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QUESTIONS &
ANSWERS (7)
Victor M.
Eskew
INTRODUCTION
A.
The first question
asked in the Bible was asked by Satan (Gen. 3:1).
B.
The second question
was asked by God (Gen. 3:9).
And the
Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where at
thou?
1.
God’s question was not
intended for His knowledge. He knew
where the first couple was.
2.
His question was
intended to expose Adam and the sin he had committed (Gen.
3:10).
And he
said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked,
and I hid myself.
C.
God’s questions are
always pointed and serve a very valuable purpose to the one(s) being asked the
questions.
D.
Human questions,
however, can be very broad and general.
Most of the time, they serve the one who asks the question. That is certainly the purpose for our Q
& A Lessons each first Sunday of the month.
I.
ESAU ERRED IN DEVALUING HIS BIRTHRIGHT. BUT DIDN’T JACOB AND HIS MOTHER SIN
GRAVELY BY DECEIVING THE FATHER?
A.
The account in
question is found in Genesis 27.
1.
Isaac promises to
bless Esau (Gen. 27:1-4).
2.
Rebekah overhears the
conversation (Gen. 27:5).
3.
Rebekah and Jacob plot
to get the blessing (Gen. 27:6-17).
a.
Two kids from the goats were prepared as the savory meat (Gen. 27:9,
14).
b.
Skins from the goats were placed upon Jacob’s neck and hands (Gen.
27:16).
4.
Jacob goes into Isaac’s chamber to receive the blessing (Gen.
27:18-29).
a.
Two times Jacob tells a blatant lie to his father.
1)
Genesis 27:18-19a
And he
came unto his father, and said, My father:
and he said, Here am I; who art thou, my son? And Jacob said unto his father, I am
Esau they first born.
2)
Genesis 27:24
And he
said, Art thou my very son Esau?
And he said, I am.
b.
In addition to these blatant lies, his raiment also deceived his father
twice: once by touch (Gen.
27:21-22) and once by smell (Gen. 27:26-27).
5.
When Esau learns of the deception and the stolen blessing, he is
extremely upset. Listen to what he
had to say about his brother (Gen. 27:36).
And he
said, Is not he rightly named Jacob?
For he hat supplanted me these two times: he took away my birthright; and, behold,
now he hath taken away my blessing.
B.
The answer to the
question, therefore, is:
“Yes.” The taking of the
blessing was accomplished through deception and lying.
C.
Two important
points:
1.
God knew this was
going to transpire (Gen. 25:23).
2.
God used this evil to
bring His will to pass.
II.
GENESIS 6:4 MENTIONS “MEN OF RENOWN.” ARE THERE ANY HEBREW STORIES OR WRITINGS
MENTIONING THESE MEN?
A.
Genesis
6:4
There were
giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God
came in unto the daughters of men, and they bore children unto them, the same
became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.
B.
The Jewish stories
that surround the men of renown have to do primarily with their origin. Each one of the Jewish accounts agrees
with one another. They believed the
giants, the nephilim, were the result of a sinful union between fallen angels
and human woman.
1.
Josephus,
Antiquties of the Jews:
Now this posterity of
Seth continued to esteem God as the Lord of the universe, and to have an entire
regard to virtue, for seven generations; but in process of time they were
perverted, and forsook the practices of their forefathers, and did neither pay
those honors to God which were appointed to them, nor had they any concern to do
justice towards men. But for what degree of zeal they had formerly shown for
virtue, they now showed by their actions a double degree of wickedness; whereby
they made God to be their enemy, for many angels* of God accompanied with women
and begat sons that proved unjust, and despisers of all that was good, on
account of the confidence they had in their own
strength…
2.
Philo of Alexandria, a
Jewish writer, The Works of Philo:
"And when the angels
of God saw the daughters of men that they were beautiful, they took unto
themselves wives of all them whom they chose." Those beings, whom other
philosophers call demons, Moses usually calls angels . . .
