Great is the power of repentance. I want to talk about the power of repentance, shuvah, in Hebrew on today's broadcast on Thoroughly Jewish Thursday.
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It's digital, and it's free. So shuvah, repentance, plays a great role in Judaism. It is tremendously important and foundational on every level. The noun shuvah comes from the root shuv, which means to turn, really to turn back, and it can mean to turn towards or turn away. So when God would say, turn to me and I will turn to you, he would also say sometimes, turn away from your idols and turn back to me. And then God in turn would turn away from his wrath and turn back to his people. The simple way to formulate that is man repents and God relents. But you have that throughout the prophets.
The word shuv occurs over and over in Jeremiah. And in Jewish tradition over the centuries, someone who turns back in repentance, or say a secular Jew who becomes a traditional Jew, is called the Baal Shuvah, which is literally a master of repentance, meaning someone who really and truly turns back. So Judaism puts such an emphasis on repentance that in Jewish teaching, that is far more important than blood sacrifices, that those things had a role and were important. But what was most important was someone turning back to God, asking forgiveness, asking cleansing, and starting afresh from there. There's an interesting verse in Jeremiah chapter 3 verse 1 where the word of the Lord comes to him saying, if a man divorces his wife and she leaves him and marries another man, can he ever go back to her? Now according to Deuteronomy 24, so according to Torah law, the answer is no.
He could not go back. So the question is, how do we translate the final phrase in Hebrew, v'shovelai n'um adonai? Is it v'shovelai and you're going to turn back to me, says the Lord? In other words, that wouldn't work under Torah law for a human marriage.
How much more when it's a divine marriage where God takes Israel as his wife? Or is it v'shovelai, yet turn back to me? Turn back to me. Based on this, there are Talmudic statements about the power of repentance because even though Torah law says she can't come back, so a man marries a woman, he divorces her, now she marries another, she goes, will the first one take her back?
No, you can't based on Torah law. But you could read this verse, and many translations understand it this way, to say, even though that's the law, I'm saying you can turn back to me if you truly repent. Let me share some of these traditional statements with you. The Talmud states this, great is repentance, for it brings healing to the world. Great is repentance, for it reaches the throne of glory, for it brings redemption, for it lengthens a man's life. Better an hour of repentance and good deeds in this world than a whole lifetime in the world to come. Repentance is more valuable than sacrifices.
This is Talmud, Midrash, the early rabbinic tradition. Repentance is greater than prayer. So this is something that is constantly taught in traditional Judaism, the power of repentance, the importance of repentance, the foundational nature of repentance. And by the way, when you get to the New Testament, the theme of repentance is hammered over and over and over again, and it's rightly been said that repent is the first word of the Gospel. And when you just do a little search, type in, if you're searching on your computer software, R-E-P-E-N-T, and then an asterisk, which would mean that could be repent, repenting, repentance, any form with that, you'll be amazed, especially through the Gospels and Acts, how prevalent this is. And then, somewhat in the Epistles, but then especially in the book of Revelation chapters two and three again. Maimonides, known as Rambam, writing in the 12th century in his law code, said this, so great is the power of repentance, quote, even a person who was wicked his whole life and repented in his final moments will not be reminded of any aspect of his wickedness, as Ezekiel 33, 12 states, that wickedness of the evil one will not cause him to stumble on the day he repents of his wickedness.
Traditional Jews pray something called the Shemona Esre, the Amida, the standing prayer, with 18 benedictions, and it's prayed three times daily, so you think over the course of a Jewish person's life, this is prayed thousands and thousands of times. Here is one of the petitions, bring us back, our father, to your Torah, and bring us near our king to your service, and cause us to return in complete repentance before you. Blessed are you, O Lord, who desires repentance. Some of the greatest Jewish thinkers of the 20th century, Rav Soloveitchik and Abraham Isaac Cook, a founding rabbi of the state of Israel, they taught and wrote extensively on repentance. Solomon Schechter wrote a book, Aspects of Rabbinic Theology, roughly a hundred years ago, and he has a lot to say about repentance. He has a quote from a Hasidic rabbi who said, If I had the choice, I would rather not die, because in the world to come there are no days of awe, meaning the ten days from Rosh Hashanah to Yom Kippur, and what can a person's soul do without the Day of Atonement? What is the point of living without repentance?
