Posted by: thaishin | February 10, 2023

Was that the start of the tribulation?

Open line on Feb 4, 2023 hour 2

Listener:

Hey Dr Mike, thank you for taking my call, I noticed that the Word says that the Anti-Christ is going to make false peace agreements with Israel and I was wondering if possibly the past politician that we had who went to Israel and made agreements, so much so that he even changed the location of the embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, one of his main negotiators was his son in law, who was not a diplomat or involved in …

Dr Rydelnik:

Just go ahead with your question, we know about the history.. go ahead … what is your question?

Listener:

Do you think that the former agreement will have something to do with what’s going to happen in the future in the tribulation?

Dr Rydelnik:

I see. Well… the book of 1 Thessalonians says in chapter 5, I believe, where everyone is saying peace and safety, I believe in verse 3, when they say peace and security, then sudden destruction comes on them, it does appear that the tribulation period starts in a time of peace and safety. Also the invasion in Ezekiel 38 and 39 is coming at a time when Israel is living in a time of peace because it says repeatedly in that invasion that takes place somewhere near the end of the first half of the tribulation, it takes place when people is living a time of security, it says in verse 11 for example that “I will come against a tranquil people of Israel, who are living securely, all of them living without walls or without bars or gates, that’s when the Lord says that’s the time it will happen. So, the question becomes are the Abraham Accords with the gulf states and Israel, are they the peace and safety that 1 Thessalonian 5 is talking about, that’s what your question is, correct?

Listener:

Yes. Correct.

Dr Rydelnik:

Well, I don’t think so. Because it says a little bit later in this passage in Ezekiel 38, when the invasion happens, it says Sheba and Dedan and the merchants of Tarshish with all its rulers will ask you this about the nations that invade Israel, “Have you come to see spoil? Have you assembled your horse to carry off plunder to make off with silver and gold, to take cattle and possessions and to sieze great spoils? But it doesn’t says in this passage that Sheba and Dedan join in the battle, Sheba and Dedan are gulf states, that’s what the name of the places were in biblical days. And so what it appears to be saying is and I think the merchants of Tarshish, Tarshish being in Spain, merchants of Europe, and so what it’s saying is that the gulf states and the EU, apparently, are going to be saying things like, “Are you coming to invade and if not ..”, they are just going to ask questions, not going to be part of the invasion. So, it seems to me that even in the tribulation period, the peace that’s taken by the gulf states, that doesn’t fail, those states does not invade, as part of it, as best as I can tell, I think we should do all we can in this day and age, to work for peace. I don’t think the Abraham Accords are part of the false Messiah’s peace.

Scriptures:

1 Thessalonians 5

3 For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. -kjv

3 For when they say, “Peace and safety!” then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape. -nkjv

3 While they are saying, “Peace and safety!” then sudden destruction will come upon them like labor pains upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. -nasb

3 While people are saying, “Peace and safety,” destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. -niv

Ezekiel 38

11 And thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates,

12 To take a spoil, and to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon the people that are gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land.

13 Sheba, and Dedan, and the merchants of Tarshish, with all the young lions thereof, shall say unto thee, Art thou come to take a spoil? hast thou gathered thy company to take a prey? to carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to take a great spoil? -kjv

11 You will say, ‘I will go up against a land of unwalled villages; I will go to a peaceful people, who dwell [d]safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates’— 12 to take plunder and to take booty, to stretch out your hand against the waste places that are again inhabited, and against a people gathered from the nations, who have acquired livestock and goods, who dwell in the midst of the land. 13 Sheba, Dedan, the merchants of Tarshish, and all their young lions will say to you, ‘Have you come to take plunder? Have you gathered your army to take booty, to carry away silver and gold, to take away livestock and goods, to take great plunder?’ -nkjv

