January 4, 2025 • 46 mins
A new year is upon us and it's time to empty the Mailbag! This Saturday on Open Line, we will kick off the New Year with encouragement from Word of God and some practical tools to help you take YOUR next step with Jesus! Join us as we answer the questions you've sent in about the Scriptures on this weekend's Mailbag edition of Open Line.
Learn more about resources mentioned:
Bible Reading Plans
Chosen People Ministries free gift
FEBC podcast
Moody Bible Commentary
Open Line is listener-supported. To support the program, click here.
Become a Kitchen Table Partner: http://moodyradio.org/donateto/openline/partners
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
S1 (00:08):
Hello friends, happy New Year and welcome to Open Line
with Doctor Michael Ray Dolnick. My name is Michael Ray Dolnick,
and I'm the academic dean and professor of Jewish studies
at Moody Bible Institute. It's time for our Bible study
across America, and I'm so grateful that you're starting your
year by joining me around the radio kitchen table. And
we're going to talk about the questions that you've sent
(00:30):
in about the Bible, God, and the spiritual life to
start the New Year. I thought we'd empty the inbox,
clear the spindle. So today is an all mailbag, all
the time program. So don't call today. You still can
send your questions in. All you have to do is
go to our website, openline radio.org, and you'll see a
(00:51):
link there that says Ask Michael a question. Click over
there for him will come out. You can send your
question there and Trish will put it in the mailbag
for future weeks. But today we're going to answer the
questions that you've sent in in past weeks. We want
to get through as many so that we start the
new year fresh with new questions. And joining me today to, uh,
(01:15):
deal with all the questions you've mailed in is, first
of all, Eva. She's my wife. She's also a colleague
at Moody Bible Institute. She's a co-writer on the Moody
Bible Commentary and the Moody Handbook of Messianic Prophecy. But really,
she's my favorite Bible teacher. And hey.
S2 (01:31):
Happy New Year, everybody.
S1 (01:32):
I'm glad you're here, Eva. And, uh, kind of the
master of ceremonies, the person, or I should say mistress
of ceremonies, the person who's in charge, the person who's
going to ask the questions and keep us online here
to answer your questions, it's Tricia McMillan. She's the producer
of Open Line. So glad you're here, Tricia.
S3 (01:51):
Glad to be here.
S1 (01:52):
Yeah. And, uh, Omar Mendoza is our tech guy today.
Thank you so much, Omar. And again, don't call today.
Today is a special question. Question and answer program based
on the Bible questions and spiritual life questions you've sent in.
And that's what we're going to do. So get ready.
We're about to study the scriptures together, and I'm going
to turn it right over to Tricia. What have you
(02:14):
got for us today?
S3 (02:16):
Well, our first question is from Tom in Illinois. He
listens to Wmbi, says, I just ordered the Moody Bible
Commentary to start the New year off right in God's Word.
And I also plan to buy a new Bible. I've
heard you mention that you use the Holman Edition, but
do you have a favorite translation? Um, yeah. Well.
S1 (02:38):
My favorite translation is the original Holman Christian Standard Bible Hcsb.
It's been revised. I still use the old one. I
the revision is good, but I think it took away
some of the distinctives of the Hdssb and they call
it now the Holman CSB. It's a good one too.
(03:01):
You have to if you want to get the CSB
like I have, you can still find them, but you
buy them on the internet. They're they're sometimes listed as used,
but then they're actually brand new. There are people who
got an HSB and and never, uh, and never really
opened it.
S2 (03:20):
And they don't even write their name in it. You've
ordered a couple of those, right?
S1 (03:22):
Yeah, yeah. And I have a stack of them so
that when I wear out a Bible, I've got the
next one to go. And now, uh, Eva, you have
a different favorite Bible.
S2 (03:32):
My favorite Bible is the new American Standard Version. I've
been reading it for a long time. When I was.
S1 (03:36):
Even thinks that Moses and Paul.
S2 (03:39):
Wrote that. Autographed by them. Um, when I was a
moody student, that was the one I studied out of
as a moody student back when I was in Jewish
studies at Moody, but I continued to read it. I've
done other versions, but I come back to this. It
is not the smoothest reading. Uh, text not doesn't read
as smooth as, say, the one that Michael was just mentioning. However,
(04:00):
I like it because it's a more a word for
word translation, which is why it's kind of bumpy in parts.
But yeah, I'm used to the bumps, so I like it.
S1 (04:08):
So there's different approaches to translation. There's uh, there's like
a formal equivalence. That's a word for word translation, like
the new American standard. And then there's a dynamic equivalence,
which is much more thought for thought. That would be
something like the New Living Translation. And then there's what
(04:32):
the Hcsb tries to be is optimal equivalence, which is
a word for word as much as you can. But
when it's kind of bumpy because you're going from an
ancient different language, uh, to a modern language, you need
to to sometimes smooth it out. And so that's what
they call optimal equivalence. That's why I like about the HSB. Uh,
(04:55):
and I use them all. Uh, many people. I recently
had to preach someplace where they only use the ESV
and the English Standard version, so I happily use that.
What do you use, Tricia?
S3 (05:07):
Uh, our church uses the ESV. Um, I memorized verses
as a kid in either the NIV or NASB. Um,
because the ESV wasn't created yet. That one, I think,
was made in like 2000. Like right around 2000 ish. Um,
and so, so now when my kids are learning their
verses in Awana, I have to check myself because I'm like, oh, yeah,
(05:31):
you got it right. Oh, no, you missed like four
words because it's not the shell, it's a will. And
it's a they're very minor things and they don't change
the meaning. But but they can make me stumble a
little bit when I try and say it because I'm like, oh,
that's not like that's not the right word. Like one
and only son or only begotten son or only son.
(05:51):
You know, like those very small changes.
S1 (05:53):
We use now for your Bible study, like when you
go to or you're reading.
S3 (05:57):
Use. Yeah, I think it depends on where I am.
The one on my phone is ESV. So if I'm
reading on my phone, like because I'm traveling and like
I didn't bring a Bible, it'll be ESV. So it's
probably you use.
S1 (06:12):
When you're at home.
S3 (06:12):
Most of what I use is ESV. Probably the it's
an ESV, I believe. Yeah.
S1 (06:19):
Yeah. Well, what I think is interesting is you use
an hcsb when we're in the studio together.
S3 (06:26):
I do, because I know that's what. That's what I
use or what you what you read. And so anything
that I do with the mailbag, when I look up
the verses and include those, I always make sure I
have the hcsb. And so I actually have an hcsb
that I use in the studio. So, so the one
in my office at work is an Hcsb. So that's
why I say just to kind of depends on where
I am.
S1 (06:45):
Here's the thing I would suggest to Tom, you know,
get several versions. uh, you know, or online. Check them
out and read them. Uh, pick one book and read it.
You know, like a chapter or two in each one
and see which one fits you the best, which which
you like the best. Uh, and then buy that one.
The thing I would caution there are some, uh, what
(07:09):
I would call idiosyncratic translations. Those are translations that are
done by one person. Uh, and I would be careful. Like,
the message might be interesting to read, but I wouldn't
use it as a regular Bible. Uh, there's the passion translation,
which is very quirky, and I would say, no, don't
use that as a regular reading Bible.
S2 (07:28):
The the the new living though that's the.
S1 (07:30):
New living is, is a dynamic equivalence. And it's very good. Uh,
but again, you have to read them and decide which
one fits you the best. But, uh.
S2 (07:41):
I would say two if you if you grew up
with the King James and you love it, then try
the new King James, because it deals with some of
those phrases that, that we don't use anymore the the
the original King James and the new King James.
S1 (07:54):
New King James is a very good translation. However, I
think the especially the Greek text is somewhat problematic that
it's based on. And so I, I would, I would
try to go with a more modern translation, even more
than the new King James. Although if you're really devoted
to King James, uh, then then fine. Now, the one
(08:15):
thing that Evo always says about what's the translation you
should read?
S2 (08:18):
I always say choose the translation that you will read
the most, the one that you are the most comfortable
with and understand the best.
S1 (08:25):
Yeah, because all those translations that we talked about are good. Translation.
The NIV is a good translation. There are lots of
good ones.
S2 (08:31):
So the the ones are minor. Mhm. So the most
important thing right. Read your Bible every day.
S3 (08:38):
That's right. Alright. Thank you. Brenda in Alabama listens to
Wmft says I really appreciate you in the program. I
listen to you on Saturday mornings and learn so much. Uh,
you have talked about the acronym specs. S p e
c s that reminds you what to look for when
(08:58):
you are studying a passage in the Bible. Can you
tell us again what those letters stand for?
S1 (09:05):
Sure. Now, I just want you to know that I
never dreamed that this would have people from Open Line
asking me about. I get asked about this all the
time when I go out and meet with people. Like,
do a live audience, open line. Uh, people will say,
what's the specs again? I, I was a student in
(09:26):
Howard Hendricks Bible study methods class, and he showed us specs,
and I thought, oh, that's good. And I kind of
tucked it away. And now and now I'm always amazed
that people really like this. So here's what you put
on your specs when you read the Bible. It's a
way of making the Bible practical.
S2 (09:43):
It's like putting on your glasses to see something more clearly.
Put on your specs.
S1 (09:47):
Put on your specs, and so see if there's a
statement of truth to believe. Then there's also a promise
to claim, an example to follow, a command to obey,
or a sin to avoid. Those are the specs. Those
are the the five letters statement of truth. Example to follow.
(10:11):
Promise to claim, command to obey or sin to avoid.
And you know you can reverse those S's if you want,
but you know the sin to avoid at the beginning
statement of truth to believe. But either way, it's right.
You got your specs on. And uh uh, Trish, I
think what you need to do is once again.
S3 (10:31):
Post post the graphic on our Facebook and Instagram pages.
That's great. So you can see that. Yeah. No, I
made this fun little graphic like years ago. And so
I keep bringing it out every once in a while
because I think especially as we begin a new year, uh,
People are looking for ways to either reignite how they
study the Bible or they're not sure where to start.
(10:54):
And I think having these questions are just good. So
can you give me an example of how you would
use this? Like let's say John one one in the beginning,
maybe that's not a good verse. In the beginning.
S1 (11:05):
It's a great word. It's a great.
S3 (11:07):
One. Okay.
S1 (11:08):
That's a.
S3 (11:09):
Passage.
S1 (11:09):
God, that's a passage that affirms the deity of the
Lord Jesus. The word was with God and the word
was God. And then it says, Then the word became flesh.
