WWUTT 360 Q&A Apologies and Assurance?

What happened to the what video concerning the sacrifice of Jephthah's daughter? What did I say this past week that was incorrect concerning answers in Genesis?

And how can we have assurance of salvation? The answers to these questions and others when we understand the text.

You're listening to When We Understand The Text, committed to sound teaching of the Word of God. For questions and comments email

WhenWeUnderstandTheText at gmail .com and don't forget our website www .tt

.com. Here's our host Pastor Gabe. Thank you Becky and greetings everyone. I apologize that this episode is getting out so late today but this is going to be an episode of apologies because I got a couple more

I need to make. First of all though I want to make the announcement about our beautiful baby girl.

I mentioned on the Friday episode last week that if Becky didn't have the baby over the weekend she was going to be induced on Monday morning but I was not going to be able to make an announcement about the birth of our new child, what we were having, what the name was going to be.

We didn't know. We didn't know if we were having a boy or a girl. That was not intentional. The baby just didn't want to cooperate any time we did the sonograms and we're supposed to find out what the sex of our baby was.

So I wasn't going to be able to make any announcement until the following Friday, today because I had already recorded the

Monday through Thursday Bible lesson. So here we are. I'm finally able to say that our baby girl was born on Monday, January 23rd.

Her birthday is 1 -2 -3 so that should be easy to remember. 2 .40 in the afternoon central time.

That was Becky's longest labor but it was still only like 5 or 6 hours long. I know that some of you ladies are jealous.

The baby, Mariah Lynn Hughes, was 6 pounds 14 ounces 21 inches long which happens to be my birth weight.

And when I sent a picture of the baby and told my mom all of her measurements and everything, she texted me back and said, that was you.

That was exactly your birth weight. Long skinny baby. Friends of my mom and dad used to call me rope because I was just this little long skinny baby.

So anyway, somebody on Twitter made the comment, I'm sure Mariah already has daddy wrapped around her finger.

Yes she does. All kinds of joy in our household. Our other three kids just adore her and we thank you so much for your prayers and encouragement as well.

Mommy and baby are doing great. In fact, we had our first baby appointment today. Everything came back healthy.

Continued prayers for Becky as she is still recovering after the delivery as any delivering mom does.

And my wife does not do the epidural. So she has had four kids, all natural, no drugs.

She is a powerful awesome woman. And she is supposed to be joining me on one of these podcast episodes, by the way.

I have talked to her about this, but she is still building up her confidence to want to jump on with me. So one of these Friday episodes, my wife is going to join me.

And she said, let's wait until we have the baby first. So be listening. Maybe next week. We'll see.

I'll be able to get Becky on an episode here and we'll be able to do one of these together. I also want to thank my mother and father -in -law,

Becky's parents, whom my kids refer to as Omi and Opa. They have been a huge help for us this week as we have been still having some late nights with having an infant in the house.

And of course, that's going to go on for a little while now. All right. Let's get to the episode here, answering some questions from the listeners.

And this first question that I have to respond to, I was actually just going to go ahead and begin with an apology.

It was not going to be in response to anything, just a conviction that I had. But it turns out that somebody did ask a question about this.

So I'm able to lead in with the question that was asked. Rob on Twitter, who direct messaged me and said,

Pastor Gabe, please forgive me if this has already been answered. What happened to the Jephthah video?

You discussed a different viewpoint than I have heard in seminary on this topic and was hoping to watch it again with my wife.

A few days ago, I did a video on Jephthah's daughter, and it was actually something that we talked about when we were in the book of Judges.

I don't know how long ago that was. A couple of months ago. And so anyway, I turned that into a what video talking about what happened with Jephthah's daughter.

It was up for a couple of days. I took it down, I think, last night. And I'll explain to you why.

But first, in case you didn't see it, here is the video on Jephthah's daughter. In Judges 11,

Jephthah made a tragic vow to the Lord and said, If you give the Ammonites into my hand, then whatever comes out the doors of my house shall be yours, and I will give it as a burnt offering.

