September 2, 2025 • 28 mins
On today’s Bible Answer Man broadcast (09/02/25), Hank answers the following questions:
Why don’t we observe the Saturday Sabbath? Kelly - Prairie Grove, AR (0:55)
What does religion have to do with Christianity? Tom - High Ridge, MO (3:04)
Can you please explain Habakkuk 3:17? Is this verse talking about the Rapture? Sam - Nashville, TN (7:30)
When will Jesus return? Didn’t the disciples think Jesus would return in their generation? Charles - Toronto, ON (15:13)
My brother says the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was an allegory, and that knowledge was the real problem. Is he right? Tim - St. Louis, MO (19:44)
Why don’t we observe the Saturday Sabbath? Kelly - Prairie Grove, AR (0:55)
What does religion have to do with Christianity? Tom - High Ridge, MO (3:04)
Can you please explain Habakkuk 3:17? Is this verse talking about the Rapture? Sam - Nashville, TN (7:30)
When will Jesus return? Didn’t the disciples think Jesus would return in their generation? Charles - Toronto, ON (15:13)
My brother says the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was an allegory, and that knowledge was the real problem. Is he right? Tim - St. Louis, MO (19:44)
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
From Charlotte, North Carolina. You're listening to the Bible answer
Man broadcast with Hank Hanagraph, president of the Christian Research Institute.
The reason the Bible answer Man is on the air
is to defend the Christian faith, proclaim the gospel of
our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and to teach discipleship
to his followers, because life and truth matter. For more
(00:30):
information or to order equipping resources, call eight eight eight
seven thousand CRII, which translates to eight eight eight seven
thousand two seven four, or go online to equip dot org.
That's equip dot org. The following program was pre recorded,
(00:50):
and now here's your host, Hank Canagraph.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
Thanks very much, Randy, a lot of you hanging on.
We'll get right to the phone lines. First step as
Kelly and Prairie Grove Arc and Saw Hi Kelly, Hi, Hank.
Speaker 3 (01:03):
My question to you today, I was raised to seventh
day at Ventis and I currently I'm not going to
church right now, and I'm I'm a little bit confused
or perplected why I mean. In the Bible, in the
Tent Commandments, it says to honor the seventh Day, and
I understand that but if it's so plainly written in
(01:25):
the Bible, why does so many people go to church
on Sunday? And I don't know how to find the
answer to that. And I'm trying to make a decision
as to what church in what day, and I need
your health.
Speaker 2 (01:37):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (01:37):
Sure.
Speaker 2 (01:38):
Well, as a result of the Resurrection, the emphasis of
the Sabbath shifted to the celebration of the rest we
have through Christ, who delivers us from sin and the grave,
and therefore the emerging Christian Church felt like the most
dangerous snare it could involve itself in was a failure
to recognize that Jesus was the substance that fulfilled the
(02:00):
symbol of the Sabbath. So the issue is not the day.
The real issue is recognizing that Jesus Christ is the
one who emerges through the doorway of old Testament civil
and ceremonial laws, emerges from temple priests and sacrifice as
the ultimate sacrificial lamb, the one who does what we
(02:23):
cannot do. And therefore, in celebration of resurrection by which
we have our greatest hope, we worship on the first
day of the week, the day that Jesus rose from
the dead, but whether you worship on Saturday or Sunday,
(02:43):
the big issue is that you remember that we revere
the rest we have in Christ, who delivers us from
bondage to death and the grave and destruction.
Speaker 3 (02:56):
Fantastic. Well that definitely answers my question.
Speaker 2 (03:01):
Well you got it. Thank you so much for your call.
Let's go right back to the phone lines and we'll
talk to Tom next. He's listening in high Ridge, Missouri. Hi, Tom,
how you doing?
Speaker 5 (03:13):
Hanged good?
Speaker 2 (03:13):
Thank you?
Speaker 6 (03:14):
First, I just want to thank you. I kind of
cut my teeth on you. I first became a Christian
fourteen years ago, and you've helped me through my parents'
death without you knowing it. It's been a real blessing
to me in my Christian life. So I just want
to make sure I thank you for that bless you.
I grew up in a I guess religion, it doesn't
really matter which one, and I'm not religious anymore. So
(03:35):
if somebody called me and asked me what religion you
belong to, I would say, well, I'm not religious. I'm
a born again Christian. It's even sad.
Speaker 5 (03:43):
I got to say born.
Speaker 6 (03:43):
Again Christian Christian should be sufficient. So that's the surface.
I don't only mean much Chaman anymore in regards to
the words, because people have skewed words, you know, the
words don't mean what they do anymore.
Speaker 2 (03:57):
Well, and I don't necessarily disagree so of what you
just said. But here's what's important, Tom, many people who
profess Christianity do not believe that there's such a thing
as objective truth. Number one, number two. People who have
no affiliation with Christianity now exceed the number of evangelicals
(04:24):
in the country, which means that those who believe that
the Bible is the infallible repository for redemptive revelation, unfortunately
are in essence microcosms of the culture rather than change
agents in the culture. And that should be a warning cry,
a signal alert to wake up from lethargy before our
(04:47):
democratic republic implodes. And that is not something that is
far fetched, but something very realistic and has happened with
every empire that has gone on before us.
