March 8, 2025 • 46 mins
This Saturday on Open Line, Dr. Michael Rydelnik talks about about the feast of Purim and why God isn't mentioned in the Book of Esther. And he answers your Bible questions.
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Episode Transcript
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S1 (00:09):
Next week, the Jewish people will be celebrating Purim. This
holiday is derived from the Book of Esther in the Bible,
a book which contains a biblical mystery. Stay with me
and we'll talk about that in just a moment. Hello, friends.
Welcome to Open Line, Moody Radio's Bible study across America.
My name is Michael Radonich. I'm the academic dean. I'm
(00:32):
a professor of Jewish studies and Bible at Moody Bible Institute.
I'm so grateful that you're joining me around the radio
kitchen table, because we're talking about your questions about the Bible, God,
and the spiritual life. If you have a question you'd
like to call, the phone number here is (877) 548-3675. Let
(00:55):
me give you a clue. Sometimes people say I can't
get through I try and I try. Well, the way
to get through is to call at the beginning of
the hour. And so if you're listening, you're thinking, I
want to call today. Now's the time to call the
phone number (877) 548-3675. Tricia McMillan is sitting there in the
(01:15):
producer's chair. Omar Mendoza is our tech guy today. Lisa's
answering the phones. We're grateful for that. And the phone
number here again is (877) 548-3675. So go get yourself a
cup of coffee. Open your Bible. We're about to study
the scriptures together. Can you imagine someone writing a history
(01:41):
of the birth of the United States, including the Revolutionary War,
the Constitutional Convention, the first federal government, and omitting George Washington,
the indispensable man? That would be inconceivable. How much more?
When we look at the book of Esther, and the
one who is central to the entire story isn't even mentioned.
(02:03):
That's right. God is never mentioned directly, even one time
in the book of Esther. The book tells of a
Jewish girl, Esther, who becomes the Queen of Persia. Her
cousin Mordecai, who advises her and Haman's ultimately thwarted plot
to destroy all the Jewish people. Jewish people still celebrate
(02:27):
Purim because of this great deliverance. The name of the
festival is derived from the Hebrew word poor, which means lots,
and the book recalls the overturning of Haman's plan, but
it still omits God's name. This certainly couldn't have been
(02:49):
an accident. It's not an oversight. The author must have
had some purpose since Purim, the Jewish holiday that celebrates
the deliverance of the Jewish people in the Book of Esther,
will be celebrated next week. I thought it would be
good to answer the great Purim mystery. Where is God
in the book of Esther? There are four possible answers
(03:11):
that have been given. Some say this is the first one,
that the book is too profane for God to be
in it. According to this view, the King in the
Book of Esther. Xerxes is essential despot. Esther is a
manipulator who uses her beauty to advance herself. Mordecai is
considered insolent because he refused to bow to Haman, and
(03:35):
the whole book is merely about vengeance. One author says, morally,
Esther falls far below the general level of the Old
Testament and even the Apocrypha. A second view is that
the Scroll of Esther is merely nationalistic propaganda, and it
has no spiritual message, since this view, says Esther, is
(03:56):
merely a tale of national defense and struggle against Hellenism,
one commentator said, God forbid that God should appear in
such a story. A third approach is to view the
Book of Esther as a picture, or an allegory in
which God is hidden in the book through various characters.
Mordecai represents the Holy Spirit. The king represents the believer's flesh.
(04:20):
Esther represents the redeemed believer. Haman represents Satan. This allegorical
approach is far too subjective. It's actually far fetched and
we can't take it seriously. A fourth, and the most
likely explanation is that the Book of Esther is about providence.
(04:42):
The book deliberately conceals the name of God to reveal
his actions. Providence means that God is lovingly guiding all
of history with his good purposes and intentions. It refers
to God's invisible hand. Someone wants to find Providence as God,
performing a miracle but deciding to remain anonymous. The Scroll
(05:05):
of Esther reveals that the Jewish people had adopted the
Persian culture, but forgotten their god. The message of this
book is that even when Israel forgets God, God always
remembers his people. So the name of God is deliberately
left out, just as the Jewish people of Persia had
left him out of their lives. It declares that God
(05:28):
is working even when we don't acknowledge him. Providence is
evident throughout the Book of Esther. Here are just a
few examples. It's all the just happens. Esther just happens
to find favor with the royal official in charge of
the beauty contest. Mordecai just happens to overhear the plot
(05:51):
To against the king. The king just happens to welcome
and point his scepter at Esther. The king just happens
to have insomnia and hear the story of Mordecai saving him.
And Haman, the genocidal maniac and hater of Jews, just
happens to perish on the very day that he planned
to murder all the Jewish people, and on the very
(06:12):
gallows that he prepared for Mordecai. Well, what does this
all have to do with today? Well, first of all,
God was active in preserving the Jewish people so the
Messiah Jesus could come if God hadn't intervened in the
days of Esther. The Messiah wouldn't have been born. God
secured the safety of the Jewish people so the Jewish
(06:34):
Messiah could come and redeem the whole world. Second, God
remains active in preserving and protecting the Jewish people today
and always in light of the huge explosion of anti-Semitism
around the world and in particular in the United States.
In fact, in the United States, there's been a 400%
(06:54):
increase in anti-Semitic incidents in 2024 alone. Well, this should
give us comfort to know that God will always keep
his promises and preserve the Jewish people. Third, God is
active in the lives of all followers of Jesus today,
caring for us, accomplishing his purposes, protecting us even if
(07:16):
we neglect him sometimes. All those coincidences that happen for
our good are not coincidences at all. They're the invisible
hand of God, working all things together for our good.
To this day, the Jewish people continue to celebrate their
deliverance by God from the genocidal plans of Haman. The
(07:37):
celebrations include reading the Scroll of Esther in the synagogue,
complete with noisemakers, to drown out the name of Haman
every time his name is read. It's also customary to
deliver baskets of foods and sweets to neighbours, just as
in the Book of Esther, chapter nine, verse 22, it's
customary to eat tri cornered pastries reminiscent of Haman's hat, or,
(07:58):
some say, his ears. It's reminiscent, and as a result,
we perform plays re-enacting the defeat, reenacting the defeat of Haman.
And in light of Hitler's Holocaust, these celebrations have broadened
their meaning to remember God's preservation of his people at
all other times. And so, just as the Passover liturgy states,
(08:23):
we remember, for not only one enemy has risen up
against us in every generation they rise up to destroy us.
But the Holy One, blessed be he, always delivers us
from their hands. Well, I hope that will be an
(08:49):
encouragement to you the next time you read the Book
of Esther, and maybe a good week to read it
as you prepare for Purim. Well, we're going to go
to the phones right now. We're going to talk to
Patty in Arlington Heights, Illinois, listening on Wmbi. Welcome to
Open Line, Patty. How can I help you today?
S2 (09:08):
Thank you. Michael, my friend posed a question to me
the other day. Is it commonplace for kings to ride
into the city of Jerusalem on mules or donkeys? She
read that in the Book of Kings. And I said, well,
I know the Messiah did, but I didn't know anybody
else did. Is that a normal thing?
S1 (09:25):
Well, in fact, that's what was considered something that, uh, like,
for example, uh, behold, your king comes to you, uh,
and the Lord Jesus comes on, on a riding on
a donkey. It was I've heard some people say, well,
that's the royal animal. I think that the verse in
(09:46):
Zechariah nine nine. By the time Zechariah is writing in
the Post-exilic age, kings are not coming in on donkeys,
and that's why it says he's coming to you lowly
and seated upon a donkey. So a horse would be
what you would expect the king to come on, not
a donkey. Uh, and so, uh, and of course, we
(10:08):
have the imagery of the Lord Jesus returning in revelation 19,
and he returns. How? On a white horse. So I
think that not.
S2 (10:17):
I'll pass that on.
S1 (10:18):
Great. Okay. Thanks for your call. Really appreciate it. And
we're going to talk to Theo in Stickney, Illinois, listening
on wmbi. Hi, Theo. How can I help you today?
S3 (10:31):
Um. Shh.
S4 (10:34):
Wait wait, wait. Theo, before you ask me a question,
are you. Are you all.
S1 (10:40):
Alone? Are you with your folks?
S3 (10:43):
I just I'm just talking to somebody. Okay.
S1 (10:48):
Ah! Hey. Hey, Theo. You know what? Uh. Are you
alone yet? So that you can. We can hear you.
S3 (10:57):
I'm not lonely at my grandma's. Still by me.
S5 (11:00):
Hear, hear.
S1 (11:01):
Oh, good. Well, I'm glad your grandma's by you. You. Hello.
You keep. You keep talking. How old are you? Theo. Hey,
I'm not sure. Theo. How old are you?
S3 (11:14):
I'm six.
S1 (11:15):
You're six years old. And you decided to call the
program by yourself, or did someone put you up to it?
S3 (11:22):
My grandma put me up to it.
S1 (11:24):
I thought so. Yeah. And so your grandma listens to
the program? She thought you. Did you ask her this
question first?
S3 (11:33):
Um, yes.
S1 (11:35):
Yes. Okay. And how? What grade are you in, Theo?
S3 (11:41):
First.