(p. 152)
3.
The Book of Enoch, a
book of psuedepigraphic writings of various authors that were written between
1-2 BCE.
ENOCH 6:1 And it came
to pass when the children of men had multiplied that in those days were born
unto 2 them beautiful and comely daughters. And the angels, the children of the
heaven, saw and lusted after them, and said to one another: 'Come, let us choose
us wives from among the children of men 3 and beget us children.' And Semjaza,
who was their leader, said unto them: 'I fear ye will not 4 indeed agree to do
this deed, and I alone shall have to pay the penalty of a great sin.' And they
all answered him and said: 'Let us all swear an oath, and all bind ourselves by
mutual imprecations 5 not to abandon this plan but to do this thing.' Then sware
they all together and bound themselves 6 by mutual imprecations upon it. And
they were in all two hundred; who descended in the days of Jared on the summit
of
4.
Book of
Jubilees
5.
Genesis
Apocryphon
6.
Justin Martyr, one of
the church fathers of the first centuries:
God,
when He had made the whole world, and subjected things earthly to man, and
arranged the heavenly elements for the increase of fruits and rotation of the
seasons, and appointed this divine law – for these things also He evidently made
for man – committed the care of men and of all things under heaven to angels
whom He appointed over them. But the angels transgressed this appointment, and
were captivated by love of women, and begat children who are those that are
called demons; and besides, they afterwards subdued the human race to
themselves, partly by magical writings, and partly by fears and punishments they
occasioned, and partly by teaching them to offer sacrifices, and incense, and
libations, of which things they stood in need after they enslaved by lustful
passions; and among men they sowed murders, wars, adulteries, intemperate needs,
and all wickedness. . . . (p. 363, vol. 1, The Ante-Nicene Fathers).
C.
This
belief is not as popular as it once was.
This is due to the teaching of Jesus in Matthew
22:29-30
Jesus
answered and said unto them, Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the
power of God. For in the
resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the
angels of God in heaven.
1.
The angels are spirit
beings.
2.
Spirit beings to not
have a sex, such as male or female.
3.
Thus, they do not
marry and reproduce.
III. DOES
GOD HEAR THE PRAYERS OF SINNERS?
A.
This question stirs up
much emotion when it is answered, especially in the
negative.
B.
One of the first
passages to which individuals turn is John 9:31. These are the words of the man born
blind whom Jesus healed.
Now we
know that God heareth not sinner:
but is any man be a worshipper of God, and doeth his will, him he
heareth.
C.
Some say: This is just the assertion of a
man. This is not the teaching of
God.
1.
This man was a
Jew. John 9:22 associates his
parents with the synagogue.
2.
As a Jew, he would
have been taught the Law of Moses.
Does the Law have anything to say about whose prayers God
hears?
a.
Proverbs 15:29
The Lord
is far from the wicked: but he
heareth the prayer of the righteous.
b.
Proverbs 28:9
He that
turneth his ear away from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be an
abomination.
c.
Psalm 66:18
If I
regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me.
3.
This healed man only
seems to be echoing the teaching found in the Old Law.
D.
What about today? We now live under the New
Testament. Does God hear the
prayers of alien sinners? Does He
hear the prayers of those who are not Christians?
1.
I Peter
3:12
For the
eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their
prayers: but the face of the Lord
is against them that do evil.
2.
Ephesians
1:3
Blessed be
the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all
spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ.
a.
Spiritual blessings are “in Christ.”
b.
Is prayer a spiritual blessing?
c.
If so, one must be “in Christ” for it to benefit
him.
3.
James 5:16b
The
effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.
a.
A man that is an alien sinner is not righteous.
b.
His prayer, therefore, is not of any benefit.
E.
The objection: What about the prayers of Saul and
Cornelius?
1.
The
point:
a.
Saul was praying in the city of
b.
Cornelius was a Gentile.
