it is perhaps. So, uh, I, I can't, I
4:46
S1: can't guarantee that, uh, when you think of heaven opening
4:50
S1: and angels ascending and descending, you would automatically think of that.
4:54
S1: So maybe, you know, one of the things I want
4:59
S1: to say is when I read the Bible, I sometimes
5:02
S1: am absolutely certain what the illusions are. Sometimes I say, mm,
5:05
S1: don't know. Maybe. And that's one of those maybes. Okay, Jerry.
5:10
S2: Excellent. Hey, thank you very much.
5:12
S1: Yeah. So glad you called. Uh, we're going to talk with, uh,
5:17
S1: Alex in Michigan City, Indiana, listening on WMBI. I guess
5:21
S1: you're just south east of Chicago there in Michigan City,
5:25
S1: and you can pick up WMBI. I'm so glad to
5:27
S1: hear that.
5:28
S3: Yes. How you doing?
5:30
S1: Good, good. How can I help you today?
5:33
S3: Yes. Uh, this question in the Bible. Uh, Hebrews 12
5:39
S3: and 26 says he is no longer only a sick earth,
5:44
S3: but I shake heaven too. I just want to get
5:47
S3: more understanding of that.
5:49
S1: Mhm. Uh, it says, uh, in the verse. Uh, let's see.
5:58
S1: I think it's alluding to Haggai. Uh, let me just
6:03
S1: look at this here. Uh, it says, oh, it says,
6:10
S1: I'll read you the verse. Uh, his voice shook the
6:12
S1: earth at the time, but now he has promised yet
6:14
S1: once more I will shake not only the earth, but
6:17
S1: also the heavens. And the verse that that is referring
6:22
S1: to is Haggai chapter two, verse six. So here's what
6:28
S1: it's saying is, just as God shook the earth when
6:30
S1: he gave the law of Moses in Exodus 19, so
6:35
S1: also he is promising in Haggai two six that he'll
6:40
S1: shake the earth once again with the return of the
6:43
S1: Messiah and, uh, with the events that will come in
6:48
S1: the messianic kingdom when he shakes the earth. Uh, once again, uh,
6:53
S1: with the coming of the Lord Jesus. Okay.
6:56
S3: Okay.
6:57
S1: And that comes from Haggai chapter two, verse six. And
7:01
S1: Haggai two, I believe, is a, a, uh, a terrific
7:05
S1: messianic section, uh, turning to it right now. Uh, and
7:13
S1: by the way, the last caller was saying something about
7:15
S1: the Gospel of John and the moody commentary. Well, the
7:18
S1: book of Haggai in the moody commentary, I did write
7:21
S1: that one. So, uh, it's one of my favorite books
7:25
S1: in the Bible. Uh, not many people read it. It says,
7:28
S1: for the Lord of hosts says this once more. In
7:30
S1: a little while I'm going to shake the heavens and
7:32
S1: the earth, the sea and the dry land. I will
7:34
S1: shake all the nations. And, uh. And my version here
7:40
S1: says so that the treasures of all the nations will
7:42
S1: come and, and they will fill this house with glory. Now,
7:48
S1: I think that it is really saying that the treasured
7:51
S1: one of all the earth will come. And it's talking
7:56
S1: about the Messiah, and it's talking about the Lord Jesus
7:58
S1: coming to the temple. And it refers, I think, first
8:01
S1: in his earthly ministry, his arrival in the temple. That's
8:04
S1: the first time he appeared there. But ultimately, it's looking
8:06
S1: for his time when the treasured one of all the earth, uh,
8:11
S1: the precious one, will come into the temple in glory
8:16
S1: in the messianic kingdom. That's when God will shake the earth. Okay.
8:21
S3: Okay. All right.
8:22
S1: Great. Thanks for calling, Alex. Uh, Dr.. In Burlington, Iowa. Uh,
8:29
S1: listening on Wwdm. Welcome to Open line, Dean.
8:33
S4: Yes. Thank you for taking my call. I love your program. Um,
8:38
S4: my question is, and I'm not doubting God's judgment or
8:42
S4: anything or my faith in God, but my question is,
8:47
S4: if God Knows the future. And if God created us
8:53
S4: in his image and he knew us in the womb
8:55
S4: before we were born, why does why are people born
9:02
S4: who are going to end up in hell if God
9:04
S4: knows that's where they're going to end up? Why are
9:06
S4: they even born? And I've, I've asked other pastors and
9:11
S4: friends this. And it always comes back to the issue of, well,
9:15
S4: we're given free will. And I understand that. But it
9:18
S4: seems like there's something more there.
9:20
S1: Mhm. Well, I guess.
9:24
S4: It's just one of those things we don't.
9:26
S1: I guess what if I said I really want my
9:28
S1: grandson to like ice cream, chocolate ice cream. And so
9:33
S1: I only give him chocolate ice cream. Does he really,
9:37
S1: really love chocolate ice cream? Best you would say. No.
9:41
S1: That's the only thing you've ever given him. And if
9:44
S1: I forbid him and it's not even possible, I make
9:47
S1: sure somehow with my superpowers, I'm able to make sure
9:50
S1: that any other kind of ice cream is not even available. Well,
9:54
S1: of course he'll love chocolate ice cream that's built into us,
9:58
S1: but it wouldn't be a matter of absolute choice. It
10:03
S1: would be a matter of of. That's all there is.
10:08
S1: In the same way, God could have made us as robots.
