The word “man” is used generically to mean humanity. Where it’s talking about distinctive features between men and women, the use of the word "man" refers to a male.

We have to read that from the context. For example, Genesis 1:27 says He made them male and female, and then in the second chapter goes into detail about the creation, how it is that God made man as male and female. The point of it is that men and women, in essence, who we are, are fully equal. We may have different functions, and that would be a mistake to deny, but we are both made in the image of God. We are equal in who we are before God. We are justified the same way. That’s what Galatians 3:28 means when it says there’s neither male nor female.  

What does it mean that the punishment of God is to the third and fourth generation? Some people think there’s a generational curse. I don’t think so. I think what it’s saying is that when people rebel against God, and there are consequences for God’s divine justice, the consequences for that sin go from generation to generation until it’s broken by the mercy of God. 

I would give the example of someone who becomes an alcoholic. As much as we may consider that a disease, it is a disease with moral factors involved, and it leads to homes in which people and families are destroyed. It’s so dangerous and so harmful.

One of the sad things that we see is that it seems God's justice very often allows the consequences of that behavior. For example, the addiction leads to problems with their kids, who in the next generation often repeat the very same behavior, leading to the same consequences. They then pass that onto their kids and onto their kids until someone turns to the Lord and that behavior is broken. Until then, the consequences continue from generation to generation.  

God chose Israel not because they were greater or more righteous than other nations but because of His covenant promises and His sovereign purpose. 

Deuteronomy says that the Lord set His love upon them because He loved them and because He would keep the oath He swore to their fathers. 

Israel was chosen to be a light to the nations and to bring forth the Messiah. Even today, according to Romans 11, the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable. God still has purposes for Israel in His prophetic plan.

In Jude 9, he’s referring to a book that was written between the Old Testament and the New Testament, what we often call the 400 silent years. They really weren’t so silent. There were books written, and they are the apocryphal books and also pseudepigraphal books. What that means is they are false writings, but they are false only in the sense that they say it was written by Enoch or Moses, and they really weren’t written by Enoch or Moses. 

They were written by somebody else to make it sound like they were written by Enoch or by Moses. Jude mentions a few of those, and these were very popular books. It’d be like someone today quoting from the Left Behind book series. 

This comes from the Assumption of Moses, where a story is told of a dispute about what to do with the body of Moses. In that story, Michael the archangel, when he was disputing with the devil about Moses’ body, did not dare bring an abusive condemnation against them but rebuked them in the Lord’s name. Jude is saying, if even the archangel Michael didn’t dispute with the devil in his own name, but used the Lord’s name, how should we deal with a satanic attack? We must use the name of God and not our own power. That’s the point Jude is making now. 

Did that really happen? Well, it could very well be that the Assumption of Moses had true things in it, and that’s what Jude is citing. I’m not saying that it didn’t happen. I’m just saying it didn’t happen in Scripture. It is possible that there are true things that are recorded in books that are outside of Scripture.

He’s really talking to the people who will be alive in the future Tribulation period. They are living in Israel, in particular. I think these events describe what takes place in Jerusalem. 

It’s saying that in the middle of the Tribulation, when the Antichrist takes his seat on the throne in the Temple and tries to demand worship, those who live in Judea, particularly Jerusalem, need to flee. He says, “Woe to pregnant women and nursing mothers in those days.” Why? Because those Jewish women who are pregnant and nursing will find it much harder to flee.

Jesus also said to pray that your escape may not be in winter or on the Sabbath. Why? Because in Israel, winter is the rainy season and there are flash floods. It is very difficult. Roads are closed. There are a lot of problems escaping during winter because of the frequent rain.

As for the Sabbath in the land of Israel, even today, everything’s closed. There’s no public transportation. There’s no way to get around except by car. And even then, some roads are closed on the Sabbath. It makes it very clear that when the abomination of desolation occurs, escaping will be much more difficult for pregnant women and nursing mothers, or for anyone fleeing during winter or on the Sabbath.

People object to the Old Testament since we’re not under the Law of Moses. But even though we’re not under that law, it still teaches us what constitutes sexual morality. 

In the New Testament, we have laws or commandments that say we should practice morality and reject immorality, and we get the definition of what constitutes sexual immorality through the Old Testament. That would include homosexuality. 

There’s the passage in Romans 1 that says, “This is why God delivered them over to degrading passions. For even their females exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. The males, in the same way, also left natural relations with females and were inflamed in their lust for one another. Males committed shameless acts with males and received in their own persons the appropriate penalty of their error” (HCSB).  

So, in Romans 1:26–27, it clearly seems to say even in the new covenant that same-sex relationships are something that God rejects. He doesn’t reject the people. He loves them and wants them to come to Him. But instead, He rejects that kind of relationship.