Hour 1: What's Your Bible Question?

What Bible question do you have? Join Open Line this Saturday with your  biblical questions, concerns, clarifications, and queries! Dr. Michael Rydelnik opens the Scriptures and tackles your conundrums.

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Episode Transcript

S1 (00:08):
Why should we read the Bible every day? Is it
because it's great literature? Well, it's much more than that.
Stay with me and we'll talk about that in just
a moment. Hello, friends. Welcome to Open Line with Michael
Dolnick Moody Radio's Bible Study Across America. I'm Michael Ray Dolnick.
I'm the academic dean and professor of Jewish studies and

(00:30):
Bible at Moody Bible Institute. I'm so grateful that you're
joining me around the radio kitchen table, and we're talking
about your questions about the Bible, God, and the spiritual life.
If you have a question and you'd like to call
the phone number here is [phone]. That's [phone]. And it's

(01:00):
always a good time to call right at the beginning
of the program because people say, how do I get on?
And it's always busy. Well, the best way call right now. [phone].
With your question about the Bible, God or the spiritual life.
Terry Haines is our producer today. Omar Mendoza is our

(01:21):
tech guy. Lisa is answering the phones again. The phone
number here. [phone]. It's time to get yourself a cup
of coffee. Open your Bible. We're about to study the
scriptures together. You know, every week I open. Every week
I actually close Open Line our Bible study across America

(01:45):
by saying, keep reading the Bible and we'll talk about
it next week. Why do I play such a value
on reading the Bible regularly? The simple answer is that
the Bible is inspired. It's God's word to us. A
key verse about inspiration is found in second Timothy 316.
All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching,

(02:09):
for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness. The phrase
all Scripture is inspired by God highlights three important principles. First,
the scriptures themselves are inspired, not the authors of the Bible.
Although the authors of the Scripture were said to be

(02:29):
moved by God's Spirit. In Second Peter 121 and more
about that in a moment, Paul writes to Timothy that
it's the Bible itself that's inspired, which literally means God
breathed the single word. The word God breathed indicates the
Bible comes from God, that God exhaled the scriptures into being.

(02:53):
When we read the word inspired, we may think it
means breathing into something. Rather, this verse is saying that
God breathed out the scriptures. The very words we read
in the biblical text are breathed out by God. They
don't become inspired when we read them and find something
of value for our lives. The text of Scripture stands

(03:15):
as God's Word even if we don't read it. But
of course we should second the entire Bible. The entire
Bible is inspired. The scriptures are God's Word in their entirety.
Some people say that when Paul wrote Second Timothy 316
about the scriptures being inspired, he was only referring to

(03:37):
the Old Testament as that was what was all that
was written at that point. And he didn't mean the
New Testament. But in his previous letter to Timothy, in
first Timothy, Paul said, For the Scripture says, you shall
not muzzle the ox while he is threshing, and the
laborer is worthy of his wages. That's in first Timothy 518.

(03:58):
What's so significant about that verse? Paul is quoting two
verses of Scripture here, both calling about Scripture, one from
Deuteronomy 25 four. That's in the Old Testament and the
other from Luke ten seven in the New Testament. He
calls them both Scripture. It's likely that the Gospel of

(04:19):
Luke was only written about five years before Paul's quotation
of it as Scripture. At about the same time, Peter,
the acknowledged leader of the apostles, wrote in Second Peter
316 that Paul wrote about salvation. Here's the quote in
all his letters, in which there are some matters that
are hard to understand. The untaught and unstable twist them

(04:41):
to their own destruction, and they all, as they do
also with the rest of the scriptures. This shows Peter
considered Paul's letters to be Scripture. Here's my point. By
the time Paul wrote Second Timothy 316 and said All
Scripture is inspired, he meant the whole Bible was inspired,

(05:03):
including both Old and New Testaments. Here's the third principle.
God's Holy Spirit moved human beings to produce the Bible.
The Bible verse describing how God used human authors to
write the books of the Bible is second Peter 121.
For no prophecy was ever made by an act of

(05:24):
human will. But men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke
from God. The Holy Spirit empowered people to write Scripture
by moving them, or bearing along human authors to speak
and by inference, to write their words down. The word
translated moved. It's ferro in the Greek is used also

(05:46):
in acts 2715, about a ship being driven by the wind.
In the same way, the wind bears a sailboat along.
So the Holy Spirit moved the human authors to write
the Bible. This explains the various writing styles and different
perspectives of biblical authors. Just as the same wind can

