This page contains the index to the ASK year 2013 Commentaries. Stories are listed in most recent first order. Click on a title to read the commentary.

Our recent as well as future commentaries will be in Adobe PDF format. Click the Get Adobe Reader graphic  to download the free reader if you don't already have it installed on your PC.

Will God Force Some to be Saved? - December 15, 2013

QUESTION: I have been asked this statement and need to know how to answer it. In general: show me where the unsaved are forced into salvation. ANSWER: The ASK website provides marvelous resources to answer your questions ? either in the "ASK SITE SEARCH" or the "ASK TOPICAL INDEX." I then answser the question in detail.
 

Asking a Question - December 1, 2013

During the November 2013 SBL conference in Baltimore, MD, publisher Fortress Press held an event announcing the publication of a new book by Professor N.T. Wright of England. Wright's 45-minute talk was about his new book titled "Paul and the Faithfulness of God: Christian Origins and the Question of God: Volume 4." Four to five hundred people attended. This book is the latest of some 60 scholarly books he has written. In this book, Wright presents his understanding of Paul's teaching on how salvation is achieved from God through Christ. I asked a public question after the speech.
 

Jacob's Ladder - November 15, 2013

Frank, a friend of ASK, recently sent me a PDF of a flyer about a public lecture in West Virginia titled "Portals: The Boundaries between Our Dimension and Others." I thank him for forwarding it to me. The flyer says: "Planet Earth is full of portals big and small; some may be right in your own yard or home. We are in the early stages of an emerging awareness of ?The lnterdimensional Earth' and its other inhabitants, which presents unique challenges: how will we accommodate sharing the planet with intelligent beings we cannot always see, and who possess supernatural abilities that we do not have?"
 

Zephaniah and Jeremiah - November 1, 2013

This month's article is "The Book of Zephaniah" transcribed from a 1997 audiotape by Dr. Ernest L. Martin. Read first the "November 2013 Newsletter" for background about Zephaniah. The prophets Zephaniah and Jeremiah were contemporaries. Both held their prophetic office during the time of King Josiah of Judah. Read more about them.
 

Nasty, Brutish, and Short - October 16, 2013

The title phrase is from Thomas Hobbes' Leviathan, or the matter, forme, and power of a commonwealth, ecclesiasticall and civill, published in 1651. Specifically, Hobbes wrote his essay commenting on the civil war that engulfed England for the years 1642?1651. Leviathan described the situation of life for his fellow Englishmen during the mid-1600s because of that great social upheaval. It also describes the life of all people throughout history.
 

Biblical Curmudgeons - October 1, 2013

The article for October 2013 is "The Book of Habakkuk" from a 1997 presentation by Dr. Martin. As usual, there is a large amount of interesting information presented in a short time. Read first the "October 2013 Newsletter" for interesting information about Habakkuk. The dictionary definition of curmudgeon is this: "cur?mudg?eon [ker-muhj-uhn], noun, a bad-tempered, difficult, cantankerous person." Synonyms for curmudgeon are: grouch, crank, bear, sourpuss, crosspatch.
 

Absent from the Body - September 19, 2013

This Commentary deals with 2 Corinthians 5:8 and the context of the verses surrounding this passage. A proper understanding of this verse is important for understanding the state of the dead and your future resurrection.
 

What Is a Temple - September 1, 2013

The article for September 2013 is "In Search of King Solomon's Temple" by Professor George Wesley Buchanan. Starting with his thoughts about Ezekiel's description of a future Temple of God, Buchanan demonstrates that the vision was a reality that Ezekiel fully understood. Ezekiel saw water coming from the visionary Temple just as he saw it flow out of the Solomonic Temple. Read first the "September 2013 Newsletter."
 

You ARE Alone - August 19, 2013

No matter how close we are to other people, no matter how much we love or are loved, in a sense we are alone at the beginning and end of our lives. We are born alone, even though we do not realize there are others around us. After we are born, those who care for our every need and most of our wants are largely unknown to us. Over the weeks, our senses focus and we begin to recognize individuals and their features. We are alone at birth and at death; or so we think.
 

Hatred of Assyria - August 1, 2013

"The Book of Nahum" is this month's article by Dr. Ernest Martin. In his unique manner, he covers the important prophetic issues of this small book while giving insights from the text that few others recognize. Please read the "August 2013 Newsletter" first. I want to discuss in this commentary why the empire of Assyria was so hated in the world at that time. Nahum gives us some information that implies horror greater than words convey
 

Apocalyptic Nightmares - July 17, 2013

Over recent decades, movie and television shows and even multi-year television series have had their plots based on the premise of a post-apocalyptic world. Some natural disaster or man-made destruction has destroyed civilization. One of the more common scenarios has been that of a worldwide nuclear destruction leaving the world with ruined cities, no electric-ity, no modern conveniences, back-to-basics survival living, limited or no mechanical trans-portation or trade, no running water, no heat.Many people live in constant fear. In other words, civilization will collapse and people will return to living like animals. Nothing could be further from the truth.
 