Later on in the.
S2 (11:21):
Passage, good for Christmas time.
S1 (11:23):
Yeah. And so here's the thing. That's a statement of truth.
People often say, do I have to really believe that
Jesus is fully God? And the answer is yes, that's
a statement of truth to believe. So that's a great example.
When you read that, it affirms the truth. So yeah,
that's a good example. So another place. Yes.
S3 (11:44):
Well I was going to say. So. So when we
do this, we're not looking for all five to no
to be answered. You're looking for all five? One verse. Yeah.
S2 (11:51):
One verse might not have all.
S3 (11:53):
Like in that verse. It might not have all five.
But those are different ways that I can say. Is
there a statement of truth in there? Yes, yes there is.
S1 (12:01):
I have my radar on for all five of those. Yep.
But I might only find one. So yeah. That's great. Okay. Uh, no. Okay. Wonderful.
S3 (12:09):
Thank you.
S1 (12:11):
Uh, we're we're going to take a break here, but I,
we're going to when we come back, I just want
to mention that we're supposed to be reading the scriptures.
I really want to encourage that. We're going to read
through the Bible. I read through the Bible every year.
So we're going to talk about that when we come back. Okay, Trish. Okay. Okay. Uh,
and stay with us. There's a lot more to go
(12:32):
on this all mailbag, all the time program of Open
Line with Michael Ray Dolnick, Eva Ray Dolnick and Trish McMillan.
Do you ever feel overwhelmed trying to see how all
27 books of the New Testament fit together? Well, I
have the perfect resource for you. Survey of the New
Testament by Paul Benware takes you on a journey from
(12:54):
Matthew to Revelation, giving you the big picture of God's
grand story of redemption. Get your copy of this resource today.
When you give a gift of any size, call (888)Â 644-7122
or go to Open Line radio.org. Ministry isn't a solo effort.
(13:15):
You know my voice, but if you could see inside
our studio, you'd see a team behind the scenes putting
open line on the air. Look a little further and
you'd see into the homes of listeners like you who
give monthly to make this ministry possible. And when you
join our team of Kitchen Table Partners, I'll send you
a Bible study moment email every other week with tips
and encouragement. Become a kitchen table partner today by calling
(13:38):
(888)Â 644-7122 or go to open Line radio.org. And we're back
for this special all mailbag All the time program with me,
Michael Melnick. Eva Rydell. Nick is joining me. I know
(13:58):
everyone's happy. Uh, I'm always amazed. Uh, people are like,
we're we're okay with you, Nick, but wow, we love
it when Eve is on the program. So. And then
Tricia McMillan is here and we're going through the mailbag.
But before we hit the mailbag, we talked about posting
last segment, the specs graphic that you created. There's something
else I think we need to post, and that is
(14:21):
a read through the Bible in a year program. I
think it's such a good thing. And we can read
through the Bible. There's lots of different programs. I really
want to encourage you to read it by book, not by.
S2 (14:33):
Uh, chronology.
S1 (14:34):
Chronology. Just but and also read. Why do some Old
Testament excuse me, uh, do some Old Testament. Do some
New Testament. Both. I think that would be a really
big help, uh, to to read, not just start in
Genesis and work your way through. And so, Tricia, we
have some, uh, read through the Bible in a year programs,
or at least one that I really recommend that we
(14:56):
can post as well. I want to help you do that.
And if you're getting your your new Bible, your new
moody Bible commentary, you're all set. Uh, Eva, you've been
doing this forever. You do lots of different.
S2 (15:08):
Programs of different ways. I do lots of different ways.
S1 (15:10):
But one of the things that that you discovered is
how many chapters a day do you have to read
to get through the Bible in a year? Oh, I.
S2 (15:18):
Think you only have to read four chapters a day.
I think it is. And if you read for 15
minutes a day, just 15 minutes, you can read through
the whole Old Testament and the New Testament twice, the
Old Testament once, the New Testament, twice in a year,
15 minutes.
S1 (15:32):
You think.
S2 (15:33):
How much time you spend on worthless stuff every.
S1 (15:37):
Day? Every day? Yeah. So 15 minutes a day is
all you need. And you get through the Bible, the
Old Testament and the New Testament twice in a year.
S2 (15:45):
Reading at a normal pace. Yeah. You know, so it's
it's great. And, you know, maybe your church has a,
has a read through the Bible plan that your church.
I know Mike Faber his church does. So if that
if they have that do that. So you're so you're
reading along with what everybody else is reading in your,
in your congregation. But read it every day.
S1 (16:04):
Yeah. Okay. Uh, so that's I wanted to make sure
that that, uh, we had that on on tap for us. Okay. Uh, okay. Trish,
let's let's see where we can go with some more
questions right now.
S3 (16:20):
Okay. Terry in Florida and Susan in Ohio both have
a similar question where they are looking at their Bible carefully. And, um,
in the back in the maps, it has it labeled
as um. It uses the word Palestine to talk about it.
(16:43):
So expansion of the early Church in Palestine or Palestine
and New Testament times. What is meant by this? Shouldn't
it say Israel instead?
S1 (16:52):
Well, let's.
S2 (16:53):
Wait. And some apps will even say Palestine in the
time of Abraham.
S1 (16:57):
Yeah, some maps on some in some Bibles say that.
Now here's where the word Palestine came from. It became
in the Roman period, it became a regional term, a
term for that region. Uh, but it wasn't really a country.
And then by the second century, there was a Jewish
revolt against Rome. And Hadrian. The emperor defeated the Second
(17:21):
Great Jewish Revolt in 135. And he was so annoyed
with this Jewish community that he wanted to wipe out the.
S2 (17:29):
Memory.
S1 (17:30):
The memory of this being a Jewish land. And he thought,
who are the ancient enemies of the Jewish people. Well,
it's the Philistines. So he took that word like.
S2 (17:39):
Like David and Goliath.
S1 (17:40):
Yeah. And he said, let's rename the area of Palestine.
And so they changed the name of Jerusalem to Aelia Capitolina.
They changed. And the Romans then changed the name of
the land from Judea to Palestine. And it was in
the second century. So in the time of Jesus and
the time of the book of acts, it was always
(18:01):
called either Judea. The northern part was called Galilee. The
whole place was called Judea. The the area was still
in the Bible called the Land of Israel, or the
land of the Jews. In the New Testament, the word
Palestine is never found except in the maps. And the
reason this is significant is now the state of Israel exists,
and the word Palestine has become a sort of controversial term.
(18:23):
And so when it's talking about Israel, it's not talking
about Palestine, it's talking about Israel. And that's the biblical name.
So much so that I have a radical wife.
S2 (18:32):
I have a glue stick, and I'll find a little
print word of Israel, and I'll glue it over the
word Palestine.
S1 (18:39):
On her maps in her.
S2 (18:40):
Bible. So if I if I have a Bible that
has Palestine on the maps, I, I correct it with
the word Israel or Judea because I think it is
so wrong. And like Michael said, it was a regional.
Initially it was a regional word, like Africa, but it was.
S1 (18:55):
From the Roman period.
S2 (18:56):
From the Roman period. And then it was then it
was like focused in on on Judea. Yeah. And it
became Palestine.
S3 (19:03):
Why why is it still on the maps?
S1 (19:06):
Uh, because.
S2 (19:07):
The Romans made all the maps.
S1 (19:09):
Well, begin with.
S3 (19:10):
Well, no, but in our in our current Bibles that
are being revised and updated. And why why are those.
I mean, obviously, everybody knows. I would think that in
the time of Abraham, it wasn't called that because it.
S1 (19:23):
Was called.
S3 (19:23):
Canaan. So. So why doesn't it say Canaan in Abraham's time?
Or like why? Why are the current Bibles that are
still being printed and updated. Why do they still have that?
S1 (19:35):
Well, because it became the term for centuries in in
scholarly literature. So if you're writing in the 19th century
that that was the land as it was called then.
So they didn't use the biblical terms, they used the
term that was in that time. So in the 18th century,
19th century, early 20th century scholars always used the term
(19:58):
that as it was then Palestine for about 1800 years,
1900 years. And so now they just I don't think
there's any it's not like there's a political purpose for
most people. When they do that, they're just keeping up.
It's a.
S2 (20:14):
Tradition.
S1 (20:15):
It's a tradition. It's a tradition.
S2 (20:16):
And you'll see it. The other place you'll see it too,
is in Bible dictionaries. Sometimes it'll talk about events that
happened in Palestine, and, you know, you'll hear it in sermons.
S1 (20:25):
I was once being interviewed by. This was about 20
years ago. It was during the time of the Second Intifada,
when there was a lot of violence and terrorism in Israel,
people crossing into Israel. And I was being interviewed by
someone from Moody on Moody Radio and they said, hey, Michael,
update us on what's going on in Palestine. And I said,
(20:47):
do you mean Israel? Oh, yeah, I guess so. So yeah. Well,
I think.
S3 (20:53):
There's confusion of it. And now with the, um, I
think politics today has heightened the awareness.
S1 (21:01):
That the.
S3 (21:01):
Word is being used or it is being used. Um,
but I think there's still that confusion over are they
the same? Where did it come from? You know, these
kind of things.
S1 (21:11):
So that's why. And then we find it in our Bibles.
S3 (21:14):
Yeah.
S1 (21:15):
I'm revising a book called understanding the Arab-Israeli conflict and
updating that. And that explains how these terms came to be. So. Okay.
S3 (21:24):
Wonderful.
S1 (21:25):
You can still get the old edition, but I'm updating
the into a new one. Yeah.
S3 (21:29):
Wonderful. Well, thank you for that. I hope that helps
clear things up. Terry and Susan Kylie in Indiana listens
to Wagner, and she's going to take us back to Genesis.
When God created the earth, he created the sun and
the moon and the stars to provide light. When you
get to revelation, John describes the new heaven and a
(21:49):
new earth and says, there is no need for the
sun because it will be the light. Why did God
create the sun for the first creation, if he intended
to dwell with humanity in the garden? Like, why even
make the sun if because he it says he walked
with them in the garden.
S1 (22:09):
Well, why would I?
S3 (22:11):
Is that a little different?
S1 (22:12):
In this creation, God intended to use the sun. Uh, the.
I don't know that, you know, it's what was God's
ultimate intention with that, I don't know, uh, but I
do know that in the new heavens and the new earth,
that means it's a new creation. It's it's it's a
(22:32):
new world. I don't know if it's a renovated world.
This one, uh, when I was the new one. Yeah, yeah.