According to Acts 11:14, he was lost before he obeyed the words of
Peter. However, he prayed to God always (Acts 10:1). When the angel of the Lord came to him,
he said: Cornelius, thy prayer is heard… (Acts 10:31). There it is; the prayer of an alien
sinner that was heard.
2.
The answer:
a.
God can hear every voice that cries out unto Him.
b.
When we say “hear,” however, we mean that He hears with a desire to
respond by answering the requests of the prayer.
c.
God knew Saul was praying.
He also heard Cornelius’ prayer.
The prayer came up as a memorial and reminded God of his promise to bless
the Gentiles (Acts 10:4).
CONCLUSION
A.
Why is man born? Why does he live? Why does he die?
1.
Man is born in order
to have an earthly existence.
2.
Man lives to fear God
and keep His commandments (Eccl. 12:13).
3.
Man dies because of
the sin of Adam and Eve in
B.
We are born once. We live once. We die once.
1.
Our birth and our
death are not our choice.
2.
How we live is our
choice. How we live will determine
our eternal destiny (Rom. 2:6-8).
Who will
render to every man according to his deeds: to them who by patient continuance seek
for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life: but unto them that are contentious, and
do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and
wrath.
QUESTIONS
AND ANSWERS (6)
Victor
M. Eskew
INTRODUCTION
A.
The first question asked in the Bible was asked by Satan (Gen.
3:1).
B.
The second question was asked by God (Gen. 3:9).
C.
God’s questions are always pointed and serve a very valuable purpose to
the one(s) being asked the questions.
D.
Human questions, however, can be very broad and general. Most of the time, they serve the one who
asks the question.
I.
ESAU ERRED IN DEVALUING HIS BIRTHRIGHT. BUT DIDN’T JACOB AND HIS MOTHER SIN
GRAVELY BY DECEIVING THE FATHER?
A.
The account in question is found in Genesis 27.
1.
Isaac promises to bless Esau (Gen. 27:1-4).
2.
Rebekah overhears the conversation (Gen. 27:5).
3.
Rebekah and Jacob plot to get the blessing (Gen.
27:6-17).
a.
Two kids from the goats were prepared as the savory meat (Gen. 27:9,
14).
b.
Skins from the goats were placed upon Jacob’s neck and hands (Gen.
27:16).
4.
Jacob goes into Isaac’s chamber to receive the blessing (Gen.
27:18-29).
a.
Two times Jacob tells a blatant lie to his father (Gen. 27:18-19a,
24).
b.
In addition to these blatant lies, his raiment also deceived his father
twice: once by touch(Gen. 27:21-22)
and once by smell (Gen. 27:26-27).
5.
When Esau learns of the deception and the stolen blessing, he is
extremely upset (Gen. 27:36).
B.
The answer to the question, therefore, is: “Yes.” The blessing was taken through deception
and lying.
C.
Two important points: 1) God
knew this was going to transpire (Gen. 25:23); 2) God used this evil to bring about His
will
II.
GENESIS 6:4 MENTIONS “MEN OF RENOWN.” ARE THERE ANY HEBREW STORIES OR WRITINGS
MENTIONING THESE MEN?
A.
Genesis 6:4
B.
The Jewish stories that surround the men of renown have to do primarily
with their origin. Each one of the
Jewish accounts agrees with one another.
They believed the giants, the nephilim, were the result of a sinful union
between fallen angels and human woman.
1.
Josephus, Antiquties of the Jews:
Now
this posterity of Seth continued to esteem God as the Lord of the universe, and
to have an entire regard to virtue, for seven generations; but in process of
time they were perverted, and forsook the practices of their forefathers, and
did neither pay those honors to God which were appointed to them, nor had they
any concern to do justice towards men. But for what degree of zeal they had
formerly shown for virtue, they now showed by their actions a double degree of
wickedness; whereby they made God to be their enemy, for many angels* of God
accompanied with women and begat sons that proved unjust, and despisers of all
that was good, on account of the confidence they had in their own
strength…
2.
