0:09

Many people recognize the very first

0:13

prediction of the Messiah in the Hebrew Bible

0:16

as Genesis 315,

0:18

but. It's become sort

0:20

of passé to think of that as

0:22

a messianic prediction. Stay

0:24

with me and we'll talk about that in

0:27

just a moment. Hello, friends.

0:29

Welcome to Open Line with Michael Ray Moody

0:32

Radio's Bible Study Across

0:34

America. My name is Michael Ray Melnick.

0:36

I'm the academic dean and professor of

0:38

Jewish studies and Bible at Moody Bible

0:41

Institute. Thank you for joining

0:43

me right here at the radio Kitchen

0:45

table. If you have a question

0:47

about the Bible, God, or the

0:49

spiritual life, now's the time to give

0:51

me a call. The phone number here

0:54

is (877) 548-3675.

1:00

Again (877) 548-3675.

1:04

Trisha McMillan is our producer. Bob

1:07

Monroe is handling all things technical

1:09

and Laura is answering the phones

1:11

again. Our phone number here

1:14

is (877) 548-3675.

1:20

Well, it's time to get your cup of coffee

1:22

and sit down at the radio kitchen table

1:24

and get your Bible out because we're

1:26

going to study the scriptures together.

1:29

But before we get to your questions,

1:31

let's talk about. The

1:33

very first messianic prophecy

1:36

in the Bible. After

1:39

Adam and Eve ate from the Tree of knowledge

1:41

of Good and evil, and they disobeyed God

1:43

and brought sin into the world. The

1:46

Lord confronted all the participants

1:48

with words of judgment. First, God

1:50

cursed the serpent that tempted Eve,

1:52

and then he assign judgment to Eve and

1:55

to Adam, saying, women will bear children

1:57

with pain. Men will work hard to earn

1:59

their bread. But this first

2:01

prophecy is found

2:04

in the section on the curse on the

2:06

serpent. Here's what God says

2:08

I will put hostility between you

2:10

and the woman, between your seed

2:12

and her seed. He will strike your

2:14

head and you will strike

2:16

his heel. Genesis 315.

2:20

People object to this being a messianic

2:22

prediction because it would contain

2:24

hope right here in the midst of

2:26

a judgment. One Old Testament

2:28

scholar says there's no examples of

2:30

grace or hope in

2:33

judgment passages in the Old Testament.

2:36

Of course, a quick reading of Genesis shows God

2:38

judging Cain and then graciously

2:41

giving him a mark to keep others from killing him.

2:43

That was grace in the midst of judgement.

2:46

Then God determines

2:48

to judge the whole earth because of its

2:50

sin, but chooses to rescue

2:52

Noah and his family from that

2:54

judgement, showing grace in

2:56

the midst of judgement. Another

2:58

example when God is when God delivered

3:00

lot out of Sodom before destroying

3:02

Sodom. Of course. There's

3:06

grace in the midst of judgment. And that's

3:08

why we expect to find grace here

3:10

in the midst of this judgment of Adam

3:12

and Eve. Another

3:14

objection to this being a messianic prediction.

3:18

Is to treat it as a just

3:20

so story. Merely

3:22

a just so story. About

3:25

why there's a perpetual

3:28

hatred between snakes

3:30

and humanity. What I mean by it, just those

3:32

stories. There are all these stories about,

3:35

uh. How

3:38

the zebra got

3:40

his stripe and how the giraffe got his neck

3:43

and things like that. And so,

3:45

so people. So people want to treat

3:47

the Bible like this is how the snake lost

3:49

his legs. Uh uh.

3:52

Also about why people hate snakes,

3:55

and snakes hate people. But

3:58

this is so strange. To

4:02

think about it that way. Uh,

4:05

what we have here is

4:07

a snake talking only two examples

4:10

of a snake of an animal

4:12

talking in the Bible. This is not Narnia.

4:15

It seems to me that it's really important

4:17

to understand that what we have

4:19

here is, uh,

4:23

supernatural speaking

4:25

by a snake to determine

4:27

that he is trying to tempt

4:30

the woman. This is an evil voice

4:33

coming from the, uh, from the snake.

4:35

Shows me that this isn't God opening

4:37

the snake's voice as he did the donkey

4:39

in the story of Balam. But rather this

4:42

is the enemy opening the

4:44

mouth of the snake. A dark power,

4:47

an evil power. John Collins wrote that the

4:49

serpent is the mouthpiece of a dark power

4:51

whom later texts would call Satan.

4:54

This is not just a curse

4:56

on snakes so that they don't walk

4:59

right, or uh,

5:01

but it's really the ultimate promise of the defeat

5:03

of the enemy. The last

5:05

objection is they say that the word seed,

5:09

which is used here for offspring.

5:12

Is, um, always

5:14

used in a collective sense, meaning that it's

5:16

always a group, never an individual. That's

5:19

actually not true, because

5:21

the whenever there is

5:23

a singular

5:25

pronoun referring back to the word

5:27

seed, it's talking about an individual

5:30

offspring. And of course, there's a singular

5:32

pronoun here. He, the seed

5:34

of the woman, will crush the head of

5:36

the serpent. So simply

5:39

put, what is Genesis 315 predicting?

5:41

We might think that the first messianic prediction

5:44

of the Hebrew Bible would be about the birth of the Messiah,

5:46

but it's not. The very

5:48

first prediction of the Messiah's coming is about

5:50

his death. God foretold

5:52

that one day, a descendant of the woman, the Messiah,

5:55

would strike that serpent on the head,

5:57

delivering a death blow. At

5:59

the same time, the serpent would strike the Messiah

6:01

on the heel. This

6:03

is a deadly bite. A deadly

6:05

force. What the verse is saying is

6:07

that in defeating Satan,

6:10

the power behind the serpent, the Messiah,

6:12

would also die. And that's exactly

6:15

what happened when Jesus died

6:17

for us. Not only did he take the

6:19

punishment we deserved, but but he

6:21

did in dying, also

6:23

defeat the enemy of our souls.

