do with the Jewish nation, God’s chosen people. This does not refer to the doctrine of election as revealed in other portions of Scripture. God will not allow the anti-christ to run ram pant for an indefinite period of time. Q . Northridge, California — “I would ap preciate a discussion of Matthew 5:3. Also, in Exodus 20:5, the statement of 'visiting the iniquities of the fa thers upon the children’ concerns me. Does God still do this today?” A. The first Scriptural portion reads, “Blessed are the poor in spirit: for their’s is the kingdom of heaven.” One of Satan’s prime tools for the unbeliever is pride. How interesting that our Lord’s first beatitude con cerns the importance of humility in the life of the believer. Read James 4:8-10 and see how we need to put down pride today. The Bible abounds in other similar exhortations, in addi tion to giving us the perfect pattern to follow (Philippians 2:5-11). Exodus 20, of course, gives us the ten commandments. The verse to which our listener refers is, “Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them (idols), nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visit ing the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me” (verse 5). Does God still do this to day? Yes, but one must understand what is originally meant! This does not refer to the eternal guilt of our souls. The spiritual condition of a father does not bind the children. It is strictly in the physical realm. Whether we know it or not we pass along to our children many things. Look at your own children and see how many physical features they have which are yours as parents. See how many different ways of acting are like you. We pass on more than we know. What a wonderful reason for keeping the body clean and separated unto God. It entails not only some things in your life, but also in the lives of your children and their off spring as well. 19
Arizona Bible College trio, from right to left, Barbara Bertsch, Phoenix; Earlene Griswell, Phoenix; Jerry Neish, Boulder, Colorado; Bettyanne Shepperson, Albu querque, New Mexico. done. Isaiah gives one example. One is raised up from the north. This is ex actly the way Cyrus, the Persian, came. Isaiah foretells the tremendous campaigns and successes of this leader from the rising of the sun. No Baby lonian idol could make such a divine prediction. If one wants to read of it more fully, it is a thrilling story in any of the volumes of a good en cyclopedia. “Won’t you please explain Mark 13:20 which states, ‘And except that the Lord had shortened those days, no flesh should be saved: but for the elect’s sake, whom he hath chosen, he hath short ened the days.’ ” A. This has to do with the days of the great tribulation period. There is a parallel passage in Matthew 24:15. This has to do with the appearance of the sinful character known as the abomination of desolation. We believe him to be none other than the anti christ. He demands world wide wor ship of himself. He holds the world’s political, military, and financial pow er. The Jews are going to have to flee to a place prepared for them (which is a wonderful study in itself). They will be sought out and killed because of their refusal to worship the anti christ and to follow his demands. Ex cept those days be culminated, no flesh could be saved. The elect here has to Q . Garabaldi, Oregon —
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