March 1, 2025 • 46 mins
During our weekly Bible study across America, we dive deep into the Scriptures. Call Dr. Michael Rydelnik with your questions, from Genesis to Revelation, this Saturday.
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Episode Transcript
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S1 (00:08):
Hello friends. It's time for the second hour of Open
Line with Doctor Michael Ray Dolnick Moody Radio's Bible Study
Across America. We're talking about your questions about the Bible,
God and the spiritual life. My name is Michael Ray Dolnick.
I am the academic dean and a professor of Jewish
Studies and Bible at Moody Bible Institute. We're live today
(00:31):
sitting around the radio kitchen table taking your questions. So
give me a call. The phone number (877) 548-3675. If you
can't call, you can always go to our web page. Uh,
the website is open Line radio.org. And you click on
that and ask the place where it says Ask Michael
(00:53):
a question. You can post your question there and Trish
will put it put it in the mailbag in upcoming weeks.
I hope you have your Bibles open, and I hope
you have a second cup of coffee, because we're ready
to study the scriptures. But I have to tell you,
I am so excited about our brand new resource. It's
a new month, we've got a new resource, and I
(01:15):
just think it's a terrific resource, and I can't wait
to tell you about it. It is about the Bible.
Have you ever wondered how we got the Bible we
read today? How ancient manuscripts became the book you read? Well,
Carl Laney's book, The Story of the Bible takes you
on a journey from God's superintending human authors, writing the
(01:40):
original manuscripts to transmission to modern translations. It leads us
from beginning to end of how we got the Bible,
the question of canonicity, which books were chosen and how
they were put in the Bible. Doctor Laney reveals how
God worked through these human authors to how God used
(02:01):
scribes to copy the text, how God used translators to
give us a Bible that we can read and understand.
If there's any book that you'll ever read that will
give you greater confidence in the Word of God, this
is the book for you. It's called The story of
the Bible, and it's yours when you give a gift
of any size to open line. I'm so grateful for
(02:22):
this resource. I love Carlini, I love his work. He
taught for many, many years at Western Seminary in Portland
and the you know, he's retired now, but he still
runs ten K's all the time and stuff like that.
So he is active writing and this is a book
that that I got a copy of because I was
(02:44):
interested and seeing if this would be a great book
for the Open Line audience. I think it is a terrific, uh,
just a terrific resource for you. And I get a
lot of questions about how he got the Bible. So
I thought, well, this is it. Uh, when you give
a gift of any size, we'd like to say thank
you by sending you a copy. Just go to our website,
(03:05):
openline radio.org, or call (888) 644-7122. Don't miss out and make
sure to ask for the story of the Bible when
you give. Uh, we're going to talk to Amaya in Gurnee, Illinois,
listening on Wmbi. Welcome to Open Line. Amaya, how can
(03:25):
I help you?
S2 (03:26):
Hi. Good morning. Thank you so much for taking my call.
I'm reading in the book of Samuel. And in first Samuel.
Hannah prays for a son, and she's crying with a
lot of anguish. So my question is, did she feel
the Holy Spirit?
S1 (03:42):
Does it say that she felt the Holy Spirit?
S2 (03:46):
It doesn't. But I think that she could have felt
the Holy Spirit. But there's rumor out there that Jesus wasn't.
Since Jesus wasn't there, there wasn't. Um. There's no way
she could have felt the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament.
The Holy Spirit wasn't alive, is what they're saying.
S1 (04:02):
Yeah, well, that's a mistake. Uh, now, I don't know
if she felt the Holy Spirit. When I cry out,
sometimes I feel I sense the Holy Spirit, but sometimes
I don't. Uh, and, uh, but to say that there
was no Holy Spirit operating at that time is a
(04:26):
mistaken inference. It's not right. Uh, it says, for example,
in first Samuel chapter 11. So it's part of the
same book written at the same time, not an event
at the same time, but written at the same time.
It said that when Paul, when Saul, not Paul, when Saul,
the first king of Israel, heard the threats against Jabesh Gilead. Uh,
(04:51):
the Spirit of God suddenly took control of him and
his anger burned furiously. So first Samuel 11 six. There
it is. Uh, Saul certainly felt the Holy Spirit, and
it caused him to be angry at the attack on
Jabesh Gilead. So, uh, was there a Holy Spirit operating
(05:15):
in the Old Testament? You bet. There's a lot of
other places I could show you. But beginning with the
very first verse of the Bible, uh, where it talks
about creation, in the beginning, God created the heavens and
the earth. Uh, and the earth was, I would translate
it a wilderness and a waste. And then it says, uh,
(05:36):
darkness covered the surface of the watery depths, and the
Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.
Was there a Holy Spirit operating then? You bet.
S2 (05:49):
Yeah.
S1 (05:49):
Okay. Thank you. Yeah. Thanks for your call, Amaya. Uh, always.
God the father, God the son, God the Holy Spirit.
Just the revelation, the clarity of the Trinity develops over time.
But there always was a spirit of God operating. Uh,
Garrett in Lake Worth, Florida, listening on RGM. Welcome to
(06:11):
Open Line. How can I help you? And how is
it in beautiful, sunny Florida? That's what I want to know.
S3 (06:17):
Good morning, Doctor Radonich. And greetings to to your wife. Uh,
I have a question. Uh, uh, it's, uh, two questions
in one. Uh, thank you for taking my call. Uh,
when did the mother of Jesus die? And where and
(06:38):
how old were they? My her and, uh, Joseph, my grandson, 11,
asked me this question.
S1 (06:48):
Well, you got to tell your grandson there are a
lot of things we just don't know. And we do.
It does appear that by the time we see the
Lord Jesus as an adult in his adult ministry, Joseph
seems to have passed from the scene. He probably has
died by this point. And the mother of the Lord
(07:10):
Jesus is a widow. It does appear that way, although
it never states it categorically. It's just that Joseph isn't around. Uh.
Where and when and where she's buried. How, Mary? The
Bible doesn't tell us. Uh. It just doesn't say. And
(07:34):
so I'm sure there are traditions in other churches and
places like that, but according to Scripture, there's no word
of it. And so it's just something that God knows
and we don't. Okay.
S3 (07:49):
I searched the scriptures myself and I couldn't find any.
S1 (07:52):
No, there's nothing about it. So. Okay. Garrett, thanks for
your call. Appreciate it. Uh. We're, uh. Are we in
the window? No. We're not. Okay. Uh, we're going to
talk to Nicole in Cleveland, Ohio, listening on wtxf. Welcome
(08:12):
to Open Line, Nicole. How can I help you?
S4 (08:15):
Hi. Thanks for taking my call. It's so great to
hear from you. And my question is, um, if you do,
you have to be a pastor or a minister, you know,
somebody of that status to be able to baptize someone
or can a person that is a Christian baptize a
person that is a new believer?
S1 (08:36):
I don't see anything in Scripture that says it has
to be someone who is a pastor. I just don't
see it. Uh, Nevertheless, some local churches might say that,
and I would respect what decisions a local church has
(08:57):
about that. So okay.
S4 (09:00):
Because my son is has a friend that's going that
goes to a church that they do that. And um,
that's why I wanted to get your opinion to know
if that.
S1 (09:12):
Yeah, I would, I would respect I would respect the
authority of a local church if that's what they want.
That's what I would do. Uh, although I don't see
anything in Scripture that compels me to say it must
be the pastor or an elder or someone from that
church that does it. Uh, but uh uh, so, for example,
(09:35):
when when I go to Israel, there are always people
that want me to baptize them, uh, in the, the Jordan.
And I always say, well, I baptize in the wider Jordan,
which is the the Sea of Galilee. It's the same water.
It's just it's a little easier to get in it.
And then, uh, the other thing that I say is
(09:58):
I have some limits. I really encourage people not to
be rebaptized. The first baptism counted, you know, in terms
of if you became a believer and then you were baptized,
you being in the water in Israel doesn't make any difference.
And then the other thing I say is, if you
were baptized as a baby and you want to be
(10:18):
baptized for real as a follower of Jesus, uh, that
I'm okay with that. But is the church you're attending
going to be okay with that? I don't want to
baptize someone if I'm not their pastor, and their church
would say no, you must be baptized by the the pastor.
And so that's the limitation I put on it. I
(10:40):
don't want to I don't want to disrespect the local church. Okay, okay.
S4 (10:45):
Thank you so much.
S1 (10:46):
Yeah. Okay. Thanks for your call. Appreciate it. Uh, Angie. Uh,
I don't know where you're calling from. Where are you
calling from?
S5 (10:54):
Uh, Chattanooga, Tennessee. WNBA.
S1 (10:57):
Hey. That's great, I could tell. You know what? If
you had just talked, I would have been able to
guess that.
S5 (11:03):
You would have known I was southern. Thank you for
taking my call. Yeah, um, I just lost my daddy
December 31st. I'm 56. He was 82. I'm sorry. I'm
an only child. That was a daddy's girl. Thank you. It's, uh. I'm.