Philo of
3.
The Book of Enoch, a book of psuedepigraphic writings of various authors
that were written between 1-2 BCE.
4.
Book
of Jubilees
5.
Genesis
Apocryphon
6.
Justin
Martyr, one of the church fathers of the first centuries:
C.
This belief is not as popular as it once was due to the teaching of Jesus
in Matthew 22:29-30
III.
DOES GOD HEAR THE PRAYERS OF SINNERS?
A.
This question stirs up much emotion when it is answered, especially in
the negative.
B.
One of the first passages to which individuals turn is John 9:31. These are the words of the man born
blind.
C.
Some say: This is just the
assertion of a man. This is not the
teaching of God.
1.
This man was a Jew. John
9:22 associates his parents with the synagogue.
2.
As
a Jew, he would have been taught the Law of Moses. Does the Law have anything to say about
whose prayers God hears? (Prov. 15:29, 28:9; Ps. 66:18).
3.
This
healed man only seems to be echoing the teaching found in the Old
Law.
D.
What about today? We now
live under the New Testament. Does
God hear the prayers of alien sinners?
Does He hear the prayers of those who are not Christians? (I Pet. 3:12.
Eph. 1:3;
E.
The objection: What about
the prayers of Saul and Cornelius?
1.
The point:
a.
Saul was praying in the city of
b.
Cornelius was a Gentile.
According to Acts 11:14, he was lost before he obeyed the words of
Peter. However, he prayed to God
always (Acts 10:1). When the angel
came to him, he said: Cornelius,
thy prayer is heard… (Acts 10:31).
There it is; the prayer of an alien sinner that was
heard.
2.
The answer:
a.
God can hear every voice that cries out unto Him.
b.
When we say “hear,” however, we mean that He hears with a desire to
respond by answering.
c.
God knew Saul was praying.
He also heard Cornelius’ prayer.
The prayer came up as a memorial and reminded God of his promise to bless
the Gentiles (Acts 10:4).
CONCLUSION
A.
Why is man born? Why does he
live? Why does he
die?
1.
Man is born in order to have an earthly existence.
2.
Man lives to fear God and keep His commandments (Eccl.
12:13).
3.
Man
dies because of the sin of Adam and Eve in
B.
We are born once. We live
once. We die
once.
1.
Our birth and our death is not our choice.
2.
How we live is our choice.
How we live will determine our eternal destiny (Rom.
2:6-8).
QUESTIONS
AND ANSWERS (6)
Victor
M. Eskew
INTRODUCTION
A.
The first question asked in the Bible was asked by __________________
(Gen. 3:1).
B.
The second question was asked by _________________ (Gen.
3:9).
C.
God’s questions are always pointed and serve a very valuable purpose to
the one(s) being asked the questions.
D.
Human questions, however, can be very broad and general. Most of the time, they serve the one who
asks the question.
I.
ESAU ERRED IN DEVALUING HIS BIRTHRIGHT. BUT DIDN’T JACOB AND HIS MOTHER SIN
GRAVELY BY DECEIVING THE FATHER?
A.
The account in question is found in Genesis 27.
1.
Isaac promises to bless __________________ (Gen.
27:1-4).
2.
__________________ overhears the conversation (Gen.
27:5).
3.
Rebekah and Jacob plot to get the blessing (Gen.
27:6-17).
a.
Two kids from the goats were prepared as the savory meat (Gen. 27:9,
14).
b.
Skins from the goats were placed upon Jacob’s neck and hands (Gen.
27:16).
4.
Jacob goes into Isaac’s chamber to receive the blessing (Gen.
27:18-29).
a.
__________________ times Jacob tells a blatant lie to his father (Gen.
27:18-19a, 24).
b.
In addition to these blatant lies, his raiment also deceived his father
twice: once by ______________ (Gen.