Speaker 6 (05:00):
Well, I don't necessarily disagree with that either. My question
you would be in the time I've known the Lord
for fourteen years, when I've spoken out as a Christian,
I seem to drive people away. Can I give you
a brief description of a person that I never really
spoke to you. He lived, He was our neighbor. He's
a kid brob about seventy eighteen years old. I always
played his drums. We first moved in our house, he
(05:22):
played as drums and basement and they were blaring out
the back of the house. Okay, I remember getting when
we first moved there. It was already your tension with
being in a new neighborhood and I just had a house,
and so I was getting kind of aggravated. And I
was going to go over and tell him to stop
playing his drums. And my wife stopped me and said,
you know, let's just stop and pray for him. I'll
never forget this. We stopped on the driveway and prayed
(05:42):
for him.
Speaker 5 (05:43):
And even whough I.
Speaker 6 (05:44):
Prayed for him, I by prayed and bat, I'm going,
you know, or what are you gonna do with this kid? Well,
you know, fast forward eight years, my tires going to
flat to the new job, and I'm getting aggravated. I'm going, okay,
I got to stop over into this place that sells tires,
and I go over there, and I became of my
time and on the corner of my eye, I see
this kid that looks kind of familiar and and sure.
Speaker 5 (06:05):
Enough it's in.
Speaker 6 (06:06):
His name is Kevin, And I see it's Kevin, and
we start talking to me, and a long story short,
he starts going with, you know, I playing my drums
in my band at church, and I kept on mentioning church,
and he started mentioning God. I'm thinking to myself, the
Lord's kind of screat team and goes, we'll ask him.
And I asked him, I go kill, are you a Christian?
And he goes, yeah, I go to such and such
(06:27):
a church, and uh, and I just want my car.
I start crying. If I had not witness to this boy,
all I did was stand on the driveway and pray
for him. And so I kind of I question myself
whether I should be and while I've spoken, or just
you know, well, I.
Speaker 2 (06:46):
Don't think it's an either or. I think you have
to testify by your love and by your life, and
evidently you are doing that, and if necessary, use words.
But yeah, I think it's important for us to be
ready always to give an answer or reason for the
hope that lies within us, with gentleness and with respect.
Speaker 1 (07:01):
But here's the deal.
Speaker 2 (07:03):
I don't think that it is incumbent upon us to
run around furiously grabbing people by lapel, saying brother, you say,
but it is incumbent upon us to be equipped for evangelism,
ready always again to give an answer. And if we are,
then the fields are whitened to harvest, and God many
times will open up wonderful opportunities to be the very
(07:25):
tool that the Holy Spirit uses in the process of
changing other lives. I appreciate your testimony. Back to the
phone lines, we'll talk next to Sam. Sam is listening
in Nashville, Tennessee.
Speaker 7 (07:36):
Hi, Sam, Heyank, It's great to be able to talk
to you. Likewise, you've really pushed me to try and
quit myself. I came across at back today and I
think it's back at three seventeen. And also in passing,
I think last week talking about Second Thessalonians, and I
(07:58):
just put two and two together. But you know, I
don't like calling the buzzword the rapture, but it seems
to me that in Second Testalonians it's clearly talking about
at the point when it says the Holy Spirit he
that now let us will let until he's removed or
some translations. Now he who always holdeth will withhold until
(08:20):
he's removed, saying the spirit will hold back the tide
of lawlessness and iniquity until he's taken out of the way,
and also in humback towards the end at three seventeen,
saying that the fruit will fail, meaning if we're the fold,
if we're the fruit, if we're the olaves, and our
fruits that we bear is our witness and our leeches Christ,
(08:40):
And can you know fulfilling the great commission? Then is
it responsible? Then it's put another arrow in my quiver
that says, yeah, that Christians are going to disappear one day,
and this is proof. Look here at a back against
Second Tessalonians. It's not just that proof we're gone. It's
that I look now, look at your statistics, their dwindling,
(09:04):
and the time's going to come, and there is that
last person holding down the for the Holy Spirit, and
they're going to be gone.
Speaker 6 (09:11):
Is that responsible to you.
Speaker 7 (09:13):
Tobaccic and Second Testilonians.
Speaker 4 (09:15):
In that way?
Speaker 2 (09:16):
Well, I don't think either, but certainly not Habacache. The
verse that you're citing contains a frequently quoted list of
material disasters in which all crops in livestock are lost,
and as a result, it is unclear how there's going
to be food for the people. And yet even amid
(09:36):
this kind of suffering, Habacic has learned that he can
trust God, and that trust comes with great joy, not
in the circumstances that surround him, but in a joy
that comes from knowing God as his creator and his
intimate friend. And remember that Habacic in general is writing
(09:59):
a an incredible epic of time. He Backic is ministering
during the death throws of the nation of Judah, and
he was overwhelmed by the realization that Jerusalem would be
destroyed by Babylon, which was a reality that was graphically
fulfilled in five eighty six. So he's not talking about
(10:22):
a rapture. And anyone that reads that into the text
is simply reading something into the text, and the text
is not designed to communicate in any way, shape or
form whatsoever. That's an irresponsible reading a scripture. So if
you've listened to a pastor on television or on radio
(10:43):
that says such a thing, shame on him. That pastor
needs to go back to Square Wan and learn the
art and science of Biblical interpretation, which, as I've said
many times in the Baglane's Men broadcast, is a science
and that rules apply. It's an art in that the
more you will apply the rules, the better you get
at it. But to find a rapture in Habakic three
(11:06):
seventeen almost well, almost blows my mind. We'll be back
in just a moment with more answers.
Speaker 1 (11:14):
To find out more about the materials mentioned on the show,
call a CRII Resource consultant toll free at eight eight
eight seven thousand cri that's eight eight eight seven thousand CRII.
Our website is also an excellent reference destination to help you.
