All Episodes

March 29, 2025 46 mins

If anything in your Bible reading and study this week has you stumped, come back Saturday morning for Open Line. Dr. Michael Rydelnik will provide answers straight from Scripture. Even if you don't have a specific question, tune in and gain a greater understanding of Scripture as you hear others' questions and Michael's responses. Make your plans to start the weekend listening to Open Line with Dr. Michael Rydelnik.

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 Part

Mark as Played
Transcript

Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
S1 (00:10):
Hello, friends. Welcome to Open Line. I am so glad
to be with you today. My name is Michael Wright.
It's the second hour of Open Line. This is Moody
Radio's Bible study across America. We're talking about your questions
about the Bible, God and the spiritual life. My name,

(00:30):
as I said, is Michael Wright. And I'm the academic
dean and professor of Jewish studies and Bible at Moody
Bible Institute. We're sitting around the radio kitchen table talking
about your questions, so why not give me a call?
The phone number is (877) 548-3675. That's (877) 548-3675. And you can

(00:51):
always put a question in the mailbag so that it
can show up a little bit later. If you can't
call just go to our website online radio.com Org and
click on the link that says Ask Michael a question.
I hope you have your Bibles open, and I hope
you have a second cup of coffee, because we're getting
ready right now to talk about the scriptures. Now, before

(01:13):
we talk about the scriptures, I do want to talk
about something that I think is is crucial to know about.
And that is that so many times people want to
know where we got the Bible from. How did how
did it go from divine inspiration to the original autographs
to copyists, to the transmission from author, from copyists to

(01:35):
copyists to translators to modern translations that we have? Uh,
how did we get this Bible? Well, if that's something
you've wondered about, that's what our current resource answers. It's
a book called The Story of the Bible. It was
written by Doctor Carl Laney, who is a professor for many,
many years at Western Baptist Seminary, Western Conservative Baptist Seminary

(01:58):
out in Portland. And it's a it's a terrific, terrific book.
It's called The Story of the Bible. And in it,
Doctor Laney reveals how God worked through inspiration, uh, through, uh,
all the way through scribes, through the human authors, through scribes,
through translators to give us his written word. And I

(02:19):
know that this book will give you greater confidence in
God's Word, help you really understand how we got the Bible.
And I think that's a great thing for us all
to know. And if you've never given a gift to
open line, this is what we want to send to you.
Or if you have given a gift before. Either way,
we'd love for you to receive a copy of this.
It's our way of saying thanks for for giving a

(02:40):
gift of any size. We want to send you this book.
It's called The Story of the Bible and it's yours.
When you give a gift of any size, just go
to our website, Online radio.com, and click on the link
there about the story of the Bible And or you
can just call (888) 644-7122. Either go to open line radio.

(03:05):
Org or (888) 644-7122. And remember to ask for the story
of the Bible when you give your gift. We're going
to talk to Renee in Freeport, Illinois, listening on. Welcome
to Open Line, Renee. How can I help you today?

S2 (03:22):
Hi. Good morning, and I appreciate you taking my call.
I'm going to make this very quick. Um, I'm doing
a study on Joseph, who I adore. Um, based on Joseph's,
on his family values and what God commanded. Why was it?
Why was he allowed to take a foreign wife?

S1 (03:45):
Uh, he took an Egyptian wife, right?

S2 (03:48):
Correct.

S1 (03:48):
Yeah.

S2 (03:49):
The pharaoh's daughter. Correct?

S1 (03:50):
Yeah. I don't know if it was Pharaoh's daughter. I
know it was an Egyptian wife. Um, Uh.

S2 (03:55):
Yeah.

S1 (03:56):
Uh, I'm trying to asnot. I think her name was.
Wasn't that her name? Uh, but, uh, the I think
that that it's it's one thing that obviously the Israelites
living in the land of Israel, when they entered the land,
they weren't supposed to marry Canaanites. Um, they there was

(04:21):
a distinction made between those who were of the the
people that knew the God of Israel and the pagans
around them, and they weren't supposed to marry those pagans. Uh,
it fits with what we see in the New Testament,
where it says that a believer should really marry a
believing wife or a believing husband, a believing spouse. Uh,

(04:41):
I think that those are general, generally good rules to follow. Uh,
that those all go together. Uh, it says, uh, just
so you know, so I can. Clarify. In first Corinthians
nine five it says, don't we have the right to

(05:03):
be accompanied by a sister? As a wife is literally
what it says a sister in the Lord as a wife.
It doesn't mean he's marrying his sister, but we have
a right to marry a sister in the Lord, is
what Paul says. Um, and so I think that's a
great verse to remember, um, that, uh, that that the

(05:24):
Bible does indeed talk about us marrying believers. Uh, you know,
some people, uh, use the verse about not being unequally yoked,
but I don't think that's really talking about marriage. But
in first Corinthians 739, it says, uh, a wife is
bound as long as her husband is living. But if
her husband dies, she is free to be married to

(05:46):
anyone she wants. Only in the Lord. Any believer is
what that means. So? I'm not disputing that. But I
do think that where Joseph was a he couldn't leave
and go back to the land of Israel. He was
there as the prime minister of Egypt. It was during
a that was not something that he was going to

(06:08):
do is go back to the land. He had to
he was kind of expected to marry. And so he married. Now,
I don't know if his wife became a believer in
the God of Israel through Joseph, but I think that's
that's why he took an Egyptian wife. In my opinion,
it was one of those unusual circumstances that he was facing. Okay.

