could hush them up when He pleased. “ He healed many that were sick of divers diseases, and cast out many devils (demons) ; and suffered not the devils (demons) to speak, be cause they knew Him” (Mark 1:34). A P A R T I C U L A R G E N E R A T I O N Q. What does Matthew 21:18 mean: “ This generation shall not pass until all these things be fulfilled” ? The generation Jesus was addressing did not live to see all o f those things come to pass. A . You have answered your own question. The Lord was speaking to that generation but not o f it. The generation which sees the beginning o f these signs will also witness the end o f them, that special generation which will be in existence during the tribulation period and beyond. For one thing, they shall see the setting up in the temple o f the image o f the beast after he breaks his covenant of peace with Israel. Some have seen in this verse simply a reference to the destruction o f the temple of Herod in 70 A.D. which o f course the generation then living did wit ness to some degree hut I cannot agree with this. There is too much in Matthew 24 and 25 which goes right on to the last days o f the times of the Gentiles. Q. How do you arrive at thé 3% years o f “ the Great Tribulation” of Matthew 21:21? A . In Daniel, chapters 4, 7 and 12 “ time” is a year. In 7 :25 three and one-half years are computed by add ing “ time” (one year) ; “ times” (two years) -and “ dividing of time” (or “ half a time” Dan. 12:7) one-half year. This corresponds exactly to the forty-two months o f Revelation 11:2 and 13:5 and the 1,260 days o f Rev elation 11:3. R E C K O N I N G T H E T R I B U L A T I O N P E R IO D
Elijah went to heaven without dying. Did God thus preserve the bodies o f these two, representing the law and the prophets, that they might be His witnesses to Israel, as well as to the world, during the darkest period o f all history, still in the future? Surely their message would bear great weight with Israel. Elijah can represent the raptured saints and Moses those who will be in their graves when Jesus comes again. 2. The miracles which these wit nesses will perform are like the miracles performed by God through Moses and Elijah when they were upon earth. 3. While we know that John the Baptist was to some degree the ful fillment o f Malachi 4:5, it seems that the complete fulfillment will be in those times o f tribulation just be fore Christ carnes in His glory. See Matthew 17:11. V O I C E S O F D E M O N S Q. In Luke 8:26-86 there is an ac count o f Christ’s casting out the le gion o f demons from the poor maniac of Gadara. This has puzzled me a great deal. A ré demons invisible? When they talked to Christ, could the people round about hear their voices? Were the demons destroyed with the hogs who drowned? A . Here are a number o f questions. Yes, demons are invisible; they are spirits. I doubt i f the disciples ever heard any d em on s speaking to Christ. We have many accounts o f these fallen emissaries o f Satan dar ing to address the Lord Jesus Christ. See Matthew 8:29; Mark 5:7. They knew well who He was and that He would bring eternal judgment upon them. There is no record o f the disciples ever carry ing on any conversation with these beings. They were not drowned. Ap parently they like to possess bodies and so requested permission to enter the bodies o f the hogs. The Lord
C O N D I T I O N A L I M M O R T A L I T Y Q. Some of the cults refer frequently to “ conditional immortality.” What is meant by this, and is there such a thing? A . No, there is no such thing as con ditional immortality as conceived by these heretical teachers. It is the view held by Jehovah’s Witnesses and others who reject the teaching of eternal punishment. Their conten tion— not corroborated by any Scrip tu re— is that eternal existence, im mortality, is conferred upon the saved and that the lost will be an nihilated, be “ dead, forever dead.” But in creating man, God gave eter nal existence and man will live somewhere forever, either by the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and through accepting His salvation ob tained upon Calvary fo r all sinners, in Heaven; or through rejection o f the Saviour, in the lake o f fire to which Satan himself will be con signed to everlasting punishment. There is no plainer passage on this subject than Revelation 20:10-15. Life is unending. T H E T W O W I T N E S S E S Q. There seems to be a continual controversy over the two witnesses o f Revelation 11. Are they Moses and Elijah? Are they Elijah and Enoch? Are they two special proph ets raised up for that special minis try? Please give us your opinion. A . It will be just an opinion as they are not named. However, I think there is good reason to believe they will be Moses and Elijah and these are the facts upon which I base this view: 1. Moses died and was buried by God upon Mt. Nebo. “ No man know- eth o f his sepulchre unto this day” (Deut. 34:5, 6 ). Satan contended with Michael, the archangel, over “ the body o f Moses” (Jude 9 ). There is a mystery here about the burial o f Moses known only to God.
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