We're Christians. We're believers. But this this is this has
(11:24):
taken me down a dark road. Mhm. I'll need to know,
does my daddy remember me in heaven?
S1 (11:32):
In my opinion, uh, when we go to heaven, there's
nothing in Scripture that says that God has some divine
neuralyzer where he makes us forget. Uh, do you remember
the Neuralyzer and Men in Black? You know where they were? Yeah. Yeah,
that doesn't happen. I do think God brings his special
(11:53):
comfort for the pain that we have, the sorrows that
we've had. I don't I think that God. Because he'll
wipe away every tear. So that means he comforts us.
It doesn't mean he removes the memory. Uh, okay. And, uh,
so I'm absolutely convinced that we will recognize and remember
(12:15):
each other. And we remember each other even before we
recognize each other, because obviously you're not there yet. Uh,
the other the one thing that sometimes people think, and I,
I differ with my friend Mike Vanlandingham. I don't believe
that your daddy can see what you're doing right now. Uh,
(12:37):
I don't think your father does that. Uh, I think
that he is taken up with what's going on. We
don't become divine little mini beings that have omniscience. Heaven
is an utterly different, uh, place. And God can see
what's going on on earth. I don't believe that we
(13:00):
do when we die, but his memory is intact, maybe
even stronger of all the details of his loving relationship
with you. And I think that that is something that
that he celebrates while he's there in heaven. And he
looks forward to you being there with him someday. Uh,
so that's what I would say. Uh, however, he's not
(13:24):
watching you now. You know who's watching you? Someone even better.
The Lord Jesus is never going to leave us or
forsake us. So the Lord Jesus is watching out for
you now. Okay. Does that help? Angie up? Seemed to
have lost Angie, but I hope that she heard that. Uh,
(13:46):
so we're going to take a break here. When we
come back, uh, we'll talk with you about your questions
about the Bible, God, and the spiritual life. You're listening
to Open Line with Michael Ray Dolnick, and we're going
to be taking many more questions. So stay with us
right here on Moody Radio. And we're back. Hey, I
(14:28):
was at National Religious Broadcasters this past week, and I
actually met some people from different stations and one, you know,
they were they were like the exact team from different
stations and so forth. And one of the coolest things
was this it wasn't a moody, uh, owned and operated station,
(14:53):
but rather one of the many affiliates that take programming
from Moody Radio. And they we met and they said
one of the people on the team said, I'm a
kitchen table partner. And I was so pleased, uh, to
see someone who actually is running a radio station and
(15:14):
wants to be a kitchen table partner. It just shows
to shows me how wide a team we have and
how grateful I am for everyone on that team. It's
not just the team that I see here. Like Omar
shaking his head right now, uh, or to hear her,
but also the team of people who wanted to bring
(15:35):
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But in addition, they're there helping by giving monthly so
that I can be on the air weekly. And I
am so grateful that they're doing that. And I was
hoping that some of you who are listening, you may
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(15:55):
new resource because you want to get the resource, but
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I hope maybe you'll consider that becoming a kitchen kitchen
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(16:17):
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(16:40):
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That's (888) 644-7122. If you'd like to become a kitchen table partner,
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(17:00):
every other week. In your email, you get to listen
to it. I hope you'll enjoy that. Uh, we're going
to talk now with Mark in Florida listening on WLKY's.
Welcome to Open Line. Mark, how can I help you.
S6 (17:13):
Yeah. Thank you so much for taking my call I
appreciate it.
S1 (17:17):
Sure.
S6 (17:18):
Okay. My question is in reference on, uh, Daniel nine
where it talks about the seven years, the time, time,
time and a half, which is seven years. And I'm
trying to.
S1 (17:30):
Know the time times and the half time times and
time and a half. That one. That's the the times.
Time and time and a half. Time. That's it. Yeah.
That's three and a half years, not seven.
S6 (17:45):
Okay.
S1 (17:46):
And it's the second that refers to the second half
of the tribulation period, which is a seven year period.
S6 (17:55):
Okay. That was my question. Was that the second half
of the tribulation. Yeah. And another thing was the four
horsemen was that in the second half or the the
beginning part of it?
S1 (18:05):
The four horsemen of the apocalypse.
S6 (18:08):
Off the apocalypse in revelation.
S1 (18:10):
Yeah. Unlike a student of mine who called them the
Four horsemen of the Acropolis. Uh, the the the four
horsemen of the apocalypse are, uh, in revelation six and
it says, I looked and saw a white horse, and
the horseman on it had a bow. A crown was
(18:31):
given to him, and he went out as a victor
to conquer the word for crown. There is not the
normal crown that's used for the crown of the Lord Jesus,
and this is referring to a different king that will
have authority in the tribulation period. That's the beast. This
has to do with the authority of the beast. And then, uh,
(18:56):
the second horse is red fiery red horse, and that
refers to war. Uh, the third horse is a black horse.
And the horseman on it had a set of scales
in his hand. And it has to do with inflation,
believe it or not, because a quart of wheat for
a denarius, a full day of pay just to get
a bag of wheat. And then the fourth seal is death, uh,
(19:19):
a pale green horse, and it causes a plague for
a fourth of the earth. Okay, those are the Four
horsemen of the apocalypse, and they take place in the
first half of the tribulation. They are part of the
seal judgments. Uh, the first, second, third and fourth seal,
(19:40):
the six first six seal judgments take place in the
first half of the tribulation. And then the seventh seal
opens the trumpet judgments. And those are the second half
of the tribulation. Okay.
S6 (19:54):
So much I appreciate it.
S1 (19:55):
Yeah. Thanks for your call. Really appreciate it. We're going
to talk to Fred in Minnesota listening on 102.7 the word.
Hey Fred, how can I help you today.
S7 (20:07):
Thank you. Mike, uh, I got a question that's been
zooming around this area in my head as well. And
does the Bible support flat earth or round global Earth?
S1 (20:21):
Well, uh, do you think the Bible would support something
that's absolutely untrue?
S7 (20:30):
Absolutely, I do not.
S1 (20:31):
Okay. I don't think so either. So, uh, the Bible
really doesn't talk about, uh, the atmosphere in that way, but, uh,
it does have a verse in Isaiah that, uh, talks
about the sphericity of the earth. It's Isaiah 40 and
(20:57):
I believe verse 22, uh, and there it talks about
God sitting over the circle of the earth. And the circle, uh,
could be translated easily as the sphere, the, the, the roundness,
the sphericity. God sits on this over the sphere of
(21:20):
the earth. God is enthroned above the sphere of the earth. Now,
most versions say circle, but it's talking about a sphere.
And so it does appear there that it's talking about
the earth being round. Now, what is important to remember is,
you know, it talks about the four corners of the
earth and things like that. Well, just because of using
figures of speech like that doesn't mean the Bible is
(21:43):
saying the Bible that the earth is flat any more
than the weatherman who talks about, you know, I, I
listen to local news and they have the weather and
they'll talk about sunup is certain. You know, sunrise is
a certain certain time doesn't mean that they really believe
the sun rises. It just is common expression. Uh, common
(22:05):
way of speaking to talk about sunrise. But it doesn't
mean that they believe that the sun is rotating around
the Earth, right? So. Okay. Okay. Yes. Yeah. So, no,
the Bible does not support a flat earth. It does
support the idea of a sphere of an Earth. Okay.
S7 (22:26):
Okay.
S1 (22:26):
Good. Thanks for your call. Appreciate it. We're going to
talk to, uh, Gary also listening on 102.7 the word wow.
Two in a row. Uh, welcome to Open Line, Gary.
How can I help you?
S6 (22:41):
Thank you. Thank you for taking my call. But, um,
I have been studying the Bible, and I was wondering
if you could explain to me in the Bible what
is what is the purpose of baptism?
S1 (22:56):
The purpose of baptism is to be a public identification
for our faith. Uh, identifying with the Lord Jesus publicly. Uh,
I think you see that.
S8 (23:12):
Hey, what verse in the Bible says that?
S1 (23:15):
Give me a second. I'll get there. Uh. And, uh,
we're going to look at acts uh, eight. It's where, uh,
Philip said, uh, to the Ethiopian. He said he ordered
(23:36):
the chariot. Wait. Wait a second. Philip proceeded to tell
the Ethiopian official the good news about Jesus beginning from
the scriptures, and obviously he believed. And the official said, look,
there's water. What would keep me from being baptized? And
Philip said, if you believe with all your heart, you may.
And he replied, I believe that Jesus Christ is the
(23:58):
Son of God. And he ordered the chariot to stop,
and both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water.
So obviously, uh, more of an immersion. And he baptized him,
immersed him. Uh, and that's, that's, uh, I think a
good example that the eunuch, the Ethiopian official, wanted to
(24:19):
publicly identify with his faith. Another purpose of baptism is
to identify with the death and resurrection of Jesus. You
can read about that in Romans six, that we died
with him and were raised to new life. That's that's
a pretty clear explanation of a purpose. Uh, and so
(24:42):
that's what I would say the purpose is. Here's the thing.