And Schechter pointed to a well-known rabbinic tradition regarding Manasseh, the most wicked king in Judah's history, but who repented and received forgiveness, quote, Thus if a man would tell thee that God receives not penitence, behold Manasseh, the son of Hezekiah, he will hear evidence that no creature in the world ever committed before me so many wicked deeds as he did, yet in the moment of repentance I received him. Now we all understand there are consequences for sin. There are things that we do that will have lasting consequences.
You may get drunk, go out driving one time, get in an accident and lose a leg as a result of it. You can repent of that and never drink again and be forgiven, but you still lost a leg. You may commit a certain crime and ask God for forgiveness and be forgiven in jail and find freedom in jail, but there's still consequences of that crime. You can do things to hurt other people and repent and receive forgiveness, but there are consequences to your actions. This is not to minimize the consequences of sin. Manasseh's sin was such, the shedding of innocent blood was so grotesque that even though he repented and God withheld judgment of Manasseh personally, there was still national judgment because of sins that were committed, and yet the power of repentance is so extraordinary that we see in scripture that when Manasseh humbles himself, when wicked King Ahab, the husband of wicked Queen Jezebel, when he humbles himself and repents, God postpones judgment because of that.
Oh, let's just see if there are a couple of other things here. Yeah, penitent Jews according to the Talmud where the repentant stand, not even the completely righteous can stand. These are excerpts from volume two of Answering Jewish Objections to Jesus where I get into this in volume two, Theological Objections.
Also in volume one of Answering Jewish Objections to Jesus, I dealt with issues of repentance as well. And look at what the prophet Ezekiel said, chapter 33, beginning in verse 11. Say to them, as surely as I live, declares the sovereign Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live. Turn, turn from evil ways.
And this is normally with the root shuv, turn, turn back, turn away. Why will you die, O house of Israel? Therefore son of man, say to your countrymen, the righteousness of the righteous man will not save him when he disobeys, and the wickedness of the wicked man will not cause him to fall when he turns from it. The righteous man, if he sins, will not be allowed to live because of his former righteousness. If I tell the righteous man that he will surely live, but then he trusts in his righteousness and does evil, none of the righteous things he has done will be remembered. He will die for the evil he has done.
And if I say to the wicked man, you will surely die, but he then turns away from his sins and does what is just and right. If he gives back what he took and pledged for a loan, returns what he has stolen, follows the decrees that give life, and does no evil, he will surely live. He will not die. None of the sins he has committed will be remembered against him. He has done what is just and right.
He will surely live. Ezekiel 18, beginning in verse 30. Repent, turn away from all your offenses. Then sin will not be your downfall.
Bridge yourselves of all the offenses you have committed and get a new heart and a new spirit. Why will you die, O house of Israel? For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the sovereign Lord.
Repent and live. So based on this, Rabbi Jonah of Gerondi, known especially for his books on repentance, wrote these words. A man who transgressed and sinned and then came to take refuge under the wings of the Divine Presence, the Shekhinah, and to enter into the paths of repentance, as God said in Psalm 32-8, I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go. On that day he will cast away all the transgressions he has committed and will make himself as if he were born on that very day with neither guilt nor merit in his hand.
Sounds like the new birth, doesn't it? And if he say I've sinned and sinned over and again and my guilt is beyond counting, I'm too ashamed to appear before God and ask for mercy. I can never keep his commandments. Rabbi Jonah says don't think that way. Instead understand that God is opening his arms and encouraging him to come home.
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Here again is Dr. Michael Brown. Great words from Deuteronomy 6 reminding us that the Lord our God is one God. Michael Brown, welcome to Thoroughly Jewish Thursday, 866-34-TRUTH. Remember to call with your Jewish related calls and let us go right over to New York where I was last week.
Shner, welcome to the Line of Fire. Hi, how's it going? Very well, thank you. Hi, so am I clear? Do you hear me?
Yes, loud and clear, sir. Yeah, I'm a little nervous. I'm an Orthodox Jew and I've been watching you for a while already and I'm just wondering why you see Jesus so much in the Hebrew Scriptures. Yeah, so let me ask this. What caused you to watch some of my material? Nothing much, I was just stumbling. Still there? Okay, not sure if we lost our connection, so somebody can communicate with me as to what is up right now.
I don't hear Shner at all. Alright, sir, I'm going to keep speaking as if you are there. Oh, I'm here. Okay, alright, that's alright. So you said you just, then it cut out. I didn't hear what you were saying. Yeah, I'm sorry. It happens once there.