(06:06):
bear differing ships with different kinds of sails along in
different ways, so the Holy Spirit can move writers with
unique personalities and different styles to write down God's words.
It's not the holy. It's not that the Holy Spirit
dictated to human authors. Rather, there was a confluence of

(06:28):
work between the human author and the divine author. The
human author wrote using his own personality, style, message, even
his own understanding, while being moved by the Holy Spirit.
At the same time, the work of the spirit guaranteed
the accuracy and truth of that message. It made the
Bible inerrant. And we'll talk about that next week. Here's

(06:51):
a simple idea. Since God gave us his inspired word,
we should read it. My friend Larry, who leads a
messianic congregation in California, has read the Bible faithfully every
day for 53 years now. Every day. I tease him
about being an obsessive compulsive person, but the truth is

(07:14):
really different. He says when he first became a follower
of Yeshua Jesus the Messiah in January of 1972, someone
told him that the Bible is God's Word. He thought,
how many people are longing to hear from God, to
guide their lives, to understand why the world is the

(07:34):
way it is or what the future holds? And then
he thought, I can hear from God every day by
reading His Word daily. And that's why he committed himself
to reading the scriptures every day. That sounds like a
great example for us to adopt as well. I hope

(08:03):
that gave you some encouragement about the Bible. And you
know what made me think about talking about this today
is that we're, uh, we've got a great, uh, offer
for you. Uh, a great resource. Uh, it's it's just
really outstanding. It's called The Story of the Bible. It's

(08:27):
written by Doctor Jay Carlini, a friend of mine. Have
you ever wondered how he got the Bible that we
read today? How the ancient manuscripts became a book? Well,
the story of the Bible is a journey that we
can go on as we read this book about how
the scriptures develop from divine inspiration that I just talked

(08:47):
about To transmission to modern translations. Doctor Lainey shows how
God worked through human authors and scribes and translators to
give us his written word. I believe this book will
deepen our confidence in the Bible's reliability, while answering a
lot of the questions that we all have about where
the scriptures came from. So the reason we're offering this

(09:10):
is as a way to say thank you for your
gift of any size to open line. And we would
so appreciate that. You know, your gifts that you send
really keep open line on the air. And we really
appreciate it. And we want to say thank you by
sending you a copy of The Story of the Bible.

(09:31):
If you'd like a copy, it's yours. When you give
a gift of any size, just go to our website,
Open Line radio.org or call [phone]. That's 47122. Okay. We're
going to go to the phones right now and talk

(09:51):
to Robert in Fort Lauderdale, Florida listening on RMM. Welcome
to Open Line Robert. How can I help you today?

S2 (09:58):
Yeah. Hi. How are you? Um, I got a question on, uh.
I'm sorry, not numbers 24 seven. Um, it's an oracle
of Balam. And in mid section it says in his
king shall be higher than Agag. I'm a little confused
because it seems like numbers was written like Samuel. Uh,

(10:23):
Agag is mentioned in first Samuel. And I was surprised
to see it mentioned here. And isn't that these aren't
contemporary books. Didn't isn't this way before Agag was born.
Can you explain that?

S1 (10:37):
Yeah.

S2 (10:37):
It's, uh, Matthew Henry doesn't mention anything about my question.

S1 (10:42):
It's a prophecy. It's an oracle, and it's tough. There
was no king in Israel, and yet this is a
king that will come from Jacob. And clearly, if we
read the Hebrew text as it is, it's his king
will be higher than Agag. Agag being the king that, uh,

(11:05):
Saul was supposed to put to death from the Amalekites.
And when he didn't, he lost the kingship. And then he,
Agag was, uh, removed. And who became king instead of Saul,
who was higher than Agag? This would be a prophecy
of David. Okay, I hate wait. You know, Robert, I'm

(11:27):
not done. Sorry. One minute. Here's the thing. I think
it should say his king shall be higher than Gog.
If you look at the version of the Samaritan Pentateuch
or the Greek Septuagint, It doesn't say Agag. It says Gog.

(11:48):
And Gog is not someone that we know in history.
He's mentioned in Ezekiel 38. He's the end time enemy
of Israel and the king that will defeat him and
be higher than him is the messianic king. So I
think the based on the variant reading this is a
prophecy of the Messiah. And it says if we read

(12:11):
it that way, his king will be greater than Gog,
and his kingdom will be exalted. And so this is
talking about the messianic king. And it's interesting because in
Ezekiel 3817, when it talks about Gog, here's what it says. Uh,
are you the one I spoke about in former times

(12:33):
through my servants, the prophets? And really, there's no other
place where Gog is mentioned previous to this except in
numbers 24 over seven. So I think Ezekiel is talking
about numbers 24 over seven. So.

