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Question: Why does world opinion go against Israel?

July 3, 2024 • Dave Hunt & T.A. McMahon

Question: Why does world opinion (UN, EU, Russia, media, etc.) generally go against Israel, and why is it often so viciously backed by false accusations? Is this of any significance for today, or is it merely what God foreordained? Response: God did not foreordain anti-Semitism and the hatred of Israel rampant in the world—and He will severely punish those persons and nations guilty of it. He foretold this hatred, but He does not cause it. As Jesus declared, evil comes from the human heart: "For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: These are the things which defile a man..." (Mt 15:19-20). Of course, Satan does all he can to stir up anti-Semitism and hatred of Israel. As we explain inJudgment Day, Satan's only hope to escape his final doom is to destroy Israel. He has made the destruction of Israel and the extermination of all Jews one of the foundations of Islam; he has persuaded Europe and most of the rest of the world to believe the lies of the Arabs who claim to be descended from the original "Palestinians" (a people who never existed); and he is persuading not just the D. James Kennedys, Hank Hanegraaffs, and R. C. Sprouls, but increasing numbers of Christians that the church has replaced Israel...

Question: Was Chuck Colson Ecumenical?

June 26, 2024 • Dave Hunt & T.A. McMahon

Question: I am reading Chuck Colson’s book The Body, and am greatly disappointed in Chuck for including the Roman Catholic Church as a part of the body of Christ that we are to embrace in his call for unity…. I appreciate Chuck Colson, but I’m a bit confused about his term “evangelical Catholics.” What also greatly disappoints me are the endorsements by a host of religious leaders on the jacket. Would you comment on this book in The Berean Call? Response: I respect Chuck as a Christian who loves the Lord and has sacrificed a great deal to bring the gospel into prisons. Therefore it grieves me to say that his book is a sad mixture of warnings against error and at the same time embracing that which is false and even covering up or ignoring that which, if admitted, would undermine his thesis of unity with Rome. He finds fault (often correctly) with various segments of the evangelical church, but not with the Catholic Church. And the praise he gives Rome is often so blind as to be embarrassing, such as his statement that “the Catholic Church, to its great credit, does call heretics to account” (p 132). Indeed she does, having burned more than a million at the stake! And to this day both Trent and Vatican II condemn evangelicals as heretics for holding beliefs to which Colson subscribes. Surely he must know this!

Question: Does the Book of Life mean Calvinists are right?

June 19, 2024 • Dave Hunt & T.A. McMahon

Question: Why does Revelation 17:8 (and maybe Revelation 13:8, depending on the translation used) refer to those “whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world...”? Could that, coupled with Psalm 69:28, Revelation 3:5, and Revelation 22:19 mean that the names of all mankind are in the Book of Life, then later blotted out one by one as each Christ-rejecter crosses the line of final renunciation? I always thought that only after we believed the gospel were our names written in the Book of Life. If this were not the case, wouldn’t Calvinists say, “See! He has already chosen those whom He will save; their names are already written down before the foundation of the earth!”? Response: Several verses speak of God blotting or not blotting names out of the book of life: “I will not blot out his name out of the book of life” (Rv 3:5); “God shall take away his part out of the book of life” (Rv 22:19); “...if thou wilt forgive their sin—; and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written.... Whosoever hath sinned against me, him

Question: Must the church be united before Christ can return?

