Questions and Answers
Have you ever wondered what God thinks about taxes; when man’s tax system was instituted and why; whether we ought to pay taxes today; and whether there will be taxes in the Millennium? To be clear, we need to distinguish between tithe contributions—money which belongs to God—and taxes—money which belongs to Caesar. As we explain in our booklet on tithing, titled, “Tithing-Today?” the first time tithing is mentioned specifically is when Abraham gave the tithe from everything to Melchizedek (Jesus Christ manifesting Himself as a human being). We can see from the context that tithing was in force already prior to this event, and that Abraham followed a practice with which he was familiar. Later, we find that Jacob spoke about giving a tithe to God. In the New Testament, it is clarified that tithing is still in force and effect today. In the book of Hebrews, we read that the tithe, which was temporarily given to Levi, reverted back to Christ who had received the tithe long before Levi was born. God challenges us in the book of Malachi to pay Him His tithe, and He says that we defraud Him, if we do not do this; and Malachi wrote… Some Scriptures appear to indicate that God can forget at times. We read passages like Exodus 2:24-25: “So God heard their groaning, and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. And God looked upon the children of Israel, and God acknowledged them.” At first thought, it looks like God had, for a time, forgotten the children of Israel and finally realised that they needed help, but is this so? First of all, what was the covenant that God remembered? A covenant with Abraham or Abram was first mentioned in Genesis 15:18, where we read: “On the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, ‘To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the River Euphrates.” A second covenant between God and Abraham (Abram) is mentioned in Genesis 17, beginning in verse 1. “When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, ‘I am Almighty God; walk before Me and be blameless. And I will make My covenant between Me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly.’ Then Abram fell on his face; and God talked with him, saying: ‘As for Me, behold,… 1 Timothy 4:8 is rendered, as follows, in the New King James Bible: “For bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come.” The Authorized Version says: “For bodily exercise profiteth little.” Commentaries are divided as to the exact meaning of this verse, as is also reflected in the way it is being translated. For example, the Greek states, as explained by some: “… profiteth to (but) a small extent.” The New American Standard Bible states: “for bodily training is just slightly beneficial.” Weymouth New Testament reads: “Train yourself in godliness. Exercise for the body is not useless, but godliness is useful in every respect.” The German Luther Bible says: “…does not help much” or “is of little use.” The Menge Bible reads: “… brings only little benefit.” Barnes Notes on the Bible states: “The apostle does not mean to say that bodily exercise is in itself improper, or that no advantage can be derived from it in the preservation of health.” He also stated that an alternate reading would be: “For bodily exercise profits for a little while,” explaining: “The Greek will admit of either interpretation [“profits a… These words are quoted from Philippians 2:3, in the Authorized Version, but we must read the entire context to understand what Paul is saying. The entire passage, beginning with verse 2 and ending with verse 8, reads in the Authorized Version: “Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.” What does the word “esteem” convey? It can be defined as, “to think valuable. If you are esteemed, then people think you’re a valuable person to have around, and have a lot of respect for you.” It has also been defined as “to regard highly or favorably; regard with respect… In the first part of this two-part series, we looked at the fact that many writers will agree that there are pagan connections to Christmas but conclude that it is still acceptable to keep the festival. We gave two examples and continue with further examples. EXAMPLE 3: Here is another approach to try and justify Christmas celebrations: “The Lord, through His sacrifice, has cleansed us of our sins. He sanctifies what he touches. When we came in contact with Him, it is we who were cleansed. It is not Him who is defiled. The woman with the issue of blood who touched Jesus (Mark 5:25-34) was made clean. It was not Jesus who was defiled. Likewise, Jesus touched the unclean lepers and cleansed them (Matthew 8:3). Jesus came in contact with many people, and it was never He who was defiled. It was they who were cleansed. “I think this principle can be applied to Christmas. Yes, Christmas has pagan origins. Yes, it is a highly commercial time. Yes, many do not have their eyes on Jesus. But for the Christian, it is a time to reflect upon the birth of our Lord and to celebrate His coming into the world to die for our sins.” This approach is exactly what the Bible… It is interesting when reviewing this question that many writers will agree that there are pagan connections to Christmas but conclude that it is still acceptable to keep the festival. There was a special report on the BBC News website some years ago entitled “Whose Christmas is it anyway?,” which stated the following: “Apparently, the season of good cheer did not start out as exclusively a Christian festival. According to Pagans, the early Christian church hijacked December 25 to celebrate the birth of Jesus because they saw that everyone was already having a good time and decided to take advantage of it. “Historical debate has been raging for a long time over the exact date of the birth of Jesus Christ, with estimates ranging from sometime in September to much