I don't know why it happened before now, but I'm here now. Okay, got it. So I just asked how it is you happened upon my stuff, so you just happened upon it? Yeah, that's about it.
So let me ask this. Do you think, and I'll answer your question directly, sir. Do you think that Mashiach, in your view of Mashiach, Madaha Mashiach, that Mashiach is a topic of the Tanakh?
Of course, yeah. Okay, so I agree, and that's why I see a lot of references to Yeshua. In other words, the passages that we would agree on are messianic, that you would say haven't happened yet, and I would say they'll happen when He returns. So that's that part, but I believe there are other aspects to Messiah's work, in terms of Him being a priestly king, in terms of His suffering and dying for us and rising from the dead, coming before the destruction of the Beit HaMikdash Hashem, the Second Temple. So that's why I see Him referenced, and because this is a great theme of God's love and God reaching out to us, it's not a surprise that He would be referenced throughout the Tanakh. So if He is indeed Mashiach, it would only be natural that we'd find Him a lot there, right? Yeah, but I understand that the Messiah has brought up a lot in the Bible, that who says He's supposed to die for our sins, who says He's supposed to be a priestly king? Well, He's supposed to be a priest in terms of how He brings Jews back to God, but dying for our sins, resurrecting in 1 Corinthians 15, Paul says that it's all according to the Scriptures. I know it's plural of the Scriptures, but where in the Scriptures does it honestly say that the Messiah is supposed to die for sin and come before the year 70? Oh yeah, wonderful questions.
I'll give you answers to each and every one of them. First thing, in terms of coming before the year 70, we know that according to Malachi chapter 3, that HaAdon, the Lord Himself, who Rashi says is the God of justice, will visit the Second Temple and bring refining fire to the Levites, etc. So the God of justice, HaAdon, the Lord Himself, is supposed to visit that temple, that's one thing. Second thing is the prophet Haggai tells us that the glory of the Second Temple will be greater than the glory of the first.
Of course, there's discussion, how will that be in the Talmud, since it didn't have the divine fire, it didn't have the Shekhinah, it didn't have the Urim and Uthrim, it didn't even have the Ten Commandments, and how could it be greater? Well, one argument is, well, stood longer, the other argument is, well, it was beautified physically, but whatever you see filled with glory in the Tanakh, it's always God's glory, His presence, as with the tabernacle in Exodus 20 or the temple in 2 Chronicles 5. So how is the glory of the Second Temple greater than the glory of the first? Then the third passage is in Daniel 9, verses 24 to 27, which speaks of the period from the rebuilding of Jerusalem after the exile to the destruction of the temple, so that ends in the year 70. And within that period of time, atonement has to be made for sin and everlasting righteousness be brought in.
So how did that happen? How was the glory of the Second Temple greater than the glory of the first? When did God Himself visit that temple? When was atonement made for sin and everlasting righteousness brought in? I can tell you when. When Messiah came, visited that temple, as the Word made flesh, the Memorah made flesh, and died for our sins and brought atonement. So that's the time frame.
You can press back, I'll just answer your question. As to where it says He's going to die, once you understand that He's a priestly king, as per Zechariah 6, where the Tzemach, the branch, the representative of that is Jehoshua, the high priest sitting on the throne, wearing a crown, and where it says either of David Hamelach, either about David, or Hamelach Hamashiach, in Psalm 110, you are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek, that what did priests do? Priests had to do with atonement, dealing with sin. When you understand these passages, now you go to passages like Isaiah, the 53rd chapter, that speak explicitly of His suffering, that speak of His death on our behalf, and we thought He was dying for His own sins, that speak of Him being Nixar Me'er Yitzchaim, cut off from the land of the living, and yet He will see light, the light of life, so His death, His resurrection. We even have a verse like Isaiah 53, 6, kulano, katzon, taino, all of us like sheep went astray, each ledar, kol paninu, each turned to his own way, vadonai, hivgi, abo et avon kolano, the Lord laid upon him, the iniquity of us all. So we see these passages, we see that these momentous things have to happen before the second temple was destroyed. We see also in Isaiah 49 that Messiah is rejected, the servant of the Lord rejected by His own people, but received as a light to the goyim. You say, well then, who was it?
