0:08

Where was God when the 6 million died?

0:12

I have no easy answer to that

0:15

extremely hard question, but

0:17

it's one I receive all the time. But

0:19

since today is International Holocaust

0:22

Remembrance Day. Stay with

0:24

me, because we'll be talking about that question

0:27

in just a moment. Hello, friends.

0:29

Welcome to Open Line with doctor Michael Ray Moody

0:32

Radio's Bible Study Across

0:34

America. I'm Michael Radiologic,

0:37

I'm the academic dean and professor of Jewish studies

0:39

and Bible at Moody Bible Institute.

0:41

And we're together live, all

0:44

of us sitting around the radio kitchen table

0:46

taking your questions about the Bible,

0:48

God, and the spiritual life.

0:51

If you have a question you and you'd

0:53

like to call, all you have to do

0:55

is pick up the phone. Here's the number (877) 548-3675.

1:03

Let me give that to you again. Slower (877) 548-3675.

1:11

Trish McMillan is in the producer's chair.

1:13

Bob's handling all things technical

1:15

and Laura is answering the phones today.

1:18

Again the phone number (877) 548-3675.

1:24

Well, I think it's time to go get your

1:26

cup of coffee and open your Bible,

1:28

because we're about to study the scriptures

1:31

together. I

1:33

don't remember a time when I wasn't aware

1:36

of the Holocaust. Both

1:38

my parents were survivors. Both

1:41

of them lost all their families. Parents.

1:43

Siblings. Grandparents.

1:47

My dad had one sister out

1:49

of six siblings that survived.

1:52

Uh, only one survived. He and his

1:55

sister. Four perished. Uh.

1:58

My dad even was married and

2:01

had children. And

2:03

his first wife. For

2:06

sons and daughter.

2:08

One daughter all perished

2:10

at Auschwitz. Those

2:14

are my four half brothers. My half sister.

2:17

Some survivors married

2:19

after the war, became parents, and they never

2:22

talked about the Holocaust. The

2:24

irony in my family was my parents seem to only

2:26

talk about the Holocaust. It was a constant topic

2:28

of conversation, and even

2:30

as a child, my heart was so

2:33

broken about the Holocaust.

2:36

So if anyone would expect me to give

2:38

simplistic answers here and

2:40

in the few minutes we have today, just

2:43

say I'll solve this, uh, major

2:46

theological philosophical conundrum

2:48

in just a few moments. It's just not going to happen.

2:52

But I can mention a few perspectives

2:54

about the Holocaust of several.

2:57

Just a few of them, three of them to be exact,

3:00

that have brought comfort to

3:02

my heart. The first one

3:04

is that God kept his promise

3:06

to preserve the Jewish people. So

3:09

often we talk about what happened, how

3:11

terrible it was. But God promised

3:13

in his Word that it

3:15

was impossible to destroy

3:17

the Jewish people. It says in Jeremiah

3:20

3135 through 37

3:22

thus says the Lord, who gives

3:24

the sun for light by day in the fixed order

3:26

of the moon, and stars for light by night,

3:29

who stirs up the sea so that its waves

3:31

roar? The Lord of hosts is his name.

3:34

If this fixed order departs from

3:36

before me, declares the Lord, then

3:38

the offspring of Israel also will cease

3:41

from being a nation before me forever.

3:44

Thus says the Lord, if the

3:46

heavens above can be measured, and the foundations

3:48

of the earth searched out below.

3:51

Then I will also cast off all

3:53

the offspring of Israel for all

3:55

that they have done. Declares the

3:57

Lord. This passage is pretty clear.

4:00

It's saying, if you can stop the sun, moon

4:02

and stars from shining, only then

4:04

could you stop the Jewish people

4:06

from existing. It says that

4:08

if you can go down to the center of the earth like

4:10

that old movie and measure it out, if you

4:12

can, uh, measure the foundations

4:14

of the earth, if you can, uh.

4:18

Search out the earth below. Search

4:20

out the heavens. If you can do all those

4:22

things and you can't, no one

4:24

can. Then

4:26

it would mean the end of the Jewish people.

4:28

So God promised to preserve

4:31

the Jewish people, and he did. You know, when

4:33

you think about it, uh, Hitler

4:35

had the most powerful army on

4:37

earth and by all

4:39

accounts, should have really won World

4:41

War Two had he won. Then

4:45

it's it's likely that he would have

4:47

destroyed all the Jewish people. I

4:49

think this is crucial to remember when

4:52

I went to Israel for the world gathering of Holocaust

4:54

survivors back in 1981,

4:57

Menachem Begin, then prime minister of Israel,

4:59

spoke at the Western Wall on the last night

5:01

of this conference. And he urged.

5:05

The survivors and the first generation

5:08

or second generation first generation survivors,

5:10

second generation who were there like me, to

5:13

believe in God. He said that Hitler

5:16

came so close to atomic weaponry.

5:19

He had. He was so far advanced

5:21

in rocketry that by

5:23

all accounts, he could have won the

5:25

war had he succeeded in building the

5:27

atomic bomb that he said. But

5:29

God intervened, and the allies won

5:31

before he could do that, before Hitler

5:34

could actually get the atomic bomb,

5:36

he said. It's terrible

5:38

what happened. But he said God did preserve

5:40

his people. God did protect his

5:42

people. And then he looked at that crowd and

5:44

he said, I know many of you don't believe in God

5:47

because of what happened, but look

5:49

at his preservation of his people.