S1 (11:42):
First grade. Okay. And do you go to school or
are you homeschooled? How do you go to school?
S3 (11:49):
I'm going to school. I'm not at home.
S1 (11:52):
At home? You're homeschooled. Gotcha.
S6 (11:54):
No, I'm not okay.
S3 (11:55):
I'm not. I'm not at homeschool. I'm at regular school.
S6 (11:59):
Oh.
S1 (11:59):
Are you okay? Good good good good. Do you still
have first grade? You're studying everything. Do you have a
favorite subject?
S3 (12:09):
Yes, it's kind of. It's Jim.
S1 (12:12):
Jim. That's always was my favorite subject, too. That's great. Well, Theo,
what's your question? Maybe I can help you.
S3 (12:22):
Is God real or not? I might not. My grandma
told me that he was there always in the sky
when nothing was there. Well, I'm kind of. It's hard
to believe.
S1 (12:37):
Huh? Well, what do you think is harder to believe
that God always Existed or that this world came out
of nothing. Think about it. You know that there's an
old thing that nothing comes from nothing, that there's always
something that causes anything else. Like, for example, do you
(12:58):
have a favorite toy?
S3 (13:00):
Um, yes. It's my Legos.
S7 (13:02):
What is it?
S1 (13:02):
Your Legos. Ah, my grandson loves Legos, too. Now, do
you think those Legos just appeared, or were they made?
S7 (13:10):
No.
S1 (13:11):
Well, who made them?
S6 (13:12):
They were.
S3 (13:13):
Made.
S1 (13:14):
At a factory, right? At a toy factory?
S6 (13:17):
Yeah, right.
S3 (13:17):
They were.
S1 (13:19):
And and, uh. And that's the point. When you look
at the world, it's really important to remember that this
world didn't come from nothing. The Bible teaches us that
God alone is the Eternal One. He always existed. And
then everything else that came. The very first part of
(13:39):
creation came because God created it. We. When we look
at the world, we have to assume that there's a creator.
And not only that, he's the master engineer. Think about
how great this world is, how everything works just so wonderfully.
The sun comes up and the and the earth rotates,
(13:59):
and all the things that we're supposed to know about
the world. How does that all happen without a great
designer making it happen? So I think it's important to
listen to your grandma and believe her when she says
that God is absolutely real. But I'm going to tell
you one more thing. God not only made the world,
(14:20):
he not only designed it to be perfectly, but the
Bible teaches that he made you, and he designed you
perfectly because he has a wonderful purpose and plan for
your life. He wants to use you in a great way.
S8 (14:36):
So would you be like Jesus?
S3 (14:38):
I it is. It was. It's really easy to believe
that Jesus rose again because literally, there's an afterlife. It
kind of, um, it makes a lot of sense how
he died for our sins.
S9 (15:04):
We're having some technical difficulties with Michael's connection. But, Theo,
thank you so much. I'm glad that's making sense to you. Um.
And that we could have this. Um, we're going to
take a break, and we'll come back and reconnect with Michael.
You're listening to Moody Radio's Open Line with doctor Michael Melnick.
I'm producer Trish McMillan. We'll be back in just a moment.
S10 (15:27):
What did he say? What happened? Okay.
S1 (15:50):
And we're back. Seemed that had a little bit of
a technological technology glitch there. I'm glad that Tricia was
able to pick up the the microphone and keep on going. Uh,
glad that, uh, you know, it's always great to have
a team like we have at Open Line. I don't
(16:10):
know how I could do it without this team and
Tricia picking up the the the break. There is just
an example of why a team is so necessary. Omar, uh,
part of the team, uh, getting getting me back connected
in with the studio. Into the studio. My studio. Into
the studio there. So that's that's really about teamwork. And
(16:33):
I so appreciate it. I met a member of the
team last week that I didn't even think about. It's
a it's someone that that hosts, uh, on their station.
It's one of our affiliates. They have open line and
the station manager said to me, uh, I'm a kitchen
table partner. And I thought, really? He not only has
(16:56):
the program on his local station, but he's also a
kitchen table partner. And that's part of the team, too.
We've got a lot of partners, and they are the
ones who, uh, help keep us on the air by
giving every month. They keep us on the air every week.
And so if if you are interested in becoming a
kitchen table partner, one of the things that we do
(17:17):
is every other week we send out a Bible study moment.
Trish and I prepare it, and it's a Bible study
moment designed to give you a little brief Bible study
about 8 or 10 minutes. It's a way of saying
thank you for being part of the team. If you're
interested in becoming part of the team, all you have
to do is call 447122. That's (888) 644-7122. Or go to
(17:40):
open line radio.org. And we're going to go to the
phones right now. Uh, and our uh next caller is
Amy in Chicago listening on Wmbi. Welcome to Open Line, Amy.
How can I help you?
S11 (17:57):
Good morning, Doctor Adele. God bless you.
S1 (17:59):
Thank you.
S11 (18:01):
Um, I have a question that's really not important, but
is something I've been wondering about. Like, okay, this morning
I was reading Psalm 130, which says, and it's this
particular phrase that I'm wondering about. It's he's talking about
how his hope is in the Lord and he's waiting
on the Lord. And he says, I wait on the
(18:22):
Lord more than they that watch for morning. And I'm
wondering what what is the context of this in ancient times?
Do you happen to know what? Who are the people.
S1 (18:31):
That.
S11 (18:31):
Wait for the morning?
S1 (18:33):
Yeah, The the idea is that every city had watchmen
on the walls and they were watching not just for
the to make sure that no enemy was coming and
that people were safe, but they waited for the morning
when they could see better, because the most dangerous time
was when attack would come. And at night. And so
(18:58):
they would watch not just through the night, but they
would watch for the morning to come, because it would
always be safer than a surprise attack at night. And
so that's there was a real longing, a desire for
morning to come.
S6 (19:15):
And I.
S1 (19:16):
Think it's, uh, Isaiah 62 that talks about the watchmen
on the walls. Uh, uh, it says, uh, Isaiah 62 six, uh, Jerusalem.
I have appointed Watchmen on your walls. They will never
be silent day or night. There is no rest for
(19:38):
you who remind the Lord. Do not give him rest
until he establishes and makes Jerusalem the praise of the earth.
And so it's using the watchmen on the walls, kind
of metaphorically there to represent, just as there are watchmen
on the walls to protect the city. So there are
a watchmen on the walls for the Jewish people, praying
for them and protecting and seeking God's help. So that's, uh,
(20:02):
that's what that's about. Does that help, Amy?
S11 (20:05):
Absolutely. Thank you so much. God bless.
S6 (20:07):
You.
S1 (20:08):
Thanks for your call. Appreciate it. Uh, Judy in Round
Lake Beach, Illinois, listening on wmbi. Welcome to Open Line.
How can I help you?
S12 (20:18):
I was hoping you could help explain, um, the feast
of Passover and what we have traditionally called Good Friday
as believers. And I've heard it both ways. Um, for
years and years I was taught, oh, Jesus was crucified
(20:39):
on Friday. And then someone explained, well, it was probably
Thursday because of the High Holy Days. Can you explain
all that to me?
S1 (20:51):
Well, it's it's kind of complicated, but I do think
he was crucified on Friday. Uh, the reason that people
say that it was Thursday is, uh, that they are
looking for, uh, a an explanation because Jesus says in
(21:12):
Matthew 12 that the Son of Man will be in
the belly of the earth for three days and three nights.
And so they get out their fingers and they count
three days and three nights and Friday, Saturday, Sunday just
doesn't compute to three days and three nights. And so
they say Thursday. And then there's a reference in the
book of Mark to the high holiday, the High Sabbath, actually.
(21:35):
And so the the explanation, I think that's more reasonable
is that in both the Bible and Jewish literature of
that time, they use something called inclusive time reckoning. Inclusive
time reckoning. And what inclusive time reckoning means is that
(21:59):
any part of a day constitutes a day and a night.
So it's just a term. It's used in the Book
of Esther, for example. Uh, Esther had them pray for
three days and three nights, but it was on the
third day that deliverance came. So, uh, that she was
able to go to see the King. So the point being, uh, that, uh,
(22:24):
when it says three days and three nights, it just
means a part of three days. So Friday would be
a day and a night. Saturday would be a day
and a night, and Sunday morning would be a day
and a night. It's just an idiomatic expression for three days. Uh,
and then the other issue is there's no evidence of
Passover ever being called a high holy day, which is
(22:47):
what you have to believe, uh, for the high Sabbath
thing that that happens, uh, in the book of Mark
that mentions it's just talking about Sabbath, and it's considered
a high Sabbath because it's the weekend of Passover. And
if you go back in the Jewish calendar, uh, that, uh,
first night of Passover was Thursday night, and then Friday
(23:10):
was the the day of the Passover in A.D. 33.
And it was on a Friday that the Lord Jesus
was crucified. So that's how I understand it. But you
know what? Uh, it's kind of, uh, I hope that
explains it somewhat to you, but there's a little more
detailed explanation. In a book I wrote called 50 Most
(23:34):
Important Bible Questions. And, uh, maybe what you could do
is you hang on. Trish will get your name and number, Judy,
and I'll mail you a copy. We'll mail you a
copy of 50 most important Bible questions. Okay?