10:12
S4: Right?
10:13
S1: And as a result of making us as robots, we
10:15
S1: would have loved him. But that wouldn't be real love.
10:18
S1: That would be what? What choice do we have? Genuine
10:23
S1: love requires that we love him by choice. So the
10:29
S1: point of that is that God gave humanity choice so
10:35
S1: that we could actually love him. Now, the problem is
10:38
S1: that Adam and Eve chose to be disobedient, and as
10:43
S1: a result of that, we all are disobedient. We all
10:47
S1: will ultimately choose to sin. And then God in his
10:53
S1: mercy before the foundation of the earth was laid. The
10:56
S1: reason I say this because in the mind of God,
10:59
S1: the scriptures say that Jesus is the Lamb slain before
11:02
S1: the foundation of the world. So God already made provision
11:06
S1: for redemption. And as a result of that, we can
11:10
S1: choose to trust and spend eternity with him. And God
11:16
S1: gives us what it is that we desire. I think
11:21
S1: that's really a crucial thing. When I would just compare
11:25
S1: it to The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis. In that book, people,
11:31
S1: a busload of people from hell are given the opportunity
11:35
S1: to make a second choice, and they choose to go
11:38
S1: back to hell. So what Lewis says in this life
11:42
S1: God says, wants us to say to him, your will
11:45
S1: be done in the next life. What God says is okay.
11:49
S1: Your will be done. God does not go beyond the
11:51
S1: freedom and dignity of individuals. He allows them to have
11:55
S1: that which they want. And so, uh, that's what I
12:00
S1: would say. Why God allows that, because that's what people want. Uh, and, uh,
12:07
S1: part of the, the benefit of people being enabled to
12:13
S1: believe in Jesus is that we can choose to love
12:17
S1: God and accept his provision. Uh, and so that's, that's why, uh,
12:23
S1: I believe that, that God allows that because it's in
12:25
S1: his justice. That's what people want. How does I may
12:29
S1: not be satisfactory to you, but that's the best answer
12:32
S1: I've got. Dean, what do you think?
12:34
S4: And that. No, I think that's a really good answer.
12:37
S4: Just the only piece that I'm having trouble, you know,
12:41
S4: wrapping my hands around is the idea that if if
12:44
S4: God knows when when he creates us in the womb,
12:47
S4: if if he knows at that point where we're going
12:50
S4: to end up for eternity. It it I just that's
12:54
S4: hard for me to.
12:56
S1: Well, God, you know, God knows that we're all that
12:59
S1: we're all going to be born sinful and that we
13:02
S1: all deserve to be separated from him. And it's justice.
13:05
S1: It's not mean, it's justice. We think of it as mean,
13:08
S1: but justice is getting what we deserve now. Uh, so
13:15
S1: that that we can't think of it. Oh, God, such
13:17
S1: a mean guy. You know, look what he know. God
13:20
S1: is giving us what we deserve. And in his mercy,
13:23
S1: he allows us to trust in Christ where we don't
13:26
S1: get what we deserve. We get grace and we get
13:30
S1: the imputed righteousness of the Lord Jesus, and we get
13:32
S1: to spend eternity with God the Father. It's one of
13:36
S1: the greatest opportunities that we have, and we just need
13:40
S1: to trust in the Lord Jesus. And if that's something
13:43
S1: that that a person wants to do. Wow. Forgiveness of sin.
13:47
S1: Eternal life. It's fantastic. Uh, and so it is the
13:54
S1: good news that Jesus died for our sins and rose again,
13:57
S1: that that God offers with an open hand and wants
14:01
S1: people to respond to. By the way, if you're listening,
14:03
S1: you think I would like to experience that forgiveness? You
14:07
S1: know you can. All you have to do is trust
14:08
S1: in him if you want to talk about that. We
14:10
S1: have a number you can call 1888 need him, and
14:15
S1: you can talk with someone about trusting in Jesus and
14:17
S1: finding out how you can have your sins forgiven. Uh, Dean,
14:21
S1: I really appreciate your call. You know, I don't understand
14:24
S1: the mind of God. I can just give you the
14:26
S1: best I can, which is that God is not mean.
14:30
S1: He is not unjust. He is giving people what they
14:33
S1: desire and what they ask for. And it is only
14:36
S1: in mercy that when we trust in the Lord Jesus,
14:38
S1: when we put our trust in him, that we get
14:40
S1: what we don't deserve, which is forgiveness. We don't deserve grace.
14:46
S1: We don't deserve mercy. And that's what we get when
14:49
S1: we believe. And so God is still good. God is
14:52
S1: righteous and he knows what is best. And in fact,
14:56
S1: when we trust in him, though, then we are choosing, uh,
15:00
S1: to have genuine love of the Lord Jesus. And that, uh, wow,
15:05
S1: that's genuine love. So, uh, thanks for your call, Dean.
15:10
S1: I hope that, uh, I hope that did a little
15:14
S1: bit for you. We're going to be right back with
15:16
S1: more of your questions in just a moment. You're listening
15:19
S1: to Open Line with Michael Ray Melnick on Moody Radio.
15:28
S1: Have you ever wondered how an ancient book, copied by
15:30
S1: hand for thousands of years, could still be trusted today?
15:34
S1: In the Bible, a book like no other doctor, Mike Cabarrus,
15:37
S1: walks you through all the evidence, especially the remarkable manuscript
15:41
S1: evidence showing how Scripture has been preserved with stunning accuracy.