5:51

And then he urged them to believe,

5:53

please believe in the

5:55

God of Israel. That was just

5:58

a tremendous event. And it's true.

6:00

God did preserve his people as

6:02

he promised in His Word. Second,

6:05

God and His providence used the Holocaust

6:07

Holocaust to bring about the State of Israel

6:10

in Genesis 5020.

6:12

It speaks of Joseph and his brothers

6:14

and, uh, God. The author

6:16

says that they meant it for evil,

6:19

but God meant it for good. That even

6:22

the most terrible actions God

6:24

can use to bring about a good end.

6:28

And that's what the world did after World War two.

6:30

I'm not saying there wouldn't have been a state of Israel without

6:32

the Holocaust, but somehow the

6:35

world, in a moment of guilt,

6:37

thought what we need to do is create a state

6:39

of Israel so that Israel, the Jewish people,

6:42

can defend itself

6:44

against other attempts at genocide.

6:47

And so as a result

6:49

of that, the state of Israel came into being.

6:51

They meant it for evil. The

6:54

Nazis did, but God meant it for good

6:56

in a sense that he could bring about the

6:58

state of Israel. I find it ironic that yesterday

7:00

the International Court of Justice. Announced

7:03

that they, although they did not say that

7:06

Israel was committing genocide in Gaza

7:08

today, they did say

7:10

that it was plausible that

7:12

Israel is committing genocide. That's

7:15

something the United States government has

7:17

said is ridiculous. Israel

7:19

is doing everything they can to preserve civilian

7:21

life as they go after Hamas, a genocidal

7:24

organization that is committed to the genocide

7:27

of the Jewish people. And as

7:29

a result, one of the judges in a, in a,

7:32

uh, disagreement with the court's decision,

7:34

said it's like blaming

7:36

Abel for the sin of Cain.

7:38

If we were to blame. Israel.

7:43

Uh, for the sins of Hamas. Here's

7:46

the third principle. Besides God

7:49

preserving the Jewish people and bringing

7:51

about the state of Israel, God was present

7:53

with the Jewish people in all their suffering.

7:56

It says in Isaiah 63 nine,

7:58

in all their affliction he

8:01

was afflicted. One of the most basic

8:03

principles of the Bible is that God suffers

8:05

with his people. When

8:09

people ask me, where

8:11

was God? I always say he was with

8:14

us in the concentration

8:16

camps, in the death camps,

8:18

in. God was with

8:20

our people. In

8:23

the gas chambers and in the crematoria.

8:26

God was with his people, suffering with

8:28

them. And as one rabbi put it, the real question

8:30

ought not to be where was God? But rather

8:33

because we know where he was. He was with his people.

8:35

The real question was, where

8:38

was man? How depraved

8:40

humanity can be, that they would

8:42

carry out such an evil action?

8:44

We ought to be asking, where was man

8:47

in this age of anti-Semitism?

8:50

The question is, what will

8:52

we do? You know, since October 7th

8:54

and Israel's defensive actions

8:57

against Hamas? anti-Semitic

9:01

incidents in the United States and around

9:03

the world, but in the United States alone have increased by

9:05

400%. And

9:08

it's getting worse. People don't

9:10

even know what they're talking about. They just know

9:12

that they hate the Jewish people. What

9:15

are we who love the God

9:17

of Israel supposed to do for all the people

9:19

of Israel? Not just in the state of Israel,

9:21

but for the Jewish people worldwide?

9:23

We need to speak up. Here's what Proverbs

9:26

24, 11 and 12 says.

9:28

Rescue those being led away to

9:30

death. Hold back those

9:33

staggering towards slaughter. If

9:35

you say. But we knew nothing about

9:37

this. Does not he who weighs

9:39

the heart perceive it? Does

9:42

he not? He who guards your life

9:44

know it? Will he not repay

9:47

each person according to what he has

9:49

done? The Bible is really clear.

9:51

God loves the Jewish people. Therefore,

9:54

I think we need to be the loudest voices

9:56

speaking up, writing to our congressmen,

9:59

calling it out. When we

10:01

hear anti-Semitism, we need to be

10:03

the ones that stand up and

10:05

oppose the hatred of the Jewish

10:08

people. The hatred

10:10

that God hates most.

10:18

Well, we're going to go right to the phones.

10:21

And as we go to the phones,

10:23

we're going to speak with

10:25

Louise, listening

10:28

on, uh, in Ohio, on

10:30

Moody Radio, on the Moody Radio app. Welcome to

10:32

Open Line. Louise. How can I help

10:34

you today?

10:36

Well, I wanted to tell you, I,

10:38

I used to, uh, listen to

10:41

WCF, and and then I

10:43

couldn't get it anymore because I live 100ft

10:45

from Lake Erie, and

10:48

so, uh, but

10:50

I heard you. I was in my

10:52

car, and I heard you speaking,

10:55

and I thought, oh, who is he?

