Here Comes Purim!

What's thoroughly Jewish Thursday? Purim is coming. A lot's happening in the Jewish world. We've got it covered right here today. It's time for The Line of Fire with your host, activist, author, international speaker, and theologian, Dr.

Michael Brown, your voice of moral, cultural, and spiritual revolution. Michael Brown is the director of the Coalition of Conscience and President of Fire School of Ministry. Get into the line of fire now by calling 866-34-TRUTH. That's 866-34-TRUTH. Here again is Dr.

Michael Brown. People say Israel's an apartheid state But I can't relate to that baseless hate It's not really fair to try and compare a racist regime with the war on tear Using common sense against violence Israel had to build up the border fence And if you think that's apartheid Of orthodoxy. you are a lesser Rapping, singing about Israel apartheid week, which right now, Europe, North America, and Africa is taking place at different campuses and locations. And uh If you want to find out about that, apartheidweek.org is the place to go. It is a horrific thing.

It is a demonization of Israel. It is as false and ugly as can be. And it must be combated with truth.

Well, this is the place to go for truth. This is Michael Brown. Welcome to the line of fire, 866-34 Truth. It is thoroughly Jewish Thursday. If you have any kind of Jewish-related question, be it Jewish tradition, be it Hebrew, be it Old Testament-related, Messianic prophecy-related, be it related to Israel today, give me a call 866-348-268.

7884 is the number to call. It is thoroughly Jewish Thursday. We'll talk to you more about Israel Apartheid Week, what it's about and why it's so ugly and why it's so wrong. And we'll talk about Perim. Purim is coming beginning Sunday night.

And very interestingly, There's an article in Breitbart.com, large conservative website, actually talking about a spiritual. Principles and Purim coming up involving a dear friend of mine, Lou Engels.

So, talk to you about that in a moment. Here are some interesting quotes. Remember, in the book of Esther, the name of God does not appear. Reference to Lord does not appear. Nothing.

And although there's fasting, there's not a reference to prayer. And yet we all recognize divine intervention in the Book of Esther, which of course leads to the festival of Purim, a two day festival that begins Sunday night. on the Jewish calendar. And we know that thus far, among all manuscripts discovered on the Dead Sea Scrolls, I say thus far because it appears there are more discoveries still to be made, there are no copies of fragments, parts of the Book of Esther there. making you wonder was that part of their sacred scriptural canon?

And yet it was received as sacred scripture by the synagogue and the church. And Moses Maimonides, right in the twelfth century, said this, and this reflected earlier Jewish tradition. even if all the festivals should be annulled in the Messianic era, Prim. Will never be annulled. Why?

because it points so clearly to the Jewish community being protected. by God's hand. And then Isaac Luria, who was a Jewish mystical teacher of what Roughly 500 years ago, he stressed the importance of PERM. And he pointed this out. The Hebrew for day of atonement is Yom Kippur.

or Yom Ki Purim. The day of atonement or atonements. All right? Yom Kippur. And the key is part of that word, atonement, Kippur.

But there is another Hebrew word, which is just the one consonant. K. and it means like so he reinterprets it again this is just homiletically to say yom kippurim it is a day like Purim festival.

So the Day of Atonement is a day like the Purim Festival. In other words, that's how important Purim became. In Jewish tradition. We're going to talk about that. We're going to talk about a lot of other things.

I want to tell you about the story of how the real kosher Jesus came to be written. It's especially relevant this week as well. A lot more to come. You're Jewish. Related calls, 866-34TRUTH.

We're on for that as well. Angel World O God of burning, cleansing flame. Send the fire. It's the line of fire with your host, Dr. Michael Brown.

Get into the line of fire now by calling 866-34 TRUTH. Here again is Dr. Michael Brown. Welcome friends to the line of fire on this thoroughly Jewish Thursday. Last week the broadcast was from Israel.

Now we're back home, got home early Monday morning, 866-348-7884. If you've got Jewish related questions, this is a great time to ask them. We have a lecture on our website called this Israel an Evil Occupier. It was supposed to be a debate that I was going to do on this subject with a Palestinian leader or a Muslim leader at a university in Florida a few years ago. And it was going to be in conjunction with an Israel apartheid week or some type of call to boycott Israel.

And I Gladly agreed to do it. Unfortunately, the folks at the university were unable to find anyone. The student group there reached out every way they knew how. A Messianic Jewish group that worked with other groups couldn't find anyone that would do a debate.

So I said, All right, we'll do a lecture with open mic QA at the end. But then there were concerns by university officials, University of South Florida it was, that there could be some type of violence or something.

So they didn't want open mic QA. Instead, folks had to put their questions on cards, and I responded. But I did get to hang out with a number of the folks, some Muslims, Palestinians, afterwards. And we had some very passionate but gracious interaction that hopefully was helpful for everyone. But I've got a lecture is Israel an evil occupier.

It will set the record straight historically. It will tell another side of the story that the Israel apartheid week folks don't want you to hear or see or know. Mm-hmm. And they'll do their best to give you a very different narrative, which I say is a flawed narrative historically and from the viewpoint of justice and truth. We care about all living in Israel and surrounding nations.

We care about them as God's people, meaning as God's people, we care about everyone. Jesus died for each one alike, but we do not accept these false narratives about Israel, and we wholeheartedly reject the BDS movement boycott divestment sanctions. And thankfully, although the Obama administration was much weaker on Israel than we would have preferred, the Trump administration has gotten off to a stronger start. Again, I care about Palestinians and I care about justice for them. And I say the way of the Israeli apartheid week and these other boycotting groups is not in the best interest of the Palestinians.

866-34TRUTH. Feel free to differ with me. Don't just insult me on social media and call me a jerk or an idiot or a Nazi or whatever. Tell me, talk to me, let's have a civil conversation. eight six six three four eight.

7884.

So you can watch this video. It's free on my website, thelineoffire.org. Thelineoffire.org. Just click on the digital library, search for the word occupier, and you can watch the entire lecture there for free. I trust it will be an eye-opener for you.

I'm going to get into that history a little bit more later in the broadcast. First, though, I'm going to go to the phones and we'll start in Mount Vernon, New York with Norman. Welcome to the line of fire. Thank you, doctor Brown. It's good to be here.

Well, thank you. The last of my calls, I mentioned about nineteen seventy one. And that is my birthday, that's your day of being born again. Great, great. I was call I was calling about um Tovia Stinger.

Mm-hmm. And I stopped online at his website, it's Outreach Judaism, and he has twenty-five different uh topics covered there. Freely available for download. Um He covers such things as Daniel's 70 weeks, the Trinity, who is Messiah, Lord's and Isabella, Lord, that's Psalm 110. And I was saying to myself, There is a person that I've heard that touches on this and explains it in detail.

His name is Dr. James Scott Trim. Have you heard about him? Uh yeah, he's he's a fringe guy. I I wouldn't look to him.

On a lot of points, his views are quite fringe. In many ways, exactly. He did a tape set some time ago. Titled Let's Get Truthful. And it covers the same topic section by section as I-53, Sin and Atonement.

Yeah, and he's going to have a better view than Tovia Singer because he's much closer to holding to gospel fundamentals. But then he's out on a fringe in terms of other things having to do with Jewish law and stuff like that. But Toby and I debated in the early 90s twice. He's refused to have any dealings with me since basically 25 years. We demolished the points that he made many years ago.

Anyone that goes through our five-volume series on answering Jewish objections to Jesus will find that and tons of other stuff well beyond stuff that Tovia put out. And then we have a 22-hour DVD series or audio series folks can order from us where we go through what used to be his tape series, you had to buy it for many years and market it.

Now I think it's available for download.

So if you just go to lineofire.org, actually in our digital library, Dr. Brown response to Rabbi Tovia Siger, that'll give some of the history and how that. That gets twisted, uh unfortunately, by Rabbi Singer. But uh, Yeah, so the other point I was the actual My concern is the actual outreach that's being done. Right, right.

So, let me just say one more thing, Norman, because I'm speaking this for all of our listeners who know. Where to get things. If anyone goes to our Real Messiah website, realmessiah.com. They'll find that subject by subject, sin, atonement, the messiah, messianic prophecy, subject by subject by subject. We have short written answers and video answers on all these free for everyone.

So folks can get more material in the five-volume series. Folks can get more material in the 22-hour DVD series, Countering the Counter Missionaries. But they'll get tons of material free on the RealMessiah website, realmessiah.com. That's the thing. Taking a look at Tofia's site, he has everything listed there.

Twenty-five different broadcasts we have charged. Anyone can download them. And what came to my thoughts is because he has those broadcasts recorded, and he's declined to debate with you. What's possible is point by point, point by point, debating each point on cassette or audio, and then publishing Those specific broadcasts addressing each of the twenty five different listed problems.

So you're saying that he hasn't a chance to debate with you? That's what you're doing. No, no, he's refused. He's refused. He's refused numerous invitations.

But we've already, yeah, Norman, maybe right, right. But Norman, hang on, hang on. What I've been trying to tell you is we've done that. We have the stuff available. He's not the only one out there.

