At ZionInTravail our goal is to faithfully declare and teach the Word of God, the Bible as God might open our understanding. From time to time, we receive emails and YouTube comments with Bible questions and comments from visitors on our Website and YouTube Channel. For this we are extremely appreciative and we encourage your comments and questions, to which we will always endeavor to provide responses based on the Bible alone.
Here we present selected questions and comments, with our responses for the edification of the body of Christ edited to keep identities of individuals and organizations anonymous and focus attention on the presentation of Biblical truth. We invite your comments and questions, please write to us at: info@zionintravail.com
Selected Bible Questions and Comments with Responses
4. Source: YouTube message – 12/14/2025 Proofs for Salvation 02
4a. Comment: Unfortunately- stating the night cometh- (and teaching we are not in the time of darkness) with no Biblical timeline analysis 😑, and broad statements about since we’re still here- there must be salvation based on general salvation verses not related to the great tribulation, shows a lack of understanding of the Bible’s timeline- where we are in the timeline (may 21,2011 to now) notice- there’s no mention of that date, confirmation or further update or correction of the date and what the Bible is further stating. This is a wait and see teaching- which I get; but to deny the world division- not speak directly about what ebiblefellowship discusses re: 2033- it’s a toothless attempt to declare specifically to what we’ve learned and where we’re at. If we/you don’t know- state that. But to ignore and not mention it- it’s hard to take these teachings with any serious 😕 attention
Response: First, and foremost, and most importantly, the Bible alone and in its entirety is the only authority for what we teach. We are not here to try and impress anyone. We are here simply to be faithful to the truth of the word of God with the singular objective of seeing the kingdom of God brought to fruition as God is gathering in his elect in our day.
Second, when this listener speaks of division in the world, there has always been a division between light and darkness in the world, and that continues right through the great tribulation to the resurrection of the last day when we see Christ.
When we came to the beginning of the great tribulation and the cry went out at midnight, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him (Matthew 25:6), there was darkness over the whole earth (Isaiah 60:2) for about the space of half an hour during which there was silence in heaven (Rev. 8:1) and virtually no one was being saved anywhere in the world. That relatively brief period identifies with the 2300 evening-mornings of Daniel 8:13-14 during which the temple was being cleansed. At the conclusion of that 2300 days, on the first day of the seventh month of the Hebrew calendar, a jubile day in a jubile year, God poured out the Holy Spirit again the second time (Isaiah 11:11; Ezekiel 39:29; Joel 2:28), which began the final harvest called the latter rain (Deuteronomy 11:14; Joel 2:23; Zachariah 10:1; James 5:7).
The word of God does two things during this time of great tribulation; it is a cloud and darkness in the lives of those who God does not intend to save, and it brings light by night to the true believers (Exodus 14:19) and those elect whom God has still yet to save.
Whatever else may have happened on May 21, 2011, the scriptures teach that salvation continues outside the churches until we see Christ coming on the clouds of glory, as lightning shines from east to west, at the resurrection of the last day. Then, and only then, shall the door to salvation be shut, as we read, for example, in Luke 13:25-27 and Matthew 25:10-12. A study of those verses will show that the shutting of the door is simultaneous with the return of Christ bringing with him all those who sleep in Jesus and the bodily resurrection of all the believers in the sight of their enemies (Revelation 11:12) when they are instantly changed into their glorified spiritual bodies (1 Thessalonians 4:13-17; 1 Corinthians 15:50-53). Luke 13:28 declares
28There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out.
This is in the setting of Luke 13:25-27 that talks about the door being shut. Thus the door shall be shut when we see Christ coming bringing with him all those that sleep in Jesus at the resurrection of the last day.
The world continues on today business as usual.
Similarly, Matthew 25:10 declares:
10And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut.
Until we get to the resurrection of the last day and the true believers receive their spiritual bodies, they are called virgins, why? because the marriage of the bride and the Lamb shall not be consummated until the last day when the believers have been raised up and changed into their spiritual bodies, only then will they be like Christ in every sense of the word as 1 John 3:2 teaches.
2Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.
Then, and only then, shall the marriage of the bride and the Lamb (Revelation 19:7) be consummated, which shall be immediately followed by the marriage supper of the Lamb (Revelation 19:9,17-18) during which the believers shall be with Christ in the air having been changed into their spiritual bodies and the day of judgment shall be carried out on all the unsaved who remain on this sin-cursed earth, which is described as a battle culminating with the beast and them that worshipped his image being cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone (Revelation 19:19-21).
Until that last day when we see Christ appear, Isaiah 60:10-11 applies:
10 And the sons of strangers shall build up thy walls [the walls of salvation, Isaiah 26:1; 60:18], and their kings shall minister unto thee: for in my wrath I smote thee [a reference to the first 2300 days], but in my favour have I had mercy on thee [the pouring out of the Holy Spirit again the second time].
11 Therefore thy gates shall be open continually; they shall not be shut day nor night; that men may bring unto thee the forces of the Gentiles, and that their kings may be brought.
These verses all harmonize beautifully to give us the same conclusion, namely, the door to salvation shall remain open continually and shall not be shut day nor night until we see Christ literally appear at the resurrection of the last day.
The notion that the true believers shall be present on this sin-cursed earth in their sin-cursed bodies during the day of judgment when the door to salvation is shut is not taught anywhere in the Bible.
When this listener says that verses such as John 9:5 do not apply during the great tribulation, it is an example of picking and choosing only those verses that appear to support their preconceived conclusion that salvation ended on May 21, 2011.
Another passage proving that salvation is available at midnight is Luke 11:5-13, which is in the setting of the Lord’s prayer given in Luke 11:1-4, which when studied carefully is a prayer for salvation (forgive us our sins, and lead us not into temptation, or trial, and deliver us from evil). Then to illustrate that this prayer for salvation applies at midnight, Christ gives us the parable in verse 5-13, which is quite remarkable in that in verses 6 and 7 God is setting up the precise situation that exists today, note the parallelism:
5And he said unto them, Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go unto him at midnight, and say unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves; 6For a friend of mine in his journey is come to me, and I have nothing to set before him? 7And he from within shall answer and say, Trouble me not: the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give thee.
In verse 6, the phrase, “and I have nothing to set before him,” referring to the friend who in his journey has come to me, is telling; it is as though he has no gospel to offer to this friend to satisfy his real need. That we have understood this correctly is emphasized in verse 7, Trouble me not: the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give thee. We would be blind not to recognize the direct parallelism with the teaching of those who say there is no more salvation in our day.
In verse 8 Jesus sets the record straight:
8 I say unto you, Though he will not rise and give him, because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needeth.
The word “importunity” is a compound word that literally means, “without shame” or “without reverence” (1 Timothy 2:9 shamefacedness; Hebrews 12:28 reverence). We can loosely paraphrase this word as “shameless persistence.”
An excellent illustration of this “shameless persistence” is blind Bartimaeus in Mark 10:46-52
46And they came to Jericho: and as he went out of Jericho with his disciples and a great number of people, blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the highway side begging. 47And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out, and say, Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on me. 48And many charged him that he should hold his peace: but he cried the more a great deal, Thou Son of David, have mercy on me. 49And Jesus stood still, and commanded him to be called. And they call the blind man, saying unto him, Be of good comfort, rise; he calleth thee. 50And he, casting away his garment, rose, and came to Jesus. 51And Jesus answered and said unto him, What wilt thou that I should do unto thee? The blind man said unto him, Lord, that I might receive my sight. 52And Jesus said unto him, Go thy way; thy faith hath made thee whole. And immediately he received his sight, and followed Jesus in the way.