10:57

And I then you said your name,

10:59

and I said, how am I going to remember that

11:01

name? So, uh,

11:04

I, I thought, oh, I

11:06

took some memory courses when

11:08

I was younger in my 80s

11:11

and, uh, and I thought, well,

11:13

I'll try this. So

11:16

this is how I remembered your name.

11:19

Rye. I love Jewish

11:21

rye bread.

11:22

Good.

11:23

Del del. You get it at

11:25

the deli and in

11:27

the nick of time. And so that's

11:29

good. How I remember your name.

11:31

Yeah.

11:32

I've often when, when I first started doing Open

11:34

Line, people couldn't figure out what my name was. So I

11:36

would say rye as in

11:38

rye bread, del as in the farmer

11:40

in the del and uh, in

11:42

the nick of time. So it's close. Very close.

11:45

Uh, Louise. Well, what's

11:48

what's your question? How can I help you?

11:50

Okay, well, I have a sister

11:52

who's 98, and,

11:56

uh, a long time ago, she.

11:58

We were both raised in a a

12:01

Lutheran church. That was traditional.

12:04

It's they lead the believe the Bible.

12:06

Well, she had some

12:09

men come to their church

12:12

and they told her that,

12:14

uh, the Old Testament wasn't

12:16

true at all. It was just made up stories.

12:19

Well, she believed that.

12:22

And so she joined that church

12:24

as an ELCA. And

12:28

but when I told her, I,

12:30

I said, how can you believe that?

12:32

The way we were raised, the. Uh,

12:37

they believed the whole Bible.

12:40

So she said, well, it doesn't

12:42

make any difference because

12:44

I believe in Jesus as

12:46

my Savior, but I

12:49

just can't. And she's

12:51

never changed, so I really can't

12:53

talk to her about it. So I'm wondering,

12:56

can you be saved and not

12:58

believe in the Old Testament?

13:02

Well, I think it's imperative

13:04

that we believe the Old Testament.

13:06

Uh, not for salvation, but for our own

13:08

growth. Uh, I would just

13:11

say this one thing the Lord Jesus said

13:13

in John 17 three

13:15

four. He said, uh, sanctify

13:18

them in the truth. He's speaking about his followers.

13:21

Your word is truth. And

13:23

when he said that the word of God was

13:25

the Old Testament. So the

13:27

key to spiritual growth is to be

13:29

sanctified in the truth,

13:32

and that's the truth of God's word. So I think

13:34

it's essential to grow as

13:36

a believer, to read, study,

13:39

obey God's Word.

13:42

And that's includes the Old Testament.

13:44

Now, in light of

13:46

that, can she still be saved? Well, the Bible doesn't

13:48

say that we're saved by faith in the Old

13:51

Testament. The Bible says that we are saved

13:53

by grace through

13:55

faith in the Lord Jesus.

13:57

The good news is this that Jesus

14:00

died for our sins

14:02

as a substitution for

14:04

our sins. He took the punishment we

14:06

deserve. Now, this is crucial because it says according

14:08

to the scriptures. Uh,

14:11

yet. Nevertheless, uh.

14:15

He died for our sins and then

14:17

he was raised again, proving he's God. If

14:20

your sister believes that

14:22

and trust in that alone, of course she

14:24

can be saved. Uh, that's

14:26

the core issue, uh,

14:29

for salvation. But of course, not

14:31

knowing the, uh,

14:34

or studying the Old Testament scriptures

14:36

will keep her from growing as

14:38

a believer. We're going to take a break here. Thanks for

14:40

your call, Louise. We're going to come right back

14:42

in just a few minutes with more

14:45

of your questions. You can always call

14:47

us (877) 548-3675

14:50

or check out our website, Open Line

14:52

Radio. Org and click on the S

14:54

Michael question button. If you want to send

14:56

your question in, don't go away. More

14:58

questions coming up straight ahead.

15:16

Welcome back to Open Line. I'm Michael

15:18

Ray. Nick. If

15:20

you would like to revolutionize

15:22

the way you read the scripture, to

15:25

get a grip of what it's saying

15:27

and and read it in a way that you've never read before,

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I want to tell you about our current resource.

15:33

It's called living by the book, and it was

15:35

written by Professor Howard Hendricks

15:37

when I went to seminary. The

15:39

first course we all took at our school

15:41

was Bible study methods, and it was taught by

15:43

Prof. Hendricks, who was a master

15:46

teacher. Just phenomenal. And

15:49

it made us read the Bible in a new

15:51

and fresh way that we had never read it

15:53

before. And then he committed

15:55

that course to writing. And it's

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the book called living by

16:00

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And thank you so much for supporting

16:34

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16:36

talk with Joanne

16:39

in Indianapolis, Indiana listening.

16:41

And Wagner, welcome to

16:43

Open Line Joanne. How can I help you today.

16:47

Thank you for taking my call. I

16:49

was wondering about Michelle's deck. I

16:51

never understood who he really

16:53

was or if he was real.

16:55

If he was a real king. Uh,

16:58

did he have a mother and father was

17:00

his genealogy. And when did he

17:02

come into play? And how does

17:04

he come into play with the Lord

17:06

Jesus Christ?