After Jephthah had won and returned home, his daughter, his only child, came out with tambourines and dances.

Jephthah mourned and told her about his vow. So she said, Leave me alone two months, that I may go up and down on the mountains and weep for my virginity with my friends.

Then after two months she returned, and Jephthah did what he had vowed. So did he actually offer his daughter to God?

Yes, but not as a burnt offering, and there are clues that help us understand. Verse 29 says, The Spirit of the

Lord was upon him. So it makes no sense that in the Spirit of God, Jephthah would burn his daughter. The law says anyone who does such a thing is an abomination and will be cut off from God's people.

Yet Jephthah is listed in Hebrews 11 as a hero of the faith. This would not have been if he had done like wicked kings

Ahaz and Manasseh, who burned their firstborn. It says in verse 40 that the daughters of Israel lament four days each year in memory of Jephthah's daughter, not because she lost her life, but because she had never known a man.

She became a symbol of singlehood and childlessness. So what did happen to Jephthah's daughter? Well, there were women who ministered at the entrance of the tent of meeting, and she was likely offered in full -time tabernacle service never to be married or have children.

Jephthah mourned because he knew his lineage had come to an end. Jesus said not to make foolish vows, but simply let your yes be yes and your no be no.

The Son of God sacrificed himself for our sins, so those who trust in him will live when we understand the text.

By the time I took the video down, it had only been up for about 36 hours. It had over 2 ,000 views, over 200 likes, only three dislikes, and for the most part was very well received.

I got no complaints about it. Nobody emailed me and said, that's terrible, you're reading the story wrong, what are you thinking?

So why did I take the video down? Well, I had a conviction about the way that the information in the video was being presented, and it was a very definitive approach.

It was very, this is how you need to understand the story of Jephthah sacrificing his daughter in Judges 11, rather than saying, here's something to consider.

And I think that when it comes to understanding this subject, that's the better, more gracious way to present the information.

If somebody reads Judges 11 and they see that Jephthah, though he was faithful to the

Lord and though he was obedient in faith, he still did some unrighteous things.

Just as we talked about with Lot on the Wednesday edition of the podcast going through 2

Peter 2, Lot is described as a righteous man, but he still did unrighteous things by offering his daughters to the men outside so that they would be raped.

How could Peter call Lot a righteous man when he would suggest such an unrighteous thing?

Because righteous people do unrighteous things. Just because a person is considered righteous doesn't mean they're perfect.

And so we still sin. And there are things that we need to ask God's forgiveness for. Just as Jephthah, in the continued decline of Israel, had fallen into this pagan understanding that he needed to sacrifice a child to God because that was what he vowed to the

Lord that he was going to do. And so if a person reads Judges 11 that way and sees that Jephthah did sacrifice his daughter to God because of the wickedness in Israel that is being described as going on there in the book of Judges, that is a valid interpretation of that story in Judges 11.

Another way to look at it is the way that the information was being presented in the video. But again, with language that is less definitive, less approaching it as here's how you need to understand this story, and that's the way that I should have done it.

So I've taken the video down, I'll reword it, and probably put it up again at a later time.

But thank you, Rob, for emailing me about that. I'm glad that that was something that was kind of a chin scratcher for you, being like, oh, well, that's an interesting way to look at it, and then wanting to read it again and study it again, which

I would encourage you to do. Somebody had sent me the article from the Cripplegate that was written by Jesse Johnson.

I love the Cripplegate. They do great stuff. Jesse Johnson is one of the teachers at the

Master's Seminary out of Washington, D .C. And one of the things that he said in his article in response to that approach that I presented in the video, that Jephthah's daughter wasn't sacrificed as a burnt offering, but rather was given in tabernacle service.

One of the things that Jesse Johnson approaches in his article is don't rescue

Jephthah, don't make him to be more innocent than he actually was. And that's not the reason why

I hold the viewpoint on Judges chapter 11 that I do. It really has nothing to do with wanting to make

Jephthah a better man than he actually was. It's just making sure that I understand the text the proper way. And the two convictions that I have are regarding the mention of Jephthah among the heroes of the faith in Hebrews chapter 11.