June 12, 2024 • Dave Hunt & T.A. McMahon

Question: Many are teaching that the church must be united and purified before Christ can return. Is that biblical? Response: It is neither biblical nor logical that the small fraction of the church that is alive on earth at the time of the Rapture must have attained to a status that was unknown by Christians who have died in order to join them at that heavenly marriage to our Lord. Yes, the Bride is made ready and robed in white linen (Rv 19:7-8)—but the Bride is the entire church. If this purification is a prerequisite for being raptured, then what about those who died before the Rapture? Clearly, they must be “made ready” after they get to heaven. Then why wouldn’t this happen to all Christians up there, rather than on the earth? Surely this final cleansing can only take place at the Judgment Seat of Christ (2 Cor 5:10) when we give account to our Lord, our works are tried in the fire (1 Cor 3:11-15) and we are rewarded or suffer loss. There is no biblical basis for a “last-days revival” that will make Christians worthy to be raptured to heaven. We are worthy of heaven through Christ’s finished work alone. Moreover, the Bible speaks of the last-days church as apostate (2 Thes 2:3). Christ even questions whether He will find faith on the earth when He returns (Lk 18:8). Even the wise fall asleep while the bridegroom tarries (Mt 25:5). Hardly the “last-days revived church”! Let us therefore watch and be ready for our Lord!

Question: Christianity creates worse suffering with its "delusions" of hell...

June 5, 2024 • Dave Hunt & T.A. McMahon

Question: The pain and suffering caused by crime and sickness is bad enough. Christianity, however, creates worse suffering by threatening mankind with hell for having broken God’s laws. An irrational fear of eternal punishment haunts those who come under Christianity’s destructive influence. The world would be a better place without such delusions! Response: Contrary to your suggestion that Christianity creates an irrational fear of eternal punishment, it alone delivers from such fear all who believe the gospel of Jesus Christ. No one lives in fear of God’s judgment for one’s sin who believes that Jesus Christ paid the full penalty. Christ promised that all those who believe in Him have eternal life and they will not “come into condemnation” but have “passed from death unto life” (Jn 5:24). All who believe that promise are thereby delivered from the very fear which you blame upon Christianity. Nor do those who have heard and rejected that gospel worry very much about God’s judgment. If they were truly concerned, they would have accepted His offer of mercy. Take a poll of those who were once under Christian influence but who rejected the gospel and you will find individuals who have little if any fear of judgment because they don’t believe in it.

Question: Will Antichrist be resurrected from the dead?

May 29, 2024 • Dave Hunt & T.A. McMahon

Question: The idea that the Antichrist will be resurrected from the dead by Satan seems to be the prevailing opinion among evangelical pre-Trib teachers. I would appreciate an expression of your opinion in a future issue of The Berean Call. Response: This popular idea comes from Revelation 13:3. For example, in his book, The Prewrath Rapture of the Church, Marvin Rosenthal states, “According to the Word of God, the Antichrist is a man who lived before. He ruled one of the seven great empires which directly impacted Israel. He will literally be raised from the dead. Concerning this raised ruler...the Word of God has much to say. ‘And I saw one of his heads as though it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed...’ (Rev 13:3).” Note, however, that it is one of the beast’s seven heads, not all of them, that is affected. Furthermore, the head (much less the beast) is not killed but appears “as though it were wounded to death.” Seemingly, the beast could have died from this wound, but verses 3 and 12 declare that its “deadly wound was healed.” So we have a healing, not a resurrection. I believe it is referring to the Roman Empire which has indeed suffered from a deadly wound but has never died and is being revived before our eyes. Only God can raise the dead. Satan has no such power. At best he might pull off a “fake death and resurrection” of Antichrist.

Question: Aren't you making the gospel too complicated for Catholics?

May 22, 2024 • Dave Hunt & T.A. McMahon

Question: Aren’t you making the gospel too complicated by saying that Catholics are not saved even though they believe in the crucified and risen Christ? Response: It is the Roman Catholic Church that has complicated the gospel. Anyone who truly believes the simple gospel that Paul declared (“that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures…”—1 Cor 15:1-4) is saved. But to the simple gospel Rome has added baptism, good works, penance, the sacrifice of the Mass, prayers to Mary and the saints, suffering in purgatory, Mass for the dead to get them out of purgatory, extreme unction (last rites), holy water, candles, rituals, etc. These are all means to salvation according to Rome. It would be very unlikely that a Roman Catholic would not believe in at least some of these heresies. Anyone who believes to any extent in anyone or anything whatsoever for salvation in addition to Christ’s finished work on the cross has rejected the gospel, which “is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth” (Rom 1:16) and is not saved. Our main website: http://www.thebereancall.org Store: store.http://thebereancall.org Download our app: http://www.thebereancall.org/app

Question: Was Eve made in God's image, too?