He's one of many countermissionary rabbis, many, many, many, many, many. and he may be one of the more prominent. There are others that are more scholarly than him, and others less scholarly. But he's one of a number of counter-missionary rabbis, counter-missionary organizations, and things like that.

Some of the counter-missionary rabbis are good friends of mine. We have deep differences. We pray for each other.

So he's one of many. And there are other sites with other material. I'm not going to promote them here. And my goal is not to go through each one of those. and say, okay, let's refute each one here, here, here.

Now we might do that with Tovius. That's possible, something I might do. But what I want you to understand, sir, is we've done that already. If you get my 22-hour DVD series, it's done in massive depth. If you go to the Real Messiah site, you can download free.

Video And written responses.

So it may not be the same order as his, but you'll find responses to all the arguments he raises. We already have free. On the RealMessiah website, realmessiah.com. That's the point I was trying to make. All right, so we might do something that's tailor-made to refutovia.

But we already did something in 22 hours in-depth teaching that demolishes those positions and then in shorter form for free on the Real Messiah website, they're already there. Because I've listened to him, he's very persuasive, extremely persuasive persuas, persuasive. And everything is his pardon I'm I'm biting my tongue here. But I understand what you're saying. Yeah, I mean for those who are ignorant of the of of the scriptures, ignorant of Hebrew, ignorant of Jewish tradition, Ignorant of the New Testament, yeah, very persuasive.

If he was, if folks have even a Drop of knowledge to refute him. He's easily refuted. And my heart goes out to him because he's zealous, but he's quite lost.

So yeah, my door remains open. And if you want to know the history, What really happened? Again, go to The lineofire.org.

Alright, lineofire.org. Click on Digital Library. and just type in Tovi Singer or Singer and you'll see uh the video where I respond to to uh false claims that he made On an intranet radio or T V show about our debate over 25 years ago. And hey, listen. If he was so persuasive and had the truth, why not debate me?

You know how many Jewish people he could have reached? More people? You know how many Christians he could have reached? You know many opportunities he has declined to debate me, universities and other settings.

So when you have the truth, you run to the light. And you can come up with all kinds of bogus excuses while you won't, but there's a reason he's debated others. but won't debate me. Let's Bring things to the light and put them on the table. If we do, it'll be clear: Jesus Yeshua is our Messiah.

If you're having questions, go to thereamessiah.com, explore what's there. and your questions will be answered. Change the world. It's the line of fire with your host, Dr. Michael Brown.

Get into the line of fire now by calling 866-342. Here again is Dr. Michael Brown. It is Purim coming up beginning this Sunday night.

Well, here's something interesting. If you're not familiar with Purim, just read the book of Esther, an amazing and unique book in the scriptures. Here's something very interesting. My friend Lou Engel is a man of fasting and prayer. He basically lives in a fasting and praying lifestyle and crying out to God for revival, crying out to God for the sanctity of life and family and marriage, crying out to God for unreached peoples, crying out to God for Israel as well.

So, I found this very, very interesting. I was just looking at headlines as I look on many, many different websites over the course of a week. I was looking at a headline on Breitbart.com, which is conservative, strongly conservative website, rapidly growing, I think the 29th biggest website in America right now of any kind. And it's conservative news and it's strongly pro-Trump, but it's conservative news. It is not spiritually based.

So, I see this article there about spiritual warfare or principle. I thought, what in the world is that about? And I go on to see, it's an article. And it's referencing my friend Lou Engel, and it's talking about a call that he's put out for three days of prayer, an Esterfast is called, which would mean, by the way. Which would mean, if you did it the way it was done in the book of Esther, no food or drink of any kind for three days, which those who've done it said is very intense and requires some grace and help.

And by the way, don't jump into any kind of fasting or any type of extended spiritual discipline like that unless you know that you're in right shape to do it. But. Lou has been looking at some things going on in the world today and had called on people leading up to the book of Esther for three days of prayer and fasting. Here's the headline: Christian leader sees spiritual battle over Trump. presidency.

So again, I found it interesting that it was on Breitbarters by Thomas Williams, Ph.D., leader of the Christian charismatic movement, has declared that the unprecedented resistance to U.S. President Donald Trump signals a deeper spiritual battle that is taking place over America's soul. And Lou Engel, founder of several Christian ministries, has highlighted two recent events that give cause for concern to Christians, the women's march on Washington with its close alliance with the U.S. abortion lobby and recent calls to use witchcraft to bind, that's their word, and utterly destroy the president. And he says this, that the women's march was, quote, the first shot across the bow, heralding a revolutionary rise against the president of the United States.

The march was also an uprising against the foundational biblical truths upon which our nation was founded.

Soon after, the second shot was manifested publicly in unprecedented global summons of witchcraft to curse President Trump, his cabinet, and all those aligned with the biblical worldview. Suddenly, the whole controversy was elevated to a global spiritual dimension, inaugurating a spiritual battle that cannot be won on the playing field of protests and political arguments. Only the church has the answer to this unprecedented manifestation of witchcraft. Spiritual strategy must be used to overcome this open-faced, brazen challenge of the power. and whether you voted for Donald Trump or not, whether you like his presidency or not, you have to recognize there's unusual opposition to it when you get witches worldwide saying we're going to curse him.

So the article on Bright Part quotes Paul's writings at Ephesians 6: We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Engels sees great cause for hope, since many Americans do not identify with the anger, extremism, and above all, visceral hate being directed toward the president and those who voted for him. Quote, hundreds of thousands of women watched the march, Lou said, heard the vitriol, and could not identify with the radical ideologies being expressed that would not acknowledge God's word and ways in the public controversy. This new woman declared deep inside her heart, this is not. My revolution Uh in any case.

In any case, they also quote uh Philadelphia Archbishop Charles J. Chaput. Who recently said it's just amazing to me how hostile the press is to everything the president does. I don't want to be partisan in my comments here, but it seems to me if we're really serious about our common responsibilities, we support the president, wish him success rather than trying to undermine him. That's what good citizens should do.

So Lou's calling for three days of fasting and prayer for the nation beginning yesterday. March 8th, and then culminating with Saturday evening. And yeah, I'm sorry, I said perm starts Sunday night. It's Saturday night, right, the 11th.

So in any case, in any case, just thought that was interesting that it made its way to Breitbart. And no matter how you slice the cake, no matter what you believe. There's no question there's a great spiritual battle for the soul of America. You can look at Donald Trump as a force for good or evil. That's not my argument here.

The point is recognize the intensity of the spiritual battle. and recognize that the ultimate battleground is going to be Israel. As we looked out from Mount Carmel, a week ago Monday and our first day in Israel together as a tour group. And we looked out at Jarimegido. Armageddon.

And this is where Scripture speaks of a final clash. There's a sense of reality. There's a sense of look at what happened in the past. Past And what is happening in the present. And that tells us about what will be happening in the future.

Uh interestingly. The Trump administration has warned the UN Security Council that if it does not cease from simply, well, not simply, but primarily being an Israel-bashing group. that the US will pull out.

Now of course if the U.S. pulls out, then it can't veto what the Security Council wants to pass, but it's also saying you have no power. You're nothing. You're nobody. You could say whatever you want to say, but you have no power to enforce it.

Nobody's listening to you. That's what America would be saying in the process. When you look at the degree of bias against Israel, The idea that Israel is an apartheid state. Here, here, tell you what, grab clip number two, Ari Lesser. Orthodox Jew from Cleveland rapping, singing about the hypocrisy of the Israeli apartheid movement.

Clip number two. Look at all. Whole region, you'll see only Israel is truly a democracy where every citizen's right to vote is protected. And Arab officials often get elected. That's an important point, let me stress it.

There's a dozen Arabs with seats in the Knesset, and that's an Arab judge on the Supreme Court.

So they don't fall short on government support. Everyone has access to the same schools, same beaches, and the same swimming pools. The same resorts and hotel guest rooms. Same public parks and public restrooms. Same cinemas, restaurants, cafes, same trains, buses, taxis.

Yes, yes, yes, and on and on it goes. That's Ari Lesser, L-E-S-S-E-R. Look up his stuff on YouTube.

So.

So, here's the point. Here's the point. And I'm going to break this down for you. I'm going to dispel this myth. Of Israel being an apartheid state.

We come back on the other side of the line of fire. You got a Jewish-related question? You want to dispute something I've said? Call me. That's why we have live radio.

Anybody can cower behind their Computer keyboard. Test. It's the line of fire with your host, activist, author, international speaker, and theologian Dr. Michael Brown. Your voice of moral, cultural, and spiritual revolution.

Get into the line of fire now by calling 866-34 TRUTH. Here again is Dr. Michael Brown. God is my only Yeah, clapping my feet. Clapping my feet, clapping my hands, not stomping, tapping, tapping, clapping my hands, tapping my feet.

Which combined would be clapping my feet. Welcome back to Thoroughly Jewish Thursday. Michael Brown here, 866-348-7884. By the way, by the way, when I encourage folks to call this show. And not just send in ugly, vile tweets and comments.