Just go to equip dot org and find articles by
(11:36):
Hank books, CDs and DVDs. Again, that's equip dot org
or write CRII PO Box eighty five hundred, Charlotte, North Carolina,
ZIP two eight two seven one. The Bible answer Man
will continue in just a moment, breaking the code. If
(12:04):
the Book of Revelation has become an international obsession, the
result has been rampant misreading of scripture, bad theology, and
even bad politics and foreign policy. In the Apocalypse Code,
find out what the Bible really says about the end
times and why it matters today. Hank Canagraph argues that
the key to understanding the Last Book of the Bible
(12:25):
is the other sixty five books of the Bible, not
current events or recent history. The Apocalypse Code offers sane
answers to some very controversial questions such as what does
it mean to take the Book of Revelation literally? Who
are the Antichrist and the Great Horror of Babylon? And
what is the real meaning of six hundred and sixty six?
(12:45):
Order The Apocalypse Code by Hank Cantigraph today, available in softcover,
MP three, CD or MP three download from equip dot
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(13:06):
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(13:28):
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(13:49):
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God Spoken? Are the words of Scripture merely human in origin?
(14:10):
Or are they in fact the very words of God himself?
Three years in the making and based on two decades
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(14:30):
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Order Has God Spoken from the Christian Research Institute by
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(14:54):
equip dot org. Equip dot Org. Now back to the
Bible answer Man Broadcast and your host and Canagraph.
Speaker 2 (15:12):
Thank much.
Speaker 5 (15:12):
Randy.
Speaker 2 (15:13):
Let's go right back to our phone callers. Next up,
Ish Charles. He's a Canadian listener in Ontario, Canada. Hi Charles, Hi,
thank you.
Speaker 5 (15:21):
For taking my call, Hank my pleasure.
Speaker 4 (15:24):
I have a quick question for you.
Speaker 8 (15:27):
I'm kind of a new Christian and I'm just really
confused about this whole second coming of.
Speaker 4 (15:32):
Jesus Christ, and.
Speaker 8 (15:35):
A thousand years is like the date of the Lord,
and then people are talking about Christ. They're expecting the
coming of Christ to be soon, and I just have
some doubts about that. I just like to say, and
then maybe you can kind of.
Speaker 4 (15:48):
Clarify my doubts for me. I don't think, I don't know.
Speaker 8 (15:52):
I don't think that we'll ever see a second coming
of Christ. I think they've been talking about that for
two thousand years and could be another two thousand years
before Jesus Us come and we'll see it one day,
just not anytime soon. What do you think of your
views on the second Coming of Christ?
Speaker 2 (16:09):
Basically, yeah, well my view is simply this that you're
absolutely right in saying that Jesus Christ will appear a
second time, precisely as he promised he would, but no
one knows when that is going to happen because the
Bible gives us neary a clue, and therefore to speculate
(16:30):
as to when Jesus Christ will return only leads to
dragging Christ's name through the mud. The one thing that
we have learned in Church history is that everyone who
thought they knew that the timing of Christ coming was
at hand, every single time, they were wrong one d
(16:53):
percent of the time. And so date setters simply lead
us in all kinds of bad directions. We do not
know when Jesus Christ is going to return. We only
know that he will return. And as I said in
the Whole Council of God, in all of scripture, there
is no clue whatsoever as to win Now. There are
(17:18):
clues as to the coming of Jesus Christ in Judgment
on Jerusalem, but there are no clues when Jesus Christ
will appear a second time. In history is very much
as Paul delineates, like the birth pangs of a woman.
They ebb and flow. So there are times of revival,
(17:39):
there are times of apostasy, and that goes on and
on until the time that Jesus appears the second time.
And the real issue now for us is to be
faithful and fruitful because we don't know when Jesus Christ
will appear a second time, so we have to prepare
as though his coming is a long way off, and
be prepared as though he might come this very millisecond.
Speaker 4 (18:02):
I see, so I have Christians, we do die, We're
all going to die.
Speaker 8 (18:08):
But well, would she Christ while we die in or
do we wait in their brain facility second coming?
Speaker 2 (18:14):
Then well, that's a good question. I wrote a book
called Afterlife and suffice it to say what scripture tells
us is absent from the body present with the Lord,
which is to say that you are a body soul unity.
At death, your body goes to the grave, and your
soul goes to be with the Lord. As a believer. Now,
(18:35):
when Jesus appears the second time, your body will be
raised immortal, imperishable, incorruptible, and your soul will return to
that resurrected body. Now, by the way, that does not
mean that every atom will be resuscitated. Simply means that
there's going to be continuity between the body that is
and the body that will be. But that body is
going to be again immortal, imperishable, incorruptible. We can't say
(18:59):
exactly what that will be like, but we know it
will be glorious, and that ultimately is the hope of
the believers. So there isn't a sense of transitional heaven
absent from the body present with the Lord. But there
is also a permanent physical universe that is transformed from
its bondage to decay at present. That's what Paul says
(19:20):
in Romans chapter eight. It now groans and prevail, awaiting
its liberation from decay. And what happens to the universe,
of course, goes hand in hand with what happens to
our physical bodies. Both are going to be transformed.
Speaker 4 (19:32):
I see, okay, well, I'll get your your your book
that I'll go on your upside and.
Speaker 8 (19:39):
I'll over that book. Thank you so much, he thank
you for your time.
Speaker 5 (19:43):
You got it.
Speaker 2 (19:44):
Let's go back to the phone lines. We'll talk next
to Tim and Saint Louis Missouri.
Speaker 5 (19:47):
Tim, how you doing, sir? Doing well? I was seeking
with my brother who was incarcerated, and he was saying
that he believes that the tree in the garden of
Eden and the fruit for all, he believes that they
are representative of knowledge, and the knowledge was the issue.