11 and you will say, ‘I will go up against the land of unwalled villages. I will go against those who are at rest, who live securely, all of them living without walls and having no bars or gates, 12 to capture spoils and to seize plunder, to turn your hand against the ruins that are now inhabited, and against the people who are gathered from the nations, who have acquired livestock and goods, who live at the center of the world.’ 13 Sheba and Dedan and the merchants of Tarshish with all its villages will say to you, ‘Have you come to capture spoils? Have you assembled your contingent to seize plunder, to carry away silver and gold, to take away livestock and goods, to capture great spoils? -nasb

11 You will say, “I will invade a land of unwalled villages; I will attack a peaceful and unsuspecting people—all of them living without walls and without gates and bars. 12 I will plunder and loot and turn my hand against the resettled ruins and the people gathered from the nations, rich in livestock and goods, living at the center of the land.” 13 Sheba and Dedan and the merchants of Tarshish and all her villages will say to you, “Have you come to plunder? Have you gathered your hordes to loot, to carry off silver and gold, to take away livestock and goods and to seize much plunder? -niv

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Posted in Tribulation

Posted by: thaishin | February 2, 2023

What is baptism by fire?

January 28, 2023 open line hour 2

Listener:

I have this question out of the book of Matthew chapter 3 in the account of John the Baptist when he was baptizing, he said it in verse 11: that I am baptizing with water but there’s one who comes after me who is greater than I whose sandals I am not worthy to carry, He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. And I want to know how does that fire comes in?

Dr Michael Rydelnik:

Well, it’s saying the Lord Jesus will be the one who baptizes believers with the Spirit. We are baptized with the Holy Spirit. The Lord Jesus is the one who sends the Holy Spirit. He says he will send you another comforter. When we believe, we are immersed with the body of Christ with the Holy Spirit but the Lord Jesus is the one who sent Him but He also will baptize with fire. That means He will immerse people who don’t believe in Him with judgement. The reason I say that is when you read the next verse, his winnowing shovel is in his hand, He will clear his threshing floor gathered his wheat in the barn but the chaff he will burn up with fire that never goes out. So, the point is the Lord Jesus has the authority to place us in the body by the power of the Holy Spirit into the body, that’s the baptism of the Holy Spirit that began at Pentecost. It’s every believer or we will be baptized with fire, the judgement that we face if we don’t believe in Him. How much better to appreciate being put in the body of Christ, we live with the Lord Jesus forever. That’s the baptism of the Holy Spirit. That’s what happens to any person who will believe in the Lord Jesus. Hope you will put your trust in the Lord Jesus who died for you and rose again and experience baptism of the Holy Spirit.

Matthew 3

11 I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance. but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire:

12 Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire. -kjv

11 I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 12 His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” -nkjv

11 “As for me, I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 12 His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clear His threshing floor; and He will gather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” -nasb

11 “I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 12 His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” -niv

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Posted in Baptism

Posted by: thaishin | January 26, 2023

Is Psalm 45 Messianic?

Open Line on January 21, 2023 hour 2.

Listener:

My question is kind of about Psalm 45 in general, I am reading out of the New King James and then this bible, it puts a little star when it is referring to Messianic verse or passage, so I want to know, it seems like it is talking about Christ as being the king, from verses 1 to , well the whole thing but at the end, like verse 9, the king’s daughter are among your honorable women, at right hand stands the queen in gold from Ophir, then verse 10 switches to Listen, O daughter, consider and incline your ear, forget your people, then it sounds like it is an earthly wedding, I want to know how to read it, am I reading it prophetically as Christ, is there real wedding, then it sounds like it’s a queen that’s there and then another one that’s coming being brought to Him, to be married, as multiple wives, or is it going back and forth between prophetic and real?