6:26

Hebrews 214 and 15 say

6:28

that Jesus became a man, so

6:30

that through his death he might destroy the

6:33

one holding the power of death, that

6:35

is, the devil, and free

6:37

those who are held in slavery all their lives

6:39

by the fear of death. Because

6:42

Jesus died and rose again.

6:45

We don't ever need to be fearful

6:47

either, as we live life in difficult times

6:50

or even as we face

6:53

death. Well,

7:01

this is, uh, pretty

7:03

exciting to be with you once again. I know

7:05

that, uh, we have calls

7:08

coming up here. I do want to mention something before

7:11

we get to the calls again. The phone

7:13

number here is eight, seven,

7:15

seven. Uh,

7:27

the current resource that we have is,

7:29

is just it's pretty

7:31

exciting to me because,

7:35

uh. You

7:37

know, there there are times when

7:40

I'm talking about the wrong resource here, but,

7:42

uh, the, uh. I

7:49

wanted to talk about the Chosen People Ministries resource.

7:52

Uh. There

7:55

are times when, uh,

7:57

people call and say, uh,

8:01

what, uh, what can

8:03

I do to talk to my Jewish friend about

8:05

the Messiah? And they're a little

8:08

flummoxed. They don't know what to do. Well, Chosen

8:10

People Ministries is offering something free to our

8:12

Open Line listeners. It's called How to Introduce Your Jewish

8:14

Friend to the Messiah. All you have to do

8:16

is go to our website, Open Line

8:19

Radio org. That book will really help

8:21

you. And, uh, when you,

8:23

uh, get it, it'll give you some clues about

8:25

how to talk to your Jewish friend in a way that they

8:27

can understand. Understand about how Jesus

8:29

is the Jewish Messiah. And,

8:33

uh, so I want to recommend all you

8:35

do is go to our website, scroll down

8:37

Open Line Radio org. Scroll down

8:39

all the way to the bottom. You'll see

8:41

a link that says a Free gift from Chosen People Ministries.

8:43

Click on that and it'll take you to a page

8:46

where you can sign up for your very own copy

8:48

of How to Introduce Your Jewish

8:50

Friend to the Messiah. We're

8:52

going to talk right now with Raymond

8:55

in Albertville, Alabama, listening on

8:57

WMU online. Welcome

8:59

to Open Line. Raymond. How can I help you?

9:02

Uh, pardon my hoarseness.

9:05

I didn't think I'd wake up hoarse this morning, but

9:08

I am wanting to know about

9:10

Exodus 315 and the way

9:13

I have applied it throughout

9:15

the Old Testament in my studies.

9:18

Um, in applying it to the personal

9:21

or covenantal name of God,

9:24

which in my Bible is, uh,

9:27

indicated by all capital

9:29

L ord. Uh,

9:32

there's about 6800

9:34

appearances of this personal

9:36

name, and I meditatively

9:39

substitute, uh,

9:42

in each of those verses, the

9:44

God of Abraham, the God of Isaac,

9:47

and the God of Jacob. And

9:49

I feel it gives me a deeper

9:51

understanding. Some of the verses

9:53

is obvious, like.

9:55

Let me just stop you for a second. I'm trying to understand,

9:57

what is your question about the name?

9:59

Could you just.

10:01

Is it am I incorrect in doing

10:03

that? In other words, uh,

10:05

I actually teach students

10:08

and fellow Bible study

10:10

people. Well, this is a good technique.

10:12

Whenever you see this name, substitute

10:16

the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac

10:18

and the God of Jacob.

10:19

Now, why do you do that? Uh,

10:22

what do you think? That's what Yahweh

10:24

means.

10:27

Uh, well, uh, based on Exodus

10:29

315, uh,

10:32

for example, the verse. No,

10:34

no.

10:35

You know what? Let me let me just, uh,

10:37

just say, uh,

10:40

Moses wants to know who God is. What

10:42

should I tell you? Your name is right. Tell

10:44

them I am sent you the eternal one. The

10:46

emphasis is on God's eternality.

10:48

And then the name of God.

10:51

Of, of the name

10:53

that that reflects that is often

10:56

transliterated Yahweh

10:59

or Yahweh. Something like that.

11:01

Yes. Okay. Okay. Yes.

11:03

That means the Eternal One. Okay.

11:08

Uh, the one who was and is and always

11:10

will be, who also is

11:13

the El Elohim of,

11:16

uh. It's a Avraham

11:19

Elohim, uh, Yitzchak

11:21

Elohim. Uh, Yaakov,

11:24

the God of the

11:26

God of isn't his name. The

11:28

God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

11:30

No, no.

11:30

No, that is who he is

11:32

in the sense of which God

11:34

is named Yahweh. So,

11:38

uh. I'm not sure,

11:41

uh, you know, when, when I,

11:43

when I pray, I pray to the father.

11:46

In the name of the son, the Lord Jesus.

11:48

Right? Uh, right. Right. By the power

11:50

of the Holy Spirit. That's it. But

11:52

when the name of God, when someone asks me

11:54

the name of God, that would be Yahweh,

11:57

who is the God of the Bible,

11:59

the God of Abraham, Isaac and

12:01

Jacob. So I'm not. Okay,

12:04

so that's fine. But, uh, that's

12:06

not his name. His name is

12:09

the eternal.

12:09

His name. But but in understanding

12:13

who it's talking about when it says,

12:15

Lord, um, that's

12:17

an old, uh, substitution

12:20

in in a nation where there were lords

12:22

everywhere. No, they were in

12:25

England. In England.