From what I understand, he was trying to communicate knowledge
(20:09):
was the real problem that Adam and Eve really had,
and that Adam believed when he told him what serpent
to see or whatever. And you know, he was kind
of convoluted, but I guess the main point was that
he believed that the tree was allegory and that the
(20:31):
fruit was an allegory.
Speaker 2 (20:33):
Well, I don't know that it's completely convoluted. I think
what you have to recognize is that the Tree of
Knowledge of good and evil is a prime example of
physical reality highlighting spiritual truth. So God placed the tree
in the middle of Paradise as a test, but Satan
perverted it as a temptation, and in eating from the
(20:56):
tree about what God said, when you eat of it,
you will surely die, Adam was challenging God as arbiter
of good and evil. We can also look at the
Tree of the Knowledge of Good and evil as the
symbol of choice, in the sense of a choice between
obedience and disobedience, between majestic revelation, or what we would
(21:17):
call God's truth and moral relativism, which is our truth.
So truth in the eyes of the beholder, and then
we should say that the interesting thing that we see
about the Tree of Life is that we find the
Tree of Life reappear in the New Jerusalem, but we
(21:39):
don't find the Tree of Knowledge reappear in the New Jerusalem.
So I think that's interesting in and of itself. Of course,
the Tree of Life is also used in many different
ways in the Bible. For example, the tree of Life
can be spoken of as the tree in the garden,
but it can also be spoken of as the tree
(22:02):
in Paradise restored, which is to say, John sees the
river of the water of Life as clear as crystal.
On each side of the river stands the Tree of Life,
bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month,
and the leaves of the tree or for the healing
of the nations. Now, obviously, the nations at that point
don't need to be healed, because in heaven and eternity
(22:25):
everything will be perfect. And then we can also look
at the Tree of Life as the cross, because though
the cross was deadwood, as it were, Christ, the Prince
of Life, died on the cross, and as a result
of that, he extends his arms, as it were, from
(22:45):
Paradise lost to Paradise restored. He does what we could
not do. He lives the perfect life, and as a
result of that, he restores what was lost in Eden.
So there is symbolic value that we can assess to
the Tree of the knowledge of good and evil, as
we can to the Tree of life. Now, obviously, again
(23:08):
we don't want to take something that's real and tangible
and make it merely symbolic. On the other hand, we
don't want to take that which is symbolic and miss
the greater truth, because symbols or metaphors are not vaculously.
What they are is they are ways in which we
(23:30):
can as we take a magnifying glass and illuminate spiritual
truth to mix a metaphor. In other words, a magnifying
glass magnifies truths we might otherwise miss. And I think
in that sense, what your brother is communicating to you
does have truth associated with it.
Speaker 5 (23:51):
I guess one of the things that really concerned me
what I'm saying that he also made a statement that
when Satan was kicked out of him and that he
was in the tree, and that's what made the treat evil.
And and but yet in the saying, he was also
saying that but the tree wasn't The tree wasn't allegory.
And I understand what you're saying that that there is
(24:14):
spiritual truths in that we can take from something that's
given as a as an allegory, but also if it
it's something that that was real physically, we also can
take that as something some spiritual truths in that.
Speaker 2 (24:34):
Yeah, I mean, we can call Jesus the bread of life, right,
that doesn't mean that Jesus is bred, but it does
communicate the greater reality that Jesus Christ is the essence
of life. So there are metaphors or figures of speech
that are used in the Bible to highlight a greater reality.
(24:57):
But to say that the tree was evil because Satan
was in the tree, obviously is incorrect. What happened was
Satan became evil because instead of worshiping God, he wanted
worship for himself. And as a result of that, Satan
(25:20):
felt fell into sin and has become the exemplar of sin.
And the same thing then happened with respect to Adam
and Eve. Adam and Eve were created without sin, but
they had a choice to make. They had a choice
to follow God or to listen to what Satan was
(25:41):
telling them, And as a result of listening to what
Satan was telling them, they made a volitional choice, a
choice of their own will, to rebel against God, and
as a result of that, all of humanity was plunged
into lies of perpetual sin, terminated by death. Of course,
the rest of the Bible God's unfolding plan of redemption.
(26:02):
You're gonna leave it at that. Thanks for tuning in.
See it tomorrow with more of the shift.
Speaker 1 (26:05):
Thanks for joining us for the Bible answer Man Broadcast
with Hank Hannagraph. Our daily commitment here at CRI is
to defend the faith once for all, delivered to the Saints,
and equip believers to become true disciples of Jesus Christ.
If you'd like to order resources or listen to the
broadcast online, visit our website at equip dot org. That's
(26:28):
equip dot org, or call a resource consultant at eight
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North Carolina, zip code two eight two seven one. The
Bible answer Man Broadcast is supported by listeners like you.
(26:50):
We're on the air because life and truth matter, breaking
the Code. If the Book of Revelation has become an
international obsession, the result has been rampant misreading of scripture,
(27:10):
bad theology, and even bad politics and foreign policy. In
the Apocalypse Code, find out what the Bible really says
about the end times and why it matters today. Hank
Canagraph argues that the key to understanding the Last Book
of the Bible is the other sixty five books of
the Bible, not current events or recent history. The Apocalypse
(27:31):
Code offers sane answers to some very controversial questions, such
as what does it mean to take the Book of
Revelation literally, who are the Antichrist and the Great Horror
of Babylon? And what is the real meaning of six
hundred and sixty six. Order The Apocalypse Code by Hank
Cantigraph today, available in softcover, MP three, CD or MP
(27:52):
three download from equip dot org or call eight eight
eight seven thousand CRI
From Charlotte, North Carolina. You're listening to the Bible answer
Man broadcast with Hank Hanagraph, president of the Christian Research Institute.
