We are studying the book of Genesis in my small group Bible study.  The teacher explained that before the prophecy in Isaiah and other passages in the Old Testament about the Virgin Mary giving birth to the Messiah, Jesus, that the Virgin and the Messiah were predicted by Zodiac signs, including the Virgo sign.  My small group teacher said even though he did not believe in astrology, this was how the Messiah's birth was predicted in the early Bible times.  But the Baal worshippers twisted the Zodiac concept around from what true followers of God had prophesied.  As you can tell, it sounds very confusing, and he gave absolutely no Bible scriptures to back his theory.  He is a very nice and sincere man, and I believe he loves God.  But I read in numerous places in the Bible that anything to do with fortune telling (which Zodiac signs are) is strictly of Satan.  The Bible says that Satan is the author of confusion, and this teacher was very confusing.  I believe he thought he was being led by God's spirit.  As you can tell, this is a difficult question, but prayerfully you can give me some Bible scriptures to back this teacher’s theory or disclaim this teacher’s theory.

Sincerely,
Starry-Eyed Student

Dear Starry-Eyed Student,

Astrology is wrong, and so is this teacher.  Astrology, mysticism, séances, horoscopes, palm reading, etc. are all sinful.  God condemned that behavior in the Old Testament (Isa 47:13-14).  King Saul was put to death by God for seeking a woman that practiced divining (1 Chr 10:13). Any Jew that was found visiting a ‘medium’ or ‘spiritist’ would be cut off from His people (Lev 20:6).  In the New Testament, astrology is just as roundly condemned.  Paul cast out an evil spirit that was fortune-telling (Acts 16:16-18).  When someone became a christian, they confessed sorcery as evil, and many of them burned their books of the magical arts (Acts 19:18-20).  If we want wisdom, we should seek it from God (Jas 1:5).  All astrology, horoscopes, and the like are wrong.

Since God clearly condemns astrology, it wouldn’t make any sense that He would use astrology to predict the coming of Jesus.  As you said, there aren’t any verses to back up what this teacher was saying… there is a reason for that.  Regardless of what this man’s general character is, he has made a mistake.  The Bible simply doesn’t back up his theory.

Leviticus 3:17, along with other similar passages, forbids believers to eat any blood.  The Jehovah's Witnesses don't accept blood transfusions and won't eat meat with blood in it for this reason.  My question is: how can you eat blood if blood is liquid… isn't it?  And also, someone said in order to eat something, you have to digest it.  You don't digest blood transfusions, right?  So what exactly does Leviticus 3:17 mean?

Sincerely,
Blood Donor

Dear Blood Donor,

It is possible to eat blood if it is prepared as a dish (i.e. blood sausage, blood pie, etc.); however, it would be wrong to do so (see "Blood In The Pudding" for New Testament teachings on that subject).  This verse, however, doesn't address why Jehovah's Witnesses don't accept blood transfusions.  The reason JW's don't get blood transfusions is because "the life is in the blood" (Deu 12:23).  They improperly apply an Old Testament teaching that dealt with eating to a medical treatment in the world of the New Testament.  Christians are not under the Old Testament law (Gal 3:23-25).  The Old Testament still provides many faithful examples and principles, but its specific laws have been nailed to the cross (Col 2:14).  The Old Testament law has faded away and been replaced by the perfect law of liberty in Christ (Jas 1:25).  Read "Out With The Old?" for further details on the place of the Old Testament in the life of a christian.

Where did Cain's wife come from?

Sincerely,
Matchmaker

Dear Matchmaker,

Eve is the mother of all living (Gen 3:20).  In the beginning, there were only Adam and Eve.  Adam and Eve had multiple children (Gen 5:3-4).  In the genealogies of Genesis 5, none of the daughters are named – only the sons.  This is because Jewish genealogies (and Genesis is a Jewish book) follow the male lineage – we never know the dates or names of the daughters that are born.  Cain was Adam’s firstborn son (Gen 4:1).  When Cain went to find a wife, the only logical person he could marry would be his sister.  Therefore, Cain’s wife was also his sister (Gen 4:17).  It is morally repugnant in today’s society for someone to marry his sister, but it wasn’t that way in the beginning.  In the beginning, they had no other choice.  God told the family of Adam to “go forth and multiply” (Gen 1:28).  When Adam’s sons and daughters intermarried, they fulfilled God’s command.

Today we worry about children having deformities if the mother and father are too closely related.  This is because of genetic mutations and defects in our DNA.  Adam and Eve wouldn’t have had these defects.  When God made Adam and Eve, they were genetically perfect, and their descendants wouldn’t have had to worry about biological deformities.  God didn’t prohibit close intermarriage until almost 2,500 years after Adam and Eve (Lev 18:9-17); it took that long for genetic mutations to increase enough to become a real issue.

So the conclusion is… Cain married his sister.

(This question is a follow-up to “Sssomethings We Don’t Know”)

I have another question almost similar to the serpent of Eden.  In the Old Testament in Numbers 22:28… about the talking donkey: did God possess the donkey, or did God just give the donkey the ability to speak?

Sincerely,
Bray-ve Questioner

Dear Bray-ve Questioner,

Num. 22:28 simply says that God opened the donkey’s mouth – it doesn’t provide further details.  All the donkey talked about was that he didn’t like being whipped and the fact that he had been faithful to Balaam (Num 22:30).  All the things that the donkey said could have come directly from God, or they could have come directly from the donkey.  The Scriptures simply don’t say.  This is another great example of the secret things belonging to God (Deu 29:29).

According to Genesis 3:1-14, the serpent of Eden spoke like a human would speak.  My question is: was the serpent the only animal that talked?  Was he the only serpent on earth at that time?  Or could other animals have talked, and it’s just that the Bible doesn't mention it?  I ask because Genesis only mentions the talking snake and not any other talking animal.

Sincerely,
Questioning Cobras

Dear Questioning Cobras,

You are right; the Bible doesn’t mention that detail.  Where the Bible is silent, we must be silent, too (Deu 12:32).  Sometimes, we simply aren’t given the specifics of a situation.  We don’t know whether the serpent spoke because the devil was using that particular animal, and all other animals were unable to speak.  Or perhaps, at that time, other animals could speak as well – we are just simply never given the details.  The secret things belong to God, and what He has revealed to us in His Word is what we need to know and what is important (Deu 29:29).