17:08

Um.

17:09

Well, it starts with Genesis

17:11

14. When

17:16

Abraham returns from rescuing

17:18

Lotte from the kings who had kidnapped him.

17:21

And as he returned, it

17:23

says in Genesis 14. That

17:27

in verse 18 Then Melchizedek, king

17:30

of Salem, brought out bread and wine.

17:33

Which is the food of worship. Even in ancient

17:35

times, just like today when we have the Lord's Supper,

17:37

we use bread and wine, right?

17:40

Well, back then, this

17:42

is worship food. And

17:44

he was a priest to God Most High.

17:48

So what that's saying is that there

17:50

was this king, king of Salem,

17:52

which was probably an early name for Jerusalem.

17:55

And he was a king of a city

17:58

state in the sense that he

18:00

was like what we would call a mayor. But each

18:02

city state was independent. There was no

18:04

confederation yet into

18:07

one country. And so he was

18:09

the king of that city state of Jerusalem.

18:12

And he blessed Abraham, and Abraham

18:14

paid tithes to him.

18:17

He gave a 10th of everything he had

18:19

obtained. And

18:22

that's all we know about him, is he? He

18:24

appears out of nowhere. And,

18:27

uh, you know, there's no record

18:30

of parents or, you know, who's

18:32

the king before him or anything like

18:34

that. Uh, but instead.

18:37

Abraham, uh, pays

18:39

tithes to him and indicating.

18:42

Uh, a recognition of this

18:45

king's greatness. Now, when

18:47

we come to. Uh,

18:49

Hebrews chapter. Well, you

18:51

go a little bit further in Scripture. Uh,

18:54

you come to Psalm 110. It

18:56

says there that when the Messiah comes,

18:59

he will be like Melchizedek.

19:02

He will. Uh, what God

19:04

declares of the Messiah is

19:06

that you are a priest

19:09

forever. According

19:11

to the, uh, the manner

19:14

of Melchizedek, in

19:16

the sense that Melchizedek

19:18

appears out of nowhere, disappears,

19:21

so he stands forever. So

19:23

Psalm 110, when it says that it's

19:25

saying, when the Messiah comes, he won't

19:27

be a Jew, a Levitical priest, he'll

19:29

be a Melchizedek and priest,

19:31

and his priesthood will last

19:34

forever. Because

19:36

of course, in Genesis 14,

19:39

Melchizedek was a king

19:41

and priest in Israel. Priesthood

19:43

and kingship were separated. But when the Messiah

19:45

comes, he will be a

19:48

priest and king.

19:50

For you are a priest forever

19:52

like Melchizedek.

19:54

And then we come to

19:57

Hebrews seven. When

20:00

it's trying to. Uh,

20:02

they're the author of, uh, Hebrews

20:05

is discussing Melchizedek.

20:08

And in chapter seven. Now

20:11

some people believe that Melchizedek. I'll just throw

20:13

this in. Uh, that Melchizedek

20:16

was a pre incarnate

20:19

appearance of the Lord Jesus. Uh,

20:22

I don't think so. But

20:24

there are many, many good Bible

20:26

scholars who believe that.

20:28

And. What

20:31

it says in Hebrews seven is that Melchizedek,

20:34

the king of Salem, priest of

20:36

the Most High God, who met Abraham and

20:38

blessed him, and he returned from

20:40

defeating the kings. And Abraham gave him a 10th

20:42

of everything. First.

20:44

His name means King of righteousness,

20:46

then also King of Salem, which means

20:49

King of peace without

20:51

father, mother or genealogy. Well,

20:54

what that means is that he he

20:56

just appears out of nowhere. And when the Lord

20:59

Jesus appeared, of course, we

21:01

know his genealogy there found in Luke

21:04

and Matthew. But what it's saying

21:06

is God the Son appeared. He doesn't

21:09

have, you know, the many

21:11

people mistakenly think of Mary

21:14

as the mother of God. She's

21:16

the bearer of God. Uh,

21:19

now, of course, God the Father has a relational

21:21

aspect with God the Son. But the Lord Jesus

21:23

really comes from eternity. He's

21:25

the eternal God. And then it says,

21:28

having, uh, the

21:30

of this Melchizedek, he just appears in the same

21:32

way. We don't have a genealogy having

21:34

neither beginning of days nor

21:37

end of life. We don't know what ever happened

21:39

to him, the Lord Jesus. We do know he's

21:41

eternal. He lives forever.

21:44

And then it says of Melchizedek that he resembles

21:47

the Son of God. He's made

21:49

like the Son of God. In other words,

21:51

what it's saying is that the Old Testament picture

21:54

of Melchizedek gave us a

21:56

pattern of what the Messiah

21:58

would be like. That's what it's saying.

22:01

Okay.

22:03

Okay. Thank you very much.

22:05

Oh, thank you so much for your call. Uh,

22:07

I think the interesting thing about the,

22:10

uh. The the

22:13

verses in Hebrews, it's indicates that

22:15

Abraham paid tithes

22:17

to Melchizedek. Therefore,

22:21

since Levi was

22:23

still inside of Abraham, so

22:25

to speak, because he had, you know, obviously

22:27

Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Levi came from

22:29

him in a sense, Levi and

22:32

his priesthood paid tithes to

22:34

Melchizedek because he was in.