In this account, blind Bartimaeus is a picture of one who is spiritually blind being irresistibly drawn to the Lord Jesus Christ as the only one who can resolve his spiritual blindness. When many charged him that he should hold his peace, he cried the more a great deal. His cries for mercy did not go unnoticed. Christ responded to his cries and granted him his desire. Bartimaeus is thus an excellent example of God the Father irresistibly drawing his elect to the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation.
Then in verses 9-10 of Luke 11 Christ continues
9And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. 10For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.
Then in verses 11-13 of Luke 11 Christ makes the application
11If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? 12Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? 13If 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?
The giving of the Holy Spirit is part and parcel with the gift of salvation. No one can argue with that. An example would be Cornelius in Acts 11. Cornelius was a devout man, who made prayers and gave alms, but he was not saved. Only when Peter preached Christ to him did he [Cornelius] receive the gift of the Holy Spirit and became saved, as we read in Acts 11:13-18, where Peter is recounting this to the other disciples:
13And he [Cornelius]shewed us [Simon Peter and those who had traveled with him from Joppa] how he had seen an angel in his house, which stood and said unto him, Send men to Joppa, and call for Simon, whose surname is Peter; 14Who shall tell thee words, whereby thou and all thy house shall be saved. 15And as I began to speak, the Holy Ghost fell on them, as on us at the beginning. 16Then remembered I the word of the Lord, how that he said, John indeed baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost. 17Forasmuch then as God gave them the like gift as he did unto us, who believed on the Lord Jesus Christ; what was I, that I could withstand God? 18When they heard these things, they held their peace, and glorified God, saying, Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life
In our study of the Bible, including the Jeremiah studies, we have discovered that one of the primary tests God has laid on those who call themselves Christian in our day is in the law of release Deuteronomy 15:1-2
1 At the end of every seven years thou shalt make a release. 2 And this is the manner of the release: Every creditor that lendeth ought unto his neighbour shall release it; he shall not exact it of his neighbour, or of his brother; because it is called the LORD’s release.
God relates this law to the feast of tabernacles in Deuteronomy 31:10-11
10 And Moses commanded them, saying, At the end of every seven years, in the solemnity of the year of release, in the feast of tabernacles,
11 When all Israel is come to appear before the LORD thy God in the place which he shall choose, thou shalt read this law before all Israel in their hearing.
The feast of tabernacles, also called the feast of ingathering, has everything to do with the end-time salvation program going on outside the churches in our day. It is the last of the three major feast days described in Exodus 23:14-16 to be literally fulfilled in our day.
Going back to the law of release, God declares in Deuteronomy 15:7-11
7 If there be among you a poor man of one of thy brethren within any of thy gates in thy land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not harden thine heart, nor shut thine hand from thy poor brother: 8But thou shalt open thine hand wide unto him, and shalt surely lend him sufficient for his need, in that which he wanteth. 9Beware that there be not a thought in thy wicked heart, saying, The seventh year, the year of release, is at hand; and thine eye be evil against thy poor brother, and thou givest him nought; and he cry unto the LORD against thee, and it be sin unto thee. 10Thou shalt surely give him, and thine heart shall not be grieved when thou givest unto him: because that for this thing the LORD thy God shall bless thee in all thy works, and in all that thou puttest thine hand unto. 11For the poor shall never cease out of the land: therefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt open thine hand wide unto thy brother, to thy poor, and to thy needy, in thy land.
When God declares in verse 11, For the poor shall never cease out of the land, the poor that God has in view are the spiritually poor who are in need of salvation, which in and of itself is a proof that God is saving to the very end, because to be released from one’s debt is what salvation is all about. God is commanding us to open our hand wide in order that the spiritually poor might be freed from their debt of sin.
Please note verse 9, Beware that there be not a thought in thy wicked heart, saying, The seventh year, the year of release, is at hand; and thine eye be evil against thy poor brother, and thou givest him nought; and he cry unto the LORD against thee, and it be sin unto thee.