I mean, listen, it comes with being a public figure. I'm not the only one that gets blasted day and night. But you'd be amazed. You'd be stunned at the level of some of the stuff that comes in, especially from professing Christians. I mean, they'll use all kinds of the most profane and ugly language and just foul.

And they're professing Christians because I differ with Pastor John MacArthur and something on our YouTube channel. This guy, I can't repeat his words, but allegedly as a Christian, calls me a shill for Google and tells me to enjoy my dip in the lake of fire. Yeah, you get just real crazy folks out there.

So I'll say, hey. Call the show. and share your viewpoint. Call this sh well, I work, I work.

Well, it's interesting. You're you're tweeting me in the middle of the day. You're posting on Facebook and YouTube in the middle of the day. It look looks like you're not working at that moment. And why is it that the only ones that can call Are are the ones that aren't so vile and nasty and well they don't work?

Yeah. Anyway. Anyway. Let's dispel some of the myth. of Israel being an apartheid state.

If you go back to the late 1800s, you had a larger Arab population living in what was called Palestine then. But you certainly had a Jewish presence, no question about that. And they had other peoples that had lived there for long periods of time as well. But no one had called it a Palestinian state. It was part of larger Syria.

It was known as Palestine by the Romans beginning 100 years after the time of Jesus, but no one was trying to make it their state. There was not a Palestinian flag. There was a Palestinian currency. That never happened. It never happened.

and and it was not largely inhabited either. Late 1800s, more Jews started moving into the land, and they started developing the land more. With that brought more job opportunities and things like that. More Arabs came in as well.

So you still had a larger Arab population compared to a Jewish population. But this was people living side by side. Yeah, there were some acts of violence, Arab against Jews, especially in the 1920s, 30s, places like Hebron. And the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Hajj al-Min Husseini, he incited some of the violence, ended up being a confidant of Adolf Hitler, confidant of Adolf Hitler, and of course, very much into the idea that the Jews should be wiped out. All this is well known.

There's no secret in what I'm saying here. But still you had basically Jews and Arabs living side by side.

Some cases working the land together.

Some cases Jews buying more of the land from the Arabs, the Arabs working the land as well as they'd been there, and more Arabs coming in, more Jews coming in. But you still had heavy swampland and things like that. It was only the Jewish settlers that turned what was in Palestine into Israel today. It was only the Jewish settlers that drained the swamps, literally, literally drained the swamps, many dying of malaria in the process. But they were the ones that did it, the early pioneers at the turn of the 20th century.

But again, you have Jew and Palestinian or Jew and Arab side by side. And if you asked who is a Palestinian, in the early days, the 20s, 30s, before the modern state of Israel in the early 40s. Do you know what the Palestinian orchestra was? It's a Jewish orchestra. You know what the newspaper now, the Jerusalem Post, you know what was the Palestinian Post, Palestine Post, was Jewish.

Jews with Palestinians. Be right back. It's the line of fire with your host, Dr. Michael Brown, your voice of moral, cultural, and spiritual revolution. Here again is Dr.

Michael Brown. Welcome, welcome to Thoroughly you wish Thursday. Hey, let me say this again. If you are a follower of Jesus and you've heard arguments from counter-missionary rabbis, And they've made you wonder, was what I've been taught true or accurate? Hey friends?

We have answers to all the major objections that have been raised. We have them in written form. We have them in audio form, we have them in video form, we have them in concise form, we have them in lengthy form. And I am On the record, any qualified rabbi, counter-missionary, the reason I say qualified is you want to be fair to the other side. You want someone qualified to represent the other position, otherwise it's not fair to them.

For example, if I debate it Uh let's say let's say I did a debate on scientific evidence. against the Bible or for the Bible, and you had a brilliant scientist against me, as much as I know the scripture, they're going to demolish me scientifically because it's not my field. But you get a John Lennox debating our side, or William Lane Craig debating our side, and they will more than hold their own against any opposition that comes their way. and expose the error of the other side.

So you want to be fair to the other side. And there are qualified rabbis. There's one, in fact, that I'm scheduled to do a video debate, online video debate. We'll both present our views the same day and then present rebuttals the same day. And we're planning on doing that, God willing, hopefully in the next month or two.

There are others where we've had some written exchange, but I'm unable to do those at any length. But we've had plenty of debates with other rabbis. March 23rd, so just a couple weeks from now, I'm scheduled to debate Orthodox Jewish lawyer Asher Norman, author of a counter-missionary book on 26 Reasons Jews Don't Believe in Jesus. God willing, there'll be a live stream of that, and then we'll be posting the video on YouTube and making that available to others as well. I'm all for bringing everything out into the light.

So be assured we have answers. And we don't have some cutesy, you know, kind of close your eyes and hope. No, no, we have solid answers. Based on solid scholarship, based on sound contextual reading of scripture, based on other supporting documents. Be encouraged.

The truth is there. The truth is available. It will refute the objections. It will refute the arguments. It will refute those claiming that Jesus is not the Messiah.

And friends, you have other groups like Jews for Judaism, for example. And they've had well-known rabbis doing, quote, outreach, Jewish outreach to Jews for years. And someone said, why don't you debate them? Why don't you debate Rabbi Michael Skolbeck? Wouldn't a heartbeat?

I wouldn't have heartbeat. We've met face to face, we've chatted, but the Jews for Judaism policy is no public debates. Say, well, that's odd because they're challenging your views and the views of others like you, and they have videos and articles and websites. Isn't that odd they won't do a public debate? I say it is odd.

I said it's very odd. And the best we're doing, which I feel very positive about, is one counter-missionary rabbi Israel Blumenthal that he and I, God willing, will be posting on the same day.

So on YouTube channel that he's using, YouTube channel I'm using. On the same day, we'll both be posting a video on the role of the Messiah according to the Hebrew Bible. And then on the same day, whether it's two weeks or a month later, we'll both be posting rebuttal, same length of time. And then maybe a month later, posting a rebuttal for the rebuttal. And then we'll let those sit.

And there they are. have at them. I think that's great. I think that's wonderful. I commend him for doing that.

But they're other kind of missionary rabbis and they're raising all these objections and saying what we believe is wrong. But they want to pay. I'm doing any number of formats, do it six hours. Back and forth and back and forth. Do it two hours.

Take a break for an hour. Check your notes. Come back. All kinds of do it by Skype. We can't do it face to face.

Yeah. Whatever. I'm glad to do it because I know they're on the side of truth. And I know as surely as I'm sitting here that Jesus Yeshua is the Messiah of Israel. and that he who came will come again.

And the only one that can finish the work is the one who start it. The work.

So please be in prayer as we have some major Jewish outreach coming up. Please be in prayer for us. In fact, in a moment, I want to tell you how we can partner together to see Jewish people come to faith.

Okay, so back to Jewish history. A hundred years ago, this year. The Balflower Declaration was signed, Balflower Declaration. And uh in it, this is November 2nd, 1917. Foreign Secretary, so UK's Foreign Secretary Arthur James Balfour.

uh wrote to Walter Rothschild Second, Baron Rothschild, the leader of the British Jewish community. And he said Uh and and uh He was a prominent Zionist, Balthawron, and a friend of Chaim Weizmann. He said, His Majesty's government View with favor the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people and will use their best endeavors to facilitate the achievement of this object. And it goes on from there.

Well, this was a major step in the right direction. It was before the global rise of anti Semitism to the proportions it reached leading up to the Holocaust. But still, why can't the Jewish people have a home? Don't give me scripture arguments back and forth. I'm just saying logically.

Why does everybody else get a homeland but not the Jews? Jews have been praying daily for centuries. For the restoration of Jerusalem. And every year we're saying next year in Jerusalem, and that's been the goal. That's been the goal.

Yet Arabs living there for centuries, they never said this is our homeland. There was no such concept of being a Palestinian. As one man said years back, That he was a Jordanian one day, 1967, then Israel wins a six-day war. He wakes up the next day, now he's a Palestinian, his identity changed, and it was being used for polemical purposes. Yeah.

You say, well, why didn't Jews just take over the land long back?

Well, there is a view that God had to initiate this. There was the view that God would restore the exiles and bring them back. And in many parts of the world, Jews were impoverished and it was you're not going to just have a major movement to go back and rebuild a society there. There was a sense of praying for God to help and God to end the judgment of the exile. But the bottom line is this.

There is plenty of room for Jews and Arabs together in the land. And when the first Plan for two states was put forward, what, 1930s, which was much more generous to the Arabs than the second one of 1947. Our leadership said no. There was a proposal for a two-state solution. Arab leadership, not Jewish leadership.

Arab leadership said no.

Now, after the horrors of the Holocaust, The Second World War. the attempt to destroy the Jews of Europe, The The participation or the sympathies with the Nazis of the Muslim world or parts of the Muslim world in the Middle East. All the more is it pressing that there is a Jewish homeland. And there's a place that the Jewish people can have for themselves and defend for themselves.