22:37

Uh, Abraham still. And so it says that that

22:39

Melchizedek priesthood

22:41

is superior to

22:43

the Levitical priesthood. So Jesus

22:46

priesthood is superior. That's the point

22:48

he's trying to make. We have a we

22:50

have a greater high priest,

22:53

and we're going to talk with Larry

22:55

in Alaska, listening on

22:58

the, uh, through the Alaska Village mission

23:00

in. What is that? Can

23:02

I Alaska. Hi,

23:05

there.

23:05

Larry. Hey.

23:09

Larry, are you with me? Larry,

23:13

can you hear me?

23:15

Yeah. Go ahead. Can you hear me? Okay.

23:17

Hi. Um, thank you for taking this call.

23:20

And thank you for the general topic that

23:22

you're discussing today. I think it needs to be discussed

23:24

over and over, but that's not my question.

23:27

My question is, uh, in

23:29

my daily devotions, I got to

23:31

the point where I got to First Chronicles.

23:34

I just read nine chapters of First

23:36

Chronicles, all of which are bigots.

23:38

And I thought, Now I'll move on to something

23:40

else. And what I moved on to was the names

23:42

of all David's mighty men. I

23:45

don't know any of these people. I can't pronounce

23:47

most of their names. Uh, I

23:49

know how to use Romans

23:52

828 to 32, or

23:54

Psalm 91, or Psalm

23:56

46, or Psalm 139.

23:59

When I'm worshiping, I don't

24:01

know how to use the

24:03

fact that the

24:06

the tribe of Asher had mighty

24:08

men.

24:10

Mhm.

24:12

Is that a question or do I need to to

24:14

expand.

24:15

What you're what you're saying is what is the value

24:17

of reading chronicles? What's the benefit?

24:20

Yeah. Well, I'm a historian.

24:23

I have begun to find, uh,

24:25

connections between the the

24:27

bigots and various narrative

24:29

portions of the scriptures, but

24:31

I'm not sure that's the same thing as worship.

24:33

I'm wondering, what is the value of

24:36

reading the bigots?

24:38

Uh, okay. Okay, Larry, let me see if

24:40

I can. I've only got about a minute to answer, so

24:42

let me see if I can answer. First

24:44

of all, when you read the genealogies,

24:47

it depends on the book. There may be some

24:49

important aspect of the genealogy,

24:52

uh, that carefully

24:54

you'll pick up. Uh, I am agreeing

24:57

with you in a sense that, uh.

25:02

It. These bigots and chronicles

25:04

seem a little tedious. However,

25:06

what it does tell me is that the writers

25:08

of the Bible were very careful

25:11

in keeping records, and so,

25:13

even though they begat stories,

25:16

are maybe a little tedious for us.

25:18

Nevertheless, they

25:21

they confirm the historicity

25:23

and accuracy of the Bible. So when

25:25

we read the rest of it, we

25:27

can take it at face value. So it's

25:29

to build confidence in us. Also.

25:32

Well, there are some other parts of

25:34

it too that are valuable. Uh,

25:36

Larry, keep listening. We'll talk about it just a

25:38

little bit more. We're going to come right back

25:40

with the mailbag with Tricia in

25:42

just a moment. The Facebook

25:45

mailbag. So stay with us. More

25:47

questions coming up straight ahead right

25:49

here on Open Line.

25:50

With Michael Ray. Gentlemen.

26:06

Welcome back to Open Line. I'm Michael

26:08

Ray Dolnick. I'm so grateful.

26:10

And Tricia McMillan will be joining me in just

26:12

a moment for the Far Eastern

26:15

Broadcasting Company mailbag.

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Even on, uh, a

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Ask Michael a question

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26:43

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And you can find the podcast

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26:59

is Tricia McMillan, who is,

27:01

uh, my co-worker right

27:03

here at Moody Bible

27:05

Institute, Moody Radio. So grateful

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for all that you do with me. Hey, you

27:10

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27:12

This, uh, radio

27:14

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29:12

Okay. There you go. That's it. Better.

29:15

Uh, you know, let's talk about Chronicles.

29:17

Uh oh. Yes. Larry?

29:19

Yes. Finish Larry's.

29:20

Yeah. Have you ever read Chronicles?

29:22

I have.

29:23

Aren't those, though. Let's agree. Those those

29:26

genealogies can be pretty tedious, right?

29:28

Yes. And they don't. But. And

29:30

we don't know who they are. So they're just names that

29:32

you can't pronounce and I.

29:35

Yeah. What I.

29:37

I really like those names because I, I

29:39

can pronounce them so I can show off if I have

29:41

to read them. Uh, but.

29:44

Here's the the issue

29:46

is it? I really do believe that it shows the historicity

29:49

of of matters. But

29:51

then. Well, right

29:53

within those genealogies, you'll get a little

29:56

bit of something. Uh,

29:59

like, for example, there's a very famous

30:01

book that came out of First Chronicles for

30:03

Jabez. Jabez was more

30:06

honorable than his brother's. This is, uh,

30:08

first Chronicles four nine. His mother

30:10

named him Jabez and said,

30:13

I gave birth to him in

30:15

pain. The word Jabez,

30:17

Jabez is he

30:20

causes pain. In

30:23

other words, when he was born, she

30:25

said, man, this labor heard a lot. What a

30:27

pain this baby is.