The reason the Bible answer Man is on the air
is to defend the Christian faith, proclaim the gospel of
our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and to teach discipleship
to his followers, because life and truth matter. For more
(00:30):
information or to order equipping resources, call eight eight eight
seven thousand CRII, which translates to eight eight eight seven
thousand two seven four, or go online to equip dot org.
That's equip dot org. The following program was pre recorded,
(00:50):
and now here's your host, Hank Canagraph.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
Thanks very much, Randy, a lot of you hanging on.
We'll get right to the phone lines. First step as
Kelly and Prairie Grove Arc and Saw Hi Kelly, Hi, Hank.
Speaker 3 (01:03):
My question to you today, I was raised to seventh
day at Ventis and I currently I'm not going to
church right now, and I'm I'm a little bit confused
or perplected why I mean. In the Bible, in the
Tent Commandments, it says to honor the seventh Day, and
I understand that but if it's so plainly written in
(01:25):
the Bible, why does so many people go to church
on Sunday? And I don't know how to find the
answer to that. And I'm trying to make a decision
as to what church in what day, and I need
your health.
Speaker 2 (01:37):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (01:37):
Sure.
Speaker 2 (01:38):
Well, as a result of the Resurrection, the emphasis of
the Sabbath shifted to the celebration of the rest we
have through Christ, who delivers us from sin and the grave,
and therefore the emerging Christian Church felt like the most
dangerous snare it could involve itself in was a failure
to recognize that Jesus was the substance that fulfilled the
(02:00):
symbol of the Sabbath. So the issue is not the day.
The real issue is recognizing that Jesus Christ is the
one who emerges through the doorway of old Testament civil
and ceremonial laws, emerges from temple priests and sacrifice as
the ultimate sacrificial lamb, the one who does what we
(02:23):
cannot do. And therefore, in celebration of resurrection by which
we have our greatest hope, we worship on the first
day of the week, the day that Jesus rose from
the dead, but whether you worship on Saturday or Sunday,
(02:43):
the big issue is that you remember that we revere
the rest we have in Christ, who delivers us from
bondage to death and the grave and destruction.
Speaker 3 (02:56):
Fantastic. Well that definitely answers my question.
Speaker 2 (03:01):
Well you got it. Thank you so much for your call.
Let's go right back to the phone lines and we'll
talk to Tom next. He's listening in high Ridge, Missouri. Hi, Tom,
how you doing?
Speaker 5 (03:13):
Hanged good?
Speaker 2 (03:13):
Thank you?
Speaker 6 (03:14):
First, I just want to thank you. I kind of
cut my teeth on you. I first became a Christian
fourteen years ago, and you've helped me through my parents'
death without you knowing it. It's been a real blessing
to me in my Christian life. So I just want
to make sure I thank you for that bless you.
I grew up in a I guess religion, it doesn't
really matter which one, and I'm not religious anymore. So
(03:35):
if somebody called me and asked me what religion you
belong to, I would say, well, I'm not religious. I'm
a born again Christian. It's even sad.
Speaker 5 (03:43):
I got to say born.
Speaker 6 (03:43):
Again Christian Christian should be sufficient. So that's the surface.
I don't only mean much Chaman anymore in regards to
the words, because people have skewed words, you know, the
words don't mean what they do anymore.
Speaker 2 (03:57):
Well, and I don't necessarily disagree so of what you
just said. But here's what's important, Tom, many people who
profess Christianity do not believe that there's such a thing
as objective truth. Number one, number two. People who have
no affiliation with Christianity now exceed the number of evangelicals
(04:24):
in the country, which means that those who believe that
the Bible is the infallible repository for redemptive revelation, unfortunately
are in essence microcosms of the culture rather than change
agents in the culture. And that should be a warning cry,
a signal alert to wake up from lethargy before our
(04:47):
democratic republic implodes. And that is not something that is
far fetched, but something very realistic and has happened with
every empire that has gone on before us.
Speaker 6 (05:00):
Well, I don't necessarily disagree with that either. My question
you would be in the time I've known the Lord
for fourteen years, when I've spoken out as a Christian,
I seem to drive people away. Can I give you
a brief description of a person that I never really
spoke to you. He lived, He was our neighbor. He's
a kid brob about seventy eighteen years old. I always
played his drums. We first moved in our house, he
(05:22):
played as drums and basement and they were blaring out
the back of the house. Okay, I remember getting when
we first moved there. It was already your tension with
being in a new neighborhood and I just had a house,
and so I was getting kind of aggravated. And I
was going to go over and tell him to stop
playing his drums. And my wife stopped me and said,
you know, let's just stop and pray for him. I'll
never forget this. We stopped on the driveway and prayed
(05:42):
for him.
Speaker 5 (05:43):
And even whough I.
Speaker 6 (05:44):
Prayed for him, I by prayed and bat, I'm going,
you know, or what are you gonna do with this kid? Well,
you know, fast forward eight years, my tires going to
flat to the new job, and I'm getting aggravated. I'm going, okay,
I got to stop over into this place that sells tires,
and I go over there, and I became of my
time and on the corner of my eye, I see
this kid that looks kind of familiar and and sure.
Speaker 5 (06:05):
Enough it's in.
Speaker 6 (06:06):
His name is Kevin, And I see it's Kevin, and
we start talking to me, and a long story short,
he starts going with, you know, I playing my drums
in my band at church, and I kept on mentioning church,
and he started mentioning God. I'm thinking to myself, the
Lord's kind of screat team and goes, we'll ask him.
And I asked him, I go kill, are you a Christian?
And he goes, yeah, I go to such and such
(06:27):
a church, and uh, and I just want my car.
I start crying. If I had not witness to this boy,
all I did was stand on the driveway and pray
for him. And so I kind of I question myself
whether I should be and while I've spoken, or just
you know, well, I.
Speaker 2 (06:46):
Don't think it's an either or. I think you have
to testify by your love and by your life, and
evidently you are doing that, and if necessary, use words.
But yeah, I think it's important for us to be
ready always to give an answer or reason for the
hope that lies within us, with gentleness and with respect.
Speaker 1 (07:01):
But here's the deal.
Speaker 2 (07:03):
I don't think that it is incumbent upon us to
run around furiously grabbing people by lapel, saying brother, you say,
but it is incumbent upon us to be equipped for evangelism,
ready always again to give an answer. And if we are,
then the fields are whitened to harvest, and God many
times will open up wonderful opportunities to be the very
(07:25):
tool that the Holy Spirit uses in the process of
changing other lives. I appreciate your testimony. Back to the
phone lines, we'll talk next to Sam. Sam is listening
in Nashville, Tennessee.
Speaker 7 (07:36):
Hi, Sam, Heyank, It's great to be able to talk
to you. Likewise, you've really pushed me to try and
quit myself. I came across at back today and I
think it's back at three seventeen. And also in passing,
I think last week talking about Second Thessalonians, and I
(07:58):
just put two and two together. But you know, I
don't like calling the buzzword the rapture, but it seems
to me that in Second Testalonians it's clearly talking about
at the point when it says the Holy Spirit he
that now let us will let until he's removed or
some translations. Now he who always holdeth will withhold until
(08:20):
he's removed, saying the spirit will hold back the tide
of lawlessness and iniquity until he's taken out of the way,
and also in humback towards the end at three seventeen,
saying that the fruit will fail, meaning if we're the fold,
if we're the fruit, if we're the olaves, and our
fruits that we bear is our witness and our leeches Christ,
(08:40):
And can you know fulfilling the great commission? Then is
it responsible? Then it's put another arrow in my quiver
that says, yeah, that Christians are going to disappear one day,
and this is proof. Look here at a back against
Second Tessalonians. It's not just that proof we're gone. It's
that I look now, look at your statistics, their dwindling,
(09:04):
and the time's going to come, and there is that
last person holding down the for the Holy Spirit, and
they're going to be gone.
Speaker 6 (09:11):
Is that responsible to you.
Speaker 7 (09:13):
Tobaccic and Second Testilonians.
Speaker 4 (09:15):
In that way?
Speaker 2 (09:16):
Well, I don't think either, but certainly not Habacache. The
verse that you're citing contains a frequently quoted list of
material disasters in which all crops in livestock are lost,
and as a result, it is unclear how there's going
to be food for the people. And yet even amid
(09:36):
this kind of suffering, Habacic has learned that he can
trust God, and that trust comes with great joy, not
in the circumstances that surround him, but in a joy
that comes from knowing God as his creator and his
intimate friend. And remember that Habacic in general is writing
(09:59):
a an incredible epic of time. He Backic is ministering
during the death throws of the nation of Judah, and
he was overwhelmed by the realization that Jerusalem would be
destroyed by Babylon, which was a reality that was graphically
fulfilled in five eighty six. So he's not talking about
(10:22):
a rapture. And anyone that reads that into the text
is simply reading something into the text, and the text
is not designed to communicate in any way, shape or
form whatsoever. That's an irresponsible reading a scripture. So if
you've listened to a pastor on television or on radio
(10:43):
that says such a thing, shame on him. That pastor
needs to go back to Square Wan and learn the
art and science of Biblical interpretation, which, as I've said
many times in the Baglane's Men broadcast, is a science
and that rules apply. It's an art in that the
more you will apply the rules, the better you get
at it. But to find a rapture in Habakic three
(11:06):
seventeen almost well, almost blows my mind. We'll be back
in just a moment with more answers.
Speaker 1 (11:14):
To find out more about the materials mentioned on the show,
call a CRII Resource consultant toll free at eight eight
eight seven thousand cri that's eight eight eight seven thousand CRII.
Our website is also an excellent reference destination to help you.
Just go to equip dot org and find articles by
(11:36):
Hank books, CDs and DVDs. Again, that's equip dot org
or write CRII PO Box eighty five hundred, Charlotte, North Carolina,
ZIP two eight two seven one. The Bible answer Man
will continue in just a moment, breaking the code. If
(12:04):
the Book of Revelation has become an international obsession, the
result has been rampant misreading of scripture, bad theology, and
even bad politics and foreign policy. In the Apocalypse Code,
find out what the Bible really says about the end
times and why it matters today. Hank Canagraph argues that
the key to understanding the Last Book of the Bible
(12:25):
is the other sixty five books of the Bible, not
current events or recent history. The Apocalypse Code offers sane
answers to some very controversial questions such as what does
it mean to take the Book of Revelation literally? Who
are the Antichrist and the Great Horror of Babylon? And
what is the real meaning of six hundred and sixty six?
(12:45):
Order The Apocalypse Code by Hank Cantigraph today, available in softcover,
MP three, CD or MP three download from equip dot
org or call eight eight eight seven thousand. CRII Bertrand
Russell famously said most people would rather die than think,
(13:06):
and many of them do not so with CRI Support
Team members. Support Team members are not only serious thinkers,
but their membership and CRI's Support Team helps to equip
hundreds of thousands of fellow believers around the globe each
and every month. Are you not a member, then you're
missing out. Not only do Support Team members form the
(13:28):
backbone of Christian Research Institute's outreaches, but they enjoy their
selection of resources from our Equipping Essentials library to discover
how you can make a difference twenty four to seven
and equipping believers at home and abroad to stand for
life and truth. Check out the benefits of membership at
(13:49):
equip dot org. Once again, that's equip dot org. Has
God Spoken? Are the words of Scripture merely human in origin?
(14:10):
Or are they in fact the very words of God himself?
Three years in the making and based on two decades
of research and reflection, Hank Henagraph's monumental book Has God
Spoken answers what is surely the most important question facing
our world. In Has God Spoken? Memorable proofs of the
(14:30):
Bible's divine inspiration, Hank counters the contentions of the Bible
attackers and clearly shows that belief in the Holy Scriptures
is not a guess or wishful thinking. It is the
only logical conclusion after an honest examination of overwhelming evidence.
Order Has God Spoken from the Christian Research Institute by
calling eighty eight seven thousand CRII or go online to
(14:54):
equip dot org. Equip dot Org. Now back to the
Bible answer Man Broadcast and your host and Canagraph.
Speaker 2 (15:12):
Thank much.
Speaker 5 (15:12):
Randy.
Speaker 2 (15:13):
Let's go right back to our phone callers. Next up,
Ish Charles. He's a Canadian listener in Ontario, Canada. Hi Charles, Hi,
thank you.
Speaker 5 (15:21):
For taking my call, Hank my pleasure.
Speaker 4 (15:24):
I have a quick question for you.
Speaker 8 (15:27):
I'm kind of a new Christian and I'm just really
confused about this whole second coming of.
Speaker 4 (15:32):
Jesus Christ, and.
Speaker 8 (15:35):
A thousand years is like the date of the Lord,
and then people are talking about Christ. They're expecting the
coming of Christ to be soon, and I just have
some doubts about that. I just like to say, and
then maybe you can kind of.
Speaker 4 (15:48):
Clarify my doubts for me. I don't think, I don't know.
Speaker 8 (15:52):
I don't think that we'll ever see a second coming
of Christ. I think they've been talking about that for
two thousand years and could be another two thousand years
before Jesus Us come and we'll see it one day,
just not anytime soon. What do you think of your
views on the second Coming of Christ?
Speaker 2 (16:09):
Basically, yeah, well my view is simply this that you're
absolutely right in saying that Jesus Christ will appear a
second time, precisely as he promised he would, but no
one knows when that is going to happen because the
Bible gives us neary a clue, and therefore to speculate
(16:30):
as to when Jesus Christ will return only leads to
dragging Christ's name through the mud. The one thing that
we have learned in Church history is that everyone who
thought they knew that the timing of Christ coming was
at hand, every single time, they were wrong one d
(16:53):
percent of the time. And so date setters simply lead
us in all kinds of bad directions. We do not
know when Jesus Christ is going to return. We only
know that he will return. And as I said in
the Whole Council of God, in all of scripture, there
is no clue whatsoever as to win Now. There are
(17:18):
clues as to the coming of Jesus Christ in Judgment
on Jerusalem, but there are no clues when Jesus Christ
will appear a second time. In history is very much
as Paul delineates, like the birth pangs of a woman.
They ebb and flow. So there are times of revival,
(17:39):
there are times of apostasy, and that goes on and
on until the time that Jesus appears the second time.
And the real issue now for us is to be
faithful and fruitful because we don't know when Jesus Christ
will appear a second time, so we have to prepare
as though his coming is a long way off, and
be prepared as though he might come this very millisecond.
Speaker 4 (18:02):
I see, so I have Christians, we do die, We're
all going to die.
Speaker 8 (18:08):
But well, would she Christ while we die in or
do we wait in their brain facility second coming?
Speaker 2 (18:14):
Then well, that's a good question. I wrote a book
called Afterlife and suffice it to say what scripture tells
us is absent from the body present with the Lord,
which is to say that you are a body soul unity.
At death, your body goes to the grave, and your
soul goes to be with the Lord. As a believer. Now,
(18:35):
when Jesus appears the second time, your body will be
raised immortal, imperishable, incorruptible, and your soul will return to
that resurrected body. Now, by the way, that does not
mean that every atom will be resuscitated. Simply means that
there's going to be continuity between the body that is
and the body that will be. But that body is
going to be again immortal, imperishable, incorruptible. We can't say
(18:59):
exactly what that will be like, but we know it
will be glorious, and that ultimately is the hope of
the believers. So there isn't a sense of transitional heaven
absent from the body present with the Lord. But there
is also a permanent physical universe that is transformed from
its bondage to decay at present. That's what Paul says
(19:20):
in Romans chapter eight. It now groans and prevail, awaiting
its liberation from decay. And what happens to the universe,
of course, goes hand in hand with what happens to
our physical bodies. Both are going to be transformed.
Speaker 4 (19:32):
I see, okay, well, I'll get your your your book
that I'll go on your upside and.
Speaker 8 (19:39):
I'll over that book. Thank you so much, he thank
you for your time.
Speaker 5 (19:43):
You got it.
Speaker 2 (19:44):
Let's go back to the phone lines. We'll talk next
to Tim and Saint Louis Missouri.
Speaker 5 (19:47):
Tim, how you doing, sir? Doing well? I was seeking
with my brother who was incarcerated, and he was saying
that he believes that the tree in the garden of
Eden and the fruit for all, he believes that they
are representative of knowledge, and the knowledge was the issue.