Or is it a brand new? Completely never existed before creation.
I don't know, with the New Jerusalem, but it's. It's
going to be a new world. And that's why it's
going to be different. That's that's all I. You know,
(22:53):
I don't know that God's purpose in the Garden of
Eden was to provide the light through his own being.
I don't I don't see that.
S3 (23:02):
Because he created the sun as the source of the light,
the greater light and the lesser light. Okay. All right.
Thank you. Uh, Genesis 3631 Mike writes from Idaho. Seems so.
We got a couple of things. There seems to have
been a long time after Moses.
S1 (23:25):
Genesis 3631.
S3 (23:27):
Genesis 3631, which happens before Moses. So I will clarify
that in terms of when Moses shows up. But it says,
these are the kings who ruled in the land of
Edom before any king ruled over the Israelites. So after
meaning there is a reference to future events of these
Israelite kings, um, which happened after Moses. So I think
(23:50):
that that's what he means. Um. This doesn't seem to
make sense, then, that Moses would write that, since that
would have happened so long after he would have written
the books in the Pentateuch. Can you address that?
S1 (24:06):
Yes. Uh, people have used this to attack mosaic authorship
of the Pentateuch. What they don't realize is that Moses wrote, uh,
and then it was copied from generation to generation to generation.
(24:27):
And as they copied it, they updated. It's what Michael
Grisanti at Master's Seminary calls inspire updates. And there were
these updates as they copied it. That and they were
inspired updates right up until the close of the canon.
In fact, one of those inspired updates is the very
last chapter of the Pentateuch, where it talks about Moses death.
(24:50):
And there's no prophet that has arisen like Moses since
that time.
S3 (24:54):
So you don't think he wrote this about himself, right? Yeah, right.
I'm kidding. I don't think he did.
S2 (24:59):
Right, exactly. And it wasn't written like five minutes after
he died.
S1 (25:02):
It was a long time later. So I like to
call the final version that we have at the close
of the canon, Torah 2.0, and it has all these updates.
For example, the city of Laish is, uh, is called
Dan because later on the Israelites came into the land
and took Dan. And so what you have is inspired
(25:23):
updates people like Ezra and others who were doing the updating,
who were biblical writers. They updated it so that it's
what we have today. So Moses wrote it. Torah 2.0.
Let's put that in the hands of Ezra. And and
that's what we've got today.
S3 (25:38):
So. All right. Great.
S1 (25:39):
Hope that helps with that. We're going to come back
with more of your questions in just a moment. You're
listening to Open Line with my two guests. Eva. Right.
Tricia McMillan. And we'll be right back. Stay right there.
We're so glad that Febc partners with Open Line with
(26:01):
Doctor Michael Ray Dolnick bringing the Febc mailbag every week.
Learn how far East Broadcasting Company is taking Christ to
the world at febc. Org on their weekly podcast. Until
all have heard with Ed Cannon, you'll hear stories of
lives changed by Messiah all across the globe. Again, you
can hear the podcast when you visit febc. Dawg. That's
(26:24):
fake dawg. Welcome back to Open Line I'm Michael Radonich
and joining me today is Eva Radonich and Tricia McMillan. What? We're, uh,
what we're doing today is clearing the spindle. We're emptying
(26:47):
out the the inbox. We're trying to answer the questions
that you've sent in that are left over from last year.
And we're starting the new year off next week with
new questions that you've mailed in. But today, don't call.
It's just a time for us to go through the mailbag.
And I'm so glad that Trish has pulled this together.
We're going to try and get through as many as
(27:07):
we can, aren't we, Tricia?
S3 (27:09):
We are. Okay. Our our next question is from Linda
in Illinois. Listens to WMP, says I'm reading my Bible
daily to finish in one year. I'm in acts now
and today is a reading about Saul or Paul. As
a side note, the commentator says that there is a
forbidden chapter in the Tanakh, and rabbis will not allow
(27:32):
Isaiah 53 to be read in synagogues. I've never heard
this before. Is this true?
S2 (27:39):
Uh, no. No. Not true.
S1 (27:43):
A lot of people misunderstand the reading cycle. Uh, in
the synagogue. The synagogue. Three times a week. We read
in the synagogue from the Torah, so that in a
year we will complete the entire Torah Genesis through Deuteronomy.
Then there's something called the Haftorah. Uh, and it doesn't
(28:07):
mean half of the Torah. It's just it's a prophets
reading and excerpts from the prophets are read as well.
Not the whole set of the prophets, but excerpts from
the section called the prophets and sometimes they don't read
any of it. And Isaiah 5213 through 5312 was not
(28:29):
included in the prophets readings. Reading. It's not forbidden. It's
just not in the reading cycle that we have three
times a week. Uh, just they have excerpts from the prophets,
but every Hebrew Bible has Isaiah 53 in it. Every Hebrew, uh,
Bible is you're encouraged to read it. There's no there's
(28:53):
no forbidden chapter. Now, it may be I wonder why
they left that one out of all you know, I
don't know. Uh, but it's not forbidden by any means.
It's in the Bible. Uh, it's commented on by Jewish
commentators over and over. I disagree with their comments. Most
common since the Middle Ages. Most Jewish commentators say it's, uh,
(29:16):
it's about Israel as the suffering servant, not the Messiah,
but ancient rabbis said it was the Messiah. But I.
I think it's wrong to say it's forbidden.
S2 (29:26):
Yeah, it's it's not a plot. Yeah. To keep Isaiah
53 from being read. There's a lot of portions that
aren't read, but but we just happen to know what
a significant portion that is. Yeah, I'd have.
S1 (29:38):
Picked it if I had been the rabbi setting the reading.
S2 (29:40):
Cycle. Yeah, right. But, you know, that was a long
time ago. We weren't around. Yeah. So.
S3 (29:45):
Okay. All right. Thank you. Thank you for that clarification.
And thank you for that question, Linda. Marilyn listens to
us in Melbourne, Australia on the Moody Radio app. Oh, hooray!
I'm grateful for you. I know right. I'm grateful for
your wonderful teaching that has ministered to me through your program.
I'm doing a devotional that presents Psalm 91 as literal
promises from God, and I'm having trouble accepting that. Can
(30:08):
you please explain how we should make sense of Psalm 91,
the context, meaning, and how to apply it personally in
our relationship with the Lord?
S1 (30:17):
Yeah, a lot of people ask me about Psalm 91
in particular during the Covid pandemic when we were all
locked down. And the reason for it, uh, it talks
about the one who lives under the protection of the
Most High, dwells in the shadow of the Almighty. And
it says that, uh, because you've made the Lord God
(30:40):
your refuge, uh, no harm will come to you. No
plague will come near your tent, for he will give
his angels orders concerning you, to protect you in all
your ways. Sounds like nothing could ever make us die.
Nothing could ever make us, uh, you know, fall into
any kind of problem. Uh, I think, first of all,
(31:00):
we need to look at the Book of Psalms as
the prayer book of the Messiah. As Bonhoeffer called it,
this is really more about Jesus than it is about us,
but it's applicable in our lives. And this was quoted
by the enemy when he said.
S2 (31:15):
Yeah, when he when he says in the in the wilderness,
you know, cast yourself down. Nothing can happen to you. Yeah.
S1 (31:22):
He he'll give his angels charge over you.
S2 (31:24):
Yeah.
S1 (31:25):
And he quotes Psalm 91. And the first answer that
the Lord gave was, uh, don't tempt the Lord your God.
S2 (31:32):
Don't tempt the Lord your God. Yeah.
S1 (31:34):
Yeah. You don't. You don't say, oh, nothing's going to
bad's going to happen to me. So let me I'm
going to go play in traffic. That's that's not that's
not what this is teaching. Don't tempt God. Right. Uh,
the second thing is, what this means is nothing can
happen to you until God's time. If it meant that
nothing ever could happen to you, that no one could
(31:55):
ever die, then this verse, which has its primary sense
about the Messiah, he would have never died. But it
was up to God's. Nothing could happen to you apart
from God's timing. Right. And God's will.
S2 (32:09):
This is what's so important about how you read all
of the Bible. You just don't have just. This is my.
This is all I know of the Bible. I'm just
going to read this. This this one, one psalm. Whereas
job said, Though he slay me, yet will I trust him. Yeah.
You know.
S1 (32:21):
So the time of it is, I think, here's the
principle that we can apply in our lives. Nothing bad
can happen to us or those whom we love if
we've taken God as our protector. Unless the time is
right when God allows it. Everyone's going to die. Some
people die younger. Some people die older. Uh, unless we're
(32:43):
going to get raptured. But otherwise we're going to die.
We can't take this verse, say, oh no, nothing bad
will ever happen to us. You know, that's just not true. Uh,
but nothing bad will ever happen to us apart from
God's permission and timing. That's what it's teaching.
S3 (33:01):
Okay, I think back to the specs that we talked
about in the first part of the program and the
the statement of truth about who God is in this
and what he will do the promise to claim. Um,
is there a promise to claim?
S1 (33:19):
Yeah. The promise here that we can claim is that
nothing bad can happen to us until God's time.
S2 (33:23):
And we're abiding in the shadow of the Almighty. No
matter what's happening to us.
S1 (33:27):
Yeah. Whether we're. We're here or in his presence. You know,
even I we've thought about this verse quite a bit
when we became parents, you know. And Trish, you know this.
How do we worry about our kids? You know that we're.
S3 (33:39):
In every way you can think.
S2 (33:41):
Of. Yeah. It goes from is it going to be
like crib death or run over by a car or
drown at the pool playing with your friends or making
terrible choices?
S4 (33:50):
We're just.
S1 (33:51):
And I kept thinking, apart from trusting God, I couldn't
have had kids. I don't know how people who.
S2 (33:58):
Are parenting without.
S1 (33:59):
Parenting, without the Lord in their life. I, I don't
know how they they get up in the morning, you know,
they because the the anxiety closet would fly open. But
I trust God he knows what he's doing.
S3 (34:10):
Yeah, yeah. And even I think the sin to avoid
in this one. What Jesus said when he refutes Satan
is don't tempt God, you know, with these things. So?
So there are lots of ways we can.
S1 (34:23):
Yeah. Eat healthy, don't play in traffic, you know, do
the things that you're supposed to do and, you know,
work out. Do all the stuff that you're supposed to do.
People say, why should I do that if God knows
the day of my death? Well, yeah, but he may
have determined that we work out and eat healthy to, uh,
to preserve us. So let's let's go ahead and do that. So.