So the UN comes up with a partition plan. This one giving more land to the Jewish people, still far from ideal. But give me more land. And the Arab leadership against us, no. Their leadership again says You do this, we'll destroy you.

And so when the modern state of Israel was was announced in nineteen forty eight, Roughly 800,000 Jews living in the surrounding Muslim nations were expelled. My taxi driver one day last week, I think it was last Sunday, Said that his parents came from Morocco in 1948. Why in 1948? Because they were expelled. Jews living in the surrounding Muslim countries, roughly 800,000, were expelled.

And where did they go? The vast majority fled to the fledgling nation of Israel, which now has to absorb all the refugees and fight five surrounding hostile Muslim nations. This is reality. This is what's going on. And there was war, and there had been Jewish groups trying to fight against the British and fight against the Arabs before that.

Sure, that was going on, absolutely. But at this point, the main national line is stay. Telling the Arabs living there, stay, roughly 600,000 Arabs living in the land, or roughly 800,000 at that point, stay. Stay here There's room for both of us. We can live side by side.

You can still read the copies of the Arabic tracts that were handed out to the Arabs living there. and say stay here and and it's fine we can live side by side as neighbors But the Muslim leadership said, No, we're going to destroy you. We're going to wipe you out, we're going to drive you into the sea. And they urged the Arabs living there to leave. They said the cannon can't distinguish between one person and another, leave the country.

And then once we win the victory, once we drive the Jews to the sea, go back to your homeland.

So roughly 600,000 fled.

Some fled from the war, some were driven out by the Jewish army, and others simply fled because they were urged to. about two hundred thousand stayed. What happened to the 200,000 estate? They are now more than 1.5 million living with full rights in Israel. Arab Israelis, or Palestinian Israelis, if you like.

One of them serves on the Supreme Court. They are university professors. They are medical doctors. They make up 10% of the Israeli parliament. They could make up more if they voted in a more united bloc.

All right. And they have full rights. They don't have to fight in battle, serve in the military, but they have full rights as Israeli citizens. full rights. Why?

Because they're not trying to murder The Israelis. because many of them appreciate the liberties they have under Israeli leadership. You say, where do you get this notion of an apartheid state? Ah, that's the sad part of the story. And this is the fault of Palestinian Muslim leadership, not Israel.

It's the line of fire with your host, Dr. Michael Brown. Get into the line of fire now by calling 866-34TRUTH. Here again is Dr. Michael Brown.

Yeah, that's actually some music that's used for Purif, the festival based on the Babylono-Persian word Pur, which is lot. Is reading the book of Esther. Always amazing to read the book of Esther. Never gets old reading the book of Esther.

So Purim begins this weekend, Saturday night. 866-34-TRUTH.

Okay, so. Roughly six hundred thousand Arabs living in what was then Palestine, now the announcement of the fledgling Jewish state, they flee. for various reasons. They flee the country. Remember 800,000 Jews roughly?

Have had to flee from surrounding Muslim nations, and the great majority of them make their way to Israel, where they are quickly absorbed. In this rapidly growing, changing, developing, fighting for its life state.

So you say, okay, so the 600,000 Arabs who had been living in Palestine before then, I guess they were absorbed in the surrounding nations, like Lebanon and Syria and Jordan and Iraq and and Egypt and and others, right? No. No. They they weren't. They weren't.

Why? Because then you don't have any leverage against Israel. And then you don't have any way to make Israel look bad. If you don't absorb them, If you force them to live in refugee camps, even in your own country. Yeah, there there are Palestinian refugee camps in the Muslim-Arab world in countries like Lebanon, in countries like Syria.

You say, well, didn't Egypt have like control of the Gaza Strip? You know, initially. Yeah, they did. And what did they do for the Arabs living there? Virtually nothing.

They didn't incorporate them into Egypt. didn't say we'll establish a homeland for you here. They they let them live in relative squalor.

So What happened is that the The surrounding nations, and this is by the consent and will of the Arab League, by their own decree in the 50s. They created a refugee crisis. that these were now going to be perpetual refugees.

So you now have... on what's called the west bank of the Jordan. Biblically it would be Judea and Samaria. that this territory, which was overseen by Jordan, Before the Six-Day War, 1967, as this is all the result of the ongoing warfare, 1948.

So you have the Arabs living there. Were they helped in their lifestyle? Were they made into first-class citizens by the Jordanians? No, no.

Now Israel takes that back, originally Israel's land in centuries past or millennia past. Israel now occupies that as a result of the war, pushes back the boundaries.

Now has uh now has Jewish uh Jerusalem uh uh fully united East and West Jerusalem fully united under Israeli control. All right. and also now has uh the Gaza Strip. And it's better. For the Palestinians and it has been.

They begin to identify now as Palestinians, as if there had been a historic nation there before. But it's better for them than it has been. But under great pressure from the United States, Israel pulls out. of the Gaza Strip and who takes it over Hamas Is it in any way good for the Palestinians? No.

What about the corrupt leadership of the Palestinian Authority? What about Mahmoud Abbas, who's supposed to be president for one term? How many years has he been ruling there? How much money goes into these perpetual refugees that actually gets to them? Not that much.

They get, I think, the largest amount per capita of refugees anywhere in the world, if I'm correct, and very little actually gets to them. Because of Talmas using it for their war efforts and their own corruption and Palestinian authority leadership using it for their own corruption. And the Palestinian people suffer because of it. And because violence is constantly incited against Israel, Israel often engages in harsh measures against the Palestinians and yes, sometimes mistreats them.

Sometimes. But I can assure you If the weapons were put down, it's the old adage, we'll say it again. If the Palestinians put down their weapons, there'd be no more war. If the Israelis put down their weapons, there'd be no more Israel. Israelis would gladly take down the separation barrier and the wall where it exists, the fence.

If the Palestinians weren't allowing murderers and terrorists to come into their own territory, Israeli territory, and kill children, women, and men.

So the whole apartheid thing is a myth. The separation is due to Palestinian policies and refusal of leaders in past generations to have a two-state solution when they could have, and of continually inciting terror against Israel. And and making people who kill Israelis into martyrs and naming schools after them and streets after them and funding their families in the years after. As long as they do that kind of thing and incite it on Palestinian Authority TV and Hamas TV. The initial is going to have a problem with them.

But for the the Arabs, the Palestinians who aren't trying to murder them. They have the best quality of life in terms of freedom and liberty and self-determination of any of any Arabs Muslims in the Middle East.

So let's dispel this ridiculous Israel apartheid week nonsense. Let's get the truth out. All right. I want to encourage you to help me get the truth out. Have you been blessed by the podcast over the years?

Have you been blessed by downloading our shows online or listening online? Have you been blessed flipping the shows on while driving in the car? Have we been a help to you?

Well, stand with us, my friend, because. We are right in front of the biggest open door we've ever had for Jewish outreach in our lives. Not only do we have some great things coming up with debates and more video work that we're going to be doing online, but But We also have an extraordinary opportunity. that you broadcast Basically every home in Israel with a T V. You'll be able to get the station we're going to be on.

And we are about to record probably within a month. We're going to start recording. Outreach shows specifically designed to reach Israelis, and they're going to air. in Israel. We're talking about secular Jews.

We're talking about religious Jews. We're going to tailor-make the shows. I'm going to be speaking to Israelis. We've got footage from Israel. We're going to be using, interacting with Israelis.

We're going to have Hebrew captions. And it's, what can I say? It is the biggest open door we've ever had set before us for Jewish ministry. And with your help, We can do this more effectively. We want to get our Real Messiah website fully translated into Hebrew with a Hebrew internet campaign to draw people to it, but we need your help to do it.

This is not to raise funds for us personally. This is to raise funds to reach the lost sheep of the house of Israel, which is very sacred. In God's sight. And we also have our Think It Through TV show, which is going to be airing on that Israeli station as well. It's an amazing opportunity.

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Join our team today, let us soul back into you. Go to thelineoffire.org and click on donate. Hey, my bottom line today. The God of the Book of Esther may be hidden. He remained active.

What's thoroughly Jewish Thursday? Purim is coming. A lot's happening in the Jewish world. We've got it covered right here today. Uh It's time for the line of fire with your host, activist, author, international speaker, and theologian, Dr.

Michael Brown, your voice of moral, cultural, and spiritual revolution. Michael Brown is the director of the Coalition of Conscience and President of Fire School of Ministry. Get into the line of fire now by calling 866-34-TRUTH. That's 866-34-TRUTH. Here again is Dr.

Michael Brown. Welcome to Thoroughly Jewish Thursday. This is your Thoroughly Jewish host. Exalting our thoroughly Jewish Messiah. Excited to be with you as we are just about to get into the season of Purim.

The Festival of Purim, which the book of Esther describes for us. If you have a Jewish-related question for me of any kind, Be it related to the Jewish people, Jewish history, Jewish tradition, be it related to the Hebrew language, be it related to the Messiah of Israel, be it related to modern Israel today. Give me a call 866-348-786. Where Is God.

Sometimes It could seem like he's hidden.

