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In this episode of The Narrow Path, host Steve Gregg takes us on an enlightening journey as we explore various complexities of biblical teachings and Christian faith. Starting with an in-depth discussion on Matthew 16:24-27, Steve elaborates on the multifaceted reasons why one might choose to follow Christ, referencing rational minds and eternal consequences. Each reason presents a unique perspective and understanding of what it means to live according to Christ’s teachings. The conversations further dive into the Apostle Paul’s predictions of the great apostasy as penned in 1 Timothy 4, offering listeners a comprehensive view of potential misinterpretations
SPEAKER 1 :
Thank you.
SPEAKER 06 :
Good afternoon and welcome to the Narrow Path radio broadcast. My name is Steve Gregg and we are live Monday through Friday at this same time and we take your phone calls during that time. So that’s what we’re doing today. If you have questions about the Bible or the Christian faith or you have a disagreement with the host and you’d like to say so and say why, you’re always welcome to join us here. So the number to call is 844-484-5737. That’s 844-484-5737. Excuse me. I was distracted by something going on on my computer as I’m rebooting something here so that I can actually function. And we see we have a couple of lines open right now. But you can still fill those. Actually, one of them is now taken. I’ve been saying this week that I’m setting up some speaking itineraries in various areas. And those areas are increasing. And so if you’re interested in my speaking, if you live in any of these areas and you’d like to book me to speak in those areas, I will be glad to. give you the dates relevant to my presence in those places, and we can set something up. You can contact me. One of them is going to be in Tennessee. I’m going to be in Nashville in early March. I’ll be in the Fresno Sacramento area in early April. I’ll be in Texas in late April. And I’ll be in the Seattle area in mid-May. Now, specific dates will be posted actually at our website and at our Facebook page. But if you’re in those areas, if you’re either in Tennessee, Texas, Central California, or the Seattle area, and you want to set something up, we will be glad to put that on the calendar. All right, just so you’ll have that information in the back of your head, and you can be thinking about that. We will post at the website the dates and also at our Facebook page. If you’re not familiar with our Facebook page, on Facebook, just look up Steve Gregg, The Narrow Path. The reason it’s Steve Gregg, The Narrow Path, is because it’s not the only The Narrow Path. There are other Narrow Path ministries and so forth. So my name’s Steve Gregg. The Narrow Path would be where you look on Facebook. And enough on that. We’re going to go to our phones now, and we’re going to talk first of all to Mark in Mission Viejo, California. Mark, welcome to The Narrow Path. Thanks for calling.
SPEAKER 10 :
Yeah, thank you. Hello, Steve. I hope you’re doing well. And so it was a month ago, December 30th, that we were last talking about Matthew 16th 24 through 27. And my understanding of the text is that Jesus as Lord is giving the benefits of choosing to follow him and the reasons why we should follow him. So how I see it, he’s appealing to our rational minds, giving compelling reasons in order to motivate us to action. So, you know, I like to keep in mind that since he created us, he knows how we work, and that we should, and as such, we respond to or should respond to the strongest motivation or most compelling reasons at any given time. And so, you know, he’s just not simply saying that he is the Lord, therefore… what I say, but he’s working with us, appealing to us, giving us reasons. And so my simple question is, do you agree that the Lord himself, as Lord, in this particular text, is giving his reasons why we should follow him?
SPEAKER 06 :
Well, he has definitely given a reason. Yeah, he’s given a reason. It’s not as if there’s only one.
SPEAKER 10 :
Yeah.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah, there’s many valid reasons for following Christ. One is that he’s the Lord, that he’s the king, and people should follow their king. That’s a very good reason. Another reason is that it’s good for you. Those who live according to the way Jesus dictates that we should live, live better lives. They’re more fruitful, more productive, healthier in general. It’s just a good way to live, and even if there was nothing else about it than that, that would be a good reason to follow Jesus. Then there’s also, of course, consequences later on, because God’s going to judge every work that people do. And that’s what, of course, verses 27 and 28 that you’re referring to are saying, that he’s going to judge everyone. So those are like three very good reasons. You could probably think of more, too. But the fact that Jesus gives this one reason in this case… does not suggest that this is the primary reason or that it’s even the most frequently mentioned reason for it. So, yeah, I don’t have any problem with that.
SPEAKER 10 :
Okay, yeah, I appreciate that. You know, I guess I just wanted to confirm that we at least have common ground that in this particular text, regardless of the other reasons one might find in Scripture or based on their own theological beliefs, belief systems, whether it’s you or me, but that in this particular text, the only reason, and I’m not saying it’s the exclusive reason of all the reasons he could give. Of course, I agree that he is Lord, and as such, we should obey him. But in this particular text, he’s giving us reasons why we should follow him and not seek to save our lives. but rather to lose it for his sake because we’ll gain it. And then, of course, there’s a judgment, like you said. And to me, those are compelling reasons in this particular text. So you agree with that part anyways.
SPEAKER 06 :
Well, I think I answered you already, didn’t I?
SPEAKER 10 :
Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, I appreciate that. Yeah, you do. Okay, good. That’s all I wanted to confirm to make sure that we agree, at least on this particular text. Okay, thanks, Steve.