S2 (06:31):
Right. I get it. Okay. Well. Thank you. I appreciate
your time this morning.

S1 (06:35):
Yeah. You know, I think sometimes we become. We have
to be really careful about this. Uh, good principle there
to to marry a believer. Clearly.

S2 (06:45):
Um, absolutely.

S1 (06:46):
Uh, something that we should follow. But you just never know. There.
There may be exigent circumstances that might cause an occasional change,
like what Joseph did. You know, I, I, uh, my
mom married someone that didn't know the Lord after she
knew the Lord. It was right after the Holocaust. Um, and, uh,

(07:09):
my parents were coming up on, uh, this is kind
of a big deal for me. It's 80 years in.
May will be the day of the anniversary of their
liberation from concentration camp. May 8th, 1945. So May 8th,
2025 will be 80 years from their day of liberation
from slavery. And, uh, that's pretty pretty meaningful to me.

(07:31):
But here's the thing that I think is interesting is
my dad married after the war. His wife died in childbirth, and, uh,
he had a premature infant, my brother in a hospital,
and he didn't know what he was going to do.
And he saw my mom, uh, who was a nurse
in that hospital. And this is in 1947. And he said,

(07:54):
I need someone to care for this baby. And he
did sort of an arranged marriage, sort of like in
Fiddler on the roof, because he needed someone to care
for that baby. And my mom, though she would only
want to marry a fellow believer, she felt such compassion
for that baby and felt a need to care for
that baby. And also the heartbreak of my dad. After

(08:15):
losing his wife and children in the Holocaust and then
losing his his wife after the Holocaust, that in light
of that circumstance, my mom chose to marry someone that
didn't know the Lord. And and I think exigent circumstances, uh,
you know, explains that. So that's that's and, you know,
I often think about it. What if my mom had said, no,

(08:38):
I'm not going to marry someone who doesn't know the Lord.
I wouldn't be here. So true. So I don't know,
I what am I going to say? That's, uh. That's.
It was a tough, tough situation. So anyway. But thanks.

S2 (08:53):
Absolutely. Yeah. If I, if I could just make a
real quick comment, I just want you to know that, um,
I wear the Star of David along with my cross
around my neck constantly, and I am in full support
and pray for Israel all the time.

S1 (09:07):
Oh, thank you so much. I really appreciate that. Hey,
you know, I'm so glad you mentioned that. I went
to see a movie yesterday and I want to warn
people there's some vulgar words used because it's about protesters, uh,
and anti-Semitic, uh, events in America mainly. And the name
of the movie is called October 8th. Uh, October 8th.

(09:31):
And it's, uh, some are calling it October hate. Uh,
and it's about antisemitism that has arisen in America. The
first seven minutes or so are about the October 7th
attack by Hamas. But October 8th Is about really the
main part of the the movie is about the eruption

(09:53):
of anti-Semitism across America, particularly on our college campuses. After
the attack. And it is, I have to say, the
the good news is that it's so well done. It's
not enjoyable, but it's so well done, I think. I
wish everyone could see it. The bad news is I
went to a theater to see it with two friends

(10:15):
of mine, and we were the only three people in
the theater. No one is seeing it. And it it
just breaks my heart because I think it's so important
to see. So, uh, that that's that's crucial. And I
appreciate your, your love and support. And thanks for this
really interesting and good question. Uh, we're we're going to

(10:37):
take a break here. Thanks for calling, Renee. When we
come back, we're going to take more of your questions. Uh,
you can call 275483675. And when we come back, we'll
be taking your questions about the Bible, God and the
spiritual life. This is open line with Michael. Stay with us.

(10:57):
We're going to have more questions straight ahead. Welcome back

(11:18):
to Open Line. So glad to be with you this
Saturday morning. My name is Michael Ryder and we are
talking about the scriptures together. Uh, I, I did want
to mention that, uh, I'm glad to be here with
Tricia and with Omar and Lisa and Titus answering the phones.