Sometimes It can it can seem That He's not involved. He's sitting back He's not stretching out his hand. He's not speaking. He's not acting.

Sometimes it seems like that. The prophet Isaiah said, truly, you're a God who hides himself. And this is an experience that many believers go through. They said, Where is God? I prayed and there was no answer.

I cried out, and nothing happened. That leading that used to be there, that presence that used to be there, isn't there anymore. I'm going by faith in what God's word says, but it seems that the word. tells me certain things to expect and they're not happening. Where's God?

Or, where was God when my child died? Or where was God when I was unjustly accused or where was God during the Holocaust? profound, deep, painful questions. that are often asked. And of course, we don't have simple answers to these profound questions.

here on this earth. And there are things that we'll only understand fully in the world to come, but we do actually have plenty of other Answers. that are deep, that are serious, that are weighty, We have plenty of other Answers. And That's what we want to focus on. And one of the things that gives us answers is the book of Esther.

And it gives us answers because It does not mention by name or by description God. It doesn't mention prayer to God. It doesn't mention faith in God. It doesn't mention promises of God. And the only oblique reference to God would be found in Esther the fourth chapter, where Mordecai tells Esther.

that if you don't stand up, help will come from another place. Another place, hmm, what would that mean?

Well, again, there's no direct reference to God there, but the Hebrew word place is machom. And it's interesting that one of the traditional Jewish names for God is Hamakom, the place. And some would say, yeah, that goes back to Esther. Help will come from another place. My point is that often when God seems to be hidden, He's actually at work.

behind the scenes. And that when you see the whole picture unfold, You recognize, oh. God was at work. you recognize his hand involved. you you recognize that in fact The Lord never forsook his people.

That there were tests and there were trials, and often he wants to see how we respond. Chronicles tells us, 2 Chronicles, that the Lord left Hezekiah alone to test what was in his heart. How is he going to respond in this situation? Yes, that we see happening in Scripture. But God is often at work in hidden and invisible.

Waves. We'll be right back with your calls more in the book of Esk here. Shaking me. It's the line of fire with your host, Dr. Michael Brown, your voice of moral, cultural, and spiritual revolution.

Here again is Dr. Michael Brown. Welcome, welcome to Thoroughly Jewish. Thursday. This is Michael Brown.

Great to be with you. 866-3666. Three, four, eight, seven. 884. We've got a little bit more to share with you about Purim.

I want to tell you the story of the real kosher Jesus. Many of you don't know that story. I want to talk to you about that as well. 866-34TRUTH. But we'll go to the phones with Avraham in Jerusalem.

Welcome to the line of fire. Okay. Thank you. Um Yeah.

Okay. Yeah, you're on the air. Yeah. First of all, today is, as I'm sure you know, the fast of Esther for the Jews. based off what you're talking about earlier about the pastor saying you know three day fast.

Also, I just wanted to mention about you were saying earlier, and you also had this in your interview with the Orthodox Jew you had out in Jerusalem. about Hamakom talk referring about the God. I did not see explicitly where it says that. I'm not saying it doesn't say that, but what it does say, which is another very interesting thing. In Rabbinic Judaism, it says that in Rabbinic tradition that every time it says Hamelech, the king.

That it's referring to the Lord. Which would mean, for example, in terms of the king w who was could the beginning of chapter six where he crew was having trouble falling asleep. Obviously on the surface talking about Achasweros. But that that refers to the Lord and And that every time a gentleman says that the king was angry with the people with the Jews, also talking about the Lord was angry with the Jews. Homiletical interpretation.

Yeah, tho yeah, and the the Jewish homiletical interpretations are are always fascinating. And of course, you would have learned how to read on on different levels. Avraham, your your own background as a I'm assuming as a religious Jew, yes? What does the book of Esther mean to you and the story of Purim mean to you? It means say that's that's the well, first of all, it's a very fun holiday growing it's growing up, it's a very fun holiday.

Um but Book of Esther is That shows that God is always there, even when it looks like even when they were in such a situation, the Jews were in such a situation. Where there was It looked like there was no hope. that that God was there. And that's also we see that it's it would be a sort of a wonder what if the Jews the Jews sort of did have connections to the king. They had Mordecai was sitting by the by the king's gateway every day and they had Esther the queen.

What was the first thing they did? They turned to God. But did they repent it? That was the first thing I did, is showing that even though it looks like God is not there, but when it when it came to rock bottom, chook them up and they would turn to God even though it seemed like he was very hidden. Yeah, and and how d how does that affect your mindset living in Jerusalem today with so much hostility from around the whole world and then from much of the Muslim world?

especially the radical Muslim world. How does that affect your output as a Jew living in Jerusalem today? That's the only way that Israel is still existing is to A miracle of God. Even though it may not seem like that, and even though there's many sinners in Jerusalem, even though the Jews aren't all most of them are not religious. but that it's a straight out miracle from God.

So, what do you think of the older view of, say, rabbis like the Satmar Rebbe Yol Teitelbaum and some of the earlier great rabbis, famous rabbis in Israel or in world Jewry at the time of the early Zionist movement, that they really opposed it. They felt it was secular. They felt it would establish an ungodly state. They felt it would get in the way of the work of the Messiah. They felt that it would even spur worldwide anti-Semitism.

Obviously, you recognize God's restoration of Israel today. What do you think of those views? That's all true, but it doesn't change the fact that God still watches the people of Israel as is a clearer verse. I mean, what th those those all what tho al most what those rabbis were all were last thing was that There's no miracles that can happen through the IDF. No miracles that can happen.

There was a big one, and Tebbe happened. That was when the sophomore ready was very big into saying that there wasn't a miracle from God. And the contrary says there's a verse says, that uh So as the mice rust is more yetamokatoi mineral the the sins should the r should uh go away from the earth, but not the sinners. That's not what the p the the verse doesn't say the sinner, it says the sin. All the sins should go away, but not the sinners.

was much more about the sinners, was much more against the actual sinners. Got it. All right. I appreciate that distinction there. And how do you feel?

about strong evangelical Christian support For Israel, you know how many Christians come to Israel every year and the strong base that urges America to stand with Israel. How do you feel about that? It's it's it's it's amazing how evangelical Christians have such a strong wealth for Israel. Yeah. is of course amazing and That's something I did to respect.

I appreciate that. And how do you view someone like me, a Jewish believer in Jesus? You obviously know who I am calling this show. How do you view someone like me? I'm sure you know how I use someone like you.

Be totally candid. I'm not insulted at all. Be totally candid. I want my listeners to know as well. You know you know what the word is, I'm a shummat.

Uh-huh. Um But it doesn't change the fact that you're born a Jew. And that and just 'cause you decided to embrace what what in my opinion is Totally against. God and totally not the truth. but you're still a Jew.

Doesn't you don't you don't there's no way you can change the fact that you're a Jew. Exactly.

So I would so I would never s I would never say that that you are now an ex you. Mm-hmm. Well, yeah, we're in harmony on that. We agree on that, Avraham. And what do you think about Yeshua?

Who was he? Who was this Jesus? I I base it off of the Ramban, the Mamanides, which says that he was a false messiah. All right, so Hilchot Malachim, 11th chapter. Got it.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. All right, and so. You don't see any possible way that he was a Mashiach ben Yosef, a Messiah that was going to suffer, play a different role, anything like that? Not at all. Uh-huh.

Have have you met uh religious Jews that believe that in Israel? Believe that he is? Yeah, that that that or think that he's no I just came to Israel. No, no, sorry, no, I did not um meet anything I'm saying I've been in Israel for a very short time, I just came uh me. four months ago, five months ago, and then maybe Shiva, so I don't really go around that much.

Got it. Got it. And Avram, have have we spoken before? Yes, yes. And I have emailed you and I really wanted to meet you when you came in.

Not at all. When I saw Avraham, I thought it was the same one, but obviously you've gotten a little bit older. Your voice is a little deeper.

So I just want to tell you why I was very reluctant to interact with you in the past. I did not want to be deceitful in any way because you were under your parents' authority as a younger man, maybe 16, 17 when we interacted.

So that's why I backed away. I would not want to do anything that dishonored your father or that would cause you to do anything in secret. And as you're at an age where you can interact more openly. Obviously, we have our deep differences, and obviously your parents would deeply differ, but I did not feel it was appropriate to interact more because you were younger. And that's why I backed away from it, not from a legal purpose, but from an ethical purpose and be able to look your father in the eye and say, I wouldn't do something like that.

So, yeah, my schedule is intense, but I was even less available for interaction when you reached out for those very reasons.

So, I take it, what, maybe around 19 now? Yeah, about that. Got it. So so what is it that gets you to listen to the broadcast when you can? Um I just became very interested from hearing your debate with Emmanuel Schochei.

which then led me to hear your debate was so And uh yeah. Got it. And are there any points that I raised that you thought, okay, I don't agree with this guy, but I think he made a good point in the debate? Meaning, I'll tell you, when you say stuff, I understand. Meaning, when people say, oh, it's so easy to refute this.