SPEAKER 06 :
Okay, Mark. Thanks for your call. Okay, our next caller is Hank from Youngsville, North Carolina. Hank, welcome.
SPEAKER 11 :
Hello, Steve. Thank you very much. I would like to, my question relates to 1 Timothy chapter 4. In my Bible it says the great apostasy. Many of us are not, my friends as well, We want to know all about the end times, and I know that it’s not something that we really should be focused on all the time, but in 1 Timothy 4, my specific question relates to the Spirit which especially says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, and then things like forbidding to marry. Now, my question is, has any of these things which are listed here happened before, or will it happen in the future? Also, the context in which the readers read 1 Timothy 2.6, the people who read it read it the first time. How did they view that, do you think?
SPEAKER 06 :
In 1 Timothy 2.6, where it says that Christ gave himself a ransom for all to be testified in due time, that verse?
SPEAKER 11 :
No, sorry, it’s 1 Timothy 2.4. The whole thing relates to 1 Timothy 2.4.
SPEAKER 06 :
Okay, he desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth?
SPEAKER 11 :
1 Timothy 2.4 says, now the Spirit expressly says.
SPEAKER 06 :
No, no, that’s actually in chapter 4. Yeah, chapter 4.
SPEAKER 11 :
Oh, okay. It’s chapter 4.
SPEAKER 06 :
You said 2-4. You said 2-4. So that would be chapter 2.
SPEAKER 11 :
Sorry, I made a mistake there.
SPEAKER 06 :
Okay. So you’re saying do these have to do with the future or have they already been fulfilled? That’s what you’re asking?
SPEAKER 11 :
That’s actually what I’m asking, yeah.
SPEAKER 06 :
All right. Well, let me read it for those who don’t know it. Now the Spirit expressly says that in the latter times, or in latter times, which means later than Paul’s times, Many will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron or cauterized. Their conscience is no longer sensitive to right and wrong. more like sociopaths, forbidding to marry and commanding to abstain from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. So what he predicts is people will depart from the pure faith. They’ll be deceived by evil spirits, doctrines of demons. They will be hypocrites, and they’ll speak lies, and their conscience will not bother them about that. And as far as what they would teach, he specifically mentions people forbidding to marry and commanding to abstain from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving. Now, you ask if this has already happened. It certainly has, but it may not be the only time it would happen. Paul said this would happen later, in latter days, which simply is a phrase in Scripture that means sometime after this, sometime after Paul was writing, there’d be a time when these things would be taught by people who were led astray by demonic powers. deception. Now, has anyone ever taught that people should not get married? Well, yeah, there are some who have. There’s been monks, even the Roman Catholic Church forbids marriage of priests, which is interesting in view of the fact that the previous chapter, 1 Timothy chapter 3, says that church leaders should be married, should be the husbands of one wife. And now he says some will come and say they’ll forbid marriage. I don’t know if he means they’ll forbid marriage to church leaders. If so, that certainly has happened in the Roman Catholic Church. But also, he could be referring to Gnostics and ascetics who taught that sex is evil and that being single is the only way to stay pure. There certainly have been plenty of those. There’s been a lot of monks and ascetics of different types who swore off marriage and saying it’s not okay to get married. We should stay celibate. You’ve got those kind of people in different religions. And, of course, as far as forbidding to eat foods that God has said are okay to eat, well, yeah, lots of people have done that. For one thing, I think Paul may be thinking of Judaizers. Judaizers were trying to keep a kosher diet, and yet Paul says every creature of God is good and nothing is to be refused. It’s sanctified by the word of God and prayer. So Paul’s against those who would enforce a Jewish diet. Seventh-day Adventists would be among people today who teach that you should keep a vegetarian diet. There are lots of false religions, especially Eastern religions, that would argue that it’s better to be vegetarian or even mandatory to be vegetarian to be spiritual. So these are things… that have been taught by many false religions, and even some that regard themselves as Christians have taught some of these things. So is this saying something that will happen in our future? Well, I don’t know of any time when it’s predicted to stop being the case. Every kind of deception has arisen in church history and still is with us and will probably continue to be with us into the future. I don’t know if they’ll continue until the coming of the Lord, but they might. But is he speaking specifically of the times before Jesus comes back, the last days, as some people call them, the very end times? Not necessarily. When he says in latter times, it’s more generic. It’s a generic state, but it means times after these. And that was written 2,000 years ago, so there’s been a lot of times after those. And there’s been a lot of the very occurrence of the things he predicted. And we should say that when we see these kinds of things taught today, we should probably recognize that these simply are errors that Paul predicted would come, have come, have come a long time ago and are still with us, and are probably still to be regarded as doctrines of demons and the seduction of evil spirits that Paul says. But I don’t think it’s specifically mentioning the end times as we use that term.
SPEAKER 11 :
Okay. No, thank you very much for that. I understand it much better. Thank you. Great talking to you. Bye now.
SPEAKER 06 :
All right, we’re going to talk next to Colin from Vancouver, B.C. Hi, Colin. Hello. Hi.
