Q: Does Revelation 3:12 mean that there will be nothing to do in the Kingdom of God when it says “and he shall go out no more”?

Let us read what this verse says: "He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go out no more. I will write on him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God. And I will write on him My new name."

Does this mean that we will be looking into the face of God for eternity or strumming on harps with no constructive work to do?

Q: Can you shed some light on the significance of a "red heifer" to be born prior to the coming of the Messiah?

Let us first of all understand that there is nothing in the Bible demanding a red heifer to be born prior to the return of Jesus Christ. It is true, however, that some Jews and Christians have attached an end-time application to the ancient Old Testament ritual of the killing of a red heifer for purposes of purification. As will be explained herein, this ritual is no longer in force. But some Jews and Christians believe that the ritual must be applied today, as a prerequisite for the commencement of sacrifices and the building of a third temple, and they expect a red heifer soon to be born. (In fact, when conducting a Yahoo search on the Internet, one receives about 280,000 results for "red heifer.").

Q: Would you please explain the concept of the "Jubilee Year"?

In Old Testament times, God established a system whereby the poor would not be in perpetual poverty. God did this in His great mercy, knowing what human nature is like, and that there are those who accumulate and those who squander. He did not want a few extremely wealthy individuals ruling over the masses who were just getting by, or who became and were poor. In reflecting on the situation of this world, Christ said in Matthew 26:11: "For you have the poor with you always, but Me you do not have always." He knew that as long as Satan rules this world; as long as human carnality exists; and as long as societies work in the way they do; the poor would always be among us.

Q: What is known about the biblical "Urim and Thummim"?

The first time that the Bible mentions "Urim and Thummim" is in Exodus 28:30, in connection with the garments for the high priest; especially, the "ephod" and the "breastplate of judgment." The breastplate was to be placed on the ephod (Exodus 28:28), and verse 30 reads: "And you shall put in the breastplate of judgment the Urim and the Thummim, and they shall be over Aaron's heart when he goes in before the LORD." A similar statement can be found in Leviticus 8:8.

Q: Can you explain the timeline that eventuated between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2?

Let's have a look at these two verses first: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.”

A better translation for Genesis 1:2 is: “The earth became without form, and void...” We find the same exact Hebrew word, "ha^ya^h," translated appropriately in Genesis 2:7 as "became." The translators had certain leeway based on the context of the sentence in terms of whether they would translate it "was" or "became." In the case of Genesis 1:2, it really should be the latter.

Q: Is it true, that chronologically speaking, Genesis 1:1 is not the beginning of recorded history in the Bible?

In fact, there are a few major events in the Bible that transpired before the opening verse of the Bible.

Perhaps surprisingly, the earliest record can be found in the New Testament. In John 1:1 we find an event that transcends our understanding of time and reveals an existence eons before the physical creation of the universe.

John 1:1-2 reads: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God."

Q: If Isaiah 53 prophesies about the first coming of Jesus Christ, why do the Jews reject this understanding?

It is true that most Jews today do not consider the passage in Isaiah 53 as a prophecy pertaining to the first coming of the Messiah. We will discuss their rationale later in this Q&A. First, let us briefly point out that Jesus Christ was and is the Messiah; and that He fulfilled precisely the prophecy in Isaiah 53.

For instance, Isaiah 53:1 ("Who has believed our report?") is quoted in John 12:37-38 in reference to Jesus.

Isaiah 53:3 ("He is despised and rejected by men") finds its fulfillment in Jesus Christ (compare John 1:10-11; Luke 19:14; Mark 6:3).

Isaiah 53:4 ("Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows") is quoted in Matthew 8:17 in reference to Jesus.

Q: Would you please discuss the Scripture in Zechariah 12:10?

According to most Christian commentaries, this passage addresses the First and Second Coming of Jesus Christ as the Messiah and Savior of mankind. However, most Jewish commentaries reject this conclusion and give the passage a different meaning.

Zechariah 12:10-11 reads as follows:

"And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn. In that day there shall be great mourning in Jerusalem..."

Q: What will happen to the spirit in man of those who die the second death?

In our last Q&A (in Update #438, dated April 15, 2010), we explained that God gives every person, apparently at the time of conception, a "spirit," which the Bible calls the "spirit in man." This spirit is not a soul--the person is the soul--nor is it a conscious being. When the person or the soul dies, the spirit in man returns to God who gave it (Ecclesiastes 12:7). It is being stored in heaven until the time of that person's resurrection.

Q: What does the Bible teach about the "spirit in man"? Is that human spirit the same as an immortal soul?

The Bible does indeed teach that every human being has a spirit, but that spirit is neither immortal nor a soul.

I. The Spirit in Man

We discuss the biblical concept of the "spirit in man" extensively in our free booklet, "The Theory of Evolution--a Fairy Tale for Adults".

In this Q&A, we are quoting the following excerpts: