Q&A: The Rapture, Hinduism, and Keeping the Sabbath

On today’s Bible Answer Man broadcast (11/14/25), Hank answers the following questions:

What is your view of the Rapture? Kenny - Manhattan, KS (1:03)
My daughter experienced abuse from her husband. Can she get a divorce? Mary Lou - Davidson, MI (7:12)
Why does the Bible use the name “Jesus” instead of “Yeshua”? Brad - Jackson, MO (15:47)
How do I witness to my friend from a Hindu background who believes that Jesus and Krishna are both God, just in different incarnations? John - Norwalk, CA (16:37)
Was it really Samuel or someone else who appeared in 1 Samuel 28? Jackie - Longview, TX (21:18)
Is it important to keep the Sabbath, and if so, why? Troy - WA (22:07)

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:07):
Welcome to the Bible answer Man Broadcast with the President
of the Christian Research Institute, Hank Canigraph. Our mission is
to equip you with answers to share the hope that
you have within you because life and truth matter. Why
because being armed with truth will equip you to counter
the corrosive worldviews at work in our world today, while

(00:30):
experiencing the authentic Christian life will make you a winsome
witness of the purpose of life, which is to experience
union with God and Christ, both for today and for
all eternity. For more information about CRII and the Bible
answer Man Broadcast, our phone number is eight eight eight
seven thousand CROI. You can find us online at equip

(00:53):
dot org. The following program was pre recorded, and now
here's Hank, Hannah.

Speaker 2 (01:00):
Thank you very bunch for Randy, A lot of you
hanging on. We'll go right to the phone calls. First
up today Kenny Kenny is listening in Manhattan, Kansas. Hi, Kenny, Hey,
how are you doing.

Speaker 3 (01:10):
Hank good?

Speaker 2 (01:11):
How are you?

Speaker 3 (01:12):
Oh? Thank you bad. I got a question for you.
I listened to your show on my way home from
work just about every day, and my question is on
the rapture. I usually end up catching a tail end
of somebody you're answering the question too, So I'm sure
you've answered it a bunch of times. But what really
makes my question about what is known as the rapture

(01:35):
to you is that it was brought up by my
employer at work to the employees, and I just wanted
to know what was your I want to hear everything
in fulse of not catching parts of it as far
as your your knowledge base on what is known.

Speaker 4 (01:53):
As the rapture.

Speaker 2 (01:54):
Yeah, you're talking about a pre tribulational rapture, I believe so.

Speaker 3 (01:58):
I mean, he mentioned the other day that he thought
this was going to He said he didn't know exact
day or time what he thought was going to happen
on this Jewish holidays, and so he just told us,
you know that if he wasn't going to be here
and a couple other people at the table that you know,
that's what happened and the rest of us would be

(02:18):
basically going through tribulation or something.

Speaker 2 (02:21):
Yeah, he's talking about a pro tribulational rapture. Well, here's
what I typically communicate, and I've written about this extensively
in a book. Called the Apocalypse code. The pro tribulational
rapture is a nineteenth century idea, so it's rather new
in church history. Now, the fact that it's new doesn't
mean it's not true. It means that you ought to
carefully examine the basis for it. In other words, if

(02:43):
someone teaches you about a pro tribulational rapture, you want
to check out what the Bible really says and hold
fast to that which is good. Tim Lahay, who is
probably the most predominant prolific writer on this subject, he
is the standard bearer for this theology in the modern world,

(03:03):
has said that you can go to John fourteen and
find most of the available details, but if you go
to John fourteen, you won't find any details about a
pre tribulational rapture. He'll also tell you that you can
find available details and passages like First Thesalonians chapter four.
But the truth is, when you get to First Thesalonians four,
you'll immediately recognize that this is a great and glorious

(03:26):
passage about resurrection. There's nothing in this passage about a
secret coming of Jesus Christ followed by a seven year
tribulation and then a second Coming of Jesus Christ, after
which people will be saved, and then a thousand year
semi Golden Age with rebuilt temple and reinstitute of temple sacrifices,

(03:46):
in which those sacrifices actually a tone for sin. If
you look at the Bible conversely, what you find is
the New Covenant is celebrated through communion. We celebrate the
broken body and shed blood Jesus Christ for the complete
remission of sins, and we don't go back to animal
sacrifices and Jesus Christ on the cross atone for all

(04:09):
sins forever. No further atonement needs to be made through
animal sacrifices in a millennium. So the point is simply
this that I don't see the evidence in the passages
that are reduced by those that espouse a pertribulational rapture.
And my standard is the Word of God. Test all
things hold faster that which is good. Again, the Bible's

(04:32):
the infallible repository for redemptive revelation. Now, having said that,
this doesn't disqualify, was it your boss? Yeah, yeah, it
doesn't disqualify as a believer. It's just it is a
secondary issue that I don't find the evidence that people
give me from the Bible compelling. And again, the Bible
is the source by which you test all things and

(04:54):
hold faster that which is good. But laying it out completely,
see can understand why this idea came into existence in
the nineteenth century. I think it's very very helpful. Also
in the book, I point out that there are those
that say, well, no, you can trace this all the
way back to the fourth century and a church father
named Ephrium. But when you actually look at the data,

(05:15):
you find out that this is false. So again I
think you want to test all things, hold fast that
which is good. That's the standard. And the standard obviously
by which you test things is the infallible word of God.

Speaker 3 (05:27):
Yeah, I'm gonna I'm gonna go ahead and get your book.
I was listening in on your station here, and I'm
going to get that because it has caused some some issues.
You know, obviously, you know, with you know, with the
different you know, people inside the room and stuff like that.
It caused all kinds of of guff and you know,

(05:48):
I at the same time, I don't want to say
I've been I was. My spirit told me to keep
my mouth shut you know, because I didn't want to
say anything that I didn't have any bearing on you.
I'm saying I didn't have any evidence with and I
didn't want to get in it wasn't worth an argument.
And you know, I really appreciated what you said earlier.
You know that you know, we are the stand shoulder

(06:09):
to shoulder as believers, and and I just didn't want to,
you know, create any kind of.

Speaker 2 (06:17):
Unnecessary division.

Speaker 3 (06:18):
Yes, exactly, So I appreciate it. Hank. Thank you very
much for answering that question. And I'm going to go
ahead and order your book and I'll read up on
everything so I know what I'm saying, and I appreciate
your knowledge based on the Bible.

Speaker 2 (06:32):
Thank you, Kenny, appreciate your call. And by the way,
if in fact the rapture takes place, as this boss
of Kenny points out, then you can predict exactly when
the second coming of Jesus Christ will be. So you
can know precisely when Jesus Christ is going to come back,
because it's going to be seven years after in the
scheme of things, after the secret coming of Jesus Christ.
So their pre tribulational rapture takes place exactly seven years later,

(06:56):
you have the second coming of Jesus Christ. So in
this scheme you can actually know when Jesus Christ is
coming again a second time after the secret Coming of
Jesus Christ takes place. Certainly, I don't agree with that
from a biblical perspective. Let's go back to the phone lines.
Talk to Mary Lou and Davidson Michigan.

Speaker 3 (07:16):
Hi, Mary Lou, Hi, Hank.

Speaker 5 (07:18):
I really appreciate everything you've said. I say amen to
everything you've said today on the radio. While I've been
holding and listening. I have a question, and I'm sorry
to have to deviate from what you've been talking about,
but it's important to me and I needed an answer.
I have a daughter who was married for twenty years
to a guy who grew up to be a man,

(07:39):
but he had all kinds of issues adhd Aspergers. It
was just nineteen years of one thing after another. He
divorced her and she talked to some guy that she
knew twenty years ago, and because of the trauma of
the divorce that she did not want this guy really

(08:03):
conder into marrying her. He knew her twenty years ago,
and he vowed he wasn't going to lose her again.
The problem is he's he makes the first husband look good.
He's got all kinds of issues. He was he's forty seven,
never been married. I mean he and has no children,
only had a part time job, and he lived in

(08:25):
Hawaii and was a pilot.

Speaker 2 (08:27):
So what's the basic question that you're driving against?

Speaker 5 (08:29):
Basic question? Is she married this guy he abused physically
abused her. No, she came home, she left him. But
my husband and I suggest that she divorced is him,
but she said, according to God, she can't do that.

Speaker 2 (08:46):
Well. Adultry and willful desertion are obvious and potentially irreparable
violations of the Covenant of love, right, but it would
seem that there are other sins against marriage that could
rise to the same level of covenant unfaithfulness, including physical abuse,
refusal to work and support the family, elicit in illegal

(09:08):
activities that threaten the safety of the family, and many
other sorts of actions that rise to the same level.
We've written about this in an article the Christian Research Journal,
which is titled Biblical Grounds for Divorce and Remarriage. And
I think it would be very helpful for you to
get that and study that and then again test it

(09:32):
in light descripture. Hold fast that which is good. I
think that the advice that you gave her, certainly to
separate herself from a potentially dangerous or abusive situation, is
good advice. But the ultimate thing that we're called to
do is Christians, is to try to reconcile. Now, if
this is not a believer, the problem stems from being

(09:53):
married to someone in that fashion to begin with, because
you're unequally yoked. Now, once you're married, you can't unscramble
the and you want to make sure that you do
everything possible to reconcile. But if that is not possible,
and if there are actual grounds for divorce, then that
would be permitted in the eyes of God. So you

(10:14):
got to look at the Covenant basis of marriage, and
again that is delineated very clearly in the Christian Research Journal.
The article that I'm talking about titled Biblical Grounds for
Divorce and Remarriage. Hang on, we'll send you a copy
of that. We're coming to a station break. Sorry to
cut the conversation short, but nothing I could do at

(10:35):
this point. Coming to a station break. Got a lot
of interesting questions coming up right after the break, so
please don't touch that dial.

Speaker 1 (10:43):
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Speaker 6 (12:02):
To fully grasp the significance of Christ's Messianic rule, you
must drink deeply from the wellspring of Old Testament prophecy
in Hebrews, as in the rest of the New Testament,
the Old Testament history of Israel is interpreted as a

(12:23):
succession of types that find ultimate fulfillment in the birth, death, resurrection,
and ascension of the Christ we celebrate at Christmas.

Speaker 1 (12:38):
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for the season, to ensure that just as you prepare
your home for Christmas, you likewise prepare your heart. Order
the Heart of Christmas, a devotional for the season by
calling eight eight eight seven thousand and two seven four,
or by going online to www. Dot equip dot org.

(13:01):
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Speaker 1 (15:07):
Now back to the Bible answer Man broadcast and your
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Back to our phone callers. Next up is Brad listening
in Jackson, Missouri. Hi, Brad, Hello, how you doing?

Speaker 8 (15:54):
Hi?

Speaker 2 (15:54):
I'm well good talking to you, Yes.

Speaker 9 (15:56):
Sir, two questions for you. Why does the I will
use Jesus Christ as a name instead of yesha.

Speaker 2 (16:07):
Well, first of all, Yeshua is Hebrew. And remember the
inspired and infallible New Testament was written in Greek using
the name Eesus, from which we get the English Jesus.
So we're speaking English and that's why we use Jesus,
which again comes from the Greek Esus, and Yeshue is

(16:29):
perfectly acceptable if you want to use the Hebrew language Hebrew.

Speaker 9 (16:34):
Okay, all right, thank you sir for your help.

Speaker 3 (16:36):
You got it.

Speaker 2 (16:37):
Back to the phone lines. We'll talk next to John
in Norwalk, California. Hi John, Hi Hank, How are you good?
How are you pretty good?

Speaker 10 (16:45):
Thanks? Thanks for taking my call. I have a question
in regards to a friend of mine. She's from a
Hindu background and Harry Christian. At devote. She believes in Jesus,
goes to church. She feels that Christia and Jesus are God,
just in different incarnations. And also, you know, a God
came down in different forms of different people to give

(17:06):
the message. And she also believes that the Bogo I
guess it's called the bogo Ghita is a holy book.
She states that you know, the Bible, it was for
the Jews, and basically, you know, when she reads the Bible,
she has a lot of other mystical type stuff to it.
You know, I'm just trying to figure out how to

(17:26):
talk to her obviously, you know, obviously she's in my
prayers and everything at the same time.