S2 (12:48):
Right.

S1 (12:49):
Okay.

S2 (12:50):
Explained it. Thank you.

S1 (12:52):
Okay. Thank. Thanks for your call. We're going to take
a break here. And when we come back, uh, we'll
talk with you. You can always call [phone]. That's the
phone number to call. And we'll talk about your question
about the Bible, God or the spiritual life. Looking forward

(13:13):
to talking with you in just a moment. This is
Michael Ray Dolnick on Open Line. We'll be right back.
Welcome back to Open Line. So glad to be with

(13:36):
you today. My name is Michael Ray Dolnick. We're talking
about the scriptures together. Your questions about the Bible, God,
or the spiritual life? Phone number here. [phone]. You know,
it is an amazing thing. I did want to say
thank you to everyone. Uh, a lot of these stations

(13:57):
that are listening, you're listening on right now participated in
Moody Radio Share spring 2025 and the Open Line, uh,
audience was amazingly generous, and we are really, really grateful
for that. And I am grateful. I'm grateful for everyone
that's part of the team. And, uh, I, I wanted
to mention those of you who are part of the team,

(14:19):
our kitchen table partners, who generously give every month so
that we can be on the air every week answering
listener Bible questions. I really appreciate all that you do. Uh,
it's really part of a team work here. And I
know some of you are being part of the team
is just listening. And I appreciate that too many of you. Listen,

(14:41):
some of you have even given occasionally because you think, ah,
you know, that that premium, that that current resource is
just the thing I want, and I appreciate that as well.
That's why you give. But I was wondering if if
Open Line is a program that really ministers to you
and helps answer your questions, and it's something that's significant

(15:02):
for your your walk, would you consider becoming a kitchen
table partner, giving monthly so that we can continue being
on the air every week? Uh, if you do, one
of the things that we do, Tricia and I produce.
Our producer, Tricia, and I produce a Bible study moment
every other week. It comes in your email, you click

(15:23):
on it and you get to hear, uh, a Bible study.
Right now we're going through Ephesians one about the work
of the father, son, and the Holy Spirit in our salvation.
It's it's a lot of fun for us to provide,
and we're really grateful for the responses that that people
give us when they hear it. So we do the
Bible study moment. The other thing that people want to

(15:45):
know about being a kitchen table partner. I certainly don't
want to tell you how much you should commit to,
but people who commit to $30 or more every month
get to go to the Moody Publishers catalog and and
get 50% off on everything on that catalog. That's a

(16:05):
great deal. Uh, and there's some really great works. Uh,
I don't want to mention only the ones there are
great works other than even the ones that I've participated in.
So I think that people can really get some great,
great tools on the Moody Publishers, uh, catalog right there.
So if you if you're interested in becoming a kitchen

(16:26):
table partner, we'd appreciate it. The phone number to call
is 6447122. And the or you can go to open
line radio.org. Of course. And you can become a kitchen
table partner there. We're going to go right back to

(16:47):
the phones now. We're going to talk to Charlene and Laurel,
Mississippi listening on WMU. Welcome to Open Line. Charlene, how
can I help you today?

S3 (16:55):
Well thank you. I was the caregiver of my mother.
And after she passed, I had some extra time. So
I went to a synagogue on Sabbath to pray. Now,
I'm a devout Christian, and I fell in love with
Jewish prayer from the siddur, especially Shema, Shemoneh Esrei and
the Kaddish. I just wanted to know if you ever

(17:17):
pray prayers from the siddur and how you adapt them
as a Christian.

S1 (17:23):
Well, yeah, I have used, uh, the siddur particularly. There's
a messianic, some of our messianic congregations, uh, uh, use
the siddur, a messianic siddur that uses these traditional prayers
but adapts them theologically. I think that's something that's really important.

(17:44):
I have another friend who's a very, very learned PhD,
leader of a messianic synagogue, and he uses a traditional siddur.
But because he's very capable, he's able to do adaptations
of it, uh, to so that it fits his, his

(18:06):
teachings of the Bible fully with Jesus being the Messiah.
And so, uh, there are also some things that people misunderstand, like,
for example, you mentioned the Kaddish, right? A lot of
people think that's a prayer for the dead. If you
read the words, it's just a prayer that people who
are grieving, who have lost a loved one say for
a year. But it's really about glorifying God. It's a

(18:29):
way of daily glorifying God and saying, even though I've
lost this loved one, I glorify you, God, that it's
trusting your sovereignty and and and your greatness. Uh uh,
glorified and sanctified be his great name. You know, that's
how it opens. And so.

