1. How can a loving God send people to hell? YAHUAH is a loving God, in fact YAHUAH is love. (1 John 4:8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.) YAHUAH does not send anyone to hell. People choose to go to hell and it brings YAHUAH to tears. Yes YAHUAH could have created us like the rest of the animals and only given us the ability to follow the instincts He implanted within each living creature. But then you have to ask yourself, why would he do that? He already has tens of thousands of species on this earth for his enjoyment. He created us for a sincere loving relationship, and to have that he had to give us a choice to decide if we will seek a relationship with Him and to love Him, which is to willingly obey Him. And yes holy and unholy cannot coexist together no more than darkness can coexist in the same space as light. 2. What happens to the unreached people groups that have never heard of Yahushua Messiah? Great question only YAHUAH himself can answer, but I can tell you this, they are not reached because the majority of the seven billion people on this planet have chose not to bother. The finger will always point back to the ones who chose the other path - darkness. Luke 12:47-48 records Yahushua speaking to his disciples and gives us some insight into this question. “47The servant who knows the master’s will and does not get ready or does not do what the master wants will be beaten with many blows. 48 But the one who does not know and does things deserving punishment will be beaten with few blows. From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked." John 9:30-41 may also shed some light as it recounts Yahushua interacting with a man blind from birth whom he made to see and with the Pharisees who questioned him about how he regained his sight. The man answered, “Now that is remarkable! You don’t know where he comes from, yet he opened my eyes. 31 We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly man who does his will. 32 Nobody has ever heard of opening the eyes of a man born blind. 33 If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.” 34 To this they replied, “You were steeped in sin at birth; how dare you lecture us!” And they threw him out. 35 Jesus [Yahushua] heard that they had thrown him out, and when he found him, he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” 36 “Who is he, sir?” the man asked. “Tell me so that I may believe in him.” 37 Jesus [Yahushua] said, “You have now seen him; in fact, he is the one speaking with you.” 38 Then the man said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him. 39 Jesus [Yahushua] said, “For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind.” 40 Some Pharisees who were with him heard him say this and asked, “What? Are we blind too?” 41 Jesus [Yahushua] said, “If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains. 3. Why do bad things happen to good people? First lets define who is good: Luke 18:19 “Why do you call me good?” Jesus [Yahushua] answered. “No one is good—except God [YAHUAH] alone". Was Yahushua good? He suffered and died on a cross. Was Paul the Apostle good? In 2nd Corinthians 11 starting in verse 24 Paul writes: "Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. 25 Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, 26 I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers. 27 I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. 28 Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches. 29 Who is weak, and I do not feel weak? Who is led into sin, and I do not inwardly burn?" Now with "bad things" and "good people" put onto perspective, lets answer the question why: 2 Corinthians 1:8-9 Paul writes: "We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about the troubles we experienced in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired of life itself. 9 Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God [YAHUAH], who raises the dead." And in Romans 5:3-5 Paul writes: "Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s [YAHUAH's] love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us." In James 1:2-4 James also writes: "Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." 4. When and how long was Jesus actually in the tomb? Let's look at scripture and put the events into a timeline: Matthew 12:38-40 Then some of the Pharisees and teachers of the law said to him, “Teacher, we want to see a miraculous sign from you.” 39 He answered, “A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a miraculous sign! But none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. 40 For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. First lets look at this term "heart of the earth" some conclude this means the grave. What does the Greek word "kardia" (translated heart) actually mean? Thayer's Greek Lexacon defines "kardia" as follows: "a. that organ in the animal body which is the centre of the circulation of the blood, and hence was regarded as the seat of physical life. b. denotes the centre of all physical and spiritual life." The center of physical and spiritual life for Jerusalem at the time of Yahushua was the temple and its priests, the very ones who had Yahushua arrested. The center of the Jews' physical life was the Roman seat of authority occupying and ruling their land, the very ones who pronounced Yahushua's death sentence. Yahushua's lifeless body was placed in a Pharisee's tomb by the Pharisee owner of the tomb from where he was raised to life on the third day. The timeline follows: Night #1 Luke 22:52-54 Yahushua arrested Sunrise Luke 22:66 Council of elders began to question and judge Yahushua Day #1 Luke 23:33 Yahushua crucified Sunset Luke 23:53 Yahushua's dead body is resting in the tomb as the Sabbath begins Night #2 Luke 23:56 Sabbath Sunrise Sabbath Day #2 Sabbath Sunset Sabbath ends Night#3 Sunrise Luke 24:1 Yahushua's grave found empty early morning” Day #3 John 20:17 Yahushua told Mary, ”…I have not yet returned to the Father” Luke 23:50-24:3 50 Now there was a man named Joseph, a member of the Council, a good and upright man, 51 who had not consented to their decision and action. He came from the Judean town of Arimathea, and he himself was waiting for the kingdom of God [YAHUAH]. 52 Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus’ [Yahushua's] body. 53 Then he took it down, wrapped it in linen cloth and placed it in a tomb cut in the rock, one in which no one had yet been laid. 54 It was Preparation Day, and the Sabbath was about to begin. 