(11:39):
One of the things I've noticed is that people who
write or listen to Open Line will often mention how
much they appreciate the team, and I do too. I
know I couldn't pull this off without this team. Uh,
I'm so grateful for all of them. I appreciate everyone
that listens. You're part of the team too. And especially
I want to say how much I appreciate our kitchen

(11:59):
table partners. Uh, thanks for being part of the team. Uh,
we're we're hoping, uh, we have over 800 right now.
We'd love to see a thousand. Wouldn't that be something? Uh,
at least that's what my friend William Washington, the dean
of students here at Moody Bible Institute, Dean of student life.
He's always saying, when are you going to have 1000?
He's like, blaming me. But I am so grateful that

(12:25):
I was shocked that there there'd be just a few,
let alone 800. I'm really grateful, but we really would
love to see a thousand. And if you're interested in
becoming a kitchen table partner, we'd really appreciate it. We
send a Bible study moment out to everyone, uh, who
is a kitchen table partner. Every other week, you get
a special digital Bible study prepared exclusively for our kitchen

(12:48):
table partners. How do you become a kitchen table partner?
All you have to do is go to our website
openline Radio.com or call 886447122. If you decide to do that,
I just want you to know we really, really do
appreciate it. And we're going to talk to Bruce in Woodstock, Illinois,

(13:08):
listening on Wmbi. Welcome to Open Line, Bruce. How can
I help you?

S3 (13:12):
Hi, Doctor Randall. Yeah. My question is related to your
first caller on the 9:00 show. Um, since I believe
that the a human baby is born with a brain
that is like a blank slate, and he goes through
life collecting, you know, knowledge, but not necessarily wisdom. My

(13:35):
question is, when did Jesus receive God's wisdom and truth?
Maybe when he was fasting out in the desert 40
days or.

S1 (13:44):
Oh, I think he was a little bit older than.
I think he must have had God's wisdom much earlier,
because it says that when he was 12 years old
and he went to the temple, they were amazed at
his wisdom. Right? So.

S3 (13:59):
Right.

S1 (14:00):
Uh, so, uh, what what I would say is I
can't give you a precise age or date, but this
is what I do know. Uh, in the third servant song,
Isaiah has four servant songs. Four songs about the servant
of the Lord, four poems or songs, and they're called
the Servant Songs. And the third one, these are messianic

(14:23):
passages in the Hebrew Bible that point forward to the Messiah.
And the second and third of the servant songs are
written in the first person, uh, as like an autobiographical statement.
It's poetically the servant speaks and he says, uh, the
Lord God has given me the tongue. Of one who

(14:43):
is instructed to know how to sustain the weary with
a word. Obviously, he's been taught in wisdom. How? It
says he awakens me each morning. He awakens my ear
to listen like those being instructed. And so it seems
to me that from the earliest age, when there was

(15:06):
some cognizance cognition on the part of of Jesus born
to Joseph, to born to Mary, and adopted by Joseph,
that this one as a child would be awakened by
his true father, and instructed in wisdom and identity and

(15:27):
who he really was. Uh, and so by the time
he was 12, he was able to or the Jewish
leaders in the temple with his great wisdom. Okay, that's
what I think.

S3 (15:43):
Okay, so you're saying he had, like, a spiritual mental
attitude at an early age, and then he was he
awakened every morning to new information coming from God.

S1 (15:54):
I wouldn't say it is some sort of spiritual attitude.
I was just saying that God woke him every morning
and instructed him. God the father. Okay, thanks for your call.
Really appreciate it. Uh, we're going to talk with Tim
in Joliet, Illinois, listening on Wmbi. Welcome to Open Line, Tim.
How can I help you?

S4 (16:15):
Uh. Yes, sir. Thank you for taking my call. Uh,
I got a question about my son. Uh, my son
was raised in church his whole life. Uh, I was
there when he accepted Jesus Christ as his savior. But
now he wants to live a homosexual life. And my
question is, can a person who is saved live that
type of life and still go to heaven?

S1 (16:38):
Well, I think it's a person. Definitely a person who
is a believer could have temptations in that area. Uh,
there's no. And not just temptations, but failures. Sins in
that area. There's there's no doubt in my mind that
that's possible. Um, and, uh. The, the one thing I

(17:04):
would say is if he has made a firm decision
to say I am going to live this life. Uh,
I don't know what his destiny is, but I would
say that, generally speaking, uh, what the Bible says is
those who have made that firm decision to live that
life really don't know the Lord.

S4 (17:23):
Uh, right.

S1 (17:25):
Uh, but but, uh, I in first Corinthians chapter six,
it says, and such were some of you. And so, uh, yes,
it's certainly to come out of that and become a believer. Uh, I,
you know, I really want to be sensitive about this
because I don't know a person's destiny. But I do

(17:45):
know what the Bible teaches about this, and, uh, it's
it's not a black and white issue. I mean, obviously,
people have sins. They have areas, heterosexuals have areas of
sexual temptation and sexual sin. And that doesn't mean they
can't be saved. But, uh, if if a person just

(18:06):
flagrantly says, I'm not going to obey what the Bible
says about this, uh, then I about heterosexuals and I
would wonder if they really know the Lord. Uh, but I,
I want to give you some time to think and
pray for your son. Don't cut off your son.