S3 (18:47):
Praise.

S1 (18:47):
Yeah. And so it's not really a prayer for the dead.
It's a praise by the living to the sovereignty of God.
That's what it's about. So there's a lot of really
good things in there. Uh, there are some things that
I probably would say have to be careful about. Much
of it is the Psalms. Uh, and so but you
have to do it critically, because every now and then, like,

(19:08):
there'll be a, there's the Anima Amin, the I believe
with perfect faith. And there are many things God can't
take human form in there in that one. Uh, it's
so God can't become a man. It denies the incarnation. Uh,
I believe with perfect faith in the coming of the Messiah,
implying that he hasn't come yet. Uh, so you have

(19:30):
to be very careful when you're in some prayers. like
the Anima Amin, because I think about nine out of
the 13 articles of faith that are listed there. Uh,
we would we would struggle with as followers of Jesus. So, uh,
I think it's really important that you do it critically.
Maybe one of the best things to do is find

(19:50):
a really good messianic siddur, uh, that already has done
the critical, uh, contextualization that you're looking for. Okay, Charlene.

S3 (20:01):
I appreciate this. Thank you.

S1 (20:03):
Yeah. Thanks so much for your call. Uh, and, uh,
Maria in Lakeland, Florida, listening on 91.1 FM. Wmnf. Welcome
to Open Line. How can I help you today?

S4 (20:16):
Well, I just have a question about the resuming of
the Passover celebration in Second Chronicles, chapter 30, verse 26.
It attributes it to Hezekiah, but then in Second Kings
chapter 23, verse 22, it attributes it to Josiah. So

(20:38):
I know there are no contradictions in the Bible. So
I'm just wondering why Hezekiah and Josiah were each attributed
to resume this Passover celebration.

S1 (20:49):
Well, think about the chronology. Uh, Hezekiah who became king
after him?

S4 (21:00):
Oh, I'm not sure.

S1 (21:04):
Okay. Well, the it was the longest reigning king in
Judah's history. Uh, King Manasseh, if you read.

S4 (21:15):
Oh.

S1 (21:15):
That's right. You've got Hezekiah. Uh, Hezekiah restores the Passover
in Second Chronicles. But then King Manasseh comes along. He's
12 years old when he becomes king, and he was
reigned 55 years. Longest reigning king and his mother's name
was Hephzibah, it says, and he did what was evil

(21:37):
in the Lord's sight, imitating the detestable practices of the
nations that the Lord had dispossessed before the Israelites. He
built the altars of the Baalim, the the bails, Baal gods,
and the Asuras. Uh, and he he put them in
the temple. He he brought pagan worship, Canaanite pagan worship

(22:00):
into the holy Temple in Jerusalem.

S4 (22:03):
Mhm.

S1 (22:04):
Guess what he didn't do. He didn't keep up his
father's work of keeping Passover.

S4 (22:09):
Okay.

S1 (22:10):
And then Josiah comes along. His son. Now Manasseh does repent.
We know that from second Chronicles. Uh, but dies very
shortly thereafter. And, uh, which gives us great hope for
people who do, who ignore God, who resist him, who

(22:31):
rebel against him. And yet at the end of life,
they can turn to him and they are forgiven. And
Manasseh was forgiven. However, it took his son Josiah to
once again restore the Passover. That's what it's talking about
in Second Chronicles 20. Second Kings 23.

S4 (22:49):
Second restoration. Yep. That's it. Okay. Okay. Well, I appreciate that.

S1 (22:55):
Yes, sir. Okay. Thanks for your call. Sure, I appreciate it. Uh,
we're going to talk to Jody, listening on Wmbi in Chicago.
Welcome to Open Line, Jody. How can I help you?

S5 (23:08):
I have a nephew who is questioning me about. He
keeps telling me the Jewish people because I tell them,
you know, he's not happy what's going on with the
Jewish people? And he thinks they're very corrupt. And I
keep telling him, but the Bible tells us to pray
for them. And he's telling me that the Bible, the

(23:29):
Jewish people today are not the same people from the Bible,
and I don't know how to respond to that.

S1 (23:35):
Well, uh. First of all, you know what's driving his opinion, right?

