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Phone lines are open. 866-348-7884. 86634-TRUTH. And it is our goal as we answer your questions to infuse you with faith and truth and courage to help you stand strong on the front lines. Speaking of the front lines, it is my goal in the June Frontline newsletter to give you reports straight from Israel in the Frontline newsletter.
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Click on subscribe and we will get it right out to you. So, I'm scheduled to do a three-day conference Sunday night, Monday afternoon for leaders, Monday night and Tuesday morning on times of refreshing from the presence of the Lord, ministering on the Holy Spirit and revival hosted by King of Kings and part of an inaugural seminar that is sponsored by the Jerusalem Bible Institute, the new Holy Spirit oriented ministry school in Israel. Hebrew speaking, scheduled to open in November. I'm part of the leadership team there. So this is the first major event that we'll be doing.
It's of course for the general public and then especially for leaders on Monday. But please pray that the Lord will move. Ministry in Israel, life in Israel is very challenging.
There's a lot of warfare, a lot of oppression, a lot of challenges. So please pray that the Holy Spirit would really move and refresh and of course right now it's such a difficult, difficult time for the nation. So I appreciate your prayers for the travel and for the Holy Spirit to move in our time there. And we'll be playing some best of broadcast for you, but getting you some updates from Israel. Make sure you're following our latest articles, videos. We'll keep you updated on that as well. If you're getting our emails, you'll get that every single week.
All right. 866-348-7884. Phone lines open and we've got room for your call. So now is a great time to call. A question came in that I wanted to address.
A little technical, but I'll try to simplify it for everyone. How do we handle discrepancies between the Hebrew Bible and the Greek Septuagint? The Septuagint being the translation of the Hebrew Bible into Greek a couple hundred years before the time of Jesus. But here and there, it seems that the Septuagint preserves a more accurate reading, which is then confirmed by other Hebrew manuscripts. And then of course we know that the New Testament authors writing in Greek primarily quoted the Septuagint, not exclusively. Sometimes, for example, in Matthew 817, he translates directly from the Hebrew and doesn't follow the Septuagint. But there are many times, the majority where the New Testament writers are basically following the Septuagint. If you are Greek Orthodox, you would look at the Septuagint as the inspired word of God and even put that in ways over the Hebrew.
So how do we work these things out? You might say, isn't there just one manuscript of the Hebrew Bible? No, no. There are thousands of Masoretic manuscripts. When you hear about the Masoretic text, it's really the Masoretic textual tradition.
There are thousands of manuscripts that very closely agree, but do have minor differences. And the Masoretic textual tradition can be traced all the way back to the Dead Sea Scrolls. In other words, we have manuscripts of biblical books from the Dead Sea Scrolls, parts of biblical books that are virtually letter for letter the same as the Masoretic textual tradition. We also have other manuscripts in the Dead Sea Scrolls that are not as professionally copied more with spelling variations and things like that. So those are just copies that are not as accurate, reflecting other traditions. But there are some manuscripts that read very much like the Septuagint and not like the Masoretic manuscript. And that would make you think, OK, maybe that's the original one. And then there are other text forms as well represented in the Dead Sea Scrolls.
So how do we sort this all out? Number one, without question, the Hebrew text is primary. The Hebrew text comes first. The Septuagint is a translation. We know that the Hebrew Bible, the Tanakh, the Old Testament was not written in Greek. We know it was written in Hebrew with some portions in Aramaic. Therefore, we know without any question or doubt that the Septuagint in Greek is a translation.
Just like if you read the Constitution in Russian, the American Constitution in Russian, you know it's a translation because our founding fathers did not write it in Russian. So there's no ambiguity. There's no question.
There's no doubt about that. But how do we handle the discrepancies? For the most part, it's just translation discrepancies. It's ways that the Septuagint translators handled the Hebrew. Sometimes they had a theological bias and they translated accordingly.
Sometimes they had a different understanding of the word than we have today. Sometimes they were seeking to convey a certain point and did so through their translation. So it's a translation like every other. You evaluate it.
You use it. And where it's good, identifying, excellent. Where it varies from the Hebrew and it's clear that there's a deviation or maybe a misunderstanding of the Hebrew text or some ambiguity. Then it's an interesting witness.