12:27

Well, you know what the the the

12:29

the reason God is called. The

12:32

Lord is,

12:34

uh. That

12:38

that Jewish people didn't want to

12:40

say Yahweh. That was

12:42

the unpronounceable name of God. So what they did

12:44

is they they said,

12:47

Lord, which was the substitution,

12:50

uh, a way of saying it. And then later on the name.

12:52

Anyway, thanks for your call. We're

12:54

going to come back with more of your calls right here

12:56

on Open Line with Michael. Welcome

13:10

back to Open Line. The phone number here

13:12

(877) 548-3675.

13:15

We have a terrific offer from Open Line.

13:18

You know, the Bible is a big book, but

13:20

it's made of 66 smaller books, and it's

13:22

easy to get lost

13:24

in the details. And most people,

13:26

they think they know what the Bible is. But

13:29

then they start reading it and they get confused. And

13:32

one of the best resources to help you when you

13:34

start each biblical book is a book. It's

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an old book. It's was it

13:39

was a little textbook that we had when I

13:41

was a student at Moody Bible Institute

13:43

50 years ago. It

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was called and remains called the

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Bible Book by book by

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G. Coleman Luck. It

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gives you the big picture of God's Word

13:53

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really a user friendly guide and

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introduces the main themes the structure

14:00

of the book. The purposes of each book of the Bible.

14:03

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14:05

years after being a student at Moody, even

14:08

I still use it for our own personal Bible

14:10

study every time we start to study a book.

14:13

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14:15

to kind of get the the big picture

14:17

map of the book, and then we start

14:20

setting. And it can be yours

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14:36

Remember when you give ask

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for the Bible book

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by book. We're going to go to the phones

14:42

right now to Gabriella in

14:44

West Palm Beach, Florida listening

14:47

on warm. Welcome to Open Line. Gabriella,

14:49

how can I help you today?

14:51

Hi. Thank you for answering

14:53

my call. So I have a question

14:56

about what Paul says in

14:58

first Corinthians nine.

15:01

Um, I think it's from 24 to

15:04

27. He speaks of

15:06

running the race to gain

15:08

a crown, and I understand

15:11

it to be, you know, about

15:13

discipleship and and

15:15

self-control. But then it

15:18

speaks of a crown in,

15:20

in what I want to know

15:22

is it speaks of prices or

15:25

what prices can I

15:27

earn here in heaven,

15:29

I mean, on earth that

15:31

I will kind of receive

15:33

in heaven.

15:36

Well, the Bible says,

15:38

you know, the Bible doesn't really explicitly

15:40

state. What?

15:43

What our rewards will be. Uh,

15:45

uses the image of a victor's crown

15:48

in some places. Does

15:50

that hear in first Corinthians nine? Uh,

15:53

you know, when the in the ancient world, when they would

15:55

run a race, they would get a victor's crown.

15:58

Mhm.

15:59

Uh, it was made of leaves and uh,

16:02

it actually would fade away. But we're going to get crowns

16:04

that will not fade. But that's a, that's

16:06

figure of speech. I don't know if it's. I

16:09

don't know if we're going to be walking around with crowns, and if we

16:11

do have crowns, and if it does end up being crowns, revelation

16:14

seems to say that we'll throw them at the feet

16:16

of the Lord Jesus, who's the one that really deserves

16:18

them. But we will have nods. And

16:20

then. And then there's another place where a

16:22

figure is used of, uh,

16:24

wood, hay, straw of our

16:27

works are made of wood, hay and straw. They'll burn up,

16:29

but if they're gold, silver and precious

16:31

gems, they'll remain, and that will

16:33

be our reward. But again, that's a figure.

16:35

I don't know exactly what the reward will

16:37

be. The clearest picture we get of what

16:39

the reward is, is

16:41

when we talk about the the faithful

16:43

steward who, uh,

16:46

is put in charge of more

16:49

is given more responsibility in service

16:51

to his Lord after he's proven

16:54

faithful with the talents that he has.

16:56

So that's that's

16:58

a possibility of, uh,

17:00

greater responsibility in serving the Lord

17:02

in the eternal state. So. Ah,

17:05

is that what you were asking about?

17:08

Well, no. Yeah. But no,

17:11

in the.

17:11

Sense that.

17:12

It was more.

17:13

About what do I have to do

17:15

here? Whatever the reward is, whatever

17:18

we get, it's a reward.

17:20

Right. But what are the things

17:22

that will give us rewards

17:25

doing?

17:26

I'm going to tell you this. The simplest answer

17:28

I can give you. Uh.

17:32

Be faithful to do the will

17:34

of God, to bring honor

17:36

and glory to him, whether

17:38

anyone knows about it or not.

17:42

That's it. Do the will of God. That

17:45

determine in your heart. I

17:47

always want to do the will of God.

17:51

And you say, well, how do I know what the will of God is?

17:53

The will of God is primarily in the Word of God.

17:55

Be obedient to the word. That's

17:58

the will of God. And then if there's

18:00

specific things, I'll give you

18:02

an example. The Bible says that we're supposed

18:04

to share the gospel.

18:07

You know, make disciples of the nations. That's

18:09

the great Commission that's for us. And

18:12

when we have an opportunity to share the good

18:14

news. We should seize

18:16

it. Sometimes we were reluctant. Uh,

18:19

that's that's what I would say.

18:21

You know, that's an example. Okay. The Bible is really clear.

18:23

We get the opportunity to do it. It's the will of God.

