T a l b o t ’s Q u e s t i o n
warned His people of such entangle ments. Such principles of separation were continued in the New Testa ment and apply to us today (2 Cor. 6:14-18; James 1 :27 ). Some teach this was a combination of human be ings and angelic beings but that would be impossible; angels are sex less beings (Matt. 22:30). SIX SIX SIX Q. Please identify the person num bered “ 666” in Revelation 13:17-18. A . Over the years I have been asked to do this hundreds of times. Of course, it refers to antichrist, whose identity will not be revealed until after the rapture takes place. Through the centuries, p e o p l e have sought to work out from the value of the letters the name o f this person—Nero, Mussolini, Hitler and Stalin, to name a few. Actually, it is not a name, but a clue for the ones who will be living in that day. It simply shows antichrist, for all his presumption and pretensions, to be but a man, not God. He will try to usurp the place o f Christ, but his number is 6, not 7, the complete number of deity. It is foolish to speculate about a matter for which there cannot be any answer until that event actually occurs. SABBATH IN THE NEW TESTAMENT Q. I am intrigued by the fact that in the list of sins given in the New Testament, not once is violation of the sabbath day mentioned. Why? A. Why indeed? It is because we are not required to observe the seventh day, the total rest day of the Jewish law. The early church began to meet for worship on the first day of the week in commemoration o f the resur rection (Acts 20 :7 ; I Cor. 16:1, 2 ). Christ is our sabbath, our rest; we have no need of a “ shadow”— a type — when the reality has come (Col. 2:16, 17).
raelites call them Great Britain and the United States and the Latter Day Saints identify them with them selves. It is all unscriptural and is one o f the fables against which Paul warned us (I Tim. 1 :4 ; 4 :7 ; 2 Tim. 4 :4 ; 2 Pet. 1 :16 ). Joseph Smith de vised a religion based upon a fiction which has led thousands into dark ness. The terms Jews, Israelites, chil dren of Israel, Jacob, and Judah are used interchangeably in the Scrip tures and all refer to one people : the Jews, the nation which “ shall be born in a day” and at the coming of Christ, when cleansed and purified, will inherit the land promised them with all of the other promises of the Abrahamic covenant. JUDGMENT OF THE NATIONS Q. Is the judgment o f the nations mentioned in Matthew 25:31-46 the same event as t h e Great White Throne judgment o f Revelation 20: 11-15? A. No, it is not. The judgment o f the Gentile nations will take place at the close of the Great Tribulation. They will be judged on the basis o f their acceptance or rejection o f Christ and their consequent attitude and treat ment o f Israel. The Great White Throne judgment does not occur until more than a thousand years later, at the end o f the millennium, when the unsaved will be consigned to eter nal punishment. Q. Who were the “ sons of God” and the daughters of men” of Genesis 6:2 ? A. This question is asked frequently. I believe that the sons of God were descendants of the godly line of Seth and the daughters of men of the godless line o f Cain, the first murder er. This was intermarriage o f the saved with the u n s a v e d which brought the same kind of conse quences then it always has. God SONS OF GOD AND DAUGHTERS OF MEN
SOWING AND REAPING Q. Please explain the meaning of that enigmatic term, “ sowing the wind and reaping the whirlwind” in Moses 8:7. A. Like most verses in the Bible, this expression must be read and under stood in context. Hosea was a proph et of God who predicted the fall of the northern kingdom of Israel be cause they had departed from God and had gone into idolatry. The prophet pleaded with them to return to Him and to forsake their sins and escape the certain punishment. But they did not heed and were taken captive by the Assyrians in 722 B.C. when their capital, Samaria, fell. This 8th chapter o f Hosea makes many references to the idolatry of the nation, and to the worship of the golden calf which they acquired from the heathen about them. They had sown the wind (sin and idolatry); they would reap something more se vere, the whirlwind of God’s wrath. It was a sad day for the northern kingdom and it was not many years later that the southern kingdom fell as well for the same reason. It is “ sitting down to the banquet of con sequences” ; it is reaping what one has sown. God states that these things were written for our admoni tion. STICK OF JOSEPH Q. What is the significance of the stick of Joseph mentioned in Ezekiel 37:16? A. This is a favorite passage o f the Mormons, the Seventh-day Adven tists, the Anglo-Israelites and the Armstrongites, which is a combina tion of the teachings of the last two. These all claim to be the true Israel, thus ruling out the Jews. They try to separate the Jews and Israel, blaming the Jews for the crucifixion, and stating that Israel, which they call “ the lost ten tribes” (although they never have been lo st). Anglo-Is-
THE KING'S BUSINESS
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