Birds Save Elijah's Life

Birds Save Elijah's Life

Scripture: Leviticus 26:1-46, 1 Corinthians 11:26
Date: 03/13/2016 
We've all heard of homing pigeons, but have you ever heard of a homing penguin? That's right. Back in 2012, a 71 year old retired brick layer living near the beach south of Rio de Janeiro found a Patagonian penguin on the shore. Joao Pereira de Souza said that the poor creature was covered in oil and starving. De Souza cleaned him up, gave him some sardines, and nursed the penguin back to health.





  5. Comments off topic may be deleted.

  6. Please do not comment in languages other than English.


Pastor Doug Batchelor: Hello, friends, this is Doug Batchelor. How about an amazing fact? We've all heard of homing pigeons, but have you ever heard of a homing penguin? That's right. Back in 2012, a 71 year old retired brick layer living near the beach south of Rio de Janeiro found a Patagonian penguin on the shore. Joao Pereira de Souza said that the poor creature was covered in oil and starving. De Souza cleaned him up, gave him some sardines, and nursed the penguin back to health.

The two formed an inseparable bond and de Souza gave the feisty bird the name Dindim. Eventually, the little South American penguin swam off into the sunset and de Souza's neighbors all said that'd be the last he'd see of his feathered friend. But a few months later, a very happy Dindim waddled back to de Souza's home, honking with the light and wagging his tail like a dog.

Biologists say these Magellanic penguins are known from migrating thousands of miles each year, feeding and breeding between colonies. But they've never been heard of one bonding with a human. De Souza says, "I love the penguin like it's my own child, and I believe the penguin loves me." Now, for the last four years, the penguin has been coming back to vacation with the man who saved his life. He arrives early in June, and he leaves again in February.

Friends, the Bible talks about some birds that saved a man's life. Stay with us, we're going to learn more as Amazing Facts brings you this edition of Bible Answers Live.

Voice-over: Welcome to Bible answers live with author and evangelist pastor Doug Batchelor. Is understanding God's Word a challenge? Are there passages of scripture that are a mystery to you? Maybe it's difficult to reconcile what you've read in the Bible to what you've always believed. If you have Bible related questions, stay tuned to get honest practical answers straight from the Word of God on Bible Answers Live. Bible Answers Live is a production of Amazing Facts Ministries, dedicated to spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ to the entire world.

Our lines are open, so call us now at 800-GODSAYS. That's 800-463-7297. Now, here's your host, Pastor Doug Batchelor.

Pr. Doug: Hello, listening friend, do you have a question about the Bible? We don't claim to have all the answers, but we found some by looking in the Blessed Book. If you have a Bible question, that's why we do this program. It's called Bible answers live and you just call in 800-GODSAYS with your Bible question. It's a free phone call, 800-463-7297. We do have lines open, now is a good time to call that number. One more time, 800-463-7297 with your live Bible questions. My name is Doug Batchelor.

Pastor Jean Ross: My name is Jean Ross. Good evening, listening friends and pastor Doug. Let's begin the program with a word of prayer. Dear father in heaven, we thank you that we have this chance once again to open up the Bible and study together. We ask your blessing upon this program. Be with those who are listening wherever they might be and lead us, Lord, into a clearer full understanding of your revealed will in the Bible. For we ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.

Pr. Doug: Amen.

Pr. Ross: Well,Pastor Doug, you opened the program by talking about a remarkably friendly little feathery friend, a penguin, [chuckles] just sort of adopted someone and faithfully returned after his several months at sea. Then he'd come back to home base and spend time with his friend. What I've found so interesting about that amazing fact is the penguin marches into the house, wags its little tail like a dog just as happy as it can be to see its owner, this man.

Pr. Doug: It's bonded with this human. You and I were in South Africa a couple of weeks ago, we were within a few feet of some of the penguins that frequent the beach there. But they don't come up to the tourist, they steer clear if you get too close to them. This penguin, if you look at the video, actually, he snuggles and kisses with the man that saved his life. It made me think of the story in the Bible where there was a man that was hungry and God arranged for these birds, these ravens, that are very intelligent birds, to feed Elijah the prophet during the time of famine.

It doesn't tell us where they got the food, but it says that the Lord commanded these ravens to feed him. They would bring him food twice a day. There was evidently a few ravens, because it says, "The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening." Maybe two or three were bringing bread and the other ones were bringing meat. The word meat there means food, something else that they were bringing, and he drank from the brook. The birds kept him alive during the famine. Just made me think about this man taking care of his little penguin, Dindim.

It'll be interesting to watch how many years this bird comes back. That also hearkens to me of another man-bird relationship. You might be surprised where I'm going, it's the story of Jesus. When Jesus was baptized, it says, "The holy spirit," you can find this in Matthew chapter 3, "The holy spirit came down like a dove." A dove, in the Bible, goes back to the story where after the flood, when they were looking for evidence that the flood had subsided, first, Noah sent out a raven. Ravens are omnivore, they can eat anything, there's probably stuff for the raven to eat.

When he first sent out the dove, the dove came back because there was nothing for it to eat there. Foragers, they eat vegetarian food. Seven days later, he sent out the dove again and it came back with an olive leaf in its mouth. All of us have seen symbols of this dove with its olive leaf as a sign of peace. But in the Bible, it's also a sign of the holy spirit. Maybe you'd like that peace that the spirit brings. Friends, if you'd like to know more about that, we have a free book that talks about the power and the peace and the purpose that you can have through the holy spirit. All you have to do ask for that and we will send it to you.

Pr. Ross: The book is called Holy Spirit, The Need. We'll be happy to send you this book. Again, it's called Holy Spirit, The Need. All you have to do is just give us a call on our resource number. The number is 800-835-6747, there it is. Ask for the book called The Holy Spirit, The Need. We'll be happy to send that to anybody who calls and asks. One more time, 800-835-6747. If you have a Bible question, the number to call here to the studio is 800-463-7297, with your Bible question. We have a few lines that are still open.