later in February. “But the most important date in the festive season for Pagans is the winter solstice which always takes place around December 21. Called Yule, it is one of the traditional Celtic fire festivals and marks the return of the light after the longest night of the year. “The Pagan Federation, an umbrella group for Pagan organisations, describes Paganism as a spiritual nature-venerating belief system rooted in the ancient nature religions of the… The naïve would assume that over the course of twenty years that all of the possible questions about the teachings of the Bible would be answered. But having a Berean outlook on learning, we know better. In the month of August, 2001, we published our first Q&A on the topic of the rapture. Immediately seeing the value of presenting the Truth in this format, we began publishing new Q&As regularly, setting a pace to answer a new question with every weekly version of the Update. In this 1,000th version of the Update, we have produced enough material to fill a 3,000-page book with well-researched answers to 935 questions. The wealth of information presented in the Q&As cannot be overstated. These tightly focused presentations provide our readership with a wide variety of continually relevant material. Topics range vastly from foundational Christian doctrine, to timely questions affecting our society during a snapshot in time, to the interpretation of commonly misunderstood Scriptures, to topics that provide a detailed insight into the reasons behind the doctrines we uphold. The breadth and depth of content published in our Q&As has an immense range. Each Q&A produced by the Church ministry takes a deep dive into the… The account of Jesus being baptized by John the Baptist is recorded in Matthew 3:13-17, Mark 1:9-11 and Luke 3:21-22. The first chapter of John also mentions the context of when Jesus was baptized as told by John the Baptist (John 1:19-34). It is important to understand the role of John the Baptist leading up to the baptism of Jesus. A prophecy in Isaiah 40, verse 3, actually refers—in part—to John the Baptist: “The voice of one crying in the wilderness; ‘Prepare the way of the LORD; Make straight in the desert A Highway for our God.’” The religious leadership from Jerusalem sent to John the Baptist wanting to know who he was. John’s response was to quote Isaiah 40:3, saying that he was fulfilling this prophecy. He also said, “‘You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, “I am not the Christ,” but, “I have been sent before Him”’” (John 3:28). Another dramatic prophecy is given in Malachi 4:5, which states: “‘Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet Before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD.’” While this prophecy incorporates most specifically the time of the return of Jesus Christ to establish the Kingdom of God, it also was applied to John the… What you are referring to is the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) which was held in Glasgow on 31 October – 12 November 2021. This event is a global United Nations summit about so-called climate change and how countries are planning to tackle it. On the BBC website is an article entitled “Climate change: What is it and why is everyone talking about it?” https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/45880633 This website states that “When we talk about climate change, we are talking about global changes in the Earth’s average temperature. The Earth’s average temperature moves up and down naturally, but it has been increasing more rapidly than it usually does. This change is impacting on the planet’s environment – which is everything natural around us; rivers, trees, plants, animals… everything! “Scientists say many of the changes to the Earth’s climate are caused by human activity – this means things that humans are doing. Some of those things are: the burning of oil, coal and gas, waste, deforestation and urbanization and population growth. “Scientists say the world is about one degree Celsius warmer than it was 300 years ago when the Industrial Revolution started and people began to work in factories. A very influential 2018… Exodus 32:15 reads: “And Moses turned and went down from the mountain, and the two tablets of the Testimony were in his hand. The tablets were written on both sides; on the one side and on the other they were written.” The two tablets of the Testimony refer to the two tablets of stone, containing the Ten Commandments, which Moses carried in his two hands (cp. Exodus 32:19; Deuteronomy 9:15). But what is meant with the statement (only found in Exodus 32:15) that the two tablets were written on both sides? Much confusion exists regarding this statement. This confusion is somewhat related to the confusion regarding the correct numbering of the Ten Commandments. In chapter 3 of our free booklet, “The Ten Commandments,” we say the following about the different ways in which people have been numbering the Ten Commandments: “There is… much disagreement as to HOW to number the Ten Commandments… It was Augustine, a Catholic bishop of Hippo in North Africa, who, in the fourth century, combined the First and the Second Commandment as ONE commandment… In order to reach the number ten, he divided the last or the TENTH Commandment into two… the reason Augustine renumbered the Ten Commandments (by counting the First and…What does God say about taxes?
Does God forget?
Could you explain 1 Timothy 4:8?
What does it mean to “esteem others better than himself”?
Is Christmas still acceptable in spite of its pagan roots and origins? – Part 2
Is Christmas still acceptable in spite of its pagan roots and origins? (Part 1)
What questions have you answered throughout your Church history?
Why was Jesus baptized?
Can true Christians learn anything from the recent Climate Change Conference?
How do you understand Exodus 32:15?
