Bible Questions with Michael Pearl
Episode 012: When God gives a promise or command in the Bible, how can we know if it was for an individual or for all believers?

Episode Transcription:

Michael Pearl:  All right, here we are once again. I am delighted to be here answering your Bible questions. Jared is behind the camera there working all the equipment, doing the editing, and will be putting it up on the computer later on. So what's the first question, Jared? Read it off.

Jenny Elliot [sp]: Hi, everybody. This is Jenny Elliot [sp] in Montrose, Colorado. I was just listening to the Hebrews CDs.

I was wondering what is the difference between a promise that God makes to individuals in the Bible, and when can you apply it generally? What is the difference between that and promises He makes to all believers?

Along the same lines, when God commands individuals to do something when can people take that as a command for all believers?

Thank you very much. Bye bye.

Michael:  That is a vague question, one that is going to be difficult to answer. It seems self-explanatory. The question, as I understood it, was when God makes a promise to a whole group of people like all the nation of Israel or to the whole world, or when God makes a promise or command to one individual. It's simple.

If it's to the whole nation of Israel then it is not to the Gentiles because it's to the nation of Israel. If it's to the whole world, it's to the whole world. If it's to one individual, it's to one individual.

It wouldn't extend any further than the context in which God gives it. So when God told Moses, for instance, to take his shoes off, I don't take my shoes off unless I want to wash my feet or go to bed.

When God told the children of Israel to put blood on their doorpost, I've never put blood on my doorpost. That was to the nation of Israel in that context, and they never did it again either.

So when God told them to go out and stone to death a man that carried sticks on the Sabbath, that never happened again in the nation of Israel. That was for that one occasion.

So, yes, the context is going to tell us how broadly we should understand the commandment to be and what the extent of our response to it should be. Just the context.

Announcer:  If you would like to ask a Bible question, email us at [email protected] or call at 931‑805‑4820.