The phrase, “and thou givest him nought,” identifies with Luke 11:6, “and I have nothing to set before him,” referring to the friend who in his journey has come to me. Both of these statements identify with the no-more-salvation teaching. In Jeremiah 34, the princes of Judah acting under the intense pressure of the Babylonians who were laying siege to the city temporarily obeyed the law of release when the matter looked hopeless, then turned and brought their brethren under subjection again. In response, God declared in Jeremiah 34:17
17Therefore thus saith the Lord; Ye have not hearkened unto me, in proclaiming liberty, every one to his brother, and every man to his neighbour: behold, I proclaim a liberty for you, saith the Lord, to the sword, to the pestilence, and to the famine; and I will make you to be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth.
To withhold the possibility of salvation from our spiritually poor brother is to withhold the gospel from Christ himself, as we read in Matthew 25:31-46
31When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: 32And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: 33And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. 34Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: 35For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: 36Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. 37Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? 38When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? 39Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? 40And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. 41Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: 42For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: 43I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. 44Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? 45Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me. 46And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.
Please note, Christ is identifying very personally with the spiritually poor who are in need of the gospel. These verses are an ominous portent of things to come, and should be seriously considered by those who teach no-more-salvation. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God (Hebrews 10:31).
Another example of the misrepresentation of Biblical truth to make the Bible agree with a preconceived conclusion is the matter of God drawing his elect to salvation. The Bible nowhere teaches that God saves someone then waits until some future time to draw them. That idea is foreign to the Bible and comes out of the minds of men. The “drawing” described in the Bible is that of God the Father drawing his elect who are spiritually dead in spiritual darkness. Jesus told his disciples, I will make you fishers of men. God draws in his elect irresistibly through the gospel and saves them. When they become saved, the Bible declares, they have passed from death to life, from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light.
Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creation, old things have passed away; behold all things have become new (2 Corinthians 5:17). He has experienced the first resurrection (Revelation 20:5,6), has been raised up and made to sit in heavenly places in Christ (Ephesians 2:6), and received the gift of the Holy Spirit as the down payment and guarantee of his salvation (Romans 8:9; 2 Corinthians 1:22).
Ezekiel 36
26A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. 27And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.
In Matthew 24:18-22, when Christ called his disciples to follow him, was there any delay, or did they immediately respond?
Matthew 4:18-21
18And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers. 19And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. 20And they straightway left their nets, and followed him. 21And going on from thence, he saw other two brethren, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in a ship with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and he called them. 22And they immediately left the ship and their father, and followed him.
They straightway left their nets. No delay.
When we think of May 21, 2011, there is a loose analogy with what occurred in the book of Jonah. God sent Jonah with a message: Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown (Jonah 3:1-4). That message came straight from God. At the same time, God laid it on the hearts of the people of Nineveh to take God at his word and to sit in sackcloth and ashes, such that the people of Nineveh were saved through the preaching of Jonah. We know this, based on Matthew 12:41.
41The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here.
The salvation of Nineveh was a blueprint for the salvation of our day, in that Nineveh was completely outside of Israel with no prior exposure to Jehovah God. Likewise, today, the lion’s share of those who are being saved are outside the churches and congregations and may never have been presented with the true gospel.
The Bible teaches in Romans 9:22
22What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction: 23And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory, 24 Even us, whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles?
Implied in this statement is that when the last of the elect of God have become saved, then God will no longer have to endure the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction, and the end will come.
Matthew 24:14
And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.
At ZionInTravail we will continue by God’s mercy to obey God’s command to Occupy till I come with the promise of God in our hearts.
Isaiah 52:7
7How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!
Please read our very detailed study: Is God Still Saving?
Thank you for your comments.
4b. Question/Comment: I’m glad ZionInTravail is presenting a different viewpoint [namely, that God is still saving outside the churches right up to the last day] compared to [those other so-called ministries that teach that salvation ended on May 21, 2011.] It is probably difficult for most everyone to discern who is telling the truth because each listener would need to sit down and spend a considerable amount of time researching the passages to see who has it right. A good example is the derivation of the Hebrew Kings. It takes a lot of time to work through the derivation. The only way for someone to convince himself of the veracity of the contents is walk through the derivation himself. It is difficult to do so because of the amount of time involved. That being said, more people ought to get involved to straighten out the difference between these ministries and ZionInTravail.