But that's it. It's an interesting witness to how it was understood in the ancient Jewish world. And the rare times where the Hebrew text that we have in the Masoretic manuscript seems to be secondary to the text of the Greek, meaning that the Greek translation translates a different Hebrew text entirely, then we say, OK, that's probably the more accurate reading. It's found in the Dead Sea Scrolls. It's found in the Septuagint. Maybe it's found in another ancient version. So that is the more likely original.
But that is the exception to the rule. And even so, you have Hebrew manuscript evidence. So you never say the Hebrew originally said this based on translating back from the Septuagint unless you actually have some original Hebrew manuscript somewhere. You say, but why did the New Testament writers primarily quote from the Septuagint? Because they were writing in Greek, not just it was the handy Bible that they would have or the Bible that they would have learned in Greek speaking communities. But if you're quoting it and the community, that's the Bible they have. Say for much of the church age, say in the 1800s, if you were a Protestant Christian, you were using the King James Bible. So if I'm just doing my own translation from the Hebrew and the Greek and sending it to you, it's like, wait, wait, that's not the way it reads in my Bible.
You say, but what about deviation? As long as the overall sense is clear, as long as the overall sense is accurate, then the New Testament writers were free to cite it. Look, it's to this day when I'm preaching. I'll use the NIV when preaching and I like the way it reads and flows. I may differ whether rendering here or there, but if that's the Bible they're all reading out of, unless I explain it, I'll just read it from there because we're conveying those points. So that is in short, maybe too long for some, how we handle these things.
866-348-7884. Mark asks this question, does God heal people in his own timing? Many Pentecostals will say it was meant to be accessed at your convenience. I've been believing for healing for many years is why I ask.
Mark Eric, actually. So, Mark Eric, you are one of many who has prayed for healing and not seen it happen. We cannot give a blanket answer and say, well, it's simply God's timing. Sometimes it is a matter of timing, but many times there are other factors involved and we don't always know what those factors are, so we trust God for his goodness and his grace. But if we believe that for his children, walking in obedience to him, that healing and health are his ideal will, just like when a couple gets married, you wish them health and well-being and healthy children.
And someone says, we just had a baby. Oh, pray that they will be healthy and strong or about to have a baby. So the general sentiment expressed in scripture and revealed in God's heart for his obedient children is that healing and health are ideal conditions and good conditions. Why aren't we healed more? Well, we all ultimately die.
We understand that. So there is an end point where we will not be healed. Sometimes we're not healed because we're ignorant that healing is available. Sometimes we're not healed because of unbelief. Sometimes we're not healed because we are in sin. Sometimes we are not healed because what we are doing is contributing to our sickness. Sometimes we're not healed because of demonic warfare. And sometimes we don't understand why God doesn't answer.
We have no earthly answer. Some would say, well, it's clear he was saying no, he's choosing not to heal. I would prefer to say we don't know why that person has not been healed. When I pray for someone else, I do not say, well, if you have enough faith, you'll be healed. And if you're not healed, you're not in faith. Any praying and faith I put on me, the elders in James, Jacob, the fifth chapter, are told the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well. So for sure, we look to pray in faith as we pray for others. So if there's unbelief on my end, that's on my end.
I'm not going to put that on the sick person's shoulders. Now, Jesus would, if he were here, if it was my unbelief getting in the way of my healing, he would tell me plainly, you're in unbelief. But we are not Jesus. And it is a cruel and often destructive and often inaccurate thing to tell someone when you're not healed because you didn't have enough faith. Better to pray, stand together, trust the goodness of God, and if we're not healed, continue to worship him and praise him because he's good, whether we're healed or not. Ask the Lord to help us grow in the midst of the trial and be thankful to him while we continue to pray for healing. And sometimes we don't receive answers immediately because God is seeking to bring us to a deeper place of seeking his face, of trusting him, of leaning on him.
And as we do, then we see the greater breakthroughs come. So may the Lord be gracious to you in the midst of your situation. May he bring healing and life. And until that moment comes, may he put a joy in your spirit and a thanksgiving in heart and give you the ability to grow in grace in the midst of discomfort and pain.