S5 (23:45):
Um, I'm he's doing he keeps talking about the Talmud
and just how evil the Jewish people are.

S1 (23:52):
That's that's what I'm saying. So do you know what's
driving that? This is called anti-Semitism or hatred of the
Jewish people. You can go all the way back in time.
And one of the things that's most specific is the
Jewish people, for example. Uh, well, you don't have to

(24:16):
go very far. The Nazis said the same thing. The
Jewish people were corrupt. They said it was biologically, uh,
made them corrupt. It was the the actual biology, but
they weren't the Jewish people of the Bible, that they
were somehow different. British Israelism says, well, actually it's the
the white Anglo-Saxon Protestants who are the the Jewish people. Well,

(24:41):
first of all, if you look at history, no other
people has been as persecuted throughout time. Who else would
want to call themselves the Jewish people if, if that
were the case? Uh, really going since the second century,
Jewish people have been persecuted. Secondly, other people say, well, no,

(25:01):
they're actually a Ukrainian people that adopted Judaism in in
the Middle Ages. That's been disproven because genetic studies have
shown that the European Jews, the Jewish people from Central
and Eastern Europe have the same genetic code as the

(25:22):
Jewish people from the Mediterranean world. From the Sephardim. Uh,
the the people who are there. So it's just false,
but it's driven by hatred of the Jewish people. And
it's unfortunate. And I'm glad you don't share his views. So, uh,
I hope that helps. We can talk more about it
another time, if you like. We're going to be right

(25:44):
back with the mailbag. The Febc mailbag. This is open
line with Michael Zelnick. Stay with us. Welcome back to

(26:09):
Open Line with me, Michael Zelnick. And I am so
glad that it's time for the Febc mailbag. Far Eastern
Broadcasting Company is a wonderful ministry that brings the gospel
to people through media around the globe and also through
personal contact as well. A lot of times people think

(26:30):
it's just broadcasting the message, but there are people who
actually follow up and reach out to those who are
responding to the media. It's a terrific organization. Check out
the Febc podcast called Until All I've Heard, featuring Ed Cannon,
the president of Febc. By going to the Febc. Org

(26:54):
website febc.org and Far Eastern Broadcasting Company. It's something you'll
really be interested in if you listen to that podcast.
And now joining me for the Febc mailbag is Teairra
hey Teairra Haines.

S6 (27:08):
Good morning Michael. How are you today?

S1 (27:10):
I'm doing great. It's good to see you. So we've
got a bunch of questions that have come in. I
think it's important for people to know how to send
their question. They think, where did these come from? I
think it's a good idea to go to the Open
Line radio.org website. Our website. Open line radio.org. You can
check out everything that's there. Uh, and one of the

(27:32):
things that you'll see there, it says ask Michael a question.
Click on that and fill out the form. And you
will be able to have your question added to the mailbag.
Just like these that we're going to talk about right now.

S6 (27:44):
So wonderful. Yes, that's exactly what Wayne did. Wayne from
Minnesota listening through CFRB. He says, I am 70 years
old and still work part time. Out of curiosity, are
there any scriptures related to retirement?

S1 (28:03):
I am not aware of any scriptures related to retirement.
I know that many times when we look at the, uh,
the list of the kings, when we look at the, the,
the mysterious numbers of the Hebrew kings as Thiele called it.
I think. Who wrote the book about that? There did

(28:25):
appear to be times when people got to a certain age,
and they established a co-regency to reduce the amount of
work they were doing as they got older, but not
that they quit working. Uh, so I don't think that
the Bible ever talks about retirement, but that doesn't mean that,

(28:45):
for example, we can officially retire. I would say, uh,
the reason I would say that is it's part of
the governmental responsibilities. It will change the work that we
do if we retire. But I don't think anyone of
us ever retires from the Lord's service. We might change
how we do it. Uh, every person, I mean, you

(29:05):
can keep working, you know, whatever you want to do.
There are a lot of different jobs that people do
part time after their official retirement, but I. I think
we're 100% the Lord's. And we while when we retire
we may shift and do something different. We're always serving
the Lord. I love it. I was talking with Joe Stoll,

(29:28):
former president of Moody Bible Institute. He was the president
of another university. And when he finally retired from that position,
he said, I didn't retire from God's kingdom. I just
retired from that position. And I loved it that when
Mark Jobe, our president, approached him about being an ambassador
for Moody and an advisor to him, Joe accepted that

(29:51):
part time position because we love him and he's so
part of Moody, and he didn't retire from the kingdom.
This enabled him as he was seeking God's direction. What's
the next kingdom work I'm going to do? And and
that was it. Because we never retire from the kingdom
of God. I would say I love that.