Response: In response to this listener’s comment, as well as others who may similarly be confused regarding this issue, ZionInTravail has published an in-depth study
in addition to a tract that condenses this information into a few pages
The fact is, however, when we apply the Biblical rule of comparing spiritual things with spiritual, it is not nearly as complex or difficult as this listener implies. The Bible teaches very clearly that the door to salvation shall be shut only when Christ literally and visibly returns bringing with him all the true believers who have previously died in Christ (1 Thessalonians 4:13-14; Jude 1:14-15). It shall be a worldwide cataclysmic event such as this world has never known (Revelation 6:12-17). All the true believers shall be bodily resurrected in the sight of their enemies (1 Thessalonians 4:15-17; Revelation 11:12), and there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth when the unsaved shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and themselves thrust out (Luke 13:25-28). The shutting of the door at the resurrection of the last day when Christ returns shall also coincide with the marriage of the Lamb when the believers shall receive their resurrected spiritual bodies and be joined together with Christ and partake in the marriage supper of the Lamb (Matthew 25:10-12; 1 Corinthians 15:50-53; 1 John 3:2; Revelation 19:7-9;17-21). None of these things happened on May 21, 2011.
Isaiah 60 declares
10And the sons of strangers shall build up thy walls, and their kings shall minister unto thee: for in my wrath I smote thee, but in my favour have I had mercy on thee. 11Therefore thy gates shall be open continually; they shall not be shut day nor night; that men may bring unto thee the forces of the Gentiles, and that their kings may be brought.
What it really boils down to, finally, is the question, is the Bible our authority or are we following the doctrines of men?
The Bible teaches we are to “Occupy till I come” (Luke 19:13) and that our central task is that of sharing the gospel, which is the good news that Christ has come into the world to save sinners. We are to want the highest good for our unsaved neighbor.
The Bible teaches, “ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” ( John 8:32)
The difference between the no-more-salvation false teaching and the true gospel is as distinctive and evident as light is from darkness.
Exodus 14:19-20 19And the angel of God, which went before the camp of Israel, removed and went behind them; and the pillar of the cloud went from before their face, and stood behind them: 20And it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel; and it was a cloud and darkness to them, but it gave light by night to these: so that the one came not near the other all the night.
The Bible teaches, “you shall know them by their fruits” (Matthew 7:15-20). It doesn’t necessarily require a long and intensive Bible study to know that such “ministries” are blatantly false.
John 7
16Jesus answered them, and said, My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me. 17If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself.
John 10
27My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: 28And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
If God is truly drawing an individual or has already saved that individual, that individual will know the doctrine whether it be of God or of men.
God has commanded every believer to be an ambassador of the kingdom of God.
2 Corinthians 5:20 Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.
Therefore, any so-called ministry that is teaching there is no longer the possibility of salvation is a false gospel by definition, and a true believer will know this instinctively based on all that the Bible teaches as regards what our primary task is, namely that of publishing the true gospel, and what our attitude ought to be toward our fellow man.
We recognize and confess our own spiritual bankruptcy apart from the Spirit of Christ, and that our one and only desire is that our brother might have that same gift of salvation that we who are so unworthy have received by the grace of God.
3. Question: How do we know that the genealogy of Luke is Mary’s genealogy and Matthew’s genealogy is Joseph’s?
Response: Thank you for this thought-provoking question. It’s a good question.
First, let us be reminded that every word in the original manuscripts is from the mouth of God, and that Matthew and Luke were merely scribes used of God to give us the Bible.
When we study these two genealogies, beginning at creation, we find that they are the same until we get to David. At that point, the Luke genealogy splits off and goes through Nathan, whereas the Matthew genealogy goes through Solomon and the line of the kings of Judah.