S12 (23:49):
Okay. Well, I have one of the Chosen People calendars
you had mentioned on the program, and I have one
of those. And this year I think Passover is on
the previous Thursday, like the week before. So I was
wondering if anybody traced it back to see which day
it was that year.
S6 (24:09):
Yeah, yeah.
S1 (24:10):
It was on a Friday.
S6 (24:13):
Uh, it.
S12 (24:13):
Was on a Friday.
S1 (24:14):
Yes. The first day. Uh, and and just so you know,
that that there's a difference between when Passover and Good
Friday come out today is because since the Council of Nicaea.
The date of the observance of the crucifixion has changed,
and and the Christian calendar is based on a solar calendar,
(24:37):
and the Jewish calendar is based on a lunar calendar.
So since the fourth century, things are really different. So
you hang on and what we're going to do is
send you a copy of the 50 Most Important Bible questions.
That'll go into it a little bit more detailed. And
if you're listening and you think, I have a lot
of Bible questions and I can't always get through, what
(24:58):
you can do is you can go to your local
Christian bookstore and pick up that Moody Publishers book I
wrote called 50 Most Important Bible Questions that probably the
most common questions that we get here on Open Line.
And I'm always grateful that when someone asks a question
that I actually answered on in the book 50 Most
(25:20):
Important Bible Questions because because that that gives me confidence
that that I, I really did answer the right ones.
So anyway, we're going to come right back with more
of your questions in just a moment. In fact, the
mailbag is coming in with Tricia in just a bit
the Febc mailbag. So don't go away. You're listening to
(25:42):
Open Line with Michael Radonich. Welcome back to Open Line.
(26:10):
It's time for the Febc mailbag. Febc far Eastern Broadcasting
Company partners with Open Line to bring us the mailbag
every week. And I so appreciate this ministry. They bring
the gospel to people all around the globe with the
use of media and also personal engagement with people. People
(26:31):
to people. I so appreciate this ministry. You should check
out their their podcast. It's called Until All I've Heard.
The way to find out about Febc and the podcast
is by going to their website febc.org. And joining me
right now, back from being away for a couple of weeks. Uh,
(26:52):
is Tricia McMillan here? How you doing, Tricia.
S9 (26:55):
I'm doing okay. Yeah.
S1 (26:57):
Okay. Hey, so here's a really interesting thing that one
of the most common questions I get from people is,
how did we get the Bible? You know, I love
the Bible, but how did we get it? How do
we know it's inspired? How do they choose the books?
You know, after The Da Vinci Code, people are like, well,
was there some conspiracy in choosing the books? Uh, how
(27:20):
did how did they get it transmitted down from generation
to generation? How did they translate it? Like, for example,
what version of the Bible do you usually use?
S9 (27:30):
I mostly use the ESV, the English Standard version, and
then my fallback is the new American standard. Yeah.
S1 (27:38):
See. And I use the the Hcsb, the Holman Christian
Standard Bible. And then I also fall back to the
new American Standard. Or if I'm really, really serious, I
read the Hebrew and the Greek, but that's not what
everyone else can do. So but anyway, the the the
reason I mention this is because I get this question
(28:00):
so much. Here's the resource I've picked for this month
and next month. It's called The Story of the Bible.
It's written by a friend of mine, Carl Laney. Uh,
and it takes you on this journey to understand from
inspiration to canon to transmission, copying the texts, ultimately to
English translation. And it really shows how God worked to
(28:21):
preserve his word. And that's that's the resource that we're
using this month and next. And if anyone would like
to give a gift to Open Line, it's theirs. Uh,
as our thank you to them. Uh, it's it's theirs.
All you have to do is give a gift of
any size and ask for the story of the Bible.
(28:42):
It's a really wonderful little book, and it will really
help you with those questions. Uh, if you'd like to
give a gift, go to Open Line radio.org or call (888) 644-7122.
And make sure to ask for the story of the
Bible by Carl Laney. Have you seen the book yet, Tricia?
S9 (29:01):
I have, I haven't had time to look through it.
It arrived.
S1 (29:04):
Yeah, it arrived and I'm so glad I saw it.
And I thought, yep. When I first, you know, I
found this book. He's a friend of mine. I saw
that he published it, and I found the book, and I.
He didn't send me a copy. Well, not that good
a friend, huh? So he just. I bought a copy,
and I just liked it so much that I said, hey,
let's use this as a resource.
S9 (29:25):
Yeah. And when there's a good resource, we want to
pass that on as a thank you.
S1 (29:29):
Yeah. And, you know, we've got an unusual audience about
the resources we use. I listen to some of the
other radio programs that have resources, and they're not quite
as content driven as Open line listeners. Like. They like
to know books that are. I think it's because they
love the Bible. Our listeners and they. Okay. Well, give
(29:50):
me a book that explains something to me that really
helps me. And and that's why I think they respond
to books like this.
S9 (29:56):
Yes. And I think that the books that the resources
that we find are designed to help you in your
Bible study. We're really trying to focus on resources that
would talk about or help you study the Bible, God
or theology and the spiritual life. And so those kinds
of things, um, are what we're looking to help you do,
(30:16):
because that's what we're trying to do on the program.
And so we're out of out of that. We're also
trying to pick resources that would also help you do that.
S1 (30:23):
Yeah yeah I agree. So hey, well, let's let's get
to the mailbag.
S9 (30:28):
All right. Again these are these are also a little
bit different than some of the questions we've had before.
So I love it. Um, and this one from Lori.
She wrote us on Facebook and said, did Moses, Joshua
and other Old Testament authors walk around with pen and
papyrus or the New Testament authors? Were they following Jesus
with no pads of some sort, like they're depicted in
(30:50):
The Chosen? And then I have a yeah, go ahead.
S1 (30:54):
Well, like they're depicted in The Chosen. I think that's
kind of funny. Well, I don't know if they walked
around with it or what they did. I know Moses
had I'm sure they carried things with them, but I
don't when I picture when I am. And in my mind,
(31:14):
I can't speak to this absolutely, categorically. But I think
Moses had a lot of time on his hands, for example,
because of the wilderness wanderings. And he, you know, 40
years in the wilderness. So he just sat down and
would go into his tent, his sukkah, he would take
(31:38):
out his papyrus or his actually probably was more leather
than papyrus, uh, his skin that he would write on.
And then he would write there. I don't think he
carried around with him like a memo book and the
same thing, I don't know, I haven't seen that part
of The chosen where they carry around paper. Uh, but, uh,
(32:01):
I think the same thing that, uh, first of all,
because writing and reading, reading was common, but, you know,
billboards and all the different things that we see all
the time, all the it wasn't quite as common. So
people had a much greater memory. And so they would
really work to remember and memorize what they saw and,
(32:23):
and heard. And I think as a result of that,
then they would go and write it down after they
memorized it. And so what you have when Matthew writes
the book of Matthew somewhere, I think in the mid 40s,
that's I put it very early in the mid 40s,
about 12, 13 years after the resurrection of of Jesus.
(32:44):
He's writing it down from memory, and maybe he had
taken some notes through the years after, let's say he
heard the sermon on the Mount, and then he wrote
it down. But then what he does when he writes
his book, The First of the Gospels, he puts it
together in a literary fashion. He's got a structure to
it that he wants to follow. And, uh, and so
(33:06):
they're not writing down. They're not they were not like, uh.
S9 (33:11):
Like journalists, like at a, at a press conference where
they've got their notepads or their iPads. Now, obviously they
wouldn't have had iPads, but where they have their little
notebooks and they're just taking notes and writing down the
quotes in this.
S1 (33:23):
Even more so they're not court stenographers is what I
wanted to say. Okay. You know who who get down
every word. Exactly. Even the US and the ums. Yeah.
You know.
S9 (33:33):
Okay. So now you you had mentioned my follow up
to this is you had mentioned a few weeks ago,
we had talked about, um, the, um, the people that
it was a passing comment, but I'm, I was teaching
through my Sunday school class, teaching about the the exodus
and the wilderness time in the Pentateuch. And Moses had
(33:58):
selected 70 leaders to help him lead. And they had
even leaders. There were like leaders to the, you know,
a leader for the hundreds and the leaders for the
down to the tens kind of a thing.
S1 (34:08):
To take tens.
S9 (34:09):
Yes. To to to help him lead these people and
answer these questions that they had that that he just
didn't need to spend his time on while he was
also leading these people through. And you made some passing
comment about that may have been so that he could
be writing down the law. I was like, what? Like that.
Had I I've never actually thought about like, when would
(34:32):
he have written all of these words, which I have
to imagine the specificity of the law in the Pentateuch
in those first, you know, those, um, Exodus, Leviticus, numbers, Deuteronomy,
those would be very important, much like a court stenographer.
But but that, that that you were like, that's that
would be part of the reason that he didn't need
(34:54):
to settle these disputes between brother and brother or different
tribes and things. And he also needed to write down
the first five books of the Bible. And I was like, oh,
you're right, because he has to do that before he dies.
He dies at the end. So somewhere he has written
that down.
S6 (35:11):
And.