S6 (30:09):
Thank you so much. Thank you. We also.

S1 (30:12):
By the way, you haven't retired yet, have you, Teairra?

S6 (30:14):
Oh, not not at all. I have quite a few
years before I retire or redirect my purpose.

S1 (30:21):
Yep. That's it.

S6 (30:22):
Yes, yes, we have Deb from Facebook. Is there a
good reference book to learn more about Israel from its
beginning to today in political, geographical, spiritual and cultural ways?

S1 (30:35):
You know, it would be nice if there was just
one book. Uh, I'm not sure there is one book
that does that. I think if you want to understand
biblical Israel, a good history, that kind of takes us
through the Bible. I'm not, you know, I don't know
if she's referring here from its beginning to today. I

(30:55):
there's a lot of books that you could read. There's
a History of Israel by Leon Wood. There's a Kingdom
of Priests by Eugene Merrill. Those are good biblical histories.
A good history of the Jewish people that takes you
to understand where they are today is actually by a
British Anglican, not Jewish. It's called A history of the Jewish.

(31:20):
A history of the Jews by Paul Johnson. I think
that would kind of take you through the whole history
to today. So maybe choosing a biblical history like Leon
Wood's book or Eugene Merrill's and Paul Johnson's book that
would take you through, uh, modern days and bring the geographical,

(31:40):
spiritual and cultural along with it. That's what I would say.
But there's a whole lot of books that will, if
you want the geographical, get a good, uh, geography, like
the moody, uh, Atlas of the Bible. And then, of course,
if you want more geography, there's, uh, there's an atlas
of Jewish history. Uh, I can't remember the name of

(32:03):
the the cartographer who did that, but it's called the
Atlas of Jewish History. That would be helpful.

S6 (32:09):
Okay, excellent. So there are several resources that she can choose. Excellent.
And then we also have Caleb from Alabama listening through
Wmft in numbers 33 four. It talks about the Egyptians
burying their firstborn after the Lord struck them down. But
the second part of the verse says, O their gods,

(32:30):
on their gods. Yeah, sorry. Thank you. On their gods also,
the Lord executed judgment, judgments. Is this saying there are
other gods?

S1 (32:39):
No, it's not saying there are other gods. It's saying
that the Egyptians believed in other gods and God. For example,
they believed in the Nile River as a god. And
so what did the Lord do? He turned the the
waters of the Nile into blood.

S6 (32:55):
To blood.

S1 (32:56):
So that would be one way of looking at it.
He judged the okay. He judged what he thought were gods.
You know, it'd be like saying today, uh, let's say
God judged a website, uh, because it was so wicked. Okay.

(33:20):
And we said, and because people have made it a god,
it doesn't mean it's a real god. It's just people
have treated it as if it was a god. And
then that website crashed and we'd say, oh, God, look,
God judged that website, that other God. It's not really
another god. It's what it is. It's in the minds

(33:41):
of people. They have made it another god. So. Okay. Uh,
do you want to take one more?

S6 (33:49):
Sure. We have, uh, Jerry, Ohio Wsrf based on Deuteronomy
23 three. No Moabite may enter the assembly of the Lord.
Does this pertain to males only? Ruth was a moabite,
but she was redeemed and married to Boaz.

S1 (34:06):
Yeah. I don't think that it's only referring to males.
I do think what this is saying is that, generally speaking,
Moabites are not allowed in. Uh. However, Ruth made a
conscious choice to separate from her family and from the
false gods of the Moabites and instead embraced the Jewish people,

(34:32):
the people, the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and
embraced the God of Israel. The reason I say that
is remember what she says to Naomi. Uh, she says,
your God will be my God. Your people will be
my people. And that's why she could be accepted and

(34:55):
worship the God of Israel, because she worshiped the true God,
rejected the Moabite gods who weren't really gods anyway, right?

S6 (35:03):
That's right.

S1 (35:04):
And just just to remind us of what we just said.
And then also she embraced the Jewish people and said,
these are my people. And I think that that's why
she was welcomed and actually became the the great grandmother
of King David. So how cool is that? Right? It's really.

S6 (35:24):
It.

S1 (35:24):
Shows God's redemption. Yeah. Well, uh, we're going to take
a break right now. And when we come back, I'll
take more phoned in questions. But to your you'll be
back next hour with more of the mailbag, right?