30:31

Jab is called out and I'm sure she held it

30:33

against him. And she always said you were such a pain.

30:36

Well, every time she said his name, she'd be saying

30:38

that, right?

30:39

Yeah. And named him that.

30:41

And think about it. As parents,

30:43

we both know that what we

30:46

say to our kids so often

30:48

can script them for life

30:51

and make them how we help them

30:53

understand who they are by

30:55

what we say to them. And

30:57

can you imagine the pain

30:59

that it brought to Jabez, to be reminded

31:01

all the time that he was a pain?

31:04

So he prayed. He called

31:06

out to the God of Israel, if only you would

31:08

bless me. Extend my border,

31:11

let your hand be with me, and keep me

31:13

from pain. Harm.

31:17

So that I will not cause any

31:19

pain. And

31:22

God granted his request. You know, he was saying,

31:24

God, please overcome the scripting

31:27

of my mom.

31:29

Hmhm.

31:31

And I think about it. Anyone listening to

31:33

this? When you think there's

31:35

nothing I can learn from Chronicles, think

31:37

about the. Sadly, we all

31:39

receive negative scripts and positive

31:41

ones from our parents. Some more negative,

31:43

some more positive. But whatever script

31:46

it is that was negative that

31:49

we think that we can't get out

31:51

of the way of, you

31:53

know, who we can turn to to rescript our

31:55

lives. To

31:58

the Lord Jesus, to God Himself,

32:00

and he can create a future

32:02

that is far better than anything

32:05

envisioned by our parents. When someone tells

32:07

me, I don't know why, we have First Chronicles one through

32:09

nine access. I agree, it's kind of tedious.

32:12

But I can trust this. And

32:15

then right in the middle, I find this

32:17

gem. But every

32:19

day in my life, I can worship

32:21

God and trust him to give me a new

32:23

script for whatever it is

32:25

that my parents might

32:27

have scripted me with, don't you think?

32:29

Mhm.

32:31

The other thing, and I'm not

32:33

sure if this would help Larry or not,

32:35

but um, I know that when I have

32:37

read Genesis

32:39

more recently and

32:41

then read Chronicles. I

32:44

have these stories then that go through my head

32:46

because I'm like, oh yeah, this is who

32:48

that group was. And this is, this

32:50

is these are all the people, all the descendants of

32:52

Judah, which is what First Chronicles

32:55

four is, or, you know, the descendants

32:57

of Reuben in chapter five,

32:59

that that you have read those stories

33:02

about who those men were in

33:04

Genesis, that that

33:06

to see their generations, that despite

33:09

all of the evil or all of the good and

33:11

all of the things that were happening, that you still

33:13

see God working with

33:15

this group of people that he has chosen

33:18

and you still see that. And there's a purpose

33:21

when you look forward then and you look at,

33:23

like Matthew one in the genealogy,

33:25

that these names show up again.

33:28

Um, yeah. That you see.

33:30

That line just never stops.

33:31

Right? Right, right, right. You see, this leads.

33:33

Right to Jesus.

33:34

Yeah. You see it carried to David and you see it

33:36

carried to Jesus, um, through

33:38

these genealogies, which are tedious

33:41

to read because we don't know who they are.

33:43

But they're important. Yeah, yeah.

33:45

And then, uh, I was just thinking

33:47

about David's mighty men. Um, back

33:51

when I was in seminary, I preached

33:53

a sermon about one of David's mighty men who

33:56

fought a lion in a pit on a snowy day.

33:59

And think about it.

34:02

He's in the pit with a lion.

34:06

And he's biting the lion and it's snowing,

34:09

which.

34:09

Means it's muddy and gross and slushy and

34:11

cold and wet and.

34:13

Slippery so you can't get out of the.

34:16

Pit.

34:17

And the the what made him

34:19

mighty is that God empowered him to

34:21

accomplish great things for his leader. I

34:25

still believe to this day that God can empower

34:27

us to accomplish things far beyond

34:30

our ability. He can enable

34:32

us to serve our King

34:34

as well. So, I

34:36

mean, there's great things in there. Men

34:39

of Beskar in first Chronicles 12

34:41

who understood the times, right?

34:44

Uh, and there was a whole.

34:45

I still remember when I was young.

34:47

No, no, not true when I was younger.

34:50

Um, when I was a student at Moody Bible Institute,

34:52

that was one of the first years

34:54

of Founder's Week that I attended.

34:57

Um, that was the theme verse

34:59

and the theme passage. Men who

35:01

understood their times. And so you

35:03

could also knew what to do and knew what to do. You

35:05

could go back and listen to that whole series, I think, online.

35:08

But anyway. Yeah, yeah, that's good.

35:10

Anyway, I hope that helps Larry a little

35:12

bit. Uh, let's

35:14

see if we can answer a couple of mailbag questions.