But we pray that that healing would come speedily. Alright, 866-348-7884 is the number to call. Again, if you're not getting my weekly emails, thelineoffire.org, click subscribe.
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So call now 1-800-771-5584, 1-800-771-5584, or online at T-R-I-V-I-T-A, trivita.com. This is how we rise up It's the Line of Fire with your host, Dr. Michael Brown. Get on the Line of Fire by calling 866-34-TRUTH. Here again is Dr. Michael Brown. Welcome back to the Line of Fire. 866-348-7884. Let us start in Warsaw, New York. Welcome to the Line of Fire.
Hi. Should non-Jews who believe in Yeshua be allowed to become citizens of Israel because the Messianic Jewish Alliance of America teaches that they should not be allowed? I can't comment on the MJA's teaching on that.
I haven't looked at it and I'm not familiar with it. But they would have to have a good reason to be justified to the Israeli government. In other words, it is to be a Jewish state and there's only so much room in it. And so it's automatic for a Jew unless there's a dispute whether you're still a Jew like they would dispute whether I'm still a Jew because being a follower of Jesus. But otherwise, any Jew is able to make aliyah.
If you had some criminal record, that would stop you. Any Jew is able to. But is it just in the eyes of the Lord that non-Jews who believe in Yeshua and embrace the Torah are not allowed to become citizens of Israel? If Yeshua was ruling and reigning... If Yeshua was ruling and reigning, we wouldn't be having this discussion.
So it's totally irrelevant whether He was ruling and reigning. You're talking about a sovereign nation making its decision. There would have to be a good reason... Is it hypocrisy?
Is it hypocrisy? Sir, sir. Tell you what. Tell you what. Tell you what. Let's reiterate that when you call with a question, I get to answer the question.
Fair enough? Somehow it doesn't sound like you want to hear the answer because you have an ax to grind against Israel. So, Israel would have to have a good reason to allow you to become a citizen. Because otherwise, well okay, what if, let's just say, out of the two plus billion professing Christians on the earth... Let's say a billion of them are real Christians.
Let's just say that. Let's say a billion Christians want to make aliyah. We observe the Torah. We want to make aliyah. Observing the Torah has nothing to do with citizenship. You can be a Jewish atheist and make aliyah. And when Hitler was killing Jews, it didn't matter whether they were Torah-observant or not. So Israel is the same threshold. The question is, are you still a Jew if you're a follower of Jesus?
Have you converted to another religion? And that's the big debate. So that's where Israel is wrong in not giving citizenship to messianic Jews. That's where Israel is wrong.
And they differ with Israel. But should Israel automatically, you're a believer and you're shooting, you observe the Torah, on what basis do you get to become a citizen of Israel? Why? What's it got to do with anything? There's no reason for that whatsoever.
No connection. So there would have to be a good reason where Israel would say that we believe that yes, you should be a citizen. It makes sense for us to have you as a citizen. Otherwise, they have every right to only take into citizens those that fit certain criteria.
And the primary reason for being there is being Jews. All right. Thank you for the question. Let's go over to Laura in Raleigh, North Carolina. Welcome to the Line of Fire. Oh, hey there.
Let me turn down my radio. I'm sorry. I am so honored to speak to you. I'm so honored, actually, to speak to you. I absolutely have followed you for years. The reason I'm calling is, and bear with me if you have memories, kind of.
Okay. My 11th or 12th grandfather was Hans Landis. He was the last Anabaptist minister.
He was born in 1549 and was beheaded in 1613 for his faith. He said that him and his buddy, him and his other pastors, there was three of them, they all escaped. I mean, forgive me for not. Anyway, they escaped two different times and then, you know, and then arrested again. The third time, the two, his two friends were about to, you know, come on, man, let's go. He said, no, stay in here and keep my reserve, my resolve. And with that, anyway, he was beheaded. But they said he sent his children and wife away to keep us resolved and that he forgave the execution for what he was about to do. My question, sorry, fast forward if I can. I have been in, and I know the Lord has abundantly blessed me, but I was born on Resurrection Day. My earthly father was a shepherd.
Landis was his middle name. He was very cool. Okay. But anyway, I set off on my own thing. Many, many automobile wrecks, one that I didn't have my helmet on. Many, I'd rather not say on the line, but many things, many overdoses. There's no way that I'm still alive.
