I have a question about the end times.  I have been looking online, and I get a ton of websites or even videos that talk about what the Bible says are the end warning signs.  Most websites and videos agree that the end is very close.  Do you agree with this?  I know that no man will know the exact time, but I guess we could know about when if the signs are met.  I think that the world is getting so bad and that the end would have to be getting close, but I could be wrong. However, I do see the world getting worse and not better…and it scares me…

Sincerely,
Forecast: Unknown

Dear Forecast: Unknown,

There are a great many people – as you have noticed – with many opinions about when the world will end, but the truth is nobody knows because God doesn’t say.  God told the Thessalonians that the end would come “like a thief in the night” (1 Thess 5:2).  If anything, the one thing you can count on is that it won’t be when people say it is.  In truth, a christian shouldn’t worry about when the end will come… we should live every day like the end could be today.

Paul told the Thessalonians (who were quite fixated with the return of Christ) that they should live every day soberly, as if any day might be the day (1 Thess 5:4-6).

People have been using details from the book of Revelation to “predict” the end of time for centuries.  Unfortunately, the book of Revelation has nothing to do with the end of time.  Revelation is a book dedicated to what would “shortly come to pass” (Rev 1:1).  Specifically, Revelation dealt with the coming persecution that the church of the first century was about to face.  It is a figurative and symbolic book (Rev 1:1 – notice the word ‘signified’, that means ‘symbolic’) that God used to prepare those saints for the trials they had ahead of them (see our post “Left Behind” for more details).  Beware of anyone that uses the book of Revelation to “forecast” the end of time – they are using the book out of context.

The other thing that we must be aware of is that every generation and every individual (us here at AYP included) is convinced that things are getting worse.  Every generation has felt that things were getting so bad with the world that the end of the world must be soon.  God warns us about the habit of constant pessimism (Eccl 7:10).  There will come a time when the world is so wicked that God will destroy this earth, but that will only happen after He has given as much time as is needed for mankind to repent of their sins (2 Pet 3:9-10).  Since we do not know when that day is, let us live every day with holy living and godliness (2 Pet 3:11-12).

I was wondering when the Bible was being copied and spread around, how careful were they about copying it?  Because I know they didn’t have ‘copy-and-paste’ back then.

Sincerely,
Control C

Dear Control C,

The people who copied the Bible were so accurate and detail-oriented… they would put any OCD accountant to shame.  Those who made copies of the Bible were called ‘scribes’.  Ezra, from the book of Ezra, was a scribe (Ezra 7:6).  Scribes are recorded throughout Jewish history, from the time of David (2 Sam 8:17) all the way into the time of Christ (Matt 8:19).  Scribes were so proficient at copying text that they were also employed as lawyers because of their precise knowledge of all things legal.

When scribes copied a biblical text, they had some very stringent rules that they followed.  Secular history tells us that these rules were universal amongst scribes, and the rules were followed very, VERY strictly.  Here are some of those rules:

1. Every word must be verbalized aloud while writing.
2. There must be a review within thirty days, and if more than three pages required corrections, the whole document was destroyed.
3. Letters, words, and paragraphs were counted, and the middle paragraph, word, and letter must correspond to the original document.
4. If two letters touched, the entire manuscript had to be redone.
5. Each column of writing could have no less than forty-eight, and no more than sixty, lines.

As you can tell from the list, scribes were exceptionally meticulous about accuracy.  The proof of this accuracy can be seen in the Dead Sea Scrolls.  When the Dead Sea Scrolls were found, amongst them was uncovered a copy of the Book of Isaiah that had been written by scribes.  This copy of Isaiah was ONE THOUSAND years older than any other previous copy.  Yet, over that thousand-year time span, there was no notable disagreement between the manuscripts.  In fact, the only difference between the Dead Sea Scroll copy and the other copies were punctuation marks and spelling differences.  There is no doubt that God has perfectly preserved the Bible over the centuries.

Does it say anything in the Bible about what clothes to wear to church?  My boyfriend refuses to spend money right now on a suit, and I don’t even own a dress, but our clothes are decent and would be clean and pressed.  We enjoy your website and wondered what your thoughts are on this subject.  Thank You.

Sincerely,
Wearing Our Best

Dear Wearing Our Best,

Go to services and worship God.  There are only two Biblical teachings on what we should wear to services.

1. Dress modestly (1 Tim 2:9).  We should always dress modestly.  The word ‘modest’ means ‘appropriate’.  In your case, you are going to worship God and you are wearing the best clothes you have – that is appropriate.  If you had fine suits and fancy dresses and instead of wearing them you showed up in a t-shirt and holey jeans, it wouldn’t be appropriate, but you are trying your best to show God that you value Him and value the time you have to worship Him by wearing the best you own.  Your best is ALWAYS acceptable.
2. The second teaching is actually for everyone else.  God says that we shouldn’t be respecters of persons.  We shouldn’t treat the rich brother better than the poor brother (Jas 2:2-4).  As christians, we can’t afford to judge people by their wealth or lack of wealth.  If someone comes to services, tries their best to act and dress respectfully, and honestly is trying to seek God – they deserve our time and kindness.

So go to services this Sunday, and if you are trying to find a faithful church to attend, feel free to read “Finding A Church” and “Preacher Interrogation” to help you find God’s people in your area.  You can also contact us here at askyourpreacher@mvchurchofchrist.org, and we will do our best to help you find a faithful congregation.

