Thursday, February 25, 2010

How old is the earth?

Question from Bryan:

I was wondering what your personal opinion is on the age of both the earth and the age of the universe (in general)?

Answer from Pastor Bob:

I take the days of creation in Genesis 1 as symbolic of long periods of time. I am not a scientist, but I don't see the need to insist on a young earth. The Hebrew word yom (day) is used in Genesis 2:4 as a period of time ("In the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens"), so why must it be limited to 24 hours in Genesis 1? What's more, the sun and moon were not made until the fourth day (Genesis 1:14-19), so how would 24 hours be determined on the previous days? I see no conflict between Genesis 1 and the theory that the earth is millions of years old.
I recommend the following books on the subject: Philip Johnson's Darwin on Trial and Lee Strobel's The Case for the Creator and William Demski's The Design Revolution. I would also recommend the website of the Discovery Institute: www.discovery.org.
If people prefer to believe a literal 6 days of creation, I'm not interesting in arguing with them, as long as we can agree that God created and we do not believe in Darwinian macro-evolution.

Sunday, February 21, 2010

Does Exodus contradict itself about saying Moses talked to God "face to face"?

Question from Keri's Bible class:

It says that Moses sat down and talked to God face to face, yet it later says that God put Moses in a cleft so that he couldn't see God's face because nobody had ever seen God's face. Don't these accounts seem to contradict themselves?

Answer from Pastor Bob:


Exodus 33:11 says Moses spoke with God "face to face" but Exodus 33:20 says nobody can see God's face and live, and Exodus 33:23 says God allowed Moses to see His back, but not his face. Apparently when the scripture says Moses spoke "face to face" this expression was not meant to be taken literally, but was a way of saying that they spoke personally.

Saturday, February 20, 2010

Did the high priest wear a rope into the Holy of Holies so he could be pulled out?

Question from Keri's Bible class:

Is it true that the high priests had to wear a rope around their waist when they entered the Holy of Holies in case they fainted or died while they were in there...so someone outside the curtain could pull them out?

Answer from Pastor Bob:

This is a late Jewish tradition, but I cannot find a specific reference to it in the Bible. Exodus 28:35 says he is to wear a bell that will be heard when he enters the Holy of Holies, "so that he does not die." God knows everything, and so the noise of the bell wasn't because God couldn't hear them coming it, but it was a way of showing reverence to greet God, so the priest would not enter the Holy of Holies flippantly. However, there is nothing in the Bible that says the priest wore a rope or cord to be pulled out. This is in some Jewish traditions, but not in the Bible.

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

If jealousy is one of the Ten Commandments, why is God jealous?

Question from Keri's Bible class:

If envy/jealousy is one of the Ten Commandments, why does God say his name is Jealous in Exodus?

Answer from Pastor Bob:

Read Exodus 20:1-17 again. Jealousy is not one of the Ten Commandments. When Exodus 20:5 stresses in the Second Commandment against idolatry that God is a "jealous" God, the Hebrew word used is a word only used of God. There is a different word for jealousy used in Hebrew for jealousy among people. God's "jealousy" refers to his unwillingness to share second place with anything or anyone else, because He is God and deserves to be Number One.

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Why did God harden Pharaoh's heart?

Question from Keri:

We were studying Exodus when the following question came up in my Bible class:
Why does God harden Pharoah's heart (or so the Bible words it) if he wanted the Israelites to go free? The way that's worded is confusing to the students and me.

Answer from Pastor Bob:

Strange as it sounds to us, nine times in Exodus it says that God hardened Pharaoh's heart (4:21; 7:3; 9:12; 10:1; 10:20; 10:27: 11:10; 14:4; 14:8) and another nine times it says Pharaoh hardened his own heart (7:13-14; 7:22; 8:15; 8:19; 8:32; 9:7: 9:34-35). So Pharaoh was responsible for his own actions, but the Lord was ultimately in control of events. It's like the issue of predestination; man has a free choice, but God already knows what that choice will be, so God can speak of it as predestined because of His foreknowledge. The bottom line is that God knew how Pharaoh would resist, but God was going to have His will done, yet without violating Pharaoh's free will. God's purpose through it all was to bring glory to His name. Notice Exodus 6:7: "Then you will know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians."

Friday, February 12, 2010

Who are Daniel's kings of the South and North?

Question from Joseph:
Brother Bob, I was reading Daniel 11, and I don't understand who it is talking about when it describes the "king of the South" and the "king of the North." Who does this mean?

Answer from Pastor Bob:
Although it may bring to the mind of some Americans the Civil War, it does not refer to Confederates and Yankees!
This passage is a prophecy about Alexander the Great ("a mighty king" from Greece mentioned in Daniel 11:2-3), whose "empire will be broken up" (11:4). We know from history that Alexander's empire was divided after his death. "The king of the South" refers to Ptolemaic rulers in Egypt, and "the king of the North" refers to Seleucid rulers whose empire stretched from Syria to part of India. A good study Bible can list the specific rulers and dates of the battles described in the chapter.
The king who exalts himself described in Daniel 11:36 and following seems to shift from kings known in history to the future Antichrist.