I say, well, you say that 'cause you don't actually hear what they actually say. You have to say, you'll see that with the saying, I can already tell you what he's going to answer you. All right. All right, well good.

So so you're you're you realize that there there are two sides to the story, even if you differ with my side that we do. No, I'm just I'm no, I'm just saying when people no, I didn't mean that, I meant when people say stuff how oh, it's so dumb and so easy to answer and they'll say an objection, I'll say, Yeah, I can already tell you how Dr. Bell will answer that obv objection. Yeah. No, no, but but what I'm saying is that when they say it's so dumb, That if they said it to me, I'd have an answer for them, and I'd be able to challenge.

their their viewpoint. Hey, uh what what uh subjects are you are you studying in yeshiva these days? Talmud. Mainly? Mm-hmm.

Uh you focused in one tract tape right now? Yeah, uh Quest. That's about um Merrick's document. Got it. Got it.

I guess preparing for your for your your immediate future too, right? Mm-hmm. It's it's in the system that we learn. Got it. Hey, listen, God willing, I'm going to be back in Jerusalem in June, Avraham, mid-June.

If you're still around, let's try to plan ahead. this time. And I will do my best to make time just to see you face to face so we can greet each other. All right, and thank you for listening, and thank you for calling. You're welcome to call.

Any time. Shame. The next time we change the world. It's the line of fire with your host, Dr. Michael Brown, your voice of moral, cultural, and spiritual revolution.

Here again is Dr. Michael Brown. And let me share a few things with you on this Thursday, Jewish Thursday. Then I want to talk a little bit more about Purim, and then I want to talk to you about the history of the real kosher, Jesus. 866-34Truth.

If you have a Jewish-related Call Jewish-related question, by all means, give us a call. I know that there are religious Jews from Jews. Different levels of Orthodox observance that listen to the broadcast, some on a regular basis, some here and there. I deeply appreciate that. Trust me, you're always in my mind as I'm speaking, that I'm asking myself, would you feel that I'm fair in what I'm saying?

Would you feel that I'm rightly representing your traditions? Yeah, our traditions, but ones that you've practiced more zealously over the years than I have? Am I being honest here? And the same thing when I'm talking about Israeli-Palestinian issues, I know I'm going to have people differing with me, but I'm thinking about those on different sides, saying, okay, factually, show me where I'm wrong. If you ever feel I misrepresent a traditional Jewish position, or misrepresent the traditional Jewish interpretation.

By all means, call the show. Or if you can't call I understand some of you can't and some of you just don't want to, you don't even want your your voice heard on the broadcast, which I fully respect and understand then then write to us. We're fully accessible. The lineofire.org, just contact us through there. And if you bring a point to our attention that needs correction or that needs, God forbid that we would mess something up, but let's just say something a source was quoted inaccurately, unintentionally, whatever, or you just have a difference, please share it.

Please share it. And thank you so much for listening.

So, so look. One of the arguments that's used, and it's a powerful argument by traditional Jews, that Jesus can't be the Messiah, is: well, you know, look, look what's happened since he's come into the world. Not just the fact that we haven't had peace, we've had war, and okay, maybe you say we're in a transition age and so on, but look at what the followers of Jesus have done. If he's the Messiah, then they should be the greatest friends Israel's ever had. They should be praying for the Jewish people and helping the Jewish people in times of suffering.

And instead, the Christian church has hurt us and cursed us and killed us, and there's a straight line from the New Testament to the Holocaust. Many Jews believe that. And you have horrible episodes in church history through the centuries, and both Catholic and Protestant sides. You have these horrible things happening, and you cannot deny. that there's been a a virulent uh thread.

They've really been tied. of anti-Semitism and much of church history. I, however, contend that it is utterly and absolutely aberrant. utterly and absolutely aberrant, a complete exception. to the rule that A genuine love for God and a genuine love for Jesus will...

Will In the end. In the end, promote a great Lord for the Jewish people. And you've seen it. It's not as widely known and seen, but it's been there in church history. And to the extent that Christians get back to the Bible, and away from man made tradition, they will be greater lovers of Israel.

And it's undeniable. Just the tour that that I just helped lead last week. the depth of love for Israel among Christians. And Christians, they're from around the world. not just to visit the so-called holy Christian sites in the land, but because of their great love.

for the Jewish people. I've prayed with Christians around the world in countries like India. in countries like Korea. Uh in countries like continents like Africa. I mean just different parts of the world.

We don't think there is a clear historic connection. to the Jewish people. And yet There has been great prayer for Israel. I've prayed with people in Asian countries who weep. For the Jewish people, not just to be quote saved, but for their protection in the land.

and for God to be with them. You think, where did this come from? And I've met people in tribal areas in India and they said, oh, we celebrate the Jewish calendar. We pray for Israel every day. Where'd they come from?

That's only natural because these Gentile believers have been grafted into the larger the larger Commonwealth of Israel. And share, as Paul writes in Romans 11, share in the nourishing sap. 866. three four truth some interesting Jewish traditions. Uh Okay, I'll Ester 922.

They were to observe them as days of feasting and merrymaking, so purim, and as an occasion for sending gifts to one another and presents to the poor.

So you have a special festive meal, suda. eaten late on Purim afternoon. Esther 919 would allude to that. The traditional kiddouche, which is a Hebrew prayer that's said in sanctifying the wine. That's not set on Purim.

Some people recite one consisting of a senseless series of biblical verses linked solely by the use of the same Hebrew word in adjacent lines. This is an example of Purim Torah. By the way, I'm sharing some of this from a book by Eisenberg, The JPS Guide to Jewish Traditions. It's highly reliable. It's a great compilation, Ronald Eisenberg.

We don't have any for sale here, but they're readily available. All right. And he notes that this interesting custom is an example of Purim Torah. A variety of puns, jokes, and spoofs on the table, and other classic tests that are characteristic of the festival. In some yeshivots, some traditional Jewish schools, a student was selected as the perm rabbi to give lectures that frivolously manipulated sacred texts and parodied his teachers, who for one day were not the objects of respect but the targets of playful or stinging satires.

One rationale for this practice is that a single day of making good-natured fun of the Torah, which is so highly revered the rest of the year, prevents Jews from becoming sanctimonious about their holy texts. All that to say, it's utterly fascinating that. When you are realizing, hey, this is a celebration of deliverance. We should have been destroyed. We should have been wiped out.

We were delivered. That it's also a time of almost hilarious celebration. One of my friends who led a Messianic Jewish congregation in Baltimore would put on a Purim play every year. And I remember going to one of them, and there were actually counter-missionary rabbis and their groups outside protesting that this was misleading. The school that was being used shouldn't let Messianic Jews use the school for a Purim festival.

And I think they could have used their protest energies in a better way, in a better place. But I remember just being so eager to get over there and talk to them and interact with them. But. I remember one year. The year I was at the play it was called A Star Trek.

Yeah, play on Star Trek and Esther and everybody was in these Star Trek outfits and it was, you know, Purim being played out in this Messianic Jewish community.

So Messianic Jewish believers have developed their own fun traditions as well. And yeah, there are a variety of special foods that are associated with Purim. The most popular are the Ashkenazic triangular pastries filled with poppy seeds. or first fruit known as homantashin. In other words, Haman's pockets, and the Sephardic fried ear-shaped cookies called Ozne Haman.

Hayman's ears.

Some communities eat chickpeas reminiscent of the vegetarian diets of Esther and later Daniel to avoid any infringement of the dietary laws of koshrut, kosher dietary laws, while in the king's palace. And a bizarre pan has led some to eat turkey on Purim. Since the opening line of the Megillah, the scroll of Esther, states that Achas Verish ruled from Hodu. which is the Hebrew word for both Turkey and India, to kush. Hmm, so they eat turkey, which is in Hoju, India, which is also the word for turkey.

We'll be right back. It's the line of fire with your host, activist, author, international speaker, and theologian Dr. Michael Brown. Your voice of moral, cultural, and spiritual revolution. Get into the line of fire now by calling 866-34 Truth.

Here again is Dr. Michael Brown. What if Israel disappeared? What if Israel, nation of Israel, in the Middle East, was no more. Would there be peace?

Between the Palestinians, where there be peace in the Muslim world. Oh, it's not going to happen, it's not going to happen, and surely, as God is God, it's not going to happen. It's a question that was asked by Corey Gil Schuster on his Ask project in Israel. Where he asks Israelis and others what their answers would be to questions that get submitted. This is Michael Brown, that is Thoroughly Jewish Thursday.

If you have a Jewish-related question of any kind, Here's the number to call, 866. 34 truth. That's 866-3487. 8, 8, 4. Let's see.

JJ, let's grab clips 3 through 5. And this is Corey Gil Schuster, the Ask Project. And he's asking the question: would there be peace if Israel disappeared? And this time he's getting answers from Palestinians, all right, Palestinians speaking. Clip number three.

If Israel disappeared, more most likely, since Fathe is right now in control, most likely Hamas would be in charge and Gaza would be a part of the West Bank and then it would become like an Islamic state or country. Ooh. Isn't that interesting? Isn't that fascinating? Did you get that?