There's just no way. And I'm wondering, question, I'm wondering, did somehow did his blessings come down the line to me? Yeah, so I appreciate that. First, thank God for his mercy. Oh, man, yes. I can't hold it brief.
I'm sorry. Yeah, let me say this. The only thing Scripture does speak about is blessings of obedience to the third and fourth generation. And judgment for disobedience to the third and fourth generation. And the blessings really come as especially so you walk in the ways of your godly father. That brings more blessing than your kids walk in the way of their godly mother and parents. And that brings more blessing and so on.
But the idea that there'd be something mystical that has been passed down through all these generations, it's not to say God couldn't do it, but I see no scriptural basis for that whatsoever. It's an inspirational testimony. I would say that there's whatever purpose God has for your life, plus people praying for you that you don't know about, that that would be the biggest reason that you're still alive. Okay.
I was wondering that was in addition. I was standing in the kitchen. They told me I have something go on my lungs and I'll leave that alone, but I'm scared. And I was standing and I said, no, fear not, God, but I'm scared, you know? And he said, Lord, do you not remember everything I've brought you through? You are not leaving here. It's not all been wasted time. You won't leave here until my purpose for you is complete.
And I know that's what that's the big thing, right? That here at Lord, here I am. What's your purpose for my life and for everything I've been?
What's your purpose in preserving me? And sometimes he really speaks and we just know it. And other times it's just we find ourselves doing the things we're supposed to do.
There was every day we give ourselves to him that we find ourselves doing what what he's called us to do. So thank you for the call. Well, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to cut you off in the middle of a sentence there, middle of a word, but thank you for the call and may the Lord give wisdom in the days ahead. Tell you what, let me not take the next call.
I want to go to Xander and then Jonathan. We've got a phone line or two open 866-348-7884. Let me not take your call and then cut you off because we have a break. You might say, you know, Dr. Brown, I have not heard a lot of a lot of political commentary from you this year. I told you some months back that when we felt it was important to give some election related commentary, we do it. But that our focus was really going to be elsewhere and that I would do my best to do whatever role I play in your lives.
One of many people speaking into your life for being an influencer or source of information or inspiration or whatever. I wanted to do my best to keep our focus where it needed to be, that we don't get caught up with election fever and, you know, all kinds of trials, the Trump trial and now the the Hunter Biden trial. And there's always something happening of high, high consequence and your blood can get boiling. I just continue to pray, Lord, your will be done. Lord, give wisdom. Lord, sort things out according to your plan and do what's best for the nation. Do what's best for your people. And there were times when it was on my heart to do more political commentary. And I've written whole books. The most comprehensive would be the political seduction of the church.
How millions of Americans confuse politics with the gospel, which came out in 2022 and is even more relevant now as we go into the 2024 elections. But that being said, it's just it's not the season for me to be doing that. And plenty others are giving good commentary. Plenty others are good sources for that. So if that's important to you, I don't believe I'm going to be saying a tremendous amount in the days ahead. As we get closer to the elections, there'll be more that I have to say. But if you're really looking for that, you can always call me with a question.
Otherwise, there are a lot of good sources out there. Learn from them, get what you can from them and let us pour into you as we pour into you. We will be right back and get a shot of the break. Hey, friends, Michael Brown here. My delight to serve as your voice for moral sanity and spiritual clarity. We are living in such urgent times today, friends, that all of us are in the line of fire. There's a target on your back.
There's a target on my back. If you simply seek to live by biblical values or just conservative moral values, you could be canceled. You could be cast out. You could be put down.
You could be silenced. I'm here to say, friends, that I am not about to be silenced, and I don't believe you are either. It is time for us to stand up. It is time for us to say enough is enough. It is time for us to push back in Jesus name, not fighting the way the world fights.
No, overcoming evil with good, overcoming hatred with love, overcoming the flesh with the power of the Spirit, overcoming lies with truth. And that's what we're here to do on the line of fire broadcast. And friends, it's not just a broadcast. It is a movement of people around the world. God's people standing up saying enough is enough and saying, Lord, here we are. Send us. Use us. I want to urge you today to join our support team because we are on the front lines together.