S3 (34:42):
All right, thank you for that question, Marilyn. And thank
you for listening to us in Australia.
S1 (34:48):
Yeah. Yep. Well, we're going to come back in just
a little bit. Uh, don't, uh don't run, don't go away.
We're going to answer the questions you've sent in this
past year, and we're going to make sure to try
and clear the spindle completely. Don't call today, though. Uh.
Keep listening. This is Michael Ray Dolnick, Eva Ray Dolnick
and Tricia McMillan right here on Moody Radio's Open Line.
(35:10):
Stay with us. Did you ever feel Christians can't do
anything about the growing anti-Semitism in the world? Well, that's
why Chosen People Ministry is one of our partners, is
offering a free book called Uncommon Allies American Jews and
(35:30):
Christians Uniting Against Hitler, 1933 through 45, written by Alan Shore.
This book shows the importance and power of Christians standing
against anti-Semitism in the past, so will be motivated to
do the same in the present and the future. Just
go to Openline radio.org. Scroll down until you see the
(35:51):
link that says A free gift from Chosen People Ministries.
Click on that and you'll be taken to a page
where you can sign up for your very own copy
of Uncommon Allies. Welcome back to Open Line. It's a
special day here. It's clearing the spindle. We're answering the
(36:12):
the questions you've mailed in every nick is with me,
Tricia McMillan. And we're going to go right back to
the mailbag right now. Tricia.
S3 (36:20):
All right. Our next question is from a man in
Illinois who listens to WNBA and says, what is the
difference in meaning between Savior, Messiah, and Lord?
S1 (36:33):
Well, they're all three different words.
S3 (36:35):
Uh, they are.
S1 (36:36):
Yeah. I mean, they're not they're not.
S3 (36:38):
Use them.
S1 (36:39):
Interchangeably. They're all about the same person. We use them
interchangeably about the same person, but they don't. They're not
synonyms at all. They're not even they're not related in meaning. Uh,
I'll start with Savior. Eva. You can take Messiah.
S4 (36:55):
You bet about that.
S1 (36:56):
Uh, Savior is the word both in Hebrew and in
Greek that's used in the Bible. It really means deliverance.
And it can. The context tells us what kind of
deliverance it might be, military or physical deliverance that God gives.
He saves us. Oh, you saved me. You know that
(37:16):
kind of word. And then, of course, it could be
used of deliverance from sin, forgiveness of sin. He saved
me from my sin. And that's how it's used, for example,
in the message of of the angel that you'll name
him Jesus. Uh, because that's the Hebrew word in Hebrew,
the word Jesus is, uh, Yeshua, Yeshua. And it means
(37:39):
salvation because he will save his people from their sins.
So that's what Savior means.
S2 (37:44):
And the word Messiah, as we say it in English,
actually means Anointed One. And because he was anointed, kings
were anointed, priests were anointed. And he is the Anointed
one as our Savior and Redeemer.
S1 (37:57):
And it came to have a technical sense to have.
S2 (38:01):
A technical sense specifically to the work of the son.
And we know it. It translated into English as Christ.
Christ is the Greek meaning for the Anointed one. Moshiach
is the Hebrew or Messiah, as in English, so Christ
and Messiah. Same word. Two languages like water and agua.
(38:25):
Same word. Two languages.
S1 (38:27):
Right. So. Okay, so that's it. And it got this
technical sense of being the future son of David who
would come and deliver his people. And that's that's how
it's used when Jesus, when we talk about Jesus the Messiah,
the last word is Lord. It means master, but it
is in in Greek. It's got the sense of curiosity
(38:49):
sometimes can mean sir or master, but sometimes it can
also mean God. Uh, and so context again declares what
it is. Uh, and that's what it means. And so when, uh,
when we use of our Lord, you know, we were
we know the word Lord, Lord of the manor or
(39:09):
things like that. Uh, but also we know, Lord God.
And so context tells us.
S4 (39:17):
Okay.
S3 (39:17):
All right. Thank you. Um, I think an interesting verse,
John 2031 actually uses at least a couple of these.
These are written that you may believe that Jesus is
the Christ or the Messiah, the Son of God, and
that by believing you may have life in his name.
And so it it it can get, uh, we can
(39:39):
we can stop trying to figure out, like, what do
they all mean? Because sometimes they just got get all
run together, like, that's like, okay, they're just talking about Jesus. Like, yeah,
you know that they all that John 2031. What? All
of those individual words have a different meaning.
S1 (39:56):
So when it says that, uh, that you might believe
that Jesus, that's his earthly human birth name. Right. So
that shows he's human is the Messiah. That's, uh, that
has to do with his royal name. He's the promised
son of David, the king. Uh, the king of Israel.
(40:17):
And so that's his royal name. So a human name.
Royal name, and then a. Royal title. And then that
he's the Son of God that reflects his deity, his
god name. His God title. So, uh, in that verse,
it deals with human humanity, deity and royalty all. Three
(40:38):
so yeah.
S2 (40:39):
That's a great verse to bring up.
S4 (40:40):
Trish.
S3 (40:41):
Great verse. Does the does the use of Jesus in
that mean savior then? Yeah. The Yeshua okay. So it's
actually using Savior and Messiah.
S4 (40:50):
Yeah. In the same sentence.
S3 (40:52):
God all in that same sentence.
S4 (40:54):
Yes. Son of God. Yeah.
S3 (40:55):
Son of God. But the deity aspect. Yeah. Okay. All right.
Thank you. Thank you for that. Uh, we actually have
a question from Judith in Minnesota asking about the phrase
Son of God. Um, yeah.
S1 (41:10):
Son of man.
S3 (41:11):
I'm sorry. Son of man. You're right. Son of man. Um.
In Ezekiel. Ezekiel himself is called son of man over
90 times. Jesus uses that term for himself. Um, does
that mean just that they were the Son of Man,
thus born from a human talking about that human side?
Or does it have a greater meaning or a different meaning?
S1 (41:34):
Well, I don't. Son of man just means humanity. I
don't believe the Lord Jesus was using it, uh, based
on how Ezekiel was called human being. You know, that's
what Son of Man means. Human. Um, he was using
it based on Daniel seven. And, uh, in Daniel seven,
(41:57):
there's a vision that Daniel sees of of God. He's
called the Ancient of Days, the Eternal One, he says,
as I kept watching in verse nine Daniel seven nine,
I kept watching. Then it says, and a lot of
people miss this. It says thrones were set in place,
(42:18):
and the Ancient of Days took his seat. And then
it describes what the Ancient of days. Now we can't
ever see God. This is a vision. So it's. He's
not actually seeing God. He's seeing a vision of God.
And he's called the Ancient of Days. But there are
two thrones. Uh, and I think that's interesting because who
is the other throne for? It says Thrones, plural, were
(42:41):
set up, and I watched it says, uh, and it says,
I saw verse 13. I continued watching in the night visions,
and I saw one like a son of man. This
is another a figure that appears to be deity for
(43:02):
the other throne, and he's like a son of man.
He appears human, he looks fully human, but he's deity
and he's coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached
the Ancient of Days and was escorted before him, and
he was given authority to rule and glory in a
kingdom so that every people, nation, language should serve him.
His dominion is everlasting and will not pass away. His
(43:26):
kingdom is one that will not be destroyed. Point being,
there's a divine figure in this passage who is looks
like a human, a deity figure who looks fully human.
And this is the passage that when the high priest
asks the Lord Jesus, you know, are you the Messiah?
(43:48):
This is in the Gospel of Matthew. Are you the Messiah?
S2 (43:52):
Uh, in Matthew eight. Is that. No, no. You think
about Matthew 26.
S4 (43:55):
Yeah.
S1 (43:56):
Matthew 26. Uh, he says, are you the Messiah? How does,
uh how does Jesus answer him? He says, uh.
S2 (44:07):
Uh, 20.
S4 (44:07):
27.
S2 (44:08):
20.
S1 (44:10):
Uh, he says, are you the Messiah? This is the
high priest. I'm sorry. Matthew 26.
S2 (44:15):
2624. Yeah.
S1 (44:17):
Go ahead and read that.
S2 (44:17):
It says, um, he says, are you the Messiah? And
he says, yes. Jesus says, he who the Son of
Man is going to go just as it is written
of him. Is that the one you're thinking about?
S4 (44:29):
No, no.
S1 (44:30):
There's a I'm looking for it. You hear the pages
turning here? Oh, oh, here it is.
S2 (44:34):
64. 64.
S4 (44:35):
Yeah. 64.
S1 (44:36):
That's it.
S2 (44:36):
When he says, are you the Messiah, the Son of God? Said,
the Son of God. And Jesus said to him, you
have said it yourself. Nevertheless I tell you that hereafter
you will see. You will see the Son of Man
sitting at the right hand of power and coming on
the clouds of heaven.
S1 (44:52):
That's a reference right back to Daniel 713 that we
just read. And. in my opinion, the Lord Jesus uses
the term Son of Man not to emphasize his humanity,
as many commentators say, but because he uses it based
on Daniel seven, it's to emphasize that he is the
God man. He is that figure that everyone knew. So
(45:14):
when he calls himself the Son of Man, he is
doing that. And to show that this is true, when
he quotes it here with Daniel 713, what does the
high priest do? He tears his robes and says he's blasphemed.
Why does he think he's blasphemed?
S2 (45:27):
If Jesus were just saying I'm a human being like you,
that wouldn't be blasphemy.
S4 (45:31):
But by claiming.
S1 (45:32):
To be the Son of Man in Daniel seven, he's
claiming deity. And as a result of that, the high
priest says, oh, that's blasphemy. You can't, you can't say that.
So when you read the Gospel of Luke and or
Mark and Jesus favorite self description is that he is deity,
(45:54):
son of man, he says, the Son of Man, because
he says that over and over. Well, that's what he's doing.
He's claiming deity from Daniel seven. I hope that answers
that for you. Thanks for listening, everyone, because the first
hour is complete. The second hour is coming up on
most of these stations. Stay with us. Or if your
station doesn't carry us, you can always listen on the
(46:16):
Moody Radio app or online during the break. Check out
our web page, Open Line radio.org. You can even post
your question there under Ask Michael a question if you
have it. The Bible study across America will continue in
the second hour with my friends and my friend Tricia McMillan,
my wife, Eva Radonich. Uh, we're glad to be with you.
Open line with Doctor Michael Riddell. Nick is a production
(46:37):
of Moody Radio, a ministry of Moody Bible Institute. More
questions coming up straight ahead. Stay with us.