That if you take Israel out of the mix, that Hamas instead will take over. And you they basically have an Islamic State. And that would be horrific for the Palestinians. That would be like in Syria where you've got women who were under ISIS, and when ISIS is out, they take off the the the you know the full face coverings, the the burqers that you know that they were wearing, they take them off and start burning them. Yeah, you would have a radical Islam, Hamas, ruling over the Palestinians, or all-out war between Palestinian authority and Hamas.

Isn't that interesting? And this is, by the way, a translator, translating what their their responses are to this question. All right, clip number four. Again, the question asked to Palestinians, would there be peace if Israel disappeared? Perhaps there would be even more war.

Why? Because Palestinians cannot uh Palestinians cannot live without jobs in Israel. I don't know. Oh, because of the economy. Yes, exactly.

What about the fracture? If there was no Israel, would the Hamas Fatachain go away? I don't believe so. I don't think so. If Arabs become united, and she's saying this sarcastically, then yes, there would be peace.

Okay. But Arabs don't tend to become united, sadly. All right, let's remember. that the war in Syria It was a Muslim-Muslim war. It's a war in Yemen.

Was Muslim Muslim? Libya, Muslim, Muslim. Conflicts in Egypt, Muslim, Muslim. Arab Arab. that the horrific war between Iran and Iraq What was that?

It was Muslim, Muslim. All right. Sunni Shia well they're both primarily Shia. But it was Muslim, Muslim, and each one blanded the other one as heretic, one Arab and one Persian. Iranian.

Yeah. So this is something that has been well known. This is something that has been a pattern. You take Israel out of the mix, and you're not suddenly going to have perfect peace in the Muslim world. And you cannot blame all the conflicts on Israel.

You cannot.

Well, yeah, well, the terrorism because of Israel. Bogus! Bogus! Not true. at all.

Hey friends, we can tell the truth whether people like it or not. We're going to tell the truth. Do we care about the well-being of the Palestinians? Yes. And what's the best way for the Palestinians to have prosperity and self-determination?

Stop trying to wipe out Israel. Work together with Israel. Say hey. We can share. land together.

We can be neighbors. Jews can live in Palestinian state. Palestinians can live in the Jewish state. Let's work together for the common good. It could happen that Palestinians would prosper wonderfully.

blame bad Palestinian leadership for the conflict more than anyone else. We'll be right back. It's the line of fire with your host, Dr. Michael Brown. Get into the line of fire now by calling 866-34 Truth.

Here again is Dr. Michael Brown. Ah, ah, I was expecting some Jewish music. All right, don't know what happened, but it is thoroughly Jewish. Thursday.

866-348-7884. If you've got a Jewish-related question, this is your thoroughly Jewish host, Michael Brown. Delighted to be with you. I want to tell you an interesting story here. But before I do that, let's just go back to this question about Israel, Israel's existence.

Listen, the book of Esther. And the holiday of Purim begins Saturday night. Two-day holiday begins Saturday night the 11th. The reminder of Esther is that God's going to preserve his people. And that there are always going to be attempts to wipe the Jewish people out, but that God will preserve us, not because of our goodness, but because of his goodness.

not because of our wisdom, but because of His wisdom. Not because of what we've done, but because of who he is and what he does. Those promises are sure. They're found in many passages in the Bible. If you question that at all, glad to lay them out for you.

We've laid them out many times before. That's why I'm not going to do it again right now. But the book of Esther is that perennial reminder to us. Of God's promises to His people that He will keep. Even if it looks like he is Hidden In plain sight, he will do it.

Now Another question Corey Gil Schuster on the As Project asked Palestinians, what will happen to the Israelis when you take back Palestine of 1948? You go back to your original Palestine that you had in 1948. What's going to happen to the Israelis? Of course, it's not going to happen, but the question is being asked. Clip number five, what's the answer from the Palestinians?

For sure the Israelis will be destroyed because Palestine is not their right. Destroyed asn't killed? They should win because what was taken by force can only be Retrieved by force. Taken back by force. For sure God will destroy them.

Mm. That, tragically, is The view of Good number of Palestinians. The Jewish people should be wiped out. And I tell you again. They're problems.

there problems. are due to corrupt Palestinian leadership. And look, this is in many ways man on the street. The evil Israelis. Talestin men on the street, the evil Israelis should be wiped out.

Even those in recognition of the corruption of their own leadership and the factionism. Of their own leadership and the war between Fatakh and Hamas, and all the bloodshed and so on, and the power grabbing, even though they recognize that. Still think evil Israel should be wiped out, and then there will be these campaigns where propaganda is disseminated, and even little kids will get provoked to go out and try to kill a Jew. It's tragic. It's tragic.

And and it is the fault of the leadership. 866-34TRUTH. Okay, I want to tell you a story. Jewish story for Thorley Jewish Thursday. And I'm holding in my hands.

One of the few copies we have left of the Real Kosher Jesus in hardcover. When it came out, we did an initial printing and hardcover as an exclusive offer to our ministry and recently found out we have a few of them left. Not thousands, I don't even think hundreds. Maybe a few score of them left.

So it really is limited edition, of course. The paperback, the e-book, you can readily get. But I want to tell you the story behind this book, The Real Kosher Jesus. And how How is it? that there's an endorsement on this book.

by Rabbi Shmili Botech, who wrote the book Kosher Jesus. And he says, Mike and I have so much history in religious, historical, and social values debate that we have gone beyond being only respectful public adversaries to being friends with deep affection between us, even as we disagree passionately on the issues. God bless you, Mike, and I look forward to many more. Debates. That endorsement get on the back cover of my book.

The real kosher Jesus. Uh How did my endorsement? Get on Shmuley's book, an inside cover of Shmueli's book. Where I said, while I passionately disagree with his radical reconstruction of the New Testament as a rejection of Jesus as the Messiah, I'm thrilled to see an Orthodox rabbi recognize Jesus as an Orthodox rabbi. And you could call this America's most famous rabbi, meets the most famous rabbi of all time.

So what's the history?

Well, Shmueli and I have been doing debates since 2000. Two. And the first one that was done, we were not, for various reasons, we can't distribute. There was just an agreement right before the debate. It was just for the people there, and it was going to be videotaped for our archives, but not to be distributed.

I Can't do that even if I wanted to. But all of our subsequent debates have been videotaped and many of them are widely available, some on YouTube, others through our ministry. beginning in major debates in 2004 that were videotaped for public dissemination. And that was a famous one, Who Really Killed Jesus, that happened right before the Passion of the Christ movie came out, Mel Gibson's movie.

So over the years as we debated, Shmooly would raise these arguments following the British scholar Chaim Maccabee. and or McCoby and she Had a view that some have had that Paul basically radically changed things, that the Jesus of the New Testament is not the real Jesus, it's the Pauline Jesus, that he pulled things away from their original Jewish foundation and came up with this mythical divine Savior, etc., and was responsible for a rewriting of the New Testament. And it's untenable. It's a completely untenable thesis on many different scholarly levels. But that was some of Shimuli's view that Jesus was a great freedom fighter, that he hated the Romans, that he wanted to overthrow Rome, that he led his disciples in a feudal attempt to overthrow Rome, thinking that as they led the way, that a mass uprising would follow.

So he's not a false Messiah. He's a failed Messiah, but he's a great teacher and a patriot. We should respect him as one of our great Jewish teachers, but just know that you have to sift through what's in the New Testament to get to what he really said. You have to throw out what Paul said about him, etc. All right, so.

Over a period of time, Shmuly put his views together in a book called Kosher Jesus. And he contacted me before the book came out. and really wanted me to endorse the book. Really wanted me to. And I thought, well, I But I differ.

I mean, I categorically differ with you. And if you quote me, you're obviously going to differ with me in the book if you quote me. How can I endorse it? But he really wanted me to, and he felt somehow it could be a bridge builder between Jews and Christians.

Well, So I read it, I thought about it, how could I endorse it, and I came up with that endorsement that I mentioned, and he was happy with it. Uh so in any case And you had folks like Glenn Back endorsing it. I thought that's interesting. You know, did he? Did he read?

You know, that could happen with books that are endorsed. You don't necessarily read all of them. But anyway, anyway, Papoon endorsed it. That was even more.

Well, they're both interesting. In any case, in any case. It created a firestorm of controversy in the Jewish world. A firestorm of controversy in the Jewish world. And the book is being published by Geffen Publishers in Israel.

And it was going to be the first of Shwilli's many books that was released in Israel first. And it was being given out to Knesset members, parliament members in Israel, and it was being talked about everywhere in the Jewish press. And I was up late one night praying. We were planning to have some debates beginning in April where we would debate who is the kosher Jesus. And we're going to do a major one in New York City.

We're planning on it. And his book was coming out, what, February, the official release of January, maybe at Israel, February at America, something like that. I'm up one night praying late at night. It's 2.30 in the morning, and I'm deeply gripped in prayer. I'm a late night person, and I feel deeply gripped.