S5 (18:23):
No, no.

S1 (18:25):
But, uh, you know, Chris Ewen, uh, his, uh, story
about how his mom prayed him into the kingdom. Uh,
I don't know. Have you read anything by Chris Ewen?

S4 (18:38):
No, sir.

S1 (18:39):
Okay. And he's got a book called Holy Sexuality, which
he goes over. Uh, he's got two books. One is
his faith story, which I. I can't remember the title,
but Trish is going to find it for us in
a second. Uh, and, uh, and then there's the book
that he wrote called Holy Sexuality. It's Chris, Doctor Christopher Ewen.

(18:59):
He was a student at Moody, later became a professor
at Moody taught adjunct here. Uh, he it's a remarkable book.
Both of those books are just terrific. Uh, also, you
can go to the Moody YouTube channel, the Moody Bible
Institute YouTube channel, and you'll see that last year, uh,
Chris Ewen spoke at Founders Week and did a marvelous job.

(19:22):
And those, uh, recordings are there. And I would watch those. Uh,
his his story as well as his teaching workshop. Uh,
it's called out of a far country. Uh, Tricia tells me, uh,
out of a far country. Uh, I, I care so
deeply for people who have temptations and same sex attraction. Uh,

(19:48):
I don't want to write them off. I think that, uh,
God can really, uh, bring them to a place of holiness. Um, and, uh,
so don't write your son off. Um, okay. I know
it breaks your heart.

S4 (20:03):
As a matter of fact, he still goes to church
with us.

S1 (20:05):
Okay. Uh, and, you know, uh, sometimes I think people
just may have to choose holiness over, uh, carrying out
their desires. And that's, uh. I'm not asking anyone to
change their desires, but to live in a holy life.
To put. Because God's really most concerned about our holiness.
He's not concerned about our sexuality as much. Uh, he

(20:27):
wants us to be obedient.

S5 (20:29):
And so let me ask you this real quick.

S4 (20:32):
Because when I they pray, I pray that his walk
with Jesus Christ would be real and would be right.
What else? What? And I've been praying for years about this.

S5 (20:44):
Mhm.

S4 (20:45):
And I was just kind of wondering if maybe, if
I'm praying the wrong prayer or should I.

S1 (20:50):
No. You keep praying for him. Pray for him to
come to a conviction about being obedient to the Lord
in this area and, uh, and to live a life
of holiness. That's what I would pray for.

S4 (21:01):
Alrighty. Thank you very much.

S1 (21:03):
Okay. Thanks, Tim, for your call, I appreciate it. Uh,
I'm going to let's let's talk with Anthony in Wheaton
listening on WNBA. Welcome to Open Line, Anthony. How can
I help you?

S6 (21:16):
Yes. I have this question, um, about, um, covering the
head while you're praying. And it comes from first Corinthians
11 four where Paul spoke about, uh, not covering your head, uh,
as a man who would then dishonor his head. But
then we have in Exodus 29 six, we see a

(21:36):
report on the high priest and his dress, and his
head is covered with a turban. Um, in in our day, um,
we see a lot of messianic believers coming to Christ. Um,
some of whom are praying with their heads covered and
so on. So I'm not really clear on this. I'd
love to have some clarity on it.

S5 (21:55):
Well.

S1 (21:56):
I would, I actually think is referring to there is
a sense of shame before God. Uh, that a man would, uh,
not just cover his head with a, like, a miter,
like the high priest would have worn a crown or, uh,
or a turban kind of thing. Might. Or I guess

(22:18):
it would be the best description. It's not talking about, uh,
a kippah or a some an American people call him
a yarmulke. Uh, that Jewish people wear. It's talking about
taking a prayer shawl or something to that effect, and
covering one's head up completely, covering the face and using

(22:40):
that kind of head cover out of shame before God.
But if we know the Lord, what we can do
is we can take that head covering off and stand
before God through Jesus. And we don't need to do that.
But it's not talking about, uh, just a plain kippah or, uh,

(23:00):
or even a miter. It's not talking about that.

S6 (23:04):
Very good.

S5 (23:05):
Thank you. Yeah. Appreciate that.

S1 (23:06):
Yeah. Thanks for your call. Appreciate it. Uh, we're going
to talk to Dan in Scottsdale, Arizona, listening online. So
glad you're doing that. Anyone can get the Moody Radio
app and listen online or on their computer. Uh, hey, Dan,
how can I help you?

S7 (23:23):
Yes, I am calling about, um, uh, when Israel is, like,
going to war.

S1 (23:31):
What do you mean? Biblical Israel? Current modern day Israel.
What are you talking about?

S7 (23:36):
Neither. Or are they supposed to, uh, get together and
pray about it before they go to war? Or, um,
just go to war?

S5 (23:48):
Well.

