Q:Does the Bible indicate that a person might hide the truth in anger or hostility? A:Yes, the basic meaning of Hosea 9:7 is that because of internal iniquity, one's enmity - or hostility - is very great. A person who is constantly angry is probably using his anger as an outlet for something that is a deeper internal problem of some sin or another, such as bitterness towards someone. It is one thing to be angry and then get over it, and even Paul says, "Be angry, but sin not." Emotional flare upshappen with everybody, but if one is in a constant attitude of anger and hostility, that is usually a front for a much deeper problem Q:Based on Revelation 13:18 and the number of the beast being 666, I�ve heard people claim that the Antichrist is everybody from the Pope to Henry Kissinger to Mikhail Gorbachev to Madonna . . . you name �em! How do they figure this, and how can we know the truth? A:The Hebrew alphabet has 22 letters, each one having a corresponding numerical value. Therefore, one can find out the number of a name � the number of the beast (Rev. 13:18) � simply by adding the value of each Hebrew letter of a particular name. Obviously, there are many names that total 666. Keep in mind that the person meeting the 666 requirement must also meet the criteria of being a world ruler. At any rate, I think it is a bit early to speculate on the identity of the Antichrist, as he will not even appear on the scene until after we have a one-world government followed by a ten-nation division, according to the Scriptures. [A much more detailed study of this issue is included in Dr. Fruchtenbaum�s book, The Footsteps of the Messiah: A Study of the Sequence of Prophetic Events]. By the way, none of the names most frequently mentioned in this regard meet the 666 numerical criteria. Q:Why don't we accept the Apocrypha? I think perhaps that we Protestants left something out of the Bible. A:Concerning the books of the Apocrypha, they were never accepted by the Jewish community, nor by the Church at large, as being inspired. Only later in history did the Catholic Church make them part of the canon, because it helped support the church's doctrine of purgatory. But it was never part of those Scriptures accepted either by Jews or by the larger believing Church. Keep in mind that the books of the Apocrypha were already in existence at the time of Jesus. Yet the New Testament never categorized the books of the Apocrypha as "Scripture." When the New Testament talks about Scripture, it only deals with the same three-fold division as found in the Hebrew Bible: the Law, the Prophets, and the Writings. The rabbis never quote from the Apocrypha as divine authority. Moreover, neither Jesus nor any of the Apostles ever quote the Apocrypha as divine authority. In fact, what was considered "Scripture" clearly excluded the Apocrypha from the perspective of both the Jewish community and the Messianic community of the New Testament. While the early Jewish believers saw the writings of the Apostles as "Scripture," and the Old Testament as "Scripture," the Apocrypha was never accepted as such. Furthermore, the Apocrypha makes a lot of contradictory statements and it does not hold up to the historical, archeological, and harmonious scrutiny as do the other books of the Bible. It is not true that "we Protestants left something out." It is only that the Catholic Church included it, and rather late in the game at that. The Apocrypha, like Josephus and the writings of the Church fathers, is valuable for historical reference and historical backgrounds to the events in Scripture. It includes, of course, the Books of Maccabees � historical but not inspired books that record many of the events that brought about the Feast of Chanukah. But, again, the Apocrypha is no more inspired than Josephus or the Church fathers. .