Now, when we study the genealogical line that goes from David through Solomon and the kings of Judah, we must realize that this line got off to a very bad start beginning with Solomon himself, because while Solomon followed after the LORD when he was young, and God appeared unto him twice and gave him great wisdom, nevertheless when Solomon was old, his wives turned away his heart from wholly following after the LORD as had David his father, and Solomon set up altars to the worship of other gods (1 Kings 11:1-13). God was angry with Solomon and tore 10 of the 12 tribes away from the house of David upon the death of Solomon, leaving only the tribe of Judah and Benjamin for David’s sake.
Furthermore, when we study the line of the kings of Judah, when we get to Coniah, who is also called Jeconiah, Jehoiachin, and Jeconias (Greek rendering), we find that God cut off that line.
Jeremiah 22:24-30
24As I live, saith the LORD, though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah were the signet upon my right hand, yet would I pluck thee thence; 25And I will give thee into the hand of them that seek thy life, and into the hand of them whose face thou fearest, even into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of the Chaldeans. 26And I will cast thee out, and thy mother that bare thee, into another country, where ye were not born; and there shall ye die. 27But to the land whereunto they desire to return, thither shall they not return. 28Is this man Coniah a despised broken idol? is he a vessel wherein is no pleasure? wherefore are they cast out, he and his seed, and are cast into a land which they know not? 29O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the LORD. 30Thus saith the LORD, Write ye this man childless, a man that shall not prosper in his days: for no man of his seed shall prosper, sitting upon the throne of David, and ruling any more in Judah.
Thus the line of the kings of Judah in the Matthew genealogy was cursed and cut off, and we know that Christ could not have been in that line.
Moreover, when we examine God’s promise to David that of his seed God would raise up a ruler to sit on the throne of David and rule over Israel forever, we know absolutely that could only have been fulfilled in the Lord Jesus Christ, who is called the Son of David in a number of places (2 Samuel 7:12; Mark 10:47-48; Luke 1:32; Acts 2:29-30).
As a matter of fact, Christ who is our Shepherd and our King is typified by David in several places. For example,
Ezekiel 37:21-25
21And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land: 22And I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all: and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all: 23Neither shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions: but I will save them out of all their dwellingplaces, wherein they have sinned, and will cleanse them: so shall they be my people, and I will be their God. 24And David my servant [a reference to Christ] shall be king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes, and do them. 25And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob my servant [typifying the body of Christ consisting of all the true believers], wherein your fathers have dwelt; and they shall dwell therein, even they, and their children, and their children’s children for ever: and my servant David [referring to Christ]shall be their prince for ever.
Returning to the Luke genealogy we read:
Luke 3:23 And Jesus himself began to be about thirty years of age, being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, which was of Heli,
By the phrase, “being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph,” God is hinting at the fact, this is not the genealogy of Joseph, this is Mary’s genealogy. Then in the next phrase, “who was the son of Heli,” “the son” is in italics in the KJV, indicating they were added by the translators and do not belong in the original text. Thus, Mary was of Heli.
In summary the genealogical lines split after David and in a real sense go directly from David to Christ through Mary who was used of God to give Jesus a human nature. The line of Joseph Jesus’ stepfather that came through the line of the kings of Judah could never have been the line of Jesus.
Thank you for your very good question.
2. Question: I would like to know or have some info on why Eve was not driven out of the Garden of Eden and what does it spiritually mean. Or, if Eve was driven out of the garden in the historical narrative, could it be possible that God purposely omitted saying Eve’s name as a spiritual point that she represents all the believers and therefore stays because she cannot lose her salvation (which is symbolized by the garden of Eden being heaven on earth)?
Response: Thanks for this question. First of all, while Eve is not specifically mentioned in the historical narrative of Genesis 3:22-24 when Adam was driven from the garden of Eden, we can know absolutely that she was driven out with Adam, because (a) they were both guilty and (b) they were joined together as man and wife and bore children after being driven out from the garden (Genesis 4:1-2).