SPEAKER 09 :
Hello, Steve. My name is Colin, of course. I appreciate you taking the call. I’ve never called before. Anyway, first of all, thank you. I listen to you from time to time, and I appreciate your program, and frankly, I I really learned quite a bit, you know, and, of course, it’s challenged some of my thinking. So I really appreciate what you do. I don’t necessarily agree with everything you say. However, I really love being challenged, and it really helps me grow. So I really do truly appreciate your program. Thank you. However, there’s one thing a few months ago you mentioned, and please forgive me for being nitpicky. However, it kind of disturbed me, and I probably – took it wrong, but I’d just like to clarify it, and I don’t think you really meant it, but I’d just like to mention it. Go ahead. You mentioned something about us being like sheep, and of course Jesus is the great shepherd, and sometimes he’ll do whatever he wishes with the sheep, and then I think you mentioned in some cases the shepherd eats the sheep, and of course you made some sort of commenting on that. And quite frankly, that kind of disturbed me. And I’m sorry to say it, but it was difficult for me to listen to you after that for a little while. But I just realized I have to resolve it and just get your take on that. And I’m sorry for even bringing it up. Well, no.
SPEAKER 06 :
No problem. No problem. I’m glad you brought it up because it was definitely a misunderstanding. I’ve never suggested that Jesus eats us or Jesus would ever eat us. What I was pointing out is that when Jesus talks about the motivation for God seeking out sinners, it’s for his benefit to get his prodigal sons back. It’s the shepherd’s benefit. It’s the shepherd’s benefit to get his lost sheep back. It was the woman who lost the coin. It was to her benefit to get the coin back. It was not It was not to the coins, but see, Jesus gives all three of those parables in Luke 15. And the chapter is pretty much dominated by those parables. They’re all about lost people being saved. And the point I’m making is that in the Bible, salvation is not primarily said to be for our benefit, but for God’s. It’s about God. It’s about God getting what he deserves. It’s not about us escaping what we deserve. or getting something. We do get something, but the focus of the gospel is what Christ deserves and what we need to stop depriving him of. Now, those parables all give examples of God seeking out the sinner. And the point I’ve made is, you know, it may be that the sinner benefits from being found, but the sinner may not benefit. specifically benefit primarily, I mean, as much as God does, because like the woman searching for the coin, the coin didn’t get any benefit out of it. It’s the woman’s retrieval of something she lost that is the focus here. Likewise, the lamb. The lamb may not benefit from it, you know, because it may eventually be eaten. In other words, the retrieval of the coin and the lamb, and even of the lost son, are not primarily focused on the benefit to the one found, but to the one finding. It’s always, in every case, those parables end with, you know, he finds it or she finds it, and she rejoices and tells all her neighbors, you know, I’ve lost, I’ve found the coin, my sheep, I’ve found my sheep, you know, my son has come home. It’s the pursuit of the sinner is primarily God’s interest, because he has lost something that he values. Now, When I point out that the shepherd might even eat the sheep, I’m not saying that Jesus eats the sheep any more than I believe that we are literally coins or that we’re literally children in a pigsty. These are parables of how the finder is rejoicing to have found what was lost. It does not focus on, none of these parables really focus on the benefit to the one found. And it might not even always be the case that a sheep is benefited by being found. That’s the point I was making. It doesn’t benefit the coin. It may not benefit the sheep. It certainly benefited the prodigal son. And that’s the only one of the three parables that even mentions a benefit to the thing found. But even that is subservient to the larger point of the prodigal son story where the father says, my son was lost. and has now found my son was dead. He is now alive. And the father rejoices to have back the son that he loved. So, you know, it would be a strange thing for me or anyone else to try to make the point that Jesus might eat us. And I think it’s a little strange for someone to think I would make that point. But I see you’ve misunderstood, and now I’m glad to be able to clear that up. I was not saying that Jesus eats us. I’m saying that in a real case of a sheep being recovered, It may or may not benefit the sheep. He may be eaten. So the focus of the story is not on the benefit to the sheep or to the coin or even to the son, although he does benefit from it. So that was the point I was making. I was saying the stories of God finding what was lost always focus on the benefit to God himself, that he retrieved something that was of value to him, which he had been deprived of before. But he gets it back. All right. Yeah. Understand? Yeah, I do. I do.
SPEAKER 09 :
Can you hear me? Uh-huh. I can. Yeah. Okay, yeah. I just wanted to make a quick comment. And, again, I would agree with what you just said. And I appreciate you clarifying what you were meaning because you didn’t really elaborate it too much at the time, at least not when I was listening at that particular time. But, anyway, yeah, I agree because, you know, it’s clear that God, after all, created us. us for his benefit. I mean, I don’t want to lose sight of that. For his glory, yeah. The heart of what you’re talking about. So I totally agree with what you’re saying. So again, thank you for clarifying what you said. It just kind of hit me the wrong way.
SPEAKER 06 :
All right, Colin. Well, I appreciate you calling about it then.
SPEAKER 09 :
Yes, thank you so much.
SPEAKER 06 :
Okay, God bless. Bye-bye. Okay, our next caller is Joe in Seychelles, B.C. That last caller was in B.C. too, I think. Joe, welcome. Hi, Steve. Can you hear me? Uh-huh.