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S1: We'd like to send you a copy of this brand
15:47
S1: new book as a thank you. When you give to
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S1: Open Line today. Call 8886447122 or visit Open Line radio.org.
16:03
S1: Welcome back to Open Line with me, Doctor Michael Wright.
16:06
S1: So glad that you're listening in today. And Ted is
16:09
S1: calling from Grand Rapids Michigan listening on WGN. Welcome to
16:13
S1: Open Line Ted.
16:14
S5: Good morning. How are you doing Michael?
16:16
S1: Great, great. How can I help you?
16:18
S5: Yeah. My question is in Daniel chapter ten, and it
16:24
S5: pertains to verse four and, uh, 12 and 13. Mhm.
16:29
S5: And my real question is trying to pinpoint the time
16:33
S5: related to the, uh, Jewish biblical calendar, uh, and probably
16:39
S5: connected to either the sacred year or the Civil year.
16:42
S5: What time was that when Daniel received the vision?
16:47
S1: It was the 24th day of the first month.
16:51
S5: Yeah.
16:51
S1: I was standing on the bank of the great River,
16:55
S1: the Tigris. And then verses 12 and 13, uh, it says,
17:01
S1: but the Prince of the Kingdom of Persia. I guess that's, uh,
17:04
S1: opposed me for 21 days. So it was on the
17:07
S1: third day of prayer or the 27th day of the
17:11
S1: first month. Um, I'm sorry, on the third day of the,
17:16
S1: of the first month that Daniel began to pray. Is
17:19
S1: that what you're saying?
17:20
S5: Well, in verse 12, it says, the Lord said from
17:24
S5: the first day you set your heart to understand.
17:26
S1: Yeah, but what day? From the first day that he
17:28
S1: did it. But that was on the third day. If
17:30
S1: it was 21 days that he had been restrained, it.
17:34
S1: God started hearing him from the first day that he prayed,
17:36
S1: but not on the first day of the month.
17:39
S5: Okay, well, that's what I'm trying to get, is God heard.
17:44
S6: Here's the here's the thing.
17:45
S1: I don't know if he means the first of the month,
17:49
S1: as in the biblical.
17:51
S5: Yeah.
17:52
S1: Period. Which would be in Nissan.
17:55
S5: Right?
17:56
S1: In the springtime, or if he meant the first day
18:01
S1: of the month in Babylonian ideas, which would have been
18:04
S1: in September. Okay. Uh, in Tishri, the month of Tishri.
18:09
S5: Right.
18:10
S1: And either way, I don't think it's very significant. It's
18:14
S1: just significant to the length of time that Daniel prayed.
18:17
S1: And it is not related to the festival.
18:22
S5: Yeah. I just wanted to get your, uh.
18:24
S6: Yeah.
18:25
S5: Uh.
18:26
S1: It's what it's talking about there is that Daniel started praying,
18:28
S1: and it took 21 days for the answer to come
18:31
S1: because there was a spiritual warfare happening. And as the
18:34
S1: angel came with the answer, there was a resistance from
18:38
S1: the Prince of Persia, which is another angelic being, a
18:42
S1: demonic being that opposed him. And so it's really talking
18:45
S1: about the length of time for the answer to prayer
18:48
S1: and the spiritual warfare that goes on. It tells us
18:50
S1: one of the reasons why we need to persist in
18:52
S1: prayer is because God may have sent an answer for us,
18:55
S1: but it is being resisted by the enemy, and we
18:58
S1: can get an answer yet. And so just be persistent
19:02
S1: in prayer, just as Daniel was. It's it's as best
19:05
S1: I can tell, it's not talking about a relationship to
19:11
S1: the Jewish festivals. Okay. Thanks for calling, Ted. And we're
19:15
S1: going to talk to Terry in Akron, Ohio, listening on CRF.
19:20
S1: Welcome to Open Line, Terry.
19:23
S7: Thank you.
19:24
S1: You're welcome.
19:25
S7: And you had mentioned you had mentioned the Moody Bible commentary,
19:28
S7: and it's a wonderful book. I use it all the time.
19:30
S1: Well thank you. That's great. Thank you so much. My question. Okay,
19:34
S1: so what do you find most? I have a question
19:36
S1: for you. What do you find most helpful about the commentary?
19:40
S1: I mean, there's backgrounds, there's the.
19:42
S7: Ways that I use.
19:43
S1: It. Yes.
19:45
S7: The way that I use it. For example, last month
19:47
S7: I read through the book of revelation.
19:49
S6: Mhm.
19:50
S7: I would read a chapter in the Bible and I
19:53
S7: would understand some of it, but not all of it.
19:55
S7: And then I would read a chapter. I would read
19:58
S7: that same chapter in the commentary.
20:00
S6: Mhm.
20:01
S7: And it would, it would help. Excuse me. It would
20:04
S7: help me to understand what I didn't see or what
20:08
S7: I didn't quite get when I read it in the Bible.
20:11
S6: Mhm.
20:12
S1: Well that's great. That's great. Uh, I'm glad to hear that.