May 15, 2024 • Dave Hunt & T.A. McMahon

Question: In the September 2004 Q&A, you responded to criticism of your claim that Adam was the only one created in God’s image. Could you please clarify this: 1) Are you saying that Eve was not created in God’s image; 2) How do you explain 1 Corinthians 11:7 in light of Genesis 5:3? Are we ALL created in God’s image or were Adam and Eve the only ones created in God’s image? What is God’s image? What does it mean? Response: We can only go by what the Bible says. We are told, “So God created man...in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them” (Gn 1:27). “And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul…. And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam...and he took one of his ribs, and...the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man” (2:7, 21-22)... Our main website: http://www.thebereancall.org Store: store.http://thebereancall.org Download our app: http://www.thebereancall.org/app In-depth research on a variety of Bible topics: https://http://www.thebereancall.org/topics Sign up for our email updates: https://http://www.thebereancall.org/subscribe

Question: Are Old Testament saints part of the Rapture?

May 8, 2024 • Dave Hunt & T.A. McMahon

Question: We have a rare difference of opinion concerning your assertion that Old Testament saints are a part of the Church resurrected at the time of the Rapture. Certainly, they are saved by faith alone in the shed blood of Christ…. However, they are, as John the Baptist described himself, “friends of the Bridegroom” (John 3:29). The Church, Christ’s bride, was born on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2). At the Wedding Feast of the Lamb, He will have many “friends” in attendance. Response: I appreciate your position, but there are serious problems with it. Old Testament saints could only be resurrected at the Rapture: Our main website: http://www.thebereancall.org Store: store.http://thebereancall.org Download our app: http://www.thebereancall.org/app In-depth research on a variety of Bible topics: https://http://www.thebereancall.org/topics Sign up for our email updates: https://http://www.thebereancall.org/subscribe

Question: Should Christians "take back the land"?

May 1, 2024 • Dave Hunt & T.A. McMahon

Question: Increasingly I’m hearing the “call to take back our land.” For example, on September 2, [2000], there was a large gathering in Washington, DC called “The Call DC.” It was advertised as follows: “THE SUMMONS IS OUT. MULTITUDES HAVE HEARD THE CALL TO FAST AND PRAY IN DC. Two generations will stand and take back our land. Now that’s revolutionary.” I saw this ad in “Global Prayer News” from Colorado Springs. Can you comment? Response: First of all, I don’t understand the phrase “take back our land.” America is not the promised land of Israel which God gave to His chosen people. There is no scripture declaring that God gave America to the American Christians or Germany to the German Christians, etc. Nor is there in the entire Bible any encouragement, much less command, for Christians to take over any land on earth. Thus, if Christians ever possessed this land in the past, it was without the sanction of God. We know, however, that Christians never possessed America. Many settled here in the attempt to find freedom of expression and worship, but there were also many non-Christian settlers. It is quite clear that many who signed the Declaration of Independence were at best deists who referred to “providence” but did not have in mind the one true God of the Bible, nor did they know Christ as their Savior. I have not seen the literature of which you cite merely the headlines. However, I have seen similar material. Usually its call to “take back the land” is based upon applying to the church today the promises God gave Israel. When He said, “Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you…” (Jos 1:3), He was speaking specifically to the Israelites about the land of Israel. He was not speaking to Americans about America, and it is improper to attempt to apply that scripture in such a way. Yes, God said, “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land” (2 Chr 7:14). However, “my people” specifically meant Israel, and “their land” meant the land of Israel. While we may learn general lessons from this scripture about prayer and repentance, it is absolutely unbiblical for Christians today to attempt to apply this promise specifically to themselves and the land in which they live. Consequently, marches on Washington (or elsewhere) and prayers intended to aid in taking America “back” are unbiblical and will not be honored by our Lord. Rather, one ought to pray for revival in the church and the rescue of souls from judgment. The US has had professing Christians as president and in many other high offices, without overall progress toward godliness in this country. What lost Americans need is the gospel, not coercion toward a godly lifestyle characterized by “family values” and “traditional morals.” If all Americans could be persuaded to live by such values and morals, they would still be on their way to the lake of fire and perhaps would be even harder to reach with the gospel because of self-satisfaction with their good lives.