God expects believers to be baptized. There's no such thing
as an unbaptized believer in the Bible. Uh, when someone
comes to faith, they are baptized. Now, there are today
there are some people who baptize babies. I would say
(25:04):
that that's not something I would agree with. It's not
something I want to go to war about, but it's
not something I agree with. I think believers are the
ones who are baptized. And then there are some churches
that believe in adult or believer baptism. Not necessarily adult,
but believer baptism. And what they do is they want
to make sure you're on the track to discipleship. I'm
(25:25):
not sure I agree with that either. I think we
should be baptized really, as soon as we come to
faith in Jesus. Uh, however, uh, you know, I would
respect that as well. I don't want to go to
war over that. That's that's what I would say. Thanks
for your call. Really appreciate it. Gary. Uh, we're going
to come back with the mailbag in just a moment,
so stay with us. You're listening to Open Line with
(25:46):
Michael Wright on Moody Radio. We'll be right back. Welcome
(26:08):
back to Open Line. My name is Michael Melnick. I
am so glad to be with you. It's time for
the FBC mailbag. I'm really grateful for Far Eastern Broadcasting
Company for their ministry, which brings the gospel to people
all around the globe, through media and through personal engagement.
I'm also grateful that they partnered to bring you the
Febc mailbag, and I really recommend check out their website febc.
(26:32):
Org and also click on the link to their podcast.
Until all have heard, it will give you great encouragement
about the work that they're doing about bringing the gospel
to the world. And joining me right now is Tara
Haynes for the Febc mailbag. Hey, to hear it. So
you look at all the questions. I know Trish puts
(26:52):
the mailbag together, but you look at the questions, do
you like, think, oh, I want that one answered. I
want that one. Or do you just say whatever. Whatever's
there we'll go with the next one. What do you think?
S9 (27:04):
There's a little bit of reviewing the questions, but for
the most part, we want to get to as many
of the questions as possible that our listeners give us.
So we try to go through all of them except.
S1 (27:17):
For the hard ones. Right.
S9 (27:18):
You're okay with the hard ones too, Michael? You can
do it.
S1 (27:22):
There are times I'm thinking, oh, man, I wish Eva
were here. So that's a hard one. I want to
be able to answer that one. So anyway, uh, well, let's, let's,
let's see what we can do with these.
S9 (27:34):
Excellent, excellent. We will start with Jeff, who wrote to
us on Facebook, if you had to explain the Last
Supper to someone who just read it for the first time,
how would you go about doing that?
S1 (27:48):
Well, it's it's really important to recognize that the Last
Supper really should be called the last Seder. Uh, the
order of the Passover. It was a Passover meal. I
think that's significant because the scriptures seem to point to
the Passover lamb as sort of a foreshadowing of what
the Messiah would do. Uh, you know, John the Baptist
(28:12):
and John one, he sees the Lord Jesus coming to
be baptized. And what does he say? Behold the Lamb
of God, who takes away the sin of the world.
And then also in first Peter chapter one, looking backwards
at at the atonement of the Messiah, the the death
and resurrection. Here's what it says in first Peter 118
(28:36):
for you know that you were redeemed from your empty
way of life, inherited from the fathers, not with perishable
things like silver or gold. But now verse 19 says,
but with the precious blood of the Messiah, like that
of a lamb without defect or blemish. And so there
it describes the Lord Jesus as a Passover lamb. And
(28:57):
so the Last Supper was sort of like the the
ultimate foreshadowing of what the Messiah was about to do.
When he would be betrayed, he would die as are,
without spot or blemish, perfect lamb, and he would be
raised again. And so that's it should be viewed as
a Passover Seder. And one of the things I've done
for like the last 50 years since I was a teenager.
(29:22):
I started doing this. Believe it or not, when I
was a teenager is I would go to churches and
explain what a Jewish Passover meal was like and how
the Lord Jesus fulfills that. And it's something that I've
enjoyed doing in many, many, many churches to help them
understand the Last Supper as a Passover Seder. Okay. Well, thank.
S9 (29:41):
You for helping us understand it as well. Thank you.
And you did just ask about the order of the questions.
We actually have another question about the Last Supper. This
one is from Joyce on Facebook. She says she is
working on a painting of Jesus's Last Supper. Um, with
the seating, the table setting and the actual foods. She
(30:01):
wanted to know what type of foods are there? Was
there unleavened bread? Was there wine? Were there olives? That's
the gist of her. Were there.
S1 (30:09):
Olives? Okay, well, there were olives on the Mount of Olives,
I will tell you that. But they probably weren't ripe
at that season quite yet. Uh, what was on the table?
First of all, there was unleavened bread, and they ate it.
The Lord Jesus, when he said, this is my body.
(30:29):
He was taking a piece of unleavened bread, uh, and said,
this is a symbol. Well, this is my body is
what he says, but I think he clearly is talking
about a symbol. And the reason why is, yes, there
was horseradish, uh, on the table. Likely there was salt
water as well, because at a, at a Jewish Passover meal,
(30:50):
you took, uh, green greens like parsley. So that would
have been on the table and you dipped it in
salt water. The green represents life. The salt water represents tears.
And it says, when we were slaves in Egypt, our
lives were dipped or immersed in tears. And so there
(31:11):
was salt water to represent tears. There was the the
green Vegetable to represent our lives. There is horseradish or
a bitter herb ground up. The sop that the New
Testament talks about that was ground up horseradish that indicates
our lives were filled with bitterness. This was bitterness. And
(31:34):
so there were a variety of things like that. So yes,
there was horseradish, there was parsley, kind of green vegetable.
There was salt water, all those elements. There was the
lamb that they offered. So they ate lamb. Uh, whether
(31:54):
they're olives, I don't know. But all that and they
all now what I think is significant about all these
items and this is I know a lot of my
friends want to find some, uh, spiritual presence of the
Lord Jesus in these items. And they say, look, he said,
this is my body when he held up the matzo. Well, he.
(32:16):
Everything at the Seder table was symbolic. When you point
at the salt water, these are our tears. When you
point at the horseradish, this is our bitterness. So when
the Lord Jesus held up the matzo and said, this
is my the unleavened bread, the matzo. When he held
it up and said, this is my body. No one
at that table would have said, oh, he's talking about
(32:37):
his spiritual presence within the body. They would have said, aha!
This is a symbol of his body, just as the
horseradish is a symbol of our bitterness, as the salt
water is a symbol of our tears. And so that's
what would have been on the table. And olives, I
don't know. There's nothing significant about olives, so I don't know.
S9 (32:59):
Thank you. Michael. Okay, Joyce, we wish you the best
with that painting. We also have a question from Judith
in Illinois, listening through WNYC. Where did the where did
Old Testament saints like Abraham go when they died?
S1 (33:13):
Uh, Bethlehem. No. Uh.
S9 (33:20):
Thank you. Michael.
S1 (33:21):
Yeah, they just left town. They're out of here. A
lot of people think, you know, there's a place in
the Bible called Sheol, and it's the abode of the dead.
And a lot of people think, oh, uh, Old Testament
saints like Abraham were locked there. And then at some point,
usually at the resurrection, somehow it's said that the Lord Jesus, uh,
(33:46):
allowed them into heaven, and they weren't there at that
time yet. But when the Lord Jesus spoke the parable
of Lazarus and the rich man, obviously Abraham was there
in what I would say, the presence of God in
the abode of God. And that's why he's comforting Lazarus.
(34:12):
That makes sense. It does? Yeah. So, uh, so I,
you know, I would say that we, we get a
little too technical in saying, oh, there's this place. This place,
as far as we know, the abode of the dead
for for the believer, it was a place of comfort
in heaven. Uh, just like today.
S9 (34:34):
Okay.
S1 (34:34):
And the abode of the dead also had a second
area that was a place of suffering. Like where the
rich man went. Uh, just as there is today. Uh,
and the Lord Jesus today is the one that would,
I think, be the one bringing comfort to someone that
dies today. But, yeah, I think Abraham was in heaven. Okay.
S9 (34:56):
Thank you.
S1 (34:56):
Yeah. And the resurrection. They will indeed be resurrected. Uh,
and Daniel 12, it talks about at the return of
the Lord. Uh, at the Second coming at the end
of the tribulation period. The dead in the Old Testament,
the the faithful of the Old Testament will be resurrected.
Thank you. Well, thanks for that. To hear Haynes bringing
(35:17):
the questions from the mailbag. My name is Michael Riedel.
We'll be right back with more of your questions right
here on Open Line. And we're back. I am so
(35:40):
glad to see all the people that are calling and
asking questions about the scriptures. You know what that tells me?
It tells me that you're reading the Bible and you're
having questions, and I so appreciate it. Uh, one question
I get frequently is how important is it to reach
Jewish people with the good news? And that's a question
often asked of those serving with Chosen People ministries as well.
(36:03):
And that's why Chosen People Ministries is offering a booklet
called To the Jew First and the 21st century. was
written by Doctor Al Mohler, who is the president of
Southern Baptist Seminary, and it reaffirms God's love for the
Jewish people, but shows why believers must also continue to
present the good news of the Messiah, Jesus, to the
(36:23):
Jewish people. Doctor Mohler says Jewish evangelism is the clearest
test case for faithfulness to the gospel in this generation.
