Bible Question Emails and Ted’s Responses

Countless people have emailed me with questions pertaining to topics about which I have written in my Bible Commentaries.  Some of these questions are below; click on them to reveal my responses.  Also, click on the heading of a section to go to my commentary about that particular topic.  To understand why it usually takes a lengthy period of time for me to respond to emails, read My Email Responses.

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Who Is God? Questions & Responses

• How can God be One and Three at the same time?

• How do you know that God isn't three distinct individuals?

• Would a genuine, original God function by himself and be independent of all others and contain all of the "God attributes" inherently within himself?

• If God didn't pay an infinitely high price to get what He wants, wouldn't it mean that no one would be saved and, thus, there would have been no point in creating us?

• Which do you feel is true: God's predestination or our free will?

• Can you answer some of my questions about the controversial topic of God's predestination vs. our own free will?

• Do you actually think that nothing matters because our choices are already predetermined by God?

• Who caused David to order the illicit census of Israel, Satan or God?

• To whom should we pray, and with whom should we develop a relationship, the Father or Jesus?

• What are some examples of having a personal relationship with God/Jesus?

• What was the main point of Jesus' suffering and sacrifice? What was in it for God?

• Why did God create all of this the way He did it?

• Why does God allow such great evil to exist in the world today, such as man's inhumanity to man?

• Who is responsible for evil? Does God know what He is going to do before He does it?

• By choosing not to perform a particular sin, can we reduce the amount of pain that Jesus suffered on the cross?

• Is it possible that all people ultimately could be reconciled back to God?

• Why did God ask Satan if he had considered His servant, Job? And did Satan choose to obey God in not killing Job?

• In the book of Job, how was it possible for God and Satan to hang out together? How could God be so casual in allowing Job's children and servants to be killed?

• What can I tell my grandson who thinks that God was unfair to allow Satan to kill Job's children?


Was Jesus God? Questions & Responses

• How can you say that Jesus was God when the Bible clearly indicates that Jesus and God are two separate beings?

• Why do you think that Jesus was more than divine, in other words that He was a deity or God?

• Jesus was and is not part of a trinity or even a duality of God, so why do you believe that he was/is?

• Is Jesus the "Word" of God, and are the Father and the Son both God?

• How can you believe that Jesus was God, or that God is a Trinity, when these are deceptive and misleading doctrines?

• Can't you see that God and Jesus are two distinct individuals, not one person?

• If God spoke to John about Jesus at His baptism, doesn't this disprove the idea of a Trinity?

• If Jesus had been God, wouldn't the ransom price He paid have been infinitely higher than what God's own law required?

• If Jesus was God, why did He say the Father was greater than He and knew things He didn't?

• If Jesus is God, how could He be at the right hand of God, and is Jesus equal to the Father?

• Why is God like a man that he had to have a son? How could the son of God be God? Was Mary the wife of God?

• Do you think that Jesus was born on December 25 of the Gregorian calendar, or could He have been born at a time that aligned with the Hebraic calendar of feasts and festivals?

• How could Jesus say "not my will, but yours be done"? How could Jesus and the Father want two different things?

• What do I tell Jehovah's Witnesses who say that God created Jesus?

• How can I reason with my wife, who has been indoctrinated into the Jehovah's Witness organization?

• If God has revealed Himself through the Trinity, why were the Jews surprised and shocked when Jesus told them that He was the second manifestation of the triune God, God the Son?

• Why will Jesus tell many who prophesy, drive out demons, and perform miracles in His name to depart from Him because He never knew them?

• If Jesus advocated baptism, then how can it not be essential for salvation?

• If Jesus said to baptize in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, why did the apostles baptize only in the name of Jesus?

• Who are the brethren and the sheep that Jesus referred to in Matthew 25:31-46?

• Why do you use the NIV, rather than the KJV, for the Bible references in all of your commentaries? Isn't the NIV negligent in showing whom Jesus really was?

• In John 3:16, isn't "only begotten" Son in the KJV the correct translation, whereas "one and only" Son in the NIV is an inaccurate translation?

• Is Jesus a descendant of both David and Solomon?