18:26

We should do it. So, uh,

18:29

whatever it is that that receives

18:32

that, that is fulfillment of the will

18:34

of God, the clear teaching of the word of

18:36

God. Uh, then,

18:39

you know, the Bible says that we're supposed to be faithful

18:41

to pray. You know, the

18:43

Lord Jesus said, uh, we should pray

18:45

and not lose heart. Well, are

18:47

we praying that's the will of God for

18:49

our lives? So, uh,

18:52

there's a really clear verse in first Thessalonians

18:54

four. It says, this is the will of God for your

18:56

life, that you abstain from sexual immorality.

18:59

Okay. So, uh,

19:02

uh, obviously sexual purity is

19:05

the will of God for our lives. So

19:07

those are the things that as we obey the will

19:09

of God, uh, there's

19:11

there's our works will glorify

19:14

our father in heaven. That's what the goal

19:16

is. And the end result will

19:18

be, uh, a reward.

19:22

Okay?

19:23

Okay. All right. Well, fantastic.

19:25

Thank you so very much.

19:27

Okay. Thank you for your call. Really appreciate

19:30

it. Uh, we're going to speak with John

19:32

in Georgia. Welcome to Open

19:34

Line. John. How can I help you?

19:37

Uh, this is Rick, not John. That

19:39

got my name wrong.

19:41

Oh. Okay. Rick. Let's

19:44

see if we. Let's see if they got your question right.

19:47

Yeah.

19:48

I lost. I lost my son here

19:51

about a year ago, and I've been struggling with.

19:54

He was saved, and

19:56

he killed himself. Oh. I'm sorry.

19:58

And I've worked with this for for

20:01

a long time. About what?

20:03

He. Will he be in heaven,

20:07

or since he committed suicide, will

20:09

he be in hell?

20:10

Uh huh. Uh. Well.

20:17

Let me just say I am so sorry. This

20:19

is the worst kind of

20:21

loss I think a parent

20:23

can experience. So, uh,

20:26

my heart is with you, and I'm really, really,

20:28

really sorry. Uh. Thank

20:30

you. Now, your

20:32

son knew the Lord.

20:35

Yes. As far as I know.

20:37

Yeah. He. He had trusted the Lord

20:39

in his life. Right?

20:41

Yes.

20:42

Okay. Uh, let me just say

20:45

that. Suicide. Obviously

20:48

it's not God's will. It's it's contrary

20:50

to what his desire is. But besides

20:53

being. Well,

20:55

first of all, a person who is saved doesn't

20:57

lose their salvation when they

20:59

when they sinned, because every one of us would

21:01

be constantly losing our salvation

21:03

and then confessing and getting it back and then

21:05

losing it again, you know.

21:08

Right. Uh, when when we sin,

21:11

when we're saved, we have an eternal

21:13

relationship with God, and

21:15

sin breaks our fellowship

21:17

with him. But it doesn't break that relationship.

21:20

You probably have heard me say that a million times. If

21:22

you've listened to Open Line. Uh,

21:25

I have, yeah. Our

21:27

relationship is secure. There's nothing

21:30

as secure. But our fellowship

21:32

with God is very sensitive. And

21:34

as a result, we have to, uh, confess

21:36

those sins and restore fellowship. So

21:39

you never have to be worried that we can. We?

21:41

We didn't. Uh,

21:44

obey our way into salvation. We

21:46

didn't obey God's commandments, so we got

21:48

saved. We didn't righteousness our way

21:50

into salvation. We can't sin

21:52

our way out of it. And so

21:55

we need to remember that. Uh,

21:57

second thing that we need to remember about the sin

21:59

of suicide is that that's

22:02

a sin that's tied to mental health. And

22:04

people who commit

22:06

suicide are not there. They're

22:09

acting in a way that is unhealthy

22:11

and it's unsafe. And it's,

22:14

uh, it's not a reflection

22:16

of of, uh, good

22:19

emotional well-being. That's

22:21

why if anyone is listening here and

22:24

you're contemplating. Thinking

22:27

about suicide. Don't.

22:29

Don't. You need to get help?

22:32

Uh, don't take this as well.

22:34

I can't lose my salvation, so I

22:36

might as well. No, no, no.

22:39

You're not thinking straight. That's not

22:41

God's will for you. He wants you to live

22:43

your life for him. So if you're listening

22:45

and you hear this and you're

22:47

thinking about this, go talk to someone. Talk

22:50

to your doctor, talk to your pastor.

22:52

Talk to someone

22:55

that can get you help. There's a number you can

22:57

call 988. It's the

23:00

emergency suicide hotline.

23:02

If you have no one to talk to, just pick up the

23:04

phone and and call

23:06

that number, because this is not what God

23:08

wants of you. It is, uh,

23:10

it is not your good emotional

23:12

state that's even thinking about that. And if you

23:15

know someone, anyone listening

23:17

that's thinking about suicide, you

23:19

need to get them help. You need to come

23:21

and talk with them and get them to

23:23

see a doctor, a therapist, someone,

23:26

uh, to get some help. I just want to be really,

23:30

uh. I

23:32

want to. I wanted to be really clear about that,

23:34

but I just want to encourage you

23:37

how sad I am for you about the

23:39

loss of your son. But if he

23:41

knew the Lord, you're you are.

23:44

You can be confident that that

23:47

the Lord. Has

23:49

received him in his arms and his. Is

23:51

giving him comfort now. Thank you. And.

23:54

Okay. Uh, but thank you so

23:56

much. Yeah. Okay. Well,

23:58

thank you for the call. Uh, and,

24:01

uh, you know, can I pray for you

24:03

right now? And you said your name is Rick.

24:05

Right. Okay. Let me pray.

24:07

Yes, sir.

24:08

Father in heaven, I pray for Rick that you would bring

24:10

comfort somehow. Peace to his life

24:12

at this terrible loss. Help him

24:14

to trust you through the pain.