And then in the book of Leviticus, it says that if one offers a son or daughter as one would offer a son or daughter to Moloch, then

I will cut him off from God and from his people. And even if a person sees this happening and doesn't say anything about it, they will be cut off from the people of God.

Yet Jephthah is listed as a hero of the faith. Now, I understand that Jephthah was not offering his daughter to Moloch, he was offering his daughter to the

Lord. But still, one of those things that I don't know, I really struggle with that. I struggle with marrying

Judges 11 with Hebrews 11. And so that's my hesitation to accept that Jephthah actually did sacrifice his daughter as a burnt offering.

But to read that article from Jesse Johnson, if somebody walks away from that and says, no, I see that Jephthah did sacrifice his daughter as a burnt offering,

I would say, okay, I don't think that you're wrong in interpreting the text that way.

So like I said, it's better to present information on subjects like this as being, here's one interpretation, here's another possible interpretation, rather than approaching it as, no, it's this way and this is the way that you need to view it, particularly with a subject matter just like this.

All right, next question that I have to respond to here, well, it's not really a question. This is yet another apology.

So on the episode on Monday, the day that my daughter was born, well,

I'll read this email from Roger. This is from Roger Patterson, who works at the Creation Museum with Answers in Genesis.

Wonderful to hear from you, Roger, and thank you so much for emailing. He says, Pastor Gabe, congratulations on your precious new baby girl.

I pray God will give you and Becky grace in these coming days and that he would be pleased to bring salvation to Mariah as you train her in godliness.

Roger, that chokes me up. Thank you, brother. I'm feeling a little ve -clept.

Okay, we've got to continue on here. At 1845 in your podcast from January 23rd, episode number 356, you said that Answers in Genesis website had

Satan's fall on day three or four of Creation Week. That is not accurate. You may be confusing when we say angels were likely created.

And you're correct, Roger, that would be my error. I was trying to remember stuff off the top of my head instead of going back and checking my sources, which was an article that I read a couple of years ago.

It was quite some time ago. So thank you for catching that and correcting me on it.

In fact, I can go back and correct the audio and I probably will do that at some point.

But my apology and issuance of the correction will remain here on this episode, which is what, 340 or I'm sorry, 360.

Is that what I'm recording? Losing track of my numbers anyway. So Roger goes on. We clearly and unequivocally teach that Satan must have rebelled after day seven of Creation Week.

It could not have been before the end of day six since God pronounces everything very good.

It is not possible that a rebellious creature could be part of God's very good creation. It was not on day seven since God calls that day holy.

So it must have been at some point after day seven. But exactly when is unclear. Some have suggested fairly quickly based on the command to be fruitful and the fact that Cain is conceived and born after their exile from Eden.

The most thorough article is found at this link, and it addresses much of what you covered in the podcast.

And then he gives a link to an article entitled What About Satan and the Origin of Evil? And from the article, he gives a couple of citations on the creation of angels.

It seems most likely that morning stars symbolize heavenly host. Satan, a heavenly host, was called a morning star.

Therefore, Satan and the angels were created sometime prior to day three or early on day three, possibly on day one.

And I agree with the viewpoint that the angels were all created on day one because we have the statement at the very beginning of the

Bible. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. And I see heavens as being the spiritual realm and earth is representing the physical realm.

So you have God created both the seen and the unseen, as we would perceive of it today on day one of creation.

And so the angels likely were created there as well. At least that's the way that that I would interpret that.

But I also like the approach of considering that the angels were made on the same day that God created the sun, moon and stars, since angels are kind of spoken of in the same way as stars throughout the scriptures.

So then here is another portion of the article regarding the fall of Satan. In the Ezekiel passage, we note that Satan was originally perfect or blameless from the day that he was created until he sinned.

Wickedness was found in him. Thus, we can deduce that Satan was created during creation week since he was blameless.