Dr Michael Rydelnik:

You’ve got a great question here. Now, first of all, let me say, I believe, the whole book of Psalm is Messianic, not just isolated verses here or there. That the overall theme of the Psalms is Messianic. There are many many scholars who hold this view is sort of becoming fashionable again, to see the Psalms holistically as a book of Messiah. David C Mitchell, who wrote a book 20 years ago, called the “Message of the Psalter” and he came back to an older view which sees the book of Psalm as a holistic unified book with this key message being the coming of the Messiah. I agree with you too that Psalm 45 seems Messianic, the reason is because it is. Particularly, it seems to me, there may have been an allusion to historical event, I think it was intentionally, like some people say, it was Solomon that was getting married. This was referring to him but I don’t think it is. I think the groom is intended to be symbolic for the Messiah. The reason I say that is if you look at verse 6, “Your throne, O God is forever …, He’s calling whoever this is, this is God, boy, I am feeling giving a lot of books away. There’s a wonderful exposition by a man by a man named Seph Postell, who is a Moody grad, Jewish believer, who is the academic dean of Israel College of the Bible. He wrote on Psalm 45, Messiah as bridegroom, in the Moody Handbook of Messianic Prophecy and I think you would really be blessed by reading it. What I am going to do is since we are running out of time, we are going to send you a copy of the Moody Handbook of Messianic Prophecy.

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Posted in Messianic

Posted by: thaishin | December 24, 2022

Happy Birthday Jesus Christ, my Saviour and my Lord!

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Posted in Christmas

Posted by: thaishin | December 15, 2022

What is the narrow gate?

Open Line, moody radio, hour 2 on December 10, 2022

Listener:

If possible, can you explain Matthew chapter 7 verses 13 and 14, please? Thank you so much!

Dr Michael Rydelnik:

7, 13 and 14 says enter through the narrow gate for that gate is wide and the road is broad that leads to destruction and there are many who go through it, how narrow is the gate and difficult the road that leads to life and few find it. I believe what the Lord Jesus had done in the sermon of the mount is he has compared what true faith in the Messianic king is versus the faith as being taught by the Jewish leaders of that time. And that’s why in Matthew 5 he keeps, I think a lot of English version don’t get this but he is actually saying you have heard it said to the ancients, to the old ones, the elders, really, to the Jewish leaders, you have heard said , not to them but by the elders, we don’t usually get that, this is their interpretation but now I say to you, and he gives his interpretation and he is basically saying to Jewish people, you can choose to follow the crowd or you can choose to follow the king but it is only through the king that we can find life. That’s what he is saying … Today, what a great choice we have to offer people today, the crowd is saying go all this different directions but we need to follow the king, the way that leads to life …

Matthew 7

13 “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. 14 Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it. -nkjv

13 Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:

14 Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. -kjv

13 “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. 14 For the gate is narrow and the way is constricted that leads to life, and there are few who find it. -nasb

13 “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. -niv

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Posted in Faith

Posted by: thaishin | December 7, 2022

Is Hell eternal?

Openline radio program on December 3, 2022, hour 1.

Listener:

Hey Dr Rydelnik, my question today is, is Hell eternal? I was always taught that it was, but my nephew he was in theology college, he said it isn’t, he says every thing is going to pass away, hell is going to pass away too.

Dr Michael Rydelnik:

Where did he learn that?

Listener:

I guess in college. I don’t know which school he went to.

Dr Michael Rydelnik:

In theology college. I guess there are people who say that. Theological schools. There are a lot of verses about hell in the bible that we can read. Let me just say this, that there are a lot more, people will find this interesting, the Lord Jesus says about 3 or 4 times more about how we use our money than he talked about hell. A lot of people think the bible is filled with fire and brimstone than hell, it’s there, I wouldn’t deny it. But, I think it’s not as prevalent as many people think. It is there, it’s very clear teaching and I am going to show you one verse that I think helps with your question. But, there are many things we need to read about the bible. Secondly, the reality of hell is something that really we ought to be motivated by, because God loves people, He never intended them to be separated from him forever, and so we ought to be really motivated by the reality of hell, to let people know that God has a better future for them and they will trust that Jesus died for them and rose again and took the punishment for their sins and provide new life through his resurrection. So, that’s what we want to really communicate, it should drive us, it should motivate us to know that people can have eternal life and we need to be the ones to tell people about that. The verse that I want to focus on with you is Revelation 14, verses 10 to 11. In the middle of verse 10, he says, of the beast, that he will drink of the wine of God’s wrath which is mixed full strength in the cup of His anger, now the beast, according to Revelation, ends up eternally in the lake of fire, which is really what Hell is, eternally separated from God and also everyone that refuses to trust in Jesus, also ends up there, but it says of this beast, he will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the sight of the holy angels, and in the sight of the Lamb, and the smoke of their torment will go up forever and ever, there is no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and his image. Those are the people who worship the beast, there we go, those are other people. Any one who receives the mark of his name. So, right there, I think it is as clear as it can be, in this description of the lake of fire that you read about later in Revelation. It is very clear, this is not a temporary situation. It doesn’t get destroyed. There’s going to be a new heaven and a new earth, that’s a new creation where all the people who know the Lord will live forever but there’s going to be a lake of fire as well. Man, that should drive us, motivate us, get us out there talking about the love of God, what He has provided for us.