24:16

And God, I pray you would, uh,

24:19

just lift him up and and,

24:22

uh, give him some strength to deal with

24:24

this. He really needs it. And, God,

24:26

I ask that you would give him help. And I pray

24:28

this in Jesus name. Amen.

24:32

Thanks. Uh. Thank

24:34

you. Yeah. Uh,

24:36

thanks for the call. You know. Anyone listening?

24:39

I just want to be really clear. Just

24:41

because I believe in the security of the believer.

24:45

Doesn't mean that anyone

24:47

should ever think that that's an excuse that

24:49

that I'm saying that suicide is,

24:52

uh, healthy

24:54

or okay, or what God wants. No,

24:56

no, no, uh, get help

24:58

if you're thinking that way. Uh, someone

25:01

actually once said to me

25:03

that they think I'm giving permission

25:05

for people to commit suicide when I say

25:07

it. When a believer commits suicide.

25:11

That that they haven't lost

25:13

their salvation. Uh,

25:15

no. No, that's not what

25:17

I'm saying. What I'm saying is our

25:19

relationship with God is secure no matter

25:21

what sin we commit. Nevertheless,

25:24

that is not what God wants of

25:26

anyone. And so,

25:28

again, let me give that suicide hotline if

25:30

anyone was listening, and this may be a message

25:32

for you. Uh, 988.

25:35

Call that number. Uh, get

25:37

help, talk to your doctor, talk to your pastor,

25:39

talk to your spouse. Talk to someone

25:42

to get some help. Well,

25:44

we're going to come back with the mailbag.

25:46

Stay right there. This is open line with Michael

25:48

Redlich. Welcome

26:06

back to Open Line. I am so

26:08

grateful that Far Eastern Broadcasting Company

26:10

partners with Open Line to bring you

26:12

the weekly fab C mailbag.

26:15

Even, uh, today

26:17

I'm. I was just talking with Tricia off the air

26:19

about how much I appreciate Facebook

26:22

and their, uh, president,

26:24

Ed Cannon, who used to work

26:26

here at Moody, someone we love. And,

26:29

uh, they are doing so much to bring the gospel

26:31

to people in places

26:33

that we would never be able to reach through

26:35

the, the, through radio, through

26:38

broadcasting. And it's they're doing a

26:40

fantastic, fantastic job. And

26:42

I really want to encourage you to check out

26:44

what they're doing, go to for because

26:47

for because they click

26:49

on the link about their podcast.

26:52

It's called Until All Have Heard it features

26:54

at cannon. And uh, you'll hear

26:56

what the Lord is doing, uh, around

26:58

the globe through Facebook. And

27:01

joining me right now with the mailbag

27:03

is Trisha McMillan. She's the producer

27:05

of Open Line and the Queen of the questions,

27:08

the girl that puts the mailbag together.

27:11

Uh. It's okay. I called her a girl, but.

27:13

She's actually all right.

27:14

She's she's a grown up, but I

27:16

am.

27:17

Yeah.

27:19

She's a grown up. Okay. Well,

27:22

uh, how how are you doing

27:24

today?

27:24

Good, good, good. Yeah.

27:27

Well, we we, uh, we got a whole

27:29

bunch of questions. In fact, they're they're piling

27:31

up, so.

27:32

They are piling up. So thank you for

27:34

sending in your questions. Yeah.

27:37

By the way, a great way to. I'll tell

27:39

people how to get the questions in. Yes. Just

27:41

go to our website, Open Line Radio org.

27:43

Click on the link that says Ask

27:46

Michael a question and

27:49

uh, then we'll uh, we'll

27:52

put it in the mailbag. Tricia will get it to me.

27:54

Right. It goes to it goes to the email box,

27:56

and then I then I can go through and

27:59

and add them into the mailbag.

28:01

Yeah. Hey, you know, I

28:03

might as well mention it now, we did a

28:05

pre-record program for the weekend

28:07

of Easter, and I don't want people to

28:10

miss that. I know it's, uh,

28:12

Easter is coming up in a few weeks, but,

28:14

uh, that Saturday, uh, we're going to do

28:16

what we did, a pre-record. And it's about

28:19

evidences for the resurrection. We had

28:21

a couple of professors from Moody, three professors

28:23

from Odeon with me, and we talked

28:25

about the evidence for the resurrection. And I

28:27

just had a great time recording that. So

28:30

people need to know at the end of the month, on the

28:32

Saturday before Resurrection

28:34

celebration, check out Open Line

28:36

that day, uh, about,

28:39

uh, what? It's about

28:41

the evidence for the resurrection. Why we believe,

28:44

uh, you know, we take it by faith that

28:46

Jesus is raised from the dead, but there's

28:48

fantastic evidence to support

28:50

that.

28:51

Yeah, it was a great conversation.

28:53

I'm really excited for everyone to hear it.

28:55

Yeah, it was wonderful. Yeah.

28:57

All right. Well, our first question is from Facebook.

29:01

Um, Anita wrote us and said, I

29:03

know that the first five books of the Bible are

29:05

attributed to Moses, but how

29:07

did they make it to actually being penned?

29:10

I don't think Moses had parchment paper, did

29:12

he? Was it passed down orally? Who actually

29:14

wrote it down? I know that we have the

29:16

scroll of Isaiah, but are these older

29:18

writings something that we actually have discovered?

29:21

I never thought about any of this until I was talking with

29:23

a friend who I've been trying to minister to, who is

29:25

a skeptic, and says all we have is oral

29:27

tradition. I believe the Word of God is

29:29

true, but it just made me wonder, how do we share the origins

29:31

of the Pentateuch?