SPEAKER 13 :
All right, yeah, it’s Joe. I’m in Seychelles, B.C., Sunshine Coast here. We’re right across from Vancouver. Appreciate your ministry, wonderful words of wisdom. I have two situations I’d like to talk about, and they’re related to a Catholic lady that I meet once in a while on my travels here. And from two different conversations, it was around Easter time, and we were talking about Stations of the Cross. And I mentioned how I had gone to Jerusalem, and I remember walking the Stations of the Cross. And she says, oh, come and see at our Catholic church here where we are practicing the same thing. And she was saying that we practice plenary indulgences and praying for dead relatives. And she had a question mark about that. And coming across this lady recently, we had another conversation as we – came by a cemetery, she mentioned, let’s stop here so that I can pray for souls to go from purgatory to heaven. Now this is kind of blowing my mind away, being a Protestant, I’m just trying to grasp my mind around these concepts. Can you define for me what is the biblical scriptural basis for a Catholic seminary? Belief in plenary indulgences and this concept about praying for souls to go from purgatory to heaven.
SPEAKER 06 :
All right. Yeah. Well, first of all, it’s really not my place to provide a biblical support for a non-biblical doctrine. That’s their problem to do. But they don’t even care that much because they don’t believe that you have to have Scripture on your side in their doctrines. You have to have either Scripture or traditions. That is, Scripture and tradition to the Roman Catholic are equally authoritative. So, you know, if they believe that Mary ascended into heaven or was assumed into heaven, you know, you don’t need any kind of Bible verses for them to believe that because the Bible doesn’t say a word about that, but they believe it. And so that’s their tradition. And to them, their tradition is as good as if the Word of God had said it. Likewise, there are doctrines about the perpetual virginity of Mary, never mentioned in Scripture. The sinlessness of Mary, certainly never mentioned in Scripture. But these are their traditions. Likewise, purgatory is never mentioned in Scripture. Though they do have the tradition that most people who die are not good enough to go to heaven, but not necessarily bad enough to go to hell. So they go to somewhere in between called purgatory. And there they are purged. which is the basis of the word purgatory. It’s a purgation or a purging process. And they will eventually go to heaven. Now, those who are living can pray for those who are in purgatory to try to shorten the time it takes for them to be released from purgatory and go into heaven. Indulgences, I don’t know how the Catholic Church practices them now, but back in the time of the Reformation, indulgences were, referred to a living person making a donation to the church in order to shorten a relative’s or maybe their own time in purgatory. So you’d be buying your way out or buying somebody else’s way out by giving money to the church that shortens the time in purgatory. Well, of course, the Bible, first of all, doesn’t say anything about purgatory, so the whole idea is unscriptural, but even if the Bible mentions something about purgatory, it would certainly be against scriptural principles, think that people could pay for their sins with money, or that you could pay for someone else’s sins with money. That’s obviously absurd, contrary to all scriptural teaching. The stations of the cross, there’s no mention of them in scripture. There’s certainly no suggestion in scripture that if you pray for someone while you’re at one of the stations of the cross, this is somehow more effective than or gets more done with God than if you pray for that same person at any other spot. But, of course, praying for the dead is never recommended in Scripture. The Bible does not indicate that praying for the dead does a thing for them. So it’s a practice that’s strictly Catholic tradition. But, again, that’s not really a criticism in their minds because they think tradition is as good as Scripture. So if a Protestant says, well, they have no Scripture for that, just tradition, they think, yeah, so what? But to a Protestant, that’s kind of an important fact. Listen, we need to take a break, but I hope that’s helpful to you. You’re listening to The Narrow Path. We have another half hour coming. Do not go away. We’re not finished. But we do like to let you know at the bottom of the hour that we are listener-supported. And being listener-supported, we pay bills from gifts from people like maybe you. If you’d like to write to us, you can write to The Narrow Path. P.O. Box 1730, Temecula, California, 92593. Or go to our website, thenarrowpath.com. I’ll be back in 30 seconds, so don’t go away.
SPEAKER 02 :
We highly recommend that you listen to Steve Gregg’s 14-lecture series entitled, When Shall These Things Be? This series addresses topics like the Great Tribulation, Armageddon, the rise of the Antichrist, and the 70th week of Daniel. When Shall These Things Be? can be downloaded in MP3 format without charge from our website, thenarrowpath.com. Music
SPEAKER 06 :
Welcome back to the Narrow Path radio broadcast. My name is Steve Gregg and we’re live for another half hour taking your calls. If you have questions about the Bible or the Christian faith, I’d be glad to hear from you. You can call to disagree with the host if you wish. You’re always welcome to do so. Nobody is obligated to see anything the way I see it. So you can use this number to reach me. The number is 844- 844-484-5737. We used to mention that that’s a toll-free number, but with cell phones now, it doesn’t matter if it’s toll-free or not. All calls are free, and that’s kind of nice. But it is a toll-free number if you happen to be calling from a landline. 844-484-5737. We’re going to talk next to Jackson calling from Japan, and I know a man named Jackson who lives in Japan, but I’ve not seen him for like 40 years. Hi, Jackson.
SPEAKER 07 :
I’ll bet you who I think you are. I don’t think I’m who you think I am. There’s another Jackson, but I’m nowhere near 40.
SPEAKER 06 :
Okay, well, I’m sorry. It’s a huge coincidence that I know somebody in Japan named Jackson, and you’re there and you’re named that. It’s an uncommon name, isn’t it? Okay, go ahead.