Hello friends, happy New Year and welcome to Open Line
with Doctor Michael Ray Dolnick. My name is Michael Ray Dolnick,
and I'm the academic dean and professor of Jewish studies
at Moody Bible Institute. It's time for our Bible study
across America, and I'm so grateful that you're starting your
year by joining me around the radio kitchen table. And
we're going to talk about the questions that you've sent
(00:30):
in about the Bible, God, and the spiritual life to
start the New Year. I thought we'd empty the inbox,
clear the spindle. So today is an all mailbag, all
the time program. So don't call today. You still can
send your questions in. All you have to do is
go to our website, openline radio.org, and you'll see a
(00:51):
link there that says Ask Michael a question. Click over
there for him will come out. You can send your
question there and Trish will put it in the mailbag
for future weeks. But today we're going to answer the
questions that you've sent in in past weeks. We want
to get through as many so that we start the
new year fresh with new questions. And joining me today to, uh,
(01:15):
deal with all the questions you've mailed in is, first
of all, Eva. She's my wife. She's also a colleague
at Moody Bible Institute. She's a co-writer on the Moody
Bible Commentary and the Moody Handbook of Messianic Prophecy. But really,
she's my favorite Bible teacher. And hey.
S2 (01:31):
Happy New Year, everybody.
S1 (01:32):
I'm glad you're here, Eva. And, uh, kind of the
master of ceremonies, the person, or I should say mistress
of ceremonies, the person who's in charge, the person who's
going to ask the questions and keep us online here
to answer your questions, it's Tricia McMillan. She's the producer
of Open Line. So glad you're here, Tricia.
S3 (01:51):
Glad to be here.
S1 (01:52):
Yeah. And, uh, Omar Mendoza is our tech guy today.
Thank you so much, Omar. And again, don't call today.
Today is a special question. Question and answer program based
on the Bible questions and spiritual life questions you've sent in.
And that's what we're going to do. So get ready.
We're about to study the scriptures together, and I'm going
to turn it right over to Tricia. What have you
(02:14):
got for us today?
S3 (02:16):
Well, our first question is from Tom in Illinois. He
listens to Wmbi, says, I just ordered the Moody Bible
Commentary to start the New year off right in God's Word.
And I also plan to buy a new Bible. I've
heard you mention that you use the Holman Edition, but
do you have a favorite translation? Um, yeah. Well.
S1 (02:38):
My favorite translation is the original Holman Christian Standard Bible Hcsb.
It's been revised. I still use the old one. I
the revision is good, but I think it took away
some of the distinctives of the Hdssb and they call
it now the Holman CSB. It's a good one too.
(03:01):
You have to if you want to get the CSB
like I have, you can still find them, but you
buy them on the internet. They're they're sometimes listed as used,
but then they're actually brand new. There are people who
got an HSB and and never, uh, and never really
opened it.
S2 (03:20):
And they don't even write their name in it. You've
ordered a couple of those, right?
S1 (03:22):
Yeah, yeah. And I have a stack of them so
that when I wear out a Bible, I've got the
next one to go. And now, uh, Eva, you have
a different favorite Bible.
S2 (03:32):
My favorite Bible is the new American Standard Version. I've
been reading it for a long time. When I was.
S1 (03:36):
Even thinks that Moses and Paul.
S2 (03:39):
Wrote that. Autographed by them. Um, when I was a
moody student, that was the one I studied out of
as a moody student back when I was in Jewish
studies at Moody, but I continued to read it. I've
done other versions, but I come back to this. It
is not the smoothest reading. Uh, text not doesn't read
as smooth as, say, the one that Michael was just mentioning. However,
(04:00):
I like it because it's a more a word for
word translation, which is why it's kind of bumpy in parts.
But yeah, I'm used to the bumps, so I like it.
S1 (04:08):
So there's different approaches to translation. There's uh, there's like
a formal equivalence. That's a word for word translation, like
the new American standard. And then there's a dynamic equivalence,
which is much more thought for thought. That would be
something like the New Living Translation. And then there's what
(04:32):
the Hcsb tries to be is optimal equivalence, which is
a word for word as much as you can. But
when it's kind of bumpy because you're going from an
ancient different language, uh, to a modern language, you need
to to sometimes smooth it out. And so that's what
they call optimal equivalence. That's why I like about the HSB. Uh,
(04:55):
and I use them all. Uh, many people. I recently
had to preach someplace where they only use the ESV
and the English Standard version, so I happily use that.
What do you use, Tricia?
S3 (05:07):
Uh, our church uses the ESV. Um, I memorized verses
as a kid in either the NIV or NASB. Um,
because the ESV wasn't created yet. That one, I think,
was made in like 2000. Like right around 2000 ish. Um,
and so, so now when my kids are learning their
verses in Awana, I have to check myself because I'm like, oh, yeah,
(05:31):
you got it right. Oh, no, you missed like four
words because it's not the shell, it's a will. And
it's a they're very minor things and they don't change
the meaning. But but they can make me stumble a
little bit when I try and say it because I'm like, oh,
that's not like that's not the right word. Like one
and only son or only begotten son or only son.
(05:51):
You know, like those very small changes.
S1 (05:53):
We use now for your Bible study, like when you
go to or you're reading.
S3 (05:57):
Use. Yeah, I think it depends on where I am.
The one on my phone is ESV. So if I'm
reading on my phone, like because I'm traveling and like
I didn't bring a Bible, it'll be ESV. So it's
probably you use.
S1 (06:12):
When you're at home.
S3 (06:12):
Most of what I use is ESV. Probably the it's
an ESV, I believe. Yeah.
S1 (06:19):
Yeah. Well, what I think is interesting is you use
an hcsb when we're in the studio together.
S3 (06:26):
I do, because I know that's what. That's what I
use or what you what you read. And so anything
that I do with the mailbag, when I look up
the verses and include those, I always make sure I
have the hcsb. And so I actually have an hcsb
that I use in the studio. So, so the one
in my office at work is an Hcsb. So that's
why I say just to kind of depends on where
I am.
S1 (06:45):
Here's the thing I would suggest to Tom, you know,
get several versions. uh, you know, or online. Check them
out and read them. Uh, pick one book and read it.
You know, like a chapter or two in each one
and see which one fits you the best, which which
you like the best. Uh, and then buy that one.
The thing I would caution there are some, uh, what
(07:09):
I would call idiosyncratic translations. Those are translations that are
done by one person. Uh, and I would be careful. Like,
the message might be interesting to read, but I wouldn't
use it as a regular Bible. Uh, there's the passion translation,
which is very quirky, and I would say, no, don't
use that as a regular reading Bible.
S2 (07:28):
The the the new living though that's the.
S1 (07:30):
New living is, is a dynamic equivalence. And it's very good. Uh,
but again, you have to read them and decide which
one fits you the best. But, uh.
S2 (07:41):
I would say two if you if you grew up
with the King James and you love it, then try
the new King James, because it deals with some of
those phrases that, that we don't use anymore the the
the original King James and the new King James.
S1 (07:54):
New King James is a very good translation. However, I
think the especially the Greek text is somewhat problematic that
it's based on. And so I, I would, I would
try to go with a more modern translation, even more
than the new King James. Although if you're really devoted
to King James, uh, then then fine. Now, the one
(08:15):
thing that Evo always says about what's the translation you
should read?
S2 (08:18):
I always say choose the translation that you will read
the most, the one that you are the most comfortable
with and understand the best.
S1 (08:25):
Yeah, because all those translations that we talked about are good. Translation.
The NIV is a good translation. There are lots of
good ones.
S2 (08:31):
So the the ones are minor. Mhm. So the most
important thing right. Read your Bible every day.
S3 (08:38):
That's right. Alright. Thank you. Brenda in Alabama listens to
Wmft says I really appreciate you in the program. I
listen to you on Saturday mornings and learn so much. Uh,
you have talked about the acronym specs. S p e
c s that reminds you what to look for when
(08:58):
you are studying a passage in the Bible. Can you
tell us again what those letters stand for?
S1 (09:05):
Sure. Now, I just want you to know that I
never dreamed that this would have people from Open Line
asking me about. I get asked about this all the
time when I go out and meet with people. Like,
do a live audience, open line. Uh, people will say,
what's the specs again? I, I was a student in
(09:26):
Howard Hendricks Bible study methods class, and he showed us specs,
and I thought, oh, that's good. And I kind of
tucked it away. And now and now I'm always amazed
that people really like this. So here's what you put
on your specs when you read the Bible. It's a
way of making the Bible practical.
S2 (09:43):
It's like putting on your glasses to see something more clearly.
Put on your specs.
S1 (09:47):
Put on your specs, and so see if there's a
statement of truth to believe. Then there's also a promise
to claim, an example to follow, a command to obey,
or a sin to avoid. Those are the specs. Those
are the the five letters statement of truth. Example to follow.
(10:11):
Promise to claim, command to obey or sin to avoid.
And you know you can reverse those S's if you want,
but you know the sin to avoid at the beginning
statement of truth to believe. But either way, it's right.
You got your specs on. And uh uh, Trish, I
think what you need to do is once again.
S3 (10:31):
Post post the graphic on our Facebook and Instagram pages.
That's great. So you can see that. Yeah. No, I
made this fun little graphic like years ago. And so
I keep bringing it out every once in a while
because I think especially as we begin a new year, uh,
People are looking for ways to either reignite how they
study the Bible or they're not sure where to start.
(10:54):
And I think having these questions are just good. So
can you give me an example of how you would
use this? Like let's say John one one in the beginning,
maybe that's not a good verse. In the beginning.
S1 (11:05):
It's a great word. It's a great.
S3 (11:07):
One. Okay.
S1 (11:08):
That's a.
S3 (11:09):
Passage.
S1 (11:09):
God, that's a passage that affirms the deity of the
Lord Jesus. The word was with God and the word
was God. And then it says, Then the word became flesh.
Later on in the.
S2 (11:21):
Passage, good for Christmas time.
S1 (11:23):
Yeah. And so here's the thing. That's a statement of truth.
People often say, do I have to really believe that
Jesus is fully God? And the answer is yes, that's
a statement of truth to believe. So that's a great example.
When you read that, it affirms the truth. So yeah,
that's a good example. So another place. Yes.
S3 (11:44):
Well I was going to say. So. So when we
do this, we're not looking for all five to no
to be answered. You're looking for all five? One verse. Yeah.
S2 (11:51):
One verse might not have all.