55 The women who had come with Jesus [Yahushua] from Galilee followed Joseph and saw the tomb and how his body was laid in it. 56 Then they went home and prepared spices and perfumes. But they rested on the Sabbath in obedience to the commandment. Luke 24:1-3 1 On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. 2They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3 but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus [Yahushua]. Note: "first day of the week" is translated from the Greek words "mia sabbaton" meaning "first Sabbath". This seems not to make sense because they just finished resting on the Sabbath at the end of chapter 23. However, understanding YAHUAH's feast days can solve this seeming contradiction. As instructed in Leviticus 23, Passover is always observed on the 14th day of the first month. The following day begins the seven-day feast of unleavened bread. The first day of unleavened bread is considered a Sabbath as is the seventh day of this feast. The first-fruits offering of fresh barley heads was presented to YAHUAH at the temple on the day following the first 7th day Sabbath after Passover and falling within this week-long feast. This 7th day Sabbath preceeding the first-fruits offering is what scripture calls "mia sabbaton" meaning "one or first Sabbath". YAHUAH also instructed His people to count seven 7th-day Sabbaths from the first-fruits offering. The day after the seventh Sabbath (day 50) would be a first fruits offering of leavened bread made from wheat. Passover in Jerusalem is observed in remembrance of the day YAHUAH brought Israel out of Egypt and 50 days later He gave them the Ten Commandments from Mount Sinai. Today Yahushua is our passover lamb who was crusified at the same time the Passover lamb was slaughtered in Jerusalem. He is our first-fruits offering as YAHUAH harvested him from the grave on the 7th day Sabbath so he could return to His Father in heaven the following day, at the same time the first-fruits offering was presented at the temple. The 50th day from first-fruits, also known as Pentecost, is in remembrance of the pouring out of the holy spirit on the believers which was YAHUAH giving believers a new covenant, by placing His laws in our hearts. Luke 24:13-24 13 Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. 14 They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. 15 As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus [Yahushua] himself came up and walked along with them; 16 but they were kept from recognizing him. 17 He asked them, “What are you discussing together as you walk along?” They stood still, their faces downcast. 18 One of them, named Cleopas, asked him, “Are you the only one visiting Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?” 19 “What things?” he asked. “About Jesus [Yahushua] of Nazareth,” they replied. “He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God [YAHUAH] and all the people. 20 The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him; 21 but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place. 22 In addition, some of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb early this morning 23 but didn’t find his body. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who said he was alive. 24 Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but they did not see Jesus [Yahushua].” 4. What day is Jesus' Birthday? A careful analysis of Scripture clearly indicates that December 25 couldn't be the date for Christ's birth. Here are two primary reasons: First, we know that shepherds were in the fields watching their flocks at the time of Yahushua's birth (Luke 2:7-8). Shepherds were not in the fields during December. Since December is cold and rainy in Judea, it is likely the shepherds would have sought shelter for their flocks at night" Second, Yahushua's parents came to Bethlehem to register in a Roman census (Luke 2:1-4). Such censuses were not taken in winter, when temperatures often dropped below freezing and roads were in poor condition. Taking a census under such conditions would have been self-defeating. The biblical accounts point to the fall of the year as the most likely time of Yahushua's birth, based on the conception and birth of John the Baptist. Since Elizabeth (John's mother) was in her sixth month of pregnancy when Yahushua was conceived (Luke 1:24-36), we can determine the approximate time of year Yahushua was born if we know when John was born. John's father, Zacharias, of the division of Abijah, was a priest serving in the Jerusalem temple during the Abijah Division's course of service (Luke 1:5). Historical calculations indicate this course of service corresponded to June 13-19 in that year ( The Companion Bible , 1974, Appendix 179, p. 200). It was during this time of temple service that Zacharias learned that he and his wife, Elizabeth, would have a child (Luke 1:8-13). After he completed his service and traveled home, Elizabeth conceived (Luke 1:23-24). Assuming John's conception took place near the end of June, adding nine months brings us to the end of March as the most likely time for John's birth. Adding another six months (the difference in ages between John and Jesus (Luke 1:35-36)) brings us to the end of September as the likely time of Yahushua's birth. Historians are in general agreement that it was sometime during the fourth century that people began celebrating December 25 as Christmas Day . This is an amazingly late date. Christmas was not observed in Rome, the capital of the Roman Empire, until about 300 years after Christ's death. Its origins cannot be traced back to either the teachings or practices of the earliest Christians. In A.D. 274 Emperor Aurelian of Rome declared Dec. 25 to be the "birthday of the invincible sun." In time the Son of YAHUAH, Yahushua Messiah, became indistinguishable from the pagan sun god in the minds of hundreds of thousands of converts throughout the Roman Empire. Instead of standing as Christ's force for change in the world, nominal Christianity was changed by the pagan world it was supposed to transform! Dr. Count relates: "There exists a letter from the year 742 AD, in which Saint Boniface . . . complains to Pope Zacharias that his labors to convert the heathen Franks and Alemans—Germanic tribes—were being handicapped by the escapades of the Christian Romans back home. The Franks and the Alemans were on the threshold of becoming Christians, but their conversion was retarded by their enjoyment of lurid carnivals. "When Boniface tried to turn them away from such customs, they argued that they had seen them celebrated under the very shadow of Saint Peter's in Rome. Embarrassed and sorry, Pope Zacharias replied . . . admitting that the people in the city of Rome behaved very badly at Christmas time" (p. 53). |