Pastor Doug, our first caller this evening is Mike. He is listening from Cincinnati, Ohio. Mike, you're on Bible Answers Live.

Mike: Yes, I'm here.

Pr. Doug: Hi, Mike, welcome.

Mike: How are you doing, Mr. Batchelor?

Pr. Doug: I'm doing good. How can we help you today?

Mike: Yes, I got a question, a concern of, will there be sports in heaven? I was studying Ellen White's writings about-- topic concerning sports and everything, competitive sports and everything. The Bible also says people and children will play in heaven. I'm just curious to see what-- to know what games and what kind of sports will we play in heaven. Will it be games like laser tag and all that stuff? Will we play sports and stuff like that in heaven?

Pr. Doug: Well, it does talk about children playing on the streets of the new Jerusalem. I think, Pastor Ross, it might be in Zephania. Children playing in the streets. There's a couple of prophecies where it talks about that. Obviously, there's going to be great joy. It talks about our flying in heaven, our running in heaven, it says, "They'll run and not be weary." I don't think you're going to see any of the brutal competitive sports in heaven, because there's no violence there.

You're not going to see the competition like, "I'm better than you," and people doing a victory dance because I crossed the line with my crown before you. Or angels tackling each other. I wouldn't conjure up those ideas about sports in heaven. There is going to be rejoicing, there will be playing. Who knows, we might play some heavenly version of tag. I think that we can't even imagine the things that God has prepared. Did you find that, Ross?

Pr. Ross: Yes. Zechariah 8:5, it says, "The streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in the streets." Zechariah 8:5.

Pr. Doug: Yes, there's probably not going to be boxing or playing tackle football. Anything like that. I think there's going to be joys in heaven that we can't imagine. Sometimes I'll hear a person say, "Oh, well, if there's not fishing in heaven, I don't want to go." Or, "If there's no basketball in heaven, I don't want to go." Of course, nobody really believes that. Everyone's going to be infinitely more happy than they can imagine.

Pr. Ross: You know the idea of children playing in the streets carries with it the idea of safety and peace. Back in Bible times and the children were able to play in the streets of the city, that meant the city was at peace. They weren't afraid to be attacked by the enemies. So, in heaven there's safety.

Pr. Doug: And the people weren't evil. You didn't have to worry about the neighbors. I think many of us can remember a day even in America when most people in rural areas never locked their door unless they went on vacation. With the kids, all we tell them, "Go out and play, come back for dinner." You could trust your neighbors and there was very little to fear. It'll be that infinitely better in heaven, Mike. We do have a lesson that talks about heaven, we'll be happy to send you a free copy of that.

Pr. Ross: Called Colossal City in Space. We'll be happy to send that to anybody who calls and asks, the number is 800-835-6747. You're going to ask for the study guide called Colossal City in Space. We'll be happy to send that to you, Mike, or anybody who calls and asks. Our next called is Ed and he's listening in Michigan. Ed, welcome to the program.

Pr. Doug: Hi, Ed, you're on the air.

Ed: I'm here. I got two questions, one is, when I do a job, because I refinish furniture, when I do a job for somebody, can I send my tithes and offerings to ADRA because that is a ministry? I just wanted some input on that because it's helping people. I'm sending the money, but I just wanted to know if it's all right to send tithes and offering.

Then the other one is, I lost my wife in 2008 and I see in Philippians 3:13-14, "Forgetting those things which are behind," and then it says a little bit more than that. Then I looked up Luke 9:62, and I din't see anything relating to Philippians 3:13-14. Can you tell me a little bit about that, please?

Pr. Doug: All right. Let's start with, you've got a couple of questions here. First question is dealing with, if you get tithe, is it okay to give it to a development relief agency, an address of fine organization. They do great development and relief and human aid overseas. That would really be, I would think, something in the department of an offering as opposed to tithe. Tithe usually goes to the direct proclamation of the word as opposed to a charitable work. There's a lot of very worthy causes like ADRA and Red Cross and others. That would be something that you would give offering to.

Now, tithe, of course, is a 10th of your increase. It's different from offerings. You find in Malachi, it says, "Bring the tithe and the offering into my storehouse." Tithe was a specific percentage of your increase. If your business is refinishing the furniture, Ed, and if you spend $10 on supplies to earn $100 on a refinishing job, your increase is only $90, then you would pay 10th of that being $9. That should go towards the church where you attend to help support the proclamation of the word.

If you're going to a church and you're reaping the benefits of that church, and to then send your tithe to another organization without also providing local support, well, it's kind of like living with one girl you're married to but supporting a girlfriend in another country. You always want to take care of your local church where you're doing ministry and you're worshiping. There's nothing wrong with giving offerings to other worthy Godly causes.

Your second question was about forgetting those things that are behind. You said it in context of you're married. I don't know if you're praying about remarriage or exactly what the situation is, but Paul is talking about forgetting any of the painful memories or discouraging things. It says in Isaiah, "In Heaven, the former will not be remembered nor come into mind." It doesn't mean you don't love or remember people, but God wants us to move forward.

He doesn't want us to be grieving about the past or holding grudges or whatever it might be; whether it's something you love or something that was painful. Sometimes you got to just move on for good. The Christian religion is about a future, remembering the past to guide us in the future. Hope that helps a little bit, Ed. We thank you for your questions. With that, we're going to move on.

Pr. Ross: Next call is Jerry listening from Medford, Oregon. Jerry, welcome to the program.


Pr. Doug: Hi, Jerry, you're on the air.

Jerry: Yes, can you hear me?

Pr. Doug: Yes, we do now.

Pr. Ross: Yes.

Pr. Doug: How's it going?

Jerry: Okay, good. My question pertains to Luke 2:39 which says, "When Joseph and Mary had done everything required by the Law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee to their own town of Nazareth." Now, the previous verses refer to circumcision, consecration in the first born male and being visited by Anna and Simeon. My question is, what happened to Egypt?