For your free copy of To the Jew First in
the 21st century, just go to our website openline. radio.org.
Scroll down. You'll see a link that says A free
gift from Chosen People Ministries. Click on that and you'll
(36:44):
be taken to a page where you can sign up
for your very own copy of To the Jew First
in the New Millennium. Well, we're going to go right
back to the phones now. Uh, Bruce in Mount Prospect, Illinois,
listening on Wmbi. Welcome to Open Line. Bruce. How can
I help you?
S10 (37:02):
Yes. Thank you for your show. I really appreciate it. Thanks.
So a two part question. I lead a Bible study,
and from time to time, from the guys. I get
the two questions about children. One has to do with
a baby that's born stillborn or a born baby, and
they die. And I have a perspective on it, whether
they go to heaven or not. But I wanted to
(37:23):
hear yours. And then I have a second question, but
I'll let you answer the first, if that's okay.
S1 (37:27):
No, we only do one question. Oh, okay. Unless it's
related a follow up. Well.
S10 (37:35):
It is. And that the question is, do children that
have professed Christ, they go to heaven and we reunite
with them. Will they still be children or they will
be something different?
S1 (37:48):
Okay. Well, first of all, the Bible really doesn't speak
directly to the issue of whether or not children who
are babies go to be with the Lord. But there's
a hint in second. Samuel. Stillborn. Yeah. Uh, A second
Samuel 12, where David says of his child that dies
(38:11):
his baby. He said, I'll go to him, but he
will never return to me. And so it does appear
that David has hope of seeing that child, uh, in,
in the afterlife. And so after the earthly life. And
so it does appear, I think that and there's some
(38:32):
arguments that theologians make, but it seems to me that
a child, one way of thinking about this is that
sin nature doesn't set us apart from God. It doesn't
separate us from God. But sinful actions and babies have
not reached an age of accountability yet where they have
(38:54):
committed moral failure. And and therefore. And if someone says, well,
my toddler, if you could see how misbehaving. Yeah, they're
a toddler is a toddler. They're not doing it because
they're rebelling against God. They're doing it because they're a toddler.
So that's right. Right. Uh, okay. And what age they
will be. Your guess is as good as mine. Uh,
(39:15):
the I believe will be timeless in eternity, so I
don't know. Uh, I hope I'm not the age I
am now in eternity because my knees really hurt and, uh. Yeah. Okay, so.
And I, I used to have hair a long time ago.
I was hoping in my resurrected body to have hair again, but. So. Right. Okay, Bruce,
(39:41):
we'll get new bodies.
S10 (39:42):
But I guess my question was a child that dies at, say, 12.
They profess Christ. Would they still be still be 12?
Or do they get entirely new bodies at some form?
S1 (39:50):
If only I knew. Oh, no. Yeah. Yeah. I don't know. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Okay.
Thank you. I don't want to be my age, so
maybe he doesn't want to be 12. I don't know, so.
S11 (40:01):
Yeah. Okay.
S1 (40:01):
Thank you. Okay.
S12 (40:04):
Yeah.
S1 (40:05):
You know, I think if that once again, I keep
saying the Bible doesn't satisfy our curiosity. It only gives
us the truth that we need to know. So we're
going to talk with Barbara in Plymouth, New Hampshire, listening online.
Welcome to Open Line. How can I help you, Barbara?
S13 (40:23):
Hi. Um, quick question in first, I mean, I'm sorry,
in John, uh, where it speaks about right in the beginning, um,
that the word was God. The word was with God.
I looked in the Moody Bible Commentary, and it had
a really good excerpt on this, and it pretty much
whet my appetite for more. And I didn't know if
(40:45):
you had any resources that somebody has actually written on
this topic of the word being God and with. Yeah,
with God. And.
S1 (40:56):
Uh, well, there's a book, uh, and if I could
find it, Uh, I would tell you what it is. Uh,
I read I have it on my shelf in my library. Um. Uh,
I can't think of the name of it or the author,
(41:16):
but I'll tell you what it's about. It's about the
Hebrew concept. It's a it's a scholarly book. I'm not
sure it's something that you would want. It's, uh. Uh,
it's about the memra. That's the Hebrew concept of the
word as God. Uh, in in, uh uh, wow. Uh,
(41:39):
the memorized the word of God. The word became flesh
as deity. Uh, and so, you know what, Barbara? How
about this? Why don't you listen next week and I'll.
I'll check out the, uh, the my library and come
up with that book for you. Is that okay?
S13 (41:58):
That's fine. Yeah.
S1 (41:59):
Uh, I'd have to go to my bookshelf and find
that book. And, uh, it's it's it's a deep dive.
I think it was a doctoral dissertation at one time. Uh,
but that's that's it. There are some people who think
that it's not based on the word, the Hebrew word memra,
which is translated logos. Some people think it's related to Philo,
(42:23):
who was a Jewish philosopher of the first century BC.
And he wrote a lot about the logos, but I
don't think so. I think it's about the memra. Okay. Okay.
S13 (42:31):
Yeah.
S1 (42:32):
Okay, great. Yeah. I'm glad. Thanks. Thanks for your call.
Appreciate it. And we're going to speak with Leon in Florida.
Welcome to Open Line, Leon. How can I help you?
S14 (42:44):
Her question is, in one place in the Bible, it
says that Judas took the money back to the priest
and threw it to him. And in another policy, he
bought a field and fell headlong. So can you explain
that to me?
S1 (43:01):
Yeah. Uh, in Matthew 27, uh, it speaks about the
death of, uh, Judas. And that's what it says there. Uh,
so after Judas, I think it's. Yeah, it says, uh,
(43:21):
it says that he threw silver into the sanctuary and departed,
and he went and hanged himself. The chief priest took
the silver and said, it's not lawful to put it
into the temple treasury, since it's blood money. This is
verse six five and six. So they conferred together and
bought the potter's field with it as a place of
foreign for foreigners. Therefore, the field has been called blood
field to this day to fulfill what was spoken through
(43:44):
the prophet Jeremiah. Uh, I think that in the one
place it says that he tossed it to them. Uh,
clearly he did. He threw the silver into the sanctuary. Uh,
but they didn't want to just accept it back. And
so what they did is in the name of Judas, they, uh,
(44:07):
they they bought that field. They didn't buy it in
the name of the Sanhedrin. They bought it in the
name of Judas. They took the money. They wouldn't receive
it back. They said here. And so in in a sense,
Judas bought it, even though they were the ones that
handled the money because they didn't want to accept it back.
So they took it and bought it in Judas name.
(44:29):
So that's why another passage might say Judas bought a field.
It wasn't technically, uh, it was technically he who bought it,
even though it was done through the Sanhedrin, who took
the money back in that way, they wouldn't accept it back. Uh,
they didn't want to have blood money on their hands,
so they used it to buy a field of blood. So. Okay,
(44:50):
I hope that helps. Uh, Leon, uh, let's see if
we can get one more question in, Uh, uh, let's
talk to Linda in, uh, on line four and, uh, Waterloo, Iowa. Hey, Linda.
How can I help you today?
S15 (45:06):
Oh, I'm so glad to talk to you.
S1 (45:09):
We're way down in time, so just go ahead with
your question.
S15 (45:13):
You betcha. I want to know what the Bible specifically
says about the church getting involved in politics.
S1 (45:20):
I think that, uh, this is a real quick answer.
Did you ever hear me talking about politics on Open Line? No, no.
Do you know why I want to? I want to
advance the kingdom of God. Uh, and certainly we have
to be good citizens. And as good citizens, we can
(45:41):
take political positions as individuals. But as a church, uh,
I think we can take political positions, but we don't
advance any political party. We advance the kingdom. Kingdom of God.
That's my opinion. So.
S15 (45:55):
So. so the people that the preachers that are preaching
politics from the pulpit, you would say that you would not.
S1 (46:03):
Let me just say it's not something I would do
when I was a pastor, I would I would preach morality,
I would preach preach holiness. Uh, and I would even
say there are political positions. Like, I was always very
outspokenly pro-life, uh, which some people think is political, but
I think is moral. That's what I would say. Anyway,
(46:23):
that's the program for the week. Thanks for your call, Linda.
Thanks for listening to everyone else. And thanks for the
Open Line team, Tricia, for putting the questions together to
here for producing today. Omar, uh, for being our engineer
and Lisa for taking care of everything. Check out our
web page, Open Line radio.org. There's even a link to
my personal web page. There you can see what's coming up.
(46:45):
Keep reading the Bible. We'll talk about it next week.
Open line with Doctor Michael Dolnick is a production of
Moody Radio, a ministry of Moody Bible Institute.
Hello friends. It's time for the second hour of Open
Line with Doctor Michael Ray Dolnick Moody Radio's Bible Study
Across America. We're talking about your questions about the Bible,
God and the spiritual life. My name is Michael Ray Dolnick.