• Do you think the Creator of the universe is Jewish?


Good Thursday Questions & Responses
and Other Fulfillments by Jesus

• Wasn't Jesus in His tomb three full days and three full nights?

• Can you evaluate a website that advocates a Friday crucifixion and another website that advocates a Wednesday crucifixion?

• What if Jesus rose before dawn on Saturday rather than before dawn on Sunday, in which case He would have been crucified on Wednesday rather than on Thursday or Friday?

• I have read two articles that seem to point to a Wednesday crucifixion. What do you think?

• How could Jesus have been crucified on any day but Wednesday when the women prepared their spices on Friday, and Jesus rose from the dead at sunset following Saturday?

• How do you know that Jesus, the Messiah, entered Jerusalem on a Sunday and not on some other day of the week?

• How could it have been after sunset, commencing Preparation Day, that Jesus told His disciples to prepare for the Passover meal when Mark 14:17 indicates it was "evening" that Jesus and the twelve arrived to eat their meal?

• How can you say that Jesus was crucified on any day other than Friday, when the calculations do not work out for a Thursday crucifixion?

• Do you think the three hours of darkness prior to Jesus' death on the cross could account for the third night in the prophecy of the three days and three nights?

• When the bodies of many saints were raised from death as soon as Jesus died on the cross, what were they doing until the day that Jesus was resurrected when they went into the holy city, and what eventually happened to them?

• How can Aviv 14 be on a Thursday when a calendar converter indicates that it cannot?

• In what year do you think Jesus' crucifixion took place?

• How can the day Noah's ark came to rest on Mount Ararat, the 17th day of the seventh month (Genesis 8:4), be the same date that Jesus rose from the dead if the latter was the 17th day of the first month?

• When Jesus walked to Bethany on the Sabbath, didn't this amount to working on the Sabbath and, therefore, breaking the Torah/Law?

• How is it that Jesus is the fulfillment of the Jewish Spring and Fall feasts and holy days?

• How could Jesus and His disciples have eaten a Passover meal on Wednesday night? Do you think that lamb was eaten during their meal?

• Why did Jesus celebrate the Passover seder one night early?

• During a Messianic Passover Seder, should children drink the third cup and eat the Afikoman, which parallel what is done in Holy Communion, if they have not yet professed their faith in Yeshua?


Revelation Questions & Responses

• Doesn't God's wrath take place throughout the entire Tribulation or 70th Week period?

• Why do you believe that the majority of God's wrath will be poured out over the final year of the 70th Week and that the rapture will occur before that?

• Are the 1,260 days mentioned in Revelation a reference to the first half or to the second half of the 70th Week?

• Why are the two witnesses of Revelation 11:3,4 referred to as the "two olive trees" and the "two lampstands"?

• Who is the "woman" described in Revelation 12:1-6?

• Who is the "woman" in Revelation 12:1,14, and what does it mean that she flies away on "the wings of an eagle"?

• Pertaining to the casting of a third of the angels out of heaven in Revelation 12:4, did this happen in the past or is it a future event?

• Looking at the chronology of Revelation chapters 11-13, does the beast come and the implementation of his mark take place after Jesus returns to earth to rule and reign?

• Are the Sixth Seal events at the very end of the 70th Week?

• Do you think the "mighty angel" in Revelation 10 is Jesus, and could this take place when the Sixth Seal is opened?

• In Revelation 10:6, depending on which Bible version you use, why will there be "time no longer" or "no more delay"?

• Have you considered that the Sixth Seal might be man's doing and that some of the events could be a result of nuclear weapons?

• Can the cosmic signs of the Sixth Seal be described by solar and lunar eclipses in 2014 or 2015?

• Why do you say that the seven trumpets are included in God's wrath when His wrath only will be expressed by the bowl judgments, following the seventh trumpet, as shown in Revelation 11:15,18 and 15:1,2?

• How is it that Jesus' coming will be as a thief in the night if His coming is near the end of the 70th Week?

• Do you think the receiving of the mark of the beast will be a conscious choice, or do you think people could be tricked into taking it?