Question: If God uses trials to test our faith, then He is a "child abuser"

April 24, 2024 • Dave Hunt & T.A. McMahon

Question: In his book, George Mueller tells how God uses trials to increase our faith. Such an interpretation would have to be read into the [biblical] text. Abraham’s life (for example) proves that notion wrong. Otherwise, God would be a child abuser! Response: You seem to think that no Christian should face any trials; or that if they do come, they could only be from Satan. But was it not God who commanded Abraham to offer Isaac? Was Job wrong when he said submissively, “What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?” (Job 2:10). Paul clearly says that God gave him a “thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me,” and he explains why: “lest I should be exalted above measure.” Paul also rejoices in the blessed result: “Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong” (2 Cor 12:7,10). Surely, if anyone was in God’s perfect will it was Christ himself. Yet He endured many trials and was a “man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief” (Is 53:3). Indeed, He learned “obedience by the things which he suffered” (Heb 5:8). And Christ declared that Christians would likewise suffer for His sake: “The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you” (Jn 15:20). There was no greater apostle than Paul, yet he suffered “in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft. Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep...in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen...In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst...in cold and nakedness” (2 Cor 11:23-27).

How could God create people destined for hell?

April 17, 2024 • Dave Hunt & T.A. McMahon

*Our Q&A section is primarily pulled from the Dave Hunt archives. Although some references may be dated, we believe there is timeless value within the messages. Question: You justify God for sending people to hell because He has provided salvation for them in Christ [but they won’t receive Him]. That won’t do. Millions and probably billions will still spend eternity in hell.... God knew that. How could a good God create anyone who He knew would suffer eternally? Response: God wants no one to go to hell. He has provided salvation for all in Christ, whom He sent into the world “that the world through him might be saved...” (Jn 3:17). He is not “willing that any should perish” (2 Pt 3:9), but desires “all men to be saved” (1 Tm 2:4). Those in hell have only themselves to blame for rejecting the full forgiveness of sins and eternal life offered to all as a free gift of God’s grace through Christ’s payment of the penalty for their sins. Why would God create those He knew would reject the gospel? Why didn’t God, who knows all in advance, create only those who would believe the gospel and leave uncreated those who would reject Christ? The human race can’t be so divided. Those who reject Christ are the parents or children, cousins, aunts and uncles of those who believe. Not to create unbelievers would also eliminate believers. God will be glorified by those in hell [see TBC, April 2001—https://bit.ly/41s5isx] because He did not back down from His desire to bless billions in His presence for eternity; nor did He go back on His Word and compromise His justice by unjustly forgiving those who rejected the salvation He freely provided. There is no way to fault God for creating mankind. He loves all and wants to bless all eternally.

Why should Christians care about the Middle East and Israel?