35:16

Okay. Well, we'll stick with David. Um,

35:19

go to second Samuel 24,

35:22

which says, again, the anger

35:24

of the Lord burned against Israel, and

35:26

he incited David against them, saying, go

35:28

and take a census of Israel and Judah.

35:30

And then a few verses later in verse ten,

35:33

it says, David was conscience stricken after

35:35

he had counted the fighting men. And he said to the Lord,

35:37

I have sinned greatly in what I have done.

35:40

Now, Lord, I beg you, take away the guilt

35:42

of your servant. I've done a very foolish

35:44

thing. So this is Dwayne's question.

35:46

He says, some friends and I are trying to understand

35:48

why David thought he had sinned against God, after

35:51

he had been told by God to take the census.

35:54

Well, he

35:56

was being tested. I mean, obviously,

35:58

the Lord's anger burned against Israel.

36:01

Again. He stirred up David against them to say,

36:04

go count the people of Israel.

36:06

He's basically testing them. Do you need to count them,

36:08

or can you trust me? And

36:11

if you read in, I believe it's Second Chronicles,

36:14

21st Chronicles 21. Uh,

36:16

there it says, uh,

36:19

an adversary came. And

36:23

prompted David to count Israel.

36:25

So what did God used to test

36:28

him? I'm finding the verse now.

36:31

Uh. It says.

36:34

My version says Satan, but

36:37

it's not the normal word for Satan.

36:40

It's called, uh.

36:44

Usually when you have the name the, uh,

36:47

Satan in the Bible, it's Satan.

36:49

It has the article on it. This doesn't.

36:51

So it just means an adversary stood

36:54

up against Israel and incited David

36:56

to count the people of Israel. So what?

36:58

When I put these two together, God used

37:00

this adversary to test David,

37:03

to see if he would trust him or

37:05

not. And so it seems to me

37:07

that's why that Lord's anger burned, because instead

37:10

of trusting him, David said, I gotta count every

37:12

soldier and make sure I have enough men to deal with this adversary.

37:15

So I think that's that's

37:17

what's going on there.

37:18

Okay. So almost like,

37:21

do you need to. So

37:23

I guess you just said this, but do

37:25

I need to have do I have at least

37:27

300 men? Do I have at least a thousand

37:29

men that we can actually have a chance of

37:31

winning this, rather than just trusting God?

37:33

I have I have the God of Israel.

37:35

Okay.

37:36

With me? You know, it says. It

37:38

says in, uh. Psalm

37:42

20. Some trust in horses,

37:45

some in chariots will trust in the name

37:47

of the Lord our God. So

37:49

that's that's what I think is being

37:51

tested there.

37:52

Okay. All right. Thank you for that question,

37:54

Dwayne. I think that's all we have time

37:56

for.

37:57

That's all we have time to if we're gonna take a break here. Okay?

37:59

And then we come back next time. I won't

38:02

talk about Chronicles with you in the next

38:04

hour when we do the the,

38:06

uh, FBC mailbag. Instead,

38:09

we'll just take questions, okay? All right. I'll try

38:11

and take more next hour. All right. Uh, we're

38:14

we're going to come right back with more of your phone calls

38:16

in just a moment. You're listening to Open Line with

38:18

Michael Ray Dolnick. And that was Tricia McMillan.

38:21

Stay with us. We're coming right back.

38:34

Welcome back to Open Line. So glad

38:36

that you're listening. You know, it's January

38:38

still. And even

38:41

though it's the last week of January,

38:44

it's still the beginning of the year. And it's good to remember

38:46

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38:48

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38:50

the Messiah, Jesus. And that's why our

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38:59

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39:31

To the Jew first. In the 21st

39:34

century, we're going to speak with Jane

39:36

in Chattanooga, Tennessee, listening on

39:38

WMU. I love

39:40

Chattanooga because I

39:42

love the song Chattanooga Choo-Choo.

39:45

So. Hey,

39:48

Jane, how can I help you?

39:49

Nick. And I love you. Oh,

39:51

your precious teacher. You know,

39:53

I'm so in love with Matthew

39:56

nine. Oh, uh,

39:58

Matthew nine nine. It's the call

40:00

of Matthew. And of course, nine

40:02

nine is a palindrome. And

40:04

I saw another palindrome in verse

40:07

14 came

40:09

4334.

40:11

And it's also in verse 20. But

40:13

my question is, uh,

40:16

about, uh, verse 15.

40:18

And my

40:21

original question was when

40:23

I talked to the, um, caller

40:25

taker.

40:26

Just ask whatever your question is. Just

40:28

go for your question. Don't don't talk

40:30

about what you used to be.

40:31

Your question. No, I'm so full

40:34

and my heart is so full, it's hard for me to

40:36

put things shortly. Um,

40:39

yeah. Does God

40:41

call us to fast or,

40:44

uh, do we make the decision

40:46

or. It is a matter of

40:48

God? Uh, God,

40:51

um, is calling us to

40:53

take up our cross and

40:55

and, um, and

40:57

believe that, um, we

41:00

can believe the unbelievable. Verse 18.

41:02

We can with great expectations.

41:05

And do we do it?

41:08

Okay, okay. Jane.

41:09

Jane. Jane, this is our last segment.