I am the academic dean and a professor of Jewish
Studies and Bible at Moody Bible Institute. We're live today
(00:31):
sitting around the radio kitchen table taking your questions. So
give me a call. The phone number (877) 548-3675. If you
can't call, you can always go to our web page. Uh,
the website is open Line radio.org. And you click on
that and ask the place where it says Ask Michael
(00:53):
a question. You can post your question there and Trish
will put it put it in the mailbag in upcoming weeks.
I hope you have your Bibles open, and I hope
you have a second cup of coffee, because we're ready
to study the scriptures. But I have to tell you,
I am so excited about our brand new resource. It's
a new month, we've got a new resource, and I
(01:15):
just think it's a terrific resource, and I can't wait
to tell you about it. It is about the Bible.
Have you ever wondered how we got the Bible we
read today? How ancient manuscripts became the book you read? Well,
Carl Laney's book, The Story of the Bible takes you
on a journey from God's superintending human authors, writing the
(01:40):
original manuscripts to transmission to modern translations. It leads us
from beginning to end of how we got the Bible,
the question of canonicity, which books were chosen and how
they were put in the Bible. Doctor Laney reveals how
God worked through these human authors to how God used
(02:01):
scribes to copy the text, how God used translators to
give us a Bible that we can read and understand.
If there's any book that you'll ever read that will
give you greater confidence in the Word of God, this
is the book for you. It's called The story of
the Bible, and it's yours when you give a gift
of any size to open line. I'm so grateful for
(02:22):
this resource. I love Carlini, I love his work. He
taught for many, many years at Western Seminary in Portland
and the you know, he's retired now, but he still
runs ten K's all the time and stuff like that.
So he is active writing and this is a book
that that I got a copy of because I was
(02:44):
interested and seeing if this would be a great book
for the Open Line audience. I think it is a terrific, uh,
just a terrific resource for you. And I get a
lot of questions about how he got the Bible. So
I thought, well, this is it. Uh, when you give
a gift of any size, we'd like to say thank
you by sending you a copy. Just go to our website,
(03:05):
openline radio.org, or call (888) 644-7122. Don't miss out and make
sure to ask for the story of the Bible when
you give. Uh, we're going to talk to Amaya in Gurnee, Illinois,
listening on Wmbi. Welcome to Open Line. Amaya, how can
(03:25):
I help you?
S2 (03:26):
Hi. Good morning. Thank you so much for taking my call.
I'm reading in the book of Samuel. And in first Samuel.
Hannah prays for a son, and she's crying with a
lot of anguish. So my question is, did she feel
the Holy Spirit?
S1 (03:42):
Does it say that she felt the Holy Spirit?
S2 (03:46):
It doesn't. But I think that she could have felt
the Holy Spirit. But there's rumor out there that Jesus wasn't.
Since Jesus wasn't there, there wasn't. Um. There's no way
she could have felt the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament.
The Holy Spirit wasn't alive, is what they're saying.
S1 (04:02):
Yeah, well, that's a mistake. Uh, now, I don't know
if she felt the Holy Spirit. When I cry out,
sometimes I feel I sense the Holy Spirit, but sometimes
I don't. Uh, and, uh, but to say that there
was no Holy Spirit operating at that time is a
(04:26):
mistaken inference. It's not right. Uh, it says, for example,
in first Samuel chapter 11. So it's part of the
same book written at the same time, not an event
at the same time, but written at the same time.
It said that when Paul, when Saul, not Paul, when Saul,
the first king of Israel, heard the threats against Jabesh Gilead. Uh,
(04:51):
the Spirit of God suddenly took control of him and
his anger burned furiously. So first Samuel 11 six. There
it is. Uh, Saul certainly felt the Holy Spirit, and
it caused him to be angry at the attack on
Jabesh Gilead. So, uh, was there a Holy Spirit operating
(05:15):
in the Old Testament? You bet. There's a lot of
other places I could show you. But beginning with the
very first verse of the Bible, uh, where it talks
about creation, in the beginning, God created the heavens and
the earth. Uh, and the earth was, I would translate
it a wilderness and a waste. And then it says, uh,
(05:36):
darkness covered the surface of the watery depths, and the
Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.
Was there a Holy Spirit operating then? You bet.
S2 (05:49):
Yeah.
S1 (05:49):
Okay. Thank you. Yeah. Thanks for your call, Amaya. Uh, always.
God the father, God the son, God the Holy Spirit.
Just the revelation, the clarity of the Trinity develops over time.
But there always was a spirit of God operating. Uh,
Garrett in Lake Worth, Florida, listening on RGM. Welcome to
(06:11):
Open Line. How can I help you? And how is
it in beautiful, sunny Florida? That's what I want to know.
S3 (06:17):
Good morning, Doctor Radonich. And greetings to to your wife. Uh,
I have a question. Uh, uh, it's, uh, two questions
in one. Uh, thank you for taking my call. Uh,
when did the mother of Jesus die? And where and
(06:38):
how old were they? My her and, uh, Joseph, my grandson, 11,
asked me this question.
S1 (06:48):
Well, you got to tell your grandson there are a
lot of things we just don't know. And we do.
It does appear that by the time we see the
Lord Jesus as an adult in his adult ministry, Joseph
seems to have passed from the scene. He probably has
died by this point. And the mother of the Lord
(07:10):
Jesus is a widow. It does appear that way, although
it never states it categorically. It's just that Joseph isn't around. Uh.
Where and when and where she's buried. How, Mary? The
Bible doesn't tell us. Uh. It just doesn't say. And
(07:34):
so I'm sure there are traditions in other churches and
places like that, but according to Scripture, there's no word
of it. And so it's just something that God knows
and we don't. Okay.
S3 (07:49):
I searched the scriptures myself and I couldn't find any.
S1 (07:52):
No, there's nothing about it. So. Okay. Garrett, thanks for
your call. Appreciate it. Uh. We're, uh. Are we in
the window? No. We're not. Okay. Uh, we're going to
talk to Nicole in Cleveland, Ohio, listening on wtxf. Welcome
(08:12):
to Open Line, Nicole. How can I help you?
S4 (08:15):
Hi. Thanks for taking my call. It's so great to
hear from you. And my question is, um, if you do,
you have to be a pastor or a minister, you know,
somebody of that status to be able to baptize someone
or can a person that is a Christian baptize a
person that is a new believer?
S1 (08:36):
I don't see anything in Scripture that says it has
to be someone who is a pastor. I just don't
see it. Uh, Nevertheless, some local churches might say that,
and I would respect what decisions a local church has
(08:57):
about that. So okay.
S4 (09:00):
Because my son is has a friend that's going that
goes to a church that they do that. And um,
that's why I wanted to get your opinion to know
if that.
S1 (09:12):
Yeah, I would, I would respect I would respect the
authority of a local church if that's what they want.
That's what I would do. Uh, although I don't see
anything in Scripture that compels me to say it must
be the pastor or an elder or someone from that
church that does it. Uh, but uh uh, so, for example,
(09:35):
when when I go to Israel, there are always people
that want me to baptize them, uh, in the, the Jordan.
And I always say, well, I baptize in the wider Jordan,
which is the the Sea of Galilee. It's the same water.
It's just it's a little easier to get in it.
And then, uh, the other thing that I say is
(09:58):
I have some limits. I really encourage people not to
be rebaptized. The first baptism counted, you know, in terms
of if you became a believer and then you were baptized,
you being in the water in Israel doesn't make any difference.
And then the other thing I say is, if you
were baptized as a baby and you want to be
(10:18):
baptized for real as a follower of Jesus, uh, that
I'm okay with that. But is the church you're attending
going to be okay with that? I don't want to
baptize someone if I'm not their pastor, and their church
would say no, you must be baptized by the the pastor.
And so that's the limitation I put on it. I
(10:40):
don't want to I don't want to disrespect the local church. Okay, okay.
S4 (10:45):
Thank you so much.
S1 (10:46):
Yeah. Okay. Thanks for your call. Appreciate it. Uh, Angie. Uh,
I don't know where you're calling from. Where are you
calling from?
S5 (10:54):
Uh, Chattanooga, Tennessee. WNBA.
S1 (10:57):
Hey. That's great, I could tell. You know what? If
you had just talked, I would have been able to
guess that.
S5 (11:03):
You would have known I was southern. Thank you for
taking my call. Yeah, um, I just lost my daddy
December 31st. I'm 56. He was 82. I'm sorry. I'm
an only child. That was a daddy's girl. Thank you. It's, uh. I'm.
We're Christians. We're believers. But this this is this has
(11:24):
taken me down a dark road. Mhm. I'll need to know,
does my daddy remember me in heaven?
S1 (11:32):
In my opinion, uh, when we go to heaven, there's
nothing in Scripture that says that God has some divine
neuralyzer where he makes us forget. Uh, do you remember
the Neuralyzer and Men in Black? You know where they were? Yeah. Yeah,
that doesn't happen. I do think God brings his special
(11:53):
comfort for the pain that we have, the sorrows that
we've had. I don't I think that God. Because he'll
wipe away every tear. So that means he comforts us.
It doesn't mean he removes the memory. Uh, okay. And, uh,
so I'm absolutely convinced that we will recognize and remember
(12:15):
each other. And we remember each other even before we
recognize each other, because obviously you're not there yet. Uh,
the other the one thing that sometimes people think, and I,
I differ with my friend Mike Vanlandingham. I don't believe
that your daddy can see what you're doing right now. Uh,
(12:37):
I don't think your father does that. Uh, I think
that he is taken up with what's going on. We
don't become divine little mini beings that have omniscience. Heaven
is an utterly different, uh, place. And God can see
what's going on on earth. I don't believe that we
(13:00):
do when we die, but his memory is intact, maybe
even stronger of all the details of his loving relationship
with you. And I think that that is something that
that he celebrates while he's there in heaven. And he
looks forward to you being there with him someday. Uh,
so that's what I would say. Uh, however, he's not
(13:24):
watching you now. You know who's watching you? Someone even better.
The Lord Jesus is never going to leave us or
forsake us. So the Lord Jesus is watching out for
you now. Okay. Does that help? Angie up? Seemed to
have lost Angie, but I hope that she heard that. Uh,
(13:46):
so we're going to take a break here. When we
come back, uh, we'll talk with you about your questions
about the Bible, God, and the spiritual life. You're listening
to Open Line with Michael Ray Dolnick, and we're going
to be taking many more questions. So stay with us
right here on Moody Radio. And we're back. Hey, I
(14:28):
was at National Religious Broadcasters this past week, and I
actually met some people from different stations and one, you know,
they were they were like the exact team from different
stations and so forth. And one of the coolest things
was this it wasn't a moody, uh, owned and operated station,
(14:53):
but rather one of the many affiliates that take programming
from Moody Radio. And they we met and they said
one of the people on the team said, I'm a
kitchen table partner. And I was so pleased, uh, to
see someone who actually is running a radio station and
(15:14):
wants to be a kitchen table partner. It just shows
to shows me how wide a team we have and
how grateful I am for everyone on that team. It's
not just the team that I see here. Like Omar
shaking his head right now, uh, or to hear her,
but also the team of people who wanted to bring
(15:35):
Moody Radio onto their station open line on their station.
But in addition, they're there helping by giving monthly so
that I can be on the air weekly. And I
am so grateful that they're doing that. And I was
hoping that some of you who are listening, you may
have given one time or you give whenever there's a
(15:55):
new resource because you want to get the resource, but
you haven't really determined that you want to give monthly.
I hope maybe you'll consider that becoming a kitchen kitchen
table partner. You'll still get the resource that we offer,
but this would give us a great confidence. And, and, uh,
the certainty of when we were making budgets and things
(16:17):
like that. Uh, it'll keep us on the air, and
we so appreciate it if you'll consider it. Uh, if
you if you will, uh, then all you have to
do is go to Openline radio.org. Uh, you can also, uh,
call 877. I'm sorry, not eight. 77 ah, I keep
(16:40):
I keep getting that that number confused with our call
in number. Uh, if you want to, you can call (888) 644-7122.
That's (888) 644-7122. If you'd like to become a kitchen table partner,
if you do, we'll send you an audio Bible study
(17:00):
every other week. In your email, you get to listen
to it. I hope you'll enjoy that. Uh, we're going
to talk now with Mark in Florida listening on WLKY's.
Welcome to Open Line. Mark, how can I help you.
S6 (17:13):
Yeah. Thank you so much for taking my call I
appreciate it.
S1 (17:17):
Sure.
S6 (17:18):
Okay. My question is in reference on, uh, Daniel nine
where it talks about the seven years, the time, time,
time and a half, which is seven years. And I'm
trying to.
S1 (17:30):
Know the time times and the half time times and
time and a half. That one. That's the the times.
Time and time and a half. Time. That's it. Yeah.
That's three and a half years, not seven.
S6 (17:45):
Okay.
S1 (17:46):
And it's the second that refers to the second half
of the tribulation period, which is a seven year period.
S6 (17:55):
Okay. That was my question. Was that the second half
of the tribulation. Yeah. And another thing was the four
horsemen was that in the second half or the the
beginning part of it?
S1 (18:05):
The four horsemen of the apocalypse.
S6 (18:08):
Off the apocalypse in revelation.
S1 (18:10):
Yeah. Unlike a student of mine who called them the
Four horsemen of the Acropolis. Uh, the the the four
horsemen of the apocalypse are, uh, in revelation six and
it says, I looked and saw a white horse, and
the horseman on it had a bow. A crown was
(18:31):
given to him, and he went out as a victor
to conquer the word for crown. There is not the
normal crown that's used for the crown of the Lord Jesus,
and this is referring to a different king that will
have authority in the tribulation period. That's the beast. This
has to do with the authority of the beast. And then, uh,
(18:56):
the second horse is red fiery red horse, and that
refers to war. Uh, the third horse is a black horse.
And the horseman on it had a set of scales
in his hand. And it has to do with inflation,
believe it or not, because a quart of wheat for
a denarius, a full day of pay just to get
a bag of wheat. And then the fourth seal is death, uh,
(19:19):
a pale green horse, and it causes a plague for
a fourth of the earth. Okay, those are the Four
horsemen of the apocalypse, and they take place in the
first half of the tribulation. They are part of the
seal judgments. Uh, the first, second, third and fourth seal,
(19:40):
the six first six seal judgments take place in the
first half of the tribulation. And then the seventh seal
opens the trumpet judgments. And those are the second half
of the tribulation. Okay.
S6 (19:54):
So much I appreciate it.
S1 (19:55):
Yeah. Thanks for your call. Really appreciate it. We're going
to talk to Fred in Minnesota listening on 102.7 the word.
Hey Fred, how can I help you today.
S7 (20:07):
Thank you. Mike, uh, I got a question that's been
zooming around this area in my head as well. And
does the Bible support flat earth or round global Earth?
S1 (20:21):
Well, uh, do you think the Bible would support something
that's absolutely untrue?
S7 (20:30):
Absolutely, I do not.
S1 (20:31):
Okay. I don't think so either. So, uh, the Bible
really doesn't talk about, uh, the atmosphere in that way, but, uh,
it does have a verse in Isaiah that, uh, talks
about the sphericity of the earth. It's Isaiah 40 and
(20:57):
I believe verse 22, uh, and there it talks about
God sitting over the circle of the earth. And the circle, uh,
could be translated easily as the sphere, the, the, the roundness,
the sphericity. God sits on this over the sphere of
(21:20):
the earth. God is enthroned above the sphere of the earth. Now,
most versions say circle, but it's talking about a sphere.
And so it does appear there that it's talking about
the earth being round. Now, what is important to remember is,
you know, it talks about the four corners of the
earth and things like that. Well, just because of using
figures of speech like that doesn't mean the Bible is
(21:43):
saying the Bible that the earth is flat any more
than the weatherman who talks about, you know, I, I
listen to local news and they have the weather and
they'll talk about sunup is certain. You know, sunrise is
a certain certain time doesn't mean that they really believe
the sun rises. It just is common expression. Uh, common
(22:05):
way of speaking to talk about sunrise. But it doesn't
mean that they believe that the sun is rotating around
the Earth, right? So. Okay. Okay. Yes. Yeah. So, no,
the Bible does not support a flat earth. It does
support the idea of a sphere of an Earth. Okay.
S7 (22:26):
Okay.
S1 (22:26):
Good. Thanks for your call. Appreciate it. We're going to
talk to, uh, Gary also listening on 102.7 the word wow.
Two in a row. Uh, welcome to Open Line, Gary.
How can I help you?
S6 (22:41):
Thank you. Thank you for taking my call. But, um,
I have been studying the Bible, and I was wondering
if you could explain to me in the Bible what
is what is the purpose of baptism?
S1 (22:56):
The purpose of baptism is to be a public identification
for our faith. Uh, identifying with the Lord Jesus publicly. Uh,
I think you see that.
S8 (23:12):
Hey, what verse in the Bible says that?
S1 (23:15):
Give me a second. I'll get there. Uh. And, uh,
we're going to look at acts uh, eight. It's where, uh,
Philip said, uh, to the Ethiopian. He said he ordered
(23:36):
the chariot. Wait. Wait a second. Philip proceeded to tell
the Ethiopian official the good news about Jesus beginning from
the scriptures, and obviously he believed. And the official said, look,
there's water. What would keep me from being baptized? And
Philip said, if you believe with all your heart, you may.
And he replied, I believe that Jesus Christ is the
(23:58):
Son of God. And he ordered the chariot to stop,
and both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water.
So obviously, uh, more of an immersion. And he baptized him,
immersed him. Uh, and that's, that's, uh, I think a
good example that the eunuch, the Ethiopian official, wanted to
(24:19):
publicly identify with his faith. Another purpose of baptism is
to identify with the death and resurrection of Jesus. You
can read about that in Romans six, that we died
with him and were raised to new life. That's that's
a pretty clear explanation of a purpose. Uh, and so
(24:42):
that's what I would say the purpose is. Here's the thing.