Revelation 14

9 And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand,

10 The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb:

11 And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name. -kjv

9 Then a third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand, 10 he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out full strength into the cup of His indignation. He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. 11 And the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever; and they have no rest day or night, who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name.” -nkjv

9 Then another angel, a third one, followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, 10 he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed in full strength in the cup of His anger; and he will be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. 11 And the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever; they have no rest day and night, those who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name.” 12 Here is the perseverance of the saints who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus. -nasb

9 A third angel followed them and said in a loud voice: “If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives its mark on their forehead or on their hand, 10 they, too, will drink the wine of God’s fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath. They will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb. 11 And the smoke of their torment will rise for ever and ever. There will be no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and its image, or for anyone who receives the mark of its name.” -niv

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Posted in Judgement Day

Posted by: thaishin | December 2, 2022

What does Galatians 4:12 mean?

Open line radio on Oct 1, 2022 hour 2.

Listener:

We are doing a study on Galatians and we are at Galatians 4:12. And it says “Brothers, I entreat you because as I am, for I also have become as you are” and I am a little confused about that statement.

Dr Michael Rydelnik:

I think a good background for this is 1 Corinthians 9 when Paul says: “To the Jews I became a Jew, though not under the law, though I am not under the law of Moses, he means, he’s freed from the obligation of the law to keep the law of Moses, he says without the law I became as without law, though now without the law of God, this overarching law of God that he wants to obey but the expression of it under the law of Moses is though he may keep it as a cultural identification with his people, he is not bound by it. And so when we look at 1 Corinthians 9, I think it kind of helps you understand because these Galatians are saying Gentiles need to convert to Judaism, they need to be circumcised before they could believe in Jesus and when they convert to Judaism and were circumcised, they took on the entire yoke of the law. They believe that the works that required of them were the law of Moses. Not the ones that were repeated in the New Covenant but actually the laws of Kosher, the laws of circumcision, the laws of Shevat and all these details and he says I beg you brothers, become like me, meaning liberated from the law of Moses and under the law of the Messiah, for I also became like you, to those without law, I live as without law, when he was among Galatians, he wasn’t trying to live an orthodox Jewish life, so he’s just saying become like me, liberated from the law of Moses, just like I live among you, live in a way that make you think I have keep the law.

Gal 4

12 Brethren, I urge you to become like me, for I became like you … -njkv

12 Brethren, I beseech you, be as I am; for I am as ye are: … -kjv

12 I beg of you, brothers and sisters, become as I am, for I also have become as you are. … -nasb

12 I plead with you, brothers and sisters, become like me, for I became like you. … -niv

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Posted in law

Posted by: thaishin | November 25, 2022

Why is rebellion described is as a sin of witchcraft?

Openline on moody radio on Nov 12, 2022 hour 1.

Listener:

Good morning Dr Rydelnik, concerning 1 Samuel 15:23, rebellion is as a sin of witchcraft, a preacher I watched says rebellion is witchcraft but another preacher specifically called it out and says rebellion is not witchcraft, it is just like witchcraft, which is correct and do we really care? Thank you.

Dr Michael Rydelnik:

Well, it is not witchcraft because witchcraft is witchcraft and rebellion is rebellion. It’s not in the text actually said. When you read verse 23, rebellion is as or is like the sin of witchcraft, in the context, it wasn’t witchcraft that Saul carried out, it was his action to disobey God about the destruction of the Amakelites and king Agag …

Listener:

Yes

Dr Michael Rydelnik:

Now what was Saul most noted for as king when it came to cleaning out the land?

Listener:

I think one time he took some stuff that he’s not supposed to take, maybe?

Dr Michael Rydelnik:

One of the good things that Saul did is as we find out in 1 Samuel 28, is that in chapter 28 verse 3, Saul had put the mediums and necromancers out of the land, one of the good things he dealt with witchcraft, he didn’t want it in the land of Israel, which was good but then he rebels against the Lord,

Listener: I see where you are going …

Dr Michael Rydelnik:

He says has the Lord delighted in offerings and sacrifices? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, to listen than the fat of lambs, for rebellion is as the sin of divination, and presumption is as iniquity and idolatry, in other words, you’re saying I am doing ok because I dealt with divination, I dealt with it, I’m good and did what God wanted about that and then he says rebellion against God, outright rebellious disobedience is as if you have said you did the same thing that you said you have already cleaned up. It’s not the same thing, it’s the same kind of heart attitude.

1 Samuel 15

23 For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, And stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He also has rejected you from being king.” -nkjv

23 For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, he hath also rejected thee from being king. -kjv

23 For rebellion is as reprehensible as the sin of divination, And insubordination is as reprehensible as false religion and idolatry. Since you have rejected the word of the Lord, He has also rejected you from being king.” -nasb

23 For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has rejected you as king.” -niv

1 Samuel 28

3 Now Samuel had died, and all Israel had lamented for him and buried him in Ramah, in his own city. And Saul had put the mediums and the spiritists out of the land. -nkjv

3 Now Samuel was dead, and all Israel had lamented him, and buried him in Ramah, even in his own city. And Saul had put away those that had familiar spirits, and the wizards, out of the land. -kjv

3 Now Samuel was dead, and all Israel had mourned him and buried him in Ramah, his own city. And Saul had removed the mediums and spiritists from the land. -nasb

3 Now Samuel was dead, and all Israel had mourned for him and buried him in his own town of Ramah. Saul had expelled the mediums and spiritists from the land. -niv

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Posted in Sin

Posted by: thaishin | November 17, 2022

Why is there a need for the believer to ask for the Holy Spirit?

Openline Radio on Nov 5, 2022, hour 1

Listener:

Looking at Luke 11:13, which says that God will give us the Holy Spirit if we ask Him, specifically it says if you then who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him? When we are born again, God gives us His Holy Spirit at conversion, can you explain why we should ask for the His Spirit when the Holy Spirit is indwelling in us?

Dr Michael Rydelnik:

Just remember when the Lord Jesus said this, it was before Pentecost, the Lord Jesus in the upper room discourse taught that there is going to be something different with the birth of the Church. In the old testament and even in the days of earthly ministry of the Lord Jesus, the Holy Spirit was not in all believers, only in some believers and that He was not permanently in believers, He could be taken away, which was why David prayed take not your Spirit from me when he repented. The Lord Jesus makes a big point in the upper room discourse that He will send the Helper, the Comforter, different translations for that, the Paraclete, and that that One will be in all of us and He will never leave us and when does that start? It starts with the birth of the Church, at Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit falls in Acts 2. And so the Lord Jesus was speaking to a group of people who were not yet, at that time He was talking in His earthly ministry, when people could still pray for the Holy Spirit and He did not come to them automatically.