20:16
S1: You know, that's one of the things that we really
20:17
S1: wanted to help people with is to enhance their Bible reading,
20:20
S1: not to take away from their Bible reading. Uh, when
20:23
S1: we put this together, it was, uh, 30 faculty members
20:26
S1: from Moody contributed and, uh, Mike Vanlandingham and I were
20:30
S1: the two co-editors. We went through everything together. Uh, we
20:34
S1: both did every book, uh, in terms of editing. Uh,
20:38
S1: he did the New Testament books first, I did them second,
20:41
S1: I did the Old Testament books first for the most part,
20:43
S1: and he did them second. Uh, but we went through
20:46
S1: everything and we were really, really hoping that God will
20:51
S1: use this to encourage people to understand his word better.
20:55
S1: So okay, well, how can I, how can I help you? Yes.
20:58
S7: I appreciate the fact that you used, um, normal language.
21:07
S1: So it's the only one. It's all we got.
21:12
S7: Well, sometimes I've had teachers that have big words that
21:15
S7: I don't understand at all, and that doesn't help.
21:19
S6: Well, there is.
21:19
S1: One author that, uh, whenever he turns something in, he
21:23
S1: often would talk about God's paternal solicitude. And, and Mike
21:28
S1: and I would always laugh. And I got to the
21:30
S1: point where I would do a, a find and replace
21:34
S1: and change it to fatherly concern, because that's what paternal
21:39
S1: solicitude means. We wanted to make sure that people understood
21:43
S1: the actual words of the Bible, and not just Mike
21:46
S1: would sometimes write to an author. I don't even know
21:48
S1: what this word means, so.
21:54
S6: It's pretty funny.
21:55
S7: I appreciate that it helps.
21:56
S6: Great.
21:58
S1: Okay. What's your question today?
22:00
S7: Well, my question is in revelation it talks about the 144,000.
22:06
S7: And I don't understand exactly who they are. Or it
22:09
S7: kind of sounds like maybe they were taken up with
22:12
S7: whether they were believers in Jesus Christ or not.
22:16
S6: Mhm.
22:16
S7: So I'm confused about that.
22:18
S6: Okay.
22:19
S1: Um, well, uh, it says in revelation seven, uh. Uh, beginning.
22:32
S1: Don't harm the earth or the sea or the trees
22:34
S1: until we seal the slaves or some version, say servants
22:39
S1: of our God on their foreheads. This is in the
22:41
S1: tribulation period. And I heard the number of those who
22:44
S1: were sealed, and it has 144,000 sealed from every tribe
22:48
S1: of the sons of Israel, and has 12,000 from each tribe. Uh,
22:52
S1: so what we know about them is that they are
22:56
S1: there's no other way of reading this except that they
22:58
S1: are Jewish people. They're physical descendants. We don't know. We
23:01
S1: don't know the tribes today, but God knows. And so
23:04
S1: he's going to select 12,000 from each of the 12
23:07
S1: tribes then. So they are in the Jewish people, in
23:11
S1: the tribulation who believe in the Lord Jesus. They are
23:15
S1: sealed identifiably, uh, as God's children and God's servants, and
23:21
S1: they will serve him in the tribulation period. It doesn't
23:25
S1: say specifically how, except in the very next verse in
23:27
S1: verse nine, it says that there was a vast multitude
23:31
S1: from every nation, tribe, people and language. Well, how did
23:33
S1: they become believers in the tribulation period? That vast number
23:37
S1: of people, that multitude. It seems to me that the
23:40
S1: 144,000 Jewish people are evangelists in the tribulation, proclaiming the gospel,
23:47
S1: so that even though there's a time of judgment on
23:48
S1: earth and its time of terrible disasters on earth and
23:52
S1: evil on earth, nevertheless there's going to be a great revival.
23:56
S1: There's going to be people from every tribe and tongue
24:00
S1: and nation, and they are going to believe, well, why?
24:04
S1: Because there's 144,000 Jewish Billy Graham's proclaiming the gospel during
24:09
S1: the tribulation, and they are going to be effective. And
24:13
S1: that's where those believers will come from. Okay.
24:17
S7: Okay. Um, is there by any chance a time for
24:21
S7: another question?
24:23
S1: Okay.
24:24
S7: Regarding Babylon.
24:25
S6: Sure.
24:26
S7: Okay. In revelation 18, I is, for example, they're talking
24:30
S7: about Babylon. Is Babylon an actual city, or are they
24:34
S7: referring to something else?
24:36
S1: I believe that it's and, you know, there's some people
24:40
S1: that think it's just a religious system and a culture
24:44
S1: that Babylon is describing. Uh, I believe that Babylon in
24:49
S1: Revelation 17 and 18 is a reference to Babylon. Uh,
24:55
S1: that there will be a revived city of Babylon. It
24:57
S1: will have a great deal of wealth in in the
25:01
S1: end of days, in the tribulation period. Uh, even in,
25:04
S1: in some place in Iraq. Charlie Dyer has written a
25:07
S1: great book called The Rise of Babylon. It will come back, uh, now,
25:12
S1: Babylon today has the second most oil reserves, or Iraq
25:17
S1: has the second largest oil reserves. Perhaps that will be
25:20
S1: the source of their wealth. Yet in the future. But
25:23
S1: I don't know. I can't conjecture that's a possibility. But
25:27
S1: whatever the case is, it will be revived and it
25:30
S1: will have a great deal of wealth and will control
25:33
S1: perhaps the Anti-christ's ability to make war, which is why
25:38
S1: he turns against her and destroys her. We'll be right
25:41
S1: back with more of your questions in just a moment.
26:01
S1: We're so glad that Febc partners with Open Line, with
26:05
S1: Doctor Michael Wright bringing the Febc mailbag every week. Learn
26:09
S1: how Far East Broadcasting Company is taking Christ to the world@febc.org.