Pr. Doug: This is happening before they went to Egypt. When they were in Bethlehem, after the child was born, they stayed in Bethlehem for a while. Mary had family there. Joseph and Mary were from the town of Bethlehem. It was after the circumcision of the child they were still in Bethlehem. Herod tried to kill the child when he was young. They went off to Egypt probably when Jesus was three years old or so.

They came back, they were going to go back to Bethlehem, but they were afraid because the son of Herod that was ruling there they thought he might try and hurt the child also. That's when they went back up to Nazareth in Galilee. Luke does not talk about the destruction of the children in Bethlehem. He just skips right over to when Jesus, after he was named and dedicated, that they moved up and he grew up in the area of Nazareth. But you're right, Luke doesn't talk about the trip to Egypt at all. It's just Matthew talks about that.

Jerry: Right. It seems like quite a long time to omit.

Pr. Doug: What confuses people is, the shepherds coming to see Jesus as a baby in the stable happened months before, if not over a year before, the wise men came into the house. You notice the shepherds came and saw the child, he's in the manger. The wise men, it says, they came into the house where the child was. That's when it was during the time of the wise men that Herod tried to kill Jesus. Joseph, they hightailed to Egypt for probably a couple of years.

When Luke picks up the story, he goes between the circumcision when they were living in Bethlehem by Jerusalem they're at the temple. They stay there, and eventually, after Egypt, they go back up to Nazareth. He just leaves that whole span out.

Jerry: Okay. Well, I suppose that's the way it is. It just seemed like, again, a long long period of time to omit.

Pr. Doug: Yes. Well, a lot of the Gospel writers like Mark, I think, he takes up the story of Jesus, he doesn't say anything about his birth. He just starts with John the Baptist. So, it depends on who they were talking to and what they wanted to cover.

Jerry: Okay.

Pr. Doug: Hey, I appreciate your question, Jerry. Hope that helps a little bit.

Jerry: Thank you.

Pr. Doug: All right. God Bless.

Pr. Ross: Our next caller is Dorothy. She is listening from Nova Scotia, Canada. Dorothy, welcome to the program.

Dorothy: Good evening Pastor Batchelor.

Pr. Doug: Evening. We're always happy to get a call from Nova Scotia.

Dorothy: I'm calling from Springfield Nova Scotia, Canada. A long way from you.If you want me to ship some snow to you I will.

Pr. Doug: Well, we're making some of our own right now in California. I don't know if you've heard. We have a drought here and it's finally snowing up in the hills.

Dorothy: Really?

Pr. Doug: Yes.

Dorothy: Nice for you. Okay, my question is, why in the 7th Day Adventist Church do you only have communion quarterly? I'm thinking of 1 Corinthians 11:26, "For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup." I'm just curious as to why you only have it four times.

Pr. Doug: That's a good question, but first of all, there's a number of churches that celebrate the Lord's Supper, Methodist, many Baptist, Adventist. They celebrate the Lord's Supper quarterly. The Church of Christ celebrates the Lord's Supper weekly. The Catholics, when they have mass, they celebrate the Eucharist, I think weekly. As a matter of fact, they might do it more than once a week in some cases. When it says there in 1 Corinthians 11, "As often as you eat this bread do it in remembrance of me." That wasn't specifying the time, that was specifying, "As often as you do it, do it in remembrance of me." Now, Dorothy, the communion service when Jesus had the communion with his disciples, you realize that was a Passover. Do you know that? Are you still there?

Dorothy: I'm still here. I'm listening.

Pr. Doug: When Jesus had the first communion service, it was a Passover. He said to the disciples, "With longing, I've desired to eat this Passover with you." How often did the Passover occur? That was once a year.

Dorothy: It's once a year.

Pr. Doug: Right. When churches celebrate communion and they do it quarterly, they're just trying to do it often enough so everybody, at least once a year, gets to participate. It's a very important sacred service and many churches and pastors feel if you do it every week it starts to become a ritual. It's like saying the Lord's prayer 50 times. It's pretty loses its meaning when you do it 50 times in a row. Doing it often enough where you remember the significance, you can renew your commitment, but not so often that it becomes just a ritual that becomes empty. That's the key that I think churches are looking for.

I appreciate that. I don't know if we have a particular lesson that we can offer you, but we thank you for your call and I appreciate that Dorothy.

Dorothy. Okay. My husband and I listen to your program often and we really enjoy you very very much.

Pr. Doug: Well, thank you. Keep us in your prayers. Appreciate that, Dorothy. All right, Pastor Ross, we got a couple more maybe before the break.

Pr. Ross: We have Raymond listening from also Canada, Ontario, Canada. Raymond, welcome to the program.

Raymond: Hi, good evening, Pastor Doug and Pastor Ross.

Pr. Doug: Evening.

Raymond: Hi, just a quick question, two quick questions actually. What does the Bible mean by, "Thou shall not covet thy neighbor's good."

Pr. Doug: Well, to covet means to crave. It's desiring something that you're not supposed to have or that is not yours. Being dissatisfied with what you have and wanting what your neighbor has, of course, that often leads to jealousy and sometimes even robbery. There are occasions where it's led to murder. David started to covet his neighbor's wife and he killed his neighbor for his wife. Coveting means to desire something that is forbidden.

Now, there's nothing wrong with desiring good things. There was actually a verse in the Bible that says, "Covet earnestly the best gifts," meaning the gifts of the spirit. The 10th commandment says, "You're not to covet your neighbor's house." His wife, his donkey, his manservant, his maidservant, anything that is your neighbor's.

Raymond: Meaning, just let's say, Pastor Doug, you have a blue Cadillac and I also wanted your same blue Cadillac, does that mean I'm coveting your blue Cadillac?