What God Requires in Micah - July 1, 2013

This month's article by Dr. Ernest L. Martin is "The Book of Micah." Read first the "July 2013 Newsletter." In Micah chapter 6:6?7 four rhetorical questions are asked of God: "Wherewith shall I come before YHWH, and bow myself before the high God? shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old? Will YHWH be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? Micah 6:6-7
 

Anakim Are from Adam - June 17, 2013

It is often frustrating to encounter new things in Scripture, especially when you have read passages over and again without realizing a detail that totally changes your understanding of that text. Yet for me, this is also part of the fascination of Scripture. This Commentary deals with the Nephilim.
 

Jonah and Olam - June 1, 2013

The article for June 2013 is "Jonah and the New Testament." Read first the "June 1, 2013 Newsletter" which has introductory information about the article, and relates that material in light of recent statements on salvation by the new Pope Francis of the Roman Catholic Church.
 

ASK Temple DVD Reviews - May 17, 2013

We received many compliments on the DVD film, Jerusalem and the Lost Temple of the Jews, and I will quote some of them in this Commentary.
 

Jonah in Prophecy - May 1, 2013

Repentance and salvation from God's wrath is one theme of the Book of Jonah. It is also the subject of Dr. Martin's article, "The Book of Jonah." The "May 2013 Newsletter" introduces the article; read that first. The Scriptures contained in the Bible are the means to learn about the wisdom of God's salvation for all mankind. Learn how the Book of Jonah fills that role also.
 

Jebusite Control of Jerusalem - April 15, 2013

We are told in 2 Samuel chapter 5 and 1 Chronicles chapter 11 how King David of Israel conquered Jerusalem and made it the capital city of his kingdom. But why was this conquest necessary? Are we not told in Judges 1:8 that the tribe of Judah conquered Jerusalem? Is this a contradiction?
 

Obadiah Article - April 1, 2013

The article for April 2013 is "The Book of Obadiah," a short book of God's thoughts which deals with the destruction of the people of Edom, and the arrival of the Day of the Lord to usher in the Kingdom of God on earth. The Book of Obadiah tells of prophecies fulfilled in the past, and prophecies to come in the future.
 

Two Houses of Israel and Judah - March 15, 2013

This short article appeared in the publication The Jewish Era, vol. 6, no. 3, Chicago, July 1897, pp. 73?75. It was reprinted in "The Foundation Commentator" earch) on May 1977. Some still teach and preach the error that somehow the United States, Great Britain, and other European nations or peoples are Israelite nations. Dr. Bullinger's information shows that the people from the northern kingdom of Israel (also known as Samaria), after its population was deported from their homeland, many of those deportees returned to Palestine after Judah's exile ended. This continued to the time that Judah gained its independence from the Seleucid Empire in the 2nd century BC.
 

Writings in Heaven - March 1, 2013

Whenever an individual delegates authority, instructions, or details to subordinates, it is useful to provide written documents so that interested parties can read the information that is communicated. Another reason for documents is because the author wants more than one individual to read the message, and for the message to have a history of origin. There are writings in heaven, and the Bible tells what some of them are.
 

Rainbows and the Flood - February 15, 2013

Rainbows and the lack of rain before the flood give us interesting information about conditions during that period on the earth. This Commentary discusses some of these conditions and how they may have operated.
 

Christos in Amos - February 1, 2013

"The Book of Amos" is the subject of this month's article. Read first the "February 2013 Newsletter." In this Commentary I want to point out a very interesting textual anomaly in Amos 4:13. Amos is speaking and not quoting God. Here is the King James Version of this passage.
 

All Scripture Is Inspired, Part 2 - January 18, 2013

I was reminded recently about a fact which I did not mention in my Commentary "All Scripture Is Inspired." This fact related to what the apostle Paul wrote just before his death in what may have been the last communication to his trusted and beloved assistant Timothy: "? from a babe you are acquainted with the sacred scriptures which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All scripture is inspired by God, ..."
 

Joel and YHWH - January 1, 2013

"The Book of Joel" is the article for this month. YHWH speaks through the prophet in Joel 1:2 to 2:17. We learn the following things about YHWH. First, God is punishing Judah and Jerusalem because of their sins. Second "the Day of YHWH" is coming. This day shall be so frightening that the people of Judah and Jerusalem will be terrified. It will be destruction from God's own hand (Joel 1:15, 2:1). Third, God shall heal the land just before that infamous day of judgment comes. YHWH calls for repentance immediately before He does these things.
 

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