I have a question about when Paul circumcises Timothy in Acts 16:3 because of the Jews. Just before that there was a big deal made about not requiring the Gentile believers to follow the law and they even held a committee on it. Several leaders in the faith sent the decision out to Antioch and it was decided that the Gentiles were not required to be circumcised. Paul was a part of this group. Right after that Paul circumcises Timothy whose father was greek. Why on earth would he do such an about face?

Is being slain in the Spirit scriptural and if so where can I find it? Keep up the great work you are doing.

If one has a bad habit (tobacco) and has the habit from before they are saved to while they are saved, it is a besetting sin or is it practicing Sin? Regardless, I’m OSAS since day one and more secure with the help of your answers to questions in the past. I love God’s Word and love telling people about the Lord when I get the chance and look forward to His return, my conscience is sharp when I know I’ve hurt someone or done wrong. It sometimes feels as if I’m not changing much though. How can I tell that God is still making me holy (sanctified)?

As I read Joel 2:1-29, it seems to me that the passage; describes the battle that starts the Day of the LORD; the turning of Israel back to the Lord;the Lord’s deliverance and the immediate after effects, such as the outpouring of his spirit. The rest of Joel 2:30-3:21 deal with part of the Tribulation period and the battle of Armageddon.

The question I am trying to get to is from here. I believe Ezek.38,39 and Joel 2 are descriptions of the same battle. Look at the similarities between the two and Ezek.39:8 where the Lord God says “this is the day whereof I have spoken” in other previous scriptures, which is usually the day of the Lord., but look at Joel 2:16 too. All the first parts of the verse are plural (i.e. people, congregation ,elders,children and babies) which is everyone except the soldiers trying to defend Israel. Then there is a colon (:) in the verse (KJV). By definition a colon is used to mark a major division in a sentence, to indicate that what follows is an elaboration, summation or implication of what precedes it. The next part of the verse is singular (i.e. one bridegroom and one bride.) Could this part of the verse be a reference to or implication of the Rapture of the Church?

To whom is Jesus speaking in the following passage? WHO will be handed over, etc.?

“Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. (Matt. 24:6-14)

Many thanks for the clarification.

In a recent question you said that Paradise is part of Hades where those who died in faith went to wait for Jesus to die for them. You said after the Resurrection He took them to Heaven. But in 2 Cor. 12:2 and 4 Paul spoke of going to the 3rd Heaven which he called Paradise, and in Rev. 2:7 it speaks of the tree of life being in the paradise of God. Based on these two verses which are written after the cross and happened after the cross, it appears to me that paradise is not part of Hades.

I have a question concerning the mention of 1290 days and the mention of 1335 days in Daniel chapter 12. Are we talking literal days in the tribulation or is Daniel referring to days meaning years. Between the time of the Muslims not allowing the Jews to sacrifice ( prayer ) at the wall and resuming after the 1967 six day war was approximately 1290 years. If you add 45 days ( years ) to that, one would come up with the year 2012 when the abomination that causes desolation is set up and sacrifice is removed again. In your opinion – is there any merit to this idea? I just heard this theory but I can’t quite justify it in my mind yet. This theory also sets up the rapture to take place after the tribulation starts. That would also mean that the peace agreement would be signed fairly soon — like this year.

I have a question for you. concerning the war predicted In the Prayer of Psalm 83, and the Ezekiel war of 38-39. There is a split in the Arab world right now, on one side you have Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan. On the other you have Syria, Lebanon, Iran, Algeria and Sudan. The Egypt group is on the same side as Israel, but not in support of Israel, (not openly against Israel) The Iran side is anti Israeli. There is a strong rift between these two groups. Not solely because of Israel but other things as well.

My question is: Is this rift between these two groups supported by prophecy, or do you think this present situation is one that needs to be ironed out between these countries for prophecy to move forward?

God Bless You and thank you for your website. I have received a blessing everytime I visit. It seems that when I have a question, a majority of the time I find you have just answered my question before I get here. I also look forward to Monday mornings when I get to read your articles. I was wondering why you think that the last generation started when Israel became a nation. Could the last generation be the one that was beginning when Israel took Jerusalem in 1967? Thank you for your time.

RE: submitting to authority. The pastor of the church I go to just put out a membership pamphlet — we are a very new church and this is the first written stuff I’ve seen about membership. He has really changed his tune and is calling for tithing and commitment and submitting to the church leaders authority. My pastor used to say that the only membership requirement was wanting to worship God, study Bible and hang out with Christians/Believers, but now seems to be doing the authority thing. What is the End Times Bible truth about submitting to church leaders? Especially when they appear to be heading into the End Times apostasy and when they require it?