I heard that it says in the Bible somewhere that the devil was seen coming to Earth as lightning from heaven, and I was told that translated in the old Hebrew, ‘lightning’ means ‘barak’ and ‘heaven’ means ‘high place’ or also ‘baumha’.  Is it true that this translation says He saw the devil come to Earth as “Barak Baumha”?  I’ve heard this many times.  Is it true?

Sincerely,
Red About Blue

Dear Red About Blue,

As interesting as the political implications of your question are, the answer is, “No, that’s not true.”  The verse you are referring to is Lk 10:18.  That particular verse is in the New Testament… which is written in Greek, not Hebrew.  The Greek word for ‘lightning’ is ‘astrapa’, and the Greek word for ‘heaven’ is ‘ouranos’.  So you can rest easy knowing that the whole barak-bauhma-equals-devil teaching is false.

5 minutes a day 5 days a week - a year of Bible Wisdom

I have a question about Jesus and how I can be baptized in the Holy Spirit.  It says in the Bible that the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples, and they talked in tongues, right?  So I’m wondering why I can’t speak in tongues; I’ve gone up to the front at church a long time ago when I was young and was prayed over, but no tongues ever came out of me.  Does this mean I’m not God’s child?  Am I doomed?  I know it sounds dumb, but I need help; I don’t know what to think.  I don’t want to go up there again ever; I’m scared now.

Sincerely,
Tongue-Tied

Dear Tongue-Tied,

You don’t need to speak in tongues to be saved… which is a good thing because nobody speaks in tongues anymore.  Holy Spirit baptism was a miraculous event that happened to the apostles on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1-4).  The only other time that Holy Spirit baptism occurred was at the first Gentile conversion (it was given as a sign to Peter that it was okay for non-Jews to become christians – Acts 10:45-48).

Holy Spirit baptism is not what saves you; water baptism is what saves you (Acts 8:36, Mk 16:16, 1 Pet 3:21).  The Holy Spirit provided certain people with the ability to perform miracles.  Other than the apostles, christians received these miraculous abilities by the laying on of the apostles’ hands (Acts 8:16-19).  Doing the math, that means that the last person to have miraculous abilities (like speaking in tongues) had to have lived at the same time as the apostles.  The last apostle died over 1,900 years ago!  Any church that tells you that you have to speak in tongues, prophesy, perform miracles, etc. to be saved is lying to you and misapplying the Scriptures.  We recommend you read “What Must I Do To Be Saved?”, so you can see what the Bible really says about salvation.  If you would like help finding a faithful, Bible-following church in your area, feel free to e-mail us at askyourpreacher@mvchurchofchrist.org.

5 minutes a day 5 days a week - a year of Bible Wisdom

A family member of mine said it was wrong according to the Bible and God that you should not take another christian to court.  What do you say?

Sincerely,
Legal Matters

Dear Legal Matters,

We say that your family member is 100% correct.  The Bible clearly states in 1 Cor 6:6-8 that christians shouldn’t take each other to court.  It brings shame upon the church, and it would be better to be defrauded and show love than to drag brethren to court.  Christians are supposed to have a higher moral standard than the average citizen… it only makes sense that brethren should honestly and faithfully try and handle matters with one another (1 Cor 6:1).