Q&As

Questions and Answers

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…”

The phrase “in that day” gives us the time setting–it is a reference to the time of the end, the coming of the LORD and His reign over this world (note Zechariah 12:4, 6, 8-9; 13:1-2, 4; 14:4, 6, 8-9, 20).

At the time when the LORD appears to defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem (Zechariah 12:8), they will begin to recognize Him as their Savior. They will understand that it was they–as this is true for all of mankind–who pierced and killed Him, when He came in the flesh (John 1:1, 11, 14; Luke 19:14; 20:13-15). They will…

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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.

We also explained that the spirit in man has recorded all there is about the person–including his appearance, his thoughts and his deeds. It can be compared with a video cassette or a DVD, which only comes “to life,” when placed in a VCR or a DVD player and when the play button is pushed. Following this analogy, God uses the spirit in man to resurrect or better recreate the body of the person at the time of his resurrection.

In the First Resurrection, the person, who during his lifetime had also received God’s Holy Spirit in addition to the human spirit, will be resurrected as an immortal spirit being. Those in the Second and Third Resurrections will be…

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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:

“Most people know nothing about the existence of the spirit in man—even many religious people—lay persons and theologians alike. When they read passages in the Bible describing the spirit in man, they assume the Bible is talking about the soul. But the soul is not a non-physical component of the human being. The soul, according to the Bible, is totally physical. The Bible does not teach the concept of an immortal soul. Rather, we read in Ezekiel 18:4, ‘The soul who sins shall die.’ The word ‘soul’ in the Bible refers to the living body of both man and animals…

“In the book of Isaiah we are told that each human being has a spirit within him. ‘Thus says God the Lord, Who created the heavens and stretched them out, Who spread forth the earth and that which comes from it, Who gives breath to the…

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Would you please explain Zechariah 13:3?

The passage in question refers to the time of the Millennium, after Christ’s return, when the Kingdom of God will be established here on earth.

Zechariah 13:2-3 reads:

“‘(Verse 2) It shall be in that day,’ says the LORD of hosts, ‘that I will cut off the names of the idols from the land, and they shall no longer be remembered. I will also cause the prophets and the unclean spirit to depart from the land. (Verse 3) It shall come to pass that if anyone still prophesies, then his father and mother who begot him will say to him,”‘You shall not live, because you have spoken lies in the name of the LORD.” And his father and mother who begot him shall thrust him through when he prophesies…'”

This passage is adopted from and reverts back to laws which God gave Old Testament Israel, to be found in Deuteronomy 13:1-11 (compare also Deuteronomy 18:20).

In explaining the passage in Zechariah 13:3, the Jamieson, Fausset and Brown Commentary points out:

“The substantial truth expressed is that false prophecy shall be utterly abolished. If it were possible for it again to start up, the very parents of the false prophet would not let parental affection…

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Would you please explain Matthew 24:20?

In Matthew 24, containing the famous “Olivet prophecy,” Jesus Christ explained the “sign of His coming and the end of the age” (verse 3). After discussing the “beginning of sorrows” (verse 8), He pointed at the worldwide preaching of the gospel (verse 14), followed by the Great Tribulation (beginning with verse 15). In that context, Jesus said, in verses 19-22:

“(19) But woe to those who are pregnant and to those with nursing babies IN THOSE DAYS. (20) And pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath. (21) For THEN there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until THIS TIME, no, nor ever shall be. (22) And unless THOSE DAYS were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake THOSE DAYS will be shortened… (29) Immediately after the tribulation of THOSE days the sun will be darkened… (30) THEN the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and THEN all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.”

Even though some commentaries state that…

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Would you please explain Revelation 12:17?

Reading Revelation 12:17 in context, it shows that in the future, just prior to Christ’s return, some in God’s Church will be protected from the Great Tribulation and Satan’s wrath, while other Christians will have to go through that terrible time of martyrdom.

Revelation 12:17 reads: “And the dragon [Satan the devil] was enraged with the woman [the Church of God], and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.”

We begin our discussion of this passage by quoting from chapter 13 of our free booklet, “Is That in the Bible?–The Mysteries of the Book of Revelation“:

“Commencing with Revelation 12:7, events that will take place at the time of the end—still future—are being described. A new war is depicted between Satan and God—another demonic attempt to dethrone God. But Satan will fail again and will be cast back down to the earth, to subsequently persecute the woman with ‘great wrath’ (Revelation 12:7–13).