S1 (35:12):
I think it's really important to understand the, the Torah,
the it's one book really. Genesis in five volumes. And
it's a story. Yeah. And, uh, you know, you've got
you've got creation, you've got the patriarchs, you've got the
deliverance from Egypt, you've got that whole story. Then all
of a sudden laws get dropped in. Uh, I like
(35:33):
to consider it. So think about it. I think Moses
was very quick to write down the laws as he
received them from God. Like when he went up on
top of Mount Sinai, he wrote them down. But that's
really not the Torah, what the Torah is. He took
those laws and dropped them into the narrative. Uh, it's
like the way I when I teach at Moody, I
show a screen with the narrative, you know, just a
(35:55):
timeline with the different creation. Uh, and primeval history, patriarchal history,
redemptive history from Exodus, wanderings. And then a bag of
laws gets dropped in, and it. And the timeline kind
of animates and goes all around the bag of laws.
And it's a book about the law. It's a story
(36:16):
of how God gave the law to Israel. It's not
the law itself. It's the story about the law. Okay?
And it's and there's there's real. We're taking too long
on this, but it may help people. There's real literary
art in that book. One of the things that that
you can see is that there's a long narrative. Then
(36:38):
there's a this happens four times long narrative, long, long story.
Then there's a poem or a song like in Genesis
one through 48. And then there's Genesis 49, this oracle
by In Poetic Fashion by Jacob. Then there's an epilogue,
the death of Jacob and Joseph. And then you start
(36:58):
the next story, which is the enslavement in Egypt and
God's deliverance, then the song of Moses, and then the
travel to Sinai is the epilogue, and then you've got
the next story and it goes on and on like that.
And so it shows. Narrative poem, epilogue. It shows structure.
Moses wasn't just saying, where do I dump the laws, right?
(37:19):
He had a whole strategy in what he was doing.
S9 (37:22):
And I think even, even the reminder that the Bible
has structure, each book has structure. And each author, even
if they had written down notes, they went back and
they added the structure, or they wrote it with structure,
depending on who it was. They may have done that too. Um,
(37:42):
but that there is it's not just like I think
we think about those first five books, like, oh, this
is the law, okay. And I just have to slug
through it. And it's really hard. I've been surprised in
teaching through it that how many, how many again, how
many stories I've read it before, but how many stories
are in there? This narrative that you're talking about is there.
And then there's, you know, 2 or 3 chapters of
(38:05):
laws or Are more but but often I think at
this time of the year, this beginning part of the year,
people can get lost in, oh no, I have to
read through all of these laws and in even just
the idea is overwhelming. And so they may not even
start or they'll just skip it. But there's a lot
(38:26):
of narrative in there.
S6 (38:27):
Yeah.
S1 (38:27):
And there are blocks of laws that's very interesting to
me there. There are whole sections and then they have narrative.
One of the things you're going to find is every
time Israel sins, they get another block of law and
the sin leads to the next block. And the point
of that is, is someone I think it may well,
(38:49):
I know it was Paul in the book of Galatians
the law was added because of transgression. Yeah. So, hey,
we're going to take a break here. All right, Tricia, but, uh,
it's interesting. I think Paul was reading the Torah as
a narrative, and that's how he got the law was
added because of transgression. Well, we're going to come back
with more of your questions right here on Open Line.
(39:11):
That was Tricia McMillan. I'm Mike Radonich. We're glad to
be with you and talking about the scriptures together with you.
Stay with us. We'll be right back. Welcome back to
(39:34):
Open Line. So glad to be with you today. You know,
people often ask me, do Jewish people still need to
hear about the Messiah Jesus? Do they still need to
put their trust in him? Well, I think it's absolutely
essential that Jewish people hear the good news. And there's
a booklet that Chosen People Ministries is offering. It's called
(39:55):
To the Jewish People First, to the Jew First. And
it was written by Doctor Al Mohler, who is the
president of Southern Baptist Seminary, He said that the cause
of reaching Jewish people with the good news is the
test of faithfulness to the gospel today, that we have
to continue with that commitment. And I think it's a
(40:18):
great booklet. I hope you'll you'll get a copy of it.
The way to get it is by going to our website.
That's Openline radio.org. Scroll down. You'll see a link that
says A free gift from Chosen People Ministries. Click on that.
You'll be taken to a link where you can sign
up a form that you can fill out and sign
(40:39):
up for your very own copy of Al Mohler's booklet
To the Jew first. And we're going to talk now
with Mike in Alabama, uh, listening on Wmw. So glad
you called. Let me just remind people the phone number here, (877) 548-3675. Uh,
you can give us a call right now. We've got
(41:00):
a couple of lines open, and, Mike, uh, Calling from
Alabama on Wmw. How can I help you today?
S13 (41:08):
Thank you for taking my call. And good morning to you.
I'm wondering about Hebrews chapter six, verses four, five and six.
It came up in Wednesday night Bible study. The you're
not going to be able to restore that person crucifying
Christ afresh. What are your thoughts on it?
S1 (41:26):
What are your thoughts on it?
S13 (41:28):
Well, what came up was can you lose your salvation?
And yeah, there's there was three points made. Yes you can.
No you can't. And the writer of Hebrews is just
trying to scare them to death, to stay into Christianity
and not go back into Judaism. Uh, but my personal
thought is that these people were never saved.
S6 (41:50):
Mhm.
S1 (41:51):
Well, it's it's kind of an interesting discussion. I had
a real hard time with this passage. I really believed
in the security of the believer. Or even better, I
like to call it the perseverance of the Savior, not
the perseverance of the saints that Jesus holds us. But
I came to this passage and it really bothered me.
And I remember being a freshman at Bible college and
(42:13):
bringing it up in class when we were talking about
the security of the believer, and the professor tried to
give me all sorts of explanations that just didn't satisfy me.
And then finally he said, I'm going to teach you
one of the most important Bible principles that you'll ever learn.
And I was ready, and it really is, he said,
(42:35):
always interpret the unclear in light of the clear.
S13 (42:40):
Right.
S1 (42:40):
And what that means is what is the clear teaching
of Scripture. Then you come to something against it. You've
got to kind of build your interpretation of that over
what overall what Scripture says. And I'm going to share
with you one of the clearest verses there is. Uh,
it's John six, and in John six it says, all
(43:01):
that the father gives me will come to me. You
know that verse, I think, uh, yeah.
S13 (43:06):
Where he says he never lost no one.
S1 (43:08):
Uh, here's what he says of all that he has
given me. This is the I've only come to do
the will of the one who sent me. And then
he says in verse, uh, uh, this is the will,
verse 39, this is the will of him who sent me,
that I should lose none of those he has given me,
but raise them up on the last day. And so
(43:29):
Jesus stakes his entire identity as the Messiah on the
fact that he cannot lose one of us. So I
hope that clear teaching of Scripture that nothing will ever
separate us from the love of God that's in Messiah.
In Romans eight, the clear teaching of Scripture that we
are sealed with the spirit until the day of redemption.
And who's going to break that seal? No one. Uh,
(43:52):
all those are good evidence that we are secure. However,
Hebrews six is a difficult passage, but I'll tell you
what clears it up for me. First of all, in
Hebrews three six it says that Christ was faithful as
a son over his household, and we are that household.
(44:13):
If we hold on to the courage and confession of confidence,
of our hope. But if we don't hold on to it,
then what it's saying is that we are not his household.
In other words, if we don't hold fast, we're not
his household. Uh 314 if we hold firm until the end,
the reality we had at the start, we have become
(44:35):
companions of the Messiah. If we hold firmly, if we
don't hold firmly, then we have not become companions of
the Messiah. And then in chapter six, when it starts
describing those moving on, a lot of people think he's saying,
leave the elementary message, meaning the the foundational principles of
(44:55):
being a Christian. But that's not what he's saying. When
he says leave the elementary message. He's talking about the
Old Testament predictive element about the Messiah. And the reason
I know this, he says that we have to move
on from teachings about ritual washings. In verse two that's
talking about Old Testament washings, not about Christian baptism. So
(45:17):
he's telling them, you need to move on from an
Old Testament faith to a full New Testament faith. You
have to move on from looking for the Messiah to
to believing in the Messiah. And, uh, then what? He says,
if you abandon this faith now, it's impossible to renew
you to repentance. Uh, you've come close. You've tasted, you've
(45:39):
been in the congregation. You've seen the signs and power.
If you abandon the faith now. And that's what they
were thinking of doing because they were being persecuted.
S6 (45:48):
Right?
S1 (45:48):
There's nothing going to renew you. So it's not talking
about losing your salvation. It's talking about you need to
get saved. Is what he's saying to these Jewish people.
You need to go to the. The to a full faith,
a complete faith in the Messiah. Not just some sort of.
Superficial that you're going to abandon until such time that
(46:10):
the persecution goes away. That's his warning in Hebrews six.
So I hope that helps, uh, understand it when, uh. Uh,
just trust the that which is clear, uh, rather than unclear.
Interpret the unclear in light of the clear. Well, thanks
for your call. Thanks for listening. That's the first hour.
(46:31):
We're going to come back with more questions in the
second hour. Check it out. Uh, our web page, open
line radio.org. During the break, uh, shows you everything you're
looking for. Our Bible study across America will continue in
the second hour, so stay with us. Open line with
Doctor Michael Radonich is a production of Moody Radio, a
ministry of Moody Bible Institute. Stay with us. We'll be back.