Who was it that did this before the year 70? And there's even the interesting Talmudic tradition from Tanah D'bei Eliyahu that the world was supposed to last 6,000 years, 2,000 years of chaos, of tohu, so that's from Adam to Abraham, then 2,000 years of Torah, as Abraham allegedly receives, both oral and written Torah, 2,000 years of Torah, and then 2,000 years of Mashiach, which would be the last 2,000 years. And the Talmud says, and Rashi explains, but it was supposed to happen, but because of our sins it didn't. I said, of course it happened.
Messiah came right on time, but because of our sins, we missed Him. So listen, stay right there. We're coming to a break. When we come back, you can give your response or follow up questions.
I just don't want you to have to rush to do that in less than a minute. Okay, so out of respect to you, I'm cutting in, so I gave you a brief answer to why we say it had to come in the year 70. I gave you a brief answer as to why we say that you would suffer and die, and you can respond on the other side of the break.
Hey friends, go to realmessiah.com, realmessiah.com. You'll find answers to the hundred most common Jewish objections to Jesus. You'll find full debates with Rabbi Immanuel Shohet, famous Chabad rabbi, the Babish rabbi, and philosophy professor, Counter Missionary Rabbi Tovia Singer, who's refused to debate me ever since, over 30 years now, my friend Rabbi Shmueli Boteach. There's full debates. You can watch all for free there. You can watch videos where I go point for point refuting the arguments of Counter Missionary Rabbi Tovia Singer.
We've probably got about 11 videos like that now, many more to put out in the days ahead, God willing. So all those resources are there. They're absolutely free. Take them in, share them with your Jewish friends. Then if you want to dig deeper, five volumes on answering Jewish objections to Jesus. So those, of course, you purchase.
Everything else is free on the site there. So take advantage of these. And to all of the listeners and viewers, keep seeking, keep studying, keep learning. Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Don't lean on your own understanding and all your ways acknowledge Him. And He will direct your path.
I know you're out there. God sees your heart. Seek Him earnestly. You're Shmueli Vachai. He says, seek me and live. Okay, Shmueli, I get to respond on the other side of the break.
Thanks for your patience. 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.
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Here again is Dr. Michael Brown. Welcome back to Thoroughly Jewish Thursday, 866-34-TRUTH. Okay, Shner, thanks so much for holding your response to my answer to your questions.
Yeah, sure. First of all, in 1 Kings chapter 8 in verse 46 through 50, King Solomon says in the inauguration of the first temple, he said that when the Jewish people are going to be dispersed throughout the land, they're going to return to God, they're going to pray to Him. There's no mention of any sacrifices there, so we Orthodox Jews understand that very clearly that we don't need any blood atonement. However, in terms of your Isaiah 53. Can we just pause there for a second?
Do you mind if we pause there? So let's go to Devaray HaYumim, chapter 7. Devaray HaYumim Beit, chapter 7. So 2 Chronicles chapter 7. So this is immediately after the high priestly prayer of 1 Kings 8 is found in 2 Chronicles 6. Okay? So this is the very next chapter. Do you have it in front of you, by the way? I don't have a Bible in front of me, but I heard of this, but I heard you claiming this a lot, but I know that I did research on this.
Okay, so let's look at what it says. Then Solomon finished the building of the house of the Lord and the royal palace. Solomon succeeded everything he had set his heart on accomplishing with regard to the house of the Lord in this place. The Lord appeared to Solomon at night and said to him, I have heard your prayer and have chosen this site, the temple, as my house of sacrifice, literally as a beit zevach.
Right? So the whole premise of the temple, it's a beit zevach. So if you sin, if some of you go into exile and you pray towards this temple, which is functioning and standing, I'll have mercy on you. However, if you go too far, right, then I'll destroy this temple and disperse you and you have no atonement.
So I'd love your response to that. Cause you said it doesn't mention sacrifice. God says, I've chosen this place as a beit zevach, his words, his words.
So yeah, but no, what's it called? Um, we, um, I agree with you on second Chronicles chapter seven, that we do have a problem because in the days of the temple, if you just pray alone, you need blood. Um, therefore once you, uh, therefore after you read second Chronicles seven, we do have an, um, we do have an issue there, but in second Chronicles seven, there's no answer how we have to get atonement.
There's no answer. And again, all, all God leaves off by saying is that you're not going to have any atonement. So then the Orthodox Jews go to first Kings eight, we go to second Samuel 12, 13, where King David gets an atonement there with no Jesus involved. Um, just, just simply, but hang on. You can't, you can't first Kings eight, first Kings eight equals second Chronicles six.