• Why do you think that Jesus will return to earth on a Yom Kippur or Day of Atonement and in conjunction with the blowing of the Seventh Trumpet?

• When does the period known as the "Day of the Lord" occur?

• Why do you believe that there will be a literal millennial period, of 1,000 years, after Jesus returns?

• What will people be like during the Millennium, and what will the millennial Kingdom of God be like?

• During the Millennium, how will it be for people on this earth without the devil, when they die, and with overpopulation?

• Why has God planned a Millennium of Jesus' reign, rather than have Jesus make a new heaven and earth immediately when He returns?

• Doesn't all the devastation described in 2 Peter 3:10,12 take place just before Jesus Christ returns, and then the earth will remain desolate and barren for 1,000 years?

• What have you got to say about temple sacrifices during the Millennium?

• What do you think about this web page that talks about the "new heavens and the new earth" and the "twelve stars on the woman" in Revelation?

• Why are Dan and Ephraim not listed in the 144,000 of Revelation 7:4-8?

• Could "Babylon the Great," described in Revelation, be the United States?


Rapture Questions & Responses

• What is your view of the Rapture, and what do you think about Bible passages that seem to point to a Pre-tribulation Rapture?

• How can believers go into the final seven years, if God has not appointed them to wrath?

• How can the Rapture be anything but Pre-trib, if it comes as a "thief in the night"?

• Do you feel that the Pre-tribulation view is the prevalent view of those who believe in a Rapture?

• Is the Pre-tribulation view of the Rapture the correct view?

• Can you give me a logical, sequential order of the Pre-wrath Rapture, and also explain why this negates the possibility of a Pre-tribulation Rapture?

• What is the difference between the "great tribulation" period and the "tribulation" period?

• If believers will have to go through the time of Great Tribulation, will those who have held to a Pre-trib Rapture view be more likely to be deceived and follow the Antichrist?

• What could cause the apostasy of 2 Thessalonians 2:3?

• Does "falling away" in 2 Thessalonians 2:3 refer to the Rapture of the church?

• How can you say that Matthew 24:30,31 is a description of the Rapture, when it is a picture of Jesus' second coming back to earth?

• How do you know that all elect believers will not experience death prior to being "taken up" in the rapture?

• What is the difference between the Pre-wrath Rapture view and the Post-tribulation Rapture view?

• Why are the "last trumpet" and the "seventh trumpet" not the same trumpet?

• How can you say the "last trumpet" and the "seventh trumpet" are not the same when they both are the last and final trumpet?

• Why do you say that the seven trumpets are included in God's wrath when His wrath only will be expressed by the bowl judgments, following the seventh trumpet, as shown in Revelation 11:15,18 and 15:1,2?

• Aren't the gathering of "elect believers" in Matthew 24:31 and the harvesting of "ripe grapes" in Revelation 14:16 the same event?

• Is it possible that Jesus' parable about the ten virgins could indicate that there will be a Mid-tribulation Rapture?

• Cannot the 6th seal/pre-wrath rapture occur at the midpoint of the tribulation period, and cannot the 7 bowls be placed within the 7 seals and the 7 trumpets timeline?

• If the "day and hour" of Jesus' coming are unknown, how can we know when it will happen?

• Who is the so-called "restrainer" who is holding back the "man of lawlessnes" and who will be "taken out of the way"?

• Is the "mystery" revealed to Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:51 and in Colossians 1:26,27 the same "mystery"?

• Since the resurrection will be on the last day, how can there be any resurrection prior to the day that Jesus returns?

• Why do you believe that the Rapture will take place a year before the end of the 70th Week?

• Is it possible that there will be multiple Rapture events?

• Aren't you saying that shortening the Great Tribulation period is the same as shortening a 1,260-day period? How is that possible?

• How can you say there is a Rapture when that word doesn't even exist in the Bible?

• Have you connected Paul's words to the Thessalonians with John's teaching in Revelation concerning the First Resurrection of the dead?

• Could the rapture discussed in scripture actually be a miraculous death?

• Do you believe that the Rapture is near? When do you think the tribulation will begin?