Pr. Doug: No, not necessarily. If you want to take my Cadillac, that would be wrong. But if you're looking at my Cadillac and thinking, "Whoa, I'm going to go down buy one of those," and they're for sale -- I just had a friend before the program that was telling me about a computer device and I thought, "Hey that's pretty neat, I'd like to get one of those." I'm not coveting his, I want to go get my own.

There's nothing wrong with being aware of something that's for sale that you want to buy or your neighbor gets a great wagon or tool, or whatever it is, but it's wanting your neighbor's thing. Your neighbor's. It also is denotingbeing dissatisfied all the time. Covetousness, it's a sin that actually leads to many other sins. Covetousness can lead to deception, it can lead to murder, to adultery. That's why God says not to do it.

Pr. Ross: We find the sin of covetousness right in the very beginning of the Bible when it talks about Eve standing by the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. It says, "She saw the fruit and she desired to make her wise." She believed the lies of the serpent. She coveted something which God had withheld from her. Of course, that led to all of the sorrow and suffering that we see in the world today. Even though it's a commandment that's probably not emphasized as much as some of the other commandments, it's still very important.

Pr. Doug: Yes. I hope that helps a little bit, Raymond. We appreciate your call. We do have a book on the 10 commandments we can send you. It's called Written in Stone and it goes into more detail.

Pr. Ross: The number to call is 800-835-6747. You can ask for the study guide called Written in Stone. We'll be happy to send that to anybody who calls and asks. Again, 800-835-6747. Ask for the study guide called Written in Stone. If you're listening to us, and I know we do have a few folks who'd listen outside of North America. If you'd like to also participate in this free offers, just go to the website and type-in in the little search bar what the free offer is and you'll be able to read it for free online. There is a PDF version made available to you.

If you have a Bible question, the phone line here to the studio is 800-463-7297. 800-463-7297 with your Bible question. Melvin is our next caller listening from Jersey City, New Jersey. Melvin, welcome to the program.

Melvin: Good afternoon, pastor.

Pr. Doug: Hi, how are you doing?

Melvin: I'm doing fine. I'm seeking your version of Mathew 24:17, 18, 19 and 20. Could you speak on that for me?

Pr. Doug: All right. Let's go there real quick. Mathew 24:17. We'll start with, okay? You want me to read that for everyone?

Melvin: Okay.

Pr. Doug: "Let him who is on the housetop not go down and take anything out of his house and let him who is in the field not go back and get his clothes. Woe to those who are pregnant and those who are nursing babies in those days and pray that your flight be not in the winter neither on the Sabbath." Is that the question?

Melvin: Yes. It says something about, "Woe to them that are with child and to them that gives suck in those days."

Pr. Doug: Well, there's two things that Jesus is answering in Mathew 24. You'll notice in the beginning of the chapter, the disciples are asking him about the destruction of Jerusalem. Christ had just told them there wouldn't be one stone left on another in the temple. They knew that meant a great catastrophe was coming because the stones were enormous. He said that it be better not to have children or be nursing in those days. It turns out in AD 70 when the Romans besieged Jerusalem and the Jews that were trapped inside the city; it was a terrible time. Some even turned to cannibalism.

It was very hard on little children or women that had babies. Christ was warning them that this judgment was coming. Now, we understand that many of the Christians who saw what was happening fled before the Romans besieged them, and they survived because of the prophecy of Jesus. It's also talking about a great tribulation in the last days, where it's especially hard for those that are vulnerable, women with children. That's why Jesus said, "Woe to them that are nursing." Those who give suck or have children in those times.

He says, "Pray that you won't have to flee in the winter," because they'd run for your life through the woods so there nothing to eat, "or on the Sabbath day," for obvious reasons. Jesus is describing the great persecution first that came to the Jews in the destruction of Jerusalem. Also, it's a dual prophecy of the great tribulation in the last days.

Melvin: Well, Pastor, I'm satisfied with your answer. My second question is, if a Christian was in the Middle East and he was by ISIS and they said, "Convert or die," and the Christian said, "Well, I'll tell them that I've converted, but when I get out of here I'm going right back to Christ," what would you think of that person?

Pr. Doug: Well, I wouldn't want to judge too harshly someone that was frightened and afraid they were going to die, because no one really knows what they'll do when they're facing a death situation like that. But Biblically, the right thing to do is not to lie. When someone is challenging you to deny Christ and accept their god - We have the example of many, including Jesus, who bore a faithful testimony and it cost them their lives. You would hope that person would have the courage to take a stand for the truth. That's what I would hope that I would be doing.

Melvin: That's very good pastor. I appreciate the call, and you've been very helpful.

Pr. Doug: All right. Thanks so much, we appreciate your call.

Melvin: Okay, God bless.

Pr. Doug: Bye-bye.

Pr. Ross: Our next caller is Aaron listening from Carmichael, California. Aaron, welcome to the program.

Aaron: Hi, I have a question in regards to the last day prophecies and the institution of marriage.I was thinking about this weekend and I realized that the divorce rate went really high in the '70s, and in my generation, a lot of the parents were divorced. Now people don't get married, they just have children and say that the institution is no longer necessary, who're younger, like 35 and younger. Just want to know if there was something in the Bible that spoke of that kind of progression towards that.

Pr. Doug: Yes. In the book of Mathew, it talks about, "In the last days, the love of many will grow cold." That's what we're seeing happening. Jesus said, "It would be as it was in the days of Noah where they marry and given marriage." It almost sounds like they marry and divorce. That the institution of marriage, the sanctity of it is lost.

Thank you, I appreciate your question, Aaron. It deserves a bigger answer, but we're taking a break right now. Friends, don't go anywhere. More Bible questions coming. You can call in with your question over the second half. You're listening to Bible Answers Live.