Okay. God says this about first Kings eight. This is specifically about Solomon's prayer. As long as this temple is functioning and sacrifices are being offered, and some of you go into exile and you pray from your exile towards this temple where functioning sacrifices are taking place, then I'll forgive. If you cross the line and get to a point where I have to destroy this temple, you have no national atonement.
I mean, it's not my words. It's and it's explicit in first Kings nine as well. God says it. If the temples destroyed, you have known that you have no atonement. Uh, it doesn't say that it's a, it says in the beginning of second Chronicles seven, I think it's a verse 12.
Um, God, in the end, he says, if you break my laws and commands and get to a point where, you know, where you just stop listening to me, then I'm going to destroy the temple. It doesn't, and now we, I agree with you how we have a prompt, but second Chronicles chapter seven is not saying how in exile you're going to have to pray towards, um, you have to, you guys are gonna have to pray with sacrifices. In first Kings eight, it says you have to pray. You're going to have to pray towards Jerusalem. And I usually that towards Jerusalem towards the function and sacrifice towards the functioning temple, sir. Here, let me read what God says.
Okay. Let, let, but if you turn away from me and forsake my laws and commandments that I said before you and go and serve other gods and worship them, then I will uproot them from my land that I gave them. And the house that I consecrated in my name, I shall cast out of my sight and make it a proverb and a byword among all peoples. And as for this house, when so exalted, everyone passing by shall be appalled and say, why did the Lord do this to the land into this house? And the people will say it is because they forsook the Lord God of their fathers who freed them from the land of Egypt and adopted other gods and worship them and serve them.
Therefore, he brought all this calamity upon them saying, I'm going to destroy this temple. You can't pray towards it because it doesn't exist. So if you say we have no atonement as Jewish people, according to scripture, since the temple has been destroyed and no blood sacrifices, then, then you can have an argument. If you say, well, we can still use the temple. No, no, you can't pray to the temple if the temple is destroyed. God's saying I no longer accept it. That's the whole power of praying towards it.
Okay. I'm not understanding where in second chronicle seven does it say in your exile, you're going to, in your exile, when you pray, you're going to need sacrifices. It simply says, I'm going to destroy the temple. And everyone looking at the temple, whoever's going to look at the place of the temple is going to ask themselves, why God, why did God carry us on such a horrible thing? We're in the text of the day in your exile, you're going to need sacrifices. Ah, that's the thing.
You can't offer them. So either we have none or the Messiah came and made atonement as per Daniel nine. I mean, Daniel nine is written during the time when the temple's destroyed and God's saying, I'm going to give a better way. That's the whole point.
You're a hundred percent right. You can't offer sacrifices in exile. You have no atonement. The Jewish community worldwide, if you reject what the Messiah did, you have no atonement. Whatever verses you try to pull up, they're easily answered easily there.
It's not there. There is no other form of atonement. Look, Yom Kippur, there is no atonement without the blood sacrifice and with the goat laws. That's why some did you practice personally? Do you practice kaparos? Of course, yeah. Okay, and what do you say when you swing the bird around your head? What do you say?
Uh, zekaprosi, zechalifossi, zettubrosi, zechanikoyot, something like that. Right, right. Okay, so this is my atonement. This is my exchange.
This is my substitute. You're right, it's kind of weird. I'll have to do research on that. So the point is... You're correct on that. I don't know.
Let me just say this. You're trying to compensate for the fact that it's not there. So I agree with you. There's nowhere where it says you need sacrifices when the temple's not sitting because you have no atonement when the temple's destroyed. I'm saying that's why we have these prophecies that atonement would be made through the Messiah before the second temple was destroyed.
That's the whole point. Where does it say those prophecies? In Daniel 9, atonement was made after the 70 weeks because the fact of the matter is that there is no end of sin right now. There is no everlasting righteousness. If you look around the world, what's going on in Israel right now, there is no end of sin. So we understand that to mean after the 490 years.
But where does it say that, though? Seventy weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city until the measure of transgression is filled. So that was filled when we nailed the Messiah to the cross, that of sin complete. So he deals with sin once and for all. Iniquity is expiated. He makes atonement. Eternal righteousness ushered in. So he has brought the way for all of us. The moment we say born again, God considers us righteous and puts us in a state of righteousness. That's accomplished with the cross. The prophetic vision is ratified. That was spoken. And holy of holies anointed which could have various possible meanings.