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Donate monthly support. It's the line of fire with your host, Dr. Michael Brown. Get on the line of fire by calling 866-34-TRUTH.
Here again is Dr. Michael Brown. Welcome back to the line of fire where we are here to equip you, empower you, to help you engage on those front lines. Just had the joy of us out of state ministering for the Pentecostal Assemblies of West Indies and gathered in Florida. The first time they had a convocation in the states.
So about 150 leaders from all the islands. Just a beautiful time together. I came into the office after being out all week and it was my joy to welcome a number of you as new torchbearers. So you are going to Israel with me.
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Revival in the church, gospel based moral and cultural revolution, the redemption of Israel. This is a great way to partner together to touch the world on the front lines. And it's a way for us to sew back into you in many, many different ways. So thank you for joining with us to join our team. Go to the line of fire dot org.
Click donate monthly support. All right. Let us go over to Zander in North Georgia. Welcome to the line of fire. Hello, Dr. Brown. Can you hear me?
Yes, sir. Thank you so much for taking my call. It means so much to me. I've watched your stuff. It's really it's really touched me. It's really changed me.
And I just I thank you so much for that. It's been a blessing to me. I just wanted to say that I was born again at 15 years old, changed by the Lord.
And it's been with me ever since. About a year about a year, about a year and a half since then, I just wanted to ask you about your personal experience as a born again minister of God with sin and falling out with God. If you're willing to share because you seem to be very pure and upright with God. And I just wanted to know some of your struggles with temptations and sins.
And maybe you could give me some advice. That's all. And how do you stay in the spirit when you're not publicly speaking? And, you know, you're just like going about your day. And how do you deal with, like, you know, sinful thoughts and stuff like that? You know, because it's it's it's it's just like singing in the Bible, like great people like, you know, King David and King Solomon and how they were, you know, at a lot of times, pure and upright with God. But you saw that they sinned greatly. And it's just how do you being chosen as a minister?
How do you how do you not fall into the shoes of like that? Well, I'm yeah, I'm happy to I'm happy to respond. And thanks for the for the kind words and the question. So, I mean, there's so many things I can say. I just want to try to boil it down to what's most important.
A few things. One is that ministry is only the public extension of your private life. If ministry becomes your main spiritual life, if public speaking, preaching, teaching, writing, whatever it is, the outward expression becomes the main substance of your spiritual life, you will you will quickly wither and die.
It's like putting all the emphasis on the branches and the fruit and forgetting about nourishing the roots. So, yeah, that's always the most important thing. If your walk with God alone with him is healthy, everything else will fall into place.
That's that's the first thing. The second thing is that we we really ask God earnestly to keep us from falling, because any one of us could mess up the same way. No, you look at the most horrific things human beings have done.
Those are all human beings who did them. And many times you think I could never believe a person could do this or that. So you realize any of that could happen to any of us.
So you don't walk in a proud way. You don't think too highly of yourself. You realize you stand by grace.
But I would say something that's two things that are very, very important. On the one hand, understand the depth of God's forgiveness, meaning you can't beat yourself up. You thought one wrong thought today or you said a word you shouldn't have said or you didn't pray the way you should have.
And you beat yourself up the rest of the day. That doesn't help anything. It doesn't help you get closer to the Lord.
It just makes you feel miserable, unworthy. And it drives you away from prayer even more to a place of sin. So you want to start with the foundation of you're saved because of the grace and goodness of God. You're saved because of the mercy of God, that it's it's his work. It's his spirit.
It's his keeping power. And on your best day, the best day you've ever had as a believer, you still fall short, even if you didn't know it. So we live by mercy. We live by grace. And it's important that you're able to receive forgiveness. That, you know, when God forgives that he means it, that he doesn't put you in the doghouse, that he doesn't say stay away for a week and then come back.
That's either our own mind or the devil suggesting that. So on the one hand, you always want to walk in grace. And that's something that's helped me over the years is knowing the father's love for me and knowing his mercy and his kindness. At the same time, never play games with sin because it will bite you. Never think I can just do whatever in the world I want to do.
So it's one thing to be struggling. If you're in that position, God will help you. He will give you a way out. If you really cry out and keep crying out, he'll give you a way out.