He was under God's very good proclamation, Genesis 131, at the end of day six. When he sinned, he was cast from heaven,

Isaiah 1412. This must have been after day six of creation week because God pronounced everything very good.

Genesis 131. Otherwise, God would have pronounced Satan's rebellion very good. Yet throughout scripture,

God is absolute. That sin is detestable in his eyes. God sanctified the seventh day.

It seems unlikely that God would have sanctified a day in which a great rebellion occurred. In Genesis 128,

God commanded Adam and Eve to be fruitful and multiply. Had they waited very long to have sexual relations, they would have been sinning against God by not being fruitful.

So it couldn't have been long after day seven that Satan tempted the woman through the serpent.

Archbishop Usher, the great 17th century Bible scholar, placed Satan's fall on the tenth day of the first year, which is the day of atonement.

The day of atonement seems to reflect back to the first sacrifice when God made coverings for Adam and Eve from the coats of animal skins,

Genesis 321. It may be that the generations to come, from Abel to Noah to Abraham to the

Israelites, followed this pattern of sacrificing for sins on the day of atonement.

Regardless, the fall of Satan would likely have been soon after day seven.

Roger concludes with saying, thank you for your commitment to faithfully teaching God's word to so many. I look forward to your teaching every day.

Blessings, Roger Patterson. To have somebody at the Creation Museum at Answers in Genesis listening to me is wonderful.

And I thank you so much again, Roger, for catching that and issuing that correction. And I apologize for being so hasty in what it was that I said and did not mean to bring anything against Answers in Genesis or the

Creation Museum. And like I said, Answers in Genesis is a great resource, and you would do well to read many of the articles that they have on that website.

All right, I got one more here to respond to. That's all of my apologies. I had three of them today.

Sorry for the episode being late. I apologize for the Jeff the video and the way that the language was being presented in that video.

I'm going to redo that one and maybe present it at a later time. And I apologize for misrepresenting

Answers in Genesis on the podcast earlier this week. And I will make a correction to that particular episode.

But my retraction and apology will remain on this episode, episode 360. All right.

Now, this last one here is a question that comes from Tara, who emailed me.

And I get this question a lot, and I think it's always good to come back to and be reminded of these things.

Tara says, Hi, Pastor Gabe. I sometimes wonder if I'm truly a Christian. I sin every day.

I am selfish. I lack self -control. I'm a glutton, and I worry a lot. I have been struggling lately with intrusive thoughts.

The more I pray, the more thoughts I get. I want to rest in Christ.

I want to know him more. I don't want to hinder the gospel, my brothers and sisters or unbelievers.

I never used to struggle with doubt or sharing the gospel. Help. I appreciate your show.

I'm thankful that God is using you to reach others. Tara, I'm going to pray for you when we get to the end of this episode here.

But let me tell you, first of all, I don't want to take any guilt away that you feel in your heart that you should be feeling.

There is a sense of conviction that we should feel. It keeps us walking in holiness and keeps us meditating on the

Word of God to make sure we are doing what is pleasing to the Lord. This is having that healthy and reverent fear of God.

And I pray to the Lord that he would not take away my conviction, because the moment that I am no longer being convicted is a moment that I become comfortable in my sin.

I don't want to be that person. I want to hate my sin as God hates my sin and desire holiness as God is holy.

And so there are things that we need to be convicted about. And the Apostle Paul says in 2

Corinthians 4, he talks about a godly kind of grief that leads to repentance and life, but a worldly kind of grief will lead to death.

So let's be sure that the grief that we experience is something that is right and holy in the eyes of God that leads to repentance and holiness and not a grief that leads to despair and ultimately death and judgment.

Something that I constantly encourage people to do who come to me with questions about doubt or wondering if they're really saved is to read the book of 1

John. I think when it comes to tackling those insecurities, a healthy study of 1

John and meditating on these words, reading it over and over and over and engraving it on your mind and on your heart is a wonderful exercise to help you to work out these feelings of doubt that you might have.