That would be a sidetrack to get into that. But if you read Rashi and the others, it was supposed to happen during the 70 weeks, not after. So let me ask you this question, because you're obviously thinking a lot about these issues, which I appreciate, and you've watched Toby Singer videos and different stuff. Here's my question for you, sir. Why does God give a period of 490 years, the 70 weeks, so it begins somewhere during the time of exile, after the exile, shortly after the exile, we know it ends with the destruction of the second temple, where it mentions the great Mashiach of Enlil. Rashi applies that to Herod.
So this is all right around the time of Yeshua. He doesn't apply to her. He doesn't apply to her. He applies it to kingdom with his name up.
King. It's not Herod. It's someone else.
Herod died a lot earlier. No, no. There's the okay. I'm Daniel. Sorry. It's not Herod. It's someone else.
I forgot the name right now. It's the different king. Herod died in the year 4 B. C. Right. So he says the time is going to be a different king. It's the last king right before.
It's about Herod. So let's let's just check to make sure that I didn't misspeak there. Okay. But either way, right? He's Yeah, it could be could be my mental error. There is recovering a lot of ground here. We'll just we'll just pull it up and just see where it mentions Mashiach will be cut off and not for himself.
So just just looking at Rashi right here as as we're doing this. Yes. So let's see until the anointed king. And anyway, we'll scroll down and get to that in a moment.
So this is the first anointed king troubled times 60 weeks a grip. I said, Harry Agrippa, right? Yeah. Thank you. Thank you for correcting me. Yep.
Thank you, sir. Agrippa, king of Judea, who is ruling at the time of the destruction will be slain. So he's understanding that prophecies end up at the time of the destruction of the Second Temple. So what's the purpose of these of these six things that are going to happen during these period of 490 years, if you're saying 2000 years later, they still haven't happened that I don't get.
Also, in Rashi, it's a little different. In verse 24, where it talks about the forgiveness of sin and all that, verse 25 explains will have to happen in order to get to those things. 490 years beginning of the destruction of the First Temple. 490 years after that is construction. It ends by the destruction of the Second Temple where the Mashiach, the high priest, what he's called mostly in Sefer Vayikra.
I just lost you there for a second. Yeah, so Rashi somehow ties this in with the messianic error, but doesn't... That atonement of transgressions is not during those 490 years. Verse 25, 26, 27 is explaining how to get until then, and then each generation is able to bring the time of the Messiah. It doesn't say anywhere in the text that forgiveness has to happen in these 490 years. 490 years in order to get to atonement of sin, and now every single generation afterwards can bring it.
That's it. Okay, so I would say that's a gross misreading of the text, and actually one of the weakest Rashi's in the Bible, because the whole purpose of the 490 years of this has to be accomplished within this time. Critical scholars believe it's talking about the defiling of the temple under Antiochus Epiphanes celebrated every Hanukkah, then the rededication and the cleansing.
That's what they apply to. In other words, everybody understands this has to happen during the days of the Second Temple. And even the way Rashi explains it, the end will come about by inundation, speaking about the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple, and his end will be damnation and destruction, Rashi says, for he will inundate the power of his kingdom through the Messiah. What's the Messiah got to do? This is 2,000 years later, and he's still not here, according to you. What makes perfect sense?
But I have a question for you on your interpretation of Daniel 9. Alright, stay right here. We'll get you on the other side of the break. Hey, to other callers, I apologize for not getting to you yet. If I'm still on with Shner, by all means, I'm looking at your names. Call tomorrow if you can, and I'll put you at the top of the list. I just want to keep this conversation with Shner going.
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Get on the Line of Fire by calling 866-34-TRUTH. Here again is Dr. Michael Brown. Welcome back to Thoroughly Jewish Thursday. Hey, shout out of deep appreciation to our co-sponsor TriVita that helps us bring these messages to you every single day on radio.
Super generous and part of my daily supplement routine, so we encourage you as well to find out more from our great co-sponsor TriVita. Shnera, have you ever heard of Rachmael Friedland? Who? Rachmael Friedland. Probably not.