26:14
S1: On their weekly podcast. Until all have heard with editor cannon,
26:18
S1: you'll hear stories of lives changed by Messiah all across
26:21
S1: the globe. Again, you can hear the podcast when you
26:24
S1: visit Dot org. That's febc.org. This is Michael Ray Melnick
26:32
S1: reminding you that you're listening to a special pre-recorded edition
26:36
S1: of Open Line. So our phone lines are not open today,
26:39
S1: but please enjoy the rest of the program right here
26:42
S1: on Open Line with Doctor Michael Riedel. Nick. Welcome back
26:55
S1: to Open Line. You're listening to Moody Radio. There's a
26:58
S1: big mailbag here and you brought it in. I did.
27:01
S1: Let's see how many we can get to.
27:02
S8: All right. Our first question is from Nick in Lisle, Illinois,
27:07
S8: listens to WNBA. His question is out of Genesis 18,
27:12
S8: verses 20 and 21. I knew I was going to
27:17
S8: ask this. You'd think I could have had it ready. Yeah.
27:19
S6: You think.
27:20
S8: It says. Then the Lord said, because the outcry against
27:23
S8: Sodom and Gomorrah is great and their sin is very grave.
27:27
S8: I will go down to see whether they have done
27:30
S8: altogether according to the outcry that has come to me,
27:33
S8: and if not, I will know.
27:34
S6: Mhm.
27:35
S8: Why would God have to go down to see if
27:37
S8: the outcry was as grave as he heard? If he
27:40
S8: was all knowing. Wouldn't he already know? Because he does
27:43
S8: say at the end of the verses. And if not,
27:45
S8: I will know. Was he giving them the benefit of
27:47
S8: the doubt? Why doesn't it say, why does it say,
27:50
S8: according to the outcry that has come to me? Isn't
27:52
S8: he watching us continually? And he gets reports from angels
27:56
S8: or something. So.
27:59
S1: Well, here's the thing. I think that sometimes people and
28:05
S1: I appreciate this question, but we sometimes forget. All of
28:09
S1: us forget that the Bible is trying to talk to
28:11
S1: us in such a way so that we can understand it. Uh,
28:15
S1: and in some places, God, actually, it's not that he
28:20
S1: doesn't know. He's obviously omniscient. He knows exactly what's going on.
28:25
S1: It's just like when he says, in the garden. Adam,
28:28
S1: where are you? He knows the answer to that, right? Uh,
28:33
S1: and he's walking around in the garden to ask him that. Well,
28:36
S1: does he have to walk around the garden to do that? No. Uh,
28:40
S1: but this is saying is, uh, in a sense, uh,
28:47
S1: that even though God is fully aware of what's happening
28:50
S1: in Sodom because he is omniscient, his justice, to show
28:55
S1: that he was doing the right thing made him want
28:59
S1: to prove that he was doing the right thing, that
29:02
S1: he was in full possession of the facts, that he
29:06
S1: was going to do an investigation personally. And so otherwise
29:10
S1: people will say, well, how did you know? You just,
29:12
S1: you know.
29:14
S8: I just sense it. I just know it. I just
29:16
S8: know things kind of. Yeah.
29:17
S1: So to demonstrate his justice, what he does is he
29:22
S1: I believe this is a preincarnate appearance of the Lord Jesus.
29:26
S1: He goes down, uh, to speak with with Abraham, stays
29:31
S1: with Abraham and sends, uh, two angels to the door
29:36
S1: there in, uh, in Genesis 19, uh, to be his
29:40
S1: representatives and to go into that city and get a lot. Right.
29:45
S1: That's what happens. Mhm. Uh, but God's come down to
29:48
S1: the earth in a theophany or a christophany, we might say,
29:52
S1: so that he can show his justice. And no one
29:55
S1: can question that. He knows or does not know what
29:57
S1: he's saying. So, uh, it is just a sort of
30:00
S1: a way to. How do I put it? He doesn't
30:04
S1: have to, but in his grace, what he does is
30:07
S1: he accommodates humanity to understand.
30:10
S6: MM. So.
30:12
S8: So even even saying, according to the outcry that has
30:15
S8: come to me, even acknowledging like the acknowledgement for us,
30:19
S8: we know God hears our prayers.
30:20
S1: Yeah.
30:20
S8: We know that he knows all.
30:23
S1: He knows our thoughts.
30:24
S8: He knows our thoughts. But to acknowledge for our benefit
30:28
S8: that I have heard this outcry. And so I'm coming
30:32
S8: to check it out kind of thing, just to kind
30:35
S8: of relate to us the way that we think.
30:37
S1: Yeah. And to help us to see that he is just. Okay.
30:41
S1: And so that's why he came down for that.
30:43
S8: Okay. I hope that, I hope that helps Nick and
30:46
S8: clears that up a little bit. Our next question. Okay,
30:49
S8: here's a couple that are related. Patricia, uh, wrote us
30:53
S8: on Facebook and said, my granddaughter and I were discussing
30:56
S8: if animals have souls the other day. Are there any
30:58
S8: Bible references to this either way? And I'm going to
31:02
S8: tack on there. Dave, who wrote us from Northport, Alabama,
31:05
S8: listens on the mobile app, said revelation 513 talks about
31:09
S8: animals verbally speaking and praising God. It says all creatures.
