Lesson 242: “Questions and Answers"

Question: Exodus 11:4-5 says all the first born shall die but in some of the other bible’s in our class it says ‘first born males’ and some just say ‘first born’. Was it the males or the first born?

Answer: Exodus 11:5 is using a merismus (a figure of speech in which two extremes represent the first, last and everything in between). The top extreme here is Pharaoh and the bottom extreme being a female slave. A more complex merismus would be the Alpha and the Omega, meaning the beginning and the end, but we also know that God is everything in between. Why the difference in translations is a matter of interpretation of the Hebrew language which I am told is quite complicated. The Hebrew word for firstborn son can take on both masculine and feminine plural endings which I assume account for some translator’s reasoning that every firstborn, both male and female, would die and not just the sons.

Question: What is the significance between the name Abram and Abraham; Sarai and Sarah in Genesis?

Answer: The significance of the new names is that every time Abraham and Sarah heard the names they would be reminded of God’s sure Word. Every time someone addressed him as Abraham he would recall God’s promise until finally Isaac, the child of promise, would call him ‘abba’ (father). The name Abram meant exalted father and implied that Abram came from royal lineage. In Hebrew the name Abraham sounds similar to ‘father of a multitude’ of nations. His new name implied a look ahead to his descendants. Sarah, though of little change from Sarai, meant princess and was fitting for one whose seed would produce. Another reason for name change is that it would show that person had ‘converted’ to faith of the True God. In Daniel 1:6-7 the pagan king changed the names of Daniel and his three Hebrew, meaning that they would be serving pagan gods; notice that the four did not accept the ‘faith’ change and they refused to serve Nebuchadnezzar’s god (Daniel 3:16-18, 6:13).

Question: Where in the Psalms does the bible say the Word of God will not change?

Answer: I believe the scripture you are looking for is Psalm 119:89; “Your Word, O Lord, is eternal; it stands firm in the heavens” (New International Version). Other references to this fact are found in Psalm 110:4; “The Lord has sworn and will not change His mind”; 1st Peter 1:25; “The Word of the Lord stands forever”; Malachi 3:6; “I the Lord do not change”; Matthew 24:35; “Heaven and earth will pass away but my Words will never pass away”.

Question: I was told that in Joel there were swarms of locust that went over the land and demolished it. However, when they came to the river some of the locust drowned so the others could cross the river. Is this true and if so, why?

Answer: “Now the Bereans received the message with great eagerness and examined the scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true” (Acts 17:1). Each and every person should be like the Bereans and examine the scriptures to see if what people tell us is true and lines up with the Word of God. Wanting to be like the Bereans, I examined the book of Joel and did not find where some locusts drowned in a river so that others might cross. The only mention in the book as to armies going into the water is Joel 2:20; the northern army being pushed into the eastern sea (Dead Sea) and those in the rear into the western sea (Mediterranean Sea). I believe this to be a metaphor of the Assyrian army and the locusts to be the Lord’s Army. It is said by scholars that water cannot stop a swarm of locusts and when they drown they do indeed form a bridge for others to cross but this is not in the scripture.

You might also find interesting reading in Revelation chapters 6-20 paying special attention to chapter 9 where God sends locusts. The Day of the Lord spoken of in Joel includes both past and present; the destruction of the Northern Kingdom, the Babylonian Exile; Babylon’s conquest of Egypt and the fall of Babylon and the final time period when the Lord will annihilate His enemies on a universal scale and restore Israel. After He returns and destroys His enemies the Day of the Lord will include a time of blessing for Israel known as the Millennium. The period of destruction will begin immediately after ‘the catching up of the saints’ and is known as the Tribulation. Then the Reign of Christ in the Millennium will begin (1 Thessalonians 5:2, 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12, Revelation chapters 6-20).

Question: The book of judges (chapters 10-11) talks about Gilead and I would like to know if this was a person who begot Jephthah or a city of inhabitance?

Answer: It is not unusual for one name to be used for a nation, clan, tribe and also individual persons. Gilead means hill of testimony or mound of witness and is a mountainous region east of the Jordan River and includes many towns (Genesis 31:21, Numbers 32:4, 1 Chronicles 2:22, 1 Kings 17:1, 2 Samuel 17:26). Gilead is also the name of at least three men in the scripture, son of Makir and grandson of Manasseh (Numbers 26:29-30, 27:1, 36:1); father of Jephthah (Judges 11:1-2); chief of Gad (1 Chronicles 5:11, 14).

Question: Could you please explain Ezekiel 13:18-19? I have been told that these verses mean that there is no rapture; that God doesn’t want us to believe that we’re going to fly out of here before the tribulation.

Answer: These people who are telling you these things are the people that Ezekiel is prophesying against. They were called the daughters of your people who prophesy out of their own imagination (Ezekiel 13:2) and the Lord denounced them because they were like mediums or sorceresses. The purpose for their magic charms and mysterious veils were to ensnare people; especially in times of uncertainty and turmoil. These prophetesses would ‘tell the future’ or provide a ‘good-luck spell’ for a few scraps of bread as an offering to the occult gods or spirits. They were making a living off the fears of others and God said they were really ‘lying to my people’.

Jesus Himself warns about these things happening in the last days (Matthew 24:4) and false prophets (Matthew 7:15-16). “Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to Him, we ask you, brothers, not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by some prophecy, report or letter supposed to have come from us, saying that the Day of the Lord has already come. Do not let anyone deceive you” (2 Thessalonians 2:1-3). These people will worm their way into homes and gain control over weak willed women; however from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures which are able to make you wise (2 Timothy 3:6-15). Test the spirits (1 John 4:1-6) and understand that many deceivers are now in the world (2 John 7:11).

Now concerning the ‘rapture’ and the tribulation; Jesus, who rescues us from (tribulation) the coming wrath (1 Thessalonians 1:10); the dead in Christ (that is all Christians who have died before Jesus comes) will rise first and after that we (Christians/the Church) who are still alive will be caught up (raptured) in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18).