No. He was a Haredi Polish Jew and escaped the horrors of what was happening in Eastern Europe, lived in great poverty, but real sharp student, and ultimately became a strong believer in Yeshua, a Messianic Jew. One of the things that opened his eyes was Rashi's commentary on Daniel 9, 24 to 27, that he realized that he was tying him with Messiah in the weakest way, in a way that really didn't work at all. So it's worth looking at, because Rashi can be so brilliant and full of insight, and this is one of these things where you scratch your head, like something's obviously missing here. He recognizes the Messianic significance, and yet it doesn't tie in with his comments. So anyway, you had a question for me.
Correct, yeah. If in the Bible, sorry, in the New Testament, there's not a single reference to atonement being made through that prophecy. There's allusions to it, like Matthew 24, 15, but there's no clear way. I mean, if Matthew and Paul and John and Peter all knew about this prophecy, about that there's going to be atonement of sin at the year 70, at the year 30, then why don't they have a single record of it?
Isn't that a big proof that they can bring? I mean, the first person who mentions it is in the second century. Because, for example, they pierced my hands and my feet in Psalm 22 in the Greek text and in some ancient Hebrew manuscripts. They quote other verses in Psalm 22, but they don't quote that verse. They quote other verses from Isaiah 53, but they don't quote Isaiah 53-6. If they're already quoting Psalm 22, you have, and correct me if I'm wrong, in John 19, you do have about the clothing.
You know that the clothing, how the Roman soldiers... Right, right. So you have Daniel 9 quoted, so Yeshua says, let the reader understand, he's pointing you to Daniel 9.
So that's enough. In Matthew, no, no, no. In Matthew 24, if you read what's happening there, I'm not an expert in the New Testament, but Jesus is, he's talking about the destruction of the second temple and he's saying, let the reader understand, let him take note about what's prophesied because according to both us Jews and Christians, he's still prophesying about the temple, the second temple is going to be destroyed in that prophecy. So he's not even saying how there's, and some Christians should bring up a whole calculation, but regardless...
But here's the point there, Shner. If you read the New Testament, you see it doesn't quote every possible verse. The whole goal is not to get into 12 hours of polemics with a Jewish reader. It's to point them in the right direction.
Look, it's like me trying to read Talmud as if it was the New Testament and say, why doesn't it say this? Why does it do this? Why does it just leave arguments? Why does it come to final ruling? Why does it end up with tekut 300 times? Let it stand that they can't figure out the dispute.
Why does it even matter? Well... Oh, I can easily answer that many times. I can easily answer that many times. So the point is, the point is, Talmud is not oper... Would you say that Talmud is very different than Tanakh? Would you? Did I lose you again? Okay. Would you say that Talmud is very different than Tanakh? Um, yeah, of course.
Okay, absolutely. So, the same way, New Testament is not functioning the way you would like it to. It's not a comprehensive treatise on everything, but here's what it does say. It says that he comes in the fullness of time.
Where does it get that from? Galatians 4. It categorically states how he makes atonement for our sins and brings in righteousness.
It uses this kind of language. And Yeshua himself points the reader to Daniel 9 in terms of coming to the structure of the temple. Let the reader understand the abomination of desolation is mentioned in this very passage.
So he's got our eyes on this. He doesn't have to quote or Paul quote each verse. Most of the relevant verses are not quoted in the New Testament. Only some.
Only a sampling. Look, Isaiah 9, 5, and 6 in English, and 6 and 7 in Hebrew, write about the messianic king that's born. The Targum says it's about the Messiah.
About his Kiyohu, about Hezekiah, not about... The Targum says it's the Messiah. Okay, because in the Targum, I think a lot of Christians don't understand that he's more of a homiletic interpretation. He's not.
He's sort of like a side. You know, in Isaiah 53, you quote in the Targum, you got to... The Targum does not apply it...
The suffering. No, I understand. I understand that the Targum works. But the point is, far before Rashi or Ebenezer or Adach or anybody else, the Targum applies it to the Messiah. If you want to apply it to Hezekiah, then you've got big problems.
But here's my point. It's not quoted. It's not quoted in the New Testament, okay? The verse is not quoted in the New Testament. But another portion of the chapter, earlier in the chapter, is quoted. That's telling you, look at these chapters.
So as long as Daniel is referenced in the abomination of desolation, which we have there in these chapters, that's enough to tell us to look in that direction. But here's the question. I'm thrilled to have this conversation, and I've taken a lot of time on the air to do it, and God willing, we can talk again. What's your... And obviously, if every week you call into debate, I mean, we can't do that. And many people would like to debate.