31:12
S8: What's the verse? Revelation 513. Okay. Um, I heard every
31:18
S8: creature in heaven, on earth, under the earth, on the sea,
31:21
S8: and everything in them say blessing and honor and glory
31:23
S8: and dominion to the one seated on the throne and
31:25
S8: to the Lamb forever and ever. I find it hard
31:27
S8: to believe. What purpose does this serve? Because animals don't
31:31
S8: have a soul. So the animal. Do animals have souls?
31:34
S8: And then are these animals talking in revelation 513?
31:38
S1: Mhm. Now in revelation 513, is it Dave?
31:41
S8: It is. Dave.
31:42
S1: Yes. And Dave said, read it exactly as he wrote.
31:46
S8: It talks about animals verbally speaking and praising.
31:49
S1: God. It does not talk about animals verbally speaking and
31:53
S1: praising God. Boy, Dave, you put a lot into the
31:56
S1: reading there. It says every creature in heaven. Uh, and
32:01
S1: does it mean every.
32:04
S8: Created being created thing?
32:06
S1: Thing? No. Uh, if you it literally says every created thing.
32:12
S1: So that mean the table, the trees.
32:16
S8: God didn't create the table.
32:17
S1: Well, God created the trees.
32:18
S8: The trees.
32:19
S1: Okay? Yeah. The rocks. Okay. Know what it means is
32:23
S1: every created human being. Every every being with spiritual capacity
32:30
S1: is praising God. And so it has. It is far
32:35
S1: too much a stretch to, to, to say that that's
32:40
S1: referring to animals. So it's just way too much of
32:43
S1: a stretch. The, the best I can say is it
32:45
S1: does say in the new creation there will be animals.
32:48
S1: Are they animals that will, uh, how do I put it?
32:55
S1: That will be resurrected animals from the previous creation. I
33:02
S1: find that hard to believe. But you know, who am I?
33:10
S1: I am skeptical that animals have any kind of spiritual capacity,
33:14
S1: because I think that comes with the image of God. Uh,
33:17
S1: animals are distinct from humans who have a capacity. We
33:23
S1: have the image of God. All the animals do not. Uh,
33:26
S1: but I am I am loathe to just say absolutely not.
33:32
S1: I would say that as I understand Scripture, it is
33:35
S1: human beings that are eternal beings, and animals are not. Uh,
33:39
S1: but nevertheless, you know, I could be wrong because it's
33:43
S1: not spelled out completely. It does appear that there will
33:46
S1: be animals. I think the animals in the in the
33:49
S1: new creation, I think will be, uh, animals created for
33:53
S1: that world. But, you know, maybe they'll be resurrected, you know,
33:58
S1: when you get to the new creation, give a whistle.
34:00
S1: As Doctor Cole used to say, maybe Fido will come
34:03
S1: running up and you'll get to be with your favorite
34:05
S1: dog for eternity. But again, I'm not. I'm not of
34:11
S1: that mind. By the way, I do have. I had
34:14
S1: one dog named Panda who was the best dog in
34:19
S1: the world, and I would like to spend eternity with him.
34:22
S1: He was the best panda. The wonder dog. He was
34:25
S1: the smartest, best, most obedient, most terrific dog. I had
34:28
S1: a friend that watched him once. She and her husband.
34:31
S1: And when I got back I said, how was the dog?
34:34
S1: And she said, He's the Messiah of dogs. He doesn't
34:37
S1: sin because he was so good. But, uh, no, I
34:44
S1: don't even think Panda is going to make it, but
34:47
S1: I'd be happy if he did.
34:48
S8: Okay. Now, this would be different than creation worshiping God
34:54
S8: because the Psalms especially talks about.
34:56
S1: Yeah, it talks about the, the, the trees and the
35:00
S1: trees of the field clapping their hands. Those those are
35:03
S1: figures of speech to talk about, you know, all, all society,
35:07
S1: all culture, all people will worship him.
35:10
S8: Okay.
35:11
S1: Yeah.
35:11
S8: Which would be different than animals talking. Yeah. Okay.
35:14
S1: That's right.
35:15
S8: But animals would worship then.
35:18
S1: That's just a figure of speech.
35:20
S8: Okay, okay. In that everything that God has created glorifies
35:24
S8: him and points back to him. Yes. Okay.
35:26
S1: It's the same way as trees clapping their hands. Yeah.
35:28
S1: They're not really. They don't have hands and they don't
35:30
S1: clap unless they're an ENT from Lord of the rings.
35:33
S8: Right. Wouldn't that be fun to see trees clap? Anyway,
35:38
S8: I digress. Yes. All right. Thanks. I hope that was
35:42
S8: helpful for you, Patricia and your granddaughter and Dave as well. Um,
35:46
S8: our next question. Um.
35:51
S1: Well.
35:52
S8: I can give you another one. Okay. Okay. John wrote
35:54
S8: us from Naples, Florida. Um, listens to the podcast. I
36:00
S8: started reading a plan through the Bible and was hoping
36:02
S8: you can elaborate on Genesis. We're gonna just kind of
36:04
S8: hang out in Genesis today, Genesis 1512, which is the
36:08
S8: covenant with Moses.
36:10
S1: With Abraham.
36:10
S8: With Abraham, sorry, with Abraham. And then Exodus 20, verse 21,
36:16
S8: which is with Moses. Um, in both cases, it seems
36:20
S8: that Abraham and Moses entered darkness to speak to God.