April 10, 2024 • Dave Hunt & T.A. McMahon

Question: Why should Christians care about the Middle East in general, and specifically about Israel? Response: This is the key issue upon which the future of earth and heaven—indeed, the entire universe—depends. God has tied His name and integrity to Israel. He is called the God of Israel 203 times and the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob 12 times. Depending upon what happens in the Middle East, God will either be vindicated or discredited. His name and integrity will either be upheld in perfect purity and power, or He will be disgraced as a liar who cannot make good upon His promises to His people Israel. That’s how important the regathering and ultimate blessing of Israel is! If the Muslims, UN, EU, et al., succeed in destroying Israel, the integrity of everything God has said throughout His Word would be placed in question. If “forever” and “everlasting” don’t really mean forever in relation to Israel (“all the land...to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever”—Gn 13:15; “I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee...all the land of Canaan [not ‘Palestine’—there was no such place; see—https://bit.ly/3vvhxpn], for an everlasting possession”—17:8; “the covenant which he made with Abraham...Isaac...Jacob...Israel for an everlasting covenant, Saying, Unto thee will I give the land of Canaan...”—1 Chr 16:16-18, etc.), then how can we be sure that the promise of “everlasting life” (Jn 3:16, etc.) means forever? If Satan were stronger than God and able to make God a liar by preventing His promises to Israel from being fulfilled, then how could we ever be secure, even in heaven itself, from Satan’s schemes and power? Such is the importance of Israel and what happens in the Middle East. There is a real battle going on between God and Satan for the eternal destiny of planet Earth and of all mankind. Wake up, pray for God to tear down the Islamic curtain (more vicious and impenetrable than the Iron Curtain ever was) so that Muslims can hear and receive the gospel without fear of being killed for their faith. Firmly oppose Islam and replacement theology, pray for the salvation of Jews and Muslims alike, and do all you can to bring the gospel to them and to the whole world.

How is it Edifying to Focus on Error?

April 3, 2024 • Dave Hunt & T.A. McMahon

Question: I know that false faiths abound, but I don’t find edification in focusing on error. Show me in the Word where false doctrine is explained. It seems to me that the Bible addresses Satan’s lies without going into detail of the actual practices. Response: We at TBC take no pleasure in exposing and documenting false dogmas and practices. We do so only to expose error out of deep concern for souls. Yes, there are many kind, compassionate, and self-sacrificing Muslims who oppose terrorism. Yes, the Roman Catholic Church was the major charitable institution during the Middle Ages, often promoting morality and education. Most Catholics today do not know most of Rome’s official dogmas, but they still rely upon that Church and its clergy to get them out of “purgatory” and into heaven. Yes, many Mormons and Moonies espouse “traditional morals.” We do not oppose individuals but the largely false gospels they preach. You ask for biblical support concerning the exposure of evil and false doctrines. The Bible gives much insight concerning Satan’s fall (Isa 14:12-15; Ezk 28:12-18), the details of his temptation of Eve (Gen 3:1-7), and of his attempt to destroy Job’s trust in and relationship with God (Job 1:1-2:7). There are too many accounts of idolatry and pagan practices and warnings against them to list all the verses (Lev 19:31; 20:1-6; Deut 18:9-14; Isa 47:8-13, etc.). The Bible goes into great detail concerning the apostasy of Israel, telling the sins of its kings and people, from the golden calf (Ex 32:1-28) to the Queen of Heaven (Jer 44:15-23); and again, there are too many references to list.

I understand that you believe that Jesus died on the cross on Thursday, not Good Friday...

March 28, 2024 • Dave Hunt & T.A. McMahon

Question: I understand that you believe that Jesus died on the cross on Thursday, not Good Friday. Why do you say that, and does it matter? Response: Scripture reveals the answer. Through the writings of Jeremiah, Daniel learned that the Babylonian captivity would last 70 years (Dn 9:2). God had commanded that each seven years the Hebrew slaves should be set free, debtors forgiven, and the land given a one-year sabbath of rest (Ex 21:2; Lv 25:2-4; Dt 15:1,2,12). For 490 years Israel had disobeyed this precept. In judgment, the Jews became slaves of Babylon while their land rested for 70 years of sabbaths. Daniel confessed this sin, pondering and praying, and was given the revelation that another period of 490 years (70 weeks of years) lay ahead for his people and for Jerusalem (9:24). Then all of Israel’s sins would be purged, all prophecy fulfilled and ended, and the Messiah would reign on David’s throne in Jerusalem. These 70 weeks of years were to be counted “from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem” (v. 25). That crucial date is given to us in Scripture. Nehemiah tells us: “in the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king” (2:1), he received the authorization to rebuild Jerusalem. When the day of the month was not given, the first day was intended. There were several Artaxerxes, but only one, Longimanus, who ruled more than 20 years—from 465-425 BC. Thus we have the key date from which this incredible prophecy was to be calculated: Nisan 1, 445 BC.