S6 (35:38):
That is right. I'll be back next hour. Thank you.

S1 (35:40):
Michael, that was Tara Haynes. I'm Michael Radonich. When we
come back, you can. We'll be talking to you with
your phone calls, with your questions about the Bible, God
and the spiritual life. I'm Michael Riedel. Stay with me.
We're coming right back. We're back. So glad to be

(36:07):
with you this Saturday morning talking about your questions about
the Bible, God and the spiritual life. You know, I'm
often asked many people wonder if Jewish people still need
to hear the good news of Jesus the Messiah. Uh,
God has a special plan for Jewish people. He has
covenants he's made with the Jewish people. But do they

(36:30):
still need to know the Messiah? Jesus? Well, Doctor Al
Mohler's answer is yes. Absolutely. Chosen People Ministry is offering
his booklet called To the Jew First in the 21st
century in it. Doctor Al Mohler maintains that bringing the
gospel to the Jewish people shows our faithfulness to the truth.

(36:51):
It's the best example of our faithfulness to the truth
of the gospel. For your free copy, if you'd like one,
all you have to do is go to our website
openline radio.org. Scroll down. You'll see a link that says
A free gift from Chosen People Ministries. When you click
on that, you'll be taken to a page where you

(37:12):
can sign up for your own copy of To the
Jew first in the 21st century. I hope you'll do that. Uh,
we're going to speak with David in Zion, Illinois, listening
on Wmbi. Welcome to Open Line. David. How can I
help you today?

S7 (37:29):
Thank you. Um, I have a friend who was watching
a television preacher, and, uh, he touched this woman's forehead.
She fell backwards, and my friend thought that this was
a miracle. And, uh, this is strange to me. I've
never seen this happen in any of the church services

(37:49):
that I've been at.

S1 (37:50):
Well, you haven't been going to the right church services, then?
It happens at a lot of places. So.

S7 (37:58):
Uh, is this biblical?

S8 (38:00):
Well.

S1 (38:03):
It's I would say that that there's very little that
you could find in Scripture that would support that. And
I've talked to people who have experienced it. Some people
say I just felt consumed, filled up. I got emotionally, uh,
I felt they felt it was the power of the spirit,
but they they just collapsed. Uh, then others said everyone

(38:27):
else was falling down, so I did it, too. Uh,
the only biblical example I could tell you about being
slain in the spirit is Ananias and Sapphira. I don't
think any of us want to be slain that way. Right. Uh, that.
Remember what happened with them? Uh, here's what I think
it is. And I think it's when when a person legitimately,

(38:49):
legitimately experiences this, they get they they they feel like
they just have to go down. Do you remember what
it was like when the Beatles came to America and
young women were going crazy and And they got so
much emotion going, uh, uh, that they, uh, that they,

(39:15):
that they just became, uh, filled with, with emotion and
they fell down. Same thing happened with Elvis Presley the
generation before and with Frank Sinatra the generation before. Uh,
that's that's all that I think it is. Uh, when
they when they have that kind of experience, uh, I

(39:38):
think it's it's just saying, uh, that they got filled
with emotion and, and they felt if they, you know,
sometimes people just go, uh, uh, uh, they, they just
go and they, uh, uh, that they, they, uh, they

(40:00):
following along sometimes they get so filled with emotion, they
fall down. I forget the name of it. Once I was, uh,
I had an allergic reaction to a medicine when I
was in college, and the doctor gave me an injection, and, uh, I,
I thought, oh, uh, I'll be fine now. Uh, and, uh,

(40:21):
the the, uh, the interesting thing was I just went
right down, uh, because I got just filled up with.
It's just like a I was, I was just so
filled there with this injection. Boom. Gone. And I think
that's that's all that happens. That's what I think it is.
I don't mean to be, uh, unkind or disrespect someone's experience.

(40:44):
I just don't think it's the Holy Spirit. I think
it's emotion. So. Okay. Does that help?

S7 (40:51):
Thank you.

S8 (40:52):
Yeah. Okay. Yeah.

S7 (40:53):
I've enjoyed, uh, Torrey Auditorium and Moody's church. Uh, and
I've never seen that happen. Any any services?

S8 (41:01):
No, it doesn't happen at Moody, I'll tell you that.

S7 (41:06):
So that's that was the reason for my question. Thank
you so much.

S8 (41:09):
Yeah, sure. Uh, we're going to.

S1 (41:12):
Talk.

S8 (41:12):
To Lee.