Next week, the Jewish people will be celebrating Purim. This
holiday is derived from the Book of Esther in the Bible,
a book which contains a biblical mystery. Stay with me
and we'll talk about that in just a moment. Hello, friends.
Welcome to Open Line, Moody Radio's Bible study across America.
My name is Michael Radonich. I'm the academic dean. I'm
(00:32):
a professor of Jewish studies and Bible at Moody Bible Institute.
I'm so grateful that you're joining me around the radio
kitchen table, because we're talking about your questions about the Bible, God,
and the spiritual life. If you have a question you'd
like to call, the phone number here is (877) 548-3675. Let
(00:55):
me give you a clue. Sometimes people say I can't
get through I try and I try. Well, the way
to get through is to call at the beginning of
the hour. And so if you're listening, you're thinking, I
want to call today. Now's the time to call the
phone number (877) 548-3675. Tricia McMillan is sitting there in the
(01:15):
producer's chair. Omar Mendoza is our tech guy today. Lisa's
answering the phones. We're grateful for that. And the phone
number here again is (877) 548-3675. So go get yourself a
cup of coffee. Open your Bible. We're about to study
the scriptures together. Can you imagine someone writing a history
(01:41):
of the birth of the United States, including the Revolutionary War,
the Constitutional Convention, the first federal government, and omitting George Washington,
the indispensable man? That would be inconceivable. How much more?
When we look at the book of Esther, and the
one who is central to the entire story isn't even mentioned.
(02:03):
That's right. God is never mentioned directly, even one time
in the book of Esther. The book tells of a
Jewish girl, Esther, who becomes the Queen of Persia. Her
cousin Mordecai, who advises her and Haman's ultimately thwarted plot
to destroy all the Jewish people. Jewish people still celebrate
(02:27):
Purim because of this great deliverance. The name of the
festival is derived from the Hebrew word poor, which means lots,
and the book recalls the overturning of Haman's plan, but
it still omits God's name. This certainly couldn't have been
(02:49):
an accident. It's not an oversight. The author must have
had some purpose since Purim, the Jewish holiday that celebrates
the deliverance of the Jewish people in the Book of Esther,
will be celebrated next week. I thought it would be
good to answer the great Purim mystery. Where is God
in the book of Esther? There are four possible answers
(03:11):
that have been given. Some say this is the first one,
that the book is too profane for God to be
in it. According to this view, the King in the
Book of Esther. Xerxes is essential despot. Esther is a
manipulator who uses her beauty to advance herself. Mordecai is
considered insolent because he refused to bow to Haman, and
(03:35):
the whole book is merely about vengeance. One author says, morally,
Esther falls far below the general level of the Old
Testament and even the Apocrypha. A second view is that
the Scroll of Esther is merely nationalistic propaganda, and it
has no spiritual message, since this view, says Esther, is
(03:56):
merely a tale of national defense and struggle against Hellenism,
one commentator said, God forbid that God should appear in
such a story. A third approach is to view the
Book of Esther as a picture, or an allegory in
which God is hidden in the book through various characters.
Mordecai represents the Holy Spirit. The king represents the believer's flesh.
(04:20):
Esther represents the redeemed believer. Haman represents Satan. This allegorical
approach is far too subjective. It's actually far fetched and
we can't take it seriously. A fourth, and the most
likely explanation is that the Book of Esther is about providence.
(04:42):
The book deliberately conceals the name of God to reveal
his actions. Providence means that God is lovingly guiding all
of history with his good purposes and intentions. It refers
to God's invisible hand. Someone wants to find Providence as God,
performing a miracle but deciding to remain anonymous. The Scroll
(05:05):
of Esther reveals that the Jewish people had adopted the
Persian culture, but forgotten their god. The message of this
book is that even when Israel forgets God, God always
remembers his people. So the name of God is deliberately
left out, just as the Jewish people of Persia had
left him out of their lives. It declares that God
(05:28):
is working even when we don't acknowledge him. Providence is
evident throughout the Book of Esther. Here are just a
few examples. It's all the just happens. Esther just happens
to find favor with the royal official in charge of
the beauty contest. Mordecai just happens to overhear the plot
(05:51):
To against the king. The king just happens to welcome
and point his scepter at Esther. The king just happens
to have insomnia and hear the story of Mordecai saving him.
And Haman, the genocidal maniac and hater of Jews, just
happens to perish on the very day that he planned
to murder all the Jewish people, and on the very
(06:12):
gallows that he prepared for Mordecai. Well, what does this
all have to do with today? Well, first of all,
God was active in preserving the Jewish people so the
Messiah Jesus could come if God hadn't intervened in the
days of Esther. The Messiah wouldn't have been born. God
secured the safety of the Jewish people so the Jewish
(06:34):
Messiah could come and redeem the whole world. Second, God
remains active in preserving and protecting the Jewish people today
and always in light of the huge explosion of anti-Semitism
around the world and in particular in the United States.
In fact, in the United States, there's been a 400%
(06:54):
increase in anti-Semitic incidents in 2024 alone. Well, this should
give us comfort to know that God will always keep
his promises and preserve the Jewish people. Third, God is
active in the lives of all followers of Jesus today,
caring for us, accomplishing his purposes, protecting us even if
(07:16):
we neglect him sometimes. All those coincidences that happen for
our good are not coincidences at all. They're the invisible
hand of God, working all things together for our good.
To this day, the Jewish people continue to celebrate their
deliverance by God from the genocidal plans of Haman. The
(07:37):
celebrations include reading the Scroll of Esther in the synagogue,
complete with noisemakers, to drown out the name of Haman
every time his name is read. It's also customary to
deliver baskets of foods and sweets to neighbours, just as
in the Book of Esther, chapter nine, verse 22, it's
customary to eat tri cornered pastries reminiscent of Haman's hat, or,
(07:58):
some say, his ears. It's reminiscent, and as a result,
we perform plays re-enacting the defeat, reenacting the defeat of Haman.
And in light of Hitler's Holocaust, these celebrations have broadened
their meaning to remember God's preservation of his people at
all other times. And so, just as the Passover liturgy states,
(08:23):
we remember, for not only one enemy has risen up
against us in every generation they rise up to destroy us.
But the Holy One, blessed be he, always delivers us
from their hands. Well, I hope that will be an
(08:49):
encouragement to you the next time you read the Book
of Esther, and maybe a good week to read it
as you prepare for Purim. Well, we're going to go
to the phones right now. We're going to talk to
Patty in Arlington Heights, Illinois, listening on Wmbi. Welcome to
Open Line, Patty. How can I help you today?
S2 (09:08):
Thank you. Michael, my friend posed a question to me
the other day. Is it commonplace for kings to ride
into the city of Jerusalem on mules or donkeys? She
read that in the Book of Kings. And I said, well,
I know the Messiah did, but I didn't know anybody
else did. Is that a normal thing?
S1 (09:25):
Well, in fact, that's what was considered something that, uh, like,
for example, uh, behold, your king comes to you, uh,
and the Lord Jesus comes on, on a riding on
a donkey. It was I've heard some people say, well,
that's the royal animal. I think that the verse in
(09:46):
Zechariah nine nine. By the time Zechariah is writing in
the Post-exilic age, kings are not coming in on donkeys,
and that's why it says he's coming to you lowly
and seated upon a donkey. So a horse would be
what you would expect the king to come on, not
a donkey. Uh, and so, uh, and of course, we
(10:08):
have the imagery of the Lord Jesus returning in revelation 19,
and he returns. How? On a white horse. So I
think that not.
S2 (10:17):
I'll pass that on.
S1 (10:18):
Great. Okay. Thanks for your call. Really appreciate it. And
we're going to talk to Theo in Stickney, Illinois, listening
on wmbi. Hi, Theo. How can I help you today?
S3 (10:31):
Um. Shh.
S4 (10:34):
Wait wait, wait. Theo, before you ask me a question,
are you. Are you all.
S1 (10:40):
Alone? Are you with your folks?
S3 (10:43):
I just I'm just talking to somebody. Okay.
S1 (10:48):
Ah! Hey. Hey, Theo. You know what? Uh. Are you
alone yet? So that you can. We can hear you.
S3 (10:57):
I'm not lonely at my grandma's. Still by me.
S5 (11:00):
Hear, hear.
S1 (11:01):
Oh, good. Well, I'm glad your grandma's by you. You. Hello.
You keep. You keep talking. How old are you? Theo. Hey,
I'm not sure. Theo. How old are you?
S3 (11:14):
I'm six.
S1 (11:15):
You're six years old. And you decided to call the
program by yourself, or did someone put you up to it?
S3 (11:22):
My grandma put me up to it.
S1 (11:24):
I thought so. Yeah. And so your grandma listens to
the program? She thought you. Did you ask her this
question first?
S3 (11:33):
Um, yes.
S1 (11:35):
Yes. Okay. And how? What grade are you in, Theo?
S3 (11:41):
First.
S1 (11:42):
First grade. Okay. And do you go to school or
are you homeschooled? How do you go to school?
S3 (11:49):
I'm going to school. I'm not at home.