S3 (11:53):
Like in that verse. It might not have all five.
But those are different ways that I can say. Is
there a statement of truth in there? Yes, yes there is.
S1 (12:01):
I have my radar on for all five of those. Yep.
But I might only find one. So yeah. That's great. Okay. Uh, no. Okay. Wonderful.
S3 (12:09):
Thank you.
S1 (12:11):
Uh, we're we're going to take a break here, but I,
we're going to when we come back, I just want
to mention that we're supposed to be reading the scriptures.
I really want to encourage that. We're going to read
through the Bible. I read through the Bible every year.
So we're going to talk about that when we come back. Okay, Trish. Okay. Okay. Uh,
and stay with us. There's a lot more to go
(12:32):
on this all mailbag, all the time program of Open
Line with Michael Ray Dolnick, Eva Ray Dolnick and Trish McMillan.
Do you ever feel overwhelmed trying to see how all
27 books of the New Testament fit together? Well, I
have the perfect resource for you. Survey of the New
Testament by Paul Benware takes you on a journey from
(12:54):
Matthew to Revelation, giving you the big picture of God's
grand story of redemption. Get your copy of this resource today.
When you give a gift of any size, call (888)Â 644-7122
or go to Open Line radio.org. Ministry isn't a solo effort.
(13:15):
You know my voice, but if you could see inside
our studio, you'd see a team behind the scenes putting
open line on the air. Look a little further and
you'd see into the homes of listeners like you who
give monthly to make this ministry possible. And when you
join our team of Kitchen Table Partners, I'll send you
a Bible study moment email every other week with tips
and encouragement. Become a kitchen table partner today by calling
(13:38):
(888)Â 644-7122 or go to open Line radio.org. And we're back
for this special all mailbag All the time program with me,
Michael Melnick. Eva Rydell. Nick is joining me. I know
(13:58):
everyone's happy. Uh, I'm always amazed. Uh, people are like,
we're we're okay with you, Nick, but wow, we love
it when Eve is on the program. So. And then
Tricia McMillan is here and we're going through the mailbag.
But before we hit the mailbag, we talked about posting
last segment, the specs graphic that you created. There's something
else I think we need to post, and that is
(14:21):
a read through the Bible in a year program. I
think it's such a good thing. And we can read
through the Bible. There's lots of different programs. I really
want to encourage you to read it by book, not by.
S2 (14:33):
Uh, chronology.
S1 (14:34):
Chronology. Just but and also read. Why do some Old
Testament excuse me, uh, do some Old Testament. Do some
New Testament. Both. I think that would be a really
big help, uh, to to read, not just start in
Genesis and work your way through. And so, Tricia, we
have some, uh, read through the Bible in a year programs,
or at least one that I really recommend that we
(14:56):
can post as well. I want to help you do that.
And if you're getting your your new Bible, your new
moody Bible commentary, you're all set. Uh, Eva, you've been
doing this forever. You do lots of different.
S2 (15:08):
Programs of different ways. I do lots of different ways.
S1 (15:10):
But one of the things that that you discovered is
how many chapters a day do you have to read
to get through the Bible in a year? Oh, I.
S2 (15:18):
Think you only have to read four chapters a day.
I think it is. And if you read for 15
minutes a day, just 15 minutes, you can read through
the whole Old Testament and the New Testament twice, the
Old Testament once, the New Testament, twice in a year,
15 minutes.
S1 (15:32):
You think.
S2 (15:33):
How much time you spend on worthless stuff every.
S1 (15:37):
Day? Every day? Yeah. So 15 minutes a day is
all you need. And you get through the Bible, the
Old Testament and the New Testament twice in a year.
S2 (15:45):
Reading at a normal pace. Yeah. You know, so it's
it's great. And, you know, maybe your church has a,
has a read through the Bible plan that your church.
I know Mike Faber his church does. So if that
if they have that do that. So you're so you're
reading along with what everybody else is reading in your,
in your congregation. But read it every day.
S1 (16:04):
Yeah. Okay. Uh, so that's I wanted to make sure
that that, uh, we had that on on tap for us. Okay. Uh, okay. Trish,
let's let's see where we can go with some more
questions right now.
S3 (16:20):
Okay. Terry in Florida and Susan in Ohio both have
a similar question where they are looking at their Bible carefully. And, um,
in the back in the maps, it has it labeled
as um. It uses the word Palestine to talk about it.
(16:43):
So expansion of the early Church in Palestine or Palestine
and New Testament times. What is meant by this? Shouldn't
it say Israel instead?
S1 (16:52):
Well, let's.
S2 (16:53):
Wait. And some apps will even say Palestine in the
time of Abraham.
S1 (16:57):
Yeah, some maps on some in some Bibles say that.
Now here's where the word Palestine came from. It became
in the Roman period, it became a regional term, a
term for that region. Uh, but it wasn't really a country.
And then by the second century, there was a Jewish
revolt against Rome. And Hadrian. The emperor defeated the Second
(17:21):
Great Jewish Revolt in 135. And he was so annoyed
with this Jewish community that he wanted to wipe out the.
S2 (17:29):
Memory.
S1 (17:30):
The memory of this being a Jewish land. And he thought,
who are the ancient enemies of the Jewish people. Well,
it's the Philistines. So he took that word like.
S2 (17:39):
Like David and Goliath.
S1 (17:40):
Yeah. And he said, let's rename the area of Palestine.
And so they changed the name of Jerusalem to Aelia Capitolina.
They changed. And the Romans then changed the name of
the land from Judea to Palestine. And it was in
the second century. So in the time of Jesus and
the time of the book of acts, it was always
(18:01):
called either Judea. The northern part was called Galilee. The
whole place was called Judea. The the area was still
in the Bible called the Land of Israel, or the
land of the Jews. In the New Testament, the word
Palestine is never found except in the maps. And the
reason this is significant is now the state of Israel exists,
and the word Palestine has become a sort of controversial term.
(18:23):
And so when it's talking about Israel, it's not talking
about Palestine, it's talking about Israel. And that's the biblical name.
So much so that I have a radical wife.
S2 (18:32):
I have a glue stick, and I'll find a little
print word of Israel, and I'll glue it over the
word Palestine.
S1 (18:39):
On her maps in her.
S2 (18:40):
Bible. So if I if I have a Bible that
has Palestine on the maps, I, I correct it with
the word Israel or Judea because I think it is
so wrong. And like Michael said, it was a regional.
Initially it was a regional word, like Africa, but it was.
S1 (18:55):
From the Roman period.
S2 (18:56):
From the Roman period. And then it was then it
was like focused in on on Judea. Yeah. And it
became Palestine.
S3 (19:03):
Why why is it still on the maps?
S1 (19:06):
Uh, because.
S2 (19:07):
The Romans made all the maps.
S1 (19:09):
Well, begin with.
S3 (19:10):
Well, no, but in our in our current Bibles that
are being revised and updated. And why why are those.
I mean, obviously, everybody knows. I would think that in
the time of Abraham, it wasn't called that because it.
S1 (19:23):
Was called.
S3 (19:23):
Canaan. So. So why doesn't it say Canaan in Abraham's time?
Or like why? Why are the current Bibles that are
still being printed and updated. Why do they still have that?
S1 (19:35):
Well, because it became the term for centuries in in
scholarly literature. So if you're writing in the 19th century
that that was the land as it was called then.
So they didn't use the biblical terms, they used the
term that was in that time. So in the 18th century,
19th century, early 20th century scholars always used the term
(19:58):
that as it was then Palestine for about 1800 years,
1900 years. And so now they just I don't think
there's any it's not like there's a political purpose for
most people. When they do that, they're just keeping up.
It's a.
S2 (20:14):
Tradition.
S1 (20:15):
It's a tradition. It's a tradition.
S2 (20:16):
And you'll see it. The other place you'll see it too,
is in Bible dictionaries. Sometimes it'll talk about events that
happened in Palestine, and, you know, you'll hear it in sermons.
S1 (20:25):
I was once being interviewed by. This was about 20
years ago. It was during the time of the Second Intifada,
when there was a lot of violence and terrorism in Israel,
people crossing into Israel. And I was being interviewed by
someone from Moody on Moody Radio and they said, hey, Michael,
update us on what's going on in Palestine. And I said,
(20:47):
do you mean Israel? Oh, yeah, I guess so. So yeah. Well,
I think.
S3 (20:53):
There's confusion of it. And now with the, um, I
think politics today has heightened the awareness.
S1 (21:01):
That the.
S3 (21:01):
Word is being used or it is being used. Um,
but I think there's still that confusion over are they
the same? Where did it come from? You know, these
kind of things.
S1 (21:11):
So that's why. And then we find it in our Bibles.
S3 (21:14):
Yeah.
S1 (21:15):
I'm revising a book called understanding the Arab-Israeli conflict and
updating that. And that explains how these terms came to be. So. Okay.
S3 (21:24):
Wonderful.
S1 (21:25):
You can still get the old edition, but I'm updating
the into a new one. Yeah.
S3 (21:29):
Wonderful. Well, thank you for that. I hope that helps
clear things up. Terry and Susan Kylie in Indiana listens
to Wagner, and she's going to take us back to Genesis.
When God created the earth, he created the sun and
the moon and the stars to provide light. When you
get to revelation, John describes the new heaven and a
(21:49):
new earth and says, there is no need for the
sun because it will be the light. Why did God
create the sun for the first creation, if he intended
to dwell with humanity in the garden? Like, why even
make the sun if because he it says he walked
with them in the garden.
S1 (22:09):
Well, why would I?
S3 (22:11):
Is that a little different?
S1 (22:12):
In this creation, God intended to use the sun. Uh, the.
I don't know that, you know, it's what was God's
ultimate intention with that, I don't know, uh, but I
do know that in the new heavens and the new earth,
that means it's a new creation. It's it's it's a
(22:32):
new world. I don't know if it's a renovated world.
This one, uh, when I was the new one. Yeah, yeah.
Or is it a brand new? Completely never existed before creation.
I don't know, with the New Jerusalem, but it's. It's
going to be a new world. And that's why it's
going to be different. That's that's all I. You know,
(22:53):
I don't know that God's purpose in the Garden of
Eden was to provide the light through his own being.
I don't I don't see that.
S3 (23:02):
Because he created the sun as the source of the light,
the greater light and the lesser light. Okay. All right.
Thank you. Uh, Genesis 3631 Mike writes from Idaho. Seems so.
We got a couple of things. There seems to have
been a long time after Moses.