Voice-over: Bible Answers Live returning just a moment. If you're looking for Bible based materials for further study, sign up for Amazing Facts' free correspondence Bible Study Course or check out our sale catalog featuring hundreds of inspiring books and tapes. To order, call our resource line at 800-835-6747. That's 800-835-6747. Amazing Facts is a faith based listener-supported ministry, operating exclusively through the generosity of your prayers and financial gifts. We would love to hear from you. Write to us at P.O. Box 909, Roseville, California 95678 or online at

You're listening to Bible Answers Live with Pastor Doug Batchelor. If you have a Bible related question, call us now to receive clear honest answers directly from Scripture. We have a few lines open, so please give us a call. The phone number to the studio is 800-GODSAYS, that's 800-463-7297.

If you've enjoyed Bible answers live, you’ll love pastor Doug's Book of Bible Answers straight from the broadcast. The very best questions and answers have been compiled as an awesome resource for Bible study and Personal Evangelism. Each answer has been expanded with more Bible verses and insightful commentary. The book of bible answers can be yours today for just $12. Call now 1-800-835-6747 and request offer 257. That’s 1-800-835-6747.

Pr. Doug: Welcome back, listening friends. This is Bible Answers Live. If you joined us along the way, it is a live international interactive Bible study, and you can participate. If you've got a Bible question give us a call. The number to the studio with your question 800-GODSAYS. 800-463-7297. I'm Doug Batchelor.

Pr. Ross: My name is Jean Ross. Pastor Doug, before we go to the phone lines, we want to let our listening friends know about a very exciting event that's coming up in-- what is it now? About a week away. A little more than a week away. Starting on the 21st of March, which is a week from Monday, you're going to be doing a very special series from Charlotte North Carolina called The Last Day Of Prophecy.

Pr. Doug: Yes. This is a new series that we've never done before, where we are going to be giving seven presentations with a special focus on the day of the Lord and the Lord's Day as it relates to prophecy. Just every presentation is going to be focusing on where we are now and what the issues are now and some very important biblical truth that has been neglected. If you'd like to tune in, it's going to begin next-- not tomorrow, not this Monday, but one week from tomorrow.

You go to the website, simply,,, find out about the series you can watch on 3ABN. It will also be broadcast on Amazing Facts TV, on Hope Channel Roku, and a number of other streaming mechanisms. You can invite people over to your home, you can go to the website and download any of the lessons, study material, and tune in. You'll be inspired, you'll understand what's happening better in the world today and why these issues are important.

Last day of prophecy beginning in one week. Tell all of your friends and enemies, if you don't have any friends. We appreciate your praying for the program.

Pr. Ross: If you have a Bible related question, the phone number here to the studio this evening is 800-463-7297. I will try to get your question on the air this evening. We have Diane listening in Forks, Washington. Diane, welcome to the program.

Diane: Thank you very much, Pastor Batchelor. I have a question about the book of Ruth. I was reading it and it said that Ruth married Boaz and Boaz was raising seed up for the dead and the dead was Malion. But when you read the book of Matthew, it doesn't mention Malion, it just mentions Boaz as the father. I was just wondering how come it says it's going to raise up seed for the dead, but it never mentions them after that?

Pr. Doug: That is a good question because I've noticed that too. They had a custom in the Jewish law that-- Now, keep in mind there's a prophecy in Isaiah chapter 4 and it says, "In that day, seven women will lay hold on one man saying, 'We'll eat our own bread and wear our own apparel. Let us be called by your name to take away our reproach'.” It was not uncommon in Bible times for the men all to march off in a war and be decimated. They would come back and there would be seven women for every man. They had no social security, the only social security back then was that your children would take care of you as you got older.

So, to deal with that back then, they had a law that if a man died before he had children, his brother could actually take the widow into his home, treat her as a second wife. Now, this wasn't required, it was an option, and raise up seed in the name of his brother. But whenever that happened, they never used the name of the brother, like you're saying. So, when Ruth lost her husband, she became a widow. Boaz was the next of kin that could marry her. He wasn't married at the time, so Ruth was not a second wife for him.

But we saw when the seed is raised up, it's not raised up in the name of her father-in-law, Malion, but it's raised up in the name of Boaz. That's probably because he did not have another wife or any other children. But that's a very observant question.

Diane: When I was reading the genealogies of Matthew, it doesn't mention Malion, it mentions Boaz.

Pr. Doug: That’s right. Well, all the genealogies. You also have one in Chronicles chapter 1, you've got the genealogy in Luke chapter 3, All of them, you're right, it mentions Boaz. One other interesting point that most people don't know, and I can't prove it, but it appears Boaz’s mother was Rahab, the harlot. She evidently married one of the two spies that Joshua sent to Jericho, and that was Salmon. Just one more very interesting note in the chronology and foot print. I appreciate your question, Diane. Thank you very much. I hope that helps a little bit.

Diane: Thank you.

Pr. Ross: Our next caller is Glennan. Glenn is listening from Tennessee. Glenn, welcome to the program.

Glenn: Hello.

Pr. Doug: Hey, Glenn, you're on the air. You made it, Bible Answers Live.

Glenn: Finally, finally. How are you doing, Pastor Ross and Pastor Batchelor?

Pr. Ross: Good.

Pr. Doug: Good.

Glenn: That’s good. I heard you were in Africa. I tried calling you at your office but they said you were over in Africa there.

Pr. Doug: We slipped away, we had a great trip.

Glenn: Great. I'm glad to hear that. I was calling-- We had a discussion, a couple of weeks ago, pertaining to Leviticus 26 talking about the seven times. It's mentioned four times in Leviticus, pertaining to the children of Israel, God says that he would punish them and he says that if they don't follow the law, statutes and judgments and so forth. Seven times was mentioned four times in Leviticus. Then also, we went over to Daniel Chapter 4, ironically, that it's four times there in the same chapter 4 in Daniel.

Then also, Nebuchadnezzar, he was also told that he would be-- it was mentioned four times to him also about the seven times. The seven times in Leviticus, we were trying to see, is that prophetic, or was it literal.