He'll give you biblical principles that will help you not to open certain doors. You know, let's say it's a young guy, you know, 20 years old, and he's walking on the beach and filled with bikini clad women. And he's like, man, I'm so weak.
I just my eyes. I keep getting tempted. I tell you, you're not weak.
You're stupid. Stay off the beach. Stay away. You know, so we there are certain things that are biblical principles that we live by when we implement these. We find this freedom like flee youthful lust. OK, there's a time when you resist the devil and the time he get out of there shouldn't be there. But I think that the key things maintain a solid walk with the Lord in private and let that always be your priority in the word. Praying, even if it's not as much time as you want, let it make sure there's some quality time with God.
That's one. And then to really understand, meditating on scripture, the depth of the father's love so that you don't feel condemned all the time. But then walk in holy fear. Don't play games with sin because it's deadly. And those are principles.
And then, you know, stay low. The the the principal reason I believe that there has not been some horrific scandal in my life for ministry that's destroyed everything. It's the grace of God. And why do I receive the grace? Only thing I can say is I do get low and humble myself. And God gives grace to the humble. So let that be your practice where there's a lesson to learn. Get low and learn it. Where there's forgiveness to be had.
Receive it. Humble yourself in his sight and he'll give you grace. Hey, blessings to you, Sandra.
Thank you so much. I mean, you've truly helped me with that. You know, I just think of, you know, things that God may want me to do and I don't want to fail him on that.
You know, I mean, just having that heart, keeping that heart is a key. Yeah. You know, I see more and I don't want to hurt you.
And that that that way you have a short leash in terms of you're not going to run and do something stupid. Yeah. I mean, I've seen what he's done for you in my life. And, you know, I want to be the same way to others. Yes, sir.
And he will honor that. Hey, God bless you, man. Thank you so much. God bless you, too. Bye bye. 866-34-TRUTH. By the way, for those that would like a lot of practical wisdom on this and and understanding of God's grace and how to live without condemnation while walking in holy reverence, my book, Go and Sin No More, you might find very helpful. Go and sin no more.
Let's go to Jonathan in Centralia, Washington. Welcome to the line of fire. Hello. Can you hear me OK? Yes, I can. All right.
Cool. So I don't know if you recall, because obviously you're a busy guy, so you might not recall, but a number of weeks ago, I called asking a question about the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit because I was concerned that perhaps I had committed it right. And I did the things that you told me to do. And when I called last, I when I saw pastoral help and I, I considered the mercy of God. And I also read more into the into the subject.
I read more commentaries and things like that. But one of the things you said to me is that you were not convinced that that it that I you could change my mind using using reason and using scripture. And that being said, with respect to your time and respect to the to the time of the other callers, obviously we don't have much time left in the show, though. And obviously you couldn't give me an extensive answer at the time we have. Anyway, I would like you to try to change my mind using reason and scripture. OK, well, why isn't your mind changed so far? Well, I don't know. So. So that's so. So let me just let me explain that.
OK, let me take the time to explain. OK. Obviously, over the years, I've talked with people face to face about this and received many a call like this. And my experience is that if the person keeps wrestling with this, even when I tell them plainly what the Bible says and ask them plainly, did you do this? And they say no, that all of my reasoning is not going to convince them because there's something deeper going on where there's something broken that needs to be fixed in their understanding or in their relationship with God.
That is really going to happen through God just showing you or some real solid counseling ministry that gets to the root of the insecurity or the fear. Because you would tell me that you have never knowingly and willfully attributed the work of the Holy Spirit to Satan. And if you haven't done that, then you haven't blasphemed the Holy Spirit. The scripture is quite plain on that in terms of Mark, the third chapter and the severity of the sin.
Knowing the extreme nature. Please hear me on this. All right.
So let me let me reason with you on this point. OK. Knowing the extreme nature of God's mercy through the whole Bible. And how often he forgives and he tells us to forgive four hundred ninety times in a day.