I wish I could talk to everybody all the time. But question for you. When you say Orthodox, I imagine you mean ultra-Orthodox? You're raised... Chabad. Okay, Chabad. Exactly.
All right. So I have a great debt to Chabad because it was Chabad rabbis who challenged me deeply enough in 1973 that I realized I needed to learn Hebrew better and really dig in. So in that sense, they launched me in my ministry in that regard. So I'm indebted to Chabad in that way. Did you ever read the book I wrote, Resurrection, looking at the life, in a very complimentary way, looking at the life of Levavitcher Rebbe, and then comparing that to Yeshua?
Did you ever read that book? Well, I saw you write some sort of article on your website, but the... My Rebbe has nothing to do with... I don't believe he's a Messiah. Most Chabad people do not think he's a Messiah, or he resurrected, or any of that stuff. It just... Well, not in the States.
In Israel, it's a ton more than I actually believe. Okay, because some of them do. Some of them are crazy, some of them... Not great, but you're not... But you're raised... It doesn't have nothing to do with Jesus.
You're raised... I get it. I get it. My argument goes in a different direction. But were you raised Chabad, or are you Baal Teshuvah? I'm 15 years old, I'm Chabad. Oh, okay. Got it, got it. So here's the deal.
I appreciate at 15 you having this knowledge and these sources. So why are you calling to talk to me? Because you're Jewish and it bothers me, because a Jew is called to be a light for the nations. Isaiah 42, Isaiah 49, although you apply that with the Messiah. I apply it with Israel, who's the Messiah is in charge of being... Alright, so sir, I have gone on 200 trips... I've gone on 200 trips outside the United States. I've been to India 29 times alone, bringing the knowledge of the one true God to the ends of the earth. We have grads from our ministry school who are serving all over the world. They're sharing the good news of the God of Israel through the Messiah in Muslim countries, in Hindu countries, some of them under real persecution.
They're sharing the good news with people, nation after nation, all around the world. As one student once said, when Rabbi Shmuley Boteach was visiting our school, of course he has Chabad background, he was from Ghana, and he said, it wasn't a rabbi that turned my village and my people away from worshiping idols to worship the one true God, it was a Christian missionary. So I'm actively doing that.
I go to the nations. Obviously you're too young to be doing that, but I go to the nations, seek to be a light to the world and make the knowledge of the one true God known, so I'm doing that, and it's through Mashiach, so I'm about doing that. I appreciate your zeal, but are you open to the possibility that you could be wrong?
No, not at all. Maimonides, you know, Maimonides in the end of On the Laws of the Messiah, he writes there that the whole point of the Christians and the whole point of God creating them is so that all the Jews in the end, so all the Gentiles in the days should have a little background of the God of Israel, to bring the God of Israel to God, but to bring the Gentiles. So right now Christians are being slaughtered for their faith. They're dying horrific deaths for their faith. They're being butchered in Nigeria. They're being tortured in North Korea. They're being slaughtered in different Muslim countries. They're being beaten and burned in India for their faith. That's all so that one day at the end, they could say, hey, we all believe lies, but at least we got a little closer to the truth. Do you realize how utterly insulting that is, how demeaning that is, to say that these some of the finest people on the planet who are sacrificing out of love for God and love for people in ways that would blow us away, that it's all to get to that day according to Rambam, according to Maimonides, that to introduce the concept of Messiah so that Jeremiah 16 will be fulfilled when everyone says we followed the lies of our fathers, and this is one of them, but we're a little closer?
Don't you think that's spitting in the face of these people? No, I don't, because I'm not God, the same way how Jews were slaughtered for their faith. I'm not going to say how Jews must be, right? The point is I'm not God, so I don't know why certain Christians are being killed, certain Muslims are being killed, certain these people are being killed, certain Jews are being killed. So that's not a question for me.
That's a question for God. No, but you said, though, it's a false faith. You said it's for lies. It's ultimately for lies.
Hey, listen, here's the deal. We had our conversation, which I appreciate, and I appreciate you having this knowledge in the background of 15 just shows how powerful Jewish studies, Jewish tradition are, but keep studying, keep learning. For everyone else, come to your own conclusions. Look at the passages. I'm going to pray that God does not just let you rest in your tradition, but stirs your heart to keep seeking and giving.