SPEAKER 07 :
Yeah, well, thanks for taking my call. I was wondering about what you think the role of AI in apologetics could be, specifically some sort of system that’s able to, you know, take a question from someone and then look up sources that could be, you know, from your website, your lectures, your calls, other people’s similar apologetics going forward. back throughout history and the scripture itself, of course, and kind of provide all that and potentially, you know, summarize, like, different viewpoints and that sort of thing automatically. I’m wondering, like, what you would think of something like that.
SPEAKER 06 :
Do you work in that technology?
SPEAKER 07 :
Yes, I do.
SPEAKER 06 :
Okay. Well, I think it can be very useful and has been already. I know nothing about AI except how to go on chat GPT and ask a question. I’m so non-techie. I’m amazed I even know how to do that. And it’s even intimidating to me because the technology is so new. So I’m not a very good expert at saying how AI can be used in this way. But there are people who have worked in AI who have actually used it in various ways before. There’s a website called OpenTheo, that’s OpenTheo, OpenTheo.org, which has used AI to make transcriptions of like 1,500 of my lectures. And so people can, you know, and they can search them. You know, they can go there, pick them up, open the lecture transcript and search for whatever they want there. Now, this other website isn’t really using AI, as far as I know. Maybe it is. But there’s another website called Matthew713.com, which has taken 25,000 of the questions that have been asked on the air here over the decades and made a topical index of them. So a person can look up any subject and find and immediately go to a hyperlink to a call where that question has been answered on the air here in the past. Now, the first of those websites I mentioned is called OpenTheo.org, and the other one is Matthew713.com. Now, I’m sure that it’s not impossible or even difficult to make some kind of AI website that would answer apologetic questions. I think that would be fantastic. some of which, of course, would already be found in our topical index of calls, this program, at Matthew713.com. But, you know, just going to chat GPT, if you say, you know, did Jesus rise from the dead, or, you know, things like that, many times it gives a pretty good answer. I mean, I’ve looked up some of that stuff, and… I’ve been surprised. It gives an answer that’s pretty responsible in most cases. But I’m sure there’d be many apologetics questions that chat GPT would be biased in another direction from. So having a Christian site that does would be obviously different, more reliable maybe in that respect. So have you been toying with the idea of starting something up like that?
SPEAKER 07 :
Yeah, it’s been something of Been interested in, like, I’m aware of the OpenSEO site and actually downloaded a lot of their documents to basically create into an index that an AI could, you know, be able to look into and answer questions from. And then I’m wondering, do you have, like, ideas on other sources? You know, I’m sure you’re an expert on your opinion, but it would be beneficial to list out potentially many different sources. sources of different perspectives. I was wondering if you just have some ideas on, like, what you would expect to be a top thing to consult.
SPEAKER 06 :
Oh, that’s online?
SPEAKER 07 :
Online or in print, yeah.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah. Well, there’s tons of stuff in print. I’ve got shelves full of apologetics-related books and so forth.
SPEAKER 07 :
Maybe online then, yeah.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah. You know, there’s a website I’ve only been to a few times. I hope I remember it. I think it’s just called, is it ask.com or answers.com, something like that. And it’s Christian. It may be ask.com. I’m not sure. But on occasion, I’ve tried to see how they would answer certain questions, and I thought they were pretty responsible, pretty good. And, you know, there’s, of course, Hank Hanegraaff’s ministry called equip.org. Equip.org has a lot of apologetics stuff. I have no idea what format they have it at their website because I actually don’t go there. But, yeah, I would just say, see, I don’t look at apologetics websites very often. I like books, and I’ve got gazillions of books, and I like turning the pages and finding stuff. But, obviously, the younger generation, well, first of all, people can’t all afford to buy a bunch of books and also – It takes longer, so people like a faster access. I’m sure that many of the resources that are out there, you could exploit in some way and reconfigure according to something that’s more convenient. But I’m not that familiar. First, I’m not that familiar with what AI does that can’t be done otherwise. I know some of the things. I mean, it gets answers awfully quick on chat GPT. But… On the other hand, there are a lot of websites out there where you can look up apologetic stuff. So I’m not going to be able to know how to steer you on that. I’d like to, but you’re certainly welcome to access all my material that’s online. It sounds like you’re already kind of doing that.
SPEAKER 07 :
Well, it’s good to get your blessing before I go any further, certainly.
SPEAKER 06 :
Okay.
SPEAKER 07 :
Well, yeah, that’s the questions I had for you. Thank you, Steve.
SPEAKER 06 :
Okay. And Jackson, if you ever meet another person in Japan named Jackson, it’s probably my friend. How many Jacks are there to be?
SPEAKER 08 :
I’ll keep an eye out, yes.
SPEAKER 06 :
All right. Hey, great talking to you.
SPEAKER 08 :
You as well.
SPEAKER 06 :
Thanks for joining us. All right. Let’s talk to Gary from Halley, Michigan. Either Haley or Halley. Hi, Gary.
SPEAKER 12 :
Thank you, Steve, for your program. Last year, Iran was shooting missiles at Israel, and I know that God loves Israel. And that part’s not in the Bible, but there are other things. I believe you said you knew about the heavens, the lightweight planet Earth.
SPEAKER 06 :
What was that? What about the lightweight planet Earth? Yeah.
SPEAKER 12 :
Did I know about it?
SPEAKER 06 :
Oh, yeah. I read that back in 1970. I could repeat it by heart mostly back then. Yeah.
SPEAKER 12 :
It says many days they shall be visited in the latter years. They shall come upon the land and brought back from the sword against the mountains of Israel, which have the ways of ways.
SPEAKER 08 :
Yeah, that’s Ezekiel 38. Yeah.
SPEAKER 12 :
30 38 says thou shalt come up against my people of israel as a cloud to cover the land it shall be in the latter days and i will bring thee against my land that the heathen may know me so then anyways it tells you in verse 19 for my jealousy and in the fire of my wrath have spoken surely in that day there should be a great shaking in the land of israel do you believe these events are already taking place
SPEAKER 06 :
I think it is probable that they have. It’s spoken of as an ancient battle. It’s not described as a modern battle at all.
SPEAKER 12 :
Well, I believe it’s later and it’s coming up.
SPEAKER 06 :
Well, let me ask you this. Let me ask you this. You take it literally. So you believe that the armies that invade Israel will be on horseback and they’ll be using swords and spears and bows and arrows?
SPEAKER 12 :
Yes, let me give you this. In the southern part of Europe, They have calvaries, and they have all those armaments. I think when Gog attacked Israel… Wait, wait, wait.
SPEAKER 06 :
You’re telling me there’s a modern army in Europe that uses bows and arrows instead of firearms and missiles?
SPEAKER 12 :
They have those forces.
SPEAKER 06 :
I don’t believe that. I don’t believe that. Can you give me some documentation for that?
SPEAKER 12 :
Are you sure there are?
SPEAKER 06 :
Yes. I asked if you can give me some documentation. I certainly don’t believe there’s any modern troops… who have forsworn gunpowder and are now using bows and arrows and swords and spears instead and running on horses.
SPEAKER 12 :
No, what I’m saying is God is Russia, and they have their armies behind these others. They’re going to bring these forces on horseback to scare Israel on the mountains of Israel.
SPEAKER 06 :
Don’t you think tanks would be more scary?
SPEAKER 12 :
No, it’s going to be a time. The time that they’re going to attack will be a time that they will not be able to use them. Why do you say that?
SPEAKER 06 :
What would make it impossible to use tanks?
SPEAKER 12 :
Okay, the first part, they want to scare Israel.
SPEAKER 06 :
Who says?
SPEAKER 12 :
They said they’ll be on the mountains of Israel.
SPEAKER 06 :
Well, who says that?
SPEAKER 12 :
And they’re going to come with their cavalry first. When they come on the mountains of Israel… Okay, I don’t believe that. Okay, well… Why should I?
SPEAKER 06 :
Yes, I reject Hal Lindsey’s entire eschatology, but…
SPEAKER 12 :
I believe in what he taught.
SPEAKER 06 :
Well, that’s fine. But the point I’m making… Okay, the point I’m making… Okay, yeah, my point is… But I do believe… No, I get to make a point, too. I just put you on hold. I’ll put you back on in a minute. But I do get to speak once in a while on my show. I believe that people can make any kind of claims about what’s going on in the world… And they can tailor these claims to what they think the Bible predicts is supposed to happen. And people have been doing this for a very long time. Hal Lindsey was the most guilty of this back in 1970. I don’t know if you were around in 1970. I read his book when it came out. I heard him speak publicly. You know, I’m very familiar with it. And many copycat books were written that said the same thing Hal did. And, in fact, my own pastor was an expert on these things and said the same things. I’ve rejected all that because simply… I’ve learned that’s not what the Bible teaches. And you really can’t understand the Bible simply by saying, I understand it this way, and I can make up these facts, alleged facts, that correspond to it so it proves that my interpretation is correct. I do not believe you can find any documentation of any modern army that is using bows and arrows instead of guns, or any major power, that would send horsemen with armor and spears and swords in a major battle against Israel, which is a highly technological military, that is, Israel has. I mean, how quick would it take Israel with machine guns or missiles or anything like that to take out an army on horseback? Come on. I mean, you want to document that for me? you know, be careful about repeating things that you haven’t documented because it’s very important not to lie and not to misrepresent scripture. Now, when you said they’re going to send the horses first to scare Israel and then back it up with Russia’s armies, where’s that? That’s not in Ezekiel 38. There’s nothing there about they’re going to scare them with these things. I think you’re making this up as you go along or else somebody you heard it from is because it simply isn’t a fact. It’s not in the Bible and it’s not in reality. But I appreciate your call. And you’ve been calling me for many years with similar kinds of things. Okay, Robert in Sacramento, California. Welcome. Hey, how you doing, Steve? Fine, thanks.
SPEAKER 04 :
I called because, you know, I was reading in Zechariah 414 the other day, and me, you have this thing going about God favoring Israel. If God does not favor Israel, why does he come and destroy all the nations that have come to battle against him?
SPEAKER 06 :
Well, he did. He did favor Israel. They were his chosen people.
SPEAKER 04 :
In the Battle of Armageddon, he’s coming back to Israel.
