I really enjoy your site. I have 2 questions. First, why did Jesus descend into hell before his resurrection? Second, in a National Geographic issue, there is an article on Herod. Was there more than one Herod, and if so, when did each of them live? Thank you for your work.

Our family has been reading through Daniel (because one of my son’s favorite story is there) and also through Luke (because of the season). My question to you is What is the significance of Gabriel (called by name) being the messenger in both books? Any other insight you have about these two books relationships would also be appreciated.

Thanks for all of your blessing to us and I pray that God blesses you abundantly also.

I have been reading your posts this week. I am not completely satisfied with the answer that several have asked. I am not interested in the answers that have been given. I know we are given free will and all that. But I feel the question has not been answered in full. God knew before the foundations of the earth everything that was going to happen. Then why would he create this world knowing some would go to hell. To me this is a selfish God, and much like us.

I have a question which I have always wondered about. When the woman caught in adultery was about to be stoned, the Bible says that Jesus wrote something in the dirt. What was it that he wrote, and why did He do that? Thank you very much for your answer to this question and to all the other questions that you have answered for me and so many others through your daily posts.

Thank you for your sound Biblical advice and teachings. My question is regarding preparing for the future primarily in the areas of economic collapse and persecution. What should we be doing? Stocking piling food, moving our investments in to gold and silver, buying land so we can farm, etc. Others say don’t be concerned because the church will be with the Lord. So what is the biblical balance? What would the Lord say to us at this time in history?

I recently read an article that says if we, believers, ask the Lord to heal us, there are certain terms. We have to live obedient lives and if somebody is living in sin, he mustn’t expect the Lord to heal him. I immediately remembered my besetting sin. So, to those of us who have besetting sins praying for healing is in vain? According to the author when the Lord first called Himself our Healer He promised to the Jews that He would only defend them from all the Egyptian diseases if they kept His commandments and were obedient to Him.

I wanted to follow up with a question in response to your answer of this question. I do agree with you that we should not “store up treasures here”, I also see that God provides us with wisdom to discern our times and to make preparation. I also see the example of Joseph in Egypt, discerning the king’s dream and knowing that 7 years of drought were coming. So he instructs the king to “store up” enough provision in the good years to provide for the people of Egypt, and more importantly God’s real intention was to save Israel by bringing them into the land to sustain and bless them. I guess the real issue is the “storing up”. Are we doing this to hoard for ourselves and form some false protection, or are we being wise in order to sustain our families in rough times?

I’m very distraught over the fact that a friend of mine is not saved, when I thought she was. She says she doesn’t think the Bible is reliable and there is no way to know what is to be taken literal and what is not. Because of this, she is unsure whether Christ is the son of God. She says she doesn’t believe in hell or Satan. She thinks a loving God would forgive all sinners. I tried to talk to her, but without a belief in the Bible, it wasn’t working. I really want to know how to get through to her.

Is the following from the Geneva Study Bible a proper understanding of predestination from Romans 8:29? For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestine.

“To foreknow and to predestine are not the same thing. One is an act of foreknowledge, or knowing something before it occurs; the other is to decree something. We only have knowledge of the past, but God foresees the future even as he sees the past; foresees it, not because he has decreed it, but because there are no limitations on his knowledge. Augustine says:

‘There can be no predestination without foreknowledge; but there can be foreknowledge without predestination.’

Whom does God foreknow ? Those who shall love God. As he looked into the future these were present to his mind; foreknown. What did he predestine of them? Not that they should love God. Not that they should believe; nor that some should be saved and others damned; but that those who he saw beforehand would love God, should be conformed to the image of his Son. The only thing predestined, or foreordained, is that those who love God as revealed in Christ shall become Christlike in life, and like Christ in eternity. This is the only decree in the passage.”

What do you think?

How many days and weeks are there in the Jewish/Biblical year? Also, is there a current Jewish calendar that is different from the biblical one, and if so, how many days and weeks are there in that calendar?