Speaker 2 (17:31):
Yeah, A couple of things I'd point out is the
Hindu scriptures taut the hell of reincarnation. The Bible, on
the other hand, teaches the hope of resurrection. And this
makes all the difference in the world because in its
Eastern context, the Hindu scriptures are teaching escape from the body,
so the soul returns continuously dressed up in other bodies.

(17:53):
In Biblical theology, we're looking forward to the hope of resurrection,
where this body is restored, it is recreated as it were, immortal, imperishable,
incorruptible one Corinthians, chapter fifteen. As far as Krishna is
concerned in Hinduism, one of the ten incarnations of the

(18:14):
Hindu deity Vishnu is Krishna. In Christian theology, Jesus Christ
is the one who spoke in the universe leapt into existence,
also the one who came in flesh in the incarnation
and rose from the dead, demonstrating that he is God
in human flesh, so one is a false God. Jesus

(18:36):
Christ is the true God, and that must be pointed out.
But I think that the further thing that so important
is just to understand some basic things about Hinduism Beyond reincarnation.
They suppose that ultimate reality or Brahmin, is an impersonal
oneness that transcends all distinctions, including personal and propositional differentiations.

(19:01):
So if you want to understand it a different way,
I'd say all of reality is a continuum or a
simplified whole, and therefore, in their view, there's no distinction
between morals and mice, I mean, drawn to its logical conclusion.
And then Hindus hold that humans, in concert with the
rest of the universe, are a continuous extension of Brahmin,

(19:23):
and therefore we want to ultimately find liberation in this
continuous extension. And as mentioned, the Hindu scriptures teach the
goal of humanity is liberation from this endless cycle of
death and reincarnation, and the goal of Christianity is quite

(19:43):
different from that, it is resurrection. So the idea of
Hinduism has part and parcel of it the law of Karma,
which dictates that our deeds in previous lives determine whether
we come back as a man, a monkey of Mosquito,
or whatever. This is a mythology, whereas Christianity is rooted
in history and evidence, and that makes all the difference

(20:04):
in the world.

Speaker 8 (20:04):
As I said, right, I've talked to her about the
difference between resurrection and reincarnation and also try to equate
it to the Greek gods of mythology.

Speaker 10 (20:15):
And I try to tell her that, but she, you know,
it digresses at that point and it's not worth it.

Speaker 2 (20:21):
You enough well, and you know you make a good
point there, because what you need to be, John, is
what you are being in this circumstance, and that is equipped.
But you can't force feed. You can harvest that which
God prepares, but you're not called to pick unripe fruit.
So you don't have to tug on green fruit. But
you have to be ready to prepare that which the

(20:43):
Holy Spirit has made ready to pick as ripe fruit.
And so the issue is, as I said many times
of the Bible Landsman broadcast, it's not evangelism, but it's
equipping for evangelism. If you're prepared, God will use your
well reasoned answer as an opportunity to reach someone who
he has prepared for redemption. So if you're equipped, you'll

(21:04):
have an opportunity to take part in the harvest. And
of course, as the Bible says, the fields are white
and to harvest, but the laborers are few.

Speaker 10 (21:14):
Right. Thank you, Hank for your help. Appreciate it.

Speaker 8 (21:16):
You got it.

Speaker 2 (21:16):
John, Thank you so much for your call back to
the phone lines. We'll talk next to Jackie. She's in Longview, Texas.
Hi Jackie, Hi Hank.

Speaker 3 (21:24):
I have a quick question on first Samuel twenty eight.

Speaker 2 (21:27):
For Samuel twenty eight, Yes, Samuel or was it? Yeah?
I think it was. I think this is actually Samuel
that the Witch of Indoor conjures up. The miracle of
bringing up Samuel from Hades was not performed by the
Witch of Indoor. However, it was performed in spite of her.
It was a sovereign act of God and she was
absolutely baffled when Samuel came back. And this is also

(21:50):
not a normative passage. This is something that God supernaturally does,
something that the Witch of Indoor could not do. But
it was in answer directly to your question, it wes Samuel.
I think the text makes that explicit.