29:32

Yeah, well, let me just say we don't have

29:34

the original book of any book

29:37

of the Bible. We don't have any scroll. We don't have the scroll

29:39

of Isaiah. What what they found at

29:41

Cameron when they found

29:43

the Dead Sea Scrolls. Was

29:45

a scroll of Isaiah from

29:48

about uh 200

29:50

BC. Something like that

29:52

100 BC. Uh,

29:54

and so it was, it was,

29:56

uh, a scroll from about 600

29:59

years after I, after

30:01

Isaiah wrote the book. Uh,

30:04

why is it so significant, though,

30:06

is it's virtually the before that.

30:09

Before we found the scroll of Isaiah.

30:13

The earliest copy we had of the Hebrew

30:15

Bible was from about a thousand A.D.

30:18

and so we find this other one, and it throws

30:20

it back more than a thousand years,

30:22

and we can compare. And they are virtually

30:24

identical. So what does that tell us? That

30:27

the copyists did a good job

30:29

copying the Bible. So

30:32

that's what's so crucial about the scroll

30:34

of Isaiah being found at Cameron. Uh,

30:37

the other question is the

30:39

Torah. When did Moses write

30:41

it? He wrote it about 1400 BC.

30:44

Uh, I think, you know, that's why he needed to get, you know,

30:46

remember how, uh, his father had told

30:48

him to get, uh, different leaders

30:51

to handle all the questions, right?

30:53

Do you remember that story?

30:54

You the seat of Moses? Is

30:56

that that, like, with the seed of Moses

30:58

and that kind of thing?

30:59

No, no. When when, uh, when

31:01

Jethro came and he said, listen, you're handling

31:03

everyone's questions. You're judging between

31:05

the people. You need to get other people

31:08

so that it. So Moses could have some

31:10

free time to write. That was the

31:14

so that Moses. Now you guys answer

31:16

these questions, I'll just only answer the hard ones.

31:19

I got to go write the Bible. So,

31:21

uh, I don't know when Moses

31:23

wrote it, but I always laugh about that. You know,

31:25

he's too busy sitting around right in the Bible. He

31:27

didn't have time to answer questions. Right. But.

31:31

Uh. But somewhere.

31:34

Uh. You know,

31:36

a lot of us think of it him that the

31:38

the Torah is sort of Moses

31:41

diary and he just kind of wrote things down

31:43

as they came and happened. But

31:45

no, it's it's a work. And near the end of his life,

31:47

I think he finally he probably took notes and did things

31:49

like that and put the whole thing together near

31:52

the end of his life. Uh, and

31:54

then. Uh,

31:57

in terms of my understanding of the development of the

31:59

Torah, that was Torah. Uh uh,

32:02

1.0.

32:03

Okay, real quick question to clarify here.

32:05

Yeah, she had asked about the Pentateuch. You're

32:07

talking about the Torah. Same thing, same

32:09

thing. Okay.

32:10

Okay. Uh, the Hebrew word

32:13

for the what we call the Pentateuch

32:15

is the Torah. Okay.

32:17

I'm sorry I'm so used to it.

32:19

I know, I'm just just clarifying.

32:21

Pentateuch is the Greek name for

32:24

it. Then. Okay?

32:25

It means five books. Okay. What

32:27

I like one of the reasons I like the

32:29

Torah as the word is

32:31

because the Bible calls it the book of the law. And it's

32:34

one big scroll. One book.

32:36

Yeah.

32:36

Not not five.

32:38

Books. Not five. Yeah, it's five volumes,

32:40

but it's one book. Okay. Uh, sort of like

32:42

the Lord of the rings, you know? Yeah. One book,

32:44

three volumes. So,

32:47

uh, the that's

32:49

the. So we've got this book

32:52

and and Moses wrote it. It's

32:55

clear Ezra 710 says

32:57

that Ezra studied the

32:59

the Torah. And

33:02

it says. And he sought

33:04

to to practice it.

33:07

To do it. And

33:10

also to

33:12

teach it. But the word

33:15

practice, that's often translated practice.

33:19

This is about 450 BC.

33:21

The word practice can mean form.

33:23

It's the word that's used when God formed the earth.

33:26

And I think

33:28

what Ezra did as the scribe,

33:31

this, this biblical author, is

33:33

he put the final shape to the Torah.

33:35

Mm. One of the, uh, he

33:38

he he did. It was like

33:40

a final edit. Uh,

33:42

I think he's the one that added the story about

33:44

the death of Moses in Deuteronomy 34,

33:47

for example. Okay. Uh, uh,

33:50

and so he did the final edit. I would call

33:52

that two Torah 2.0. That's

33:54

that's where we got it from. And

33:57

then, uh, what what happened

33:59

next is that it began to be faithfully

34:02

copied. And so

34:04

the very copy we have today,

34:07

uh, is just as it was faithfully copied before

34:10

Ezra. And then he did the final edit

34:12

and then or or revised

34:14

edit. I would say he didn't change

34:17

anything. He just put that epilogue

34:19

on at the end and he had a gloss here

34:21

or there that that would explain things

34:23

like an example of something that he might have

34:25

changed is that.

34:28

Uh. Uh, leash

34:31

is a name of a city. Uh,

34:33

before the conquest of

34:36

Canaan. And in

34:38

the Bible, it's called Dan. You

34:41

know, Abraham went as far as Dan. Well,

34:44

it wasn't called Dan until the Dan ites

34:46

moved there. It was called Lesh.

34:48

So you can just see Ezra

34:50

saying, no one's going to know what I'm talking about here.

34:53

So I'm going to take change. I'm going

34:55

to call it Dan. He's a biblical

34:57

author, and he has, uh, he's operating

34:59

under inspiration. And he gets he

35:02

gets to do this, you know, once the canyon

35:04

is closed, no changes. But that's

35:07

that's where a biblical author could

35:09

do that. So that's what I would say.

35:11

Okay. And what would they have written it

35:13

on?

35:14

Oh, uh, yeah.

35:16

Skins.