S1 (23:51):
Obviously in in the Bible, uh, they had a prophet
to tell them to go to war or not to
go to war. Uh, like, uh, in judges, uh, when
the prophetess Deborah basically sets up the attack, tells uh
uh uh uh. Barak to go to war. Uh, and

(24:15):
he says, Deborah, come with me. But she's a prophetess.
She's given him the word. Uh, it's a different circumstance today,
like when Israel just went to war with Hamas. Uh,
it was based. It's biblical, but it wasn't a direct command.
In Romans 13 four it says a government has been
given the power of the sword, the authority of the sword, uh,

(24:36):
to punish the wicked and and, uh, to protect the innocent.
And when a nation is attacked like Israel was, uh,
they have a an obligation to go to war in
that circumstance is what Ephesians, Ecclesiastes chapter three says. There's

(24:57):
a season for war, a time for war, and a
time for peace. And so I don't think that they
I'm sure there are people who prayed, but, uh, I
don't know if that answers your question. I hope it does.
But there was an obligation to go to war immediately,
not necessarily just something that they were going to wait
for a prophet to tell them to do so.

S7 (25:17):
Okay. Well, thank you for that.

S1 (25:19):
Yeah. I that's it's not very different than the United
States going to war after Pearl Harbor. So that's.

S7 (25:27):
Right.

S1 (25:28):
Same same kind of situation. So anyway, thank. Thanks for
your call, Dan. Appreciate it. Uh mailbags. Coming up in
just a moment. The Febc mailbag with Tricia McMillan. She's
going to be here. We're going to take the questions
that you've sent in by going to NPR.org and clicking
on Ask Michael a question. We're going to be right back.

(25:48):
So stay with us. Welcome back to Open Line. It's

(26:12):
time for the Febc mailbag. Uh, so glad, uh, that
Tricia McMillan is dragging that bag in for us so
that we can, uh, answer the questions you've mailed in.
The best way to mail a question in is to
go to Openline radio.org and click on the link that
says Ask Michael a question. We're so grateful that Febc

(26:34):
Far Eastern Broadcasting Company partners with us to bring you
the mailbag. It's a wonderful ministry that brings the gospel
through media and through personal contact all around the globe.
If you'd like to know more about this ministry, they
have a great podcast called Until All Have Heard. And
you can get it by going to npr.org and clicking

(26:54):
on the link there about the podcast until all I've heard.
And it's this great podcast with Ed Cannon and Wayne Shepherd. Well. Hey, Tricia. Hello. Hey.
So I don't want to take up a whole lot
of time, but I do want to remind people that
we've got the called conference coming up. You said to
me last hour that your sister went in the past. Yes.

S8 (27:16):
And she's really enjoyed it and has benefited from it.

S1 (27:19):
It's a conference for women. I know you're going to
like it. Pam McRae leads it, I just think that
if I were a woman, it's not something I'd want
to miss. You can watch it online, or you can
be here present at Tory Gray Auditorium, which is a
I think it's always more fun to be present with
all those women, uh, singing together. Worshiping together. Check out

(27:42):
Moody conferences. Right?

S8 (27:45):
Yes.

S1 (27:45):
Yeah. That's it. Okay. And there's a link on our, uh.

S8 (27:48):
There's not yet. I'm having website issues.

S1 (27:50):
Okay. But.

S8 (27:51):
Okay. I will get a link up there soon. It
is April 12th. April, you do have a little bit
of time? Yeah. That you can look into it. And again,
if you're a women in ministry of any kind, you know,
in the home, in your church, uh, children's ministry, um,
women's ministry, you lead a Bible study. Any of those
ways that you're serving? Um, I think you would be encouraged.

(28:12):
And it kind of helps revive your spirit a little
bit when you get to worship with other women.

S1 (28:17):
Yeah, I.

S8 (28:18):
Think it's learn and get that good Bible teaching. Yep.

S1 (28:20):
Well, you've put together this mailbag and, uh, there's there's
some good questions here. What have we got today?

S8 (28:28):
Okay. Bonnie wrote us from Ohio. Listens to Wtxf. She
wants to know what the Bible says about taking legal
action in her particular situation. It was something with a
doctor and medical professionals, uh, during a surgery. She was
always taught that God's people are not supposed to take
legal action. So how does that fall into these types
of situations?

S1 (28:48):
It all depends on whether or not the physician was a, uh,
a believer in Jesus or not. If he's a believer,
the Bible doesn't say that we can't get, um, how
do I put it? Proper restitution or resolution on conflicting matters.