It's hyperbole, obviously, but four hundred ninety times in a day. If our brother sins and says, forgive me, forgive me, your parents, forgive me. And the prodigal with all that he did, the father runs to greet him when he comes back saying, I've sinned. The extraordinary examples of the mercy of God through the entire Old Testament. The expression of who God is in passages like Micah seven. He delights in showing mercy that there must be something especially severe and extreme about the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. And that thing that is so excessive and extreme requires an extreme level of hardness of heart and willful rebellion against God to the point of no return. In which case you wouldn't be calling me. You would have no thought of trying to fix this because your heart would have crossed that very, very dangerous and significant line.
So the fact that you called back confirms my point. I appreciate your spirit. I appreciate the humility and the honor behind it. But I am assuring you, you need to get this worked out with spiritual leadership that can really help you get to the root of this so that you can be free from the torment for the rest of your life. That's God's heart for you, man. May the Lord do it. May the Lord help.
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Get on the line of fire by calling 866-34-TRUTH. Here again is Dr. Michael Brown. Hey, shout out to our co-sponsor Trivita. We really appreciate their generosity towards our ministry donating 100% of every first order that comes in and more than a tithe of all subsequent orders. So as you're listening right now, it's with the help of Trivita and that's part of my daily regimen as well, supplementing my healthy lifestyle and eating these great wellness supplements.
So those that want to find out more, you can go to trivita.com. If you go there, you can use the code BROWN25 or you can call 800-771-5584 if you are interested. Okay, the number to call to talk to me is 866-34-TRUTH. Let's go over to Mason.
So there's such a place as Advance, North Carolina? Yes, sir. All right, well, glad to know about it. Welcome to the line of fire.
I appreciate it. My question today was on Isaiah 9-6 and how it says that one will come as a child and His name will be Mighty God, Eternal Father. And to me, it just seems like such a clear Scripture prophesying that Jesus is going to come in the form of God. So my question was how does non-Trinitarians or how does rabbinical Judaism handle that Scripture? So a non-Trinitarian actually looks at it as proof, if you are Jesus only, that Jesus is the father. So they actually misuse that verse. It says everlasting father really means father forever or father of eternity, as the king would be the father of the people.
So that's easily resolved. But the bigger question, how do traditional Jews understand it? First, they would say it was a prophecy about the birth of Hezekiah, who was just a human. And they would either follow an odd translation, an odd order of the words, which would say, the one who is mighty God, who is wonderful, counselor, mighty God, everlasting father, will name him Prince of Peace. So it's kind of a twisted way of reading the Hebrew, but that's one argument.
So if you're a traditional Jew, that's one way you'll read it. The other way you'll read it is you'll say that the term El Gebor, mighty God, just means like a powerful warrior. And it doesn't actually mean that he's divine. The problem is that Isaiah 10 21 speaks of Yahweh as El Gebor, mighty God. So from our perspective, it really is a strong indication that the Messiah would have divine nature.
I've gone through the different arguments on all sides, but it remains a strong argument for the divine nature of the Messiah. Yeah, I was talking to, the question came up because I saw the verse and I was talking to a Jehovah's Witness about it and asked them about how they would interpret it, and they said it was definitely about Jesus, but they said He is a mighty God, similar to how they changed John 1 1, and I showed them how that same term was used previously in Genesis to show the actual given name that God has given Himself. Here's the other way to respond, Mason, to a Jehovah's Witness, is to say, okay, you say He's a mighty God, not the mighty God. So you say, doesn't the Bible say to have no other gods before God? So now you're worshiping idols, if you have another God. So how many gods do you worship? We're only supposed to worship one God.
How many gods do you worship? So out of all of the bankrupt theologies out there, Jehovah's Witnesses has so many holes in their translation, such a poor translation, and they put people in fear and bondage, and you have to meet your quota and do all of this, but the fact that they still have adherents means that there's something lacking in people, and if we're out in the communities as much as they are, then we can really set people free. But keep doing the good work, man. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for answering my question. I appreciate it.
You bet. 866-348-7884. Let's go over to Deborah in DFW, where I should be, let's see, June 22nd and 23rd at Mercy Culture's Reformation Conference. Welcome to The Line of Fire.
Hey, Dr. Brown. In December, I lost my husband and I was sitting in a church service because I felt like I was feeling more than grief, and I asked the Lord what was going on with me, and he told me the two become one. So I accepted that. But I want to know what can I expect in heaven that my relationship with my husband would be? Yeah, I'm so sorry to hear this. How long were you married?