35:17

Moses would have written it on skins. Animal skins. Yeah.

35:19

Like. Yeah. Okay. Yeah.

35:21

Goatskin or lambskin, something

35:23

like that.

35:23

All right, all right. I hope that helps Anita

35:26

to as you talk with your friend and even

35:28

in your own, um, learning

35:31

about this. So thank you for that.

35:33

Yeah. You know what we should do? We should we should

35:35

do a special program. You know, every now and then we do

35:38

a special pre-recorded program.

35:40

Yes, we should do one on how we got

35:42

the Bible and questions like this.

35:44

I think that would be a good one.

35:45

It would be. Yeah. There we

35:47

got.

35:48

The Bible and I and I got some experts right

35:50

there at me.

35:51

Yes, you.

35:51

Do that, I, I can bring

35:53

it. Yeah, yeah.

35:55

Real quick if it, if the,

35:57

if the ones that we have. I know you didn't have that

35:59

many um that were you

36:02

said that it pushed the,

36:04

um, the documents

36:06

back a thousand years, um,

36:08

for when we could trace it to, to

36:10

600 BC. I think you had said. Right.

36:14

Uh, for Isaiah seven. For Isaiah, for

36:16

Isaiah.

36:16

Okay. Um. Is

36:19

that in compared to

36:21

other books that we trust?

36:23

Is that why does

36:25

that make it more reliable?

36:28

Oh, it just shows that how the copyists were just

36:30

faithful, that they weren't changing things. That's

36:32

one thing it shows and

36:34

that, uh, and then we can presume also

36:37

that earlier copyists were faithful. Why

36:39

would only copyists after 200

36:41

BC be faithful, you know. Yeah. Uh,

36:44

uh, obviously the earlier copyists were faithful

36:46

as well. And, uh, compared to other

36:48

books, you know, we I think we have 35,

36:51

uh, copies of the Gallic Wars by,

36:54

uh, Julius Caesar, 35

36:56

copies. No one questions the historicity or

36:58

the accuracy of those. We've got so

37:00

many more copies of the Bible. Uh,

37:02

it's it just, you

37:05

know, it only when it comes to the Bible do people

37:07

say, well, we don't know because we don't have the

37:09

original document. We don't have the original document

37:11

of any of those ancient, uh,

37:14

writings. Right?

37:15

They're all done by scribes and passed

37:17

on. Copied. Yeah. So. Okay.

37:19

All right. Thank you.

37:21

Yeah.

37:21

Okay. Well, you know, let's take a break here.

37:23

Yeah, let's do it back.

37:25

We'll take some more questions. Uh,

37:28

first on the phone and then second hour,

37:30

Trish will come back. We'll do more of your

37:32

mailbag questions right here

37:34

on Open Line. My name is Michael Redlich.

37:37

That was Tricia McMillan. We'll be right back

37:39

with more of your questions in.

37:41

Just a moment.

38:01

Welcome back to Open Line. Yeah.

38:03

You know, people talk about how much they love the Open

38:05

line team. People write to me all the time

38:07

and say that, uh, I'm really grateful

38:09

that they see how

38:12

dependent I am on

38:15

Trisha and Bob and, uh,

38:17

also on Eva when she

38:19

guests and when she sends me texts

38:21

with the answers to the questions that people send

38:24

me. And it, uh, we have

38:26

people answering the phones. It's a great team

38:28

here. There's also a lot of people behind the scenes

38:31

that you never see. And some

38:33

of those people are our kitchen table

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partners. Those are people who commit to give

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38:42

And, uh, that's

38:45

just something that we appreciate so much that one

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of the things that I do to say thank you is every other

38:49

week I send a special. Exclusively

38:52

prepared Bible study moment just for our kitchen

38:54

table partners. They get it in

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their email, click on it, get to listen for

38:58

about five minutes, about a little Bible study

39:01

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39:04

uh, I find encouraging and hopefully will

39:06

encourage, uh, those who

39:08

who get it. If you're considering

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becoming a kitchen table partner,

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I would really appreciate it. The phone

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number to do so is 88864471228886447122.

39:22

Or you just go to our website open Line radio.org.

39:26

We're going to go to the phones now to talk to Matt

39:29

in Tuscaloosa, Alabama

39:31

listening on w MFT. Welcome

39:33

to Open Line. How can I help you today

39:36

Matt.

39:37

Yes, sir. Good morning. How are you?

39:39

I'm great, thank you. How can I help

39:41

you? Uh.

39:43

Yes, sir. So, uh, we've

39:45

been talking in Sunday school the last couple of

39:47

weeks. Um, and just wondering,

39:50

uh, the role of the Holy Spirit.

39:52

And, you know, in the South, we have the

39:54

term, um, you know,

39:56

the Holy Spirit convicted me of

39:58

fill in the blank. Right. And so as

40:00

a believer is, does the Holy

40:02

Spirit convict, uh, the believer

40:05

of sin?

40:08

Well, the the verse we have about

40:10

convicting of sin is in John

40:12

16 and it's I don't think it's talking about

40:14

believers there. Uh,

40:16

it says in John 16 eight

40:19

when he comes, that's after

40:22

the Lord Jesus was predicting there

40:24

that the Holy Spirit would be sent

40:26

at Pentecost in a in

40:28

a new and unique way. When

40:30

he comes, he will convict

40:32

the world. Notice he's

40:34

not talking about the believers.

40:36

He's talking about the world. They're. About

40:39

sin. Righteousness

40:41

and judgment. About

40:44

sin because they don't believe in me. The ultimate sin

40:47

is not believing in the Messiah,

40:49

and in particular,

40:52

he'll convict of sin because since they don't

40:54

believe in Messiah, uh, they

40:56

don't have forgiveness and so he'll

40:58

convict of sin. Secondly,

41:01

of righteousness, uh, what

41:03

the Holy Spirit will do, it says about righteousness,

41:05

because I am going to the father and

41:08

you will no longer see me. Why righteousness?