You need to weigh in now because there's such discussion about this subject, about kosher Jesus in the Jewish world. There were some ultra-Orthodox websites that were very upset with Shmueli, and they said this is wrong. It's going to get people to look at what Jesus said, and that could lead people to apostasy and so on.

Some were banning the book. Incredible controversy. And I felt now was the time to weigh in. And I thought, okay, I'll write a lengthy article, a review of the book. I'll talk about our history of debates.

I woke up the next morning. It was all over me. I knew it. No, no, write a book. Write a full-length response and get it out now.

Well, how do you write a full length response? It takes a while to write a full eighth response. And how do you get it out now? How to get a major publisher to get a book out now? I wanted to get it out April.

I spoke with a major publisher. They said, we can do it. April of next year. I said, no, no, April of this year. They said, what are you crazy?

We could do it April of next year. No, no, April of this year. It's crazy. It's 10 weeks.

Well, anyway, from the day I started writing the book, I wrote it in three weeks while the publisher was editing the book. And I tell you, it was like a journey. Every day, I couldn't wait to write because I felt God was opening truths up and giving me insights. And yeah, it refutes the kosher Jesus argument with the real kosher Jesus, but it's more than that. It's a standalone book.

It's the number one book I wrote to get into the hands of a Jewish person, to show them who Jesus the Messiah is, and to get into the hands of a Christian, to show them who our Jewish Savior really is. While the publisher was editing the book, I put in the 450 endnotes, and from the day I started writing it to the day the exclusive hardcover edition was sitting on my desk was less than 10 weeks.

So we were able to have people order it when we did our first debate in New York City.

So we've got a limited number of these hardcover books with us still. They're yours as a gift. I'm going to give you one of these, along with a DVD of a think-it-through episode called Jesus Can't Be the Messiah, where I answer some Jewish questions there. And then an audio CD with highlights of our Live from Israel broadcast last week. We had phenomenal broadcasts live from Israel.

So those are all yours as our gift to you, our Jewish equipping gift, when you become a torchbearer this month and help us with at least a dollar a day per month in our Jewish outreach.

So to do that, go to thelineoffire.org. That's thelineoffire.org. Join our team. today. It's fire we want, for fire we need.

It's the line of fire with your host, Dr. Michael Brown. Get into the line of fire now by calling 866-34 TRUTH. Here again is Dr. Michael Brown.

Inaloo Im Ni Na. Hallelujah. Welcome, welcome to Thurly Jewish Thursday, March 23rd. Mark it on your calendar two weeks from tonight. I'm scheduled to debate Orthodox Jewish lawyer Asher Norman, author of a counter-missionary book on why Jews don't believe in Jesus.

There should be a live stream from Georgia, so wherever you are around the world, you should be able to watch it live and it should be posted on YouTube and a number of different places shortly after the debate is over in the days that follow. Let's pray for God's truth to triumph for many Jewish people to learn that Jesus Yeshua is the Messiah for Jewish eyes to be open and for Christians, for believers to be greatly strengthened. 866-34-TRUTH. Hey, we want to pour all these resources into you and you become a torchbearer. But here's the most important thing: you're helping us reach Jewish people with the good news of the Messiah.

Surely you recognize the importance of that. Surely you recognize the importance of salvation coming from Israel and back to Israel. Surely, as a follower of Jesus, especially if you're not Jewish, you recognize the burden that we have to reach our Jewish people. Because without the gospel coming from the Jewish people to the world, there would be no salvation. Without the Jewish Messiah, there is no salvation.

So, partner with us. Help us. reap a great harvest. where many lives will be wonderfully, wonderfully changed to the eternal glory of God. 866-34TRUTH.

Let's go to Dallas, Texas. Triva, welcome to the line of fire. Hello, Dr. Brown. How are you?

Doing very well. Thank you. Yes, sir. I am a believer in Jesus, and I have been greatly blessed. By uh learning from the Old Testament and attending like the Passover at the Messianic Church.

And I'm wondering, would I be offensive to my Jewish brothers to participate in these activities even though I myself am not a Jew? Oh, certainly it's not offensive if, as a Christian, lover of Israel, you want to participate. And by the way, remember, Messianic. congregation would be the way it would be self-described, not a messianic church. Oh, please.

Yeah, no, that's okay. Just being educational here. And in fact, congregation is a better way to translate the Greek ecclesia. Which is church in the New Testament, will be better translated as congregation or messianic assembly. But first, to join in a messianic congregation and celebrate the feasts and holy days, no, that's wonderful.

And in fact, unless you're in a heavily Jewish area, the majority of the people in that congregation are themselves Gentiles. Unless you're in a heavily Jewish populated area or you're in Israel, the majority of those in a Messianic Jewish congregation will actually be Gentiles who love the Jewish people.

So that's number one. Number two, if you went to a local synagogue, So I'm just talking about a traditional synagogue, Jews that didn't believe in Jesus. And you said, hey, I'm a Christian, but I love the Jewish people. And and uh I I just love to learn more about your background, tradition. And do you mind if I'm here participating with you?

I'm not here to proselytize. I'm here as a Christian. I'm not claiming to be a Jew. Many of them would welcome you and would be glad to have your friendship and would be glad to explain the traditions and the backgrounds and things like that.

So it's it's uh It's when Gentiles try to look like Jews and And kind of like this wannabe Jewish thing where they're going to dress up in Jewish garb and they don't live a Jewish lifestyle. That, yeah, that. I don't see how that helps anything, and I'm sure you're not saying that. Or it's when a Christian wants to infiltrate a synagogue to secretly witness to Jewish people and goes there with ulterior motives. That would be wrong.

But to say, hey, I love the feasts. I love the holidays. I love the traditions. And I'm firm in my faith in Jesus as the Savior and Messiah, but he was Jewish after all. Great, wonderful.

Either as part of a messianic congregation or even visiting a local synagogue that doesn't believe in Jesus.

Okay, well, thank you very much. And you're a great listening. Thank you for what you do on the air.

Well, thank you so much for listening. Hey, friends, my book, 60 Questions. Christians ask about Jewish beliefs and practices. 60 questions. Christians ask about Jewish beliefs and practices, gets into lots of questions that Christians ask.

Be it, you know, what's the Talmud? Why do Jewish men wear a head covering? Or are the Palestinians connected to the Canaanites? Or did Jesus speak Hebrew or Aramaic? Those kind of questions, but also have a whole section.

The fourth section of the book deals with Christians and the law. What about the seventh-day Sabbath? What about the Jewish calendar? What about Gentiles attending a Messianic congregation? What about obligation to keep the law as a whole?

What about... What about those questions.

So I deal with them in the book. 60 questions Christians ask about Jewish beliefs and practices. And remember, we also have archived online. thousands of hours of radio programs. and hundreds of videos and hundreds of articles.

along with debates with rabbis and others. And they're there for your viewing pleasure, your listening pleasure, your reading pleasure. And they're there through the generosity of our support team, folks like you who help our ministry with one-time gifts or with monthly support. That's how we do what we do.

So we appreciate the fact that through internet, we can make so much more available for free. And then there are other resources that we develop and put out in written form and DVD form that can be purchased as well that will go even further. But they're all available for you on the website, thelineofire.org. You're curious about the Sabbath? Just go to the digital library and search for Sabbath.

You're curious about the Hebrew calendar, Feast of Israel, just go ahead and search. We've got the info there for you. You've never seen one of my debates with a rabbi, by all means, go to the website and watch and be in prayer. Again, March 23rd is the next debate. Hey, I would do these every week if I could.

I debate rabbis and others all the time, gladly, joyfully. One, it takes a lot to put a debate together. You know, folks, let's say you live in different states. You have to both get to a place. If you're going to videotape it, you've got to have folks doing that.

You've got to have a venue to do it. You've got to have a way for people to come and so on. And there can be logistical challenges. But my issue is not logistical challenges. My issue is that we know a lot of folks that want to debate.

You know how many times we've tried to discuss moral social issues on campuses? You might read about some of these guys that are speaking on campuses and their protest rallies. I can't even get on the campus. We can't even get the invitation because it ends up being too controversial or we can't get anyone willing to debate because that's what I always say. Let's do a debate rather than me just doing a lecture.

Let's do a debate so that the other side can present their viewpoints. Many years ago, when I was ministering in Arizona, I was about to debate a famous rabbi, and there was an older Jewish couple, and their daughter was a Jewish believer, and they were right on the edge of coming to faith in Jesus. And they were talking to me and wanted to know what to do. I said, you know what? Go to the debate.

Hear his side, hear mine, and then make up your mind. Yeah, and they became believers. Thank God for it. Hey, Paul wrote it in 2 Corinthians 13, 8. We can do nothing against the truth, but only for the truth.

Thanks for your support. Thanks for praying. Thanks for being part of the team. Tomorrow you've got questions. We've got answers.

My bottom line. today. Pray for the lost sheep of the house of Israel. It's harvest time. It's time to come home.

Gain to the world.