This past Sunday we had an “Ask a Pastor” session. It was quite an enjoyable morning, but there were way more questions asked than we could answer in the time we had allotted to us. So, many of the questions and answers will eventually be on the main church website, but I thought I’d put some of the ones that I answered in particular here on this site too.
Question: God is perfectly just. He loves us all equally. Why then does God show favouritism towards the Jews in the Bible, especially when they seem so unworthy of his favours? E.g. Making and worshipping idols, and constantly whining and complaining when Moses was leading them out of Egypt.
Answer: Favouritism and mercy to Israel was God’s plan to win over the whole world. This responsibility has now been turned over to the church as Israel didn’t live up to their calling and instead wanted to have God to themselves. However, we can’t be smug in that. We have a significant responsibility that we see in Jeremiah 29:7 Seek the peace and prosperity of your captors. As it goes for them it will go for you, so pray to the Lord for them.
Question: How do you explain Zechariah 13:8-9? Who do these verses refer to? When will this happen? In the whole land,” declares the Lord, “two-thirds will be struck down and perish; yet one-third will be left in it. This third I will bring into the fire; I will refine them like silver and test them like gold. They will call on my name and I will answer them; I will say, ‘They are my people,’ and they will say, ‘The Lord is our God.’ Zechariah 13:8-9
Answer: These verses refer to Jesus and the Jews but the principle applies to us all. God’s plan to purge Israel through the Exile didn’t bring them close to God as False Prophets misled them (read Jeremiah 29). Prophesying Christ’s death as an act devised by God did not sit well with the false-prophets. The sheep were scattered by the death of Jesus because they did not prepare for such an event. At some point in the future God will purge Israel and they will finally see the truth of God’s redemptive plan. However, in our day we must be careful of creating a God that we believe to be “fair.” We may find ourselves in the same type of situation. Prophecy must be discerned.
Question: Can you explain why Matthew 27:5 and Acts 1:18-19 have differing accounts of the death of Judas? Why are they different? What really happened?
Answer: The short answer is that they are not different. When one hangs themselves especially on a hot day the body fluids pool and then over time the body bursts. The point in acts is that Judas must have hung for some time before the smell alerted someone which shows that everyone deserted Judas including Satan because Judas no longer served a purpose. This is a sad way to die.
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