36:25
S8: Genesis 1512 talks about, um, it says, as the sun
36:29
S8: was setting, a deep sleep fell on Abram, and suddenly
36:32
S8: great terror and darkness descended on him. In Exodus 2021,
36:38
S8: um says the people remained standing at a distance as
36:43
S8: Moses approached the thick darkness where God was. John wants
36:48
S8: to know how this is possible, since God is light
36:51
S8: and in him there is no darkness. This cloaking is
36:54
S8: a curiosity to me and that it would be darkness
36:56
S8: and not light. Um, so can you shed any light,
37:00
S8: any illumination?
37:01
S1: First of all, when it says that God is light
37:02
S1: and there's no darkness in him at all, it means
37:04
S1: that God is righteous. There is no sin. Okay. Light
37:07
S1: and darkness or metaphors for sin and righteousness. So light
37:12
S1: is righteousness. God is righteous and there is no darkness
37:17
S1: in him at all. They're just metaphors. Okay. Uh, what
37:20
S1: this is talking about in Genesis 15, in Exodus 20
37:23
S1: is when God makes his appearance. Remember? It's awesome. Our
37:29
S1: God is awesome. And.
37:30
S8: Uh, and no one can see God and live.
37:33
S1: And what happens is that this or. That's why, uh,
37:38
S1: a great terror and darkness fell upon Abraham because he
37:43
S1: was in the presence of God. And imagine that foolish, uh,
37:50
S1: of of, uh, cowardly Lion and Dorothy when they went
37:55
S1: into the presence of Oz. And that was just a
37:57
S1: big sham. And yet they were fearful.
37:59
S8: Yes.
37:59
S1: How much greater it is to be in the presence
38:02
S1: of the God of the universe, the creator. Uh, there
38:06
S1: is a presence of that that would make us fearful.
38:11
S1: Rightly so. And also, uh, the darkness would be cloaking
38:16
S1: him so that we wouldn't perish instantly by seeing him
38:19
S1: in all his glory. So, uh, that's all that I
38:22
S1: think that is. It is God's protection of us. So.
38:25
S1: But it's not related to God being righteous and no
38:28
S1: sin being in him. It's just not related at all.
38:31
S8: Okay.
38:31
S1: It's just that the metaphor is used in in John. Uh,
38:37
S1: in first John, that God is light. There is no
38:39
S1: darkness in him. That's different than this darkness.
38:43
S8: So this is more a way that these men could approach.
38:45
S8: God could approach them and them not die. Yeah. Because
38:48
S8: of the awesomeness of God. Yep. Okay.
38:51
S1: That's exactly.
38:52
S8: It. All right. So thanks for that question, John.
38:54
S1: And thanks for bringing these in. Tricia McMillan. Thanks so
38:58
S1: much for listening, everyone. Thanks for sending in your questions.
39:00
S1: We'll be back with more of your phoned in questions
39:02
S1: in just a moment. You're listening to Moody Radio's Open Line.
39:06
S1: Don't go away. We'll be right back. Each week on
39:25
S1: Open Line with me, Doctor Michael Riedel. We sit around
39:28
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39:55
S1: Jewish people celebrate New Year's every fall. So Chosen People
39:59
S1: Ministries offers a Messianic Jewish calendar as well. This year,
40:02
S1: the theme is based on a website they've called I
40:05
S1: Found Shalom. Each month you'll meet a Jewish follower of
40:08
S1: Jesus and discovered their faith story. Each one highlights a
40:12
S1: core question this Jewish person's struggle with and how God's
40:15
S1: Spirit led them to faith in Yeshua. There are also
40:18
S1: QR codes you can use to connect with a video
40:21
S1: of each one's faith story for your free copy of
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S1: the Chosen People Ministries Messianic Jewish calendar. Just go to
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S1: our website, openlibrary.org. Scroll down to the link that says
40:32
S1: A Free Gift from Chosen People Ministries. Click on that
40:35
S1: and you'll be taken to a page where you can
40:37
S1: sign up for the I Found Shalom calendar. Welcome back
40:50
S1: to Open Line. I'm Michael Wright. I'm so glad to
40:52
S1: have had this day with you this morning, talking about
40:55
S1: your questions about the Bible, God and the spiritual life.
40:59
S1: It's been great fun. Uh, we still have a few
41:01
S1: more minutes to have a few questions still to be addressed.
41:06
S1: And we're going to talk to Armando in Saint Petersburg, Florida,
41:11
S1: listening on WKES. Welcome to Open Line, Armando.
41:15
S9: Thank you, doctor, for taking my call. Sure. Um, I,
41:19
S9: I was listening to your explanation about, uh, the Holy Spirit. Um, uh,
41:26
S9: first Corinthians 1213.
41:28
S1: Mhm.
41:29
S9: Can you explain to me, um, uh, acts chapter 19
41:34
S9: from 2 to 6 and I will be listening to you.
41:39
S9: Thank you.
41:39
S1: Okay. Well, first Corinthians 1213 says, we're all baptized by
41:43
S1: one spirit into one body. Right. And, uh, we're, we're, uh, uh,
41:52
S1: so what I was saying is that every believer is immersed,
41:55
S1: placed into the body of Christ at the moment of faith. Uh,
42:00
S1: yet in acts 19, uh, beginning with verse two, Paul
42:04
S1: comes up and he says he, he said, found some
42:09
S1: disciples and asked them, did you receive the Holy Spirit
42:12
S1: when you believed? This is in Ephesus. And they told him,
42:15
S1: we haven't even heard that there's a Holy Spirit. Then
42:18
S1: he said, well, what baptism were you baptized with? And he.