S1 (11:52):
At home? You're homeschooled. Gotcha.
S6 (11:54):
No, I'm not okay.
S3 (11:55):
I'm not. I'm not at homeschool. I'm at regular school.
S6 (11:59):
Oh.
S1 (11:59):
Are you okay? Good good good good. Do you still
have first grade? You're studying everything. Do you have a
favorite subject?
S3 (12:09):
Yes, it's kind of. It's Jim.
S1 (12:12):
Jim. That's always was my favorite subject, too. That's great. Well, Theo,
what's your question? Maybe I can help you.
S3 (12:22):
Is God real or not? I might not. My grandma
told me that he was there always in the sky
when nothing was there. Well, I'm kind of. It's hard
to believe.
S1 (12:37):
Huh? Well, what do you think is harder to believe
that God always Existed or that this world came out
of nothing. Think about it. You know that there's an
old thing that nothing comes from nothing, that there's always
something that causes anything else. Like, for example, do you
(12:58):
have a favorite toy?
S3 (13:00):
Um, yes. It's my Legos.
S7 (13:02):
What is it?
S1 (13:02):
Your Legos. Ah, my grandson loves Legos, too. Now, do
you think those Legos just appeared, or were they made?
S7 (13:10):
No.
S1 (13:11):
Well, who made them?
S6 (13:12):
They were.
S3 (13:13):
Made.
S1 (13:14):
At a factory, right? At a toy factory?
S6 (13:17):
Yeah, right.
S3 (13:17):
They were.
S1 (13:19):
And and, uh. And that's the point. When you look
at the world, it's really important to remember that this
world didn't come from nothing. The Bible teaches us that
God alone is the Eternal One. He always existed. And
then everything else that came. The very first part of
(13:39):
creation came because God created it. We. When we look
at the world, we have to assume that there's a creator.
And not only that, he's the master engineer. Think about
how great this world is, how everything works just so wonderfully.
The sun comes up and the and the earth rotates,
(13:59):
and all the things that we're supposed to know about
the world. How does that all happen without a great
designer making it happen? So I think it's important to
listen to your grandma and believe her when she says
that God is absolutely real. But I'm going to tell
you one more thing. God not only made the world,
(14:20):
he not only designed it to be perfectly, but the
Bible teaches that he made you, and he designed you
perfectly because he has a wonderful purpose and plan for
your life. He wants to use you in a great way.
S8 (14:36):
So would you be like Jesus?
S3 (14:38):
I it is. It was. It's really easy to believe
that Jesus rose again because literally, there's an afterlife. It
kind of, um, it makes a lot of sense how
he died for our sins.
S9 (15:04):
We're having some technical difficulties with Michael's connection. But, Theo,
thank you so much. I'm glad that's making sense to you. Um.
And that we could have this. Um, we're going to
take a break, and we'll come back and reconnect with Michael.
You're listening to Moody Radio's Open Line with doctor Michael Melnick.
I'm producer Trish McMillan. We'll be back in just a moment.
S10 (15:27):
What did he say? What happened? Okay.
S1 (15:50):
And we're back. Seemed that had a little bit of
a technological technology glitch there. I'm glad that Tricia was
able to pick up the the microphone and keep on going. Uh,
glad that, uh, you know, it's always great to have
a team like we have at Open Line. I don't
(16:10):
know how I could do it without this team and
Tricia picking up the the the break. There is just
an example of why a team is so necessary. Omar, uh,
part of the team, uh, getting getting me back connected
in with the studio. Into the studio. My studio. Into
the studio there. So that's that's really about teamwork. And
(16:33):
I so appreciate it. I met a member of the
team last week that I didn't even think about. It's
a it's someone that that hosts, uh, on their station.
It's one of our affiliates. They have open line and
the station manager said to me, uh, I'm a kitchen
table partner. And I thought, really? He not only has
(16:56):
the program on his local station, but he's also a
kitchen table partner. And that's part of the team, too.
We've got a lot of partners, and they are the
ones who, uh, help keep us on the air by
giving every month. They keep us on the air every week.
And so if if you are interested in becoming a
kitchen table partner, one of the things that we do
(17:17):
is every other week we send out a Bible study moment.
Trish and I prepare it, and it's a Bible study
moment designed to give you a little brief Bible study
about 8 or 10 minutes. It's a way of saying
thank you for being part of the team. If you're
interested in becoming part of the team, all you have
to do is call 447122. That's (888) 644-7122. Or go to
(17:40):
open line radio.org. And we're going to go to the
phones right now. Uh, and our uh next caller is
Amy in Chicago listening on Wmbi. Welcome to Open Line, Amy.
How can I help you?
S11 (17:57):
Good morning, Doctor Adele. God bless you.
S1 (17:59):
Thank you.
S11 (18:01):
Um, I have a question that's really not important, but
is something I've been wondering about. Like, okay, this morning
I was reading Psalm 130, which says, and it's this
particular phrase that I'm wondering about. It's he's talking about
how his hope is in the Lord and he's waiting
on the Lord. And he says, I wait on the
(18:22):
Lord more than they that watch for morning. And I'm
wondering what what is the context of this in ancient times?
Do you happen to know what? Who are the people.
S1 (18:31):
That.
S11 (18:31):
Wait for the morning?
S1 (18:33):
Yeah, The the idea is that every city had watchmen
on the walls and they were watching not just for
the to make sure that no enemy was coming and
that people were safe, but they waited for the morning
when they could see better, because the most dangerous time
was when attack would come. And at night. And so
(18:58):
they would watch not just through the night, but they
would watch for the morning to come, because it would
always be safer than a surprise attack at night. And
so that's there was a real longing, a desire for
morning to come.
S6 (19:15):
And I.
S1 (19:16):
Think it's, uh, Isaiah 62 that talks about the watchmen
on the walls. Uh, uh, it says, uh, Isaiah 62 six, uh, Jerusalem.
I have appointed Watchmen on your walls. They will never
be silent day or night. There is no rest for
(19:38):
you who remind the Lord. Do not give him rest
until he establishes and makes Jerusalem the praise of the earth.
And so it's using the watchmen on the walls, kind
of metaphorically there to represent, just as there are watchmen
on the walls to protect the city. So there are
a watchmen on the walls for the Jewish people, praying
for them and protecting and seeking God's help. So that's, uh,
(20:02):
that's what that's about. Does that help, Amy?
S11 (20:05):
Absolutely. Thank you so much. God bless.
S6 (20:07):
You.
S1 (20:08):
Thanks for your call. Appreciate it. Uh, Judy in Round
Lake Beach, Illinois, listening on wmbi. Welcome to Open Line.
How can I help you?
S12 (20:18):
I was hoping you could help explain, um, the feast
of Passover and what we have traditionally called Good Friday
as believers. And I've heard it both ways. Um, for
years and years I was taught, oh, Jesus was crucified
(20:39):
on Friday. And then someone explained, well, it was probably
Thursday because of the High Holy Days. Can you explain
all that to me?
S1 (20:51):
Well, it's it's kind of complicated, but I do think
he was crucified on Friday. Uh, the reason that people
say that it was Thursday is, uh, that they are
looking for, uh, a an explanation because Jesus says in
(21:12):
Matthew 12 that the Son of Man will be in
the belly of the earth for three days and three nights.
And so they get out their fingers and they count
three days and three nights and Friday, Saturday, Sunday just
doesn't compute to three days and three nights. And so
they say Thursday. And then there's a reference in the
book of Mark to the high holiday, the High Sabbath, actually.
(21:35):
And so the the explanation, I think that's more reasonable
is that in both the Bible and Jewish literature of
that time, they use something called inclusive time reckoning. Inclusive
time reckoning. And what inclusive time reckoning means is that
(21:59):
any part of a day constitutes a day and a night.
So it's just a term. It's used in the Book
of Esther, for example. Uh, Esther had them pray for
three days and three nights, but it was on the
third day that deliverance came. So, uh, that she was
able to go to see the King. So the point being, uh, that, uh,
(22:24):
when it says three days and three nights, it just
means a part of three days. So Friday would be
a day and a night. Saturday would be a day
and a night, and Sunday morning would be a day
and a night. It's just an idiomatic expression for three days. Uh,
and then the other issue is there's no evidence of
Passover ever being called a high holy day, which is
(22:47):
what you have to believe, uh, for the high Sabbath
thing that that happens, uh, in the book of Mark
that mentions it's just talking about Sabbath, and it's considered
a high Sabbath because it's the weekend of Passover. And
if you go back in the Jewish calendar, uh, that, uh,
first night of Passover was Thursday night, and then Friday
(23:10):
was the the day of the Passover in A.D. 33.
And it was on a Friday that the Lord Jesus
was crucified. So that's how I understand it. But you
know what? Uh, it's kind of, uh, I hope that
explains it somewhat to you, but there's a little more
detailed explanation. In a book I wrote called 50 Most
(23:34):
Important Bible Questions. And, uh, maybe what you could do
is you hang on. Trish will get your name and number, Judy,
and I'll mail you a copy. We'll mail you a
copy of 50 most important Bible questions. Okay?