Pr. Doug: Well, I think that it's talking in symbolic terms. Seven was a number that talked about a perfect cycle of completion. Not only does it talk about punishing seven times, it talks about forgiveness 70 times seven. You'll notice that the number seven is connected both with punishment and with forgiveness. It talks about Mary Magdalene out of whom the Lord cast seven devils. It talks about-- Jesus said to Peter, "Don't forgive your neighbor seven times, but 70 times seven.

It says, "A righteous man falls seven times and rises again." Seven was sort of a perfect number that dealt with both judgment, punishment, mercy. So, it's a symbolic term.

Glenn: So, in Leviticus, it definitely had to do with judgment that was announced against Israel.

Pr. Doug: I think so. Pastor Ross, you got any thought on that?

Pr. Ross: Yes. I’m just looking at that. In the contest in verse 18 chapter 26, it's definitely relating to punishment. It says, "Then I'll punish you seven times more for your sins." Then it talks about another punishment of seven times more plagues according to your sins. And, "I will punish you yet seven times for your sins." The number seven represents completion or fullness, meaning that Israel was to be punished to the full extent of their sense. I think that's the point that's being emphasized.

So, number seven not only represents God, but it also represents completion or fullness, perfection. So, the punishment coming on Israel for their sins was to be meted out to its fullest. Of course, we see that in history.

Glenn: One other things that we were trying to find out, was that intensity or was it time?

Pr. Ross: I think it's intensity. God dealt with Israel many times throughout the entire history of Israel, from the time of the Exodus all the way up to the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD. So, time and time again, Israel would be taken to captivity. It was more than seven, when they were overtaken by the enemies and then God would bring them back and judgments would come.

Pr. Doug: Now, there is an interesting-- you did just trigger a thought for me, I appreciate, Glenn. There is an interesting story, if you look in Revelation chapter 17, where it talks about the seven mountains on which Babylon sits. There are seven kingdoms that persecuted God's people, being, you have Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Greece, Medo-Persian, Rome. I didn't get them in the right order. It’s Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, Rome and then the people power.

So, you've got seven powers that have persecuted God's kingdom. There is something there. I’m going to go home and look that up. I'm actually doing a sermon next week about cycles of seven and I missed this verse. That's a good one.

Pr. Ross: If you had a poll of the beasts that you read about also in the book of Daniel, you end up with seven. So, kind of interesting.

Pr. Doug: Yes. Hey, thank you very much, Glenn, you got us all thinking.

Pr. Ross: Our next caller is Dave. He's listening from Michigan. Dave, welcome to the program.

Dave: Hello.

Pr. Doug: Hi, you are on, Dave.

Dave: Wow, cool. Who am I talking to?

Pr. Doug: Who did you call? This is Bible Answers Live.


Pr. Doug: Well, you got both Pastor Ross and Pastor Doug here.

Dave: Okay, cool. I thought I heard another name just a minute ago.

Pr. Doug: I think we were talking to one of the callers.

Dave: All right. Earlier, you guys were talking about when everybody inside the temple was in bad shape and they were like-- horses and cannibalism was born and all that. How did that story get better? Can you fill me in on that real quick?

Pr. Doug: Were you talking about the one where Jerusalem fell? I think in the note on the screen, it said you had a question about lepers in the temple.

Dave: Yes, does that story go on to talk about a group of a couple of guys that were really really sick and they were outcast outside of the temple and they ended up staying in the temple?

Pr. Doug: That story is actually in 2 Kings Chapter 6. It's not the besiegement of Jerusalem, it was the besiegement of some area. That was the Northern Kingdom of Israel, was some area was a capital. The people in the city were turning to cannibalism, the Assyrian army had surrounded Israel, and there were four lepers that were going to surrender to the Assyrians while the Assyrians had panicked and fled and left their camp with all the food and the treasure there. These four lepers found the gold in the Silver and the food, and they eventually told everybody in the city that there was a great bounty of food outside, even though they'd been starving. I'm pretty sure that's the story you're talking about. There's no account like that relating to Jerusalem, and the temple specifically. It's what happened in the Northern kingdom. Yes, appreciate that.

Pr. Ross: There was also a time of severe trials that came upon Jerusalem just prior to its fall in 70 AD, when the Roman surrounded Jerusalem

Pr. Doug: They turned to-- there was some cannibalism then too. But the story of the lepers I don't think is connected with the Jerusalem per se. But yes, you'll find that if you look in the end of 2 Kings Chapter 6 and it goes into the first part of 2 Kings 7, Dave, and it's a great story. By the way, I've got a sermon on that called Day of Good News. You can look on YouTube and you'll see the message, Day of Good News, talk specifically about that story of the lepers and the treasure they found. Thanks for calling.

Pr. Ross: Our next call is Elliot listening from Detroit, Michigan. Elliot, welcome to the program.

Elliot: How are you doing how are you going?

Pr. Doug: All right. How are you doing?

Elliot: I’m all right. I just had a question. There was-- a guy at work told me that in the Bible, God has sanctioned slavery, said it was okay to have slaves. He said it was okay to beat them. He said in the scripture it was clear, but the guy couldn't give me a scripture. Well, it was kind of a matter-of-fact conversation but I never got a actual scripture number.

Pr. Doug: That's a common statement. God did not support polygamy or slavery, God did make laws in the Bible to protect people that had extra wives, he would protect the wives, and he made laws to protect slaves. Even in the south--

Elliot: Right. He basically said, it's like . He said, it's not a sin if you eat pork, but it's basically not good for you. If you want to have slaves, you got to treat them this way or such. To me, that's basically . You're making rules for it.

Pr. Doug: Well, slavery was almost omnipresent back in the days of Moses, where every nation, not just a few, but every nation. And keep in mind, there were slaves that were paid back in Bible times, and then there were slaves that were owned. So, they had all different kinds of levels of it. They all called them servants. Some were like your property and they didn’t treat them very well.