Sometimes when women have gotten together, there has been the comment of, “If my husband commits adultery, I don’t want to know.”  My question is: what does God think about this?  If the husband has asked God to forgive him, does he have the right to keep that kind of secret from his spouse, or does he still have the responsibility to make it right as far as he has made it wrong?  Would it still be a deception?

Sincerely,
Give Me The Truth

Dear Give Me The Truth,

The Bible never says what sins we must confess to man and what sins we can keep between ourselves and God.  If the wife directly asks whether or not adultery has been committed, the husband would certainly have to answer truthfully (1 Jn 1:10).  However, if the question isn’t directly asked, the water gets a little murkier as to what must be done.

The Bible answer to this question is simply: it depends.  The Bible certainly tells us there are times that we should confess our sins one to another (Jas 5:16).  It also teaches that a marriage is supposed to be the most intimate relationship that we have in this life (Eph 5:31).  On top of that, when adultery is committed, divorce is permissible (Matt 5:32).  It would seem appropriate to let the injured spouse know that they have that option available to them when they had been wronged so grievously.  These three concepts would lean towards telling the spouse when adultery has been committed… and in 99% of the cases, that would be the right thing to do.

The problem is that the Bible never says the spouse must always be informed, and therefore, we here at AYP can’t say that either.  However, it is fair to say that the old adage “honesty is the best policy” is still a good principle to live by (Jhn 8:32).

Why are there so many churches on the earth today?  Shouldn’t we all be unified and agree on what Christ said we should do?

Sincerely,
Unity Matters

Dear Unity Matters,

There was only one church in the first century, and today there are well over 33,000 different denominations all professing to belong to Christ.  This is not only tragic, it’s wrong.  Christ died for one church, and He gave us one doctrine (Eph 4:4-6).  Christianity can only be preserved in the “unity of the Spirit” (Eph. 4:3).  This means that the only way we can have unity is to use the standard the Holy Spirit has given us – the Bible.

All the denominations have their own creed books, statements of faith, organizational structures, and opinions.  Christ’s church has none of those.  It has one book, the Bible, as its rule and standard for all behavior.  It is our guide for all things that pertain to life and godliness (2 Pet 1:3).  It is the book that was handed down once and for all to the saints (Jude 3).  We cannot have faith without hearing this Word (Rom 10:17), and we cannot please God without obeying its commandments (Jhn 15:14).

The Catholics trust their Vatican leadership, the Protestants reform a broken system, and the community churches pledge loyalty to their communities and social programs.  The only solution to the religious confusion is a radical step… restoration of Bible-only principles.  Let us go back to the Bible for everything that we do, and if we cannot find Bible authority for something… we must refuse to practice it.  A church that finds its roadmap and structure in the Bible alone is the real solution to the division that exists in the religious world.  When the Bible speaks, let us speak – and when it is silent, let us be silent.

Sometimes I get a little lost when reading the Bible, and I come across names of Bible characters that are either the same or have different names for each character.  Obviously Saul, who later was called Paul, in the New Testament is not the same as King Saul in the Old Testament.  And we have Peter who was also called Simon in Mark 14:37.

But what about:
Acts 12:25 “And Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem when they had fulfilled their mission, taking along with them John, who was also called Mark.

So, is it this “John” that wrote the book of “Mark”? I am under the impression that Mark was the son of Mary (Acts 12:12) and the cousin of Barnabas (Col 4:10).

Also, the book of Revelation was written by the apostle John.  Is this a different John, or is this Mark?

I really wish they had cameras back then!

Sincerely,
Whatzisname

Dear Whatzisname,

There are several names that are so common in the Bible that it can leave your head spinning as you try to keep them all straight.  The name ‘John’ is especially common.  So is the name ‘James’.  We’ll see if we can break it down for you.

The name John:

• John the Baptist – born six months before Jesus; John the Baptist preached in the wilderness that the Christ was soon to come (Matt 3:1-2).  John the Baptist was killed by Herod (Lk 9:9)
• John the son of Zebedee – this John was a fisherman who became one of Jesus’ apostles (Matt 4:21-22, Matt 10:2).  James the son of Zebedee, his brother, was also an apostle – therefore ‘John son of Zebedee’ is also referred to as ‘John brother of James’ (Mk 5:37).  This is the same apostle John who wrote the gospel according to John, 1^st through 3^rd John, and the book of Revelation.
• John the father of Simon Peter – To further complicate things, the apostle Peter’s father’s name was John (Jhn 1:42).  This John is of no relation to the others.
• John Mark – John Mark was a zealous christian that Paul and Barnabas took with them on their journeys (Acts 12:25, Acts 13:5).  Some people say that John Mark wrote the gospel of Mark, but there is no decisive evidence concerning this.  John Mark was also Barnabas’ cousin (Col 4:10).  His mother, Mary, is mentioned in Acts 12:12.

The name James:

• James the son of Zebedee – one of the apostles and brother to John, son of Zebedee (Matt 10:2).  He was the first apostle to be killed for the Gospel (Acts 12:2).
• James the son of Alphaeus – another one of the apostles that is rarely mentioned.  He is also referred to as ‘James the less’ (Mk 15:40).
• James the brother of Jesus – Matt 13:55 mentions that Jesus had a younger brother named James.  This James is also mentioned as one of the elders of the church in Jerusalem (Acts 21:18).  This James is also attributed with writing the book of James.

Hopefully, that helps with the confusion a little bit.  There is no doubt that studying the Bible takes hard work and attention to detail!