42:20
S1: They said to him, John's baptism. And John's baptized with
42:24
S1: a baptism of repentance, which is sort of a predicting
42:28
S1: that Messiah is about to come, telling the people that
42:32
S1: they should believe in the one who would come after
42:33
S1: him that is in Jesus. On hearing this, they were
42:38
S1: baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. So these
42:40
S1: were disciples who knew the Messiah was coming. Had heard
42:44
S1: that from John. They were baptized by John, but they.
42:49
S1: Or they were baptized by a disciple of John. Maybe,
42:52
S1: perhaps Apollos, because that's how Apollos was. Uh, anyway, so
42:57
S1: they didn't know yet that, uh, the Holy Spirit had
43:01
S1: been given. They didn't yet believe in Jesus. And so
43:05
S1: Paul tells them they believe in Jesus. Uh, and then
43:08
S1: it says, and it could be afterwards when Paul laid
43:13
S1: his hands on them, even after they were water baptized,
43:16
S1: that they received the Holy Spirit. Uh, it says, and
43:21
S1: when Paul had laid his hands on them, even though
43:23
S1: they already believed and were water baptized, the Holy Spirit
43:25
S1: came on them and they began to speak with other
43:27
S1: languages and to prophesy. Now, there are unusual passages. I'll
43:32
S1: just say this in acts two. The disciples were believers,
43:36
S1: but at the beginning of the church, the Holy Spirit
43:38
S1: comes upon them at Pentecost. Uh, and then you have
43:42
S1: acts eight, uh, with the Samaritans, uh, receiving the spirit
43:49
S1: after they were already believers. That was to keep. Well,
43:53
S1: then in acts nine, you have Paul who become as
43:56
S1: soon as he believes. Uh, when Ananias prays for him,
43:59
S1: he receives the Holy Spirit at the moment of faith.
44:01
S1: Acts ten. Cornelius. At the moment of faith, he receives
44:03
S1: the Holy Spirit. But then in acts 19, it seems
44:06
S1: like there's a little pause. What I can tell you
44:09
S1: is that the book of acts is a book of transition,
44:11
S1: going from the way the Holy Spirit worked in the
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S1: Old Testament to the way he worked in the New Testament.
44:16
S1: And so this is reflective of that transition. And, uh,
44:22
S1: so what some authors have rightly said is we should
44:26
S1: get our doctrine of the Holy Spirit from the apostle's writings,
44:30
S1: not from the apostles experiences. The apostle's writings are the epistles.
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S1: That's where we get our doctrine from. Uh, we get
44:38
S1: we learn what happened in this transition period from the
44:42
S1: apostles experiences in the book of acts. In other words,
44:46
S1: we should teach the apostles. We should experience the apostles teaching.
44:51
S1: We shouldn't teach the apostles experience. That's what I would say.
44:55
S1: And in acts 19, what is happening there is to
44:58
S1: prevent a group from becoming saying, hey, we were the
45:01
S1: earliest ones. where the First Baptists. Therefore, what we're going
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S1: to do as the First Baptist is we're going to
45:10
S1: start like in a more primitive church, an earlier church. No,
45:15
S1: they had to come under the authority of the apostles.
45:17
S1: Same thing happened in acts eight, where there was a
45:19
S1: fear that there might be a schism, uh, of Samaritan believers.
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S1: And so they waited for Peter and John to come
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S1: to lay hands on them. And that's when they received
45:28
S1: the Holy Spirit to bring them into the apostolic, authoritative
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S1: leadership of the church. Uh, and so to put them
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S1: into one body so there wouldn't be a schismatic separate church.
45:39
S1: So that's part of the reason for those transitions, but
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S1: they are merely transitions. And as such, they're not our experience.
45:47
S1: They shouldn't be how we experience things. We should experience
45:50
S1: what the apostles teach and the apostles teach in Romans
45:52
S1: eight nine that if anyone doesn't have the spirit, he
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S1: doesn't belong to Jesus. In other words, if we belong
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S1: to Jesus, we have the Holy Spirit indwelling us. There's
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S1: no getting around it. We all, if we all belong
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S1: to him, if we belong to him, we all have
46:07
S1: the Holy Spirit. So. Well, thanks for your call, Armando,
46:10
S1: and thanks for all of you listening today. I so
46:13
S1: appreciate it. I'm so sorry I didn't get to all
46:15
S1: your calls. Adam, Janine. Mike. Kirby, uh, Rob, uh, and Ed,
46:21
S1: please try again. Uh, so that we could talk about
46:25
S1: this next week. Uh, that's the program. So sorry that
46:29
S1: we're not able to get your calls, but thank you
46:32
S1: for all who did call. And, uh, for all of
46:34
S1: you who made this program possible. Also, thanks to the
46:37
S1: crew here for Maria, for, uh, for Tricia and for Courtney,
46:43
S1: for making it possible. Remember, keep in touch with us
46:45
S1: by going to our website. There's links there to my
46:47
S1: personal web page, links to the chosen people offer all
46:52
S1: sorts of links. Keep reading the Bible. We'll talk about
46:54
S1: it next week. Open line with Doctor Michael Ray is
46:57
S1: a production of Moody Radio, a Ministry of Moody Bible Institute.