41:10

Because the only one that is the

41:12

only. Fully human.

41:15

Remember, the Lord Jesus is the God-Man

41:17

that can go to the father without

41:19

sin and present himself as completely

41:21

righteous. Is the Lord Jesus.

41:23

So he's going to the father and will be accepted

41:26

as righteous. And, uh, I think

41:28

what the Holy Spirit does is

41:31

he convicts of righteousness, or our

41:33

lack thereof, or lack of righteousness.

41:36

And then about judgment, because the ruler

41:38

of this world has been judged through

41:40

the death. Of the Messiah,

41:43

the enemy of this world,

41:45

the enemy of our souls has

41:48

been judged. The Lord Jesus has been

41:50

raised. He ascends to the father. But

41:52

if if the enemy is judged,

41:55

then we all will face judgment.

41:58

And so that's why

42:00

convicts of sin, righteousness and judgment.

42:02

That's what that verse, uh, those

42:04

verses are about. I suspect that

42:06

if there's a blind spot that

42:08

we have an area where

42:11

we're not recognizing our sin, the Holy

42:13

Spirit can certainly make

42:15

it a clear to us.

42:19

Uh, the word convict can just as easily

42:21

be translated convince. And

42:25

sometimes I think it's important that we ask

42:27

the Holy Spirit to convince us, to show

42:29

us, uh, to examine

42:31

us and help us to see, to convince

42:33

us about what areas need, uh,

42:36

strengthening and improving and,

42:38

and restoration from the Lord. But

42:40

that that passage about sin, righteousness

42:42

and judgment is specifically about people

42:44

who don't believe. Okay.

42:48

Yes, sir, I appreciate it.

42:50

Yeah. Thanks for your call. Really appreciate it.

42:52

We're going to speak with Alice in Hudson,

42:54

Wisconsin, listening online. Thank you so much

42:56

for listening online, Alice. How can

42:58

I help you? Yes.

43:00

Good morning. Um,

43:03

I have a question about

43:05

Mark 1228

43:09

or I'm sorry, 36 five

43:12

through 37. Um,

43:15

when this is where Jesus

43:17

is teaching in the temple and he

43:19

makes the reference to the Old

43:21

Testament about the Lord said to my Lord.

43:24

Mhm. So that my right hand until I

43:26

put your enemies under your feet. Um,

43:29

I've always found this passage confusing.

43:33

So I just, I guess any insights

43:35

that you have about this passage, I'd appreciate.

43:37

Well, just what.

43:39

What's confusing you just so

43:41

I can know how to answer better.

43:44

Well, I mean, there's just so many things

43:46

that are confusing because, um, obviously

43:50

the confusion is the Lord said to my Lord,

43:52

you know, that that in itself

43:55

is confusing. And then,

43:57

um, then also,

44:00

um, at the end of 37, it says,

44:03

and the great song heard him gladly.

44:06

And it was just like. Maybe

44:09

there was other teachings, but it was just like I would.

44:12

Did most people understand what he was saying I

44:14

mean. Mhm. So there's

44:16

like.

44:16

Let's go back to what he was saying okay.

44:18

Psalm 110. Oh.

44:21

Mhm.

44:22

Because that's what he quotes. Psalm 110.

44:24

Uh and it says

44:26

this is the declaration of.

44:30

The Lord. The Lord said

44:33

to my Lord, now my version says,

44:35

Lord, but the very first

44:37

word in Psalm 110,

44:40

this is the declaration,

44:42

or this is what the Lord said. To

44:45

my lord. The

44:48

first time it uses the word Lord. It's got,

44:50

uh, uh, caps,

44:53

all small caps, you know, capital L

44:55

and then small caps for AUD. That's,

44:58

uh, means it's using the word Yahweh.

45:02

Okay.

45:03

And then it says, so this

45:05

is David. Psalm the Lord

45:07

God said to

45:10

my Lord, I don't need

45:12

as the Hebrew word, it means my

45:14

Lord. It's a word that there were no

45:16

vowels. And so when

45:19

when the Bible was written later

45:21

on, the vowels were put in and they put

45:23

Adonai, which is usually for my master, my

45:25

sir, my, you know, but

45:27

it could very well say, I don't know why, because

45:29

there were no vowels in the original. And I think

45:31

that's what's extended, what's meant here,

45:34

uh, that, uh, it

45:36

says the Lord God.

45:38

That's what Yahweh, the Yahweh said

45:41

to my God. Is

45:44

really how we could understand what David

45:46

is saying. And that makes

45:48

it seem like, uh. David,

45:52

what what are you saying? Is, David,

45:55

God spoke to David's. God, this

45:58

seems confusing. Unless there's a plurality

46:00

in the Godhead and the Messiah is

46:02

God. And that's what the Lord

46:04

Jesus is talking about. That look,

46:07

what this is saying is that

46:10

the Messiah is God

46:12

because the Lord God spoke

46:14

to David's God, and

46:16

that's who is David's Lord, but the Messiah.

46:19

So it's emphasizing the deity

46:21

of the Messiah. That's what it's about. And

46:23

the people thought, what a great discussion.

46:25

They found it delightful. We're going

46:27

to have to go. It's the end of the hour.

46:29

Thanks so much for listening. Uh,

46:32

check out our website on the break if you

46:34

want. Open Line radio org. We'll be back

46:36

with more of your questions in just

46:38

a bit. Open

46:40

line with Doctor Michael Ray Dominic is a production

46:42

of Moody Radio, a ministry

46:45

Moody Bible Institute. We'll be

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back in just a bit.