Thanks for the continued good work. Please explain Gen.49:10 … The scepter shall not depart from Judah … I have read somewhere that this refers in some way to the Roman occupation of Judea at the time of Christ’s coming.

I am a believer. I am eagerly looking forward to meeting the Lord in person, face to face.

Until that day arrives I am curious as to how to grow my relationship with the Lord. It appears that my communication with him is one way (me talking to, and listening for him). To date, (although I feel that I am listening) I have not heard anything but silence. Effective two-way communication seems to be essential in getting to know God. I don’t see any substitute. I am asking for help in this matter. I appreciate your time. Thanks.

I have read in one of your previous posts that if we continually ignore the Holy Spirit’s guidance we will lose the ability to hear him. I believe this is called quenching the Spirit and it bothers me for obvious reasons. If someone did indeed quench the spirit is that a permanent event or can it be restored by restoring our fellowship with God?

Thank you so much for your continued help and guidance. My question is about the significance of Jacob’s wrestling match in the book of Genesis. Was the angel he was wrestling a theophany? What was the significance of the wrestling and the length of the wrestling and the crippling of his hip afterward? Thanks as always.

I read your article yesterday, What Is Sin. It was amazing! I agree with you 100%.

My question to you though is about churches in our times now. We appear to have become very tolerant of sin in people who call themselves Christians and members of our churches. I see so many who regularly attend but who continue to live in sin with boyfriends (for years and years and continue doing it). That is just one example but I think you know what I mean.

You are dead-on right about judging others but are we also supposed to hold one another accountable? I read an article on the Drudge Report tonight about a church in Jacksonville, Florida who are using 18:17 to announce the sins of a particular woman in their congregation to the entire church. It seems a bit rough to me because where does grace fall into any of this? I think there is a fine line between grace and tolerance. What I’m seeing more and more are congregations of people coming to play church and not devoting themselves to the obedience of Jesus Christ. (yes, believe me, no one knows better than me about the plank in my own eye).

I guess what I’m asking is how do we call our churches back to obedience? It seems to me that we have a form of Godliness but lack the power thereof. I fear for the church in these times. I’d be interested to know what you think about this. Thank you so much for your time and may God richly bless you!

Thank you for all your hard work and insight into the word of God. My question concerns the one who sat on the throne in Revelation 5:7. Jesus said in John 4:24, “God is a Spirit and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth”. I have always wondered about Rev. 5:7 and have never had an interpretation that I could fully grasp. A spirit is like the wind, you can’t see the wind but you can see the effects of the wind. So would this not indicate that a spirit can’t be seated on a literal throne. It would seem to me that it be would Jesus seated on the throne in his resurrected body. In Mathew 28: 18 Jesus said “All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth”. Could this some how be what revelation chapter 5 and verse 7 is referring to? Thank you in advance for your answer.

My question is this. If Adam and Eve were the first to bear children, and we have Jew and Gentile, where did the separation of Jew and Gentile take place? Who started the Gentile nation or people? I. E. Israel and foreigner?

Does the Bible offer any insight (other than mentioning 10% in the Old Testament) of how much we as Christians are to tithe, under the new covenant?

I’ve heard ministers of God claim that when they refused God’s call he sent tragedy into their lives even as far as killing their loved ones. They cite Jonah as an example of how far God can go to get someone to obey his call. Is this an accurate description of God? Also Eph. 4:11-13 says the gifts of the Spirit are given until we can all reach a unity in faith etc. Does the church have to get to this point before Christ can come for us in the rapture or is it as a result of the rapture that the church reaches this unity thus leading to an end of the gifts?

I have fallen into a grievous sin that I can’t seem to get away from. I am concerned because I am not very sensitive to it anymore even though I know it is sinful. Is there any way for me to regain that “innocence” and sensitivity to this sin that I once had when I first got saved? I long for it but am convinced that I will never have it again. I can’t even cry about it anymore and that makes me sad.