(29:13):
But what it says in the book of First Corinthians
is that we're not supposed to What we. What we
need to do is take it to the church, let
the church resolve those disputes rather than us to take
it to the courts. So here's what it says in

(29:33):
first Corinthians six. If any of you has a legal
dispute against another, do you dare to go to court
before the unrighteous and not before the saints? Don't you
know that the saints will judge the world? If the
world is judged by you, are you unworthy to judge
the smallest cases? Don't you know that we will judge angels,

(29:54):
not to mention ordinary matters? So you have cases pertaining
to this life. Do you select those who have no
standing in the church to judge? I say this to
your shame. Can it be there is no one wise
person among you who is able to arbitrate between his
brothers and said believer goes to court against believer, and
that before unbelievers. And so the issue there is taking

(30:16):
a believer to court and trying to get it resolved
in the courts. I have a firm conviction that there,
and that's why there's Christian mediation and arbitration groups. One
of the things that I've I've signed a bunch of
writing contracts, and I've always tried to insist that, you know,

(30:38):
in writing contracts, publisher contracts, it'll say something like these.
Any disputes will be resolved by the the state courts. Okay.
And and I always when I'm writing for a Christian publisher,
I always write I change it to will be resolved
through Christian arbitration where believers can judge what's right or

(31:04):
wrong and people will agree to that. And so I
think it's really important that, uh, that if there's a
if you have a grievance with a fellow believer, don't
take it to the courts, but take it to Christian
arbitration or the local church, or there's any number of
ways you can do that. The and it actually goes

(31:26):
on to say you should rather be wronged. Uh, if
you have legal disputes against one another, why not rather
put up with injustice? Do not. Why not rather be cheated?
In other words, if you can't get the the fellow
believer to to go to arbitration with you, with Christian arbitration,

(31:46):
be better to be cheated. That said, uh, this is
not a wholesale prohibition against lawsuits. If you're if you
have a conflict like this, a malpractice suit against a
physician and the physicians, the physician is not a believer,
then there's no limitation there. It is permissible.

S8 (32:08):
Okay.

S1 (32:08):
Okay.

S8 (32:09):
All right. And that was first Corinthians six. Okay. All right.
Thank you for that question, Bonnie. I hope that helps. Uh,
next question is from Mike Wright. That was the one
that we talked about. Okay. Yeah. What is your opinion
of infant baptism as a parallel to circumcision?

S1 (32:27):
Hmm. Well, the basis of people seeing infant baptism as
a Christian replacement for circumcision is from the book of Colossians,
chapter two, I believe. Uh, see if I can find

(32:49):
the exact verse. Yeah, here it is. Uh, it says
in Colossians two verse 11, you were also circumcised in
him without with a circumcision not done with hands by
putting off the body of flesh in the circumcision of Messiah. Okay.

(33:11):
So it's there. What it's talking about is spiritual circumcision. Uh,
The New Covenant is sometimes like that. Circumcision of the heart.
The Book of Jeremiah talks about how Israel, when they
come to know the Lord, they won't just be circumcised
in the flesh, they would be circumcised in the heart.
And then it says, having been buried with him in baptism,

(33:36):
you were also raised with him through faith in the
working of God, who raised you from the dead. And
so what they say is, see, look, he's talking about
circumcision here. And and then he talks about baptism in
verse 12. And so obviously baptism replaces circumcision. I don't
think that what this verse is saying. I don't think

(33:57):
it's saying that at all. What I think it's saying
is that we have a circumcised heart through the New covenant.
And when we put on the New Covenant, uh, what
do we do is we express that through baptism. And
so circumcision of the heart happens when we believe. And

(34:19):
then baptism follows that up as the expression of that
new circumcised heart. It doesn't mean that babies should be baptized.
It's not talking about infant baptism here. It's what it's
talking about is circumcision of the heart becoming a genuine believer.

(34:40):
What do you do then? You, you you're baptized. That's
what you do to to express it. Okay, so it's
talking about adult baptism there. It's not really dealing with
physical circumcision okay. Yeah.

S8 (34:52):
Okay. That's helpful to know. Yeah. I have another question. Um,
which I wrote down somewhere else. Hold on. Just.

S9 (35:01):
Okay. Oh, wait wait wait.

S8 (35:03):
Do you.

S9 (35:03):
Have.

S8 (35:03):
It on the screen there?

S9 (35:05):
Yeah.

S1 (35:06):
Uh, she is a follow up on the question about
Daniel's 70 weeks.

S8 (35:10):
Yes. Yeah. Why? Um. Why is it that they say
weeks instead of years?

S1 (35:16):
Yeah.

S8 (35:17):
Like why?

S1 (35:18):
Because.

S8 (35:18):
Well. Well, even she said it kind of discourages her
from reading the Bible, because why can't it just be plain?

S1 (35:24):
Like, why can't, why can't it just be plain? Yeah.

S8 (35:26):
Why can't it be straightforward? Like why, why talk in
kind of these. Yeah. Hidden meanings.

S1 (35:31):
Yeah. I think, um, I think there's something to that,
but I'll tell you why. Okay. Yes. Um, first of all, uh,
there was a translation. Uh, I don't know if they
kept it, but the original NIV, which used to say
70 sevens have been set apart for your people. Not weeks.