Forty-five years. Oh, yeah, Nancy and I are 48, so it's unimaginable, life without. Yeah, I can't imagine the hole going away, you know, that God draws near and the pain gets less, but obviously the hole is always there because you are one and being together that long. So I've I've thought about this a lot myself because I'm so amazed by the relationship I have with Nancy. We're so intensely in love. It feels like as the years go on, the love gets more intense.
You can relate to that. The the camaraderie you have, the place that you play in each other's lives, the unique role that person fills, all the little idiosyncrasies that just become part of why you love them and who they are. And yet in the world to come, we're not married in the traditional sense. You know, for example, what if someone is married 20 years, spouse passes away, they remarry.
They're obviously not married in the same way to multiple people. You know, what does that look like? There's no sexual intimacy.
What does that look like? But it's got to be that somehow in the world to come, our relationship is going to be more wonderful. You know what I'm saying? It's not possible that it goes backwards, that it's somehow going to be more wonderful. And for sure, because we the world to come is not just a brand new beginning. It's also reaping what we've sown.
Right. You walk with the Lord, you mature. Certainly the apostle Paul entered into heaven in a different spiritual state than the thief on the cross because of his walk with the Lord all those years versus this other man coming to the Lord in the final hours or minutes of his life. So everything you've sowed together, everything you've become, the interaction, the understanding, somehow it's got to be enhanced in the world to come. And then as the two of you have only been married to each other for 45 years, everything you've built together, understanding, history, legacy, somehow there's the ability to enjoy that together, but without pain, without death ever again, without suffering, without financial pressure, broken relationships. So far more wonderful than we can imagine.
But the exact nature of it remains a mystery like so many other things. I'm just sure it's going to be more wonderful in the world to come than in this world. And I haven't ever had a loss on this level, losing my spouse. So the last thing I can do is lecture about it, except to say that somehow God's grace can carry us through. And we all know people that have been married for decades and lose a spouse and they continue to function.
You know what I'm saying? They haven't lost all hope. They haven't become a shell. Do you have other family around you that's close to you? I do.
I have a lot of family that is in my life. And I just keep, you know, wondering. You know, of course, I asked my pastor and he said it's almost just what you said. I was just wondering if you had any more insight. No, I wish I did.
I mean, it would be nice if I could bring it to you, but I honestly don't. I read the same Bible you do and I just don't see anything that tells me. The more I think about the world to come, aside from being in His beautiful presence forever, the less I know about it. Like, what do we do forever?
You know, Nancy and I talk about this a lot. Will there be challenges? Like if you're learning something or new projects, are there challenges? If there's no failure, then how do you relate to a challenge, right, or growing?
It can't just be that either you never grow or develop or, you know, how do these things work? What do we get to do? What assignments?
What hobbies? How much do we worship? Do we have other tasks?
Do we go to other planets with projects? We just don't know, but just think of you being reunited with your husband. No pain, no sickness, no sorrow, no fear, and it's forever.
It's forever. And the only thing I would say is, and I'm sure you know this, but the pain, the whole, the absence, that sense of who am I, where am I, just because so much of your life was oriented together, that's just the more you turn that to earnest seeking of God and just pouring your heart out. I'm sure you've done that, but this is a unique time where you can draw closer to the Lord than you ever have with all the brokenness, with all the pain, with all the loss, and just say, God, you said that you would be father to the fatherless and the husband to the widow, and that's me right now, and I need you in my life in a way I never have before. Would you mind if I prayed with you? I would love it, thank you.
Sure thing. All right, Lord, for Deborah and for all others right now, mourning, grieving, that are listening, that are watching, God, I ask you to draw near and to comfort with your presence, and even with an assurance and a hope of reunion that's so real that it carries us, that it gives hope, that it helps sustain in the midst of the loss, and I pray that you would draw closer to your daughter than you ever have before in her entire life, that her relationship with you in the years ahead would be richer and more wonderful. I pray, Lord, for others mourning and hurting right now. Bring life out of death, bring hope out of despair, and fill the void in Jesus' name. Blessings to you, friends. May the grace of God overtake you, and please do pray for my trip to Israel.