S12 (23:49):
Okay. Well, I have one of the Chosen People calendars
you had mentioned on the program, and I have one
of those. And this year I think Passover is on
the previous Thursday, like the week before. So I was
wondering if anybody traced it back to see which day
it was that year.
S6 (24:09):
Yeah, yeah.
S1 (24:10):
It was on a Friday.
S6 (24:13):
Uh, it.
S12 (24:13):
Was on a Friday.
S1 (24:14):
Yes. The first day. Uh, and and just so you know,
that that there's a difference between when Passover and Good
Friday come out today is because since the Council of Nicaea.
The date of the observance of the crucifixion has changed,
and and the Christian calendar is based on a solar calendar,
(24:37):
and the Jewish calendar is based on a lunar calendar.
So since the fourth century, things are really different. So
you hang on and what we're going to do is
send you a copy of the 50 Most Important Bible questions.
That'll go into it a little bit more detailed. And
if you're listening and you think, I have a lot
of Bible questions and I can't always get through, what
(24:58):
you can do is you can go to your local
Christian bookstore and pick up that Moody Publishers book I
wrote called 50 Most Important Bible Questions that probably the
most common questions that we get here on Open Line.
And I'm always grateful that when someone asks a question
that I actually answered on in the book 50 Most
(25:20):
Important Bible Questions because because that that gives me confidence
that that I, I really did answer the right ones.
So anyway, we're going to come right back with more
of your questions in just a moment. In fact, the
mailbag is coming in with Tricia in just a bit
the Febc mailbag. So don't go away. You're listening to
(25:42):
Open Line with Michael Radonich. Welcome back to Open Line.
(26:10):
It's time for the Febc mailbag. Febc far Eastern Broadcasting
Company partners with Open Line to bring us the mailbag
every week. And I so appreciate this ministry. They bring
the gospel to people all around the globe with the
use of media and also personal engagement with people. People
(26:31):
to people. I so appreciate this ministry. You should check
out their their podcast. It's called Until All I've Heard.
The way to find out about Febc and the podcast
is by going to their website febc.org. And joining me
right now, back from being away for a couple of weeks. Uh,
(26:52):
is Tricia McMillan here? How you doing, Tricia.
S9 (26:55):
I'm doing okay. Yeah.
S1 (26:57):
Okay. Hey, so here's a really interesting thing that one
of the most common questions I get from people is,
how did we get the Bible? You know, I love
the Bible, but how did we get it? How do
we know it's inspired? How do they choose the books?
You know, after The Da Vinci Code, people are like, well,
was there some conspiracy in choosing the books? Uh, how
(27:20):
did how did they get it transmitted down from generation
to generation? How did they translate it? Like, for example,
what version of the Bible do you usually use?
S9 (27:30):
I mostly use the ESV, the English Standard version, and
then my fallback is the new American standard. Yeah.
S1 (27:38):
See. And I use the the Hcsb, the Holman Christian
Standard Bible. And then I also fall back to the
new American Standard. Or if I'm really, really serious, I
read the Hebrew and the Greek, but that's not what
everyone else can do. So but anyway, the the the
reason I mention this is because I get this question
(28:00):
so much. Here's the resource I've picked for this month
and next month. It's called The Story of the Bible.
It's written by a friend of mine, Carl Laney. Uh,
and it takes you on this journey to understand from
inspiration to canon to transmission, copying the texts, ultimately to
English translation. And it really shows how God worked to
(28:21):
preserve his word. And that's that's the resource that we're
using this month and next. And if anyone would like
to give a gift to Open Line, it's theirs. Uh,
as our thank you to them. Uh, it's it's theirs.
All you have to do is give a gift of
any size and ask for the story of the Bible.
(28:42):
It's a really wonderful little book, and it will really
help you with those questions. Uh, if you'd like to
give a gift, go to Open Line radio.org or call (888) 644-7122.
And make sure to ask for the story of the
Bible by Carl Laney. Have you seen the book yet, Tricia?
S9 (29:01):
I have, I haven't had time to look through it.
It arrived.
S1 (29:04):
Yeah, it arrived and I'm so glad I saw it.
And I thought, yep. When I first, you know, I
found this book. He's a friend of mine. I saw
that he published it, and I found the book, and I.
He didn't send me a copy. Well, not that good
a friend, huh? So he just. I bought a copy,
and I just liked it so much that I said, hey,
let's use this as a resource.
S9 (29:25):
Yeah. And when there's a good resource, we want to
pass that on as a thank you.
S1 (29:29):
Yeah. And, you know, we've got an unusual audience about
the resources we use. I listen to some of the
other radio programs that have resources, and they're not quite
as content driven as Open line listeners. Like. They like
to know books that are. I think it's because they
love the Bible. Our listeners and they. Okay. Well, give
(29:50):
me a book that explains something to me that really
helps me. And and that's why I think they respond
to books like this.
S9 (29:56):
Yes. And I think that the books that the resources
that we find are designed to help you in your
Bible study. We're really trying to focus on resources that
would talk about or help you study the Bible, God
or theology and the spiritual life. And so those kinds
of things, um, are what we're looking to help you do,
(30:16):
because that's what we're trying to do on the program.
And so we're out of out of that. We're also
trying to pick resources that would also help you do that.
S1 (30:23):
Yeah yeah I agree. So hey, well, let's let's get
to the mailbag.
S9 (30:28):
All right. Again these are these are also a little
bit different than some of the questions we've had before.
So I love it. Um, and this one from Lori.
She wrote us on Facebook and said, did Moses, Joshua
and other Old Testament authors walk around with pen and
papyrus or the New Testament authors? Were they following Jesus
with no pads of some sort, like they're depicted in
(30:50):
The Chosen? And then I have a yeah, go ahead.
S1 (30:54):
Well, like they're depicted in The Chosen. I think that's
kind of funny. Well, I don't know if they walked
around with it or what they did. I know Moses
had I'm sure they carried things with them, but I
don't when I picture when I am. And in my mind,
(31:14):
I can't speak to this absolutely, categorically. But I think
Moses had a lot of time on his hands, for example,
because of the wilderness wanderings. And he, you know, 40
years in the wilderness. So he just sat down and
would go into his tent, his sukkah, he would take
(31:38):
out his papyrus or his actually probably was more leather
than papyrus, uh, his skin that he would write on.
And then he would write there. I don't think he
carried around with him like a memo book and the
same thing, I don't know, I haven't seen that part
of The chosen where they carry around paper. Uh, but, uh,
(32:01):
I think the same thing that, uh, first of all,
because writing and reading, reading was common, but, you know,
billboards and all the different things that we see all
the time, all the it wasn't quite as common. So
people had a much greater memory. And so they would
really work to remember and memorize what they saw and,
(32:23):
and heard. And I think as a result of that,
then they would go and write it down after they
memorized it. And so what you have when Matthew writes
the book of Matthew somewhere, I think in the mid 40s,
that's I put it very early in the mid 40s,
about 12, 13 years after the resurrection of of Jesus.
(32:44):
He's writing it down from memory, and maybe he had
taken some notes through the years after, let's say he
heard the sermon on the Mount, and then he wrote
it down. But then what he does when he writes
his book, The First of the Gospels, he puts it
together in a literary fashion. He's got a structure to
it that he wants to follow. And, uh, and so
(33:06):
they're not writing down. They're not they were not like, uh.
S9 (33:11):
Like journalists, like at a, at a press conference where
they've got their notepads or their iPads. Now, obviously they
wouldn't have had iPads, but where they have their little
notebooks and they're just taking notes and writing down the
quotes in this.
S1 (33:23):
Even more so they're not court stenographers is what I
wanted to say. Okay. You know who who get down
every word. Exactly. Even the US and the ums. Yeah.
You know.
S9 (33:33):
Okay. So now you you had mentioned my follow up
to this is you had mentioned a few weeks ago,
we had talked about, um, the, um, the people that
it was a passing comment, but I'm, I was teaching
through my Sunday school class, teaching about the the exodus
and the wilderness time in the Pentateuch. And Moses had
(33:58):
selected 70 leaders to help him lead. And they had
even leaders. There were like leaders to the, you know,
a leader for the hundreds and the leaders for the
down to the tens kind of a thing.
S1 (34:08):
To take tens.
S9 (34:09):
Yes. To to to help him lead these people and
answer these questions that they had that that he just
didn't need to spend his time on while he was
also leading these people through. And you made some passing
comment about that may have been so that he could
be writing down the law. I was like, what? Like that.
Had I I've never actually thought about like, when would
(34:32):
he have written all of these words, which I have
to imagine the specificity of the law in the Pentateuch
in those first, you know, those, um, Exodus, Leviticus, numbers, Deuteronomy,
those would be very important, much like a court stenographer.
But but that, that that you were like, that's that
would be part of the reason that he didn't need
(34:54):
to settle these disputes between brother and brother or different
tribes and things. And he also needed to write down
the first five books of the Bible. And I was like, oh,
you're right, because he has to do that before he dies.
He dies at the end. So somewhere he has written
that down.
S6 (35:11):
And.