S1 (23:25):
Genesis 3631.
S3 (23:27):
Genesis 3631, which happens before Moses. So I will clarify
that in terms of when Moses shows up. But it says,
these are the kings who ruled in the land of
Edom before any king ruled over the Israelites. So after
meaning there is a reference to future events of these
Israelite kings, um, which happened after Moses. So I think
(23:50):
that that's what he means. Um. This doesn't seem to
make sense, then, that Moses would write that, since that
would have happened so long after he would have written
the books in the Pentateuch. Can you address that?
S1 (24:06):
Yes. Uh, people have used this to attack mosaic authorship
of the Pentateuch. What they don't realize is that Moses wrote, uh,
and then it was copied from generation to generation to generation.
(24:27):
And as they copied it, they updated. It's what Michael
Grisanti at Master's Seminary calls inspire updates. And there were
these updates as they copied it. That and they were
inspired updates right up until the close of the canon.
In fact, one of those inspired updates is the very
last chapter of the Pentateuch, where it talks about Moses death.
(24:50):
And there's no prophet that has arisen like Moses since
that time.
S3 (24:54):
So you don't think he wrote this about himself, right? Yeah, right.
I'm kidding. I don't think he did.
S2 (24:59):
Right, exactly. And it wasn't written like five minutes after
he died.
S1 (25:02):
It was a long time later. So I like to
call the final version that we have at the close
of the canon, Torah 2.0, and it has all these updates.
For example, the city of Laish is, uh, is called
Dan because later on the Israelites came into the land
and took Dan. And so what you have is inspired
(25:23):
updates people like Ezra and others who were doing the updating,
who were biblical writers. They updated it so that it's
what we have today. So Moses wrote it. Torah 2.0.
Let's put that in the hands of Ezra. And and
that's what we've got today.
S3 (25:38):
So. All right. Great.
S1 (25:39):
Hope that helps with that. We're going to come back
with more of your questions in just a moment. You're
listening to Open Line with my two guests. Eva. Right.
Tricia McMillan. And we'll be right back. Stay right there.
We're so glad that Febc partners with Open Line with
(26:01):
Doctor Michael Ray Dolnick bringing the Febc mailbag every week.
Learn how far East Broadcasting Company is taking Christ to
the world at febc. Org on their weekly podcast. Until
all have heard with Ed Cannon, you'll hear stories of
lives changed by Messiah all across the globe. Again, you
can hear the podcast when you visit febc. Dawg. That's
(26:24):
fake dawg. Welcome back to Open Line I'm Michael Radonich
and joining me today is Eva Radonich and Tricia McMillan. What? We're, uh,
what we're doing today is clearing the spindle. We're emptying
(26:47):
out the the inbox. We're trying to answer the questions
that you've sent in that are left over from last year.
And we're starting the new year off next week with
new questions that you've mailed in. But today, don't call.
It's just a time for us to go through the mailbag.
And I'm so glad that Trish has pulled this together.
We're going to try and get through as many as
(27:07):
we can, aren't we, Tricia?
S3 (27:09):
We are. Okay. Our our next question is from Linda
in Illinois. Listens to WMP, says I'm reading my Bible
daily to finish in one year. I'm in acts now
and today is a reading about Saul or Paul. As
a side note, the commentator says that there is a
forbidden chapter in the Tanakh, and rabbis will not allow
(27:32):
Isaiah 53 to be read in synagogues. I've never heard
this before. Is this true?
S2 (27:39):
Uh, no. No. Not true.
S1 (27:43):
A lot of people misunderstand the reading cycle. Uh, in
the synagogue. The synagogue. Three times a week. We read
in the synagogue from the Torah, so that in a
year we will complete the entire Torah Genesis through Deuteronomy.
Then there's something called the Haftorah. Uh, and it doesn't
(28:07):
mean half of the Torah. It's just it's a prophets
reading and excerpts from the prophets are read as well.
Not the whole set of the prophets, but excerpts from
the section called the prophets and sometimes they don't read
any of it. And Isaiah 5213 through 5312 was not
(28:29):
included in the prophets readings. Reading. It's not forbidden. It's
just not in the reading cycle that we have three
times a week. Uh, just they have excerpts from the prophets,
but every Hebrew Bible has Isaiah 53 in it. Every Hebrew, uh,
Bible is you're encouraged to read it. There's no there's
(28:53):
no forbidden chapter. Now, it may be I wonder why
they left that one out of all you know, I
don't know. Uh, but it's not forbidden by any means.
It's in the Bible. Uh, it's commented on by Jewish
commentators over and over. I disagree with their comments. Most
common since the Middle Ages. Most Jewish commentators say it's, uh,
(29:16):
it's about Israel as the suffering servant, not the Messiah,
but ancient rabbis said it was the Messiah. But I.
I think it's wrong to say it's forbidden.
S2 (29:26):
Yeah, it's it's not a plot. Yeah. To keep Isaiah
53 from being read. There's a lot of portions that
aren't read, but but we just happen to know what
a significant portion that is. Yeah, I'd have.
S1 (29:38):
Picked it if I had been the rabbi setting the reading.
S2 (29:40):
Cycle. Yeah, right. But, you know, that was a long
time ago. We weren't around. Yeah. So.
S3 (29:45):
Okay. All right. Thank you. Thank you for that clarification.
And thank you for that question, Linda. Marilyn listens to
us in Melbourne, Australia on the Moody Radio app. Oh, hooray!
I'm grateful for you. I know right. I'm grateful for
your wonderful teaching that has ministered to me through your program.
I'm doing a devotional that presents Psalm 91 as literal
promises from God, and I'm having trouble accepting that. Can
(30:08):
you please explain how we should make sense of Psalm 91,
the context, meaning, and how to apply it personally in
our relationship with the Lord?
S1 (30:17):
Yeah, a lot of people ask me about Psalm 91
in particular during the Covid pandemic when we were all
locked down. And the reason for it, uh, it talks
about the one who lives under the protection of the
Most High, dwells in the shadow of the Almighty. And
it says that, uh, because you've made the Lord God
(30:40):
your refuge, uh, no harm will come to you. No
plague will come near your tent, for he will give
his angels orders concerning you, to protect you in all
your ways. Sounds like nothing could ever make us die.
Nothing could ever make us, uh, you know, fall into
any kind of problem. Uh, I think, first of all,
(31:00):
we need to look at the Book of Psalms as
the prayer book of the Messiah. As Bonhoeffer called it,
this is really more about Jesus than it is about us,
but it's applicable in our lives. And this was quoted
by the enemy when he said.
S2 (31:15):
Yeah, when he when he says in the in the wilderness,
you know, cast yourself down. Nothing can happen to you. Yeah.
S1 (31:22):
He he'll give his angels charge over you.
S2 (31:24):
Yeah.
S1 (31:25):
And he quotes Psalm 91. And the first answer that
the Lord gave was, uh, don't tempt the Lord your God.
S2 (31:32):
Don't tempt the Lord your God. Yeah.
S1 (31:34):
Yeah. You don't. You don't say, oh, nothing's going to
bad's going to happen to me. So let me I'm
going to go play in traffic. That's that's not that's
not what this is teaching. Don't tempt God. Right. Uh,
the second thing is, what this means is nothing can
happen to you until God's time. If it meant that
nothing ever could happen to you, that no one could
(31:55):
ever die, then this verse, which has its primary sense
about the Messiah, he would have never died. But it
was up to God's. Nothing could happen to you apart
from God's timing. Right. And God's will.
S2 (32:09):
This is what's so important about how you read all
of the Bible. You just don't have just. This is my.
This is all I know of the Bible. I'm just
going to read this. This this one, one psalm. Whereas
job said, Though he slay me, yet will I trust him. Yeah.
You know.
S1 (32:21):
So the time of it is, I think, here's the
principle that we can apply in our lives. Nothing bad
can happen to us or those whom we love if
we've taken God as our protector. Unless the time is
right when God allows it. Everyone's going to die. Some
people die younger. Some people die older. Uh, unless we're
(32:43):
going to get raptured. But otherwise we're going to die.
We can't take this verse, say, oh no, nothing bad
will ever happen to us. You know, that's just not true. Uh,
but nothing bad will ever happen to us apart from
God's permission and timing. That's what it's teaching.
S3 (33:01):
Okay, I think back to the specs that we talked
about in the first part of the program and the
the statement of truth about who God is in this
and what he will do the promise to claim. Um,
is there a promise to claim?
S1 (33:19):
Yeah. The promise here that we can claim is that
nothing bad can happen to us until God's time.
S2 (33:23):
And we're abiding in the shadow of the Almighty. No
matter what's happening to us.
S1 (33:27):
Yeah. Whether we're. We're here or in his presence. You know,
even I we've thought about this verse quite a bit
when we became parents, you know. And Trish, you know this.
How do we worry about our kids? You know that we're.
S3 (33:39):
In every way you can think.
S2 (33:41):
Of. Yeah. It goes from is it going to be
like crib death or run over by a car or
drown at the pool playing with your friends or making
terrible choices?
S4 (33:50):
We're just.
S1 (33:51):
And I kept thinking, apart from trusting God, I couldn't
have had kids. I don't know how people who.
S2 (33:58):
Are parenting without.
S1 (33:59):
Parenting, without the Lord in their life. I, I don't
know how they they get up in the morning, you know,
they because the the anxiety closet would fly open. But
I trust God he knows what he's doing.
S3 (34:10):
Yeah, yeah. And even I think the sin to avoid
in this one. What Jesus said when he refutes Satan
is don't tempt God, you know, with these things. So?
So there are lots of ways we can.
S1 (34:23):
Yeah. Eat healthy, don't play in traffic, you know, do
the things that you're supposed to do and, you know,
work out. Do all the stuff that you're supposed to do.
People say, why should I do that if God knows
the day of my death? Well, yeah, but he may
have determined that we work out and eat healthy to, uh,
to preserve us. So let's let's go ahead and do that. So.
S3 (34:42):
All right, thank you for that question, Marilyn. And thank
you for listening to us in Australia.
S1 (34:48):
Yeah. Yep. Well, we're going to come back in just
a little bit. Uh, don't, uh don't run, don't go away.
We're going to answer the questions you've sent in this
past year, and we're going to make sure to try
and clear the spindle completely. Don't call today, though. Uh.
Keep listening. This is Michael Ray Dolnick, Eva Ray Dolnick
and Tricia McMillan right here on Moody Radio's Open Line.