(35:55):
It doesn't use the word week. It uses the word sevens. Okay. Uh,
that's much closer to what the Hebrew actually says. Okay.
It could be translated 70 peptides. Okay. What's a heptad?

S8 (36:11):
It means seven.

S1 (36:12):
Yeah, it's a seven. It's like if I said 70 dozens,
that would be 70 twelves. Right, right, right. If I
sent you to the store and said, pick me up
a dozen when you go to the grocery store.

S8 (36:24):
I'll get you 12.

S1 (36:25):
Of what?

S8 (36:26):
Of whatever. Whatever you need.

S1 (36:28):
Whatever. Well, no. Whatever we were talking about.

S8 (36:30):
Right. You need a dozen eggs. I'll just get one. Yeah. Not. Not.

S1 (36:34):
Yeah, we were talking about eggs. Oh, I don't have
any eggs. Can you pick up a dozen? Right. You'd
know the context.

S8 (36:40):
Right?

S1 (36:40):
Exactly.

S8 (36:41):
Okay.

S1 (36:41):
Uh, well, the same thing in Daniel nine. It says
77 have been decreed for your people. And the whole
context tells us that it's referring to years. Uh, the
reason is Daniel is praying. He says, wow, the 70
year captivity is over. Why did Israel go into captivity
for 70 years? Because 70 times seven years, they missed

(37:05):
the sabbatical year. Remember that?

S8 (37:08):
Yes. They were supposed to take a year off.

S1 (37:10):
From the for the rest of the land. And they
didn't do it 70 times, so 70 times seven years.
And then now they're in captivity for 70 years. Daniel
nine opens, this is the 70 years are up. And
the angel comes and says, I'm not going to talk
to you about the 70 years. I'm not going to
talk to you about the 70 times seven of the past.
I want to talk to you about 70 times seven
years in the future. And so the context argues for it.

(37:35):
And then, uh, in Daniel chapter ten, this is something
that a lot of people miss because of English translation.
It says in verse two, in those days I, Daniel,
was mourning for three full weeks is what my version says.
It's the very next paragraph after the Daniel nine passage,

(37:55):
about 70 weeks of years. Right? Okay. And it says,
but in Hebrew it doesn't say what I just read.
In Hebrew it says I was fasting for for three
weeks of days. And why does he say of days?
Because he's contrasting it with the previous one, which was
weeks of years because he couldn't possibly fast for three

(38:20):
weeks of years. So he wants us not to be confused.

S8 (38:23):
Don't. Don't think I fasted for 21 years. Yeah. Okay.

S1 (38:27):
That's it. So I understand what she's saying. I think
that if I were translating the Bible, I would say, uh, 77,
not 70 weeks, because it's just too confusing. Yeah. And
that's what one version I know does. All right. Anyway,
I hope that helps. We're going to come back with
more of your questions in just a moment. That was
Tricia McMillan. I'm Michael Melnick. This is open line. Stay

(38:48):
with us. Welcome back to Open Line. I'm Michael Wright.
So glad to be with you today. I do want
to mention a couple of things one, Chosen People Ministries

(39:10):
has a free gift, uh, for you. Uh, many people
wonder if Jewish people still need to hear the good
news of Jesus the Messiah. And so they have published
a book by Doctor Al Mohler who's the president of
of Southern Baptist Seminary. And he says, yes, Jewish people
need to hear the gospel. Absolutely. And he's written this
book called To the Jew First in the 21st century.

(39:33):
In it, Doctor Mohler maintains that bringing the gospel to
Jewish people demonstrates our faithfulness to the truth. And for
your free copy, just go to openline radio.org. Scroll down.
Click on the link that says A Free gift from
Chosen People Ministries, and you'll receive your copy of To
the Jew first in the 21st century. And while you're

(39:54):
there at Openline radio.org, you can click on the link
to my personal website. Uh, it says go to Michael's
website and you click on that. And that can take
you to a page where you can see about an
upcoming cruise that I'm doing in the Caribbean next December.
I think it would be a great, fun time studying
the word together in the warm weather, not in the
cold weather on the beautiful islands. Will be studying in

(40:16):
the morning and the evening. The book of Daniel will
including the Daniel's 70 weeks study, the whole book of Daniel,
how to hold our stand fast in our faith in
all despite all the pressures around us. That's what we'll
be studying on that trip. I hope you'll check it out.
Just go to my personal website. And, uh, we're going

(40:37):
to talk to Chris right now in Florida listening on.
So welcome to Open Line. Chris. How can I help
you today?

S10 (40:46):
Hey, I heard a question earlier that you answered a
bit about predestination and election, but I was curious how
you reconcile the idea of Scripture talking about eternity being
written on the heart of every man, and predestination and election.

S1 (41:03):
I'm not exactly sure. How do you think they contradict
each other?