Pr. Ross: Another subject that is very much similar or related to this is also that in Old Testament times, God allowed for Israelites to have more than one wife, but it was never his plan. Jesus explains this when he was talking to the Pharisees and he said, "Moses," this is in Matthew 19:8, he said, “Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, permitted you to divorce your wives, but it was not so from the beginning.” Meaning it was not God's idea, it was not God's purpose.

The Bible speaks of the time of ignorance God winks it, meaning he overlooked. But now he calls all men to repent. So, for us today, to take multiple wives--

Pr. Doug: Or slaves.

Pr. Ross: - or slaves, we know better. That would be a clear violation of what God's will is for us.

Pr. Doug: Yes, the Lord-- That's a good point, Pastor Ross. The Lord said, "It was the hardness of your hearts that made God write laws about divorce." It was because of the hardness of their hearts that God made laws to protect the slaves. He wasn't endorsing divorce, he wasn't endorsing slavery, he wasn't endorsing polygamy, he was looking at what men were doing to other men, and the Lord gave them guidance about treating people fairly.

So, the laws in the Bible are all there to protect people that were being- whether it was multiple wives, he made laws that you shouldn’t diminish the treatment of your second wife if you marry a new one or your first wife. He said you got take care of them. Anyway, yes, I hope that helps a little bit, Elliot.

Pr. Ross: Of course, God was leading the children of Israel out of slavery in Egypt. He was leading them step-by-step. As they could receive new light or new truth, he would reveal it to them. Just like the sacrificial system which all pointed to Jesus. It was revealing a clear understanding of God's will.

Pr. Doug: That's right, I appreciate that.

Pr. Ross: Our next caller is Betty, listening from Huntsville Alabama. Betty, welcome to the program.

Betty: Hi, Pastors, how are you doing tonight?

Pr. Doug: Better than we deserve. How are you?

Betty: I’m just great. I have a question. I want to know, is there anything in the Bible about greed?

Pr. Doug: Well, yes. You can look, for instance, in Luke 11:39. It says, “And the Lord said to him, now, you Pharisees make the outside of the cup in the dish clean but your inward part is full of greed and wickedness.” He said, "You devour widows' houses, and for pretense, you make long prayers.” Yes, there are several verses. Paul talks in Romans chapter 1 about, they were filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness and greed. The word he uses is covetousness. That word is interchangeable, maliciousness, full envy.

1 Thessalonians he said, "Not using flattering words." This is 1 Thessalonians 2:5, "nor a cloak for your greed." Sometimes people use kind flattering words to cover their greed or their covetousness. There are other several verses that talk about greed. Sometimes it uses, in the King James version, it'll use the word covetousness, which is a lot of syllables, but it's the same thing.

Betty: Do people know if they are greedy? Do they know this?

Pr. Doug: Well, I don’t know. You know how Jesus got betrayed by Judas, is Judas sold him for 20 pieces of silver. That's greed. If you know the Old Testament, Naaman had a servant. Naaman was healed of leprosy. Elisha said, "I'm going to heal you for free." But Elisha's servant said, "Oh, man, he's got a lot of money." He ran after him and said, "Well, Elisha changed his mind. He really needs some money." Because of the greed, his name was Gehazi, because of the greed of Gehazi, he got leprosy.

The Bible is full of stories of how greed backfires. Joseph was sold by his own brothers for 30 pieces of silver. For 20 pieces of silver, Jesus was sold for 30.

Betty: That’s a sin, correct?

Pr. Doug: Greed? Absolutely. It's the 10th commandment, talks about coveting.

Betty: Okay. Can that be something that can be passed down to generation to generation, if people are like that?

Pr. Doug: Well, it can be. The behavior is reproduced often. Children often imitate the behavior of their parents. Unfortunately, what's really sad, Betty, is that even in some churches now, the pastors preach sermons, they call it prosperity preaching, where they're kind of the inspiring covetousness in the members hearts by saying, "If you worship God, he's going to make you rich," as though the motive for following Jesus would be, "How much can I get?" Well, that's almost like feeding off people's greed. Those are the wrong reasons.

God can bless people, but to serve the Lord because of what you might get financially, that is a very corrupt motive for turning to Jesus. Yes, greed is pretty prevalent in our culture. That's why a lot of people go gambling, they want to get rich quick. Solomon says, “Woe unto him that make haste to get riches," bad things happen. Thank you, Betty, good question. I appreciate that.

Pr. Ross: Our next caller is Carolyn, listening from East Orange, New Jersey. Carolyn, welcome to the program.

Carolyn: Good evening, Pastors.

Pr. Doug: Evening

Carolyn: Good evening. What I'd like to know is, Solomon was the wisest man according to the Bible. I'd like to know what you think his wisest statements were and what verses they are in in the Bible?

Pr. Doug: Well, I'll tell you one that pops into my mind, is the last thing Solomon writes after he-- he was the wisest man, but he made some mistakes. One of his mistakes was, it says, he loved many women and he took many wives. He thought that he would create this international alliances by marrying the daughters of different kings. And it did work, it did bring peace, but the wives then turned his heart away after their gods.

So, for many years, Solomon drifted from God. He stopped obeying God, and he finally repented. A prophet came to him and brought him back to his senses. He repented, he wrote the book Ecclesiastes. You've probably heard that.

Carolyn: Yes.

Pr. Doug: The last thing Solomon-- And Solomon, in Ecclesiastes,talks about the vanity of his years of selfishness. The last thing he says in Ecclesiasteschapter 12, he said, "Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter." So, now the wisest man is going to give you the conclusion. Here is what he says, "Fear God and keep his commandments for this is the whole duty of man, for God will bring every work into judgement with every secret thing, whether it be good or evil".

He summarizes the purpose of life is to love God, fear God and keep his commandments. By the the way, that's what it says in the Revelation. The messages from the angels say, "Fear God and and give glory to him, for the hour of his judgement has come." That's sort of what Solomon said at the end of his book. And so, living a life-- Job was a man that feared God and hated Evil. I'm sorry, you were saying?