41:11

I got it, I got it. Let me see if I can give you a little answer,

41:13

okay. Is that okay with you?

41:17

Okay. Yeah.

41:18

Okay. Uh, I

41:21

just didn't want to run out of time. Uh,

41:24

God does. In the scriptures,

41:27

there's fasting. Fasting, as I understand

41:29

it, has various purposes.

41:31

Sometimes fasting is for lament

41:33

or sorrow. Uh,

41:36

and that is a certainly

41:38

vital way of of

41:40

expressing sorrow. Uh,

41:43

that's sort of where the Yom Kippur

41:45

fast comes from, or the fast

41:47

of God, Elijah and things like that. When we

41:49

remember things with great sorrow,

41:52

we fast. Another

41:54

aspect of fasting is fasting

41:57

is a spiritual discipline.

41:59

It teaches us to rely.

42:02

Uh, spiritual discipline isn't something that brings

42:04

us merit. What it does is

42:06

it brings us. Uh,

42:09

in a way, it teaches us

42:12

how to walk closer with God.

42:14

And so what

42:17

that means is

42:19

that. Uh.

42:22

For example, fasting from food

42:24

might teach us to be utterly dependent

42:27

on God and not

42:29

food. That's

42:31

personal strength that it teaches us

42:34

depend. So we practice

42:36

learning dependence on God

42:38

when we fast, and

42:40

then when we need absolute

42:42

dependence on him. We've trained

42:44

ourselves through fasting to

42:46

be utterly dependent on him. It's

42:48

also the same thing. It also gives

42:50

us focus. That's a third purpose.

42:53

Fasting can give us focus.

42:55

So we're not thinking if we're fasting from food,

42:57

we're not thinking about shopping. We're not thinking about,

43:00

uh uh. Uh,

43:03

cooking. We're not thinking about scheduling

43:05

times to eat. What we're doing

43:07

is we are focusing

43:10

on the Lord. We're using that time to focus

43:12

on spiritual growth and,

43:15

uh, prayer, hopefully. So those

43:17

are some of the purposes for fasting.

43:19

I don't think that, uh, there's

43:21

any kind of like, okay, you better feast

43:24

fast twice a week or anything like that in

43:26

Scripture. I think it's much more,

43:29

uh. A

43:32

personal leading from God, but

43:34

those are some of the purposes

43:36

of it. Jane, thanks for your call. Really

43:38

appreciate it. We're going to speak with

43:40

Leo very quickly on

43:43

WNV in Florida.

43:45

How can I help you, Leo?

43:48

Hey. God bless you brother. I

43:50

bless you in the name of the Lord Yeshua. Uh,

43:52

my question is this. If

43:55

Samuel died in first Samuel,

43:57

how did he write second Samuel being dead.

44:00

He didn't write Second Samuel, nor

44:03

did he write first Samuel. Uh,

44:05

the the book is attributed to him

44:07

because it starts off being about

44:10

him, and that's why it was called

44:12

first and second Samuel. But if you really look at

44:14

the theme of the one book,

44:16

uh, as it is in Hebrew, it's,

44:18

uh, first and second Samuel is just

44:21

the book of Samuel. The way it was written.

44:23

Who's it really about? You've got Samuel.

44:26

Who is the prophet who anointed two potential

44:29

kings. Uh, what? The first

44:31

king was Saul,

44:33

and he failed. And then you've

44:35

got David, who was

44:37

the one that the Lord, uh,

44:39

was one after God's own heart, the Lord's choice.

44:42

And who had a heart for God? Uh,

44:44

the Lord was David's choice.

44:46

So what we as opposed to Saul.

44:48

So what you really have

44:51

is a book that's about David.

44:54

And, uh, I

44:56

would say that Samuel is there because he

44:59

is seen in his role as the anointed of

45:01

kings. And then you have Saul

45:03

there, who's there in his

45:05

role as,

45:07

uh, the nemesis or the

45:09

opposite of David, to see

45:12

why God chose David and

45:14

used David and made the dividend covenant

45:16

with David. So it's really about David. Uh,

45:19

that's what the book is

45:21

about. If I could rename the books of first

45:23

and second Samuel, I tell this to classes

45:25

all the time that I would call them

45:27

first and second, David, because

45:29

that's really what the books are about.

45:32

It's about, uh, David and

45:34

the the focal point of the book

45:36

is really the Davidic Covenant,

45:38

where God promised an eternal house kingdom

45:41

and throne to David, and the only one that

45:43

would ever fulfill that is the great son of

45:45

David, the Messiah, Jesus.

45:47

So, uh, it's no

45:49

one ever thought that Samuel actually authored,

45:52

uh, the books of David, so to speak, or the books of

45:54

Samuel. Okay, Leo.

45:57

Okay. Thank you. So most people just think that

46:00

basically David that wrote this as he

46:02

wrote.

46:02

No, no, no, we don't know who wrote it. It's

46:04

about David is what I know.

46:06

You don't know.

46:07

No one knows who wrote it. Well,

46:09

no, no, no one knows who wrote it. Leo, thanks so

46:11

much for your call. Uh, we're

46:13

going to, uh, that's the our

46:15

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