1 John 1, verse 5, this is the message that we have heard from him and proclaim to you that God is light and in him is no darkness at all.

If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.

But if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus, his son, cleanses us from all sin.

If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar and his word is not in us.

So there is going to be an understanding that as people who still inhabit this flesh, we will still sin.

But this grace is given to us in this message that John shares in 1 John 1, 9.

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Let me read to you a few more passages here out of 1 John 3, 1 John. I'm going to come to chapter 3 here, beginning in verse 19.

By this, we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him.

For whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart and he knows everything.

Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God and whatever we ask, we receive from him because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him.

And this is his commandment that we believe in the name of his son, Jesus Christ, and love one another just as he has commanded us.

Whoever keeps his commandments abides in God and God in him. And by this, we know that he abides in us by the spirit whom he has given us.

And so, something I want to encourage you in Terah is understanding that whatever we ask, we receive from him because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him.

So, ask the Lord for a confidence and a reassurance that you are saved in his son,

Jesus Christ. Ask him for that. Ask him to be able to understand his word.

As James says, if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God who gives generously and without reproach.

Reading for you also from 1 John 5, verse 13,

I write these things to you who believe in the name of the son of God that you may know that you have eternal life.

God wants us to know that we are saved by his son, Jesus Christ, and sealed in the

Holy Spirit. Let me read to you the end of this letter, verses 18 to the end. We know that everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning, but he who is born of God protects him, and the evil one does not touch him.

We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.

And we know that the son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true, and we are in him who is true, in his son,

Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life. Little children, keep yourself from idols.

So, I hope, Tara, that that is a little bit of encouragement that I could give you, and take that advice to read through the book of 1

John. Read it every day for 30 days, all five chapters, 1

John 1 through 5, and at the end of 30 days, read it again another 30 days.

The more you read it, the more there are truths that are going to pop out to you that maybe you didn't see yesterday, and the assurance of salvation in Jesus Christ will be written on your heart, and you will have this confidence that when you sin, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Now, understand what Paul says in the book of Romans, in Romans chapter 6, where he says, no longer submit yourself as slaves of unrighteousness, but submit your members to God as instruments for righteousness.

That doesn't mean we're not going to sin, but you will not be living in sin. You are not chasing after the passions of the flesh like you were pursuing before, and the sin that you once loved, you now hate.

You hate it when you sin, and then you relate to Paul at the end of Romans chapter 7, and he says, a wretched man that I am, who will rescue me from this body of death?

Praise be to Jesus Christ our Lord. Let me pray for you as we close. Dear God, I thank you for Tara's heart and the conviction that she feels, and I pray that it is a godly conviction that is from the

Holy Spirit that is moving her to turn from sin and to the righteousness of God, that is opening her heart to hunger for the word of God, that she would be trained by it and guided by it to understand you and know the gospel of Christ through Jesus Christ our

Lord, keeping his commands and showing the love of God to our brothers and sisters in Christ.

May we all have a heart that is as convicted as Tara's, that we would hate our sin and long for the righteousness and the holiness of God.

When we sin, let us be convicted and let it be a godly conviction that leads to repentance, not a worldly grief that leads to death and judgment.

Turn us from our sins and help us to desire the righteousness of Christ Jesus, who died on the cross for our sins so that through him we would be forgiven and stand before God as justified.

Continue to restore our hope and assurance in Christ by what is written in your word and give us a mind and a heart that is able to understand these things and also share them with others so that they might have their hearts revived and their minds rejoicing in what it is that God has given to us through your son

Jesus Christ. Your exceedingly great and precious promises rescuing us out of darkness and into your marvelous light praise you for your goodness, your grace, and your mercy.

In the love of Christ, in whose name we pray, amen. This is When We Understand the

Text with Pastor Gabe Hughes. There are lots of great Bible teaching programs on the web, and we thank you for selecting ours, but this is no replacement for regular fellowship with a church family.

Find a good, Gospel -teaching, Christ -centered church to worship with this weekend, and join us again Monday for more