SPEAKER 06 :
There’s no mention of the Battle of Armageddon in Zechariah 14. There’s no mention of Armageddon. The word Armageddon is found only once in Scripture, and that’s in Revelation 16. And it’s not talking necessarily about It could be talking about the same thing as Zechariah 14, but there’s no reason to say so. But I will say this. The assumption that the Battle of Armageddon in Revelation 16 is a future war is simply an assumption that is made by dispensationalists. There’s no obligation for biblical students to be dispensationalists, so we don’t have to see it that way. But I don’t mind someone seeing it that way if they want to defend that. In other words, let’s just say I think Zechariah 14 occurred back, you know, those early verses occurred in 70 AD. You and many other people think they’re going to happen in the future. Fine. Okay, well, I believe the most natural way to understand it is, that Zechariah, who lived to see the second temple built, in fact, his ministry was during the time the second temple was built, that if he talks about the destruction of Jerusalem, as he does in Zechariah 14, more likely than not, he’s talking about the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple that existed while he was prophesying. But if he’s talking about some future Jerusalem, then we have to assume that Zechariah didn’t say anything about the destruction of the Jerusalem he was living in, but he skipped over that. It was destroyed in 70 AD, but he looked way off thousands of years ahead to a different Jerusalem being destroyed. That, to my mind, is very counterintuitive. I would have to have some evidence for that.
SPEAKER 03 :
Pardon? Nor will he. Nor will he.
SPEAKER 06 :
The Bible doesn’t say he’s going to return and split the Mount of Olives. The Bible doesn’t even mention Jesus. No, no, in Zechariah 14, where it talks about his foot shall stand on the Mount of Olives, it doesn’t mention Jesus. It mentions Yahweh, and that’s not the first time in the Old Testament that we read of Yahweh standing on the Mount of Olives. So who do we assume that Yahweh is then? Pardon?
SPEAKER 04 :
I thought Yahweh was another way to say Jesus is.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yahweh is the word for God. I don’t know why your phone is garbly. I’m having a hard time understanding, but let me just say this. In Zechariah 14, it says, I mean, the only person who’s been mentioned previous to that verse in Zechariah 14 is Yahweh, which is God, which is what God has called throughout the whole Old Testament. And it says his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, okay? Now, the idea of Yahweh’s feet standing on the Mount of Olives, happened once before Zechariah’s time, and he’s saying it’s going to happen again. Well, when did it happen before that? Well, in Ezekiel, which was before the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 B.C. Ezekiel 11.23, he says he saw the glory of Yahweh going up from the midst of the city of Jerusalem and standing on the mountain, which is on the east side of the city, which is the Mount of Olives. There’s no question about that. Every commentary would agree with that. The mountain on the east side of Jerusalem is the Mount of Olives. So he saw the glory of Yahweh leave the city out the eastern gate and standing on the Mount of Olives. What did that mean? It meant that the city was no longer protected from the Babylonians who were now going to come and destroy it. God had been in the temple. He had been in Jerusalem. But because of their abominations, he left. He went out the gates. He was no longer there. He was standing nearby on the Mount of Olives, which means far enough away to watch what would transpire when the Babylonians came wiped out. Now, there’s no question. No commentator would ever disagree that that’s what Ezekiel’s talking about. Now, that happened in 586 B.C. Zechariah lived after that. Zechariah came at the time that it was time to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem and so forth, and that happened in his time. But he prophesies in chapter 14, there’s going to be a replay of that, just as the Babylonians wiped out the temple when God left the city and stood on the Mount of Olives outside, leaving it undefended. So the temple that was built in Zechariah’s time would also suffer the same, and it did in 70 AD. So he says in verse 4, Zechariah 14, 4, And in that day his feet, now the only his, the only one, you know, the person that could refer to, mentioned earlier in the chapter, is Yahweh, his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives. Okay, again, just like he did in 586 B.C., he’s going to do that again in 70 A.D. He says the Mount of Olives, which faces Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives shall split in two. Now, the splitting in two of the Mount of Olives is figurative, just as Zechariah 4 figuratively speaks of a mountain being removed before Zerubbabel, as he said about the task of rebuilding the temple. God said, who are you, O mountain, before Zerubbabel, you’ll become a plain. Well, that’s not literal. There’s no mountain standing before Zerubbabel. It did not become a plain. This is a figure of speech. In fact, Zechariah is written almost entirely in figures of speech. It’s an apocalyptic book, which has almost nothing literal in it. And, you know, you should study the whole book before trying to decide what any given passage in it means, because you’ll find that Jerusalem, for example, is not a burdensome stone that the nations cut themselves onto pieces, although that’s the way it’s described in Zechariah 12. So, I mean, this is very common in chapter 13. On that day, a fountain shall be opened for the house of David. That’s in Zechariah 13. And for the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for uncleanness. Okay, is there a fountain opening up somewhere out of the ground and water pouring out to clean them of their sin? No. We could say, well, that’s the blood of Jesus, and I believe it is. But the blood of Jesus isn’t a literal fountain. These are figures of speech. It’s a fountain for cleansing, like the pool of Siloam or something. Now, here’s the thing. When people do not study the book of Zechariah, or do not know what it is, do not recognize apocalyptic imagery, and take literally, kind of randomly, whatever parts they want to take literally, while recognizing symbols throughout the other parts. It’s not going to be a good approach to trying to understand any given portion of it. I do have lectures, verse by verse, through Zechariah, as the rest of the Bible. I have at our website for free. You can listen to verse by verse lectures I’ve given on the whole Bible, and some of my favorites are on Zechariah. If you just want to listen to my lecture on Zechariah 14, you’ll understand it a little differently. than the way that is popularly presented. All right. I appreciate your call. Thank you. We’re going to talk next to Susan from Booth Bay, Maine. Hi, Susan. Welcome.