(35:10):
Stay with us. Did you ever feel Christians can't do
anything about the growing anti-Semitism in the world? Well, that's
why Chosen People Ministry is one of our partners, is
offering a free book called Uncommon Allies American Jews and
(35:30):
Christians Uniting Against Hitler, 1933 through 45, written by Alan Shore.
This book shows the importance and power of Christians standing
against anti-Semitism in the past, so will be motivated to
do the same in the present and the future. Just
go to Openline radio.org. Scroll down until you see the
(35:51):
link that says A free gift from Chosen People Ministries.
Click on that and you'll be taken to a page
where you can sign up for your very own copy
of Uncommon Allies. Welcome back to Open Line. It's a
special day here. It's clearing the spindle. We're answering the
(36:12):
the questions you've mailed in every nick is with me,
Tricia McMillan. And we're going to go right back to
the mailbag right now. Tricia.
S3 (36:20):
All right. Our next question is from a man in
Illinois who listens to WNBA and says, what is the
difference in meaning between Savior, Messiah, and Lord?
S1 (36:33):
Well, they're all three different words.
S3 (36:35):
Uh, they are.
S1 (36:36):
Yeah. I mean, they're not they're not.
S3 (36:38):
Use them.
S1 (36:39):
Interchangeably. They're all about the same person. We use them
interchangeably about the same person, but they don't. They're not
synonyms at all. They're not even they're not related in meaning. Uh,
I'll start with Savior. Eva. You can take Messiah.
S4 (36:55):
You bet about that.
S1 (36:56):
Uh, Savior is the word both in Hebrew and in
Greek that's used in the Bible. It really means deliverance.
And it can. The context tells us what kind of
deliverance it might be, military or physical deliverance that God gives.
He saves us. Oh, you saved me. You know that
(37:16):
kind of word. And then, of course, it could be
used of deliverance from sin, forgiveness of sin. He saved
me from my sin. And that's how it's used, for example,
in the message of of the angel that you'll name
him Jesus. Uh, because that's the Hebrew word in Hebrew,
the word Jesus is, uh, Yeshua, Yeshua. And it means
(37:39):
salvation because he will save his people from their sins.
So that's what Savior means.
S2 (37:44):
And the word Messiah, as we say it in English,
actually means Anointed One. And because he was anointed, kings
were anointed, priests were anointed. And he is the Anointed
one as our Savior and Redeemer.
S1 (37:57):
And it came to have a technical sense to have.
S2 (38:01):
A technical sense specifically to the work of the son.
And we know it. It translated into English as Christ.
Christ is the Greek meaning for the Anointed one. Moshiach
is the Hebrew or Messiah, as in English, so Christ
and Messiah. Same word. Two languages like water and agua.
(38:25):
Same word. Two languages.
S1 (38:27):
Right. So. Okay, so that's it. And it got this
technical sense of being the future son of David who
would come and deliver his people. And that's that's how
it's used when Jesus, when we talk about Jesus the Messiah,
the last word is Lord. It means master, but it
is in in Greek. It's got the sense of curiosity
(38:49):
sometimes can mean sir or master, but sometimes it can
also mean God. Uh, and so context again declares what
it is. Uh, and that's what it means. And so when, uh,
when we use of our Lord, you know, we were
we know the word Lord, Lord of the manor or
(39:09):
things like that. Uh, but also we know, Lord God.
And so context tells us.
S4 (39:17):
Okay.
S3 (39:17):
All right. Thank you. Um, I think an interesting verse,
John 2031 actually uses at least a couple of these.
These are written that you may believe that Jesus is
the Christ or the Messiah, the Son of God, and
that by believing you may have life in his name.
And so it it it can get, uh, we can
(39:39):
we can stop trying to figure out, like, what do
they all mean? Because sometimes they just got get all
run together, like, that's like, okay, they're just talking about Jesus. Like, yeah,
you know that they all that John 2031. What? All
of those individual words have a different meaning.
S1 (39:56):
So when it says that, uh, that you might believe
that Jesus, that's his earthly human birth name. Right. So
that shows he's human is the Messiah. That's, uh, that
has to do with his royal name. He's the promised
son of David, the king. Uh, the king of Israel.
(40:17):
And so that's his royal name. So a human name.
Royal name, and then a. Royal title. And then that
he's the Son of God that reflects his deity, his
god name. His God title. So, uh, in that verse,
it deals with human humanity, deity and royalty all. Three
(40:38):
so yeah.
S2 (40:39):
That's a great verse to bring up.
S4 (40:40):
Trish.
S3 (40:41):
Great verse. Does the does the use of Jesus in
that mean savior then? Yeah. The Yeshua okay. So it's
actually using Savior and Messiah.
S4 (40:50):
Yeah. In the same sentence.
S3 (40:52):
God all in that same sentence.
S4 (40:54):
Yes. Son of God. Yeah.
S3 (40:55):
Son of God. But the deity aspect. Yeah. Okay. All right.
Thank you. Thank you for that. Uh, we actually have
a question from Judith in Minnesota asking about the phrase
Son of God. Um, yeah.
S1 (41:10):
Son of man.
S3 (41:11):
I'm sorry. Son of man. You're right. Son of man. Um.
In Ezekiel. Ezekiel himself is called son of man over
90 times. Jesus uses that term for himself. Um, does
that mean just that they were the Son of Man,
thus born from a human talking about that human side?
Or does it have a greater meaning or a different meaning?
S1 (41:34):
Well, I don't. Son of man just means humanity. I
don't believe the Lord Jesus was using it, uh, based
on how Ezekiel was called human being. You know, that's
what Son of Man means. Human. Um, he was using
it based on Daniel seven. And, uh, in Daniel seven,
(41:57):
there's a vision that Daniel sees of of God. He's
called the Ancient of Days, the Eternal One, he says,
as I kept watching in verse nine Daniel seven nine,
I kept watching. Then it says, and a lot of
people miss this. It says thrones were set in place,
(42:18):
and the Ancient of Days took his seat. And then
it describes what the Ancient of days. Now we can't
ever see God. This is a vision. So it's. He's
not actually seeing God. He's seeing a vision of God.
And he's called the Ancient of Days. But there are
two thrones. Uh, and I think that's interesting because who
is the other throne for? It says Thrones, plural, were
(42:41):
set up, and I watched it says, uh, and it says,
I saw verse 13. I continued watching in the night visions,
and I saw one like a son of man. This
is another a figure that appears to be deity for
(43:02):
the other throne, and he's like a son of man.
He appears human, he looks fully human, but he's deity
and he's coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached
the Ancient of Days and was escorted before him, and
he was given authority to rule and glory in a
kingdom so that every people, nation, language should serve him.
His dominion is everlasting and will not pass away. His
(43:26):
kingdom is one that will not be destroyed. Point being,
there's a divine figure in this passage who is looks
like a human, a deity figure who looks fully human.
And this is the passage that when the high priest
asks the Lord Jesus, you know, are you the Messiah?
(43:48):
This is in the Gospel of Matthew. Are you the Messiah?
S2 (43:52):
Uh, in Matthew eight. Is that. No, no. You think
about Matthew 26.
S4 (43:55):
Yeah.
S1 (43:56):
Matthew 26. Uh, he says, are you the Messiah? How does,
uh how does Jesus answer him? He says, uh.
S2 (44:07):
Uh, 20.
S4 (44:07):
27.
S2 (44:08):
20.
S1 (44:10):
Uh, he says, are you the Messiah? This is the
high priest. I'm sorry. Matthew 26.
S2 (44:15):
2624. Yeah.
S1 (44:17):
Go ahead and read that.
S2 (44:17):
It says, um, he says, are you the Messiah? And
he says, yes. Jesus says, he who the Son of
Man is going to go just as it is written
of him. Is that the one you're thinking about?
S4 (44:29):
No, no.
S1 (44:30):
There's a I'm looking for it. You hear the pages
turning here? Oh, oh, here it is.
S2 (44:34):
64. 64.
S4 (44:35):
Yeah. 64.
S1 (44:36):
That's it.
S2 (44:36):
When he says, are you the Messiah, the Son of God? Said,
the Son of God. And Jesus said to him, you
have said it yourself. Nevertheless I tell you that hereafter
you will see. You will see the Son of Man
sitting at the right hand of power and coming on
the clouds of heaven.
S1 (44:52):
That's a reference right back to Daniel 713 that we
just read. And. in my opinion, the Lord Jesus uses
the term Son of Man not to emphasize his humanity,
as many commentators say, but because he uses it based
on Daniel seven, it's to emphasize that he is the
God man. He is that figure that everyone knew. So
(45:14):
when he calls himself the Son of Man, he is
doing that. And to show that this is true, when
he quotes it here with Daniel 713, what does the
high priest do? He tears his robes and says he's blasphemed.
Why does he think he's blasphemed?
S2 (45:27):
If Jesus were just saying I'm a human being like you,
that wouldn't be blasphemy.
S4 (45:31):
But by claiming.
S1 (45:32):
To be the Son of Man in Daniel seven, he's
claiming deity. And as a result of that, the high
priest says, oh, that's blasphemy. You can't, you can't say that.
So when you read the Gospel of Luke and or
Mark and Jesus favorite self description is that he is deity,
(45:54):
son of man, he says, the Son of Man, because
he says that over and over. Well, that's what he's doing.
He's claiming deity from Daniel seven. I hope that answers
that for you. Thanks for listening, everyone, because the first
hour is complete. The second hour is coming up on
most of these stations. Stay with us. Or if your
station doesn't carry us, you can always listen on the
(46:16):
Moody Radio app or online during the break. Check out
our web page, Open Line radio.org. You can even post
your question there under Ask Michael a question if you
have it. The Bible study across America will continue in
the second hour with my friends and my friend Tricia McMillan,
my wife, Eva Radonich. Uh, we're glad to be with you.
Open line with Doctor Michael Riddell. Nick is a production
(46:37):
of Moody Radio, a ministry of Moody Bible Institute. More
questions coming up straight ahead. Stay with us.
Popular Podcasts
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Law & Order: Criminal Justice System - Season 1 & Season 2
Season Two Out Now! Law & Order: Criminal Justice System tells the real stories behind the landmark cases that have shaped how the most dangerous and influential criminals in America are prosecuted. In its second season, the series tackles the threat of terrorism in the United States. From the rise of extremist political groups in the 60s to domestic lone wolves in the modern day, we explore how organizations like the FBI and Joint Terrorism Take Force have evolved to fight back against a multitude of terrorist threats.