27:21-22) and once by ___________________ (Gen. 27:26-27).
5.
When Esau learns of the deception and the stolen blessing, he is
extremely upset (Gen. 27:36).
B.
The answer to the question, therefore, is: “Yes.” The blessing was taken through deception
and lying.
C.
Two important points: 1) God
knew this was going to transpire (Gen. 25:23); 2) God used this evil to bring His will to
pass.
II.
GENESIS 6:4 MENTIONS “MEN OF RENOWN.” ARE THERE ANY HEBREW STORIES OR WRITINGS
MENTIONING THESE MEN?
A.
Genesis 6:4
B.
The Jewish stories that surround the men of renown have to do primarily
with their ____________. Each one
of the Jewish accounts agrees with one another. They believed the giants, the nephilim,
were the result of a sinful union between _____________ _____________________ and human
woman.
1.
Josephus, Antiquties of the Jews:
Now
this posterity of Seth continued to esteem God as the Lord of the universe, and
to have an entire regard to virtue, for seven generations; but in process of
time they were perverted, and forsook the practices of their forefathers, and
did neither pay those honors to God which were appointed to them, nor had they
any concern to do justice towards men. But for what degree of zeal they had
formerly shown for virtue, they now showed by their actions a double degree of
wickedness; whereby they made God to be their enemy, for many angels* of God
accompanied with women and begat sons that proved unjust, and despisers of all
that was good, on account of the confidence they had in their own
strength…
2.
______________ of
3.
The Book of Enoch, a book of psuedepigraphic writings of various authors
that were written between 1-2 BCE.
4.
Book
of Jubilees
5.
Genesis
Apocryphon
6.
Justin
Martyr, one of the church fathers of the first centuries:
C.
This
belief is not as popular as it once was due to the teaching of
__________________ in Matthew 22:29-30
III.
DOES GOD HEAR THE PRAYERS OF SINNERS?
A.
This question stirs up much emotion when it is answered, especially in
the negative.
B.
One of the first passages to which individuals turn is John
__________:31. These are the words
of the man born blind.
C.
Some say: This is just the
assertion of a man. This is not the
teaching of God.
1.
This man was a Jew. John
9:22 associates his parents with the __________________.
2.
As a Jew, he would have been taught the Law of Moses. Does the Law have anything to say about
whose prayers God hears? (Prov. 15:29, 28:9; Ps. 66:18).
3.
This healed man only seems to be echoing the teaching found in the Old
Law.
D.
What about today? We now
live under the New Testament. Does
God hear the prayers of alien sinners?
Does He hear the prayers of those who are not Christians? (I Pet. 3:12.
Eph. 1:3;
E.
The objection: What about
the prayers of ___________________ and
________________________?
1.
The point:
a.
Saul was praying in the city of
b.
Cornelius was a Gentile.
According to Acts 11:14, he was lost before he obeyed the words of
Peter. However, he prayed to God
always (Acts 10:1). When the angel
came to him, he said: Cornelius,
thy prayer is ______________… (Acts 10:31). There it is, a prayer of an alien sinner
that was heard.
2.
The answer:
a.
God can hear ____________________ voice that cries out unto
Him.
b.
When we say “hear,” however, we mean that He hears with a desire to
respond by _______________.
c.
God knew Saul was praying.
He also heard Cornelius’ prayer.
The prayer came up as a memorial and reminded God of his promise to bless
the Gentiles (Acts 10:4).
CONCLUSION
A.
Why is man born? Why does he
live? Why does he
die?
1.
Man
is born in order to have an earthly
___________________________.
2.
Man
lives to _________________ God and keep His __________________________ (Eccl.
12:13).
3.
Man
dies because of the ____________________ of Adam and Eve in
B.
We are born once. We live
once. We die
once.
1.
Our birth and our death is ___________________ our
choice.
2.
How we live is our choice.
How we live will _____________________ our eternal destiny (Rom.
2:6-8).