Speaker 8 (22:03):
Okay, thank you, you got it.

Speaker 2 (22:05):
Thank you so much for your call. I want to
go back to the phone lines now, talk to Troy
in Washington High.

Speaker 4 (22:10):
Troy, Hi, how are you.

Speaker 2 (22:12):
I'm good?

Speaker 4 (22:13):
How are you all pretty good?

Speaker 3 (22:15):
Heah?

Speaker 4 (22:15):
I appreciate your biblical knowledge and I am a new
listener to your show. And I have a two part question.
Is the Sabbath day important? Is it important to keep
the Sabbath? And if so, why, Well?

Speaker 2 (22:36):
I think that we should celebrate the rest we have
in Jesus Christ as a result of the resurrection. The
Sabbath's emphasis shifted to a celebration of that rest that
we have through Jesus Christ, who delivers us from sin
and the grave. We see that in Hebrews chapter four.
In fact, for the emerging Christian Church, the most dangerous

(22:57):
snare was always this failure to recognize that Jesus was
the substance that fulfilled the symbol of the Sabbath. So
we celebrate on the first day of the week in
honor of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, in whom we
have our sabbath rest. Okay, and we don't want to

(23:18):
be slavishly bound to Old Testament laws, because if we are,
we should be forewarned that failing to keep the letter
of the law is hazardous, because according to the Mosaic law,
anyone who does any work on the Sabbath has to
be put to death. But as the Apostle Paul makes clear,
Christ redeemed us from the course of the law by

(23:38):
becoming a curse for us. So Jesus is the substance
that fulfills the symbol, and therefore we no longer need
to be slavishly bound to Old Testament Sabbatarian laws.

Speaker 4 (23:50):
Are we not supposed to follow his example above, Jesus's
example of all scripture? Are we not to look to
him and live as close as possible to the way
that he lived and follow in his steps?

Speaker 2 (24:14):
Yes and no. There are things that we don't have
to celebrate, which is to say, there's no need whatsoever
to continue with temple priests and sacrifice when the ultimate
sacrificial lamb has come. There's no need to be involved
in civil and ceremonial laws that were part of a
theocratic kingdom. In fact, Jesus Christ himself spoke out against this,

(24:35):
as you probably well know, when he was talking about
the idea of ceremonial laws, which had to do with
eating practices, and he was unequivocal in his comment about this, saying, look,
it's not what goes into a man's mouth and out
through his body that defiles him. It's that which proceeds

(24:55):
from the heart. And then Mark makes a parenthetical and
he says in saying this, Jesus declared all foods clean.
So certainly the moral precepts of the law should be followed,
but civil and ceremonial laws, which were part of a theocracy,
should not be followed because they've been abrogated by Jesus

(25:18):
Christ himself. And it's important to recognize that the Testaments
are typological one with respect to the other. Jesus is
the one who fulfills all the law in the prophets.
It is in Jesus Christ that we have our Sabbath rest.
You know, we have material on this I've written about.
There's a lot of different places, including one of our

(25:40):
favorite resources, the Complete Bible answer Book Collector's Edition, available
through the Ministry of the Christian Research Institute. You can
order online at equipped dot org or just write me
at box eighty five hundred, Charlotte, North Carolinas IF code
two eight two seven one. Thanks for tuning in, Thanks
for your support, thanks for your prayers. Without you, we
couldn't do what we do. Thanks for We're standing with

(26:01):
us in next time with more of the show.

Speaker 1 (26:04):
We appreciate you tuning in to the Bible answer Man Broadcast.
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(26:26):
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(27:11):
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He is Christ the Lord. This will be a signed
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(27:32):
penned The Heart of Christmas, a devotional for the season,
to ensure that just as you prepare your home for Christmas,
you likewise prepare your heart. Order The Heart of Christmas,
a devotional for the season, by calling eight eight eight
seven thousand and two seven four, or by going online
to www. Dot equip dot org. Also available is The

(27:54):
Heart of Christmas Audiobook, dramatically read by Hank Hannigraph