From what I understand, he was trying to communicate knowledge
(20:09):
was the real problem that Adam and Eve really had,
and that Adam believed when he told him what serpent
to see or whatever. And you know, he was kind
of convoluted, but I guess the main point was that
he believed that the tree was allegory and that the
(20:31):
fruit was an allegory.
Speaker 2 (20:33):
Well, I don't know that it's completely convoluted. I think
what you have to recognize is that the Tree of
Knowledge of good and evil is a prime example of
physical reality highlighting spiritual truth. So God placed the tree
in the middle of Paradise as a test, but Satan
perverted it as a temptation, and in eating from the
(20:56):
tree about what God said, when you eat of it,
you will surely die, Adam was challenging God as arbiter
of good and evil. We can also look at the
Tree of the Knowledge of Good and evil as the
symbol of choice, in the sense of a choice between
obedience and disobedience, between majestic revelation, or what we would
(21:17):
call God's truth and moral relativism, which is our truth.
So truth in the eyes of the beholder, and then
we should say that the interesting thing that we see
about the Tree of Life is that we find the
Tree of Life reappear in the New Jerusalem, but we
(21:39):
don't find the Tree of Knowledge reappear in the New Jerusalem.
So I think that's interesting in and of itself. Of course,
the Tree of Life is also used in many different
ways in the Bible. For example, the tree of Life
can be spoken of as the tree in the garden,
but it can also be spoken of as the tree
(22:02):
in Paradise restored, which is to say, John sees the
river of the water of Life as clear as crystal.
On each side of the river stands the Tree of Life,
bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month,
and the leaves of the tree or for the healing
of the nations. Now, obviously, the nations at that point
don't need to be healed, because in heaven and eternity
(22:25):
everything will be perfect. And then we can also look
at the Tree of Life as the cross, because though
the cross was deadwood, as it were, Christ, the Prince
of Life, died on the cross, and as a result
of that, he extends his arms, as it were, from
(22:45):
Paradise lost to Paradise restored. He does what we could
not do. He lives the perfect life, and as a
result of that, he restores what was lost in Eden.
So there is symbolic value that we can assess to
the Tree of the knowledge of good and evil, as
we can to the Tree of life. Now, obviously, again
(23:08):
we don't want to take something that's real and tangible
and make it merely symbolic. On the other hand, we
don't want to take that which is symbolic and miss
the greater truth, because symbols or metaphors are not vaculously.
What they are is they are ways in which we
(23:30):
can as we take a magnifying glass and illuminate spiritual
truth to mix a metaphor. In other words, a magnifying
glass magnifies truths we might otherwise miss. And I think
in that sense, what your brother is communicating to you
does have truth associated with it.
Speaker 5 (23:51):
I guess one of the things that really concerned me
what I'm saying that he also made a statement that
when Satan was kicked out of him and that he
was in the tree, and that's what made the treat evil.
And and but yet in the saying, he was also
saying that but the tree wasn't The tree wasn't allegory.
And I understand what you're saying that that there is
(24:14):
spiritual truths in that we can take from something that's
given as a as an allegory, but also if it
it's something that that was real physically, we also can
take that as something some spiritual truths in that.
Speaker 2 (24:34):
Yeah, I mean, we can call Jesus the bread of life, right,
that doesn't mean that Jesus is bred, but it does
communicate the greater reality that Jesus Christ is the essence
of life. So there are metaphors or figures of speech
that are used in the Bible to highlight a greater reality.
(24:57):
But to say that the tree was evil because Satan
was in the tree, obviously is incorrect. What happened was
Satan became evil because instead of worshiping God, he wanted
worship for himself. And as a result of that, Satan
(25:20):
felt fell into sin and has become the exemplar of sin.
And the same thing then happened with respect to Adam
and Eve. Adam and Eve were created without sin, but
they had a choice to make. They had a choice
to follow God or to listen to what Satan was
(25:41):
telling them, And as a result of listening to what
Satan was telling them, they made a volitional choice, a
choice of their own will, to rebel against God, and
as a result of that, all of humanity was plunged
into lies of perpetual sin, terminated by death. Of course,
the rest of the Bible God's unfolding plan of redemption.
(26:02):
You're gonna leave it at that. Thanks for tuning in.
See it tomorrow with more of the shift.
Speaker 1 (26:05):
Thanks for joining us for the Bible answer Man Broadcast
with Hank Hannagraph. Our daily commitment here at CRI is
to defend the faith once for all, delivered to the Saints,
and equip believers to become true disciples of Jesus Christ.
If you'd like to order resources or listen to the
broadcast online, visit our website at equip dot org. That's
(26:28):
equip dot org, or call a resource consultant at eight
eight eight seven thousand, two seven four. Of course, you
can write to CURI at Post Office box eighty five hundred, Charlotte,
North Carolina, zip code two eight two seven one. The
Bible answer Man Broadcast is supported by listeners like you.
(26:50):
We're on the air because life and truth matter, breaking
the Code. If the Book of Revelation has become an
international obsession, the result has been rampant misreading of scripture,
(27:10):
bad theology, and even bad politics and foreign policy. In
the Apocalypse Code, find out what the Bible really says
about the end times and why it matters today. Hank
Canagraph argues that the key to understanding the Last Book
of the Bible is the other sixty five books of
the Bible, not current events or recent history. The Apocalypse
(27:31):
Code offers sane answers to some very controversial questions, such
as what does it mean to take the Book of
Revelation literally, who are the Antichrist and the Great Horror
of Babylon? And what is the real meaning of six
hundred and sixty six. Order The Apocalypse Code by Hank
Cantigraph today, available in softcover, MP three, CD or MP
(27:52):
three download from equip dot org or call eight eight
eight seven thousand CRI
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