S10 (41:08):
No, I don't think they contradict each other. I think
that if every person I see walking around has eternity
written on their heart, what about those that are not predetermined,
that still have that eternity written on their heart? Because
eternity is only? Well, I guess there's an eternity with
the Lord and without the Lord. But I don't ever
think of eternity being without the Lord. I only think

(41:31):
of it being with the Lord.

S1 (41:31):
Well, I think when when the Bible says that we
have eternity in our hearts, I think that, uh, we
all have a sense that we are not the creator,
but the creation. And we grow. Some people grow out
of that and lose it, but it begins as soon
as we have a sense of who of of self,
a sense of being. We understand that we are the creation. Uh,

(41:54):
we look around the world, we we wonder, where did
this all come from? Uh, there must be a creator.
I think that's all a reflection of eternity in our hearts.
But that doesn't mean everyone hangs on to that. Only
people who respond to that and seek him, then they
find him. And you say, well, that has to do
with election. You know, I don't ever try to resolve

(42:18):
election versus human responsibility. The Bible teaches those two concepts
right next to each other. I believe in election. Uh,
I believe that God also has what I call efficacious grace,
where he draws a person to believe it, says it in, uh,
acts 16, that God opened Lydia's heart to believe. Um, uh,

(42:44):
I think that's what God does with us. But turning
our hearts is that sense that we are the creation
and that there is a creator. I think everyone has
that to start with. Some people seek based on that.
Other people don't. Okay.

S10 (42:59):
Got you. And that certainly makes kind of clears up
the idea because in my mind, that idea of eternity
is like it's sitting there, dormant in everybody, waiting for
us to become a believer. Oh, but these ones didn't.
And I and I think the way that I was
viewing it was a little different than the way that
your explanation just went.

S1 (43:16):
Yeah. That's what and that's why people don't. There are
some people who just don't want, uh, to be believers
and they, they don't pursue that. So and they kind
of squelch, squelch the eternity in their heart is what
they do. So anyway, thanks for your call. Appreciate it.
We're going to we're going to talk to Sylvester in Tampa,
Florida listening on. Ken, welcome to Open Line. Sylvester. How

(43:38):
can I help you today?

S11 (43:40):
Hi. I just had a quick question. Um, I wanted
to know what would be your response to the idea
that Jesus, just because Jesus, when he was he didn't
write a book or have any writings or didn't had
any writings that ended up in the Bible. Uh, so
it devalues what the New Testament Statement of what? The

(44:02):
whole writers of the Bible. Um.

S1 (44:07):
Well, I would say if, uh, if we understand what
the Bible says about inspiration, then Jesus wrote all of it. Yeah.
Because the Holy Spirit superintended human authors. Um, uh, to, uh,

(44:29):
to write the scriptures. But, you know, the the Son
of God or the God the Son was involved in
that process, as was God the Father.

S5 (44:38):
Uh, yes.

S1 (44:40):
Uh, it's sort of like the whole creation. You know that, uh, God,
the father was the architect. Uh, God, the son was
the builder. Uh, and then the Holy Spirit was the
hammer in the hands of the builder, so to speak.
And so, uh, I would say who? The triune God.

(45:04):
They were all involved. The three persons of the Godhead
were all involved in creation. Same thing with the scriptures.
And that's why in Philippians three, uh, the, uh, the, the,
the apostle Paul writes that the word of God, not

(45:24):
the word of God, the word of Christ, the word
of Messiah, should dwell in you richly. And he's talking
there about the whole Word of God. And what he
is saying is all the word of God is the
Word of Jesus, because he is, uh, the divine Son
of God, who has, uh, who is behind the authoritative, inspired,

(45:49):
God breathed word of God. So that's who wrote it.
Jesus wrote it. That's what I would say. Does that help?

S5 (45:57):
Perfect.

S11 (45:58):
Yes, it sure have.

S5 (45:59):
Thank you. Okay. All right.

S1 (46:00):
Good bye. Well, I'm so glad. I'm so grateful for
that call. All your calls, everyone who wrote or called.
Thanks so much for making Open Line possible. I appreciate
you all so much. And I want to say, especially
thanks to our Open Line team. Uh, I love these people. Uh,
Tricia McMillan, Omar Titus. Lisa, thanks for all you do

(46:23):
to get this program on the air. It's more than
I can even express my gratitude. Remember, keep in touch
with us during the week by going to our web
page Openline radio.org. It's got all the links you're looking for.
I know you'll find what you're looking for right there.
Keep reading the Bible and we'll talk about it next
week in a very special program. Open line with Doctor

(46:44):
Michael Melnick is a production of Moody Radio, a ministry
of Moody Bible Institute. See you next week.
Advertise With Us

Popular Podcasts

Stuff You Should Know
Dateline NBC

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

On Purpose with Jay Shetty

On Purpose with Jay Shetty

I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!

Music, radio and podcasts, all free. Listen online or download the iHeart App.

Connect

© 2025 iHeartMedia, Inc.