God expects believers to be baptized. There's no such thing
as an unbaptized believer in the Bible. Uh, when someone
comes to faith, they are baptized. Now, there are today
there are some people who baptize babies. I would say
(25:04):
that that's not something I would agree with. It's not
something I want to go to war about, but it's
not something I agree with. I think believers are the
ones who are baptized. And then there are some churches
that believe in adult or believer baptism. Not necessarily adult,
but believer baptism. And what they do is they want
to make sure you're on the track to discipleship. I'm
(25:25):
not sure I agree with that either. I think we
should be baptized really, as soon as we come to
faith in Jesus. Uh, however, uh, you know, I would
respect that as well. I don't want to go to
war over that. That's that's what I would say. Thanks
for your call. Really appreciate it. Gary. Uh, we're going
to come back with the mailbag in just a moment,
so stay with us. You're listening to Open Line with
(25:46):
Michael Wright on Moody Radio. We'll be right back. Welcome
(26:08):
back to Open Line. My name is Michael Melnick. I
am so glad to be with you. It's time for
the FBC mailbag. I'm really grateful for Far Eastern Broadcasting
Company for their ministry, which brings the gospel to people
all around the globe, through media and through personal engagement.
I'm also grateful that they partnered to bring you the
Febc mailbag, and I really recommend check out their website febc.
(26:32):
Org and also click on the link to their podcast.
Until all have heard, it will give you great encouragement
about the work that they're doing about bringing the gospel
to the world. And joining me right now is Tara
Haynes for the Febc mailbag. Hey, to hear it. So
you look at all the questions. I know Trish puts
(26:52):
the mailbag together, but you look at the questions, do
you like, think, oh, I want that one answered. I
want that one. Or do you just say whatever. Whatever's
there we'll go with the next one. What do you think?
S9 (27:04):
There's a little bit of reviewing the questions, but for
the most part, we want to get to as many
of the questions as possible that our listeners give us.
So we try to go through all of them except.
S1 (27:17):
For the hard ones. Right.
S9 (27:18):
You're okay with the hard ones too, Michael? You can
do it.
S1 (27:22):
There are times I'm thinking, oh, man, I wish Eva
were here. So that's a hard one. I want to
be able to answer that one. So anyway, uh, well, let's, let's,
let's see what we can do with these.
S9 (27:34):
Excellent, excellent. We will start with Jeff, who wrote to
us on Facebook, if you had to explain the Last
Supper to someone who just read it for the first time,
how would you go about doing that?
S1 (27:48):
Well, it's it's really important to recognize that the Last
Supper really should be called the last Seder. Uh, the
order of the Passover. It was a Passover meal. I
think that's significant because the scriptures seem to point to
the Passover lamb as sort of a foreshadowing of what
the Messiah would do. Uh, you know, John the Baptist
(28:12):
and John one, he sees the Lord Jesus coming to
be baptized. And what does he say? Behold the Lamb
of God, who takes away the sin of the world.
And then also in first Peter chapter one, looking backwards
at at the atonement of the Messiah, the the death
and resurrection. Here's what it says in first Peter 118
(28:36):
for you know that you were redeemed from your empty
way of life, inherited from the fathers, not with perishable
things like silver or gold. But now verse 19 says,
but with the precious blood of the Messiah, like that
of a lamb without defect or blemish. And so there
it describes the Lord Jesus as a Passover lamb. And
(28:57):
so the Last Supper was sort of like the the
ultimate foreshadowing of what the Messiah was about to do.
When he would be betrayed, he would die as are,
without spot or blemish, perfect lamb, and he would be
raised again. And so that's it should be viewed as
a Passover Seder. And one of the things I've done
for like the last 50 years since I was a teenager.
(29:22):
I started doing this. Believe it or not, when I
was a teenager is I would go to churches and
explain what a Jewish Passover meal was like and how
the Lord Jesus fulfills that. And it's something that I've
enjoyed doing in many, many, many churches to help them
understand the Last Supper as a Passover Seder. Okay. Well, thank.
S9 (29:41):
You for helping us understand it as well. Thank you.
And you did just ask about the order of the questions.
We actually have another question about the Last Supper. This
one is from Joyce on Facebook. She says she is
working on a painting of Jesus's Last Supper. Um, with
the seating, the table setting and the actual foods. She
(30:01):
wanted to know what type of foods are there? Was
there unleavened bread? Was there wine? Were there olives? That's
the gist of her. Were there.
S1 (30:09):
Olives? Okay, well, there were olives on the Mount of Olives,
I will tell you that. But they probably weren't ripe
at that season quite yet. Uh, what was on the table?
First of all, there was unleavened bread, and they ate it.
The Lord Jesus, when he said, this is my body.
(30:29):
He was taking a piece of unleavened bread, uh, and said,
this is a symbol. Well, this is my body is
what he says, but I think he clearly is talking
about a symbol. And the reason why is, yes, there
was horseradish, uh, on the table. Likely there was salt
water as well, because at a, at a Jewish Passover meal,
(30:50):
you took, uh, green greens like parsley. So that would
have been on the table and you dipped it in
salt water. The green represents life. The salt water represents tears.
And it says, when we were slaves in Egypt, our
lives were dipped or immersed in tears. And so there
(31:11):
was salt water to represent tears. There was the the
green Vegetable to represent our lives. There is horseradish or
a bitter herb ground up. The sop that the New
Testament talks about that was ground up horseradish that indicates
our lives were filled with bitterness. This was bitterness. And
(31:34):
so there were a variety of things like that. So yes,
there was horseradish, there was parsley, kind of green vegetable.
There was salt water, all those elements. There was the
lamb that they offered. So they ate lamb. Uh, whether
(31:54):
they're olives, I don't know. But all that and they
all now what I think is significant about all these
items and this is I know a lot of my
friends want to find some, uh, spiritual presence of the
Lord Jesus in these items. And they say, look, he said,
this is my body when he held up the matzo. Well, he.
(32:16):
Everything at the Seder table was symbolic. When you point
at the salt water, these are our tears. When you
point at the horseradish, this is our bitterness. So when
the Lord Jesus held up the matzo and said, this
is my the unleavened bread, the matzo. When he held
it up and said, this is my body. No one
at that table would have said, oh, he's talking about
(32:37):
his spiritual presence within the body. They would have said, aha!
This is a symbol of his body, just as the
horseradish is a symbol of our bitterness, as the salt
water is a symbol of our tears. And so that's
what would have been on the table. And olives, I
don't know. There's nothing significant about olives, so I don't know.
S9 (32:59):
Thank you. Michael. Okay, Joyce, we wish you the best
with that painting. We also have a question from Judith
in Illinois, listening through WNYC. Where did the where did
Old Testament saints like Abraham go when they died?
S1 (33:13):
Uh, Bethlehem. No. Uh.
S9 (33:20):
Thank you. Michael.
S1 (33:21):
Yeah, they just left town. They're out of here. A
lot of people think, you know, there's a place in
the Bible called Sheol, and it's the abode of the dead.
And a lot of people think, oh, uh, Old Testament
saints like Abraham were locked there. And then at some point,
usually at the resurrection, somehow it's said that the Lord Jesus, uh,
(33:46):
allowed them into heaven, and they weren't there at that
time yet. But when the Lord Jesus spoke the parable
of Lazarus and the rich man, obviously Abraham was there
in what I would say, the presence of God in
the abode of God. And that's why he's comforting Lazarus.
(34:12):
That makes sense. It does? Yeah. So, uh, so I,
you know, I would say that we, we get a
little too technical in saying, oh, there's this place. This place,
as far as we know, the abode of the dead
for for the believer, it was a place of comfort
in heaven. Uh, just like today.
S9 (34:34):
Okay.
S1 (34:34):
And the abode of the dead also had a second
area that was a place of suffering. Like where the
rich man went. Uh, just as there is today. Uh,
and the Lord Jesus today is the one that would,
I think, be the one bringing comfort to someone that
dies today. But, yeah, I think Abraham was in heaven. Okay.
S9 (34:56):
Thank you.
S1 (34:56):
Yeah. And the resurrection. They will indeed be resurrected. Uh,
and Daniel 12, it talks about at the return of
the Lord. Uh, at the Second coming at the end
of the tribulation period. The dead in the Old Testament,
the the faithful of the Old Testament will be resurrected.
Thank you. Well, thanks for that. To hear Haynes bringing
(35:17):
the questions from the mailbag. My name is Michael Riedel.
We'll be right back with more of your questions right
here on Open Line. And we're back. I am so
(35:40):
glad to see all the people that are calling and
asking questions about the scriptures. You know what that tells me?
It tells me that you're reading the Bible and you're
having questions, and I so appreciate it. Uh, one question
I get frequently is how important is it to reach
Jewish people with the good news? And that's a question
often asked of those serving with Chosen People ministries as well.