• Does the Rapture view that people accept affect the way they live or have a bearing on their salvation?

• What if there is no Rapture and everybody has to go through the tribulation?

• Are the "mansions" Jesus is preparing for us actual buildings in which we will dwell while in heaven?


Endtimes Questions & Responses

• When will God's covenant with Abraham be fulfilled, and how do we know that it is Israel who will receive the promised land?

• Do you think that forcing Israel to comply with a newly formed Palestinian "state" would be the equivalent of the Bible's "nations turning their backs on Israel"?

• Doesn't the word "temple" in 2 Thessalonians 2:4 and Revelation 11:1 indicate that the Third Temple will stand on the Temple Mount for the last 42 months of the final seven years?

• Wasn't Herod's Temple considered to be the 3rd Temple, so the next temple will be the 4th Temple?

• Do you think the location of Solomon's and Herod's temples could have been other than on the site known today as the "Temple Mount"?

• What could cause the apostasy of 2 Thessalonians 2:3?

• In the Bible, what period of time do you think the term "in that day" is referring to?

• Could the Antichrist and the False Prophet be the same person?

• How can you say that any part of the seventy weeks prophecy (Daniel 9:24-27) has yet to take place when all of that prophecy was fulfilled in the first century A.D.?

• Could the first half of the Tribulation have occurred during Jesus' final 3½ years on earth, with the second 3½ years to take place in the future?

• Are the 1,290 "days" in Daniel 12:11 actually 1,290 "years"?

• Could the 62 weeks of years of Daniel 9:25 already have happened, with the 7 weeks of years yet to take place?

• Are the "birth pains" spoken of by Jesus the same as the "labor pains" described by Paul?

• Do you think the fourth kingdom or beast of Daniel 2:40 and 7:7 respresents Rome or a future Islamic empire?

• When do you think the war in Psalm 83, prophetically, will take place?

• Does Isaiah 19:2-4 describe the unrest in Egypt which led to the resignation of Hosni Mubarack as the Egyptian president, as well as events soon to come?

• Can you address the following verses, as they relate to the Jews and possible endtime events: Isaiah 6:11,12; Luke 22:28,29; Matthew 21:42,43; Jeremiah 23:6, 33:16?

• How can Moses be one of the two witnesses if he died long ago?

• Will the Antichrist be Jewish? Are there any Bible references showing his nationality?

• When Jesus was telling His disciples about the terrible times to come, was He indicating that they, or another generation in the future, would experience this?

• How does Jesus' use of "generation" in Matthew 24:34 fit into end-time prophecy?

• Are the harvests described by Jesus in Matthew 13:24-30,36-46, and by John in Revelation 14:14-20, depictions of the same end-time harvest?

• What is your view on how or if we should make preparations for the coming tribulation?

• What are some of Islam's beliefs, including about Jesus, and what does their holy book say about Christians and those who do not embrace Islam?

• As a Muslim, how can I possibly be expected to understand this concept of the holy trinity as the Almighty in three persons?

• Could the global COVID virus outbreak indicate that the dreaded Great Tribulation period might begin soon?

• Is Vladimir Putin a good guy or a bad guy, and where does Russia fit in Bible prophecy?


Final Battles Questions & Responses
Winepress of Gog/Magog vs. Battle of Armageddon

• When does the Gog/Magog battle, described in Ezekiel chapters 38 and 39, occur?

• When do the events of Ezekiel chapters 35-39 take place?

• Can you contrast the Winepress of Gog/Magog with the Battle of Armageddon?

• If Israel is burning fuel from the Gog/Magog war for 7 years, how can that war possibly be at or near the end of the 7-year tribulation, during the time of God's wrath?

• Doesn't Jesus' second advent back to earth take place after the Bowl Judgments rather than before them?

• How do you know that Gog and the Antichrist will not be the same person?

• Is "the Assyrian," mentioned by Isaiah and Micah, the Antichrist?

• Do you think that the Islamic Mahdi will be the Antichrist and that he will fulfill Islamic prophecies?

• Isn't it clear that Gog is Russia?