S1 (41:13):
In Cleveland, Ohio. Uh, I guess listen, on wtxf. Welcome
to Open Line, Lee. How can I help you?

S9 (41:20):
Thank you. Uh. Thank you, doctor. Uh, yes. I've heard
of people that are present themselves as being very learned
or scholarly that, uh, it's required that when a person
is baptized, they have to be baptized in the specific
name of the father, specific name of the son, and

(41:41):
specific name of the Holy Spirit, as I understand it. Otherwise,
they haven't been baptized. And I get the impression they're
saying that, uh, they're not saved.

S8 (41:53):
Mhm.

S1 (41:53):
Well, I don't think baptism makes a person saved. Uh,
whether they are baptized or not, or baptized appropriately or in,
you know, inappropriately with the right formula. I just don't
think we're saved by grace through faith. It's not of works,
including the work of baptism. So wouldn't you agree with

(42:15):
me that we're saved by grace through faith?

S9 (42:18):
Yes, sir. But I wanted to.

S1 (42:21):
Yeah, yeah. I just, I just I think that that's
important to recognize at first. Uh, and, uh, the, the
the second is, uh. This is important, uh, uh, that

(42:44):
the Bible commands that we be baptized. Uh, it tells
those of us who make disciples to when they win
or want the Lord to baptize them. And then it says,
how in the name of the father and the son
and the Holy Spirit. And I think it's it's a
significant verse there in Matthew 28, because that command reflects

(43:08):
the triune nature of God, because it uses the singular word,
baptizing them in the name, not plural names, but in
the name of the father, son, and Holy Spirit. And
since the Bible does indeed give that, uh, then, uh,

(43:29):
then the uh, then the idea is that that we
reflect the triune nature of God when we baptize and
when we are baptized. And so I think I wouldn't
mess around and I and use other terms for God,
I think we've got the clear formula it's written out

(43:51):
in Scripture. Why change it? What do you think?

S9 (43:54):
Yeah, I agree, I agree with that. I just wanted
to be sure.

S1 (43:57):
Yeah, that's what I would say. Okay. Appreciate it. Lee.
Thanks for your call. Yeah. Uh, we're going to talk
to Caroline in Geneva, Illinois, listening on wmbi. Welcome to
Open Line. Caroline. Caroline.

S10 (44:11):
Well, good morning and thank you. And I am a
cable partner with you, so.

S1 (44:18):
Oh, great. Thank you for being a kitchen table partner.

S10 (44:22):
Yes. Thank you. I'm not at the kitchen table. I'm
at my desk right now.

S1 (44:25):
Okay, there we go. Okay.

S10 (44:27):
Uh, anyway, um, I am teaching a Bible study, and
we finished our Bible study early this year. And so
we went to your 50 most important Bible questions. And
I let them choose each choose some of the important
questions they liked from that book. Well, the one we're

(44:48):
going to do Monday is question number three. Can the
believer lose their salvation? And in the third reason or
the third way that you talk there. It's about Romans
838 and 39.

S1 (45:05):
Mhm.

S10 (45:07):
Um, just remember we who would you say are created
beings and even we don't have the power to separate
ourselves from the love of God and the and the Messiah, Jesus. Um,
three of the people in the Bible study have members
of their family who are adults now, who grew up
in the word, went to all of the camps, uh,

(45:32):
confessed Jesus as their Lord, got baptized and now have said, no,
I no longer believe in it. I'm an atheist.

S1 (45:40):
Mhm. So how have they separated themselves from the love
of God and lost their salvation? Is that what you're asking?

S10 (45:50):
That's it.

S1 (45:51):
Yeah. Uh, well, I think it's interesting that in the
last days. Oh, my. Running out of time. Uh, you
know what, Carolyn? When we come back, uh, in the
next hour, I'm going to address this question. So you
stick around with us. I'll start off by talking with you. Okay.

S10 (46:13):
Uh, okay.

S1 (46:14):
Because that's it for the first hour. Uh, thanks for listening, everyone.
Keep listening. There's a second hour of Open Line coming
up from on most of these stations, and you can
hear the answer to Carolyn's question. I think that would
be really great. Uh, during the break, check out our
web page, Open Line radio.org. It's got all the links
you're looking for, including a link to my personal web page.

(46:35):
You can see about going on a biblical cruise with me.
Our Bible study across America will continue in the second hour,
so stay with us. Open line with Doctor Michael Ray
Dolnick is a production of Moody Radio, a ministry of
Moody Bible Institute. We'll be right back.