(36:03):
And that's why Chosen People Ministries is offering a booklet
called To the Jew First and the 21st century. was
written by Doctor Al Mohler, who is the president of
Southern Baptist Seminary, and it reaffirms God's love for the
Jewish people, but shows why believers must also continue to
present the good news of the Messiah, Jesus, to the
(36:23):
Jewish people. Doctor Mohler says Jewish evangelism is the clearest
test case for faithfulness to the gospel in this generation.
For your free copy of To the Jew First in
the 21st century, just go to our website openline. radio.org.
Scroll down. You'll see a link that says A free
gift from Chosen People Ministries. Click on that and you'll
(36:44):
be taken to a page where you can sign up
for your very own copy of To the Jew First
in the New Millennium. Well, we're going to go right
back to the phones now. Uh, Bruce in Mount Prospect, Illinois,
listening on Wmbi. Welcome to Open Line. Bruce. How can
I help you?
S10 (37:02):
Yes. Thank you for your show. I really appreciate it. Thanks.
So a two part question. I lead a Bible study,
and from time to time, from the guys. I get
the two questions about children. One has to do with
a baby that's born stillborn or a born baby, and
they die. And I have a perspective on it, whether
they go to heaven or not. But I wanted to
(37:23):
hear yours. And then I have a second question, but
I'll let you answer the first, if that's okay.
S1 (37:27):
No, we only do one question. Oh, okay. Unless it's
related a follow up. Well.
S10 (37:35):
It is. And that the question is, do children that
have professed Christ, they go to heaven and we reunite
with them. Will they still be children or they will
be something different?
S1 (37:48):
Okay. Well, first of all, the Bible really doesn't speak
directly to the issue of whether or not children who
are babies go to be with the Lord. But there's
a hint in second. Samuel. Stillborn. Yeah. Uh, A second
Samuel 12, where David says of his child that dies
(38:11):
his baby. He said, I'll go to him, but he
will never return to me. And so it does appear
that David has hope of seeing that child, uh, in,
in the afterlife. And so after the earthly life. And
so it does appear, I think that and there's some
(38:32):
arguments that theologians make, but it seems to me that
a child, one way of thinking about this is that
sin nature doesn't set us apart from God. It doesn't
separate us from God. But sinful actions and babies have
not reached an age of accountability yet where they have
(38:54):
committed moral failure. And and therefore. And if someone says, well,
my toddler, if you could see how misbehaving. Yeah, they're
a toddler is a toddler. They're not doing it because
they're rebelling against God. They're doing it because they're a toddler.
So that's right. Right. Uh, okay. And what age they
will be. Your guess is as good as mine. Uh,
(39:15):
the I believe will be timeless in eternity, so I
don't know. Uh, I hope I'm not the age I
am now in eternity because my knees really hurt and, uh. Yeah. Okay, so.
And I, I used to have hair a long time ago.
I was hoping in my resurrected body to have hair again, but. So. Right. Okay, Bruce,
(39:41):
we'll get new bodies.
S10 (39:42):
But I guess my question was a child that dies at, say, 12.
They profess Christ. Would they still be still be 12?
Or do they get entirely new bodies at some form?
S1 (39:50):
If only I knew. Oh, no. Yeah. Yeah. I don't know. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Okay.
Thank you. I don't want to be my age, so
maybe he doesn't want to be 12. I don't know, so.
S11 (40:01):
Yeah. Okay.
S1 (40:01):
Thank you. Okay.
S12 (40:04):
Yeah.
S1 (40:05):
You know, I think if that once again, I keep
saying the Bible doesn't satisfy our curiosity. It only gives
us the truth that we need to know. So we're
going to talk with Barbara in Plymouth, New Hampshire, listening online.
Welcome to Open Line. How can I help you, Barbara?
S13 (40:23):
Hi. Um, quick question in first, I mean, I'm sorry,
in John, uh, where it speaks about right in the beginning, um,
that the word was God. The word was with God.
I looked in the Moody Bible Commentary, and it had
a really good excerpt on this, and it pretty much
whet my appetite for more. And I didn't know if
(40:45):
you had any resources that somebody has actually written on
this topic of the word being God and with. Yeah,
with God. And.
S1 (40:56):
Uh, well, there's a book, uh, and if I could
find it, Uh, I would tell you what it is. Uh,
I read I have it on my shelf in my library. Um. Uh,
I can't think of the name of it or the author,
(41:16):
but I'll tell you what it's about. It's about the
Hebrew concept. It's a it's a scholarly book. I'm not
sure it's something that you would want. It's, uh. Uh,
it's about the memra. That's the Hebrew concept of the
word as God. Uh, in in, uh uh, wow. Uh,
(41:39):
the memorized the word of God. The word became flesh
as deity. Uh, and so, you know what, Barbara? How
about this? Why don't you listen next week and I'll.
I'll check out the, uh, the my library and come
up with that book for you. Is that okay?
S13 (41:58):
That's fine. Yeah.
S1 (41:59):
Uh, I'd have to go to my bookshelf and find
that book. And, uh, it's it's it's a deep dive.
I think it was a doctoral dissertation at one time. Uh,
but that's that's it. There are some people who think
that it's not based on the word, the Hebrew word memra,
which is translated logos. Some people think it's related to Philo,
(42:23):
who was a Jewish philosopher of the first century BC.
And he wrote a lot about the logos, but I
don't think so. I think it's about the memra. Okay. Okay.
S13 (42:31):
Yeah.
S1 (42:32):
Okay, great. Yeah. I'm glad. Thanks. Thanks for your call.
Appreciate it. And we're going to speak with Leon in Florida.
Welcome to Open Line, Leon. How can I help you?
S14 (42:44):
Her question is, in one place in the Bible, it
says that Judas took the money back to the priest
and threw it to him. And in another policy, he
bought a field and fell headlong. So can you explain
that to me?
S1 (43:01):
Yeah. Uh, in Matthew 27, uh, it speaks about the
death of, uh, Judas. And that's what it says there. Uh,
so after Judas, I think it's. Yeah, it says, uh,
(43:21):
it says that he threw silver into the sanctuary and departed,
and he went and hanged himself. The chief priest took
the silver and said, it's not lawful to put it
into the temple treasury, since it's blood money. This is
verse six five and six. So they conferred together and
bought the potter's field with it as a place of
foreign for foreigners. Therefore, the field has been called blood
field to this day to fulfill what was spoken through
(43:44):
the prophet Jeremiah. Uh, I think that in the one
place it says that he tossed it to them. Uh,
clearly he did. He threw the silver into the sanctuary. Uh,
but they didn't want to just accept it back. And
so what they did is in the name of Judas, they, uh,
(44:07):
they they bought that field. They didn't buy it in
the name of the Sanhedrin. They bought it in the
name of Judas. They took the money. They wouldn't receive
it back. They said here. And so in in a sense,
Judas bought it, even though they were the ones that
handled the money because they didn't want to accept it back.
So they took it and bought it in Judas name.
(44:29):
So that's why another passage might say Judas bought a field.
It wasn't technically, uh, it was technically he who bought it,
even though it was done through the Sanhedrin, who took
the money back in that way, they wouldn't accept it back. Uh,
they didn't want to have blood money on their hands,
so they used it to buy a field of blood. So. Okay,
(44:50):
I hope that helps. Uh, Leon, uh, let's see if
we can get one more question in, Uh, uh, let's
talk to Linda in, uh, on line four and, uh, Waterloo, Iowa. Hey, Linda.
How can I help you today?
S15 (45:06):
Oh, I'm so glad to talk to you.
S1 (45:09):
We're way down in time, so just go ahead with
your question.
S15 (45:13):
You betcha. I want to know what the Bible specifically
says about the church getting involved in politics.
S1 (45:20):
I think that, uh, this is a real quick answer.
Did you ever hear me talking about politics on Open Line? No, no.
Do you know why I want to? I want to
advance the kingdom of God. Uh, and certainly we have
to be good citizens. And as good citizens, we can
(45:41):
take political positions as individuals. But as a church, uh,
I think we can take political positions, but we don't
advance any political party. We advance the kingdom. Kingdom of God.
That's my opinion. So.
S15 (45:55):
So. so the people that the preachers that are preaching
politics from the pulpit, you would say that you would not.
S1 (46:03):
Let me just say it's not something I would do
when I was a pastor, I would I would preach morality,
I would preach preach holiness. Uh, and I would even
say there are political positions. Like, I was always very
outspokenly pro-life, uh, which some people think is political, but
I think is moral. That's what I would say. Anyway,
(46:23):
that's the program for the week. Thanks for your call, Linda.
Thanks for listening to everyone else. And thanks for the
Open Line team, Tricia, for putting the questions together to
here for producing today. Omar, uh, for being our engineer
and Lisa for taking care of everything. Check out our
web page, Open Line radio.org. There's even a link to
my personal web page. There you can see what's coming up.
(46:45):
Keep reading the Bible. We'll talk about it next week.
Open line with Doctor Michael Dolnick is a production of
Moody Radio, a ministry of Moody Bible Institute.
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