Carolyn: Where was that in Revelation?

Pr. Doug: Revelation chapter 14. If you read Revelation 14 starting verse 6.

Carolyn: Okay

Pr. Doug: The other one was Ecclesiastes12 the last three verses. Then you can read the first verses in the book of Job, "A man who feared God and hated evil." "And so to fear the lord is to depart from evil." That's what Solomon says in Proverbs. I appreciate your good question. I'll just get right to the point there though. What's the wisest thing? We're going to see if we can take a one minute phone call with Fred.

Pr. Ross: Hi, Fred, You're on the air. Fred from Connecticut.

Fred: Yes. Well, there's one of the times where the beast-- will that be instituting a Sunday worship only law?

Pr. Doug: It's believed by a number of pastors, that you can see a pattern through history, where the beast power in the past, meaning like Babylon, it forced everybody to worshiped a certain way. If they did not worship the Golden image, they went to the fiery furnace. Then the Medo-Persian king told the Jewish people they all need to just pray to him for 30 days. Well, Daniel would not do that. He went to the lion's den. It also appears in the last days, those who do not worship the way the beast power says are going to be persecuted.

Many believe that that's going to be connected with both the way and the day and who you worship, which would also involve the day of worship. So, that's the reason that many believe there may be a law that compels people to worship a certain way on a certain day in the last days. The beast will creates some universal laws regarding worship. Those who do not worship the beast, they cannot buy or sell, and ultimately, they'll be killed according to Revelation 13.

So, that's a short answer, Fred. We'd like to give you a little more time, but the clock is not showing any mercy. Listening friend, we do want to remind you that we have this program coming up that is going to be beginning in about one week from today called The Last Day of Prophecy. We'll be up . Pastor Ross and I will both be together there in Charlotte, North Carolina at the Ovens Auditorium. If you live within 20 hours, you can drive and come, at least, to one of the programs to the Ovens Auditorium. You'll find the website, it says The Last Day of Prophecy.

If you go there, you'll find out how you can participate. Some of you may want to open up your church, your home. Invite people in. You can turn on either through the internet, or if you have a satellite connection, you can watch the program on Three Angels Broadcasting. We've been planning this program for a year now and we're very excited it's all coming together. Brand new series of presentations talking about where we are now in the scope of prophecy and as it relates to both the Lord's day and the Day of the Lord. So, we hope you'll tune in.

Keep us in your prayers. We do appreciate your listening to Bible Answers Live. We've been doing this program now for 18 years. Working with Salem Broadcasting, we up link here from KFIA in Sacramento. The stations around the world. We'd love to hear from you, just go to, send us a note. If you want to bless us, you can donate online and we will be able to stay on this station. God bless you friends.

Voice-over: This has been a pre-recorded broadcast of Bible Answers Live, a production of Amazing Facts Ministries. If you would like to order the materials mentioned on this broadcast, call 800-835-6747 from 8:00 AM to midnight Eastern Standard Time. That's 800-835-6747. If you've missed an episode of Bible Answers Live, you can find it on our website You'll also find our online sale catalog of books, tapes and other materials, as well as numerous free resources on nearly every Bible topic. Putting the answers to your Bible questions right at your fingertips.

If you've been blessed by this program, let us know. Write to us at P.O. Box 909 Roseville, California, 95678. Be sure to tell others about the program and join us again next time for more Bible Answers Live with Pastor Doug Batchelor.

Testimony: I grew up in a church-going family. We were at every meeting. I sang in four of the choirs there. I directed three. Very involved, very active. It almost seemed like busy work sometimes. I went to Sunday school. I knew about God. I knew about Jesus, but I didn't have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. My senior year in high school, I got the news that my father had been murdered. I played it off well. No one really saw that I was struggling with it. It just really felt like there was a hole that needed to be filled. I tried to fill it with drugs, with alcohol, with partying.

After college, I just stopped going to church altogether. One day, on a Sunday, because I didn't feel like going to church with my mom, I thought I should get a little bit of work. She had the satellite system hooked up and I'm flipping through channels and then the logo pops across, "Amazing Facts presents." I've listened to a lot of different ministers, but this was the first time that he's actually saying something where I had to grab my Bible and actually pick it up and, "I've never heard this before. Let me look through and find this."

I went through all the historicals, I went through all the study guides, and I just couldn't get enough. Then the Sabbath came up and he's going through the appeal when I'm just going, "Lord, I hear you. I have to go to a church." So, I show up. It was funny. I didn't feel like I was going to be judged, anything judgmental, anything. I walked in the door and I just felt at home. But there's still a problem. I'm still partying. I was still going out to the bars. At this time, I was selling cocaine to pay my rent.

16 days later, I find myself in a life-or-death situation. I had just came back from a liquor store and I grabbed a bottle of vodka. There I am, high off cocaine with my Bible in hand trying to do a Bible study. I heard an audible voice, "Just look at yourself." And I did. I was like, “What am I doing?” I got on my knees I said, “Lord, if you do not take this away from me now, I'm going to kill myself.” I was going to continue this lifestyle and I was going to end up overdosing, having a heart attack, whatever it was. "You have to take this away. All of it."

And that day, he lifted all of it away from me. It was all gone. When God does something in your life, he does it complete.

Voice-over: For more than 45 years, the Ministry of Amazing Facts has been helping people from all walks of life understand their Bibles better than ever before through television, radio and the internet. We impact countless lives each day around the world by sharing Bible truth that transforms lives forever. If you've been blessed by our programs, will you help share in this work with a tax-deductible gift today? When you support Amazing Facts, you give lasting hope and make it possible for others to hear the good news of Jesus Christ and experience his eternal love. To give a gift call 1-800-891-7171. Once again, that’s 1-800-891-7171 or go to



Prayer Request:

Share a Prayer Request


Bible Question:

Ask a Bible Question

Back To Top