“While the woman has flown to her place of safety, here on earth, with two wings of a great eagle (compare Exodus 19:4; Deuteronomy 1:31; 32:11; Isaiah 63:9), to be…

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Why does the Church of God keep the annual Passover one day earlier than the Jews?

It is indeed correct that the Church of God keeps the Passover one day earlier than the Jews do today. The reason is that based on the Bible, the Jews keep the Passover one day too late.

This year, the Church of God keeps the annual Passover on Sunday evening, March 28, after sunset. However, the Jews keep the Passover, beginning on Monday evening, March 29, after sunset. As we said, they keep it one day too late. They keep the Passover when the Bible commands to keep the “Night to Be Much Observed”–two totally different and separate occasions.

Please notice our comments in our free booklet, “The Meaning of God’s Spring Holy Days”:

“Today’s Jewish community is totally confused about the distinction between the Passover night and the Night to Be Much Observed. In fact, they keep the PASSOVER at the END of the 14th and the beginning of the 15th day [of the first Hebrew month of Nisan or Abib, according to the Hebrew calendar], TOGETHER WITH the Night to Be Much Observed, as if the two events were one and the same. But this is not according to Scripture. These are two separate events that are to…

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In reading some comments by the Apostle Paul in the book of Romans, it appears that Paul might not have understood that most Israelites who are not called to salvation in this day and age will be called in the Second Resurrection and will then be given their opportunity to inherit eternal life. Is this impression of Paul's lack of understanding correct?

It is not. Paul clearly understood and taught that there is a Second Resurrection for all those who were never called to salvation in this life. This will include the multitude of the past and present houses of Israel and Judah, as well as the multitude of non-Israelite nations–the “Gentiles.” Paul knew that today, only very few –the “firstfruits” (compare Romans 8:23)–will be called to salvation and the pre-millennial First Resurrection to eternal life. Paul knew that the Second Resurrection will not be to eternal life, but to a physical temporary existence, but with the potential to qualify for eternal life.

Paul knew, of course, Old Testament passages which clearly describe the Second Resurrection of the entire house of Israel to physical existence. He was aware of Ezekiel 37:1-14, where the resurrection of the entire house of Israel to physical life is prophesied (see verse 11). He knew of Jesus Christ’s sayings in passages such as Matthew 12:41-42; 11:21-24; and 10:14-15, referring to the post-millennial (second) resurrection to (the Great White Throne) judgment of Gentiles and Israelites. Even though the book of Revelation had not been written by the time of Paul, he undoubtedly was familiar with the concept of the…

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Would you please explain what Paul meant in 1 Corinthians 5:5, saying that a sinner in the Church should be delivered to Satan for the destruction of the flesh?

Although the correct answer can be easily ascertained from the Scriptures, many commentaries are actually confused regarding the meaning of this passage. Paul said, in context, in 1 Corinthians 5:1-5:

“It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and such sexual immorality as is not even named among the Gentiles–that a man has his father’s wife! And you are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he who has done this deed might be taken from among you. For I indeed, as absent in body but present in spirit, have already judged (as though I were present) him who has so done this deed. In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when you are gathered together, along with my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.”

Paul wrote this letter during the annual Festival of the Seven Days of Unleavened Bread (compare verses 6-8)–at a time when Church members were abstaining from eating leavened products and were instead partaking of unleavened products. In the Bible, leaven is sometimes compared with…

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What was the exact hour of Christ's crucifixion (compare Mark 15:33-37)?

At first glance, it might appear that the accounts of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John gave inconsistent times pertaining to Christ’s crucifixion. However, this is not the case. Apparent inconsistencies are explained when we realize that Matthew, Mark and Luke used the Jewish reckoning of time, while John gave the Roman reckoning.

(1) According to the JEWISH reckoning, a day of 24 hours duration begins at sunset and ends at sunset, and the (approximate) twelve hours of the daylight portion BEGIN WITH SUNRISE, while the (approximate) twelve hours of the night portion BEGIN WITH SUNSET.

Adam Clarke’s Commentary on the Bible states [in regard to Mark 15:25] that the Jews “divided the day into four general parts. The first began at sunrise. The second three hours after. The third at mid-day. The fourth three hours after, and continued till sunset.”

Likewise, in passing, Adam Clarke’s Commentary on the Bible also informs us [in regard to Matthew 14:25] that in New Testament times, the Jews divided the night into four watches: “The first watch began at six o’clock in the evening [or sunset], and continued till nine; the second began at nine, and continued till twelve; the third began at twelve, and continued till…

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