Luke 11

13 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!” -nkjv

13 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him? -kjv

13 So if you, despite being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?” -nasb

13 If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” -niv

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Posted in Holy Spirit

Posted by: thaishin | November 10, 2022

About hermeneutics

Openline Moody Radio October 8, 2022 hour 1

Micheal Rydelnik:

I want to talk about something with you, Tricia, I looked over the questions that we are hopefully getting to today and I have been noticing about the pattern also, not just with questions I got sent in but frequently, I have ideas of about why people have questions, and part of it is, I think that people don’t realize that the bible is written in the way that we speak. It’s written with figures of speech, and so although we believe that the bible is literally true, I like to say it is realistically true. Because it is real, it is not always literal. I mean when the Lord Jesus call Herod that old fox, right? Do you think he has a bushy tail?

Tricia Mcmillan:

No

Michael Rydelnik:

No, What does it mean, do you think?

Tricia Mcmillan:

He was sly and cunning

Michael Rydelnik:

There you go ….

Tricia Mcmillan:

Like a fox …

Michael Rydelnik:

Yeah, anymore than you say it’s raining cats and dogs, I mean it’s a figure of speech

Tricia Mcmillan:

Right

Michael Rydelnik:

An idiom and in any case, what people do? They will take a figure of speech and say that’s not literally true. Now, there’s another thing that I noticed people do, again in terms of realistic language is that they want all numbers to be exactly precise and sometimes the bible uses round it off numbers. The bible speaks in general terms. Now, sometimes they are very precise, if you look at the prophecy of Daniel 9, I think the prophecy goes right down to the day and sometimes it will give precise amount of time for something happening, but sometimes the bible speaks in round numbers and then when it does have a precise number, people start shouting “Contradiction, contradiction!” Now, I suppose sometimes that happens in real life too. Don’t you think?

Tricia Mcmillan:

I think so. It happens to my husband and I. He’s a big picture guy, he can summarize things very well and I get stuck in the minutiae. He might say “There might be around 10 people” and I say no, there were twelve …

Michael Rydelnik:

Yeah

Tricia Mcmillan:

As if he is wrong but he’s not, there were about ten …

Michael Rydelnik:

Exactly. It’s just that …

Tricia Mcmillan:

But there were twelve. They were accurate stories… as we were telling them…

Michael Rydelnik:

I always say that as best as I can tell, the birth of the Messiah was in 4 or 5 BC, now that we calculated and the death and resurrection happens in the year 33 and that would make the beginning of Jesus’s ministry about the year 29, 30 somewhere around there…but Luke says when the Lord Jesus begins his public ministry, he was around 30. Now, if you were born in 4 BC and this is 29, He was about 33, 32, you know zero year, so he goes from -1 to +1 BC, the next year is 1 AD, so he’s about 32 or 33 when he began his earthly ministry, which I feel totally comfortable that he is around thirty. Other people will say that can’t be because he has to be 30, exactly. And so they take the year 30 as an alternate date for the year of the crucifixion.

Tricia Mcmillan,

Yes, yes.

Michael Rydelnik:

I want to tell everyone. Everyone take a deep breath, when you see these things, many of the alleged contradictions that you see in scripture or many of the confusing aspects of it are from being overly wooden literal. Not allowing round it off number, not allowing figures of speech, and if we would just do that, we wouldn’t have trouble. Now, that does not mean that it’s not true, I mean that’s what were talking about before. When Nate, you mentioned would be more general and you would be more specific but you were both telling the truth. We are not saying that the bible has an error or a figure of speech is an error or that a rounded number is an error, it’s just an alternative way of talking. I think it’s just important that as a general rule, when you read the bible, don’t read it in a wooden literal fashion and I think it will serve answering some of the questions that people have. So, that’s a little ‘hermeneutical’, that’s a big word, interpretive, that’s what hermeneutics means, interpretive guidelines to recognize that the bible speaks of real speech that we use all the time.

Tricia Mcmillan:

Where’s the place to know if this is a specific number that have meaning or to know in Daniel that this is the specific number versus say ‘Exodus’?

Michael Rydelnik:

When you calculate it, when it seems it is very precise, it is very precise. Well, you know what, if you have 2 numbers and they are close to each other and one is a rounded number and one is a little bit more precise with more details, then you would know, one is rounded and the other is more precise. I guess that’s how you would do it.

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