Insofar as Eve being a picture of the believers which cannot lose their salvation, God tells us in Genesis 3:21
21Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them.
To provide coats of skins required the shedding of blood to cover their physical nakedness, which was a picture spiritually pointing to the fact that God would provide a Messiah who would give his life and shed his blood in order that our spiritual nakedness might be covered by the robes of Christ’s perfect righteousness. The Bible says
Hebrews 9:22 And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.
Leviticus 17:11 For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul.
Finally, was the garden of Eden spiritually representing heaven on earth? The answer is, absolutely not. Once sin entered the world, the earth came under the curse of God and shall remain so until its redemption by fire at the manifestation of the sons of God at the resurrection of the last day, when the heavens and the earth shall be destroyed by fire, and God shall create new heavens and new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness (Genesis 3:17; Romans 8:19-23; 2 Peter 3:7-13).
1. Question/comment: When you have time, I would much appreciate your interpretation of verses on the subject of forgiveness. According to Mr. Camping the Bible teaches unconditional forgiveness. However, during the OF when he was explaining this, for some reason, he did not mention Luke 17:3 and Luke 17:4.
I do agree that God forgave the elect unconditionally. And that the only reason we ask God for forgiveness is because He caused us to do so. It seems Jeremiah 31:18-19 speaks to this:
18I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself thus; Thou hast chastised me, and I was chastised, as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke: turn thou me, and I shall be turned; for thou art the Lord my God.
19 Surely after that I was turned, I repented; and after that I was instructed, I smote upon my thigh: I was ashamed, yea, even confounded, because I did bear the reproach of my youth.
So in the Lord’s prayer, where it says … And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors… we only say this because God turned us to do so. On our own we would not do so. This implies therefore that we are to forgive those unconditionally who trespass against us.
On the other hand, what are we to do with verses Luke 17:3, 4 and Matthew 18:22 followed by the parable of the unforgiving debtor?
Luke 17: 3 Take heed to yourselves: If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him.
Luke 17:4 And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him.
It seems the parable explains what it means to forgive concerning Matthew 18:22 in accordance with Luke 17:3,4. Notice that in each case the sinful servant (Luke 11:4) acknowledged that he was indebted (sinned) before asking for leniency. So I wonder in what circumstances is thy/my brother to repent before receiving forgiveness from the transgressed?
This seems to be another one of the many apparent contradictions in the Bible.
Response: Our listener has stated correctly that we are to forgive unconditionally which is characteristic of a true believer who has received the gift of God’s grace. When we put this in its proper perspective, we realize that we are sinners, and even after we’re saved, we have a body that lusts after sin. If God waited for his elect who are still unsaved to repent and ask forgiveness, they would never become saved. The Bible says, While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8).
Once we are saved, we are a new creation in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17), and have received a new heart in which we cannot sin (Ezekiel 36:26; 1 John 3:9). That is why in the parable of the unforgiving debtor in Matthew 18, God concludes in verse
35So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses.
The phrase, “from your hearts” is exceedingly important. Forgiveness that comes from the heart does not demand anything in return in the way of an acknowledgement or a request for forgiveness on the part of the one who we believe has transgressed against us. It is something that we do out of gratitude to God for his unfailing mercy in our lives.
The Bible nowhere teaches that the command to forgive from our hearts is predicated or conditioned on our brother acknowledging his trespass.
15But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
26But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses.
Think of the example of the Lord Jesus, of whom we read:
20For what glory is it, if, when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? But if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God. 21For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps: 22Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: 23Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously: 24Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.
Forgiveness is non-negotiable in the life of a true believer.
Matthew 5
43Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. 44But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; 45That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. 46For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? 47And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so? 48Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.
The Bible says in Matthew 24:14
14And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.
Please pray that God will provide the means and funds to accomplish His plan to send forth the True Gospel of Judgment and Salvation as He continues to Save His Elect during this time of Great Tribulation.
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