• When will the Gog/Magog battle begin, and when will Israel be living in safety?

• Will Israel's "peace and safety," just prior to being attacked by the armies of Gog and Magog, be real or possibly a misperception on their part?

• Isn't the Gog/Magog battle of Ezekiel 38 and 39 the same one that John wrote about in Revelation 20:7-9?

• Is Ezekiel 39:17-29 descriptive of what happens during and after the battle of Armageddon?

• What are the 30-day and 45-day periods following the end of the 70th Week?


Creation Questions & Responses

• Didn't death in this world and decay in the universe begin when Eve and Adam sinned?

• How could death, decay, and imperfection possibly have been present on a perfect earth, prior to the disobedience and transgression of Adam and Eve?

• If the days of creation were 24 hours long, how is it possible that so many events took place on the sixth creation day?

• Is it possible that Cain and his siblings were provided wives and husbands, outside of their own family, who also were created on the sixth day?

• Why don't you believe God created the world in six days?

• If the days of creation were not actual solar days, why didn't God call them "long ages" instead of "days"?

• How will the appearance of the earth during the Millennium, and its appearance after the Millennium, be different?

• Could the destruction of the universe actually be simply its redemption and renewal?

• Could the fact that Jacob, Isaac's second-born, received the blessing of his first-born twin, Esau, foreshadow a greater purpose or principle that God had in mind?


Miscellaneous Questions & Responses

• What does it take to be "born again"?

• What do you think the thorn in Paul's side was?

• What is your "take" on the biblical book of Ecclesiastes?

• Do believers go to heaven when we die, or what happens?

• How do you know that people don't just lapse into unconsciousness and experience spiritual sleep when they die?

• How could salvation come to the historical patriarchs in the Bible and to the Jews who lived before Jesus came, since none of them could follow the law completely?

• Why did Jesus say that Moses is our accuser?

• When does judgment happen, and how can anyone enter heaven without being judged first?

• Is it possible to be removed from God's book of life?

• Do you think Acts 15 indicates that circumcision is required and that a seventh-day Sabbath is neccessary to observe for Gentile Christians?

• Does the term "Lord's Day" in the Bible refer to Sunday, and does this correspond to the observance of the Sabbath on Sunday rather than on Saturday?

• Should the weekly Sabbath observance be for 24 hours or only during daylight hours?

• What did Jesus mean in Matthew 13:33 and in Matthew 13:52, portions of two of His parables?

• Are Jesus and Lucifer the "morning stars" in Job 38:7? How and when did Lucifer become Satan?

• In Genesis 6:1,2, who are the "sons of God"?

• How does the blood atonement of Passover differ from the blood atonement of Yom Kippur?

• How do you calculate the timing of Shavuot or Pentecost?

• Why does the waving of the sheaf after the Sabbath, mentioned in Leviticus 23:11, have to be directly related to Passover?

• Why do you think that Christians should observe the Torah?

• Why did Joseph deceive and intimidate his brothers when they came to Egypt?

• Were the Israelites already in slavery when Joseph died?

• Was the word "homosexual" intentionally removed from the NIV translation of the Bible?

• Do you feel that your Bible and prophecy views and beliefs are "mainstream" or "extreme" or what, compared to those of other Christians?

• Where in the Bible does it say that people are sinners from birth?

• Do you believe that Mother Mary was the product of an Immaculate Conception, and how does her sinlessness relate to Adam and Eve's sinfulness?

• What do you think about the views of Seventh Day Adventists in general, but especially on prophecy and Revelation, and particularly on the period known as the Millennium?

• Where is the spirit of my departed husband? Does he see me crying and know my grief?

• What should I do about my doubts about the existence of God and Jesus?

• Do you think that demons are trying to scare or influence me, and what can I do about it?


Eye/Vision & Light Questions & Responses

• Can you answer my questions about the eye and vision?

• Is the color of light determined by its frequency or its wavelength?

• Is it grammatically correct to use a noun-verb combination of a proper name ending in "s"?

• Do you think part of the reason for the exploration of Comet 67P is an attempt to find evidence that God did not create the heavens and the earth?


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