Bible Answers for Hot Button Questions
Part 1
Q: When Jesus says in Luke 24:39 (NLT), “Look at my hands. Look at my feet. You can see that it’s really me. Touch me and make sure that I am not a ghost, because ghosts don’t have bodies, as you see that I do.”
There are people in my family that say they have ghost living within their homes, explain to me what a ghost is?
A: The term “ghost” is translated from the Greek word “pneuma” which means spirit or breath. So yes, there are spirit beings—angels and demons.
Hebrews 9:27 Wickwire
“Man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment.”
Hebrews 9:27 NIV
“Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgement, …”
Notes
Q: Who are the two witnesses in Revelation 11:3-12? They were dead for 3 days and the people where glad. And did the rapture of the church already happen (at this point)?
A: Okay, let’s read about the two witnesses:
Revelations 11: 3, 5-6, 11-12 NLT
“And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will be clothed in burlap and will prophesy during those 1,260 days. … 5 If anyone tries to harm them, fire flashes from their mouths and consumes their enemies. This is how anyone who tries to harm them must die. 6 They have power to shut the sky so that no rain will fall for as long as they prophesy. And they have the power to turn the rivers and oceans into blood, and to strike the earth with every kind of plague as often as they wish. …
11 But after three and a half days, God breathed life into them, and they stood up! Terror struck all who were staring at them. 12 Then a loud voice from heaven called to the two prophets, “Come up here!” And they rose to heaven in a cloud as their enemies watched.”
Notes
Q: I believe that Israel is a sort of countdown clock we can biblically look at in reference to end times events. With everything happening between Israel, Russia, Syria, Iran etc., it certainly looks as though the stage is being definitively set for Ezekiel 38 to take place SOON! My question is, does this battle take place during the tribulation period?
A: Ezekiel 38 is the prediction of an end time coalition of six (6) nations that will unite to attack Israel in the last days. They are named as:
- Magog—Modern day Russia,
- Persia—Modern day Iran,
- Cush—Modern day Ethiopia,
- Put—Modern day Libya,
- Gomer—Modern day Eastern Europe, and
- Beth Togarmah—Modern day Turkey.
Ezekiel prophesies that these nations will come down “like a storm, covering the land like a cloud” (38:9 NKJV).
Ezekiel 38:8 NKJV
“… In the latter years, you will come into the land of those brought back from the sword and gathered from many people on the mountains of Israel, which had long been desolate; they were brought out of the nations, and now all of them dwell safely.”
Revelation 8:7 NKJV
“The first angel sounded: And hail and fire followed, mingled with blood, and they were thrown to the earth. And a third of the trees were burned up, and all green grass was burned up.”
Notes
Q: I’ve heard many ideas on the following passage (quoting Jesus):
Mark 13:14-20 NASB
“But when you see the ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION standing where it should not be (let the reader understand), then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains. 15 The one who is on the housetop must not go down, or go in to get anything out of his house; 16 and the one who is in the field must not turn back to get his coat. 17 But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! 18 But pray that it may not happen in the winter. 19 For those days will be a time of tribulation such as has not occurred since the beginning of the creation which God created until now, and never will. 20 Unless the Lord had shortened those days, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect, whom He chose, He shortened the days.”
Some say parts of Jesus’s prediction refer to the destruction of the first temple and the Masada slaughter, while some speak to the time of Antichrist. What do you say?
A: These are the words of Jesus in answer to the disciple’s question regarding the destruction of the Temple He had just predicted. They asked,
Mark 13:4
“Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign when all these things will be fulfilled?”
Now, the “abomination of desolation” is mentioned 3 times by Daniel in chapters 9-11. The word “abomination” refers to a great sin, commonly worthy of death, where God’s covenants are trampled on.
Notes
Q: What is the gap theory?
A: The gap theory is the view that God created a fully functional earth with all animals, including the dinosaurs and other creatures we know only from the fossil record.
Genesis 1:1-2 NIV
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.”
Romans 8:19-22 TLB
“For all creation is waiting patiently and hopefully for that future day when God will resurrect his children. 20-21 For on that day thorns and thistles, sin, death, and decay—the things that overcame the world against its will at God’s command—will all disappear, and the world around us will share in the glorious freedom from sin which God’s children enjoy.
22 For we know that even the things of nature, like animals and plants, suffer in sickness and death as they await this great event.”
Notes
Q: What is the land of “Nod?”
A: Dead churches on Sunday morning!
No, the land of Nod is the land of Nod is a place mentioned in the Book of Genesis, located “on the east of Eden.” It is the place where Cain was exiled by God after murdering his brother Abel.
Genesis 4:16 KJV
“And Cain went out from the presence of the LORD, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden.”
“Nod” is the Hebrew root of the verb “to wander.” So to dwell in the land of Nod is usually taken to mean that one takes up a wandering life.
Notes