S1 (35:12):
I think it's really important to understand the, the Torah,
the it's one book really. Genesis in five volumes. And
it's a story. Yeah. And, uh, you know, you've got
you've got creation, you've got the patriarchs, you've got the
deliverance from Egypt, you've got that whole story. Then all
of a sudden laws get dropped in. Uh, I like
(35:33):
to consider it. So think about it. I think Moses
was very quick to write down the laws as he
received them from God. Like when he went up on
top of Mount Sinai, he wrote them down. But that's
really not the Torah, what the Torah is. He took
those laws and dropped them into the narrative. Uh, it's
like the way I when I teach at Moody, I
show a screen with the narrative, you know, just a
(35:55):
timeline with the different creation. Uh, and primeval history, patriarchal history,
redemptive history from Exodus, wanderings. And then a bag of
laws gets dropped in, and it. And the timeline kind
of animates and goes all around the bag of laws.
And it's a book about the law. It's a story
(36:16):
of how God gave the law to Israel. It's not
the law itself. It's the story about the law. Okay?
And it's and there's there's real. We're taking too long
on this, but it may help people. There's real literary
art in that book. One of the things that that
you can see is that there's a long narrative. Then
(36:38):
there's a this happens four times long narrative, long, long story.
Then there's a poem or a song like in Genesis
one through 48. And then there's Genesis 49, this oracle
by In Poetic Fashion by Jacob. Then there's an epilogue,
the death of Jacob and Joseph. And then you start
(36:58):
the next story, which is the enslavement in Egypt and
God's deliverance, then the song of Moses, and then the
travel to Sinai is the epilogue, and then you've got
the next story and it goes on and on like that.
And so it shows. Narrative poem, epilogue. It shows structure.
Moses wasn't just saying, where do I dump the laws, right?
(37:19):
He had a whole strategy in what he was doing.
S9 (37:22):
And I think even, even the reminder that the Bible
has structure, each book has structure. And each author, even
if they had written down notes, they went back and
they added the structure, or they wrote it with structure,
depending on who it was. They may have done that too. Um,
(37:42):
but that there is it's not just like I think
we think about those first five books, like, oh, this
is the law, okay. And I just have to slug
through it. And it's really hard. I've been surprised in
teaching through it that how many, how many again, how
many stories I've read it before, but how many stories
are in there? This narrative that you're talking about is there.
And then there's, you know, 2 or 3 chapters of
(38:05):
laws or Are more but but often I think at
this time of the year, this beginning part of the year,
people can get lost in, oh no, I have to
read through all of these laws and in even just
the idea is overwhelming. And so they may not even
start or they'll just skip it. But there's a lot
(38:26):
of narrative in there.
S6 (38:27):
Yeah.
S1 (38:27):
And there are blocks of laws that's very interesting to
me there. There are whole sections and then they have narrative.
One of the things you're going to find is every
time Israel sins, they get another block of law and
the sin leads to the next block. And the point
of that is, is someone I think it may well,
(38:49):
I know it was Paul in the book of Galatians
the law was added because of transgression. Yeah. So, hey,
we're going to take a break here. All right, Tricia, but, uh,
it's interesting. I think Paul was reading the Torah as
a narrative, and that's how he got the law was
added because of transgression. Well, we're going to come back
with more of your questions right here on Open Line.
(39:11):
That was Tricia McMillan. I'm Mike Radonich. We're glad to
be with you and talking about the scriptures together with you.
Stay with us. We'll be right back. Welcome back to
(39:34):
Open Line. So glad to be with you today. You know,
people often ask me, do Jewish people still need to
hear about the Messiah Jesus? Do they still need to
put their trust in him? Well, I think it's absolutely
essential that Jewish people hear the good news. And there's
a booklet that Chosen People Ministries is offering. It's called
(39:55):
To the Jewish People First, to the Jew First. And
it was written by Doctor Al Mohler, who is the
president of Southern Baptist Seminary, He said that the cause
of reaching Jewish people with the good news is the
test of faithfulness to the gospel today, that we have
to continue with that commitment. And I think it's a
(40:18):
great booklet. I hope you'll you'll get a copy of it.
The way to get it is by going to our website.
That's Openline radio.org. Scroll down. You'll see a link that
says A free gift from Chosen People Ministries. Click on that.
You'll be taken to a link where you can sign
up a form that you can fill out and sign
(40:39):
up for your very own copy of Al Mohler's booklet
To the Jew first. And we're going to talk now
with Mike in Alabama, uh, listening on Wmw. So glad
you called. Let me just remind people the phone number here, (877) 548-3675. Uh,
you can give us a call right now. We've got
(41:00):
a couple of lines open, and, Mike, uh, Calling from
Alabama on Wmw. How can I help you today?
S13 (41:08):
Thank you for taking my call. And good morning to you.
I'm wondering about Hebrews chapter six, verses four, five and six.
It came up in Wednesday night Bible study. The you're
not going to be able to restore that person crucifying
Christ afresh. What are your thoughts on it?
S1 (41:26):
What are your thoughts on it?
S13 (41:28):
Well, what came up was can you lose your salvation?
And yeah, there's there was three points made. Yes you can.
No you can't. And the writer of Hebrews is just
trying to scare them to death, to stay into Christianity
and not go back into Judaism. Uh, but my personal
thought is that these people were never saved.
S6 (41:50):
Mhm.
S1 (41:51):
Well, it's it's kind of an interesting discussion. I had
a real hard time with this passage. I really believed
in the security of the believer. Or even better, I
like to call it the perseverance of the Savior, not
the perseverance of the saints that Jesus holds us. But
I came to this passage and it really bothered me.
And I remember being a freshman at Bible college and
(42:13):
bringing it up in class when we were talking about
the security of the believer, and the professor tried to
give me all sorts of explanations that just didn't satisfy me.
And then finally he said, I'm going to teach you
one of the most important Bible principles that you'll ever learn.
And I was ready, and it really is, he said,
(42:35):
always interpret the unclear in light of the clear.
S13 (42:40):
Right.
S1 (42:40):
And what that means is what is the clear teaching
of Scripture. Then you come to something against it. You've
got to kind of build your interpretation of that over
what overall what Scripture says. And I'm going to share
with you one of the clearest verses there is. Uh,
it's John six, and in John six it says, all
(43:01):
that the father gives me will come to me. You
know that verse, I think, uh, yeah.
S13 (43:06):
Where he says he never lost no one.
S1 (43:08):
Uh, here's what he says of all that he has
given me. This is the I've only come to do
the will of the one who sent me. And then
he says in verse, uh, uh, this is the will,
verse 39, this is the will of him who sent me,
that I should lose none of those he has given me,
but raise them up on the last day. And so
(43:29):
Jesus stakes his entire identity as the Messiah on the
fact that he cannot lose one of us. So I
hope that clear teaching of Scripture that nothing will ever
separate us from the love of God that's in Messiah.
In Romans eight, the clear teaching of Scripture that we
are sealed with the spirit until the day of redemption.
And who's going to break that seal? No one. Uh,
(43:52):
all those are good evidence that we are secure. However,
Hebrews six is a difficult passage, but I'll tell you
what clears it up for me. First of all, in
Hebrews three six it says that Christ was faithful as
a son over his household, and we are that household.
(44:13):
If we hold on to the courage and confession of confidence,
of our hope. But if we don't hold on to it,
then what it's saying is that we are not his household.
In other words, if we don't hold fast, we're not
his household. Uh 314 if we hold firm until the end,
the reality we had at the start, we have become
(44:35):
companions of the Messiah. If we hold firmly, if we
don't hold firmly, then we have not become companions of
the Messiah. And then in chapter six, when it starts
describing those moving on, a lot of people think he's saying,
leave the elementary message, meaning the the foundational principles of
(44:55):
being a Christian. But that's not what he's saying. When
he says leave the elementary message. He's talking about the
Old Testament predictive element about the Messiah. And the reason
I know this, he says that we have to move
on from teachings about ritual washings. In verse two that's
talking about Old Testament washings, not about Christian baptism. So
(45:17):
he's telling them, you need to move on from an
Old Testament faith to a full New Testament faith. You
have to move on from looking for the Messiah to
to believing in the Messiah. And, uh, then what? He says,
if you abandon this faith now, it's impossible to renew
you to repentance. Uh, you've come close. You've tasted, you've
(45:39):
been in the congregation. You've seen the signs and power.
If you abandon the faith now. And that's what they
were thinking of doing because they were being persecuted.
S6 (45:48):
Right?
S1 (45:48):
There's nothing going to renew you. So it's not talking
about losing your salvation. It's talking about you need to
get saved. Is what he's saying to these Jewish people.
You need to go to the. The to a full faith,
a complete faith in the Messiah. Not just some sort of.
Superficial that you're going to abandon until such time that
(46:10):
the persecution goes away. That's his warning in Hebrews six.
So I hope that helps, uh, understand it when, uh. Uh,
just trust the that which is clear, uh, rather than unclear.
Interpret the unclear in light of the clear. Well, thanks
for your call. Thanks for listening. That's the first hour.
(46:31):
We're going to come back with more questions in the
second hour. Check it out. Uh, our web page, open
line radio.org. During the break, uh, shows you everything you're
looking for. Our Bible study across America will continue in
the second hour, so stay with us. Open line with
Doctor Michael Radonich is a production of Moody Radio, a
ministry of Moody Bible Institute. Stay with us. We'll be back.
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