SPEAKER 01 :
Hi. I keep hearing about this. What do you make of Matthew 24, 22? How would the days be shortened? What do you think about that?
SPEAKER 06 :
Jesus said if the days were not shortened, there would be no flesh that would survive. Now, he’s talking about the Roman armies coming against Jerusalem and destroying the city. And I think what he’s saying is this is such a fierce and bloody battle that it’s easy to imagine that if it went on long enough, every last Jew in Jerusalem would have been slaughtered. But God doesn’t want that to happen, and therefore he shortens the days. He prevents that from happening. The idea being, you know, a few more days, maybe considerable more days, but given enough days, everyone would be wiped out there. But God doesn’t allow that to happen. He shortens the time by allowing the Romans to break through the walls and capture the city.
SPEAKER 01 :
Do you feel like that has anything to do with our time here right now, like something that’s going to be done to help us believers?
SPEAKER 06 :
No, I don’t think it’s about now. Jesus said, you know, later after this point, he said, this generation will not pass before all these things are fulfilled. So everything he’s talking about there, he says would happen within that generation. And it did. He was speaking in 30 A.D. It happened in 40 A.D. I mean, 70 A.D., and that was 40 years later. So that’s a generation. So I think that I don’t think we have any reason to look for, you know, a fulfillment again because he doesn’t mention any further fulfillments of this after that. He says it would happen, all of it would happen within that generation. And since it did, I think we should say, wow, that’s a fantastic example of Jesus hitting it in the bullseye as far as prophecy is concerned. It all happened exactly as he said. but it happened in that generation. Anyway, I have lectures on that, too. By the way, when I mention my lectures, these are all free to listen to at my website, thenarrowpath.com. So it would be good to check it out if you’re interested in these things, because I can only give brief answers on the air because of the number of callers waiting. But I would love to give you more information, and it is available at thenarrowpath.com in these various lectures. Adam from Cortez, Colorado. You’re our last caller, and we only have a few minutes. Go ahead.
SPEAKER 05 :
Hey, Steve, so I’m stuck when it comes to how to view the patristic fathers. It seems like most would say that they were great men of faith. Obviously, some were martyrs. But what I found is that as Protestants, we often refer to them to support orthodoxy when it fits our views. But when you look at their views as a whole, you find that they taught Roman Catholic doctrine, so forth. It seems like either there was a great apostasy one generation after the apostles or these men did have the continuation of the truth. But it just seems like something’s off because it doesn’t seem like there’s much gray area there, you know, unless I’m wrong. So I was wondering if you could add to that.
SPEAKER 06 :
Obviously, there’s like 30-something volumes of the writings of the church fathers. I’m looking at them right now. They’re on my shelf, and I haven’t read them all. That’s like bigger than the Encyclopedia Britannica to read all that stuff. But the ones I have read, and I have read from the church fathers a great deal, including when Catholic authors are quoting them to support their doctrines, I don’t find that the early fathers did support the Catholic doctrines. I mean, the Catholics will quote the church fathers saying that they taught the Eucharist and the transubstantiation, or that they taught infant baptism, or that they taught that Mary… you know, was sinless or something like that, then they’ll quote someone from the church fathers who doesn’t actually say that. It’s like if you agree with the church that those doctrines are true, you can interpret the church fathers’ statements through that lens just like you can interpret Scripture through the lens. The trick is to get past your own prejudices and to recognize what kind of a grid you’re reading through, whether you’re reading Scripture or anything else. Now, I will say this. I don’t put a lot of stock in the church fathers because they didn’t even agree with each other about many things. But it is, I will sometimes quote them when they are saying something they all agreed on or something that, you know, I’m trying to point out that this was a very early position of the church. Now, if something is a very early position of the church, it doesn’t mean it’s right. But if in all other respects it is supported by exegesis and other things, it’s also sometimes interesting or helpful. to recognize that not only are we seeing the Scripture that way, it turns out all Christians saw it this way at one time. So there is a place for citing the church fathers, but I don’t cite them as an absolute authority, but as an illustration of what the historical teaching was, insofar as it resembles what I think the Bible says. True, sometimes they say things I wouldn’t agree with, Sometimes they say things the Catholic Church wouldn’t agree with. For example, the Church Fathers were pre-millennial. But the Catholic Church isn’t. So the Catholic Church doesn’t follow them either. They just do when they want to. Hey, I guess that’s all we can do. We’ve got to go by Scripture, first of all. You’ve been listening to The Narrow Path. Our website is thenarrowpath.com. Check it out. You can donate there or just take stuff for free. thenarrowpath.com
